The air had turned cold.

Night was creeping in little by little.

The sun had already set, so it was only natural that darkness was beginning to take over.

A grand moon had risen, yet just as its light briefly dimmed behind the night clouds—

Clink.

The soft sound of a teacup spread through the stillness.

Beneath that quiet noise drifting through the room, someone appeared inside.

“Well now.”

The voice, tinged with annoyance, sat down and looked at the tea.

Seeing the steam still rising from it as though it had just been poured, the Tyrant King furrowed his brow.

“You should already be busy enough as it is. Are you sure it was wise to summon me so casually?”

At the Tyrant King’s remark as he looked at the tea, the man sitting across from him—Baek Yeon, the Second Elder of Blue Moon Sect—answered.

“It’s fine. I made sure there would be no trouble.”

At that, the Tyrant King smirked.

“That’s a strange way to put it. Makes it sound like we gathered here to do something wicked.”

“...I only meant to avoid stirring up unnecessary trouble.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Resting his chin on one hand, the Tyrant King asked Baek Yeon,

“So. Did you find it?”

“......”

The moment they got to the main point, Baek Yeon’s face twisted.

That expression alone was enough of an answer.

“So you didn’t. Strange. You were the one who said there was a vault, weren’t you?”

“...The vault is not small. It will simply take some time to find the object Your Majesty seeks.”

“I suppose that could be true. But is it really?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yoo Cheongil. Even if you claim to know the vault that madman built... do you truly know all of it?”

Yoo Cheongil, the Sword Saint.

Even if someone said he knew the vault created by that eccentric, unhinged bastard—

“If it was that man, there’s no way he would have arranged it so people could see everything so easily.”

The Tyrant King spoke with something close to certainty.

And hearing that, Baek Yeon did not bother adding anything.

Because he himself knew better than anyone that it was true.

...Yoo Cheongil.

Under the table, Baek Yeon clenched his fist.

Irritation rose in him.

That bastard, and this bastard too—every man who sits in the sect master’s seat is the same.

Thinking back to what had happened earlier that day with Moon Immortal Sword—the current sect master—did not improve his mood in the slightest.

Yoo Cheongil’s vault.

It had already been years since he discovered it.

He had found it after Yoo Cheongil died, and he had been entering and leaving it for quite some time.

There wasn’t actually that much inside.

Compared to how grand the thing seemed, the reality was cramped.

The objects inside were certainly valuable, but none of them were what Baek Yeon wanted.

What he wanted was something else entirely.

Fragments of the Blue Moon Sword Dance that Yoo Cheongil had left behind.

That was what Baek Yeon had been after.

But—

...There was nothing.

Nothing at all.

Yoo Cheongil had created an entirely different Blue Moon Sword, yet had left none of it behind in the vault.

That damned bastard.

Anyone could see that Yoo Cheongil’s sword was different from the sword of Blue Moon Sect.

That was why others had wanted to obtain it, yet Yoo Cheongil had never passed it on to anyone.

Because no one possessed either the qualifications or the talent.

And then someone appeared who carries that martial art.

A man had appeared bearing a martial art that had not been in the vault.

Bang Seongyeon.

That brat currently called Moon Hero, the one claiming to be the Sword Saint’s successor.

...That bastard carries Yoo Cheongil’s power.

The Moon Wolf he had shown the first time.

And everything he had displayed after that made it clear.

That bastard carried traces of Yoo Cheongil that no one else possessed.

His white hair was proof enough.

And yet he claimed he memorized every trace of the martial art and burned it all.

Baek Yeon did not believe that for a second.

How could anyone possibly contain all of that vast essence?

And burn something that precious after memorizing it?

Ridiculous.

...It exists somewhere.

It had to be hidden somewhere.

Baek Yeon was convinced of it, and that was why he had stopped entering the vault.

There had been nothing inside, and the traces of the martial art had shown up in someone else anyway, so there had been no reason to keep searching.

Who would’ve thought I’d have to go back in again.

What he had seen long ago—

The problem was the letter he had found the moment he first entered the vault.

Everything inside had been taken by Baek Yeon and moved to his own quarters.

And among them was a letter Yoo Cheongil had exchanged with the Tyrant King.

It said he had taken the Tyrant King’s item and left it there, so why not come find it if he could.

The actual wording had been filthier than that, packed with sneers and insults, but considering Yoo Cheongil’s rotten personality, that part could be ignored.

What mattered was that Yoo Cheongil had taken something the Tyrant King needed.

And that he had brought it into his vault.

After seeing that, Baek Yeon had sent a letter to the Tyrant King.

Telling him that he knew the space where the needed object was kept.

That was why the Tyrant King had truly left Xi’an and come all the way here.

“So it’s taking longer to find it. That’s not what you originally said.”

“Give me a little more time. Searching the vault is not so easy.”

“That’s why I told you. I said I’d go in with you.”

“...It exists inside Blue Moon Sect, and it is an important place to our main sect as well. I cannot simply open it to an outsider.”

“Haha.”

At Baek Yeon’s answer, the Tyrant King laughed.

“That’s a rather stingy excuse. Funny thing for a man to say when he’s keeping it secret from everyone else. Even from Moon Immortal Sword.”

“......”

Baek Yeon narrowed his eyes.

Because it had struck the mark.

“Humans are greedy by nature. I don’t mind that. That is why I also haven’t bothered telling Moon Immortal Sword. But...”

Tap tap.

The Tyrant King drummed the tabletop with the tip of his index finger as he spoke.

“Keep the promise you made. If you do, then so will I—”

His eyes grew serious as he continued.

Something in his voice stirred a strange feeling in Baek Yeon.

“Tyrant King.”

“What is it?”

“What exactly is the object you are seeking?”

“I told you already. Just an armguard worn on the forearm.”

“You came all the way to Blue Moon Sect for that armguard? And Yoo Cheongil—the former sect master—took it and hid it away?”

“That’s right.”

The Tyrant King answered with a bright smile.

Seeing that, Baek Yeon understood what he meant.

He had no intention of telling him any more.

Let each of us get only what we came for.

That unwavering meaning was written plainly in that smile.

“I understand.”

If it was inside the vault, then all he had to do was find it somehow.

The possibility that it was not inside?

Baek Yeon did not consider it.

If it was Yoo Cheongil, then of course he would have done something.

The problem is simply finding it.

There was not much time.

Even so, he intended to find it.

“So if I do find it, I trust you will not forget the favor I asked of you.”

“Ah, of course. Naturally.”

The Tyrant King drew back the body he had leaned forward and said,

“If you find the item for me, then you—no.”

The request Baek Yeon had made.

“I will lend my strength in the battle for the position of Junior Sect Master that the young lady Cheon will be entering.”

Something related to Cheon Hyein.

He had said he would agree to that much without issue.

So long as the item is found.

That much could be done easily enough.

The problem was—

...Whether or not.

Whether that man Baek Yeon could actually find it.

And more than that—

...Something feels off.

He had a feeling Baek Yeon wasn’t the only one who knew about the vault.

Thinking back to what he had seen earlier that day—

To Bang Seongyeon emerging from somewhere—

The Tyrant King smiled.

The boy kept bothering him.

For some reason.

*****

After finishing his talk with Baek Yeon, the Tyrant King began walking through the night.

Darkness had already fully settled.

The moon was nowhere to be seen, perhaps because the clouds were too thick.

Hmm.

The Tyrant King walked alone through that air.

Ordinarily, as an outsider, he should have been under watch.

But Moon Immortal Sword had said there was no need to bother watching him.

Knowing exactly what that meant, the Tyrant King could only admire the man’s arrogance.

As long as it’s within his grounds, it’s all his domain—that’s what he means.

No matter where the Tyrant King went, so long as he remained inside Blue Moon Sect, Moon Immortal Sword would know.

So go ahead and wander however you like.

That was the meaning behind those words.

Good grief.

It really was remarkable.

How is it that every sect master here ends up so damned arrogant?

The former one had been like that, and so was the current one.

He liked to think he himself was plenty arrogant, but next to those bastards, it was like a worm trying to puff out its chest.

That’s exactly why I’m curious.

If Moon Immortal Sword, who took the seat after the Sword Saint’s death, was already like this—

Then what about the next one?

Moon Immortal Sword was still in his prime, still active, and would likely remain seated there for a long time.

Still, you never know.

That was the nature of Blue Moon Sect.

The strongest one became sect master.

If one judged purely by that trait, then there was no telling when it might change.

Of course.

Not now.

At present, there was no one here capable of replacing Moon Immortal Sword.

So the sect master’s seat would not be changing any time soon.

And yet the Tyrant King looked forward to it.

Because upheavals were the sort of thing that happened without warning.

That aside.

He turned his head.

His conversation with Baek Yeon was one problem, but—

Where is it?

Was it really here at all?

He wondered.

...Yoo Cheongil.

The object that wretched bastard had stolen and fled with.

He called it an armguard, but the truth of it was something entirely different.

Hmm...

Whether Baek Yeon’s information was true or false, now that he had it, he had no choice but to come and look.

The thief who had stolen it and vanished was already dead.

If he wanted to find it, this was his only lead.

“Tch.”

The Tyrant King clicked his tongue.

No matter how much he thought about it, Baek Yeon did not seem trustworthy.

I don’t like the greed in his eyes either.

He was the sort of man who inspired no confidence whatsoever.

Thinking that, the Tyrant King was just about to keep walking—

WOOOOONG—!

“...Hm?”

He turned his head.

The air had changed in a strange way.

The pressure was faint, but there.

When he shifted his gaze—

“What is that?”

Far off in the distance, something was glowing.

Maybe because the night was so dark, it stood out all the more.

It really was light.

Almost as if the moon itself had risen from the ground.

“......”

The moment he saw it, the Tyrant King moved before he even thought about it.

Pure instinct.

Tap!

In an instant he crossed the distance and reached the source of the light.

It was the training ground.

Someone training at this hour of night?

For a martial artist, that much was only natural.

But he had not expected to find someone training so openly while giving off that kind of light.

And ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) that kind of light, no less?

Interest stirred in him, and he stole a glance inside to see what it was—

Then, in that very moment—

KRAAAAAASH—!!!

“Huh?”

A building exploded apart and fragments flew everywhere.

The light surged upward.

An enormous pillar of radiance punched through the sky.

The Tyrant King stared at it in shock.

Then—

“Jesus.”

From the center of the slowly fading light, someone spoke.

“That scared the hell out of me.”

The Tyrant King saw who the voice belonged to.

White hair. Blue eyes.

And a young man whose sword was wrapped in a dazzling radiance.

“What the hell? Why did that fly out? This is insane... Ah...”

The young man looked even more shocked than anyone, staring at both his sword and the shattered building.

Seeing him, the Tyrant King froze for a brief moment.

Only for an instant, but he mistook him for someone else.

...Yoo Cheongil?

Because for that fleeting second, the figure of Yoo Cheongil fighting the Heavenly Demon during the war had overlapped with the body of that slight young man—Bang Seongyeon.