SSSHK—!!!

The martial artists positioned all around snapped upright and raised their swords.

“...Don’t let your guard down.”

“Watch your opponent!”

We knew who the opponent was. At that point, there was no way not to tense up.

Who was Sword Demon?

One of the DEMON CULT monsters who had fought Heaven-Beyond-Heaven during the Orthodox-Demonic War.

And when it came strictly to swordsmanship, he was treated as the same tier as the Sword Emperor—or said to have matched the Blade God in strength—one of the DEMON CULT’s highest forces.

The eight Demon Men who existed under the Heavenly Demon.

Called the Eight Demon Men, elite even among the hundreds and thousands of demon men.

Sword Demon was one of them.

Even if he’d appeared having lost his right arm, a being already said to be dead was standing there, brazen as day.

“...How could you possibly...?”

Even Thousand-Mile True Sight, as if he couldn’t understand the situation, only furrowed his brow.

When every martial artist raised battle aura and stared Sword Demon down—

SSSHK.

Sword Demon lowered his sword and looked at Thousand-Mile True Sight.

“Jegal Jin.”

“...”

At the call, Thousand-Mile True Sight’s eyes turned razor-sharp.

“How are you brazenly alive instead of dead?”

Even if he lived, he should’ve already been dead.

He absolutely could not be alive.

“You were clearly...”

“I was dead.”

KRRRK.

Sword Demon stepped forward. The martial artists who saw it hurriedly thrust their swords out, but—

SWISH.

FSSSSSH—!!!

“Kuh—huck!”

“Gaaah—!!”

With the sound of something being cut, blood erupted from their bodies like a fountain.

They clutched their throats and collapsed just like that.

It was instant.

Martial artists who were staunching their °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° wounds and screaming in pain—Sword Demon strolled right past them.

Even then, his gaze never left Thousand-Mile True Sight for a single moment.

“I came back after reaching death once already.”

“...What are you saying?”

At the words spat out without a flicker of expression, Thousand-Mile True Sight demanded again, but—

“Jegal Jin.”

Sword Demon didn’t answer. He only kept quietly spitting out his own words.

“I’ll ask.”

A pale complexion. Fatigue clinging under dark eyes like it could crawl up to his chin.

And unlike his flat expression, the killing intent wrapped around him was heavy.

Those seeing Sword Demon for the first time felt like they understood, painfully well, what kind of existence he was.

That Sword Demon questioned Jegal Jin.

“What is it like now?”

“...What are you talking about?”

“Is it the righteous faction you dreamed of?”

“...” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

At Sword Demon’s words, Thousand-Mile True Sight suddenly shut his mouth.

“Or did it become the righteous faction the Sword Saint dreamed of.”

Faces around us shifted at the incomprehensible words he spat out. Because of that single term he’d spoken: Sword Saint.

The hero of the righteous faction, the greatest under heaven across past and present—having a DEMON CULT man mention him.

That seemed to stick in everyone’s craw.

But.

“...”

Even in that situation, Jegal Jin couldn’t say a single word.

Seeing that, Sword Demon nodded.

“I see.”

An expression like he’d accepted it.

“As expected.”

Then—

“You’re wrong.”

SSSSSSSS—!!!

From Sword Demon’s toes, a vicious killing intent spread in all directions.

“Prepare for battle!”

Martial artists reacting to the killing intent charged Sword Demon again.

Two commander-level martial artists and several righteous-faction martial artists.

A considerable force rushed him, but—

SWISH—!!

As if he’d been waiting for it, people infiltrated from elsewhere, too.

“Kill them—!!”

“For the heavens!!”

Men in black martial robes appeared and fought the alliance members.

“What...?!”

“Where the hell did they come from...?!”

The commanders who hadn’t sensed a thing panicked for an instant. Where did that many presences even come from?

They didn’t understand, but they couldn’t let it shake them.

Everyone hurriedly gripped their swords and started fighting.

CLANG—!

CLANG CLANG—!!

In the blink of an eye, it became a slaughterhouse. A battlefield that had barely been holding onto silence erupted into a riot.

A feast of killing intent and the stench of blood.

“Kraaaah!!”

Screams rang out in a chaotic mess.

“Ha. Goddamn it.”

Black-Grand Saber let out a hollow laugh as he gripped his saber.

“I was in such a rush I couldn’t even bring everything properly.”

He hated that he hadn’t brought his beloved weapon.

But he shoved the regret aside, and his heavy body lashed through the air.

“...Peng Dojun?!”

Cheon Eujin called out to him, looking flustered, but—

“What are you hesitating for? If you’re a blade man, then play like one.”

Peng Dojun flashed a grin and plunged into the battlefield.

“...”

Watching that, Cheon Eujin clenched his teeth.

The smell of blood and battle aura throbbed through the air. I’d been through real fights more than once already, but right now, something was different.

Was it hesitation? It was like my feet were glued down—I couldn’t move right.

So out of habit, I almost turned my back.

I was about to look for where Bang Sungyeon was, but—

“Let’s go.”

Do Hyeong was faster. Blue eyes shining, he sprinted into the battlefield—

“Ah...!”

And seeing that, Cheon Eujin followed without even realizing it.

SWISH—!!

CLANG—!!!

“Kgh!”

A brutal offensive rattled the sword. The martial artist’s centerline got shoved back and his stance came apart.

He tried to recover fast, but—

“Yraaaah!!”

WHACK—!!

A huge saber split clean through the martial artist’s upper body.

It sliced through a black-robed martial artist’s body—one wrapped in hardened qi—like he was paper.

Blood splattered thickly. Black-Grand Saber took it without even blinking and laughed.

“Hahahah—!!”

He looked like someone you’d suspect of being dark. Even in this situation, Black-Grand Saber was enjoying himself.

My body was heavy. The aftermath of the tournament hadn’t healed at all.

Every time he moved, the pain repeated—but heat strong enough to crush it ruled his whole body.

‘This is it.’

Even with the situation this urgent—

‘This is exactly it.’

It was fun.

As if he’d been wishing and wishing for something like this.

Black-Grand Saber felt ecstasy flooding into his head.

“You bastard—!!”

“Die!”

“Hahahaha—!!”

Breathing in that vicious killing intent, Black-Grand Saber’s saber roared.

His opponents were strong, too. He didn’t know who they were. Didn’t know what the assault was even for.

And he didn’t want to know.

He moved by ecstasy. By instinct.

WHIRL—! BANG!

His body might shatter.

His skin might get peeled off by a blade. He might get cut up so badly he’d never recover.

Knowing that perfectly well, Black-Grand Saber still moved.

What was it.

What was the word for it.

‘I have to enjoy now.’

The vast sensations rising off the battlefield.

He’d never experienced a fight like this. He wasn’t inexperienced in real combat, but he’d never been in a battlefield like this.

And yet Black-Grand Saber enjoyed it like he’d walked into his own home.

No—this might be better than his own home.

‘My body feels light.’

A body made of ecstasy felt lighter than anything.

‘The end of the saber is heavy.’

But the saber he swung was heavy beyond belief.

Yet it didn’t feel heavy.

Why does everything feel this free?

A floating sensation ruled Black-Grand Saber—and Black-Grand Saber ruled that sensation in return.

‘It’s coming.’

Something was coming.

‘It’s coming. It’s coming.’

It felt like it was going to swell up and launch him into the air.

Grinning like a madman, he kept swinging his blade.

If he kept doing this, it felt like he could pierce something.

Then, right as he was swinging like he’d lost his mind—

CLANG—!

“Kuhk!”

A tremendous shock slammed in through the flat of the saber. Black-Grand Saber staggered.

He managed to block. But—

“Ghhh...”

Maybe the recoil hadn’t been light—Black-Grand Saber’s arm trembled.

It felt like he might drop the saber at any moment, but he held on with everything he had.

That was when—

“What a nostalgic face.”

“...!”

My skin crawled.

A disgusting pressure swept over Black-Grand Saber’s body.

“Kid.”

Black-Grand Saber lifted his head. There—

“What relationship do you have with Peng Seolhyeok.”

An old man drenched in blood—Sword Demon—was looking down at Black-Grand Saber.

“...”

Black-Grand Saber’s smile vanished. The smile he always wore in any situation was erased in an instant.

“I asked you.”

Black-Grand Saber didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at Sword Demon’s hand.

A blade stained red.

Gulp.

Black-Grand Saber swallowed dryly.

“Can’t understand words?”

Sword Demon tilted his head. Seeing that, Black-Grand Saber opened the mouth he’d kept shut.

“...He’s my grandfather.”

Blade God Peng Seolhyeok.

At that, Sword Demon’s lips lifted slightly.

“I see. As expected... the grandchild of the saber demon.”

“Saber demon?”

Hearing it, heat flared in Black-Grand Saber’s eyes.

“You’d better speak properly, demon man. My grandfather isn’t a saber demon. He’s the Blade God.”

“...”

Blade God Peng Seolhyeok. A Heaven-Beyond-Heaven of the Peng Clan—now dead.

Mentioning him scraped at Black-Grand Saber’s nerves.

But—

“Blade God, huh. Fine. I’ll call him that. But.”

TAP—!

“...!!!”

Sword Demon’s body, which had been far away, reached Black-Grand Saber in an instant.

He didn’t perceive it.

“That arrogant way you talk—you should fix it.”

Thump—! Thump—!

Instinct boiled over. Facing Sword Demon, Black-Grand Saber’s instincts screamed at him.

Run.

At that distant sensation, Black-Grand Saber bit his lip.

‘Run?’

Not happening.

Black-Grand Saber curled his lips up and put everything he had into it.

WHOOOSH—! The energy in his dantian poured out at once—

And using that, ink surged from Black-Grand Saber’s shadow first.

Black Cloud.

A secret art the Blade God created and the Peng Clan cultivated in secrecy.

Once again, the Blade God’s trace was about to surface in the world—

“Hm.”

KRAK—!!

The moment Sword Demon grunted and flicked his hand—

The black veil shattered into fragments and scattered.

“...What...?”

Black Cloud broke apart powerlessly. At that pathetic sight, Black-Grand Saber went blank.

Could it really fall apart that easily?

While Black-Grand Saber still couldn’t even react properly—

“Somewhat disappointing.”

Sword Demon spoke to him in a low voice.

“At this level, it’s better to clear you out.”

Sword Demon’s sword moved.

By the time Black-Grand Saber recognized it, the sword was already dropping onto the space between his eyebrows.

‘Ah.’

A sword blade casting a shadow across his face.

Black-Grand Saber’s pupils shook.

Death.

So this is death.

Black-Grand Saber remembered that death was coming for him.

Because the instincts of the Heaven-Martial Body were telling him so.

You can’t escape.

This was far beyond something courage could run from.

As Black-Grand Saber recalled that staggering gap and was about to give up—

“Eheh. Nope.”

A voice came from right in front of him.

KRRK—! CLANG—!

“If some old freak bullies that brat, that’s not right.”

Heh heh heh.

A rough, weighty way of speaking that didn’t match the pretty voice.

At the shallow vibration that broke the stillness, Black-Grand Saber’s body toppled.

BOOM—!

A body that lost its center. Black-Grand Saber looked up from where he’d fallen on his ass.

There—

A back that looked half his size was stopping Sword Demon’s sword.

KRRRRK.

“...”

Sword Demon’s eyes widened, staring at the one who’d blocked his blade.

“...What.”

A voice like he couldn’t understand.

“What are you.”

Not the same words as before.

At that, another heh heh heh laugh rang out.

Black-Grand Saber’s heart lurched again.

Thump—!

‘Ha.’

It was a familiar sensation.

Tremble.

His fingertips shook.

When was it? Probably on the way to Henan.

That distant, exalted presence he’d felt then.

That ridiculous pressure that had made him drop to his knees without even meaning to.

It was right in front of him.

“Who am I?”

A young man with long brown hair he usually kept tied, now let loose, holding a dark sword I’d never seen before.

“Try to guess.”

The moon wearing Bang Sungyeon’s face—blue eyes shining—spoke to Sword Demon.

[“Try to guess.”]