Chapter 442: Don’t touch.

It’s already been about ten days since I fell here.

With each passing day, the hope of waking up from this dream gradually disappeared, and now, my goal has become to somehow produce the results this world desires and escape.

Crack-!

I shattered someone’s joints.

“Gkrrrk.”

They let out a short scream and breathed their last. Their white martial uniform bore the words ‘Justice’.

A warrior from the Murim Alliance.

“…”

Thump-

My head drooped forward, and as I watched the dying man roll his eyes back, I silently brushed my hands off.

The sensations were still incredibly vivid.

‘…What a crappy feeling….’

Corpses were scattered all around.

Most were warriors of the Murim Alliance dressed in white, with a few demonic cultivators mixed in, but their numbers were minimal.

Even then, they weren’t demonic cultivators from the Black Flame Corps; they were all warriors pulled from the Ghost Blade Squad.

I watched that calmly.

Drip-

I felt something trickling down my cheek.

I wiped it roughly with my thumb and realized it was blood.

“…”

Seeing it, I scowled.

Because I knew where I’d gotten hurt.

It was a wound I’d sustained when the Alliance warriors ambushed me just before, failing to react properly.

It wasn’t due to a proper ambush or letting my guard down.

I had already sensed them with my ki-sense, and their strength was, at best, barely past the peak.

There was no way I could be defeated by guys like that.

This was simply.

‘I hesitated.’

It must be because I hesitated myself to kill them.

The despair in the eyes of the warrior rushing at me, the desperation to live somehow, the fear.

All of it was so evident that I involuntarily paused for a moment.

The gap created in that split second was enough for the warrior’s sword tip to graze my cheek.

That’s why the blood was flowing.

‘Fuck….’

Recalling the lingering sensation in my hand, I cursed inwardly.

There’s no way I’d be afraid of killing people now.

If I were going to feel something like that, it should have been different since my regression.

‘…This sucks.’

It’s just plain sucks.

Coming back to this damn time.

And fighting this goddamn war again after returning here.

And the eyes of the bastards making me feel all this.

‘I need to escape quickly.’

Perhaps that’s why I feel more rushed.

I wanted to escape this hell soon.

Thump thump.

As my weary heart grew heavier.

I sensed someone approaching from behind.

“Rookie.”

“…!”

A sleepy, hazy voice, with something chilling contained within.

There’s only one person with a voice like that.

“…Yes, Commander-nim.”

I slightly bowed upon confirming it was the Demon Sword Sovereign approaching.

The Demon Sword Sovereign stopped a few steps away from me and continued speaking in their characteristic manner, looking at me.

“…What… are you doing…?”

“…”

“…You’ll… die at this rate.”

“I apologize.”

The surrounding demonic cultivators wore puzzled expressions at the sudden lecture, but I knew what she was referring to.

Among the corpses scattered around, there was a particularly finely chopped chunk of meat. That was the warrior who had grazed my cheek.

The moment the warrior’s sword tip grazed my cheek, the Demon Sword Sovereign behind me unleashed scattered sword energy.

The sword energy that shot out in an instant struck the warrior directly.

He died instantly after receiving dozens of sword strikes in that fraction of a second.

Looking at the pieces that had become chunks of meat, I had to feel something sharp.

The more I saw things like this, the more real this world felt.

If it were Namgung Bi-ah, she wouldn’t have used such a brutal method.

Even if she did, she would have just killed him in one blow.

‘…Ha.’

At that thought, I unintentionally let out a sigh.

In the past, I compared Namgung Bi-ah to the Demon Sword Sovereign, but now, I found myself looking for Namgung Bi-ah in the Demon Sword Sovereign.

It’s truly a dirty feeling. How selfish a thought.

‘Did I want to pretend that incident never happened?’

Even though I told Tang Jemun that I would remember and carry my regrets.

Perhaps deep down, I wanted to forget.

Maybe that’s why this world is being shown to me.

To remember, not forget, my regrets.

‘If that’s the case, it’s terrifying.’

This damn world felt particularly frightening.

“…”

The Demon Sword Sovereign, who had been watching me, wore their usual peculiar expression and then.

Clang-

Retrieved their sword and turned their back.

“…Be careful.”

“Yes. I apologize.”

They uttered the words briefly and leisurely disappeared.

After the Demon Sword Sovereign disappeared, the remaining demonic cultivators finally let out the sounds they had been holding back.

It was a somewhat murmuring sound.

Someone among them approached and asked me.

“Hey, Rookie.”

It’s still a title I can’t get used to.

“Yes.”

“…Do you perhaps have a separate acquaintance with the Commander-nim?”

“…What?”

What kind of random question is this?

“What do you mean by that?”

As I asked, slightly furrowing my brows, the demonic cultivator added an explanation.

“No, it’s just that… I haven’t seen the Commander treat anyone so familiarly.”

The demonic cultivator didn’t add, ‘Except for the Grand Commander.’

“Familiarly?”

I don’t know what part made them think that, but.

“There’s nothing like that.”

I answered with a wry chuckle.

An acquaintance with the Demon Sword Sovereign.

There was no way such a thing existed.

At least here, with her…

‘We’re strangers.’

That was enough for me.

---

The Black Flame Corps, headquartered near Sichuan.

Unless the Heavenly Demon War had truly begun, their activities after successfully capturing Sichuan weren’t particularly significant.

At best, it was dealing with the remnants of the Alliance hiding in Sichuan, like today, or patrolling the area to identify problems.

The only change was that, since word had gotten out about the Heavenly Venerate, security had been somewhat tightened.

‘The fact that the Black Flame Corps themselves are patrolling is proof enough.’

Each individual was a warrior whose level, compared to the Alliance’s sword divisions, was equivalent to a commander.

Within the Black Flame Corps itself, the six or seven individuals below the Grand Commander were figures who, in other clans, would be considered elders or clan leaders.

The fact that even such figures were personally patrolling outside indicated that the Heavenly Venerate’s intervention was having a significant impact.

I observed the Demon Sword Sovereign walking towards the main hall from a distance.

‘The Heavenly Venerate is handled by the Demon Sword Sovereign.’

That’s the memory from back then.

While the Heavenly Venerate was drawing attention from the outside, the one directly confronting him was none other than the Demon Sword Sovereign.

Using the sword of the Namgung family against the sword of the Namgung family.

Furthermore, it was the Demon Sword Sovereign’s intention to personally eliminate the remaining bloodline of the Namgung family.

The problem was.

‘That it ultimately failed.’

Even normally, achieving victory against the Heavenly Venerate isn’t easy.

No matter how skilled the Demon Sword Sovereign was, inheriting the name of Sword Sovereign, the Heavenly Venerate was an ancient being who had dominated the skies of the Central Plains for decades.

There was no way the Demon Sword Sovereign could easily defeat such a figure.

She knew this fact too, which is why she went to confront the Heavenly Venerate with her full strength.

That’s where the problem occurred.

‘The Fallen Sovereign attacked the main base.’

While the Heavenly Venerate was drawing attention, the Fallen Sovereign launched a surprise attack on the main base, and in that process, I ended up confronting him.

This was the problem.

It was precisely.

‘…She came to me.’

While I was locked in a fierce battle with the Fallen Sovereign, most of the demonic cultivators died, and just as I was about to be killed by the Fallen Sovereign, the Demon Sword Sovereign appeared and pulled me away from him.

In this process, with the disappearance of the Demon Sword Sovereign, who was our top power, the forces confronting the Heavenly Venerate were annihilated.

Mukwon, who barely survived, lost an arm.

Fortunately, the injured Heavenly Venerate retreated, and the Fallen Sovereign, also wounded, was pursued by the intervening Heavenly Net Black Net Corps, eventually facing imminent defeat at the hands of the Grand Commander, Pildu-ma.

It was at this point that Peng Woojin appeared and saved the Fallen Sovereign.

This was a situation caused by the Demon Sword Sovereign leaving the battlefield to save me.

Moreover, it was an event that led to the Demon Sword Sovereign’s death.

The Demon Sword Sovereign, still bearing the wounds inflicted by the Heavenly Venerate, stood against the Fallen Sovereign.

Fortunately, escaping the Fallen Sovereign was successful, and Sichuan wasn’t lost, but.

Due to the wounds sustained from the Heavenly Venerate and the Fallen Sovereign at that time, she died during a later attack.

‘No.’

I need to state it correctly.

The Demon Sword Sovereign could have escaped anytime.

If she had wanted to, she could have lived.

But she.

‘Ultimately, died for me.’

She returned for me. And she died for me.

Isn’t that a damn fucked up thing?

Did she know? That in all those moments, I wished for my own death.

At first, I wished to die by my father’s hand.

Later, I wished to die by the Fallen Sovereign’s hand.

And during the ambush, I wished only that I would die.

Watching the Demon Sword Sovereign’s back, I recalled.

‘…Will you make the same choice again this time?’

I knew.

Because the world wasn’t different, the Demon Sword Sovereign was highly likely to make the same choice, and that if I intervened in that choice, perhaps things could change.

However, even knowing that, I was in a situation where I couldn’t do anything.

“…”

If the current situation were to be disrupted…

‘…Shin-geom would… die.’

I closed my eyes tightly and thought.

Shin-geom dies.

Yes, this was that kind of situation.

A situation where I had no choice but to move desperately.

Grind.

My teeth are grinding.

Watching the Demon Sword Sovereign’s back, I clenched my fists.

This is why I described this life as hell.

No matter which choice I make. Someone dies.

Even if this is an illusion, making any choice wasn’t easy.

Even if the Demon Sword Sovereign’s death is a major basis for my regrets.

If I choose the option to save her, Shin-geom might die.

Then, would there be no regrets from gaining that?

‘Conversely… if I just let the Demon Sword Sovereign die?’

If I choose the same path as my original life. Would that be okay too?

‘Ha….’

Coming this far, I suddenly remembered what Tang Jemun had said.

That it didn’t matter which choice I picked. That nothing would change.

“…”

Looking back now, those were truly meaningful words.

Was this said to me because he predicted a situation like this would occur?

If so, he truly had a wicked sense of humor.

‘It doesn’t matter what I choose?’

What bullshit.

‘How can it not matter.’

I couldn’t accept that.

Even if this situation is an illusion, creating it so vividly and then telling me to just watch comfortably.

I.

Could never do that.

“…”

That’s why my thoughts keep piling up, and I just get exhausted.

Because it was a situation where none of the choices could be made easily.

Of course.

Even if that weren’t the case, fortunately, there was at least one other method.

It might be the easiest method, or perhaps the most difficult.

If I intended to do something… I planned to take that choice.

Screeeech-

Immediately after arriving at the headquarters, I moved forward, covered in blood.

By now, the pungent smell of blood filling the surroundings didn’t bother me.

Since I had lived such a life originally, readapting was a simple matter.

Thinking so, I passed through the corridor and arrived at the main hall, but for some reason, the metallic scent seemed stronger than usual.

‘Hmm?’

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt the difference, as a subtle fighting spirit emanated from the Demon Sword Sovereign walking ahead of me.

It felt like something was bothering her.

Thud.

As the massive door opened and I entered the main hall.

Other individuals were already inside.

Upon observing who they were, not only was the scent of blood unusually strong compared to the Black Flame Corps, but their killing intent was so potent it radiated outwards from their bodies.

They each wore swords at their waists, and seeing that, I could figure out who they were.

“Kekeke.”

Hearing laughter, I lifted my head.

Someone was sitting on the jade throne where the Grand Commander of the Black Flame Corps should have been.

It was a man with hair cascading down, his lips pulled up into a wide grin.

Furthermore, the chilling madness and killing intent I felt made my spine crawl.

‘…That guy.’

I scowled as I identified him.

The ones filling the main hall were the demonic cultivators of the Ghost Blade Squad.

This meant the man sitting on the jade throne was the master of those demonic cultivators.

‘The Sword Demon (劍魔).’

Meaning, the Sword Demon, also known as the Heavenly Killing Star.

The Sword Demon, seated on the jade throne, smiled as he looked at the Demon Sword Sovereign.

“It’s been a while. Demon Sword Sovereign.”

“…”

Srrrring.

As if answering his words, the Demon Sword Sovereign immediately drew her sword.

Then, looking at the Sword Demon, she quietly whispered.

“…Get down….”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“Get down from there. That place… isn’t for you to sit.”

From the Demon Sword Sovereign’s words and body, fighting spirit surged.

I felt my lower dantian involuntarily contract from the sheer difference in their power.

Even feeling the Demon Sword Sovereign’s fighting spirit, the Sword Demon merely chuckled.

“Hey, the Grand Commander isn’t here anyway. You’re making too much of a fuss just for sitting there for a bit.”

“…”

Just as the Demon Sword Sovereign was about to gather her energy in response to the Sword Demon’s words.

Creeak.

The Sword Demon casually shrugged his shoulders and began to rise from his seat and step down.

‘That crazy bastard.’

Seeing the Sword Demon after so long, he was still the lunatic everyone said he was.

If Mukwon is the least demonic-looking demonic cultivator I know.

Then the Sword Demon, conversely, was the most demonic-looking demonic cultivator.

Thump.

The Sword Demon descended the stairs and approached the Demon Sword Sovereign.

“They say the Grand Commander went somewhere. Do you know where the Demon Sword Sovereign is?”

“…”

No answer came to the question.

The Demon Sword Sovereign merely watched the Sword Demon silently.

Perhaps that was the problem, as the Sword Demon clicked his tongue and continued speaking differently.

“Hmm, I still don’t like those angry eyes. If it weren’t for those, you’d be quite beautiful.”

At the Sword Demon’s words, the Black Flame Corps members behind me stirred.

Consequently, the killing intent from the Ghost Blade Squad side also began to intensify slightly.

Amidst that, only I was left wearing a dumbfounded expression.

‘Are these crazy bastards?’

They gather suddenly and then try to fight each other.

Since I usually leave the headquarters and wander outside, I wasn’t even aware this had happened.

Seeing their relationship seemed much worse than expected, and wondering what to do.

“Hm?”

“…!”

Suddenly, my eyes met with the Sword Demon guy, who had been exchanging hostile glances with the Demon Sword Sovereign.

His eyes, filled with killing intent, turned towards me.

Soon, what began to mix into his gaze was unmistakably interest.

“Haven’t seen that face before? Who is this guy?”

With a chilling smile, the Sword Demon took a step towards me.

What should I do? In this sudden situation, the moment I involuntarily scowled slightly.

A change also occurred in the Sword Demon’s expression.

“Look at that expression? You punk. You seem not to know who I am. That’s why you’re making that face in front of me.”

Shit.

This bastard with the fucked-up temper has taken an interest in me.

I should have just kept looking at the floor; this is annoying.

Swish.

The Sword Demon then reached out, grabbed my chin, and began examining it from side to side.

“Seriously, if you don’t educate them properly, you get guys like this, don’t you? Is this a new recruit? Strange. He clearly looks different, yet strangely resembles that person.”

It was obvious who ‘that person’ was without even looking.

The Sword Demon continued, his brow furrowing deeper.

“…For that reason, I don’t like your eyes. If you intend to keep looking at me like that….”

It was then.

“I’ll personally pluck out your eyeballs for educational purposes…!”

KWAANG-!

In an instant, immense fighting spirit exploded, and the Sword Demon’s body was slammed into the wall.

THUD-! KWADUDEUDUK-!!

Dust erupted, and debris shattered by the impact rained down towards where the Sword Demon was embedded.

It was a situation that happened in a mere instant.

With eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected event, I looked at the person who caused it.

Fzzt. Fzzt.

The Demon Sword Sovereign, who had just struck the Sword Demon, was expressing the surging fighting spirit throughout her entire body, showing no intention of hiding it.

Her fighting spirit mixed with her energy, projecting a towering presence.

The presence the Demon Sword Sovereign projected was so strong that the surrounding space felt like it was slightly distorting.

The demonic cultivators of the Ghost Blade Squad couldn’t even draw their swords due to the suddenness of the situation.

In that opening, the Demon Sword Sovereign gradually increased her power and opened her mouth.

“…With those… disgusting… hands…. Don’t touch me carelessly….”

In the Demon Sword Sovereign’s voice, directed at the Sword Demon.

There was a clear anger, rarely seen from her.