The assault subsided in an instant. The Yongrin who had finished off the remnants barely straightened their bending backs while breathing hard.

"Assume defensive positions."

At Hwi's order, the Yongrin moved in unison to prepare for an assault that could resume at any moment. Hwi sheathed his sword and knelt on one knee to examine Yunseo's complexion.

"How is it?"

"I think I can…… keep going."

Hwi's sharp eyes moved over every inch of Yunseo's face. He then looked back at the quiet entrance of the Hell Realm and opened his mouth.

"Stop."

"I need to stay a little longer."

"You are lying!"

In the moment Hwi roughly seized one of Yunseo's arms to pull him up, Yunseo instead gripped Hwi's forearm and sent the guardian star shooting into it. His body wavered at the single blow it received.

Hwi stared at Yunseo with wide, incredulous eyes and gripped his arm, but Yunseo deliberately looked away from him and pushed in his strength once more.

Hwi, who had already suffered internal injury and had not been given sufficient rest, would find it impossible to endure. The only person who knew his remaining reserves better than anyone was Yunseo, who had been treating him.

Hwi thud, knelt and crumbled. The gaze that had been stabbing him painfully at his cheek slowly disappeared as his eyelids closed. Yunseo bit down on his lips and pressed both hands down on the ground again.

"……Your Majesty. What is this……"

"Maintain the formation. Protect the Emperor."

Meeting the eyes of Huije, who was completely bewildered and at a loss, and entrusting her with that, Yunseo turned his focus back to his own strength. Looking briefly at Hwi's face, it was peaceful with sleep. Only after leaving his field of vision did Yunseo show the shock and consternation that had overtaken him.

Once it had dominated the veins, the hell that fully reached him was like a vast, boundless sea.

Not a sign of any boundary or edge could be felt. It was like endlessly pouring water into a bottomless jar.

It is impossible, this cannot be done, whispered the seed of despair that had bloomed in full from the very start. But Yunseo closed his ears. There was no other path to take but here. He had stepped onto a course that could not be undone.

"Your Majesty. I really think this, this is not right. The gate has not closed, but since the attack has stopped, we can regroup and take up battle formation again."

"I still have a long way to go. I am fine and——"

"If your royal body is harmed it will be a grave matter! We will make greater efforts, so for now——"

In the moment Huije carefully took hold of Yunseo's arm, Yunseo threw back his head and shouted as though screaming.

"No! If you pull me off now it is all over! Over! Do you understand?"

Something trickled down from his nose onto his lips. A metallic taste lingered at the tip of his tongue. Huije stared at Yunseo with a dazed expression. The Yongrin surrounding them stirred in silence.

So what this was right now was no different from facing an opponent head-on, both hands pressed together, and pushing with all one's might. If one pulled back saying it was too hard, the opponent would come falling forward onto this side. It would flood in endlessly without limit.

The moment one let go, they would lose. What they would face at that point was not a simple defeat. It would be the end — annihilation.

He could not rest, nor should he rest. Yunseo clawed at the dirt floor with his fingertips and bore down with all his strength. The Hell Realm absorbed Yunseo's strength persistently. The frustration and pessimism of one facing a steep endless climb with no end in sight descended overhead little by little.

"Unh……"

A sharp headache stabbed at his mind. The tips of his fingers and toes tingled as though blood had stopped flowing to them. Pain that he had never felt before while using the guardian star gnawed at his skin bit by bit.

Sweat running down his forehead to his cheek fell with a drop. More blood trickled down onto his lips. His throat was parched and dry; Yunseo licked his lips and swallowed, together with his own blood and saliva.

"Ah……"

It was painful and hard. Raising his eyes, he could see Hwi's sleeping face. He dislikes being put to sleep against his will. When he wakes I should apologize. It seems his anger will not easily fade, but even so……

Yunseo's eye corner gave a sudden twitch. It was because he felt an edge. But it was not the boundary of that vast sea. It was the end of his own seed, his own vessel.

His arm began to tremble at the appearance of an end he had never sensed even while treating Hwi. But Yunseo gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut and opened them, composing his blurring vision.

In the moment his strength gave out and one arm buckled, the busy movements of the Yongrin surrounding him on all sides reached him. There was no room to pay attention to whatever was happening around him. A heaviness like a massive boulder placed on every single joint pressed down on Yunseo. Yunseo suppressed a groan and lowered his body until he was nearly lying flat.

Please, please……

Muttering the desperate prayer, frantically clawing at the ground, Yunseo suddenly sensed one shoulder growing lighter. He snapped his head around — and there was the senior consort. The senior consort had sat down and pressed her hand to the ground, watching Yunseo with stern eyes.

"I have absolutely no welcome for neglect rather than protection."

At the sharp remark, a helpless laugh escaped.

Soon footsteps began to accumulate one by one. The second consort arrived, followed by the court noble, and then the many court nobles guarding this place arrived as well.

The supporting strength coming up one by one was plainly felt. In an instant his body grew lighter and his palm rang with a resonant thud. Yunseo's strength resonated with the strength of the Yeongchunhwa filling this earth.

A single egg might not be able to crack a boulder — but hundreds of eggs carrying a heartfelt wish would possess a strength greater than any boulder.

At some point, the vast sea became visible from above. The boulder cracking from being struck again and again without giving up was visible. A joy-filled laugh burst from between Yunseo's lips.

Then.

"Unh……"

Yunseo urgently looked in the direction the sound came from. Young court nobles who had not long since bloomed were in pain, their faces contorted.

"Do not use all your strength! Pull back those court nobles before they are exhausted!"

The Yongrin scattered and checked on the court nobles, picking out those on the verge of collapse and taking them away. Shoulders grew heavy again as they left one by one.

Still, just a little more……

Yunseo bit down hard on his lips and blinked to shake away the sweat.

The strength surging out like waves steadily narrowed the territory of those things. With each court noble who left, the veins weakened by that much, but at some point he had been able to sense the boundary.

The edge of that thing. The key to let the gate close.

I can do it. It is enough. It is alright. Yunseo recited it ceaselessly and looked back. Half the gathered court nobles had diminished.

Even so, riding the momentum, the gate of the Hell Realm began to slowly close — and because he could feel it so clearly, not a single shard of despair could bring Yunseo to his knees.

The headache that had been assaulting his mind came roaring back and his eye sockets throbbed. Gauging how much of his strength he could preserve, he pressed his fingertips into the ground, and again a metallic taste swirled at his lips.

Yunseo roughly wiped his nose on his shoulder and shook his head. His vision kept blurring, and he could not tell if it was from sweat or because his consciousness was fading together with it.

"Huh……"

From behind came the sound of people collapsing one after another. The boundary kept narrowing and the court nobles kept departing.

His belly felt leaden and stabbed with aching. Impossibly, the weight of the surrounding air seemed palpable. Yunseo lowered his body again and swallowed back the rising nausea.

The rate at which the mouth of that hell was closing had slowed noticeably. But it was steadily contracting, so hope continued as well. Yunseo beat the ground with the tips of his feet as though stamping them and prayed ceaselessly.

Please, please.

"Your Majesty. You must stop now."

Yunseo turned his head at Huije's nearby, plaintive voice. Before he knew it, only the senior consort remained at his side — and she had apparently coughed up blood at some point, her lips stained red.

"……Senior Consort. Please go back."

"I can do more."

The senior consort looked down at her own fingertips with stubborn eyes. But with her gaze blurring and her body swaying, it was obvious she had reached her limit.

"Your Majesty! You know this is too much."

"Instead of worrying needlessly…… do something a little more productive — cough!"

The senior consort coughed and vomited blood. Before Yunseo could even call for Huije, Huije muttered with a pale, sunken face.

"Please forgive me."

Huije's hand moved to the senior consort's nape. Before the senior consort could stop her, a firm hand pressed the pressure point. The senior consort's body went limp like a sheet of paper, and Huije took her in her arms and left.

"Huh……"

Now only he remained alone. Where had the guardian star gone, that had rushed out so eagerly before — he squeezed out every last drop of strength to keep the sluggish guardian star going.

"Kuh……!"

In an instant his insides heaved violently and something surged up from his throat. Yunseo retched out a thin liquid together with blood and coughed with great effort.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty. You have done enough. Everyone has rested sufficiently. We will do our best somehow to hold things off. It will not be the end."

When he raised his head while wiping drool from his mouth, he saw Gangbaek's tear-streaked face. Someone drained of all color who looked like he might die at any moment was telling him to stop…… Yunseo laughed faintly.

Truly not much was left. Yunseo gauged his remaining strength and the distance of the gate that would close with just a little more effort. After counting it all vaguely, a faint breath parted his lips.

If he used all his remaining strength, he could close the gate. Perhaps for quite a long time.

But if he did, he himself would die.