Published at 25th of February 2026 7:50 am

Chapter 403

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Thump.

My heart pounded as I met the gaze of those bizarre eyes.

The pupils glowed with a violet light, and the ominousness creeping over me sent chills down my spine.

At that moment—

Tsk.

'...!'

Suddenly, the armband tied to my arm reacted. The artifact of the Tyrant was tightening around my arm on its own.

It was jarring to have the armband react out of nowhere, but I thought I knew the reason it was moving.

'... Is it reacting because it's a divine blade?'

To me, the armband was akin to Wudang's Divine Sword, and it was spontaneously responding to that strange spiritual ki.

The problem was—

'It's looking at me.'

The energy that burst forth from Silver Moon Sword's body became an eye that met my gaze.

'What is that?'

It was a phenomenon I'd never witnessed before. Can spiritual ki take form like that?

'I could've been in big trouble if I was a moment too late.'

We'd met eyes for just an instant, but who am I? I'm someone who has spent a lifetime dodging the gazes of ghosts like that.

Just this much, I could pass off naturally.

I shifted my gaze away from the eye and tried to look elsewhere.

Ssss—!!

'What the hell?'

The eye on Silver Moon Sword's back suddenly elongated and darted toward me.

What a grotesque sight. What was this bastard doing?

Trying not to reveal my alarm, I stayed still and watched the martial arena.

Screee... squee—eeek...

A strange sound came from the spiritual ki. Of course, nobody else could hear it.

I frowned. My ears didn't feel itchy.

'It's shaking my soul.'

It was directly prodding my soul, making my insides unsettled.

'Look at this guy?'

It seemed to be trying to figure out whether I could sense it or not.

My soul kept rattling inside me. As my body tried to react on its own, I forcibly suppressed it.

Creak.

The shackle trembled. How impudent.

'Should I just—'

Should I crush it?

That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I forced myself to hold back once again. After enduring for a moment—

—Creak.

The thing tilted its head, then whirled back and disappeared into Silver Moon Sword.

Even then, Silver Moon Sword looked just as calm as ever. As if he hadn't felt a thing.

As I thought. It didn't seem he had much spiritual ki himself.

'In that case.'

That energy just now... as I had guessed, it must belong to someone else.

'... It's not the Death King's.'

To my knowledge, it wasn't the power of the Death King, that old man. In other words—

'Could it be from the Bow Ghost?'

The woman once called the most beautiful in the world, and Heaven Beyond Heaven.

The odds were high it was her doing.

'Then, for what purpose?'

If that energy belonged to the Bow Ghost, for what purpose did she overlay that onto Silver Moon Sword?

'Its use, and its reason—'

I was very curious about the intent and reasoning behind that energy.

Understandably so, because from what I could tell—

'It doesn't seem to be for a good purpose.'

The nature of the energy, the way it prodded my soul—I could tell at a glance that no good intention lay behind it.

'Tsk.'

I narrowed my eyes and studied Silver Moon Sword. Perhaps—

'Chun Hye-in's words may be right.'

The claim that he was an agent of Bow Ghost and the Death King—

I felt like there was more credibility to those words now.

* * *

Time continued ticking by as I tried to grasp Silver Moon Sword's energy.

The martial contest was still underway, and a quiet standoff persisted on the stage.

Sway.

Silver Moon Sword lightly flicked the tip of his drawn sword.

Was it meant to provoke his opponent? It didn't seem quite like that, but when I looked at his expression, it also kind of did.

'... What's he thinking?'

His unreadable face didn't reveal his thoughts. He was smiling, but somehow it did not look like a true smile—a strange atmosphere.

Silver Moon Sword was quite a difficult figure for me to gauge.

"......"

His opponent looked at Silver Moon Sword and scowled.

Clack-!

He drew his sword forcefully. His upright and firm sword form showed the fruit of much effort.

Compared to him, Silver Moon Sword—

'... Something's off.'

Should I say he seems slick? His fundamentals felt somewhat lacking, and he appeared incomparably light.

Does he have the will to fight a proper match? It was suspicious to say the least.

'No.'

Having once faced him, I could tell.

'That man is strong.'

After shedding my old self and broadening my vessel, I could tell even more.

Silver Moon Sword is strong.

He was strong, but it didn't show.

'... Is that why he feels so alien?'

It's strange precisely because it's unknowable.

Humans are naturally afraid of what they don't know.

Silver Moon Sword was that kind of being.

'Hmm.'

I stared fixedly at Silver Moon Sword.

Then—

"The match—"

The referee lightly raised his hand.

"Begin—!"

He declared the start.

"Hup!"

His opponent summoned his sword aura. Moon Eye was already glowing blue, and he entered combat mode.

Thud—!!!

He sprang from the martial stage and dashed forward at great speed.

Screee—!!

His sword sliced the air. He was fast. Clearly very well-trained.

Clang—!

"Huh?"

His sword ricocheted away. Silver Moon Sword had so effortlessly parried his blade.

A gap opened.

His upper body exposed.

Silver Moon Sword didn't miss it.

Whoosh.

He slashed the air with his sword tip.

Freeze.

His sword stopped just short of touching his opponent's torso.

"It's over."

Silver Moon Sword said with a bright smile.

"... Ngh."

His opponent recognized it too and, though his face twisted, slowly lowered his sword.

"I've lost."

His candid admission prompted the referee to make the final ruling.

"... The match is over."

It had taken only one exchange for Silver Moon Sword to secure victory.

"... Oh...."

"Wow...."

What an effortless duel. Of all the fights so far, this was the swiftest and cleanest.

Knowing that, the other disciples were gaping with wide eyes.

"... He was really that strong?"

"Amazing...."

All the third-generation disciples stared in shock.

"Was our senior always that strong?"

"What's happened in the last three years?"

Even the second-generation disciples were reeling. Witnessing their reactions, I nodded to myself.

'Did he just get stronger over three years?'

Not in my opinion.

It's not that he became strong during those three years....

'He was always this strong.'

He'd always been strong—he just never showed it.

Proof?

'Chun Hye-in must have known something.'

I recalled what Chun Hye-in had told me.

He seemed to know something about Silver Moon Sword.

As I watched the event wrap up—

—How was that?

"...!"

I heard a sound transmission. It was Silver Moon Sword.

—Did you enjoy it? I hope you did.

Silver Moon Sword was smiling at me, his eyes even clearer than before.

—We'll meet again soon, right?

He spoke expectantly.

—I like how you've changed. I'm looking forward to seeing how different things are this time.

"......"

He was certain we'd meet again at the end of the Blue Moon Festival.

Why is this guy so obsessed with me?

'Does he really want to fight that much?'

I just couldn't understand it.

I really couldn't comprehend it at all.

'I must be crazy too.'

His provocation somehow struck a chord in me.

I caught myself thinking, wanting to fight him soon.

'Maybe it's because of my rebirth.'

It felt like it had gradually intensified since then.

Or perhaps, more than the effect of my rebirth—

'... Yu Chun-gil.'

That old man, like an evil spirit—it felt as if something had changed in me after meeting him.

When Silver Moon Sword finished his sound transmission, he left the stage.

Amidst the murmurs, I kept my gaze fixed on his back.

"......"

Before I knew it, I was gripping my sword tightly.

It took less than a moment for me to realize that the reason was fighting spirit.

* * *

The first day of the Blue Moon Festival had ended.

It spanned two days, so the final match would be tomorrow.

There hadn't been that many fights, so honestly, I thought they could all wrap up in a day.

But they said the break was to help the disciples recover their stamina and state.

You might wonder if one day of rest makes any difference, but most of the warriors in the Small Moon Division were absolute masters at the peak.

Having reached the peak, their internal energy suffused their bodies, giving them extremely high regenerative abilities.

Which meant that most wounds or fatigue would heal in a single day.

So, a one-day break was just the right amount of rest.

Therefore—

"Shouldn't you get some rest?"

I offered advice to the person standing before me.

"No need."

My suggestion was coldly rejected.

It was the woman with a perennially irritable expression, Chun Hye-in.

Though she was bandaged from the wound on her chest, she moved as if it required no rest at all.

She could have just taken the day off.

"Why do you insist on heading out at this hour...?"

A late night under the rising moon.

We met at this dark hour and spoke together.

"There's an event underway, the Blue Moon Festival. If we want to avoid prying eyes, now is the perfect time."

There was only one reason.

"The secret chamber. You said you wanted to go in."

The secret chamber left behind by Sword Saint Yu Chun-gil. We were going there.

"Ah, yes, that's true."

Chun Hye-in had called me out, saying she would tell me about the secret chamber.

It was a continuation of our previous conversation.

Tonight, Chun Hye-in said we should enter the secret chamber.

Despite my fatigue, I came out at her request.

So now, here we were, heading down an unexpected path.

"... Are you sure the entrance to the secret chamber is really here?"

I feigned ignorance and asked. Entering a certain building, I remarked how odd it was.

"Yes. Surprising, isn't it?"

With that, Chun Hye-in led me behind the building, saying that the entrance was a warehouse.

To the eye, it looked like there was nothing—and it was somewhere I'd never been before.

"... Here?"

"Wait."

Clink. Chun Hye-in drew her sword.

She brought her blade to the wall, closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Time passed like that.

"... What are you doing?"

As it was taking some time, I spoke up.

"Don't talk to me. I need to concentrate."

"... Huh."

It was as if she absolutely had to find something—she was focusing intensely.

What was she looking for?

Puzzled, I looked toward the wall.

Then—

Ssss—!!!

As she activated Moon Eye and stared at the wall, I understood Chun Hye-in's intent.

'Ah.'

Turns out she was looking for—

'The mechanism's trigger point.'

Her sword traced the line where the wall and floor met—a fine thread. She was attempting to operate the mechanism.

Chun Hye-in was focusing intently, fully aware of what needed to be done.

'... She can find this just by feel?'

She shouldn't be able to see it like I could.

She probably hadn't taken the Blue Moon Sect's divine pill.

Yet she was still able to find it?

'That means Baek Yeon must know as well.'

He must have opened the secret chamber this way, too.

'How did he find out?'

Without having taken the divine pill and awakened Moon Eye, it seemed impossible to find.

How on earth did he discover this? As I wondered—

"... Found it."

Chun Hye-in murmured.

Shiiinnk—!

With a swift gesture, she traced a short line on the wall.

Creak, creak-.

The mechanism moved, and the space began to open. A ladder descending below appeared from the floor, and only then did Chun Hye-in sigh in relief.

"Phew... There."

"Ooh..."

I was genuinely impressed. To think she could do that.

I briefly considered applauding.

"... What are you doing? We should go down."

Chun Hye-in frowned at me and moved first.

"...."

So thorny.

She was an unusually difficult woman. Thinking that, I followed her.

And thus, the two of us stepped into Yu Chun-gil's secret chamber.

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