I hurried back on quick steps to Henan’s county seat.

Then I went straight up to the inn and found my room.

“Let’s see....”

The moment I entered, I yanked open the drawer. Inside was a sword wrapped up tight in cloth.

I picked it up and caught my breath.

‘God, I’m beat.’

I wiped sweat off my forehead. I felt completely drained from getting here so fast.

‘When’s the last time I ran like that?’

I’ve never even sprinted like this during training. I seriously ran at full speed.

Thanks to that, I learned I’m a lot faster than I thought.

Maybe it’s because my realm rose—either way, I was faster than expected.

“Hoo....”

First, I gathered up the sword properly.

‘Why do I need this?’

Even while I packed it, it felt weird. He told me to bring it as fast as I could, so I’m doing it, but—

‘Something big enough to bring the Divine Sword out.’

The sword I had repaired by the Tang Clan. It was an exceptional-grade weapon, so if I used it, it’d show some serious power, sure, but—

‘...Not like I can pull it out in the middle of the martial tournament.’

Telling me to bring it while the martial tournament was still going on was insane.

I’d said “fine” because of how firm his face was, but in reality I was pretty shaken.

Inside the martial tournament, you can’t use your own weapon.

You can only use the weapon issued by the Martial Alliance, so there was never a reason to wear the Divine Sword in the first place. And on top of that—

‘He used to tell me not to let it be seen.’

Yoo Cheongil himself said he didn’t want me carrying the Divine Sword around. So telling me to bring it now just made no sense.

‘If I ask, he could at least answer.’

When I asked why, Yoo Cheongil just kept repeating that it was urgent and I needed to bring it right now.

So I had to leave in the middle of the martial tournament and run to the inn.

‘...Fast.’

I have to get back before the next bouts start.

If my turn comes and I’m gone for more than half a quarter-hour, I’m eliminated.

If Yoo Cheongil knows that and still tells me to hurry, then it means it’s seriously urgent.

I don’t know what the reason is, but he said it was urgent, so I came for the sword.

‘Alright....’

Now let’s go back.

That’s what I thought as I grabbed the Divine Sword—

THUMP—!

“Hm?”

For some reason, my heart jumped hard for a moment.

I rubbed my chest like I was confused.

[What is it?]

Yoo Cheongil asked.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Was I imagining it? I swept my chest a few more times, then moved again.

I still had a long way to go.

*****

I made it back to the Alliance. This time, too, I ran like a madman.

“God, I’m dying....”

I wiped away the sweat dripping down and barely arrived—only to see the martial tournament was still going.

“Hoo....”

I grabbed my knees while I breathed out—

“Young Lord Bang?”

“Hoo...? Oh....”

Someone called me, so I turned my head. A handsome face wrapped up in bandages came into view.

It was Cheon Eujin.

“...Young Lord Cheon. Are you okay?”

“Ah... yes, I’m okay.”

Cheon Eujin smiled awkwardly. How could he be okay when his stomach got punctured? It hadn’t even been a full day yet—martial artist or not, it had to hurt like hell.

Like it was proving that, his face was pale as paper.

It looked like he forced himself out just to watch the tournament.

“You should be resting. Why are you out here?”

“...Hahaha....”

Even inside that smiling squint, I caught a blue glow.

Seeing it, I gave a small smile and said,

“Your eyes look cool.”

Cheon Eujin’s eyes widened. I was bringing up the fact that he’d opened Moon Eyes during his bout with Baek Cheonin.

“Ah...! Th-thank you.”

Cheon Eujin scratched the back of his head like he was embarrassed, but it wasn’t like he hated hearing it, either.

“Hoo... anyway... let’s go.”

This isn’t the time to stand around talking. I hurried toward the tournament stage again.

“Understood. Ah, but, Young Lord Bang.”

“Yeah?”

“That...?”

Cheon Eujin pointed at the cloth bundle I was carrying. The Divine Sword was inside.

“Oh. It’s nothing... I just brought something. Let’s go.”

“Ah, understood.”

I pulled Cheon Eujin along as we moved. After walking a short while and steadying my breath, the tournament stage came into view.

CLATTER—!!

CLATTER CLATTER—!!!

WAAAAAA—!!

The usual roar and sharp ringing slammed into my ears.

I could see them fighting.

But—

‘Huh?’

The moment I checked what was happening, my eyes went wide as lanterns.

CREEEAK...!

CLANG—!!

Rough sounds chained together, and the speed was insane.

CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER—!

A berserk exchange like there wasn’t a hair’s breadth of opening.

This wasn’t the neat, chilling spar I’d seen with Sword Phoenix and Baek Cheonin—this was the savage violence of two beasts tearing at each other.

“Ahahahahahaha—!!!”

With a booming laugh, a diagonal line carved through the air.

Ink-dark hardened qi split the sky with brutal force—

and answering it, blue sword force flashed like a strike of light.

It was Black-Grand Saber and Do Hyeong.

‘What the....’

I blurted out in disbelief.

Black-Grand Saber, fine. I already knew he was that kind of guy, so it wasn’t even surprising.

‘But what is my senior?’

What the hell was Do Hyeong? I thought he was a martial artist who fought with a fundamentals-first sword.

‘He can fight like that?’

Do Hyeong was showing a harsh sword dance that didn’t give an inch to Black-Grand Saber.

A size difference that looks, on sight, like he should be crushed.

But Do Hyeong flowed Black-Grand Saber’s blade aside like water—

and in every sliver of space between those deflections, he cut back viciously, like he’d rather die than step back.

KRRRAAASH—!!!

The tournament stage cracked and broke apart.

Every time Black-Grand Saber’s saber skimmed the floor, it gouged and collapsed like tofu getting crushed.

KRAK—!

When Do Hyeong poured strength in to rush him, even that stomp carved the ground down.

CLANG—! CLANG CLANG—!!!

A fight where even one graze would be fatal.

They knew it, and neither of them retreated.

-UWAAAAAAHHHH!!

The crowd screamed with excitement at the brutal brawl.

“Blue Moon Sect had a martial artist like that?”

“Look at his clothes. He’s not just any martial artist—those are the Small Moon Unit’s martial uniform.”

“The Small Moon Unit...? Then he’s one of the same as Little Sword Saint and Moon Dancer.”

“His name just wasn’t known. If he entered the Small Moon Unit at that age... doesn’t that mean he has monstrous talent?”

“You can tell just by looking. He isn’t even getting pushed back by Black-Grand Saber.”

Talk about Do Hyeong started to crawl its way through the crowd. People were already whispering that he was a young Small Moon Unit martial artist.

It was just buried under the noise about me and Cheon Hyein.

Honestly, once Do Hyeong stepped into the public eye, I expected this.

‘It was never going to stay hidden.’

Power that can casually snatch someone in the lower ranks of the Seven Prodigies.

And he’s only a few years off from me at most—and he was already in the Small Moon Unit.

‘That means his talent was recognized and then some.’

In this world, just being Small Moon Unit is enough to prove you’re a master.

That was the kind of name the Blue Moon Sect’s Small Moon Unit carried.

So it was weird that Do Hyeong hadn’t been known.

‘This is probably...’

The Blue Moon Sect must’ve done something to keep it quiet.

Otherwise it made no sense.

Even Sword Phoenix is like that.

‘That’s why Sword Phoenix is known, too.’

The youngest-ever Plum Blossom Sword Unit.

One of Mount Hua Sect’s symbolic power-elite.

To bloom plum blossoms at the tip of your sword means you can use Mount Hua Sect’s representative sword—Plum Blossom Swordsmanship.

That alone means you’re a master acknowledged by the Central Plains.

And for a woman not even twenty to reach the Plum Blossom Sword Unit—

people said that unless Mount Hua Sect was lying, a talent who could become the next strongest under heaven had appeared.

And—

‘The Plum Blossom Sword Unit and the Small Moon Unit are on the same tier.’

No—if we’re talking prestige, the Small Moon Unit might even stand higher.

Do Hyeong reached that place before he even hit thirty.

That alone proves his value.

‘...Still.’

CLANG—! GRRRK—!!!

I knew Do Hyeong was strong, but—

‘This strong?’

Even while fighting Black-Grand Saber in that messy chaos, he doesn’t get pushed back at all.

I gaped at it.

And it wasn’t just me—Cheon Eujin beside me muttered quietly, too.

“Senior Brother... was that strong...? Ah!”

Then, like he realized something, Cheon Eujin turned to me.

“So that’s why you brought Senior Brother with you, Young Lord Bang. Because you already knew how strong he was... as expected. Young Lord Bang, you...”

No, you lunatic.

I pressed my palm to my forehead, because it looked like his conclusion was about to turn into some worship of me.

“It’s not like that—”

I knew he was strong, but I didn’t know he was that strong.

And besides—

“And even if I didn’t know, shouldn’t you have known, Young Lord Cheon?”

“Huh?”

“You called him Senior Brother. That means you’ve known him a long time, right?”

Cheon Eujin was obviously born and raised in the Blue Moon Sect.

If he was calling Do Hyeong Senior Brother, it meant they went back.

So I figured Do Hyeong was practically Blue Moon Sect from birth, too—

“...Senior Brother Do Hyeong hasn’t been in the sect that long.”

“What? Then why are you calling him Senior Brother?”

“The order is a bit....”

He trailed off like it was hard to explain.

I nodded.

‘So there’s a story.’

Entered the Small Moon Unit at a young age.

Cheon Eujin calls him Senior Brother, but their time in the sect doesn’t line up?

‘There’s something there.’

It meant there was something going on—either with Do Hyeong, or with the Blue Moon Sect.

‘...Now that I think about it, I don’t really know much about him.’

We talked sometimes and trained together—

but we never had deep conversations, so I didn’t know.

‘I’m not going to pry, but...’

I get it. He’s the kind of guy with something behind him.

‘Still... imagine if he actually beats Black-Grand Saber.’

If they’re fighting this fiercely, could Do Hyeong actually win?

Right as that hope-not-hope crept up—

[No.]

Yoo Cheongil said it flatly.

‘What?’

Like he’d read my mind. I looked at him.

He was staring at the stage with a blank face.

[That one has something on him, yes. But this bout is the Peng bastard’s win.]

So firm. Why? Was the gap really that big?

[That’s not it.]

“.......”

I frowned. This guy—was he actually reading my mind?

[He has no intention of showing his hidden card. The Peng bastard does. That’s the difference.]

‘Hidden card?’

Do Hyeong had a hidden card? I’d never even heard that.

Then—

[Look. Now.]

Yoo Cheongil tipped his chin at the stage.

I shifted my gaze—

CLATTER—!

With a scrape, the two of them jumped back at the same time.

Hoo— hoo—.

Maybe it really was hard—they were both breathing rough.

Especially with small wounds everywhere, blood was trickling down in thin lines.

“Hah. This is fun. This Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is way too fun, isn’t it?”

Black-Grand Saber grinned as he spoke.

“...Too many guys I don’t recognize. I didn’t expect you either. Not just Little Sword Saint or Moon Dancer—there’s another fun one, right?”

“.......”

Do Hyeong didn’t answer. He raised sword force again.

He was trying to fight again.

“What a shame.”

Black-Grand Saber muttered low.

“I wanted to show this to Little Sword Saint first.”

In that instant—

SSSSSSS—!!

Black fog poured out of Black-Grand Saber.

“......!”

Do Hyeong’s eyes widened at the energy. He sensed something was wrong. He pumped up sword force and tried to speed up—

“Swallow him.”

Black Cloud.

WHOOOOSH—!!

In an instant, black energy swallowed the entire tournament stage.

‘What?’

My view got blocked, suddenly.

I couldn’t see what was happening inside.

A blink passed like that—

FSSSSSH—!!

The space that had been made crumbled apart.

A space shattering like fragments.

The moment the hidden space peeled away and the stage showed itself again—

Black-Grand Saber stood there just like the start, saber in hand.

“......Kuhuk....”

Do Hyeong, who’d been charging in, was coughing up blood as he collapsed.

THUMP! BOOM—!!

Do Hyeong hit the ground, and the referee rushed in to check him.

There was no need to confirm anything.

“...Hebei Peng Clan’s Peng Dojun. Win.”

WAAAAAAHHHH—!!!

The instant the win was declared, a roar like it would burst my ears came crashing down.

“.......”

I stared at the fallen Do Hyeong, then looked to Black-Grand Saber.

Because I felt his gaze.

Our eyes met.

Then Black-Grand Saber mouthed something at me.

WAAAAAAHHHH—!!

The noise was so loud I couldn’t hear a thing—yet somehow, I read his mouth perfectly.

-Next.

-It’s you.

“.......”

At that, I ran a hand back through my hair.

Looks like—

‘This won’t be easy...’

Escaping that bastard’s obsession was going to be hard.

I was about to show my irritation at the thought—

[Kid.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke to me.

[You’re smiling.]

“......!”

Startled, I touched the corner of my mouth.

He was right.

I was smiling after hearing what that bastard said.

‘Ha.’

Yeah.

I was enjoying this situation.

Amazingly enough.