Cheon Hyein lost to Yu Yul.

And not by a narrow margin, either. The gap was overwhelming.

The genius once counted among the Seven Rising Stars had been defeated that helplessly, and the people watching finally let out the shock they had been holding back.

“...Lady Cheon lost.”

“She went down that easily?”

There had barely even been an exchange.

Yu Yul had hardly moved at all. The only one who had moved fiercely was Cheon Hyein.

Beautiful.

Her sword had unquestionably been beautiful, and it had carried enough density to seize the eye in an instant, but—

In the end, it never reached him.

That swordpoint had simply failed to touch Yu Yul.

What exactly did he do?

I watched Yu Yul closely. I had kept my Moon Eye open and followed the way he swung his sword.

...There are too few lines.

The number of sword paths my Moon Eye could see was strikingly small. It was not that he had become a single line the way Moon Immortal Sword had, but—

At most, four or five.

Other martial artists had dozens of possible routes to choose from.

The swordsmen who’ve reached a certain realm aren’t like that.

On the contrary, the higher a martial artist rose, the fewer choices their sword paths seemed to have.

Because one sword was enough?

Or—

Because the more they understood, the more they realized the rest was meaningless?

Was it that a few true swords were better than countless false ones?

That much was common between them.

Which meant—

Yu Yul too...

Had Yu Yul also built up that degree of understanding?

I could not tell yet.

There was only one thing I knew for sure.

Damn that eye of his.

That eye kept slipping out and drifting around, scanning the surroundings. That floating thing, carrying that eerie energy, was getting on my nerves.

What is it looking for?

At a glance, it was obvious it was not simply wandering around Yu Yul’s body at random.

It had intent.

And before I worried about what that intent was—

I need to know whose intent it is.

Whose will was behind that thing?

That was what I needed to identify.

But to do that, I would ultimately have to get closer to Yu Yul.

Hm.

As if on cue, I saw Yu Yul smiling at me.

What an irritating man.

And I was supposed to get close to that?

...I’m not exactly drawn to the idea.

I had no desire to do that.

*****

After the second bout of the Azure Wolf Festival ended, there was a brief break.

It was a period for those who had already fought to rest, and during that lull I went to find Dohyeong.

“Senior, is your body all right?”

At my question, Dohyeong nodded.

Bandages were wrapped around his body. They were probably from the wounds he had taken in yesterday’s bout against Cheon Hyein.

They would not have been that deep.

“Then why did you stop halfway through? What a waste.”

Even when I deliberately brought up the fact that he had forfeited, Dohyeong’s expression did not change.

It was as if he genuinely did not care.

I had not come here to probe him anyway, so I did not press further.

“Lady Cheon lost. Did you hear?”

At my words, Dohyeong looked at me.

Naturally, he looked like someone who had never heard—and had no interest in hearing.

This man really never changed.

How could someone care so little about other people?

Then again, I was not much different.

Which is why.

Maybe that was why I found Dohyeong comfortable.

People like this were easier for me.

Chief Baek had been like that too.

If there’s one thing that bothers me...

Hummm.

The guardian spirit still circling Dohyeong’s body.

That was what kept bothering me.

I thought it was quiet for a guardian spirit.

But seeing it now, it felt different again.

I thought back to how it had reacted during the bout with Cheon Hyein. The guardian spirit had definitely been doing something.

It just doesn’t seem like it’s causing any major aftereffects.

Was there really such a thing as a guardian spirit with so little visible influence?

At least, I had never seen one.

But that doesn’t mean it’s weak.

Judging from the way it had reacted on the platform, it was not simply powerless.

To begin with, it was a mountain-god-class guardian spirit.

There was no way it lacked strength.

It just isn’t using that power. That’s different from not having it.

What was its intention?

Even when Dohyeong’s life had been in danger, it had not reacted.

But it reacted during a bout.

I had no way of knowing what a guardian spirit was thinking.

If it were up to me—

I wanted to dig in a little and inspect the guardian spirit.

But I can’t.

I shook my head immediately.

If I went prying into that, I would get entangled.

Needless curiosity only shortened your lifespan.

A guardian spirit was a benevolent soul only to the being it was meant to protect.

If I carelessly laid a hand on something like that—

There’s no telling whether the damage would come back on me.

I knew that perfectly well, which meant I had to avoid getting involved with guardian spirits at all costs.

“How long are we supposed to rest?”

“I won’t be resting.”

“You’re not?”

That was not what the physician would have told him.

I looked at him in confusion, and Dohyeong answered calmly.

“I need to go train.”

“...With your chest like that?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Hah.”

If his chest was injured, how would that not matter?

He really was something else.

“The Azure Wolf Festival will continue in a bit. Aren’t you going to watch?”

The third bout of the festival.

We were already near the end now.

The fourth bout would be the last, so this felt like a time that should matter.

“I’m not particularly curious.”

Dohyeong’s response was flat.

I laughed when I heard it.

“What is that? Your junior’s fighting, and you’re not curious whether I win or lose?”

I asked half as a joke, and Dohyeong looked at me with ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) a strange expression.

His eyes were hard to read.

“Are you planning to lose?”

“Huh?”

I paused at the question.

Planning to lose?

“...What do you mean by that?”

“I asked whether you intend to lose your bout.”

“I don’t plan on losing.”

No one stepped into a bout intending to lose.

I might think I could lose, sure.

But I did not fight in order to lose.

“Then will you win?”

“......”

For a moment, I wondered what he meant by that.

When he asked if I would win, someone rose in my mind.

The Silver Moon Sword.

Thinking of him, I answered.

“I have to.”

“......”

I said it while killing off as much emotion as I could.

Hearing that, Dohyeong gave a short nod.

“Then that’s enough. No need for me to watch.”

He nodded as if satisfied, then got to his feet.

“I’m going.”

He moved off just like that, clearly headed for training.

His back looked utterly free of hesitation.

Then that’s enough.

Since I intended to win, that was enough.

At that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

What kind of faith is that?

Where did that kind of faith even come from?

Even I could not fully believe in myself, and yet that man seemed to believe in me.

Ridiculous.

This situation.

And me too, after hearing that faith.

“Ugh.”

I stretched lightly.

Then I smiled a little.

So that’s why I came.

I had wondered why I had bothered to come see Dohyeong.

Maybe this had been the reason.

Shrewd bastard.

Maybe I had already known Dohyeong believed in me.

Maybe I had been unsettled and had come looking for something to quiet that.

Seems that was it after all.

What a narrow creature I was.

“Ugh.”

Realizations were always exhausting.

I loosened my stiff neck and walked out.

When I stepped outside, Yu Yeon was waiting for me.

“Why are you here?”

“......”

No answer came.

Everyone around me was quiet in the same way.

Still—

“Were you waiting for me?”

“......”

Even if she was not talkative, she seemed to get her meaning across just fine. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

I walked forward while looking at Yu Yeon’s blank eyes.

Yu Yeon followed me naturally.

“Hey.”

Then I asked her a question.

Yu Yeon tilted her head.

“Can I win?”

It was a question with the subject omitted.

Win against what?

I was not talking only about the Silver Moon Sword.

Even so, the moment she heard the question, Yu Yeon nodded lightly.

“...How do you know what I mean when you nod that fast?”

I laughed awkwardly at how little she hesitated.

Maybe because I laughed, Yu Yeon smiled a little too.

The slight lift at the corners of her mouth.

The soft narrowing at the corners of her eyes.

That made me pause for a moment.

Wow.

She really was pretty.

I erased the passing thought at once.

“Right. If you’re saying I can win, then I should go win.”

Whatever else it was, it was belief.

I nodded and kept walking.

My destination was the platform.

This would be my third bout of the Azure Wolf Festival.

There were only four people left.

If you were going to call it something, it was basically the semifinals.

Hm.

Even if the matches had been going on with several people already excluded, making it this far still felt unexpectedly new.

...All that rolling around under Yoo Cheongil wasn’t for nothing after all.

Transcendent peak.

A realm I never would have dared dream of.

I had stepped into it, but there had been so many monsters around me that I had never really felt it.

Now I can feel it a little.

The sense that I had grown stronger.

I could feel that clearly now.

There had been too many monsters around me for me to notice before, but now I finally could.

...Isn’t that a little too late?

If you really thought about it, it was.

I had only started feeling it after reaching transcendent peak and even going through rebirth.

Just as I was feeling that fully—

I began to sense Yoo Cheongil’s intention in it all.

It almost feels like he deliberately stopped me from noticing.

The fact that I had grown stronger.

The fact that I had become a master myself.

A thought crossed my mind that maybe Yoo Cheongil had intentionally prevented me from truly feeling that.

The dream-vision, and the way he made me face masters...

Aside from beings that could never possibly be defeated, Yoo Cheongil had never directly stepped in.

If anything, whenever I met a true master, he had made me fight them myself.

...That’s pretty obvious now.

The more I thought about it, the clearer it became.

That old man had intentionally kept me from recognizing it.

Why?

Why had he gone out of his way to do that?

I thought about it, but there was no way to know.

Then again, when had I ever understood him?

As if he ever explained anything properly.

He had never once been the sort of man to tell me things plainly.

Whatever intentions he carried, he kept them hidden from me.

This time would be no different.

All I could do was think—

He must have had his reasons.

And they probably were not meant to harm me.

That was all.

Clack.

I stepped onto the platform and drew my sword.

The sharp blade came out into the open.

My opponent came into view.

That man is...

Was his name Dogyeong?

He was the vice leader of the Lesser Moon Unit, the man with the epithet Azure Wolf Sword.

Originally, the vice leader had been Seo Seon, but I had heard that for certain reasons the position had been passed on to Dogyeong.

“......”

He looked at me with an uncomfortable expression.

I had seen looks like that too many times to care, so I ignored it and glanced toward someone else.

Down below the platform, the Silver Moon Sword was watching me in complete ease.

Hmm.

He really does look relaxed.

That attitude rubbed me the wrong way.

And not just because of the energy he carried.

Will you win?

Dohyeong’s voice passed through my mind without warning.

I have to.

My answer rose right after it.

“The bout.”

The judge’s voice brushed past me.

“Begin—”

Shrrng.

I caught Dogyeong’s presence.

And hearing it, I raised the heat in my body.

Crack.

A short recoil.

“...Huh?”

Dogyeong flinched as he looked at me.

Crackle.

Light flashed, and I appeared right in front of him.

Shhk.

In an instant, my sword was at his throat.

“Uh...?”

“Huh...? What...?”

Moonbolt.

With a body that held the moon, I subdued Dogyeong.

In the mere instant it took for everyone around us to fall into shock—

my eyes were on the Silver Moon Sword.

I showed him once.

I had used a crude method that did not suit my temperament.

A way of saying that when we stood on the next platform, he had better not make the mistake of leaving openings out of useless carelessness.

Maybe he understood the meaning.

“Ha ha ha.”

The Silver Moon Sword laughed, sounding pleased.

Then—

“As expected, this is fun.”

And I could see it.

The competitive fire that had not been there before had now risen in his eyes.