The fire from the collapsed catacombs burned for three days.
When it finally died, the city of Wuhon was half in ruins temples sunken into the earth, canals turned crimson from spilled blood and dust. Rumors spread faster than the smoke:
The Seal was broken.
The Heir of Varos walks again.
And at the heart of those whispers, one name kept returning — Han Jaewon.
Sumi woke to the stench of medicine and damp wood. She was lying in a small riverside hut, bandages across her ribs. Outside, rain whispered against the roof.
Jaewon sat at the window, silent. His black cloak hung wet beside him, and his sword lay across his knees. The faintest silver veins pulsed beneath the skin of his hands remnants of the Seal's light.
"You've been awake this whole time?" she asked softly.
He didn't look at her. "Couldn't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see him Baek, and… the other me."
Sumi sat up, wincing. "You resisted it. That's what matters."
He finally turned. His eyes still faintly red at the edges said otherwise.
"No. I touched the Seal. The moment I did, something opened. I could feel every heartbeat in the city, every drop of blood in the air. It was intoxicating."
She hesitated. "And now?"
"Now it's quieter," he said. "But not gone."
The silence between them stretched. Outside, a bell tolled in the distance the mourning chime of the Yin Council.
Sumi's expression darkened. "They'll come for us."
Council of Hunters
Far above Wuhon, within the mountain fortress of Daeryun Hall, twelve masters of the Yin Order sat around a circular table of jade and ash wood. Their robes bore the symbols of the twelve original sects now fractured and distrustful.
At the head sat Grandmaster Jinho, his hair white as frost. His eyes, however, were still sharp as blades.
"Reports confirm," said Elder Yu, slamming a scroll onto the table. "The second Seal has been shattered. Thousands dead. And the one seen leaving the ruins carried the mark of Varos."
The council erupted in voices.
"Blasphemy!"
"Heir or not, he's no longer one of us!"
"Exile him before it spreads!"
Grandmaster Jinho raised his hand. Silence returned like a blade slicing air.
"Han Jaewon," he said slowly, "was our most promising hunter. If he carries the blood of Varos, it must be studied contained."
Elder Yu spat. "Containment? He's a walking curse. The last time the blood awakened, it nearly drowned the continent."
Jinho's gaze hardened. "And if we turn him away, he'll have no choice but to seek those who welcome his kind."
The chamber fell silent.
Because they all knew who that meant — Lord Baek.
In the ruins of an ancient palace deep in the southern marshlands, Lord Baek stood before a gathering of shadows.
Fangs, remnants, fallen monks every breed of cursed soul had come to answer his call. Their faces were hidden beneath hoods, their Qi warped by blood corruption.
Baek raised his hands. "For centuries, the hunters hunted us. But the moon is shifting. The Heir of Varos breathes again proof that the blood cannot be erased."
He pointed toward the sky, where the moon hung half red.
"This is our signal. Our time."
He gestured to the figures kneeling before him. "Swear your allegiance to me, and together we will forge the Crimson Pact. Not as monsters, not as fugitives but as the true inheritors of balance."
A hundred voices murmured in unison, repeating his words.
"The Crimson Pact."
Among them, a young monk lifted his head pale skin, hunter's scars across his arms. His eyes burned with conflicted loyalty.
Baek smiled. "Rise, disciple of the fallen sect. Serve me well, and I'll return to you the one thing your masters denied — immortality."
The monk bowed. "As you command… Lord Baek."
Night had settled by the time Jaewon and Sumi reached the northern gate. They'd planned to leave quietly, heading west toward the mountain passes until they saw the banners.
Dozens of hunters stood at the checkpoint, their armor marked with the Council's crest. The captain unfurled a scroll and read aloud:
"By decree of the Grand Council, the hunter Han Jaewon is declared excommunicated and condemned. For the breaking of the Second Seal, for communion with blood demons, and for the death of fellow hunters, he is to be executed upon sight."
Jaewon stared at the parchment in silence.
Sumi's hand trembled on her sword. "They're blaming you?"
He smiled bitterly. "Of course they are. They need a name to bury the truth under."
Before they could retreat, a voice called from behind.
"Jaewon!"
He turned — and froze.
Jinwoo stood among the approaching hunters, his face torn between fury and disbelief. His once-brother-in-arms now wore the insignia of the Iron Vow Division, the Council's enforcers.
"Tell me it isn't true," Jinwoo said. "Tell me you didn't break the Seal."
"I didn't mean to." Jaewon's voice was low. "It was already cracking. Baek forced my hand."
"You touched it." Jinwoo's eyes burned. "You let it in!"
Sumi stepped forward. "He saved your damned city—"
"Enough!" Jinwoo shouted. "The Council's orders are clear. Han Jaewon, by the authority of the Yin Council, you are under arrest."
Jaewon looked at his old friend then at the hunters raising their blades.
"Then you'll have to kill me."
The rain fell harder, the ground slick beneath their feet. Jinwoo drew his twin sabers, each one humming with Qi resonance. Jaewon's sword glimmered faintly crimson at the edges.
When they clashed, the sound cracked the night open.
Jinwoo's strikes were fast precise, trained from years under Master Han. Jaewon's movements were instinctive, unpredictable, his strength unnervingly beyond human limits.
"Stand down!" Jinwoo shouted between blows.
"I can't," Jaewon growled. "There's something inside me if I stop now, it'll break loose."
"Then I'll stop you myself!"
Their blades met again, sparks flying. For a brief second, Jaewon's reflection in Jinwoo's blade had fangs. He hesitated and Jinwoo slashed across his chest.
Blood splattered the cobblestones. Jaewon staggered back and the crimson within him flared.
Sumi screamed, "Jaewon, don't!"
Too late.
The red light burst from his wound like a living flame. His shadow expanded, twisting into tendrils that lashed out at the approaching hunters. The air thickened with killing intent; the rain hissed as it met his aura.
Jinwoo's eyes widened. "Gods…"
Jaewon grabbed his sword, forcing the power back down with sheer will. His veins pulsed black, then stilled. He dropped to one knee, gasping. "Go," he rasped to Sumi. "Now."
She hesitated. "I won't—"
"Now!"
She threw a smoke talisman to the ground. The street filled with choking mist. When it cleared, Jaewon and Sumi were gone leaving behind shattered blades and stunned hunters.
Hours later, deep in the forest north of Wuhon, Sumi tended to Jaewon's wound. His body was burning cold Qi flickering wildly between light and dark.
"You're tearing yourself apart," she whispered.
He managed a faint smile. "Story of my life."
She looked at him the same man she'd trained with for years, now caught between two worlds. "What are we going to do?"
Jaewon's gaze turned toward the horizon. "Find the next Seal. If Baek reaches it first, this world ends."
"And if the Council finds us first?"
"Then we'll fight both."
He stood, despite the pain, and adjusted his cloak. The crimson veins on his arm dimmed as he clenched his fist.
Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled but its echo was strangely human.
Sumi sighed. "You're impossible."
"Maybe," he said. "But I'm still me."
Meanwhile…
In the depths of the marsh palace, Lord Baek stood before a newly completed sigil a circle of blood and gold.
Behind him knelt the newly converted dozens of former hunters now marked with red tattoos that pulsed in rhythm with the moon.
He raised his hand.
"Tonight, we bind our fates. Let the hunters hunt their own. Let their fear do my work."
He cut his palm and let his blood drip into the sigil. The circle blazed with light, spreading outward across the land like veins through the earth.
And in the far-off forest, Jaewon felt it a distant pull, a whisper beneath his heartbeat.
Heir of Varos… join the pact.
He opened his eyes. The crimson glow returned — brighter this time.
"Baek's moving faster," he muttered.
Sumi looked up. "Then we'll move faster."
Jaewon nodded, gripping his sword. "To the next Seal."
The moon, half red, rose higher.