The Citadel of Bingyeon (Ice Smoke)

Episode 17: The Gate

The crimson emergency signal lights shot up as if they would pierce the sky, relentlessly boring into the bleak gray heavens and dyeing the entire stone throne room an ominous blood-red. But beneath the glass crown of the star above my head, pulsing with a faint yet heavy sense of weight, all the fear and panic that had persistently pursued me since that inspection that fell through the rift in space-time had completely, utterly vanished. I was no longer merely a drifter floating through the air while fleeing from the dark shadows. I was the absolute core that would perfectly rule and govern this entire kingdom, the true ruler.

I quietly looked back at Chan-yeon oppa, Hyeonjin, and Jiseok. Since they had been cruelly imprisoned and confined in the fortress dungeon, their clothes were all torn and their skin was covered in wounds and blood, but in the eyes that stared back at me, there was still only a perfect, unbroken narrative of absolute devotion toward me, shining there.

A smooth, firm, confident smile slowly spread from the corners of my lips.

"Then let's face them head-on at the fortress gate."

I whispered softly. Riding on the humming vibration, my voice carried raw, absolute power and gravity, enough to plunge the entire room into instant, obedient silence.

Before the squad members could even let out startled or worried breaths, I stretched both hands out toward them. The heavenly void magic within me responded to my call with flawless precision, without even a single line of error. From my fingertips, a soft healing wave of twilight-colored, purple cosmic dust surged forth like a waterfall, warmly enveloping their entire bodies. As the celestial magical energy flowed smoothly through their veins, the flesh that had been torn apart at that very moment was miraculously and precisely stitched back together, the wounds across their bodies were erased cleanly without a trace, and their exhausted, screaming physical condition and stamina were perfectly overridden and restored to their absolute peak.

With firm determination, I pivoted sharply on the heel of my boot and marched confidently toward the massive iron door of the throne room with slow yet overwhelming steps.

Behind me, the three young lords had been frozen for the span of a single heartbeat. It seemed their mental circuits had been perfectly short-circuited at once by my sudden, bold, and flawless tactical momentum. But that confusion vanished without a trace in just one second. Following their deeply trained, ingrained protective instincts, they immediately closed the distance and formed up to guard me firmly at my sides.

Chan-yeon oppa's large, warm hand naturally and firmly held the line of my waist and side, supporting the weight of my body, and his palm steadied my posture so I wouldn't lose my balance, pulling me close into his arms as I walked. Jiseok and Hyeonjin took up positions firmly on my left and right, spreading their broad shoulders tautly to cover every side as if they were determined to protect and isolate me from the room filled with hundreds of pairs of hostile eyes.

As we passed the very edge of the Ice Throne, the King of the Wasteland had completely collapsed. Sitting slumped on the floor as if he had just fallen there, he was shaking all over without mercy, gripped by raw, overwhelming terror, and with a completely shattered gaze he was violently rocking back and forth in place, muttering the same panicked, breathless, quiet self-talk over and over like a madman.

"A monster has come... the demon in that void has finally arrived...."

The surviving guards were pressed helplessly against the cold stone wall, still clutching their own chests roughly with their hands and shaking uncontrollably, too afraid to even lift their swords properly, screaming with fear.

We marched majestically along the fortress's grand stone corridor. Every time the boots of the four of us struck the floor, a chillingly heavy, rhythmic booming echoed through the entire vast passage, violently shaking it, and at last we reached the giant fortified iron gate standing directly in front of the dazzling expanse of the tundra.

The massive iron door opened with a sharp, heavy scream, and Chan-yeon oppa shoved it open roughly, stepping out first onto the frozen dawn plateau covered in frost patterns and bitter cold.

Just a few hundred yards ahead, in the direction before us, the elite patrol formation of the Supreme Council had already arrived with a huge, terrifying army at its back, closing in right beneath our chins. They were the ones who had followed the crimson emergency beacon that had dyed the night sky blood-red. Hundreds of guards in polished silver armor, their sharp swords and cold ice spears raised high, raced fiercely across the snowfield, and soon formed a flawless yet precarious battle formation without even a single line of error, thoroughly blocking and sealing off the very center of the fortress approach. The entire horizon was covered by a massive curtain of silver armor and the hostile momentum of magic, completely cutting off and blocking every possible escape route, not revealing even a single centimeter of a way out.

We stopped at the very edge of the stone platform and calmly, firmly looked straight down at the entire massive army looming before us.

A fierce, solid force surged through Chan-yeon oppa's hand around my waist, and his thumb slowly traced a soothing line of reassurance along the hem of my waist. Soon, a huge sunlike smile, so bright it was blinding, bloomed again through the shattered wounds on his face, but this time that smile was full of dangerous, proud, absolute confidence as a supreme commander who would never waver even in the very center of enemy lines. It was the look of someone keenly aware that he was standing right beside the true ruler of this entire kingdom, protecting her.

Hyeonjin took a big step forward, roughly flicking his leather sleeve, and around his fingers a huge mass of dark smoke-like mist swirled thickly, crackling as it coiled sharply around itself with a playful yet deadly momentum. The gentle, puppy-like eyes he had turned on me sharpened in an instant into the hunter's gaze of a ruthless vanguard, with not a shred of mercy for the enemies ahead.

Jiseok found my hand once more, gently took it in his, and locked our fingers together so tightly and stubbornly that they could never be separated. He gripped the backs of my finger joints protectively, giving my fingertips steady, unshakable traction, and he precisely adjusted his hearing aids while keeping his full attention on the fierce mountain wind frequencies sweeping across this blood-soaked battlefield.

The massive army stood in direct opposition before us, radiating killing intent. The razor wind racing through the barren land tore savagely at the narrow boundary between the two forces, roaring like fire, and beneath the twilight crown of purple cosmic dust pulsing brilliantly above my head, the great and certain countdown timer for the full-scale war that would violently shake the fate of this entire kingdom finally began to run.