The other two cartel men stood tense, knives drawn with shaky hands. One of them licked his dry lips and whispered, "Bro… I think we've got an aura user here."
"No," the second said, narrowing his eyes. "I can't feel anything from him. Not even a ripple of energy. So how the hell did he—?"
Before the sentence finished, Baek Ri-hyun moved.
His hand seized the bald man's head with terrifying ease, lifting the thug off the ground like a sack of leaves. The bald man's limbs flailed, boots kicking at air. His partners froze.
"Let him down!" the third man shouted, stepping forward with false bravado, aura trembling at the edge of his blade.
Ri-hyun glanced down at the knife, his gaze disinterested but piercing. He tilted his head. "Hm? That energy… You're imbuing it with internal force. But that's not how you use internal energy."
"What did you just—?"
Before the question left his mouth, Ri-hyun's fingers twitched. A swift flick of his hand struck the man's temple with a force like a thunderclap. The sound echoed through the forest. The thug's body shot backward like a ragdoll and crashed into a tree trunk with a brutal crack. He slumped to the ground, unconscious before he hit the mossy roots.
"Brother!" the bald man cried out, helpless in Ri-hyun's grip.
"I'll give it! I'll give you food! Just spare us!" the bald man sobbed, tears streaking down his face. His legs dangled, powerless. "Please!"
The remaining thug dropped his knife with a metallic clatter and fell to his knees, hands raised. "He's serious! Don't kill us!"
Ri-hyun studied the man writhing in his grasp for a moment longer before gently lowering him to the ground. "Prepare food. Bread. Enough for everyone."
"Yes, yes! Of course!" the bald man scrambled away, trembling. "We'll bring it, I swear! Just don't kill us!"
With no further glance, Ri-hyun turned and walked calmly back toward the forest trail where the old carriage waited.
"Damn…" the bald man muttered, holding his bruised skull. "What the hell was up with his grip? Felt like my head was gonna explode!"
He turned to his companions. "Go, go! Bring the bread—fast! Before he changes his mind."
Back by the carriage, anxious eyes watched the trees.
"You've returned!" cried the old beggar. "We heard shouting, crashes… What happened? Are you hurt?"
Ri-hyun dusted off his sleeves and shrugged. "I just… pleaded for bread, that's all."
The beggars exchanged looks, horror and admiration mixing in their eyes. In their minds, they pictured Ri-hyun beaten or tortured for their sake. The moment felt heavy with unspoken gratitude.
Not long after, the cartel men returned—arms full of bread. More than enough to feed the starving crowd for the night. As the loaves were passed around, Ri-hyun sat with his back to the fire, his gaze locked on the men distributing the food. His eyes alone warned them: Try anything, and I will end you.
The cartel men said nothing. They merely dropped the bread and fled into the woods.
Morning came cold and quiet. The beggars resumed their journey, the rickety carriage groaning beneath their weight as they ascended toward the mountains.
"Old man," Ri-hyun asked softly, "what is this village we're heading to? Everyone seems... on edge."
The beggar exhaled slowly, eyes haunted. "It's the cartel… the Nyx Cartel."
Ri-hyun said nothing, so the man continued.
"They're a powerful criminal group, selling poison across the kingdoms. Their operations are hidden from the eyes of the lords, buried deep in the Mara Mountains. That's where we're going. Right between the Beleville Kingdom, the Ciria Kingdom, and the Altaria Empire. Nobody touches this place. Nobody dares."
"I see." Ri-hyun nodded. "Even if it was just for one night… we managed to fill our stomachs."
The beggars around him smiled faintly, eyes brimming with gratitude.
Ri-hyun leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "I'm just repaying a favor. From a beggar I knew long ago."
He closed his eyes, and in the fading warmth of the sun, whispered: "Geoji… Maybe I've repaid that debt."
Hours later, the carriage stopped. The path ahead was too steep. The cartel men barked orders, forcing the group to continue on foot. The trail narrowed as they climbed, trees thinning until the peaks of the Mara Mountains loomed around them, brushing the clouds.
At last, the village came into view.
It was a cruel contrast—ramshackle homes patched together from wood and scrap surrounded a large, well-constructed manor that towered above everything else like a scar across the sky.
"Keep moving!" the bald man snapped.
Ri-hyun glared at him with a gaze colder than steel. The thug flinched, stepping back involuntarily. "Heek!"
As they entered the village, a wave of revulsion washed over Ri-hyun. Something stank in the air. Not filth, but despair.
He saw a villager—barefoot, twitching, eyes glassy with bliss. Purple veins pulsed beneath his skin.
"So that's the drug," Ri-hyun murmured. "Strong enough to put a man into ecstasy."
A man stood before them, dressed in a sharp black noble's coat. In his right hand, a longsword glinted with cruel polish.
The man smiled without warmth. "You are now workers. If you disobey, you die."
Two masked enforcers dragged forward a prisoner, his head covered with a sack.
"No! Please! Give me another chance—!"
Before the words finished, the sword flashed. A head rolled.
The man sneered. "Tch. My sword is dirty now."
Ri-hyun turned to the man beside him. "Who's that?"
"What!? You don't know!?" the man whispered, shocked. "That's Kaiser Veredin—leader of the Nyx Cartel! Former knight of the Beleville Kingdom!"
"I see…" Ri-hyun muttered. "His energy barely reaches the second-rate level."
"Doesn't matter," the man said. "He's one of the top swordsmen on the continent."
Kaiser's voice thundered. "Get back to work! If we fail to meet quota, you know what happens!"
He turned and strode into the grand house. Moments later, the village echoed with the snap of whips.
Hunters trudged past, boars slung over their shoulders. Their eyes were hollow. Their backs, scarred.
"They were once free," the man beside Ri-hyun said. "Fed their families. Now they're slaves."
"I didn't ask," Ri-hyun replied.
"Haha… Guess you didn't. Doesn't matter anyway. No one's escaping this hell."
He extended a hand. "I'm Ciro. Just Ciro."
"Baek Ri-hyun," he answered. "Baek's my surname."
"Huh. Surname first? You're not from around here, are you?"
"Don't mind it," Ri-hyun said. "Because this place… will fall soon."
Ciro blinked. "What?"
"Ciro," Ri-hyun said calmly, "how many people do you know in this village?"
"I know them all by now. But why?"
Ri-hyun turned to face the village, his voice like the quiet before a storm. "Gather them. Tonight."
Ciro blinked again. "Gather them? Why—?"
Then he felt it.
A pressure unlike anything he'd known. Golden light shimmered faintly around Ri-hyun's body. Not visible to all, but to Ciro—who'd once tasted aura—it was blinding. Terrifying. Divine.
"We will erase the cartel," Ri-hyun said, smiling. His eyes glowed like molten gold. "Once the night comes, their rule ends."