<One Sword (4)>

“Oh. There are so many people.”

Cale found the First Tournament Stage and handed the chicken skewers in his hands to Alberu and the Heavenly Demon.

“I am currently on guard.”

Alberu smiled brightly and rejected it.

“Pfft.”

The Heavenly Demon sneered once before ignoring the chicken skewer in Cale’s hand.

“…….”

Cale oddly felt upset but he ignored it.

– Sluuuurp.

Cale listened to the glutton priestess slurping and started to eat pieces off of all three skewers in his hands.

“What about the kids?”

Cale chewed and half-assed a response to the Heavenly Demon.

“They are taking care of the egg.”

Eden Miru was getting close to hatching.

The children averaging ten-years-old. Of them, Raon’s eyes were especially bloodshot as he stayed by Eden Miru’s side all day and night.

‘Human! I will definitely be watching when he hatches!’

The force he was giving off was so vicious that…

‘Mm.

Yeah, it was intense.’

Of course, Raon had a clear reason for doing that.

‘I will watch it together with my mom!’

The Black Castle was still in Aipotu.

Former Lord Sheritt was unable to leave the Black Castle.

The Dragon half-blood.

The one now named Eden Miru carried the heart of Sheritt’s other child.

In some ways, that could make him an enemy for Sheritt to hate, but…

‘He’s basically her child.’

The emotions Sheritt was feeling for Eden Miru was turning from a love-hate relationship to affection.

Raon, Sheritt, Eden Miru.

No matter what, the three of them were now a family.

Once the recovery rate reaches 95%, Raon was planning on returning to the Seventh Evil to go to the spot that was connected to Neo’s Lair.

That basement was a spot where Aipotu and the New World were naturally connected.

‘Sheritt-nim would be able to see Eden Miru hatching through magic or other means.’

Former Lord Sheritt.

The reason for her existence was watching her two children being born and looking after them.

However, she had lost both children in the past. For her to be able to see the birth of Eden Miru-

‘I can’t even imagine it.’

It was something Cale couldn’t even fathom.

Anyway, that was why Cale was currently leaving Raon, On, and Hong alone.

‘Those kids have seen so much fighting and battles.’

This experience would be very important to these three children.

‘It should be good for Eden Miru as well.’

Yes. It should be good for everyone.

Cale was nodding his head when he heard someone chuckling next to him.

He turned his head-

“What is it?”

Alberu and the Heavenly Demon were looking at Cale.

Cale, who was seated between the two of them, instantly put on a scowl.

“What’s up with that gaze?”

He subconsciously spoke casually to them.

The Heavenly Demon. And Alberu Crossman.

The two of them-

‘They are looking at me with a look of satisfaction?’

Cale instantly became upset.

As his face turned extremely disrespectful…

“You are such a good person.”

“Ho!”

The Heavenly Demon, whose answer made Cale scoff in disbelief, looked at Alberu and commented.

“He’s surprisingly a softie.”

He was talking about Cale.

Alberu looked at Cale as if he found all of this to be ridiculous before smirking.

“…….”

Cale scowled but Alberu soon smiled elegantly and warmly asked Cale.

“You are looking forward to Eden Miru’s birth, right?”

“No, sir.”

“Pfft.”

‘What is going on?

What is up with that annoying laughter?’

Cale looked at Alberu with disbelief while Alberu and the Heavenly Demon exchanged glances with each other.

‘What’s up with these fuckers?’

Cale was having such disrespectful thoughts in his mind when he heard a drum.

Boom, boboom!

“Please settle down as the first match of the Round of 64 is about to begin!”

People soon sat down.

The rowdy area was slowly starting to quiet down.

Peek.

Cale felt some gazes coming toward them and whispered to the Heavenly Demon.

“As expected, the gazes toward young master One Sword is no joke.”

The Heavenly Demon, who was currently seated in the stands…

He had received the nickname of ‘One Sword.’

‘Just one move!’

All the way until the Round of 64…

He had defeated all opponents with one movement of his hand.

‘What a phenomenal sword!’

Ever since an elder who was the master of the first generation Dao of Zen Temple disciple he defeated in the first round of the preliminaries called it a sword and not his hand…

‘A sword?’

‘Didn’t he have nothing in his hand? I thought it was palm art.’

‘Jackpot! Then doesn’t that mean he’s had no reason to pull his sword out until now?’

People became full of expectation while giving him the nickname of One Sword.

‘He will use his sword in the main tournament, right?’

‘I’m sure he will. All of his opponents will not be easy!’

The matchups had been announced in advance starting with the Round of 64.

The Sky Sword’s Seo Rak against One Sword Kim Hae-Yi!’

‘Even One Sword will have to use his sword against Seo Rak!’

Seo Rak, the heir to the Sky Sword, a place known to treat only the sword as the final destination of martial arts…

Against the mysterious Kim Hae-Yi who was expected to use his sword for the first time…

People were looking forward to that match.

They never expected that such strong individuals would be matched up in the early stages of the main tournament like this.

However, it was still a long time until the Heavenly Demon’s match.

He was fighting tomorrow.

However, he was here to visit this stage for the first time.

“Do you think her Majesty will come?”

The Heavenly Demon shrugged his shoulders.

“Who knows?”

Queen Tamahi was going to watch starting from the Round of 64.

However, she was not going to watch every match.

She would watch every match starting from the semifinals, but right now she would only attend the ones she wanted to attend.

Cale could hear voices whispering behind him.

“It is our chance to find out which competitors her Majesty has her eyes on.”

“Even if that person doesn’t end up as the crown prince, he will end up someone important in the kingdom for sure.”

“Seriously.”

The people were curious about the Queen’s choices.

“She’s not here yet though.”

“No. I’m sure that she will show up.”

Most of the people were certain that the Queen would attend this match.

It was not because it was the first match.

“The Alliance Leader of the Cooperative Alliance.”

“That is true. This is a can’t-miss match.”

Hwa In, the alliance leader of the Cooperative Alliance.

She was starting the main tournament off today.

“And look over there. Martial Scholar Cha Run-nim is here as well.”

“That’s true.”

Martial Scholar Cha Run.

He was the Queen’s loyal subordinate, her instructor, and her advisor.

“…I’m sure a lot of the top candidates are here to watch the Alliance leader as well.”

“That’s true.”

They peeked toward One Sword as well.

However, the Heavenly Demon was here for a different reason.

– You said that the Cooperative Alliance was pretending to be the Dark Pulse while getting rid of some of the stronger competitors?

Cale nodded his head at the Heavenly Demon’s question.

– The Dark Pulse must be annoyed.

The Heavenly Demon looked at the other side of the Tournament Stage.

Alliance Leader Pao Seo Tae of the Dark Pulse. He had a significantly stiff expression on his face as he looked down at the stage with his arms crossed.

People around him were whispering after seeing him show up to watch the matches for the first time, but he didn’t seem to hear any of them.

‘Choi Han.’

Next to Pao Seo Tae was a bamboo hat wearing Choi Han.

– The wanderers never showed up again, right?

Cale nodded his head at Alberu’s sound transmission.

The list that the wanderer gave to Pao Seo Tae to kill…

Pao Seo Tae did not touch any of those people after failing to take down the Heavenly Demon.

The wanderer might do something to the Dark Pulse or Pao Seo Tae in response, but there had been none.

‘But competitors still died.’

There were a lot of people who weren’t on the list as well.

They would not have noticed if Pao Seo Tae had not been fully alert, keeping an eye on the whereabouts of all competitors.

‘There were faint traces of the Dark Pulse in each location.’

It looked as if the Dark Pulse had not managed to fully cover their tracks.

Pao Seo Tae had reported the situation to Cale almost in a sigh.

‘The Snow Flower Sect is investigating the deceased competitors. I believe they suspect it is us.’

The Dark Pulse was about to be framed like this.

‘But you see…’

However, there was a reason Cale and Pao Seo Tae came to see the Alliance leader of the Cooperative Alliance today.

‘I think it was those bastards from the Cooperative Alliance.’

It was an instinctive feeling, but… It was something both Pao Seo Tae and his Chief Advisor believed to be true.

‘The Cooperative Alliance is the only place that knows so much about us. Something this well-planned… Based on the size of the incident, it has to be one of the Five Major forces.’

That was the reason Pao Seo Tae and Cale were here to see the alliance leader.

Pao Seo Tae was here to go against his enemy as the alliance leader of the Dark Pulse.

‘Raon said that.’

At the last preliminary match… Raon had told Cale the following.

‘Human! I couldn’t hear properly because the stage is so big, but someone was talking about the Dark Pulse and Hyun Seong via sound transmission!

It was such a large stadium and lots of people were chatting or sending sound transmissions…

So Raon had not managed to hear everything.

It was only because Raon was so skilled that he managed to pick that up despite the chaos.

However, he did not know whether the people who sent the sound transmission were part of the Cooperative Alliance.

After hearing about all of this, Cale had come to see the Alliance leader of the Cooperative Alliance.

‘He may be connected to the wanderers.’

That was the suspicion on his mind.

It led him to this place.

“Oh!”

“Ah, over there-!”

The surroundings suddenly became rowdy.

“…She’s here.”

As the Heavenly Demon commented in a low voice…

Cale looked toward an empty seat that had the best view of the stage.

‘Tamahi.’

It was Queen Tamahi.

The person next to her seemed to be the Martial Scholar, Cha Run.

– The Prince Consort is not here.

The Queen’s husband did not show.

It was just the two of them.

They sat down.

There was no ritual or anything to greet the Queen.

In fact, the administrators around them just asked them all to be quiet.

Boom!

The first match immediately began.

Neither the Queen nor Cha Run said anything.

– Cha Run.

– Yes, Your Majesty.

However, they were chatting using sound transmissions.

– I see a lot of the champion candidates in the stands today.

– It is the first match and the Cooperative Alliance’s alliance leader is here, so that may be the reason, your Majesty.

– I see.

The Queen then asked.

– So, who is the one that killed the competitors?

– …Your Majesty.

Queen Tamahi was full of quiet rage.

Boom!

However, his gaze soon moved to the stage.

“On the left side, Soo Pae Sah!”

A pretty well-known figure was on the left.

“On the right side, Hwa In!”

While the Cooperative Alliance’s leader appeared on the right.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

“Waaaaaaah—!”

Loud cheers burst out, making the whole stage rumble.

Boom!

The match soon started.

Soo Pae Sah immediately pointed his spear at Hwa In and got into position.

“…….”

As for Hwa In, she was quietly standing there.

‘Hmm?’

Cale flinched.

– Kim Hae-il.

The Heavenly Demon sent him a sound transmission.

– She’s looking at me right now, isn’t she?’

Hwa In’s gaze landed on the Heavenly Demon for a bit.

However, she soon looked away.

She looked toward her opponent.

“…….”

“…….”

The nervous-looking Soo Pae Sah…

On the other hand, the quiet and calm Hwa In.

The silence was soon broken.

Bang!

Soo Pae Sah stomped loudly on the ground and his body shot forward.

His spear was like an ancient tree.

It was large and firm, giving off an aura that seemed to say that it would never break.

His spear art also seemed similar in nature as his movements looked honest and sharp.

In fact, his movements could be called simple.

“That simplicity is what is scary.”

As someone near them mentioned…

His spear was scary.

It was heavy and moved without any hesitation as it was honest and simple.

Swoooosh—

A gust of wind rose with the movement of the spear.

Ooooooooong.

An aura that reminded people of wood wrapped around the spear.

“……”

Hwa In quietly watched it.

And once the tip of the spear was only about a step away from Hwa In…

Clang.

Hwa In pulled out her sword.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

There was a loud explosion.

Nobody dared to say anything.

There was a dust cloud but it was only a small amount of dust compared to the loud noise.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A breeze brushed away all of the dust, leaving a clear sight for everybody.

“Ugh!”

Soo Pae Sah scowled.

The large wooden tree that looked as if no storm could ever break it down…

The spear was cut in half.

The broken piece of the spear fell to the stage.

The ancient tree was broken.

“…….”

Hwa In quietly looked at Soo Pae Sah.

“… I admit defeat.”

Soo Pae Sah had used all of his strength from the beginning.

The Alliance leader was someone he had to go all out against from the start.

In the end, he still lost.

“Ugh.”

This despondent feeling and anger toward himself made Soo Pae Sah scowl. As he bowed his head…

Hwa In opened her mouth.

“Your immense strength will become firmer as time passes.”

Soo Pae Sah looked at her.

Hwa In calmly continued. That was why her voice seemed full of truth.

“Similar to how an ancient tree ends up overcoming all rain and wind and stands up straight.”

The Alliance leader was famous for not saying much.

The fact that someone like that said these words to someone she saw for the first time was quite meaningful.

Soo Pae Sah was slightly touched.

“….Thank you very much, Alliance leader-nim.”

“It was a fun match.”

Soo Pae Sah looked at the referee after hearing the Alliance leader’s answer.

The referee soon announced the end of the match.

“Winner, Hwa In!”

Five minutes. The match was over in less than five minutes.

If you took out the part in the beginning where Soo Pae Sah cautiously wasted time, the match itself took only a few seconds.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

Loud cheers continued.

A close match was great but these overwhelming fights were great as well.

“The Alliance leader-nim is not going easy now that she has reached the main tournament!”

“I know, right? She used to exchange blows a few times until now!”

One Sword.

Cheers poured down at Hwa In, who had defeated her opponent in one move unlike what she had done in the preliminaries.

It was at that moment.

“Hmm?”

“Mm!”

As Soo Pae Sah weakly walked off the stage and disappeared…

Hwa In just quietly stood there.

She remained where she had stopped at the end of the match.

As everybody looked at her with confusion…

Shh.

Her hand holding the sword moved.

Was she trying to put her sword back into the scabbard?

The people who thought that flinched.

“!”

“Huh?!”

Her sword pointed in a direction and stopped.

“Ah!”

“Ho-”

The tip of her sword was pointed toward the stands.

There were a lot of people in that direction, but people could soon tell who the Alliance leader was pointing toward.

“One Sword!”

“That’s Kim Hae-Yi, right?”

“Wow, for the Alliance leader to do something like this-”

The Heavenly Demon was seated with his arms crossed in that direction.

The atmosphere instantly started to get heated.

The Cooperative Alliance.

The alliance leader of the largest organization on the continent, a person famous for not speaking much, seeing her acting like this naturally got the people heated.

“Ah! One Sword!”

Some of them started to realize it.

The one movement that the Alliance leader showed today…

“One Sword, Kim Hae-Yi!”

Kim Hae-Yi had suppressed his opponents with one hand gesture.

The Alliance leader who seemed to be looking at him…

People were amazed.

“What is the relationship between the two of them?”

“Is there some story here?”

Some were curious to know if there was anything between Kim Hae-Yi and Hwa In.

Because-

“Doesn’t he look so calm?”

“He does look relaxed. Although that Kim Hae-Yi person seems much younger than the Alliance leader.”

The Heavenly Demon was looking at the tip of her sword with such leisure.

“Haha-”

No, he was laughing.

“!”

“……!”

As the nearby spectators became shocked…

Clang.

Hwa In put her sword back in the scabbard and walked off without any hesitation.

– Kim Hae-il.

Cale flinched at the Heavenly Demon’s low sound transmission.

The Heavenly Demon was smiling but his sound transmission was unbelievably cold.

“What, what is it?’’

As Cale couldn’t say anything and just glared at him…

The Heavenly Demon let out a smile as he answered.

– The Alliance leader sent me a sound transmission, asking if I know Ahn Roh Man.

‘Hmm?

What do you mean?’

As Cale was confused…

– So I told her that I do know him.

The Heavenly Demon did know about Ahn Roh Man. He had never met in person, but he at last knew how the situation was flowing.

Both the Heavenly Demon and Ahn Roh Man were wary of each other.

– When I said that, this is what the Alliance leader said.

The smile on the Heavenly Demon’s face got wider, but the sound transmission got colder.

– She said she was surprised that I did not run away and dared to come find her.

Cale subconsciously spoke out loud.

“What does that mean?”

What was the Alliance leader thinking?

‘The Cooperative Alliance.’

The Alliance leader of such an organization…

The existence of the wanderer…

And finally, Ahn Roh Man.

Cale’s mind started to fiercely spin.

“Huh?”

The moment a hypothesis that was unbelievable yet believable formed in his mind…

– Kim Hae-il.

The Heavenly Demon’s sound transmission continued.

– It is not important why the Alliance leader is doing this to me.

His voice was vicious.

He felt like he could smell a thick stench of blood.

– She dares to talk to me about running away, so the Alliance leader will need to pay the price.

Gulp.

Cale gulped.

Pat pat.

Alberu, who had been quietly watching, patted his shoulder and warmly whispered.

“Why are you getting so scared?”

‘This motherfucker of a crown prince!’

As Cale glared at Alberu with annoyance…

The Heavenly Demon mumbled in a low voice.

“This is fun. This is very fun.”

If Raon was here, he would say that the Heavenly Demon’s eyes had gone crazy.

Cale got a bit scared.

—

Translator’s Comments

Ah yes, we do miss Raon.

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