The Villain's Story

Alan immediately jumped back when he sensed that aura. His heart was beating fast and he coated his entire figure in a layer of mana to protect himself.

"..."

Alan was silent, he took a stance as if to attack the person climbing the stairs as soon as he saw them.

[Supreme Dragon of Chaos Suleras advises you to be careful.]

"I know."

Alan muttered and took a large breath, calming his body. The aura he had just felt was too surreal. It was like a sword stabbed him…deep into his heart.

The rhythmic sounds of steps filled Alan's ear, and sweat dripped down his brow as he finally saw who was responsible for the surreal aura. 

"..."

An old man, with pure white hair and a regal robe and holding a pure white blade, without even a hilt. The start of the sword was wrapped in a type of durable cloth.

'Kugh…'

Although the advent of the man was quite peaceful, the aura he released was certainly not.

Alan felt as if a thousand blades were cutting deep into him the moment he saw the old man.

The man's face was filled with wrinkles and hints of aged wisdom, his hair fell to his shoulders…and although his physique was nothing remarkable…

The power it held was nothing to scoff at. From the way he stood, the way he gripped his sword, and the way he stood.

The way he walked with that steady and calm gait. This man was dangerous.

"Who…are you?"

The man's voice escaped his dry lips, the sound was unpleasant to hear.

"..."

Alan stayed silent. Not answering the man's words.

Only then did he see the man's eyes…one was pure black whilst the other maintained a normal state.

It seemed that the effects of the Shadow Infection on the man were abysmal…compared to the others. The sect leaders all had both eyes covered with shadow and even some appendages of their bodies.

"Who…are you?"

The old man asked again, Alan however posed a counter question, thinking the man was still sane.

"Who are you…shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

The old man straightened up. Alan looked at him warily, ready for any sudden attack but nothing happened. The old man simply clasped his hands together and bowed.

Alan's gamble seemed to work…He gambled to see if the man was sane or not by asking him a question even though he knew the identity of the man.

He was the Sword Emperor…apparently the only man below the famed 'heavenly demon.'

This man…this old man was the only one in 'Murim' said to be able to compete with the heavenly demon.

"My name is Namgoong Yoon…and you are?"

Alan repeated the gesture, trying not to cause a fight right away.

"Alan Peccator."

The old man had a confused look on his face. He asked.

"I have not heard of such a clan."

Alan stayed quiet. Not responding to the question. Who knows…if he messed up this dude would probably attack him. And Alan needed rest. He was already tired.

"Why do you stand in my way?"

Suddenly, the tone of the old man changed and his face began to become black, polluted by the shadow energy. The energy was rampantly spreading across his body.

'Of course, it wasn't this easy!'

Alan prepared himself to receive an attack. Now, the entire figure of Namgoon Yoon, the Sword Emperor was filled with the energy of shadows, there was not a single speck on his body except for his hair free from it.

"You…dare?"

His voice rang throughout the sea of clouds…He pointed his weapon at Alan with a furious look on his face.

Charged forth.

"Hey!"

Alan was surprised by the sudden lunge. He hurriedly raised the Ame-No-Sakahoko to block the sudden attack.

With a large clang, the spear and Blade collided, and Alan's feet skidded across the marble platform. He was getting pushed back. His hands were almost numb from the sheer shock that resulted from the collision.

"Hah!"

Alan gathered his strength and twisted his body to throw the Sword Emperor off.

He quickly fired an Ice Bolt at him. He couldn't use a large area of effect skills lest he destroyed the platform they were on. And he had learned his lesson by trying to take these guys on in a fight whilst being in the air. That was a big mistake.

They could step in the air using a strange technique and were very well-versed in handling aerial Opponents. Alan couldn't use his lower body to increase the strength of his strikes in the skies and fighting these guys hand to hand was not advised. They were all martial masters who knew more than him about hand-to-hand fighting.

The sword emperor cut his ice bolts in ice. However, that wasn't it. The air pressure from the slash traveled forward. Alan swung his spear to dismiss it, but in the very next second the Sword emperor was gone.

[|DRAGON EYES!| has been activated.]

Not wasting even a single second, he activated dragon eyes to locate the Sword Emperor. He had learned from his previous fights.

The masters of Qinggong and the Beggar sect leader also did this. They would suddenly disappear and even their presence would vanish. Only Dragon eyes would be able to locate them.

No matter what Alan tried in the previous trials, he was unable to sense their presence, not even a little bit. Thus, he had to resort to his trump card. 

The world changed as a result of him using Dragon eyes, and a new horizon was present before Alan. But…

The Sword Emperor was nowhere to be found. Alan looked everywhere but was unable to find him.

"The heck?!"

[The Supreme Dragon of Chaos Suleras orders you to teleport now!]

Alan immediately followed Suleras' orders and teleported a few feet in front of him, hanging over the edge of the platform.

A searing pain was felt on his neck as the Sword Emperor was now in his original position. Blood dripped from his blade.

…

…

…

Alan touched the wound on his neck. It was quite deep but thankfully it didn't reach the throat.

The Sword Emperor disappeared again, but now with Dragon eyes being active right from the start of his disappearance Alan was able to see his movements, but even then it was a blur.

He was moving so fast that even Dragon Eyes was having trouble locating him!

Alan barely managed to block the next attack of the Sword Emperor.

He pushed forward and attacked the Sword Emperor.

[HEAVENLY REDEMPTION!]

Using the third movement of the Heavenly Sky spear, he thought he would be able to damage the Sword Emperor at such a close range but he was wrong.

The Sword Emperor blocked the oncoming Crescent slash with his blade, and spun, calmly leading the crescent slash away from himself. The slash proceeded forward and was drowned in the sea of clouds.

But Alan was not done, upon seeing the Sword Emperor spin he already realized his attack would do nothing, so he immediately thrust his spear forward toward the head of the Sword Emperor. 

The Sword Emperor moved his head back, and part of his beard was cut by the spear blade of the Ame-No-Sakahoko.

"Your trickery does not work on me Shadow! I will defeat the heavenly demon!"

The sword Emperor kicked Alan in the stomach. With a pained groan, Alan withstood the attack and grabbed the leg of the Sword Emperor before he could retract.

"What the fuck are you saying?!"

With a large grunt, he slammed the Sword Emperor into the ground. The exquisite marble held on. It was quite a durable material! This meant the Impact was much stronger!

Suddenly, A chill went down Alan's spine, he immediately released the leg of the Sword Emperor.

Alan thanked his instincts when he saw a Sword appear from the Sea of clouds and fly by at an incredible speed.

'That sword!'

Alan recognized the sword…although it was in a much better condition now that was the sword of the Wudang Sect master!

He remembered the Symbol on its guard! The symbol of Yin and Yang! It even carried the same aura as the Wudang Sect master!

But that was not all.

[Do you not know his name…?]

The tower finally spoke after a long period of Silence. It had been quite observing his trials since the 23rd floor! But now it was suddenly speaking.

[He is the Sword Emperor!]

It joyously said, and more swords appeared…numbering in thousands.

They emerged from the sea of clouds and surrounded Alan, the entire area was filled with swords!

But even then, Alan kept his eyes on the Sword Emperor, he could not dismiss his strength…Alan activated Mana sense in order to keep an eye on the Swords…But that was a fatal mistake.

A sword flashed by and escaped the effect of Mana sense…and stabbed him in the right eye, rendering the eye useless.

Alan couldn't even process how it bypassed Mana sense before the thousands more catapulted themselves at him.

The Spectral talent scope fell to the ground, and Alan found himself to be in a dangerous situation.

[All swords but one…are under his dominion.]