The World's Greatest is Dead

Today’s weather, if I had to describe it, was truly a clear day.

Since it was midwinter, the cold was unavoidable, but even with that, the unusually bright, sunny sky put you in a good mood.

A day anyone would look at and think, Yeah, this is clean and nice.

RUMBLE—!! RUMBLE—!!

And yet on a clear day like that, thunder rolled across the air.

Not only that.

CRACKLE—!!! CRACKLE—!!

As if proving the source of the sound really was thunder, you could even hear the snap of lightning.

What kind of ridiculous situation was this? Confused and amused at the same time, I had to let out a dry laugh while looking at the source of that thunder in front of me.

RUMBLE—.

A handsome young man was wearing lightning.

Yeah—wearing it. Like rough, numbing lightning had been thrown over his body like clothes.

‘Weird.’

So you could form it like that. It really looked like lightning.

Yeah, it looked like it—but “looks like” isn’t “is.”

That was—

[Just a shape of inner power.]

‘A shape of inner power.’

Borrowing Yoo Cheongil’s words, that’s what it was.

For a martial artist, internal art is the foundation and the starting point—your root.

Depending on what internal art you master, and what breathing method you engrave into your body, the “shape” of your inner power naturally takes form.

Mount Hua’s inner power resembling plum blossoms—

Blue Moon Sect internal art and inner power mimicking the moon—

it all started there.

And that lightning shape in front of me.

A form that applied thunder and thunder energy was, in the most literal sense, capturing the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Nature.

CRACKLE—.

How was the thunder energy wrapped around his body so thick with battle aura?

Watching Thunder Dragon, I swallowed without meaning to.

‘He’s definitely different.’

It was night and day compared to when I stood across from Cloud Dragon.

That bastard’s battle aura and the thunder energy Namgung Cheon was pouring out—quantity and quality were completely different.

And on top of that—

‘I didn’t even see him activate it.’

The instant he drew his sword, thunder energy burst out. When I faced Cloud Dragon, I’d at least managed to stop him from using sword force.

But this—

‘It’s too fast.’

A sword clan built on fast swordsmanship.

A place that pursued the fastest sword over anything else—that was the Namgung Clan.

And like it was proving that, Thunder Dragon’s sword really was lightning.

‘Little Azure Sword isn’t even worth comparing.’

Sure, that guy also released thunder energy, but that shallow power was embarrassing to even call lightning.

‘This is real.’

Like he was showing me what real thunder energy was, Thunder Dragon displayed it with his whole body.

[Tsk tsk.]

Yoo Cheongil clicked his tongue.

[That Peng Clan bastard, and this one too. Those damn things—anyway. Their grandkid luck is always unreal.]

Who he was thinking of was obvious.

Yoo Cheongil was remembering his old comrades.

And what that meant was—

‘Thunder Dragon’s just as ridiculous as the Black-Grand Saber.’

That monstrous bastard and the handsome bastard in front of me belonged in the same category.

As I frowned at that thought—

“Little Sword Saint.”

He called me.

“Do you know this?”

“What is it.”

“I respect the Sword Saint.”

“.......”

[He’s something else.]

I ignored Yoo Cheongil cutting in and just stared at Thunder Dragon. So what was he trying to do?

How many martial artists in the Central Plains didn’t respect the Sword Saint?

If I hadn’t met that old man like this, I would’ve respected him too.

A hero of the age.

A superhuman without equal in history.

The greatest under heaven—first under heaven.

A being with more titles than most people could ever have.

But.

“So I didn’t like you much.”

That follow-up made me tilt my head a fraction.

Didn’t like me? For someone saying that, Thunder Dragon’s attitude up to now had been the exact opposite.

I looked at him like I couldn’t understand, and Thunder Dragon smiled as he spoke.

“Because I hoped the Sword Saint’s successor wouldn’t be weak.”

“Mm.”

I’d heard that somewhere. It sounded a lot like something Baek Yucheon, the Small Moon Unit Leader, had said.

“So you disliked me because I looked weak. Is that it?”

It was understandable enough that I wasn’t going to care much, but—

“I didn’t dislike you. And. I think differently now.”

“Mm?”

Now? So he wasn’t saying he’d been disappointed and hated me?

That was an unexpected answer.

“You’re calmer than the Sword Saint, so you don’t resemble him much. But I, Little Sword Saint, view you favorably.”

“......Should I say thank you?”

“I’d like that, wouldn’t I?”

“Thank you.”

“Hahahahaha. Well, look at that. Receiving a bow while lying down.”

Calmer than him.

I focused on that. Didn’t this mean he’d met Yoo Cheongil before?

Thankfully, Yoo Cheongil answered that for me.

[I’ve seen him. A long time ago, but yeah.]

“Mm.”

It was probably the same kind of story as Tang Yeran.

[Back then, he looked kind of pathetic. Seeing him now, guess my eyes were wrong.]

“.......”

That surprised me a little.

It was strange hearing Yoo Cheongil admit his own mistake like it was nothing.

“Hm.”

Anyway.

Strange is strange, but—

“So that’s why you longed so much to fight me...?”

“That’s right. How could I not be curious? I’m curious about the Sword Saint’s sword, sure—but I’m curious about you as a person, too.”

SHIIIING—.

CRACKLE—!!!

Namgung Cheon leveled that thunder at me.

“I want you to show me. Whether you’re someone who can inherit that name.”

“......That’s a lot of expectation. It’s burdensome.”

“Ahahaha.”

I could hear him laugh, but Namgung Cheon wasn’t smiling anymore.

“You know it isn’t.”

“.......”

It is, though. I’m scared as hell.

And he’s not buying it?

“So. I have just one request.”

“......What.”

“I heard you had a matter involving my incompetent younger brother.”

“.......”

Sure. There was something.

But why was that coming up now?

“So. Don’t misunderstand.”

“Misunderstand?”

“That’s right.”

CRACKLE—!!!!

The lightning started swallowing light.

“Don’t think that incompetent sword is the Namgung Clan’s sword. If you do... this match will end far too easily.”

“.......”

Hearing that, I let the tension inside me boil up.

“I don’t think that.”

Who does he take me for?

“I can tell at a glance it’s different.”

How could I look at that absurd power and think it was the same?

I’d never thought that, not even once.

Little Azure Sword and Thunder Dragon were different people.

Their value and their level weren’t even in the same world.

And like it was proving it—

‘Yeah. I prepared.’

I’d prepared a lot to face Thunder Dragon.

SSSSSSS—!!!

Like I was pushing that stinging lightning back, light wrapped around my sword force, too.

Radiant Moon Annihilation-Overturn.

Brilliant moonlight coiled around my sword.

At the same time, I poured strength into my eyes.

Moon Eyes bloomed, and the world flipped.

ZZZT—!

A headache flared like it was proof the power had truly gone in, and the world drowned in blue.

Moon-Spirit Sword Path.

I entered the world of the sword the moon revealed.

‘Can I do it?’

Against a bastard like that—could I really do it?

The doubt surfaced.

False fame.

Fake talent.

Confidence I’d never truly filled in myself.

I felt all of it—

‘So what.’

And like always, the answer was simple.

‘I do it anyway.’

Instead of running from what was placed in front of me, I chose to move forward.

“I’m coming.”

Thunder Dragon said it like he was giving me notice.

Didn’t matter.

‘I can see it.’

Because I could already see everything.

CRACKLE—!

In the blue vision, I saw a single line.

Looking at it, I raised my sword.

CRUNCH—!!!

It wasn’t a sound you could call “blades clashing.”

ZZZT.

My shoulder got crushed down. I’d only blocked, and it was like that.

‘Look at that strength.’

A strength fight wouldn’t work. I recognized it instantly and twisted the face of my blade.

KGGGGK—!!

As the blade face turned, Thunder Dragon’s sword slid off.

But—

GRAB—!

“......!”

The tip that slipped in immediately grazed my cheek.

‘Ha.’

Fast.

If I hadn’t seen the sword path, I’d been pierced.

I rotated my body. Spinning hard, the blood bead running from my cheek sprayed into the air.

I packed sword force into the rotation and took my stance.

Moon Wave.

The first form of the Blue Moon Sword Dance drove in at Thunder Dragon—

“Ha!”

Thunder «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Dragon spat out a shout.

CRACKLE—!!!!

The thunder energy wrapped around his body expanded in an instant.

ZZZT!

As it brushed my skin, it felt like tiny fragments scraping across flesh.

Even feeling that, I didn’t stop.

I forced my way in, trying to drive my sword through—

But a line appeared in front of me.

A counter?

I recognized it—

but—

“Thunder Line.”

CRACKLE—!

THUD!

“......!!”

Thunder Dragon’s sword punched into my chest in an instant.

A sharp tip stabbed in like it was going to skewer me.

“Kgh!”

I groaned and got knocked back.

I planted a foot and barely bled off the speed.

“Hah.”

Still shaken, I looked down.

My sword was protecting my chest.

The moment I saw Thunder Dragon’s sword path, I abandoned Moon Wave and diverted the line.

It was a short moment.

I hesitated—keep attacking, or defend.

I listened to instinct.

If I hadn’t, the match would’ve ended.

‘Why is it that fast?’

I was the one who extended first, but Thunder Dragon’s blade touched first by far.

That speed was ridiculous.

“Whew.”

As I let out a breath over barely blocking it—

“Little Sword Saint.”

Thunder Dragon’s voice reached me.

I looked up, and he was watching me from a short distance away.

“Is that all?”

“.......”

“Then I’m disappointed.”

SWISH.

SWISH.

Thunder Dragon spoke while lightly spinning his sword.

Hearing that, I smiled a little.

“Ah.”

Normally, around here, I would’ve planned to take it easy.

But damn it—Tang Cheon-il popped into my head.

That bastard tried too hard for no reason, and now it felt like I’d been dragged into this.

It pissed me off.

‘Damn it.’

Making me do something that doesn’t suit me.

With that thought, I told Namgung Cheon—

“No way.”

I raised my sword.

I still had plenty to show.

*****

As heat slowly started to boil up,

a Thunder Dragon said to be upper-tier among the Seven Prodigies—

and the new rising star who could place even the Seven Prodigies beneath him—

the Little Sword Saint, known as the Sword Saint’s successor, began his match.

Every spectator stared at them as if pulled in.

When Thunder Dragon wrapped himself in lightning-shaped energy—

when he activated the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Armor—everyone gasped in admiration.

Using the Namgung Clan’s ultimate art at that age was one thing.

But using Thunder Armor from the very start meant only one thing:

Thunder Dragon intended to fight seriously.

As if proving it, their brief exchange was ferocious.

He struck.

He deflected.

He countered.

He countered again.

It was a sequence that could be called “obvious”—

but that obvious moment was unusually short.

Because the Namgung Clan’s fast swordsmanship was even faster than that.

“Doesn’t the Little Sword Saint look a bit slow?”

“He looks like he can barely block... I’m starting to wonder.”

Spectators sent doubtful looks. Compared to the fame spread through the world, his responses felt strange.

“They said he could place the Seven Prodigies beneath him, but it doesn’t look like that.”

“Exactly. I felt it even in his match with Cloud Dragon. He’s strong, sure, but... it’s a bit ambiguous.”

Suspicion took root.

Was the Little Sword Saint really a junior generation talent who surpassed the Seven Prodigies?

“At least he’s handsome.”

“Definitely. His face could be called Seven Prodigies-class without shame. Hahaha.”

After doubt came mockery.

Maybe he can’t climb with skill, but maybe he can with his face.

The moment one man spat that out—

KWAANG—!

“Huh!? What the—!”

Something shattered beside him.

The man jolted and looked over—

the floor had been crushed.

And above it rested the elegant foot of a woman.

“Oops. I’m sorry.”

She wore a veil, but even from her voice you could tell she was refined.

She spoke as she looked at the man.

“I was killing a bug.”

“...Pardon?”

“A disgusting bug kept barking, so it bothered me. I’m so sorry.”

“.......”

At the strangely murderous words, the man shut his mouth.

Somehow, it felt like if he said even one more word, something terrible would happen.

Only then did the space fall quiet.

The woman lifted her foot and clicked her tongue.

“Tsk.”

To dare spout nonsense.

Annoyance surged, but she held it to this much.

Because she wasn’t alone right now.

“How does it look to you?”

The woman—Murong Yeongsun—glanced to the side and asked.

“Father.”

At Murong Yeongsun’s question, the man sitting beside her—

the Murong Clan’s Clan Head—

Silk King Murong Hyeok didn’t answer.

He simply glared hard at Bang Sungyeon on the stage.