Chapter 563

Gye Mun had said it.

And the Heavenly Demon had said it.

The greatest symbol required to become the Heavenly Demon ultimately came from the power the Heavenly Demon used.

From the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

Without that, even if one possessed the Heaven-Slaying Star and everything else, one could not rise to the Heavenly Demon’s seat.

In other words, the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts were directly connected to the Heavenly Demon’s identity.

The reason Gye Mun had been shocked when he saw me also stemmed from that.

And in that situation—

That bastard is using it?

What Heavenly Sword used resembled the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

[Hahahaha.]

The Heavenly Demon laughed when he saw it.

[How amusing. An arrogant thing dares.]

But that was not because he was enjoying it.

I could feel anger in the Heavenly Demon’s voice.

This was not ordinary.

He was already terrifying to touch, but now he was even more terrifying.

For his voice to burn like that.

He was usually a cold person, but perhaps because that bastard’s actions were the problem, the Heavenly Demon seemed quite furious.

But—

[Tear him apart.]

Excuse me?

It seemed he was angrier than I had expected.

This was not normal.

Tear him apart?

That was an extremely violent thing to say, even by violent standards.

......Isn’t that a bit much?

[No. Tear him apart. What mercy is there to show a man who does such a thing?]

No, it isn’t mercy.

It was because humans were not things you were supposed to tear apart.

Putting aside tearing him apart for the moment, I understood that this man was very, very angry.

To me, it’s just kind of fascinating.

So the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts could be imitated too.

That part alone fascinated me.

But this man seemed tremendously angry.

It was enough rage to surprise even me, so what more needed to be said?

Was it because he had touched the symbol?

Or was there some other meaning?

I could not know that far.

Anyway—

“Interesting....... What martial art is that?”

I was not supposed to act like I knew that martial art, so I had to pretend I did not as much as possible.

Besides—

It isn’t the real Heavenly Demon Divine Arts anyway.

At least as far as I knew.

From what I had learned from the Heavenly Demon, that could not be the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

The Heavenly Demon had shown me, and I had felt it myself, so I knew it better.

There’s no spiritual energy in it.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Arts were a mixture of spiritual energy and demonic qi.

In that process, a form was built on the unique structure of the heart art.

It was as if one had draped shadow over oneself.

Or as if one held darkness in one’s hand.

Wearing night.

If I had to express it, that was exactly what it was.

From that perspective, what that guy wore was—

Fake.

A power somewhat distant from the real thing.

That was why I could avoid being too surprised, but to the Heavenly Demon, even that imitation itself was offensive.

Was he displeased that it was copying him?

As I wondered and watched—

[To think he would imitate it in such a manner. It is worthless and utterly presumptuous.]

Aha.

If he was going to copy it, he should do it properly.

It seemed the Heavenly Demon was displeased that he could not even do that.

Well.

Whether the Heavenly Demon liked it or not did not matter.

Click—!

I gripped my sword.

Judging from the chilling energy, it did not seem weak.

Let’s see.

I had been told to tear him apart, but I could not tear him apart.

But a little more seriously—

I did feel like trying.

WHOOOSH—!

I cast Moonbolt again.

Then I dug in.

Heavenly Sword moved.

The night wrapped around his body surged from the tips of his fingers.

His sword flew in.

But—

Ha.

I was horrified.

CRAAASH—!!!

I raised my sword and blocked it.

It was not an issue of speed.

Heavy.

Range, size, and depth.

The amount of inner qi soaked into a simple movement was astonishing.

Thud—!

The impact pushed me back and sent me flying.

I barely planted my feet on the ground.

I steadied my breathing.

Whoooong.

Whoooong.

Wind blew.

It was not the sound of my breathing.

When I raised my eyes, Heavenly Sword was approaching.

Black.

His body was gradually swelling.

That was—

......A giant?

He looked almost as if he had taken the form of a giant.

There was an alien feeling in that simple shape.

His speed and strength had both increased.

When I saw him coming closer, I put strength into my blade.

Then I entered a state of complete absorption.

Body-and-sword unity.

I stepped into that space.

RUMBLE—!!!

Heavenly Sword’s sword shattered the ground.

At that moment, I was no longer there.

One step.

I took exactly one step and approached.

Heavenly Sword’s speed was still fast.

Had he used body-and-sword unity as well?

He was approaching that realm, but—

No.

This was just speed.

After manifesting that power, his physical ability had risen sharply.

The effect was as if—

It’s like he used Moonbolt?

Moonbolt let me enter an artificial state of complete absorption, and as a result, the body’s abilities took on inner qi.

It put me into a more efficient form.

It also made it easier to continue into body-and-sword unity.

That bastard’s state was like that.

Does that mean Moonbolt and the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts are similar?

[As if that could be.]

The Heavenly Demon denied it.

[That is a shell copying only the outer appearance.]

......I think it looks that way too.

It was not surprising.

Of course that was how it would be.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Arts I had seen.

To be precise, the sword I had personally used had not been like that.

That one sword back then.

The downward slash the Heavenly Demon had shown contained martial arts.

Compared to that, this was close to fake.

Click-click-click—!

Our swords clashed.

I moved along the blade.

Heavenly Sword kept up with my speed.

Even though I was maintaining body-and-sword unity, he still did.

I can’t last more than a few seconds.

Body-and-sword unity was incomplete.

Since I could not fully enter that realm, using just one sword was my limit.

Now, at least, I could exchange two or three moves.

I had to use that.

Kiiiiing!

Power entered my middle dantian.

I moved ahead.

I stabbed my sword in.

Radiant Moon Flash Aura shone.

Clang—!

The Sword Aura on his sword scattered.

I saw his eyes, burned even blacker.

It was not the red eye-light brought on by the Heaven-Slaying Star.

Half-baked.

That was the value of that power.

Then how far could something half-baked endure?

I put strength into myself.

Body-and-sword unity would last for about one more strike.

I had to put my power into that window.

Shiiirik—!!!

I drew my sword back slightly.

It was the moment his blade had been knocked upward, so his posture had already collapsed a little.

Even so, he would recover soon and come back.

I aimed for that moment.

Axis of rotation.

Footing.

The angle and force of my waist.

I matched all three beats and swung my sword within the mental line where body-and-sword unity still held.

Moon Wave.

An attack different from any crescent moon I had made until now burst out.

SHIIIIIIK—!!!

It was then.

Whoosh!

Mm?

Something suddenly covered my Sword Aura.

This was—

Karmic fire?

The fire of spiritual energy.

It had covered the sword.

Why so suddenly?

There was no time to wonder.

BOOM—!!

My sword struck Heavenly Sword’s sword.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!!

“Ghk!”

The black energy shattered.

A groan spilled from Heavenly Sword’s mouth.

He tried to raise himself again, but—

“Whew.”

“.......”

My sword touched the end of Heavenly Sword’s throat.

I was not too late.

“......It’s over.”

“......Haha.”

He laughed.

“What a shame.”

“I’m the one who’s disappointed.”

I spoke with a slight edge of irritation.

“I told you, didn’t I? Don’t you have anything that’s originally yours?”

I had told him to do it properly instead of imitating, but Heavenly Sword never did.

At my words, Heavenly Sword shrugged.

“......You are the second person I have shown this power to.”

“Second?”

I tilted my head at that.

That meant there was one person before me.

“I meant not to use it until it was complete if possible, but regrettably, I have shown it like this.”

“Then why not just hide it?”

“Because this is also the second thing I cannot copy. This is something like a gift from me. I simply wanted to show it to you, who noticed my talent.”

“......Second?”

At those words, I stopped for a moment.

I could ignore the rest, but that line bothered me.

Amid the fragments of shattered demonic qi.

[Hmm?]

The Heavenly Demon was the same.

This was also the second?

“This power is like that. I wanted to copy it somehow, but its limits are clear. For some reason, I cannot fully reach it.”

“......Wait.......”

As I listened, my face twisted.

Those words.

What did they mean right now?

“You’re saying you’ve seen that power and are copying it?”

“Only once.”

“......No.......”

I started to speak, then shut my mouth.

In other words—

He had seen the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts and used them.

But the one he had seen could not have been the Heavenly Demon.

......There’s another person who used the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts?

It also meant another user of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts existed.

*****

Sssssss.

On a night when the moon had risen.

At the time when insects were leisurely crying within it—

Chirrrr.

Chirrrr.

It was a mingled sound.

Only a sound that announced the night.

Rather than noise, it was a sound that put the mind at ease.

And yet—

“Noisy.”

In a residence standing alone in the forest, an old man muttered.

At that one quiet word, the forest fell silent.

Saaaaa.

The sounds of grass insects.

The bird cries faintly ringing through the dark.

All of them stopped.

Only then, in the silence that had finally come, the old man closed his eyes as if pleased.

Had peace finally returned?

Just as the old man was about to rest—

Crack.

“.......”

He felt a human presence in the forest.

It was not a particularly welcome presence.

“Tsk.”

The old man clicked his tongue briefly and rose.

It seemed sleeping quietly was out of the question.

“An irritating bastard has come.”

He did not move much.

This was enough to receive an uninvited guest.

Sure enough, not long after, the presence drew closer.

“I will enter.”

The uninvited guest found the old man’s house.

“I am certain I told you not to come.”

The one who heard the old man’s cold words laughed.

The person with the awkward smile was Heavenly Sword.

“Is that not too much of a reaction toward your disciple?”

“Bullshit.”

Disciple?

It was not even funny.

“How can a man who picked things up by eavesdropping dare call himself this old man’s disciple?”

“Still, learning is learning, so that makes me your disciple. Is that not right, Master—”

He could not finish speaking.

A gust of wind swept briefly past Heavenly Sword’s ear.

Sarak.

Hair fell.

It had been cut away by a hair’s breadth.

The old man was not holding a sword.

What he held was merely hard aura faintly blooming from his fingertips.

It was still a chilling sword.

For a sword from someone of the orthodox faction, it was far too murderous.

“You are as you ever were.”

“I will not accept meaningless conversation. Get lost.”

“It should not be meaningless. You ought at least hear me out.”

“......Hmm?”

At Heavenly Sword’s words, the old man opened his eyes.

Light rose in the middle of the night.

The eye-light illuminating the darkness was blue.

The old man’s blue eyes shone.

“What do you mean?”

Facing those eyes, Heavenly Sword spoke.

“The Azure Moon Sect. Yoo Cheongil’s inheritor has come to the Demonic Cult.”

“......!”

The old man flinched when he heard those words.

He must have reacted to the name Yoo Cheongil.

“Yoo Cheongil......?”

“What do you think? Interesting, is it not?”

Heavenly Sword smiled.

“You must have met him.”

The old man already knew who it was.

Because he had heard things.

Even in this wide, silent forest, many mouths existed, so one inevitably heard even what one did not wish to hear.

Especially Yoo Cheongil?

The old man’s expression hardened.

Because that was the name of the damned bastard he wanted to kill.

“Fine.”

So he asked.

“Who won?”

The simplest and most direct question.

At that, Heavenly Sword’s expression disappeared for a moment.

That was enough of an answer.

“You useless thing.”

“Haha.”

He laughed belatedly, but it was already too late.

Behind that awkward expression, the old man said,

“Close the door.”

“......Pardon? Why?”

“I cannot tolerate you losing to that bastard’s disciple. Even if you are not my disciple.”

Not anyone else.

His disciple’s disciple.

And the disciple of that damned bastard who had buried him in this mountain and sealed him here.

“I will teach you a few things.”

May the sins of the master be borne sweetly.

The old man smiled as he spoke.