SWIIISH—!

My sword cut through the air. With that single motion, countless lines spread out.

The world Moon Eyes showed was always certain, yet vague.

Sometimes it only showed a single line.

Other times, like now, it showed a dense swarm of them.

How the opponent would carry out their movement.

It was a ridiculous, cheating power that let me glimpse that—yet—

‘When it shows this many lines, it’s a real pain in the ass.’

There were times, like now, when it showed innumerable lines.

Where did that difference come from? The question sprouted.

‘Does that mean there isn’t just one possibility?’

Some lines were vivid, others were faint.

Watching those lines spread, I moved my body.

KIIIGGG—!!!

The wooden blades met. It was the result of extending my sword toward the most vivid line.

‘Yeah.’

It seemed the vividness was the key.

Those lines scattered in a swarm—I had to pick out the clearest one among them and respond to that.

Why were Cheon Hyein’s lines ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ so many compared to Cheon Eujin’s?

It was a little strange, but—

‘This isn’t the time to think about that.’

Instead of worrying, I needed to move my sword.

CLACK—!

‘Goddamn it.’

Even if I could see the lines, even if I could tell which one felt most vivid, what mattered was how I responded—

‘......and I can’t respond right anyway, because she’s too fast.’

Even with the lines visible, Cheon Hyein’s sword was so fast I couldn’t properly deal with it.

‘What a joke.’

I tried to use a form no matter what, but—

TAP—!

Right before I could execute the motion, Cheon Hyein’s sword burrowed in and shattered my form.

I couldn’t even properly use the Blue Moon Sword Dance.

‘There isn’t even time to unfold Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn.’

Even if I tried to wrap sword force around the wooden sword, I needed a few seconds to raise sword force—

‘Even that gets blocked.’

The moment I tried to raise energy, Moon Eyes caught Cheon Hyein’s assault.

She’d immediately aim for my neck, or my vital points.

‘Her response is too fast.’

Why is there no opening at all?

If nothing else, it should at least show me some possibility—

‘This... I can’t win.’

That certainty came on its own. She was a Seven Prodigy—so I figured the gap from the Poison Dragon couldn’t be that huge—

‘......but this is—’

Heaven and earth. Even that worn-out phrase wasn’t enough to measure it.

Cheon Hyein’s skill couldn’t even be compared to the Poison Dragon.

An unscalable wall.

To my eyes right now, Cheon Hyein looked exactly like that.

“Guhk!”

My body lifted into the air.

Unable to endure the onslaught, my flesh rolled across the ground.

“Ugh....”

It hurt like hell. Where did I get hit? I definitely got hit somewhere, but my whole body hurt too much to tell.

“Hoo....”

I let out a breath. Even for me, this felt excessive.

‘After all the strokes of fortune I’ve swallowed.’

I still can’t reach her?

‘A genius.’

A once-in-a-century genius. I could feel what people meant when they said Cheon Hyein’s talent stood at the top of the Seven Prodigies.

A woman people said might inherit the Sword Saint’s name if she grew like that.

I could feel that value clearly.

Thinking that, I rolled my eyes. Countless gazes were fixed on me from the sparring stage.

The emotions inside them were crystal clear.

Disappointment. Confusion. Mockery.

Worries I couldn’t quite read.

There wasn’t a damn thing that could be called positive.

Seeing it, I let out a quiet snort.

That was what I’d receive if I faced Cheon Hyein at my current level.

I staggered up.

That was when—

“......Disappointing.”

Cheon Hyein spoke to me with a blank face.

Among all those gazes, the one packed with the most disappointment was hers.

“I thought you had something.”

Her blue eyes dimmed by a hair.

“Something I couldn’t see—so I thought you were interesting. Someone with value I hadn’t seen.”

“So you’re saying it doesn’t look like that now?”

I wiped the blood at the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.

It stung when it brushed the wound.

“Pathetic.”

A cold verdict fell.

“I wondered if there was something more. I wanted to keep watching, just in case.”

Twitch.

The tip of the wooden sword in Cheon Hyein’s hand trembled.

By the time I realized she was putting strength into it, her sword was already at my nose.

“I don’t think there’s any need for that now.”

Cheon Hyein’s disappointment poured down as a sword.

My senses slowed, like a strobe—like time itself turned syrup-thick. Watching it, I clicked my tongue inside.

‘I have to admit it.’

The confidence that had swelled a little after beating the Poison Dragon got crushed in an instant.

‘Not yet.’

I can’t beat Cheon Hyein.

Not yet.

‘But.’

Right now, I had to win no matter what.

Even if it wasn’t by my own hand.

‘So come on in already.’

You know my condition. Now’s the time to work.

Pride? I never had any to begin with. What would even be left?

All I felt was a dull, indifferent sting.

[Heh-heh—]

The old man’s laugh I’d been waiting for reached my ears.

[You’ve been getting a bit full of yourself lately. You look fantastic like this.]

That smug voice grated on me.

[Move aside.]

At the old man’s words—words that would break this situation—I closed my eyes.

Strength drained from my body.

And in that moment—

THUNK—!

My body moved on its own, and instead of retreating, it burrowed into Cheon Hyein.

“—!”

At the sudden turn, Cheon Hyein’s eyes widened.

If it continued like that, my head would get smashed by the wooden sword.

But—

BAM—!!

“Ghk...!!”

Cheon Hyein’s arm holding the wooden sword snapped aside, and my fist was buried in her abdomen.

WHUMP—!

With the sound of air pressure popping, Cheon Hyein’s body rolled across the floor.

Watching it, I released a breath of relief inside.

‘Good.’

Looks like the possession happened in time.

Now I could finally relax. Thinking that, I was about to let the strength go completely—

[......Huh?]

‘Yeah...?’

A voice. Yoo Cheongil’s voice.

Yoo Cheongil was staring at my body from the side with startled eyes.

...Why is that man outside?

‘...Wait. Then—’

Who’s using my body right now?

A chill crawled up my spine.

If Yoo Cheongil was outside, then who the hell was moving my body?

Swish.

My body moved on its own.

‘You. Who are you.’

I asked, feeling it—

“.......”

But there was no answer.

‘Who the hell are you—......!’

I tried to ask again, but—

JOLT—!

My consciousness blinked out.

*****

[What is this.]

The old man floating in the air frowned as he scanned the situation.

[......What happened here?]

He’d been enjoying the sight of Bang Sungyeon getting beaten down by Cheon Hyein.

His recent arrogance had been irritating in the first place. He’d expected this to be a good specimen.

And as expected, seeing him get pummeled was satisfying—he’d been laughing to himself—

Then, just as things reached the final stretch and he was about to step in.

[What is this?]

For once, the old man’s brows knit tight.

A body that should’ve been easy to enter—he couldn’t get in, as if some wall had been erected.

THUD—!!

With a harsh sound, Cheon Hyein’s body flew.

[No—!]

The old man cried out in shock.

That movement just now—

It was something Bang Sungyeon’s level could never produce.

Which meant—

[It isn’t the boy.]

The one moving that body wasn’t Bang Sungyeon.

And at the same time—

[What is it doing?]

It also meant the one using him wasn’t some average martial artist.

[From where, all of a sudden—]

Some bastard jumped out of nowhere.

Something with an unknown identity wrapped around Bang Sungyeon’s body and began fighting Cheon Hyein.

“Cough.”

Cheon Hyein spat a dry retch. She couldn’t even steady herself, as if it had landed clean.

Then—

WHOOOM—!

Bang Sungyeon closed in and swung his fist.

“—!”

Cheon Hyein hurriedly raised her sword and caught the fist.

Once. Then twice.

Three times, four times.

Bang Sungyeon’s body poured relentless close-quarters strikes into her.

As if using a sword were laughable, he fought with nothing but his fists.

CRUNCH—!

Something broke.

“Ghk!”

It was the sound of Cheon Hyein’s Protective Hardened Qi being crushed.

Cheon Hyein gave up her side to Bang Sungyeon’s fist.

“Hgk....”

A leaking, airless sound.

The impact was so brutal she couldn’t even scream properly.

Her posture collapsed.

Cheon Hyein’s knee bent as she staggered—

Because Bang Sungyeon stamped down on her joint with his foot.

Her upper body folded forward fast.

BAM—!

Bang Sungyeon’s fist snapped up into her jaw. Cheon Hyein’s head jerked skyward.

Even then, Cheon Hyein wrapped energy around her body.

Like she was trying to reclaim the flow somehow, but—

THUD—!

“......Ugh...!”

This time Bang Sungyeon drove his knee into her dantian.

Her energy couldn’t flow—it was cut off.

SQUEAK.

Bang Sungyeon’s toes pivoted on the ground.

Inertia gathered through his body.

The pressure born from it coiled into his fist, then burrowed straight into Cheon Hyein’s face.

BAM—!!

Cheon Hyein’s body trembled violently after taking that hit to the face.

THUD—!

Her knees fully buckled.

Cheon Hyein’s body toppled toward the ground, but—

GRAB.

Bang Sungyeon seized her by the throat and held her there.

Blood trickled from Cheon Hyein’s nose.

It was obvious she’d lost consciousness.

“.......”

Looking at Bang Sungyeon’s face as he stared down at her, the old man’s eyes widened.

[......This bastard.]

Expressionless.

Eyes that felt nothing, as if he were looking at a rock by the roadside.

[Don’t tell me......?]

The old man knew a being with eyes like that.

But that couldn’t happen.

[......No way.]

So the old man scowled, forcing himself to deny it—

And in that moment—

WHOOOOOOOM---!!!!

The air rippled.

Bang Sungyeon, gripping Cheon Hyein by the throat, was gathering energy into his other arm.

Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn.

Sword force that should’ve wrapped around a sword was compressing into hardened qi on his fist.

When that densely packed hardened qi gathered into a solid shape—

Bang Sungyeon drove his fist toward Cheon Hyein’s face.

The fist made a flash as it shot straight, about to meet her face—

GRAB—!!

Someone seized Bang Sungyeon’s wrist at the last instant.

“Enough.”

Moon-Thread Sword.

He appeared on the sparring stage and caught Bang Sungyeon’s fist.

“She’s already unconscious. Are you planning to kill her?”

“.......”

At that, Bang Sungyeon looked at Moon-Thread Sword.

When their eyes met, Moon-Thread Sword’s brow creased slightly.

Drop.

The light vanished from Bang Sungyeon’s fist.

He’d withdrawn his energy. Only then did Moon-Thread Sword loosen his own grip.

“.......”

Bang Sungyeon released the hand at her throat, too.

Then he turned his back and walked away.

He looked like he didn’t care about Cheon Hyein in the slightest, even in that wrecked state.

He trudged over, sat in the prepared seat, and closed his eyes.

He didn’t even show courtesy to the Sect Master. His attitude made it seem like the spar meant nothing to him.

Silence sank over the area.

No one spoke.

After a long stretch of that silence, the one who broke it was Moon-Thread Sword.

“The spar is concluded. The winner is Bang Sungyeon.”

He announced Bang Sungyeon’s victory in a low voice, but—

Still, no cheers rose.

Cheon Hyein—the top of the Seven Prodigies, a genius said to be etched into Blue Moon Sect history—

Had been crushed, not by a sword, but by fists, at the hands of the Little Sword Saint called the Sword Saint’s successor.

Faced with that reality, everyone kept their mouths shut.

Drip. Drip.

The only sound in the space was the drops of blood falling from Cheon Hyein’s face.