SSSSSSS—.

Not a single sound carried.

No cheers like always when a match ended. Not even a small murmur.

A brutally cold silence.

That was all that coiled around the tournament stage.

And right about when this rancid stillness was about to break—

“No way.”

“This... it ends like this?”

Everyone finally let out the bewilderment they’d been choking down.

That was the reaction this match—this result—had created.

“Moon Dancer lost?”

“No, how is that even possible?”

“...This is ridiculous....”

The flow of the match and the outcome were too wildly different.

“Moon Dancer was clearly overwhelming him.”

From the moment it began, she hadn’t been pushed back even once.

Cheon Hyein kept pouring out strong, clean energy like she was proving she belonged at the top of the Seven Prodigies—

and the delicacy with which she handled it was like dance, so everyone could only keep marveling.

Moon Dancer.

She’d been trying to prove the value of her own epithet like it was nothing.

And the result was—

“Moon Dancer losing...”

Cheon Hyein’s defeat. No one could accept it.

“She suddenly fell over.”

“...What the hell....”

In the middle of the match, Cheon Hyein went down. She just—collapsed to her knees.

And then her opponent put a blade to her, and it was over.

“What is this!”

“What kind of miracle is this...!”

A match that should’ve been Cheon Hyein’s win by anyone’s eyes ended in something absurd.

Even if nobody could accept it, that was the result.

“AHAHAHAHA....”

The one who’d grabbed that victory.

Baek Cheonin looked at Cheon Hyein with an awkward smile.

Like even he couldn’t believe it.

In an atmosphere that felt like jeers could pour down at any moment, Baek Cheonin kept smiling at Cheon Hyein.

“Well, this is... I don’t even know what happened myself.”

“.......”

Saying he truly didn’t know.

The moment Cheon Hyein heard that, fire surged in her eyes.

“You...!!”

She gritted her teeth and clenched her sword.

“HIIIIIIGH—!!!”

“You’re mocking me like this...!?”

She tried to rush him right then, but Baek Cheonin startled and jumped back.

How dare you.

You mock me like this? With that fury boiling over, Cheon Hyein was about to charge—

“Enough.”

GRAB—!

“......!!”

The referee’s hand stopped Cheon Hyein by the wrist.

“That’s as far as you go.”

No matter how hard Cheon Hyein tried to force it, she couldn’t budge the referee.

He wasn’t just any referee.

At the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, referees had to be able to suppress combatants in situations like this, so at minimum it would be someone at a vice-leader level.

“......BBRRRRR—!”

Cheon Hyein ground her teeth and glared at Baek Cheonin.

“Ah, ah—hey... Y-Young Lady, please calm down first...”

“...This rudeness. I’ll never forget it.”

“The match is over. Step down.”

At the referee’s words, Cheon Hyein let the strength drain out of her. Only then did the referee release her wrist.

Cheon Hyein spun around and left the tournament stage.

Her face was openly twisted with irritation and fury.

Maybe because of that—

“...The match definitely ended weird, but her attitude’s disappointing.”

“Seriously.”

As soon as the match ended, people started talking badly about Cheon Hyein, for trying to rush Baek Cheonin.

“It was her own mistake.”

“Not a good look.”

To everyone else, it would’ve looked like Cheon Hyein simply tripped and fell on her own.

So Baek Cheonin won.

And Cheon Hyein couldn’t accept it and charged him—simple as that.

‘...That’s not it, is it?’

I knew it wasn’t, through Yoo Cheongil.

[......KGGGGK—!!]

Yoo Cheongil made the sound of grinding teeth for a moment, then added—

[In that tiny instant, he hit her jaw. Just enough to make her legs give out. And he even acted like that part was an accident.]

He “hit her jaw” while dodging.

And that became the cause, letting him seize the win.

Like he was trying to claim it was all coincidence.

That was Baek Cheonin’s match.

‘...Baek Cheonin.’

I narrowed my eyes, watching that young bastard shuffle around with that constant, sheepish face.

‘What the hell are you?’

They said Demon Cult.

The place that vanished with the Heavenly Demon’s death.

Yoo Cheongil, who’d been the Alliance Leader, killed the Heavenly Demon, and the Martial Alliance moved to wipe out the Demon Cult.

That’s how peace in the Central Plains had been kept.

‘And now they’re back.’

If, like Yoo Cheongil said, Baek Cheonin really was Demon Cult—

then why the hell were they showing up now?

‘For what?’

To pick up the “Demon Cult rules the world” thing the Heavenly Demon tried to build?

Was that why he’d taken a shape like this and infiltrated here?

‘...Bad.’

No matter what I imagined, none of it was good. A cold feeling kept scraping up the back of my neck.

Ah. No matter how I looked at it, this was bad.

‘...SLOWLY.’

What do I do?

‘I did put a response in place, but...’

Whether it would actually work was another question.

‘It was barely a response at all.’

I didn’t trust it. Even though I was the one who’d done it.

While I kept repeating worry and second-guessing—

“.......”

My body stiffened.

Because far off, Baek Cheonin—who’d finished his match and was stepping down—looked straight at me.

Even from a distance, our eyes met. The moment he caught mine, he grinned and waved.

Since he was offering a greeting, I moved my hand too—

but.

‘...A bad-omen bastard.’

My thoughts about him didn’t improve at all.

*****

All the matches ended.

The matches people called the main bracket ended, and before the heat had even died down—

we gathered at the inn to eat dinner.

“Senior Brother, good work.”

Cheon Eujin spoke with exhaustion all over his face.

At that, Do Hyeong nodded.

“Yeah. You worked hard too.”

“It’s nothing....”

At Do Hyeong’s words, Cheon Eujin gave a bitter smile.

For the record, Cheon Eujin won his match too.

It’s just—

‘It was razor-thin.’

Whether his opponent was strong or not, Cheon Eujin only managed to grab that win by the thinnest margin.

Ah, Poison Dragon won too.

This one was still Seven Prodigies, so unless he ran into some freak, he wouldn’t lose.

It really made me think, yeah—he is Seven Prodigies, even if it’s annoying.

“Why are you looking at me like that...?”

Tang Cheon-il noticed my gaze and stared at me like I was weird.

“Because you’re impressive.”

“.......”

The moment I said it sincerely, he frowned even harder.

Look at this bastard.

“You don’t believe me?”

“No... I believe you.”

“Believe me? You don’t believe me. Huh? Huh?”

“No.”

His eyes were screaming that he didn’t believe me. Unbelievable. I even gave him a compliment I never give, and he takes it like this?

Ha.

‘Yeah, I’m never doing that again.’

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue and turned my head. Then I looked at the empty seat still open and asked—

“Cheon Young Lord.”

“Yes, Bang Young Lord.”

“Cheon Young Lady not eating?”

It was about Cheon Hyein. The second her match ended, she holed up in her room and didn’t come out.

When he heard me, Cheon Eujin made an awkward smile and answered—

“...Yes. I think she’s not planning to.”

“Yeah?”

Then it can’t be helped.

I nodded like I accepted it.

‘Even I didn’t see this coming.’

At the very least, I thought Moon Dancer wouldn’t lose right now.

If Cheon Eujin and Do Hyeong lost, sure.

But Cheon Hyein losing? I never even considered it.

‘...Things got tangled.’

The one thing that felt least likely to happen happened.

My head was killing me because of it.

‘SLOWLY.’

I did think something would blow up—

but who the hell would’ve guessed something this insane would blow up?

I was letting out a long sigh when—

—Don’t bullshit me—!!!

KWA-DANG-TANG—!

A huge noise exploded from one side.

What the hell? I glanced over—

and.

‘Huh?’

A familiar face was ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) flipping a table.

A young man with bandages wrapped around his upper body—Little Azure Sword.

What is that bastard doing now?

While I watched with a baffled look—

“Don’t bullshit me... telling me... telling me to go back to my clan?”

“Brother... there are a lot of eyes on you, so please calm down first— KRAAAGH!”

Little Azure Sword shoved the woman trying to stop him.

It was Namgung Hyeon, his little sister.

“Let go! Who cares who’s watching! You trash bastards...!!”

He started screaming at people from his own clan, frothing in rage.

“Telling me to go back? If I go back like this, what face am I supposed to show the Clan Head! Don’t bullshit me!! I didn’t lose!”

‘Oh.’

That’s ugly. Really, truly ugly.

If he lost, he should shut his mouth and leave, but seeing him burn this hard was just... laughable.

‘Wow.’

That family’s a mess too.

I scratched at my ear and rolled my eyes.

‘Where’s Thunder Dragon?’

Last time I saw this kind of thing, Thunder Dragon handled it himself.

But he wasn’t there. Sadly.

So, I was about to ignore it and just eat—

when—

“I told you to let go—!!! You damn bitch.”

CLAP—!

With a savage sound, Namgung Hyeon’s cheek snapped to the side.

Little Azure Sword had slapped her.

At that, the chopsticks in my hand stopped.

“.......”

I looked over with a slightly sour expression.

The sound was so loud everyone else looked too.

But since it was the Namgung Clan, you could tell people didn’t want to interfere.

More than anything, it was “family business.”

The problem was—

“Yeah. You’re part of it too. You were part of it.”

Even watching, Little Azure Sword’s reaction was getting worse.

“If you’d done your job right, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Brother...?”

“Damn it.”

A rage I couldn’t even name filled his eyes—

and those eyes turned to Namgung Hyeon.

Right when I thought, this is dangerous—

“Ah... ah....”

Namgung Hyeon looked around with panicked eyes.

Like she was begging for help, but everyone was busy looking away.

Then she turned toward me.

Our eyes met. Namgung Hyeon’s trembling pupils locked onto mine.

Honestly, I should’ve looked away too.

But I couldn’t.

A brief eye contact—just that instant—and Namgung Hyeon’s mouth moved.

—Please.

That’s what she said.

‘Ah.’

Fuck.

The moment I heard it—

[Huh? Kid.]

My body moved on its own.

“You ruined everyth—”

Little Azure Sword lifted a chair and started toward Namgung Hyeon—

“Kinda pathetic. Even for pathetic.”

SMACK—!!

“KHUH—!”

I stepped in and kicked Little Azure Sword in the side.

KWA-DANG-TANG—!!!

The sudden impact sent him tumbling across the floor.

The bastard crashed messily, knocking over chairs and tables as he went.

‘Ah, goddamn it.’

Right after I did it, my face twisted with the realization I’d just caused trouble.

I shouldn’t have stepped in.

I was the one being pathetic now.

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!!!!]

Yoo Cheongil’s laughter rang out.

[KKAHAHA—! HAHA...!! HAHAHAHA!!!]

He burst out laughing nonstop like it was the funniest thing in the world.

“Ghk... huff....”

Little Azure Sword clutched his chest and forced himself upright, like the hurt spot was screaming.

Drool dripped from his mouth.

And so did rage, leaking straight out of his eyes.

“You... you bastard....”

He recognized me. His reaction got even more violent.

Looking at him, I smiled.

“Why are you being a nuisance in a restaurant, ruining everyone’s appetite? I told you last time.”

It’s weird, isn’t it? I used to be scared just seeing him.

“Don’t go around advertising you weren’t raised right.”

Now, Little Azure Sword didn’t scare me at all.