Unfortunately, my wish did not come true.

“Lee Gongja, what happened?”

Ilhwageomjon’s voice trembled, but she remained calm.

Her original plan must have been this. She would have lightly yielded the first three moves, and tried to play with me for a while to win. Instead, she herself lost in just three moves.

“Didn’t I tell you? Be careful, it’s the Black Magic Sword.”

I said that I won thanks to the Black Magic Sword, but she wasn’t the kind of person who would make excuses to cover up her defeat.

“Even if it wasn’t the Black Magic Sword but the Heavenly Magic Sword, it was a fight I shouldn’t have lost.”

She knew better than anyone that she lost not because of the sword but because of her skills.

“I’ll tell you a secret. I have already achieved greatness in the Bicheon Sword Technique.”

For a moment, she was shocked.

“I have already achieved greatness? I can’t believe it.”

The level of martial arts of the Bicheon Sword Technique was similar to the martial arts mastered by the Demon Lords.

Her distrust was natural when she said that I had already achieved great success in such martial arts of ascension.

“Don’t you know my father? Would you just let him sit in the seat of the Lord of the Underworld just because he is my son?”

“Even if Lee Gongja had achieved great success in the Bicheon Sword Technique……”

“You say that his internal energy was lacking? Didn’t I take the Heavenly God’s Dan?”

“Ah!”

He didn’t mention that he had obtained the Demon’s Dan from Socheon-dong.

“I won this fight. Do you admit it?”

“…….”

She couldn’t admit it.

“If I had known Lee Gongja’s skills were this high, I wouldn’t have let my guard down.”

This happened because he didn’t know my skills and had given up on the third attempt. On top of that, the sword flew away from the attack the moment he was about to speak. She was faced with many misfortunes.

“So you can’t admit it? If it becomes known that the Sword Master broke his promise, the cowardly label will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“Shut up! You don’t need to provoke me with such unnecessary words. I keep my promise. What do you want, Lee Gong-ja?”

“I said I would give my life if I lost.”

“This match!”

She was about to make an excuse, but she shut her mouth. Whether she lost because she let her guard down or because her martial arts skills were weak, she lost. She was also the one who was proud enough to give in three moves.

“Is my life what you want?”

“No way. I’ve heard Elder Doma call me crazy many times, but I’m not that crazy.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Please accept my apology.”

The Sword Master was taken aback for a moment.

“I apologize for being rude to you up until now. This is my sincere apology, so please forgive me.”

She looked at me with an expression that said she couldn't understand.

"Are you harassing me?"

"No, I was rude to you today. I shouldn't have called you here."

"Why are you apologizing to me when you won?"

"Shall I be honest with you?"

"Of course!"

"I want to apologize like this and win your favor. So that you will support me sincerely."

"Sincerity? Are you speaking your truth in a succession battle? If you thought that was the kind of thing that would work, then I'm disappointed. I didn't know that Lee Gong-ja was this naive."

"It depends on the opponent. If the opponent throws dirt at me, I'll push him into the mud, and if he pours water on me, I'll respond with shit water. But I want to win with innocence toward you, senior."

"Why? Because I seem naive?"

"No. Because you have a noble personality. Because you are the most respectable person among the Palma Zones."

When I think about her life after that, everything I said just now is a lie.

But those things have not happened yet. If her fate changes with the meeting with me as a turning point, wouldn’t the future that caused the bloody storm disappear and a new life unfold? Wouldn’t the desolate wasteland I saw in her eyes bloom with flowers?

“Do you really think I am like that?”

“Yes, you are noble and dignified.”

She bit her lips slightly. She was happy about the compliment, but at the same time, her feelings were complicated.

I walked over and pulled out the Ilhwa Sword stuck in the floor and handed it to her.

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

After politely greeting her, I went into the living quarters.

I didn’t know how long she stood there before leaving because she went inside and slept.

* * *

The next night, Ilhwa Sword Master came to see me again.

Her eyes and face were swollen, as if she hadn’t slept all night.

“I will accept Lee Gongja’s apology.”

“Thank you.”

“Instead, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“I lost yesterday’s fight. I admit it. Instead, I’ll fight you again today.”

I immediately refused.

“No.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Because I won’t be able to win again. If Your Majesty hadn’t let his guard down, if you hadn’t given up the first attack, I would never have won.”

“Lee Gongja achieved great success in the Bicheon Sword Technique, right? He has enough energy. If we fight again, I can win.”

“I can’t win.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“It was a stroke of luck that comes once or twice in life. I’m not the kind of person who thinks it’s my skill.”

“I won’t make any conditions when I win. Instead, if I lose, I’ll give Lee Gongja what he wants.”

This is literally trying to restore his pride.

I thought I knew why she became a cult leader and only caused trouble before collapsing.

What is that pride? What do you think I’m asking for? She’s so foolish and naive.

“Senior, I won’t tell anyone about yesterday’s match. So you don’t have to try to beat me. No one will know what happened yesterday anyway.”

“You never know what happens to people. You might blurt it out when you’re drunk.”

“That won’t happen.”

I didn’t rush. Since I had the initiative, I just had to slowly draw her to me.

“Get some good sleep today. Your face looks hurt.”

As I turned around and went in, she suddenly said.

“I was embarrassed.”

Those words stopped me in my tracks.

I turned back to her.

“Didn’t I tell you? I won just by luck.”

“It wasn’t just because I lost in the duel.”

The cause of that shame was somewhere {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} I had never thought of.

“That face is no good. The more I thought about it, the more shameful it became.”

That’s what she shouted when the sword flew.

The face is no good!

“That’s possible. It’s a face. I, a man, would have been no different.”

“An ordinary person could do that. But a sword master can’t do that. I’d rather get stabbed in the face.”

It seemed that she was too proud and ashamed to say those words.

Of course, I understand why she said those words. She was just as proud of her appearance as she was of her honor and pride as a sword master. She wanted to hear people say she was pretty and young more than she did of her fighting ability.

“Do you understand why I came back now?”

“Yes.”

“Then will you fight me?”

She was full of desperation, but my answer didn’t match it.

“No.”

When I turned around, I heard her shout from behind me.

“Lee Gong-ja!”

“Can’t you just let me enjoy this one lucky moment?”

Then Geom-jon said something unexpected.

“I promised. I will never lose to anyone.”

“Who?”

“I will never lose to anyone except him.”

That person? The person Geom-jon calls him?

“No way?”

The person who flashed through my mind at that moment spilled out of her mouth.

“I promised the cult leader.”

The moment I heard that, I remembered what my father had said to me.

―Geom-jon is a person who has been hurt a lot.

I could tell that there was a deep bond between my father and Geom-jon.

“When did you make that promise?”

Instead of answering, Geom-jon showed his respect for his father.

“The only person I respect is the cult leader.”

I couldn’t believe her words.

How could someone who respected her father so much cause such a fuss to take the position of the leader? Why on earth?

“I don’t want to break my promise to the leader.”

She quickly added, fearing that I might misunderstand her rudely.

“If you have any disrespectful thoughts right now, I will tell you clearly. Don’t insult my pure respect for the leader.”

“No, I didn’t think of that.”

“That’s fortunate if I did.”

“Why do you respect your father so much?”

Geomjon only smiled faintly and didn’t go into detail.

If she had brought up her father, it was her last resort. She couldn’t refuse anymore.

“Good. I have to keep my promise to my father.”

Ilhwa Geomjon was delighted. It was a genuine, happy smile that made all the smiles and laughter she had shown up until now seem fake.

“Is that good?”

“Good.”

“I will do my best this time too.”

“That’s what I want.”

I fought the second match with all my might.

Rather, I was more excited than the first match. Ilhwageomjon did not let his guard down, and his eyes were filled with passion that could not be hidden.

Of course, this fight was not a fight to kill, but a match to determine victory.

After a dozen moves for exploration, a hundred moves to relax, and three hundred moves to unleash splendid moves.

As the match continued, we gradually became more and more disillusioned with the match.

We were purely absorbed in the fun of competing martial arts. Who would win was a later question.

I was surprised by the seemingly impossible moves being connected, and I was even more surprised by the sense of quickly identifying my weakness.

‘Ah! This is really great! This person is truly worthy of being called a 尊 in the sword.’

Originally, we would not have had time to think like this, but we stepped back and rested as if we had made a promise.

Because we were completely absorbed in the fact that we were competing in martial arts, we reminisced about the many battles we had fought.

This moment of pure martial arts competition gave us more pleasure than any life-or-death experience in the past.

Just as I felt with my father and Ian, I had to admit that I had misunderstood her.

Her desire for honor and pride were not struggles to fill her desolate mind. Their source came from pride in martial arts.

At least in swordsmanship, she was more serious, sincere, and genuine than anyone else in the world. Her attitude toward swordsmanship reminded me of my father’s approach to martial arts.

The two of us, who had only studied swordsmanship our entire lives, were deeply immersed in a conversation using swords.

The match was a draw. In a fight without a fatal will, our skills were close.

“You probably didn’t use a fatal move, so I lost this match.”

“Isn’t that the same?”

“No, this is all I have.”

Ilhwageomjon, who had been staring at me quietly, suddenly said.

“Thank you, Lee Gongja.”

She left that one word behind and turned around.

However, what was clear was that she had returned with a more relaxed expression than the first day.

I still didn’t know how she would react. She had promised her father that she wouldn’t lose, so she might come back tomorrow. Maybe today’s fight would be the end forever.

The encounter with her moved my emotions. What did it mean to her? I couldn't tell if it was enough to moisten her desolate, wasteland-like emotions.

Anyway, the investment in her starts now. It's so hard to make one of my own.