FSSSS—!!

Dust scattered into the air as he rolled hard across the floor.

“Kkh....”

Little Azure Sword groaned, clutching his abdomen like he’d taken it clean—

then he looked up at me with bloodshot, bulging eyes.

“Y-you... you...!!”

“Yeah. It’s me, you idiot.”

I stared at him like he was pathetic. The way he clutched his gut. The way his face was packed with rancor.

Every part of him looked disgusting.

‘How the hell did you end up like this?’

The first time I saw him, he had that mask on, but he still looked... at least decent.

Now?

He was a wreck.

The “impressive” parts were shattered into a mess,

and what was left—hollowed-out and ruined—was just ugly.

“How’d you end up like that? You used to at least look normal.”

I asked because I genuinely didn’t know, and he snarled and forced himself up.

That was when—

SSSSSS.

A chill crawled up my back.

‘Mm.’

I didn’t turn my head. I focused on what was behind him. Something was there, clear as day.

And at the same time, a pair of eyes soaked red turned their gaze toward me.

A malicious ghost.

The malicious ghost clinging to his back—that was the problem.

‘So that’s it.’

The moment I saw it, I understood.

‘I was wondering why he’d gone so rabid.’

It was the malicious ghost’s influence.

A woman-shaped malicious ghost, the way I saw it. And not one—two of them were still there, both with their hands on Little Azure Sword’s head.

‘It got in.’

That malicious ghost’s aftereffect was sinking straight into him, and it was twisting his mind.

‘Sure. A bastard who doesn’t even look like he has any spiritual sensitivity, walking around with three malicious ghosts on him in the first place.’

In a normal situation, he couldn’t possibly be fine. He must’ve held out only because, for all his trash, his mental strength was sturdy.

But—

‘If he’s still like this even after I gave one of them deliverance...’

Even down from three to two, Little Azure Sword was still getting eaten alive.

Which meant—

‘His mind cracked. A gap opened.’

And the malicious ghosts crawled into that gap.

‘Huh.’

If I thought about what caused that gap...

‘Because of me?’

That hatred in his eyes—aimed at me—made it hard not to guess I was the trigger.

But.

“...You... because of you...!!”

“Say it right.”

Should I comfort him after seeing that? Like [N O V E L I G H T] hell.

I curled my lip and said—

“It’s not because of me. It’s because of you.”

“What...?”

STEP.

I kicked the chair in front of me out of the way. The chill thickened.

If it got any stronger, other people would start feeling it too.

The malicious ghosts’ fallout was tangling with his emotions and turning into a phenomenon on its own.

Of course—

none of that worked on me.

“I told you.”

I walked up to him.

“I told you the karma you piled up in your life would eventually grab you and swallow you whole. So it wouldn’t be me handing out your punishment.”

What you do in life comes back around and knots itself around you.

Pitch-black, thick, filthy like sewage.

“You think what you’re going through is because of me? It’s not.”

I stopped close, opened my eyes wide, and said it clearly.

“Don’t shove what you did onto me. It’s ugly as hell.”

“...Y-you...!!”

CRUNCH—!

He gritted his teeth and moved. He looked like he was about to yank the sword at his waist free—

GRAB—!

“...!!”

I reached out and clamped my hand around his sword’s hilt.

CLINK......!

The blade that was halfway out slid back into the scabbard.

He tried to rip it free by force, but it wouldn’t come.

Even though I wasn’t putting much strength in, my hand stopped him cold.

Feeling that, I looked at his arm.

Too thin. Even if you weren’t thick as a log, a martial artist’s muscle should be packed tight. But he had nothing—just bone sticking out.

“Kkh... hhhh....”

Was that why? No matter how injured he was, his strength was weirdly weak.

“Y-you... you....”

“Hm....”

I loosened my grip a little. The recoil from the force he’d been pouring in made his upper body lurch.

I used that movement to catch his arm as it flew in—then flipped him.

KWA-DANG—!!

“Kkhuuuuh!”

He hit the floor on his back and screamed.

“Kk... hhhk....”

His breathing went rough, and blood blossomed through the bandage wrapped around his chest.

His face twisted in pain as he stared at me and said—

“Why... why... why am I...!”

Moisture rose in his reddened eyes. Veins bulged harder than before, and he poured resentment at me like it was spilling out of his skull.

“.......”

Even watching that, I wasn’t particularly pissed.

Because it didn’t matter.

‘He got bit by a malicious ghost already.’

Possession started a while ago.

At that level, you’d need an Exorcism Rite or you’d have to give them deliverance directly.

‘Yeah, well.’

I didn’t feel much. Even if I did try to protect the living.

‘That’s only for people.’

And whether Little Azure Sword counted as “people” anymore?

Who knew.

I was staring at him like that when—

“It’s your fault. It’s all your fault...! Because of you, the Clan Head...!”

“You talk way too damn much. So what do you want me to do about it.”

The same line again, and irritation crawled up.

My eyes naturally went cold as I said—

“If you’re so pissed, how about we go another round? Like back then?”

He didn’t scare me anymore.

I’d been through too much to be scared of trash like this.

If he wanted, should I even pull a sword for him? The moment I spat that out, his mouth split into a grin.

“Y-yes...! That’s what I wanted. I’ll kill you right here, no matter what...!”

His trembling fingertips reached for the hilt.

I let him.

Go on. Try pulling it.

SHIIIING—!!

The instant the blade came free—

POP—!

A sharp, stinging sound snapped from somewhere.

SWISH—! CLANG—!

“......!”

A flash stabbed in—

and Little Azure Sword’s blade shattered.

Fragments flew through the air. And something flew in again and crashed straight into Little Azure Sword’s face—

SMACK—!!

“...Kkhuuuuh!!”

His knees slammed into his jaw, and he crumpled with a violent sound.

THUD!

He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, out cold on the floor.

I looked up at the person who’d appeared in front of me, and my face twisted.

I didn’t speak first.

Because the one I needed to address was the bastard standing right there.

When I just stared at him, he spoke to me with a tired-looking face.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

That slick, familiar tone.

Except his expression didn’t match it—he just looked exhausted.

“My little brother caused a scene. Haha.”

“...Thunder Dragon.”

The one who’d put Little Azure Sword down was none other than Thunder Dragon.

He looked sweaty and worn out, like he’d sprinted in from far away. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The roughness of his breathing made it obvious he came in a hurry.

Thunder Dragon didn’t even bother hiding the energy he was giving off as he looked down at Little Azure Sword.

“Incompetent bastard.”

The words were soaked in irritation.

Hearing that from a face that looked exactly like his made it feel... wrong.

“...I don’t even get how someone can be this incompetent. It’s disgusting.”

Tap.

He nudged the unconscious Little Azure Sword with his toe. Then—

“Hyuna.”

“......!”

He called Namgung Hyeon, who’d been watching from a distance with anxious eyes.

“Clean this up. It’s ugly, and I’m sick of looking at it.”

A cold stare landed on Namgung Hyeon.

She flinched hard under it.

“Y-yes... Brother.”

She approached with a trembling body and started to gather Little Azure Sword up.

Only then did the Namgung Clan martial artists nearby move in to help.

“Ha.”

Thunder Dragon let out the sigh he’d been holding back.

“Once again, my apologies. A Namgung blood relative caused trouble.”

He apologized to everyone around us as he said it—

and watching that, I thought—

‘He’s done.’

Little Azure Sword was finished.

The malicious ghosts mattered, sure, but even beyond that, everything had already tipped over into Thunder Dragon’s hands.

No—

‘Was this never even a fight to begin with?’

Comparing him to Thunder Dragon at all felt like the real mistake.

They were twins, so how were they that different?

‘Maybe that was the problem.’

If that faint inferiority complex came from Thunder Dragon, I got it.

If I had a twin that far ahead of me, I’d suffer my whole life too.

‘Still don’t feel bad for you.’

Not with what he’d done.

No matter the process, I wasn’t going to rationalize his evil.

“Little Sword Saint, I’m sorry to you as well.”

“It’s fine. I had to go through it sooner or later.”

I stood, brushing myself off.

Then I asked Thunder Dragon—

“Sounds like you two aren’t on good terms.”

“.......”

At that, Thunder Dragon erased the smile he’d been wearing.

“Brothers....”

His voice turned cold in a way that stuck.

But maybe it was only an instant, because he put the smile right back on.

“Yes. We’re not exactly close.”

He smiled at me as he said it.

“Hm.”

That was enough conversation.

I nodded, then quietly returned to my seat.

I thought that meant the day’s mess was over.

So I didn’t know.

I didn’t know Baek Cheonin was leaning on the second-floor railing, staring down at Little Azure Sword the whole time.

*****

After dinner ended and late night rolled in,

I went into the training room set up near the inn.

PA-PA-PA-PAK—!!!

Several daggers flew from my hand and slammed into the wall.

Even though I threw a full handful, they landed clean, with a neat, consistent spacing.

And the energy layered onto each dagger added impact, one by one.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD—!!!

Like rain, they kept pinning into the wall and the ground.

Watching that, the Tang Clan man beside me—

Tang Cheon-il—stared with a blank face.

I frowned at him.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“Y-yes?”

“Don’t sit there admiring. Focus. I’m teaching you.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Right now, this was time for me to teach Tang Cheon-il Myriad-Flowers Rain.

“Do it.”

“.......”

At my words, Tang Cheon-il nodded and gripped his daggers.

Then—

WHIRRRLIK—!!

He threw them with everything he had.

PA-BA-BA-BAK—!!!

The daggers rose into the air and, after a beat, swept out like mine did—

PA-BA-BA-BAK.

“.......”

But the result was different.

“No...”

Some didn’t stick and just dropped. And some didn’t have any energy in them at all.

He failed.

“That’s not it.”

“.......”

“I told you the key is inner power control. Before you throw, you have to load the energy in your dantian into every single dagger.”

The basic element of Myriad-Flowers Rain.

No matter how many daggers you’re holding, what matters is wrapping every one of them in inner power.

In that short moment where you grip and throw.

But Tang Cheon-il couldn’t do it, and he’d been struggling because of it.

“How can you not do this?”

“No, it’s just...”

Tang Cheon-il protested like it was unfair.

“It’s literally the blink of an eye. In that gap, how am I supposed to wrap inner power around every dagger...?”

How do I do it?

This time, I said it like I was the one who didn’t understand.

“You just do it.”

“.......”

“Why can’t you?”

Tang Cheon-il looked like he’d just taken psychic damage.

He’d been making that face the entire time I taught him.

What’s the problem?

I had no idea.