What is war?
To Seol-yoon, war was a single bolt of lightning. Without a word of explanation, soldiers on horseback had burned and trampled her village. The collapse of her daily life happened in an instant. The kind neighbor who always cracked jokes, the little brother who was terrified of bugs, the children who huddled together to play until dusk—they were all gone.
Seol-yoon did not know how the walls of her country fell. She did not know how bravely the army of Han had stood their ground, or how fierce their struggle had been. To her, the war she remembered was nothing more than a one-sided slaughter. By the time the enemy reached her village, Han was already in the throes of its demise. The invaders took pleasure in trampling the people of a nation whose army had been annihilated. They mercilessly slaughtered those who offered no resistance.
That was why Seol-yoon did not truly know “war.”
All she remembered was the death of the innocent, the blood spilled by children, the sound of breath trembling before falling silent, the acrid scent of earth mixed with the pungent stench of tobacco, and the odor of corpses that filled the village. That was everything. The village the conquerors trampled through had lost all its color.
Seol-yoon’s world collapsed that day.
Since then, her life had been hollow. There was anger, but it was a mere flickering spark. Most of what she felt was a profound sense of loss. It felt as though the world had reached out and snatched away everything precious she owned. Having lost everything she once held dear, the girl lost the colors of her life. She felt as if she were swinging a sword without meaning in a world where everything was dyed in ash-grey.
To reclaim those colors, to fill even a fraction of her hollow interior, she had no choice but to find what she missed. She had to follow the legends her father told her—to become an Immortal and ascend to Paradise. Seol-yoon believed that once she reclaimed everything she had lost, she would be able to return to the girl she once was. The innocent girl who could be happy without a single care.
She was willing to do anything for that.
To reclaim those days, she would do anything.
“Cough—”
Obtaining the Dragon Sword was part of that process. Legend said that one who possessed a Dragon’s Artifact could summon the True King. As a human from the East, Seol-yoon understood the meaning hidden behind those vague words. The “True King” was the Progenitor of Han. In the hands of a swordsman with Eastern blood, the will of the Progenitor dwelling within the Dragon Sword would awaken.
Of course, awakening that will didn’t mean much in a practical sense. A figure from the distant past could only offer occasional wisdom; he could not exert a massive influence on the world. He could not manifest physical force, nor did he possess the power to make the heavens and earth tremble as described in the founding myths.
However, Seol-yoon had something she absolutely had to ask the Progenitor. She needed to know if becoming an Immortal truly allowed one to reach Paradise. She needed to know if her loved ones were there, waiting to welcome her. To her, this was more important than anything else. The Progenitor who laid the foundations of the nation would surely know.
That was why Seol-yoon had craved the Dragon Sword then, and why she craved it now. To know if the path she walked was the right one, she was confident she could do anything. Standing on the side of the “Great Land” and cutting down the soldiers of Han? That was not difficult. Was this not a virtual world made of fiction anyway? What was so hard about killing beings that didn’t even truly exist?
Besides, these people were resentful. If they had been just a little stronger, if they had held out just a little better, her village would not have been destroyed. The tragedy of her life would never have happened. Everything she owned would not have been snatched away. Her life would not have been stained in these monochrome hues…
Therefore, they were also her enemies.
These soldiers, who failed to fulfill their duty, were also her enemies.
“…”
But.
“I’m… sor…ry.”
“…Why?”
“For… not… protecting you.”
But why on earth did these dying men apologize to her?
“I’m sorry. Please… forgive me.”
Seol-yoon could not understand it.
Even as she cut down the soldiers of Han and became drenched in their blood, she could not comprehend it. It was only after standing there blankly for a long time that she realized the reason.
It was a hallucination.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, child.”
It wasn’t the soldiers in this spiritual world who were speaking. The voice that had been a faint whisper was now clear. Seol-yoon wasn’t thinking of the soldiers recreated in this virtual world, but of a defeated soldier, stained with blood and dust on a desolate plain. That defeated soldier, holding a broken spear, had not fought the enemy. Instead, he had pulled a girl out of the blood-soaked mud of a ruined land.
“You, at least… must live.”
A defeated soldier of a nation whose destruction was certain. A soldier who had lost his commanders, his generals, and even the monarch he was meant to serve, had taken the hand of a girl who had lost her world. Seol-yoon was seeing that defeated soldier overlapping with these men.
“No matter how wretched it is, no matter how futile… you must live.”
That was why Seol-yoon could not smile.
That was why she could only wear a face of sorrow.
“If you survive, you can see tomorrow.”
* * *
This was a memory from a long time ago.
Seol-yoon’s village had become a wasteland. Smoke no longer rose from the chimneys. Instead, there was only the pitch-black smoke from burning the corpses of those whose breath had been cut short. The smoke from cooking food and the smoke from burning bodies were different. The smell that wafted when human flesh was scorched was foul and horrific.
Seol-yoon crawled through the gaps between corpses and blood. The conquerors who destroyed this land wanted no one to remain alive in their wake. So, they searched every corner of the ruined village, performing finishing blows on everyone they found. They thrust their blades into corpses with rolled-back, lifeless eyes. Watching the conquerors, Seol-yoon thought: They are wounding even the souls of the dead.
Seol-yoon thought she should have died with them back then. She should have collapsed when her father and mother were broken. But she had narrowly survived. And Seol-yoon was too fragile to seek death now. She was afraid of the blades, afraid of the punches and kicks, and afraid of the violence those barbaric warriors of the plains would inflict upon her. She was afraid of everything. This world, which had once been warm and peaceful, was now terrifying. Was the world always this harsh and lonely? Were humans always this cruel…?
She didn’t know how many days she had wandered. She didn’t know how many days she had starved. Eventually, the wandering girl collapsed in the desolate village. As the sun beat down on her, the parched girl cried out in thirst. The only things to drink were stagnant water and blood. The girl chose the blood. She brought her face to a pool of rancid blood. Lacking any strength, she buried her face in the puddle. Then, tears fell of their own accord. Smelling the thick scent of blood, the girl sobbed uncontrollably. Even as she became covered in gore, even as the blood threatened to drown her, she sobbed.
Just as she thought that dying like this might not be so bad, a thick hand grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up. Opening her blurry eyes, she saw a soldier stained with blood and dust. A soldier who used a broken spear like a walking stick. The battered soldier pulled the battered girl up and held her in his gaunt embrace. Then, without asking for her story or explaining who he was, he spoke abruptly.
“I’m sorry, child.”
Strangely, Seol-yoon found comfort in the soldier’s words.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
“…”
“You did nothing wrong.”
She remembered the sunlight that day being warmer than usual.
“So, you must live.”
* * *
Seol-yoon’s eyes were melancholy.
But regardless of her sorrowful appearance, Seol-yoon’s sword was excessively dangerous. It was different from what I had originally known. Her beauty had become even more lethal. Amidst this, the grand sound of a horn echoed across the battlefield. Along with it, the defenders of Han shouted.
“Form ranks! The Great Warriors of the plains are coming! The true spears that pacified the Great Steppe to tear down these walls are here—!”
The defenders moved in perfect order. The fighters caught between them moved hesitantly. The battle at the front lines continued as it always did. Swords clashed, stray arrows took lives, and corpses tumbled onto the dirt, obstructing movement. The earth soaked up the blood to become mud, and the reason the war had started in the first place ceased to matter.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, the Dragon Sword at my waist began to thrum.
『───.』
As if it wanted to say something.
『───!』
But the sound echoing from the sword was nothing more than noise to me. It sounded like metal clashing against metal, or perhaps like the roar of a beast. I couldn’t understand what meaning it held. Meanwhile, the ground began to tremble.
With the tremor, a long spear flew in like a bolt of light.
Six or seven defenders of Han were skewered and killed by the flying spear. Simultaneously, a boisterous laugh rang out from the distance. I saw a man with a giant-like physique mounted on a warhorse clad in blue armor.
“How dare a small nation oppose the will of the Great Land! Today, you shall realize just how small you truly are!”
He was different from the soldiers we had fought so far. Both in momentum and aura.
“Sword Demon Liam.”
Valkyrie Maia’s voice came from beside me.
“Yes.”
“That looks like an enemy the fighters should handle!”
“I agree.”
“But there are many enemies to deal with here.”
Valkyrie Maia raised her hand and pointed toward the distance.
“Sword Demon Liam!”
“Speak.”
“If you don’t mind, could you grant me the chance to fight that fighter first?”
Maia was pointing toward Seol-yoon. The Black Bride, who still wore that sorrowful expression.
“My blood has never boiled like this before. She is an opponent I want to fight even if I lose. In the Lakota Mountains, there was no female warrior my age stronger than me! But that swordswoman… she looks even more magnificent than I am. I can’t hold back!”
Maia’s face was genuinely exhilarated. Listening to her, I replied readily.
“Yes, do as you wish.”
Maia was a strong fighter. She was a warrior who held the title of ‘Valkyrie,’ given only to the best female warriors among the northern barbarians, and she had proven her combat prowess by fighting on the front lines herself.
However, for some reason…
“It won’t be easy.”
I couldn’t envision a scenario where Maia emerged victorious over Seol-yoon.
“Truly.”
* * *
As the heat of the fierce battlefield scorched the air around her, Seol-yoon was confused. Her body was instinctively swinging her sword, but her mind felt as though it were elsewhere. Why? She had told herself she was fine, but was she actually feeling guilt for killing the soldiers of Han? Or was it because her past trauma had been triggered? She didn’t know.
She felt like she was lost and wandering.
It felt like she was walking in place, going in circles. When she first heard the theme of this damn War Duel, she had certainly been angry. But as always, Seol-yoon’s anger cooled quickly. Her rage was faint, and she spent most of her days filled with futility and a sense of loss. Anger is like a fire that requires fuel. But Seol-yoon had nothing left to use as fuel. She had lost everything. Everything had been taken from her by this world…
It was a strange feeling.
She couldn’t tell if she was sad, confused, or if she hated herself for killing the soldiers of her former home just to obtain the Dragon Sword—or if she was simply exhausted from the repetitive, tedious swordplay. Because the emotions remaining in her heart were so faint, Seol-yoon couldn’t even clearly say what color her feelings were.
That was why Seol-yoon found Arhan so fascinating. A boy who usually acted like a child but actually harbored a massive rage in his heart. That immense anger showed no sign of ever going out. Arhan had lost everything just like Seol-yoon, but instead of a sense of loss, he swung his sword using that unquenchable fire of rage as his engine. Unlike Seol-yoon, who still longed for the past like a young girl, Arhan had reached the end of his childhood and become a man.
How could he do that?
How could he lose everything and still not be broken? Seol-yoon leaned on vague legends and the tiny hope contained within them. But Arhan, without doing so, was carving his own path through a harsh road. Arhan never said he would reclaim the precious things he had lost. He only said he would take revenge on those who had stolen from him.
Arhan was not bound by the past like Seol-yoon. He didn’t constantly yearn for what was gone or only look back; he always looked forward and aimed higher. Seol-yoon thought that Arhan possessed true strength. A true strength incomparable to her own meager sword skills. An unbreakable, steel-like will.
To be honest, sometimes she wished she could be like that.
Instead of being depressed and dwelling on the past, she wanted to think about the future, shake off her sorrow, and stand tall as an adult. But that was no easy task. It was truly difficult.
“Greetings!”
That was why Seol-yoon was still confused. Amidst her confusion, a female warrior appeared before her.
“Maia, the sixth Valkyrie of the Lakota Mountains, challenges you to a duel!”
Seol-yoon looked at the Valkyrie with vacant eyes.
“…It’s customary not to reveal your name in the Arena, barbarian.”
“Is that so? It doesn’t matter! What is your name, swordswoman?”
“I told you, it’s customary not to reveal names.”
“Then at least tell me the name you use in this Arena!”
Watching Maia, the Valkyrie who spoke with such vigor, Seol-yoon indifferently raised her sword. The cold light of the blade shimmered. The time had come to pause her confusion for a moment. As long as her opponent wasn’t a soldier of Han, she wouldn’t hear the hallucinations. When she swung her sword, trivial thoughts didn’t enter her mind. This was a good opportunity to clear her head.
Seol-yoon thought to herself: I hope this barbarian can withstand my blade until my mind is at peace. I hope she doesn’t die too quickly…
“…Bride.”
“Black Bride.”
* * *
「Time remaining until the end of the War Duel: 20:55:41」
