Ssssss—!
A violent shiver ripped straight down my spine.
It was because of the killing intent the Sword Emperor unleashed the moment the Dark Sovereign was mentioned.
...Ugh.
I nearly recoiled in horror.
It felt like my muscles and bones had all frozen solid in an instant. Was this what it meant when one of the beings beyond heaven released killing intent in earnest?
I can feel the pressure.
It felt like my whole body was about to be crushed to pieces.
My survival instinct forced my energy out on its own. The inner qi flowing through my meridians barely managed to push back against the pressure.
“Why are you asking about him?”
I swallowed and answered the Sword Emperor.
“...I was just wondering whether you knew anything.”
“You met him?”
“...N-no.”
I had met the Dark Sovereign at Mount Hua.
There was no way I could say that out loud.
At my answer, the Sword Emperor stared at me with cold eyes.
It looked as though he was trying to decide whether I was telling the truth.
Then—
“No. There’s no way you have.”
Not long after, he came to his own conclusion.
The killing intent gradually subsided too. By the time the pressure crushing my insides had disappeared and I could finally breathe again—
“Why are you asking about the Dark Sovereign?”
The Sword Emperor asked me again.
“I’ve been seeing the beings beyond heaven a lot lately, so I got curious. The Dark Sovereign is one of them too.”
The master of the night.
The old man called the god of assassins.
And—
Someone connected to my brother.
My older brother, the young patriarch of the Bang Family, had apparently been tied to the Dark Sovereign somehow.
That meant I had no choice but to pay attention to him.
But for the Sword Emperor to react like this—
“Don’t learn about him.”
That was what the Sword Emperor told me.
“It is a pointless curiosity. If you want to stay alive, do not look into anything related to him.”
“...”
“That will be better for you. Especially if you somehow end up getting tangled up with him.”
The Sword Emperor hesitated for a moment before adding,
“Moon Immortal Sword. Tell him that you’ve become involved with the Dark Sovereign.”
“...The Azure Moon Sect Leader?”
“That’s right.”
He was telling me to ask the Azure Moon Sect Leader for help?
That was a strange thing to hear.
I scratched my cheek. It didn’t seem like I was going to get anything more out of the Sword Emperor.
“Understood.”
I gave him the proper courtesy and stepped out of the stable.
Then I said inwardly,
Do you have anything to say?
[Are you asking this seat?]
Seems that way.
[I thought that since you went out of your way to find the Sword Emperor, you had no intention of asking me.]
I figured I’d ask someone who actually knew first.
And that had been a mistake.
I almost died.
I’d nearly been crushed flat under his killing intent.
...Just when I was starting to think I’d gotten stronger.
What did it matter that I’d entered transcendent peak when monsters like that were still crawling everywhere?
I need more.
I had to find a way to grow stronger.
That thought crossed my mind for only an instant.
[Do you want to become stronger?]
He didn’t miss it.
A seductive tone I’d heard before slipped in from somewhere, and it was so absurd it almost made me laugh.
What is it now?
[If you want it, then say so. No—even if you do not want it, I will make it so.]
...So you still haven’t given up on that?
Hadn’t he said he was going to turn me into the Heavenly Demon?
[It is not a matter of desire. It is simply what must happen.]
I don’t get it. Why do you keep doing this to me?
Not just anything, but the Heavenly Demon.
And this was a place where bloodline succession was supposedly the basic rule. With all those formidable candidates, why did he keep fixating on me?
[That is not important. What matters is something else.]
Something else what? Divine sight?
What was so special about seeing ghosts?
[It does not stop at merely seeing, does it?]
“...”
I had nothing to say to that.
Because he was right.
It wasn’t a state that ended with simply seeing them.
Then—
What? You’re saying I have to go around beating ghosts to death or something?
[If you insist on putting it plainly.]
The Heavenly Demon answered without hesitation.
[Whether or not you can kill a god.]
“...”
My body went rigid at those words.
[That is what matters.]
Kill a god?
[Yes. This seat—no, do you know what creed the Heavenly Demon must possess?]
That’s awfully grand. The Heavenly Demon has a creed now?
[Beneath the heavens, the only god is the Heavenly Demon.]
“...”
There was no describing how arrogant that sounded.
The Heavenly Demon was still human, yet he spoke of gods.
Even if, from my point of view, gods aren’t all that special...
Even so, they were clearly beings beyond humanity.
And in that situation, he was talking about killing gods.
I can’t make sense of that.
If that was supposed to be a condition, it was too strange to ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ call one.
[There is no need to think too deeply about it. Whether you contain one or kill one, the result does not change.]
So either way, it means I’d end up tied to gods.
[Yes. And that is why.]
Gravity settled into the Heavenly Demon’s voice.
[The others cannot do it.]
“...”
He sounded utterly certain.
If that was really the reason he was obsessed with me—
Then you’ll have to give up all the more.
I—
I have no intention of getting tangled up with gods ever again.
One lifetime of that had already been more than enough.
*****
I returned to my quarters.
There wasn’t much left on the schedule, and I’d been thinking I might do some training. But for some reason, it looked crowded outside my residence.
Murim Alliance personnel.
They were standing in front of the entrance, blocking someone.
I walked closer to ask what was going on, and—
“Oh, you’re back?”
“...”
The one the Alliance personnel were blocking was, unbelievably, the Young Cult Leader.
“Moon Hero.”
“...What are you doing here?”
I ignored the Young Cult Leader and asked the personnel instead. He looked rather troubled as he answered me.
“Well, that is...”
“He said he wanted to meet the great Moon Hero. So they blocked me.”
“Then they did their job.”
That just meant they were doing exactly what they were supposed to do.
These people had it rough.
Thinking that, I looked over at the Young Cult Leader.
“Why did you come looking for me?”
“Does a man need a reason to visit a friend?”
“Friend, my ass. We’re not nearly that close.”
Since when had we ever been friends?
I let out a disbelieving laugh, and the Young Cult Leader laughed right along with me.
“Wow. That’s a little hurtful. I came all the way here too.”
“There’s nothing more irritating and obnoxious than an uninvited guest. Look. Because of you, several people are having a hard time.”
Their faces were tight with tension.
The fact that someone from the Demonic Cult had come here at all had clearly driven their emotions to the limit.
“What do you want?”
I asked him.
My tone had gone colder, and the smile vanished from the Young Cult Leader’s face.
“You won’t invite me in? It’s very cold outside.”
“...”
At that, I scratched my cheek.
“It’s fine. You can step aside.”
“But—”
“I’ll make sure the strategist hears about it from me. No need to worry.”
“...Understood.”
At my words, the Alliance personnel withdrew.
“Follow me.”
“Gladly.”
I went inside, and the Young Cult Leader followed.
Then—
“Only I’m going in.”
“...”
He said it to the Demonic Cultist who had been about to follow him in. At that, the Demonic Cultists stopped walking.
“Do not follow.”
“...Understood.”
The Young Cult Leader and I entered my quarters together.
“There’s no tea. And I don’t need to offer you any either, right?”
“You’re treating your guest rather coldly.”
“I’m not treating you like a guest.”
“Ahaha. I’m really hated, aren’t I? Go easy on me. You got to hit me once last time.”
He said that while pointing at the nose I’d smashed with my knee. Apparently it wasn’t still swollen, which was fortunate.
Still, one part of what he said bothered me.
“You got hit once?”
That phrase caught at me.
“It wasn’t that you let me hit you. You just stood there like an idiot and took one.”
“Hmm.”
Why was he calling it letting me hit him?
I sneered, and the Young Cult Leader tilted his head.
“I get that things between us aren’t exactly good.”
His eyes slowly changed.
“But if you keep scratching at me like that, you won’t die a natural death, Moon Hero.”
Even his tone changed.
The voice that had carried that useless, half-playful sadness turned cold. The air shifted, and an unpleasant feeling rose with it.
But—
“Sorry. When I was young, they used to call me the back-scratcher. I just can’t resist scratching people. Especially—”
There was no reason to flinch.
“—people like you who strut around without knowing your place.”
Creeeak.
The table trembled.
He released his pressure, so I released mine too. A faint blue aura poured out of me, colliding and mixing with his force.
Ssssss...
But after a moment, he suddenly began to rein it in.
“Hm... Guess that wasn’t it either?”
“What?”
“There was something I wanted to confirm.”
I frowned as he slipped that smiling expression back on.
What the hell was he talking about?
“Get to the point. What do you want?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much. I was just wondering—”
“No.”
“...Haha?”
He looked startled when I refused before he’d even finished speaking.
“How do you know you won’t do it when I haven’t even said it yet?”
“Because if it’s something you’re saying, I have no intention of doing it.”
“Come on. At least hear me out.”
“Talk.”
“How about a spar? You and me.”
“Get out.”
That kind of proposal wasn’t going to change my answer.
“That’s hurtful. I worked up the courage to ask.”
“Hurtful my ass. You show up out of nowhere and ask me to fight you?”
What kind of lunatic nonsense was that?
“Why? Are you upset that I hit you last time?”
“I am upset. And I thought it might be fun.”
“Fun, my ass. Do you honestly think the two of us can have a friendly spar in this situation?”
The very fact that he was the Young Cult Leader and I was Moon Hero was already a problem.
There were too many political entanglements involved. The fact that we were standing here having a conversation was already absurd enough, and on top of that he wanted a spar?
“What’s your purpose?”
Faced with an attitude this ridiculous, I didn’t feel any need to humor him.
I had no reason to go along with him.
I just wanted to know why he was saying this.
“What do you want?”
“I truly did just think we might build a little friendship. But you seem to be in a very bad mood. Why? Lacking confidence?”
“Oh, wow.”
That actually made me laugh.
“You really don’t seem very talented at getting under people’s skin, do you?”
“...”
Lacking confidence?
“I am. That’s why I’m not doing it.”
“...That’s absurd.”
“No, that’s my line. Quit being so irritating. Can’t you feel it? Things have already started getting tangled because of you.”
Rumble—
An enormous pressure crashed down.
Boom—!!!
The instant I felt it, someone landed in front of the quarters.
“...You bastard...”
The owner of that pressure was the Lesser Moon Unit leader.
He was glaring at the Young Cult Leader with a chilling expression. Where the hell had this man flown in from? Judging by the cold sweat on him, he’d come in a hurry.
And that wasn’t all.
“...”
Behind the Lesser Moon Unit leader appeared Yu Yeon and Yu Yul.
“What, you’re doing something interesting without me?”
Silver Moon Sword looked over with curious eyes.
Yu Yeon, meanwhile, was staring at the Young Cult Leader with a gaze far more rigid than usual.
“You’re popular. Must be very loved.”
“Apparently. I didn’t know either, but thanks to you, I do now.”
The Lesser Moon Unit leader, fine. But why were those two here?
“So. Are you really not going to do it?”
As if none of that mattered, the Young Cult Leader asked me again.
My answer was no different from before.
“I already told you I’m not—”
—If you accept the spar, I will spare Thousand-Mile Divine Eye.
“...say—hm?”
I stopped mid-answer at the voice transmission.
What?
—If you refuse, Thousand-Mile Divine Eye may die.
“...”
The Young Cult Leader spoke as though to make sure I hadn’t heard wrong.
Oh.
And at that—
Would you look at this bastard?
A mocking smile rose inside me.
