Doom— doom-doom-doom—

“Waaaaa!!”

At last, the drum announcing the start of the final match thundered across the arena.

People who had come from every corner of the Central Plains to witness the final filled the tiered steps around the arena without a gap.

The pavilion above, too, held more martial figures than ever.

Beyond the Martial Alliance Lord and the elders, the pillars of each major power had arrived.

They had come to see for themselves the martial prowess of Namgoong Seolhwa and Snow-Plum Sabre that had stirred up the entire Central Plains.

Waaa! Waaaaa!

“Namgoong Seolhwa! Heaven-Flower Sword Phoenix!”

“Snow-Plum Sabre! Snow-Plum Sabre!”

The chants shook the arena so hard they echoed all the way into the waiting area.

As Seolhwa sat and watched the standard-bearers enter, someone approached her side.

She turned her head to look.

It was Jegal Hwi.

“No one else should be getting in here.”

“This is exactly what power tastes like, isn’t it?”

Jegal Hwi answered with a soft, amused laugh.

“Did you prepare well for the match?”

“Nothing to prepare. I’ll do what I always do.”

“Not nervous?”

“I’d like to finish quickly and get some rest.”

“Haha, that’s just like you, young lady. This is why I like you, Namgoong.”

Seolhwa stared straight at Jegal Hwi.

With that easy smile, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

“I just ran into Snow-Plum Sabre.”

“You two aren’t exactly close.”

“As the saying goes, the heart follows where the money goes.”

Come to think of it, Jegal Hwi had said he placed his bet on Yu Gang’s victory.

Something felt off as Seolhwa thought it over, and she knit her brows.

“You think I’m going to lose?”

“How could I?”

“Then why’d you put your money on him?”

“Who can say.”

Jegal Hwi’s lips curved in a small smile.

There was something puzzling about it, and Seolhwa’s brows drew a shade tighter.

“?”

“Let’s just say I bet on your compassion.”

Her frown deepened.

Bet on... compassion? What was that supposed to mean?

What on earth was this man thinking?

“Prepare yourselves!”

A martial official hurried up and shouted.

Seolhwa dropped the stray thoughts and rose to her feet.

“Young lady.”

“?”

“Don’t get hurt.”

His eyebrows dipped low with a sincerity that held genuine worry.

Seolhwa looked at him for a beat, then gave a short nod and walked toward the arena.

****

“Wa! Waaa—!!”

“Namgoong Seolhwa, win!!”

“Snow-Plum Sabre! Snow-Plum Sabre!!”

The cheers hit her even louder the moment she stepped into the arena, far stronger than what she’d heard in the waiting area.

It felt like diving into a sea of roars.

So that’s why the Imoogi ran away.

The Imoogi hadn’t even come to the arena today.

Said the very thought of it made him tired.

In hindsight, it was a good call not to bring him.

If his constant grumbling had been rattling around in her head, it would’ve been even more troublesome.

Climbing the arena steps, she saw Seop Mugwang and Yu Gang. Yu Gang was already in place.

Seolhwa took her position across from him.

Beneath the bamboo hat, his expression looked dark.

— You don’t look in a good mood. [voice transmission]

— I saw a shiny face right before I came up. [voice transmission]

A shiny face?

Ah.

Young Lord Jegal had said he’d just seen Yu Gang.

What did he say to put him in a mood like this?

Should’ve asked Young Lord Jegal.

“The rules are the same. It’ll still feel tight for finalists, but the platform is much bigger than in the main bracket, so go wild.”

They had wanted to remove the rule that stepping off the platform meant defeat—at least for the final—but concern for the spectators’ safety had kept it in place.

Instead, the arena was made four times larger than during the main event.

A measure in anticipation of Force Aura being used.

“All right, then. Take your marks!”

When Seop Mugwang flung his arms outward, Seolhwa and Yu Gang moved to opposite ends of the platform.

Doom-doom-doom-doom....

The drum began a low roll.

“Wa! Waaa!”

The cheers swelled, and the low drumbeats grew louder and blended into the roar.

Doom-doom-doom-doom—

Seolhwa drew her sword; Yu Gang drew his saber. Both took their ready stances.

The gazes they leveled at each other were razor-sharp.

Doom-doom-doom-doom-doom!!

The drumbeat grew faster and louder.

And then—when Seop Mugwang pointed his right arm toward the arena’s center—

Saaaah....

Silence fell over the grounds.

The cheers and the drum both vanished into a taut stillness.

The air above the pavilion overlooking the arena drew tight with tension.

Seop Mugwang turned his head left and right, checking Seolhwa and Snow-Plum Sabre in turn.

That brief instant stretched, as if time itself were drawn thin.

At last, Seop Mugwang raised his hand in a sharp lift.

Doom-doom! DOOM! BWOOOOOO—!!

With the drums and the horn, the flag announcing the final match snapped to life.

Tadadat—!

Tak—!

Seolhwa and Yu Gang sprinted toward one another.

Red radiance and the sun-bright glow of vermilion swept thick along their weapons.

Full strength.

From the outset, neither probed nor yielded. Both gave it everything.

“Waaaaaa!”

The crowd exploded.

Seolhwa and Yu Gang swung sword and saber—

BOOOOM—!!

At the instant blade met blade, a blast loud enough to swallow the cheering ripped the air.

People flinched on instinct and clapped hands over their ears.

Shhhhh....

For the first time in this tournament, dust from beyond the platform whipped in and blanketed sight.

Did someone just die?

Faces aghast, the crowd stared at the arena swallowed by the dust cloud.

At last the haze slowly settled, revealing the two figures with sword and saber locked together.

Yu Gang and Seolhwa, unmoving in the thick dust, forcing against each other without an inch of retreat.

“...Waaaaaaa!!”

The cheer came a beat late.

And at the same time, Seolhwa and Yu Gang’s exchange truly began.

Bang! BOOM— KWA-KANG!

Their clash made the entire arena tremble.

“Namgoong Seolhwa! Namgoong Seolhwa!”

“Snow-Plum Sabre! Snow-Plum Sabre!!”

Palms slick with sweat, the crowd watched the duel without blinking.

It was the same up on the pavilion.

At the overwhelming level the two displayed, the faction heads and the elders of the martial world clicked their tongues in disbelief.

“Heavens—did our world truly harbor talents like these?”

“Unbelievable.”

“Namgoong Seolhwa is one thing, but that man in the bamboo hat is astonishing as well. And that aura—does it not feel familiar?”

“Ouyang Do.”

At those words, the murmurs on the pavilion stilled at once.

Every gaze turned to a single man.

The Abbot of Shaolin, Beopgong.

“Can you ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) not recognize that sun-like qi?”

Beopgong looked around at the whispering elders.

“Who else but the one once called the peerless saber wanderer under heaven?”

His saber art had been nicknamed for seeming to raise nine suns in the sky.

Ouyang Do, the Nine-Sun Saber.

“Y-you mean the elder is still alive...?”

“I was told Elder Ouyang Do took no disciples...”

Beopgong kept his eyes on the man in the bamboo hat who was swinging that solar qi across the arena.

“If you have eyes, look. If he were not Elder Ouyang Do’s disciple, how else would you explain that qi?”

Fwoooosh—

The power flowing along Yu Gang’s saber flared even brighter.

A spark kindled in his black eyes.

“...”

Seolhwa caught the change in Yu Gang.

“Looks like you’re about to do something.”

Yu Gang’s mouth held a faint smile.

“It’s been a while since we matched rhythms. I can’t just play around.”

“Have you been training hard?”

“Just like you said—I came back stronger.”

Whoom—

Yu Gang swept his saber in a wide arc.

The proprietary saber canon that made Ouyang Do the Nine-Sun Saber.

Splendid Sun Saber Canon.

I’ve only mastered up to the Fifth Verse so far...

The Seolhwa he knew was strong.

It would not be wrong to call her at the extreme verge of near-Transcendent.

To defeat her, he had no room to hold back his strongest card.

“How’s this?”

“Good.”

Seolhwa’s lips tilted.

It wasn’t flattery.

Even in her previous life, Seolhwa had never faced this martial art; the chance to cross blades with it delighted her.

Tzzzzzz....

Lightning tinged her own power.

It was the first time in this tournament she’d drawn up that energy.

“I haven’t just been idling either.”

“That’s the Namgoong Seolhwa I know.”

They regarded each other with taut smiles.

A very brief pause.

Then—

Splendid Sun Saber Canon — First Verse.

Full Sun Heaven-and-Earth!

Yu Gang’s saber raised a storm.

The blade swept over his head and came down on Seolhwa with an even fiercer force.

KWA-KWA-KWA—!

Sun-fire qi chewed across the arena and hurtled toward Seolhwa.

Her sword moved—slow.

Namgoong Seolhwa’s proprietary sword art.

Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword — First Form.

Heaven Falls, Heaven Descends!

Her sword poured out Force Aura laced with the energy of thunder.

Like lightning dropping from the sky, dozens of small sword-beams met Yu Gang’s saber-gale head-on.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!

The two forces slammed and burst against each other.

Before they even guttered out, Seolhwa and Yu Gang unleashed their second moves.

Splendid Sun Saber Canon — Second Verse.

Sun-Blade Annihilates Swiftly.

Hwoong— whooom—

The second verse layered atop the first.

It was like a whirlwind born of flame.

A saber’s broader cutting face, compared to a sword, raised a stronger vortex—one that howled as if to flick away every last strand of Seolhwa’s sword-qi.

Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword — Second Form.

Matching him, Seolhwa unleashed the second form as well.

Heavenly Thunder Mainstay.

Unlike the first, Heavenly Thunder Mainstay was a crushing strike meant to subdue the opponent in a single blow.

Her foot stamped—CRACK—as she took a true step.

The force of it dented the platform nearly an inch.

Center anchored by the true step, Seolhwa added power and brought her sword straight down with all her might.

KWOAAAA—!

A massive crimson pillar surged in to meet Yu Gang’s whirlwind.

“!”

Yu Gang rolled his saber in his grip.

He, too, stamped—CRACK—with a true step.

Tak—!

And then he dashed straight into the heart of the storm their two forces had raised.