The Dark Sovereign.

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, my eyes widened.

It was a name I’d heard before.

No—if you lived in the Central Plains, it was a name you could never not know.

‘The exalted one of the shadow world that serves neither righteous nor evil.’

Even back when the righteous sects, the evil sects, and the DEMON CULT had been split apart, there had been an independent group that existed outside them all.

The shadow world.

People who specialized in killing for money.

They were called part of the evil factions, but that wasn’t really accurate.

Even the evil factions feared them or wanted nothing to do with them.

Because if the money was good enough, they would listen to the evil factions, the righteous sects—

hell, even the DEMON CULT.

There were more assassin groups in the shadow world than one might think, and while they weren’t easy to approach, their existence itself was common knowledge.

And among those assassins—

‘The most outstanding one.’

The master of the night.

The one called the god of assassins.

‘The Dark Sovereign...’

That was who the Dark Sovereign was.

Silent. Unseen.

If it was said that he had taken a contract, then it would be carried out without fail.

They said he had never once failed a job.

There were many powerful assassins.

But if someone asked who the strongest among them was, everyone would pick the Dark Sovereign.

As a joke—

‘They used to say that if he’d fought on the side of the righteous sects during the war between righteous and demonic, the war would’ve been far easier.’

Some even claimed that if anyone could kill the Heavenly Demon, it might be him.

I doubted that.

But that was how people saw him.

Of course—

‘Neither the Dark Sovereign nor the shadow world as a whole took part in the war.’

Not on the side of the DEMON CULT.

Not on the side of the righteous sects.

Not on the side of the evil factions.

They had not acted for any one side.

Perfect neutrality.

They said that during the war, they hadn’t even accepted contracts.

Which meant—

‘They really do look like nothing more than mercenaries chasing money.’

Then what exactly did Yoo Cheongil’s words mean?

That the Dark Sovereign had killed the Plum Blossom Commander?

At that, my widened eyes narrowed again.

‘...It’s true.’

Too many things about this felt wrong for it to be suicide.

Especially—

‘The forehead.’

What the hell was that?

Why was the feeling of spirit traces so vivid between his brows?

At a glance, there didn’t seem to be any problem there.

But the spirit traces looked concentrated at his forehead.

What kind of trick was that?

If you went by the apparent cause of death, it looked as though he had bled out from the wound at his wrist.

‘No idea.’

I couldn’t tell how it had been done.

This was the first time I’d seen anything like it myself.

‘Should I say that the Dark Sovereign did this?’

This wasn’t suicide.

Should I say so?

[Don’t.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke sharply.

[The Dark Sovereign is the kind of bastard who obsesses over making sure his methods aren’t exposed. But if you, kid, notice it and start digging, he may make a move. And if that happens...]

‘You mean I die.’

If the Dark Sovereign targeted me, I died.

That was what Yoo Cheongil meant.

‘...So I know, and I still have to pretend I don’t?’

Honestly, I didn’t care whether the Plum Blossom Commander lived or died.

The problem was the Dark Sovereign himself.

‘Pretending not to know is better than having him target me.’

But then the question became why the Dark Sovereign had killed the Plum Blossom Commander in the first place.

I looked at Yoo Cheongil and asked with my eyes.

‘You know him too?’

The Dark Sovereign supposedly lived while hiding his identity completely.

So I wondered if Yoo Cheongil somehow knew him as well.

[I don’t. At least as far as his identity goes, I know nothing.]

“...”

That was strange.

Yoo Cheongil didn’t know something?

[Do you think I know everything?]

Usually he did, so I’d assumed he knew this too.

Yoo Cheongil stared at me like I was ridiculous.

[That’s just proof of how dangerous the Dark Sovereign is. It was the same when I faced him.]

‘You’ve seen him?’

[Once. He came to kill me.]

‘What?’

He came to kill Yoo Cheongil?

But then—

‘How are you still alive?’

[...Is it a problem that I’m still alive?]

No, that wasn’t it.

‘It’s just weird.’

If it was the Dark Sovereign, then he was supposed to be someone who had never once failed a contract.

Yet he had come to kill Yoo Cheongil, and Yoo Cheongil was still alive.

Then didn’t that mean he’d failed?

[Well, that’s because it wasn’t a contract.]

“Mm?”

It wasn’t a contract?

Then what was it?

[I stole something from him.]

“......”

[So he came to take it back, even if he had to kill me. Obsessive bastard.]

He shook his head as though he was sick of it.

So in the end, he’d nearly gotten himself killed because of his own stupidity?

What kind of lunatic tried to steal something from the Dark Sovereign in the first place?

[Ah, though in the end he still didn’t get it back. Hahahahaha.]

And he hadn’t even returned it.

This old man really was—

‘You deserved to die.’

The more I heard about the things he’d done, the more he sounded like someone who deserved it.

What kind of idiot stole from the Dark Sovereign?

‘No... this isn’t what matters right now.’

The person who had killed the Plum Blossom Commander.

If Yoo Cheongil was right, it was the Dark Sovereign.

And—

‘He said I can’t let that show.’

The moment I showed it, I could become the Dark Sovereign’s next target.

I reminded myself of that.

“Moon Hero.”

Yeo Hyeok spoke to me.

“Did you perhaps see something?”

Had I gotten some kind of information from the Plum Blossom Commander’s corpse?

At the question, I shook my head.

“No. It looks like suicide after all.”

“...Ah. I see.”

There was a trace of disappointment in Yeo Hyeok’s face.

Seeing that, I asked,

“Do you think it wasn’t suicide, Disciple?”

“Ah, it’s not that...”

Yeo Hyeok looked at the Plum Blossom Commander’s corpse with a somewhat pained expression.

“Still... even if only once, he was someone who wanted to make a great plum blossom bloom in Mount Hua. I only hoped his end would not be something this futile.”

“......”

Even if he was a traitor, he had once been his commander.

Was that what he meant?

That he hadn’t wanted the man’s end to be suicide?

‘Hm.’

At those words, I looked at the Plum Blossom Commander.

Either way—

‘There wasn’t any better ending left for you.’

I didn’t attach meaning to the death of an evil man.

The same went ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) for a good man.

He was someone who hadn’t even managed to leave behind a proper soul.

The Dark Sovereign’s involvement was unexpected, but—

‘There was never going to be any honor in your ending.’

Whatever shape it had taken, the Plum Blossom Commander’s end would have been far from glorious.

If anything—

‘Should I at least say there’s meaning in the fact that he died on the same day as the Plum Blossom Single Sword?’

If that counted as meaning, then fine.

After thinking that far, I turned away.

I had no sympathy left for someone who had already crossed the line.

“Ah. Come to think of it.”

Just as I was about to walk off, I stopped.

“Is something wrong?”

Yeo Hyeok tilted his head at me.

I moved my lips to ask him something, then stopped myself.

“No. It’s nothing.”

The Plum Blossom Commander’s name.

Or rather, his Dao name.

I almost asked because I didn’t think I’d heard it.

But—

‘No need.’

It was probably not a name worth remembering.

Not now.

Not later either.

*****

Not only the Plum Blossom Single Sword, but the Plum Blossom Commander as well had died.

That news spread through Mount Hua Sect.

There was no reason to hide it in the first place.

And the atmosphere was utterly different from when Seongheon had died.

This was the death of a traitor.

No matter how great a figure had died, to Mount Hua he was still just a traitor.

“Suicide...”

“...Junior Brother. So that was how he left in the end.”

At least the elders, who had once lived with him as martial brothers, seemed subdued.

Perhaps they still carried a mixture of resentment and attachment toward the traitor.

“I don’t know what we’re meant to do now.”

The one who seemed to be the highest-ranking elder among them spoke.

“We can’t leave the seat of sect master vacant forever.”

Who should take the position of sect master?

Opinions immediately began piling up.

“It’s still too early.”

“But—”

“Junior Brother, the sect master has barely passed on.”

“......”

“I understand the heart that worries for Mount Hua. But the timing is too soon.”

“...Understood.”

“This is what we think. Then what are your thoughts, Moon Hero?”

This time the question came to me.

Apparently, because things were not quite finished yet, I was still sitting in on the elders’ council.

...Which meant the matter truly wasn’t over yet.

“I also think it’s too early. More importantly...”

I shifted my gaze slightly and looked over the elders.

“It’s possible the spy wasn’t only one elder.”

“......”

The elders’ faces darkened.

The Plum Blossom Commander had been a spy, and several of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen under him had been spies as well.

There was no way they could feel sure there were none among the elders.

‘I’m looking at them myself.’

Two of the elders.

Those two were spies.

And they were the ones pressing to appoint a new sect master now.

‘What do I do?’

I thought it over.

Those two had to be dealt with too.

But how was I supposed to do it?

I could make a pretext.

I could make the process happen somehow too.

The problem was—

‘What do I even gain from involving myself further?’

If I went any deeper here, was there actually anything left to gain?

Further involvement could get dangerous.

After thinking that through, I said to the elders,

“For now, I’ll investigate whether there are more spies. I’ve already opened the way, so... it probably won’t take long.”

The first thing was stimulation.

At my words, the energy of the spies wavered.

*****

I left the quarters.

There was nothing more to do in that meeting.

I had already given them a prod. Now I had to see how the elders moved.

That was something to leave to Yoo Cheongil.

And besides—

‘I should make use of Strange Demon.’

If I used him, things would probably become easy.

At least, probably.

‘If he moves the way I want him to.’

I couldn’t say for certain whether Strange Demon could really be trusted.

‘...The only thing I can rely on is—’

The fact that I could use the demonic energy inside Strange Demon.

‘So this is the Heavenly Demon’s gift...?’

Whatever the Heavenly Demon had done to me.

That disgusting, incomprehensible thing left a foul taste in my mouth.

But if I wanted to use Strange Demon, I’d probably need it.

‘...Tch.’

Using demonic energy to control Strange Demon.

Every time I thought of it, the Heavenly Demon’s words came back and turned my stomach.

‘He told me to become the Heavenly Demon.’

That was what he’d said.

That I should become the new Heavenly Demon.

As if that made any sense.

At this point, I’d already become the Sword Saint’s successor, so what Heavenly Demon?

‘One is already more than enough.’

I had long since wandered too far from anything normal.

I didn’t want to get dragged into anything even stranger.

CREEEAK

“Hoo...”

I let out a sigh as I opened the door to my quarters.

“...For now, once we return to Henan—”

I was just about to continue, as though Yoo Cheongil had been waiting for me to say it.

Then—

[Kid.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke.

The moment I heard the tone in his voice, my body froze.

My eyes turned cold.

In the middle of the night, Moon Eyes opened.

FWOOSH.

The lamp in the room suddenly lit.

I hadn’t done it.

And it wasn’t the wind either.

CLACK.

My hand went to the sword hanging at my waist.

Just as the tension in my body sharpened—

Tap.

Something touched the tip of my chin.

“......!”

Sharp.

The tip of a blade.

When had it gotten there?

I hadn’t even perceived it.

Then—

“You.”

A voice sounded right in front of me.

Something slowly emerged in the space that had been empty until a moment ago.

“You sensed me.”

A figure wrapped head to toe in black cloth.