Namgung Seong.

When I saw him, my face twisted too.

‘This bastard?’

Little Azure Sword Namgung Seong. A guy I had history with.

It was more accurate to call it bad blood than history, but either way, I knew his face.

He was the one who came looking for me himself at the Martial Alliance Anhui branch. There’d been friction in the process, and I’d fought him.

That was probably the turning point. The moment my life started changing completely.

Yoo Cheongil beat Little Azure Sword, and because of that, rumors began to spread.

Back then, it hadn’t blown up into something huge, but it still became the trigger that made it start leaking out little by little.

After that, a lot happened. And it hadn’t even been a year since I’d gone through all of it, but—

enough time that two seasons had passed and it was pushing into the third.

It was a face I hadn’t seen in a while, in its own way.

‘So he came too.’

Well. If I remembered that he belonged to the Namgung Clan, it wasn’t strange that he’d come to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I asked as I slapped his hand off my arm.

Heat rose in my voice. I was already starving to death, and getting interrupted had me pissed.

“...Ha....”

At my words, he let out a hollow laugh.

“What am I doing?”

Even his voice was soaked with jealousy. Watching that, something felt off.

‘What’s with this bastard?’

It feels different.

‘Was he always like this?’

The Little Azure Sword I remembered wasn’t like this.

As far as I remembered—

‘He was a guy who cared obsessively about other people’s eyes.’

What is this attitude? Because of him, the eyes that were already being drawn here got dragged over completely.

Meaning every eye in this dining hall had turned this way.

“Are you asking because you don’t know? Because of you, what happened to my life—!”

Even in that situation, Namgung Seong was throwing heat at me.

And he was genuinely furious, too.

‘This bastard.’

He changed a lot. If he were the Little Azure Sword I knew, he never would’ve shown this attitude here.

No matter how uncomfortable and hateful it was, he would’ve acted while watching other people’s reactions.

‘He’s not even thinking about the eyes.’

He was too busy raging, no matter how people looked at him. So this is—

‘He went through something after he went back.’

Something must’ve happened after he returned.

Otherwise he wouldn’t look like this.

In that moment,

I flicked my eyes down and looked at his hand.

It was moving.

His hand was heading for his sword hilt.

‘Huh?’

No way.

‘He’s going to draw it here?’

With this many people around, he thinks he’s going to draw his sword?

That’s insane. Even if he’s a lunatic, drawing a sword in front of all these people—

‘He’s out of his mind.’

I couldn’t understand it. That was the first reason I was shocked, and the second was—

‘Why is it slow?’

Namgung Seong’s hand moving like that felt strangely slow.

Slowly. Very slowly.

The motion of his hand reaching for the hilt—every bit of it was visible to me.

Did Namgung Seong get weaker?

Back when I sparred him, Namgung Seong’s sword was insanely fast.

The Namgung Clan’s swordsmanship, which centered on swift swordplay, was famous for speed.

And Namgung Seong’s sword, the one recognized as talented even there, was definitely fast.

But—

‘It’s slow.’

It got slow. Unlike then, it looked ridiculously slow.

And at that point, I realized it wasn’t that Namgung Seong was slow.

This—

‘He didn’t get slower.’

I got faster.

My eyes were different now, and my realm had grown. That’s why his sword looked that slow.

His hand, slowly reaching the sword.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched it.

A world that had noticeably slowed down.

That sensation, like only I could see his sword inside it.

Feeling that, I put strength into my eyes.

WOOOONG—!!

Energy surged, and light entered my eyes.

‘The old man told me not to use it.’

What I’d gotten through seclusion.

Right now, it looked perfect to use.

‘Should I?’

Like always, hesitation should be short.

Do it. As I decided that and was about to draw my sword—

Tap.

‘Huh?’

Something slipped in.

A pale hand.

A woman’s hand? No.

The skin was pale, but it was a man’s hand.

And the hand that cut in—

CLINK.

“...!”

“...Huh?”

It cut across the hilt Namgung Seong was about to draw and grabbed it first, pushing the sword back in instead.

Then—

“Hey. Didn’t your big brother tell you?”

In a soft voice.

“To please stop doing things that are above your station.”

SMACK!

He grabbed Namgung Seong by the head.

“You always disappoint your big brother, and this time’s no different.”

KRAAAASHHHH—!!!

He slammed Namgung Seong straight into the table.

“Guhk!”

Namgung Seong coughed out a strangled sound, and our table—with food on it—split cleanly in half.

Drip.

Namgung Seong lay collapsed, blood running down his forehead.

It happened in an instant.

In that instant, Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin moved immediately.

They were about to draw their swords, but—

“Oh—! I’m terribly sorry about this!!!”

The young man who had just smashed the table with Namgung Seong’s head bowed again and again.

“I’ll pay double for the table and the food, so please forgive me...!!”

SCRUB-SCRUB-SCRUB-SCRUB-SCRUB—!!!

With his head still lowered, the young man rubbed his hands together so hard it made noise.

It was so desperate that Do Hyeong and Cheon Eujin, who were about to draw their swords, nearly froze in place.

Then,

“Haa....”

Cheon Hyein, who hadn’t reacted, sighed.

“I didn’t think I’d have to see two faces I hate in a single day.”

Her voice was thick with irritation.

At that voice, the young man who was bowing lifted his head slightly and looked at Cheon Hyein.

When I saw that, my eyes widened.

‘This bastard.’

The awkwardly smiling face looked like someone.

I didn’t even need to think about who.

‘...Namgung Seong?’

His face and Namgung Seong’s face were identical.

Which meant—

‘This bastard is....’

This young man was—

“...Thunder Dragon. Same face as always.”

Cheon Hyein said the answer for me.

‘Of course.’

This young man’s name was Namgung Cheon.

Namgung Seong’s twin older brother—and one of the current Seven Prodigies.

And yet—

“Ah, Cheon Hyein. It’s been a while.”

Watching Thunder Dragon, the mismatch was ridiculous. His face was no different from Namgung Seong’s, but his slick grin and his tone were completely different.

“How many years has it been? I’ve been wanting to see you, so I’m really glad we ran into each other.”

“...I didn’t want to see you at all.”

“Come on... you’re funny.”

He laughed like he couldn’t care less about what Cheon Hyein said.

Then he kicked the Namgung Seong lying on the floor.

THUD!

He sent him flying far away.

It looked like that was where the Namgung Clan people were gathered, because the moment Namgung Seong landed, someone rushed up and took care of him.

‘Ah.’

I knew who that was too.

The name was definitely—

‘Namgung Hyeon, right?’

The Namgung Clan’s sheltered jewel, a year older than me.

While she took care of Namgung Seong, I saw her flinch when she looked at me.

I didn’t really care.

Because the one I needed to care about right now was one person.

‘Thunder Dragon.’

The young man in front of me. He was the only one I needed to focus on.

“My little brother caused you trouble. I’m truly sorry. He’s handsome, but he’s still not mature.”

He looks exactly like you, and you’re calling him handsome—what a weird thing to say.

“I’ll compensate you for everything you were harmed by, so could you please forgive him generously?”

“And if I can’t forgive him?”

Cheon Hyein asked.

At that, Thunder Dragon’s eyes turned to her.

The instant I saw it, my body stiffened for a moment.

Those eyes, with the laughter wiped away, were far colder than I expected.

Cold enough that I flinched without meaning to.

But—

“Uh... then.”

It was only for a second. Thunder Dragon put on a troubled expression and said,

“If I kneel... will you let it go?”

And he actually started bending his knees.

I hurriedly stopped him.

“...There’s no need. It’s fine.”

“Oh, really? Thank you, Little Sword Saint.”

The moment I stopped him, he straightened up like he’d been waiting for it.

Then he looked at me, smiled bright, and continued.

“As expected of someone famous as a recent hero. Your capacity is broad.”

“......”

My face soured at that.

‘How does he know?’

How did he know I was the Little Sword Saint? This bastard already knew.

[Heh heh. Look at this one...]

Yoo Cheongil said, sounding amused as he watched Thunder Dragon.

[That Peng Clan bastard, and now this one too.]

His voice was stuffed with thick interest and surprise.

[People puff the Seven Prodigies up—so I wondered how great they could be. But it makes sense.]

It was a clean compliment.

[Even looking at that ugly bastard, I recalled the Thunderclap Sword, but this one.]

He compared him to the Little Azure Sword he’d smashed, then changed his words while looking at Thunder Dragon.

[He’s even worse than that.]

Praise that didn’t even compare to Little Azure Sword.

So Thunder Dragon really was that exceptional?

Well—

‘The way he smashed Little Azure Sword was clean as hell.’

It was a motion so fast I couldn’t even properly grasp it.

It felt like what Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin did to Poison Dragon.

Which meant—

‘Thunder Dragon has that kind of power too?’

Power comparable to Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin?

As I recalled that and was about to look at Thunder Dragon again—

“...Hey... you youngsters?”

This time, a voice came from above.

Everyone’s heads turned that way.

“It’s good to be full of blood, but calm down a bit. If you cause more trouble, I’ll have no choice but to report it too, you know?”

There were two young men, sitting with their chins in their hands on the railing, looking down this «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» way.

One was a young man with neatly arranged hair and a faintly ash-gray robe, and the other wasn’t dressed neatly like the heirs of famous families gathered here.

He looked like he was wearing literal rags.

And his hair was oily and a complete mess.

He looked like a beggar no matter who saw him—

and someone said when they saw him.

“Fighting Beggar Dog.”

Hearing that, I nodded too.

‘So that bastard is Fighting Beggar Dog.’

Fighting Beggar Dog Oun Chu.

A beggar of the Beggar Clan, and at the same time, one of the Seven Prodigies.

And beside him—

“...Wudang Cloud Dragon.”

‘Ha.’

I let out a hollow breath when I confirmed it.

I wondered who the neat one was, but he was the same kind too.

Wudang’s Seven Prodigies—Wudang Cloud Dragon Seo Pyeong.

At this point—

‘So the Seven Prodigies are basically all gathered up.’

Poison Dragon of the Tang Clan.

Moon Dancer of the Blue Moon Sect.

Thunder Dragon of the Namgung Clan.

Fighting Beggar Dog of the Beggar Clan.

Wudang Cloud Dragon of Wudang.

Then if Black-Grand Saber shows up—

KRAAAASHHHH—!!!

Like it heard my thoughts, the door exploded.

Everyone’s eyes opened wide in shock.

“OHH!! What the hell is this!!!”

A rough voice filled the dining hall.

At that heavy voice, I clicked my tongue.

‘They say speak of a tiger and it appears.’

That other pervert bastard I met during the day.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

Black-Grand Saber Peng Dojin showed up too.

With six of the Seven Prodigies gathered in one place, everyone’s gaze got sucked in.

As interest and curiosity flooded into an unprecedented scene—

“Ah, perfect timing. I ran into her and came in together, so this works out.”

Black-Grand Saber stepped aside like he was introducing someone.

In that moment,

“...!!”

“...!”

—!!!

‘What?’

The noise around us died.

The Seven Prodigies who had been making eye contact with each other all at once sent their eyes to the entrance.

Even the ones who hadn’t cared much when Black-Grand Saber smashed his way in—

for some reason, wariness and tension seeped into their presence.

‘Oh.’

So naturally, I turned my eyes to the entrance too.

‘This.’

Could it be—

‘That person?’

I thought maybe the person I’d identified was showing up.

If six of the Seven Prodigies had gathered,

it wouldn’t be strange for the last one to come too.

Then—

Tap.

Footsteps sounded from beyond the entrance.

Because everyone was silent, the sound carried even clearer.

Tap.

Tap.

As the repeated sound drew closer—

“...Tsk.”

Cheon Hyein clicked her tongue.

At that sound, a figure fully emerged at the entrance.

Long black hair scattered in the wind,

a white martial uniform with a pale red robe layered over it,

snow-white skin, and a cloak on her shoulders made of white fur.

She looked a little shorter than me, but for some reason she didn’t feel small.

A blank, expressionless face. Pitch-black pupils.

Even a small black mole on the bridge of her nose.

She was a woman anyone would call beautiful, but—

that wasn’t why the room fell silent.

‘So it’s her.’

The one Cheon Hyein, Murong Yeongsun,

even Poison Dragon had mentioned.

And—

‘The last of the Seven Prodigies.’

The moment she appeared—

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!!!!!!]

Yoo Cheongil roared with laughter. The savage sound made it feel like my ears would tear.

[That Plum Blossom bastard—!!!! That stiff bastard!! What the hell did he make!!!]

It was the first time I’d ever seen Yoo Cheongil react like this.

Was she that exceptional?

Maybe. There was something else people called her, too.

In the information—

‘The top junior generation.’

The one said to be the most outstanding among the current rising generation.

A martial artist whose mere entrance tightened everyone’s nerves.

‘...Mount Hua Sect’s Sword Phoenix.’

Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix.

Yuyeon.

Mount Hua Sect’s monster revealed herself.