The Sword Clan of Luoyang. The village of the Senate of Elders.

Grand Matron Ouyang, the Second Young Master’s mother, wore an expression of deep displeasure. She had brought with her a retinue of meticulously selected, high-level bodyguards, as was appropriate when visiting the Senate. And yet, her elite warriors couldn’t even meet the eyes of the men garbed as common sentries who were, in fact, members of the Special Task Force.

But it was something else entirely that truly stoked her fury.

“The Head of the Senate has refused your request, madam. You should return from whence you came.”

It was an order of dismissal. A shabby old man, dressed as a simple farmer, delivered the verdict with a lazy wave of his hand. His use of the informal speech, his bored and bothersome tone, the very title of ‘madam’ instead of her proper address—every aspect of his demeanor was an intolerable insult. And yet, even a woman of her station could not treat this old man carelessly.

“…Honorable Elder of the Main Clan. This request is not a mere personal matter for myself, Grand Matron Ouyang.”

For this shabby, sunburnt, and altogether unremarkable-looking old man was one of the great elders of the Sword Clan of Luoyang.

“For the Senate of Elders to directly interfere in the internal affairs of the Main Clan is a flagrant disregard for our House’s sacred laws.”

“The laws again?” The elder’s face was a mask of utter boredom. “Did I not already tell you that the laws of the House permit the Senate’s intervention in a time of crisis?”

“No, that is incorrect.” Grand Matron Ouyang’s voice rose, imbued with the formidable dignity that usually made those around her tremble. “That is nothing more than a self-serving interpretation of a vague clause! You have twisted its meaning to suit your own agenda!”

She pressed her attack with a forceful tone. “How can the Senate of Elders, which should be the moral paragon for the entire House, so cunningly and conveniently bend the very laws it is meant to uphold?”

In truth, no one could deny that the Senate’s actions were an opportunistic interpretation of the law. It was their weakest point, and she latched onto it with the tenacity of a bulldog.

“To judge that a few seditious movements within the Agency constitute a crisis for the entire Main Clan is, at the end of the day—”

“That’s enough.”

Her relentless assault was cut short by the elder, who simply dug a finger in his ear and spoke.

“We, the Senate of Elders, do not agree with you.”

“You—!”

Her dignity was useless against him. Logic was equally ineffective.

This damned old fossil…!

Grand Matron Ouyang immediately changed her approach.

“…This is no ordinary matter. The elders of the Main Clan are in an uproar.”

The Council of Elders was one of the pillars of the Sword Clan of Luoyang. Surely the Senate could not ignore their movements.

“The Council of Elders is preparing an emergency meeting on this very issue. Before this situation becomes any more serious—”

“But they’re only preparing for a meeting, aren’t they?” the old man interrupted with a sneer, cutting her off as she momentarily fumbled for words. “They haven’t actually convened one, have they?”

“N-no, but at any moment—”

“If an emergency meeting were to be held,” the elder said, ignoring her stammer as he pointed over the mountains toward the distant lights of Luoyang, “they would have to start by discussing that, wouldn’t they?”

Kung—. Kukukukukung.

Faintly, the sound of cannon fire rolled over the hills.

Against this distant, thunderous backdrop, the old man continued, “In fact, isn’t it your own faction, the Second Young Master’s, that is so desperately trying to prevent that meeting from ever taking place?”

At those words, Grand Matron Ouyang was forced into silence. He was right. If a meeting were convened, the elders would have no choice but to address the catastrophe unfolding at the Valley of Sins. Therefore, no meeting would ever be held.

“Tsk, tsk. Even with you, the Third Young Master’s faction, and the other Yeon kinsmen putting pressure on them, to think the so-called elders would act like this.” The old man clicked his tongue as if looking at something pathetic. “Pirates are bombarding the heart of Luoyang, and they choose to buy time with their silence?”

This elder, who had not taken a single step out of his small, secluded village, saw the political machinations of the Sword Clan of Luoyang with perfect clarity.

“Were they truly so terrified of the Grand Young Master, who has only just ended his seclusion? Or…” His voice dropped to a low whisper. “…are they afraid of the winds of reform he will bring?”

“…That’s—!” Grand Matron Ouyang began to protest, but it was useless.

“Enough. It is time for you to leave.”

Without giving her another chance to speak, the old man turned and walked back into the village. In a desperate, final attempt, she screamed at his back.

“The Council of Elders will not take this matter lightly! Mark my words!”

As if to punctuate her threat, the great gates of the village swung shut, sealing her out.

“Let them,” the old man muttered to himself.

Though he had treated Grand Matron Ouyang with such casual disdain, his steps were heavy as he walked toward the village’s main hall.

“Why the long face?” a wry voice called out to him. “Did you lose an argument to a little girl who’s gone mad because she can’t play matriarch?”

The elder looked toward the source of the teasing and offered a bitter smile. “Village Chief…”

There stood an old woman—the chief of this village and the Head of the Senate of Elders for the entire Sword Clan of Luoyang.

“It seems our armed intervention will not be so easily swept under the rug,” he said, a sigh mixed in with his words. “They are already sharpening their knives, planning to hold us strictly accountable for our actions later.”

“They are all men blinded by power. When have you ever known such men not to shift blame onto others?” the old woman scoffed.

“Chief, this is no laughing matter! This could affect the very existence of the Senate…!” Though perhaps a slight exaggeration, his worry for the Senate was immense.

“If it must be so, then let it be.”

“Chief…!”

The Head of the Senate tapped her staff on the ground. “Stop looking at what is right in front of your nose and look further into the distance.”

“What is there to see…?”

The ornaments on her staff jingled, a clear, bright sound in the quiet air. “In our front yard, pirates are running rampant. Inside our house, thieves wearing the masks of family are trying to devour the eldest son.”

The blind old woman saw the situation with perfect clarity.

“…I know. That is why we went so far as to twist the interpretation of our laws. To solve this terrible crisis facing our family—”

“Solve the situation?” The old woman’s expression turned profound. “In the last ten years, has there ever been a single moment when that was even possible?”

“……!”

The elder’s eyes widened. A smile graced the old woman’s lips.

“No, this is the first time. The very first.” She turned her sightless eyes toward the world beyond their village. “The Main Clan has earned more money than we could have ever imagined in the past. It has grown larger and more powerful. But in doing so, it has only rotted away all the faster.”

The old woman, who had been an active warrior during the time of the previous Great Supreme Retired Patriarch, posed the question to the old man, who had served alongside her.

“In the last ten years, did we ever have a chance to fix this problem?”

“…No, we did not,” he admitted.

“That’s right. All we who worried for the House’s future could do was prevent it from collapsing entirely.”

Days upon days of propping up the ever-taller, ever-more-unstable tower of the Sword Clan of Luoyang with their bare hands.

“But today…!”

The elder, finally understanding what she was saying, slowly nodded.

“Yes. You’re right.” His voice, now filled with conviction, boomed. “Today is the first chance we have ever had to solve this long-festering problem!”

“Exactly,” the Head of the Senate laughed, a sound of pure relief. “The one and only reliable heir has returned. And he has drawn his sword against the very problems we were powerless to touch.”

Though her eyes saw nothing, it was as if she could see with perfect clarity the new Sword Clan of Luoyang that would be born in the not-so-distant future.

“Accountability? The existence of the Senate? None of that matters. If necessary, they can have this old woman’s head.” She was laughing, her heart feeling lighter than it had in a decade. “Right now, in this moment, I feel so unburdened.”

“Indeed.”

The elder’s expression had softened, mirroring her own.

The old woman then asked him, almost playfully, “Do you know who this old woman envies most right at this moment?”

“Ha…!” The elder let out a short laugh, understanding her perfectly. “I believe I do. Because now I, too, am starting to envy that fellow, the Sword Sovereign.”

***

Agency Headquarters.

My sword… it feels so light…!

Standing there not as the Chairman of the Supreme Operations Council, but as the Sword Sovereign, a smile touched his lips.

How long has it been since my sword felt this light?

The secret sword arts unleashed by the Command Masters were formidable, yet the Sword Sovereign’s blade dismantled them with an ease that surprised even himself.

My body feels light!

Despite having fought through scores of Agency warriors and now facing three masters, his body felt as spry as it had in his youth. He moved with an impossible grace, weaving through their sword paths. And slowly, he was beginning to understand the reason for this strange resurgence.

It is because my heart is light…!

The tip of his boot touched the corpse of an Agency warrior, and he launched himself into a dance of death. The tip of his sword sliced a long gash across the unarmed arm of a Command Master.

“Keoheok…!”

A Command Master’s body shuddered as a blow from Yeon So-hyeon’s Shaolin Five Animals Fist connected with his head.

“[Sword Sovereign.]”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s short call, the Sword Sovereign’s blade answered.

Secret Art of the Sword Clan: Flying Shadow Sword.

The blade, as light as the old master’s heart, cut through the wall of air, leaving not even a shadow in its wake.

“Gak?!”

The Command Master who Yeon So-hyeon had been fighting lost an arm to that single, invisible strike. But the one facing the Sword Sovereign did not miss the opening.

“Hup!”

He lunged, but the Sword Sovereign paid his blade no mind.

[Grand Young Master.]

And just as he had trusted—

“Kugh…!”

—the Command Master’s sword never reached him. Yeon So-hyeon, having handed off his own opponent, had already leaped in and deflected the strike.

“A fine fist technique!” the Sword Sovereign exclaimed, the admiration escaping his lips unconsciously.

Yeon So-hyeon laughed in reply. “And your swordsmanship is magnificent.” He blocked a furious flurry from his opponent with fluid footwork. “Seeing you fly around like this, I’m starting to think you were faking it when you said you were struggling.”

“Now that you mention it, perhaps I was,” the Sword Sovereign laughed heartily.

“…Grrr!” The Command Masters gritted their teeth at the casual banter. “Do you dare to underestimate us?!”

How could they possibly underestimate three masters who had crossed the wall? It was not that. The reason for their ease was that their hearts were finally, blessedly light. For the Sword Sovereign, it was partly the reassurance of having a reliable ally like Yeon So-hyeon at his back. But more than that…

“It is simply that I am no longer tormented.”

The Command Master frowned at his cryptic answer. “What nonsense are you spouting…?!”

The Sword Sovereign ignored him, a faint smile on his lips. If the Grand Young Master hadn’t ended his seclusion…

What if Yeon So-hyeon wasn’t here right now? Would he have been able to properly accept the situation, cutting down the very warriors the Sword Clan had painstakingly raised?

It would have been too terrifying to bear.

The thought of having to single-handedly prevent the House from collapsing while simultaneously trying to rebuild its shattered strength…

It would have been too heavy a burden.

The horror of his already heavy karma growing ever heavier.

All this time, I was just thrashing about, crushed under the weight of it all…!

It was a sudden, profound realization. It was a yoke he never would have been able to cast off without Yeon So-hyeon.

The era of just desperately holding back the collapse is finally over!

Not anymore.

Now, together with the Grand Young Master…

The Sword Sovereign and Yeon So-hyeon, meeting each other’s gaze, moved as one. The old master’s sword surged forward, and in its path, there was not a shred of hesitation, not a glimmer of fear.

…we are giving the Sword Clan a new birth!

In this moment, the old man, the Sword Sovereign, for the first time in over a decade… was moving forward.

Undeniably.

The Sword Clan… was making progress.