The searing heat remained unchanged.
Whatever was happening beyond that point.
It was a heat and killing intent so thick and tenacious
that there was no need to see it with one’s own eyes.
Even though it was a winter night, with cold surrounding them,
the frost could hardly be felt.
Crunch.
Leaves crackled beneath her feet.
Leaving the heat behind her,
Wi Seol-a walked for a while.
If possible, she wanted to go somewhere the moonlight shone clearly. It felt as though she should.
—Are you sure you don’t need to see?
She paid no attention to the voice she heard.
There was a trace of moisture in it, as if the speaker were worried.
But now was not the time for that.
She did not go very far.
She was moving while the second test had been temporarily suspended.
She had to return soon.
After walking a little farther, she fortunately arrived at a place where the moonlight poured down distinctly.
Just as she slowly approached and settled into a spot,
“You surprise me.”
The person who had been following behind her finally spoke.
She had known.
That he was following her.
“I thought you, of all people, would watch what he was doing.”
“...”
“I suppose you’re not curious.”
For some reason, a crack appeared across the face of the smiling man.
Along with it, she sensed a base emotion.
Seeing this, Wi Seol-a said nothing in particular.
She did not want to exchange words with him.
“You ignored my request and even set out ahead of me.”
“I have no obligation to grant your request.”
At Wi Seol-a’s sharp reply, Jang Seon-yeon gave a derisive chuckle.
“You’ve always been like this, but I truly don’t understand.”
“What is it?”
“Why you hate me so much.”
Even at Jang Seon-yeon’s words, Wi Seol-a’s face remained expressionless.
“I’ve done nothing to you. Why do you hate me so intensely?”
“Not yet, perhaps.”
“…Ha.”
At her words, which were almost resolute,
Jang Seon-yeon merely smiled bitterly.
“How can you be so certain? You speak as though you’re convinced I’ll do something.”
“Is that not so?”
Wi Seol-a’s voice was calm.
As if to say, You will undoubtedly do something.
Faced with such unwavering words, Jang Seon-yeon was forced to close his mouth.
“…You’re really too much.”
“You aren’t denying it, either.”
“If I denied it, would you believe me?”
“No.”
He chuckled.
It was because the thoughts that had occupied his mind of late refused to leave.
‘It’s become twisted.’
Quite literally.
The path that should have stretched out before him as a broad, unobstructed road
felt as though it had become twisted somewhere along the way.
‘Where did it start?’
Where had it begun to go wrong?
His thoughts and plans should have been perfect.
Moreover, he prided himself on possessing the talent to support them.
‘Just what…’
Not only the people around him,
but even that woman—
he could only feel that everything was becoming increasingly and deeply tangled.
Countless young talents and those around him sent him admiration and expectation.
Yet the very people whose attention he desired most did not.
Why had such a difference come about?
Even as he thought about it,
Jang Seon-yeon already knew the answer.
‘It must be because of that bastard.’
Jang Seon-yeon summoned a face in his mind.
The man had not drawn his attention when they first met.
He remembered only that, while so many people had looked at him with interest,
that man’s gaze had been distinctly different.
Malice.
At the time, the man’s gaze had been filled with malice.
As though he had no intention of hiding it,
his eyes had been steeped in contempt.
It was the first time anyone had ever looked at him that way.
Jang Seon-yeon could not forget that moment.
‘Why?’
Jang Seon-yeon did not know.
At least, he had not yet done anything to that man that warranted such a look.
And even if he had,
he would have made certain it went unnoticed.
It was nothing more than simple malice.
Jang Seon-yeon was unfamiliar with such a gaze,
but he had not thought too deeply about it.
The man must have looked that way because he envied him.
He had assumed it was the gaze of someone coveting and yearning for what he could not possess.
‘Ha.’
As he recalled it, Jang Seon-yeon inwardly let out a hollow breath.
He felt pathetic for having thought it was something so trivial.
‘Envy?’
Had that bastard envied him?
There was no way.
The stage had been built for him to shine,
yet that other bastard had stolen all the attention.
The True Dragon.
Just thinking of that title made his stomach churn
and his heart race.
Why?
Why was someone like that a member of his generation?
It was a wretched, teeth-grinding thought that always came to him before sleep.
He had never imagined that he, of all people, would utter such self-deprecating words.
Just as the title bestowed upon him suggested,
the man had been a dragon holding his breath alone
amidst a swarm of writhing snakes.
When that enormous body began to move,
the spectacle of snakes that had barely established their positions and held their lines collapsed.
That was what the man’s appearance had been like.
No matter how desperately the Beggars’ Sect changed the subject,
no matter how much he donned a mask and called himself a divine being,
how long could it last?
Jang Seon-yeon himself already knew the answer.
Besides,
if that was the sight he was showing from afar right now—
‘Is he trying to show this to me?’
Jang Seon-yeon ground his teeth as he considered the man’s intentions.
The reason he had begun exuding killing intent in every direction and imprinting his presence upon them—
was it not so that he could show it to him, deliberately and unmistakably?
Jang Seon-yeon was certain of it.
—You hate me like I’m a piece of shit too.
Those were the words Gu Yangcheon had spoken to Jang Seon-yeon
when he had asked why he hated him so much.
The rough manner of speaking and sneering expression made his anger surge whenever he recalled them.
But at the same time, it raised a question.
‘How did he know?’
For some reason,
Gu Yangcheon had used a tone and gaze as though he saw straight through Jang Seon-yeon.
And yet, surely, they had never seen or even heard of each other before the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
‘I don’t like him.’
How could he?
That bastard had stolen all the attention he himself had wanted to receive.
Besides—
‘What I hate most is that he has the talent to back it up.’
Though he hated to admit it,
that bastard was on an entirely different level from the other young talents.
He was like a star shining brilliantly on its own, as though the heavens themselves had bestowed it upon him.
A star?
How laughable.
Even among the geniuses called stars because this was the generation of shooting stars,
that bastard moved along an entirely different orbit.
And that was precisely why—
‘He has to be eliminated.’
He had to be removed from before his eyes.
For he had always been meant to be the brightest star.
The Sword Dragon and Hidden Dragon who had recently caught people’s attention were irritating as well,
but not to the same extent as Gu Yangcheon.
As he tried to dispel the suffocating frustration in his heart, Jang Seon-yeon looked at the woman before him.
Her appearance was hidden beneath a hooded cloak,
but she was truly beautiful.
She had not been quite so beautiful when he first saw her.
But as time passed, it felt as though her features had begun to hold a radiance of their own.
An appearance suited not to the faint moonlight,
but to the sun in broad daylight.
Ironically,
the sword art she had created must have been modeled after her own Black Moon.
The woman grew more beautiful with each passing day,
and the background she possessed could not have been more advantageous to Jang Seon-yeon.
The Sword Sovereign’s sole successor.
And the woman was exceptionally talented as well.
‘No matter how outstanding Gu Yangcheon is…’
Could he truly be more remarkable than this woman, who had crossed a wall in only a year or two?
“I believe you haven’t forgotten.”
At Jang Seon-yeon’s words, Wi Seol-a bit down slightly on her lip.
“That if I were to stand at the highest position here, you would become mine.”
Before they came here,
it had been a wager and a pact exchanged between Wi Seol-a and himself.
She asked in return.
“…Have you forgotten what would happen otherwise?”
“Ah. That?”
Jang Seon-yeon smiled sweetly at Wi Seol-a’s words.
Wi Seol-a frowned at the emotion contained in that smile.
“If I fail to do so, I’ll grant your request, whatever it may be.”
What had it been again?
She had wanted him to ask his father
to allow her to enter Mount Tai’s Demon Realm.
And she had also said she wanted one of the treasures owned by the Jang Family.
“May I ask you something?”
“...”
Wi Seol-a seemed not to hear him at all,
but Jang Seon-yeon continued regardless.
“What is it that you like so much about him?”
“What?”
The moment Gu Yangcheon’s name came from Jang Seon-yeon’s mouth,
Wi Seol-a’s voice and gaze turned cold.
Of course, that did not stop Jang Seon-yeon from speaking.
“I know you served as a servant in his household. Are those memories truly so precious to you? It was only a little over a year.”
“What do you know to speak so carelessly?”
“I don’t know, which is why I’m asking you to tell me. You seem awfully angry.”
Even the sight of her grinding her teeth in anger was beautiful.
“He’s even engaged to another woman, I hear.”
“…”
“I could understand if you had developed feelings for him while serving as his attendant. But do you really think there’s still a place for you beside him now?”
At Jang Seon-yeon’s words,
Wi Seol-a’s reaction appeared violent.
She had always been like this.
Wi Seol-a was strangely vulnerable whenever the subject was that bastard.
Did she like him that much?
Desire him that much?
Though he disliked that about her,
her reaction made her so very easy to provoke.
“You…”
“Perhaps the reason you accepted our pact was because you believed that, with him around, I would never be able to rise to the top.”
In a way, she must have thought it was a convenient arrangement for her.
The True Dragon had said he would be going to the Divine Dragon Academy,
and Wi Seol-a herself would be going there as well.
She must have thought she could break a pact like this whenever she pleased.
‘It seems you still don’t understand.’
If you could not chase after someone because they had climbed too high,
you simply dragged them back down.
She seemed not to understand this simple principle.
‘Perhaps her head is filled with flowers.’
The world could not possibly be so peaceful.
Unfortunately, she still seemed to live in peace.
‘One more provocation, and she looks ready to draw her sword.’
She was doing her best to suppress her emotions,
but Jang Seon-yeon could tell.
Wi Seol-a was at her limit.
If he said just one more thing,
would Wi Seol-a still be able to endure it?
Jang Seon-yeon was curious.
“Watch carefully. When he finally falls apart and bows his head to me—”
Click.
At the chilly sensation, Jang Seon-yeon immediately drew up his energy.
As expected, if things continued like this—
Tap.
“…Huh?”
Contrary to his expectation that Wi Seol-a would immediately draw her sword,
Jang Seon-yeon had no choice but to stiffen at what happened.
Someone had suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Like a ghost.
He had not sensed the person’s approach until they suddenly appeared between him and Wi Seol-a.
Wi Seol-a was just as startled when she realized it.
As a silence tinged with surprise settled over them,
a quiet wind blew.
“…Unnie…?”
Wi Seol-a’s voice drifted away on the wind.
When Wi Seol-a spoke in a whisper,
the person who had intervened turned her gaze toward her.
Hair of platinum white, filled with moonlight,
a navy-blue martial uniform,
and the faint sensation of lightning energy.
‘…That woman.’
Jang Seon-yeon immediately knew who she was.
Even with a veil covering her face,
the image of a woman like that had been deeply etched into his mind.
‘The Sword Dancer…?’
The woman whose sword he had defeated at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
The Sword Dancer, Namgung Bi-a, turned her head toward Wi Seol-a at her call.
Then she gave a small wave and spoke to her.
“…Hello.”
Her quiet tone resembled the atmosphere around her.
Wi Seol-a examined her with a distinctly surprised expression.
“Unnie… why are you…?”
“…I was looking for you. I found you… so that’s a relief.”
“Me…?”
“Yeah….”
At Namgung Bi-a’s words, Wi Seol-a’s eyes trembled.
Seeing Wi Seol-a like that,
Namgung Bi-a slowly parted her lips.
“I haven’t greeted you yet….”
After explaining why she had come looking for her,
she spoke to Wi Seol-a once more.
“It’s been a while.”
“…It’s been a while.”
“How have you… been?”
Her previously impassive voice,
as he listened to it, carried a faint gentleness.
As though she was truly happy to see her.
But Wi Seol-a
could not answer at all when asked how she had been.
Her lips moved soundlessly as she remained silent.
When Namgung Bi-a took a step toward her,
“Sword Dancer.”
Jang Seon-yeon called out to stop her.
“…It’s a pleasure to see you again after so long, but she and I have not yet finished our conversation.”
Unlike usual, Jang Seon-yeon’s voice was pressed cold.
Too many unpleasant circumstances had arisen at once, making it difficult to control himself.
“So, we can talk later—”
“Who?”
“…What?”
At Namgung Bia’s words, spoken as she slowly turned her head to look back at Jang Seonyeon.
Jang Seonyeon was momentarily rendered speechless.
No matter how she thought about it, she must have heard wrong.
“What did you just say…?”
“You… who are you?”
But as if to prove that Jang Seonyeon had heard correctly.
Namgung Bia repeated the same question.
She tilted her head as far as she could and asked Jang Seonyeon.
Who are you, she was asking.
Jang Seonyeon suppressed the turmoil boiling within her and forced a smile.
Then she took a step toward Namgung Bia.
That couldn’t be.
“Don’t joke around, Sword Dancer.”
Back at the Martial Arts Tournament.
The woman who had swung her sword at me with such desperate ferocity.
She couldn’t remember me? That was absurd.
“There’s no way you don’t remember me…”
“…Don’t come any closer.”
Namgung Bia raised a hand, drawing a line between them and telling her not to approach.
Her expression could not be seen beneath the veil.
But there was something troubled in her voice.
As Jang Seonyeon’s expression began to waver, wondering what on earth was happening—
“…You smell…. Don’t come any closer….”
At Namgung Bia’s firm words.
Jang Seonyeon’s mask finally shattered.
******************
Fwoosh!
The entire area was filled with flames.
A massive stream of scarlet fire.
As though it possessed a will of its own, it was turning the surroundings into chaos.
Boom!
“AAARGH!”
A young martial artist nearby was swept up by the pressure and sent flying into the air.
He rolled across the ground as he landed. There were countless others like him scattered around.
Even the instructors could do nothing but scramble to tend to them.
Crack!
The heat that brushed past them swallowed up an old tree.
Whoosh!
The tree, engulfed by the flames, turned into a heap of ash before their eyes.
Looking upon the area consumed by fire.
It was a scene straight out of hell.
‘Remarkable.’
Bi Uijin watched from a distance, feeling the heat on his skin.
A satisfied impression surfaced on his face.
‘Her ability to control her energy is extraordinary.’
Despite the huge fireballs raging through the surroundings.
Only one or two things were occasionally burned.
The flames did not actually spread or set the area ablaze.
In other words.
Even while unleashing such power.
She was controlling it with near-perfect precision.
‘At that young age?’
My, my.
Thinking of the owner of those fierce flames.
Paejon could not help but smile.
She was far more impressive than he had expected.
Whoosh!
“Eek!”
As the heat leaked out and began to flow toward them.
Bibi cried out in surprise and hid behind Bi Uijin’s back.
Vwoom.
Seeing this, Bi Uijin quietly spread a qi barrier without anyone noticing.
“…Wow….”
Perhaps because the heat had diminished somewhat.
Bibi watched the flames with sparkling eyes.
“Isn’t it amazing? How can anyone do something like that…?”
“Is it wondrous?”
“Of course!”
No matter how exceptional she was among the younger generation.
In the end, she was still a member of the younger generation.
And her opponent was none other than the master known as the Sword Empress.
Under such circumstances, the intense, dense flames made it impossible to tell what was happening inside.
‘Amazing…!’
Bibi’s eyes shone.
She had thought only her elder brother could do something like this.
Could all the Six Dragons and Three Peaks be like this?
She might have felt disappointed in herself after sensing the gap in talent.
But Bibi was simply amazed.
“I didn’t expect the Sword Empress to be pushed back.”
“Who says she’s being pushed back?”
Bi Uijin cut her off with a blunt question.
“Well, the Sword Empress can’t do anything right now, can she? So that means she’s being pushed—”
“Can’t do anything…?”
Hmm.
At Bibi’s words, Bi Uijin stroked his chin, though he had no beard, and gave an ambiguous response.
Whenever he reacted like that, it was usually because—
Either she had said something strange.
Or he had heard something strange but could not be bothered to correct her.
“Geez….”
Dissatisfied with his reaction.
Bibi huffed as she reached out to tickle Bi Uijin’s side.
Rustle.
“Hm?”
The strange uproar that had been tearing through the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Then, from somewhere, a flower petal drifted over and gently settled on the tip of Bibi’s nose.
“Huh?”
When she tried to touch it, the petal shimmered faintly before turning to powder and vanishing into the air.
Bibi hurriedly tried to tell Bi Uijin what she had seen.
“Big Brother, just now—”
“Watch carefully. This is where it gets interesting.”
Bi Uijin’s reaction suggested that this was exactly what he had expected.
Although Bibi pouted at his words.
She once again focused on the center of the flames, just as he had told her.
She still could not see anything.
But even Bibi’s eyes began to notice a change.
‘Huh?’
Amid the flames that had been raging so violently.
Flower petals had begun to mingle with them.
‘This is….’
What kind of leaves were they?
Bibi wondered for a moment.
But she soon realized.
They were plum blossoms.
Countless plum blossom petals began riding the flames and wrapping around the surroundings.
Seeing this, Bi Uijin thought:
‘Not bad, but clumsy.’
Her terrifying inner energy.
And her ability to control it were absurdly impressive.
But something seemed to be lacking when it came to close combat.
There was only one reason the Sword Empress appeared to be losing in this situation.
She was doing nothing but evading.
Lightly employing her footwork, she merely kept her distance.
All while avoiding every one of those violent flames.
Then.
Whoosh!
The plum blossom petals were swept up by the wind, taking on the shape of a whirlwind.
The flames that had been spreading through the surroundings were all caught up and hurled into the air.
The entire mass of fire was quelled.
‘Oh ho….’
Bi Uijin let out a sound of admiration.
All those flames.
They had vanished into the wind in an instant, without leaving a trace.
‘Has she changed?’
Bi Uijin looked at the Sword Empress with curiosity.
If this had been the Sword Empress of the past.
She would have chosen a somewhat gentler approach.
But her manner of dealing with this junior was quite violent.
Unlike her, even.
It seemed that the Sword Empress, too, held certain expectations for that child.
Show me more.
This much is disappointing.
That was likely the meaning behind her actions.
It appeared her expectations were rather high.
Even Bi Uijin himself had been more or less satisfied with what he had just seen.
‘She must have grown older and become more shameless with the passage of time.’
If he had said that aloud in front of the Sword Empress.
Paejon or no Paejon, she would have drawn her sword.
But since he was only saying it inwardly, there was no problem.
Bi Uijin smiled pleasantly and looked past the Sword Empress toward someone else.
‘Now then, what are you going to do?’
All the flames that had surrounded him had vanished.
The heat still lingered.
But Gu Yangcheon, the owner of the flames.
He merely stared at the Sword Empress with his face deeply creased in displeasure.
He probably knew.
He knew that he was being tested.
Not for some entrance examination.
He knew that he had been placed upon the Sword Empress’s trial stand.
‘How will he show her?’
Facing the Sword Empress of all people, his frowning expression.
He looked extremely dissatisfied.
Judging by his expression.
It seemed to say, Isn’t this enough?
Yet the Sword Empress still wore the same expectant expression as before.
“Haa.”
Seeing that, Gu Yangcheon finally let out a sigh.
His expression changed as though he had given up.
Bi Uijin could not help but feel a little disappointed.
Not because Gu Yangcheon had given up and this was all he could do.
‘He intends to hide it.’
It seemed that there was more to him, but he had no intention of showing it.
That was what disappointed Bi Uijin.
‘Still, at this level, he really is the perfect—’
His disappointment was one thing.
He had just been about to settle on the thought that Gu Yangcheon was indeed the right choice when—
“I trust that the Sword Empress will take care of the aftermath without fail.”
“…Hm? What do you mean?”
“I ask that you take good care of it.”
As Gu Yangcheon uttered those incomprehensible words.
Whoosh!
“…!”
Bi Uijin and the Sword Empress simultaneously widened their eyes.
The instant Gu Yangcheon spread out his palm and closed his eyes.
The air around them changed.
“Flame Jade.”
The night sky turned upside down.