Black Wolf

The Giant Demon’s sweeping palm was already upon my forehead.

But though it was right in front of me, it never struck.

It was as if time itself had stopped.

Not only the Giant Demon but even the clumps of dirt flung into the air remained suspended, refusing to fall.

My hair, blown back by the wind of his strike, was also frozen in place.

I couldn’t move my eyes to look elsewhere, yet I understood.

Everything in this world—myself included—had stopped.

‘What is this sorcery?’

Though the world was halted, my mind continued to function clearly.

It felt like being caught in a goblin’s spell.

Then the voice I thought a hallucination earlier returned.

– Greetings, Young Master Seonu. This is the second time I’ve spoken to you, though you likely do not recall the first.

It was the genial voice of a middle-aged man.

And I remembered I had heard this voice before.

‘Could it have been… the day we saved Lady Tang?’

– Oh, you remember. Yes, I spoke briefly then.

So that had been real? I had thought it a dream.

Yet this too felt like a dream.

Confused, I asked:

‘Who are you? And what is this?’

The voice chuckled warmly.

– Hahaha! Of course you’re confused. My elder brother told me he was just as startled the first time.

‘Brother…?’

– I have little time, and since I’ve broken the rules by appearing, I won’t be able to see you again for a while. So I’ll be brief.

‘…What?’

– My name is… call me Black Wolf.

At his words, I instinctively looked at the black blade in my hand.

From the wolf carved on its guard shone a faint white light.

– Yes, that Black Wolf. Long ago, I left behind arrangements to pass on my insights to a worthy successor. One such vessel was this sword, Black Wolf. Don’t ask details now. Though time seems stopped, in truth it is only slowed to the utmost. This state will soon end.

Indeed, the world was not frozen but crawling forward at a speed imperceptible to the senses—
my hair drifting, the Giant Demon’s arm descending.

– I meant only to pass on my legacy to those who passed my trial. You have not completed it. Yet you are the first bearer of Black Wolf who stirs my interest. I cannot let you die here. So just this once, I’ll break my rules and aid you. But until you pass my trial, I cannot speak to you again. Understand?

I didn’t grasp the details.

But I understood the most important thing: Black Wolf meant to help me.

The voice laughed again.

– Hahaha! Correct! I should have said that at once. Now, relax and watch. Ah, when the “domain” fades, there’ll be no chance for farewells, so let me say it now. Until we meet again, Young Master Seonu. Pass the trial—I did this of my own will, but I never knew eternity could be this dull. Hahaha!

As his words ended, time accelerated back to normal.

The Giant Demon’s massive palm crashed toward my head.

Whooom!

“Uwaaaah!”

I cried in shock.

But then my body moved on its own.

I released the Black Wolf sword, tilted my head back, and let the attack flow past.

“?!”

I couldn’t understand what was happening—when the voice returned:

– The essence of the Thousand Wind Steps is to become the wind itself. Who says it must be confined to footwork?

Using the momentum of the Giant Demon’s strike, my body turned in a smooth backward rotation. I seized the sword again—like a petal swirling in the wind.

As I gripped Black Wolf once more, a faint violet sword-qi flickered from the blade.

Shuuuk!

“Kh…?!”

The impossible happened.

The sword that had been pinned immovably in the Giant Demon’s grip slid free with ease.

Thin blood seeped from his palm, despite his hand still wrapped in hardened qi.

The voice spoke in my mind again:

– “Where there is a gap, cut through. That is following the nature of things.”

It was a line I had once read from the writings of Zhuangzi.

The Giant Demon glanced at his bleeding palm, face twisting with fury, and roared.

“You brat!”

Fwaaah!

His strike surged like a tidal wave.

Too close to evade.

‘Damn!’

But my body moved by itself again.

The First Form of the Four-One Sword Method— One Breath, One Kill.

‘What—now?!’

My blade became a beam of light, piercing the center of his tidal strike.

Puuk!

“Aaagh!”

It stabbed through his wrist, just below the hand releasing its power.

– Speed is not the point. What matters is seeing, and striking where and when it must be struck.

The faintest sword-qi severed his thick wrist as though it were paper.

Shwaak!

Blood sprayed as the Giant Demon howled.

“You wretch!”

But before he could recover, my sword surged again.

The First Form of the Seonu Thirteen Swords— Responding Wing.

Wings of radiant sword-light.

It was my most familiar strike.

Yet I thought in despair:

‘Such a move won’t work on him!’

And indeed, the Giant Demon sneered, sweeping his arm to shred them.

“This paltry—?!”

But the wings slipped past his hand, flowing like a bird’s beating feathers, and crashed upon him.

“Wh-what?!”

Fwaak!

“Khhuuurgh!”

Blood spurted as he staggered back, body torn by sword-light.

The playful voice spoke again:

– A sword must be free. If your mind is bounded, so too will your sword be.

It was overwhelming.

Though it was still my body, my will had no part in it.

Yet with nothing but perfect timing, it overpowered the Giant Demon, a foe at the very brink of the super-pinnacle.

Unbelievable.

– One last gift. Guard it well until we meet again.

My body lunged, sword splitting into hundreds of phantoms—

The Thirteenth Form of the Seonu Thirteen Swords— Phantom Sword Realm.

Pababababak!

The Giant Demon snarled, encircled by countless sword-shadows.

“Again these tricks?!”

He crossed his arms, ready to blast them away.

But this time, the phantoms became real.

Fwaaaah!

“Ghhhuuuaaargh!”

Dozens—hundreds of blades pierced his body, turning him into a living pincushion.

Even I could hardly believe it.

Covered in wounds, the Giant Demon stared blankly at me— then toppled like a felled tree.

Thud!

Dead instantly.

Control returned to me, and I collapsed, staring at the corpse.

“This… was Emptiness Becomes Form.”

The Fifteenth Form of the Seonu Thirteen Swords—Emptiness Becomes Form.

The ultimate strike I had never grasped.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“Ha… ha-ha-ha.”

It felt like a dream.

Only the Giant Demon’s bloodied corpse proved it real.

Then someone vaulted over the wall.

“You bastard, face m—huh? Seonu?”

It was Brother Sag Muhun, returning after hiding the rescued woman.

Though he must have known he couldn’t stand against the Giant Demon, he had come back for me.

My heart warmed.

“Brother Sag!”

But his eyes were fixed not on me, but on the corpse.

“That… what happened? Don’t tell me…”

“Ah, that… well, an elder appeared suddenly, slew him, and left.”

It was true enough.

A senior master had indeed appeared and destroyed him.

Far more believable than saying I had slain him.

Sag Muhun stared at the bloodied Black Wolf sword in my hand, then nodded mechanically.

“…I see. Then you truly are the luckiest man alive.”

At the Martial Alliance’s Military Bureau.

Bam!

Zhuge Jigang slammed his fist onto the desk, glaring at the crumpled letter.

It was from the Sword Saint of Heaven, Hae Unbaek, on the frontlines.

“Hae! Un! Baek!”

His fists trembled with rage.

Zhuge Jigang had hoped to use the Giant Demon’s northern advance as a pretext to summon the Sword Saint back.

If he spread lies of massacres, surely Hae Unbaek would rush to return.

But the reply was nothing like he expected.

The first lines reported that his daughter, Hae Cheong-yeon, was still missing.

The fury was palpable even in the handwriting.

The letter also condemned the Alliance for ignoring the many abductions of soldiers by Blood Cult warlords, demanding to know why nothing had been done.

Zhuge Jigang squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.

“Damn…”

And it continued.

The Sword Saint demanded better treatment for frontline soldiers— why the rewards were meager, the leave so short, the conditions so harsh.

“Urgh…”

Zhuge Jigang grimaced.

He had never cared, viewing soldiers as expendable.

But what chilled him most was the final point:

Discharged veterans had vanished without trace.

No matter where Hae Unbaek searched, not a single former soldier could be found.

Zhuge Jigang trembled.

“Unbaek… so you’ve learned.”

The truth he had prayed would remain hidden, the Sword Saint had uncovered.

In such a short time, he had investigated the entire front.

At this rate, the truth about the Shadow Corps would be revealed.

And at the end of the letter, Hae Unbaek vowed to discuss these matters deeply when he returned.

“Discuss deeply…?”

No need for words. He meant to demand accountability.

Zhuge Jigang’s anger masked fear.

If the Sword Saint exposed everything…

The Alliance’s schemes would collapse.

He had thought only of recalling him quickly. That was a mistake.

The Sword Saint must never return.

A countermeasure was needed.

After long thought, Zhuge Jigang took up his brush.

He wrote a letter—addressed to the Blood Demon.

First, he protested the Giant Demon’s northern incursion, warning it threatened their pact.

Then, after a pause, he added another line.

Concerning the Sword Saint of Heaven.

At last, Zhuge Jigang resolved to eliminate his old friend.