Prologue
[Ten-Mile Infernal Flame Technique]
A forbidden demonic art that burns the caster’s body and transforms a ten-mile radius into a scorching hell. The infernal flames, once ignited, do not disappear for a hundred years, and all those trapped within are consumed by the relentless fire.
Bundarika, or hellfire vines, grew throughout the ten-mile radius, entangling and burning everything in their path until only ashes remained.
The attendants and maids who had followed Yeongryeong from the demonic cult to the imperial palace knelt before her spirit and paid their respects. Seated in a meditative position, Yeongryeong slowly gathered her demonic energy.
Dark clouds began to gather in the once-clear sky, and an eerie presence crept through the air, making people shiver.
The emperor, leisurely boating in the lake of the hexagonal pavilion with his newly acquired concubine in his arms, glanced up at the sky.
At the grand banquet in Subangjae, the empress dowager, surrounded by concubines, furrowed her brows at the ominous energy.
Drip—
Silence blanketed the entire imperial palace.
Then, with a thunderous roar, the earth shattered and lava poured out, igniting everything.
In a matter of seconds, magnificent halls and the trees that surrounded them were consumed by fire.
The emperor’s boat overturned, and the drowning concubine screamed for help.
Clutching a stone to pull himself ashore, the emperor gasped at the horrifying sight before him.
Everything around him was swallowed by crimson flames.
The monuments made of stone for his concubines’ offspring were ripped apart as though by an unseen force.
Breathing heavily, he began to flee. The desperate cries of his concubine were drowned by the burning lake, which had turned into a boiling hell.
The ground continued to shake violently, cracking open wider and wider.
He wanted to believe this was just a terrible nightmare, but as he locked eyes with a woman running out of Subangjae, her body consumed by flames, he froze.
“Mother…!”
The palace maids and eunuchs desperately threw water at the empress dowager, but the fire only blazed more fiercely.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty, save me!”
Her desperate screams filled the air, but the emperor could not reach out to her.
This was no dream. This was hell itself.
“…”
“Yeongryeong.”
“My Yeongryeong.”
Through her dimming consciousness, she heard a man’s voice.
Lifting her burning eyelids like a blazing lotus, she saw a man before her, screaming in despair.
“Yeongryeong, I won’t let you go like this.”
He pulled her into his arms, resting her burning body against his.
Though the hellfire spread onto him, he did not care.
“I have only ever loved you. I only wished for your happiness, but if all you have left is deep resentment and suffering…”
His voice trembled as he whispered into her ear.
“Then let’s go to hell together.”
Everything burned.
Everything turned to ashes.
“If I meet you again in the next life, I will never hesitate to take your hand.”
