At the center of the Kunlun Sect. At the source of the anomaly, all I found was a figure wreathed in black, its eyes stained crimson.
"Damn it."
I could tell at a glance. In fact, it would have been stranger if I hadn't recognized it.
That familiar sword art. Killing intent sharp enough to make my skin prickle.
The one slaughtering the renegade monks of the Potala Palace was none other than myself.
And not just any version of me — the Sword Demon, having reached the Harmony Realm.
Anyone who had ever crossed swords with me, or witnessed me in battle, now had their gaze fixed squarely on me.
Still, even with all those eyes on me, none of them knew anything, so there was nothing to say. Thus, I decided to ask someone who might know something.
"Illusion Witch. You may not have noticed, but that is me."
"Ah! I thought so… It wouldn't do for the world to have two such vicious beings."
"…What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing at all!"
"Enough. That's not what matters right now."
Even at this very moment, I pointed at the Sword Demon, who had just cut down another renegade monk.
"That is the Simma I cast off when I ascended to the Harmony Realm. Yet that shed skin still remains, and it wields a martial level comparable to my own — is that even possible? As I see it, it shouldn't be. At the very least, there must be some weakness. Can you tell me what it is?"
"A weakness… of course there must be one."
The Illusion Witch spoke with a serious expression, her gaze fixed on the Sword Demon.
"I've heard that you performed a Grand Ritual using a technique a few times before. I suspect that, without realizing it, the White Moon Sword Lord's image was etched into your mind during that process. And this scene—this is the result of being drawn out by the experience of Clan Extermination, rushing out on its own and getting mixed up in things."
"Hmm."
So there was no denying it—this was my fault.
Feeling a bit apologetic, I glanced around.
The Murim Alliance Leader was focusing on the Illusion Witch's explanation without any particular emotion. When our eyes met, Great Master Jeonghyeon gave a fist-and-palm salute as if to say it was all right.
And Tang Jincheon, who smiled faintly as if to tell me not to worry, and Seomun Hwa-rin, who pounded her chest as if to say I could trust only her.
It seemed no one was inclined to blame me.
The Murim Alliance Leader, catching on to the mood half a beat late, gave a light cough and spoke.
"Ahem. White Moon Sword Lord, you have done no small service for the martial world. Above all, you are barely past the age of twenty. Leave things to your elders from time to time."
"…Thank you."
As I offered a polite fist-and-palm salute, the Murim Alliance Leader returned it with a pleased smile before urging the Illusion Witch on.
"So? I've heard how it happened, but what exactly should we do about that fellow… Hmm."
"Just call him the Sword Demon."
"You can defeat the Sword Demon? As an illusion, it seems… far too fierce with killing intent."
The Murim Alliance Leader, having settled on the title from my words, received a small sigh from the Illusion Witch in response to his question.
"That's a valid concern. You see those monks of the Potala Palace collapsing one by one, never to rise again? They're truly dead. It's because of the vicious killing intent—they were tricked into believing they were really dead. And this will apply to us just the same as it will to the Sword Demon."
"What do you mean by that?"
"If we're struck by the Sword Demon's blade, we die too. …But, the Sword Demon, already drunk on killing intent, is also an illusion—so if we kill him, he should stay dead."
Having said that much, the Illusion Witch hesitantly brought out her artifacts, clutching them in both hands as she delivered her conclusion.
"The Sword Demon's weakness is this: if you cut his neck, he dies."
"…"
For all the gravity of her declaration, it was an obvious statement… but considering that the thing originally had no physical form and was merely an illusion, it was indeed a weakness.
"Let me ask one last time—if we destroy the Sword Demon, we can get out of here, right?"
"Yes. That much is certain."
"Good."
I nodded once, then looked at the martial artists of the Potala Palace, who were now nearly annihilated.
"Once those bastards are all down, we strike together immediately."
There were six Harmony Realm martial artists. And one of them was me.
No matter how powerful the Sword Demon was, if we all struck at once, it wouldn't have a chance to hold out.
They all wore slightly reluctant expressions—whether because they disliked the idea of a joint attack, or because they disliked the idea of having to cut me down—but in the end, everyone nodded.
And into the silence, one more scream was added.
A chest that was perfectly intact, not a single drop of blood seeping out. Yet the fallen monk writhed on the ground, clutching at it with a face twisted in agony, as if his very heart had been pierced.
Needless to say, the Potala Palace's strength was not to be underestimated—they had, after all, wiped out the Kunlun Sect.
Judging by the energy I could sense, there were fully three of them at the Harmony Realm. Beyond that, there were also a great number of experts who seemed to be at the Transcendent Peak or Peak level, but…
All of them had fallen before the Sword Demon.
Two of the three Harmony Realm experts had collapsed clutching their necks while we were still assessing the situation, and the remaining one was putting up his final flailing struggle with one arm hanging limp.
Among the other experts, some had died fighting, while others had been struck down by the sword that rent the very space as they tried to flee.
In the end, the last remaining Harmony Realm expert realized there was no chance of victory and began to ignite his Innate True Qi.
Though it was a body that seemed rather shabby for a Harmony Realm martial artist who had undergone Bone-Exchange Rebirth, it filled out with muscle, and then an unintelligible language flowed from his mouth.
Black energy was drawn out from the corpses of the fallen rogue monks and concentrated into him.
Then, behind the creature whose eyes had blackened even to the whites, a divine light bloomed, reminiscent of a blazing flame.
…And before anything could even begin, he was cut down and killed.
To be precise, he had been startled by a downward strike that targeted the moment he was intoxicated with power and tried to defend, but he was sliced clean through and collapsed.
As someone who used the same martial art, I could tell.
That in that brief instant, he had overlapped it with the Formless Sword to amplify its sharpness to the extreme.
His true martial level seems similar to mine right now.
I swallowed the sigh that was about to escape on its own and spoke quietly.
"It's time."
As if that were the signal, everyone rushed forward at once.
The first to step forward was Tang Jincheon. His sleeves fluttered, and from within burst forth countless hidden weapons along with poisonous mist.
The Sword Demon, having sensed this, unfolded the Thunder Step and raised his sword.
Kwa-rung!
The energy erupting from Yongcheonhyeol shook the very ground as the Sword Demon closed in in an instant.
Rather than widening the distance, he seemed to be charging straight in — Tang Jincheon's eyes twitched at the sight.
But it wasn't long before he understood the intent.
A blood-red Aura compressed to a level comparable to the White Moon Sword. The moment the blade wrapped in it pierced through the center of the hidden weapons and poison mist—
Kwa-rang!
As the compressed Aura burst outward as if scattering itself, a storm of internal energy erupted in all directions with a Loud Noise. It was wind pressure created by the energy.
Under that impact, the poison mist scattered and the hidden weapons had their trajectories twisted.
No matter how much Aura they were imbued with, hidden weapons thrown off their course could not exert their full Power.
When the hidden weapons he had painstakingly launched were blocked by Protective Qi and failed to deal any significant damage, Tang Jincheon's gritted teeth gave way to moving hands once more.
"Where do you think you're going!"
The poisonous mist that had been dispersing gathered toward the Sword Demon, growing even thicker.
A Poison Human's body, capable of converting internal energy into poison. And the Harmony Realm, where one could ignite internal energy at will wherever Intent reached.
A poison art that allowed Poison Application without restriction—granted only to martial artists who had achieved both.
He didn't know what poison it was, but it was certainly no ordinary Extreme Poison. Judging by the color, there were at least five or more Extreme Poisons mixed in.
But the Sword Demon paid it no mind and threw himself into the poisonous mist. Then, looking perfectly fine, he burst out of it and swung his sword.
"Ah."
Realizing that the Sword Demon also possessed Immunity to All Poisons, Tang Jincheon dodged the sword with a flustered look and pulled back. And then.
"The one who knows your sword best is I!"
"I shall join the fray!"
"So the Cheon benefactor was hiding something like this?"
Seomun Hwa-rin, the Murim Alliance Leader, and Great Master Jeonghyeon blocked his path all at once.
Seomun Hwa-rin's fist met the swung sword head-on from the front.
Clang!
The Sword Demon's sword seemed to dig into the Aura atop Seomun Hwa-rin's fist, but before long, it came to a halt.
It was as if overwhelming force was crushing an edge that had strayed from its bounds.
But it didn't end there. Circling around to the side, the Murim Alliance Leader brought his staff down at a cunning angle.
On the opposite side, Great Master Jeonghyeon thrust out a palm shimmering with golden Aura. Even at a glance, the majestic energy behind it made clear this was no strike to be taken lightly.
In an instant, the Sword Demon was surrounded by three Harmony Realm martial artists. I thought that even if this one exchange couldn't bring him down, it would at least inflict a meaningful injury. Even I thought so.
But the Sword Demon's movements slipped past every one of those expectations.
Still in the same stance, blocking Seomun Hwa-rin's Fist Strike, he reached out one hand and grasped something in the empty air.
At the same time, the Protective Qi that had been deflecting the hidden weapons vanished, and all the internal energy and Intent that had been sustaining it began to concentrate into his now-empty hand.
Woong—
A translucent, sword-shaped heat haze. The Sword Demon didn't overlay this Formless Sword onto his original blade—he summoned it separately and swung it.
A sword strike barely visible to the eye. Yet its Aura and killing intent were so thick that it registered with overwhelming clarity through Qi Sense as it met the Murim Alliance Leader's staff.
"A good attempt, but reckless!"
The Murim Alliance Leader's eyes flew wide as he pushed his internal energy up another notch.
The power of a technique comes from the body's movement and the flow of internal energy.
Seomun Hwa-rin had stopped with sword and fist locked against each other, so pouring in more internal energy wouldn't push back the Sword Demon's blade.
The Murim Alliance Leader's staff, not yet fully swung, grew even more vicious in its Aura.
At that moment, the Sword Demon's wrist twisted sharply, and his body posture shifted along with it.
Like smoke swaying in the wind, his form blurred for an instant. Then, a familiar thunderclap rang in his ears.
KWA-RUNG!
The sound of a body moving at full power pushing through the air.
He had used the internal energy circulation normally reserved for the Thunder Sword in deflecting the staff.
In an extreme situation where every instant was split and split again, the Murim Alliance Leader's staff naturally turned in that direction.
"What is this…?"
Even the Murim Alliance Leader hadn't expected such madness, it seemed—he flinched and tried to withdraw his staff, but it was already too late.
The difference in length between fist and staff. Only that slight gap created by it led their twisted trajectories to collide.
KWA-GUNG!
The Murim Alliance Leader's staff bent exquisitely and struck Great Master Jeonghyeon's palm, and from that impact, Seomun Hwa-rin lost her grip on the Sword Demon.
Not content with merely putting distance between the three of them, the bastard swung his sword at those who had exposed their openings.
Since reaching the Harmony Realm, my sword had become fairly free from the constraints of distance.
If a strike that tore through space like this came flying, someone was bound to suffer a considerable injury.
The Illusion Witch, who couldn't possibly be unaware of this, hastily fired off the sorcery she had been preparing while waiting for the right moment.
Jingle.
The sound of several small bells rang out noisily, followed by a peach fragrance spreading from somewhere.
But unlike such auspicious signs, what stood between the Sword Demon and the three Harmony Realm martial artists was a vicious-looking wild boar.
Standing on two legs and clad in armor, it lifted a weapon even larger than its own body—a sight that looked like a slightly twisted version of something often seen in Buddhist paintings.
Though it didn't seem to possess a physical form, the energy emanating from it felt far too threatening to be a mere illusion. Clearly, it had some other effect.
The Sword Demon, momentarily taken aback, focused his killing intent a step ahead of his sword.
The vast killing intent scattered around him converged on a single point, piercing the boar's heart like a sharp thrust.
At that, the illusion scattered as if it had never existed in the first place.
…It seems the principle is the same as when I cut through the Illusion Witch's sorcery.
Killing intent is a basic application of Intent. And when Intent carries a clear direction and is sufficiently concentrated, it can cut through what should be uncuttable.
All the Sword Demon desired was killing intent. Against that intense and overwhelming Intent, the Intent the Illusion Witch had woven into her own sorcery scattered.
Had he judged the Illusion Witch to be the greater threat? Or was he simply trying to eliminate the unfamiliar opponent first?
The Sword Demon's sword, which had paused for a moment, changed its trajectory.
The sword strike, cutting through the air, flew toward the Illusion Witch.
"Hiss!"
The Illusion Witch, who had been preparing her next move, was startled by the translucent sword strike and retreated, but… it was already too late.
Thus, I too swung my sword, unleashing a strike that rent the space itself.
Clang!
Sparks burst forth in midair.
Leaving behind the sight of what looked like two swords colliding with full force, I executed my footwork with extreme urgency.
Like a reflection in a mirror, exactly identical. Yet the swords clashed, tracing symmetrical arcs.
I grinned as I watched the flickering shadow and the crimson gleam of its eyes right before me.
"To think you could withstand the combined assault of five Harmony Realm martial artists without a scratch. I don't know which of us is the original, but you certainly know your way around a sword."
To be honest…
I felt a little proud.