The World's Greatest is Dead

I’m confident at memorizing.

Ever since I was a kid—and even in my previous life—it was something I was always doing.

I hardly ever forgot most things I’d seen even once, and that didn’t change whether it was someone’s movements or the way an object looked.

It wasn’t a bad talent.

One of the few talents I could honestly rate highly, myself.

And I’d taken advantage of it plenty of times.

Because having a good memory has more uses than you’d think.

The parts you get to use are different between a previous life and this one, sure, but—

‘Even so.’

The fact that it’s an advantage doesn’t change.

SHWEEEING—!!!

CLANG—!!

That was no different this time, either.

Seo Pyeong’s sword dropped. It poured down, fast, like it was flowing along a sword path.

They say Wudang’s sword takes Taiji as its principle.

A soft sword, and yet heavy.

Like water sinking gently as it flows.

I don’t honestly know much about Taiji principles and all that, but watching it, I felt like I understood a little.

‘So that’s why they said Wudang’s sword resembles a valley.’

Flowing waves.

Weight hidden inside calmness.

A martial art that didn’t focus on a sword path built for attacking, but on letting things slip past.

I could see why they called it swordsmanship specialized for defense.

And it really was.

CREEEAK—!

Whenever I tried to press an attack, Seo Pyeong let my sword slide off.

The process was so natural.

And yet—

“Hup!”

With a shout, what he poured out flipped from valley water into a rough waterfall.

Even if it’s specialized for defense, that doesn’t mean Wudang’s sword is weak.

Because “heavy” is proof of power, too.

“Hup!”

Seo Pyeong swung his sword with everything he had, packing in his strengths.

Wudang.

One of the Ten Great Sects—and along with Mount Hua, a sect perched at the very top.

They had scholars coming out their ears, and even by influence, they ranked among the best.

Seo Pyeong’s sword, called the greatest prodigy of a place like that, was truly vicious.

‘For sure.’

It feels completely different.

I thought as I dodged and blocked his blade again and again.

His sword isn’t insanely fast.

And it isn’t particularly flashy or dazzling, either.

Just the basics.

It showed me so clearly what a sword faithful to fundamentals looks like.

[His upper body and lower body are both well developed. Despite a temperament that seems a bit broken, there are traces of steady training.]

Like he couldn’t praise anything else but at least acknowledged the body, Yoo Cheongil took a jab at Seo Pyeong’s effort while complimenting him.

And I didn’t deny it, either.

‘You can tell at a glance.’

Seo Pyeong’s body was solid.

It’s different from the Black-Grand Saber’s body, which just looks stupid-strong.

‘A shape made through effort.’

An optimal form built through extreme training.

Seo Pyeong’s body gave off that feeling in spades.

A neat, concise sword coming out of a strong body.

Even to someone like me who doesn’t know that much about martial arts, it had value.

‘If he wasn’t such a fucked-up bastard, I might’ve even respected him.’

That rancid personality of his feels like it ruins everything.

CREEEAK.

Sword met sword.

I knew the instant they touched. I’m getting pushed back. I recognized that Seo Pyeong’s sword could lightly shove mine aside.

What about in terms of realm?

‘What do you think. It’s higher.’

Among those called the Seven Prodigies, there isn’t a single one with a lower realm than mine.

Every last one of them has passed pinnacle.

In the Central Plains packed with martial artists, pinnacle is someone’s lifelong goal.

There have to be countless people who stumble and collapse without ever reaching it.

But for kids barely past coming-of-age to have all crossed pinnacle—

‘It really is freakish.’

A fact that makes it impossible to deny they’re geniuses.

‘And in that sense, me... well...’

Since I’m in the position of having been dragged up by Yoo Cheongil, it feels pathetic to even compare myself to them.

Not like I have any intention of putting myself on the same line, anyway.

GRRNNGH—!!

‘Tch.’

My sword gets pushed back. Looks like I can’t handle it by strength after all.

A pointless attempt.

The moment I realized it, I twisted my foot.

I torqued the edge and let the attack slip off. Seo Pyeong tried to stick to me like he expected it—

But right then, Moon Eyes cut in.

‘Diagonal left.’

I can see his actions through his energy.

I reversed the direction I was about to turn, like I was giving a feint.

My center of gravity warped, and Seo Pyeong’s sword wavered.

At the same time, his waist opened up.

I whipped a foot into it and shoved him back.

SMACK—!!

“Ghk!”

His body slides.

What’s ridiculous is that I’m the one who kicked him, but I got pushed back farther.

The distance opens.

But—

“You bastard—!”

Seo Pyeong steadied his pushed-off balance and charged at me again.

‘What is he, a bull?’

Does he not get tired? Seo Pyeong just kept coming, nonstop.

Then—

WIIIIIIII—!

I caught something off in his sword.

Sword force.

He was trying to form sword force.

Moon Eyes caught it.

CLANG—!

“...!!”

The instant I caught it, I drove in and blocked his sword force.

I just knocked it upward.

That alone made his sword force fail to cast.

Because it cut the flow of his energy.

Sword force isn’t instant. At least, Seo Pyeong’s sword force wasn’t.

If you sever it before it fully forms, you can stop it like that.

“Krgh!”

When it got blocked again, Seo Pyeong let out a groan.

It kept ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) going like this.

Whenever he tried to spread sword force, I blocked it.

Whenever he rushed, I made an opening and shoved him back.

That’s how I handled him.

If there was a problem, it was that I had to block every time he tried to spread sword force,

and every time he charged, I had to create a gap to shove him away—

But if you asked how that was even possible against someone stronger than me...

‘It shows.’

One was Moon Eyes’ help.

And the second— 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

‘It’s easy.’

It came from his habits and traits.

THUD!

He takes footwork. The moment his foot touches the ground,

my eyes were already on his right wrist.

‘Left.’

The instant I read it, I raised my sword. His blade comes in from the left.

CREEEAK—! CLANG—!

I blocked with the flat and pressed in a little, then knocked it away.

This is about how he swings his sword.

Everyone has habits.

Seo Pyeong did too.

Stance, the traits that show up when he swings.

That was something I found out when I got information about Seo Pyeong from the Beggar Clan.

Of course, the Beggar Clan’s information didn’t include a detailed write-up of his habits.

If you’re being exact, I learned it thanks to commentary about sparring matches.

Left, how many times.

Right, how many times.

Those written sparring commentaries.

I kept it all in my head while reading them.

‘What habits does this bastard have?’

If we’re talking my previous life, it’s like reading someone’s verbal tics—figuring out their particular behavior.

Here in the Central Plains, it turned into observing the opponent’s habits that show up when combat starts.

How much can you really figure out from nothing but writing?

Not much.

But—

‘The difference between memorizing it or not is huge.’

Fighting while knowing is different from stepping in blind.

What Wudang’s sword is like.

What kind of person Seo Pyeong is.

Knowing that and watching isn’t the same as not knowing.

Isn’t that exactly what’s happening right now?

‘Left. Toe. Ah, that’s a feint.’

I watch his wrist and his feet. I read his eyes, trace the route—

And predict the action.

A few exchanges. That was all it took. I memorized it all.

‘Habits are big.’

Thankfully, Seo Pyeong was the kind of person with obvious habits.

Especially when he tried to manifest sword force.

‘When he casts sword force, his right shoulder lifts a little.’

Maybe because he has to pour in energy hard, but he puts in so much force it feels excessive,

and aside from that, since his shoulder rises, his line of sight becomes obvious—

especially because I could see the tip of his sword dip a little.

That’s what I aim for.

Honestly, it was the kind of situation where being off by even a hair would be a disaster.

But—

“Goddamn it...!!!”

Watching him gnash his teeth and twist his face every time it happened?

It wasn’t so bad.

“Why...! Why!”

I could see him getting angry over and over, like it was unfair and suffocating.

No matter what he tried, it got blocked before he could even use it, so he had to be frustrated out of his mind.

[...This is something.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke like it was absurd.

[This is the first time I’ve seen someone fight like this.]

The way he reacted like it was fascinating stood out.

[It’s one thing if you grasp it and use it without thinking. But trying to memorize it from the start—what even is that?]

Does he not understand my method?

Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t planning to make him understand.

‘Results are what matter anyway.’

Forget the process—if you look at the result, nothing else matters.

Life is like that.

SMACK.

I shoved Seo Pyeong back again. This time, he couldn’t catch his balance and rolled on the floor.

Is he tired? No. Physically, he didn’t look that tired.

‘He’s gotten mentally impatient.’

I could feel how impatient he’d become.

‘Mentally weak bastard.’

What did I even do?

It’s strange he’d get that impatient over something like this, but—

‘Yeah. At the end of the day, he’s only twenty-something.’

Even if they call you a genius, guys who spend their whole lives holding a sword—how strong can their minds really be.

“...Fuck...! I... I.”

I glanced around while watching Seo Pyeong in his disheveled state.

With the sparring dragging on, even the crowd’s reactions had dulled.

-This thing never ends.

-It feels too long.

More like they were bored.

Well, yeah, it did go on a bit.

Honestly, I was starting to get worn down, too.

‘Is this enough?’

I watched Seo Pyeong get back up and thought.

If we keep going, nothing changes. I keep shoving him back, and I’m spending more stamina.

So I needed to end it here.

If that’s the case...

‘Should I?’

Should I start?

With that thought, I looked at Yoo Cheongil.

Yoo Cheongil looked at me, smiled slightly, and nodded.

Permission.

The moment I saw it, I lowered my hand.

I changed the stance I’d been holding and steadied my breathing.

Seo Pyeong narrowed his eyes.

“...What are you doing. Are you mocking me?”

He must’ve misunderstood something—he got even angrier.

Like he thought I was going easy on him. But I’m busy concentrating over here.

“How dare you...!”

Seo Pyeong snarled and put power into his sword.

And then, the sword force he hadn’t been able to bring out finally manifested completely.

The form of the sword force that supposedly held Taiji’s principle.

Like it was showing the shape of their sword itself—firm, straight sword force.

“Regret it...!”

Seo Pyeong’s sword path rode the flow.

Cloud-Ridge Dancing Sun Sword.

A sword form representing Wudang burst out of Seo Pyeong’s body,

and with sword force coiling around the sword path, it manifested into a shape that was terrifying beyond words.

SHWEEEING—!!!

The sword flies at me.

An attack fully manifested and successfully cast.

It feels nothing like what came before.

Watching it, I was sure.

‘If I’d just let him have it, I might’ve lost.’

If I hadn’t interfered with him casting his sword path, it would’ve been dangerous.

Seo Pyeong’s sword was definitely strong.

But—

It wasn’t like I didn’t have an answer, too.

FWOOOOOOOM—!!!

Light seeped into my sword.

Third Form: Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn.

Blue Moon Sect’s sword force appears.

Seo Pyeong’s eyes widened when he saw it.

He must’ve been startled by the brilliant light of the sword force—

But even so, he didn’t stop his sword.

The sword closing in, little by little.

I stared at Seo Pyeong’s sword and put strength into my eyes.

As my sword force spread, even more light sank into Moon Eyes.

And then—

SSSSSSS—.

A single line appeared in my vision.

A line holding light—so straight.

Like it was turning into a signpost telling me to walk this way.

But—

That wasn’t a path meant for a person’s steps.

Slowly, I raised my sword over it.

Third Form: Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn flowed along the line.

The sword that advanced like that headed for Seo Pyeong’s sword—

And when the two sword forces met—

CLANG—!!

I heard something shatter.

“Huh?”

Seo Pyeong let out a dumb sound.

The sword he was holding was breaking apart and scattering into debris.

CLINK—!

A blade split in half hit the floor.

“Whew.”

And with a low sigh—

My sword touched his neck.

“It’s over, right?”

I said with a bright smile, and Seo Pyeong’s face collapsed.

Then—

“Sparring match concluded. Winner. Bang Sungyeon of the Blue Moon Sect.”

The instant the referee’s words fell—

-WAAAAAAH—!!!

The roar of the crowd stabbed into my ears.