Thud. I brushed my body off here and there.
The pain still lingered in my body.
Normally, it wouldn’t hurt this much. But this ti, the backlash was severe.
“Ugh.”
Groaning, I endured the repercussions.
My bones still ached, and my muscles were screaming.
“Ah, damn it.”
This was a mistake. I thought I’d give it a try, and now I deeply regretted it.
“Imitating soone else’s body is too much, isn’t it?”
It seed that while I could modify my own frawork, completely transforming into a different one was beyond my limits.
I had to change not only my height but also wrinkles and physical traits. Maintaining that required an enormous amount of energy.
If I’d been even a little slower, the Qi Transformation Technique might have unraveled.
No, it definitely would have unraveled.
“…Haaah….”
I let out a sigh and wiped off my sweat.
I thought my proficiency had improved, but trying sothing like this ended up like this. Was this level still beyond my reach?
It was disappointing, but at least there was one consolation.
‘…The keyword is “still.”’
I couldn’t use it yet. But doesn’t that an I might be able to use it easily soday?
It was a glimr of hope.
Crack—! I adjusted my shoulders, aligning the parts that hadn’t returned properly.
This also ant the disguise I’d just created was of extrely poor quality.
Very poor.
‘If it had lasted any longer, I wouldn’t just have been exposed—it likely would’ve co undone.’
Given how hastily it was crafted, Ilcheon Sword must have noticed.
He’s sharper than I expected.
‘He said he noticed as soon as he arrived.’
He imdiately detected the anomaly spreading through the forest.
That alone showed how perceptive he was.
And it made sense—after all, the one who had tampered with this forest was none other than the Shadow King.
“…You can co out now.”
“Yes.”
The response ca from right beside . I didn’t even need to look to know it was the Shadow King.
“Thanks to you, it went well. Thank you.”
“It was nothing.”
As always, the Shadow King dismissed it as no big deal. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to pull off this stunt in the first place.
As I ntioned earlier, disguising myself as another person was a poorly executed endeavor.
Even if I managed to make it similar, the details were off.
The number of wrinkles, the subtle tilt of the eyes, even the curves of the body.
Nothing could be perfectly replicated, and for those accustod to constantly observing their opponent's bodies, it was enough to create a sense of unease.
So, what should I do?
Wouldn’t it be better to choose a different thod?
I pondered this but, fortunately, a solution existed.
The thod was simple.
If the disguise was so flawed it could be easily noticed, then I just had to ensure it couldn’t be noticed.
‘Of course, that doesn’t an using a mask or sothing like that.’
Instead of hiding my face, I chose to obscure Ilcheon Sword’s vision.
Not his literal eyes, but….
‘Blur his senses.’
I dulled the clarity of his senses so he couldn’t perceive things properly.
That was the goal.
There were many ways to achieve this.
Using formations, spreading pressure to suppress his perception, or even poisoning him.
There were countless options, but none of them were available to .
I didn’t know how to use formations properly. Spreading pressure would imdiately alert Ilcheon Sword.
Poisoning him wouldn’t be any different.
So, what options did I have left? The answer was simple.
‘If I can’t do it, I’ll ask soone who can.’
Rather than risk detection by trying it myself, I asked soone who wouldn’t be noticed.
Luckily, I had an expert in this field by my side.
I imdiately asked the Shadow King.
When I requested him to subtly dull Ilcheon Sword’s perception without drawing attention, the Shadow King executed it without hesitation.
At first, he seed to be doing sothing around the mountain, but I couldn’t discern the specifics.
The important thing was this:
‘Whatever he did, Ilcheon Sword couldn’t maintain his composure.’
From the mont he stepped into the mountain, his perception began to dull, little by little, without him realizing it.
‘I was a bit worried when he said he noticed sothing.’
He ntioned sensing sothing odd, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to grasp the full extent.
‘Thanks to that, everything went smoothly.’
With his perception dulled, Ilcheon Sword couldn’t properly identify my poor disguise.
This also helped cover up my lackluster acting skills.
‘And now I know I can’t use this trick twice.’
It was clear this thod couldn’t be reused anyti soon.
‘Not bad.’
I tried it, and it didn’t fail.
On top of that, I gained valuable insight, so it wasn’t a bad outco at all.
However, one concern remained.
‘Did he believe everything? That’s the question… but it should be fine.’
Even if he didn’t believe it, as long as he reacted accordingly, that was enough.
The important thing was that Ilcheon Sword must have been sufficiently shaken.
I recalled the flicker of doubt in Ilcheon Sword’s eyes monts earlier.
‘How far will you fall?’
He thought himself flying high, but it was laughable to even say he’d been up there in the first place.
The real question was, how far would Ilcheon Sword plumt? Would he crash into the ground and die?
‘Or….’
Would he realize he’d never been flying to begin with and choose to self-destruct?
Either way, the outco wouldn’t change.
******************
It was a little early for dawn to arrive,
but the night had already fallen, and lanterns illuminated the grounds.
Rustle.
I sat inside the room, examining two letters as though comparing them.
“…The east is the sa… and the directions they identified are similar….”
I scrutinized them carefully, checking for differences or similarities.
The letters were none other than mission reports, sent by those assigned to reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
The difference between them was that one was from the deployed team, while the other ca from self-directed operatives.
Since the mission began, I’d been receiving reports in this manner.
“Hmmm….”
As I reviewed the contents, I frowned in discomfort.
‘The information is too similar.’
The reason was that the reports from both sides overlapped significantly.
“This ans they’ve probably caught on.”
I chuckled softly and folded the letters.
On the surface, overlapping information might seem like a good thing, but from my perspective, it raised a lot of questions.
I had taken steps to ensure the information wouldn’t overlap in the first place.
The reason for that was simple:
‘It’s easier to obscure the truth this way.’
Most of the information sent by the Alliance was false—more than half of it, to be precise.
That wasn’t surprising. I had set it up that way.
It was the most effective thod to weed out those who couldn’t keep up.
The incompetent ones always revealed themselves.
But now…
‘The information being so similar at this point ans one of two things.’
First, they felt it was too dangerous and decided to step back. Or…
‘They’ve realized it late.’
If they’d figured out that I’d assigned multiple people to gather information,
it could only be one of these two scenarios.
‘Hmm.’
I didn’t really need to take further action since I’d already filtered out the ones to be discarded.
But one thing bothered .
‘How did they find out?’
How exactly did they figure it out? That part gnawed at .
The fact that multiple people had been assigned to gather information was sothing only I knew.
I’d even tied up loose ends to prevent them from questioning one another.
For them to have noticed under these circumstances…
‘Did soone leak it?’
The thought crossed my mind that soone might have intentionally let the information slip.
And if soone had leaked it…
“Was it you?”
I turned to the most suspicious person without hesitation.
“…What?”
The man looked startled. The man in question was none other than Mun Do-hyuk.
“Did you talk about these letters to anyone?”
“N-no…!”
Mun Do-hyuk jumped in shock at my words.
“No?”
“I swear! I don’t know anything about the reports!”
“Hmmm….”
Rustle.
I waved the letter in my hand like a fan, watching Mun Do-hyuk. He stiffened under my gaze and lowered his head to the ground.
The tension he radiated was palpable.
“Whether you did or didn’t, it doesn’t matter. I was just asking.”
As I said before, it was too late now.
I’d already identified everyone worth investigating.
And that included him.
Which is why it was even stranger.
“You’re quite the enigma.”
“Pardon…?”
“Why did you betray them?”
“…”
Why had this man co to my side?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
“…As I ntioned before….”
“No, it’s genuinely baffling.”
I’d heard his reasons, but they didn’t make sense.
“Because they didn’t rember your na? Even you must find that reason flimsy.”
“…”
The reason Mun Do-hyuk gave for betraying Ilcheon Sword and coming to was laughable:
He claid it was because Ilcheon Sword didn’t rember his na.
‘What the hell is that?’
It was absurd.
To betray soone over sothing as trivial as a forgotten na?
Ah, maybe it didn’t matter since he was a spy all along. But even then, betraying the Azure Dragon Division to join was odd.
After all, from an outsider’s perspective, my side was clearly at a disadvantage.
At that mont…
“…I…”
Mun Do-hyuk began to speak cautiously.
“…I’ve been with the Azure Dragon Division for years.”
“I know.”
Four years, wasn’t it?
Not a long ti, but not a short one, either.
“I was nothing more than a grunt, but I did my duty and worked hard. And yet….”
“And yet Ilcheon Sword didn’t rember your na?”
“…Yes.”
I couldn’t even muster a laugh.
What kind of pathetic complaint was this?
He probably wasn’t saying this to ask for anything, but there was only one thing I could say.
“That’s because you were too useless to bother rembering.”
“…”
Mun Do-hyuk’s head drooped even lower at my words.
For an older man to look so pitiful… it was almost sad.
“Just look at yourself. The fact that you ca over to my side over sothing so trivial only proves you’re not trustworthy.”
Coming to just because of a forgotten na?
That was a laughable reason for betrayal.
Did he think I’d be pleased he defected to my side?
Sure, I’d use him if I could. But as a person, I found him detestable.
Perhaps my distaste showed on my face because Mun Do-hyuk glanced at and hurriedly added,
“Th-that’s not the only reason.”
“Oh? Then what is it?”
“…I-I can’t be certain, but….”
He hesitated, his lips trembling as though unsure whether to speak. Finally, he managed to say,
“…I had a feeling that it would be better to join you.”
“? Over Ilcheon Sword?”
“Yes….”
“And what’s that feeling based on?”
“…I’m sorry. It was just a hunch.”
Hearing this, I tilted my head slightly.
So, it was a mix of his na being forgotten and a vague feeling that brought him to my side.
‘Hmm.’
Maybe his intuition wasn’t as dull as I thought.
The idea crossed my mind for a brief mont.
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