“YOO CHEONGIL—!!!!”

The massive shout shook the rain-soaked forest. It was loud enough to feel like my ears might split.

What the hell?

I turned toward the sound. Far off in the distance, in a part of the forest where the rain looked unusually thick, something was there.

—You...! How could you—!!

Someone with an enormous frame was roaring again and again. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

[Ah, damn it.]

At the sight, Yoo Cheongil let out a low groan.

As if he had just been forced to see something he really did not want to see.

[No wonder it felt familiar. What a miserable day.]

“You know him?”

[I do. Very well.]

Yoo Cheongil frowned.

It was a rare sight. He looked genuinely irritated.

[What a filthy mess.]

“...”

What in the world had happened to make him react like that? I stared over there in confusion, and then—

—Stop shouting so crudely.

“Huh?”

That voice was familiar. Someone was standing in front of that massive figure. I widened my eyes as I saw him.

“Well, well.”

It was a young man with blue eyes. Maybe around thirty. Maybe older. The atmosphere around him seemed far older than his appearance.

“...That man.”

[Ah, for fuck’s sake.]

Yoo Cheongil cursed.

Right. The young man was clearly young, but he was someone I knew too. I had seen him several times in the spirit-dreams. There was no way I would fail to recognize him.

That was Yoo Cheongil in his youth.

The version of him I had seen in his twenties. Not the gaunt, murky-looking man I had known. This one was packed with far more muscle and gave off an overwhelming presence.

“...That’s you, old man.”

[...]

Yoo Cheongil did not answer.

Which was no different from admitting it.

Only after seeing that did I realize who the other person was too.

Then that means that man is...

I did not even need to think about it. The owner of this spiritual world I had entered, the man I was trying to save.

Divine Spear.

It looked like Divine Spear in his younger days.

I immediately glanced at my hands. Both my hands and feet were translucent.

Meaning that here, right now, I was nothing more than an observer.

After confirming that, I approached them.

[Do you really have to watch this?]

Yoo Cheongil asked in a voice full of revulsion.

Even if he asked that, there was only one thing I could choose.

“Yes. The thing I need to deal with is probably over there.”

That was my entire reason for coming here.

To erase the demonic energy. That was the point—to purify Divine Spear’s energy through it.

And Divine Spear’s demonic energy was definitely located over there.

This is a lingering memory.

The demonic energy had stimulated the lingering attachments and stray thoughts left inside Divine Spear. That was why Divine Spear’s mind was trapped here, and why his actual body was being destroyed as well.

Then the source of that resentment must be that thing.

The root of the memory.

I had to head that way.

My footsteps made no sound as I approached Divine Spear and the young Yoo Cheongil.

Then—

“Hm?”

I saw someone behind Yoo Cheongil.

What?

That person was gripping Yoo Cheongil’s shoulder and hiding behind his back.

[...]

Yoo Cheongil’s brow furrowed when he saw it too.

Looking closer, it was a woman.

She was staring at Divine Spear with a deeply sorrowful expression, while Divine Spear glared at both her and Yoo Cheongil with a vicious twist to his face.

—Why... why are you doing this...!!

His cry rang through the whole forest.

The anguish in his voice was enough to make my chest feel tight.

The force behind it was monstrous. Even with all that internal energy packed into the sound, it still came through that clearly.

—Why... why...

—Quiet.

Cutting Divine Spear off, Yoo Cheongil spoke.

—For a man, you carry some pathetic attachment. Can you not see the situation?

As Yoo Cheongil spoke, the corner of his mouth curved up in a greasy smile.

—She simply chose me.

“...Wow.”

[Urgh.]

The tone was disgusting. The expression was even worse. It was genuinely hard to believe someone could act like that.

The young Yoo Cheongil spoke with absolute shamelessness.

And the old Yoo Cheongil beside me hunched in on himself and covered his face.

Apparently even he thought it looked bad.

That aside...

What exactly was this?

I feel like I’ve heard about this before.

At some point. I was sure Yoo Cheongil had told me something like this.

Could this be—

that incident?

The one where Yoo Cheongil had told me he stole Divine Spear’s ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) fiancée?

—To begin with, she was a woman far beyond your station. Was she not, Little Spear Hero?

That must have been Divine Spear’s old epithet.

—...What right do you have to say that...? I did not ask you a thing. Shut your mouth.

Divine Spear snapped and strode toward Yoo Cheongil.

—Move. I have something to ask her.

Clench.

As Divine Spear approached, the woman grabbed Yoo Cheongil’s shoulder tighter.

Only after feeling that did Yoo Cheongil step forward himself.

—Can you not understand what you are seeing? She is afraid of you.

“Wow, seriously.”

There was no way that tone was not creepy. What the hell was wrong with him?

[...]

Yoo Cheongil was running out of things to say. Before, he had at least reacted a little, but now even that seemed impossible.

“So you stole another man’s woman... and you call yourself a man.”

[...Tch.]

That seemed to hit a nerve, because Yoo Cheongil reacted at last.

[...There were reasons.]

“What reasons? She was just too pretty?”

[...Well. That part was true.]

The woman really was beautiful. It had been a long time since I had seen someone beautiful enough to stand alongside Moyong Yeongsun or Yuyeon.

So had he tried to take her because of that?

[That was not the reason.]

Yoo Cheongil denied it.

“Then what was the reason?”

[...]

The moment I asked, he shut his mouth.

“You can’t say?”

[I simply do not wish to.]

“...Hm.”

Fine. That was possible. I was not actually that curious about his private circumstances anyway.

What mattered was how to deal with this.

Just then—

—...Is it true? Did you really betray me?

Divine Spear asked in a trembling voice.

Only then did the woman finally speak, as if forcing out words she had been holding in.

—I am sorry...

She turned her head away, unable to bear looking at him.

The moment Divine Spear saw that, despair fully bloomed across his face.

—How...? How could you—!

An unbearable rage coiled around his body.

And that rage was aimed not at the woman, but at Yoo Cheongil.

—It must have been you. It had to be.

With murder in his eyes, the giant pulled out a spear as large as his own body.

WHOOM.

The sound of it cutting through the air was so thick it made the weapon’s weight obvious.

—Ha.

At the sight, Yoo Cheongil reached out to the side.

And then—

WHOOOOSH—!!!

With a burst of brutal wind pressure, a massive sword flew in from beyond the forest and landed in his hand.

What is that?

It was not Full Moon. It just looked like a heavy double-edged greatsword.

It was not a dao either. That struck me as odd for a moment.

—They are all the same. None of them know their place.

Yoo Cheongil gripped the sword and his eyes gleamed.

—Do you really think trash like you can bare its fangs at me?

—...You bastard...!!

—I have wanted to smash in that thick skull of yours at least once. This works out nicely.

THUD—!!

He slammed the greatsword into the ground. The blade sank deep into the earth, and a shockwave rippled out.

—Come. I will show you the gap between you and me.

“Oho...”

Did you hear that? I will show you the gap between you and me.

“Did you hear that? That was incredible.”

[Please shut up.]

The embarrassment on his face was wonderful to watch. I snickered at the sight.

“Ah, this is nice.”

Seeing that old man react like this too. This might actually be worth it.

Thinking that, I asked,

“Is this when you gouge his eyes out?”

Was this the same incident where Yoo Cheongil had taken Divine Spear’s eyes?

KUUUUNG—!!!

Before I could even hear an answer, the young Yoo Cheongil and Divine Spear had already clashed.

And the moment I saw it, I froze.

...Ha.

I could not see them.

My eyes could not keep up with their fight at all. Which meant I could not even perceive it properly.

They really were different. Utterly different.

If these were the men who would one day become the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven, then apparently they had been like this from the very start.

[...Stop gawking and do what you came here to do.]

Yoo Cheongil looked like he did not even want to keep watching. If I pushed this any further, he really might get angry.

Hm.

I narrowed my eyes.

There definitely seemed to be some kind of story here. It did not look like a simple matter of just stealing another man’s woman.

There really seemed to be some deeper reason behind it.

But since Yoo Cheongil clearly refused to explain, there was not much I could do.

And it’s not what matters right now anyway.

Their story did not matter much.

What mattered was—

getting out of here in the end.

Leaving this place and saving Divine Spear’s body. That had to be my priority.

So for that, I headed straight toward the focus of this world before me—the source of the demonic energy.

[Kid?]

Yoo Cheongil spoke in confusion at the sight.

But—

“We’ve got our own work to do too, don’t we?”

I ignored him and spoke to it.

I spoke, but the thing acted as though it could not hear me and only watched the two men fighting.

Seeing that, I clicked my tongue shortly.

“Come on, don’t be like this. We’re both busy. You can hear me just fine.”

I met its eyes, but it did not change. It still gave no answer.

Ah, now it was just being annoying.

Frowning, I pulled the sword from my waist and swung it immediately.

WHIISH—!

The blade cut through the air with a sharp sound.

If it truly had not seen it, it would have been struck exactly as it was.

WHOO—!!

[Huh?]

Instead, the target urgently dodged my sword.

At that, I smiled.

“See? You can hear me.”

[What is this—]

Yoo Cheongil was startled.

Naturally. The one I had just swung my sword at was none other than Divine Spear’s fiancée.

In the middle of that shocking scene, the woman turned her gaze toward me.

The face that had been full of worry and pity turned expressionless.

Then from expressionless, it changed at once into something vicious and venomous.

SCREEEEEECH—!!!

A shrill noise rang out.

Calling it a scream would not have been right. It was not a sound any human could make.

Stop.

At that sound, even the falling rain stopped.

The moving figures stopped too.

Everything froze.

“You thought I wouldn’t find you just because you hid like that?”

SCREEEEECH—!!!

Her white skin began to burn away.

It only took an instant before it blackened like ash.

“Good.”

That form was better.

“This makes things easier.”

There was no need to hesitate about clearing it away and wiping it out.

Then I reached into my clothes and pulled something out.

Flutter.

[...What is that?]

“This is easier than a sword.”

A talisman.

Something that had not been there before suddenly appeared in my hand from inside my clothes.

I was not surprised.

This might be the territory of demonic energy, and it might be someone else’s spirit-dream, but that did not matter.

Wreaking havoc in places like this is my specialty.

Creating something like a talisman was something I had done to the point of disgust.

The feel of it in my hand was almost refreshing.

After gripping a sword every day, holding a talisman instead almost made me sentimental.

About that vile stretch of time I hated even remembering.

“Hoo.”

After exhaling once, I spoke to the demonic energy.

Or maybe to obsession.

Or lingering attachment.

Or whatever it was that those things had clumped together into before rotting into this.

“Let’s end this quickly.”

I did not want to drag it out.

That was the right call for Divine Spear’s sake too.

SKREEEEE—!!!

Before I had even finished speaking, the demonic thing lunged at me.

Watching it come, I slowly pressed the talisman onto the blade—

SHIIING—!!!

—and swung it straight at the creature.

CLANG—!!!

A sound no sword should ever make rang out.

CRACK—!!

A fracture split across the thing’s head.

Like a piece of burning charcoal breaking apart, scorched embers scattered in every direction.