BOOOOM—!!

Wind howled through the space, tearing everything up. The ground had been churned into a mess, and broken fragments were scattered everywhere.

In that place, a red-eyed young man stared at something as if bewitched.

It was the sword the Little Sword Saint, Bang Sungyeon, was holding.

A blade so dark it looked like it had been forged from black iron itself.

And the characters carved into that edge—

Sword Saint.

Even at a glance, you could tell it wasn’t an ordinary sword, but—

“......What is that.......”

To the young man, none of that mattered.

Only one thing mattered.

That sword.

The problem was that sword in his hand.

“Why...... why are you holding the Divine Sword?”

There was no way he wouldn’t know.

That ink-dark sword. Even if the shape had changed and it wasn’t quite the same as its original form—

“Little Sword Saint—!”

He, of all people, wasn’t going to miss it.

As that thought hit him, he erupted in a roar—

“......God, shut up....... For a kid, you’ve got lungs.”

Bang Sungyeon dug into his ear and scowled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you want me to understand, explain it calmly.”

He smiled as he lightly swayed the sword.

It was blatant mockery.

“You—!”

The young man—the Deputy Leader wearing Baek Cheonin’s face—was about to lash out.

“Looks like you’ve finally decided to stop with that pathetic act?”

“.......”

Bang Sungyeon grinned at Baek Cheonin, now showing his true self.

Baek Cheonin’s expression turned ice-cold.

“You knew?”

“Of course I knew. I’m pretty damn quick on the uptake. So are you. So am I.”

Heh heh heh.

At that laugh, Baek Cheonin ground his teeth.

“......Hah....... Then you crawled all the way here even knowing?”

“I don’t know what that has to do with anything, but with you making this much noise, wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t come?”

“Seems you don’t realize what you’ve walked into on your own feet.”

SSSS.

Killing intent burst out of Baek Cheonin’s body.

A vile, stinging energy carrying a fishy stench.

Bang Sungyeon tilted his head at it.

“For a kid, you’ve got something disgusting inside you.”

“......What happened to Sword Demon?”

He’d heard the Little Sword Saint was where Sword Demon went.

If this bastard was here, then what did that mean for Sword Demon?

Bang Sungyeon answered.

“Oh, that guy.”

And then he lazily flicked the sword tip.

“I killed him. Cut his head off.”

“Bullshit—!”

At Bang Sungyeon’s words, Baek Cheonin’s face twisted.

Killed Sword Demon? It wasn’t even funny.

“How could you possibly kill Sword Demon.”

“If I killed him, I killed him. If you’re not gonna believe me, why the hell did you ask?”

“If you thought you could shake me with lies like that, you misjudged.”

How could anyone believe that kind of cheap talk?

Baek Cheonin laughed instead. He didn’t know how this bastard got here, but—

“Fine. Better this way.”

Baek Cheonin slowly tightened his grip on his sword.

“I don’t know how you’re holding it, but that’s better too.”

This was better.

Everything he wanted was already gathered here.

No need to hesitate anymore.

“You die here by my hand, Little Sword Saint.”

“Mm.”

Bang Sungyeon narrowed his eyes.

Baek Cheonin was just about to swing—

“Wait.”

Someone stepped in front of him.

An old man wearing a black face veil—the one who called himself the Palace Lord.

“......Palace Lord. What do you think you’re doing.”

Baek Cheonin’s eyes flared at the Heaven-Breaking Palace Lord blocking his path.

“We agreed we wouldn’t interfere for the sake of what each of us wants.”

“I’m not interfering. I’m just curious about something.”

The Palace Lord didn’t look at Baek Cheonin.

He only stared at Bang Sungyeon as he spoke.

“Good to see you.”

First—was a greeting.

“I have something to ask you. I want you to answer.”

TAP. TAP.

Instead of replying, Bang Sungyeon rested the sword on his shoulder and lightly tapped it.

Go on, then. Spit it out.

“That sword. Where did you get it?”

“This?”

Bang Sungyeon snorted and answered.

“Why ask? You already know.”

“......Heh heh heh.......”

The Palace Lord chuckled quietly.

That answer was enough.

“So it was your fault we went all the way to Sichuan and couldn’t find the key.”

He’d wondered.

Why the key he believed had to exist wasn’t there.

He hadn’t expected the Poison King to die, but when he heard something had gone wrong and the plan had slipped out °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of alignment, he’d been suspicious.

And—

“You were there.”

He’d heard the Little Sword Saint was at the very place where his plan got ruined.

He hadn’t thought much of it when he heard a mere rising star had killed Ma Hyeokchang and saved the Tang Clan.

But looking at that sword made it all click.

“Interesting.”

“Not a bad compliment. I’ll take that.”

“Sword Demon. Did you kill him?”

“I told you. I killed him.”

“Hm.......”

Was it true?

The Palace Lord had to decide whether to believe it or not.

No matter how strong he was, a rising star killing Sword Demon was hard to swallow.

Then—

“Then I’ll ask one too.”

Bang Sungyeon asked the Palace Lord.

“What are you?”

“Hm?”

SWISH.

He leveled the ink-dark sword at him.

Seeing that sharp point, the Palace Lord tilted his head.

“You mean this old man?”

At the question about his identity, the old man laughed.

His face was hidden by the veil, but his voice made it clear.

“This old man is the one who will shatter the heavens.”

“Mm.”

Bang Sungyeon nodded.

“So you’re saying you’re a lunatic.”

“.......”

At the flat statement, the Palace Lord’s body stiffened.

“Whatever. Lunatic, deranged—none of that really matters.”

The lunatic was the Palace Lord.

The deranged one was Baek Cheonin.

Mentioning both, Bang Sungyeon slid a step forward.

“I’ll say it nicely, so listen just once.”

At the same time, he pointed with his sword—

At Divine Spear, collapsed behind the Palace Lord.

Dead or alive, he didn’t know. All he could see was him lying there unconscious.

“Leave that man and get lost. Then I’ll let you live. For now.”

“......What?”

Baek Cheonin’s face twisted into something ugly.

What? Let him live?

“......You really can’t read the situation. Who’s letting who live?”

His face flushed.

That scorched red glow in his eyes shone without end.

“That so-called Divine Spear—one of the candidates for the strongest under heaven—is in that state. What can a punk like you even do?”

“Heh.”

Bang Sungyeon let out a dry laugh.

It was that ridiculous.

“If someone heard you, they’d think you did that.”

“.......”

The one who put Divine Spear in that state was the Palace Lord.

It sure as hell wasn’t Baek Cheonin.

Bang Sungyeon stared hard into Baek Cheonin’s eyes.

Those scorched red eyes.

That deep crimson glow that looked like the stench of blood could waft out of them.

He’d seen eyes like that before.

“So the Heavenly Demon’s bloodline was still alive.”

“......!”

“To think I’d see red eyes again.”

The moment he mentioned the Heavenly Demon, Baek Cheonin’s eyes blew wide.

“How do you know that—”

“We don’t have time to chat. I don’t want to, and we’re not exactly swimming in breathing room. So choose.”

Bang Sungyeon’s expression changed.

“Get lost. Or die.”

“.......”

The Palace Lord showed no reaction at all.

A moment passed like that.

Then—

“Strange.”

The Palace Lord finally spoke the thought he’d been turning over.

His tone sounded genuinely baffled.

“From what I see, you’re arrogant, but you don’t look like a child whose mind doesn’t work.”

He really couldn’t understand it.

“Do you truly believe you can kill this old man?”

RRRRRRRUMBLE.

Presence erupted out of the Palace Lord’s body.

A vast, distant pressure surged into Bang Sungyeon at once—

GRIT.

And even while taking it head-on, Bang Sungyeon didn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“For an old cripple, you’ve got some force.”

He smiled wider.

As if he welcomed that pressure, he laughed and laughed without end.

At that mad look, the Palace Lord narrowed one eye.

What the hell is he thinking?

“......Hm.”

The Palace Lord, who had been pondering, shook his head.

Long deliberation wasn’t needed.

“Deputy Leader.”

“.......”

The Palace Lord called to Baek Cheonin, but he didn’t answer.

“If you won’t do what you meant to do, then this old man will step in.”

“.......”

If you’re going to stand there, I’ll do it.

At that, Baek Cheonin snapped back to himself and raised his sword.

How does he know about red eyes?

What is that Divine Sword?

What does that bastard know—how far does it go?

Baek Cheonin was still burning with questions, but if he wanted answers, there was only one way.

“......I’ll kill you.”

Baek Cheonin adjusted his stance, killing intent wrapping around him—

“This is kind of cheap.”

Bang Sungyeon looked at the Palace Lord.

“Making me deal with both of you alone? That’s not it. That’s just pathetic.”

“Don’t worry.”

The Palace Lord replied.

“This old man won’t bother joining in.”

He had no intention of intervening.

Of course, if Baek Cheonin lost here, that would change—

“Hah.”

Bang Sungyeon could read the subtext in that answer.

All he could do was laugh.

“Listen to yourselves. This is why scum with dirty backs are the problem.”

BANG!

Baek Cheonin launched himself in, driving in fast to cut him down—

And the moment he tried to drag his blade across—

CLANG—!!

“......Kgh!?”

A huge shock rattled him, and Baek Cheonin’s stance collapsed.

GRIT.

BANG!

His joints were crushed down, and his knee slammed into the ground.

So hard cracks spidered across the earth.

Meanwhile, the motion that crushed Baek Cheonin’s knee was absurdly light.

At some point, his sword had been knocked aside.

At some point, his body had already been controlled.

“Wha—!”

Before Baek Cheonin could even react—

KRAK—!

Bang Sungyeon grabbed his throat and slammed him into the ground.

KUAAAH—!!

“Kuhhk!!”

The impact ripped a groan out of Baek Cheonin, but even that didn’t last.

—!!!

A fist drove into his face.

The body that tried to rise slammed into the ground again, then bounced up.

“Khk!”

Blood spilled out.

It ran down from Baek Cheonin’s mouth in thick streaks.

“Tsk.”

Bang Sungyeon grabbed Baek Cheonin by the collar and hauled him up.

“When the adults are talking, don’t butt in. If you don’t know your place, you get taught like this, don’t you.”

“......Kuh—......”

Baek Cheonin’s body trembled, like the pain still hadn’t faded.

“......Heh heh.”

The Palace Lord’s reaction was about the same.

“Interesting. He really does deserve to be called Yoo Cheongil’s successor.”

Talent didn’t just fill him.

It overflowed.

How much insight had he just pulled out of that one exchange?

At the very least, it wasn’t the kind of insight a rising star who hadn’t even hit early adulthood should be able to contain.

“I’m a little disappointed, Deputy Leader.”

The Palace Lord’s gaze toward Baek Cheonin changed.

“I tried to view you favorably because you had value, but.......”

If he was going to collapse this helplessly, it was hard to assign him much value.

“......Fine. Whatever. No matter how lacking you are, you’re still necessary, so I suppose anything works.”

For the plan, the Deputy Leader was essential.

So whether he had value or not, he’d have to endure it.

Remembering that, the Palace Lord moved at a slow pace.

“Meeting you here is luck. I get to cut down the Sword Saint’s sprout before it grows—how lucky.”

“.......”

“You said you’d kill this old man, didn’t you? Good. Then struggle. Oh—did you know this?”

The Palace Lord spoke with a smile.

“This old man is the one who killed your master.”

“.......”

He brought up Yoo Cheongil.

But—

“Oh, yeah?”

Bang Sungyeon’s reaction barely changed.

“So what.”

“......Ha ha.......”

That flatness pissed him off.

“So that’s how it is.”

Same type, huh.

Yeah. That’s why he could be called a successor.

“And, by the way, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

TAP.

After putting Baek Cheonin down, Bang Sungyeon spoke to the Palace Lord.

“Did I say I’d kill you?”

“What?”

“I said if you don’t get lost, you die. I didn’t say I would kill you.”

“What are you talking—”

SWISH—!!

“......!”

The Palace Lord twisted hard.

WHACK—!!

The space where he’d been shook as if it had been torn open.

What the hell?

The Palace Lord snapped his eyes to the side—

“......Well, damn.”

A figure stood there who had no business being here.

A wrinkled old man with a gaunt, one-armed body.

He held an old sword and stared at the Palace Lord.

And seeing him, the Palace Lord spoke his name.

“Sword Emperor.”

The greatest sword under heaven.

Sword Emperor Ui Yangyeon.

He looked at the Palace Lord and swung again—

SHK—!

And the sky split apart.