Toxin

“The fact that Deputy Chieftain ended up like this is half your fault! If you hadn’t gotten involved…!”

“Enough.”

“But, Chieftain…!!”

“I said enough!”

At the Chieftain’s stern rebuke, the tribesman retreated. I approached the Chieftain, adjusting my clothes. He was only staring at the bulging mass covered by a cloth, like a grave.

“Give me the drawings. If we hide them with the body, there shouldn’t be any issues. We will proceed with the ceremony. We cannot let all those people starve because of something like this…”

The Chieftain had become noticeably gaunt, as if all his rage and anger had burned away, leaving only ashes.

“The one who will become the next Chieftain has been wasting his time like a thug. This will be his chance to finally do his part. Hiding it won’t be an issue. Whether in the stomach… or the throat…”

The Chieftain trembled, clutching his head, swallowing his cries again and again, mourning silently. The other tribesmen wept helplessly. I stood there, dazed in the midst of it all, and placed the drawings on the Chieftain’s lap. Then, as if paying final respects, I bowed deeply.

“Stay well.”

The Chieftain didn’t look at the drawings or at me. Now that I think about it, he had never once looked at me since I came here. I stood up quietly and opened the stable door. Pausing for a moment, I glanced back at him. It wasn’t that I had any specific thoughts—I was simply curious.

“What is the antidote…?”

For the first time, the crimson eyes that had never looked at me before were now fixed on me, filled with contempt and hatred.

“Why the sudden change of heart? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t need it?”

His response was unexpected.

“I was just curious. I thought it would be good to know…”

“Sorry, but you’re too late. Do you think I would tell the murderer of my son how to save himself? To a murderer…! To the wretched man who devoured my son…!”

The Chieftain’s voice trembled as if he were spitting blood.

“I know it’s not your fault, in my head. But my heart doesn’t see it that way. It hurts to even look at you. This is the end of our connection. I hope… I never see you again.”

It seems the Chieftain had seen me with the same eyes as the others all along, despite pretending otherwise. But it doesn’t matter. Now that it’s over, I can leave this place without regret. I smiled coldly.

“I feel the same.”

I hope we never cross paths again in this world.

***

As I stepped outside, the world was drenched in a purple sunset. A breeze, heavy with moisture, brushed my hair and cheeks. I took a deep breath. It’s finally over. The burden that had weighed me down for so long had finally lifted. Now, I am free to pursue my own goals. Every step I took felt lighter than ever before. There are times when I wish someone could comfort me in this strange, relieved yet empty feeling. I suddenly longed for the scent of the forest. The cool, refreshing scent of him that always cleared my mind…

I wandered aimlessly for what felt like a long time. Then, just as I rounded a corner of the castle wall, I saw a figure, cloaked in black, fluttering like dark wings against the burning sunset. Suddenly, someone grabbed me tightly from behind. I shivered at the suffocating warmth that coiled around me. Instinctively, I tried to pull away, but the arm around my waist tightened, making it hard to breathe. A lazy voice flowed over my shoulder.

“I’ve been looking for you.”

I barely managed to gather my wits after hearing that familiar voice and turned my head, only to find Black Martial Emperor’s face filling my view. My heart dropped in shock.

“I went to bid farewell to the Chieftain, as he’s leaving today. I was just on my way back to Yongjeon.”

“Are you really the adopted son of the Chieftain?”

His sudden question caught me off guard.

“Yes, but why…?”

“I was just wondering if the Chieftain had an even longer-standing guest than his son.”

Does he think I sold myself to the Chieftain? It seems that everyone around me now no longer takes things at face value.

“The Chieftain… took me in when I was an orphan and treated me like a father would.”

“Is that so?”

Black Martial Emperor responded nonchalantly, then suddenly began sucking on my earlobe, pushing his tongue inside. A strange sensation made my shoulders twitch. His fingers wound into my hair, and as my head was tilted back, his slick tongue slowly trailed up the exposed skin of my neck.

“So, what did he say?”

“…What?”

Just as the lingering sensation faded, Black Martial Emperor rested his chin on my shoulder.

“When you handed over the Jincheonroe, what did the Chieftain say? Did he praise you?”

“—-!!”

For a moment, my ears rang as if my eardrums had burst. My mind was paralyzed, eyes wildly darting in shock, unable to settle. I couldn’t even dare to check his expression. How… how…? Could the position have shifted when it was hung up? Somehow, he had already noticed that I had tampered with Jincheonroe. If I kept denying it, he would become even more suspicious. Should I say I just touched it out of curiosity? Maybe, just maybe, he would let it slide once. No, wait. He might just be testing me. I must not take the bait. As my blurry vision slowly cleared, I forced my trembling legs to stand firm. Black Martial Emperor was patiently waiting for my answer.

“…What are you talking about…? Jincheonroe should still be in the room…”

Without hesitation, Black Martial Emperor slid his hand inside my collar, brushing over my nipple, then grasping the skin with his hand. My erratic heartbeat pulsed loudly against his palm.

“Don’t you get it? I’m asking how it felt to disassemble Jincheonroe.”

It was as if my entire body shattered under the weight of a massive boulder. I couldn’t think of where things had gone wrong. My mind was screaming for calm, but I couldn’t follow through.

“Your Majesty… I… didn’t touch…”

“No, you did.”

“…I didn’t…”

“You did.”

“Your Majesty…”

“You did.”

His resolute voice cut off any possible escape. Still holding me from behind, Black Martial Emperor began to unfold something in his hand. The paper, creased many times, slowly revealed itself before my eyes. I almost screamed. It was the drawing I had just handed over to the Chieftain. Black Martial Emperor, resting his chin on my shoulder, nonchalantly observed the artwork.

“My room maintains a certain chaotic order. The palace servants are trained to follow that order meticulously when cleaning. But one day, things began to shift. For the first few days, I couldn’t figure it out. After some thought, I decided to move Jincheonroe’s display. Perhaps that would rid me of the strange feeling.”

His voice was disturbingly calm, as if recounting a mundane routine.

“At first, I noticed something strange about the bayonet. It was an interesting reaction, so I moved it again. This time, it was the dragon’s head that bothered me. So, I changed it once more.”

“…”

“Then, it was the stock that felt off.”

Jincheonroe had three parts that hung neatly in a row. The one I had disassembled was always the lowest. Did he switch their positions each time…? Then… did I end up disassembling all three Jincheonroe without realizing it…? I couldn’t make sense of what he was saying. Since when… how… how…? A chaotic mess of unanswered questions stormed through my mind. He had known everything and waited until I fell completely into the trap. I had missed my step and plummeted into the abyss. The world around me tilted.

Just then, I saw people being dragged in by soldiers. It was Imae Chieftain, bound and captured. Along with him were Sufia Chieftain, Yangwun Kingdom, Arya, and Nati Tribe—everyone who had been part of the conspiracy. The guards, their faces marked by irritation, forced them to kneel before Black Martial Emperor. Some of them still hadn’t grasped the situation, their faces pale with fear and confusion. That’s when Imae Chieftain spotted me, glaring at me with murderous intent, as if I were a traitor who had betrayed an ally.

“You… you… it was you…”

No. I… I didn’t betray them…! I never did such a thing…! I wanted to shake my head, but my body felt frozen, as if bound by chains.

“Hey, Chieftain. Can’t you see? Despite his appearance, he’s clumsy and unskilled in these things. Which makes him all the more…”

Black Martial Emperor trailed off, eyes fixed on me. Then, without much interest, he glanced over the paper he was holding before letting it fall to the ground. His hand, which had drifted down, now came back up, gripping Jincheonroe. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, loading Jincheonroe with calculated precision.

“Well then.”

The setting sun gleamed in his malevolent eyes, slowly drilling into me.

“Shall we begin?”

Chieftain’s words echoed from deep within my bones. Why hadn’t I heeded them? He was never one to fall for cheap tricks or schemes. My arrogance, thinking everything was perfect, was now a source of bitter regret that shattered my very core.

“Since when… how did you find out…?”

Unsa, who had been silently observing, shrugged and responded on his behalf.

“Maybe about seven days ago? At first, even we weren’t sure. His Majesty was doing enough risky things to confuse us. It was tough narrowing down the suspects. But thanks to you, we became certain. I’ll admit, your plan to smuggle Jincheonroe out was pretty clever. It was a stroke of genius that no one had considered. We were taken aback, honestly.”

Unsa added with a slight smirk.

“But didn’t I warn you not to forget who you were dealing with?”

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. Seven days ago… that was when I had just started disassembling Jincheonroe to begin drawing. I thought I had covered my tracks perfectly. I even mocked him for not noticing that state secrets, vital to the fate of the country, were slipping into the hands of a monster he loathed. But I had been utterly mistaken. How much had they laughed at and ridiculed me? How much had they wanted to blow my head off? I instinctively took a step back, only to bump into the solid wall of muscle behind me. The presence behind me sent a shiver down my spine. Black Martial Emperor slid his eyes toward me.

“How I found out isn’t what’s important. What’s important is what happens next.”

He wrapped his arms around me from behind and raised the Jincheonroe, casting his gaze at the terrified chiefs.

“I wanted to give you a chance, but to stab me in the back like this is disappointing. Can someone explain the details to me? I’d like to hear who said what, where, and when. It might help me understand you better.”

The chiefs from various nations were sweating bullets, filled with an incalculable dread and fear. The fact that he had captured all the conspirators without missing a single one meant he already knew everything. Yet, the reason he wanted to hear it directly from their mouths was to heighten the pleasure for himself. Could it be… Was the public work just an excuse, and this was the real reason he summoned them to the castle? If my suspicion was correct, this was nothing less than an invitation to hell. The chiefs were busy glancing at each other, too afraid to speak up. The Black Martial Emperor, looking around at them with bored eyes, finally fixed his gaze on the chief of Yangwun Kingdom—the one whose hand had been pierced by the Emperor days ago.

“Hey, you’ve got quite the silver tongue. Why don’t you use this chance to show off those skills?”

“Y-Your… Your Majesty… Y-Your…”

Suddenly being singled out, the Yangwun Kingdom chief turned pale, stammering meaningless words in fear. A suffocating silence followed. The Black Martial Emperor clicked his tongue lightly. Then, he grabbed my hand, placing it on both the barrel and the trigger of the gun. A sense of foreboding ran down my spine, and I reflexively looked at him. His fingers wrapped around mine on the trigger, pulling it. At that moment, his low voice whispered into my ear.

“Hold on tight. Your arm might get blown off.”

The deafening sound of the gunfire erupted repeatedly like thunder. Just as the violent tremors surged through my body, the Yangwun Kingdom chief’s hand was shattered into pieces.

“Aaagh…!!”

In the blink of an eye, the chief had lost his hand and was writhing in agony on the ground. I recoiled in shock, trying to shake off the Jincheonroe from my hands. But before the vibration in my hand even subsided, the Black Martial Emperor held my hand firmly and pulled the trigger once again.

This time, the chief’s leg was torn apart, the flesh ripped away to reveal the bone. The muzzle of the gun then shifted its aim toward the chief of the Nati Tribe. As a hole was blown through the animalistic figure of the Nati chief, blood spilled through the dense fur. Every time he pressed my fingers against the trigger, I felt as though I had become a murderer, firing indiscriminately.

“Nngh…! Let… Let go…! No more…! Stop…! Please…!”

Despite my desperate struggles, the Black Martial Emperor remained unfazed, ruthlessly hitting his targets with precision. More blood splattered, brains oozed out, and kneecaps became riddled with bullet holes. Screams soaked in blood erupted from all directions. The metallic clicking sound signaled a brief pause as he reloaded. My arms fell limp, like a puppet with its strings cut. Just as I was about to collapse, his leg slid between mine, holding me up. His wicked hands quickly reloaded the bullets.

“You can’t be getting tired already. We’re just getting started.”

The Black Martial Emperor aimed the cold muzzle at the chiefs again.

“How about this? Whoever tells the truth gets a quick death without suffering.”

His voice was soft and seductive. The choice was simple: die quickly or die in agony. Stripped of their last hope, the chiefs wept quietly in terror, knowing death was near. One of them even wet his pants, the yellowish stain spreading across his trousers.

“Your Majesty! Have mercy! Please forgive us! We only followed Imae Chieftain’s orders! We were fooled! Please, show us mercy and kill us swiftly!”

One by one, their eyes started to shift toward a single point. At the center of it was Imae Chieftain. Seated in silence, he remained calm and composed, though his eyes glared at the Black Martial Emperor with fierce intensity.

“You will face divine punishment! Your very existence on this earth is a crime! The heavens will never allow a devil like you to roam freely! You will suffer a hundred, no, a thousand times more than the blood and tears you’ve caused! When you fall into hell, I’ll be there waiting for you!”

Even in the face of such a cursed declaration, the Black Martial Emperor merely smirked.

“Seeing as you mentioned hell, it seems like you’ve done plenty to earn your place there too. I look forward to meeting you again in that pit.”

Hah… Hahaha… Imae Chieftain’s hollow laughter scattered in the wind. The Black Martial Emperor turned his head slightly and whispered into my ear.

“I thought about making him watch as I tore apart his son, limb by limb, eye by eye. But that wouldn’t have loosened his tongue. Do you know what the greatest agony for a living person is?”

His cruel lips whispered sweetly, like reciting a poem.

“It’s their own suffering.”

My limbs, governed by his ruthless strength, pulled the trigger once again. The merciless judge shattered the last hope of Imae Chieftain, destroying his remaining limbs for all to see. I struggled desperately to divert the Jincheonroe’s muzzle, but the Black Martial Emperor never allowed it. Imae Chieftain gripped his head in torment, trembling violently, then bit his tongue as if making a final decision.

The Black Martial Emperor did not permit even that. A bullet pierced the back of Imae’s neck just before he could act, bursting his eyes in the process. His body convulsed and collapsed to the ground, and shortly after, his legs spewed blood, twisting grotesquely as the skin tore and muscle and bone were exposed. As soon as Imae’s movements ceased, the demon’s wail descended upon the remaining prey. The hunted, their flesh and bones brutally torn apart, convulsed in agonizing spasms.

No…! No more…! Please, stop…! I finally broke down. As I slipped, the Black Martial Emperor lifted me back up, placing my hand on the trigger once again. I felt helpless, like a puppet being controlled.

“Heh… ha… ha…”

A nauseating feeling surged as though my insides were being flipped. Through the fabric, I could feel his dangerously erect manhood twitching between my buttocks. In the yard, mangled bodies were scattered everywhere. The smell of blood, the chunks of flesh littering the ground, and the leg wedged between my thighs—it was impossible to tell if this was a hallucination or reality. Now it was my turn. My turn… I thought I would face death with indifference. But the terror of death he bestowed was beyond imagination. A chilling fear so intense it made my teeth chatter washed over me. Black Martial Emperor tilted my head back, locking his gaze deeply into mine.

“Why are you trembling like that? Are you cold?”

By now, my face was drenched in tears, and I was gasping for air as though my chest would burst. His eyes darkened as his tongue, sharp as a spear, shot toward my eye. Instinctively, I closed my eyes, but his tongue forced its way between my eyelids, licking my eyeball with relentless determination. The sensation was so eerie it made my skin crawl.

“These eyes, they always captivate me. I’ve wanted to fire Jincheonroe at the bastard who toys with me multiple times a day. But now that I’m beyond intervention, do you understand?”

The escape route had long been severed. He was a man who annihilated any last shred of hope for life. After enjoying his game, he would mercifully cut the breath out of me just before I was completely shriveled up by terror. I stared at the murderer with emotionless eyes. There was definitely another purpose beyond Jincheonroe, but why couldn’t I remember? No matter how hard I tried, my mind went blank, unable to register anything but the slaughter unfolding before me. I parted my cracked lips.

“…If you’re going to kill me… do it now.”

My voice, weak and empty, spilled into the air, his sharp gaze slicing across my cheek.

“You never say what I want to hear, do you?”

His eyes flashed with an intensity I couldn’t comprehend, as if he were seeing into another world. Black Martial Emperor violently threw me aside. Freed from his oppressive hold, I collapsed on the spot. The remaining terrified souls, already dead bodies, were mercilessly torn apart by his uncontrollable bloodlust. Then, his gaze halted somewhere.

“If you’re just going to stand there watching, you’d better leave. I’m in a particularly foul mood today.”

Barely managing to turn my head, I saw Raonhiljo and Narsha standing there. Raonhiljo’s eyes met mine in mid-air. I could clearly read the shock and disbelief. His face hardened as he stared at the horrific scene before him. How long had he been there? How much had he heard? He must know by now. He must know what the creature he had shown kindness to had done… I couldn’t bear to look at him anymore. Even when I closed my eyes, an even greater darkness loomed behind me.

As soon as the blood-soaked flesh brushed against my hand, I recoiled and moved away. At that moment, soldiers struck me across the head and shoulders with the flat of their swords. As I crumpled to the ground, they twisted my arms, grabbed my hair, and began to drag me.

“Stop it!”

Raonhiljo shouted angrily, running over with a fierce expression.

“Aaargh!”

The arm of the soldier who was touching me was blown off, while bullets lodged in the hand and thigh of another, causing blood to spray out. A chilling, low reverberation seemed to explode inside my head.

“Hey. I said, don’t touch.”

Black Martial Emperor was standing there, gun raised, his voice seething. The soldiers screamed in agony at the sudden disaster. Black Martial Emperor quickly strode over, grabbed my collar, and yanked me upright.

“Deal with the remaining trash as soon as possible. Every last one of them hiding.”

“Yes, sir.”

The bodyguard, visibly tense, bowed his head. Without hesitation, Black Martial Emperor dragged me off somewhere, still gripping my collar. The metallic beast in his hand scraped against my vision. Imagining the moment my eyes and brain would be splattered across the ground, I squeezed my eyes shut. Is this it? Is this how it ends…? My limbs hung limp, as if I were plummeting into a bottomless abyss.

“Garon! Wait…!”

Raonhiljo suddenly blocked Black Martial Emperor’s path, desperate.

Bang!

A thin line of blood trickled down Raonhiljo’s temple. But he didn’t waver, standing resolutely in front of Black Martial Emperor, his gaze colder and clearer than before.

“He’s not the kind of person who would have orchestrated all of this. He’s still young and was probably used by them. Let me interrogate him personally. Hand him over to me.”

“Whether I shoot him with Jincheonroe, torture him, or ram something into him, why do you care?”

Black Martial Emperor’s eyes slashed toward the soldiers like a blade. Instantly, four or five soldiers dashed forward and surrounded Raonhiljo.

“Since he’s my cherished brother, I’ll grant him the best prison cell. He’d better stay there quietly. And that goes for you and your family too.”

Raonhiljo’s gaze sharpened.

“If you touch my mother, I will never forgive you.”

Black Martial Emperor’s eyebrow arched arrogantly.

“A lot of people are threatening me today. How about we meet for breakfast tomorrow?”

His thunderous words sent a chill down my spine. No… No…! I shook my head frantically at Raonhiljo, but he gave me a faint smile. A reassuring smile, as if telling me not to worry. As if saying it would be alright. Raonhiljo tapped the soldiers’ shoulders lightly as he walked ahead of them.

“Shall we go then? I’ve never been to a prison before. Should be interesting.”

The soldiers, dumbfounded, followed him.