"Earlier, the Slaughter King you drove off—shamelessly, neither dead nor alive, he has resurfaced after harassing the Imperial bloodline. They say he's even near this area."
"…Pardon?"
Why would that be about the real me?
Originally, it was a lie I had concocted to reasonably convince the Martial Palace Princess, whose memories had been lost to the Hwanhwan Witch's sorcery.
The Martial Palace Princess had probably gathered her own information as well. She was the one who had been attacked, after all. Having nearly died and come back, she was bound to be shaken.
But all of the Martial Palace Princess's attempts should have been in vain. After all, the information originated from my lie in the first place.
Yet it had actually come true.
Unlike the Beggars' Sect, which relied on beggars, or the Haomun, which received loose support from the lower classes, the Imperial Court's intelligence bureau could be anywhere if it so chose.
They simply chose not to step forward. In truth, the Imperial Court's intelligence network was far superior to that of the martial world.
…Though I couldn't help but think the problem was that they had plenty of information but little actual power.
In any case, the Martial Palace Princess's words carried a credibility that was hard to brush aside.
Even if that information concerned the Slaughter King, said to be the best in the Central Plains at stealth.
"Is that true? Where in this area did you find him? No, wait—the Slaughter King would never wander around so carelessly in the first place… Could it be that the Imperial Court has a method for seeing through stealth techniques? If possible, I'd like to borrow that power. His stealth doesn't work on me, but others could truly die a horrible death…"
"W-wait a moment! I'll answer you one at a time, so calm down!"
"? I am perfectly calm."
"Someone like that dares to shove his face in so close?!"
The Martial Arts Palace Princess had twisted her upper body back into an odd posture. It seemed she had gotten excited and leaned forward without realizing it.
Thanks to her martial arts training, she seemed to be managing to hold the bent-back position well enough, but that didn't mean it wasn't strenuous.
She could just take a couple of steps back, so why was she stubbornly holding her ground and only bending her back…
"Ah."
Now that I looked closer, I could sense a bit of stubbornness—or perhaps sulkiness—in the Martial Arts Palace Princess's gaze.
She was probably still holding onto what she'd said before: that I wasn't her type.
Well, that made sense. She could let it go and move on, but it would be hard not to let it bother her.
Wasn't that something she'd said with her own fair share of expectation and worry? To be flatly refused like that, and even if the reason was that I was too young, I could understand why she'd act this way.
As I nodded inwardly, the Martial Arts Palace Princess's eyes narrowed.
"…Your gaze is rude. How about you look at me a bit more kindly?"
"I'm looking at you kindly enough as it is."
As I said that and leaned back, the Martial Arts Palace Princess finally let out a sigh and straightened her posture.
Behind me, the Commander closed her eyes tightly, and Namgung Dowi was twitching his hand with a slightly nervous expression.
Anyone watching would think they were hoping a fight would break out between me and the Commander.
…Though, to be fair, we'd already fought about twice.
Anyway, the atmosphere had calmed down somewhat. The Martial Arts Princess continued her explanation calmly.
"First of all, the information itself is trustworthy. It came from the Eastern Depot."
"Oh."
If the Geumuiwi were the Imperial Court's obvious power moving in the light, then the Eastern Depot was like an invisible dagger lurking in the shadows.
Information that came from the Eastern Depot could naturally be trusted. It would have been cross-verified several times over.
"They say he's staying at an inn near the Murim Alliance. His disguise and his ability to conceal his presence are both perfect—an ordinary person would never have noticed him, but…"
"So you grew suspicious after the last incident, and when you went looking, you found him."
"Indeed. As you might have guessed, White Moon Sword Lord, the Imperial Court possesses an artifact capable of seeing through all manner of deception, including concealment arts. It is called the Ilwol Mirror."
"A name I've never heard before."
"Well, isn't that the point? Such things work best when the opponent doesn't know about them. On the surface, it's just an old mirror. Ah, there are also claims that it's the prototype for the Yang Mirror and the Direction Mirror, but those are uncertain stories at best, so I won't bother mentioning them here."
The Yang Mirror is a mirror used to gather sunlight and ignite flames, not used just anywhere but occasionally during important rituals.
The Direction Mirror is a mirror that, when placed facing the moon, collects water on its surface—also not used just anywhere, but for medicinal ingredients.
In any case, as the Unarmed Princess said, this is an irrelevant story for now. …Still, it's the kind of thing the Hwanhwan Witch would enjoy hearing, so it might be nice to casually mention it to her later.
"They say the Eastern Window agents carrying fragments of the Ilwol Mirror have been roaming around, shining it on anyone who seemed suspicious."
"Wait. Fragments of the Ilwol Mirror—surely not… it's broken?"
"Didn't I say it was an old mirror? It wasn't completely shattered, but around seventy or sixty years ago—well, at any rate, a part of it was broken once. It cracked on its own without anyone touching it, which sparked ominous rumors, but nothing came of it, and since the fragments still hold the same power, we're actually putting it to good use now."
"Huh."
The Imperial Court probably had all sorts of artifacts besides the Ilwol Mirror. At some point, the number of artifacts and divine weapons circulating through the martial world had dropped sharply… Perhaps the Imperial Court had been quietly collecting them without anyone knowing.
I pushed aside the irreverent thought that even with such artifacts, they'd been stripped clean by the Heavenly Demon in a single day.
"So where is the Slaughter King now? He'll only become a nuisance if we leave him be, so it's best to deal with him quickly."
He was practically devoid of consciousness anyway, so there was no point in trying to extract information from him. I'd asked with the intention of cutting him down before he caused any trouble, but…
The Murim Alliance Leader's reaction was a bit strange.
"Hmm. Well, the location was an inn called Eunha Inn that you'd spot along the way. …That's the first one, mind you."
"…The first one? What do you mean by that?"
"It was because the Slaughter King continued to be discovered afterward."
"You mean he appeared in other places as well, without staying in one spot?"
"No. I mean there were several people suspected to be the Slaughter King at the same time."
"…"
This was truly unexpected.
Thanks to the incomplete Grand Ritual of Divorce, the Slaughter King could die and still come back to life, retaining his memories and martial level.
But that only meant he could be revived—not that he could be mass-produced.
It was only natural. Think of the early days of my regression. Even with my memories and Enlightenment intact, my body couldn't keep up, so in the end I could only use as much power as my body could handle.
A body capable of fully unleashing the martial arts of a Harmony Realm expert, and the vast internal energy needed to support it.
This is not a problem that can be easily solved, no matter how skilled one is in Sorcery, or even for the Demonic Cult, which can grind up people and animals alike to make Spiritual Medicine.
That was why I placed weight on the fact that they could reliably produce a Harmony Realm expert of the Slaughter King's caliber on a regular basis—I hadn't considered the possibility of several Slaughter Kings attacking at once.
"So that's possible… no, it happened, so it must be possible. Then, how many people are estimated to be Slaughter Kings?"
"Five."
"…Excuse me?"
"That's just the number the Eastern Window has identified."
"So you're saying there could be more."
"It's not as if there are that many fragments of the Sun-Moon Scripture, so it's possible."
I'm going crazy.
So what he's saying is that there are five—or possibly more—Harmony Realm martial artists with concealment skills on par with the Slaughter King, all gathered and surrounding us right now.
The Imperial Court's true purpose was said to be something else, but the surface goal of this meeting was to secure the approval of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance.
Naturally, many masters of the Murim Alliance had gathered, and while the Black Alliance's Alliance Lord hadn't come in person, they had sent a Harmony Realm martial artist as their proxy.
On top of that, there was the Commander tasked with guarding the Martial Princess, and Namgung Dowi as well.
The Harmony Realm martial artists gathered here were clearly numerous. There might be hidden forces, so I couldn't say for certain, but it was obvious this was an overwhelming force. Even just counting the ones I could think of, there were six, wasn't there?
As long as I was careful about their concealment skills, I could handle five Slaughter Kings with ease.
But this was the first time the Heavenly Demon had exposed this much force, having previously only sent people in drips and drabs.
Naturally, he must have sent them with some scheme in mind and the confidence to back it up.
And as has been the case all along, that purpose was probably far removed from helping me grow.
Especially considering that the Heavenly Demon had already experienced multiple regressions and had a record of toppling the Imperial Court in a single day.
He must have been confident in achieving the results he wanted when he sent them.
It just so happened that a lie I'd cobbled together on a whim had luckily struck at the heart of the Heavenly Demon's plans.
"This isn't something we can handle on our own. Have you informed anyone else besides me?"
"I did ask the Imperial Court for help, but I don't think they'll be arriving anytime soon."
"It's quite a distance from where His Majesty the Emperor resides, so that makes sense. For now, it would be best to inform the Murim Alliance Leader."
It wasn't a problem we could solve on our own anyway.
The Princess of the Unarmed Palace had only wanted to plant the impression that she had come running to me first, and she seemed to share my thoughts, as she agreed.
We headed straight to the Murim Alliance Leader and relayed the story we had just shared. His complexion began to turn pale.
"Are you saying there are that many assassins at the level of the Slaughter King?"
"That's what the informant's report said."
"This is absurd…"
The Murim Alliance Leader staggered as if his very understanding of the world had been denied.
This was, in truth, something that completely defied common sense.
Who could have possibly predicted that Harmony Realm martial artists could be churned out like blades stamped from a mold?
But perhaps it was because he had already been entangled with me… no, to be precise, entangled with the Heavenly Demon's schemes through me, that he had witnessed more than a few extraordinary events.
The Murim Alliance Leader quickly composed himself and devised a plan.
"First, we must secretly mobilize the internal personnel of the Murim Alliance. We'll hide most of the martial artists who haven't reached the Harmony Realm inside, and face those bastards with only the remaining martial artists."
"Do you have a countermeasure for the stealth technique? With only a few fragments of the Sun-Moon Mirror left, I'm afraid it won't be enough."
"I don't. But there is one method I can think of that wouldn't require seeing through the stealth technique at all."
"And what would that be?"
"We'll borrow the Poison King's power and spread poison around the area. The Murim Alliance's storehouse doesn't have a divine artifact like the Sun-Moon Mirror, but we have plenty of Blood Poison Wine."
"…Is there a reason you stockpiled that much Blood Poison Wine?"
"Hm. Listen without misunderstanding. White Moon Sword Lord, you could very well join hands with your fiancee and launch an attack. I can't just be taken down without resistance, so…"
"Oh. So I get to face the Alliance Leader myself, rather than a Simma?"
"No, you'll grab the Blood Poison Wine and run."
"…"
"Unlike my worries, you're not someone burning with ambition or a vicious person. I'm truly relieved."
"Ah. Yes."
It was said as a joke, but even if that situation truly came to pass, the Murim Alliance Leader probably wouldn't flee.
More precisely, he wouldn't leave his post until everyone else had already run.
Just like right now.
And so, I carefully conveyed the plan through the Murim Alliance Leader, and steadily positioned people so that no one outside would notice.
While we were in the middle of all these preparations, the sun had set without my realizing it.
It was a night when the moon shone especially bright. Even if it was hard to distinguish colors, the outlines of objects were clearly visible.
Much earlier than expected, the Slaughter Kings entered the Murim Alliance through the front gate with confidence.
However, they were following behind the fair-faced eunuchs.
"…Eunuch?"
The title of the Eastern Window chief slipped from the lips of the Martial Void Princess.
"How can a eunuch who should be in the imperial palace be here…?"
She spoke in a trembling voice.