A blue gaze looked down at me—blue like a deep sea.

Especially those irises: wide and dark, like an ocean at night beneath a starless sky.

A man with sharp, chilled features, wrapped in an inexplicable air of quiet sorrow.

Moon-Thread Sword Cheon Seonghwa.

The current Sect Master of the Blue Moon Sect.

‘...Why is he here?’

Having someone like that suddenly appear behind my back was enough to rattle me, no matter how you sliced it.

‘No—well.’

It wasn’t that strange. The Blue Moon Sect was a sect directly under the Martial Alliance, and True Assembly Hall was close enough that it wouldn’t be hard for them to arrive if a Righteous Guidance Conference was being held.

Still—

‘Why is he behind me?’

Cheon Seonghwa wasn’t sitting in a chair. He was standing on the dais.

That detail felt... off.

I didn’t understand it, and for a beat I just stood there, blank.

A moment passed like that, and then—

“...Sect Master...? Why are you here...?”

I asked in a stupid, dazed tone.

But the answer didn’t come from Cheon Seonghwa.

It came from Jegal Jin.

“The Sect Master of the Blue Moon Sect isn’t here as an ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ attendee. He came as an escort.”

“...An escort?”

“Yes.”

Escort as in—

‘Thousand-Mile True Sight’s escort?’

The Blue Moon Sect’s Sect Master personally came as security for a strategist?

“More precisely, it’s only until the Righteous Guidance Conference ends—but either way, it’s a comfort. Once again, I’m grateful. Sect Master of the Blue Moon Sect.”

At Jegal Jin’s thanks, Cheon Seonghwa gave a slight shake of his head.

“I’m only doing what needs to be done.”

His tone stayed low and flat, as calm as ever.

Then—

“Moon Knight.”

“......!”

Cheon Seonghwa looked at me and said it.

God, that’s embarrassing. I forced myself not to dive into a hole in the floor.

“Good. Well done.”

“......”

After that simple response, Cheon Seonghwa removed his hand from my shoulder.

I scratched my cheek without thinking.

I didn’t even know how to respond. Was that praise? It sounded like it, but...

‘Huh.’

While I stood there, still not sure what to do with it—

“I have a question for the strategist.”

A voice rose from below.

The speaker was the head of the Peng Clan, the man who’d been watching me with obvious interest the whole time—Blade Absolute Peng Wooseong.

“Even if we wait, it doesn’t seem like more people will arrive. When do you intend to begin? We have a great many things to ask.”

“Mm.”

Jegal Jin swept the room with dry eyes.

There were plenty of empty seats, but it was obvious a significant number had gathered.

“Then we’ll proceed.”

Deciding this was enough, Jegal Jin addressed the room.

At the same time, an Alliance member beside him shouted.

“The conference will now begin—!!”

A voice laced with inner power rolled through the chamber. The leaders seated throughout reacted to it.

“First, I offer my thanks to the honored guests who attended this Righteous Guidance Conference. I appreciate you coming despite the urgency.”

Jegal Jin bowed deeply.

“The reason this conference was convened is, as you were warned in advance, the DEMON CULT’s revival.”

The DEMON CULT.

At that word, countless faces reacted clearly.

Some with hostility. Some with wariness. Some with fear.

“Is that truly a fact? That the DEMON CULT has appeared again, I mean.”

An old man in the back raised a hand and spoke. Jegal Jin nodded.

“It is. The Main Alliance Headquarters confirmed it directly. And.”

Jegal Jin paused, drew a measured breath, and continued.

“This is also something the Main Alliance Headquarters has been investigating for several years already.”

“What?”

“...You were already investigating it?”

“You’re saying you already knew about the DEMON CULT’s return?”

“Then why didn’t you inform us!”

If the Martial Alliance had predicted the DEMON CULT’s revival, why hadn’t they told anyone?

The room flared up over that.

But Jegal Jin’s expression didn’t change as he answered.

“Because we couldn’t trust you.”

“Huh?”

“...Strategist! What are you—!”

He’d said it straight to their faces: We didn’t trust you.

The anger in the room was sharper than before.

But then—

“This hasn’t been made public yet, but the Commander of the Guards at the Main Alliance Headquarters was judged to be a spy and has already been replaced.”

“......!”

At those words, the room fell silent in an instant.

“...The Commander of the Guards?”

“How could the Commander of the Guards...?”

Watching their reactions, Jegal Jin didn’t slow down.

“Let’s be clear: spies were surfacing even among the commanders of the Main Alliance Headquarters. Please understand that, under those conditions, we couldn’t openly share what we suspected.”

“......”

The pushback softened.

And watching that, I smacked my lips internally.

‘Damn...’

The way he steered a room was both simple and delicate.

‘He starts by throwing bait on purpose.’

He’d deliberately given them something to bite into.

He let them fixate on You knew and still didn’t tell us—

‘Then follows with a reason so strong they can’t keep biting.’

It was the simplest, hardest way to pull the soul right out of people.

The problem was—

“Then let me ask you this.”

—simple methods meant someone would inevitably resist them.

“In the end, doesn’t that just prove the Main Alliance Headquarters was incompetent enough to accept a Commander of the Guards as a spy—or incompetent enough to let him operate and betray you?”

Blade Absolute Peng Wooseong spoke with his arms folded.

‘...Oh.’

Sharp.

He looked exactly like Black-Grand Saber, but the way he talked—and the way he thought—was on a level you’d expect from a clan head.

“And if matters reached this point anyway, doesn’t that only prove the Martial Alliance has a serious problem right now?”

The room, which had been wavering, went quiet again under Peng Wooseong’s words.

‘...He’s not easy.’

My assessment of him jumped.

I’d assumed Black-Grand Saber’s father would be the same kind of boar-charging brute—

‘But he feels...’

Not like a boar.

More like a fox wearing a bear’s body.

“We’re still in the process of confirming that.”

“Confirming? Confirming what? The cause of the Main Alliance Headquarters’ incompetence?”

“No. Not only the Martial Alliance—there’s a great deal of information suggesting some clans as well are hiding their tails, whether as DEMON CULT spies or through betrayal. This isn’t a problem limited to the Martial Alliance.”

Not just us.

You could have rot in your house, too.

That was what his words carried.

“No one can say for certain how far the DEMON CULT’s hands have reached.”

“Hmm.”

At Jegal Jin’s reply, Peng Wooseong tilted his head slightly.

And fell silent for a moment.

If I had to guess—

‘He’s checking the room.’

He was gauging how much the others accepted Jegal Jin’s answer.

After that brief pause—

“Very well. I’ll trust that you’ll explain this in more detail later, Strategist.”

He shrugged and backed off.

Then, eyes gleaming, he asked something else.

“Now then—I heard Divine Spear was attacked. Is his condition improving?”

A question about the current Alliance Leader.

Jegal Jin’s eyebrows twitched—just barely.

“He’s recovering.”

“If he can’t attend the conference, it must be a severe injury.”

“He’s taken no small damage, but the Therapist says he’ll be up before long.”

“That’s an expectation. If Divine Spear doesn’t wake, the Alliance Leader seat will be left vacant. And if that happens, won’t the situation become truly dire?”

If the Martial Alliance Leader seat became vacant—

especially now—Peng Wooseong was right. It would be a disaster.

“Lord Peng. What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing special. I only thought that, just in case, it wouldn’t hurt to keep the next Alliance Leader in mind.”

The next Alliance Leader.

At that, the room stirred. If Divine Spear—the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven hero—couldn’t rise again...

‘Then we’d have to pick someone new.’

The Martial Alliance couldn’t leave the seat empty. They’d have to raise someone else.

‘The Alliance Leader seat isn’t some dog’s name you can toss around.’

The Martial Alliance Leader was always the most influential, most powerful figure in the Righteous Faction of the era.

Yoo Cheongil—who killed the Heavenly Demon and was called the greatest of all time—didn’t even need explaining.

And after his death, Divine Spear had taken the seat because among those still active, his strength was counted in the top three.

‘If it hadn’t been him—’

it would’ve been Mount Hua’s sect master, but he’d declared he would never take the seat, so Divine Spear had been the only viable choice.

‘But now?’

If not Divine Spear—

‘Who could do it?’

Most of the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven had uncertain fates.

The Sword Emperor was publicly missing.

‘Sword Empress...’

As everyone knew, with her rejuvenation, she couldn’t exactly step forward and announce she’d become Alliance Leader.

‘And the others...’

Most had already left the martial world and were living quietly. So if a new Alliance Leader was chosen now...

Probably—

‘...Aha.’

I got it.

I understood why Peng Wooseong had brought this up.

‘His feelings are more blatant than I expected.’

If the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven couldn’t inherit the seat—

‘Then the next tier down.’

The martial artists in their prime.

One of the Five Kings Under Heaven—or an absolute master comparable to them—would become the natural candidate. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

‘He wants the seat.’

And among them, Blade Absolute was a strong candidate.

Even if he wasn’t one of the Five Kings Under Heaven, he was comparable—and he was the head of one of the Five Great Clans.

If you were picking candidates now, it made sense that he’d be one of them.

‘That’s why he said it.’

Bringing up Divine Spear’s condition, his survival, and a “next Alliance Leader” was political theater.

‘Planting the bait early.’

This room was filled with the most influential people in the Righteous Faction.

He was staking his presence in front of them.

‘A real fox.’

Unlike Black-Grand Saber, this man was sly.

They only looked alike. They were nothing alike.

Maybe Jegal Jin sensed the naked ambition too, because his face tightened slightly as he spoke.

“That would only become relevant if the current Alliance Leader’s condition is confirmed. This isn’t the time for it.”

“A fair point. I’ll restrain myself.”

Restrain yourself my ass. He’d already said everything he wanted and then acted like he was stepping back—ridiculous.

After that, the exchange continued.

Every statement grew a tail, and that tail grew another.

And Jegal Jin kept defending—over and over—blocking, countering, guiding the room back into line.

The impressive part was—

‘Doesn’t he get tired?’

Jegal Jin didn’t waver even once. Not even slightly.

Clean. Neat. Controlled.

After some time passed like that—

SWISH.

This time, someone seated in the Five Great Clans’ area raised a hand.

Not Peng Wooseong.

‘...The White King?’

It was the White King—the head of the Murong Clan.

“Speak.”

With Jegal Jin’s permission granted, the White King suddenly looked straight at me.

Then—

“Is it true that Moon Knight executed Sword Demon?”

‘Huh...?’

The question was so abrupt it threw me off.

Out of nowhere...?

The moment Sword Demon was mentioned, every gaze swung back to me.

I’m going to die of pressure.

I kept my mouth shut and forced my face to stay blank—

Then—

“It is.”

Jegal Jin answered.

“Sword Demon was put down by Moon Knight.”

“...Sword Demon—by that young man?”

“He looks younger than my own son.”

“...Even if he’s the Sword Saint’s successor...”

Sword Demon’s name carried weight. A terrifying amount of it.

He’d once been spoken of in the same breath as the Sword Emperor and the Blade God—of course people would react like this.

And in that moment, Peng Wooseong looked at me and grinned.

That creepy expression, identical to Black-Grand Saber’s.

What is with this bastard now...?

“Many people saw it clearly,” Jegal Jin said. “Sword Demon’s head being severed by Moon Knight.”

He reaffirmed it, as if to say there was no lie here.

Up until now, he’d given plenty of slippery answers.

But this—this he framed as undeniable fact.

‘...Tch.’

I clicked my tongue inside my head.

‘You’re going to use me even here?’

The reason he was giving such certainty was obvious.

A pause—then a shift. Use me to change the flow.

I could feel Jegal Jin’s intent plain as day—

BANG!

“Huh?”

“What—?”

The conference chamber entrance burst open.

At the crash, everyone’s eyes—mine included—snapped that way.

And there—

“...Thousand-Mile True Sight...!”

A middle-aged man with a handsome face I swore I’d seen before came stomping into the chamber.

“How dare you—! How dare you disregard the Namgung Clan!”

He was furious, face twisted with rage, barging in and shredding the room’s atmosphere on arrival.

Jegal Jin’s brow furrowed.

“Sword King.”

At the title, I recognized him too.

‘Oh. That guy.’

One of the Five Kings Under Heaven, and like Blade Absolute and the White King, a master seated at the top of one of the Five Great Clans.

Thunder Dragon Sword King Namgung Myeong.

The father of Little Azure Sword—who was currently imprisoned in Thunder Prison.