I headed to Mount Hua.

I didn’t come back right away; I had to wait as long as possible until sunrise before returning.

That was because I recalled the words that moving at night was best avoided if possible.

Getting back inside wasn’t difficult.

I remembered what Gubong had done last time, so I had already prepared by obtaining some ground turtle shell powder in advance.

The problem was finding the right location to enter.

‘Here.’

That, too, wasn’t difficult.

It was clearly visible.

I narrowed my eyes, observing the distortion in space. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

‘I couldn’t see it before, but now...’

At first, I had to concentrate with my mind’s eye open just to barely catch a glimpse. But now, for some reason, it was strangely clear.

Was there a particular turning point that caused this change? Or perhaps...

‘Did something happen to the barrier?’

Doubts piled up, but ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) I didn’t dwell on them. This wasn’t the time to be worrying about such things.

Tap, tap.

I sprinkled a little of the powder on my body.

As I had felt last time, it was an unpleasant experience every time I did it.

‘...Ground turtle shell powder, seriously....’

It felt like rubbing crushed dead skin onto my body.

It was irritating as hell, but there was no other choice, so I endured it and kept sprinkling.

After tapping some onto myself a few times, I turned to sprinkle it on Cheonma as well.

“...I’m not doing that.”

Cheonma, unusually, recoiled with visible disgust.

“What do you mean you’re not doing it?”

Baffled, I grabbed her arm.

“I don’t want to.”

Smack!

Cheonma yanked her hand away.

What the hell was this supposed to mean?

“Then what? You’re just going to stay here?”

“No.”

“Then you have to use the powder. You can’t get inside without—”

Before I could even finish speaking, Cheonma started walking forward.

“Hey, wait—!”

I called out urgently.

She approached the barrier without hesitation and—

Whoosh—!

“Huh?”

She vanished right in front of me.

What the hell?

Staring blankly in confusion, I widened my eyes.

No way...

Feeling uneasy, I approached the barrier myself.

Flash!

Just like before, light flickered, and the scene before me shifted. By the time I realized it, I had already entered Mount Hua.

And Cheonma was right there as well.

“You...?”

I looked at her in shock.

She gazed at me with her usual blank expression.

“How did you do that?”

“...”

I asked out of pure curiosity, but she didn’t answer.

She simply stared at me in silence.

Then, without warning—

Stomp!

“Kuh!?”

She suddenly stomped down on my foot.

The searing pain made me jerk my leg back in an instant. She must have stomped with considerable force—I thought my foot had been crushed.

“You crazy bitch...! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Gripping my aching foot, I cursed at her.

Cheonma, however, merely let out a hmph!, snorted at me, and then—

Whoosh!

—soared into the air and disappeared.

“...Huh?”

Watching her leap far into the distance and vanish, I let out an empty sigh.

“What the fuck is her problem now? Goddamn it....”

Furrowing my brows, I could do nothing but glare at her disappearing figure.

Seriously...

I could never understand that woman.

*****************

After returning to Mount Hua, the first place I went was, of course, where Noya was.

As always, Noya was diligently tending the field behind his residence.

“Oh, you’ve come—”

He started to greet me but immediately narrowed his eyes.

“...What the hell did you do this time to end up looking like that?”

“Oh.”

I let out an awkward laugh at Noya’s words.

Damn, I had hoped he wouldn’t notice, but he caught it instantly.

‘Still too early to hide it, huh.’

Even though I had carefully controlled my energy, it seemed fooling Noya’s eyes was impossible.

“Your body was already a mess, and now you’ve made it even worse.”

“...It’s not that bad. Only my insides are wrecked—on the outside, I look fine, don’t I?”

“Hah. And you think that’s something to brag about?”

Noya clicked his tongue repeatedly as he stared at me.

Was I really in that bad of a state?

‘It’s a bit rough, sure, but it’s not unbearable.’

Honestly, it wasn’t like I had been in a battle.

I hadn’t even fought anyone directly.

All I did was try to use the Cheonma Divine Art and ended up injuring myself, so my body was mostly intact.

The real problem was—

‘Restraining the General.’

During that process, my insides got twisted up.

It felt like my very soul had taken damage.

This tingling, unpleasant sensation wouldn’t go away.

Of course, my internal organs had taken a beating too, but...

‘Well, whatever....’

It wasn’t like my body had ever been in perfect condition anyway.

This much was just another wound I could heal by spitting on it.

Anyway—

“I had some business to take care of.”

“Business?”

“Yeah.”

I looked at Noya and continued.

“I went to see the General myself.”

“...!”

Noya’s eyes widened at my words.

Seeing his reaction, I slowly began explaining.

*****************

Noya set down the sickle he had been holding and rested his chin on his hand.

His expression turned serious.

I hadn’t explained much.

I just told him that I had gone to Yahwol and met Yusa.

And that after meeting Yusa, I had a conflict with the Cheong Seon family.

That was all.

“...So Yusa appeared.”

“Do you know much about him?”

“I wouldn’t say I know him well, but I’m not ignorant either.”

“What kind of person is he?”

“Hmm.”

When I asked about Yusa, Noya pondered for a moment before speaking.

“As a pureblood of the Moonlit Night Tribe, he has reached the very pinnacle.”

“The pinnacle?”

That was quite the bold statement.

The Moonlit Night Tribe encompassed all beastmen, after all.

And among them, he had reached the top?

‘Well...’

I couldn’t really argue with it.

The Yusa I had faced was certainly overwhelming.

‘He was even more terrifying at night.’

When his presence was fully unleashed, the sheer force of it exceeded my expectations.

If I had to compare... yeah.

‘Not just one of the Ten Grand Masters...’

He might be on the level of the Three Supremes.

At least in terms of sheer presence, he wasn’t much different from the Heavenly Lord I had encountered in my past life.

‘...Does that mean the General is Supreme-tier?’

I hadn’t seen any of the other Generals, so I couldn’t say for sure.

But from what I had witnessed, Yusa definitely had that level of power.

At least when it came to pure combat strength.

As I was assessing Yusa’s power, Noya added more.

“He prefers a crude, direct style. But he’s overwhelmingly strong. His instincts are sharp, so he’s not easily fooled. He plays innocent, but in truth, he’s more like a snake.”

“So, a strong but annoying bastard?”

“I took my time explaining, and you summed it up in one sentence....”

“Am I wrong?”

“...No, you’re right.”

Noya sighed in resignation.

‘As expected.’

Hearing that, things started to make more sense.

No wonder he rubbed me the wrong way.

“So... you met him, and that’s how you ended up looking like this?”

“Yeah.”

“But you said you didn’t actually fight him.”

“Ah... Yeah, we didn’t fight. But he pulled some weird shit.”

“Weird shit?”

I briefly explained what had happened.

That bastard had tried to suppress me using just his words.

And in the process, I had figured out how to use something similar.

I also mentioned that I had managed to restrain him for a short while using that very method.

Noya gave me a strange look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Was there a problem?

Feeling slightly uneasy, I asked, and Noya shook his head before replying.

“No, it’s just... are you telling me you actually used that against Yusa?”

“Yeah. Do you know what it is?”

“I don’t know the full details, but I have a rough idea. What you used is called Myeong.”

“...Myeong, as in ‘command’?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, what a ridiculously simple name.”

So they just called it Myeong because it meant ‘command’?

Might as well just call it ‘command’ then. Why shorten it to a single character?

But that was beside the point.

“Myeong is a power that compels absolute obedience.”

For now, I focused on listening to Noya’s explanation.

Absolute obedience.

That didn’t make sense.

“Absolute? That sounds like bullshit.”

There was no such power in the world.

A force that could control someone without conditions? I had never heard of such a thing.

‘If it were a divine authority, maybe I could understand. But even divine abilities aren’t this absurd.’

Take my Greed, for example.

It was absurdly effective against beings with divine powers, but at the same time, it was useless against those without them.

But this Myeong?

It supposedly forced anyone to obey, no matter what?

“...Does it work regardless of how strong or weak the target is?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“There’s no way that’s true.”

No matter how I thought about it, it made no sense.

Could such a broken ability really exist?

Of course, I had used it to suppress Yusa, but... ah.

“But he also tried using it on me. And it didn’t work.”

“Exactly. That’s the issue.”

“What do you mean?”

“Brat, even when I said it was absolute, there’s still a condition.”

“Then it’s not absolute at all—”

“Shut up and listen.”

“...Yes, sir.”

The moment I tried to argue, he immediately cut me off.

Damn.

He was the one who used the word absolute, and now he was mad at me for pointing it out?

I grumbled under my breath.

“It only works when the user’s existence is of a higher level than the target.”

“...Huh?”

“In Manwol (the Full Moon Realm), Myeong only affects those of lower existence than the user. And only Generals can use it.”

“...What?”

Only Generals could use it?

Then...

“...What about me?”

How the hell was I able to use it?

Not only that, I had even used it against a General.

Sure, my insides had been torn apart in the process, but the fact remained—I had used it.

Confused, I asked Noya.

“That’s simple. You must have been of a higher existence than the General you used it on.”

“Me? A higher existence than a General?”

“Why not?”

Noya gave me a tired look and pointed at me.

“Think about whose child you are.”

“...!”

At his words, only one person came to mind.

It wasn’t my father.

That left just one person.

No way.

“...Are you saying I could use it because of my mother?”

“I can’t say for certain, but if you were able to use it on a General, that’s the most likely explanation.”

I was the son of the ruler of Mangye.

Because of that, my existence was higher than a General’s.

That was Noya’s reasoning.

But—

“Of course, this isn’t a definite answer. It’s just a strong possibility. If that’s not the reason—”

“Then what?”

“You mentioned that your mother was the reason you could enter this place. Maybe she left something inside you.”

Hearing that, I furrowed my brows.

That could be true.

‘...Back when I faced the Blood Demon, my mother sent me here.’

I still remembered what she said.

No matter what happens. Under no circumstances.

‘Never come looking for her.’

Her warning that day had been filled with concern.

And from what I had learned, she was no longer the same person I once knew.

If I met her now, there was a chance she might kill me with her own hands.

But still...

“...I have to go see her.”

Now more than ever, I was sure of it.

“...Brat, I told you before.”

“I know. She might not recognize me.”

Noya frowned.

Before, I wouldn’t have noticed, but now I knew.

That expression meant he was worried.

“But what can I do? If I want to return, I have to see her. And even if that weren’t the case, I need to see her for your request.”

“...”

“Besides—”

I stretched my neck.

A habit.

Whenever I felt exhausted, physically or mentally, I always did this.

“Even if it’s unfair, I need to see her.”

“...Unfair? What do you mean?”

“She left me for decades. I want to see her and give her a piece of my mind.”

“...Hah.”

“Anyway, I’m done talking. I’ll be going now.”

“Where?”

“I’m going to see the old turtle.”

I had already made up my mind.

I had decided a few days ago.

But now, I was completely certain.

My weary body felt bearable again.

My exhausted mind sharpened.

“Before I meet my mother... I need to clean myself up first.”

Noya looked at me like I was insane.

I ignored it.