Moon Eyes blooming.

Cheon Eujin opened blue eyes.

Seeing Moon Eyes bloom so suddenly, my eyes widened.

‘He awakened Moon Eyes.’

Cheon Eujin awakening Moon Eyes in the middle of a match.

Don’t tell me—

‘Was this what he was waiting for?’

Was this what Yoo Cheongil meant by “wait”?

That Cheon Eujin would awaken Moon Eyes, so I should hold back.

That I couldn’t steal a lucky break because I was worried.

‘So that’s what it was.’

I understood Yoo Cheongil’s intent.

I finally got why he told me not to interfere with Cheon Eujin.

Awakening Moon Eyes was the beginning of Blue Moon Sword Dance.

It was unfortunate, but without awakening Moon Eyes, it was hard to bring out real power.

I knew that because I’d felt it myself.

And the meaning of the Small Moon Unit was the same.

‘You can only become Small Moon Unit if you awaken Moon Eyes.’

A festival of blue eyes.

You could tell just by looking at the entry condition for the Small Moon Unit—basically the symbol of Blue Moon Sect.

In that sense, Cheon Eujin had finally stepped onto the proper starting line.

‘...Ha.’

How did he know?

How did he know Cheon Eujin was right in front of the wall?

Had Yoo Cheongil seen even this coming?

The thought hit me, and I glanced at Yoo Cheongil, honestly impressed—

[Ahae.]

Yoo Cheongil stared up at the stage with a stiff gaze.

[You should start getting ready.]

‘Huh?’

Ready for what, all of a sudden?

FWAAAAAAA—!!

“...!!”

My senses spiked.

My soul itself rang.

A filthy, nauseating energy.

Like I’d just seen a malicious ghost drowned in regret and obsession—my spirit-qi reacted on its own.

I turned my head to the stage.

Cheon Eujin was gathering blue sword qi into his sword like he was about to use First Form: Moon Wave—

And—

‘That bastard.’

The owner of this vile stench.

Baek Cheonin was staring at Cheon Eujin while letting out malevolent aura no one else could see.

Dangerous.

That’s dangerous.

Even if he didn’t let it spill out, once he was wrapped in that much malevolent aura, he was going to do something.

The moment that thought hit, before I could even move—

[Don’t borrow me.]

My vision blackened in an instant.

*****

Grrrrk.

“...!”

Baek Cheonin’s eyes widened as he stared straight ahead.

His swung sword was caught.

The blade he’d thrown to cut the other man’s throat hadn’t even reached its target—

And—

‘It won’t move.’

It was frozen in place.

Baek Cheonin frowned at what he was seeing.

What the hell?

This wasn’t just blocked.

‘It’s... held?’

The blade was being held.

And not by a hand gripping it—by an index finger and thumb.

Catching a swung sword was one thing.

Fixing it in place so it couldn’t even slip free?

Baek Cheonin almost let out a hollow laugh—

“Stop that.”

The young man in front of him.

Bang Sungyeon, holding his sword, spoke.

“There are a lot of eyes watching. You shouldn’t come at it so violently.”

“...Brother Baek.”

“That was a bit much. No matter what it was.”

Baek Cheonin couldn’t smile at words delivered with such a bright grin.

Those blue eyes.

That intense gaze he’d felt from the first moment.

Now it felt far stronger than back then.

Like the sun.

No—

‘It’s like facing the moon.’

An alien, luminous radiance, like seeing the moon in broad daylight.

He hated it.

He wanted to tear those eyes out on the spot, but—

“...Ahahaha....”

Baek Cheonin laughed.

He forced his face into shape and laughed anyway.

“My goodness... I must have been frightened by the situation and swung without thinking.”

Strength drained from his sword.

Only then did Bang Sungyeon release the blade he’d been pinching.

Tap.

With that light release, Baek Cheonin pulled his sword back.

Like Cheon Eujin’s broken sword, Baek Cheonin’s sword was also in terrible shape.

A sword provided by Martial Alliance.

It probably had better durability than random junk, sure—

But they’d clashed so violently that the edge was completely gone, and this one was on the verge of breaking too.

CLINK.

After retrieving his sword, Baek Cheonin reset his breathing in a low, controlled pull.

‘I want to kill him.’

His breath stayed shallow and even, but the image in his mind was dark.

A chilling emotion crawled up through his whole body.

If Bang Sungyeon hadn’t stopped it—

‘I could’ve killed him.’

He would have cut his throat and killed him.

That insolent Orthodox faction bastard.

The fact he’d dared to use him to grasp a lucky break.

That pathetic, stupid faith in his eyes.

He would’ve cut it all down in front of him—

And the fact he couldn’t was maddening.

But—

Crrrunch.

Baek Cheonin clenched his fist and swallowed the emotion.

‘Not yet.’

Not yet.

He thought it, and he endured with all he had.

He knew killing him wasn’t allowed.

It was just—

‘I wanted to kill him.’

His surging emotion had simply wanted Cheon Eujin’s throat.

“Sss....”

He exhaled once more, and what churned inside him settled... a little.

Then—

“Stop.”

The referee stepped between Bang Sungyeon and Baek Cheonin.

Too late.

No.

Bang Sungyeon had just been that fast.

“An outsider interfering with a match violates the Alliance’s rules.”

The referee told Bang Sungyeon that.

Bang Sungyeon answered immediately.

“The match was already over. If I’d left it, his neck might’ve been cut. Should I have just let that happen?”

“...”

The referee fell silent for a moment.

Bang Sungyeon continued.

“You would’ve missed it too, wouldn’t you?”

He was right.

Even the referee hadn’t been able to intervene in time.

If left alone, the throat would have been cut, just like he said.

“So that’s fine, but this isn’t?”

Bang Sungyeon smiled as he spoke, and the referee’s brow furrowed.

He was right, but rules were rules.

“...That part, this referee deserves punishment. But rules are rules.”

“Then that means I’m disqualified like this?”

“That’s right.”

“Then. Hm.”

Bang Sungyeon suddenly sank into thought, then spoke again.

“I think you should argue it for me.”

“...What?”

“Just report it to the higher-ups. Ask if it’s right to disqualify me like this. If you ask, you’ll get an answer.”

“...”

“You can do that much, can’t you?”

The referee looked more flustered at his calm tone.

Why was he so unbothered?

Like—

‘Like everything gets solved if he just asks.’

I couldn’t understand it, but for some reason it felt like the referee had to obey.

The blue eyes in front of him felt hypnotic.

“...All right.”

Maybe because of that, the referee answered before he even realized it.

“Good. Then do that, and I’m taking this guy.”

Bang Sungyeon turned back to Cheon Eujin, who was still staring blankly, and supported him.

“Get a grip. If you lose focus and relax your abdomen, you’ll die.”

“...!”

Cheon Eujin’s eyes widened at Bang Sungyeon’s warning.

Right.

He’d gotten swept up in the heat and forgotten, but he was stabbed through right now.

“Ghk...!”

Maybe realizing it made it worse—his abdomen flared with pain.

His focus slipped.

The inner power wrapped around his abdomen loosened, and blood was about to pour out—

“Tsk, tsk.”

Bang Sungyeon clicked his tongue and brought his palm to Cheon Eujin’s abdomen.

Then—

SSSSSSS—!!

“...!!”

“Don’t open your mouth.”

The scattered energy reformed and gathered at his abdomen.

Even the swaying energy throughout his body began to settle.

The pain dulled.

It all happened in an instant.

Only after the pain calmed down could he finally breathe—

“Good work.”

“...”

Bang Sungyeon said it.

And those words poured straight onto Cheon Eujin’s shoulders. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He couldn’t answer—he’d been told not to open his mouth.

But the warmth spreading inside him wasn’t from fever.

‘Thank you.’

He said it in his head.

Then Cheon Eujin went down off the stage.

And the match ended with Baek Cheonin’s victory.

*****

“Hooa....”

Right after sending Cheon Eujin to the medical station, the possession released and a breath burst out of me.

“Man....”

I rubbed my head like I was exhausted.

It had been a while since I’d been possessed.

I don’t think I’d possessed anyone even once since entering Martial Alliance.

‘...Is it because it’s been a while?’

A light headache pulsed.

“Ugh....”

I endured the ache and twisted my body—

But—

‘Huh?’

Something felt off when I moved my arm.

What? Why is this—

‘It doesn’t hurt?’

It didn’t hurt at all.

It had hurt so badly it didn’t even compare to muscle soreness—

And now, no matter how I moved, there was no pain.

What the hell?

As the question rose—

[I went in because your body was a mess, so I fixed you up a bit while I was there.]

Yoo Cheongil said it.

“Oh, you did it for me, old man?”

[Then who else would it be?]

“...Fair point.”

So Yoo Cheongil had done something while I was possessed.

‘Then why didn’t I notice?’

If Yoo Cheongil did something, it would’ve been while I was possessed.

I should’ve noticed.

But I hadn’t.

I hadn’t even recognized anything happening—yet my body was fixed?

‘What is that?’

How did he do it?

The question popped up immediately, and—

[Don’t worry about it. It’s not something you can use yet, and it’s not strange that you couldn’t feel it.]

Again, Yoo Cheongil answered like he’d read my mind.

Seriously, he picked up on everything.

[You might do it again later, but before that, it’ll be your turn to realize it first.]

“So that’s the order?”

[Not order, exactly... rather—]

Mm.

Yoo Cheongil went quiet like he was choosing words, then said it flatly.

[By the time you experience it twice, you’ll be dead first.]

“....”

That made my skin crawl.

What kind of terrifying shit is that?

And the even scarier part—

‘He means it.’

Yoo Cheongil’s words weren’t a joke.

Not even a little.

That was what scared me most.

‘...Yeah.’

Sure.

It could happen.

At this point, it was too late to start stressing over things like that.

I just nodded vaguely and moved on.

‘My body’s fine now, at least.’

Thanks to him, my body was fine.

That was enough.

I started walking.

‘Is Cheon Eujin okay?’

A sword went through his abdomen.

The wound didn’t look normal.

He was a martial artist, so he’d probably be fine—but I couldn’t help worrying anyway.

‘Why?’

Why did Baek Cheonin stab him?

‘I never thought he’d pick that option.’

If he was deliberately acting weak, I thought he’d avoid showing anything excessive.

‘Did something happen during the match that I don’t know about?’

Maybe Baek Cheonin reacted to something unexpected.

The problem was I didn’t know what.

‘There are matches left, but...’

Even if I stayed, it didn’t seem like it would help.

I’d heard it was already over.

‘And she ended it in one strike again, right?’

One blow.

Sword Phoenix had ended every match so far with a single attack.

‘I should’ve seen it.’

I wanted to watch what method she used—really watch it—

But I missed it.

‘Tsk....’

It sucked that I couldn’t confirm anything—

But there was nothing I could do about it.

‘I’ll have to think of another way.’

I needed to come up with something else fast.

Among the Seven Prodigies, information on Sword Phoenix was the scarcest.

The previous Dragon-Phoenix Gathering had the most info, sure—

But—

‘Even that’s fuzzy.’

There weren’t any records of her struggling.

Almost everything was just overwhelming wins, so there was no weakness to find.

Monster.

That was where most descriptions of Sword Phoenix Yuyeon ended.

‘Huh....’

What the hell has she been doing ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) with her life?

What did she do while I wasn’t looking that made everyone call her a monster?

That was what I was wondering—

And by the time I finally got back to our lodging—

“Oh, son!”

“...”

A voice I didn’t want to hear was greeting me.

*****

A face so punchable it was almost impressive.

My father—the Clan Head of the Bang Clan of Liaoning, Bang Cheonho.

He was sitting at the first-floor table, waving at me.

And—

‘Why are those two here again?’

Beside him were Murong Yeongsun and Silk King.

And—

‘...Yuyeon?’

The person I’d been thinking about just now.

Sword Phoenix Yuyeon was sitting there naturally, waving at me.

Right alongside my father.