When the Ryong troops descended through the narrow gorge, the trap was sprung.
The first arrow sliced through the air and buried itself in the neck of one of the lieutenants beside Hwa.
He turned, stunned. He didn't scream. Only widened his eyes as more arrows rained down from the cliffs.
The sound of the ambush roared like thunder.
Spears emerged from the mist. Rocks fell from above, dragging men down. Concealment formations exploded with light.
— Ambush! — Jin shouted. — They were waiting!
Some soldiers tried to retreat. They ran back along the trail.
But behind them... the ground exploded.
Lava — summoned by an ancient, forgotten formation — began to pour through the open cracks. A hellish heat blocked their escape.
— Who... who the hell plans a trap with lava?! — screamed one officer, just before the flames consumed him.
Others tried to climb the gorge walls. But up above, guards were already waiting. Arrows, stones, blades.
The escape route was a tomb.
In the midst of chaos, Ryong Hwa fell to his knees. Three arrows pierced his back. Blood flowed over his black armor.
Trembling, he raised his face.
Atop the cliff, standing on a rock shaped like the throne of some ancient god... I was there.
Still. Silent. A slight smile on my face.
Only then, in his final moment, did Hwa understand.
— All of this... from the beginning... — he whispered, mouth full of blood.
His last thought was not of honor, nor victory.
It was fear.
High on the mountain, I watched.
— Every step... foreseen — I murmured.
Beside me, Jaegal Sun panted. Wounded, eyes wide, not understanding.
— Y-you knew they would come?
— Of course. And I knew you'd come to witness the glory with your own eyes.
— But... this is madness...
— It's justice — I whispered.
And without hesitation, I drove the blade into his chest.
His eyes widened one final time.
— The Ryong... will pay... — he mumbled.
The lie was born with his last breath.
When my father arrived at the battlefield, he staggered to Jaegal Sun's body. He knelt as if age had suddenly crushed him.
— My son... my firstborn...
His fingers trembled as they touched the still-warm blood. He looked at me.
— They... did this?
I nodded. Eyes low, expression firm.
— When they realized they were lost, they tried to flee. Sun tried to stop them... and was killed.
My father raised his face to the sky. He did not weep — he roared.
A roar of pain. Of despair. And fury.
— I swore I'd keep my sons alive... — he whispered. — I swore it to your mother.
He stood, staggering, and gripped my arm with more strength than I expected from an old man. His eyes were glassy, but his voice burned.
— You won for us. You are the only one who can finish them, my son. All of them.
— Father...
— Let not even the name Ryong remain to be remembered! I beg you... finish what you started!
In that moment, his words sealed my fate.
And I, who had entered that field as the exile, left as something more:
The heir. The executioner.
The future of the Jaegal Clan.
The manipulator.
And this world... would still learn to fear that name.