It was cool air.
I’d never particularly thought it was hot, but it hadn’t been the kind of atmosphere that felt cold, either.
And yet now, it had turned strangely cold.
If my hands had been bare, I probably would’ve rubbed my arms without realizing it.
That was how sharp the change in temperature felt.
Damn...
Looking at the cause of it, I had to swallow a groan.
Was this a mistake?
The killing intent pouring out of Yuyeon.
That was what was making the air around us cold.
Or maybe not. Maybe it wasn’t the air around us at all. Maybe it was just my body that felt cold.
The goosebumps rising on my forearms. The chill crawling down my back.
That fishy, constricting sensation, like sothing was tightening around my throat, pierced through the inside of my skin.
I was trembling.
This was the first ti I’d ever felt killing intent this stinging.
Heavenly Killing Star.
Those born with a burden that craved death by killing others.
This was the first ti I had properly witnessed the Heavenly Killing Star I’d only ever heard about.
SAAAAAAH......
Killing intent spilled out from Yuyeon’s body.
Watching it, I crooked the corner of my mouth.
Savage.
Regret ca flooding in. Did I really need to provoke her this far? It felt like I’d done sothing I absolutely shouldn’t have.
“Hoo.”
I let out a breath.
The boat had already sailed.
Fear or no fear, I had to keep doing what I ca here to do.
“Yeah. Even if it has to be like th—”
The mont I started to speak—
SWISH—!!
“...!”
I twisted my head. Yuyeon’s sword grazed my cheek.
Jerk—!
Blood ran from my skin. I hadn’t dodged it completely.
Fast.
It was fast. Even after catching it with Moon Eyes, I’d still dodged a beat too slowly.
I drove more strength into my body. Yuyeon kept charging in.
Plum Blossom swordsmanship, was it? It wasn’t all that different from the sword she’d been using just before.
KRAAAACK—!!!
What the hell?
Sothing was different. Much faster, and overwhelmingly rougher.
There was no hesitation in it, and instead of beauty, it was packed with raw force.
A sharp sting ran through my eyes.
I focused hard into Moon Eyes. The paths of the Moon Immortal Sword’s Path beca a little clearer.
SWISH—! SHHHRIIIK—!!
Her sword bored in sharply. I slipped around the path and found the point to counterattack.
I stomped down with my heel and crushed the ground. The dirt floor shattered, and force rose all the way to my waist.
I released the strength from my waist and distributed what ca up into my upper body.
My freed waist twisted halfway, and I loaded that rebound with hardened qi.
Moon Wolf.
A crescent moon hanging in broad daylight plunged straight toward Yuyeon, but—
Jerk—!
“Huh.”
Yuyeon dodged it. Casually.
At most, two steps.
She avoided Moon Wolf with nothing more than that much movent, then—
SWISH.
She shot her sword through the opening I’d left behind.
“Kh.”
Pain flared in my chest, and I pulled back to widen the distance too.
TRICKLE—!
A shallow wound spread across my chest.
My waist throbbed.
My body still hadn’t fully recovered, and the chest wound was one I’d just taken.
The one saving grace was—
...Is it only this much because the blade’s dull?
Just a scratch.
Even though I’d been hit by a sword, it was only a blunt pain, not a clean slash.
The problem was—
It was a vital point.
She’d gone straight for a vital point that could’ve killed if things went wrong.
I tapped my chest a couple tis and swallowed the chill.
The mont I raised my sword again and looked at Yuyeon—
Her sword was already falling toward my face.
I hurriedly twisted my head to evade. Flashes rained down. Countless reddish-purple lines of sword qi poured toward .
As I avoided them one by one, rolling my eyes to follow them—
[What are you trying to do...?!]
Seongheon spoke to as if scolding in anger. It was the first ti I’d ever seen him raise his voice.
[The Heavenly Killing Star is not sothing that should be awakened! Why would you provoke the child like this?!]
Yuyeon, with killing intent rising from her.
Watching her, Seongheon showed open fear.
I’d awakened the instinct he had barely managed to keep suppressed.
He was asking what would happen if she got swallowed by the Heavenly Killing Star at this rate.
So what?
That was exactly what I was trying to make happen.
Yuyeon’s sword kept getting faster. I could keep up now that my realm had risen, but—
...This is insane.
That aside—
Why the hell is this so hard?
Why was the sword flying at this ssy?
ssy? No, that wasn’t the right word.
It’s bizarre.
It was a bizarre sword. It felt like it had broken free from all rules and was moving on nothing but instinct, and that was what made it so hard to read.
Moon Immortal Sword’s Path isn’t reacting properly.
It was supposed to show the path I should take and the opponent’s sword path.
But for so reason, grasping Yuyeon’s sword was absurdly difficult.
...No wonder the old man was amazed.
I rembered Yoo Cheongil showering Yuyeon with admiration.
Back then, I hadn’t really understood just how incredible that was.
Maybe it’s because my realm rose, but I can feel it now.
Now I understood.
She’s overwhelming.
My realm was higher than hers.
My strength was probably higher too. My speed as well.
And yet she was overwhelming.
That was what Yuyeon’s sword felt like to .
SKRITCH—!
I twisted my sword and drove it upward.
Yuyeon’s sword clashed with it, then bounced away.
Her blade wavered wildly in the air from the distorted angle—
SKRIIITCH—!
“Jesus Christ.”
Yuyeon recovered even that. She forcibly corrected the sword I’d twisted upward and slamd it back into its original position.
That took an instant. A true instant.
How is she doing that with that frail body?
That just now was pure strength.
No trick. She had forced it back under control with brute force.
Doing that should’ve wrecked her bones and muscles, but she still did it.
And on top of that—
SWIIISH—!
“Christ.”
Her sword was getting more terrifying by the second. It was getting faster, and more than anything—
The killing intent is getting thicker.
The killing intent pouring out of her and the viciousness of her sword were both intensifying as ti passed.
And on top of that—
Look at her eyes.
The eyes staring at were changing.
Her emotions were fading away.
And her pupils were slowly—
Are they turning red?
It looked like the color was changing.
[...This cannot happen.]
Seongheon’s voice ca through the gap.
[If it goes on like this, there will be no turning back.]
The Heavenly Killing Star growing thicker and thicker. And if it fully awakened—
That was what he saw as the problem.
Sorry, but...
That was exactly what I had to aim for.
There was sothing I needed to confirm.
And I needed it to solidify my own certainty.
Even beyond that—
If I do this...
I knew your lingering attachnt would fade a little too.
Jerk—!
Blood splashed across my cheek again. Even with a blunted sword, the sword qi had seeped into it enough that I could feel an edge now.
This won’t work.
Is it about ti?
...Like this, there’s no way.
I didn’t know about anything else, but one thing was clear.
If this were before, I never would’ve beaten her.
At my previous realm—back when I’d just been at Peak—I never would’ve beaten Yuyeon, even if I died trying.
If I’d fixed what those old n kept saying was my problem...
Would it have been different then? If I didn’t think so much while fighting?
Who knows.
I didn’t know. I couldn’t tell. Look at even now. My head was still a complete ss.
Ah, hell.
Fixing that was going to take ti.
There was no way in hell it would happen in a day or two.
“Fssss.”
I let all the strength drain out of my body.
WHOOOOOSH—!!
Killing intent exploded out of Yuyeon’s body.
Her eyes had gone beyond red. They were the color of fresh blood.
That was it.
That’s...
The proof of the Heavenly Killing Star.
Those red eyes known throughout history.
The symbol said to have belonged to the Heavenly Demon who bore the Heavenly Killing Star.
Wasn’t the story that only soone with those eyes could beco the Heavenly Demon? That was the commonly known version, anyway.
...But that’s not what the Heavenly Demon said.
The words he’d spat out still bothered .
That the Heavenly Killing Star wasn’t the condition to beco the Heavenly Demon.
That a pathetic burden like that ant absolutely nothing.
What mattered was—
...Ghost Eyes.
Eyes that saw what should not be seen.
He had said that was the real condition to beco the Heavenly Demon.
How annoying.
A foul, bloated feeling rose in . The Heavenly Demon had been soone who saw the sa kind of thing I did.
Of all things, him too.
It’s not that strange.
Ghost Eyes or Divine Eyes—
There wasn’t just one or two people who had eyes like that. Considering how many genuine Wu Tang freaks there were—not the fake kind—that much was obvious.
They were special, sure, but not that extraordinary.
That was how I had to think about it.
For now.
Right now, I had to look at the burden standing in front of .
Crack.
Yuyeon took a step forward, killing intent pouring from her.
The ground caved under her foot, and her body shot forward like an arrow.
A speed completely opposite from how she’d started.
Was the backlash of the Heavenly Killing Star connected to power like that too?
That question rose in , and at the sa ti—
PAAAAAAH—!!
Light wrapped around my eyes and my sword.
Brilliant light burst out, and Yuyeon, who had been charging at , faltered for an instant.
My body rose weightlessly inside that vision that felt ready to burst.
Exhilaration dug into my head. Opposite from a body that felt like it might scatter into the wind, my mind turned cold and clear.
It felt like the sword would advance even if I swung it carelessly.
Moon Heaven.
The divine art Yoo Cheongil had created.
I drew it into my body.
Ah.
This is good. Better than last ti. My body twisted on its own like I was drunk on dicine.
Cut.
All ten thousand thoughts vanished, and only that remained.
Cut it down.
Whatever stood before —
Cut it down.
The many thoughts were erased, stripped away.
And after all of that, only that remained.
So my arm moved according to intent and thought.
The sword carrying that will was about to drive forward—
Tsk, tsk.
I heard the familiar click of a tongue.
[Every ti I look away for even a mont, you’re always up to sothing.]
That rough, dull voice.
[What kind of nonsense is this now? This isn’t what I taught you to do.]
My sword was moving forward, but ti had slowed. Yoo Cheongil’s words still ca through regardless.
[Get a grip.]
[Isn’t it a little pathetic to get swallowed by sothing that trivial?]
The feeling of contempt in those words was thick.
[If you’re going to throw my na around out there, you shouldn’t be getting caught up in nonsense like this. Isn’t that right?]
What a truly awful na. Just because I’d inherited that na, I’d gotten dragged into every miserable situation imaginable, and even now, in a mont like this, he still cared about the Sword Saint’s na?
What a goddamn rotten old man.
It was like he’d optimized himself purely for ruining other people’s moods.
Absurd. But—
...Ah.
Despite all that, my slightly twisted mind snapped back into focus.
The exhilaration inside my body stayed, but the drowned-out senses returned.
What was this?
I tightened my grip on the hand that had been going slack.
[Control your strength. Unless you’re trying to kill the child.]
Hearing that, I focused on what was in front of . Yuyeon was there.
The mont I saw her, I twisted the angle of my blade.
SMACK!
“...!”
From the edge of the blade to the flat.
The turned sword struck Yuyeon in the chest.
That was right before Yuyeon’s sword reached .
The impact sent her body flying, and she rolled across the ground.
“Kuh—”
A mouthful of blood burst from Yuyeon.
That had been dangerous. If I’d gone through with it like that, I might really have cut her with the edge.
“Huaaah...”
I let out a breath. What had I just been trying to do? It felt like I wasn’t myself.
By the ti I barely managed to co back to my senses and release Moon Heaven—
SAAAAAAH—!!
Yuyeon unleashed another surge of overwhelming killing intent.
[...No... too late...]
Seongheon looked at Yuyeon in despair. Killing intent on an utterly different level was steadily bursting out of her now.
[Hm.]
Seeing that, Yoo Cheongil spoke.
[If you leave it like that, the ones in Mount Hua will notice soon enough. Is that alright?]
“Of course it’s not.”
I wiped the sweat from my face as I answered. Obviously it wasn’t alright.
[Then what do you plan to do?]
If the disciples sensed that killing intent and ca running, then with Seongheon collapsed like this, the picture was going to look very strange.
So what else was I supposed to do?
“What do you an, what do I do?”
There was only one way.
“I stop it.”
All I had to do was sever that killing intent.
[And how exactly are you going to—]
Seongheon started speaking in obvious frustration. Before he could even finish, I stepped toward Yuyeon.
“Hoo.”
I let out a breath and took one step forward.
SKRITCH.
I heard gears turning inside my heart.
Hot.
Not the sensation of heat rising, but the feeling of my soul being heated.
I frowned at the sensation, one I hadn’t felt in a long ti.
And then, just as Yuyeon, already completely swallowed by killing intent, was about to charge straight at —
“Get lost.”
I spat out the short command.
WHOOOOSH—!!
“...”
The killing intent vanished from Yuyeon’s body.
Thud.
Yuyeon, who had been charging at , collapsed straight to the ground.
[Huh?]
Seongheon let out a stupid sound as he watched it happen.
Leaving him behind, I ran a hand back through my hair.
“Ah.”
That settled it. I’d felt it last ti too, but—
Apparently—
“Yeah. This works.”
It looked like I really could suppress the killing intent of the Heavenly Killing Star.
User Comments
0 comments from readers