Countless people came and went through Heavenly Martial Castle.
Yet the Castle searched and inspected no one.
That was only possible because they were absolutely certain no one in the world would dare lay a hand on Heavenly Martial Castle.
Among the crowds passing through its gates, a man in a dark crimson robe entered while looking around.
“So this is Heavenly Martial Castle.”
The man headed straight for the Challenge Hall.
The Challenge Hall existed for martial artists who wished to challenge Heavenly Martial Castle.
Defeat the opponent assigned to you by the Hall, and they would arrange an opponent from the next level.
Anyone whose ability was recognized there could formally become a martial artist of Heavenly Martial Castle.
Thus, there was no true end to the challenges offered by the Challenge Hall.
If one possessed the ability, one could even challenge the Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle himself.
And if someone challenged the Lord and won?
They would even be granted the right to become the next Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle.
That was why the Challenge Hall was always packed with people, while the registration officers processing them wore perpetually bored expressions.
There were plenty of challengers, but hardly any worth watching.
More than ten challengers had already appeared today, yet every one of them had been eliminated early.
To earn recognition from Heavenly Martial Castle, one needed to clear at least the fifth stage.
Not one of today’s challengers had even made it past the third.
The man in the dark crimson robe strode up to a registration officer.
“How do I challenge the Lord?”
The registration officers chuckled.
They saw people like this all the time.
Ignorant fools who walked in and immediately declared that they wanted to challenge the Lord.
There were countless people willing to try, because merely being able to say that they had fought the Heavenly Martial Emperor was enough to gain fame.
The registration officer found it ridiculous, but still explained politely.
“You may challenge the Lord only after reaching and completing a match against one of the Eight Stars of Heavenly Martial Castle. If you proceed through the stages one at a time, you may eventually earn the chance to face the Lord. Would you like to begin?”
“I will.”
“Then please state your name and epithet.”
“My name is Nameless. I have no epithet.”
He did not even have an epithet.
He had clearly come here hoping to become famous overnight.
“Very well. If you make a name for yourself here, an epithet will arise on its own. I wish you good fortune in battle.”
Nameless completely ignored the officer’s well wishes and walked inside.
Watching his back, the officer scoffed.
“Judging by him, he won’t even clear the second stage.”
Shaking his head, the registration officer returned to his seat.
The next day.
As always, the registration officer took his place to guide that day’s challengers.
Then one of his colleagues hurried over.
“Were you the one who registered a man calling himself Nameless yesterday?”
“I was. Why? Did something happen?”
“He’s already reached the seventh stage.”
The registration officer shot to his feet.
“What?”
“Do you know anything about that man?”
“Nothing. Yesterday was the first time I’d ever seen him. He had no epithet, and even gave his name as Nameless.”
“Hmm.”
“Wait. If he cleared the seventh stage, doesn’t that mean he’ll be facing one of the Eight Stars of Heavenly Martial Castle soon?”
“At this rate, forget the Eight Stars. He may even reach the Lord.”
“If he does, he’ll be the first since Heavenly Martial Castle was founded.”
“Exactly.”
At the word first, both men’s eyes lit up.
“He may challenge one of the Eight Stars today.”
“Damn it! And I’m going to miss a historic moment like that....”
“What are you talking about? Close the doors if you have to. We’re going to watch.”
“Huh?”
“So we get disciplined a little. Who cares?”
The registration officer stared at his colleague in surprise, then broke into a grin and nodded.
“You’re right. If I miss this, I’ll regret it until the day I die.”
“Exactly. Anyone coming here to register will probably go watch that first anyway.”
“You have a point. Let’s go!”
Everyone who had watched the battle between Nameless and one of the Eight Stars of Heavenly Martial Castle stood with their mouths hanging open, unable to utter a word.
The person collapsed on the ground was not Nameless.
It was Gu Yaheuk, the Golden Spear Star.
“That spear... is incredible. It’s the first weapon I’ve seen that could withstand my attack.”
“Damn it.... I lost....”
“So now I can challenge the Lord?”
Gu Yaheuk nodded.
“I’ll challenge him right now.”
“What?”
“I’m not particularly tired.”
Gu Yaheuk’s face flushed crimson at Nameless’s words.
Could anything possibly be more humiliating?
But he had nothing to say.
At Heavenly Martial Castle, weakness was a sin.
Nameless glanced around and chuckled.
“So Heavenly Martial Castle isn’t anything special.”
The expressions of the Castle’s people hardened.
Their pride had been wounded.
They wanted nothing more than to rush forward and smash that mouth of his shut.
But they could not.
Not because he was strong, but because attacking someone who was about to challenge the Lord was unthinkable.
Still smiling, Nameless continued.
“So today is the day I become Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle?”
He continued insulting the people of Heavenly Martial Castle.
Then—
“If you defeat me, it can be.”
At Jeok Wigang’s appearance, everyone from Heavenly Martial Castle dropped to their knees at once.
“We greet the Lord!”
Nameless chuckled at the sight.
“The weak certainly know how to enjoy themselves together.”
Jeok Wigang smiled and tossed something toward him.
Nameless caught it and tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“Eat it. It’ll restore your stamina.”
Nameless scoffed and threw the pill onto the ground.
“I don’t need garbage like this. I’ll crush you right now and become Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle.”
“If you can, go ahead.”
“Putting on an act.... Shall we begin?”
“Sure. Want the first move?”
Nameless smirked and held out a hand.
“You attack first.”
“All right.”
PA-PAT—
CRAAACK—
THUD—
Twitch. Twitch.
It was over in an instant.
Jeok Wigang’s figure left an afterimage.
The next moment, he had already struck Nameless.
Nameless lay on the ground, blood frothing from his mouth as his body twitched.
Silence engulfed the arena.
The people of Heavenly Martial Castle who had never witnessed Jeok Wigang’s might before kept staring back and forth between him and the unconscious Nameless on the ground, seemingly unable to understand what they had just seen.
Then someone shouted.
“L-Lord! Long live!”
The cry shattered the silence, and everyone erupted into cheers for Jeok Wigang.
Their fear that the Lord might struggle against Nameless had been completely pointless.
They had heard that he was extraordinarily powerful even by the standards of Heavenly Martial Castle’s history.
But they had never imagined he was this strong.
Nameless had defeated one of the Eight Stars with ease and shown no sign of exhaustion afterward.
Yet Jeok Wigang had put him down with a single blow.
Jeok Wigang looked around.
“To think someone like this managed to make it all the way to me.... I’m disappointed.”
The cheers immediately died away.
A solemn silence settled over the arena.
“Get stronger. Do not disappoint me again.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Heavenly Martial Castle must not be a place where only its Lord is strong. Every person here must be strong.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Go. Go and become stronger.”
At Jeok Wigang’s command, the crowd scattered in every direction almost instantly.
“I apologize, my lord. I have no excuse.”
“You really don’t. It’s a problem if you can’t even beat trash like that.”
Gu Yaheuk lowered his head deeply.
“I’m increasing the intensity of your training from now on, so prepare yourself.”
“Yes. I’ll await it prepared to die.”
Jeok Wigang nodded, then looked down at the unconscious Nameless.
He glanced around.
In the distance, he spotted a bird perched nearby.
Jeok Wigang flicked something toward it.
WHUMP—
Feathers exploded in every direction.
The bird vanished without leaving a trace.
Jeok Wigang dusted off his hands and looked back at Nameless as Jin Muryang approached.
“White Horse Heaven?”
“Looks that way.”
“Let’s take him with us.”
“Yes.”
“To think... he would defeat a Demon-Slayer-class warrior with a single blow....”
The Demon-Brain Divine Demon looked stunned.
“That confirms it. Every Demon-Slayer-class warrior who disappeared until now must have fallen to him....”
Their expression turned grave.
No matter how strong Jeok Wigang was, they had expected at least some exchange of attacks.
There had been none.
“Even sending someone of Calamity Demon class may not be enough....”
At minimum, it seemed they would need someone of Fell Demon class to face him.
Someone at that level could dispose of a Demon-Slayer-class warrior in one move, just as Jeok Wigang had.
“To think the Central Plains actually possessed a martial artist of Fell Demon class....”
At least they had discovered it now.
That meant they could respond appropriately.
Surely he wasn’t at the level of the Ten Heavenly Demon Stars?
That possibility had to be considered as well.
The fact that they were even forced to account for the Ten Heavenly Demon Stars showed how serious this was.
After thinking for a while, the Demon-Brain Divine Demon smiled.
He was alone.
One man could not protect the entirety of the vast Central Plains.
If they used someone at the level of the Ten Heavenly Demon Stars to lure him elsewhere, then attacked several regions of the Central Plains at once, even he would have no answer.
Unless he was a god, there was no way he could protect the entire Central Plains by himself.
The Lord of Heaven should understand if I begin moving little by little.
Nameless regained consciousness.
The moment he saw Jeok Wigang in front of him, he sprang to his feet and opened the distance between them.
“W-what the hell?”
“Sleep well? You must feel refreshed after such a nice long nap.”
“What happened?”
“What happened? You got knocked out in one hit. And someone that weak was trying to take the position of Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle? Just how much of a joke did you think our Castle was?”
Weak.
Nameless bristled.
“I-I was caught off guard! You cowardly bastard, attacking first like that.”
“You told me to attack first.”
“T-that was....”
“If you’re upset about it, you can go first this time. Want another round?”
Nameless glared fiercely at Jeok Wigang, then nodded.
“Then come.”
“Here?”
“Since when does a fight care about the location? Come.”
PA-PAT—
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, Nameless charged Jeok Wigang.
SHAAK—
Red blood sprayed around Nameless’s body.
“Die! Blood Heaven Cascade!”
The scattered blood wrapped around Jeok Wigang.
Then it transformed into razor-sharp spears and drove into his body.
WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP—
“Hahahaha! Idiot! Spears made from my blood can pierce anything in this world! Let’s see what kind of mangled mess you’ve become!”
Nameless swept away the blood covering Jeok Wigang.
His expression froze.
“What?”
“That’s it? I’m disappointed. All right. My turn.”
“W-wait—”
WHUMP—
“Ghhhhuuugh!”
Overwhelmed by excruciating pain, Nameless lost consciousness on the spot.
JOLT—
Nameless woke again.
No way.
He isn’t going to be sitting in front of me again, is he?
His heart pounding, he slowly turned his head.
“Sleep well?”
Damn it. It wasn’t a dream.
“Aren’t you sleeping a little too much in someone else’s home?”
As if I wanted to sleep.
He desperately wanted to bury a fist in that infuriating face, but held himself back.
If he tried, he would probably just get knocked unconscious again.
More importantly, he needed to get out of here.
What do I do?
No matter how hard he thought, he could not come up with any way to defeat that monster.
While Nameless was agonizing over it, he noticed Jeok Wigang’s gaze shift elsewhere.
He was distracted.
Nameless immediately gathered his power and attacked.
KWAAAAAA—!
He had launched the attack in haste, so it was not at full strength.
Still, an attack of this power should at least do something.
“You startled me.”
What?
Why is he completely fine?
What kind of insane monster is this bastard?
“You’re awfully lively for someone who just woke up.”
Nameless immediately got to his feet and widened the distance between them.
If I move at full strength, can I escape?
With that thought, he silently gathered every bit of power he could still draw upon.
I only get one chance.
He would unleash his final trump card, then squeeze out every last drop of remaining strength and flee.
If it failed, he might die.
But even that was better than dying like a dog here.
Nameless was convinced Jeok Wigang intended to torture and kill him.
Then Jeok Wigang said something that only strengthened that conviction.
“Who ordered you to attack me?”
I knew he’d ask.
“You think I’d tell you? Eat this!”
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—!
The instant he unleashed his full-power attack, Nameless wrung out every last bit of strength he had, kicked off the ground, and launched himself away.

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