The northern Demon Realm. A vast continent without a master.
A gaze sweeping over the map passed the desolate gray wastelands and brushed past the frozen lands at the northern tip, where blizzards raged.
And the place where that gaze stopped was the heart of the continent.
There lay a giant city so alien and dazzling that it was hard to believe it was in the Demon Realm, 'Ye.'
On the eve of the storm, when three warlords were sharpening their swords while looking at different places.
That first gaze was directed at the most glamorous yet the most rotten place.
Ye Castle, Yuan Shao's Audience Chamber.
This was not the Demon Realm.
At least visually, it wasn't.
Instead of black soil and pools of blood, snow-white marble paved the floor, and a chandelier decorated with gold leaf shone like the sun on the ceiling.
Instead of the disgusting smell of blood, the air was thick with the scent of top-quality perfume and sweet wine.
It was a grotesque abundance.
"Hahaha! The shape of the horns on the dancers brought in this time is truly exquisite."
"As expected, no one can match Lord Yuan Shao's eye."
Noble demons dressed in silk clinked jade cups and burst into laughter.
Outside the castle walls, beasts were howling, but the thick marble walls blocked the noise perfectly.
At the center of that pleasure, leaning obliquely on a massive throne cast in gold, sat a man.
A face as smooth as a sculpture, pale blue skin symbolizing nobility, and elegantly combed-back platinum blonde hair.
The prestigious family of the north, Yuan Shao.
Looking bored, he rested his chin on his hand and swirled a glass of red wine with his fingertips.
By his side, pure-blooded beauties with flawless horns were kneeling and attending to him.
"My Lord! Urgent news!"
Breaking the elegant silence, a messenger rushed into the audience chamber urgently.
The messenger, clad in muddy armor, banged his head on the floor, failing to grasp the atmosphere.
"The number of beasts on the frontier is increasing rapidly! It's only a matter of time before the defense line collapses! If you don't send reinforcements right now..."
Splash.
At the messenger's shout, Yuan Shao's brow furrowed slightly.
Was it because of that slight movement?
The elegantly swirling wine glass lost its balance and shook.
A drop of red liquid splashed up and fell onto Yuan Shao's pristine white silk sleeve.
Like a drop of blood on a field of white snow, the red stain spread vividly.
"...Oh my."
A low, chilly sigh flowed from Yuan Shao's mouth.
The messenger stopped his report and looked up blankly.
"...Pardon?"
"I ruined my precious clothes listening to a vulgar report."
Looking down at his stained sleeve with a look of disgust, Yuan Shao acted as if the crisis at the front was of no concern.
He clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
As if brushing off filth left by a beast.
"Reinforcements? Tell that mongrel."
"B-by mongrel... do you mean General Cao Cao?"
"Yes. If that lowly thing without a genealogy stepped up to guard the frontier, he should earn his keep himself. How dare he ask the main family for help?"
Yuan Shao's voice was laced with irritation.
His tone implied that the wine stain on his clothes was a greater tragedy than soldiers dying at the front.
At that moment, one of the officers lined up below the throne spoke cautiously.
"However, my Lord. If Cao Cao falls, the frontier will be breached. Then our Ye Castle will also be in danger..."
"Who gave permission?"
Yuan Shao cut him off.
The officer asked back in bewilderment.
"...Pardon?"
"I asked who gave permission for livestock to interrupt a conversation between people."
Yuan Shao's golden pupils fixed on the officer.
The officer's face turned pale.
He was a mixed-blood demon, not of pure lineage.
Yuan Shao flicked one finger lightly as if annoyed.
Slash.
There wasn't even the sound of cutting wind.
An invisible blade of magical power sliced through the space.
"Kugh...?"
A red line was drawn on the officer's neck, and his head fell to the floor with a thud.
Blood spurting from the severed section soaked the white marble floor.
Thump.
The headless torso collapsed.
Silence flowed through the banquet hall for a moment, but there were no screams.
The nobles merely clicked their tongues or checked to see if blood had splattered on their clothes.
Yuan Shao didn't even glance at the corpse.
"Clean it up. The smell of blood is overwhelming."
He muttered languidly as he refilled his wine glass.
"This is why I despise those who don't know that nobility is power."
A monster who was furious over a drop of wine but insensitive to the death of a subordinate.
That was the true nature of the ruler of the north, Yuan Shao.
*
A world completely opposite to the glamorous Ye Castle.
At the northern end, in the fortress of the frozen land where everything was frozen, only a suffocating white silence hung in the air.
Whoosh-!
A cavalry unit was returning through a blizzard that felt like it was carving flesh.
The White Horse Servant Cavalry (White Horse Ui-jong).
Clad in pristine silver-white armor from head to toe, they looked more like intricately crafted ice statues than living soldiers.
Thousands of horses' hooves shook the ground, but the breathing of the soldiers could not be heard.
At the lead stood the master of the frozen land, Gongsun Zan.
His gaze was colder than the north wind, and his face revealed under his helmet was smooth as if his emotions had been castrated.
"My Lord! We have perfectly exterminated the beasts' nest!"
The adjutant who stood at the vanguard dismounted and knelt before Gongsun Zan.
It was a voice intoxicated with victory.
But Gongsun Zan's gaze lingered not on the adjutant's face, but on his shoulder pauldron.
"...Perfect?"
Gongsun Zan asked back in a low voice and approached the adjutant.
On the pure white armor, a very small dot was stained like a flaw in jade.
It was a drop of black beast blood splattered during battle.
"Filthy."
At that one short word, the adjutant's face turned pale.
"Ah... Th-this is from the battle, I couldn't..."
"No excuses are needed. The blade that executes justice must not be stained with filth. That is the pride of the White Horse."
Gongsun Zan pulled out a white leather whip from his waist.
There was no anger.
There was only a compulsive sense of duty to wipe away something dirty.
Crack-!
A sharp rupture sound cutting the air tore through the blizzard.
"Kugh!"
"It is time for purification. 50 lashes."
The sound of flesh bursting filled the silence of the fortress.
But none of the lined-up soldiers were agitated.
To them, Gongsun Zan's fastidiousness was not fear, but an absolute rule to follow.
Gongsun Zan brushed off snowflakes from his glove with an expressionless face.
Uncompromising justice, a suffocating white hell was there.
*
At the same time, the frontier of the northern Demon Realm.
Far from pure white, this place was a mud pit reeking of gray ash and rusted iron.
"Cough... Damn it, we're out of arrows."
"The wall collapsed again! Block it!"
Burn marks were evident all over the crumbling fortress.
The soldiers' armor was dented and rusted everywhere, to the point where the original color was unrecognizable.
In the middle of that wretched landscape, a man sat plopped down on the muddy ground.
The commander of the frontier, Cao Cao.
As if he had thrown the dignity of a commander to the dogs, he was tearing at a hardened loaf of bread with muddy hands.
"General..."
The adjutant approached with a desperate face.
"Reinforcements... are not coming. That bastard Yuan Shao has abandoned us."
Instantly, the soldiers' eyes shook. The last hope was severed. The shadow of death covered the fortress.
Chomp, chomp.
In that suffocating silence, only the sound of Cao Cao chewing bread rang out exceptionally loud.
He stuffed his mouth full of bread, swallowed it, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Kuhahaha! Why are everyone's faces like that?"
Cao Cao brushed crumbs from his mouth and stood up.
"Even if we die, we should eat before dying. If you're hungry, the sword is too heavy to use."
Cao Cao strode over to an Orc tied up as a prisoner in the corner. It was an enemy soldier. The Orc bared its teeth and growled.
Cao Cao pulled a dagger from his waist without hesitation.
Clang-!
The dagger cut not the Orc's neck, but the shackles on its wrists.
"...?!"
"You, I saw you earlier, you use a sword pretty well. Become my subordinate. Then I'll give you this bread."
Cao Cao threw the leftover piece of bread to the Orc. The Orc, who had starved for days, hurriedly picked up and ate the bread without time to doubt the enemy's favor.
The adjutant shouted in shock.
"G-General! Are you crazy? Recruiting an enemy, and a lowly Orc at that! If the main family finds out..."
"Hey."
Cao Cao tapped the adjutant's shoulder.
His mud-covered hand patted the adjutant's worn armor.
"Does blood feed you?"
"Pardon...?"
"Whether it's a prestigious family or shiny white armor..."
Cao Cao made a gesture of slitting his own throat with his thumb and smiled fishily.
"It's over if your head is cut off."
Cao Cao's eyes glistened like a hungry wolf.
In those eyes, there was neither Yuan Shao's arrogance nor Gongsun Zan's fastidiousness.
Only the wild instinct to survive, to survive and bite the throats of those hypocrites, was wriggling.
"The winner is the strong one. The one who survives is justice. Isn't that right?"
The soldiers stared blankly at Cao Cao.
In their desperate eyes, a venom slowly began to settle.
A vicious pragmatism blooming in the mud.
That was the way of the Hero of Chaos, Cao Cao.