One by One

1. No More Graves to Visit

The wind whistled through the ruins of Soaring Flame Sect.No cenotaphs. No headstones. Just ash and melted stone.

Lee Haneul stood silently, a strand of spirit thread wrapped around his fingers, glowing with faint heat. It was all that remained of their master's blade.

Jin Haru watched from a distance. He didn't speak.

And Haeun, standing at the edge of the collapsed altar, clenched his fists.

"We're not running anymore," he said."We stop reacting. We start choosing."

2. The Kill List

That night, under an inverted moon, they lit a fire.

In the dirt, Jin drew five symbols.Each representing one of the Five Kings:

🩸 Crimson King – the one who ordered the execution. Ruthless, direct, war-hardened.

🐍 Serpent King – manipulator. Traps, poisons, puppet networks.

❄️ Frost Queen – emotionless, distant, master of mental cultivation and memory seals.

⚖️ Iron King – judge and executor, commands the Temple Guard, well-protected.

🌫 Veiled Prince – most mysterious, his sect doesn't even know his face.

"We take them down," Haeun said, firelight dancing in his eyes."But not with brute force. Strategy. Isolation. Execution."

"One by one," Haneul added. "Quietly. Precisely."

Jin nodded. "Then we start with the Veiled Prince."

3. Why Him First?

Because no one's ever seen him.

No statues. No battles. Just shadows.

He's the least understood.And the easiest to replace without raising alarm.

"We kill him," Jin said, "and nobody notices—until it's too late."

4. The Plan Begins

Over the next few days, they moved like ghosts through the Lower Realm.

Haneul infiltrated black markets, collecting information contracts and spiritual dossiers on each King's movement.

Jin tracked spirit trade routes to the Veiled Sect—disguised as a wandering cultivator.

And Haeun?

He meditated over the fire each night, training to suppress his aura so completely it would mirror background Qi.

He could now walk past spirit beasts unnoticed.

5. Their First Kill

They reached the outskirts of the Veiled Sect's winter temple—a floating pagoda anchored to the cliffs of Sky-Bone Ridge.

The Veiled Prince only appeared for one thing:A silent monthly ceremony under the moon, where no guards were allowed.

Perfect.

On the night of the ritual, the twins slipped through shadowfields and slipped poison dust into the spiritual incense. Jin waited above on a cliff with a spirit-nullifying arrow forged from cursed Qi.

The Prince knelt at the altar.

His mask shimmered in the moonlight.

Haeun appeared behind him—no sound. No aura.

"You took my home."

The Prince didn't turn. "So you came to die."

He snapped his fingers—

A full illusion shattered.

It wasn't the real Prince.

It was a decoy, infused with cursed will.

"They knew," Haneul said through clenched teeth."Someone warned them."

They started to fall back—

But the moon itself pulsed red.

And from above—

A Spirit-Construct army descended.

6. The Real Fight Begins

"They're not just defending," Jin said."They're baiting us into killing them… so they can label us 'Transcendence Corrupted'."

"They want an excuse to send everyone."

"Then we kill the real ones before that happens."

7. Final Decision

As they escaped into the ravine below, chased by sentinels and ghost-blades, Haeun whispered through bloodied lips:

"We go louder."

"One by one is too slow."

He turned to Jin and Haneul.

"We kill two."