The Number One of the Evil Path pointed at me with his finger.

"Are you angry? If you die, a part of Im Sobaek’s heart will crumble again. That’s exactly what I want. Why didn’t you help the Sado Alliance? Guess it’s karma.”

As he grinned nastily, his jagged, crooked teeth showed.

Every time I saw that idiot face, my rage lost its way.

A man who didn’t seem to have either the Five Star Path or physical integrity, yet possessed such skill—it was almost awe-inspiring.

Not just a cripple of the body, but a true cripple god, perhaps.

Either way, still a cripple.

Just how twisted must your heart be to live like that?

I answered in a calm tone.

“So you tormented people because of that?”

“What other reason would there be?”

The only thing I could give a guy like this was my contempt. Facing the Number One of the Evil Path, I gave a bitter laugh and then spat toward his face.

“Ptooey!”

The bastard staggered back in shock, staring at me with a stunned look on his face.

“What the hell was that? No manners at all.”

“That’s all I’ve got for you. You dodged it like a startled mutt. Hahaha...”

His expression hardened.

I waved my hand slightly.

“That’s enough. I’ll accept the challenge of a cripple like you now. There’s no point talking. Talking to someone like you is worse than teaching a mutt to speak. What? What’s with that look on your face?”

“......”

It looked like he was angry enough to activate his Jahashin Technique.

“For the crimes of hiring bandits and pirates. For burning civilian homes. For taking hostages and running Black Fragrance...”

I looked him in the eye, still expressionless.

“Take my contempt.”

As soon as the excited bastard charged at me, I backed off far using Jeunjong like I was training it. A drop of cold sweat slid down my back and armpit.

The Number One of the Evil Path said as he approached.

“I rescind my offer to take you as a disciple.”

“Even better. I don’t want to grow old like you anyway.”

“You little...!”

Without drawing my sword, I took off running to make my body as light as possible. Lack of sleep had made me sluggish, so I needed the sprint to shake it off.

He’s probably impervious to swords.

I don’t know how that works. And I’d rather not know—trying to find out might get me killed.

“Let’s see how long you can run.”

Luckily, being impervious to swords doesn’t mean you’re unmatched in light footwork. He wasn’t overwhelmingly fast.

I moved just ahead of him and turned around while drawing my sword.

That’s when I realized why the Sword Demon had fought him so half-heartedly. He must’ve figured out the guy was impervious to blades and saw no need to go all out. The bastard took my blade with his body and reached for my collar.

I retreated and unleashed a gust of sword wind.

I mimicked the Drunk, who used to scrape the earth with his sword, kicking up gravel-laced gusts. In an instant, my sword wind tore into him, shredding his ashen robe to tatters.

The Number One of the Evil Path smirked and shrugged off his robe. Now, wearing pajama pants and bare-chested, he looked every bit the crazed old lunatic.

“Come on. Try some more.”

Watching that nasty-looking old man with his mix of black and white hair charge at me was terrifying.

He desperately tried to catch me.

I started to worry my wooden sword might snap if he grabbed it, so swinging it began to feel increasingly risky.

Damn it... what a freakishly annoying opponent.

His crude attacks made me even more uncomfortable.

Because they were unpredictable.

Like me, he’d been deceiving me from the very beginning. As we both got used to the rhythm of the fight, he chuckled and swung his arm.

“Are you just going to run? Think you’ll escape if I start killing your friends?”

He suddenly stopped chasing and scanned around, looking for the Drunk and the Lecher. They had vanished without a trace.

I caught my breath and enjoyed a brief moment of rest.

Even speaking felt like a waste of time.

He asked me,

“...Where did they go?”

I didn’t answer.

They weren’t idiots—just hiding was already a form of psychological warfare.

I focused, channeled cold energy into my wooden sword, and struck him. When I suddenly switched to offense, the bastard got excited and tried grabbing or clawing at me. I slashed his throat, face, and chest in passing, even thrust at his eyes once or twice.

But my long blade didn’t reach his eyes.

At close range, he unleashed a blast of energy with both palms.

I brought my sword down vertically to block the energy.

KWAHHHH!

I blocked the force, but the back of my head throbbed. While I was still airborne from the impact, he darted in and chopped at me with his hand like a blade.

I deflected it mid-air with my wooden sword and changed direction. As I slapped the ground with my left hand to launch myself again, a beam of light shot from his hand.

I twisted my body in mid-air to dodge it, then blocked the second one with my wooden sword.

Thwack!

Suddenly, the sky and earth flipped. I tumbled through the air a few times and landed on the ground, sheathing my sword again. The moment I landed, a wave of nausea surged up. Even with an empty stomach, blunt shock to the body makes bile rise.

Either way, sword techniques weren’t much use.

The bastard walked toward me, chuckling.

“So you want to do it with palm techniques now? Fine.”

I laughed again—his idiotic banter was genuinely funny.

He said,

“Don’t laugh, Master. Stop laughing.”

“Why? I’m naturally cheerful.”

“I mean stop mocking me. It’s not respectful to your senior.”

“Senior? ...Eat shit.”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me—unless I was prepared to die, there was no way I could beat this guy.

Running won’t help.

Stabbing won’t work.

What could I do if I accepted death?

As he approached, I stepped forward with Jeunjong and clashed with both palms.

Thwack!

To prevent variables, I unleashed the force of Moonlight Cold Heart Technique and Geumgu Soyo Gong along with my ki blast. Since this bastard had always lived a coward’s life, I faced the crisis head-on. And the moment we clashed, I realized he was far older than I expected—his internal energy was deep.

His mouth opened.

“To throw your life away like this...”

“......”

“How long do you think you can last?”

I grinned as I poured out my energy.

“An hour?”

He shook his head.

“Half an hour. I’ll burn through all your internal energy by then.”

I focused my mind and pushed forward seriously. Even if I ran out of energy, it would make it much easier for the Lecher and Drunk to finish him off.

Suddenly, sensing he might pull his hand away, I ramped up my force again.

“What? You trying to leave? You’ll have to kill me to get loose.”

“......”

My right hand was already frozen white from the cold energy of the full moon, and that chill had seeped into his hand too. My left hand employed the Superior Pulse Force, and to guard against any tricks, I wrapped myself in the thunderous energy of the Hundred Battles Tenfold Technique.

When I killed the Greatest Sword of Dongho...

I had used three divine techniques simultaneously. My body remembered that. Martial arts begin from within—it’s not academic.

I still couldn’t fully grasp the principles, but I was using three arts at once.

The bastard’s internal energy deepened more and more. I started to feel walls closing in from every direction and breathing grew difficult.

But I didn’t feel bad.

This was the right way.

To kill someone I despised, I had to risk my life. That’s always been me.

I endlessly poured my energy into him.

When his brow furrowed deeply, as if sensing something—

“...!”

I detonated my energy and clung to him. Just then, the Lecher struck his back with his right palm, and a moment later, the Drunk hit from the left.

Thud! Thud! Silence followed.

The bastard’s shriveled face rippled, his eyebrows twitching upward. Despite taking two clean hits of internal force, not a single drop of blood came out.

Instead, he turned his head—somehow—and glared at them with a murderous gaze, his neck twisting like a snake.

He said,

“...Now things are balanced. Let’s all see who runs out of energy first. I’ll break each of your limbs one by one.”

The guy was so shameless he didn’t even accuse us of cowardice. He acted like a dignified man.

As he twisted around like trying to shake off a leech on his back, the three of us were forced to spin with him. Letting go felt like we’d be crushed under a massive rock.

The Lecher’s hit left his shoulder alternately freezing and thawing. We could visibly see him forcing out the ice energy with his internal force.

I gritted my teeth and muttered,

“Sado.”

“......”

“The Sword Demon’s coming soon.”

That one bluff made his face darken. Truth is, I had no idea when the Sword Demon would finish in the arena.

I just felt like lying.

Sometimes, you hope a lie won’t be a lie. This was one of those moments.

I gritted through it, burning my accumulated energy chunk by chunk.

Life, really, is just a series of moments where you grit your teeth and endure.

I remembered wiping tables at the inn. Wringing cloths, washing dishes, sitting in a chair, enduring my boring life.

There was no hope back then either.

And nothing’s promised now.

But enduring was always like my own unique martial art, so I kept drawing up energy like a well bucket and hurled it at the bastard. When that ran out, I’d burn my life force if I had to.

Then—crack!

A shattering sound, and a ghostly wail rose to the sky.

I looked up.

The Bright Sword soared into the air.

The bastard raised his head in disbelief and looked at the rising blade.

“......”

Then he looked at me. As the Bright Sword screamed ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) through the sky, it flew back to its master—the Sword Demon, who emerged from the collapsing arena.

I swallowed.

Shit.

He did come out—but something looked wrong. Unlike usual, he was covered in black spirits, and even his eyes were pitch-black with no pupils visible.

The Lecher spoke nervously.

“Master? It’s me. Mongrang.”

The Sword Demon began approaching, his jet-black eyes moving slowly, scanning the scene. Normally solemn and stern, today his flipped eyes made it clear—joking was off the table.

I wrestled with myself, then asked,

“Big bro, you see anything?”

“...!”

“It’s a problem if it’s dark. People should live brightly, you know.”

The Lecher and Drunk gave me bewildered looks. Even the bastard looked shocked.

Truth is, if the Sword Demon starts swinging the Bright Sword wildly, we’re the ones who’ll get shredded. The bastard’s impervious to blades either way. Seeing the Sword Demon appear, he didn’t even breathe.

The Sword Demon looked like he’d brought back all his inner demons. This was bad on all fronts.

“......”

This is why you need good friends.

You only remember the elders’ advice in moments like this.

When the Sword Demon opened his mouth, black breath spilled out. Anyone could see he’d been through hell in the arena. Judging by his state, he must’ve rushed to resolve things and burst out here.

How would I know what’s going on in his mind?

A demon who wanted to be a great swordsman was now standing beside us.

Looking at his dark eyes, I said:

“Big bro, help us out here. We’ve gotta go see Yoran.”

Apparently blind from internal deviation, the Sword Demon reached out and began fumbling around those of us clashing with the bastard. After patting around a few people, he landed on the bastard’s face.

He didn’t seem to fully understand my words, but I told him anyway:

“That’s the one to kill. The one you’re touching.”

“......”

“He’s the enemy of the Four Great Villains.”

The Sword Demon raised the Bright Sword—and smashed its pommel straight into the top of the bastard’s skull.