There were two famously worthless sons in the Bang Clan.

There had originally been three, but the former clan head had died and passed on.

So now, saying there were two was the correct way to put it.

The first worthless son was, of course, Bang Cheonho, the current clan head.

My father.

Already famous throughout Liaoning, he was the kind of man who wandered around collecting women’s favor with that handsome face of his.

There was really nothing to say about him. He was the sort of father too embarrassing to mention in public.

And the second was—

...My brother.

The Bang Clan of Liaoning’s First Young Master, and the heir apparent.

As far as I was concerned—

he’s even worse than Father.

If I had to rank their level of worthlessness, he was a lunatic several times worse than my father.

A full-grown thug. A degenerate drifter.

You could pile every insult in the world onto him, and it still would not come close to capturing the sheer force of that man’s existence.

Father’s problem, at least, is women.

That bastard’s real vice was gambling.

It would not be wrong to say the reason the clan had been weakened and gutted over and over again was because of that rotten bastard.

...He was the reason I used to stuff myself with noodles like I’d gone insane, too.

Why a place once called a prestigious house had become so poor.

Yes, Father had caused plenty of disasters.

But in the end—

my brother was the bigger reason.

The heir apparent of the Bang Clan of Liaoning.

The gambling debts that man had run up.

A man who lived for gambling and would die for gambling.

A man who had never once been helpful in his life.

The main reason I had wanted, somehow, to run away from the clan and survive on my own.

That man was my brother.

So why?

Why in the world—

is that man showing up here?

Why was that damned man suddenly appearing out of nowhere in this letter?

It was bewildering.

No, it was probably the most bewildering thing I had experienced lately.

The appearance of the DEMON CULT.

The appearance of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

The appearance of those heretic bastards.

And beyond that, the Heavenly Demon, Strange Demon, Taema, even the Dark Sovereign.

I had gone through one impossible thing after another, but out of all of them, this was the worst.

...How?

[Our youngest.]

That was something my brother always used to say. Worthless as he was, he still liked to act affectionate.

[Surprised, aren’t you? I figured you would be.]

The writing in the letter was familiar.

It really was my brother’s handwriting.

[I’ve got something to deal with, so I can’t come in person. That’s why I’m sending a letter instead. I hear you’ve been busy with all sorts of things. Be careful.]

“......”

He was talking like having the Dark Sovereign deliver the letter was no different from handing it off to some courier.

Was he actually insane?

How does this man even know the Dark Sovereign?

He had used the Dark Sovereign, whose identity nobody was supposed to know, like a messenger boy.

And on top of that, he was the one who had commissioned the Plum Blossom Commander’s death?

...What? What the hell is going on?

I genuinely had no idea what kind of situation this was. Even the thoughts that had still been turning in my head felt like they had slammed into a wall.

[There’s probably a lot here you don’t understand.]

[But don’t worry. Do you know who your brother is? I’m the great Bang Yuseong.]

Even that pointless self-confidence pissed me off. I could picture the exact expression on his face, the exact tone of his voice.

[I’ll come find you soon. Just wait for me.]

I read the last line and folded the letter shut.

...He’s coming?

Coming for what?

The thought of my brother coming here horrified me.

Don’t come.

Please don’t come.

Nothing had ever been solved by my brother showing up. If anything, he only caused even more trouble.

Hellish days flashed through my mind. Dark Sovereign or no Dark Sovereign, I wanted him nowhere near me.

Just stay locked up at home.

Though, in truth, he was hardly ever home anyway. As long as he stayed out of my sight, that was enough.

“...Ugh...”

My head ached.

Father was one thing, but then there was my brother, and my sister too—

What a damned family...

Not a single normal person in the bunch.

Why did every last one of them insist on making my life so difficult?

Crumple.

I folded the letter.

“Hoo...”

I had already memorized what was written inside, so that part was fine, but—

the important thing is...

there was still nothing in it about why my brother had gotten involved in this.

He had left out every part that actually mattered.

And he dared call this a letter?

I steadied my breathing.

Then—

[I thought it before, too.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke to me.

[What in the world is wrong with your family?]

“......”

He sounded sincerely curious.

Hearing that, I let out a sigh and answered.

“...Seriously. Tell me about it.”

I was going out of my mind over it too.

But—

as absurd as this already was, enough to drive someone insane—

the real problem hit the very next day.

*****

I spent the night without really sleeping.

After the Dark Sovereign had left, there was no way falling asleep would be easy. My heart kept pounding, and the letter kept turning over in my mind.

So I passed the night with my eyes forced open.

And yet—

“...The elders are dead?”

A bigger incident erupted overnight.

Because this was the kind of thing that would send an even fiercer storm through Mount Hua, which was already in chaos.

It was not enough that the Plum Blossom Commander had died.

Now several of the elders were dead as well.

Something like that should have been impossible inside Mount Hua.

When I hurried over, I was able to grasp the situation.

This...

My eyes narrowed the moment I saw it.

Two old men lay dead inside a single residence.

But—

...It’s the same as before.

The death of the Plum Blossom Commander.

This looked too much like that.

Which meant—

this was the Dark Sovereign’s work too.

Whether he had done it before he came to my quarters or after he left, these elders had been killed by the Dark Sovereign too.

Which also meant—

this was my brother’s...

The one who had commissioned the Dark Sovereign was my brother.

So that meant this was my brother’s doing as well.

And more than that—

he didn’t just kill them.

The thing that bothered me most—

they’re all spies.

The HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE spies I had already been planning to weed out.

These were elders who carried the aura of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

I had already begun laying out a plan for how to deal with them, and instead they had simply been killed?

Again. There’s a spirit trace on the forehead.

One glance at the bodies was enough to make it clear.

The Dark Sovereign had killed them.

And he had deliberately targeted the spies.

On top of that—

“This too... they’re calling it suicide?”

“There was a note. It says they repented their crimes and offered an apology...”

“...Even the elders...? Are they saying that really happened?”

It had not been simple murder.

It was assassination disguised as suicide.

I had no idea how he had managed the handwriting, but he had left behind suicide notes.

Notes saying they repented for what they had done as spies.

...That’s genuinely chilling.

He had left behind traces so clean that an ordinary person would never notice.

Everything had been arranged so perfectly that it really looked like they had taken their own lives.

Too perfectly.

Even more—

they were elders.

These were Mount Hua elders. Experts of one of the Nine Great Sects.

And yet someone could deal with them like this and disappear?

It made me reconsider the meaning of the name Dark Sovereign all over again.

...And.

If his target had only been the Plum Blossom Commander, then I might have thought of personal grudges or some other motive.

But if he had killed the elders too—

then the right way to read this was simple.

He was cleaning out the spies.

Why?

How did my brother know that?

Why?

What did my brother know, and why had he used the Dark Sovereign for it?

“Moon Hero.”

I turned at the voice.

It was Yeo Hyeok.

“...Are you all right? You don’t look well.”

“...Ah, I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. Are you all right, though?”

“...I’m fine as well.”

He did not look fine at all.

Of course he didn’t. It had now become undeniable that even the elders had been spies.

I probably shouldn’t say the Dark Sovereign showed up.

If I said this was the Dark Sovereign’s work, Mount Hua would be thrown into complete uproar.

And my life would be in danger too.

Just like Yoo Cheongil warned, my life would almost certainly end up in danger as well.

Tch.

I swallowed the sound back, then forced down a dry swallow.

At that moment—

“Excuse me.”

Someone appeared near Yeo Hyeok.

A disciple of Mount Hua, by the look of him.

“...First Elder wishes to see the Moon Hero.”

At that, I nodded.

I had been expecting this.

*****

Leaving the matter of the dead elders behind for the moment, I arrived at the largest residence in the center of Mount Hua.

This had originally been the place used by the sect master, and right now it should have been standing empty, but—

“Please, come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Someone was seated there.

An old man with a deeply sunken face, looking drained of strength.

“I am Seong Yun, acting ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) sect master.”

Originally the First Elder.

The man who had always stood beside Seongheon whenever something happened in Mount Hua, and the man who had always looked like he spoke the least.

Now he was the acting sect master.

“I’m sorry to summon you when you must already be busy.”

“It’s all right.”

A bitter smile crossed Seong Yun’s face at my answer.

“...For the sect’s benefactor, we ought to be holding a celebration. Instead, Mount Hua is in no state for it.”

“I understand. A celebration would be completely out of place.”

A celebration? For what?

There was no room for something like that.

How many people have already died?

The sect master had passed away, and now two elders were dead as well.

Even the Plum Blossom Commander, who had looked to be a spy, was dead now.

Mount Hua had every reason to be reeling badly.

And they were supposed to hold a celebration on top of that?

Ridiculous.

“You needn’t worry about it. Stabilizing Mount Hua is more important right now.”

“...Thank you for your understanding.” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

“It’s nothing. But I heard you were looking for me.”

“That’s right.”

Slide.

Seong Yun held something out toward me.

“...I wished to deliver something in accordance with the sect master’s final instructions.”

“......”

I checked what had been placed before me.

It was a box.

I looked at it, then opened it slightly.

A pure white robe.

Yoo Cheongil’s legacy.

And one of the items I had come here to obtain.

“Is this the item you were looking for?”

“Yes. This is the one. Thank you.”

I closed the box and took it.

At the same time, Seong Yun showed me something else.

“I did not open it.”

It was a small box, neatly wrapped in cloth.

The moment I saw it, my eyes narrowed.

That fragrant aura made me pause on instinct.

I had felt it once before.

It looked like the divine pill Seongheon had said he would give me.

Didn’t open it, huh.

I looked at Seong Yun.

Seong Yun was pretending not to know anything, just looking at the box, but there was no way he didn’t know what was inside.

How could he not? Something releasing this much aura was obviously no ordinary object.

And yet he made no sign of knowing.

“This is mine too?”

“It is. The sect master left it for you.”

“...Thank you.”

I tucked the small box into my arms as well.

And at that moment—

lowering himself slightly,

Seong Yun bowed his head.

“To the benefactor of Mount Hua, I offer my thanks once again.”

“...!”

“I would have liked to give you something better. But with our roots shaken so badly, there is little we can offer our benefactor.”

“No. Please, there’s no need for this.”

“Thank you.”

Even when I tried to stop him, Seong Yun kept thanking me.

“...Thank you...”

“......”

The first words had been clear.

The second expression of gratitude had been sad.

Vague emotions crossed inside me.

I could understand, at least a little, how he had ended up becoming the acting sect master.

And—

damn.

I could feel it for myself.

I was starting to worry about Mount Hua’s future.

Whether that was something Seongheon had intended or not, I couldn’t say.