There was a reason the Sura Unit had stirred.

It was not that they had acted without thinking.

If one traced it back, it had begun several days earlier.

In a dream, Danya, the Sword Ghost and Commander of the Sura Unit, received a revelation.

The successor of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

The Young Cult Leader, the Little Heavenly Demon.

It was his revelation.

It was not as though a revelation meant some grand and special thing.

And yet he could see it clearly.

The Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

And standing atop those Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, the Young Cult Leader....

Everything else was blurred, as though covered in fog, but not those two places.

The left leg and the right arm.

Those two places alone were not hidden by vague black mist.

It was that young master the old Sword Ghost remembered.

"Ah... Young Cult Leader, ah...."

Even in his dream, he muttered.

Toward his young lord, whom he missed with an ache buried to the bone.

Someone as base as himself had never been worthy of meeting him....

But his master had been the Sword Demon.

That Sword Demon, who had enjoyed the Heavenly Demon’s favor.

Because of that, Sword Ghost had been able to attend upon his own small, young lord from his youth onward.

Even in his mid-teens, the Young Cult Leader had been mature.

Those black eyes of his.

Even that long black hair, tightly bound and kept in order.

The Heavenly Demon was chosen by the Malevolent God.

But the Heavenly Demon from two generations ago had created an evil rite that passed down that "selection."

It was a ritual that offered up four thousand four hundred forty-four gouged-out eyeballs.

Because it was human eyes that looked upon the stars.

One made something be seen through human eyes.

As though one were looking at the stars.

Then that ritual was overlaid with a Blood Calamity, forcing someone to become the Heavenly Killing Star.

It twisted fate, cut it apart by force, and stitched it back together to make it fit.

It made the impossible possible.

Thanks to that, the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains no longer had to search every time for a child born as the Heavenly Killing Star.

The previous Heavenly Demon, the Heavenly Demon whom he had served, and even the Young Cult Leader.

All of them were people who had benefited from that evil rite.

"Danya, Sword Ghost, listen."

The Young Cult Leader’s voice rang out.

Tears streamed down Sword Ghost Danya’s face.

The old man’s tears soaked the front of his robe.

"The Sura Unit will rise, strike Shandong, and draw the Alliance’s eyes."

It was a solemn command that had to be obeyed with every scrap of strength.

A mission more important than his very life.

*****

"...Grrrk...."

Sword Ghost’s arm dropped limply.

He was sitting collapsed against the wall.

One of his legs had been blown off somewhere and could not even be seen.

"Ha, you really did make me work for it. No doubt about that."

Namgung Byeok muttered as he flicked the blood from his sword.

He, too, had sword wounds here and there across his body.

But not a single one of them was fatal.

Though one long scar had been cut across his cheek.

"The Transformation Realm... why... was it... not... granted... to me...."

That was probably the lament.

The Little Heavenly Sword Master, Namgung Byeok, let out a snort of laughter at the Sword Ghost’s grief.

Then he lifted his sword and drove it straight through the old man’s dantian.

"Kuhk, hrrk, guaaaargh...!"

The sword, wrapped in Sword Force, completely destroyed the dantian.

A helpless emptiness spread through him as all the Demonic Energy in his body scattered and evaporated.

Sword Ghost flailed again and again, then went slack.

When Namgung Byeok pulled the sword back out, blood burst from the lower abdomen and spread in a rush.

"You never reached the Transformation Realm because you relied on Demonic Energy."

It was not a wrong thing to say.

From the very beginning, Demonic Energy granted a massive amount of power.

Normally, the higher one’s realm rose, the greater one’s internal energy became.

Of course it did. Internal energy required steady accumulation of merit over years that could be counted one by one.

But Demonic Energy was not like that.

If one merely connected to the Malevolent God through a part of the Heavenly Demon’s body,

an enormous amount of Demonic Energy was bestowed.

It would not be inaccurate to say that from the moment one began, one received an amount of Demonic Energy equal to the internal energy of a fairly formidable Apex expert.

But simply possessing Demonic Energy did not mean one could use it.

One had to master a separate kind of martial art that used Demonic Energy—in other words, Demonic Arts.

But studies begun easily were difficult to perfect.

Martial arts were no different.

"But... but...."

Sword Ghost flailed his hand.

Toward his own sword, which had been blasted far away and stuck in the ground.

Namgung Byeok gave a hollow laugh at the sight.

"You’re finished, Sword Ghost."

"The Young Cult Leader’s... solemn command...."

Blue Sword Force gathered along the longsword in his hand.

Then he cut down Sword Ghost’s sword exactly where it lay.

Even though it had been made of darksteel, it split cleanly into two pieces as though he were cutting a tree branch.

At that sight, Sword Ghost’s hand dropped again.

And this time, it never moved again.

There was not even the sound of ragged breathing.

It was death.

He had lost an arm and a leg, and even his dantian had been pierced through.

The cause of death was bleeding out.

Excessive blood loss.

"Ha... that was a life-or-death duel that got my blood boiling for the first time in a while."

Namgung Byeok slid his longsword back into its scabbard.

Then he glanced back over his shoulder.

Cheongak, Cheonjeong, and even Cheon Soyak were all staring at him.

Even Sa Heegwang and Ak Taegyu were.

The two of them had even forgotten they had been fighting each other, their attention stolen by the movements of the master who had suddenly barged into the battle.

The first one to understand the situation was Sa Heegwang.

"...Damn it!"

He spat out a thick curse and immediately pulled back.

Ak Taegyu realized the situation a beat later and thrust out his spear, but Sa Heegwang escaped death at the cost of having one arm deeply pierced.

Then he hurled himself toward the greenery of Yacha Valley.

"We’re not done yet!"

It was a rather pathetic exit.

Ak Taegyu started to chase after him... then looked around.

Half the Black Eagle Unit had been badly wounded.

The young female disciple of Mount Hua, who had said she would help, had also been gravely injured.

And more than that... that Sword Ghost bastard from the Demonic Cult had seemed to covet that child’s heart.

There was some kind of secret there, something he did not know.

And besides....

Who was this mysterious expert?

"I must ask, Great Hero. It is not that I wish to doubt someone to whom I owe a debt of gratitude, but...."

"You don’t need to know."

Namgung Byeok cut him off cleanly.

Then he slung the sheathed sword onto his shoulder with a tap.

He looked like some loafer wandering the streets.

"As the words themselves say, all of you are people who owe a debt for your lives, right?"

Those gathered nodded.

Wearing black martial clothes and a black gat, Namgung Byeok drew from the scabbard like lightning and cut deep into Sword Ghost’s neck.

It was so fast that no one was given even a moment to flinch.

Soon, Sword Ghost’s head rolled across the ground.

"You can divide up the credit for killing this bastard among yourselves however you want."

"Great Hero. We cannot...."

"Then say some unnamed 'passing martial artist' gave you a hand, I don’t care. But there’s one thing I do want you to keep."

He slid the sword back into its scabbard.

Then he stroked his shaggy beard.

"Do not tell anyone about me."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"I have my reasons. Especially you, sharp little brat."

Namgung Byeok pointed his chin toward Cheon Soyak.

The child who had realized he belonged to the Namgung line.

That spar from before must have given her the clue.

To discern the true nature of an opponent’s martial art from even that single clash of swords.

"...Yes."

Soyak answered weakly.

It looked as though it would take a long time for her body to recover.

"If your instincts are too sharp, you die young."

"...That—"

"I’m not saying I’ll kill you. I’m telling you to watch your mouth. Keep that up, and you won’t die your natural lifespan."

"I... understand."

Namgung Byeok nodded in satisfaction.

Then, without even using footwork, he strode into the greenery step by step.

Waving a hand at those left behind.

"Good. Then let’s try not to see each other again."

The smell of blood was still intense.

The killing intent and malice that stabbed into the lungs accumulated inside her body.

At some point, the black qilin had awakened again and was devouring it all.

Whenever it did, the dantian that had become a churned-up mess began to settle down again.

Not that cracked bones were fusing back together, nor that her abused body was returning to normal.

"...Soyak. Are you all right?"

With a trembling hand, Cheonjeong touched Soyak’s forehead.

It was lukewarm.

But Cheonjeong did not realize that his own body temperature was burning hot as well.

Only Cheongak was still in decent shape.

"Head Senior. Right now, you’re the one burning up worse."

"...Am I?"

"That’s why you should let Soyak go already and ask one of the Black Eagle Unit men over there to carry you instead."

Cheonjeong nodded with difficulty.

Then he bit his lip.

Because he resented his own weakness.

Soyak quietly reached out and pressed a finger against his lip.

"...You said... if you stayed with me... things would only grow more dangerous...."

Every time she spoke, every time she breathed, her chest throbbed.

It seemed several ribs had cracked.

Watching her, Cheongak finally snapped and scolded her.

"You stay quiet too, Soyak. You’ll split your wounds open."

"Yes...."

"Don’t even answer."

Cheongak carefully lifted Soyak and carried her onto his back.

She was light.

Even lighter than he had imagined.

This child, so small and frail, had endured against the Sword Ghost of the Demonic Cult.

Of course, it had been nothing but one-sided mockery and amusement.

The difference in swordsmanship had also been overwhelming.

And the output of Demonic Energy he could unleash in an instant had been unfathomably vast.

More than anything, the greatest wall had been experience.

The seasoned mastery that came from more than eighty years.

That was a weapon she could never break through.

Resting her head against Cheongak’s back, Soyak lowered her eyes quietly.

She was still lacking.

She had talent enough to be called a monster, but she was young and immature.

She needed greater power.

She needed to grow faster.

If she could not even defeat an old ghost left over from a war only fifty years past....

Then she would never be able to point her sword at the Sword Sovereign.

Her clenched teeth ground together.

She knew impatience was dangerous.

Soyak slowly calmed her heart.

She endured the pain and took a deep breath.

Cool your head, then judge the situation again.

For now... this was the time to rest.

She had been hurt too badly.

"Soyak."

It was a serious voice.

Unexpectedly, it was not Cheonjeong’s voice, but Cheongak’s.

"...Yes, Senior Brother."

"Get some sleep. Quit grinding your teeth. We’re still young."

"...Yes."

That reckless Senior Brother was saying something that sounded almost mature.

With the tip of his chin, Cheongak pointed toward Cheonjeong, who had already fallen asleep on the back of a Black Eagle Unit member.

Then he chuckled.

"Look at that. Even Head Senior’s asleep. You should hurry up and sleep too."

"That’s true."

Soyak ended up letting out a faint laugh as well.

Then she closed her eyes and gave herself over to sleep.

It was her Senior Brother’s back, after all.

She could rest her eyes on it as much as she liked.

Chapter 88

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