Tang So-wol, her eyes half-dead, brought in the Illusion Witch.
"Ugh. What in the world is going on at this hour… Did you think I wouldn't need sleep just because I look young on the outside but I'm actually an old woman inside… That's too much. Ah, I want to do Rejuvenation too…"
The Illusion Witch pouted her lips like a duck and spouted nonsense, but the moment she spotted the two figures bound and unconscious in the corner of the room, she snapped right out of it.
"Good heavens. You've really decided to go all out, haven't you. Be honest with me. Isn't there a part of you where ambition is secretly blazing to life…"
She looked at me with an expression that said she'd expected as much, so I made a show of raising my hand as if to flick her forehead.
"…Maybe not, but these things happen in life, I suppose!"
"Yeah. I'm the one who's wronged here."
"…"
"I merely subdued her first since she came looking for me without a word."
"Weeeell. Undercover visits aren't all that rare, so I'll let that slide, but you must have revealed your identity at some point during the journey…"
"I knocked her out before she could even say it."
"Pardon?"
"The one who calls herself the head of the Brocade Guard turned out to be frailer than I expected."
"Uh, um…"
"Surely the Imperial Court is a more politically tangled place than the martial world. Perhaps her family background as a commander was what carried her this far."
"The Brocade Guard and the Eastern Depot are organizations where one can only rise through loyalty and ability, not background…"
"What's this?"
If she was the head of the Brocade Guard, she should be one of the most formidable figures in the Imperial Court when it came to martial prowess.
And yet, someone like that was frail enough to collapse before even finishing a single sentence properly?
No wonder. The reason she had been so easily crushed by the Heavenly Demon before the regression…
"I do wish you would slowly come to realize that young hero Cheon has grown far too strong."
"Hmph. Then there's nothing I can do about it. It seems it's my fault for failing to recognize my own strength."
"Wow… you suddenly became insufferable…"
The Illusion Witch looked at him with a look of disgust for a moment. Then she composed herself and moved on to the main topic.
"So? What's the reason you called me? If it's to ask me to help persuade her when she wakes up, I honestly don't have much confidence in that."
"No. I called you because I want you to erase today's memories with your sorcery before she fully regains her senses."
"…That's practically treason, you know?!"
"It's fine. The Imperial Court will ruin itself on its own without me anyway. If she loses her memories but keeps her life, she should be thanking me instead."
"When you put it that way, it sounds less like the Heavenly Demon and more like the White Moon Sword Lord is trying to bring down the Imperial Court…"
The Illusion Witch drooped her shoulders in disbelief. She glanced at the fallen Martial Princess and the commander for a moment before speaking cautiously.
"It might be possible… but you know the Imperial Court has defenses against most sorcery, right? It won't be easy."
"Then cast a stronger sorcery."
"Eh?"
The Illusion Witch blinked and tilted her head. She should be getting used to me by now, but it seemed she still had a long way to go.
Tang So-wol giggled and chimed in.
"If it doesn't work the first time, we can just try again. It's not like she can resist anyway—she's bound and her internal energy is sealed through Acupoint Sealing."
"Eeek!"
If it doesn't work, go harder. If it still doesn't work, try once more.
It was a crude method, but there was no more effective one than this.
The Illusion Witch swallowed her saliva and asked carefully.
"Um, but what if it still doesn't work…?"
"Then there's nothing we can do."
"What do you mean, nothing we can do?! You're not actually thinking of some real revolution or whatever, are you?!"
"Come on. Surely not. You may not know this, but young hero Cheon is a master negotiator."
"You mean of threats…?"
"I'm sure he'll resolve everything with words!"
"One of them looks like he's holding a sword in his hand, though…"
The Illusion Witch, unable to hide her unease, spoke in a firm voice as if she had made up her mind.
"B-But… if something happens, you won't just abandon me, right? I'll curse you until the very moment my head is severed at the execution ground…?"
"Needless worry. If a problem arises from something I ordered, it's only natural that I take responsibility."
"Responsibility… heheh. Alright. Then instead of erasing the memory, we'll overlay a new one… and just in case, I'll also place a seal to prevent you from speaking of today's events… and to hide that seal, I'll layer a few fake seals on top of it… hmm…"
After pondering for a long while, the Illusion Witch nodded.
"Fortunately, it seems it'll work out somehow!"
"Good. Proceed as planned."
"But with so many layers of sorcery stacked on top of each other, if something goes wrong…"
"Enough. Just go all out. Like I said before, I'll take responsibility."
"Heh heh. Ah, okayyy…"
I don't know why, but the Illusion Witch seems weak to the word "responsibility."
Well, I suppose the word "responsibility" does carry more weight as you get older.
The Illusion Witch flashed an unpleasant smile and began drawing various formations around the Martial Princess and the commander.
In between, she muttered dark sorcerer-like remarks such as, "If not now, when would I ever get to rummage through someone's head like this?" and "They say Imperial Court people are trained against sorcery from childhood, so this should be fun to crack."
She actually is a dark sorcerer, so I suppose there's no real problem with that.
And so the two of them were helplessly subjected to the Illusion Witch's all-out sorcery.
The Illusion Witch, having finished her work, caught her breath as if she had just sprinted at full speed, then looked over at us.
"I-it's done… Now all we have to do is wake them up…"
"Good work."
I lightly patted the Illusion Witch on the back. Ignoring the way she flinched every time my hand touched her, I sat down in front of the Martial Princess and the Commander.
I untied the ropes we had bound them with, just in case, and also released the Acupoint Sealing. Then I sat them up in a comfortable posture, leaning them against the wall.
As I began to shake them a bit more firmly, the two slowly opened their eyes.
To put it plainly, it was a complete success.
"Ddi-ddya? U-ddya-ddya…"
"Where am I, and who am I…?"
There were some minor side effects, though.
The Martial Princess and the Commander stared blankly at the ceiling, muttering to themselves, and the Illusion Witch broke out in a cold sweat.
"Th-this might have been too much… are they going to be okay…?"
"They probably won't remember today, so it's fine."
Anyway, a complete success.
Still, I couldn't just leave them like that. I infused a bit of internal energy to help the flow of qi, and before long, light began to return to both of their eyes.
"Huh? Where is this… huh?"
"Princess! Are you hurt anywhere?"
The Martial Princess blinked and looked around, while the commander, the moment she came to her senses, immediately checked on her well-being.
I put on the most benevolent smile I could manage toward the two of them, who looked full of wariness.
"You've come to your senses."
"You are… the White Moon Sword Lord?"
"…First, step back. And I'd like you to explain the situation."
The Martial Princess's eyes went wide at the sight of my face, while the commander still refused to lower her guard.
Only after I obediently retreated three steps did I speak.
"I had just finished my late-night training and was on my way back when I found the two of you collapsed in front of my room, so I brought you here. I'm glad you've regained consciousness."
"Collapsed, you say? What do you mean…"
The Martial Princess tilted her head, trying to recall her memories. But the commander's brow furrowed deeply.
"Not only is my memory gone, but my internal injuries are severe. Something must have happened, but…"
"You've suffered internal injuries, Commander? Then your opponent must have been no ordinary foe. Do you truly remember nothing?"
"…Truly nothing. I remember escorting the Martial Princess when she set out at night to meet you, White Moon Sword Lord, but the next thing I knew, I was here."
This was the critical part. I put on the most serious expression I could manage, pretending to ponder deeply before speaking.
"Commander, you appear to have reached a considerable level among Harmony Realm martial artists. If someone of your caliber lost consciousness without even noticing… I have a suspicion."
"Who is it?"
"The Slaughter King."
"What?"
"I'm not sure if the news has reached the Imperial Court, but…"
"If you're talking about how the dead Slaughter King keeps coming back to life like a jiangshi, I already know."
The Martial Princess straightened her attire and spoke with an air of authority.
Well, I had reported it to the Murim Alliance, and the Alliance would have explained the situation to the Imperial Court regarding the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance matter, so it wasn't really surprising.
Still, I widened my eyes as if shocked, then slowly nodded.
"…As expected of the Imperial Court. That's right. I don't know what trick the Demonic Cult pulled, but they overwrote the Slaughter King's memories and martial arts onto someone else and kept sending them to assassinate me."
"The Soul-Transferring Grand Ritual. It's a forgotten taboo in the present day, and it's said that no one has ever succeeded… but it seems the Demonic Cult has managed to achieve some results of their own."
"Hoh."
I had known about the Soul-Transferring Grand Ritual for a long time, but that was knowledge only I possessed.
After all, I hadn't bothered to tell the Murim Alliance about the contents of the note the Heavenly Demon had left me.
Yet the Imperial Court already knew that the Slaughter King's resurrection was connected to the Soul-Transferring Grand Ritual.
Perhaps they weren't as incompetent a group as I had thought.
Unaware of my inner thoughts, the Martial Princess smiled with a slightly smug expression.
"Yes. So the Slaughter King came after you, White Moon Sword Lord, and instead attacked me and the Commander. Well, I suppose it takes someone of the Slaughter King's caliber to overwhelm the Commander without him mounting any defense. But why did he only knock them unconscious and leave them unharmed…"
"On that matter, I have a suspicion."
"Oh? Do tell."
"When I faced the Slaughter King who had been resurrected in Zhejiang Province, I sensed something off in his movements. He judged like the Slaughter King and wielded the same martial arts as the Slaughter King… but it was as if killing me was the only thing on his mind. Even for an assassin, his fixation on killing me alone was strange."
"Well said. It seems the Demonic Cult did not fully succeed in the Soul-Separation Grand Ritual after all. Knowledge remains, but there is no self—a sort of puppet. I recall there being similar records of failure. Now it makes sense. He received the order to kill the White Moon Sword Lord, but attacked someone else by mistake—a flaw in the command structure. There are precedents for that as well."
Wait, why do such records even exist? And what precedents?
It seemed the Imperial Court had also researched the Soul-Separation Grand Ritual at some point.
…Well, it was a ritual that could grant eternal life if done right, after all. And those in power have a chronic ailment of being bewitched by immortality.
Though she had misunderstood me on her own, at least things had worked out well in the end. What a relief.
As I let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly, the Commander glanced at me briefly before letting out a deep breath and bowing his head.
"I wish to express my gratitude for helping me and Her Highness the Princess. And—"
The Commander pressed his forehead to the ground before the Martial Princess.
Anyone with martial arts on par with his would normally have too much pride to prostrate themselves so readily…
Was it because he was part of the Imperial Guard? His attitude toward the Imperial bloodline was truly impressive.
"I apologize. My inadequacy led to this incident."
"Rise, Commander. It was not only your shortcoming—my own recklessness was also a cause. I shall not make a great issue of this matter. After all, was it not the Demonic Cult that committed the disrespect in the first place? Just ensure that such a thing never happens again. Understood?"
"Yes!"
The commander replied in a voice brimming with emotion.
The atmosphere was warm—it seemed things had been resolved well on their side as well.
Just as I thought that and let my guard down, the Martial Princess's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But, White Moon Sword Lord. Why are those two behind you here at this late hour? The Tang Clan's daughter and a Sorcery User…"
This was unexpected.
Of course. Poison and sorcery—a combination anyone would find unsettling.
Still, I couldn't back down now that I'd come this far.
With a composed motion, I pulled Tang So-wol and the Illusion Witch by the shoulders and tucked them on either side of me.
"One is my betrothed, and the other is a subordinate I recently took in. And I… am a man in his prime."
"Hmph. My apologies. I seem to have lost track of the time."
The Martial Princess turned her head away, her cheeks flushing red.
And the Illusion Witch…
"Hic!"
She started hiccuping uncontrollably while glancing at Tang So-wol.
Seeing her smile brightly, it seemed she understood that I'd made up an excuse on the spot… but she really was quite timid.
I shook my head inwardly and changed the subject. If I dug any deeper right now, my lie was bound to be exposed.
"But then, what brings the two of you to visit a mere martial arts nobody like me at this hour?"
"For a mere nobody, your reputation is quite colorful. Though that isn't the reason we came."
"Pardon?"
"To begin with, this meeting itself was arranged to resolve a question the Imperial Court has been harboring—and to seek you out. The matter of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance is merely a side issue."
Having said that, the Martial Princess quietly studied me.
Her expression carried a certain dignity, with none of the dazed foolishness she'd shown before fainting.
"As you've likely guessed, the Imperial Court holds all sorts of records. Quite a number of them contain information that has never been released to the martial world."
"I see."
"Then let me ask you this. White Moon Sword Lord Cheon Hwi. Have you ever experienced Defying Heaven?"
"…Pardon?"
"My, that was too abstract. And since I'm a member of the Imperial Court, I can see how it might have been misleading."
The Martial Princess's smile deepened as she said this.
"Let me put it more plainly. Have you, by any chance, traveled back in time to the past?"
"…"
I couldn't say a word.
It wasn't just because of the seal.
Those who knew of the regression's existence had been utterly helpless against the Heavenly Demon…?
An irreverent thought began to smolder deep within my heart.