The Azure Wolf Festival’s martial bouts were simple. The warriors of the Lesser Moon Unit drew numbered tags, and whoever drew the same number fought each other. That was the whole system.

It was an extremely simple and straightforward method, but that also meant luck of the bracket mattered a great deal.

That was why some groaned in despair while others smiled in satisfaction.

Well, this is...

It was the same no matter what martial tournament you went to, so I did not particularly care.

Still.

“Seo Seon and the Moon Hero... Who do you think will win?”

“No matter how outstanding the Moon Hero is, Seo Seon is the foremost among the second-generation disciples. They’re even saying he may become the next Lesser Moon Unit leader. Isn’t the result obvious?”

From the very first bout, the match that would announce the beginning of the Azure Wolf Festival, people began throwing every kind of gaze our way.

Seo Seon, the Blue Performance Sword.

He was a martial artist of the Azure Moon Sect, a promising master known throughout the Central Plains, a man in his mid-thirties.

It was said he had awakened his Moon Eye around ten years ago, and the moment he did, he entered the Lesser Moon Unit and went on to resolve one major mission after another. He was an experienced figure.

I knew him well too.

He became famous after defeating the demonic practitioner called Storm Blade in the past.

He was someone I had heard of several times even before entering the Azure Moon Sect. He was that famous.

And that meant—

He’s that strong.

There were people weaker than their reputation, yes, but most lived up to their names.

And he’s an awakener of the Moon Eye.

There was no way he could be weak.

And yet, that very man—

“You should prepare yourself.”

“...”

—happened to have a poor opinion of me.

This is going to be annoying.

No matter how I looked at it, this was not a good situation.

Hm.

That said...

There was not really any solution. He already disliked me, so what was I supposed to do?

I’m used to it.

I shrugged. You could not live a life being loved by everyone in the world, and from the start, mine had been a life with more records of being hated than being liked.

What would change because one more person had been added to that list?

Like I said, it’s just annoying.

Just annoying.

And the fact that a particularly troublesome person hated me only made it more annoying.

I stepped onto the martial platform. I tapped the floor lightly with the tip of my foot. It was still an unfamiliar sensation.

That atmosphere was especially so.

The gazes pouring toward me. That feeling was deeply uncomfortable.

I wrapped my hand around the hilt of the sword.

It was not the Divine Sword. For the bout, I had to use a sword provided by the Azure Moon Sect.

The weight was different. The size was different.

Just as the unfamiliar sensation was beginning to feel somewhat uncomfortable—

Slowly, I drew the steel sword.

The instant I drew my sword—

—I heard a sword being drawn from the front as well.

“You do not seem nervous.”

Seo Seon’s voice reached me. At his words, I lifted my head.

“Nervous?”

“Yes. Or are you simply used to being the center of attention?”

“...Hm.”

It was uncomfortable, but if he was asking whether I was used to it, then yes, that part was true.

“Yes. More or less.”

“...Ha.”

Was I too honest? Seo Seon let out a hollow laugh.

“Excessive attention has a way of clouding the eyes.”

“...”

There was a definite barb in the way he said it. Hearing that, I scratched my cheek and asked,

“It seems you really don’t like me.”

“Was it that obvious?”

Was that a joke? I seriously considered whether I was supposed to laugh. Of course it was obvious.

“I was about to say this earlier too, but I didn’t stand at the front because—”

“That is not the reason.”

Seo Seon cut me off and spoke.

Not the reason?

“Rather, I dislike how you strut about under the Sword Saint’s name while showing neither the proper conduct of the Lesser Moon Unit nor the bearing of a disciple of the Azure Moon Sect.”

“...Hm?”

What was that supposed to mean?

“When exactly did I ever strut about?”

“Leave aside unit training—you spend more time acting on your own. Are you even conscious that you belong to the Lesser Moon Unit?”

“...No, that’s a little unfair.”

I knew individual training was allowed, and if «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» I were not aware that I belonged to the Lesser Moon Unit, would I have gone out on missions in the first place?

It was not as though I had gone on those long missions because I wanted to.

Though, admittedly, I had brought things back every time.

So what he means is...

Was he saying that because I was the Sword Saint’s disciple, I had been walking around with my nose in the air, acting full of myself?

“This is ridiculous. Seriously.”

I barely held back the sigh trying to escape me.

“I was even pretending not to notice you people shutting me out.”

Who had been the one quietly keeping their distance?

I’ve spoken to exactly two people in the Lesser Moon Unit.

Cheon Hyein and Dohyeong.

Other than those two, there had barely been any point of contact. The others in the Lesser Moon Unit had never really tried to get involved with me.

“What a petty thing to get irritated over.”

“What?”

“Forget it. This isn’t the kind of thing I can spare attention for right now.”

In the past—back in my previous life, around this same time—it would have been different.

I probably would have tried somehow to blend in. I would have made an effort, started conversations, tried to get close.

I’ve been through too much for that now. It’s just a hassle.

I knew nothing would change even if I did.

This was not the kind of thing I should be wasting my attention on. And besides—

“It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“What did you say?”

“To call us fellow disciples is a stretch. Given the nature of the Azure Moon Sect, we’re competitors in any case.”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?”

Was he asking because he truly did not know? Or was he pretending not to know?

“Senior, do you not want to become Sect Leader?”

“...!”

The moment I brought up the Azure Moon Sect Leader directly, Seo Seon’s eyes widened.

“That’s strange. I thought that was what everyone was aiming for...”

They upheld the moon.

Whatever the Azure Moon Sect might say on the surface, what mattered was the essence contained within it.

The Azure Moon Sect Leader.

To become the strongest martial artist in the Azure Moon Sect.

And—

“To fight a duel to the death with the Sect Leader. Senior, do you not want to cut off the Sect Leader’s head?”

“You lunatic...!!”

The moment I spoke openly of killing the Sect Leader, Seo Seon’s face twisted.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“I haven’t. If anything, I think I’m the normal one here.”

I raised my sword and pointed it at Seo Seon’s face.

“To become the Azure Moon Sect Leader, you have to cut off the Sect Leader’s head. And the Lesser Moon Unit exists under the banner of protecting the Azure Moon Sect.”

The sword trembled. It had begun to vibrate with inner qi.

“Shouldn’t that be the goal?”

“...”

“Wasn’t it yours?”

That was what Moon Immortal Sword had said. Someday, the martial artist who killed him would become Sect Leader.

Moon Immortal Sword longed for that, yet at the same time was certain it would never happen.

I had thought that might be the nature of the Azure Moon Sect’s martial artists, including the Lesser Moon Unit.

“...Ha ha.”

Seo Seon only looked at me as though I were utterly absurd.

“...I thought you were a bizarre bastard, but I didn’t expect you to say something like that so openly.”

What was this? Was that not it?

Seo Seon was looking at me with open revulsion.

...Am I the strange one?

Had I been soaked through without realizing it because everyone around me was insane?

That’s possible.

To begin with, I had never set killing someone as my goal. Even now, it was not exactly my goal.

I had simply thought that might be the meaning of the Azure Moon Sect.

“How arrogant...”

Seo Seon’s sword let out a low tremor.

“It seems I really will have to correct your twisted way of thinking today, as your senior.”

A fierce killing aura wrapped around Seo Seon’s sword.

It was not just vibrating anymore. A deep killing intent was spreading from it.

“...”

After confirming both sides were ready, the judge slowly raised a hand. There was a strange expectation even in his eyes.

“...The bout... will now begin.”

His hand lifted slightly.

Now then.

I poured strength into my Moon Eye. Tension crawled up my back.

...Just how strong is he?

How strong was the number one of the Lesser Moon Unit?

I steadied my breathing. I focused.

Could I win? The thought crossed my mind belatedly.

Who knows.

I would only know after trying.

It probably would not be easy. Aware of that, I watched Seo Seon closely.

Then—

“Begin—!”

The moment the judge spoke, I moved first.

I wanted to gauge his condition.

I closed the distance in an instant. Seo Seon looked at me and swung his sword.

A streak of blue light condensed into a single point. The sword path appeared in my Moon Eye.

But—

Three?

No matter how I looked at it, there were only three.

I narrowed my eyes. The number was lower than I had expected.

Could it be—

Is it like Yucheon Gil’s? Or Moon Immortal Sword’s?

Extremely condensed sword paths. I remembered how difficult it had been to block even a single one.

Maybe Seo Seon’s was compressed the same way.

That’s possible.

If so—

I shifted with my footwork and guided away the incoming sword paths. I could have blocked and struck them aside directly, but I chose caution.

There could be a feint mixed in.

If it was three concentrated sword paths, then one of them was bound to be false.

But then—

CLANG!

“...Hm?”

“...Kgh!?”

Was it because of the rebound from the inner qi I had used to divert it? The moment our swords touched, Seo Seon’s sword was knocked away.

“What...!”

Seo Seon’s eyes flashed in apparent shock.

I felt the same.

What was that?

Why had it been knocked aside that easily?

It had been far lighter than I expected.

...Was that a feint too?

Was he trying to make me let my guard down?

If so, it was pitifully flimsy.

I still can’t be sure.

Even this had to be intended to lower my guard.

Thinking that, I looked at the sword path again.

...What’s wrong with the lines?

The lines were badly disordered. They steadied again almost immediately, but the fact that they had wavered even for a moment was what mattered.

What is this?

Seo Seon hurriedly corrected his stance. A violent surge of energy burst from him.

“You bastard...!”

Blue Sword Aura bloomed along his blade.

The moment I saw the sword path, I knew.

It was Moon Wave.

Only, not the Moon Wave I used—the one of Yucheon Gil’s—but the basic Moon Wave handed down within the Azure Moon Sect.

A blunt, thick crescent flew straight at me.

Watching it, I thought—

...It’s slow?

Why was it so slow?

Before I knew it, my hand had already moved.

Radiant Moon Flash Aura seeped into me.

With that permeating moonlight at my side, I also used Moon Wave.

A later release.

But a faster sword.

The crescent flying toward me collided head-on with Seo Seon’s crescent—

BOOOOM—!!!!

Fragments of Sword Aura burst apart, and the shockwave exploded outward.

The problem was—

My Sword Aura remained intact, while only Seo Seon’s was crushed.

Like an egg breaking against a rock, Seo Seon’s Sword Aura shattered and exploded in every direction.

Fragments rose into the air.

And while I was watching them fade away—

“Khk...”

Thud.

Seo Seon collapsed in front of me. On his knees, he drew ragged breaths.

“Huff... huff... This... this is...”

“...”

His face was full of shock and confusion, as though he could not grasp reality.

Looking at Seo Seon kneeling there, I said,

“...What?”

The words came out in a dazed tone.

They could hardly not.

“Why are you this weak?”

Why was this man so weak?

Huh.

Ah.

No way...

The thought struck me belatedly.

It had never once occurred to me before, but this—could it be...

It was not that he was weak.

...Have I gotten stronger?

It seemed I really had grown stronger.

And by far more than I had imagined.