Dust swirled over the cliff.
A man wearing a silver mask stood face-to-face with Ye Kang-oh, the youngest disciple of the Grandmaster of the Black Sky Clan.
"You won't be able to retreat any further."
A voice like a blade of frost flowed from Ye Kang-oh's lips. It was a rare occurrence. Because Ye Kang-oh was the subject of rumors claiming that a virtuous man had emerged from the Black Sky Clan.. But the force radiating from him now was no less than that of his master, Jin-rang, the Grandmaster of the Black Sky Clan.
The masked man silently adjusted his grip on his Seopseon¹.
Ye Kang-oh was right. There was nowhere left to retreat.
Ye Kang-oh was the first to strike the ground.
From his sword, streaks of black sword energy burst forth. Though the masked man held only a folding fan, he blocked Kang-oh's sword. Once could be called coincidence. But the masked man faced his opponent without a single misstep.
Having his attacks constantly blocked by his opponent's defense was a rare experience for Kang-oh. Still, Kang-oh did not stop, pressing forward with his attacks.
The sun busily chased after Kang-oh's sword strikes. The sword technique displayed by the beloved disciple of the Grandmaster of the Black Sky Clan, who was said to have ruled half the martial world, was full of deadly killing moves. If there were someone watching, they would have screamed at the sight of the countless white sword lights pouring down and imagined the masked man's tragic end.
This wasn't a spar. It was a one-sided pursuit and silent defense.
Without even a single counterattack, the masked man who was only being pushed back had already been driven to the cliff's edge. Even so, his white robes didn't flap wildly, and his even breathing stood in contrast to Kang-oh's bloodshot eyes.
His unrelenting silence made his chest burn. As if a thousand years of drought had come crashing down at once.
With repeated clashes, the ground beneath the two martial artists seemed on the verge of collapse. But neither Ye Kang-oh nor the masked man took a single step from the sheer cliff's edge.
One step, just one step, and he would fall. Even so, from the man who raised his folding fan to block Kang-oh's sword, not even the slightest hint of fear could be felt.
Incredibly bold, and even more incomparably strong.
There was a confidence that even if he fell from here, he wouldn't die. And beyond that, a determination not to let Kang-oh, who claimed to be his enemy, die either.
Ye Kang-oh knew this. This wasn't meant to defeat his opponent. It was just a means to confirm the truth from him.
Beyond the mask, calm eyes quietly met Kang-oh's. That gaze, so familiar, and so dearly missed.
Ye Kang-oh gathered his internal energy.
Ziiing—
The sword Kang-oh held, Dansa (断思), cried out as if responding to the storm-like energy surging from its master. And soon, it turned pitch black, as if it had been forged from black iron.
For the first time, the masked man's eyebrows twitched at the energy that went beyond mere sword energy.
It was the final strike. However, it wasn't aimed at the opponent's life. He spread out Geumnasu² and blocked the folding fan with one hand. His palm tore open, and blood dripped down.
In the brief moment the masked man flinched, Ye Kang-oh's sword sliced through his mask.
Clang—
As the mask split in half, features like a sculpture, so perfect they seemed not of this world, were revealed.
Skin so white it looked like powder would rub off if touched, a sharply extending nose bridge, and perfectly shaped lips. Features so refined they seemed carved by a master artisan, untouched by time. Hair that was once as black as samdan³ had turned white, like the snowy peaks of the northern mountains. Still beautiful, yet now tinged with a fragile, wistful aura as if he might scatter into the air. As the mask came off, the eyes revealed beneath slowly blinking lashes held a pure and radiant glow, as if black jade had been set into them.
It was a shame that no one besides Ye Kang-oh and the sun had seen it. It was an appearance infinitely close to a work of art.
However, even faced with such a man, so worthy of endless admiration, Ye Kang-oh's expression slowly fell apart.
There was no way he wouldn't recognize that face. Not because he was a once-in-a-generation beauty comparable to Song-ok and Ban-ak, but because he had once been Kang-oh's guardian.
"…Is it you?"
That man, whom the youngest disciple of the Black Sky Clan, Ye Kang-oh, had revered and loved without end. The man the entire martial world believed to have vanished without a trace, White Virtue Clan's Grandmaster, Dan Woo-Hyo, was right there.
"This whole time… was it you?"
Even after repeated questioning, Dan Woo-Hyo did not answer.
Kang-oh felt like he was going mad. An ember was burning inside him.
He thought it strange. He only thought it was strange…
The entire martial world was shaken by the appearance of a masked stranger claiming to be the Grandmaster of the White Virtue Clan. But in that moment, only Kang-oh saw in that self-proclaimed leader of the Righteous Path the image of Woo, the slave who was once under his command.
After that, as Kang-oh pursued the masked man, he gradually began to recover his lost memories.
While hoping it wouldn't be so, he still ended up leading him to this cliff. And now, everything was clear. The long-forgotten memories poured over him in an instant, along with lost emotions.
Ye Kang-oh threw his cherished sword onto Dan Woo-Hyo's broken mask. Emptiness spilled over Kang-oh's lips.
"Even as I suspected it might be you, I kept hoping it wasn't… You have no idea how many times I repeated to myself that it couldn't be."
Woo-hyo, standing before Kang-oh whose face was twisted with emotion, slowly traced over that face with his gaze. Even while looking at him, he thought he wanted to see him.
He had promised himself he would spend a lifetime simply longing. But Kang-oh relentlessly chased after Woo-Hyo, and in the end, found him like this.
The one-sided pursuit ended in Dan Woo-Hyo's defeat.
The day Ye Kang-oh had stood at the edge of that cliff had remained hidden in complete darkness. But now, it was as vivid as if it had happened just yesterday. He took the dagger in place of Woo-Hyo, embraced the man falling off the cliff, and endured. Hoping that he, Dan Woo-Hyo, could remain radiant forever.
But reality moved on a different trajectory than the boy had wished. Pushed along by the relentless current of fate, Pushed by the helpless flow of fate, Ye Kang-oh forgot Dan Woo-Hyo, hurt him, and ultimately lost him.
The past had caught up to Kang-oh. Regret that crushed his lungs and the pain that came with it burst from Kang-oh's lips.
"That lowly servant...! Not even once has he ever dreamed of a future with you! Then why are you here? Why? Why...!"
Woo, who had remained silent all along, bitterly laughed at that sorrowful cry.
That was why he could so easily throw his life away. He probably didn't see it as a sacrifice.
"Is that why you did it?"
At Woo's chilling question, Kang-oh clenched his teeth. It was a questioning about what had happened at this place ten years ago.
Kang-oh hadn't regretted his choice back then.
He thought it would be enough if it remained as even a sliver of memory in Woo's heart. Even if Woo held hands with another beautiful lady and married, he hoped he would remember that once, there had been a lowly man who died for him.
It was an act done only in the hope of that.
Because he didn't believe in love. He didn't expect a future for them. But then why... why is that man standing in front of him now?
Has he come from the highest place to the lowest, beyond memories stained with tears and blood like these?