“Enemy attack—!!!!”

The Sama Sect bastards shouted.

“E-enemy atta—!”

The bastard who kept shouting never got to finish. My sword cut through his neck.

“Ghk—!!”

He collapsed, coughing blood. I didn’t even look at him. I moved straight for the next one.

Radiant Moon Flash Aura left a trace through the air. As sparks fluttered—

CRUNCH—!!

I drove force into the foot planted against the ground. Fragments scattered, and my body shot forward.

BOOM—!!

A blast went off. The power running through my body exceeded what I had expected. What the hell had Yoo Cheongil done to me? It was twice my usual capacity. Exaggerating a little, that was what it felt like.

Just a little more.

I felt like I could move faster.

Slash—! Shrrrk—!!

“Aaaagh!”

“Kghk......!!”

Blood sprayed everywhere. Men cut apart in all directions dropped to the ground, screaming.

“Who are you......!”

“What the hell are you......!!”

I didn’t listen.

Moon Wave.

A crescent moon far larger than usual swept violently through the area.

Kwaaaaa—!!!

Aaaaaaagh—!!!

Screams invaded my ears. I frowned at the sound scraping through my head.

“Huu....... Hah.......”

I exhaled. I wasn’t tired. Only a little heated.

And—

Looks like my muscles are startled.

My body ached faintly. Probably because I had used speed and strength I wasn’t used to.

Holding the Divine Sword, I looked around. A gruesome scene filled my vision. Men with fatal wounds lay on the ground, choking and twitching, and most of the others were already dead.

“S-spare me.......”

“Kgh....... Ghhh.......”

I walked past them. Even looking at the dead, I didn’t feel much.

I had always been more or less like that.

This.

I glared at the Divine Sword. Was it because of the sword?

The Heavenly Demon said nothing.

Not that I expected much.

“Who are you....... Who the hell are you, doing this out of nowhere......!”

A man spoke in terror. Then someone beside him stared at me and flinched.

“......Those clothes....... Those eyes....... Don’t tell me, the Lesser Moon Unit?”

“The Lesser Moon Unit......?”

“White hair and blue eyes....... That pretty-boy face, it can’t be.”

“M-Moon Hero?”

“What? Why would Moon Hero come here!”

They figured it out from my appearance? Well, white hair did stand out.

That didn’t mean I could go around hiding it.

“You know me.”

“You really are Moon Hero......?”

The Sama Sect bastards paled at my answer. Oh. Apparently my name carried more weight than I thought.

Clink.

I gripped my sword and pointed it at them. They flinched at the tip of my blade.

“What brings Moon Hero to such a humble place......?”

“What else? I came to clean up trash.”

“......What have we done......!”

“You killed and kidnapped women. Do I need to say more?”

“......!”

Their faces said, How did he find out?

How transparent.

Ssssss......

I poured force into my sword.

“Kgh......! Attack!”

The bastards decided nothing else would work and rushed me again.

Two on the left. Three on the right.

I would clean up the right side first. Their sword paths caught in Moon Eye. I was about to swing my sword as-is.

Slash—!!

“Mm?”

Another sword flew in.

It was Yu Yeon. She suddenly burrowed in and sent the three on the right flying.

Fast.

She had always been fast, but somehow she seemed much faster now.

Yu Yeon glanced at me. Seeing that look, I handled the two on the left.

The five of them died quickly, and I was about to approach the men farther back when—

“......This has become annoying.”

“.......”

I stopped at the voice.

It came from the building in the rear.

Creeeak.

The door opened. Someone walked out from inside.

He was a giant of a man, over eight feet tall.

“C-captain!”

The Sama Sect bastards shouted when they saw him.

Captain?

So that bastard was the leader.

“Hm.”

The giant looked at me with eyes full of irritation.

“Moon Hero? He’s just a brat.”

“.......”

“They made such a fuss about the Sword Saint reborn and whatnot. Turns out he’s nothing but a greenhorn, you worm-like bastards.”

His eyes said, You couldn’t even deal with this?

After looking at his subordinates like they were pathetic, the giant spoke to me.

“I am Ma Cheoldo. My title is Battle-Frenzy Stainless Fist.”

“I’m not curious about your title.”

“Oh....... You’ve got spirit.”

I felt like I had heard that title somewhere before. Since it hadn’t stuck in my memory, he probably wasn’t important.

“I’ll give you a chance, even now.”

“A chance?”

“Turn around and run, and I won’t chase you.”

“Haha.”

I laughed.

“Bullshit.”

“What?”

“What kind of idiot says something that stupid with a straight face?”

I gripped my sword.

“A chance? Who’s giving who a chance?”

It wasn’t even funny. So I drew up my energy.

“I’ll give you a chance too.”

Ssssss—!

Putting strength into my dantian, I spoke to Ma Cheoldo.

“What are you bastards plotting with the Sky-Crushing Palace?”

“.......”

Ma Cheoldo’s expression hardened.

“Tell me that, and I’ll let you live.”

“......Look at this bastard.”

The corners of Ma Cheoldo’s mouth finally shot upward.

“If you hadn’t said that, I might have spared—”

Grrrrrk.

Fist aura gathered around Ma Cheoldo’s fist.

That meant he was a martial artist past the peak realm.

“Today, a star of the orthodox faction will fa—”

Pshhk—!!

“......Kgh?”

Before he finished speaking, my sword drove in and buried itself in his forearm.

“Fast. I was aiming for your heart.”

He blocked it with his arm.

If he hadn’t, I would have pierced straight through his heart.

“You bastard......!! A cowardly sneak attack—!”

Hearing an unorthodox bastard call me cowardly.

Wasn’t that the highest praise?

“I won’t let you get away with this—!”

Rumble—!

His force erupted. The other unorthodox bastards under him also tried to rush me.

Then—

Slash—!!

“Kghk!”

Yu Yeon appeared and cut them down.

Was she trying to support me?

“You filthy pair!”

I looked at the bastard roaring in rage.

Moon Eye read the course of his attack. A massive fist came at me. It grazed my cheek. I took one step forward.

Crackle crackle crackle—!!!!

Light wrapped around my body.

Moonbolt.

My flesh held the moon.

“Kgh!”

The bastard tried to move and attack me, but—

Slice.

With a cold sound, his arm was cut off.

“Kgh! Grrk!”

He couldn’t even scream.

My sword touched his neck.

I cut lightly.

Thud.

Roll, roll.

The head that fell to the ground rolled away. The men around us stared in horror.

“C-captain!”

Their leader had died.

They were thrown into panic by that fact, but—

“What are you so surprised about?”

This wasn’t the time for that.

“You’re going to end up the same.”

“Hiiik—!”

I walked toward the terrified bastards.

My body, having reached Moonbolt, was faster than sound.

It didn’t take long to kill them all.

*****

Splash.

Blood covered the ground. I stood alone in the middle of it.

“......Huuuu.......”

I let out a sigh.

The area was full of hacked-up corpses. Most of them had died with their necks cut.

I was the one who had done it.

Yu Yeon had helped, but only as support.

“.......”

Looking at the blood lightly staining my clothes and the corpses all around me, I swept my hair back.

“......Tch.”

I clicked my tongue softly.

It wasn’t something to be shocked about. It wasn’t as if this was my first time killing someone.

Even when I killed for the first time in this life, it hadn’t been that much of a shock.

This feels unpleasant.

I had killed men who deserved to die, yet it still felt unpleasant.

As I was thinking that—

Kikikikikikikik—!!!

I heard a sound.

No.

I saw the sound.

Spiritual energy leaking out from the dead bodies rose into the air.

“.......”

Malice and killing intent.

Things emerging from the soul-forms prodded at my heart.

—How bitter......

—I resent you......!!!

—You....... You......!

The men I had killed came creeping up.

Karma.

This too was karma.

Even if I killed men who deserved death, karma still existed.

I stared at it and said,

“So what do you want me to do?”

—How....... How daaaare!!!

Thump!

Watching the evil ghosts made my stomach churn.

My heart pounded. It kept surging in a way that felt deeply unpleasant.

Then—

Wooooong—!!!

“Mm?”

I felt something in my heart.

A whirlpool.

It began creating a flow on its own.

Saaaaa—!!

Kyaaaaa—!!!

Aaaaaaagh—!!!

The spiritual energy around me began being sucked into me.

“......What?”

What the hell was this now?

Spiritual energy seeped into me on its own. My eyes widened in confusion, but that wasn’t the only thing to be surprised about.

Inner qi is accumulating.

Inner qi began gathering in my dantian.

This was......

Is it different from that?

Was it different from when I released evil ghosts from their lingering attachments and resentment so they could pass on peacefully, and inner qi entered me then?

Ssssss—!!

After swallowing every evil ghost in the area, I checked the inner qi that had filled my body.

“......It increased a fair bit?”

Not bad.

It wasn’t at the level of eating a spirit medicine, but this was still tremendous.

Pssss.

Light scattered through the air. It was the residue left after swallowing the evil ghosts.

That was—

Passing on peacefully?

Was that passing on peacefully?

The soul-forms passed on peacefully even though I hadn’t erased their lingering attachments.

Then what I absorbed was only the malice?

What is going on?

I convert only the malice from evil ghosts into inner qi, and the rest passes on peacefully?

That’s completely different from exorcism.

It was something I hadn’t been able to do even in my previous life.

I looked down at my palm.

Something had definitely happened to my body.

“......That bizarre old man.”

What did he do to my body?

Wooooong.

Feeling the inner qi accumulated in my dantian, I let out a dry laugh.

Then I suddenly looked at Yu Yeon beside me.

“Are you all right?”

“......?”

Yu Yeon tilted her head as if asking what I meant.

She had killed people.

Yu Yeon was the Heaven-Slaying Star, so she couldn’t kill people. If she carelessly released killing intent, her nature could devour her.

But—

She’s fine?

Even after killing someone, Yu Yeon looked normal.

Her eyes were calm, and there didn’t seem to be any particular problem.

What is this?

Was it because I was beside her?

I was going to crush it down one more time if the Heaven-Slaying Star appeared.

There wasn’t even a sign of it.

That was a good thing, but—

Mm.

This was fine too, right?

I narrowed my eyes and started walking.

My destination was the lone residence.

Creeeak.

I opened the door and looked inside.

“Hiiik.......”

“......Uuuh.......”

“.......”

I had already known there were human presences inside.

After seeing the people inside, I closed the door again.

“Yu Yeon.”

I called Yu Yeon. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

When she came over, I roughly took off the martial uniform I was wearing and handed it to her.

“Put this on the people inside.”

“.......”

Yu Yeon checked inside.

There were women in there.

Naked women.

I didn’t need to look to know what kind of situation it was.

Yu Yeon went in without another word.

A short while later, Yu Yeon came out.

I saw that she had also taken off one layer of her own martial uniform.

The women walked out after her.

“......Hah....... Haaah.......”

“Uup.......”

They saw the hacked-up corpses outside and retched.

Some were already vomiting.

“......I’m sorry. It’s a little messy out here.”

“......N-no....... No, it’s not.”

Their eyes were full of fear.

“Don’t worry. You should be safe now.”

“Th-thank....... Thank you, great hero.......”

“I’m alive...... Mom....... Mom......”

The women began to sob.

Watching them, I spoke to Yu Yeon.

“......Take them to the Bang Family. Don’t go to the Alliance.”

After what I’d heard, I couldn’t send them to the Murim Alliance.

Yu Yeon nodded.

I thought it would be better for Yu Yeon to take them than me.

Just as the women were about to leave—

“But.”

I reached out.

It was the woman following at the very end.

Grab—!

“Ugh!?”

The woman I seized fell backward.

Pitiful and fragile.

Fear welled up in her eyes at my action, but—

“You can’t go.”

“G-great hero....... Wh-why are you suddenly doing this......!”

“Stop acting. It’s disgusting. We have something to talk about, don’t we?”

“......!”

When I spoke with irritation mixed in, the woman’s expression changed in an instant.

“Oh my.”

A face completely different from before.

The woman smiled with her expression transformed.

“How did you know?”

The martial artist from the Sky-Crushing Palace I had met the other night.

This woman was her.