My grandfather was alive?

What kind of insane nonsense was that?

“Is my grandfather... alive?”

Was that even possible?

I stared at Mo Yong Tae with strange eyes.

He was looking at me the same way.

“Then you thought he was dead?”

“Ah... I mean, naturally?”

Of course I thought he was dead.

Father had said so.

—Your grandfather is dead.

—Pardon?

—We had no money for a funeral, so I buried him somewhere suitable. Know that much.

—What kind of insane nonsense is that...?

It was a statement with not even a rat’s ass worth of filial piety in it.

It had been shocking enough that I could not forget it.

I was sure that had happened.

He had even made a grave on the back mountain.

But now he was alive?

“You made a grave? Hahahaha.”

Mo Yong Tae burst out laughing.

“...How very Bang Family. That disgraceful mess of a house hasn’t changed.”

“...”

“I do not know what that bastard Family Head Bang intended when he told you that, but your grandfather is alive.”

“He is alive...?”

Then where was he?

“You will not be able to find him even if you try. There is no man busier than that bastard.”

“...Ah. Yes.”

I did not especially want to go looking for him.

There was no need to do anything with my grandfather at this point.

Honestly, my memories of him were hazy.

“That aside... then the item you said you would give me.”

“Hm...”

Mo Yong Tae looked at me.

There was something subtle in his gaze.

What was it?

Why was he looking at me like that?

As I wondered about it—

“I suddenly do not want to give it to you.”

“Pardon?”

“Originally, I meant to hand it over, scold you a little, then send you back. But seeing the state of you makes me unwilling.”

“What is that supposed to mean...?”

“A scolding only works on someone who can be scolded... You look like you would not listen with even the rim of your ear. All the more because you resemble your grandfather.”

“...”

I could not tell whether that was praise or an insult.

Probably an insult.

He was not exactly a man who had spoken well of my grandfather.

Then—

“So let us make a wager.”

“A wager?”

Out of nowhere?

“If you win the wager, I will give you the item. However.”

“However...?”

“If you lose, never show yourself in front of my Yeongsun again.”

“...”

“Grandfather...?”

The one who reacted to those words was Mo Yong Yeongsun.

Her eyes went wide as she spoke to Mo Yong Tae.

“What are you saying right now?”

“The engagement has already been broken. Yeongsun. If this fellow keeps loitering around you, he will only ruin your marriage prospects. You know that.”

“That is—”

“I cherish you, but marriage is another matter. We cannot delay any longer.”

“...”

Mo Yong Yeongsun bit her lip.

He was right.

She was not young anymore.

Under normal circumstances, she would already have been engaged, and it would not have been strange if she had even married by now.

That penalty is strange.

It was not exactly a penalty where I lost anything by losing.

However.

“Can I just not make the wager and not receive the item?”

I had no reason to do it.

An item my grandfather had left behind?

So what?

It does not seem like something I need.

It was meaningless.

Whatever my grandfather had left, I had no reason to be interested in it.

“Ha... What a funny bastard.”

Mo Yong Tae let out an incredulous laugh as he looked at me.

“And you know what the item is?”

“I think I do not need to hear—”

“When that son of a bitch entrusted it to me, he said you would understand if I said ‘precept.’”

“...”

I froze.

At Mo Yong Tae’s words, I froze.

Precept?

That word came out here?

“...That.”

My grandfather had left that message when entrusting the item?

How?

That was—

Something that only came up in my past life.

It was something I must not become entangled with in this life.

My eyes trembled.

“It seems your interest has finally stirred. Good.”

“...”

As he spoke, Mo Yong Tae rose to his feet.

“The wager. Will you take it?”

“...What do I have to do?”

Normally, I would not.

But now the stone had been thrown.

Precept.

I had become curious about the grandfather who had mentioned it, and about the item he had entrusted while mentioning it.

“The wager is simple enough.”

SHHHH—!

Energy burst from Mo Yong Tae’s body.

His force tangled in the wind and gave off a numbing pressure.

“One strike. Touch me with even one strike. If you so much as graze my sleeve, I will acknowledge you.”

“...”

It was a very simple thing to say.

And a very difficult one.

“Will you do it?”

Mo Yong Tae spoke with a smile, and I placed my hand on the Divine Sword.

“Can I begin now?”

“Hahaha.”

Mo Yong Tae laughed heartily at my words.

“Arrogant brat. You really do resemble that son of a bitch.”

“...That was praise, yes?”

“As if.”

RUMBLE—!

Pressure poured out of Mo Yong Tae.

It was far more intense than before.

A single spark, and it would explode.

When should I go in?

As I focused—

“...Young Master Bang.”

Mo Yong Yeongsun spoke to me.

“Are you really going to make this wager?”

“...I think I have to.”

I had not wanted to either, but the situation had become this.

At my answer, Mo Yong Yeongsun bit her lip.

“...You know what you have to do if you lose, right?”

“...”

Never appear before Mo Yong Yeongsun again.

I recalled that and spoke.

Looking at her expression, I swallowed dryly.

Losing does not sound so bad, does it?

I wanted to make that joke, but I had at least that much tact.

If I let it out, I was finished.

Then what should I do?

I thought for a moment, then said,

“...I do not plan to lose.”

“...”

“So step back for now.”

When I changed my speech to informal, only then did Mo Yong Yeongsun withdraw.

“Hmph.”

Perhaps he disliked that reaction, because Mo Yong Tae snorted.

The old man before me was an absolute master.

Whether he was at the level of a being beyond heaven, I did not know, but he had weathered every kind of hardship and battlefield, and he had once been the master of one of the Five Great Families.

Something like me was still laughably insufficient to challenge him.

SHHH—!

I drew the ink-black Divine Sword.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Sword.

And I thought,

All I have to do is graze him.

I gripped the handle and lowered my stance.

WIIIIING—!

The sword cried.

The sword cry manifested.

“Oh?”

Mo Yong Tae saw it and looked on with interest.

Remember.

It only needed to be one strike.

I focused.

Energy spread through my entire body.

I closed my eyes slightly.

Sensation.

Something overlaid itself atop my inner qi.

Spiritual energy.

Now, I could use that as my own inner qi as well.

And—

My body has become lighter.

Light, yet also heavy.

My center was set.

It was clearly different from before.

Something.

Something had changed greatly.

Sss.

I opened my closed eyes.

Power gathered in blue eyes.

Moon Eye opened.

The Moon Immortal Sword path.

A tether advancing toward the opponent.

Watching that thinly spreading tether, I put strength into my dantian.

CRACKLE—!

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE—!

Moonbolt’s power spread through my whole body.

The force, altered into pure white, formed Radiant Moon Flash Aura.

“...Hm.”

Mo Yong Tae calmly drew his sword.

“For the son of that bastard’s child, you seem to possess quite a lot.”

It was praise.

The first praise I had heard from him.

I did not say thank you.

“Haaah.”

I exhaled.

RUMBLE—!

Hard aura wrapped around Mo Yong Tae’s sword as well.

It was brilliant.

An absolute master’s Sword Aura made me marvel every time I saw it.

The quality is different.

The types of Sword Aura might differ, but I could see the realization and density held within it.

It truly was like steel.

That bizarre-tempered old man really was a master.

However.

“I am coming.”

“Come.”

I was not afraid.

For some reason, I was not.

One step.

I moved forward lightly.

In stark contrast to the casual lift of my foot—

SWISH—!

My body drove straight in front of Mo Yong Tae.

“Hup...”

Mo Yong Yeongsun, watching from the side, gasped at the tremendous speed.

CRUNCH—!

Unlike my lightly flying body, weight loaded into the leg supporting me.

I stomped down as though crushing the ground, then put strength into the handle I held.

Radiant Moon Flash Aura burst out violently.

Following the connected sword path, I slowly cut with the sword.

WOOONG—!

The sword cry brushed the air.

A crescent moon flew toward Mo Yong Tae.

But—

CRACK—!

“...!”

It was crushed outright by the sword Mo Yong Tae swung so lightly.

Could it really be destroyed that easily?

I was not flustered.

The impact shook my body somewhat, but even so, I did not lose my center.

Next—

I had to think of the next move.

The move for when Moon Wave failed had already come to mind.

SWISH!

The sword moved quickly.

The sound followed behind it.

My body moved in a blur.

I loaded speed on top of it.

I swung and swung again without stopping.

But.

It is not reaching him.

In the end, it did not reach Mo Yong Tae.

He was moving lightly and avoiding every sword.

What is the problem?

Was it the difference in speed?

The difference in power?

If I had to say, it was probably both.

I knew the gap in realm was not something I could overcome with things like this.

Then what should I do?

I thought of more possibilities.

At that moment—

“You are thinking too much. This hardly seems like the time for that.”

WHOOOSH—!

“...!”

Mo Yong Tae’s sword flew in.

I tilted my head back and dodged.

WHOOOSH—!

The wind pressure was tremendous.

If I had not avoided it, that strike would have blown me apart.

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue and clenched my teeth.

It was the same criticism again.

I had already heard it several times.

How was I supposed to erase idle thoughts?

Was I not supposed to think of the next move?

Even now, thoughts kept rising.

Erase them... huh.

CRACKLE.

Moonbolt was still maintained.

An artificial state of complete absorption.

Yoo Cheongil had said it was a power that reached that place.

A state of complete absorption.

Inside something where I was supposed to think of nothing, I was thinking.

Then.

Was it not meaningless in the end?

Erase thought.

Sss.

“Hm?”

I opened the distance and caught my breath for a moment.

Even then, Mo Yong Tae did not move and simply watched me.

It seemed he wanted to see what I would do.

Sss.

I lowered the sword slightly and released the strength from my body.

Then I placed the tip of the sword forward.

Toward Mo Yong Tae.

Wooooong.

The sword cry rang.

I focused on the trembling of the sword tip.

Hoooo.

I felt the wind.

My inner qi moved on its own.

I traced the flow along my meridians.

The spiritual energy flowing from my heart moved after it.

The sensation was foreign.

Two kinds of energy merging into one created countless thoughts.

Focus.

Whoooong.

Woooong.

The tremors of the energies were each different.

I let those differences merge into one.

WOOOOONG—!

The trembling of the sword cry deepened.

“Haa.”

A sigh.

In the short breath I let out, a change occurred in the Moon Immortal Sword path.

The thinly stretched tether sank and touched the ground.

The tether became a road.

Advance like this.

The road told me so.

Step.

I stepped toward it.

The moment I did—

Snap.

The world stopped.

[Haha.]

The Heavenly Demon’s voice sounded very faintly.

[I never imagined you would reach it this way.] 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[How amusing. Truly astonishing.]

[Indulge in it endlessly and enjoy it. Do not miss a single thing.]

Even though I heard his voice, I did not waver.

The only thing I saw was the road.

Once I climbed onto it, my body moved before I could think about how to act.

Ah.

Only then did the world move.

Within the flowing scenery, I felt something alien.

Crackle.

Moonbolt, which had been flowing violently, changed into something calm.

The Radiant Moon Flash Aura that had been pouring out light condensed.

It was strange.

In that state, I advanced.

“Huh.”

The instant I heard Mo Yong Tae’s breathless sound—

SLASH—!

My sword grazed him.

Blood burst out.

Mo Yong Tae’s shoulder had been cut.

“Grandfather...!?”

Mo Yong Yeongsun’s eyes widened in shock.

“...Heh.”

Mo Yong Tae let out a dry laugh as he looked at me.

“I wondered what you were trying to do.”

“...”

As that strangely blank feeling continued, Mo Yong Tae looked at me and said,

“Body-and-sword unity. The heavens have given far too much to that son of a bitch’s grandson.”

Body-and-sword unity.

The sound of it pierced straight through me.