Seo Daeryong’s instincts told him.
‘It’s him.’
But at the same time, a doubt rose in his mind.
‘He’s this young?’
No, it was not because he was young. It was because he was bright. With such a handsome face and such an amiable smile suiting him so well—this man was the murderer?
If he asked ten passersby, not one of them would take this man for the fiend who had annihilated the Daejeong Sect, or for someone who had learned demonic arts. Even if he himself had been asked, he would have answered the same.
‘Is it not him?’
As all manner of thoughts flashed through his mind, the man drew close to Seo Daeryong. Seo Daeryong secretly raised his internal energy, ready to counterattack at any moment.
The tall man looked down at Seo Daeryong, still smiling with those amiable eyes.
“You’ve got nerve. In times like these, walking around with a great saber at your waist is bound to invite misunderstandings.”
Even his voice was calm and gentle, making him seem like a kind and decent person.
Seo Daeryong’s gaze turned to the great saber on the man’s back.
“You knew that too, yet you still wore one, did you not?”
The man looked at Seo Daeryong and smiled in a way whose meaning was impossible to read.
What was that look saying? That it was all right for him to carry one because he was strong enough? That it was fine because he had come here to kill everyone?
What if this man really was the murderer?
He had thought the rumor about a young man had been spread to frame him—but had the culprit truly been young after all?
Seo Daeryong grew tense. He felt he had to buy time somehow until Geom Mugeuk returned.
Should he handle it himself? Seo Daeryong had not raised that sort of confidence.
Though his increased internal energy and real-combat sparring with Geom Mugeuk had filled him with confidence, Seo Daeryong remained cautious, and cautious again.
He was not foolish enough to let his guard down against someone who had walked up to him with a smile.
“Which sect are you from?”
Seo Daeryong knew the other man did not belong to any of the sects invited today, but he asked as though he did not.
“Peerless.”
“You mean you are from the Peerless Sect?”
There was no such sect in Chongqing.
“No, I mean the characters written on your saber.”
The saber the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had used in his youth had the characters Peerless inscribed upon its blade. It seemed the man who had approached from behind had seen them.
“A fine saber.”
“My master gave it to me.”
How would he react to the word master? Seo Daeryong watched his response closely.
The man showed no particular reaction. Still wearing the same amiable smile he had shown at first, he instead asked about Seo Daeryong’s master.
“What sort of person is your master?”
He was asking about his master. Seo Daeryong could sense it instinctively. He had deliberately read the characters on the blade, and now he was asking about his master.
‘He knows who my master is, and he is asking anyway.’
And he was not even trying to hide the fact that he had approached while knowing. Seo Daeryong became more and more certain that this man was an enemy.
“He is exactly as the characters on the saber say. A man without equal in this murim.”
At that, the man denied Seo Daeryong’s words.
“There is no one in this world without an equal. Everyone has a destined adversary. The only difference is whether they meet them while they live, or die without ever doing so.”
The words destined adversary struck Seo Daeryong as meaningful.
‘Who did he have in mind when he said that? Me? Master? Or the Young Cult Leader?’
This time, Seo Daeryong asked about these adversaries.
“Are destined adversaries fated to fight each other?”
“Of course. They are fated to kill one another.”
“How can one tell if someone is their destined adversary?”
“You know when you see them.”
As he said that, he stared intently at Seo Daeryong. A taut tension naturally settled between the two of them.
‘This man considers me his destined adversary!’
That too was an instinctive judgment. He felt some entanglement of fate with the man before him.
Fear rose in him, but on the other hand, he also felt proud.
Seo Daeryong still recalled those gloomy days when he had been an investigator. No matter how strong he became, he believed his identity would always lie there. That way, he would not become arrogant.
Someone considered him a fated enemy? It frightened him, but it also pleased him. And beyond that, he even thought this:
Yes, then come after me instead of Master or the Young Cult Leader! I will face you.
The man’s gaze turned toward the distant main hall where today’s meeting was to take place. In front of the hall stood the warriors who had accompanied the leaders of each sect, and judging by their numbers, nearly all the invited guests seemed to have gathered.
The man asked Seo Daeryong,
“Do you know the purpose of today’s meeting?”
“I do not know much.”
“It is to unite against us.”
“Us?”
At Seo Daeryong’s question, the man nodded.
“That is right. Us.”
“Do you and I have anything in common that would make us ‘us’? Surely you do not mean this is a meeting to deal with saber-wielders?”
At that, the man answered without hesitation.
“We are demonic practitioners, are we not?”
“!”
Seo Daeryong was startled. The other man spoke so calmly that he thought he had misheard. Just as he had guessed, this man was one of those who had orchestrated this affair.
He’s revealing his identity like this? Then why did he approach me?
“It is a meeting hostile to us.”
Then he said something even more shocking.
“What do you say? Let us go in together and sweep them all away.”
The man’s eyes and tone were both serious, as though he meant it from the bottom of his heart.
Seo Daeryong laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I was so tense that I laughed without realizing it.”
At Seo Daeryong’s honest answer, the man also laughed. He was certainly more composed than Seo Daeryong. It was clearly this man who was leading the atmosphere right now.
“Are you afraid?”
“How could I not be? Someone I have just met is asking me to commit suicide with him.”
“Why do you think we would lose? With your martial arts and mine, could we not sweep away those orthodox bastards?”
Instead of answering whether he would fight or not, Seo Daeryong subtly brought up his own story. He had no desire whatsoever to tell this man about himself, but he needed to buy time until Geom Mugeuk returned. Even if it was only enough time for a few words, he had to drag things out as much as possible now.
“There was a time, when I was gloomy, that I too wanted to sweep the whole world away.”
It was spoken sincerely. Before he met Geom Mugeuk, when the senior from Hwangcheon Pavilion who had cared for him died unjustly, his gloom had reached its peak. If he could have, he truly would have swept everything away.
“Why were you gloomy?”
He must surely have noticed that Seo Daeryong was stalling. Yet this man was accepting everything he said. Seo Daeryong felt an inexplicable unease, but for now this was the best he could do.
“As you can see, I am short, and my body is slight.”
“Did you perhaps learn martial arts using a great saber because of that inferiority complex?”
Seo Daeryong could feel it. The other man had intentionally provoked him by using the words inferiority complex.
If it had been long ago, he would have flared up. But now it was different.
‘Who do I have beside me? From whom did I learn?’
Seo Daeryong had grown by watching Geom Mugeuk face the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Venerables. He was not someone who would fall for a provocation of this level.
“When I learned that I would be studying martial arts using a great saber, I was so happy my heart felt like it would burst. Thinking about it, perhaps there really was such an inferiority complex, just as you say.”
Instead, Seo Daeryong asked him,
“Have you never felt something like an inferiority complex in your life?”
As if dumbfounded, the man laughed again. Seeing his smile up close as they conversed, Seo Daeryong finally understood. He was someone who smiled habitually, and that good-natured, amiable smile was not due to his personality, but to the way the man looked.
His handsome appearance merely made him seem affable; in his eyes, Seo Daeryong could sense a certain arrogance.
What he could not see before, he could see now.
“There is someone I would like to introduce to you. Someone I sincerely respect. He changed my life.”
At that, the man provoked Seo Daeryong again.
“I do not want someone else to change my life. Would that not be a rather insignificant life?”
Seo Daeryong stared at him and said,
“Are people not originally changed because of others? We read books, listen to what other people say, and watch how others live. Seeing you regard such things as insignificant, you truly must be remarkable.”
Perhaps he took it as sarcasm, for the smile vanished from the man’s face for the first time.
At that reaction, Seo Daeryong instead felt relieved.
‘Yes, if he is a villain, those are the eyes he should have. How am I supposed to recognize and deal with a villain if he has such kind-looking eyes?’
A villain who revealed himself like this was less frightening. Truly frightening villains were those who showed no sign of it at all.
But soon, the man returned to that amiable expression.
“Come to think of it, we have not even exchanged names. I am Seo Daeryong. Forgive my late greeting.”
At that, the man introduced himself.
“I am called Jagyeong.”
Jagyeong, are you my destined adversary?
“You said earlier that you were a demonic practitioner. What is your affiliation?”
Just what identity would he claim?
Jagyeong answered Seo Daeryong’s curiosity with astonishment.
“I am the disciple of the Saber Demon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
“!”
Then he shamelessly asked Seo Daeryong,
“And what is your affiliation?”
Seo Daeryong stared at him in shock.
I knew he had learned the Heaven-Destroying Demon Saber Form, but he is the Saber Demon’s disciple? Which Saber Demon? Surely not Master’s disciple? Could he be a disciple Master accepted in the past? Seo Daeryong’s mind grew complicated.
“I too am the Saber Demon’s disciple.”
Seo Daeryong answered honestly. There was no need to bother lying to someone who had come seeking him out while already knowing.
Jagyeong smiled strangely and said,
“I never heard that he had a disciple like you.”
“The same goes for me.”
Srrrk.
The great saber on Jagyeong’s back moved on its own and slipped into his hand.
“Then one of the two of us must be a fake.”
Seo Daeryong was overwhelmed by the other man’s presence as he drew his saber. He himself could not draw his in such a stylish manner with telekinetic retrieval.
Instead of lifting his saber, Seo Daeryong quickly said,
“If we meet Master, will we not be able to tell who is real and who is fake?”
At the very least, he was certain the other man was not trying to kill him. If he had been, he would have attacked from the start. But as though that thought were a grave delusion—
Shwaaaaaak!
A streak of fierce saber energy flew toward Seo Daeryong.
Seo Daeryong threw himself aside and dodged the saber energy.
‘If I hadn’t dodged, I would be dead.’
When Seo Daeryong rolled across the ground and rose, the great saber was already in his hand.
‘Is he insane?’
They had been talking amiably with smiles, and then he had suddenly started a fight.
What was more, that killing intent had been sincere.
So he wanted to fight here? If a fight broke out, everyone would rush out.
He was an opponent whose thoughts could not be grasped at all. If he had wanted to kill Seo Daeryong, it would have been better to launch a secret ambush from the start.
“If the two of us fight here, everyone will gather.”
“I will kill the fake, and the spectators too.”
Shwaaaaaak!
Once again, Jagyeong’s saber energy came surging in.
This time, Seo Daeryong did not dodge and instead unleashed saber energy of his own. Since the other man had not used the Heaven-Destroying Demon Saber Form, Seo Daeryong also simply released saber energy and met the attack.
The two streaks of saber energy collided in midair.
Boom!
At the very least, Seo Daeryong was not being pushed back in terms of internal energy.
As the two of them began fighting, warriors gathered there.
At the news that a fight had broken out, even the leaders of each sect who had been waiting in the main hall all rushed over.
“You two, stop fighting!”
When they appeared, Jagyeong did not attack. Judging by his momentum just moments ago, it had seemed he would launch saber energy in earnest at everyone gathered here.
Jagyeong’s expression was as calm as though nothing had happened.
‘You said you would kill the fake and the spectators too, did you not?’
Then something Seo Daeryong had never imagined happened. Jagyeong said this to everyone:
“The man who committed the bloody massacre of the Daejeong Sect is this man right here.”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Seo Daeryong, whom Jagyeong was looking at.
“This man is Seo Daeryong, disciple of the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.”
Seo Daeryong looked at Jagyeong in astonishment. He had truly never imagined that the man would reveal his identity to the orthodox sect members and frame him.
‘What in the world are you doing?’
Did he think this would work? In the end, if they examined the rights and wrongs of the matter, it would be revealed that he too had learned demonic arts, would it not?
Even so, Jagyeong’s exposure continued.
“That man’s saber is the beloved weapon the Blood Heaven Saber Demon used in his youth. The characters Peerless on the blade prove it.”
The experts around them drew their weapons in unison and surrounded Seo Daeryong.
“He said he came here today to kill every expert present!”
Seo Daeryong was dumbfounded. The man was saying the very words Seo Daeryong should have said.
Seo Daeryong said to everyone,
“That is a lie! This man is the murderer! The one who committed the tragedy of the Daejeong Sect is him.”
At that, an aged expert among those surrounding him stepped forward. He was the master of Flying Sword Manor, who had attended today’s meeting.
“Are you indeed the disciple of the Blood Heaven Saber Demon?”
Seo Daeryong had already been imprisoned in the Chongqing Branch and then released. He could not hide his identity.
“That is correct. But the claim that I annihilated the Daejeong Sect is a lie. The one who committed that deed is that man. He also said he would eliminate all of you today.”
At that, the people standing around him all sneered at once. Some shook their heads, and others emitted direct killing intent toward Seo Daeryong.
‘What is this? Why are they acting like this?’
The master of Flying Sword Manor looked at Seo Daeryong on everyone’s behalf with an expression of disbelief.
“Do you even know who this man is?”
The Flying Sword Manor master’s next words were shocking.
“This young hero here is the Azure Cloud New Hero.”
Seo Daeryong looked at Jagyeong in astonishment.
The Azure Cloud New Hero.
He too had heard of him.
He was a young hero who had recently risen to prominence in the orthodox murim.
A rising chivalrous hero who had killed many villains and saved countless lives through various righteous deeds. Ah, come to think of it, he had also heard that the man was a master of saber arts.
‘This man has been posing as a chivalrous hero!’
Seo Daeryong understood. This affair related to his master was a conspiracy that had been prepared for a very long time.
And today’s gathering was clearly a trap meant to ensnare him.
‘I was not the one buying time!’
Jagyeong had been stalling while waiting for as many experts attending the meeting as possible to gather.
Moreover, the reason he had earlier told Seo Daeryong he would kill them all was so that Seo Daeryong would reveal it here.
The Azure Cloud New Hero tried to massacre orthodox experts? The Azure Cloud New Hero was a demonic practitioner who had learned demonic arts?
The moment he said something no one would believe, his credibility had already collapsed.
Jagyeong shouted to the assembled heroes,
“Let us join forces and eliminate this demonic practitioner!”
At the same time, he sent a voice transmission to Seo Daeryong.
—If you want to survive here, you will have to use the Heaven-Destroying Demon Saber Form!
Absolute Regression, Chapter 510