I stepped Anna Croft back and said,

“From here on, I’ll handle it.”

“I can fight too.”

I glanced at Anna. Her face was stained with humiliation. Her pride must have taken a hit.

“I know. You’re strong. But not right now.”

Anna Croft was clearly someone with terrifying growth potential. If just a little more time passed, she would grow into an existence that even great person-grade constellations—or even fable-grade constellations—would struggle to deal with.

But that was a story from the latter half of “Ways of Survival.”

The enemy in front of us now was a monster that erased three great person-grade constellations with a single blow. It was not an opponent the current Anna Croft could ever handle.

“You saw the future, so you know. Now it’s my turn.”

Maybe because she already knew what I was going to do, Anna stopped digging in her heels. Instead, she rummaged in her clothes and held out a small leather flask.

“Drink.”

“What is it?”

“My blood.”

My eyes widened.

Anna Croft’s attribute was “Elixir Maker.” Her blood itself was worth as much as a top-grade elixir.

“Was giving this to me part of the future too?”

Anna Croft gave a small shrug and answered curtly.

“Are you not taking it?”

I grinned and opened the flask.

“Whenever I meet you, I end up drinking your blood.”

“It’s only the second time.”

Was it because my synchronization with the Demon King of Salvation had deepened? The moment I drank Anna’s blood, Kim Dokja’s fable flared bright, warming the muscles throughout my body.

I could feel the Dream Eater looking down at me from above.

Meeting that distant gaze, I thought.

Just how many more monsters like that were in this horror realm?

―It’s coming.

I nodded and activated [Wind’s Path]. Dodging the Dream Eater’s incoming tentacle, I shot high into the air.

―You know this is a method no sane person would ever try, right?

“Have we ever been sane?”

Kim Dokja’s snicker came through the phone. Using that snicker as accompaniment, I rose into the dizzying sky. Every muscle in my body itched. The fables inside me were surging.

―It’s about time you fought properly.

With the acquisition of the main scenario, the exile penalty had fully recovered.

In other words, now I could test one hundred percent of my power. No matter how you looked at it, I was a body that had inherited the name of the “Demon King of Salvation.” Even if I couldn’t fully wield his power, I wasn’t weak right now either.

Kiiiing!

From the sword strike of “Unbreakable Conviction,” the “Blade of Conviction” surged up. When I swung the long sword aura downward, black fables spilled from the surface of the tentacle flying toward me.

The damage was minor, but I didn’t care. This was just the beginning.

[Exclusive Skill, ‘Wind’s Path Lv.10’ is activated to the extreme!]

When the incantations Lycaon once taught me wound themselves into my sword strike, the wind soon became my will.

Following the grain of the wind, [Baekcheong (White-Clear) Sword Aura] began to flow.

With my sword still stabbed into its tentacle-leg, I sprinted toward the bastard’s main body.

[Wind’s Path] burrowed into the wound’s surface and met [Baekcheong Sword Aura], triggering explosions large and small.

Oooooooo!

Maybe it actually landed a bit this time, because I felt the Dream Eater flinch.

―Did you apply what you learned from Lycaon?

“Yes.”

The next moment, the Dream Eater’s leg swayed violently, then shot up into the air. It was unmistakably that attack that had sent three great person-grade constellations to their deaths.

―From now on, don’t hold back.

Kim Dokja was right. From here on out, if I didn’t go all out, I’d die.

A fierce gale rose in the heights. Watching its tentacle drop at tremendous speed, Kim Dokja said,

―If this doesn’t work, you really die. You know that, right?

“Anna said I won’t die.”

―You believe that?

“Right now, I have to.”

―Let’s start.

[Exclusive Skill, ‘Agitation Lv.11(+1)’ is activated!]

Normally, even if I used [Agitation] or [Bookmark], it would be impossible to contend with the Dream Eater.

But now, if only for a very brief moment, it might be possible.

Because the power of my agitation had changed just from entering and returning from the horror of “the 40th regression” once.

“I—”

Of course, the person I was going to [Agitate] was already decided.

“I am Cheok Jun-gyeong, the Greatest Sword of Goryeo!”

It wasn’t a simple [Agitation].

With [Sentence Enhancement] equipped by default, and even the know-how Cheon Inho learned in the 40th regression fully soaked into it, this was [Agitation].

「He’s a strongman from birth. Born with a dragon’s bloodline.」

The “low-grade dragon’s heart” I had once swallowed throbbed like mad.

「He’s too strong. Exile him from the scenario. Use every method you can and send him to another world.」

Dragon’s bloodline, and a scenario exile.

As the attributes matched, the synchronization rate of [Agitation] skyrocketed.

「Right now, I can imitate him better than anyone.」

[Item, ‘Elixir Maker’s Blood’ resonates with your breath.]

Anna’s blood flowed through my veins. Plausibility required for [Agitation] was being realized while consuming Anna’s blood.

「What I want is.」

I am the Greatest Sword of Goryeo.

The greatest warrior of Goryeo, who cuts everything with a single blade.

「Just to cut the void in front of my eyes.」

The line he had said, the line he would say. The history he lived and the history he would likely live were bound together, settling into my right arm.

At the moment the magic power swollen as if it would burst expanded, the Dream Eater’s tentacle-leg was already right in front of my eyes.

―Youngest.

“I am Cheok Jun-gyeong.”

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’ begins its story.]
[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’ causes the fable ‘One Who Killed an Otherworldly Divinity’ to begin its story!]

At the perfect timing, Kim Dokja’s fable activated. It was the very fable Kim Dokja had obtained long ago when he hunted the Dream Eater at Dark Castle.

With my heart pounding like it would burst, I swung my sword at the tentacle.

Please, please let it work—

Tststststst.

And the scenery in front of my eyes began to waver. What it was a sign of was obvious.

「Stageization」.

At long last, [Agitation] had succeeded in deceiving the stage.

「This is a sword that cuts a thousand with a single blade.」

First Form, One Sword Cuts a Thousand.

With explosive magic power, the arc of the void collided with the falling tentacle.

Kuuuudududu!

But an Otherworldly Divinity was an Otherworldly Divinity, after all.

A shockwave that even Cheok Jun-gyeong’s first form couldn’t block was pushing the strike back.

―One more!

I immediately brought out the second sword.

Second Form, Two Swords Cut a Mountain.

Cheok Jun-gyeong’s second form, meant to cut down a giant mountain. When a sword strike on an entirely different level was added, the shockwave the tentacle emitted was canceled out in an instant.

An intoxicating sensation surged from the fingertips of the hand gripping my sword.

「This is the power of a transcendent.」

A supreme realm only those who had shed mortal shackles and reached transcendence could sense.

For a moment, I thought.

What if I could enter that “40th regression” again?

Like Yoo Joonghyuk and other transcendents entering a time stratum—if I could experience that regression again and again.

How strong could I become?

Kuuuduk.

It was then that I sensed something had gone wrong. A horrific pain flooded my right arm, and something dangled beneath my shoulder.

―Damn, did it break?

My fragile incarnation body couldn’t endure the shock the second sword was putting out.

[Exclusive Skill, ‘Agitation’ is forcibly released!]
[Exclusive Skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ activates and neutralizes the ‘Agitation penalty’!]

To make matters worse, even [Agitation] was released. Seeing another tentacle beginning to dive down from the sky in succession, I let out a bitter smile.

―Still not enough. I thought you’d be able to use up to the third sword, at least.

No matter how much 「Stageization」 activated, right now I couldn’t use the stage to kill that Dream Eater.

Because in the first place, the Dream Eater hadn’t died to Cheok Jun-gyeong’s sword.

“Still, this was enough.”

This was enough to do what I needed to do.

Instead of forcing myself to resist death, I closed my eyes while watching the falling tentacle. And I imagined Cheok Jun-gyeong’s third sword—the one I couldn’t use.

Third Form, Three Swords Cut the Sea.

Imagining that infinite sword momentum, I slowly opened my eyes.

「This is a sword made to face the sea.」

With a refreshing wind, I heard the sound of the tentacle flying toward me being split cleanly in half.

With an “Oooooooo” sound, the Dream Eater burst out a revelation.

A man who did not yield even to that terrifying revelation stood in front of me.

A star that did not fear an Otherworldly Divinity.

The final passenger of “Subway on the Way Home,” and a great person-grade calamity who raised the “Crime Zone” and annihilated every other incarnation.

All of my “stages” up until now had been a spectacle meant to draw this man out, somewhere in the horror realm.

“Greatest Sword of Goryeo. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Cheok Jun-gyeong turned to look at me.

[You bastard, how do you know my sword forms?]

His three swords were not so much a set of techniques as skills forged from pure enlightenment.

To me, familiar with fables, it felt familiar, but ordinary martial artists couldn’t replicate it even if they were told to.

And yet a mortal had used that martial art.

[Wait. Don’t tell me you are…….]

Ah, so it wasn’t the first time.

[I see. I have seen you fight Cheon-gae.]

Come to think of it, I’d forgotten that the battle with the dragon-headed ark Cheon-gae had been broadcast on <Star Stream>.

[This is amusing. To think that brat from back then would make it here.]

“It’s an honor to fight alongside you.”

What about my words pleased him? Cheok Jun-gyeong suddenly let out a majestic laugh.

[This is the first time someone has learned my martial art.]

If he were an ordinary martial artist, this would be the moment he interrogated me about how I knew his unique martial art.

A little tense, I listened.

[A one sword too lacking to cut a thousand, and a two sword too short to break the waves.]

Abstract, but accurate. Yet his tone was strangely gentle.

[But that sword strike is clearly pointing toward that supreme universe. You have certainly learned the ‘Three Sword Forms’.]

Thankfully, Cheok Jun-gyeong didn’t look displeased that I had imitated his martial art.

No—more precisely,

[Hmph. Good.]

He looked like he was in a good mood.

Lightly thumping his chest, the greatest warrior of the Korean Peninsula declared,

[From now on, I will take you as my disciple.]

Huh?

I heard the Dream Eater cry out, “Oooooooo.”

Before I could even answer, Cheok Jun-gyeong moved. A warrior who cut a thousand, cut a mountain, and then cut the sea swung his sword at the Otherworldly Divinity.

[Oooooooo!]

A martial art on a truly earthshaking level. Cheok Jun-gyeong’s sword aura stabbed mercilessly toward the Dream Eater, and the Dream Eater, too, with terrifying fighting spirit, was deflecting every one of those strikes.

Watching that spectacle in silence, Kim Dokja left a short review.

―I didn’t expect this.

“Me neither.”

―I didn’t want it to go this far.

“Why would he say something like that, anyway?”

Normally, he would interrogate me about the suspicion of leaking his unique martial art, or go through some kind of strict procedure. But that bold constellation took me as his disciple on the spot.

―Cheok Jun-gyeong is a constellation who’s never taken a disciple until now. You can’t learn his martial art through ordinary training.

“Ah.”

A martial art you can’t learn even if you’re taught.

And then a human appeared who had mastered it on his own.

―Well, nothing bad will happen right away. At least as long as Cheok Jun-gyeong thinks of you as his disciple, he won’t let you die pointlessly in the horror realm.

Is this really something I can just accept and move on from?

―Why, is something bothering you?

Just as I was about to answer, someone’s cold hand grabbed my wrist. It was Anna Croft.

“Cheon Inho.”

“Yes. Should we run?”

“Are you going to die here, then?”

“You said I won’t die.”

“I couldn’t see properly after that.”

Anna’s advice was right. Now was the time to pull out. While our master fought with everything he had for his disciple, we should quickly run toward the industrial complex and plan for later.

―What a fine disciple.

“Who do you think I learned from?”

―You do know that even the Greatest Sword of Goryeo can’t beat the Dream Eater, right?

“Then I guess this will be the last meeting between master and disciple.”

From afar, I gave a brief salute toward my master, fighting fiercely for his disciple, then turned with Anna Croft toward the industrial complex.

But then—

―It really will be the last meeting.

When had it appeared? The hairworm Otherworldly Divinity that had been holding another direction until now was blocking the northern path.

It must have watched our fight with the Dream Eater and crept close while we weren’t looking.

Anna Croft, her face pale, slid behind me and said,

“I hate hairworms.”

I didn’t have much magic power left either. In that case—

I quickly turned and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Master! Your disciple is in danger!”

Then my master’s answer came back.

[If you are my disciple, you can kill something like that on your own.]

Hm. It seemed my newly acquired master was the type to shove his disciple into a tiger’s den.

With Anna, I started backing up, step by step.

“Do you have another plan?”

“No.”

At my hopeless answer, Anna Croft tilted her head.

“That’s strange.”

“What is?”

“It wasn’t the Greatest Sword of Goryeo.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I confirmed in the future wasn’t ‘the Greatest Sword of Goryeo.’”

As I wondered what that meant, I heard voices from somewhere. It was from the rooftop of a nearby building.

“Heh heh, that Third Squad captain fights the Dream Eater every time he comes here.”

“Pathetic.”

“Suppress it first. We’ll joint-attack the Dream Eater, and who’s taking the hairworm?”

“I will.”

With a shriek, the hairworm monster lunged—and at that moment, a blue sword strike rippled in front of my eyes.

I knew what that martial art was. The blue of a sword aura ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) that resembled a clear, lucid sky.

―Wow, it’s been a really long time.

Baekcheong Sword Aura. But it wasn’t my Baekcheong Sword Aura. It was far more lofty than mine—so lofty it was even beautiful.

“That’s him.”

At Anna’s words, I stared, entranced, at his back.

His sky-colored hair, matching Baekcheong’s sword strike, bloomed brilliantly within the dazzling light.

Watching the hairworm Otherworldly Divinity flee while screaming, I suddenly recalled the description from when he first appeared.

「In “Ways of Survival,” when describing a handsome male type, they often use the modifier ‘on Yoo Joonghyuk’s level,’ and he’s the kind of person that modifier fits perfectly.」

If I tried to express what I was feeling right now, Yoo Joonghyuk’s cheeks wouldn’t survive.

I ran toward the “real master” who had finally appeared.

But the expression on my master’s face as he turned to look at me wasn’t normal.

Come to think of it, why?

My master’s appearance was strange. No—“a little strange” didn’t even begin to cover it.

That was… what?

Was Kyrgios always that big?