Turns Out To Be a Genius Duelist

“Keurghhhhhhhh-!”

It shook off the humans who stuck to its wings, crushed them with its tails, and breathed fire through its mouth. And the humans of the two forces held their weapons against their fellow humans while being wary of the monster.

“Sun Shooting Sword Energy!”

“Arghhhhhhhhhhh! Die!”

What happened here? Yoon-seok would kidnap one person and ask for directions as originally planned, but he was curious. As he stayed watching for some time, he learned the situation was like this-

“Hey, you idiots! No matter how brazen you little evil sects are, shouldn’t you follow the oath!”

The warriors of the Moorim Alliance were sent out to prevent the outbreak of the invasion, but they were ambushed while battling the invaders by warriors from Black Sword Sect.

“Oath? Ahah, let’s not invade each other’s territories and catch monsters accordingly?”

“This is the Moorim Alliance’s territory as authorized by the Lord! Do you think you can handle the consequences? If this becomes known…”

“Yeah, it’ll be annoying if they find out. But if all of you die here, who in the world would know?”

Yoon-seok held back from raising his hand. It wasn’t good to divide the world into black and white, but it was clear which was the villain. Still, there was no reason for him to be nosy in another dimension. Without intending to interfere, Yoon-seok found the person most likely to speak well among them.

And then.

“You wicked bastards…!”

“You should have followed our request earlier.”

“…No way, you’re doing this because of the Bloody Sky Delusional Sword?”

Bloody Sky Delusional Sword? A familiar nickname he’d heard from somewhere was brought up in the conversation. Where had he heard it?

A bomb exploded as Yoon-seok tried to recall.

“How nice would it be if you let him go when I ask nicely?”

“He’s the villain who exterminated the Namgoong Family! You want me to free him?”

Exterminate.

“…Hang on. The Namgoong Family was destroyed?”

When Yoon-seok spoke without realizing it, one warrior sensed it even amid the battle and threw his dagger.

“Who is it!”

Whikkkkkkkk!

There was no need to stop it. The dagger was rather sharp, but it was a stretch to be able to scratch his sturdy muscles.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

The dagger bounced off like it was hitting an iron plate.

“Blocking my dagger, he’s no ordinary man.”

The man who threw the dagger frowned. Seeing how he was dressed in black, he must be from the Black Sword Sect.

“I don’t think you’re from the Moorim Alliance, then is it the Demon Sect?”

In a way, that was true. As Yoon-seok nodded, the man frowned even more.

“You pretended not to be interested in a war for power, but I didn’t know you would sneak around like a spy. Were you planning to catch us while we were weak?”

—Keurghhhhhhhhhh!

“I think there’s a misunderstanding….”

—Keurghhhhhhhhhh!

“Ugh, so noisy.”

Yoon-seok drew his sword and flung energy at the screaming invader.

“Don’t you think about making it back a-”

Booooooooooooom-!

”-live?”

Hit by the sword energy, the invader was turned into a bloody mush slicking the ground. At the same time, silence fell across the snowy battlefield.

“Now it’s quiet.”

Yoon-seok looked at the man again.

“I didn’t hear that. What did you just say?”

“N-Nothing…”

The man only shook his head.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

As the winter wind blew, the snow piled up on the trees fell. However, the roughly hundred people gathered were completely silent.

The Black Sword Sect and Moorim Alliance. Regardless of affiliation, their attention was focused on one person. Among them, the eyes of those from the Moorim Alliance were more intense.

It was a matter of course. They were struggling against that invader up until now. Of course, if it weren’t for the intervention of the Black Sword Sect, they would’ve killed him without a single casualty. Still, monsters that largely took time to slay. For them, it should’ve been about thirty minutes.

But he killed that kind of opponent in the blink of an eye.

“Ranker…”

Everyone was convinced this mysterious swordsman was a ranker. And from the Demon Cult at that.

“Seeing how it says Demon on your neck, you weren’t sent from the alliance. Did you come from your sect?”

The Black Sword Sect warriors froze as they were, and the old master of the Moorim Alliance, now saved from a desperate crisis, spoke carefully to Yoon-seok. Yoon-seok nodded.

“That’s right.”

“Huh…”

At Yoon-seok’s answer, a long sigh erupted among the warriors from the Moorim Alliance. The status of rankers in the present era was far higher than the masters of the past. These beings were that strong, rare, and difficult to meet. Even in Moorim, there were less than five.

“…Seems like your sect is determined. I can’t believe they sent someone like you.”

Black Sword Sect, Moorim Alliance, and Demon Sect. Three forces gathered in one place. But, it would be rude to say it was a battle between the three over the current situation.

This ranker would only need a minute to turn everyone here into a headless corpse.

“I want to ask you something before I die.”

“Why do you think I’m going to kill you all?”

“Even though I broke the oath, you revealed your identity without hesitation. Doesn’t this mean that we will be killed and destroyed?”

Yoon-seok didn’t feel the need to make excuses. Rather, he didn’t think he could resolve this misunderstanding no matter what he said.

“So, what do you want to ask?”

“After the opening war, our sect agreed to the oath and chose to stay in Hundred Thousand Mountain to protect the civilians. But why did you come back to the world with that ambition?”

In the past, when Cheonma-dong was revealed to the world in Horizon Lake, that was what they called the power struggle that took place there. However, he only found out today that there was an oath. Yoon-seok decided to clarify one thing first.

“Today’s event has nothing to do with my sect, and it has nothing to do with personal ambition.”

Yoon-seok felt his speech awkward, but the opponent continued as if he didn’t feel it.

“It’s neither your sect’s order nor personal ambition… can I ask why you were watching us?”

Yoon-seok answered straight away.

“I didn’t mean to. It was a coincidence.”

Was what he said, but Yoon-seok had the intention to grab someone for directions. However, if he said that, suspicion was likely to grow.

He could ask for directions later; it was best to resolve this misunderstanding first.

“I heard the fighting, so I came to see. I don’t intend to break the oath or kill anyone.”

“…Is that true?”

“Yes. Isn’t this place near Big Mountain, the site of our sect?”

Yoon-seok, who belatedly recalled Cheon-ma’s words, skillfully added credibility to his deception. When they were escaping Cheonma-dong, Cheon-ma certainly said it was a little near Big Mountain, and if he went that way, he could see Horizon Lake.

However, the old master’s eyes narrowed at his words.

“…Near Big Mountain?”

“…?”

“This place is thousands of miles away from there…”

“…”

A little by Cheon-ma’s standards. Come to think of it; she went around all kinds of places saying she would buy snacks. Interestingly, the food was always warm. But he didn’t expect it wasn’t because it was near…

“Huu…”

Yoon-seok sighed loudly. For some reason, he just couldn’t be bothered. Come to think of it; it wasn’t the first time he’d been misunderstood like this.

“Anyway, since I have answered one question, I’ll ask one thing.”

“…Please go ahead.”

“Is it true that the Namgoong Family has been exterminated?”

“That’s right. Most of the clan was killed by Bloody Sky Delusional Sword, but their few survivors are under our protection. We’re still discussing how to punish the captured Bloody Sky Delusional Sword.”

He thought everyone would have died because they were exterminated, but fortunately, that wasn’t true.

“A few… can you tell me who the survivors are?”

“I can’t.”

The old master looked determined to remain silent even if it killed him.

Yoon-seok decided to take the direct route.

“There is a person I know in the Namgoong Family. The reason I came here after hearing the sound of fighting was to ask for directions to find the Namgoong Family.”

“Person?”

“The woman named Namgoong So-so. Can you at least tell me if she’s alive? Her sister, Namgoong Jin-jin, or even the Elder is fine.”

“…”

“I’m not looking for them with bad intentions.”

“…I believe in your sincerity, but there are rules in the alliance. I can’t tell you anything.”

Well, there were many people with rough personalities among the Demons.

’Anyway, I know they are in the alliance.’

Yoon-seok sighed and moved on.

“Do you know where a monk named the Heavenly Buddha, Pajin, is?”

His trip to Moorim wasn’t solely to visit the Namgoong Family. Yoon-seok came here to meet the rankers of Moorim, including the Heavenly Buddha.

“Who in the world knows where that old geezer is?”

“I see. Then I’ll be on my way. Please let me know where there are people nearby. Can’t you tell me this at least?”

“If you go south, you’ll find a city.”

Yoon-seok decided to go to the city and collect information first. But…

“Then I’ll get going, so please carry on.”

The moment he was about to turn away-

“Wait!”

The flustered old man called out to Yoon-seok.

“I’ll tell you about the survivor of the Namgoong Family! No, I’ll let you meet them if you want.”

“…You said there are laws in the alliance?”

“Of course, I need approval from the higher-ups. However, I will try to persuade them at all costs with the honor of the sect on the line.”

Yoon-seok rubbed his chin. Why did he suddenly change his mind?

“Instead, send us back safely to the alliance. If so, it will help to receive approval from the higher-ups.”

When the tiger left, the wolves had to fight each other again, but they weren’t confident.

’Well, there’s nothing bad about it. It will be faster to collect information from them than in the city.’

“Let’s do that.”

Yoon-seok made his decision quickly.

“Damn it…”

Those on the Black Sword’s side grimaced.

“Do you have any complaints?”

“If the Moorim Alliance bastards make it back alive, we will die anyway.”

“Why?”

“They’re going to say that we broke the oath, aren’t they? And our sect will start to deny and say we split off from them.”

“That’s too bad.”

His voice held no emotion, but he meant it. Probably.

“Weren’t you curious about the survivor of the Namgoong family? We can tell you that. If we leave this place, I’ll tell you everything I know. How’s that?”

The person who appeared to be the head of the Black Sword made a new suggestion to Yoon-seok. As a result, the old master of the Moorim Alliance grew flustered.

“Don’t believe him. You can tell just by looking at this. They broke the oath, saying there is no problem with killing. How can you trust them?”

“Hmph! The whole world already knows that there is no place left to follow the righteous. What does that mean? Look, think carefully. You’re going to Murim Alliance knowing what kind of trouble you would face?”

Yoon-seok was at a loss. To be honest, trust wasn’t important. If they broke his trust, Yoon-seok had the power to hold them responsible. However…

’Why did this happen all of a sudden?’

He felt like an adult caught in a kid’s fight. He should side with one instead of staying neutral made Yoon-seok feel uncomfortable.

“Didn’t you ask about Heavenly Buddha’s whereabouts? It’s not in detail, but I’ve heard rumors about his recent activities. I’ll tell you about it.”

“It’s a lie. He’s just saying that because he has no other choice. Didn’t you say you know someone from the Namgoong family? The only ones who can arrange a meeting with them are us.”

The Black Sword Sect with the Heavenly Buddha and the Moorim Alliance with Namgoong Family. Which of the two should he choose and side with? It was a hard question to answer, but…

’What would she do?’

From Cheon-ma’s perspective, it was easy.