Drip—!

The flowing blood soaked the floor. My sword had cut across Silver Moon Sword’s upper body.

“Cough.”

Silver Moon Sword spat blood from his mouth. His eyes were wide.

“...Impressive.”

He gave a short note of admiration. I had heard the praise, but it did not feel good.

What is this?

Because my gaze was not on him.

What the hell is this?

A white hand.

A translucent white hand had pierced the eye that had burst out between me and Silver Moon Sword.

Creak— kreeeak.

The spiritual form shook. The sound it made was almost like a scream.

Right after piercing through it with ease, the hand swept once through the air.

FWAHHHHH--!!!

Just like that, the eye bled out black energy and vanished into the air.

The evil aura I had felt from Silver Moon Sword was gone as well.

That meant it had been completely removed.

How?

How in the world had it erased it?

[That woman went and did something unnecessary.]

The Heavenly Demon spoke flatly. As expected, what had just happened seemed to be his doing.

[She’s still a disgusting woman.]

There was no need to ask who he meant by that woman.

It was probably Bow Ghost.

[Disgusting to the end.]

Killing intent rose in the Heavenly Demon’s voice. The instant I heard it, a chill crawled down my spine. That was all it took—the emotion in his voice alone.

[Focus. This still isn’t over, is it?]

“...!”

Whoosh—!!

I jerked my head back. The tip of a sword grazed past my nose. Thankfully, the attack did not land.

Damn it.

Silver Moon Sword.

Even with his chest cut open, he had still swung.

FWAAAHH-!!!

The blue energy grew stronger. The hard aura wrapped around his body whirled more violently as well.

This lunatic.

He still had that kind of strength left?

It was absurd.

BANG-!!

I stomped hard on the ground. Then I charged straight at him.

Crackle.

I’m short on energy.

I did not have much left to sustain Moonbolt.

Even after rebirth—

My reserves had increased by a great amount. Thanks to that, I had been able to maintain Moonbolt through most of the match.

Still—

It was still not enough.

If this had been a real fight, I probably would not have lasted long.

“Hahaha—!”

Silver Moon Sword laughed. That madman. He was laughing while blood poured from his chest.

Now he was starting to be frightening.

Whoosh—!!

The sword came flying in. I read the trajectory.

Clang-!!

It bounced away. Just like before. I exploited the habit I had felt from Silver Moon Sword.

But then—

Shhk-!

Huh?

Contrary to the trajectory I had calculated, the sword twisted into a different path. It spun, and Silver Moon Sword moved along with it.

The sword tip that had made a full rotation came back at me again.

This bastard?

I twisted my face as I dodged.

...He mixed in a feint in that tiny gap?

Silver Moon Sword had anticipated that I would target his habit and knock it aside.

He had changed the force because he had predicted I would strike it away. Then he used that very response against me and mixed in a feint to attack.

Ha.

These damned geniuses.

He’s no different from that Peng bastard.

That one had at least taken some time. This man didn’t need even that. He grasped it at once and discarded it.

[I told you.]

The Heavenly Demon spoke.

[That one. He’s a monster.]

It was high praise. And yes, I had to admit it.

[He may even have been able to stand beside Yoo Cheongil.]

But I did not accept the words that followed.

Yoo Cheongil?

Compare him to Sword Saint Yoo Cheongil? Not a chance.

Easy for him to say when I’m the one going through the dream-vision.

I traded blows with the thirty-year-old Yoo Cheongil every single day. That thing was a complete monster. Silver Moon Sword could not even be compared to him.

Kraack-!

And because I knew that, there was no need to give up.

He’s slowed down.

Silver Moon Sword had definitely become slower. His sword was still sharp, but the drop in speed was obvious even to the eye.

Seeing that, I understood.

So this man has reached his limit too.

Just like me, after pushing Moonbolt to the end.

Silver Moon Sword’s condition was not good either.

That’s enough.

That was enough.

As long as I was not the only one suffering, I could endure as much as I wanted.

KZZZZZT-!!!

I drove up my inner qi. My dantian felt as though it were being squeezed shut.

That meant my energy was starting to bottom out.

I ignored it.

I have to do it.

Even so, I did it.

Ordinarily, I would have stopped by now. With my flimsy disposition, I should have given up long ago.

Looks like I’ve been stained after all.

After spending time with that savage old man, I seemed to have become strange. Even my head had gone crooked.

It hurts.

My muscles screamed. I had hit my limit long ago.

My inner qi was running dry, and my body hurt.

This was exactly why I hated fighting.

So why am I trying this hard?

Clicking my tongue, I glanced beside the platform.

The gazes fixed in this direction were obvious.

Among them, I saw blue eyes.

Cheon Uijin?

Cheon Uijin. And Yu Yeon was watching as well.

And also—

Cheon Hyein?

A little farther off, Cheon Hyein was looking this way too.

Her eyes looked worried.

Am I seeing things...?

That had to be it.

Cheon Hyein worrying about someone made no sense.

Impossible.

That woman, worrying? It would be more believable to say Yoo Cheongil had come back to life.

I must be in worse shape than I thought.

When the body hurt, even ridiculous things started showing up.

Grinding my teeth, I put strength into myself.

Moon Eye read the sword paths ahead of me.

Whoooosh-!!!

It brushed past my cheek.

“...!”

Silver Moon Sword’s eyes widened.

A mistake.

One both he and I understood as a mistake.

He had put in too much strength, and his posture broke.

Now.

Lucky.

I hadn’t expected him to make the mistake from his side.

[Not luck.]

The Heavenly Demon said.

[You drew the situation there. It is your strength.]

Was that praise, or a correction? Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.

Wiiiiing-!!!

I had caught the chance, so I had to use it.

Sword path.

Moon Wave drove in.

KRAAAASH-!!!

Silver Moon Sword hurriedly raised the flat of his blade and blocked. This time, he could not redirect the path.

Second.

I unleashed Moon Wave and immediately drew out the second sword path. A white flash traced a line.

Third.

With the blade lifting upward, I unleashed Night Moon.

KRAACK-!!

Silver Moon Sword dodged, and my sword slammed into the ground.

KRRRRAAASH-!!!

The floor shattered, and hard aura burst out. Veins stood out in both my hand and my whole body.

“...Ha—!”

Silver Moon Sword let out a breath.

Then I felt an enormous force rise from him as well.

WOOOOOOONG--!!!!

The hard aura wrapped around his sword began spinning faster.

What is that?

As I unfolded the fourth sword path, I looked at Silver Moon Sword’s blade.

[Haha.]

I heard the Heavenly Demon laugh.

[Interesting. Moon Immortal Sword, was it?]

He spoke Moon Immortal Sword’s epithet.

[To think he knows how to use it like that. A sly bastard.]

I did not know what he meant. The Heavenly Demon’s words did not register properly.

Right now, I was looking only at Silver Moon Sword.

Ah.

Then—

The sound—

All the sounds I had been hearing stopped.

At once, my chest seemed to float.

This.

It was a sensation I had felt before.

The surging heat pierced through the crown of my head.

I had reached a state of complete absorption.

I did not even blink.

Not a breath escaped me.

The only thing I could see was the opponent.

The fourth sword path hit Silver Moon Sword.

He did not dodge.

Shhk-!

The blade cut across his upper body once more.

Not deep.

It had been a strike made from the start with his dodging in mind.

Why had he not dodged?

I did not focus on something like that.

Fifth.

Cut.

Win.

That was all that remained in my head.

Great Moon.

Great Moon.

I raised a great moon into this blue sky.

I thrust out a single sword.

At that sight, Silver Moon Sword raised what he had been gathering as well.

That—

The rotating Sword Aura took shape.

It was the form of solid Sword Aura.

But—

It isn’t a double-edged sword.

The form of his sword looked as though someone had taken a crescent moon and set it there as it was.

What was that?

I did not know.

I only poured Great Moon down on him.

And then sword met sword.

THUNG-!!!

KUAAAAAAAHHHH--!!!

Pure white light and blue hard aura surged upward into the sky as though trying to kill each other.

“Aagh!”

“Ghhk!!”

The wind pressure born from the grinding of hard aura exploded out from the platform, and the disciples groaned under the aftershock. Those with weaker cultivation were pushed back outright.

FWAAAAAHHHH--!!!!

The hard aura gradually faded, the wind burst and then settled. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Sssss.

The dust slowly sank with the falling wind.

And the sight that had been hidden behind the hard aura came into view.

“...That.”

At the scene now visible, one of the disciples pointed toward the platform.

On the platform—

“...”

“...”

Between the swords, someone was standing.

A handsome middle-aged man with blue eyes.

“Enough.”

It was Moon Immortal Sword.

With one foot, he was pinning down Silver Moon Sword’s blade, and with his other hand he was gripping my wrist.

“The match is over.”

His voice was heavy.

“Hah... Hahk....”

At those words, I coughed roughly. My knees buckled. Moonbolt had already come undone long ago.

The delayed exhaustion surged up.

“Urk....”

I felt like I might retch.

I forced it back down.

Then I bit my lip.

I lost.

No more energy would rise. Moon Immortal Sword had stepped in, but that did not seem to change anything.

“Haa.”

I let out a sigh like that.

And then—

“The winner is Bang Seongyeon.”

“Huh?”

At Moon Immortal Sword’s words, I raised my head.

He was looking at me.

Clear eyes.

With a gaze sharper than usual, Moon Immortal Sword said,

“Well done.”

“...What do you mean?”

Unable to understand, I looked toward Silver Moon Sword.

“Ah.”

Only then did I realize.

“...”

Silver Moon Sword had his sword planted in the ground and his head lowered. He had not fallen, but he looked to have lost consciousness.

Seeing that, I dropped heavily to the floor.

“Haa....”

I won.

The moment that thought came, all the heat that had not quite risen flooded through me at once.

Thud.

Hit by the backlash of the force, I too lost consciousness just like that.

*****

Snap.

In the darkness, a woman folded shut the fan she had been holding.

White hair swayed.

Beyond her beautiful hand, strange eyes flashed.

“...Hmm?”

She let out a soft nasal sound in a lovely voice. It was full of puzzlement.

“What is this?”

The woman flicked her fingertip.

The energy she had been feeling was gone.

Something she had gone to the trouble of laying over him had been stripped away.

“Who?”

Who dared?

Who had removed her spiritual energy?

It was impossible.

In her entire life, only one person had ever done such a thing.

The master of the Demonic Cult.

Only that accursed existence had managed it.

And he’s already dead.

A man who should have passed on ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) completely, soul and all. There was no way she could not know—she herself had torn that soul apart, and torn it apart again.

If it was not him...

Then was there someone else who could touch her spiritual energy?

“How interesting....”

The woman’s lips curved upward.

At that moment, the air froze cold in an instant.

“I suppose I’ll have to move for the first time in a long while.”

The Empress of Cold rose from her heavy seat.