Her appearance surprised Hyeolcheon Doma. He hadn’t told him that Geomjon was coming here today.

“Welcome, Senior. Please sit here.”

Ilhwa Geomjon also stood there with a stiff expression, as if he didn’t know Hyeolcheon Doma would be there. He spoke calmly to her, who seemed about to turn away at any moment.

“Today is Elder Doma’s birthday. I learned that even if someone is someone you hate, you should celebrate their birthday.”

He couldn’t just leave after saying that, so Ilhwa Geomjon sat down.

The atmosphere became cold when she joined him.

“Why did I ask you to come?”

Later, when she asked him to have a drink at the Pungryu Bar, he must have heard that he meant that the two of them wanted to drink alone.

“I called you because today is a good day, so let’s celebrate together.”

“Next time, call me when you’re alone.”

When she was about to get up, Hyeolcheon Doma blurted out a word.

“What on earth are you so dissatisfied with?”

It was the moment when the dissatisfaction that had been suppressed for a long time burst out.

Ilhwageomjon also snapped in anger.

“What? What are you dissatisfied with? Are you asking because you don’t know?”

The sword of emotion was pulled out faster than her sword.

“Yes, I’m asking because I don’t know. What on earth are you so angry about?”

“You! It’s you!”

“What about me? What did I do wrong! Back then…….”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

She was nervous that what had happened between the two of them would come out. Her anger and tension were clearly conveyed.

“You’re a selfish fool.”

“What?”

Hyeolcheondoma also jumped up.

“You’re going to swing that ignorant sword that looks like you? Yes, give it a try. Get drunk again and say whatever you want!”

The sword of destruction in Doma’s hand trembled.

I didn’t stop them.

Because I knew they wouldn’t fight anyway.

There was an iron rule that the demon lords never fought each other. They would argue, gossip, and have all sorts of internal strife, but they never fought to the death.

This was a survival principle that had been maintained for a very long time, and it was also the most important reason why the Palma lords existed until now.

“It’s still a while until midnight, so let’s hold off for a moment.”

Then Ilhwageomjon raised his voice in a clear tone.

“Lee Gongja! What the hell are you doing! How much did you despise me to do something like this?”

It was the moment when her composure, which was always polite, collapsed.

“Please hold off.”

“I can’t hold off.”

“Let me tell you why I invited you, Sword Master. Honestly, I need Sword Master Senior. That’s why I wanted the two of you to reconcile here today. I don’t know why you hate each other so much.”

Then, Ilhwa Sword Master let out a long sigh and tried to regain his usual appearance.

“If we could reconcile after a drink, why did we have such bad relations until now?”

“We’ll meet and meet again until we resolve things. We’ll curse and pull each other’s hair. We’ll keep meeting and fighting until we resolve things.”

“Lee Gong-ja, you’re too greedy. I clearly told you on the first day that I can’t go with Doma.”

“Then, are you confident that you can make me your successor on your own?”

“I’m confident.”

“I can’t believe it. If the reason you two are bad is public, I would have known. However, no one in our school knows. It’s probably because it’s an extremely personal reason. How can I trust you, a senior who can’t let go of your personal feelings for the greater good?”

Ilhwageomjon’s expression distorted. She was about to say something, but she glared at me and Doma fiercely, then turned around and left.

Hyeolcheondoma emptied his glass and got up from his seat.

“I’ve accepted your congratulations. You damn rascal!”

Bang!

Today, too, Hyeolcheondoma ended up breaking the table and left.

I put the table money on the table next to me again and smiled at Jo Chun-bae, who was standing in front of the kitchen.

“I should fix this habit of breaking things, right?”

Jo Chun-bae awkwardly laughed and made a joke.

“These days, I think I’d make more money if I became a carpenter.”

I also smiled and left the guesthouse.

I expected this would happen if the two met.

I have to keep dragging them out. The buried emotions would come out, and they would clash, curse, and fight. If you do that, you should realize that the old resentment that consumed you was nothing special when you look back.

I think it’s possible. The two of them have already lived much longer.

Their reconciliation took time, but Ilhwageomjon didn’t wait even for a single day.

* * *

That night, I opened my eyes while sleeping.

It was Cheonmahosingong that woke me up. I felt an energy from outside, so I got up from my bed, put on my black magic sword, and went outside.

The person who woke me up was standing in the middle of the yard.

She was Ilhwageomjon.

“As expected. You’re not an ordinary person.”

Even though I didn’t show any particular presence, it seemed surprising that I woke up.

“I didn’t sleep well.”

“Lee Gongja.”

“Yes, senior.”

She said with her back turned.

“Lee Gongja is causing ripples in the calm lake.”

Does the lake mean the main school? Does it mean her own heart?

“I’m still young, so I long for a stormy sea rather than a calm lake.”

“You told me this before? You despise people who try to win the hearts of their subordinates for free with dreams or ideals.”

“Yes.”

“There are people I despise too.”

“What kind of people are they?”

“People who talk big but don’t have the skills to back it up.”

“Am I that kind of person?”

“Let’s see if I’m not?”

Ilhwageomjon slowly drew his sword while turning his back. It was a perfect sword. Even though he was turned away, she didn’t feel any weakness.

Nevertheless, I spoke coldly to Ilhwageomjon.

“There’s someone else I hate.”

“Who is it?”

She asked without looking back.

“She is strong but inconsiderate. I despise people who use force to control relationships. I hate seeing them hurt others with their poor imagination.”

A burst of magic energy exploded from Geomjon’s body.

“Shut up! I told you that you were good, but you are being too arrogant.”

She turned to me. Her eyes were gushing with powerful magic energy like frost.

“What will you do if I win?”

As I watched her come to me right away when the conflict arose, I realized that the only way to make her mine was to suppress her with force.

In a situation where one act of force was more effective than a hundred rounds of politics, the relationship with Doma was a later problem.

Geomjon made a face of bewilderment for a moment.

“Did you say you were going to win now?”

“Yes.”

“If Lee Gong-ja wins me, I will do whatever Lee Gong-ja wants. If you tell me to die, I will die.”

She risked her life. She had the confidence that she would never lose.

“Good.”

“What will you do if Lee Gong-ja loses?”

“I will do as you wish.”

“What I want is simple. Kick the chopping block out of Lee Gong-ja’s life.”

Her confidence was natural in a way. She was proud of being second only to her father in martial arts.

“Aren’t you curious about what I want?”

“I’m not curious at all. It’s a story you’ll never hear.”

I slowly pulled out the black magic sword.

“Then today, you’ll learn about what I want.”

We drew our swords and stared at each other in silence.

I know very well how fast a demon-level master is. You can’t block an attack if you see it. If your instincts, honed through training, don’t work properly, you die.

It’s the same for the subordinates to die because they can’t block my attack. My sword is invisible to them.

Whew.

A gust of wind blew from somewhere, causing the sword master’s hair to flutter in the wind.

She slightly twisted the tip of her hanging sword. That alone changed the momentum.

It had been a long time since I felt this kind of tension.

“Lee Gongja, although I won’t kill you, you should be careful. You might get injured.”

If this was a life-or-death battle with an enemy I absolutely had to kill, I would have cut off the opponent’s breathing and retreated when I said, “Be careful.” Since that was a word that came from arrogance that ignored the opponent, then that was the opportunity to retreat.

Of course, this fight wasn’t a life-or-death battle, so we had time to calmly talk.

“Yes, I will be careful. However, since my sword is a black magic sword, your sword might get damaged.”

She ignored my concerns and went even further.

“I will yield three moves to Lee Gongja.”

In the past, when seniors faced their juniors, they yielded three moves. People in the past were like that, and these days, you can’t find a senior who yields to their juniors. In that sense, Geomjon is a romantic.

“I will gratefully accept your concession. Okay, I will go as junior.”

I was never arrogant, but instead, I hid one skill.

I was going to deal with him without using the Pungsin Sabo. One secret move must always be hidden. Ilhwa Geomjon was no exception.

This was my strategy.

‘I will finish it in the three seconds I gave in.’

I skipped the exploration and immediately unleashed the Bicheon Sword Technique that had achieved great success.

The first style, Gyuncheon Style, unfolded.

Swish!

A single ray of sword light seemed to cut her in half.

Chaeng-ae-ae-ae-ae-aeng!

The sword clashed in front of her chest. Her surprise was transmitted through the sword. The internal energy contained in my attack must have been more than she had thought, so the sense of crisis when she met her true rival must have made her hair stand on end.

The second attack was launched in succession.

Jayshik Transformation Style scattered a splendid sword light. The sword transformed twelve times in front of her eyes, and Geomjon retreated and deflected each attack.

However, in the ninth transformation, she broke her promise.

Shhh!

Cheong.

Her sword flew into my chest, and I twisted my body and struck back with the Black Magic Sword.

Ilhwa Geomjon broke his promise to yield three moves and attacked. She had no choice. She couldn’t block the Transformation Style’s continuous transformations with just defense, and eventually, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) through attack was a defense.

“Oh.”

At that moment when she was about to make an excuse in her misfortune.

I was launching my third attack. This was my chance. I was so shaken up that I was even about to speak.

The third form, Hyuncheonsik (玄天式), flew in.

Saeaeaeaeaeaaeak!

Kaang!

Along with the sound of the swords clashing, a single shout was heard at the same time, a word that absolutely should not come out of the mouth of the Sword Lord.

“No face!”

And then the silence that followed.

My sword stopped in front of the face of the Sword Lord. In fact, the sword stopped before her shout. My sword was faster than her eyes.

On the other hand, her Sword Lord’s Sword, which had escaped my hand, was floating in the air.

Our gazes turned to the Sword Lord together. The sword was falling to the ground in a parabolic arc. Maybe Ilhwageomjon wished it would never fall to the floor.

Thud.

Ilhwageom was stuck in the floor. The sword trembled, and because of the pure white sword grip, it felt like a white flag was shaking.

Ilhwageomjon, who had been blankly watching the scene, slowly turned his gaze to me. Her eyes looked as if she couldn’t believe this situation at all.

I sincerely hoped.

That her first words would be a double curse.

That a stone would fall out of the dam of nobility she had built so firmly. That I could see her wounds through that hole… … .