Before leaving the Poison Demon’s estate, I called Saweol.
“How many did we catch?”
“Seven. I got five, and Tak Horak caught two.”
“They sent that many? What about those who escaped?”
“None.”
I had expected there would be spies trying to figure out what happened between me and the Poison Demon.
To disrupt their information gathering, I deliberately requested a palanquin in haste to give the impression that I was severely injured.
The idea was to act like I’d suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Poison Demon and watch how they reacted.
[I wondered if they'd really be stupid enough to fall for your bluff… and they actually did.]
When I received the summons at the entrance of the Sado Family compound to come to the Clan Head’s Hall, Skybreaker commented.
“That just shows how easy they are to manipulate. That’s the kind of people who become clan heads and elders. If they were even a little smarter, they’d have been purged already.”
[So they’re in power because they’re incompetent… what a twisted paradox.]
After all, what Sado Gwang needed was an obedient hunting dog, not one smart enough to question orders.
“So, I’m about to flip the table. You ready for this? It’s your body, after all.”
[Honestly, I’ve grown too detached from the Sado clan to care anymore…Whether it’s good or bad, it doesn’t matter to me now.]
“Once we seize control—”
[And then?]
I wanted to say it’d make searching for traces of Sado Gwang easier, but I couldn’t reopen a wound that had only just begun to heal.
“It’ll be better for you once you return to your body.”
[That’s true.]
So, with Skybreaker’s approval, I declared:
“Sado Muyeol, Clan Head of the Sado Family, and all members of the Elder Council—your actions have caused irreparable damage to our family. As the Young Lord of this house, I cannot stand idly by. From this moment forward, I am the Clan Head of the Sado Family.”
Sado Muyeol stared at me, stunned into silence for a moment.
Then, his face turned crimson as he screamed.
“Y-you insolent bastard! How dare you spout such nonsense in front of the Clan Head!?”
“This is the Great Heavenly Demon Cult. So, insolent, is it?”
The moment I spoke, Skybreaker immediately amplified the intensity of Supreme Reign.
Since achieving partial mastery of the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, Skybreaker’s ability to control qi had improved drastically, allowing longer and more efficient use of Reign.
“Words like that can only be used by the strong, directed at the weak.”
The pressure of Supreme Reign crushed down on the entire hall.
Sure, Skybreaker’s energy would rapidly deplete, but it didn’t matter.
If it came to a real fight, I could recover in real-time.
And we had our area-denial weapon—Saweol.
If I rattled them, and Saweol manifested her mental image, it would be enough.
“Kuugh!”
“Kuk!”
Pained groans burst out all around.
This was only possible because Skybreaker was a genius.
Even if someone else had the same martial technique and internal energy, without Skybreaker’s innate talent, they wouldn’t produce this kind of power.
“Honestly, at this point, shouldn’t the title be changed to Everyone but Me is a Genius?”
If this were a novel, the protagonist would be in despair.
Everyone’s a genius except him—how unfair is that?
Anyway…
[I won’t be able to maintain this for long.]
“That’s fine. Their reaction’s coming soon.”
And just as expected—
“You bastard!”
Sado Muyeol drew his sword.
“Everyone listen! That brat is bluffing after being crushed by the Poison Demon! If we attack now, our victory is guaranteed!”
He shouted with veins bulging from his neck.
But—
“…?”
No one moved.
“What are you doing!? Attack already!”
“Clan Head.”
His right-hand man, Muyeong-do, stepped forward.
“What are you waiting for? Why aren’t you attacking him?”
“Clan Head, you should take the lead yourself.”
“What?”
Muyeong-do shook his head slowly.
“Among Cultists, power is justice. Conflicts are resolved through strength. And this is an internal family matter… so the Clan Head should handle it personally.”
“How much have I given you, and now you say that!?”
Sado Muyeol barked, calling him names, but Muyeong-do’s face twisted with displeasure.
“That has nothing to do with this. I never agreed to fight a Transcendent Peak expert. Did I, gentlemen?”
The martial artists of the Clan Head’s faction all nodded in agreement.
“First Elder! Say something!”
“I…”
The First Elder looked between me and the Clan Head…
“I apologize, Young Lord. I allowed myself to be swayed by the Clan Head’s words and lost my better judgment.”
He bowed his head to me.
[That old snake…]
I agreed with Skybreaker.
Sado Muyeol clearly didn’t have the brains to orchestrate this whole scheme. It had been the First Elder all along.
“But taking him out now would be a waste…”
The martial artists allied with the Clan Head had decided to back out. They weren’t loyalists anyway—just men bound by contract.
But the Elders were different. They had deep roots in the family and would fight to the death.
Sure, we could win with Saweol, but the cost would be steep.
We’d lose all of Sado’s operational manpower, making my rise to power meaningless.
“The First Elder can wait.”
I focused on the situation at hand.
Now abandoned by his allies, Sado Muyeol looked like a kite with its string cut. He stood in stunned silence.
I withdrew the Supreme Reign aura through Skybreaker and moved to seal the deal.
“Cultists assert their will through strength. Sado Muyeol, to take your seat as Clan Head, I formally challenge you to a duel.”
In the Cult, a duel was sacred. Sado Hwan had once earned scorn despite his fame because he always avoided duels by hiding behind Saweol.
At least there was logic to it—“You’re not even qualified to challenge me. Beat Saweol first.”
But now, Sado Muyeol had no such excuse.
If a Clan Head refused a formal duel, that alone would disqualify him.
“H-ha… haha…”
Sado Muyeol let out a bitter laugh.
“You idiots… fools deceived by a fake!”
He staggered forward.
“The Sado Family’s 200-year legacy… ends today.”
“At least I never let my greed damage the family.”
“Silence!”
Sado Muyeol shrieked like a madman.
“If not for you, the Sado Family wouldn’t just be one of the Six Demon Families—we’d be the greatest! We could’ve produced a Heavenly Demon! You ruined everything!”
That moment confirmed it for me again.
When a madman clings to his beliefs, no words can change him.
“Can I win this?”
[…Maybe not just any Peak expert, but him? Definitely.]
Now I understood why Skybreaker was so confident.
Ssshring!
Sado Muyeol readied his stance.
The Sado Family’s traditional martial art—Shura Twelve Forms.
Even as someone who didn’t know martial arts well, I could tell:
His form was a mess.
[After becoming Clan Head, he hasn’t trained seriously once. He just gorged on what Sado Gwang tossed him like scraps.]
Drunk on the hollow title of Clan Head, he neglected his body and let himself go. His muscles had wasted away. His internal energy was muddied.
[He may be “Peak,” but he’s really just barely First-rate with sword energy. If you don’t let him get distance, it’ll be a landslide win.]
“And I won’t give him any distance.”
Before, I might’ve been vulnerable to footwork. But since acquiring the Blink Orb from the ruins, I had ways to counter that now.
In other words, my power level had reached a point where I could handle a weak First-rate martial artist one-on-one.
“I’m moved… genuinely.”
Once, I was so weak I couldn’t say a word against even a third-rate opponent. Now I had gained actual strength.
Of course, it was all thanks to Skybreaker—the greatest weapon and ultimate martial arts AI.
But even gear-based power is still power.
“Come. I’ll give you the first move.”
Sado Muyeol beckoned arrogantly.
Normally, this was what a stronger fighter did to a weaker one.,Even now, he couldn’t accept me and tried to protect his pride.
“In that case…”
I had already won.
Now it was about how I won.
To justify everything I’d done so far, I had to crush him completely.
“Skybreaker. Can you use that again?”
[You mean combining Reign and Flow?]
“Yeah.”
Skybreaker had once done it in a flash of rage against Sado Gwang—blending Supreme Reign with Circulation Flow.
Something that should’ve been impossible.
Reign was the lingering will of a Transcendent Peak expert—it wasn’t something you could just tweak.
It was like trying to reshape a perfectly cut diamond with your fingers.
But Skybreaker did it.
Maybe because he wasn’t human, or because he was a genius at controlling qi.
[It’s possible.]
“Let’s end this in one strike. Use Myobang.”
[You really like Myobang, don’t you?]
“It’s the only technique I know besides the cardinal directions…”
Skybreaker chuckled softly.
“Come, Sado Hwan! Let me show you true power!”
I grabbed Skybreaker from where it floated in the air. I could feel the qi beginning to concentrate.
Then—
Fsssh!
My body flashed through space.
Sado Muyeol’s stunned face rushed toward me in a close-up.
Blink.
Fsssh!
I blinked again.
Appearing behind him, I slashed Skybreaker in one clean arc.
In that moment—I felt immense pressure in my wrist, and then it vanished.
Thud!
Sado Muyeol collapsed, body shredded like rags. His clothes were torn to tatters, his hair disheveled, his body bleeding from countless cuts.
“Ha… hahaha…”
He laughed emptily, like someone who had lost everything.
But that was just the beginning.
“H-how did he…!”
“That wasn’t even sword force—just raw sword energy! And he controlled its strength!”
Voices of awe and fear echoed from all directions.
Naturally.
Behind Sado Muyeol, the ground was split in a massive V-shape—like a beast had clawed through it.
“First Elder. Sado Gi. Do you acknowledge Sado Hwan as the new Clan Head of the Sado Family?”
“We acknowledge him… Welcome, Clan Head!”
“Welcome, Clan Head!”
The martial artists bowed their heads in unison.
A slight chill ran through me.
It had been four months since I fell into the world of Return of the Murim.
I had become the Clan Head.