A few people let out chuckles at the remark from Heon Wonchang, who stood in attendance on Jung Yeonshin. Most, however, released no more than a quiet breath.

The Black-ranked supreme masters were among them. Nor did the mouths of the six experts attending their respective captains so much as twitch. They merely gazed steadily at Heon Wonchang. Like him, they had accompanied their captains as attendants, but every one of them possessed a weighty presence.

“Ahahaha!”

Only the girl seated near the vacant seat of honor laughed without restraint. Holding the spear propped beside her stone chair’s armrest, she shook her ponytail from side to side.

There was no malice in it. She simply seemed to be laughing because she found it funny.

'Senior Ak.'

Hers was a familiar face to Jung Yeonshin as well.

Ak Surim, the Desolate Divine Spear. Deputy leader of the Divine Sword Unit within the Divine Sword Squad. She was a veteran master he had briefly worked alongside during the matches against the Namgoong clan.

He had heard that some internal martial art of hers had reached the realm of utter perfection, turning back the years of her body. Her girlish appearance, seemingly no older than Jung Yeonshin himself, was thus evidence of her formidable martial prowess. She was a supreme master who had attained Rejuvenation.

“He—he’s hilarious! Such nerve for someone in white! He’s certainly fit to attend the Lightning Genius who challenged the Blue Qilin! Say, Doun. When have you ever been treated like this?”

She dabbed at the corners of her eyes with slender fingers as she spoke. This was a world short on amusements. For a moment, she seemed to have laughed herself to tears.

“That will do, please.”

Ha Doun, captain of the Suncheon Wing, spoke. His expression had changed only briefly. Now it was composed.

An eminent swordsman’s composure was, by nature, as clear and tranquil as still water. If his swordsmanship could rival the Radiant Demon Squad captain’s saber technique, even by reputation, his attainment in internal martial arts ought to be matched by his cultivation of the mind.

Whatever his sharp temper, his mind was resilient.

'The Suncheon Wing captain... He realized it was me. An extraordinarily powerful master.'

So the boy thought. Black ranks truly were different. With his perceptiveness and energy detection, Ha Doun seemed to have immediately guessed where the technique had originated.

The fortress master’s feint. It was an art he would have to handle carefully—a sword move that would gain nothing from becoming widely known.

Jung Yeonshin steadied himself after that brief chill, letting nothing show. With Heon Wonchang in tow, he walked slowly over and sat beside Ma Jin, who had arrived before him.

His maternal uncle was attending the meeting as a captain. He was still captain of the Radiant Demon Squad.

“Is that a move you learned from the fortress master?”

It was Ma Jin’s sound transmission.

“It seems to employ qi waves with ease. An exceptionally profound technique. You drew that much of a reaction from a supreme master—and no ordinary one, but the captain of the Suncheon Wing.”

“It’s incomplete.”

Jung Yeonshin answered briefly. He himself had been greatly surprised when the qi-wave feint succeeded. He had only begun learning the art yesterday, and his opponent was a Black-ranked supreme master.

He had not expected success. He had to consider it a stroke of luck. It did not yet seem particularly useful, either, given how fleeting Ha Doun’s reaction had been.

'It would be difficult to use in a real fight.'

That would remain true even if he applied the technique properly. His opponent had been too little absorbed by it to call it a proper feint. With the concentration Jung Yeonshin had expended, he could have executed another supreme move during a match instead.

'I can’t let it end up like Northern Radiance did. That was a vicious cycle. I kept using the familiar Desolate Sword, and it kept getting pushed aside.'

Just as he resolved to devote time to training it—

“In any case.”

Ak Surim spoke again. A faint smile lingered on her lips, and her eyes seemed to sparkle with a little pleasure at seeing the boy.

“Ma Jin’s recommendation of you as the next captain of the Radiant Demon Squad has been accepted. Without you, Chung Myung, the azure-eyed demonic swordsman, would have been the likely choice. But that fellow, supple as a flexible sword, apparently yielded. Said he wouldn’t even compete.”

An astonishing revelation came from her smiling lips. Jung Yeonshin fell silent for a moment.

He had not known such a conversation had taken place. Chung Myung was the Radiant Demon Squad’s foremost swordsman. He was more than qualified to be considered for the next captaincy. In accumulated experience and the trust he commanded, Jung Yeonshin could not compare with him.

There was little reason to think otherwise.

The boy lowered his head slightly. Chung Myung knew about his constitution. Naturally, it weighed on him.

'What can I give my seniors?'

Self-reproach and gratitude mingled in the brief lowering of his eyelids.

The six captains and their six guards watched him for a moment. All of them had long lived as swords of the Desolate Fortress at the heart of the martial world.

Different emotions showed on their faces: curiosity, interest, indifference, boredom...

“The chief administrator has already assessed your merits and character personally and approved them. It seems he’s even finished questioning the youngsters who went on missions with you, individually. That sly old fox certainly works fast. All that’s left is for you to prove your martial prowess in front of the people of the fortress.”

Ak Surim spoke, and the boy nodded.

“I understand.”

“Good. But there’s one more thing. Black-rank promotion is different from the affairs of the lower ranks.”

“What do you mean?”

“It isn’t a match between equals. As a blue rank, you must earn a captain’s recognition of your martial attainment. A Black rank will face you before everyone.”

“I’m aware.”

“There’s a reason you were invited to this meeting when you aren’t a captain. We were taking volunteers for the match. Every one of them said they wanted a look at you—to see how well you’ve honed your body, what kind of martial arts you’ve cultivated, or, if they’ve met you before, how much you’ve grown.”

CLANG

Ak Surim flicked the shaft of her spear with a finger of the hand holding it. Her chin swept toward the faces of the six captains around the meeting hall.

“They can’t be bothered to lift a hand unless something interests them. Every last one.”

The boy’s gaze followed the slight movement of her chin.

The slender swordsman was the Azure Heaven Squad Captain; the gaunt middle-aged man with a terrifying light in his eyes was the Annihilation Squad captain. Jung Yeonshin had met them several times already, but this was their first encounter since the Hwangbo clan mission.

There was something unusual in the way they both looked at him. They had sensed his further advancement in the presence the young master radiated.

“The Suncheon Wing captain’s personal feelings are of no consequence.”

The Annihilation Squad captain spoke.

“I presided over the Lightning Genius’s promotion to blue rank. I believe it only fitting that I see the fruits of that. I shall undertake the trouble on behalf of the other captains.”

In other words, he was volunteering.

Three seats away, the Azure Heaven Squad Captain parted his lips.

“That is what I ought to be saying, as your junior. Having just returned from a mission, you should take your rest, Annihilation Squad Captain.”

“Hmm.”

“I, Han, contributed to the Lightning Genius’s attainment. When he first joined, I passed him a spirit pill through the Radiant Demon Squad captain. I never imagined he would cultivate such astonishing martial arts.”

“State your true intentions, Azure Heaven Squad Captain.”

“I wish to spare you the trouble, Senior. Since I personally watered that great foundation, it falls to me to ascertain whether the martial arts the Lightning Genius has cultivated are sound.”

“I have heard of that affair. Was it not because you lost a wager with Ma Jin? I understand that was all there was to it.”

“...”

They were volunteering their services to secure a match with the boy.

The Azure Heaven Squad Captain and the Annihilation Squad captain. Along with Ma Jin, they were the very men who had destroyed the Hwangbo clan.

Their attempts to cloak their eagerness in old-fashioned courtesy did not strike Jung Yeonshin as amusing. He was simply bewildered.

'What is this?'

As the turbulent adolescent muttered inwardly—

“I would prefer that we conclude this quickly. Surely this is not a matter that warrants such prolonged discussion.”

The speaker was a woman of the noble race, sitting to one side with her back straight. Ears sharp as treasured swords rose above her long, jet-black hair. Her composed expression suited her beautiful features.

This captain had maintained her indifference without uttering a word until now, but Jung Yeonshin knew who she was.

'The Law Enforcement Squad Captain.'

She looked exactly like the likeness he had received first upon joining the Radiant Demon Squad. She headed the combat unit charged with enforcing the Desolate Fortress’s laws.

He had been told she was close to no one, and that she was regarded with awe within the fortress.

'I heard it’s hard even to count how many people she’s arrested inside the fortress.'

No fortress warrior liked the Law Enforcement Squad or its captain. They were like orthodox martial artists dealing with the Desolate Fortress’s masters. They revered her upright character and profound swordsmanship while shunning the duty she had made her calling. It was inevitable.

The Law Enforcement Squad Captain slowly parted her lips.

“If you covet a chance to exchange moves, request a private match. The Suncheon Wing captain would also do well to take his hand off his sword hilt. Once may be called a mistake, but see that you do not draw your sword again here in the Hall of the Sword That Seeks Peace. Should you repeat such conduct, I will have no choice but to arrest you and escort you to our squad.”

Ha Doun’s hand paused where it had been stroking his sword hilt as he watched Jung Yeonshin. He seemed to have been preparing to interject in the argument between the Azure Heaven and Annihilation Squad captains in his capacity as Suncheon Wing captain.

“Well...”

Ha Doun began to speak, then closed his mouth.

“It is hardly appropriate to stifle the discussion itself, either.”

“To receive a junior’s profound martial arts before the fortress’s assembled warriors is an honor. Do be understanding.”

As the Annihilation and Azure Heaven Squad captains spoke calmly—

THUNK

Ak Surim raised her index finger and tapped the armrest of her stone chair. It seemed she had imbued the gesture with internal power. Silence fell as the sound spread far and wide, as though the armrest were hollow.

She commanded the meeting as befitted the supreme master said to be closest to becoming the next Divine Sword Squad Leader.

She spoke again.

“From what I hear, all three of you have ties to the Lightning Genius, one way or another. The Suncheon Wing captain’s are rather less friendly. Well, I’d be tempted by the White Qilin myself.”

“...”

“All of you, stay out of it. We can’t have personal feelings entering into a promotion ceremony. That goes for Ma Jin, of course, and for me as well. I did go on a mission with him, even if it was only once. Let the Law Enforcement Squad Captain face him.”

“I accept.”

The Law Enforcement Squad Captain answered immediately. No emotion showed on her lovely face. She seemed to feel no particular interest in Jung Yeonshin.

That appeared to be her nature. Her expression betrayed no stir of feeling, and Ak Surim seemed to consider her all the more suitable for precisely that reason.

It was plainly the right decision. None of the captains objected. Even Ha Doun, captain of the Suncheon Wing, slowly nodded.

“Let us settle our debts and grudges as captains once you have become one.”

He spoke while looking at Jung Yeonshin. The boy merely nodded once in silence, then turned his eyes to the Law Enforcement Squad Captain.

Sword in hand, she was already the first to rise. Soon she walked out without looking back once, her ebony hair swaying with an air of indifference.

“This is trouble.”

Ma Jin muttered beside him. Jung Yeonshin turned his gaze toward him. Now, speaking purely as his nephew, he found the words came with perfect ease.

“Why?”

“The Law Enforcement Squad deals with the fortress’s own warriors. They have authority to enter every floor of the Gold-Piercing Martial Repository freely. That is so they can devise moves and methods to counter the fortress’s martial arts.”

“Then?”

“Your martial arts were recently assigned to the upper floors, weren’t they? I hear they are now treated as advanced arts that lower-ranked warriors may not learn. The Classic of Initiating Transcendence, Evading Swift Step, Demon-Slaying Gentle Flowing Strike, Infinite Blossom Fist Strike, Radiant Sword Art... Those manuals could be counted among the martial world’s peerless arts. There is no way the Law Enforcement Squad hasn’t dissected them.”

“Ah...”

A quiet exclamation escaped the boy’s lips. His voice sounded somewhat dazed.

Concern written on his scar-covered face, Ma Jin turned toward Jung Yeonshin—and started. So did Heon Wonchang, who had leaned his upper body toward the boy after hearing the words of the captain who still headed the Radiant Demon Squad.

“Captain, your nephew is smiling.”

It was Heon Wonchang who spoke.