"Hey. Muryeong."
Miryeong beckoned.
"Here, fire."
Muryeong walked silently over to the pile of dry branches and raised a palm.
For a moment, something like a tiny spark of lightning flickered.
With a soft crack, an ember caught,
and a thin flame spread cautiously.
They did not stoke it high.
Only as much as needed.
A low fire that looked as if it would die at a brush of wind.
And soon, the gaze
shifted toward the tent.
—
"Bido!"
The tent entrance flapped as Raen poked her head inside.
A thick tail swayed.
"Ah right. I'm Raen!"
"Back then… right? You remember me?"
Bido nodded with a face still clouded by daze.
"Ah… hello."
"Yeah, Raen… I'm Bido."
Raen looked at Bido's back and raised an eyebrow.
"But aren't you going to put down that sword?"
"It looks heavy."
Bido's hand instinctively gripped the leather strap tighter.
"Ah… this…"
"I can't let it fall from my body…"
The end of the sentence trailed off softly.
Bido hesitated for a moment, unable to continue.
Raen tilted her head,
then quickly nodded as if she understood.
"Hm."
"You must have a reason."
Raen immediately changed the subject.
With that characteristic naturalness of hers.
"Was the way here hard?"
"Didn't you get here in just one day?"
Bido shrugged once.
"Ah… just, well…"
Raen suddenly rummaged through her clothes.
Then she took out a few small fruits and held them out to Bido.
"Eat these!"
"They're sweet."
Bido absentmindedly took one.
"Ah… thanks, Raen."
The moment the fruit entered Bido's mouth and was chewed,
a truly sweet taste spread.
Bido looked up at Raen without thinking.
Seeing that gaze,
Raen spoke in a whisper, needlessly more excited.
"Right?"
"And… don't mind Maho."
As Bido blinked, Raen shrugged.
"People are just like that."
"No attachment."
Then the tent entrance flapped again.
Miryeong entered nonchalantly.
"Hey, brat."
"It's cramped in here. Go to Maho."
Raen immediately shook her head.
"No."
Raen thumped her tail on the ground and burrowed even closer to Bido.
"Bido, you're going to sleep with me, right?"
"Right?"
For a moment, Bido felt choked and could only let out an "Ah…"
Sending Miryeong a pleading look,
but she simply smiled back despite seeing it.
Raen looked even more convinced.
"See."
"She said it's fine."
Miryeong pretended to sigh and waved her hand.
"You brats."
"Just hurry up and sleep."
With the sweet taste of the fruit still lingering in Bido's mouth,
Bido carefully nodded.
Raen was already pulling the blanket over herself as if it were her spot.
Outside, the fire burned low.
Voices gradually faded,
and footsteps grew distant between the tents.
The night deepened.
—
"Hey, Rangnan!"
A voice tearing through the morning air hung over the camp.
Rather than a shout,
it was a rough sound that seemed barely restrained.
Raen, who had been curled up sleeping beside Bido, tossed inside the tent.
"Ah… what the heck."
"First thing in the morning, really…"
Raen grumbled without even being able to open her eyes properly.
Outside, Rangnan was already standing.
As though untouched by the night,
he waited quietly.
Maho strode over and spoke.
"Ah, you were awake."
"So, we need to talk, don't we?"
Rangnan nodded.
"Let's talk after we eat."
Maho's face stiffened with a What? expression.
The moment his lips parted to speak—
Thwack.
Something struck his side,
right around his waist.
Maho didn't budge.
He only turned his head slowly.
There stood Raen.
With her eyes half-open,
she shook her clenched hand and spoke.
"What are you doing first thing in the morning, Maho!"
"I was having such a good dream!"
Maho looked Raen up and down once.
"Must be nice. Really."
Raen pouted,
then suddenly grinned.
"Well, after spending all your time with just old men…"
Raen deliberately trailed off and glanced at Bido.
"Isn't it a little nice to have someone pretty like Bido around?"
Maho's eyebrows twitched slightly.
He couldn't win with words.
His face looked like he was swallowing curses internally.
At that commotion, tents began to stir one by one.
People poked their heads out,
people emerged tightening their belts.
Miryeong also came out of her tent and stifled a yawn,
and Kallen saw the situation and deliberately averted his gaze.
Maho looked around once.
And eventually,
let out a short sigh.
"Fine, fine."
"We'll talk after eating."
As if she had won, Raen dug herself back in beside Bido,
and Rangnan casually turned his gaze toward meal preparations.
Morning was beginning.
And,
matters that needed to be discussed were awakening as well.
—
Cloth was untied,
bread was torn,
and jerky was ripped into pieces.
The water skin was passed around.
Raen did not leave Bido's side.
Words that had continued since yesterday
did not cease even in the morning.
"Bido, did you know? In my dream yesterday—"
Bido nodded with a face that didn't know whether to laugh or not.
The sweet taste of the fruit still seemed to linger at the tip of Bido's tongue.
All that commotion,
Maho watched from atop a rock a short distance away.
Simply standing alone with arms crossed,
rolling only his eyes.
As though that lot were a pack of beasts.
—
Once things had settled somewhat,
Maho opened his mouth first.
His gaze turned toward Rangnan.
"So."
"Do you think that brat… can do it?"
Rangnan answered immediately.
"The preparations are done."
"Not just Bido, but all of us must accomplish this."
Maho twisted the corner of his mouth very slightly.
"What about me?"
Rangnan drew a flow with his finger,
traced a short line in the air, and spoke.
"If Bido blocks Roan's Mireukin."
"That is when it begins."
He looked straight at Maho.
"You fight Roan together with Aseullo and me."
Maho raised his chin and looked around.
"But."
"What's with all these people?"
Rangnan answered.
"They all have roles."
Maho scoffed.
"Just block the Mireukin."
"Then I'll take him on alone."
A strange certainty was mixed into his voice.
"I've never lost to that bastard."
Rangnan cut in.
"The Roan of now."
"Is not the person he was in his youth."
For a moment, a confrontation continued.
Eyes that refused to back down a single step.
Then Raen cut in.
Still standing beside Bido with her arms crossed.
"Maho."
Raen pouted.
"You promised to listen to Rangnan."
Maho's lips contorted.
"Tch…"
That one word ended it.
Rangnan spoke as if wrapping things up.
"Then we proceed according to plan."
"Everyone, remember your positions well."
A small tension circulated among the people.
Each person's place.
Each person's role.
Then Maho once again
turned his head toward Bido.
"But."
"Really, that little fairy…"
Maho chewed his words for a moment, then quickly changed them.
"No."
"That black-haired brat."
"Can they do it?"
As Bido's eyes widened, Maho added,
"Yeah. Was the name Bido?"
Rangnan looked at Bido.
Instead of answering,
he spoke briefly.
"It would be better to experience it directly."
At those words and that gaze,
Bido slowly stepped forward.
Toes treaded the ground more carefully.
Maho stepped closer and jerked his chin.
"Yeah, kid."
"Once."
"Try that seal or whatever on me."
Bido looked around.
Miryeong nodded.
Aseullo also quietly nodded.
Bido drew the sword.
The hand gripping the hilt
trembled faintly once, then stopped.
Then Raen suddenly spoke excitedly.
"Bido! Just stab him real good!"
Miryeong looked at Raen, but
Raen was already tilting her chin up at Maho.
Maho smiled and tapped his own chest with a finger.
"No need to hold back."
"Stab as hard as you can."
At those words, Bido turned to Rangnan.
Rangnan nodded as well.
Bido took a breath and focused.
Eyes reddened, and scales sprouted beneath them.
And Bido aligned the sword tip with where Maho had pointed.
The sword—
moved forward.
Not the sensation of piercing flesh, but of hitting something and slipping.
But the moment it touched, Bido 'felt' it.
An immense vitality.
And from inside it,
something completely different from human flow,
a colossal something was overlaid.
Bido's vision shook for a moment.
"Ungh…"
Bido reflexively pulled the sword free,
took a step back, and promptly fell on Bido's rear.
Raen was the first to jump out.
"Bido!"
Raen grabbed Bido's shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
And then she raised her head sharply and glared at Maho.
"What did you do, Maho!"
Miryeong tried to step forward too, but stopped.
Maho's chest.
From where the sword had touched—
It wasn't blood.
Instead of red, flames rose low.
Not flames that burned flesh,
but flames that seemed to seep out from within,
strangely 'breathing' flames.
Without paying it any mind,
Maho swept the flames down with his palm as if brushing them away.
The flames slowly subsided.
And he smiled.
"Strange feeling."
Maho pressed his chest with his fingertips for a moment,
and muttered.
"The human side… seems blocked."
He turned his head
and looked at Bido once.
That gaze held a mix of recognition.
"Still."
"The Dragon Soul can't be helped."
Maho turned his body.
As if the conclusion was already reached.
"Fine."
"Approved."
He spoke briefly.
"Prepare."
"We need to move."
Held by Raen's hand,
Bido still couldn't catch Bido's breath properly.
The sword remained cold in Bido's hand.
That immense overwhelming pressure
still remained inside Bido's chest.