"......?"
The luminaries wore puzzled expressions.
Not a single one of them had caught the voice transmissions exchanged between Namgung Un and Hwangbo Cheol.
Dan Sahyeok's remark left them baffled.
But the two men involved could not help but break into a cold sweat.
'That bastard......!'
'Did he eavesdrop on our voice transmission?'
Intercepting a voice transmission was a feat bordering on the miraculous.
All the more so when it was a transmission from a supreme master like Namgung Un--the chances of anyone overhearing were vanishingly slim.
And so they had assumed no one possibly could.
Even if their opponent had defeated the Blood Sky Demon, they had not imagined he could manage even that.
In hindsight, it had been a supremely complacent assumption.
And a testament to how little they truly understood the man called Dan Sahyeok.
"What...... do you mean by that, out of nowhere?"
Namgung Un played innocent.
Dan Sahyeok glanced at Hwangbo Cheol, then spoke.
"I have given my warning. Whether you heed it is your choice. Do as you please."
"......Very well! I shall!"
THOOM—!
Hwangbo Cheol, his face flushed scarlet, stomped the ground in a powerful stance.
The shock of having his voice transmission overheard was staggering, but he had come too far to turn back now.
Tucking his tail and retreating at this point was something the Hwangbo Clan's pride would not permit.
'Besides, Azure Sky Sword King Namgung Un himself is backing me!'
The greatest sword of the Orthodox martial world.
Many names would be bandied about under that title, but one thing was certain: Namgung Un's would assuredly claim a seat among them.
That was how strong Azure Sky Sword King Namgung Un was.
The only reason he had not dealt with the Blood Sky Demon himself was simply that Cheon Muyeol and the Blood Sky Sect had become little more than faded relics.
In truth, that was what most of those stationed at the Martial Alliance headquarters believed.
That the Blood Sky Demon and the Blood Sky Sect were stories of the past, nothing more.
That Gansu had become a de facto penal colony, a dumping ground for those the Alliance found troublesome.
That those sent there would be ground down in clashes with the remnants of the Blood Sky Sect, driven to the frontier, while they themselves would reap glory here in Xi'an.
Such was the honest sentiment of the Martial Alliance's leadership.
"But because of you!"
Hwangbo Cheol let out a savage roar.
The outburst came so abruptly, stripped of all context, that everyone looked bewildered.
But only for a moment.
As they watched him close on Dan Sahyeok at speed and unleash a right hook, every onlooker felt a jolt of alarm.
'Fast!'
'As expected of the Hwangbo Clan's Thunderbolt Fist!'
'They say its speed rivals even the Namgung Clan's Celestial Thunder Emperor Sword!'
'He does not seem far behind his elder brother, Patriarch Hwangbo Gwan.'
Perhaps Hwangbo Cheol alone could break that wretched bastard's nose.
Before that sweet fantasy could so much as raise its head, a lightning-fast fist drove squarely into the center of Hwangbo Cheol's face.
CRACK—!
"Gakh!"
CRASH—!
Struck dead center, Hwangbo Cheol went flying in a spray of dirt, sailing over a dozen paces.
He had struck the ground at an angle and skidded, which was the only reason he had not flown farther.
But that meant his bare body had been dragged across the ground, and every onlooker flinched.
'He intercepted Hwangbo Cheol's strike before it landed--with the exact same force and speed.'
'No! It looked similar, but it was clearly faster. This is more like......'
'Toying with him, is it not?'
The luminaries felt a chill crawl down their spines.
They had heard until their ears were numb that he had defeated the Blood Sky Demon, yet only now were they truly beginning to grasp that reality.
"Brother Hwangbo! Are you all right?"
"RAAAAGH!"
A howl erupted from the cloud of dust.
Hwangbo Cheol burst out and charged at Dan Sahyeok.
Blood spattered here and there, but he had not taken any fatal wound.
A display of resilience befitting the Hwangbo Clan's second-in-command.
[Are you just going to watch, Patriarch Namgung? You used me as bait, so do something!]
Hwangbo Cheol, his face twisted like a vengeful wraith, fired off a furious voice transmission.
Namgung Un, who had been looking for a better opening, had no choice but to launch himself in pursuit.
"You brought this upon yourself! Do not blame us!"
He raised his voice to stake his justification first, then drew his sword.
It was the Namgung patriarch's symbol and the Namgung Clan's heirloom--the treasured sword Blazing New Moon, one of the Ten Great Swords Under Heaven.
The mere act of drawing it was enough to tense every luminary watching from the sidelines.
Dan Sahyeok did not tense in the slightest.
SMACK—!
"Ghurk!"
Hwangbo Cheol screamed once more and skimmed past Namgung Un's flank.
CRASH, BANG!
He tumbled to the ground in a considerably more spectacular fashion than before.
The dusty silence that followed yielded nothing.
'He neutralized Thunderbolt Fist Hwangbo Cheol in just two strikes?'
Namgung Un very nearly broke into a cold sweat.
The only reason he did not was that he, too, was confident he could neutralize Hwangbo Cheol in two strikes.
"You are strong, without question. Now I truly see that you defeated the Blood Sky Demon Cheon Muyeol."
"......"
Dan Sahyeok stood in composed silence.
Namgung Un turned to face him, a fierce smile settling on his lips.
"I do not mean to say I disbelieved it until now. I simply could not feel it. That someone who was, by all appearances, nothing more than a common warrior had achieved such a feat--it was hard to accept."
"You still talk too much, Patriarch Namgung."
"Too much? Ha ha! Good. That means the fire inside is starting to burn, does it not? The same goes for me. Let us have at it."
Namgung Un raised the Blazing New Moon and leveled it at Dan Sahyeok.
WHOOSH—!
Blue flames enveloped the blade in a gentle caress, casting a light that captivated the eye.
Rising in answer to its master's inner arts, the flames gave the illusion that the sword itself was alive.
Stories followed this weapon--that it was forged from thousand-year cold iron, or that an obsessed swordsmith had crafted it at the cost of his own daughter's life.
This was the Blazing New Moon.
"You seem well-versed in fist techniques, but your true nature lies in the sword, I would wager. Am I wrong?"
"Hm."
"You still have them slung across your back. Two of them, no less."
One his own, the other the Blood Sky Demon's.
Dan Sahyeok carried the Blood Dragon Blade and an unnamed greatsword crossed over his back.
Of the two, the one that inevitably drew every gaze was the Blood Dragon Blade.
Were circumstances different, Namgung Un might have felt a tremor of rapture.
"At last, this day has come. The Namgung Clan's Blazing New Moon against the Blood Sky Demon's Blood Dragon Blade! The day we determine which is the supreme weapon of the martial world."
As if in answer, Dan Sahyeok unstrapped the Blood Dragon Blade, sheath and all.
Everyone watched, expecting him to draw it--
TOSS.
Dan Sahyeok flung the Blood Dragon Blade aside, sheath and all.
Namgung Un choked on his own breath.
"......What do you think you are doing?"
"It was getting cumbersome to keep carrying."
"Surely you do not intend to face this Namgung Un unarmed?"
"Who says I am unarmed? I have one right here."
Dan Sahyeok tapped the sword on his back.
Namgung Un's face twisted.
"Would it not be wiser to use the Blood Dragon Blade? No matter how accustomed you are to that sword, there is a matter of the weapon's caliber--"
"It is chipped."
"What?"
"The Blood Dragon Blade. The damage is minor, but its edge has been nicked."
"......The Blood Sky Demon's divine weapon, the Blood Dragon Blade, has a chipped edge?"
"It does."
"How?"
"By hitting it with this."
Dan Sahyeok drew the sword from his back at last.
Namgung Un and the luminaries were struck speechless once more.
"The blade......"
"There is nothing left but the root."
Three inches at most.
A mere stub protruded where the root met the spine of the blade.
Worse than a kitchen knife, by any measure.
Short and surely dull, the notion of fighting properly with such a thing was out of the question.
"Pick up the Blood Dragon Blade."
Namgung Un's voice turned bleak.
"Defeating an opponent wielding something like that...... no, something that does not even qualify as a toy, would bring me no satisfaction whatsoever."
"I am not fighting for your satisfaction."
"What?"
"This is my weapon. Not the Blood Dragon Blade, not anything else. This--Black Asura."
"Pick up the Blood Dragon Blade, Dan Sahyeok!"
"No."
A calm yet absolute answer.
Namgung Un hung his head, his face thoroughly contorted, and finally made up his mind.
"If you are so eager to die...... then so be it!"
WHOOSH—!
Namgung Un's form became a single gust of wind and hurtled toward Dan Sahyeok.
But in the next instant.
The luminaries, scrambling to follow his afterimage, went wide-eyed.
HMMMMMM!
"Th-that......!"
"What in the world is that?"
It was a streak of darkness.
Atop the broken blade--nothing but a stub--a jet-black edge sprouted and took shape, forming a complete sword.
'Sword force? No, this is something else!'
Namgung Un muttered to himself, tense.
He was capable of layering sword force over a blade, or extending it three or four feet beyond the tip.
But this was something different.
The thought that it diverged fundamentally from ordinary sword force kept nagging at him.
'And yet!'
He had already committed to his charge.
There was no leisure now to ponder the sword's nature or its secrets.
'I need only cut him down!'
FLASH—!
An azure blaze erupted from Namgung Un's right hand.
Celestial Thunder Emperor Sword, Third Form.
Thundercloud Advent!
BOOM—!
CRACK—!
A thunderous blade wreathed in blue lightning slashed diagonally through Dan Sahyeok's body.
'A clean hit!'
Even if one marshaled every protective qi barrier and deflection art at their disposal, blocking it would be no simple matter.
Perhaps this single blow would decide it all--so Namgung Un thought.
Right up until he saw Dan Sahyeok's eyes through the scattering haze of light.
"Wha--!"
Thundercloud Advent was not his strongest technique, but it could be called his most optimal.
Unavoidable speed wedded to unstoppable weight--the hallmark of the Celestial Thunder Emperor Sword.
He had believed with ironclad certainty that it would deal significant damage, even if it did not kill in one blow, and yet--
"You blocked that so easily?"
"I did."
"......!"
WHOOSH—!
Alongside a terse reply, the jet-black blade surged toward Namgung Un.
A thrust of utter simplicity, aimed straight ahead.
Namgung Un moved to catch it on the flat of the Blazing New Moon's blade and transition into a countering slash.
But in that razor-thin instant, instinct screamed.
'Do not block!'
He barely twisted his upper body in time, dodging Dan Sahyeok's thrust by a hair.
At that very moment, an invisible line of sword energy erupted from the tip of the jet-black blade.
WHOOSH—!
CRASH—!
A horrific shriek of splitting air accompanied the detonation of everything along its straight path.
Had he been in its trajectory, he would not have been left whole.
He could not even guarantee that the Azure Sky Grand Expansion Arts' protective qi barrier would have withstood it.
"Th-this is impossible......!"
They had exchanged but a single round of attacks.
And yet Namgung Un felt as though every principle of martial arts he had ever known was being demolished at its foundation.
"What...... what are you?"
"You already know."
Dan Sahyeok answered without a trace of emotion.
"The owner of this place."