As the Heavenly Demon and Hwa In looked at each other on the stage…

Cale stopped looking down at them from the stands and looked around instead.

‘They’re all here.’

The Queen, Cha Run, as well as the Lan Kingdom’s top executives and people whose names had been popular throughout this competition were basically all here.

‘No.’

That woman was not here.

So Hee.

The one Cale believed to be a wanderer was not here.

‘Huh?

What is going on?’

Cale felt an unexplainable sense of déjà vu.

It would be fine for So Hee to not be here, but…

‘I have chills down my spine.’

This feeling was not usually wrong.

It was at that moment.

“So Hee is not here.”

“Yeah. She’s not here.”

Cale said something the moment he realized that Alberu and Choi Han, seated on either side of him, realized the same thing.

“Something is fishy.”

Choi Han and Alberu showed their agreement through silence.

However, the atmosphere around them was boiling with excitement.

“There’s a sword in One Sword’s hand!”

“Wow. I guess even Kim Hae-Yi is getting serious now that it is the quarterfinals.”

One Sword.

The man with that nickname had never actually held a sword in his hand until now.

However, he had still defeated all opponents with a single movement of his hand.

Such a person had a sword in his hand right now.

“That’s a common sword, right?”

“Yeah. I think he just bought it from one of the blacksmiths.”

“The quality of a weapon is not important to an expert!”

“No. It is the experts who seek out great weapons! People who know how to use it know the value of such items the best!”

Of course, the sword in the Heavenly Demon’s hand was a random sword he picked up at a smithy this morning.

“…….”

The Heavenly Demon must have thrown the scabbard away somewhere as he was just standing there with the sword in his hand.

Smile.

Hwa In smiled widely while looking at him.

She did not open her mouth.

– Do you know who I am?

But she did send the Heavenly Demon a sound transmission.

And the Heavenly Demon-

“Should I?”

He just responded with disinterest.

“Mm.”

The referee hesitated for a moment after seeing the Heavenly Demon and Hwa In exchanging sound transmissions, but he soon raised the flag up and then lowered it.

Boom!

The drum sounded in conjunction and the match started.

However, both the Heavenly Demon and Hwa In just observed each other.

“…You ask if you should know-”

Hwa In spoke first.

“Ha.”

She couldn’t hide her disbelief.

“You dare-”

She even looked a bit disgruntled.

‘A lowly thing that doesn’t really exist dares to ignore me?

Truly, this truly-’

“How arrogant.”

Clang.

She pulled her sword out of its scabbard.

Then she threw the scabbard behind her.

Shaaaaa-

A breeze carrying internal ki carefully wrapped around the scabbard and gently placed it on the ground.

“!”

“Mm!”

The experts watching flinched.

It allowed them to see the depth of Hwa In’s internal ki.

However, the Heavenly Demon did not care.

He simply looked up at the sky and closed his eyes.

“…….”

Hwa In could not hold back her sneer as she watched him.

‘Hey So Hee. You have to help out the Transparent Bloods a bit. Please?’

It also made her think of her ally who basically threatened her while making it sound like an advice.

‘The Transparent Blood bastards keep asking us to catch the AI. So Hee, is doing something like that hard?’

Hwa In, no, So Hee, saw the annoyance hidden underneath the gentle tone of her ally and had retorted.

‘Why do I need to do such a trivial task like that?! I’m a single-lifer! Why does someone like me have to listen to the request of those Transparent Blood bastards?!’

She got the chills thinking about that moment.

‘Hey So Hee. Don’t annoy me like this. Please?’

Her ally who was looking at her…

No, the gaze of the wanderer from the Five Colors Bloods was actually transparent.

There was nothing within his eyes.

‘Vicious bastards.’

As the youngest of the group, So Hee thought that all these wanderer bastards were annoying.

They were simply gathered together for their respective goals.

‘No.’

Unlike a few of the first generation wanderers who had been together since a very long time ago and had their connection with each other…

She didn’t have such connections, potentially because she recently joined them.

‘Anyway, I just need to get rid of this AI and swallow up the Lan Kingdom.’

A new world.

Her position and authority was important in this place.

Step.

Hwa In took a step toward the Heavenly Demon.

“This truly is like a dance.”

Cha Run mumbled.

An expert’s steps felt like a dance.

He felt like he could see the path of her martial arts that she had walked with her every step.

She opened her mouth.

“I guess… Who you are isn’t important to me either.”

Hwa In didn’t even consider that Kim Hae-Yi might not be the AI.

‘First of all, he is not a user.’

She was certain that he was not a game user.

Kim Hae-Yi had not logged out for multiple days and nights.

Furthermore, she was unable to assign a quest to him.

This meant that he was like an NPC.

‘But he is also not someone under the system.

He does what he wants.’

In that sense-

‘He is the AI.’

Actually, a conclusion like this was meaningless.

“You cocky bastard.”

She quietly mumbled.

As she looked at the Heavenly Demon’s gaze…

Annoyance.

Was there an NPC who dared to look at the Alliance leader of the Cooperative Alliance with such a gaze?

It was extremely unlikely for them to be set up that way.

‘The Transparent Bloods couldn’t find anything either.’

She had asked those bastards for data on Kim Hae-Yi.

However, those operators did not know anything about Kim Hae-Yi.

There was only one answer.

AI.

And…

‘They also had nothing on the subordinates he has around him.’

These subordinates must be ones that the AI Kim Hae-Yi had created.

“…….”

“…….”

The surroundings became quiet.

Step, step.

Hwa In walked toward the Heavenly Demon without any hesitation.

And as she walked…

She raised her sword.

Just as walking was something natural to humans…

Her arm went up…

Her hand moved…

The way her sword extended out with it all looked so natural.

That sword eventually moved toward Kim Hae-Yi.

It did not feel like an attack.

Everything felt like a normal daily occurrence.

However, there was a sword in her hand.

“!”

Choi Han’s shoulder flinched widely.

“Wanderer, yes, I think she is a wanderer.”

As Cale heard his voice…

The Heavenly Demon could see the tip of the sword coming at him.

Similar to how he slashed the sword of Seo Rak from the Sky Sword not too long ago…

From top to bottom.

The sword tip was striking down as if it was going to crack the Heavenly Demon into two.

Hwa In was visible beyond that line.

“It looks as if she wants to slice Mount Tai.”

Cha Run could not hide his astonishment.

He had no idea that Hwa In was at this level.

Not martial arts but daily routine.

The sword was a part of her daily routine now.

The ‘life’ that humans live through…

It looked as ‘typical’ as life itself.

– Cale.

Cale heard the Super Rock’s voice.

– That sword.

– Something is weird.

The ancient powers that had been quiet started to react as Hwa In sliced down with her sword.

– Power, there is great power behind that attack.

There was no aura visible from Hwa In’s sword.

“What is she doing?”

“I don’t know. Is she scoping out the competition?”

That was why the common folks did not realize it.

But it was different for the strong.

“!”

The Sword Ghost felt chills down his entire body.

Pao Seo Tae’s eyes opened wide.

“… One Sword!”

Pao Seo Tae realized that Hwa In was trying to use one sword movement to crack One Sword Kim Hae-Yi.

Humans could not defeat nature.

However, that sword could crack Mount Tai in half.

There would be no mountains that this word could not slash.

How would a human be able to handle such an attack?

Even if he was a mountain, he would end up being broken.

“Choi Han.”

Cale asked with a stoic look on his face.

“Do you think he will lose?”

The answer came without any hesitation.

“No, Cale-nim.”

The moment Choi Han responded…

Cale could see the Heavenly Demon’s sword move.

New World.

This new world…

The Heavenly Demon used a sword for the first time since coming to this place.

“!”

Hwa In’s eyes opened wide for a moment.

“How, how can you use that power-”

She was shocked…

But it was too late to stop.

“What, that?!”

Queen Tamahi jumped up from her seat.

She subconsciously clenched the railing in front of her isolated seating area.

“What is that?”

Her voice was shaking.

Kim Hae-Yi.

The Heavenly Demon.

The dark red aura around her sword…

That was not internal ki.

It wasn’t aura either.

This was also not magic.

It was an aura she had never seen before.

Nonetheless-

“W, how dreadful-”

It gave off a feeling of dread.

Smile.

The corners of Cale’s lips curled up.

“It got stronger.”

As Choi Han slightly smiled while looking at the Heavenly Demon…

The Heavenly Demon opened his mouth.

“I-”

A sword that can break Mount Tai-

A human with such a sword in front of her-

The Heavenly Demon.

Who was he?

He was human but he was not human.

I am the Demon’s-

“I, I am the sky.”

The sky of the Demon.

The sky, the god of the numerous believers of the Demon Cult.

That is who I am.

The Heavenly Demon.

I am the Heaven of the Demon Cult.

Even if it is a sword that can break Mount Tai-

It cannot cut through the heavens.

As long as that faith exists…

The aura of the Heavenly Demon would never lose.

If Choi Han’s sword has his conviction…

The Heavenly Demon’s sword had faith similar to lunacy.

Hwa In’s sword moved from top to bottom.

From the sky to the ground.

As it slashed down to break the Heavenly Demon into two…

The Heavenly Demon’s sword did not move to block it.

It simply moved forward.

Was there a need for him to be scared of a sword that was trying to break a mere Mount Tai?

He only had one goal.

The enemy in front of him.

He only focused on Hwa In.

The person who dared to call the Heavenly Demon arrogant.

This was not mocking just the Heavenly Demon himself.

Looking down on the sky of the Demon Cult was looking down at all of the believers as well.

The Heaven could not watch as those under it were looked down upon.

Oooooo– oooooo–

The dark red aura slowly left the Heavenly Demon’s body and pushed forward past his sword.

“…….”

“…….”

The audience was silent.

As the dark red aura appeared and became big enough to see with their naked eyes…

They started to feel suffocated.

They also got chills at this unexplainable feeling of dread.

But they also felt this charm that made it impossible to look away.

It was a dreadful and scary power that made them feel suffocated, but it was also something that mesmerized them.

“It’s dangerous-”

As someone said that…

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—

There was a loud explosion.

One Sword.

And One Sword.

The explosion of a single clash made the entire stadium shake.

There was a significant amount of dust clouds.

People waited for the dust clouds to settle.

But there was no need.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A breeze blew by.

The breeze was dark red.

The dark red aura rose up and pushed the dust away.

“!”

As people realized the meaning behind it and their eyes opened wide…

Chhhhhh–!

Someone was pushed back.

It was Hwa In.

The sword slashing down and the sword pushing forward…

The two swords exquisitely aimed at their opponent.

Craaaaaaack-

One sword broke and fell to the ground.

It was the sword of the person who was pushed back, Hwa In.

A sword famous in the Lan Kingdom was broken by a common sword.

It looked as if it was pierced by a nail.

It cracked into pieces.

“Huh?!”

“What the hell?!”

However, people couldn’t even look at the sword.

Drip.

Blood was dripping down from Hwa In’s mouth.

She had received internal injuries.

This dark red aura…

She had tried to block this aura with her internal ki.

The alliance leader of the Cooperative Alliance.

The pure circulation method that allowed her to rise to that position…

The internal ki that she built up with that circulation method was pure and clean. She thought that its purity would be able to overcome the dreadful nature of this dark red aura.

It was because she thought that there was no way for this AI to have such a power.

This power was something only the chosen could have.

It was a great power that could no longer appear.

“…Truly-”

However, she could not block that power.

Drip.

This dripping blood was the answer.

The distance she was pushed back was the answer.

She did not wipe the blood off her mouth.

Hwa In continued to drip blood as she asked.

“Do you truly possess a unique power?”

As the dust settled and they could see again…

The Heavenly Demon was standing there with the dark red aura fluctuating as if he had hundreds of snakes wriggling around him.

His appearance was clear even within the ominous dark red aura.

As Choi Han mentioned, the Heavenly Demon had gotten stronger.

It was because he had realized a lot of new things going up against the Dragons and Aipotu.

“How, the powers sealed by the Divine race, a lowly thing like you-”

Hwa In stood there looking as if a cat got her tongue.

The Heavenly Demon’s lips twisted up.

“How entertaining.”

As he said that one phrase…

The stands became rowdy.

“That person is not Hwa In!”

“Why did Hwa In, Hwa In-!”

The Heavenly Demon’s sword…

No, that dark red aura domain forced Hwa In to use a different power.

It was the unique power only possessed by the wanderer, So Hee.

The power that the Divine race sealed in the past and was now only known as ancient powers.

Those powers that were said to have endless potential…

The aura used by the Heavenly Demon had the qualities to become one of those unique powers, and was already starting to turn into one.

“You-”

So Hee.

The newly discovered strong individual whose fame was rising up alongside Kim Hae-Yi…

Well, she had received less attention than him.

She took off the mask of Hwa In and faced the Heavenly Demon with her true body.

“You, who are you?”

An odd sense of lunacy started to form in her eyes.

Her eyes, that had been nonchalant about everything around her, started to clearly show hostility.

“Now that is a gaze I enjoy seeing.”

The Heavenly Demon laughed.

Oooooo– oooooo–

As if to cover up the sky above the stage…

The dark red aura was slowly spreading out.

It was as if he was saying that this aura, no, that he himself was the sky.

Cale watched all of this and leisurely commented.

“Our young master-nim must have been very angry.”

He then put a hand on Choi Han’s shoulder next to him.

“Calm down. It is not your turn yet.”

So Hee.

Choi Han’s face had stiffened as soon as he saw So Hee’s face.

Cale and Alberu started to observe So Hee.

Cale was recording, Alberu was observing, Choi Han was warily staring.

They were watching the wanderer with their respective thoughts. They were also looking at the Heavenly Demon.

—

Translator’s Comments

Choi Han: Hold me back, Cale-nim! Hold me back now!

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