The Cheon Hwi in his final memory looked quite different from the Cheon Hwi of now.
He seemed to have aged by five or six years, his features a bit more mature.
But the most important thing had not changed.
"To take out your frustration on others just because things didn't go your way! If the dead Lord of the Black Alliance saw this, he would have scolded you severely!"
"…You shouldn't have said that."
Cheon Hwi drew his sword toward the Taoist from the Wudang Sect who had dared to invoke the Lord of the Black Alliance.
The Wudang Taoist, startled, drew his own sword in response.
"Drawing your sword in a place like this! So the rumors are true—the Sword Demon isn't just crazy, he's out of his mind!"
By this point, someone usually steps in to mediate. This has nothing to do with Orthodox or Unorthodox Sects.
Drawing a sword means someone's looking to kill, and even if I don't know exactly what's going on here, it's clear this isn't the time for allies to fight each other.
But even so, Cheon Hwi drew his sword, and no one stopped him. Not even those who appeared to be from the same Wudang Sect.
Sword in hand, the flustered Wudang Taoist glanced around.
"Is everyone just going to stand by and watch?! Senior brother! I know the acting sect leader ordered us to cooperate with the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance, but can you really just look on while your junior brother is being pushed around like this!"
A mix of indignation and lament—the very picture of someone who truly worries about the future of the martial world.
But the Taoist called senior brother only hardened his expression further.
"How dare you call me senior brother! You secretly told them the way to the sect leader, and then just stood by and watched as the elders of our sect were slaughtered by the Heavenly Demon without lifting a finger…!"
"What are you— nonsense! I don't know where you heard this, but it's all the schemes of those wicked Unorthodox Sects! You have to believe me, senior brother!"
"…It's not just suspicion. I've already secured hard evidence, and I saw every bit of it with my own eyes. The two military officers found the people involved without even sleeping—that's how I came to know all this."
The Taoist pulled a black letter from his bosom and tossed it at his feet as he spoke. The sword-bearing Taoist who had been staring at it silently hardened his expression.
"Then what was I supposed to do?"
"So you finally admit it."
"Do you still not understand? The Heavenly Demon! No one can bring him down! Even if the Orthodox and Unorthodox join hands and every surviving Harmony Realm martial artist attacks together? You know well that's not enough! You saw it yourself, senior brother!"
"Yes. I certainly saw it. The Heavenly Demon's Aura covering the world, devouring all those Intent techniques."
"Then! At least the ones who remain should live! At least the Third Generation Disciples should be spared!"
"But we should have died fighting. We should not have abandoned our Sect Leader, we should not have turned a blind eye to our fellow martial artists of the Central Plains, and even if it was reckless, we should have died fighting."
The one called senior brother shook his head firmly. Then, in a voice tinged with lament, he added.
"The martial arts of Wudang were broken by the Heavenly Demon, and the spirit of Wudang was broken by you. Nowhere in this world is there any Wudang left. …And yet, I still regard you as my junior brother, knowing full well what righteousness is. Sword Demon. I have a request. Sever the ties for me."
"That was my intention anyway."
"Senior brother! Senior brother…!"
The traitor called out desperately, but his senior brother only shut his eyes tightly. He never answered.
It did not take Cheon Hwi long to cut down the traitor.
Even though he had not exchanged even ten full moves, the sight of Cheon Hwi bringing down a fellow Transcendent Peak martial artist drew looks of awe from those around him… but.
Those looks were soon crushed under a weight of grim emotions and vanished.
Cheon Hwi flicked his wrist, sending the blood flying from his sword, and spoke.
"Then let's go find the next traitor."
Similar scenes played out again and again after that.
Some admitted their sins, some denied them to the very end, and some sensed the danger and tried to flee.
But the result was the same either way. In the end, they all met Cheon Hwi's blade at the neck, or through the heart.
Seol Ri-hyang, who had been watching all of this in silence, finally spoke with a stunned expression.
"So… if I'm right about what I inferred from watching you find the traitor and exchange a few words…"
Seol Ri-hyang trailed off as if she couldn't believe it, or as if she couldn't bear to say it out loud. Seomun Hwa-rin picked up where she left off.
"That's right. It seems the Heavenly Demon has invaded, and has managed to seize victory in a war against the entire Central Plains."
"Haah. Now I understand a little better why Cheon Hwi panics whenever something involving the Heavenly Demon or the Demonic Cult comes up."
"…I don't understand what either of you are talking about."
Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin had been sharing a conversation only they understood, and now they were just letting out deep sighs one after another.
Tang So-wol, perhaps feeling left out by the sight of the two, spoke in a curt voice. Of course, it had no particular effect.
"I'm sorry, sister Tang. But you'll find out soon enough, so don't make such a face."
"As Hyang-i said. For now, just watch. That is enough."
"Hmph. Well, fine. I'll do that for now."
Tang So-wol still looked displeased, but perhaps she had realized that this memory was more important than the previous ones.
She answered obediently and slowly looked around.
"Come to think of it, no one here complains about how shabby the buildings are."
The memories she had seen before. Buildings that were a mess, only slightly better than the Iron Blood Faction's.
It wasn't that there were no people. But it was as if no one had the leisure to care—no one put any effort into minor upkeep.
"So you noticed that. Unlike before, the voices of others are coming through clearly now."
As the Illusion Witch had said, his face was still unrecognizable—perhaps because it was the part where Cheon Hwi's seal operated directly.
Voices that had previously been drowned in heavy static, intelligible in content but impossible to identify by tone, now came through clearly.
"However, the fact that the mental image from the end could be conveyed… it seems that's not quite the case."
"Well, it's still too early to judge. Perhaps it's simply because Hwi's emotions are too calm."
Seomun Hwa-rin looked at Cheon Hwi with worried eyes.
She could tell that something major had happened against the Heavenly Demon. In the process, the Lord of the Black Alliance, the Murim Alliance Leader, and several Harmony Realm martial artists from both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects had died.
She also understood that he was currently hunting down and purging the traitors who had interfered with the events of that time.
But Cheon Hwi handled all of it with an astonishingly calm expression.
The only time he showed any emotion at all was a brief flicker when the Lord of the Black Alliance was brought up.
At a glance, he seemed like someone who, even in the most hopeless of situations, quietly sought out what needed to be done and did it.
Indeed, several of the martial artists who now followed Cheon Hwi thought exactly that.
But the three women who had glimpsed Cheon Hwi's past thought otherwise.
His calmness was only natural. Because…
"It seems he's still frozen on that day."
"That is how this one sees it as well."
Cheon Hwi had already wandered the very bottom of hell, so there was nowhere left for him to fall.
After dealing with every traitor who had sided with the Demonic Cult, Cheon Hwi's destination was the innermost small room.
It wasn't ornate, but its structure seemed the most secure. Surely the person living here must be someone important to the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance.
Perhaps it was just his mood. Cheon Hwi's expression, which had been rigid the entire time, seemed to soften ever so slightly.
The moment Cheon Hwi opened the door, what lay inside was the corpse of a young woman who had hanged herself.
"…Strategist. So you decided to follow after all."
Staring blankly at the corpse, Cheon Hwi muttered those words, then carefully lowered the woman called Strategist down. He laid her flat on the floor in a neat posture, then took out the letter placed on the desk and read it.
- The person who will probably read this first, the person who will discover my final moments first, will be you, Sword Demon.
Those who contributed to the Alliance Lord's death are all on the list I delivered to you.
I trust you will handle things well on your own.
…I'm sorry. But I could not endure any longer.
In a world without the Alliance Lord… no, without my beloved husband, I no longer knew what I was supposed to do, or what meaning there was in continuing to live.
I had wanted to leave long ago, but… Sword Demon, you kept lingering in my sight.
So, even knowing it was meaningless, I leave these few lines.
Survive.
Unlike me, you are a strong person. Surely, even when it is difficult and painful, you are someone who can keep living.
So do not think of facing the Heavenly Demon head-on—flee far away instead.
You must surely know well that past karmic debts and infamy are now meaningless.
The Sword Demon cherished you, my lord. And I wished to leave behind in this world one thing that he held dear.
I will not tell you to forget everything.
This is merely a plea—do not throw away your life meaninglessly as this worthless woman did.
I and your lord were both too clumsy to give you much.
Even so, please remember that he always thought of you.
I am sorry, once again.
I beg you, forgive my weakness.
"…"
Cheon Hwi read the letter he had finished once more. When his gaze reached the end, he went back to the beginning again.
Only after reading the letter several times did he finally open his tightly shut mouth.
"You foolish fool. You unlucky wretch. You acted like you were the only clever one… and in the end, this is what that head of yours chose."
Cheon Hwi folded the letter and tucked it into his bosom. He gently lifted the corpse lying on the floor into his arms.
"Don't worry. I'll bury your body beside the Alliance Lord."
His expression remained calm. But the three women watching from the side instinctively realized it.
That the flames of Cheon Hwi's hell had grown even fiercer.
What followed was truly easy to understand.
The Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance, having lost its two pillars—the Lord of the Black Alliance and the Murim Alliance Leader—should have collapsed without resistance. To hold together that hollow shell, Cheon Hwi swung his sword like a madman.
He had forgotten how to cry, lost the ability to laugh, and was too exhausted to feel anger.
But no one knew better than him how to wield a sword.
To guard the empty seat of the Lord of the Black Alliance, to uphold the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance that the man had striven for in life.
Cheon Hwi led the charge, burning himself more fiercely than anyone, more like an unorthodox martial artist than anyone else.
There were still a few absolute masters of the unorthodox sects stronger than Cheon Hwi, yet among those unorthodox martial artists who prized strength above all, none followed in their wake.
Everyone watched Cheon Hwi's back, and silently, they died behind him.
The unorthodox martial artists, who prized their lives above all else, had stayed until the very end without fleeing. It was because of this that the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance, though a hollow shell, could still hold itself together.
It must have been because Cheon Hwi was the undeniable successor to the Lord of the Black Alliance. Even if he himself did not realize it.
But unlike the situation of the unorthodox martial artists, Cheon Hwi was being pushed further and further into a corner with every swing of his sword.
It was only natural. Having lost a great number of Harmony Realm martial artists, the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance, its strength sharply diminished, could not withstand the Demonic Cult.
They were gradually giving ground, being driven into an increasingly disadvantageous position.
No matter how well he fought, in the end, he was a Transcendent Peak martial artist.
His limits were clear.
Cheon Hwi would die fighting recklessly. That was how it should have been.
Until he met a woman.
"You seem desperate to die. Truth be told, so am I."
Hair gone completely white. Her bangs hung down, covering one eye, and the sorrowful smile at the corner of her lips stirred both pity and unease at once.
A deep green light flickered in her one exposed eye. Her green martial robes were heavily stained, yet had not lost their color.
The sole survivor of the Tang Clan stood beside Cheon Hwi.
"Since we're at it, let's die together. Might as well take as many of them with us as we can."
Much had changed, but her features were unmistakable. And now, her voice came through clearly.
Tang So-wol, who had been watching Cheon Hwi with bated breath, opened her eyes wide.
And then she understood everything.
"Wha—Sister Hwa-rin was the one who stole the undergarments?!"
"Is that what matters right now?!"