TWOOONG—!!

At the sound from somewhere, I turned around.

What? There were loud noises everywhere, sure, but that one... it stuck in my ear.

‘......What was that?’

My steps halted. Before I realized it, I’d turned back.

It was from the tournament stage. Where Divine Spear should still be fighting.

Did something happen over there?

As I stood there, confused—

[What are you doing. Move.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke to me. And even after hearing it, my feet still wouldn’t go.

[Don’t mind it. Divine Spear. If you’re thinking that bastard will lose, that’s nonsense.]

Yoo Cheongil said it like a verdict.

[He won’t lose.]

“.......”

I wasn’t worried about Divine Spear, exactly. Why would I worry about an absolute master at Heaven-Beyond-Heaven—a man called a First Under Heaven candidate?

It was just—

‘I feel uneasy.’

That “Heaven-Breaking Palace Lord” from earlier.

That vicious pressure I’d felt from him was still burned into my memory.

So my attention kept drifting back to the stage.

‘......Yeah. For now.’

I forced my head forward again.

For now, I had to move.

“......Are you hurt anywhere?”

As I started walking, someone asked me. It was Yeongsun.

“......What?”

“Your wounds. The ones you took in the match...... are you okay?”

Murong Yeongsun’s eyes were frantic as she scanned my body.

You’ve gotta be kidding.

“Who do you think I got hurt because of? And now you’re worried?”

“.......”

She flinched. My words froze her in place.

And like she’d lost her voice, her lips just trembled without sound.

Huh.

‘That’s not the reaction I wanted.’

Normally she’d snap back—something like, then you should’ve handled it better.

Or, if you’d listened to me from the start, this wouldn’t have happened.

That kind of line.

But Murong Yeongsun’s face was wrapped in a strange, heavy guilt.

‘Tch.’

This is awkward.

I started to say something, half-embarrassed—

“Evacuate! We’re under attack!”

A huge warning rang out.

KYAAAAAA—!!

My head snapped up.

Right.

‘This isn’t the time.’

Something had already broken loose. This wasn’t a moment to be dealing with Murong Yeongsun.

“......Miss Murong.”

“......Yes.”

“Where is the Sword King?”

“Huh? My Clan Head?”

“Yes.”

“......If it’s the Clan Head, he’s probably with Strategist Jegal.”

“......Strategist?”

Thousand-Mile True Sight. That man was meeting the Sword King?

‘......Damn.’

My eyes spun. If things went bad, my plan had been to head that way, but if he was with the strategist—

‘Where is that from here?’

I’d made it out of the stands, but this was still Main Alliance Headquarters. Thousand-Mile True Sight’s quarters would be inside this compound too.

WHACK—!!

“Guaaah!!”

“AAAGH!”

Screams surged on all sides with the sound of steel.

‘Fuck.’

Martial Alliance martial artists were fighting.

Against the attackers who’d appeared out of nowhere.

I frowned as I watched.

‘They’re all those bastards.’

Men with malevolent aura behind their backs. Those ones were clashing with Martial Alliance forces.

‘Where did they all crawl out from?’

I’d seen some in the county seat, but not this many.

Which meant—

‘They were hiding from the start.’

They’d been concealed somewhere.

And Martial Alliance hadn’t noticed.

And that wasn’t even the only problem.

“Goddamn it—!!”

“Be careful!”

Someone joined a Martial Alliance fighter mid-battle.

To the eye, it looked like another Martial Alliance man.

The fighter’s face loosened in relief for a split second—

WHACK—!!

“......Guhk!?”

The “ally” slit his throat.

The man collapsed, empty and helpless.

‘......They’re mixed in.’

Even among Martial Alliance martial artists, I could see flashes of malevolent aura. Not many, but definitely there.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Just a little while ago, when I’d been moving through Main Alliance Headquarters, I hadn’t seen a single one.

I couldn’t understand how they were appearing all at once.

“Young Lord Bang...... we need to move. This place is dangerous.”

Murong Yeongsun said it.

She was right. The situation was the situation. There was no time to hesitate.

So I had to choose.

‘Where?’

Where do we go?

Do we push outside Main Alliance Headquarters and head for the county seat?

Or—

‘......Deeper.’

Go further inside Main Alliance Headquarters.

I had to decide.

And I didn’t have long.

“......Let’s move.”

I turned.

I chose inward, not outward.

One reason.

‘Our people are still inside.’

*****

I hurried toward the medical station. By the time I pushed through the thick battle aura and arrived, even this area was in bad shape.

“Defend it!”

“Prepare for the attack!” 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Martial artists had their swords out to protect the physicians, but they weren’t standing tight.

‘They’re suspicious of each other.’

They’d already seen betrayal from “allies,” or had it happen to them. So even while they held formation, they stayed wary.

I rushed toward them.

Then—

“Stop—!!”

A martial artist stepped in my path, a cold presence spilling off him.

I raised both hands.

“......I’m Bang Sungyeon of Blue Moon Sect. My companions are inside. I came to confirm they’re safe.”

“Bang Sungyeon......? The Little Sword Saint?”

“That’s right.”

“......Right. It’s him.”

After checking my face and eyes, he nodded and pulled back the sword he’d been aiming at me.

Thank god. At times like this, a name actually bought you something.

“You have companions inside?”

“Yes. Blue Moon Sect disciples. Two of them are inside.”

“......Go in. And the two behind you?”

“They’re companions. One is Yuyeon of Mount Hua Sect, and the other is blood of the Murong Clan.”

“.......”

At the clear identification, he swallowed dryly and stepped aside.

I rushed into the medical station.

Inside were terrified physicians and patients.

“Young Lord Bang.”

“......Young Lord Cheon.”

Cheon Eujin brightened when he saw me. And, as expected, Do Hyeong was there too.

‘Good. They don’t look hurt.’

There were no signs of fighting inside. Whether it was “not yet” or whether this place wasn’t part of their plan, it hadn’t been hit.

And—

‘No malevolent aura.’

No one here had that thing behind them.

“Are you alright?”

“Young Lord Bang, are you alright? What in the world is happening......?”

“I don’t really know either. They said it was a sudden attack.”

“......An attack?”

Cheon Eujin looked like he couldn’t believe it.

Of course. This was Henan—Main Alliance Headquarters. Who would be insane enough to attack here?

‘Turns out someone was.’

“Is senior alright?”

“I’m fine.”

I asked Do Hyeong too, but he answered like it was nothing.

And he already had his sword in hand.

“......What are you planning to do with that.”

“I’m about healed.”

“Healed my ass. Try talking after you take the bandages off.”

He looked like he was about to charge back out to fight. This guy wasn’t normal either.

My head throbbed as I lifted a hand to it—

“This is kind of hurtful.”

A blunt voice came from the side.

I turned and saw a huge bastard taking up two beds.

“You see me lying here injured too, and you don’t even check on me? That’s a little cruel.”

“......Black-Grand Saber?”

It was him.

Black-Grand Saber.

Looks like they’d carried him here the moment our match ended.

“They say fighting builds bonds, but you’re ice-cold.”

He spoke with a crooked grin—then looked somewhere.

Straight at Murong Yeongsun.

He stared at her for a moment, expression unreadable, then turned away.

“......So this is where something fun happens, right? Yeah?”

A slow grin spread across his face as he started to get up.

Hey—wait—

“W-wait! Young Lord Peng! You can’t move right now! Your wound will open!”

“It won’t. I’m fine.”

CRACK. CRACK.

Peng Dojun rose from the bed and rolled his body loose.

The bandages wrapped around him bulged like they were about to burst.

“Now. Let’s go, yeah?”

“......Go where?”

I asked, and he tilted his head like I was the weird one.

“You didn’t come here to sit still, did you? Little Sword Saint. With your personality, there’s no way.”

“.......”

I didn’t know what he thought he knew about my personality, but annoyingly, he was half-right.

“My body was getting itchy anyway. Come on. Let’s go.”

‘This got annoying.’

I hadn’t planned on dragging this bastard along.

But he looked like he’d latch on even if he had to die for it.

Do I take him or not?

I hesitated for a beat—then decided.

“......Fine. For now.”

I gathered them and headed back outside.

*****

We stepped out of the medical station.

The martial artists warned it was dangerous outside because of the attack, but I didn’t stop.

Because from where I stood, this was worse.

‘......I thought about pulling more people with us.’

But that was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) just my judgment.

And I wasn’t sure anyone else would move even if I said so—those men were clustered to protect the physicians.

I pushed that aside and headed for my destination.

If my memory was right, it wasn’t far from here.

“What are these bastards?”

Black-Grand Saber asked, eyeing the fighting.

“......They said HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.”

“Heaven-Breaking Palace? Never heard of them. Are they dark?”

Black-Grand Saber looked genuinely unfamiliar.

“......Why are Martial Alliance people fighting each other too?”

This time Cheon Eujin asked.

“I’m not sure, but it looks like they disguised themselves and infiltrated. Or they’re spies.”

“Hah.......”

At “spies,” Cheon Eujin’s face darkened—probably thinking about his own guard detail.

“Hmm.”

Black-Grand Saber clicked his tongue.

Then—

CLACK.

He drew his saber and whipped it through the air.

And—

KIEEEEEK—!!

WHOOOOSH—!!

“Guh-heok!?”

He cut down a nearby martial artist in one pass.

The man was wearing Martial Alliance clothes.

“......What—! Why the hell did you do that!?”

I snapped, shocked.

“He was blocking the path, so I cleared him. And he’s dark anyway. It’s fine to kill them, isn’t it?”

My eyes widened.

He was sure and killed him?

‘He was HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE, yeah.’

The one Black-Grand Saber killed did have malevolent aura behind him.

I was about to move first—

But Black-Grand Saber was faster.

“......How are you so sure he’s dark?”

He shouldn’t be able to see it. So how did he know?

Black-Grand Saber picked his nose and answered.

“Instinct.”

“.......”

So he killed someone off “instinct.”

Absurd.

But—

‘And of all people, it’s him.’

Heaven-Martial Body.

‘Did he feel it with that?’

Maybe he could sense that malevolent aura with physical intuition.

Honestly—

‘Yoo Cheongil can sense it too.’

So it wouldn’t be that strange.

As I thought that—

“......But it’s not always that clear. Just now it stood out.”

Black-Grand Saber frowned.

Then he looked at me and asked—

“But, Little Sword Saint. You can tell pretty well, can’t you?”

“.......”

I flinched.

This bastard.

What the hell did he think he knew? No one should know I could sense malevolent aura.

“Why do you think that?”

When I asked how he could be so sure—

He beamed at me.

“Instinct.”

“.......”

Same answer as before.

And just as obnoxious.