Splash.

I climbed down the ladder into the underground passage.

The entrance to the vault still looked familiar.

Just as it proved that it was connected to most of the buildings in the Azure Moon Sect.

I was able to come in again this time too.

Hummmm.

Out of habit, I poured power into Moon Eye.

The moment the darkness lit up, I asked Cheon Hyein in as calm a voice as I could manage.

“...Isn’t there something like a lamp?”

I had to act as though this was my first time here, after all.

So I asked Cheon Hyein as we walked through the corridor.

“There’s nothing like that. You’ll get used to it soon enough, so just wrap yourself in inner qi if you have to.”

She answered in an annoyed voice.

Still as rude as ever.

We walked on.

After going a little farther down the passage, a familiar space appeared.

The first chamber.

The first chamber where there should not have been anything in particular.

When we reached it, Cheon Hyein turned to look at me.

“This is it.”

“Here?”

For the vault of the Sword Saint, it looked like a place with absolutely nothing in it.

I looked at her with a face that asked whether she was serious.

Though in this darkness, I doubted she could even see it properly.

“Yes. This is the place.”

“There’s almost nothing here.”

It was an empty room.

Calling this the Sword Saint’s vault was strange no matter how I looked at it.

Of course—

I know it is.

I knew better than anyone that this was the vault.

I just had to pretend otherwise.

“It looks that way, but this is the place.”

“Do you have some reason for being so certain?”

No matter how I looked at it, it did not seem like a vault.

So why did she think this was the vault left behind by the Sword Saint?

I knew because that old man Yucheon Gil had told me.

But I was curious why Cheon Hyein was so sure.

Because of something Baekyeon told her?

No.

I denied it immediately.

There was almost no chance that Cheon Hyein was acting on nothing more than a single word from Baekyeon.

Not with that personality of hers.

Absolutely impossible.

Which meant she had a reason of her own, something that forced her to believe it.

“...I’ll show you now.”

As expected, Cheon Hyein spoke as though she had proof.

Then she moved forward.

Toward the wall.

Toward the wall of the vault.

I frowned as I watched her.

That spot...

The vault’s mechanism.

More precisely, the place that could only be opened with Moon Wave.

Standing there, Cheon Hyein looked at me.

“Do you see anything? Or feel anything?”

“...What?”

Cheon Hyein said it while gently touching the wall.

Hearing that, I could not help but be startled.

See what?

What, did she see something?

Of course I could see it.

Moon Eye, awakened after taking the divine pill, was clearly showing me the blue line.

And yet—

“There’s something here.”

The fact that Cheon Hyein, who should not have been able to see it, was speaking as though she could feel it was more than a little shocking.

“What is there? It just looks like a wall.”

“Come touch it.”

“...”

At that, I reached out and lightly touched the wall.

It was the same.

To me, it was just a wall.

Which made sense.

The mechanism doesn’t activate from the sword physically touching it.

A sword could not even scratch it.

The mechanism reacted to the sword force produced when Moon Wave was executed.

Even though I knew that perfectly well—

“Don’t you feel anything? There’s definitely something thin here.”

Cheon Hyein kept speaking as though she really could feel it.

Something thin.

Surely she meant—

The sword path of Moon Wave.

The sword path visible to my eyes.

Cheon Hyein was touching it as she spoke.

It seemed my guess had been correct.

She can feel this?

Was this something that could be felt?

I couldn’t understand it, but no matter how I looked at it, Cheon Hyein really was sensing it.

The place she was touching was exactly the right spot.

But she was asking whether I could not see it?

“What exactly am I supposed to be seeing?”

For the moment, I pretended not to see anything.

“Hmm.”

At my words, Cheon Hyein stared at me.

Was she trying to figure out whether I was serious?

“...So you really can’t see it.”

Apparently that was not it.

Cheon Hyein kept running her hand along the wall and sank into thought.

“I thought you might be able to sense it.”

“Why? What’s there?”

When I asked as though I had no idea, Cheon Hyein answered.

“A sword path.”

“...!”

At that answer, my eyes widened inwardly.

I had guessed exactly right.

“There must be something beyond this room. I think this line is the key to opening that space.”

“...”

Had she really figured all of that out from nothing more than feeling a line?

And ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) on top of that—

“And this line... it probably has to be opened using the Azure Moon Sect’s sword path. The fact that there are no marks on the wall means it isn’t triggered by a direct physical blow.”

Wow.

I was impressed.

I only knew because Yucheon Gil had fed me half-information that was practically information.

But she had figured out all of this on her own.

She really was clever.

Clever enough to be a pain to deal with.

“The problem is—”

Cheon Hyein cut herself off mid-sentence and suddenly drew her sword.

Shing.

Then she twisted at the waist and took up that familiar posture.

Moon Wave.

Fssshhhhh—!!!

Her sword carved through the air.

The sharp crescent barely skimmed the wall—

“...”

“...”

And nothing happened.

Cheon Hyein had traced her blade perfectly along the visible line, but the mechanism did not activate.

Naturally.

That thing only moves to Yucheon Gil’s energy.

Yucheon Gil.

The variation of Azure Moon Heart Art that he had recreated entirely from the ground up.

And the altered Moon Wave that was used on that foundation.

Only that could make the mechanism respond.

Of course Cheon Hyein’s sword would not activate it.

In that silence, Cheon Hyein bit her lip.

“As expected... it didn’t work.”

“What exactly did you just do...?”

“The shape of the sword path was Moon Wave. So I tried cutting along it with Sword Aura. But apparently my sword won’t do it. Which is why...”

Cheon Hyein’s blue eyes turned toward me in the darkness.

“I thought perhaps you might be able to do it, Young Master Bang.”

“...What would be different if I tried?”

“It would be different. This vault was left behind by the Sword Saint. If it’s you, his inheritor, wouldn’t something change?”

“...”

Sharp.

She really was disgustingly sharp.

“So that’s it. That’s why you brought me?”

I let the corner of my mouth lift.

“You had me wondering why you were willing to tell me something this valuable... and this was the reason, wasn’t it?”

To move on to the next stage.

If, just as she expected, I really could do it—

Then she needs me to get to the next room.

I had been wondering why she was willing to tell me about something as valuable as the vault.

This was probably why.

“Hmmm...”

I looked at the wall.

The line was already visible through Moon Eye.

Watching it, I drew my sword.

Clang.

My hand closed around the hilt.

If that’s your intention...

Then I should play along a little.

With that thought, I let out a flash.

Radiant Moon Flash Aura.

Yucheon Gil’s Sword Aura seeped into the tip of my blade.

“...”

Cheon Hyein stared at the brilliant sword force.

It looked like the light had stolen her gaze.

It shone brilliantly, as though it were stripping away the darkness itself.

“Hoo.”

I twisted at the waist.

Then I executed the exact same movement Cheon Hyein had used moments before.

No, not the exact same.

Anyone looking closely would know.

There was a subtle difference.

And that subtle difference produced an entirely different result.

Click.

The crescent carved through the dark.

I traced the line exactly.

A gentle silence brushed past.

Cheon Hyein held her breath as she watched the streak of light.

Then—

Creeeeak—!

Ruuuumble.

The mechanism shifted, and the wall began to move.

“...Ha.”

At the sight, Cheon Hyein let out a breath of disbelief.

“As expected...”

She wore the expression of someone whose suspicions had been confirmed.

The second mechanism activated, and the door opened.

“Ohhh.”

I put on a face of surprise as I looked at it.

“So we just go in?”

“...Let’s go.”

Cheon Hyein nodded and moved forward.

A dark passage.

I looked at it and let out a small laugh.

Then I followed her inside.

*****

The second vault.

The place where I had obtained the divine pill.

And aside from that, it had also been a room with nothing much in it.

Cheon Hyein stepped into that room and narrowed her eyes as she looked at the things inside.

“...So it really was his vault.”

“Looks like you can feel something here?”

“...At this point, the fact that your sword reacted to it already answered the question.”

“Hmm.”

That was true enough.

“...There was a second room.”

Cheon Hyein nodded with a tense face.

Then she began inspecting the room.

“This is...”

Soon after, she found something.

A box sitting on the floor.

Ah, right.

I never got rid of that.

It was the box I had left behind after taking the divine pill.

“...What is this?”

“A box. It’s empty.”

Ah.

I should have cleaned that up after I ate it.

I forgot.

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

Still, it was a good thing I had at least taken the recipe with me.

“...An empty box. The other items...”

Fortunately, Cheon Hyein did not seem overly concerned with the box.

She was about to touch something else instead when—

Slide.

She picked up one of the objects lying on the floor.

It looked like a double-edged sword.

Had that been there?

I think it had.

A memory I had been deliberately trying not to recall came back to me.

And the moment Cheon Hyein picked it up—

Click—

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a mechanism moving.

“What—”

Both Cheon Hyein and I reacted to the noise.

What the hell was happening all of a sudden?

I turned my head to take in the situation—

Creeeeak—!!!

“Hah!”

“Are you insane?”

The room suddenly began to move.

It started closing in as though it meant to crush us flat.

Fwoooosh—!!

It happened in an instant.

What the hell was wrong with this place?

Cheon Hyein brought up Sword Aura.

The door behind us had already shut long ago.

It looked like she meant to cut through the wall itself, but—

Like that would work.

I knew perfectly well that wall was not going to split so easily.

I ground my teeth.

The way out—

I turned my head.

My gaze moved and my mind spun.

Fortunately, the answer came to me at once.

Crackle—!!

I activated Moonbolt.

Energy surged through my whole body.

For an instant, it felt as though time had slowed.

The wall was closing in.

I reached out, grabbed Cheon Hyein by the back of the neck, and yanked her with me.

The section of wall that was not moving.

There.

I opened Moon Eye and confirmed the line.

“Hup.”

I let out a sharp breath and drove power into the tips of my feet.

With the sword imbued with Radiant Moon Flash Aura, I slashed across the wall.

Shrrrnk—!!

The moment I cut through it lightly—

Creeeeak—!!!

The mechanism moved.

The door opened.

But it was maddeningly slow.

I threw Cheon Hyein through first into the narrow opening.

Her frame was small enough that she slipped through immediately.

Leaving the rolling Cheon Hyein behind, I dove in after her.

And the moment I got through—

KWAANG—!!!

The closing room crumpled in on itself.

“...For fuck’s sake.”

That had been close.

If I had been any later, I would have been crushed flat.

I twisted my face into a scowl as I steadied my ragged breathing.

“Is that old lunatic insane?”

What the hell had that deranged old man done to this vault?

My eyes twitched as I checked our situation.

Then—

Rustle.

Cheon Hyein pushed herself up.

“...Ah, are you all ri—”

I started to ask if she was hurt, but—

“You.”

Unlike someone who had just nearly died, she looked at me with eyes that had turned strangely clear.

“You already knew about this place, didn’t you?”

“...”

At those words, my body went rigid.

Ah, hell.

I’d been caught.