As the night deepened, the air grew colder, carrying a dry chill and iron dust particles that clung to their armor—forming a thin layer of rust if left uncleaned. Amidst the oppressive silence, a small campfire burned beneath a sheltered rock recess, serving as the sole source of warmth for the Evernight Gate squad.
The Demolition Unit sat in a circle, their breath visible as white plumes escaping their cloth masks. Their bodies were limp, yet their muscles still twitched from the hydraulic pressure endured in the cramped confines of the mine earlier that day. Before them, rations of hard wheat bread and salty jerky felt like a feast after they had risked their lives beneath the mountain's collapse.
That night, Yoe Choin (in the body of Moen Kang Yo) divided the watch into two shifts. He took the first shift himself alongside a second-year disciple named Gwan, while Jin-Pyo and the others were ordered to sleep in a state of full readiness.
Choin sat upon a flat stone, facing the mine entrance—now blocked by rubble. Resting on his lap was the Black Iron Heavy Sword; its blade still bore small nicks from clashing with the Krugans' pickaxes. He slowly honed the damaged areas with a fine whetstone, his movements rhythmic and calm.
"Young Master..."
Gwan whispered, his voice trembling slightly as he poured water into his leather canteen.
"May I ask you something?"
Choin did not stop sharpening the blade.
"Go ahead, Gwan. As long as it isn't about when we can go home. This project isn't finished yet."
"Why did you save us earlier?"
Gwan lowered his head, gazing into the crackling fire. "We're just peripheral disciples. Under Elder Gong's management, we were nothing more than expendable bait to lure out the enemy. But just now... you held up the weight of that cave ceiling as if our lives were more precious than your own."
Choin stopped sharpening his blade. He looked at Gwan with his blue 'Blueprint' eyes, which reflected the firelight.
"In a building, Gwan, even a small pillar serves to withstand lateral loads. If I let my pillars snap just to conserve my own energy, the entire structure of the Evernight Gate I'm building would collapse."
He leaned forward.
"A good leader never discards materials that still possess structural integrity. You aren't merely tools; you are assets I've invested in through rigorous training. Losing you would be a financial and moral loss I simply cannot accept on my ledger."
Gwan fell silent, his eyes welling up with tears. Choin's cold logic somehow felt warmer than any heroic speech.
"Thank you, Young Master. I... I promise to be a pillar for you that will never crack."
"Hahaha! You're really good at brainwashing them with construction jargon, Foreman,"
the true voice of Moen Kang Yo chimed in within his mind—mocking in tone, yet tinged with acknowledgment.
"But I have to agree. Letting them die back there would have made the journey home feel awfully lonely."
"Just go to sleep, Boss," Choin replied.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll need your demonic energy to carry out the real forced breach."
At two in the morning, Choin tapped the shoulder of Jin-Pyo, who was fast asleep. The giant woke instantly, his hand reflexively grasping his massive mace.
"The second shift begins, Jin-Pyo,"
Choin said quietly.
Jin-Pyo rose, stretching his back muscles until they cracked audibly.
"Understood. Go get some rest, Sir. I'll make sure no 'mine rats' slip out through that rock crevice."
Choin didn't go to sleep right away. He stood beside Jin-Pyo for a moment, gazing at the western sky—starless, obscured by dust.
"Jin-Pyo, we won't be entering via the same route tomorrow morning. I've mapped the cliff's structure. There's a vertical air shaft about fifty meters to the north. That's a weak point in Elder Granite's defenses."
"You want us to drill down at that spot from above?"
Jin-Pyo asked, now beginning to grasp Choin's technical terminology.
"Exactly. We'll enter from above, right over their vault. We'll conduct an audit from their 'roof' before they have a chance to fix their 'front door'."
Choin patted Jin-Pyo on the shoulder.
"Stay alert. Nights in the West often conceal unseen tremors."
Jin-Pyo nodded firmly. For the rest of the night, he stood tall like an iron statue, his eyes scanning the darkness with the precision he had learned from Choin. The bond between them was no longer merely that of leader and follower, but of an architect and a lead executor who understood the weight each other carried.
As the first gray light began to peek over the horizon, Choin stood before his ready troops. There was no frenzied shouting—only efficient, purposeful activity. The disciples checked the tightness of their arm guards, sharpened the tips of their iron chisels, and ensured their water rations were sufficient.
"Listen up!" Choin's voice cut through the silence of dawn.
"Today isn't about mere survival. Today is about Forced Acquisition. Our target is the core chamber of the Black Stone Union. We'll enter through the ventilation shaft on the upper slope. The Demolition Unit will split into two teams."
He pointed toward the steep cliff looming above them.
"Team A, led by Jin-Pyo, will carry the pry bars and earth spikes. You'll widen the air shaft. Team B—with me—will act as the penetration unit. We'll use gravity-assisted weight to accelerate our entry."
"Young Master!" one of the disciples raised a hand.
"What if they're already waiting beneath that air shaft?"
"That's why we'll drop a 'shock charge' first," Choin replied with a faint smirk.
"We'll throw in boulders rigged with low-yield explosives to create a thick cloud of dust. While they lose visibility, we'll descend upon them like the Grim Reaper."
The climb up the cliff was slow but steady. Every step was calculated to avoid triggering a premature rockfall. Upon reaching the coordinates specified by the Blueprint, Choin crouched over an opening covered by rusted iron bars.
"Jin-Pyo, set the pry bar here," Choin ordered.
Taking a deep breath, Jin-Pyo used his immense muscular strength to wrench the bars free. *CRACK!* The old iron gave way, revealing a dark hole that exhaled warm, sulfur-scented air.
"Shock charge—drop it!"
Two large boulders were dropped into the hole, followed by a muffled explosion that made the ground beneath their feet tremble. *BOOM!* Black smoke billowed out.
"The audit begins! Move in!"
Choin was the first to slide down. He employed the "Internal Finishing" breathing technique to brake his descent, scraping his massive sword against the channel wall. Upon landing at the bottom, he was immediately met by a thick cloud of dust and the panicked shouts of Black Stone Union members who had never expected their ceiling to "spring a leak."
"What?! They came in from above?!" screamed a guard, his eyes still stinging from the dust.
Choin gave them no chance. With a single, precise horizontal sweep—capitalizing on the slightly wider space of the central hall—he snapped three enemy spears in one go.
"Summon Elder Granite!" Choin roared, his voice echoing throughout the mine chamber.
"Tell him the Leader of Evernight has arrived!"
Jin-Pyo and the other disciples landed with a heavy thud, instantly forming a defensive circle around Choin. They now stood at the heart of the enemy's stronghold—a vast hall carved directly from black granite, filled with crates of iron ore and raw energy crystals.
Elder Granite emerged from behind a massive stone pillar. His physique dwarfed even Krugan's, his skin resembling a hard, dry layer of cement. He wielded a spiked mace nearly the size of a human body.
"Moen Kang Yo!" Elder Granite growled, his voice sounding like grinding stone.
"You wrecked my home, disrupted my work, and now you dare intrude upon my private sanctum? You truly wish to be buried beneath this earth!"
"Your home has serious structural flaws, Elder," Choin replied, raising his Black Iron sword. The blue "Blueprint" aura in his eyes began scanning Elder Granite's body, searching for cracks in his enemy's "skin armor."
"And as a foreman, I cannot allow an unsafe structure to remain standing. It is time for total demolition."
Beneath the flickering torchlight, the greatest battle in the Western region erupted. It was no longer a matter of elegant sword techniques, but rather a clash of mass, gravity, and the durability of the soul's material.