Chapter 14 - 13: Nightfall Shadows
The night air tasted of dew and distant fire. Jinmu Yeon stood alone on the roof of the modest inn he’d chosen to stay in while the Grand Open Tournament loomed closer by the day. His sword rested across his lap, half-drawn from its sheath, as if listening to the wind that whispered above the tiled roofs of Mugang City. Crimson moonlight bathed the world in a strange sheen, and even the stars tonight seemed uncertain, flickering like breathless watchers.
Still can’t sleep... Jinmu exhaled slowly, his gaze fixed on the horizon as faint lanterns glimmered in the darkness. His mind had been stirring ever since the registration at Mugang Martial Pavilion earlier. He had seen Eun Haria again — the successor of the Yeonhwa Lotus Palace — calm and unreadable as ever, her every movement refined yet carrying the quiet tension of a drawn sword. That, combined with rumors of the Five Major Sect heirs joining the tournament, had left his thoughts restless.
She doesn’t even look fazed... either she doesn’t care about the tournament, or she’s already confident she’ll win it. But if someone like her has to join this fight, then maybe the scale of this thing is a lot bigger than I thought...
He traced the lip of his sword’s guard, fingers faintly glowing with ki. Yeomhwa — Flame Blossom — the first sword he had forged with his own hands, pulsed with warmth even at rest, as if the fire within it breathed with him.
That was when he saw it.
Just beneath the western eaves of the city wall, a flurry of movement — not ordinary city guards nor drunken vagrants — but figures clad in black, robes whipping behind them as they dashed across rooftops with trained, practiced stealth. And at the front... two women. No — one of them was unmistakable.
"...Eun Haria?" Jinmu’s voice came out quietly, but the syllables struck like a stone falling into still water.
He leaned forward, eyes narrowing. Even at this distance, her silver-white uniform trimmed in lotus was distinct against the black-robed pursuers behind her. She moved with agility, dodging across beams, flipping midair, and evading blades drawn under moonlight. But she wasn’t alone. Another figure fought alongside her — the female martial artist Jinmu had seen earlier that day at the registration grounds. The two of them moved in sync, like twin petals swirling in a storm.
"Who the hell...?" Jinmu didn’t finish the sentence. His body was already moving.
In a blur, he leapt from the roof and vanished into the shadows.
I wasn’t planning to get involved tonight. Not yet. Not until the tournament. He ran low, his breath quiet, each step silent across stone and beam as he followed the trail of chaos. But that’s the Yeonhwa successor... and they’re clearly being targeted. What kind of moron attacks someone like her in a city filled with martial elites?
It didn’t take long to catch up.