Urban Vagabond: Reload

Na Ilcheon barked at Kim Muhyuk’s reckless stunt.

“Stop right now!”

What in the world was he thinking, tying his hand to the sword?!

Na Ilcheon strode toward Kim Muhyuk, deciding he’d pry them apart by force if he had to.

But he had no choice but to stop.

WOOOONG—!

The Namcheon Sword’s spirit raised a hand to block him and shook its head.

And with a face gone a little cold—like its pride had been bruised—it stared at Kim Muhyuk.

‘You’re going to accept the boy’s challenge?’

It was his cherished blade, one he’d been with for nearly half a century.

Just from its expression and the way it moved, Na Ilcheon could read its will.

I won’t hurt him.

So don’t worry.

The Namcheon Sword waved him back with a shooing motion.

“Huh? The pain just...”

As if the pain in the hand gripping the sword had suddenly eased, confusion rose on Kim Muhyuk’s face.

Na Ilcheon let out a long sigh at the sight.

“Don’t get happy. The Namcheon Sword is only going easy on you for the moment because it intends to test you.”

Floating lightly in midair, the Namcheon Sword’s spirit looked down on Kim Muhyuk with arrogant eyes and crooked a finger.

“...This feels less like a test and more like it’s provoking me.”

Na Ilcheon’s expression turned awkward as well.

Because it was doing the exact same thing to Kim Muhyuk that it had done to him when he first inherited it from the previous sect leader.

...Surely it wasn’t misunderstanding something badly, was it?

“It means it wants you to show it your swordsmanship. It seems it wants to see what level you’re at.”

When Kim Muhyuk’s brow tightened slightly, Na Ilcheon chuckled as if he understood.

Fifty years ago, when {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} he’d been young, he’d reacted the same way at first.

“There’s no reason to take offense. The Namcheon Sword is a sacred weapon permitted only to the sect leaders of our sect. How high do you think its standards are?”

“...Yeah. That’s fair. It’s not like it’s just insulting me for no reason.”

Kim Muhyuk nodded as if he could accept that.

Even Na Ilcheon himself had once held the title of The Strongest Sword in Korea, and every sect leader in the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s history had been a sword master who dominated their era.

‘This is better.’

In front of a “spectator” whose eyes were calibrated to the highest tier of swordsmen, Kim Muhyuk had been given a chance to display his own exclusive sword art: Solitary Life-and-Death Sword.

SHHK......

He lowered his stance and held the sword down. Like a beast right before it pounced on prey, he set just enough tension through his entire body.

As if it would watch him, the Namcheon Sword crossed its arms and cocked its head.

With an attitude like a judge at a sword-dance contest, Kim Muhyuk shamelessly introduced himself.

“Contestant number one, Kim Muhyuk. My exclusive martial art is Solitary Life-and-Death Sword. Then I’ll begin right away.”

Kim Muhyuk pushed off the floor and sprang upward, swinging the blade in front of the Namcheon Sword’s spirit.

SHAAAK!

Even when the tip came close enough to graze an eyebrow, the Namcheon Sword didn’t blink—its expression bored.

Of course it did.

The sword in Kim Muhyuk’s hand was its own body.

Hmph.

If anything, its snort looked like it was mocking him for being only this much.

But Kim Muhyuk, landing back down, didn’t care about the reaction.

“I’ll continue.”

In the first place, he hadn’t swung to provoke it—he’d swung to show his swordsmanship from the closest possible distance.

He stepped in a zigzag, dazzling the opponent’s eyes, then thrust in an instant like a scorpion firing its stinger.

SHOO—!

The sharp tip pierced a single point in empty air. Then, immediately retrieving the blade, he spun his body hard.

SHAAAAK—!

Blade aura fanned out in all directions. Each line was a defensive technique—taking positions where fatal attacks would come from, one by one.

...Hmph!

The Namcheon Sword still watched with a curt expression.

But it couldn’t completely hide the way its foot tapped in the air, as if it were enjoying itself.

Its eyes flicked this way and that, tracking Kim Muhyuk’s sword path.

It gave faint nods.

It narrowed its eyes and focused on each movement.

‘You’ve been watching only the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s swordsmanship every day, so experiencing a different sword art is fun, isn’t it?’

When Kim Muhyuk spoke in his mind, the Namcheon Sword flinched.

Like someone had just hit it dead center.

But then it snorted again and shook its head.

Like it wanted to say, Don’t be ridiculous. Our swordsmanship is the best.

‘Yeah. I get your lofty pride, too.’

Namcheon—the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s founder—was a peerless master who’d left his name in history.

A cherished blade he loved enough to name after himself.

A sacred weapon infused with its owner’s spirituality.

Of course its pride would be sky-high.

‘But don’t you miss it?’

A sword that refused everyone except successors who learned the same swordsmanship as its master.

A sacred object that stayed in the same place for a long time as the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s symbol.

That was the Namcheon Sword’s identity.

But what Kim Muhyuk had felt over the last few days—gripping it and watching it—was different.

‘The days you fought anomalies with your master. The cursed swords that fought you as equals. The era when you had to fight without rest to set a chaotic world right.’

At each line, the Namcheon Sword’s spirit flinched.

It was mind-speech, but Kim Muhyuk’s excited sincerity was packed into every word.

The Namcheon Sword was a sacred weapon and the symbol of the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE.

But for someone at the level of an Eight Great Sects sect leader, the occasions to actually swing a sword at an enemy were rarer.

When Na Ilcheon had said it had been over ten years since he’d last used his full strength before facing Jang Jinmyeong, Kim Muhyuk had understood.

‘You miss the days you crashed into enemies so hard you felt like you’d snap, sparks flying off your body, sharing life and death with your master.’

As a sword, Namcheon must have spent a very long time in boredom and solitude.

Then one day, some thunderbolt of a kid swordsman barged in, insisting he wanted to handle cursed swords.

Maybe it dragged old memories back to the surface.

It was the conclusion Kim Muhyuk had reached after struggling with Na Ilcheon’s advice: Understand the cursed sword.

And then—one line that slipped out.

“Want to come with me?”

Even he didn’t realize it. The words popped out before he could stop them.

Everyone froze.

“...What did you just say?”

Kim Muhyuk pretended not to notice the razor-sharp stare burning into his back from Na Ilcheon.

...Brat.

In that moment, Kim Muhyuk’s eyes went wide.

It was the first time the Namcheon Sword had spoken to him first.

A brat with Namcheon’s eyes. Your sword is clumsy. Your skill is nowhere near enough.

The tone sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.

But Kim Muhyuk didn’t deny it.

‘Right. That’s true, for now. My sword art is still unfinished.’

Solitary Life-and-Death Sword was a martial art Kim Muhyuk had created himself—shaped by the influence of two swordsmen.

The world’s strongest: Richard Han.

And the Sword Demon, Choi Geon.

Compared to them, Kim Muhyuk believed he still fell far short.

But he never thought his future potential was lacking.

So he could boast to the Namcheon Sword.

‘So watch closely. This is the fresh-faced version of the swordsman who’ll become the strongest in the world someday. Later, even if you want to see it, you won’t be able to.’

Arrogant little brat!

At the curt voice, Kim Muhyuk let out a snort of laughter—and from then on, he danced his sword as if he’d forgotten the Namcheon Sword’s very existence.

‘Huh?’

But as he swung like he was possessed, Kim Muhyuk felt the Namcheon Sword’s spirit draw very close at some point.

Watch closely, brat.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but to Kim Muhyuk the spirit’s form looked far sharper than before.

As if it had substance.

And—

‘A sword?’

In the Namcheon Sword spirit’s right hand was a blade.

Like that, it looked as though the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s founder himself had descended.

I’ll show you one move.

The Namcheon Sword’s spirit began to unfold a technique of the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s swordsmanship.

SHAAAAK—

A single blade gracefully cleaved through empty air. Its movement was free, like it was swimming through the wide sky.

But then lightning began to ride along the once-soft motion.

KURRRRUMBLE......!

If the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s swordsmen had seen it, they would’ve been horrified.

“The founder’s swordsmanship!”

Na Ilcheon shouted in a trembling voice, eyes bulging.

It was the sword art the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s founder Namcheon had created to face anomalies—more than a few hundred years ago.

“Azure Sky Demon-Subduing Sword. A sword art the founder created to drive off wicked anomalies...”

In the distant future, as the number of Great Anomalies decreased and the truly threatening ones gradually vanished, that art had been refined and changed into something better suited for fighting people rather than anomalies.

That was the modern AZURE SKY SWORD GATE swordsmanship.

And in that process, most of the demon-subduing force that had clung to the sword art had been lost as well.

Kim Muhyuk kept his gaze nailed to the Namcheon Sword and asked Na Ilcheon.

“Then that’s... a sword art from hundreds of years ago?”

“Consider yourself blessed by heaven. Even I begged to see it many times, but I’ve only seen it once.”

As if he couldn’t hear their conversation, the Namcheon Sword’s spirit recreated the old master perfectly with an indifferent face.

A single strike that split the sky threw off the illusion of cleaving a colossal monstrous bird.

A hard sideways smash of the blade looked like it was blocking a giant’s fist.

It burned the back of a martial artist into the mind—a martial artist who had fought ancient anomalies, enemies that were practically natural disasters.

“...The swordsmanship of a peerless master...”

Kim Muhyuk stood still, watching as if bewitched.

Lightning crashed through his mind, and inspiration to develop his sword art surged without rest.

Then he couldn’t endure the itch any longer—and charged at the Namcheon Sword.

TADAT!

If not today, when would he ever get to receive a peerless master’s blade from hundreds of years ago again?!

The Namcheon Sword turned to him and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! You really are brazen!”

And the blade in its hand swung at Kim Muhyuk.

A single swing.

Just a downward arc—yet Kim Muhyuk felt his mind go distant as he swung his own sword.

SHAAAAK—

The moment the two swords crossed, the Namcheon Sword’s spirit began to scatter into mist.

Well?

The Namcheon Sword asked with a face full of confidence.

Kim Muhyuk stared at the illusion of a sword stabbed into his own chest and answered honestly.

“...It was incredible. I couldn’t even properly feel it.”

It was a crushing defeat.

But Kim Muhyuk answered with a face lit by exhilaration.

Because he’d gained new inspiration—new direction for where to go next.

Heh-heh-heh—

Leaving behind an amused giggle, the Namcheon Sword’s form blurred—

then vanished completely.

And at some point, Kim Muhyuk felt the Namcheon Sword’s hilt settle comfortably into his hand, like it was made to fit.

“This... for the Namcheon Sword to acknowledge him....”

Na Ilcheon, who had watched the whole thing from start to finish, wore a deeply confused expression.

The Namcheon Sword was the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE’s sacred object—and the sect leader’s symbol.

‘I only meant to teach him a little about handling cursed swords.’

And yet, the Namcheon Sword had just shown an outsider the founder’s sword art—

and even crossed blades with him.

It was no different from the founder personally giving him a lesson in martial arts.

‘What in the world am I supposed to do with this brat?’

With his brow drawn tight, the sect leader of the AZURE SKY SWORD GATE stared at the thief who looked like he was about to strip the sect bare of everything it had.