The moment I heard the voice, my feet locked in place.

“Moon Hero...?”

The people moving with me called out to me, but my expression stayed as rigid as my frozen legs.

Ah, damn it.

It would be nice if I’d heard wrong.

But there was no way that was the case.

Thrum.

My heart reacted.

Uselessly enough, it was always accurate.

[You know, I thought maybe... but it really was you.]

That ominous voice drove straight into my lungs.

Where was it coming from?

I didn’t bother turning my head to look.

My soul was already telling me the direction.

If anything, I had to make an effort not to look that way.

[Heh heh heh heh.]

A disgusting laugh.

It was just like back then.

Child. You have good eyes.

What do you think? Would you like to become my disciple?

At the worst possible time.

And of course, it had happened while I wasn’t controlling my soul.

That was when I’d run into that old man.

Someone with eyes like mine—

Well, not the same, exactly, but similar.

Someone who could see what he was never meant to see, and feel what he was never meant to feel.

That ancient old man had been exactly that kind of person.

The difference was—

I’m trying to live by avoiding it.

Whereas that old man seemed to enjoy it, living his life mixed together with spirits.

Ugh.

Just imagining it made my skin crawl.

I was struggling this hard precisely because I didn’t want to live like that.

So what was there to enjoy about it?

[Child.]

The voice kept coming.

There was something wrong with it.

It was too intrusive to be simple voice transmission.

[Child.]

Shut up already.

I kept ignoring him, but the voice only grew thicker.

[You can hear me perfectly well, and yet your head is still held so high. Heh heh. I suppose that suits you...]

Sssss.

I felt something.

My eyes narrowed.

This old bastard was doing something unnecessary.

Skrrrkk.

It crawled over my skin, tickling as it climbed, like a long centipede making its way up my body.

Hah.

How irritating.

What, are you trying to curse me or something?

The sensation was revolting.

It always was, but that damned old man belonged to exactly the kind of people I wanted nothing to do with.

I’m already busy enough as it is.

Setting aside why he was even in Henan, the fact that he was pulling this kind of ridiculous stunt made my temper rise.

So I was just about to put a little force into myself and brush it away when—

[Disgusting thing.]

Thrum.

At the Heavenly Demon’s voice, the Divine Sword suddenly vibrated.

[How dare—]

Fwoooosh—!!!

“...!”

Power burst out of the Divine Sword.

Not inner qi.

It was a kind of spiritual energy.

A vast, distant spiritual energy erupted forth—something martial artists would never be able to sense.

[Kgh—!]

A muffled groan suddenly came from the old man.

...Wow.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

That had just struck back with spiritual energy.

...At that level...

He’d probably coughed up blood at the very least.

After that, I couldn’t feel him anymore.

The gaze was gone too.

Whew.

I let out a breath.

“Moon Hero.”

At that moment, one of the unit members spoke to me.

“Ah, sorry. I tensed up for a second.”

I answered with a smile, and he nodded.

Then we started moving again.

But—

What is this?

My thoughts were in chaos.

Why...

Why was the Death King here?

*****

I put the Death King’s appearance aside for the moment and kept moving.

We still had somewhere to be, and for now that took priority.

Not long after, we reached the gate.

“They should be arriving shortly.”

At the report, I looked ahead.

Even without the unit member telling me—

...They’re coming.

Rumble.

Something in the distance was sending tremors through the ground.

A heavy presence rose up through the earth beneath my feet.

Something was drawing closer.

And not just anything.

Disgusting.

Something unbearably foul.

The shorter the distance grew, the more violent its presence became.

And it wasn’t just me feeling it.

Everyone nearby was already tense.

Then, before long—

Thud. Thud. Thud.

A carriage came into view in the distance.

A blood-red horse revealed itself.

...That thing’s huge.

Why the hell is it that big?

It was all muscle too.

Its appearance was so intense it bordered on absurd.

The blood-red horse approached the Alliance, slowing little by little as it neared the gate.

Hiiiiiing—!!!!

Only when it came all the way up to the front did it let out a shrill cry and come to a stop.

Clink.

A sound came from beside me.

It was the sound of the Lesser Moon Unit leader’s hand settling on the hilt of his sword.

Then—

Creak.

The carriage door opened, and someone stepped down.

“Well now—”

“...”

The moment the door opened, that disgusting aura poured out with even greater force.

It was enough to make me want to cover my nose.

Wrapped in that nauseating presence was a young man.

And he was a face I knew.

It’s him.

The one I met at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.

The bastard who had infiltrated Henan while pretending to be a blood relative of the Baek Family.

Baek Cheonil.

That was the name he’d used back then.

And also—

The Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader.

I knew now that his true identity was the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.

To think...

That I’d end up seeing him again.

And here of all places.

“It’s been a while.”

The Young Cult Leader looked at me with a bright smile.

Then he held out his hand.

“You’re called the Moon Hero, right? It suits you, friend.”

Should I take it or not?

I hesitated for a moment, then clasped his hand.

“How have you been?”

At his question, I narrowed my eyes and answered:

“Well enough. Looks like you’ve been doing well too.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

“You look awfully pleased with yourself.”

“Haha.”

The Young Cult Leader laughed.

“Well, I don’t know about that. I haven’t exactly been doing well.”

Then he added,

“Thanks to someone.”

“Could that someone possibly be me?”

“Ahahaha.”

At my words, the Young Cult Leader burst into laughter.

Then—

“You’re still quick on the uptake.”

The smile vanished.

His voice turned cold.

Clang—!

A harsh sound rang from the Lesser Moon Unit leader’s scabbard.

At the same time—

Clink.

The same came from one of the martial artists behind the Young Cult Leader.

Before I knew it, several of them were standing there.

Their numbers—

Six, from what I could see.

They were all masked martial artists.

...Could they be—

Were those the Eight Demons Freak Demon had mentioned?

The more I looked, the more likely it seemed.

“Let go of his hand.”

The Lesser Moon Unit leader spoke to the Young Cult Leader, pressure pouring from him.

“Ah, my. So this is the famous Lesser Moon Unit leader.”

The Young Cult Leader loosened his grip as he looked at him.

“I was only making a little joke. No need to get so angry.”

“...”

“If you react like that... our people have a tendency to become a little oversensitive.”

Crrrk.

I felt killing intent.

It was coming from one of the masked figures in the back—specifically the one with a sword at her waist.

This...

Strong.

Maybe it was because I’d reached transcendent peak, but the killing intent coming off that person felt abnormally vivid.

How strong is she?

I couldn’t get a good read on it.

Which meant—

...Is she at a level I can’t properly gauge?

That might very well be the case.

“Enough.”

Just then, the Young Cult Leader spoke quietly.

At his voice, the killing intent vanished all at once.

“This is a place we came to for fruitful talks. There is too much hostility in the air.”

At the Young Cult Leader’s words, the one behind him dropped to one knee.

“I apologize.”

Hm?

That surprised me.

The voice was slender.

A woman?

I’d thought the figure was a little short for a man, but the entire body had been covered, so I hadn’t known.

“My apologies. I will punish my subordinate myself, so I ask that you let this pass.”

“...”

The Lesser Moon Unit leader’s brow hardened.

It was a transparent line.

Seeing that, I spoke too.

“...Unit Leader. Please calm yourself. I’m fine.”

“...”

Clink.

The sword that had been about to come free slid back in.

The mood seemed to settle, barely.

“Then please, if you would, guide us.”

The Young Cult Leader spoke into the cooled-down atmosphere.

“...We will begin the escort.”

And with obvious discomfort, an Alliance member led the way.

*****

“...It really is the Demonic Cult.”

“...Those are Demonic Cultists?”

“So that rumor was true...”

As we brought the Demonic Cult people into the main Alliance headquarters, eyes poured in from every direction.

All of them were looking at us with fear-filled eyes.

“Why would the Alliance Leader...”

“Has he truly gone senile...”

“How can you even say that—!”

The voices tried to deny it, but there was resistance inside them.

It didn’t seem like they could fully deny it either.

Damn, my face is getting hot.

With glances raining down from every side, it felt like my face was about to be bored through.

Of course, they weren’t looking at me.

Probably.

Tch.

I looked at the Young Cult Leader walking beside me.

He was moving along with a mild, composed smile.

That aura...

It was still thick.

It felt somehow different from the aura those people at the Sky-Crushing Palace had carried, but that didn’t make it any less unpleasant.

Demonic Cultists.

The resurrected Demonic Cult.

The Demonic Cult that had risen again after the Heavenly Demon who started the Orthodox-Demonic War died.

And now the orthodox faction was holding negotiations with them.

...Can this really work?

Divine Spear was agreeing to it because of a request from the Heavenly Demon, but—

The Heavenly Demon himself doesn’t even remember it.

I couldn’t help wondering whether it was really right to bring them straight into Henan and make something like this happen.

Just look at the reaction around us.

The meeting had been set, so it was happening—but the Alliance hated it, and the people around us hated it too.

With the reaction this bad, and still negotiations?

What are they trying to do?

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t understand the decision.

Then—

“Can I ask you something?”

“...”

The Young Cult Leader suddenly threw the question at me.

“...What is it?”

“It’s something I’ve been wondering for a while.”

The Young Cult Leader glanced sideways at me.

I flinched when I saw it.

His black irises had turned red.

Heaven-Slaying Star.

Red irises.

The same eyes as the Heavenly Demon.

While I was still caught on that gaze—

“Do you see things that aren’t visible too?”

“What...?”

My eyes narrowed.

Things that aren’t visible?

What was he talking about?

This bastard.

Does he have divine sight too?

What is this?

Doesn’t feel like it.

I couldn’t sense any spiritual energy from him.

He didn’t seem to possess that kind of power.

Then why ask something like that?

“...What do you mean?”

I reacted as though I didn’t understand.

At that, the Young Cult Leader gave a faint laugh.

“If not, then forget it. I just thought I’d ask.”

“...What?”

“A pointless thought.”

And with that, we stepped into the main Alliance headquarters.

The moment we entered the Alliance, I saw someone standing ahead.

“Well, well. Look who it is.”

The Young Cult Leader reacted the instant he saw him.

“The great leader of the orthodox faction himself has come to welcome us in person.”

Divine Spear.

The current Alliance Leader, and one of the beings beyond heaven, was standing there.

And beside him, Thousand-Mile Divine Eye was # Nоvеlight # staring at the Young Cult Leader with a hardened face.

The Young Cult Leader started walking toward him.

The martial artists around them reacted at once, but—

Swish.

Divine Spear raised a hand and stopped them.

“Allow me to offer the courtesy I failed to show last time.”

The Young Cult Leader spoke as he approached him.

“I am the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”

His dark robe fluttered.

“The former Heavenly Demon’s inheritor, and the current Sky of the Demonic Cult.”

Thrum.

At those words, the Demonic Cult members around him reacted.

And then—

[Pathetic.]

At that declaration, the Divine Sword clicked its tongue as though it were too ridiculous to even entertain.

And it did so with unmistakable contempt.