The World's Greatest is Dead

The moon is hanging in the sky.

A moon, white and blue at once, floats in the air, and though thick storm clouds fill the heavens, something as trivial as that cannot block its light.

The moonlight, scattered in patches across the ground, is vivid.

Looking at it, I gather my dazed senses.

This is...

A dream.

I realize it immediately.

That peculiar sensation tickles at my soul.

I look around.

It is not a familiar place.

It looks like nothing more than an ordinary plain with a forest nearby, but it is somewhere I do not know.

Which means—

This is someone else’s dream.

For a place I have never seen to be recreated in this much detail—

that means it is someone else’s illusion.

Whose could it be?

Whose dream is this?

I keep glancing around in confusion, and then—

“Do you know what it means to become the moon?”

A familiar voice comes from below.

My gaze shifts on its own.

There is a rock untouched by moonlight.

I see two people sitting atop the large boulder.

One of them is—

The old man.

At a glance, it is Yucheon Gil.

If there is one difference, it is that he looks about thirty or so.

It is clear this is Yucheon Gil in his younger days.

And the other one—

...Who is that?

I cannot see clearly.

As though covered in fog, the figure is blackened and unreal.

Is the memory distorted?

Is it a problem with Yucheon Gil’s memory?

I understand now that this is his dream.

That must be why only Yucheon Gil appears so clearly.

“The moon means rising. When night comes, it shines without ever truly setting, and even when day arrives, it is still hanging elsewhere.”

“So that is what the moon is?”

The black figure’s voice is distorted too, making it difficult to understand.

“That is why you wish to become the moon?”

Because it is always hanging above?

At those words, Yucheon Gil shakes his head.

“You are half right and half wrong.”

“And what part is wrong? The rising?”

“What could be more bothersome than always hanging overhead? A person should rest when it is time to rest.”

“That is not something I understand.”

Click.

There are two cups set at the center of the rock.

He fills them with liquor.

“Then why do you wish to become the moon?”

“Is it not beautiful?”

“Hm?”

Yucheon Gil smiles up at the sky.

Seeing that, I flinch.

For a moment, it feels like he is looking at me.

He is not.

Yucheon Gil is looking at the crescent moon behind me.

“That thing rising up there is simply beautiful. If I could capture that light within my sword, would that alone not be enough? Or perhaps...”

Yucheon Gil falls silent for a moment before continuing.

“If I were to contain that moon itself within my body, how beautiful would that be? Does that not excite you?”

“Well.”

Contain the moon within his body.

The thing that comes to mind at those words is Moonbolt.

...The release of energy.

The energy of Moonbolt feels exactly as though moonlight itself were contained within the body.

And the sword art of the Azure Moon Sect that Yucheon Gil created—or altered—also unmistakably carries the image of the moon.

So I can vaguely understand what he meant by wanting to become the moon.

“It does not matter if you do not understand. How could an ordinary man understand?”

Yucheon Gil says that with a chuckle.

It is spoken like a joke, but there is something mocking in it.

Even after hearing that, the figure shows no particular reaction.

“All right, that is my answer. Then what is it that you wish to become?”

“Mm.”

At that, the figure looks up into the air.

Does that being also wish to look upon the moon?

The instant I think that—

“...!!”

My body goes stiff.

It is not the moon.

Yucheon Gil is looking at the moon, but that one is not.

That is—

He’s looking at me.

He is staring directly at me.

The red eyes within that figure are fixed on me.

...Red eyes?

The moment I see them, I realize what that figure is.

“I—”

That familiar tone.

At the sound of it, the black figure slowly takes shape.

“Will become the heavens.”

The Heavenly Demon.

That existence was the Heavenly Demon in his youth.

And as soon as I grasp that, I finally realize what I had mistaken.

This...

This was not Yucheon Gil’s dream.

This was—

...the Heavenly Demon’s dream.

Unbelievably, it is the Heavenly Demon’s dream.

It is a dream the Heavenly Demon is showing me.

The moment I finally realize that, the Heavenly Demon smiles as if he has noticed.

“I will become the heavens.”

The emotion contained in those words makes my heart tremble.

How can someone be so full of conviction and faith?

When a voice carries the soul within it, that means it is spoken with absolute sincerity.

That exists in Yucheon Gil’s voice as well, but the Heavenly Demon holds something even greater.

And besides—

That line.

I understand that he said it as though he wanted me to hear it.

My expression twists.

The heavens.

Just as I am turning those words over in my mind—

the Heavenly Demon raises his hand.

He points a finger at me.

“That is enough. Wake up.”

The moment that finger gives a light flick—

Slash!

“...!”

My neck is cut.

“Hah...!”

I come to.

Staggering, I force myself upright.

“Ugh...”

My whole body aches.

My head hurts like hell.

I clutch at my forehead and have to struggle to get my senses back.

What a rotten dream.

The dream the Heavenly Demon showed me.

That nasty, disgusting thing lingers in my body even after waking.

“...What are you trying to do?”

I look at the Divine Sword.

The Heavenly Demon gives no reaction.

I hold back a sigh.

After shaking my head a few times, I speak into the air.

“Old man... how much time has pass—”

Naturally, I direct the question toward Yucheon Gil, assuming he is there, but—

“Huh?”

I look around and realize it.

Yucheon Gil is gone too. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Where did that old man go now?

“What did he go running off to this time?”

He always vanishes like this, so there is not much to say.

Groaning, I force myself to my feet first.

But then—

Stagger!

“Urgh!?”

I lose my balance halfway up.

Something is strange.

What?

Carefully, I rise again.

It is only after I am fully standing that I realize what feels so off.

The height is different.

Everything looks a little higher than it normally does.

Feeling that, I look down.

“Oh.”

The length of the clothes I am wearing is different.

My pants are shorter.

The moment I see that, I start feeling all over my body.

Once I begin checking here and there, I can quickly judge the state of my muscles and the shape of my bones.

“...This.”

There is no doubt.

My body has grown bigger than before.

At the same time, my eyes widen and I circulate my energy through my body.

FWOOOOSH—!!!

“...!!”

The moment I do, I understand.

“...My energy has changed.”

The quality of the energy flowing through my meridians is far heavier than before.

And that is not all.

I can feel yin energy faintly mixed into it, and the sensation brushing against my middle dantian is completely different from before.

It’s stable.

Unlike before, when the speed of drawing out my energy and the flow wrapping around my body always carried a certain instability—

now it flows with perfect stability.

Has my energy increased?

It feels like it has, though that part is not immediately obvious.

Still, that does not matter.

No... whether it increased or not isn’t the important part.

Not the quantity.

What matters right now is—

the quality.

The level of the energy I originally possessed is completely different now.

Can the quality of one’s energy really change this much?

My heart pounds.

Could it really be—

Rebirth.

My body growing larger, my energy changing—

are these really the gains from successfully achieving rebirth?

Hurriedly, I look around.

There is water nearby.

I head over to check my reflection.

“...Oh.”

I actually let out a note of admiration.

“I look handsome.”

It has been a long time since I admired my own face like this.

I had always been confident in my looks to begin with, but—

“My skin’s smooth as hell.”

My skin has become fairer, and my hair carries a sheen now.

Even my face, which had almost lacked any real masculinity before, has gained a little more definition.

At this point—

I might even be able to match Father.

Maybe enough to stand beside that man who could have competed with the world on looks alone.

I nod at the obvious change in my appearance.

It does not seem like a bad change.

Then—

“Hm?”

I frown.

There is a foul smell coming from somewhere.

No way.

Sniff, sniff.

I lift my sleeve and smell it.

“Ugh!”

The source is right here.

The stench is coming from me.

“What the hell is this smell?”

It is the worst stench I have ever smelled in my life.

Seongheon’s knowledge surfaces in my mind.

It’s because of the rebirth.

They say that when one undergoes rebirth, all the waste and bad energy inside the body gets flushed out.

Looks like it all soaked into my body and clothes.

This is not easy to deal with.

I am not exactly a clean freak, but this is a bit much.

I wash it off with water right away.

It is freezing cold, but that smell is not something I can leave alone.

By the time I finish, my whole body is soaked.

The martial robe is already beyond saving, so I throw off the upper half.

“My height... went up by about half a span, maybe.”

I am nowhere near the size of those huge men people call giants, but I definitely got taller.

It really seems I successfully achieved rebirth.

The muscles on my body are far more defined now too.

Just as I am admiring the leaner, stronger body—

But where did that old man go?

After doing all this for me, where did he disappear to?

Did he run off to investigate something again?

I scratch my cheek.

...He’ll show up when he shows up.

Has that old man ever once lived according to anyone’s wishes but his own?

So this time too, he probably just did what he needed to do for me and then wandered off somewhere.

That is what I assume.

“...Well then.”

I cannot stay here forever, so for now, I should head back.

With that in mind, I decide to go down the mountain.

But...

“...Can I really go back like this?”

Is it really okay to go down just like this in this body?

That worry suddenly crosses my mind.

*****

FWOOOOSH—!!!

The wind brushes past.

I descend the mountain lightly.

A worry is still a worry, but I cannot just not go.

So I head down the mountain, and—

This is easy?

The mountain that had been such a pain to climb yesterday is absurdly easy {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} to go down now.

Of course, going down is always easier than climbing up, but—

It feels different.

My body is far lighter.

What used to be easy only when using Moonbolt is now simple even with just my physical body.

Tap.

I am down in an instant.

This is the place I first arrived at when leaving the Azure Moon Sect.

I glance around carefully.

Just in case someone might be watching me.

Back then, Yucheon Gil kept watch for me.

But now that old man is nowhere to be found.

If I move carelessly, they will realize I sneaked out.

Thinking that, I heighten my senses as much as possible.

I need to confirm whether anyone is nearby.

At first, I feel nothing.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I take a step forward.

Then—

Woooong.

“...!”

Instinctively, I draw my sword.

The Divine Sword comes free, and Sword Aura whips out in a storm.

Wrapped in the Radiant Moon Flash Aura, the blade intercepts the empty air to my left.

BOOM—!!!

A brutal impact crashes into me.

My feet lift off the ground.

My vision twists.

My body, thrown into the air, is sent hurtling backward at terrifying speed.

I do not collapse.

Barely maintaining my balance, I force my feet back onto the ground—

KRAAAAAAASH—!!!

and grind against the earth until I kill the momentum.

“...Ghh...”

What kind of mess is this the second I get back?

What the hell was that just now?

I tense my whole body and try to steady my posture, but then—

“I was mistaken.”

The voice comes from directly behind me.

I spin around in shock, and standing there is—

“I thought you were an intruder.”

the Moon Immortal Sword.

“It was you.”

“...Sect Leader.”

He is staring at me with an expression of surprise so great it is rare even for him.