Phantom Dream’s sword body held a faint red glow, as if it had been quenched in blood.

It’s my sword.

It was the first thought that came to me the moment I took Phantom Dream in hand.

It wrapped around my grip smoothly, like it had been mine from the start. The balance and weight were perfect, too. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

If I just tamed it properly, it was the kind of thing I could spend my whole life with.

“...Let’s give it a try.”

I muttered softly and closed my eyes, and right after, an explosive surge burst out from my entire body in all directions.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA!

My hair whipped around in the rampaging force, and my feet rose about an inch off the ground before slowly settling back down.

I opened my eyes and let out a long exhale, like I was finally releasing the breath I’d been holding back.

“Haahhhhhh—.”

A murmured sigh, like savoring a feast, and the corners of my mouth lifted smoothly.

A red presence flowed out with my breath, and my eyes brimmed with a malice I’d never shown before.

The Tamra Alliance’s left and right guardians, who had been rushing in to retrieve Phantom Dream, halted with troubled expressions.

“Tsk. So you finally made a blunder...”

“How foolish. You saw what happened to the others, and you still grabbed the sword?”

Irritation and anger spread across the two old men’s faces.

They had planned to take me away and study the demon-subduing force I used, but the plan had fallen apart when I got bewitched by the cursed sword.

In the end, it was obvious this brat would fall into the hallucinations Phantom Dream showed, go mad, rampage, and die—

“Huh? You’re the old guys who fed me, aren’t you?”

In that instant, shock flooded both their faces.

My state was completely different from the swordsmen they’d seen up to now.

I wasn’t seeing hallucinations and going mad, and I wasn’t losing my reason and howling like a beast, either.

If anything, I was calmly walking over and talking to them like I knew them.

As if...

As if something that wasn’t human had put my body on like clothing.

“That look—don’t tell me...”

“Are you thinking the same thing, Right Guardian?”

A shiver ran through both old men’s entire bodies as they met each other’s eyes.

They had sacrificed countless swordsmen as offerings to forge the cursed sword into a sacred weapon, but until now, not a single person had ever drawn out Phantom Dream’s power to that extent.

The bizarre wave of force I was giving off was enough to make their skin crawl.

“...So you finally succeeded in Sword-and-Body Unity!”

“Hahahaha! The moment the alliance leader has wanted so desperately is here!”

The first case of Phantom Dream perfectly dominating a host’s body stood right in front of them.

From now on, that existence would overturn the landscape of the Korean martial world as the Tamra Alliance’s secret weapon!

The Tamra Alliance’s left and right guardians, faces lit with exhilaration, strode toward me.

“O cursed sword! At last you have awakened as a sacred weapon. We have awaited this moment for a long time!”

“Your master is waiting. Let’s go deliver the good news.”

Looking at the two guardians approaching, Phantom Dream flashed a bright smile.

“Hahaha! Thanks for welcoming me. But... I don’t have a master.”

The moment a chilling killing intent washed out, the Tamra Alliance’s two guardians hurriedly retreated.

SHAAAAK-

Blood sprayed through the air, and the two guardians pulled back with faces twisted in dismay.

Blood ran down from the sharply cut wounds on their bodies. They had nearly taken a fatal hit, and they burst into furious roars.

“What is the meaning of this!”

“You ungrateful bastard! We’re practically the parents who gave you birth...!”

Kim Muhyuk—no, Phantom Dream, which had seized control of Kim Muhyuk’s body—licked the bead of blood hanging from the blade with its tongue and laughed.

“Why are you getting angry? You’re the ones who made me like this.”

KRAAANG!

Phantom Dream kicked off the ground and lunged, swinging the sword.

That sharp sword path was just as keen as when I wielded it myself.

No—Phantom Dream was recreating my swordsmanship exactly.

KRA-KA-KANG!

At the savage torrent of blade aura, the two guardians blanched and swung their own swords to meet it.

They were the Tamra Alliance’s greatest experts after the alliance leader.

Each of them was skilled enough to be compared to the dead Black Bandit Society’s society leader, and they prided themselves on being a cut above in experience.

“Tsk. We’ll have to start by subduing it.”

“How arrogant. Do you think you’re a god just because a mere weapon has taken a human body?”

That was why they believed they could subdue me without killing me.

They realized that confidence was a mistake only after exchanging a few dozen blows.

“Khuk...!”

The red presence didn’t diminish—if anything, it grew stronger and stronger, overwhelming the two guardians.

Even if it held a sacred weapon, it made no sense—this was force no one could believe was being emitted by a martial artist who was, at most, at the entry level of the pinnacle realm.

“Hahahaha! This body is seriously the best!”

Phantom Dream displayed far greater power than when the Black Bandit Society’s society leader or Gu Hyeonwoo had held it.

As a martial artist, Kim Muhyuk held far greater potential than they did, and—

—...From the very start, you drew out nearly half of the Namcheon Sword’s power. Do you understand how dangerous that is?

Even the sect leader of AZURE SKY SWORD GATE had acknowledged that I had the talent to draw out a sacred weapon’s power strongly.

Thanks to that, Phantom Dream opened its power completely, to a level it had never reached before.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA!

Phantom Dream’s attacks grew faster and stronger. And as that happened, the wounds on the guardians’ bodies multiplied more and more.

“How can it have this much power...”

“Do you think that body will survive! You’ll drain your energy and die!”

My face, swinging the sword while coughing up blood, looked like it was in pain.

The rampaging power of the sacred weapon was steadily destroying the body.

But Phantom Dream, which had taken control of it, laughed in madness like it didn’t care.

“Hahahahaha! I can just kill you and drink your blood!”

Fear slowly began to settle into the eyes of the two guardians.

At last, they were realizing it.

That they might have created a monster they couldn’t handle.

“C-contact the alliance leader...!”

“For now, we retreat! If we want to control it, we need a sealing tool and a spellcaster!”

For those who had offered the blood of countless swordsmen to create a sacred weapon, the moment to pay the price had arrived.

The Tamra Alliance’s two guardians urgently turned and began to flee.

But Phantom Dream didn’t allow even that so easily.

“Where do you think you’re going? You have to keep playing with me.”

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRAAANG!

The barrage Phantom Dream unleashed shook the cave as if it might collapse.

Drunk on the freedom it had never felt before, Phantom Dream revealed its power without restraint.

But the sacred weapon, having gained its first truly satisfying host, didn’t realize what was happening inside itself.

Ssssssh....

Not even the fact that the red glow of the sword body—its true form—was slowly growing fainter.

*****

A pitch-black night, a seaside cliff.

The wind scraped across faces like blades, and waves slammed into the rock face.

Every time the roar of the surf scattered, the sound of spears and swords colliding filled the empty spaces. A fierce battle between martial artists was unfolding atop the cliff.

Every time the roar of the surf scattered, the sound of spears and swords colliding filled the empty spaces. A fierce battle between martial artists was unfolding atop the cliff.

FWOOSH!

A saber wrapped in flames cut through the black-clad subordinates and sent them falling.

Under the heat of the Blazing-Yang Art, hot enough to feel like flesh would sear, the black-clad subordinates backed off in pain.

Someone who looked like their captain shouted in a flustered voice.

“Who are you people! Identify yourselves!”

“...Dark Heroic Swordsman the Fire.”

Shin Kangheon, his face wrapped in bandages, bared his teeth as he looked over the enemies blocking him.

“To punish the villains who throw the world into chaos, this body appears!”

“How long are you planning to keep doing that embarrassing self-introduction?”

Behind Shin Kangheon, Kim Bokja was letting bluish ghostfire flare up in both eyes. Her eyes floating in the darkness were so eerie even bold martial artists wouldn’t want to meet them.

“Kkagwi. Shaggy Dog. King Snake.... Bite them all to pieces!”

The summoned anomalies scattered in every direction and attacked the black-clad subordinates.

Kim Bokja supported Shin Kangheon as he fought the black-clad subordinates by unfolding spellwork, and she blocked things so no sound could leak out.

PYAAAK!

Apricot spat a small flame, too. It might still be a hatchling, but a Great Anomaly was a Great Anomaly.

The black-clad subordinates who had ignored that tiny flame rolled on the ground in pain under a fire that wouldn’t go out.

“W-where did monsters like these come from...”

“Report it upstairs! Attackers have appea—khuk!”

Some of the black-clad subordinates tried to run, judging they couldn’t handle it.

But—

“You’re not doing that.”

THUD!

Shin Kangheon, who swung the side of his saber and knocked out even the last one, scanned the area.

Aside from the captain he’d subdued with pressure points, more than ten of them were down.

“You bastards—do you think you can do something like this and stay safe! You don’t even know who you messed wi—”

“I was going to find that out now, anyway.”

The black-clad subordinate’s stiff neck slackened, and their eyes went dull under Kim Bokja’s spell.

“Could you tell me your affiliation, your name, and why you came here?”

“Tamra Alliance Strike Force, Squad Twelve leader....”

While Kim Muhyuk was participating in the slaughter game of the one hundred swordsmen, Kim Bokja and Shin Kangheon investigated what was behind it.

They followed the van carrying Kim Muhyuk from a distance, confirmed it entered some cave, and watched martial artists appear to control the area.

Then they ambushed the black-clad subordinates guarding the rear of the cave and succeeded in learning who they were.

The Tamra Alliance.

They had learned that the largest martial-world power on Jeju Island was behind this horrific slaughter game.

After interrogating the black-clad subordinate, Shin Kangheon twitched his eyebrow and said,

“So all those swordsmen who disappeared until now were these bastards, too?”

“It looks like it, from the circumstances... but the definite proof will be farther inside.”

“Let’s go check, fast!”

Kim Bokja grabbed Shin Kangheon’s arm as he tried to head deeper into the cliff without hesitation.

“Wait. Any farther than this is too much for just the two of us.”

Kim Bokja judged the situation realistically.

Most of the martial artists they’d dealt with until just now were low-ranking Tamra Alliance martial artists who didn’t even really know what they were guarding.

The deeper they went into the cliff, the higher the chance Tamra Alliance elite martial artists would be guarding it.

The possibility that they could break through that tight security and find the evidence they wanted was slim.

“And if our identities get exposed... we might end up getting framed instead.”

At Kim Bokja’s cautious stance, Shin Kangheon argued back with an unhappy face.

“Then what—are we supposed to just sit here and wait until Kim Muhyuk comes out?”

“Who said that? I’m saying we go in after we prepare properly.”

Kim Bokja pulled out a smartphone.

It was the smartphone Kim Muhyuk had entrusted to her in advance before joining the slaughter game of the one hundred swordsmen.

—If it feels like the two of you can’t handle it, call this number. Just say you really need a friend’s help.

—Not Choi Geon or the Martial Alliance first?

—My mentor is busy, so even if we call, he won’t be able to come right away, and if the Martial Alliance comes, it’ll blow things up too much. That friend’s basically unemployed these days.

Whether “unemployed” was true or not, the other side answered as soon as the call connected.

[Kim Muhyuk? Why are you calling at this hour?]

“...Hello. I’m Kim Muhyuk’s friend.”

As Kim Bokja explained the situation, the person on the other end sounded dumbfounded at first, then started listening seriously.

And then, right then, the cliff they were standing on shook as if it might collapse.

KURRRRUMBLE......!

At the same time, Kim Bokja felt an anomaly’s presence awaken—so horrific it made her shudder.

“Insane... what the hell did he touch?”

Even Kim Bokja, who had lived through countless anomalies and the malice they spewed, was shocked by the force of it.

It had to be the power being emitted by the sacred-weapon-grade cursed sword Kim Muhyuk had talked about.

“What all of a sudden? Is this an anomaly?”

Even Shin Kangheon swallowed hard, feeling every hair on his body stand on end.

He wasn’t as talented as Kim Muhyuk or Kim Bokja at sensing anomalies, but his instincts were screaming danger.

And a moment later, booming sounds and screams began coming in one after another from deeper inside the cliff.

Stop it! We have to capture it no matter what!

All forces, assemble!

We can’t control it! None of the sealing tools are working!

Shin Kangheon and Kim Bokja looked at each other for a moment, then nodded at the same time.

“We should go, right?”

“Seriously, he can’t let a single thing pass quietly.”

Maybe the person on the call heard the booming noises too, because they asked in an urgent voice.

[What just happened? Don’t stop talking in the middle of this!]

“Only Kim Muhyuk knows the details. Either way, it’s urgent, so get here as fast as you can—however you can!”

After giving only the rough location, she hung up, and the two of them slipped inside, taking advantage of the chaos among the Tamra Alliance’s martial artists.