Not a Sword Demon, but a Sword Saint
The Third Chief, who had been gripping Seo-ah’s pulse, reached out to drag her toward the palace. —Swoosh. With a chilling, clean-cut sound, his right hand—the one he had reached out with—went sailing through the air. The Third Chief stood there, dumbfounded. He stared at his own right arm, floating in the void, unable to even comprehend what had just happened.
Huh?
“GYAAAAAAAH!!!”
It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. A pain he had never experienced in his life surged through his body. How could he, a Peak First-Class master, have his arm severed so helplessly without even realizing it? No matter how strong a Peak Realm master might be—no, even a Transcendental Realm master!—it was impossible to steal his arm away so effortlessly.
Overcome by agonizing pain, the Third Chief collapsed to the ground and looked back. “Ah… Aah… How… how are you here…”
Despair filled the Third Chief’s eyes. He had been deployed on countless missions, faced numerous crises, and crossed the threshold of life and death dozens of times, but he had never felt such overwhelming despair as he did in this very moment.
The Third Chief stared at the old man holding the sword. A massive frame that looked nearly eight feet tall. A long beard that gave him the air of an immortal. Hair turned completely white. Grey robes. The old man wouldn’t remember, but the Third Chief had once seen that face from a distance.
“Sword… Sword Demon Sovereign ()…”
The old man approached me slowly, as if the Third Chief wasn’t even worth his notice, and spoke with an indifferent expression.
“Sword Demon? Sword Saint is the correct term. You maggot-like apostate.”
—Thump! It felt as if I could hear my heart dropping at those words. The old man’s single sentence was like a death warrant. He was declaring himself the Sword Sovereign.
The Sword Sovereign ignored the night-luminescent pearl in his hand, which was glowing brighter than ever, and looked down at Seo-ah, who was sprawled on the ground.
‘How ironic.’
That the companion he had spent the last year getting close to was the very Divine Maiden the Left Envoy had been desperately crying out for over the last ten years, bound by the previous Divine Maiden’s last will. Could it be that the Left Envoy had known this fact, which was why he asked me to find the Divine Maiden?
It was impossible to know. ‘I cannot understand… what on earth happened over the past week.’
Seeing Seo-ah examining his sword, the Sword Sovereign had passed on the first half of his family’s internal cultivation art, half out of interest and half out of affection. If she could just read the first half and properly understand and feel the qi during that time—let alone the dantian—he had thought he might end up teaching her for a long time to come.
But what was this? Was she not an absurd monster?
‘I thought she had talent, but… to have already reached the Realm of Connection ()… I can’t believe it.’
It was the stage where one’s Ash Dust Heart Art reached a certain level of orbit, burning away impure thoughts and moving qi entirely according to one’s will. Even within his family, it generally took at least five years under professional guidance. It had taken him a year as well.
The Sword Sovereign swallowed his dark thoughts. ‘With talent like that, she makes me have unnecessary thoughts.’
If she said she wouldn’t become his disciple, could he let her go in one piece, leaving that brilliant talent behind? He would probably try to coax her, and if that failed, threaten her. Even then, if her will remained firm… he would have no choice, but still.
‘She wouldn’t refuse, would she?’
The Sword Sovereign slightly regretted being so harsh when he first met Seo-ah. Still, they had a connection. She wouldn’t refuse, would she?
“Sword… Sword Demon Sovereign…”
“Sword Demon? Sword Saint is the correct term. You maggot-like apostate.”
Apostate. The Sword Sovereign had realized early on that the mastermind behind this attack was not the Murim Alliance, but an internal strike.
‘The Dark Cloud Scholar is a conceited, unreliable fellow, but he isn’t such a fool that he wouldn’t notice an attack from the Righteous Faction in his own front yard.’
Above all, there was no reason for the Murim Alliance to recklessly attack the Gyomaguan, and the Murim Alliance Leader was neither a revenge-obsessed maniac bent on eradicating the Demonic Cult, nor a fool who would waste his strength on such a meaningless act. Therefore, the attackers were fellow cultists. No, to be precise, they had forsaken the doctrine and swung their blades inward, making them ugly apostates.
Of course, there wasn’t a single core member of the cult who wouldn’t notice such a simple fact. But from the perspective of the attackers, it didn’t matter whether they were the real Murim Alliance or not. They were likely setting up a fake Murim Alliance, claiming revenge, and planning to take the lead in the upcoming selection of the Divine Maiden and the Cult Leader.
‘The Demonic Path faction. The radicals have done this.’
He didn’t know how they found out, but they seemed to have noticed that the Left Envoy was no better than a dying corpse. Attacking the Dark Cloud Scholar, who belonged to the moderate faction of our Sacred Cult, was likely a declaration of war.
“Is it the Sun Moon Palace ()?”
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The Sword Sovereign pondered how the political situation would flow, how to block the radicals’ attack, and where to begin explaining things to the unconscious future Divine Maiden—who would also be his disciple—as he slowly walked as if taking a stroll.
The Third Chief, body trembling, picked up the collapsed Seo-ah. “St… stop! If you come any closer, this girl won’t be safe!”
The Sword Sovereign hesitated. ‘I left his neck attached so I could interrogate him…’
When the Sword Sovereign stopped in his tracks, the Third Chief began to laugh like a madman. “Ha… Haha! I’ve figured it out! This girl is someone the moderates cherish! If you come any closer!”
The Sword Sovereign spoke to Dan-ryang, who was standing behind him. “Child. Cover your eyes.”
“Ye… Yes!”
Dan-ryang closed her eyes, and the Sword Sovereign indifferently swung his sword at the annoying Chief. However, the result was by no means light.
—Swoosh! The Sword Sovereign’s strike was not as flashy as the martial arts displayed by the Dark Cloud Scholar. It did not cleave the sky, nor did it shake the earth. It simply, with a clean cutting sound, sliced the Chief’s body, standing five jang away, perfectly in half.
—KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG! Following that, with a sound that shook the entire forest, countless trees behind the spot where the Chief had been standing were crushed and collapsed. The long, deep sword mark was reminiscent of a giant swinging a sword.
The Sword Sovereign clicked his tongue at the sight. ‘My training is lacking.’ To think he had let emotion enter his sword. It seemed he had put too much power into a sword that should have simply and cleanly carved up only the Chief.
Leaving behind Dan-ryang, who was trembling at the shock shaking the forest, the Sword Sovereign hoisted the unconscious Seo-ah onto his back. Rumors spread that day that the Sword Sovereign had carried a young girl in a maid’s uniform on his back, saved the Dark Cloud Scholar from a crisis, and repelled the Murim Alliance’s attackers. Of course, not many people believed the part about the maid.
A strange ceiling. It wasn’t the first time Seo-ah had woken up to a strange ceiling. She had already experienced it when she was one year old. The difference from back then was that, at that time, she had woken up to a strange ceiling after feeling terrible pain. Now, she had woken up to a strange ceiling after sleeping comfortably.
Seo-ah traced her last memories. ‘Just before I was kidnapped by the Sun Moon Palace attackers… it was the image of the old man Dan-ryang brought along slicing off the attacker’s arm.’
It was, how should I put it, a scene so timely that it was unrealistic and offered no help. Assuming the last scene I saw was real, ‘Then, where is this?’
Is it the Sun Moon Palace? Or is it the old man’s residence?
Seo-ah got up and looked around. The furniture in the room was very antique, and the price of just one piece seemed enough to buy the house she had lived in back in the village. It was truly awkward. The twins’ residence had been an unimaginable luxury from Seo-ah’s perspective, but this was beyond luxury; it felt unreal. Am I dreaming?
Seo-ah looked at the mirror in the corner of the room. ‘Thankfully, I didn’t die.’ She had guessed as much since her body hadn’t shrunk when she woke up, but it seemed she hadn’t died. Seo-ah toyed with the grey streak in her hair while looking at the mirror, then took out the dagger from her bosom and hid it in her left hand.
—Click. A maid with a cold face opened the door and entered the room. Her attitude was very polite. “Are you awake?”
“Where is this?”
“This is the Extreme Demonic Sword Family (). Following the Sword Sovereign’s orders, we have been attending to you while you were unconscious, Seo-ah.”
“Sword Sovereign… you say? The Ten Great… Sages I know of.”
The expressionless maid nodded. “Yes. The Sword Sovereign said he rescued you from the attackers. So, please rest assured, and you may put down the dagger in your hand.”
“……”
Seo-ah realized that the maid in front of her was a master, more so than she had thought. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like she had been kidnapped by that Third Chief, nor did it seem like her life was in danger. Seo-ah let her guard down slightly more than before and tucked the dagger back into her bosom.
What should she ask first? What would happen to her in the future? About the Sword Sovereign, who was presumed to be the old man? There were many things she wanted to ask, and she only had one mouth. The first thing Seo-ah asked was about the children.
“By any chance, could you find out about the children named Dan-ryang, Shin So-so, Sim So-yul, Wi Baek-ak, and Wi Baek-ran?”
“You need not worry about that part. By the Sword Sovereign’s order, they are currently in the room right next door. Would you like to see them?”
Seo-ah nodded. Just in case. She still hadn’t lowered her guard. Of course, that was only until So-yul burst through the door and clung to her, shedding tears and snot all over her body.