An old man slowly stepped out with his hands clasped behind his back.

I frowned as I looked at the Tyrant King, Muk Yeokseong.

What the hell is this?

Why had that man suddenly been watching me?

The tension shot up all at once. It hit even harder ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) because he had shown up out of nowhere.

And of all times—

Right after I came out of the vault.

I’d just thought I’d gotten out of the vault safely, and the moment I emerged, I ran straight into the Tyrant King. There was no way that wouldn’t rattle me.

“...What is it?”

I asked carefully.

At my words, the Tyrant King gave a faint smile and walked toward me.

“I never imagined I would be caught. If anything, I should be the one asking. How did you know?”

“......”

I thought for a moment about how to answer.

It couldn’t be long.

“I felt it.”

It was a fairly vague answer, but there was nothing more precise I could give that would let me slide past this cleanly.

“Felt it?”

“Yes.”

“Me?”

At that answer, the Tyrant King looked more puzzled than anything.

“That should not have been easy.”

“It wasn’t. But I managed to feel it somehow.”

There was no need to tack anything more on here or start explaining.

That would only make him more suspicious.

So I kept my answer as short as possible.

“Ha.”

In the end, the Tyrant King let out a laugh.

“...You really are a strange brat. The more I look at you, the more you resemble the Sword Saint.”

“What?”

[What did you just say?]

At those words, both Yoo Cheongil and I frowned at the same time.

“What are you talking about? I’m obviously better-looking.”

[What, you little bastard...?]

I just couldn’t let that pass.

I mean, I don’t know about anything else, but I’m confident about my face.

Do you have any idea how much genetics pulled their weight there?

I was born the son of a man who practically made a living off his face.

In that regard, I was overwhelming.

Being compared to that terrifying old brute with the face of a bandit was a hard no.

I said it with open disgust, and this time the Tyrant King looked taken aback.

“...Is that really so offensive?”

“Very.”

“...You’re decisive.”

I had to be.

And I’d stay that way.

“Anyway... did you need something from me?”

I pushed the irritation aside and decided to find out why the Tyrant King had come looking for me first.

At that question, the Tyrant King let the smile fade from his face and answered,

“It’s not so much that I had business with you. You happened to pass by, so I quietly followed you.”

“...Doesn’t that contradict itself a bit?”

Passing by was one thing, but secretly tailing me because of it?

What kind of nonsense was that? I couldn’t make sense of it at all.

“...So you just followed me?”

“That’s right.”

He answered with absurd confidence.

No matter how I looked at it, he really did seem insane.

Thinking that, my gaze dropped to his arm.

The same arm he had twisted apart as an apology to me the last time.

He wrapped it in bandages.

So he had gotten treatment after all, judging by the bandages.

When I kept staring at his arm, the Tyrant King spoke to me.

“And yet, how odd. I definitely could not sense even the slightest presence... and then suddenly you appeared.”

“......”

I flinched at that.

He seemed to be talking about when I came out of the vault.

Was killing my presence the problem?

I had withdrawn my energy the moment I came out.

He probably noticed it right then.

“I cannot help but wonder why you needed to move around while suppressing your presence.”

He asked like he found it strange, and I answered awkwardly.

“Ah, I was doing a bit of training.”

“Training?”

“Yes. Training to move around while erasing my presence...”

“You really had to?”

“Yes. I really did.”

“Hmm.”

The Tyrant King nodded.

“I see. Then that explains it. Here I was thinking you had come out of some secret place.”

“Hahaha. As if.”

The moment I heard that, I became sure of it.

That bastard is suspicious.

He was definitely suspicious of me.

And on top of that—

Does he know about the vault too?

I glanced at Yoo Cheongil just in case.

[I don’t remember ever telling that bastard.]

Yoo Cheongil said he had never told the Tyrant King about the vault.

“Anyway. Sorry for taking your time. But you are the disciple of an old friend, so I found myself somewhat curious.”

“...It’s fine. Then I have business to attend to, so I’ll be going now. I suppose I’ll see you again later.”

“Very well.”

I gave him a proper bow, then turned and started walking away.

This is bad.

I couldn’t clearly explain why, but I had a bad feeling.

A really bad one.

Enough to grate on my nerves.

*****

After Bang Seongyeon left, the Tyrant King stood alone, staring at the place where the young man had disappeared.

“Hmm.”

He tilted his head slightly, hands still clasped behind his back.

He recalled the conversation they had just had.

He is an unusual brat.

He was wary of him, yet not particularly afraid.

There was something in him completely unlike the other young pups.

Was it simply because he possessed blue eyes?

No.

The vessel he carries is broad.

He was one who would grow into something great.

That was probably why the Sword Saint had chosen him.

Or...

He may already have become great.

From the look of it, his realm was strangely high for someone of the later generation.

That aside.

Disciple of the Sword Saint or not.

He admitted the boy was interesting, yes.

But the Tyrant King did not care that much about things like that.

His expression changed.

His face turned utterly cold and expressionless.

What matters is whether that child has it or not.

He had to determine whether the boy possessed the object he was searching for.

It must be somewhere here.

What the Sword Saint had taken.

That thing he needed beyond all else had to be somewhere within Blue Moon Sect.

He had to find it.

Does he know?

The Tyrant King thought that young man, the one said to be the Sword Saint’s successor, might know that information.

“Hmm.”

Then the Tyrant King shifted his feet.

He could have simply seized the boy just now and checked.

Not yet.

There was a high chance Moon Immortal Sword would move.

If that bastard was also watching the boy closely, he could not act rashly.

Blue Moon Sect itself does not particularly frighten me, but...

The one sitting at its peak was another matter.

The sect master of Blue Moon Sect was a seat that had always been occupied by monsters.

That was true of the Sword Saint, and the later sect masters were no different.

No need to provoke a monster.

The Tyrant King pressed down the corners of his mouth as they kept trying to rise.

If it were up to him, he very clearly wanted to clash with that monster and see what happened.

But for now, I endure it.

He had come here with a purpose.

There was no reason to act recklessly.

There is plenty of time.

Slowly.

He intended to confirm it all slowly.

“I have business to attend to, so I’ll be going now. I suppose I’ll see you again later.”

Recalling the words the boy had spoken before leaving, the Tyrant King muttered,

“Yes. Let us meet again.”

It felt like they would be seeing each other again very soon.

*****

“Ugh.”

A chill suddenly crawled over me, and I rubbed my shoulder.

“What the hell. Is someone talking shit about me?”

I was already on edge from meeting the Tyrant King, and then that nasty feeling swept over me.

Like someone was glaring at me.

I rubbed my arm and muttered, and the old man walking behind me said,

[Did he notice? I was keeping quiet.]

The fact that he still wanted to joke around and cackle at a time like this pissed me off.

Ignoring Yoo Cheongil, I arrived at my destination.

It was the chamber Blue Moon Sect used for meetings.

The moment I got there, the disciple standing out front looked at me.

I spoke to him.

“The sect master summoned me. May I go in?”

“...Bang Seongyeon of the Small Moon Unit. Confirmed. You may enter.”

He looked like he belonged to the Small Moon Unit too.

I hadn’t bothered memorizing his name.

SCREEEECH—!!

The door opened, and I stepped inside.

There were already people in the room.

“You’re here.”

Moon Immortal Sword looked at me as he spoke.

“Yes. Am I late, by any chance?”

“No. Take a seat.”

“Yes, sir.”

I went to an empty seat and sat down.

It was one set near the far end.

Once seated, I checked the people gathered there.

...Big names.

Starting with Moon Immortal Sword seated in the middle, then the Small Moon Unit Leader.

And there were old men here whose presence was clearly different.

The elders.

They were the elders of Blue Moon Sect.

Every last one of them had opened their Moon Eyes.

“Now then, since everyone has arrived, let us begin.”

After confirming that everyone was present, Moon Immortal Sword continued immediately.

“The reason I called this meeting is to discuss the existence of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE at Mount Hua, and what occurred in Henan.”

Mount Hua.

At those words, my eyes narrowed slightly.

The reason I had been summoned here so suddenly—

It was because of what happened at Mount Hua and the matter of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

Because I was the one who went through it.

That was why I had been called to attend.

“HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE...”

“You mean the force said to be connected to the DEMON CULT.”

“That’s right.”

“I heard that... at Mount Hua, the Plum Blossom Commander was exposed as a spy.”

At that, all eyes turned to me.

They looked like they were demanding an answer.

“That’s correct. The Plum Blossom Commander was a spy... and after being captured, he took his own life.”

“...Good grief.”

I kept my mouth shut about the Dark Sovereign appearing and killing the Plum Blossom Commander.

“And not just that. I also heard the elders classified as spies all died as well. Also by suicide.”

“A spy in one of the Nine Great Sects. And for someone on the level of the Plum Blossom Commander, what reason could there possibly have been to betray them?”

They all wore expressions saying they couldn’t understand it.

As if asking why the Plum Blossom Commander would have needed to do such a thing in the first place.

“The important thing is not that.”

Moon Immortal Sword cut through the doubts and spoke.

“What matters is that even Mount Hua was manipulated by this spy game. And that Blue Moon Sect may not be any different.”

“...Sect Master!”

Moon Immortal Sword’s words made the elders bristle.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Are you saying that we, too, could be spies?”

“Can you say with certainty that you are not?”

Moon Immortal Sword swept a cold gaze over the elders.

The old men visibly flinched under it.

“One of the Nine Great Sects. Even Mount Hua, which was said to be among the most righteous of them, suffered this. So how can you be certain Blue Moon Sect is safe?”

“...Even so.”

“I am not certain. Therefore, it must be confirmed.”

“And how do you intend to confirm it?”

One of the elders asked the question.

At that, Moon Immortal Sword looked at me.

“Well. That is something we must verify little by little, is it not?”

I was just wondering why the hell he was looking at me while saying that—

Then a voice transmission came.

—I heard it from the Strategist.

Moon Immortal Sword’s voice came directly into my ear.

—They say you can identify the spies. Is that true?

“......”

My eyes widened.

So he had heard from Cheonrijinan that I could distinguish the people of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

Ah. So that’s it?

Only then did I properly understand why he had called me here.

...He wants me to check, doesn’t he?

I’d thought he wanted me here simply to explain what had happened, since I was both a witness and directly involved.

...That old man.

That old man, Moon Immortal Sword.

He had brought me here to use me and see whether there were spies among these people.

Ha.

He had set the board so I could look over everyone in one go.

I was impressed by how precise and efficient his handling of the matter was, but at the same time—

Then let’s see...

I immediately opened my Moon Eyes to check whether any trace of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE energy was present.

There’s nothing.

At least in this room, I saw nothing.

Unlike Mount Hua Sect, I couldn’t sense the energy of any spy in Blue Moon Sect.

...Are there really none?

Just as I was about to withdraw my energy, thinking maybe there really weren’t any—

Huh?

I saw one of the elders and froze.

Something was off.

The instant that thought struck me, I activated Moon Immortal Sword’s Path.

WOOOOONG—!!

Light wrapped around my eyes as I stared straight through one of them.

...Found you.

In the end, I became certain.

He wasn’t a spy from HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

Just—

That bastard from earlier.

The energy I’d seen at the vault.

I found a man here carrying that exact same energy.