Hanryeong

Hanryeong is the former Saber God of Cheonghwado, a high-ranking martial artist whose death and rebirth turn him from one of Yeon-woo's enemies into a formal, steadfast familiar. His mastery of nine-sword combat, battlefield judgment, and eventual authority as a Death Lord make him both a frontline commander and one of Yeon-woo's most trusted swords.

Biography

The Saber God's last stand

As Cheonghwado collapsed, Hanryeong placed saving his son Hanbin above his own survival. He had hunted the Four Legendary Beasts and combined their Neidan under the Sword God's direction, only to realize that both Cheonghwado and Red Dragon had used him. Defeated by the Sword God and unable to rescue his dying son directly, Hanryeong shattered his own heart and Neidan rather than surrender their power. His self-destruction turned the remaining magic into a portal for the Summer Queen, denying the Sword God his prize and giving Hanryeong one last source of leverage. (Chapter 130)

Yeon-woo later confronted Hanryeong's surviving spirit with proof that Hanbin was alive. Learning that Nike—the offspring of the Phoenix Hanryeong had killed—had asked that the boy be spared broke Hanryeong's remaining resistance, and he surrendered his grudges to protect his son. Reborn as Yeon-woo's second Death Knight, he pledged allegiance but suffered a severe reduction in physical attributes because his new body could not contain his former rank. His first request was not freedom but nine durable swords, the equipment needed to recover the martial arts that had defined him in life. (Chapter 141)

A martial teacher in Yeon-woo's shadow

Hanryeong quickly became more than a summoned fighter. Drawing on a level of sword mastery between expert and arhat, he helped Yeon-woo understand Soul Power, Consciousness, and Aura, defining martial intent as the resolve to defeat an opponent. He advised Yeon-woo to build fundamentals before seeking higher mysteries, sparred with him to make Aura practical, and gave candid assessments even when they exposed the gap between Yeon-woo and specialists such as the Sword God. Henova's commissioned swords restored the sturdy arsenal Hanryeong needed, while the Philosopher's Stone and the Monkey King's legacy gave him routes to rebuild the power lost at resurrection. (Chapters 150–179, 217)

That rebuilding unfolded amid Yeon-woo's conflicts with Red Dragon and other powers. Hanryeong repeatedly emerged beside Shanon and Rebecca to attack enemies beyond ordinary players, including Agares, and he guarded the battlefield during the final confrontation with the Summer Queen. The war also convinced him that recovered strength was not enough: afterward, he and Shanon concentrated on the Monkey King's legacy because they judged themselves still too weak for the threats around their master. His service thus changed from repaying a debt into a continuing discipline shared with Yeon-woo's other familiars. (Chapters 197–206, 237–253)

Evolution through battle and Tartarus

Hanryeong's undead body allowed battle to become a direct path of restoration. After ambushing Duke Ardbad, he absorbed the duke's soul and evolved from Death Knight to Death Noble, bringing his vessel closer to the rank his soul had retained. He then fought as part of Yeon-woo's coordinated shadow force, crossing swords with enemy Apostles and using Sword Whirlwind to sever a vast shadow tentacle while Boo and the other familiars supplied control and support. In Tartarus, the quality of the souls available to him and Shanon let them regain abilities and increase their levels day after day, turning the Underworld campaign into both a war for Yeon-woo and a sustained recovery of Hanryeong's own martial standing. (Chapters 288–310, 370–391)

Arthia's commander and the poison of souls

With his old strength restored, Hanryeong took increasingly independent commands during Arthia's rise. He led Spirit Guai, executed Yeon-woo's plans against Blood Land, and defeated Duke Tuan Tien after absorbing the battlefield opportunities around him. Sent separately against the Elohim, he broke into their Elder Assembly at the head of a shadow army and devastated its leadership. That success ended when Bayluk's spiritual poison dissolved beings that ordinary attacks could not kill; Hanryeong chose retreat over losing the entire force, but returned with his own shadow body melting and the mission unfinished. (Chapters 406–427, 432–436)

Believing he was about to disappear, Hanryeong's final concern was again Hanbin, and he asked Yeon-woo to care for his son. Yeon-woo refused only because he expected Hanryeong to survive and raise Hanbin himself, spending an Elixir to arrest the danger. Nike supported that choice despite Hanryeong having killed his mother, recognizing another child endangered by a father's death. Moved by their decision, Hanryeong renewed his pledge to serve until the end of Yeon-woo's path; after recovering, he surpassed his former Saber God strength rather than merely returning to it. (Chapters 436–444)

The Death Lord of War

In the Changgong Library, Hanryeong's quiet habit of reading and meditation became part of his next transformation. While Yeon-woo studied the revelations, Hanryeong and the other familiars passed through an extended period of deep meditation—nearly a thousand years in their consciousness—and he focused particularly on Heaven Bracket as a way to improve his martial arts. He emerged as a Death Lord whose completed divine position of Monster had developed into War, a status reflecting a life and afterlife spent on battlefields. As Yeon-woo's second-in-command and a general of Dis Pluto, he could now direct restored Underworld troops independently and overwhelm divine enemies through the combination of his sword dance and their formations. (Chapters 490–507, 525)

Hanryeong used that authority throughout the struggle for the Underworld, helping bring the northern zone of Hades' temple close to destruction before standing with the Legion of Death as Dis Pluto reclaimed its homeland. His promotion did not erase his protective instincts: when unexplained energy appeared near Yeon-woo, he and Shanon immediately placed themselves between their master and the possible threat. The change instead expanded the scale at which his familiar loyalty operated, from personal swordsman to commander of forces capable of contesting divine societies. (Chapters 525–593)

The defense of the Psychic Medium

During the attack on the One-horned tribe, Yeon-woo ordered Hanryeong to find Edora. Although their unstable Pairing warned him that Yeon-woo was also in danger, Hanryeong judged that returning would not change his master's battle and continued the assigned search. His experience as Cheonghwado's Saber God led him to question the apparent conspiracy, recognize that Faceless could not have mobilized Asgard alone, and infer that the visible assault concealed a second objective. He followed that reasoning to the Spirit Pond and found Laplace targeting the Psychic Medium and Edora. (Chapters 614, 621)

Hanryeong could not defeat a king of the Demonic Sea, but he chose to hold the line anyway. He used all nine swords to keep Laplace away while Edora recovered, enduring the destruction of his weapons, arm, and much of his body. Even after being reduced to a shattered form, he launched one more attack and forced Laplace to withdraw long enough for Yeon-woo to arrive. His decision did not win the duel, but it preserved Edora's chance to resist and prevented the Psychic Medium from facing the attacker alone. Later, he extended the same protective role to Jeong-woo when Yeon-woo's familiars formed around him against the beings of Night. (Chapters 624–625, 696)

Guarding Yeon-woo through the final conflict

When Hanryeong returned to Yeon-woo as a Death Lord, he resumed his place in the innermost guard, holding formation even as beings of Night entered their master's shadow and leading Dis Pluto against the Perished Gods. His loyalty was tested more fundamentally when Yeon-woo discarded the domain of death: without that foundation, Hanryeong and the other dead could not safely manifest outside the shadow. Rather than treat the loss as abandonment, Hanryeong counseled patience because Yeon-woo had always opened a new path for them. That confidence marked how far their relationship had moved from the hostage-backed surrender of Hanryeong's rebirth. (Chapters 743–751, 788)

A journey with his son

After the major wars, Hanryeong finally gained the time that his first life had denied him. Shanon later reported that Hanryeong was out of contact because he was traveling with Hanbin, and Yeon-woo independently understood the absence as Hanryeong spending time with someone precious to him. His latest established situation therefore returns to the responsibility that drove his last stand as Saber God: not another command or campaign, but remaining beside the son he had once believed he could save only by dying. (Chapters 811, 852)

Appearance and personality

After his resurrection, Hanryeong inhabits an armored undead body with Inferno Sights burning beneath his helm. The black armor initially feels heavy because the vessel cannot contain his former attributes, though later evolutions bring the body closer to his soul's rank. His nine swords and controlled sword dance are the most consistent visual markers of his presence; even when faced with Allforone, he prepares with an indifferent expression rather than outward excitement. (Chapters 141, 288, 648)

Hanryeong is formal, reserved, and deeply martial. He addresses Yeon-woo respectfully, gives calm technical explanations, and often counters Shanon's chatter with blunt focus. He also has considerable pride in worthy combat and in the quality of his swords, but that pride does not prevent honest retreat or tactical reassessment. Outside battle, he is a patient reader and meditator. His defining trait is disciplined loyalty joined to independent judgment: he obeys orders, yet thinks through hidden motives and accepts suffering when protecting others requires it. (Chapters 147–150, 446, 490, 621–625)

Abilities and powers

Hanryeong's power combines high-level martial arts with an undead familiar's capacity to absorb souls, evolve, and draw strength from Yeon-woo's authority over death. His progression restores the skill he possessed as Saber God and then carries him beyond it, culminating in the divine position of War and command over other dead.

Nine-sword martial arts

Hanryeong fights through a rotating collection of nine swords and treats the weapons as components of a single system. Sword Whirlwind uses their ordered movement to create a huge tornado filled with Aura that tears apart everything around him, while Tomb of the Nine Swords, also rendered as Grave of the Nine Swords, arranges the blades into his signature sword dance. Both techniques impose a material requirement: he needs nine sufficiently sturdy swords, and stronger blades make the skills more threatening. Broken or inadequate weapons can prevent him from reaching their full form, as shown when the Sword God shattered his original set and when Laplace destroyed replacements during their clash. (Chapters 130–141, 217, 625)

His underlying sword mastery is not limited to named techniques. In life, his skill stood between expert and arhat, and he could combine Aura with nine simultaneous trajectories strongly enough to drive back elite opponents. After resurrection, he trains with the Monkey King's legacy and later studies Heaven Bracket through centuries of subjective meditation. This practice restores his Saber God strength and establishes new peaks beyond it, though the corpus does not assign him a complete named version of every Heaven Bracket art he studies. (Chapters 154, 217, 444, 507)

Undead evolution and the divine position of War

Hanryeong begins as a Death Knight whose reduced body cannot express the full rank of his soul. Absorbing powerful souls closes that gap: Duke Ardbad's soul triggers his evolution into a Death Noble, and the high-quality souls of Tartarus accelerate further growth. As a shadow-based undead, he can emerge from Yeon-woo's shadow, communicate through their mental connection, recover through death-aligned power, and benefit when Yeon-woo's own authority over death advances. His immortality is not absolute, however. Bayluk's Spirit Powder Poison attacks spiritual matter directly and nearly dissolves him despite the normal resilience of his form, demonstrating a counter capable of bypassing ordinary undead defenses. (Chapters 141, 288, 391, 435–443)

After his long meditation, Hanryeong becomes a Death Lord who rules the abyss and bears the divine position of War. This lets him lead Dis Pluto as a great general, project Yeon-woo's will across a battlefield, and combine the army's formations with his own sword whirlwinds. The same bond that empowers him is also a structural limitation: when Yeon-woo temporarily discards the domain of death, Hanryeong can remain within his shadow but risks scattering if he manifests outside it. His latest demonstrated response is trust and patience rather than an independently explained replacement power. (Chapters 525, 582, 788)

Battlefield command and judgment

Hanryeong can command Spirit Guai and large undead formations rather than serving only as an individual duelist. He uses shadows to engulf isolated forces, divides operational responsibilities with Shanon, and carries out separate pursuit, assassination, and protection missions through Pairing with Yeon-woo. His compressed divine and magic power can produce sword blows compared to Yeon-woo's Sword Thunder, although the Illusory Barrier around the Martial King withstands repeated strikes. More importantly, his service as Saber God gives him the institutional knowledge to identify implausible enemy plans and redirect himself toward concealed objectives, as he does when searching for Edora and the Psychic Medium. (Chapters 406–418, 525, 614, 621)

Power progression

Relationships

• Yeon-woo: Hanryeong begins as Yeon-woo's enemy and accepts resurrection partly because Yeon-woo holds the means to save Hanbin. Their relationship develops into mutual trust: Hanryeong teaches and protects him, while Yeon-woo refuses to discard Hanryeong when spiritual poison makes replacing him seem easier.
• Hanbin: Hanryeong's son is the central motive behind his last decisions as Saber God and his surrender after death. In the later peaceful period, Hanryeong travels with him, finally choosing sustained companionship over another battlefield.
• Shanon: Shanon is Hanryeong's fellow undead swordsman, training partner, and frequent battlefield counterpart. Their temperaments differ—Shanon is outspoken while Hanryeong is restrained—but they teach Yeon-woo together and repeatedly divide command of the shadow forces between them.
• Nike: Nike is the Phoenix's child and therefore the survivor of one of Hanryeong's gravest acts. Nike first asks that Hanbin be spared and later urges Yeon-woo to save the poisoned Hanryeong, turning their shared history into an explicit act of forgiveness.
• Edora: Hanryeong follows Yeon-woo's order to find Edora, uncovers the hidden attack on the Spirit Pond, and sacrifices his body and swords to keep Laplace from reaching her and the Psychic Medium.
• Rebecca and Boo: They serve beside Hanryeong as Yeon-woo's representative familiars. Their complementary sword, magic, and command abilities form the core of many coordinated attacks and eventually symbolize different paths of death under their master.

Items

No separately cataloged notable item is assigned to Hanryeong in the scoped item manifest; his nine swords are treated as a replaceable combat set rather than one persistent named artifact.