After Shei saved the Holy Emperor's Court and became a hero, the Empire seemed to covet the position of Guardian of the Holy Emperor's Court once again.
Before long, it became known as though Shei and the Sword Empress had moved under the Empire's orders, and the Empire acted as if it had resolved the longstanding grudge between Jimosin and Cheonsin beneath the surface. Although the Empire never officially stated its position, everyone in the world believed so.
However, the fact that they had been abandoned once could not be taken back. The Holy Emperor's Court did not respond to the Empire's overtures.
As that subtle push and pull continued, the Empire announced that the Mado Federation had supported Jiseon and the Jimosin Cult. That the Jimosin Cultists who fled after Jiseon's death had taken refuge in the Mado Federation.
The Mado Federation was essentially the mastermind that led the attack on the Holy Emperor's Court. The Empire had essentially declared so.
"How arrogant."
"?!"
On the day she received that report, Shei received a visitor.
"Defeated like a dog by the Demon King and crawling on the ground, yet now you're brazenly showing your true colors? Have you gained the confidence to face the Demon King? Otherwise, I can't comprehend it."
"Who are you?"
"Or is the source of that confidence you?"
That red-haired mage walked forward wrapped in a storm. With every step, he exuded a tyrannical force, pressing down on Shei with sheer pressure alone.
"Cheonaeng...!"
Shei, who had grown accustomed to Cheonaeng, exhaled wind and resisted. However, unlike Shei who struggled against the force, he appeared completely at ease.
The first disadvantage Shei had felt since obtaining Cheonaeng and Jijan. She was being pushed back in a contest of pure strength and pressure, not technique or qi. Her technique might have been lacking, but she had never been outmatched in spirit or raw power!
Tensing up, Shei kicked up her still-unfamiliar weapon with her foot and hurled it toward the mage.
"Jijan!"
The sword Jijan, compressing the weight of a mountain. It was a blade without recoil. Merely swinging it would crush everything it touched and advance forward.
Only Jijan, the relic of the Demon God, would work. That was what she believed.
"To penetrate the world of right-handers this deeply without any ability or understanding... Rotten though it may be, still a Demon God."
However, Jijan merely grazed faintly past his side.
Jijan hit nothing and fell uselessly to the ground. Shei was quite shocked. The mage walked slowly toward Jijan, muttering.
"Even the Demon God's relic is nothing more than a heavy club in your hands. A pearl necklace on a pig's neck."
"Don't touch it!"
"I'd rather not follow that request, but—"
Even when the mage touched it, Jijan did not budge.
Jimosin had granted Shei power equal to its weight. In other words, it meant Shei was a being chosen by Jimosin.
The unpermitted mage could not even move Jijan. The mage responded as if he had expected as much.
"Tch. So that's how it is. Annoying."
Shei was, by definition, a qi practitioner. She had always faced swords, spears, and qi techniques. She lacked experience facing the heterogeneous power of a mage.
Above all, a mage's Intrinsic Demon Art was the power to force one's mental image as the world's rule. To overcome that, one had to grasp, analyze, and find the weakness in the opponent's Intrinsic Demon Art. That was far too difficult for Shei, who relied on instinct.
Perhaps mages were more troublesome opponents for Shei than Jiseon.
Hearing the commotion, the Sword Empress rushed over. She recognized at a glance that the opponent was a mage and spoke.
"A mage of the Floating Star. Did you come because of the grudge with the Jimosin Cult?"
"Grudges are what you ignorant masses talk about. We merely provided various conveniences to Jiseon in exchange for Demon God research."
"...In other words, you're on the Jimosin Cult's side. The Empire's reasoning was correct."
"Reasoning? Make up whatever excuse you want. Hasn't our awkward relationship been going on for more than a day or two?"
After the allied forces were defeated by the Demon King during the Wigeum War, an odd tension lingered between the Imperial territories and the Mado Federation.
The Mado Federation's power was asymmetric force. The Mado Federation, which had cultivated the power of magic in its independent domain, could impose one-sided losses with asymmetric military strength.
In terms of national power, the Empire was clearly stronger, but even marching into that northern land, the Empire's probability of conquering the Mado Federation was low. If the Demon King was alive, that probability converged to zero.
Meanwhile, the Mado Federation, where refugees from the Imperial territories had crossed over, was ideologically and ethnically little different from the Empire. It was a situation where they couldn't simply be hostile, yet couldn't easily be friendly either.
Each was a thorn in the other's eye and a needle under the tongue. The very fact of sharing a border made them uncomfortable nations.
The mage pointed out that fact as if it were someone else's business.
"The Empire designated the Mado Federation as the mastermind not because the Mado Federation is the mastermind. They designated us because they're 'now' confident they can win 100%."
The Sword Empress's expression changed slightly. It was a subtle change that only Shei, who had constantly faced her master, could notice.
"I came thinking you might be the reason... But you're not even close. If you can't even reach me, you won't catch the Demon King's eye either."
"If you continue to attack my disciple, I'll gladly catch that eye, Wicked Mage."
"I never attacked. If a mage decided to attack, it wouldn't end this half-heartedly. It would end before there's even time to react."
Those words were likely a prelude to what was to come. The mage shrugged and turned around.
"Take good care of the Demon God. I don't care how many ignorant masses die, but if the Demon God gets stashed away somewhere again, it'll be annoying to retrieve."
And the mage rose into the air and quickly disappeared from sight.
The mage's unexpected visit gave Shei quite a refreshing shock. A heterogeneous power different from strength and skill. There wasn't only the power of qi in the world. There was power that rewrote the world's rules, like the Demon God and Intrinsic Demon Arts.
She felt her horizons expanding. Though she had essentially suffered a crushing defeat, Shei somehow felt refreshed.
The Sword Empress glanced at Shei and muttered.
"Shei. You have reached the pinnacle, so you no longer need teachings. Accumulate experience on your own."
"Huh? Master, why?"
"The time has come. I need to resolve a grudge I postponed in order to take on a disciple."
The Sword Empress said so and tried to leave just like that without any preparations. When the Sword Empress who had lived together with her for years tried to leave, a flustered Shei called out to her.
"I'll help too!"
The Sword Empress asked back in a tone that seemed to forcibly sever something.
"Do you know who he is?"
"No. But if he's Master's enemy, he must be a villain. If so, I can..."
"Not at all."
"Huh?"
"You're saying you'll kill someone you don't even know and don't even hate."
Why did she look so angry? Shei said, slightly cowed.
"If it's Master's enemy, then I can..."
"Are you telling your master to break her precepts?"
The Sword Empress's low tone carried an undercurrent of anger.
"I won't force death upon someone who has nothing to do with me. The same goes for my disciple. If you are my disciple, don't concern yourself with my grudge."
"I am concerned! I'm Master's disciple!"
"Remain my disciple."
It contained the meaning that if she didn't comply, she would be expelled.
She didn't want to let go of her master, but Shei absolutely did not want to be expelled. Even if she moved on to the next cycle, the fact that she was expelled would remain in Shei's heart.
Seeing Shei clench her jaw, the Sword Empress smiled softly.
"Shei, thank you. For becoming my disciple."
And so the Sword Empress left.
And in that cycle, Shei could not see the Sword Empress again.
Not long after, 'Pride' fell.
'Pride' was the world's period. Just by being marked, the world ended.
Civilization too is a tower built upon a solid foundation. When that foundation itself crumbles, it collapses like a sandcastle.
Shattered land, rising lava, earthquakes and tsunamis, fires and extreme cold. The broken earth rose to cover the sky, and the world lost its light.
Thanks to the Empire and the Holy Emperor's Court desperately blocking 'Pride,' it didn't truly end, but the world had already reached an irreversible state.
The great traitor who dropped stars upon the world was the Demon King, the leader of the Mado Federation. The Empire designated the Demon King as a public enemy and marched out to destroy the Mado Federation. People who lost their homes due to 'Pride' supported them, and a fierce army of one million ravaged the Mado Federation's land with indignation and fury.
Until the Demon King appeared.
Even the Sword Saint was defeated by the Demon King. The Empire's foremost qi practitioners ultimately couldn't reach the Demon King. If the Ecliptic Twelve Palaces hadn't burned their lives to drive the Demon King back, they would have been annihilated on the spot.
At the cost of inflicting minor wounds on the Demon King, the allied forces suffered near-annihilating damage. With the Sword Saint dead, no one could stop the Demon King now.
The damage from 'Pride' came first, leaving no time to replenish their strength, and the price of defeat left security and defense in ruins. The Empire and its vassal states fragmented, and rebel armies and evil cults sprang up everywhere.
Homeless hatred roamed the world, and the world filled with indignation. Sunlight was filtered through dust and turned dim. The world defeated by the Demon King was now left with nothing but endless darkness.
And at this point, she appeared again.
The King of Sins.
The King of Sins dropped the Floating Star and killed the Demon King. When that fact was conveyed, the people of the world rejoiced. They believed she was an executor of divine punishment who came to punish the Demon King, and a king who would lead humanity to the bright path.
And the King of Sins neither affirmed nor denied it. There was no one left to hear it. For she had to judge humanity's sins.
Endlessly weakened, humanity thus writhed and perished.