The day of the Seongmu Grand Battle dawned.
The semifinals and the finals of the Minor Seongmu Grand Battle were all held in a single day.
What if someone won in the semifinals but got injured?
Then they were simply eliminated.
Compared to the Major Seongmu Grand Battle, which was held over four days starting from the round of sixteen, it could be considered something of a warm-up tournament.
Still, since the round of sixteen of the Major Seongmu Grand Battle was also held on the same day, the arena was packed with people.
And in the VIP seats, the Cheongsin family led by Lee Kangjin faced the Unseong family led by Han Baeksa.
"So today's finally the day, Lord Cheolhyeol."
"Indeed. How ironic that a child of Unseong is facing our Seoha. What a pity—your son won't be making it to the finals."
At Lee Kangjin's taunt, Han Baeksa burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! It'll be fun to overturn everyone's expectations. On the contrary, I'm very satisfied to be facing a strong opponent. It's a chance to show Unseong's power in front of all these people."
Han Baeksa spoke confidently, then returned to his seat and his expression hardened.
"Did Sanghyeok succeed?"
"So it seems. However, since he's a disciple of Yakseon, he might be carrying an antidote, so we're told to be careful."
"Even with an antidote, he won't be able to fully recover. The symptoms must have shown up this morning."
Han Baeksa let out a snort of laughter.
"And just in case, I handed Yeongsu a trump card."
"What did you give him?"
"The Cheonjin Pill."
It was a miraculous elixir that granted an enormous amount of inner power the moment it was consumed.
It was a one-time effect with short-term side effects, but as long as he made it to the finals, victory was guaranteed, so it didn't matter.
Soon, the drums announcing the start of the Minor Seongmu Grand Battle echoed through the arena, and the students who had advanced to the semifinals climbed onto the stage.
Seoha's complexion was clearly not good.
His face was pale, devoid of color, and his expression was poor as well.
Han Baeksa laughed heartily.
"Looks like Sanghyeok did his job well. That servant bastard probably doesn't even know he's already dead."
It was then—
"His Majesty the King arrives!"
With a booming voice, the king entered the VIP seats.
The elderly man in his late seventies walked in leaning on a cane, accompanied by Yakseon and high-ranking officials.
Startled, Han Baeksa sprang to his feet, and Lee Kangjin also hurriedly stood up and straightened his clothes.
Han Baeksa's son, Han Myeongho, spoke with a tense expression.
"Is His Majesty even watching the semifinals of the Minor Seongmu Grand Battle?"
"With Cheongsin's grandson here, he must have come to watch."
Often, he would only watch the Major Seongmu Grand Battle, and sometimes only the finals.
But this year, Lee Seoha was present.
He had clearly come to see the grandson of his childhood friend.
King Shin Yucheol was a white-haired old man who had to rely on a cane to walk, yet his overwhelming presence was enough to make cold sweat break out.
The War God, Shin Yucheol.
In the past, he had fought on the battlefield alongside Lee Kangjin, driving back rakshasas and demonic beasts, expanding humanity's lands, and even making the Imperial Empire tremble in fear.
King Shin Yucheol spotted Lee Kangjin and broke into a bright smile.
"Did you make it home safely yesterday? You were staggering around drunk."
"And weren't you the one who couldn't tell the restroom apart and pissed on a wall, Your Majesty?"
"Me? Did I really do that?"
When Shin Yucheol turned around, Yakseon let out a sigh.
"Honestly, you old men should drink less. You'll drink yourselves straight to the grave."
"Hahaha! With you around, what's there to worry about? Right, as promised, I came to see your grandson. Which one is he?"
"That pale-faced boy over there."
Shin Yucheol looked at Seoha and smiled faintly.
"I'll see for myself whether he's as useful as you say."
"You'll be impressed. Hahaha."
After chatting with Lee Kangjin, Shin Yucheol noticed Han Baeksa.
"Ah, I hear the head of the Han family's grandson is also participating."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I look forward to a good match."
Shin Yucheol took a seat directly above Han Baeksa and Lee Kangjin.
Watching Lee Kangjin sit comfortably, Han Baeksa muttered under his breath.
"That bastard is helping me."
"Helping you?"
"He went through the trouble of bringing His Majesty just to show off his grandson, but thanks to that, our Yeongsu will benefit."
Seoha's condition was clearly poor to anyone's eyes.
Since Sanghyeok had obviously succeeded, Yeongsu's victory was all but guaranteed.
"Let's just enjoy watching that arrogant bastard's face get crushed."
As Han Baeksa snickered, the first match began.
The first match was Sanghyeok versus Ju Jiyul.
The waiting area was set up as a tent on one side of the arena.
I stepped out of the tent and watched Ju Jiyul and Sanghyeok warming up.
Sanghyeok would have taken care of his condition properly on his own, so there was no need to worry about him.
I was more concerned about Ju Jiyul.
Third in the entrance rankings. Ju Jiyul.
The Ju family was a relatively small clan.
They held a territory so small it was barely worthy of being called a city, and it wasn't particularly prosperous either.
About seventy years ago, they produced the Red-Robed Immortal and became lords, but since then, Ju Jiyul's grandfather and father had worked as mere high-ranking warriors before retiring.
Ju Jiyul, who entered Seongmu Academy ranked third, was the family's hope.
However, his fate was to die young after throwing himself into all kinds of missions due to his excessive ambition.
'He's a regrettable talent.'
If I hadn't existed, he would have entered Seongmu Academy as second place.
Although he died young and left behind few records, making it hard to tell whether he was a villain or a righteous man, which made it tricky to judge him.
As I was thinking that, Arin approached me.
Relatives or friends attending Seongmu Academy were allowed into the contestants' waiting area.
"Are you okay? You don't look well."
"Huh? Oh, this? It's makeup. Touch it."
"Oh, it is."
I looked over at Han Baeksa, who was sitting there with a satisfied expression.
It wouldn't be long before that face got crushed.
And then—
"Winner! Han Sanghyeok of Unseong!"
It seemed Sanghyeok had defeated Ju Jiyul.
Ju Jiyul pounded the floor with his fist in frustration before trudging back to the waiting area, while Sanghyeok headed to his own.
Next was my turn.
"The next match is Lee Seoha of Cheongsin! And once again, Unseong—Han Yeongsu!"
At the announcer's shout, applause poured out as Han Yeongsu walked up onto the stage.
Time to show my perfect performance.
I rubbed my stomach, tilted my head, and asked Arin,
"Don't I look sick?"
"Yeah. But why are you acting?"
"There's a reason."
The innocent Arin wouldn't understand.
The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
I planned to raise Han Baeksa and Han Yeongsu's expectations to the maximum, then slam them into the ground.
Considering what they did to Sanghyeok, this level of mockery was downright cute.
"Then I'll be back."
Putting on an intense act as if my stomach hurt, I climbed onto the stage.
Han Yeongsu smirked as he looked at me.
"Looks like you're not in good shape."
"Yeah, I must've eaten something bad. Still, don't worry. I'll win in style."
"Even now, you're still bluffing. Impressive, really."
As if you're any different.
"Then, begin!"
At the signal, Han Yeongsu charged forward, swinging his twin swords.
I was a little jealous.
Twin swords just looked cool, no matter how you saw them.
With such foolish thoughts in mind, I easily dodged Han Yeongsu's attacks.
The Cheonroe Twin Sword was a martial art that excelled in rapid attacks and flashy variations emitted from two swords.
More precisely, its strength lay in speed, while the flashy changes were more of a defining feature.
Han Yeongsu's Cheonroe Twin Sword had only the features, without the strength.
'I guess I really have gotten stronger.'
Our skills shouldn't have differed by this much.
Even with one hand holding my stomach, I could dodge his attacks.
But from the outside, it must have looked like I was being pushed back.
"Incredible! Han Yeongsu of Unseong! He's pressing the attack perfectly!"
Han Baeksa watched with an excited expression, the king's face had hardened, and my grandfather watched with his head tilted.
They must have noticed I was acting.
There was no way my grandfather, the greatest master, and the king, said to be a master nearly on par with him, wouldn't see through my sloppy performance.
It was about time to end this.
Thinking that, I struck aside Han Yeongsu's sword for the first time.
It was the beginning of Act One of the performance Sanghyeok and I had prepared.
Dropping Han Yeongsu from the highest point.
So the disappointment would be doubled.
"Ugh!"
When I knocked his sword aside, Han Yeongsu grimaced.
He hadn't expected a counterattack.
I pressed him calmly and offered some advice.
"Twin-sword techniques let you attack and defend at the same time, but they require that much more physical strength and inner power."
"Grrk!"
Han Yeongsu clenched his teeth, but nothing changed.
He was too busy just trying to block my attacks.
"The Cheonroe Twin Sword requires you to wield a sword with each hand, so your external martial strength has to surpass your opponent's. And since you have to channel inner power into both swords, the consumption is huge. Simply put, you can become twice as strong as with other martial arts, but with half-baked skill, its efficiency gets cut in half."
"You bastard, yapping on and on…!"
At that moment, with a cracking sound, Han Yeongsu's aura changed, and I widened the distance.
'His inner power has increased explosively.'
There was only one elixir that took effect this immediately.
The Cheonjin Pill.
An elixir that produced an effect similar to rampant yang energy.
"What do you know about the Cheonroe Twin Sword!"
Han Yeongsu leapt and swung his blades.
Cheonroe Twin Sword, Lightning Hundred Claws.
It was a technique that butchered the opponent in an instant, as fast as lightning scraping across the ground.
But it was sloppy.
Lightning Hundred Claws was supposed to be chilling, yet it looked no different from a child wildly swinging a sword.
No matter how much his inner power increased, if he didn't know how to contain and use it, it was as good as nothing.
I took my stance, waited for the moment, and thrust my sword.
Single-Sword Style, Dragon Flash.
The wooden sword smashed into Han Yeongsu's side.
"Gwahk!"
With a bizarre scream, he flew off to the side of the arena, foaming at the mouth and convulsing.
Han Baeksa leapt to his feet in shock, while my grandfather burst into laughter, slapping his thigh.
More than anything, I checked the king's expression.
His Majesty was smiling in satisfaction.
It seemed he liked my performance quite a bit.
A dramatic story where the one who had been groaning as if sick won the decisive final exchange.
Unseong would be feeling quite bitter.
Even though it wasn't expected, he had still lost after taking the Cheonjin Pill.
I watched Han Yeongsu being carried away by the medical staff, then hurriedly rubbed my stomach with my left hand.
I had forgotten to keep acting.
"Oof, oof. I won in this condition."
I had to pay attention to my acting until the very end.
That way, the opponent would feel even more miserable.
"The winner is Lee Seoha of Cheongsin!"
I waved to the crowd, then smiled at Han Baeksa, who was staring down at Han Yeongsu with a stupid expression.
When our eyes met, Han Baeksa's face turned bright red as he headed off somewhere.
Probably toward his last remaining hope.
Toward Sanghyeok.
He must be planning to threaten him using Ju Eunhee, who was already dead—or rather, whose death had been faked.
But what a shame.
Everything had already been exposed.
"How does he manage to miss every prediction? That old man. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Now the main performance remained.
Only by delivering the greatest emotional impact would everything move forward properly.
I met Sanghyeok's eyes as he watched the match, then headed back to my waiting room.