DRIP.

Blood flowed. My body trembled like it was rattling.

The pain dug into my flesh, thick and heavy as it surged in.

“Guhk.”

Cheon Eujin dropped to one knee.

One knee planted fully on the ground, and as his body swayed he clutched his abdomen with one hand.

Hot.

Hot blood poured from his belly, soaking his hand damp.

A groan threatened to spill out through the pain, but—

“Ghk.”

Cheon Eujin bit down hard on his lip and endured.

“Hoo....”

He forced the knee he’d bent to rise again. A dizzy sensation squeezed his head tight. Like his five senses had been knocked just slightly out of alignment.

This was bad.

Ssssss.

Inner power wrapped around his abdomen. He tried to stop the bleeding like that, but—

“....”

It didn’t come easily. It wasn’t about having too little energy.

At his level, trying to stop bleeding purely with inner power was impossible.

“Sss....”

He let out a breath and stared forward with bloodshot eyes.

“...This... I’m sorry....”

In front of him, Baek Cheonin was looking at Cheon Eujin with the guiltiest face in the world.

“My hand slipped, and it happened by accident....”

Accident? Don’t make me laugh.

‘That just now was real.’

It wasn’t some exchange that happened by chance.

There was no way he couldn’t know it was an intended attack. Maybe other people couldn’t tell, but the one who got hit could. More than anyone.

“...You....”

He started to speak, then shut his mouth. What the hell was this man?

Hadn’t he been told to be careful? No.

‘He gave it everything.’

He’d done everything he could—and he still got caught.

That meant it was just a gap in skill.

That bastard was simply strong enough to deceive everyone’s eyes and launch an attack.

Know your place.

‘...Damn it.’

What now? Was this the end?

Cheon Eujin clenched his lips tight.

The pain only grew worse.

He wasn’t good enough to move while keeping the bleeding sealed.

‘It’s over.’

If he moved like this, he could die. He knew that.

And just as he lowered his sword to admit defeat—

“...!”

Someone caught his turning gaze.

Right below the tournament stage, a pair of blue eyes was watching him.

‘Young Lord Bang?’

Bang Sungyeon.

The one who should’ve been hauled off to the medical station—somehow he was down below the stage now, watching him with a deep frown.

Was he... worried?

“...”

The moment Cheon Eujin met those eyes, the sword he’d been lowering stopped.

His abdomen still burned.

But his blurry vision snapped into focus, and his hand moved on its own.

Slick.

“Hm?”

Baek Cheonin narrowed his eyes at him.

Cheon Eujin steadied his breathing and leveled the tip of his sword at Baek Cheonin.

“...Mm. That seems like a bad choice. You’re going to get yourself into real trouble.”

“...I know.”

“Then why?”

“There are eyes watching. I don’t think I can collapse like this.”

“...”

At that, Baek Cheonin glanced down below the stage.

Bang Sungyeon was there.

Tsk.

Cheon Eujin heard it clearly.

Baek Cheonin clicked his tongue while looking at Bang Sungyeon.

“So. You’re going to keep going?”

His tone shifted—just a little.

Not just his eyes.

Even the air around him changed.

But—

“I have to. It isn’t over yet.”

Cheon Eujin chose to lift his sword.

He’d learned it in his fight with Thunder Dragon.

Even if your mind breaks, you fight.

Bang Sungyeon always looked tired. Always looked worn out.

But that was one thing he protected.

So then—

‘Me too.’

He would do it.

Because if it were him, he would never have given up.

Cheon Eujin thought that—

And then—

THUNK!

An unknown ripple spread from his dantian.

*****

“Why isn’t that crazy bastard giving up?”

I said it while staring up at the stage. Is that idiot out of his mind?

“He got stabbed in the gut. Why are you still going? Quit!”

Cheon Eujin stood up and raised his sword.

I freaked out when I saw it.

“Holy shit. Look at his willpower.”

I was honestly impressed. Was Cheon Eujin’s will really that strong?

I’d never thought he was the type—talent aside.

I was the one who’d judged him as fragile, considering what he looked like.

But—

‘He’s fighting like that?’

I never expected him to keep going.

‘Does he think he can win...?’

Did he see some chance against Baek Cheonin?

If he did, I hoped he’d get a grip.

‘I told you, didn’t I?’

Be careful. Baek Cheonin is dangerous.

I’d made that crystal clear.

‘Is he not listening to me?’

I thought Cheon Eujin would listen once it got to this point.

But he surprised me by pushing even harder.

‘...This is bad.’

No matter how I looked at it, my gut felt wrong.

If I left it like this, it felt like something big was about to happen.

What do I do?

‘Do I step in?’

I hesitated. Was it right for me to jump in and stop this?

And more than that—

‘Is Cheon Eujin worth it?’

Cold logic tried to talk like that.

‘Bullshit.’

Even thinking it was ridiculous.

I was about to speak to the referee right away, but—

[Stop.]

“....”

I froze.

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, my whole body locked up.

[Don’t step in.]

Yoo Cheongil stared at Cheon Eujin with those eyes and said it again.

Don’t step in?

“What do you mean?”

Unless—

“Can he win?”

Was Cheon Eujin able to beat Baek Cheonin?

Maybe Yoo Cheongil could see a future I couldn’t.

I asked with that tiny, desperate hope—

[No chance.]

Yoo Cheongil was blunt.

[Even if he fights a hundred times, there’s no hope. That’s how big the gap is.]

“....”

Cold. Sharp. A judgment so absolute it refused to even offer hope.

I frowned.

“Then why—”

Why tell me not to stop it?

Was he saying it was fine if Cheon Eujin died?

That question rose up in me—

[Not yet.]

Yoo Cheongil answered with two words.

‘Not yet?’

Then when? If not yet, when the hell am I supposed to move?

A sword was stuck in his abdomen, and blood was pouring out.

And—

‘Even the referee was about to intervene.’

The referee watching had started to step in, but stopped when he saw Cheon Eujin’s stance.

If this wasn’t the moment, then what was?

I looked at Yoo Cheongil, not understanding—

[Watch. It’s the perfect state for it. You can’t steal a precious chance because you’re worried.]

“A chance...?”

There was a chance in that?

I still didn’t get it.

Then Yoo Cheongil added—

[At the boundary between life and death, a martial artist gains many things. If that kid obtains something there, it’ll be worth a lot. It’s just that—]

His blue eyes were colder than ever, sharp and raised.

[If he fails to obtain it, it becomes a problem.]

“....”

So he could die.

That’s what you’re saying.

And I’m supposed to just stand here?

I struggled with it for a moment—

But in the end, I chose not to move.

‘You can’t steal a precious chance because you’re worried.’

That line stuck in my throat.

So all I could do was watch the stage.

“...”

I stared at Cheon Eujin bleeding and thought—

‘Young Lord Cheon.’

You absurdly fragile bastard.

‘Do something.’

Fight.

Struggle as hard as you can.

That’s what I prayed for.

*****

CLANG! SPLAAASH!!

Sword qi tore through the air.

Flashes like before kept slicing the air and carving lines into it.

“Hup!”

With Cheon Eujin’s shout, the blade dropped fast. A clean downward cut aimed for Baek Cheonin—

“Whoa!”

Baek Cheonin jumped back in alarm and dodged.

CLANG!

Again, the sword failed to reach him and only bit into the ground.

—Ahh.

A groan rolled through the stands. Disappointment.

—Again?

—He dodged again.

—Looks like that Miracle Sword isn’t just lucky—he’s good at running, too.

Miracle Sword.

A mocking nickname born from the “miracle” of beating Moon Dancer.

Hearing it, Baek Cheonin laughed inwardly.

‘Trash.’

Trash who believed only what they could see.

He didn’t even bother putting those words in his ears.

‘Yeah. Keep laughing.’

Let’s see how long you can keep laughing at me.

He’d acted for the sake of drawing that scorn, but hearing it still made something twist inside him.

‘I’ll kill all of you.’

So save it for later.

When the time comes, he could collect this too.

The problem was—

—But if he keeps dodging like that, doesn’t that mean he’s got something?

—He hasn’t landed a hit, sure, but that opponent... yeah, Cheon Eujin. That junior generation is pretty strong too, isn’t he? And yet he can’t do anything... so—

‘Tsk.’

The longer this dragged on, the worse it got.

People would start raising doubts.

‘Damn it.’

It wasn’t supposed to reach this stage yet.

Not until he met Sword Phoenix—that monster of a woman.

‘He’s making it annoying.’

The fool in front of him was tangling everything up.

Cheon Eujin, was it?

‘Moon-Thread Sword’s son.’

A source.

A swordsman both the Heavenly Demon Cult and Heaven-Breaking Palace were watching carefully.

A child of someone marked as dangerous.

He’d thought he might be strong.

But—

‘He’s on a completely different level from his sister.’

This was pathetic.

Sure, he might have talent, but he wasn’t worth noticing.

‘So I thought it would end quickly.’

But he was tougher than expected.

Baek Cheonin dodged Cheon Eujin’s sword again and checked his abdomen.

‘Was it shallow?’

Had the blade gone in too shallow?

He’d adjusted it to not go deep, of course.

Stabbing him in the first place had been an accident.

Cheon Eujin had provoked him, and his hand moved before he knew it.

He should’ve ended it with a hit to the jaw.

Instead, he’d stabbed him in the belly.

Why?

Baek Cheonin thought through it, then frowned.

‘How dare you.’

Cheon Eujin had used a word he wasn’t allowed to use on him.

And—

‘Bang Sungyeon.’

Little Sword Saint.

The successor of the Sword Saint he wanted to tear apart with his own hands.

He hated those smug eyes that believed in him.

A rising moon?

A transcendent who would inherit the Sword Saint?

Ridiculous.

‘He’ll be stained by darkness anyway.’

As long as Baek Cheonin existed, that would happen.

And—

‘It’s lucky.’

Because he showed up.

‘Because I appeared at the right time.’

The Heavenly Demon Cult would bring about revival.

And in the middle of that, the successor of the Sword Saint who sent them crashing into ruin appears too?

‘Perfect.’

Baek Cheonin smiled.

Was there a better chance than this?

‘No. It’s now.’

He had to twist this into something, somehow—

But—

‘This bastard.’

The one in front of him kept getting in the way.

A nobody.

If he wanted, ripping his head off wouldn’t even be hard.

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t reveal anything more.

‘Persistent.’

Then—

Cheon Eujin rushed in again.

‘Now.’

Baek Cheonin curled his lips in a sneer.

The moment he’d been waiting for.

Cheon Eujin closed in.

Baek Cheonin moved his hand.

He’d smash that wounded abdomen and cripple him.

That was the plan—

But then—

FWOOSH-!

“...!”

Baek Cheonin twisted his head.

SPLAAASH-!

The sword grazed his cheek.

DRIP.

Blood flowed.

‘What?’

Baek Cheonin’s eyes widened.

Why?

He’d expected it. He should’ve dodged.

But—

‘It was fast.’

The blade was faster than he expected.

So he dodged late.

‘What is this?’

What the hell just happened?

He stared at Cheon Eujin—

“Hoo... hngh....”

Cheon Eujin breathed deep.

Sword raised.

Eyes wide.

And—

“...Well, would you look at that.”

Baek Cheonin lifted the corner of his mouth at the presence blooming from Cheon Eujin’s body.

It was strange.

That neat, orderly energy looked like it was surging wild.

And Cheon Eujin’s eyes stared as if possessed—locked only on him.

Don’t tell me—

“Are you using me to reach some kind of enlightenment?”

He hit enlightenment? Right now? Using him?

“Hah....”

The nerve.

“You insignificant little thing.”

That pathetic nobody? An Orthodox faction piece of trash?

CRUNCH.

Baek Cheonin clenched his teeth silently.

Ssssss.

Energy wrapped around his sword—so subtle no one would notice, and so vile it made your skin crawl.

And—

“Haaaah.”

Cheon Eujin also poured strength into his sword—

And his eyes began to change.

To a blue like the sky.

BOOM-!

Cheon Eujin charged again.

As he closed in, he lowered his upper body slightly—

‘Waist.’

He deliberately relaxed his waist.

Something he’d heard once.

‘You need to release unnecessary tension in your waist.’

Advice he’d first heard from his idol.

He remembered it and loosened his waist, then set his strength lightly onto the sword he was holding.

FWOOOOOOOOSH—!!!

Light gathered on the blade as it split the air.

His vision changed. The world—once clear—turned dazzlingly bright.

Cheon Eujin’s eyes became completely soaked in blue.

‘Ah.’

He realized something had changed in his body.

But there was no time to savor it.

His sword kept cutting through the air—

And its arc looked like a crescent moon.

First Form: Moon Wave.

A true Blue Moon Sect sword form that could only be used after awakening Moon Eyes.

It unfolded from Cheon Eujin’s hands.

The place he’d wanted to reach so badly—yet never managed.

He’d reached the blue world.

‘It works.’

His sword, weighted with power, mimicked the moon—

But—

“You’re finally starting to piss me off.”

CLANG—!!

“...!”

Cheon Eujin’s sword couldn’t reach the end. It was knocked away.

The sword in his hand shattered, fragments bursting out.

“Guh....”

Crushing pressure.

Cheon Eujin’s stance completely collapsed.

He grimaced and tried ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to reset—

SWISH.

A blade covered his face.

A sword closing in like it was going to cut his throat—

Already touching skin.

‘I’m going to die.’

At the instant Cheon Eujin felt death—

“Enough.”

Stop.

The sword halted a hair’s breadth before slicing his throat.

Someone stood in front of him.

“You shouldn’t get so fired up... It’s not a good look when a man does that.”

A back that wasn’t big.

Brown hair.

A young man with a similarly lean frame.

“Young Lord Bang...?”

Bang Sungyeon.

He’d stepped between them and stopped Baek Cheonin’s sword.

And—

‘...With his hand?’

He was pinching Baek Cheonin’s blade between his index finger and thumb.