A burning horned monster with a long tongue. And people, suffering as if being punished.
It was a painting depicting ‘Hwangcheon.’
“…It took a long time.”
Muttering to himself, Basterion closed his eyes.
“It’s time for the seed I’ve planted to bear fruit.”
He took a vial of dye from his cloak, twisted off the cap with his thumb, and threw it toward the painting.
The dye poured onto the painting, and soon it began to twitch and move, as though the painting itself was coming to life.
Sssss!
The outline of the moving painting began to warp and finally, a new space opened up from within it.
It was the only passage from Ten Thousand Years to Hwangcheon.
“The path to Hwangcheon has opened.”
His voice grew stronger.
“We will enter Hwangcheon, gain the power of demons, and conquer the entire world.”
Basterion exhaled and slowly turned around.
Hundreds of Golden Guards wearing masks stood, and behind them, thousands of armed immortal soldiers were gathered.
An overwhelming military force, but Basterion’s expression stiffened as if unsatisfied.
“Not millions, but thousands.”
Jin Hyeon’s plan was perfect.
It was a plan that had been waiting for a thousand years.
After conducting the celestial rites and corrupting the people of Ten Thousand Years, the plan was to drag them into Hwangcheon and have them drink demon blood.
An army of millions of immortals, with powers equal to or greater than that of the Golden Guards. Even on this extraordinary continent, there was no way to stop such an invasion.
But just a little while ago, all the coordinates for the portals leading to Hwangcheon had been distorted for an unknown reason.
And with the appearance of the old rival Kijen just a month before the celestial rites.
In the end, he had to fortify the royal capital and move only the number of troops that could be managed, bringing them all the way to this winter forest.
The fact that the plan had been disrupted at the last moment was unfortunate, but still, arming thousands with immortality and demon blood was enough to topple the continent.
“Bring me the heart of Ten Thousand Years.”
Thud!
Thud!
The Golden Guards moved aside, revealing the massive yellow heart being carried by a large stretcher. The heart, almost as large as a fortress, was being moved by four Golden Guards.
“Move forward.”
At Basterion’s command, the Golden Guards began walking toward the painting.
Basterion watched as they moved, hands clasped behind his back.
[Basterion-nim.]
A Golden Guard, standing behind, spoke quietly.
“Are you really going to move the heart to that world? If the heart disappears, all those who belong to the ecosystem of Ten Thousand Years will die within 40 hours.”
“In that time, it should be enough for all of us to enter.”
Basterion’s cold gaze turned to him.
“Do you need any more explanation?”
[No.]
The Golden Guard stepped back, and Basterion continued watching the Golden Guards as they entered the painting.
Ten Thousand Years had served its purpose by extracting the power of immortality, so it no longer mattered if it crumbled.
Finally, the long-awaited salvation of Ten Thousand Years would proceed. Having successfully achieved salvation in other worlds, Jin Hyeon promised to leave the salvation of Ten Thousand Years to Basterion and make him the ‘Savior.’
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
Or so he thought.
Boom!
As if the painting rejected the intrusion, the yellow heart on the stretcher was flung back out, and the Golden Guards collapsed, rolling on the ground.
“…What is this?”
Basterion ground his teeth and gestured to the Golden Guards.
“Go and find out why.”
The Golden Guards nodded and, with weapons in hand, passed through the painting.
Moments later.
Boom!
Once again, the stretcher and the Golden Guards were flung out of the painting and tumbled onto the snow.
Basterion turned his head. The Golden Guards were deeply injured, with some severed, and others being restored with yellow threads as ‘recovery’ took place.
“Damn it!”
Basterion loosened the chain blades wrapped around his arms, grabbed them with both hands, and made a determined expression.
“Follow me.”
He leapt into the painting himself.
* * *
The surroundings twisted into the color of the painting, and the space soon shifted, crossing over to a new world.
Thud.
A barren land of black dirt and gravel. Basterion, standing on this ground, looked up.
Goooooo!
Darkness.
It was all darkness. The sky was filled with desolate lands floating in the air, and in front of where he stood, a large gate appeared.
An old, cracked gate.
With high stairs and red tiles, it looked like some sort of entrance. And there, someone sat waiting.
“Welcome, Cult.”
A woman with black hair exuded an eerie killing intent.
The red and vivid horns on her forehead radiated a stronger light than any Golden Guard who had drunk demon blood.
Goooooo!
Her blood-red eyes looked down at Basterion.
“…No wonder all the portals leading here were blocked.”
Basterion, who struggled to catch his breath, gritted his teeth.
“A ‘gatekeeper,’ huh?”
She slowly walked forward, shedding her robe.
Seeing her face, Basterion swallowed nervously and stumbled backward, gripping his chain blades tightly.
“You’re crazy.”
“I’ll go crazy if it means stopping you.”
She raised her hand.
-Crrrrrr!
-Grrr!
The horned creatures, known as goblins in Ten Thousand Years and demons on the continent, answered her call and began emerging from every direction.
“Are you planning to sacrifice yourself for this? Daughter of Nephthys!”
She.
Lorraine Arcbold, intoxicated by the red power like a demon, raised a red dagger in her hand.
“That’s my destiny.”
In Ten Thousand Years, it was Hwangcheon, but on the continent, this place was known as—
‘The Demon Realm.’