The distinctive line stamped on the letter.

There was no mistaking it—Blue Moon Sect. And within it, the seal of the sect master, the Moon Immortal Sword.

A letter she’d entrusted to the Small Moon Unit Leader before departure. It was weird enough that he only handed it to me after everything was over.

But—

...What is this?

The contents were even more ridiculous.

The letter’s wording was plain and efficient, like it was showing off the Moon Immortal Sword’s personality.

If I had to compress what it said, it was this:

If the Mount Hua Sect’s Sect Master dies, or something equivalent occurs, recover the item he was entrusted with.

“...”

It was written a bit longer than that, but that was the gist.

That was why I’d frozen.

What?

How?

How did she know?

If the Sect Master dies, or something equivalent occurs.

That phrase itched at my insides. Which meant—

The Moon Immortal Sword knew Seongheon’s condition wasn’t good.

They said it was a letter she’d left before departure, so that meant she knew in advance.

How, exactly?

And even worse—

The fact she showed me this like this means...

It meant she was confident I’d notice what was going on with Seongheon.

...Ha.

It crawled up my spine. I never expected she’d already have something like this in her hand.

...What the hell is she?

What is the Moon Immortal Sword?

Who the hell is she, that she knows this much?

She knows all that and still sends me out here? Without even giving me this information?

...Right. I forgot.

Something I hadn’t been keeping in my head came back up: the Blue Moon Sect people who supposedly killed Yoo Cheongil.

And among them, the Moon Immortal Sword was one of the suspects.

I’d forgotten that for a moment.

“Whew.”

I let out a breath. Then—

“Why are you like that?”

The Small Moon Unit Leader looked at me, confused.

“...You don’t know what’s in the letter?”

“Teacher. Speak comfortably.”

“...”

Feels like everything’s flipped.

“...You don’t know what’s in it?”

“I did not read it. It was the sect master’s order.”

He really didn’t read it just because she told him not to.

Whether that was true or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that she understood my situation.

The question is whether Cheonrijinan knows this.

They’d said to bring the Sect Master to save the Divine Spear, but the Moon Immortal Sword had already noticed something was wrong with Seongheon’s condition.

...What a joke.

This wasn’t some rehearsed play, but it still pissed me off.

It feels like I got played.

Like I’d danced in the Moon Immortal Sword’s palm.

It wasn’t a good feeling.

Clench.

I gripped the letter. I controlled my strength so it wouldn’t crumple, then carefully folded it and tucked it into my clothes.

“...”

I kept my face under control as I thought.

The thing he was entrusted with.

Seongheon had been entrusted with something, and the order to retrieve it stuck in my head.

It probably wasn’t the robe I was looking for.

“...”

I started walking. I couldn’t just stand there in shock.

I had to keep moving.

*****

I headed to where Seongheon was.

The guard presence looked at least twice as heavy as usual.

Of course it was. The “most reliable” second-in-command had turned out to be a traitor.

A mess that still wasn’t settled—so much so that plenty of people couldn’t even believe it.

I could understand them increasing guards to protect Seongheon in that situation, but—

Pointless.

A meaningless gesture. As if they had any idea how many spies there were.

“May I enter?”

“Ah, Moon Hero. Please come in.”

The disciple standing guard stepped aside when I appeared. Same as at the prison—thankfully, people looked like they still trusted me.

Feeling that, I moved in.

No—rather than going fully inside—

“There you are.”

Because Seongheon’s living spirit was outside.

“Do you know where my old man went?”

“Not sure. He’s so free-spirited, I can’t say I know.”

“...Is ‘free-spirited’ the word? He’s just doing whatever the hell he wants.”

I asked about Yoo Cheongil first, but Seongheon didn’t seem to know either. Where did he go?

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. I’m not doing bad.”

I was practically fine. Even the injuries I’d had—there wasn’t enough pain left to matter.

“...Your realm has risen.”

Seongheon noticed my condition immediately, eyes widening.

“Call it a fortunate encounter. It worked out pretty well.”

“Heh heh. A fortunate encounter... yeah. It is.”

“Since we’re talking, let me ask.”

I took the chance.

“Do you know about the Heavenly Demon?”

“...”

Seongheon paused at my question.

“They said I beat Taema. I figured the Sect Master saw it. Back then—was the one who entered my body really the Heavenly Demon?”

“...”

Seongheon stayed silent for a moment, then—

“Yes. At least, that’s what it looked like to me.”

So it was.

Just like I expected.

The Heavenly Demon used my body.

Yoo Cheongil had done it too, but I never expected even the Heavenly Demon would use my body.

Past the Sword Saint—now it’s the Heavenly Demon?

A former hero and a former demonic tyrant.

Two people who should never mix, living inside my body.

This is such bullshit.

You couldn’t make up something this absurd.

“Kid.”

“Yes.”

“Is he inside you right now?”

“He” meant the Heavenly Demon.

I shook my head.

“I don’t know. I can’t really feel anything.”

“...”

“That’s why I was going to ask my old man, but that bastard is always gone when I need him.”

He’s only missing when I actually need him. At this point it almost feels intentional.

“...Have you spoken with him?”

I shook my head again.

“No.”

I did—sort of. But it was basically one-sided.

“I don’t know much about him. That’s why I’m asking.”

“...”

“The Heavenly Demon was inside the Divine Sword. Do you know anything about that?”

“...Inside.”

Seongheon’s gaze dropped to my waist.

To the Divine Sword I had strapped there.

“If so... that would be our mistake.”

“Mistake?”

Our.

Mistake.

I focused on those words. If he said “our,” then—

The Heaven-Beyond-Heaven?

The absolute beings who moved at the front against the DEMON CULT. The ones the righteous side called the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

And then—

What mistake?

What was the mistake he meant? I waited.

“There were things we should never have done. If the Heavenly Demon’s soul was inside the Divine Sword... it would have started there.”

“What was the mistake?”

“I cannot say.”

“...Unbelievable.”

We got this far and now he can’t speak? I clicked my tongue over and over.

“I got hurt because of it. Don’t I at least get to hear it?”

I could understand hiding mistakes and keeping faith between allies, but shouldn’t they tell me?

That’s what I tried to push.

But—

“This is not for our sake.”

Seongheon spoke with a bitter tone.

“It is because of a promise made with him.”

“...Him?”

The Heavenly Demon?

He can’t talk because of a promise with the Heavenly Demon?

My brow tightened.

This is bad.

I can smell it.

A troublesome smell.

The deeper I dig, the weirder it gets. Rotten. Fishy. Whatever—just the kind of stench I hate getting tangled in.

Damn it.

This all started when I got involved with Yoo Cheongil. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but—

If it’s secrets like this, that changes everything.

Something happened inside that war?

If it’s the kind of “something” that happens inside a war that big, then it isn’t small.

Ha.

This was beyond “annoying.”

It was starting to feel heavy.

The heretics problem is already tangled up in it. And now the Heavenly Demon too?

My stomach felt instantly stuffed and sour.

“...So you’re saying you won’t tell me.”

“I cannot. At least, I cannot. Maybe Cheongil could, or him... but not me.”

“...”

If I want answers, ask Yoo Cheongil or ask the Heavenly Demon.

That made my head feel like it was snarling into knots.

Don’t trust Yoo Cheongil.

The Heavenly Demon’s words brushed through my mind.

I held back a sigh and spoke to Seongheon.

“Fine. Forget that part, then...”

If I kept digging here, I’d miss what was right in front of me.

“I heard there’s something I’m supposed to receive. I’ll ask about that.”

“Something to receive? If it is Cheongil’s belongings—”

“No. Not that.”

Probably not.

“Our sect master said I had something to collect.”

“Sect master?”

“Yes. She said if the Mount Hua Sect Master died or fell into a dangerous condition, I was to retrieve it.”

“...!”

Seongheon’s eyes went wide.

“Ha.”

He let out a hollow sigh.

“...Truly a blade-sharp person.”

“...You know what it is?”

“Yes. Of course I do.”

As he spoke, Seongheon turned away.

“Follow.”

And with that, Seongheon drifted forward, and I followed carefully.

*****

We went to the edge of Mount Hua Sect. Not far—into a forest.

There were cliffs everywhere, so climbing up took some effort, but once I focused, it wasn’t too hard.

“...This is...?”

The problem was, it was just a cliff. Nothing here.

What could possibly be here?

While I was confused—

“Cheongil felt like a single, towering mountain... but the current sect master is different.”

Seongheon started talking about the Moon Immortal Sword.

“In some ways, she is more frightening than Yoo Cheongil.”

The assessment was blunt and sharp.

What the hell was she, to get judged like that?

“What are you giving me that we had to come all the way out here? Do we have to go farther?”

“This is it.”

Seongheon stopped in front of a fairly large boulder.

What is this?

I stared at the boulder.

And then I noticed something.

“From here, now—”

“Something’s here.”

“...Huh?”

I’d found a sense of wrongness in the rock.

It looked natural, but it wasn’t just natural.

“...What.”

“It’s too clean. For a boulder, there’s no dust. And this area is tidied up in a way that’s weird.”

There were weeds and things, sure, but even those looked arranged on purpose.

Seeing that—

A mechanism.

This wasn’t just a rock.

So I immediately put strength into my eyes.

FSSSS—!!

My Moon Eyes opened.

My blue eyes tightened hard—

“Huh?”

And in that instant, my eyes went wide.

What is this?

My Moon Eyes changed.

It wasn’t the usual faintly blue world.

It’s glowing.

The boulder—and the inside of it—was giving off a strange light.

It wasn’t just sparkling randomly. It formed long lines.

This is different from the Moon Immortal Sword’s Path.

It wasn’t the Moon Immortal Sword’s Path that showed the road of the sword. This was a different kind of light.

Clack.

My hand went to my sword on instinct.

SHING

With the draw, I slashed through the light.

SWISH—!! SWIIISH—! 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Two light cuts.

Then—

SKRITCH—!!!

A familiar sound came from the boulder.

RRRUUUMBLE—!!

The boulder split open with a tremor, revealing an entrance.

“Oh.”

“...Huh...?”

“Do I go in?”

I asked, looking back at Seongheon after opening the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» mechanism.

“...What is this...”

He stared at me like his mind had gone blank.

“...Does Blue Moon Sect only produce monsters?”