I shifted my center of gravity backward and dragged the Baekdu Sword Ghost down with me as we rolled down the slope.
Hoping he'd smash into a tree and get seriously injured along the way.
Of course, I might end up like that myself.
Pure luck.
The outcome would depend on whose luck was stronger.
And when it came to luck, I was someone you couldn't leave out.
The reason I'd survived countless adversities was all thanks to luck.
After tumbling down the slope like that, I pushed myself up while clutching my side.
Looking down at myself, I saw plenty of small cuts and scrapes.
Fortunately, there were no serious injuries like broken bones.
"Then what about the Baekdu Sword Ghost…?"
Just as I turned my gaze to check his luck—
"Damn it…!"
The cleaver was already flying toward my face.
I barely managed to raise my sword and block it, but the force behind the strike was far greater than expected.
Even though I blocked it, the impact rang through my body, sending me flying back a good distance against my will.
As soon as I managed to regain my footing, the Baekdu Sword Ghost spat out with an irritated expression.
"Tch. You little brat fights dirty. Is that how your father taught you?"
That bastard crossed the line.
No matter how bad things get, there are things you just don't say.
One of them is insulting someone's parents.
That meant there was no longer any need to show even the slightest courtesy.
"Don't make me laugh. Then did your dad teach you to brag after killing sleeping people?"
"…What?"
"What, pretending you didn't hear? You didn't kill those hundred by fighting them, did you?"
I mocked him with the strongest sneer I could muster.
He was an assassin.
He probably wanted to deal with me quickly and leave this mountain.
Instead, because of someone he thought wouldn't even amount to a punch, he ended up rolling down a slope.
His pride had to be shattered.
That meant he was far more likely to act on emotion than reason.
So I had to seize my chance in this verbal exchange.
Make his reason crumble completely and drive him into a frenzy.
Then a gap would surely appear.
"A guy who ambushed sleeping people calling himself the Baekdu Sword Ghost? How do you even live with yourself? If it were me, I'd be too ashamed to go on living. Did you slap an iron plate on that face of yours?"
"…Who the hell are you?"
"And I hear you go around saying that scar on your head came from battle? What a joke. You got beat into that, didn't you? And you shave your head and parade it around like a medal? Ah! Or is it not shaved, and it just doesn't grow?"
"Hah…"
Good.
I could see the Baekdu Sword Ghost's reason slipping away.
Back when he was a mid-level warrior, his days were hell itself.
Born a commoner, he showed talent and became a mid-level warrior, only to earn the hatred of his superiors and get beaten daily.
Unable to endure it any longer, he eventually killed them all in the dead of night, displayed their heads, and deserted.
That was the story known about the Baekdu Sword Ghost.
"You… you know a lot, don't you?"
"I do know quite a bit."
Not long after those rumors spread, the Baekdu Sword Ghost was found dead, and the truth was buried with him.
After that, his story was only mentioned occasionally as drinking gossip.
But while others only knew that much, I—having survived a long time and encountered countless pieces of information—knew the hidden details.
Including the fact that the ones who spread those rumors were none other than the Eunwoldan.
Which meant that although they were on the same boat for now, one day things would fall apart, and the Eunwoldan would leak the information as retaliation.
"Thanks for that."
I hadn't known how useful that information would be.
Turns out it was far more useful than expected.
"Yeah, it's all true. But—"
The Baekdu Sword Ghost clenched his cleaver tightly and roared.
"If you die here, no one will ever know!"
The Baekdu Sword Ghost charged at me, screaming.
He had clearly fallen for the provocation—his movements grew large, just as I'd intended.
If I could counterattack by exploiting the opening, victory would be mine.
The problem was—
"He's too fast!"
He was attacking with everything he had, without holding back.
He was much faster than I'd anticipated, and my reactions were far too slow in comparison.
"I can't block this."
Damn it. I finally regressed, and this is as far as I go?
I haven't changed anything yet—am I really going to fail like this?
No. That can't be.
Move.
Please…!
"Dieeeee!"
Just as the Baekdu Sword Ghost screamed and brought his cleaver down—
A black shadow flew in from right beside him.
Long black hair. Immaculate skin that made your heart sink, and eyes like a tranquil lake.
A rich orchid scent so intense it felt like it would melt your brain.
Yu Arin.
But she looked completely different from how I'd known her until now.
Half of her body was glowing with a murky silver light.
The worst slaughterer of this era.
The Silver-Blooded Heavenly Demon.
She looked exactly as she was recorded in history.
A supervisor was dead.
Yu Arin's body trembled as she discovered the corpse.
Why?
What was happening?
Then the Baekdu Sword Ghost appeared, and Seoha shouted urgently.
"Run!"
She followed his words and began running after him.
Seoha was fast.
He knew a lot, and his martial arts were excellent.
That was why she liked him.
Not in a rational sense.
She felt like she could become his friend.
"But why…?"
Why was something like this happening?
Was it because distracting thoughts crossed her mind?
Yu Arin tripped over a rock and fell.
She thought her head would be severed by the Baekdu Sword Ghost, but he ignored her completely and only chased after Seoha.
"Ah…"
For a fleeting moment, relief washed over her—she was alive.
But reality didn't allow her to stay still.
"I have to call the Immortal…"
As Yu Arin moved to seek help, she suddenly hesitated.
Was that really the best choice?
At this moment, Yu Arin had only two options.
Abandon Seoha and go call the Immortal.
Or somehow do something herself.
"He'll die."
No matter how outstanding Seoha was, he couldn't face the Baekdu Sword Ghost.
The man had just cut off the head of a supervisor—an upper-level warrior.
Calling the Immortal would be the same as giving up on Seoha.
Knowing that, she could never choose it.
That left only one option.
"I have to do it."
As soon as she made her decision, Yu Arin sprinted forward.
There were plenty of traces, so following the two of them wasn't difficult.
But when she finally reached the slope and saw Seoha and the Baekdu Sword Ghost facing each other, her mind became chaotic.
What could she even do?
Would she actually be of help?
Those worries surged up, but Yu Arin bit her lip and clenched her fists.
Even thinking about it was a waste of time.
"…I have to help too."
Yu Arin made her resolve.
"…I'm sorry."
She didn't know who she was apologizing to, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she unleashed the yin energy she had suppressed all this time.
The yin energy lodged deep in her dantian surged through her qi and blood like horses released from their reins.
Yin energy was like ice.
It felt like sharp blades of ice tearing through her veins.
But Yu Arin endured it.
Pain was only momentary.
Soon, her body began to glow with a murky silver light, and as if by magic, the pain vanished and hallucinated voices filled her ears.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Kill everything in front of you.
Yu Arin lifted her hollow eyes to the sky.
Refreshing.
At that moment, as the Baekdu Sword Ghost charged at Seoha, Yu Arin also lunged forward.
She rushed in like a leopard and drove her fingers into his face.
What came out in her hand was one of the Baekdu Sword Ghost's eyes.
She flicked her hand, shaking off the eye and blood, and curled her lips into a smile.
She felt like she could do anything.
Anything at all.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
As she grew intoxicated by the endless hallucinations, she felt a gaze on her back.
Lee Seoha.
The man she thought she could become friends with for the first time.
Yu Arin smiled at him and walked closer.
'I came to save you.'
She wanted to say that, but the voices kept echoing in her ears.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Let's kill.
The thought startled her, but she couldn't control her body.
Just as Yu Arin raised her right hand—
"Yu Arin! Snap out of it!"
Seoha's shout jolted her fading consciousness awake.
"No."
She grabbed her raised hand with the other and began suppressing the yin energy.
"Just this much… only this much…"
She had to go back.
Before she ruined everything.
The Silver-Blooded Heavenly Demon.
They said Yu Arin's qi uniquely glowed silver.
Back then, I'd just thought, so what?
But now I understood.
That silver light was entirely yin energy.
After tearing out the Baekdu Sword Ghost's eye, Arin shook it off like something filthy and turned toward me.
Then she slowly walked closer.
With a smile more radiant than moonlight, terrifyingly beautiful.
The closer she came, the more my body trembled with fear.
The energy surging within Arin was the qi of death.
A force that annihilated everything around it.
Even as the shadow of death crept closer, one question tangled my mind.
"Why…?"
Why did she attack someone on the same side?
Was she not part of the Eunwoldan?
Was this another deception?
No, that made no sense.
Would she really gouge out the Baekdu Sword Ghost's eye just to deceive me?
And right when I was about to die?
If Arin were Eunwoldan, she could have just let me die.
Yet she stepped in.
"I see now."
All the twisted mysteries unraveled at once.
Being on the same side was something for the future.
Right now, Arin was not Eunwoldan, and it could be inferred that the Eunwoldan were behind the massacre incident.
"Knowing that doesn't help."
Because at this rate, I was about to die.
Arin raised her right hand, as if she were about to attack at any moment.
She was probably dominated by yin energy, her reason gone.
That must have been the cause of the massacre.
So, to prevent the future disaster—
To survive right here—
I had to make Arin regain her senses, no matter what.
"Yu Arin! Snap out of it!"
I shouted with internal energy, pouring all my desperation into reaching the reason buried within her.
Did my effort reach her?
Life returned to Arin's eyes, and at the same time, she grabbed her own right hand and crouched down.
"Guh…!"
Her murderous yin energy and her reason began to clash.
That meant the spark of hope wasn't extinguished yet.
"Yu Arin! You can hear me, right? Send the yin energy to me! All of it!"
All I had to do was take the yin energy away.
Arin looked up at me with anxious eyes.
I nodded and pulled her into my arms.
"Send it all. Don't worry about how much."
"No. You'll end up like me…"
"Before that, you might kill me. This is the best option right now."
"…I'm sorry."
Arin squeezed her eyes shut and began pouring her qi into me.
As she did, the silver light surrounding her gradually faded.
"Damn it!"
The more it faded, the more excruciating pain surged through me.
It felt like my veins were about to burst.
No—like every blood vessel and qi channel in my body was being shredded.
I endured it stubbornly and sent all the yin energy straight to my heart.
Even if my heart screamed "Get lost!" and rejected it, it wouldn't have been strange.
But the heart that had been tempered by three months of abuse immediately converted the yin energy into yang energy.
Yes. That's it.
When you're about to die, you work hard.
As my yang energy increased, even the incoming yin energy became manageable.
Even so, I continued increasing my yang energy.
Yang energy greatly enhanced physical ability.
It was like a kind of elixir.
It gnawed at the body, but it was better than dying.
By the time Arin's body returned to normal, my body was blazing with golden light.
I grabbed her shoulders, pushed her back, and said,
"Wait here."
Deprived of all her qi, Arin collapsed to the ground.
From here on, it was my time.
The Baekdu Sword Ghost, who had just recovered from the pain, bared his teeth and roared.
"You damn bastards! I'll kill you both!"
"You're too late, idiot."
I warned him, but it seemed he couldn't hear.
"Dieeeee!"
Just a few minutes ago, the Baekdu Sword Ghost's movements had terrified me.
Now, they looked like those of a child.
I waited calmly for him to enter my range, then thrust my sword forward.
Startled by the sudden counterattack, the Baekdu Sword Ghost hastily raised his guard.
His cleaver accurately predicted my trajectory and blocked it—but it didn't matter.
The foundation of the One-Sword Style lay in the control of qi.
The stepping foot moving forward.
The shoulder and entire arm driving the sword forward.
The waist, adding power to it all.
Concentrating all qi into the necessary parts to maximize effect.
That was the foundation of the One-Sword Style.
And the One-Sword Style was a martial art that wagered everything on a single strike.
The first and the last strike.
That was what the One-Sword Style was.
One-Sword Style, Dragon Flash.
In a flash of light, my sword passed the cleaver and swept through the Baekdu Sword Ghost's waist.
I felt nothing.
As if I'd cut through empty air.
Unable to believe the sensation, I turned my head to look at him.
His body collapsed forward, his upper and lower halves separating.
I really cut him.
My first kill since regressing.
There was no reason for my hands to tremble.
How many lives had I taken before?
How many deaths had I witnessed?
And yet my hands twitched slightly.
Was it because I'd survived the crisis?
Or was it because—
"I get it."
I mismanaged my qi.
No wonder my body felt weak.
…
I'm screwed…
My body fell backward, a shock hit the back of my head, and my vision went black.