The World's Greatest is Dead

More than I thought.

Far greater than I expected. That was the thought that came to mind as I looked at Peng Doyeon, who had spoken while looking at Bow Ghost.

Look at this?

Why had she said something like that after seeing Bow Ghost?

What is she seeing?

What was she seeing in Bow Ghost? That was an emptied vessel. There was nothing contained inside.

That was why Bow Ghost was struggling right now, too.

Did this girl see something?

If so, that was surprising. Discovering something in that was by no means easy.

So this is why a general-class one covets her.

It was unfortunate.

Having good eyes and a good vessel meant—

She is good prey for them.

In that sense, I could understand why petty gods and a great deity had clung to her like that.

There were supposedly many ways to overcome divine descent, but—

Even in the Central Plains, there’s no way the perception of it is good.

Especially for a blood relative of a prestigious family called one of the Five Great Families. Even if she was from a collateral branch, someone who had inherited that surname receiving divine descent?

It would not look good, so that would likely be one reason the Peng Family disliked her.

But.

Was there a reason Peng Dojun was taking such a girl all the way to Henan?

That was strange, but I did not bother asking.

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, no....... It’s.”

Peng Doyeon stopped speaking and closed her mouth.

“It’s nothing.......”

She seemed to have judged that saying anything would be meaningless. A good choice. Even if she said what she had seen, almost no one would believe her.

That was the same choice I had made.

It is unfortunate, but.

I had neither a justification nor a reason to intervene, so I ignored it too. In a situation like that, there was nothing more hellish than shallow interest.

That aside.

CLANG—! KWAGGGGGK—!!!!

Silver Moon Sword and Peng Dojun, who had suddenly started fighting, were the problem. Why the hell had those humans suddenly started fighting?

“Ahahahahaha!”

“Whoa there!”

Peng Dojun’s blade began hammering down without pause, and Silver Moon Sword let out a hollow laugh as he let the attacks flow past. One thing was certain.

He’s stronger.

Peng Dojun was incomparably stronger than he had been back at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. Was the Heavenly Martial Body the problem? He was ferocious beyond measure and brutally strong. On top of that—

I don’t see the openings and weaknesses I saw back then.

The weakness I had dug into and exploited back then was no longer visible.

It seemed he had overcome it himself even then, and apparently this was the same.

He is impressive.

A genius was definitely a genius. Just as my evaluation of Peng Dojun rose another step—

KWAGAGAGAK—!!!!

Silver Moon Sword thrust out his sword with a smile. A wave erupted.

Fragments surged upward. It was the technique he had called his secret technique, and it was the sword of the Azure Moon Sect.

KANG—!!!

A blunt, sharp sound rang out. A contradictory wave echoed.

At that moment, the impact forced distance between the two of them.

“Ahahahahahaha!!!”

Peng Dojun kept laughing. His smiling face was still frightening.

By contrast, Silver Moon Sword was smiling as though he was slightly troubled.

“That is one violent greeting.”

“It’s been a while since we met. This much is only proper.”

“......I don’t know what you mean by this much, but I think that should be enough for a greeting?”

“No.”

Clack.

Hard aura began creeping over the blade.

“What are you saying after running away like that?”

“Running away?”

Silver Moon Sword sighed.

“It was not running away. It was because of work. Let us be accurate.”

“That is also running away. Especially when there was a promise.”

Apparently something had happened between those two. Humans truly were impressive. Those two had that kind of relationship?

“So, you want to keep going?”

“I do. I have not even started yet.”

With those words, Peng Dojun prepared to leap again.

Silver Moon Sword sighed at that behavior, but—

Srrrring—!

As if he had no intention of stopping his sword, he prepared his hard aura and caused friction.

Could I leave those two alone? I felt like I should stop them.

Just as I was wondering what to do—

[There is no need for you to step in.]

The Heavenly Demon spoke. At those words, I looked somewhere. True enough. I did not need to step in.

I nodded.

That was when it happened.

SHRIIIK—!!!

KAAAANG—!!!

“Ugh!?”

“Oh.”

Someone cut between them and knocked both attacks aside.

The person who appeared was, surprisingly, Yu Yeon.

“.......”

WOOOOONG—!

A sword cry rang out. It was the aftermath of blocking between Silver Moon Sword’s and Peng Dojun’s hard aura.

Plum blossom petals faintly whirled. The energy took the form of petals and drifted through the air.

Yu Yeon, sword drawn, scattered energy as she stared straight at the two of them. It was a clear warning.

A warning not to continue.

The first to raise both hands at that look was Silver Moon Sword.

“Ah, dear me. I got scolded. See? I told you we should not be so rough.”

Peng Dojun frowned at his lightly laughing words. His gaze had fixed on Yu Yeon.

“Sword Peak.”

“.......”

“You were here? I did not expect you to be away from Mount Hua. This is actually better.”

Then he aimed the tip of his blade at Yu Yeon.

“I wanted to clash with you as well. I want to feel how much I have changed since then.”

“.......”

“If he will not, will you face me? I would be fine with—”

“That’s enough.”

“......!”

This time, I was the one who blocked him. I stood in front of Peng Dojun and spoke.

“Why are you going berserk again just when things were going well? Do you know how many eyes are here?”

“.......”

At [N O V E L I G H T] my words, Peng Dojun looked at me. Then I saw the corners of his mouth stretch upward.

“Right. You were here too.”

“.......”

Ah, this was bad.

Should I have just left him alone? I should have left it to Yu Yeon and slipped away. Should I slip away now? I glanced behind me.

“.......”

They had already all put distance between us. Look at these humans.

Unbelievable.

Were they telling me to handle it on my own? A hollow laugh escaped me.

What a bunch of shameless people.

“I am different from back then.”

“You look it.”

His body had not gotten bigger, but the quality of his muscles had improved considerably. It looked as though he had trained desperately.

“When I saw you earlier, you seemed to have grown greatly as well.”

“......A little?”

“Show me.”

Whoooong—!! His blade swept along the ground.

“That is what a man I recognized as a friend should do.”

“.......”

I did not particularly want to be recognized. If I said we did not have to be friends, did that mean I would not have to fight him?

Just as I was about to say that—

Hwooook—!! Ink-black force sprang up. I tilted my head away from the blade that had reached the end of my neck.

Half a step left. Then I lightly rotated back.

HWAAAAAK—!!!!

The sound of it cutting through the air was violent.

“Are you insane?”

My face hardened. If I had not dodged just now, I would have died. And yet there was no killing intent in it. The fact that there was no killing intent made it even more absurd.

He had struck at a vital point without putting killing intent into it? It was nonsense.

It meant he truly believed I could dodge.

Even so, it pissed me off.

He started by swinging at my neck without warning?

Clack.

I drew my sword. Chiiiiik—!!! Radiant Moon Flash Aura ignited.

“Ahahahaha—!!!”

Madness seeped into Peng Dojun’s eyes as he saw it. Just like that, he brought his blade down.

At the same time, Moon Eye opened and found the trajectory of his attack. There were fewer lines than before. I could see his mindset, as though he refused to leave useless feints.

Was I supposed to praise that or not?

Anyway.

The fact that he was an ignorant bastard had not changed.

No, rather than ignorant, it would be more accurate to say he was pointlessly upright.

Thud.

I inserted my sword into a black line. As the blade bearing ink-black force flew in, I wedged the tip of my sword into the gap.

Kirik—! I let it flow aside.

WHOOONG—!!! The blade passed, grazing my shoulder. Watching the blade pass by by a hair, I stepped forward.

A little farther.

Now—

I matched the instant. My sword moved to cut him. The horizontal slash tore through the air.

SHAAAK—!!

“Ha!”

Peng Dojun’s eyes widened at the lightly drawn sword. He was already far away from me.

If he had been even a little late, his upper body would have been cut. He had survived instinctively.

“This is fun!”

KWAGAGAK—!! As though it had perfectly matched his expectations, black energy rose from his body. Was it a secret technique?

The ultimate art I had seen back then. Peng Dojun’s martial art descended upon the world once again.

“.......”

I stared at it. Back then, that had seemed truly frightening. What about now?

Not bad.

It was not particularly frightening. Had Peng Dojun’s secret technique become weaker than back then? No, that was not it.

I could see that it had become stronger and more solid.

But it was not frightening.

Was it because I had crossed the line of death quite a few times? Who knew. Maybe.

WOOOOONG—!!!

A sword cry rang out. The haze of Radiant Moon Flash Aura quieted.

Suuu.

I let my breath settle low. I loosened the strength in the hand gripping my sword just a little.

Srrk.

My field of vision narrowed. As if in a trance, I saw only one place. I was standing on the path I had endlessly tried to reach.

Should I try it?

I felt as though I could. Right now, it would definitely work.

[Haha—]

The Heavenly Demon laughed as if sharing my thought. That laugh gave me even greater certainty. I focused deeper.

As my field of vision narrowed, so did my thoughts. I erased everything rising inside me. All I held was my sword and myself.

How should I move?

I did not even think about that. On its own. I entrusted everything to the sword.

Because it would decide the path I was to take.

Charrrrrk.

The instant passed as if countless books were turning in my mind. The time flowing in reality was far quieter. In the instant before even a single petal could fall to the ground—

My thigh moved.

One step.

I took it and touched the state of complete absorption.

KWAAAAAA—!!! The silence shattered, and Peng Dojun’s secret technique covered me like ink devouring the night. Inside it, all I could do was thrust forward.

Body-and-sword unity.

At the place I had reached, there was a path.

Slice—

My sword drew a single point.

KWAAAAAA—!!!

“Ha.”

The darkness was cut apart just like that. The one sword strike that had severed the whole world finally reached the end of Peng Dojun’s neck.

“.......”

My Divine Sword had arrived beside his neck.

Only then did the awe flowing through my body vanish, and I returned to myself again.

“I think this should be enough.”

“.......”

Peng Dojun gave no reaction to my words. He only stared blankly at me.

His eyes shook, and I could not even feel the sound of his breathing.

“Ahh.......”

A short sound left his mouth.

Then—

Thud.

“Hm?”

Peng Dojun suddenly dropped to his knees. Immediately after that, he sat cross-legged and abruptly began focusing.

“What is this?”

Why was he acting like this? I looked around in bewilderment. Then I saw that Yu Yeon and even Silver Moon Sword were in similar postures.

“......Huh?”

What? What was this?

......What was happening all of a sudden?