Mental visions of titanic struggle and flowing rivers of blood — a cataclysmic holy war fought in the name of the LORD — always accompanied Yujin from then on. Some were vivid and visceral, sent from above by divine inspiration. Most were natural predictions of the future, for hate and wrath could carry the fires of holy violence beyond its limits. At the beginning Yujin was afflicted by these visions; no mortal could possibly comprehend the extent of the Great Crusade that was about to be unleashed upon Nanwian and the lands surrounding it. In his old age Yang Jungwon, chief of Yujin’s lieutenants and most ardent supporter of the great cleansing with fire and sword, began to unravel at the seams of his mind; during the battle of Sojam which assumed gigantic proportions by the number of troops and carnage involved, the aged crusader was moved to tears when he beheld the slaughter of an entire corps of his enemy by artillery, and the shadow of the battle remained with him, driving him to take his life. Between the beginning of the Pure Realm rebellion and the restoration of King Gwangmu to the throne of Sinui (this being held by the author to mark the end of the Great Crusade), 15 million people perished, mostly from natural disasters, plague, and famine; the population and economy of Nanwian did not recover to the levels of the Sindeok until two centuries after the Great Crusade. 

The horrors of the Great Crusade weighed heavily on Yujin’s mind for her entire life. Every glory won by the crusaders was levied on the backs of the masses, pleading for mercy, begging for deliverance, suffering for their masters. For entrance into Paradise, the crusaders would turn this world into Hell. This was why Minseok, who had gained so much power in such a short time, never employed the full extent of his might against his foes. The wrath of the peasantry, left uncontrolled and to its own devices, would tear the country apart, and no vengeance could ever justify that. But Yujin did not love Nanwian like Minseok, for it was the land of the infidels and invaders — the realm of her mortal enemy. The Great Crusade was justice enacted for her; a righteous war to banish the Nanwians from the Chwanjeou and punish them for their transgressions. If Yujin had retained control of the Crusade, the Sindeok would not have been destroyed; Lee Taemin would not have fallen in the Battle of the Five Armies, and the brutal reign of King Baekhyun would not have occurred.

The Great Crusade and its consequences would not have happened if Yujin had been contained — if the tragedy of the peerless Im Nayeon had been averted. But it is not yet the point in the story to explain the fall of the Protector of the Chwanjeou. 

Oh Sehun, leader of the Silver Legion of Sakju, recalled in his memoirs that, “Few foes have I encountered that were so prepossessing of the qualities of a giant of history. Had she survived the treachery of her own officers; had she been sent against me instead of Jang Gyuri, the legacy of the Sage would have been extinguished with the iron rule of Taemin. With her, the Sindeok may have survived even in the midst of enemies.”

Im Nayeon was the living embodiment of excesses. This was not limited to material extravagance, but moreso in temperament — in the soul. In her actions could be traced violent emotions and excessive actions, characterising a person of such extremes that is utterly incomprehensible to most modern observers. But in those days it was not uncommon for people to possess such extremist personalities. It is well known in the history of tyrannical lovers that King Geonmu had his favourite mistress executed when she jilted him; in another more bizarre tale it is said that a Taihei prince had his severed preserved in a jar and gifted to the legendary courtesan Huh Yunjin (which had been bitten off by her in the first place) as a memento of their time together. In relation to this tale is also the method by which Nakamura Kazuha, the famous admiral of Sudam who defied the Great Crusade for eleven years, wooed her bride Kim Chaewon. After being repeatedly put off through spring and summer by Chaewon’s promise to give her an answer ‘when the snows come’, Kazuha reached the limit of her patience. During one night, she had her men spread hundreds of tons of salt around Chaewon’s house, and next day called, “Give me your answer; the snows have come.” The mild Mundeok was also prone to episodes of excess, going so far as to have one of his tutors hanged in his garden after learning of his corrupt practices. 

The battle for the Chwanjeou, starting from Hwanseong, was one of clashing extremes. The horizontal clashed with the perpendicular; the North invaded the South; the horse-riders fought the mountaineers; gentlemen fought ruffians. Both were exceedingly, uncompromisingly violent. Hwanseong’s inflexible brutality and iron discipline was paid for in blood and anguish, as was the fanaticism of Heeyeon. It was a duel of extremists. 

Their successors continued in this way. Nayeon was the epitome of excess of the soul, with her unending appetites, furious energies, limitless resolves, and confusing eccentricities. She bewildered many of her subordinates with her unpredictable whims, but it was this same Bohemian manner that earned Nayeon the attention and favour of Mundeok. Her hairdresser was kept imprisoned in a gilded cage so that he would not be tempted to serve others; every week she would send out bailiffs to Hakampo, on the coast of Wiwon, to purchase the finest seafood dinners which were then laboriously transferred by wagon to Anju just in time for the Feasting Hour on the evening of every fifth day of the week.