At least for now.

“Fine, if you can’t answer, then so be it.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Don’t try to pull such tricks on me. There’s no reason for me to distrust the people who raised me in the sect, based on your words.”

I glared back at him in response.

I shouldn’t rashly suspect anyone as a spy. I’ll have to report this to Jangmunin later, but I didn’t want to label each and every person in the volcano as a spy for witchcraft.
And in the next moment, the smile that had been on the author’s face all along slightly stiffened.

“Um, the four questions…”

As if somewhat puzzled, and at the same time displeased, he glanced briefly at the sword in my hand, his words trailing off.

I unconsciously put more strength into the hand holding the sword.

There was much information I still wanted to extract, but considering the other party’s mood had soured, cooperation in this conversation might no longer be forthcoming.

I had no idea what would lift his mood again, and even if I did, I didn’t feel like acting on it. I briefly considered that it might be best to end the standoff here.

After briefly composing myself, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Move aside now. If you don’t, I’ll take it as a challenge.”

I realized I had already wasted quite some time. Given the situation, there was no other way but this.

“That wouldn’t be too bad either…”

Not waiting for him to finish, I made the first strike.

I lunged forward, narrowing the distance in an instant, sword raised. Caught off guard, the false firstborn opened his eyes wide, swiftly dodging to the side. A few strands of his hair flew into the air.

I did not hesitate, swinging the sword horizontally to pierce through. He parried with a gloved hand, a smile in his voice as he asked.

“Is this proper for a Taoist?”

“I have no plans to be polite to you!”

Bang!

I leapt, slashing the sword downward. The moment he blocked it, I swiftly disengaged, and as my feet touched the ground, I lunged another step forward, targeting his neck.

Whether he was skilled in unarmed combat from the beginning, or had no choice due to lacking a weapon, I didn’t know, but he adeptly thwarted my attempt.

Several exchanges like this occurred.

I managed to wipe the smile off his face, but failed to land any effective hits.

I hastily retreated, putting distance between us.

‘I didn’t think it would be easy…’

Simple suppression seemed impossible. Had I been too hasty in thinking this was the only way? If I had given up on self-defense, charging with the intent to lose an arm or a leg, I might have had the upper hand, assuming I truly intended to kill the author.

But was I truly prepared to do that?

Then, the other party brushed off his hands and spoke.

“You’re better than I thought, but you’ve never used a real sword against a person, have you?”

“…What?”

“You’ll know when you see it. Are you hesitating too much? Are you scared? It shows that you were raised finely in the Taoist sect.”

The other party mumbled in a disgruntled tone, then suddenly narrowed his eyes and let out a sigh.
“Your four hundred are returning. I wish I had more time, but it’s unfortunate. In the end, I found out nothing. It’s harder to stall for time when I’m the only one here…. Should’ve brought some people with me.”

The person he was talking to suddenly moved closer. A hand extended rapidly. He tried to evade reflexively and block with his sword, but something unexpected happened in the next moment.

“Just great.”

“What the…!”

His sword was grabbed. The opponent had seized the blade with his hand. Though the other seemed to be in a hurry, using the palm rather than just the fingertips, the one at a disadvantage now was me since my weapon was caught.

Unable to conceal his confusion, he opened his eyes wide, then put strength into his arm, almost scraping off his own power into the sword.

Yet, even as the blade dug into the flesh of the hand, the opponent’s expression didn’t change.

Red blood flowed down his arm, quickly staining the hem of his clothes. My sword was dyed red as well. The stench of stale blood filled the air.

However, the one actually injured seemed unfazed, as if he wouldn’t mind even if his hand were severed. The strange sensation of the sword cutting through flesh seemed to crawl up his arm.

‘Can he not feel pain?’

He was feeling incredulous. Knowing this couldn’t go on, his body froze. The opponent, who had finally let go, was already right in front of him.

“Well, now that I’ve been injured to this extent, you must’ve cooled off a bit. Even if not, stay still for now.”

The hand, dripping with flowing blood, was thrust in front of his face. Then, cold fingertips touched right below his eyes.

“You wouldn’t want to be cursed, would you?”

The next moment, a sensation as if burning engulfed both pupils.

“Ugh…!”

“Ah, I pulled it out a bit hastily.”

The opponent withdrew his hand nonchalantly.