Chapter 77: Formless Flying Swordsmanship (1)
The moment the three of us stepped outside, Fell Flora blocked our path. Her expression was stiff as she spoke.
"Wait a moment."
It was a rare sight—her serious expression. Theo and I stopped without a word.
"This might be our chance."
"A chance for what?"
At Theo’s question, Fell Flora glanced around. Her sharp gaze traced the distance. Even the gatekeepers managing the entrance to Manjian Gate had left their posts, leaving only a few behind. After a long moment of scanning, she finally spoke.
"Everyone’s attention is elsewhere. This is the best chance to escape."
"That’s..."
She wasn’t wrong. Ever since the shouting began, most of the people wandering around had moved toward the source of the commotion.
It was the perfect opportunity to slip away unnoticed.
But something nagged at me.
They said imperial dog. That phrase was undoubtedly used to identify someone affiliated with the empire.
I turned my head toward the direction of the shouting.
The best choice for my own safety was to leave this place. But my feet wouldn’t move.
For a brief moment, the faces of my fellow Azure Wings members, who had embarked on this mission with me, flickered in my mind before fading away.
"There will be more chances."
I turned my body—not toward the exit, but toward the inner depths of Manjian Gate.
I took a firm step in the direction of the shouting.
Seeing this, Fell Flora nodded as if she had expected it.
"It’ll be dangerous."
"Not yet. We haven’t been caught."
Theo and Fell Flora stepped up beside me.
After a brief exchange of glances, the three of us hurried forward.
The construction site within Manjian Gate was chaotic. Since they were building not only the sect’s headquarters but also various residential areas for the city, the entire area was in a state of rapid development.
Debris from numerous buildings littered the streets, making it difficult to walk through. Instead, we had to leap between incomplete structures to move efficiently.
We weren’t the only ones traveling this way.
Martial artists, capable of freely maneuvering their bodies, dashed across the sky, all heading toward the same destination.
Finally, we arrived.
The first thing I noticed was the faint scent of blood.
Following the trail of bloodstains, my eyes landed on a man sprawled across a wide stone platform. A thin trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth—he had clearly taken a heavy blow.
My gaze quickly scanned his face.
‘I don’t recognize him.’
A sigh of relief escaped me.
He wasn’t one of my fellow Azure Wings members.
Theo and Fell Flora also exhaled, having just confirmed the same.
So then, who was he?
Judging by his clothing, he seemed like a construction worker. It wasn’t clear whether he was actually affiliated with the empire or not.
Our attention then shifted to the person standing beside him.
"Aren’t you accusing an innocent man?"
"If you pick a fight with a worker, this won’t end well for you..."
"Didn’t Manjianzi himself say not to touch Midas employees?"
The one restraining the worker was a man whose arms were dyed black.
Black Fist Marang.
He was a Reincarnator who had arrived at Manjian Gate a month before me.
His massive arms twitched as he hoisted the fallen worker up.
He was known to be strong.
His temper was so volatile that most avoided provoking him.
Among Reincarnators, there was an unspoken rule to avoid interfering with each other unless necessary. That made Manjianzi’s ability to unite them under one banner all the more impressive.
I observed Black Fist’s actions carefully, my hand resting on my sword.
"Midas’ employee management is worse than I thought! Look at what I found on him!"
What Black Fist Marang pulled out was a gleaming gold coin.
It was something familiar to me, Theo, and Fell Flora.
It was an imperial currency.
"That’s just a gold coin."
"What about it?"
The reaction wasn’t favorable.
He was accusing a man of being an imperial spy simply because he possessed a common gold coin.
The faces of the Midas employees gathered around twisted in anger.
But Black Fist remained unfazed.
With a casual flick, he tossed the worker aside and snapped the gold coin in half.
"Look at this!"
Inside the split coin was a small, engraved plate featuring an intricately carved griffon.
Imperial currency was strictly regulated.
No foreign substances were allowed inside them.
This wasn’t counterfeit money.
If the purpose was to manipulate the coin’s weight, they wouldn’t have bothered engraving a griffon inside.
Still, it was undoubtedly suspicious.
The atmosphere shifted.
Doubt flickered across the faces of the onlookers.
"I’ve seen this a long time ago. The empire’s hounds carry these as secret identification tokens."
Was that really true?
I glanced at Theo and Fell Flora to see their reactions.
Both of them seemed just as unsure as I was.
At that moment, the worker lying on the ground gasped out a response.
"T-this isn’t mi—"
"Shut up!"
Thud—!
A sharp impact sent the worker flying, blood spraying from his mouth.
He was hurtling straight toward me.
I took a step forward and reached out my hand.
A movement as gentle as a breeze.
The moment my hand moved, a soft blue wind spread outward.
The worker’s rapid momentum slowed drastically, allowing him to slide to the ground instead of crashing violently.
I had experimented with an incantation from Formless Flying Swordsmanship.
It didn’t work exactly as I intended, but it significantly reduced his speed.
His breathing was faint, as if on the verge of stopping.
I pressed my hand against his body and assessed his condition—there were no major wounds.
But I felt something else.
A domineering, invasive energy.
He wasn’t a Reincarnator.
He had never learned martial arts.
Black Fist Marang had struck his pressure points.
Black Fist’s gaze shifted toward me, the broken gold coin still in his grip.
As if he had been waiting for me, he grinned and called out loudly.
"Perfect timing! Sera, you can deal with him!"
Since when were we close?
I frowned at Black Fist Marang’s words.
But he continued, looking around as he spoke.
"Can you all see? We have undeniable proof right here that this man is an imperial lackey! This isn’t something we can overlook! But unfortunately, Manjianzi isn’t present right now. That means none of us can act beyond our place! But worry not! There’s someone here whom Manjianzi himself has ordered us to treat as his equal!"
At Black Fist’s words, everyone’s gaze shifted toward me.
Per Manjianzi’s orders, they couldn’t recklessly lay a hand on Midas employees.
After all, Midas supplied everything—the construction materials, the food, and the drinks they consumed.
No one wanted to take responsibility.
Everyone here was thinking the same thing.
Only then did I fully grasp Black Fist’s intentions.
‘He’s trying to shift responsibility… No, there’s something more to it.’
"If it’s you, there won’t be a problem! Go ahead and deal out punishment!"
I looked down at the worker sprawled at my feet.
Silence settled over the area.
Everyone was waiting for my decision.
But I did not draw my sword.
"What’s there to hesitate about? Hurry up and punish him!"
Was it because I wasn’t responding as he had expected?
Black Fist glanced around, urging the crowd with exaggerated gestures as if seeking their agreement.
I took a step back.
"This is beyond my authority. Why should I handle something that Manjianzi should decide?"
"Don’t tell me... you can’t do it? Ah, now that I think about it, I heard a certain girl recently joined Azure Wings. A small swordswoman, if I recall… They say she’s quite the beauty."
The more Marang spoke, the more the atmosphere shifted.
Some people subtly placed their hands on their weapons.
He wasn’t certain. He was just testing the waters.
But I caught the slight hesitation in his gaze.
Hoo—
I let out a slow breath, and a gust of mana stirred the air.
My hair fluttered in the wind.
"What are you talking about..."
"The timing is rather suspicious. My sources say that this young knight was recently deployed on a mission. If you roughly calculate the time, she could have arrived in the Wastelands by now. Isn’t that… highly suspicious?"
It was like a small seed of doubt carried by the wind, spreading among the crowd.
A faint hostility flickered in their gazes.
Some had already placed their hands on their weapons.
I took a deep breath.
"Are you accusing me? Right now?"
"No, no… I’m just saying. It’s not necessarily suspicion, but… isn’t it strange? Unless you’re part of the empire, why would you hesitate so much to punish this man?"
Mana surged, filling the air.
My presence alone carried a natural chill, and that coldness seeped into my mana, shifting the atmosphere entirely.
The dry, scorching wind turned deathly cold.
Four swords floated into the air around me.
Two were drawn from my waist.
The other two belonged to Theo and Fell Flora.
I moved my friends' swords behind me as I murmured softly.
"I’ll borrow these for a moment."
The four swords hovered like wings behind my back.
But it wasn’t enough.
I instinctively realized—I could control far more than this.
My cold gaze swept over the crowd.
There weren’t any more swords readily available.
Then, I would use something else.
This was a construction site, after all.
Various leftover materials—thin steel beams and severed iron rods—rose into the air at my command.
They took the place of the missing swords.
Now there were ten in total.
If I could demonstrate a martial art exclusive to Azure Wing, that alone would be proof that I wasn’t an imperial agent.
"Do you still doubt me?"
Black Fist Marang’s brow twitched violently.
But he didn’t back down.
"You were the one who claimed to learn martial arts just by watching… So isn’t it possible you picked it up after arriving here?"
"That was a lie."
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Most people seemed to understand.
"I thought as much."
"Who actually believed that nonsense?"
"Learning martial arts just by watching? That’s absurd. It goes against reason. Martial arts aren’t something you can grasp so easily. It was clearly a ploy to shake Yeonhwa’s composure. Everyone who was there knew that."
"Well… Looks like Black Fist was the only one who actually believed it."
The tide of opinion had shifted once again.
I had successfully walked the tightrope.
As I took a step forward, the White Dragon Sword flew to me.
With effortless grace, I stepped onto its blade.
Cold winds wrapped around my body.
I looked as though I were a celestial being riding upon a sword.
That was when it happened.
A violent gust swept through the area, bringing with it dozens of flying swords.
The moment I sensed them, I recognized the energy within.
It carried Manjianzi’s signature inner force.
Had he been watching from a distance all along?
I didn’t move to avoid the incoming swords.
‘Rather than stepping in directly…’
He was a cunning man.
The dozens of airborne swords surrounded me in formation.
Until now, I had only been able to control ten or so swords at a time.
But now, the sheer force imbued in these swords compensated for that limitation.
Ssshhhkk—
Dozens of swords turned in unison.
All of them aimed directly at Black Fist Marang.
My lips parted slowly.
"Do you still doubt me?"
Silence fell.
After a brief hesitation, Black Fist spoke.
"I… made a mistake…"