A Self-Answering Question!
Everyone drew their swords! And yet, no one moved. It was too subtle to call a standoff. After all, Namgoong Pacheon simply stood there without any particular preparation, watching us calmly like a true master bestowing teachings.
Damn, this is awkward as hell.
The two women in front gripped their swords, gauging the flow, but they didn't advance further. A bizarre impasse.
"What are you doing?"
Unable to bear the tension, I asked them both. They answered in unison.
"Looking for an opening."
"Waiting for a gap."
"You think the family head has something like that? You wanna stand here till tomorrow?"
"……."
"……."
The two women fell silent. They'd realized even they couldn't convince themselves.
"Hurry up and go. Haryeong, you first. Weren't you just bragging about showing off your training results?"
"I'll go when I see the moment."
"Ah, just go already."
Frustrated, I shoved her back. Haryeong flinched in surprise.
"F-Forcing a woman into the jaws of death like some brute—!"
Ah, shit.
I yanked my hand away like I'd touched something filthy. Never imagined she'd frame it like that. But Namgoong Haryeong was already snorting and striding forward.
"You mustn't handle a lady so roughly. Got it?"
Look at her, grinning like that. I felt dirty for getting dragged into her weird game.
"I'll clear the path."
"Hah, you blockhead. Fine, go."
Namgoong Haryeong charged ahead. Paeng Sorin followed close behind. Finally, Namgoong Pacheon wrapped his sword in a blue aura as the fight began. Before Haryeong even reached him, he swung first, sending sword energy flying.
A technique straight out of comics or games unfolded before my eyes, but Haryeong parried it effortlessly with the same move.
"She missed one."
"He let it pass on purpose."
Paeng Sorin, chasing after, deflected another blast of sword energy as the two split to the sides. Their coordination was flawless—impossible to believe they'd been bickering moments ago.
Swords slashed from both flanks. Namgoong Pacheon stepped back with one foot, lowered his stance, and swept his blade in a wide arc.
Claaaaang—!
One swing deflected both women's swords. But as we all knew, they weren't the main act.
"Boss—!"
"Young master—!"
They called out to me, but I was already charging behind them.
Just once.
A graze will do.
The target was simple: his waist. The neck or chest offered too much room to evade—true masters don't slack on vital spots tied to life itself.
I thrust straight for his midsection. I thought it connected. We were that close.
But too close.
"Ah……."
Namgoong Pacheon twisted away, closing the distance instead. His collar brushed near enough that instinct made me reach out—but.
"Quick judgment, clear intent. Good."
A brief praise, and his foot slammed into my chest.
"Guhk—!"
A dying yelp escaped as I skidded across the arena floor.
"Yet you know this isn't what I seek."
"Kuh... crazy......"
It hurt too damn much. Clutching my chest, I scrambled up and steadied myself. Haryeong and Sorin had bought time by tying up his ankles, preventing a follow-up.
Of course, only for a moment.
"Kuh?!"
"Kyaaak!?"
The two, who'd held strong, were blasted back simultaneously. Pacheon strode toward me.
"In wielding power, you harbor fear."
"……!"
"What grips your ankles so tightly?"
His question gave me pause. I let out a sigh.
"What you mean by wielding power... it could bring the Tower's dangers upon us."
"……."
"Besides, the power you want to see isn't mine. Strictly speaking, it's borrowed."
Law was like that. If she reclaimed it, the Law would no longer lend me strength.
"So, try to understand—."
"Sophistry."
"Pardon?"
"Answer: Is swinging a sword borrowing the sword's power?"
"……."
I caught his intent immediately and gaped in bewilderment.
"Think I whine because you want to see a hidden sword?"
"No, that's—."
"Whatever you grasp, whatever you wield... in the end, it's you who moves. Don't forget that."
The Law was just a tool. Ultimately, I was the one wielding it—that's what he meant.
[Geomjipgwan, wanna spar?]
It chilled me to the bone.
[You can use Law. I won't.]
Just like that day I clashed with her and lost utterly.
[The laws of the world. If they were flawless, I could never have become empress.]
"Stand, stranger from afar."
Whoosh—!
Namgoong Pacheon's sword cleaved the air grandly, as if signaling a true start.
"Show me time."
"……."
"Show me a sword I've never seen, right here."
I resumed my stance. Unlike before, I pulled the two-handed sword to my right cheek.
[You're lucky.]
[Know why?]
Left foot forward wide, right as pivot.
[You get to see this land's strongest woman's sword closer than anyone.]
I set everything aside. Teachings I'd mulled over countless times echoed in my ears again.
[What do you see ahead?]
Head of the Namgoong family. Wielder of a great sword from the old martial world. A supreme master envied by all.
[Nah, wrong.]
[Everything ahead of us, swords in hand...]
"Prey."
[Bite.]
Claaaaang—!
My long thrust speared toward Namgoong Pacheon's nape like a drill. Though his sword blocked the path and it glanced off, I saw his eye twitch.
[Sink your teeth in.]
Kwaang—!
Kwaang—!
Kwaang—!
The follow-up barrage wasn't pretty. Rough, savage. Ungainly, unyielding. I didn't know when it started. It just felt natural. I could see myself wielding a sword like hers.
[Don't play pretty for prey.]
As Her Majesty willed.
[Ditch the elegant sword crap.]
As Her Majesty willed.
[Devour it. Swallow it whole in one bite.]
As Her Majesty willed.
[Geomjipgwan.]
[What's in your hand right now?]
What I gripped. This was—
Fangs. My sharpened fangs, grown to tear prey apart.
[Open wide.]
[Bare your teeth.]
I drew the sword back to stance. The blade hugging my right cheek gleamed like a fang extended at Namgoong Pacheon.
[Go, wolf.]
[Devour the giant.]
A bluish sword aura gathered on Namgoong Pacheon's blade. As he deeply inhaled and focused every nerve on my fang—
"Kim—."
A fragment of the past. Her Majesty's voice drowned in an enraged shout.
"Kim Yangggggggg—!"
"……!"
At the arena's edge, Kim Yang in lotus position erupted with divine energy from her entire body.
"Is that truly the best you can muster in the end—!"
Disappointed at relying on another's power at the last, Namgoong Pacheon desperately swung toward Kim Yang.
"Is this truly your utmost—!"
Buuuung—!
A blue slash streaked straight for Kim Yang. But it didn't connect.
"Grip it tight, you lunatic—!"
"I am, you blockhead—!"
The two women's swords united to block it. As Kim Yang's divine energy began taking form, Pacheon opted for defense, crossing his sword diagonally.
Handling immortals was simple: prevent them from gathering divine energy. Fail that, and you sought slim survival odds.
He couldn't stop the condensation. Tense, radiating full-body power unlike before, he reset his stance—
Poof—!
Kim Yang's divine energy vanished like mist.
"I-it's too much now."
She toppled backward. Seeing it, Namgoong Pacheon's eyes shook again.
A feint. Too late to realize.
I was ready.
Pacheon twisted back, grasping the deception—but.
"We're just—"
Not outsiders from the 7th Floor.
Not a woman fled from the Immortal Peach Garden.
Just folks renting an office, paying rent, drawing salaries—
"Small business owners scraping byyyyy—!"
My straight downward slash carved precisely across Pacheon's chest.
Riiip—!
His collar tore in two. And blood. The red line across his chest was shallow like a brook, but it stained his pristine white robes crimson.
"Hah, hah—!"
My hands trembled. Dropping the sword, sweat blurred my vision. I couldn't make out his expression.
"Is this... your best? You asked."
But as the heavy mist of Unseong cleared and a fierce wind cooled my body—
I couldn't help the faint smile tugging my lips.
"Yes. This is my best."
My shaking legs could barely hold me. Forcing up my limp arms, I wiped sweat from my eyes.
Namgoong Pacheon looked at me—
and smiled brightly.
"A self-answering question."