Chapter 375: Stepping In
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‘That is…!’
The Divine Martial Sword immediately intuited.
That the mournful-feeling voice that had flowed out from that high place above his head, through the crack in the mental realm, was that of the woman he had seen in his dreams several times.
Why was this?
Why did the sound reminiscent of a smithy suddenly appear, followed by the voice of that woman?
He was currently not in a state of having fallen asleep and dreaming.
The smithy sounds that came first, and the woman’s voice that followed, were not things he had recalled by searching his memory while fighting the incarnations of agony in the form of Dongbang Ya.
They had just unintentionally reached his ears like auditory hallucinations.
The Divine Martial Sword suddenly felt a throbbing headache.
‘Uk!’
It was unexpected head pain.
Because of that, his technique became suddenly disordered, and soon with a PEONG! explosive sound, he slid backward in retreat.
But he immediately planted strength in both legs and stopped his body.
CHIJIK- UKTUK!
However, at that moment, a certain vision appeared large this time.
As the crack in the ceiling widened further, an unknown scene entered his two eyes as if a picture book had been unfolded.
-Dududududu, dududududu-!
The charge of countless war horses.
The young man at the lead cried out spiritedly while leading the great army.
-Ignore the group approaching from the rear! It’s a tactic to divert our attention and buy time! All forces, proceed as you are!
Immediately after, the scene of charging war horses vanished.
PIT-
A new illusory scene appeared again in the void background as if a picture book was being quickly flipped.
Two young men sitting across from each other, tilting cups while conversing…
-Congratulations. You perfectly annihilated the enemy camp. Now, accept my cup. Let’s get drunk to our heart’s content today.
-I decline. I must go see her. In any case… the day our dream comes true is not far off.
-That’s right. Before we knew it, five nations have knelt, and now only one remains. It was possible because of you. It’s fitting to call you a War God sent from heaven.
-Hut, what do you mean…
-I said it once before, didn’t I? Is the lineage of kings and generals predetermined? When anyone with great will appears, a new nation is established. The protagonists of this era are… us.
-When this war ends, I… want to go with her to a quiet place and spend the rest of my life. Some may call it a small dream, but to me, it is the greatest dream.
-Of course! Just do a little more for me. For the advent of a true era of great peace.
-I am your sword. Wield and swing me as you wish until this war of the Six Nations that plunged the powerless common people into misery is completely ended.
-Thank you. Just hearing those words gives me strength. I shall definitely become a sage king, no… an existence that will be recorded in history as the greatest Sage Emperor!
-You’d better. If not, I might personally behead you. Huhu.
-How fierce, how fierce. To do that to your one and only best friend? Hahaha! But I shall engrave those words deep in my bones.
With that, the images of the two young men disappeared.
PIT-
It was instant.
The illusory scenes.
It was as if moments of time flowed slowly, showing those fragmentary scenes.
What appeared next was.
-Do you… believe him?
Eyes clear as the sky, a nose rising sleekly like a crescent moon, red lips that seemed to blaze like the sunset… It was precisely that woman from the dreams.
An existence that was the culmination of the world’s beauty, a peerless beauty who might appear once in a hundred years.
She was lying in bed with a young man, casting worried eyes.
-I believe him. He is my childhood friend.
-But… his recent attitude…
-I know. I too…
-The promise that this would be the last battle… is already the second time. When this third war ends, I think it would be good to speak clearly to him.
-Yes, I too am getting a bit tired now. I cannot delay any longer. Our dream…
PIT-
Just as the vision thus vanished again.
CHYUHAAAK, CHYUHAAAT-!
Two Dongbang Yas that had rushed in from left and right with their swinging swords inflicted light wounds on the Divine Martial Sword.
He immediately and reflexively threw back his frame and retreated, but because his concentration was weakly disturbed by those sounds, he couldn’t perfectly evade.
‘Keum!’
Thin blood lines drawn on the left shoulder and right upper arm.
Simultaneously, the entire mental realm briefly caused tremors.
The effect of concentration wavering again from the light injuries.
This is why mental realm meditation is dangerous.
Because the moment the mental state is shaken in any way, such immediately precarious phenomena appear.
If this situation continues, concentration will eventually collapse.
That would ultimately lead to qi deviation.
That final path had two branches.
A living corpse, or death.
In other words, it meant becoming a cripple or dying.
HWIHWIHWIK, HWIHWIKHWIK-
Five or six Dongbang Yas occupied all directions and flew in.
Not to be outdone, the Divine Martial Sword responded with a rotating horizontal sword technique.
KKAGAGAGAGANG- PEOPEOPEOPEOPEONG-!
As dark currents unique to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art spread out like the ribs of a round fan, the five or six rapidly incoming ones were flung back again.
HOOOOONG-!
The Divine Martial Sword’s left hand shot out golden palm force targeting three among them.
An energy symbolizing sacred Buddhist force.
The palm technique that instantly bridged the distance swept over the three.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA…!
Annihilation by the ultimate mental technique essence for defeating the One Hundred Eight Agonies.
In other words, mental power.
Simultaneously.
PAPAK!
The Divine Martial Sword, having kicked off the ground, moved to the side and fiercely unleashed a terrifying vertical sword strike.
The mental technique unique to demonic cultivation imbued in it was dark and violent.
KWAKWAKWAKWANG!
Powerful roar shaking the mental realm in all directions.
Four or five Dongbang Yas in that direction were swept away in a line and annihilated, scattering their remains.
The Divine Martial Sword, having absorbed them, realized one thing while swinging his right hand’s sword with fierce momentum.
Looking at the numerous incarnations of agony.
It was this.
The auditory hallucinations and visions were agonies dormant in the unconscious.
Were they memories from before becoming the Divine Martial Sword?
Remnants of a previous life?
Well, it didn’t matter either way.
He would create no more variables to interfere with this enlightenment.
‘Whatever it is, I won’t cultivate such trifling agonies!’
His intention was to finish what was right before his eyes first, then look into it.
Thus, correcting his mind and mental state, he reinforced his concentration anew.
Through that superhuman mental state, the crack in the mental realm ceiling closed.
Along with that, the series of wounds also healed.
SYUKAAAK, SYUKAK, SYUKAAK-!
From that point on, the Divine Martial Sword moved his hands with a maddened momentum, annihilating the Dongbang Yas one by one.
* * *
The mental realm outside the mental realm.
The two eyes of Cheol Ryu-heun, who had been standing at a distance, wavered slightly.
‘Hmm…?’
It was because the appearance of the Divine Martial Sword, who had been sitting in lotus position absorbed in meditation, had momentarily become hazy.
The appearance becoming hazy meant a gap had occurred in mental power.
What was it, had he perhaps hit an obstacle?
From outside, Cheol Ryu-heun couldn’t help but feel quite worried.
‘Oh no… Is he getting tired?’
Quite some time had passed since the agonies had disappeared.
He didn’t know the details, but inside that battlefield, the depletion of mental power would be enormously great.
Naturally, it would be stranger if he wasn’t getting tired.
Mental power wasn’t something that could be recovered immediately like Internal energy.
However.
There was no way he himself could help.
Just watching until it ended was all he could do.
KKUUUK.
Cheol Ryu-heun, having become slightly anxious, unconsciously clenched both fists.
However.
‘Ah!’
Cheol Ryu-heun soon showed delight.
Because the Divine Martial Sword that had been becoming hazy was clear again.
He knew well what that was.
It meant he had collected himself after his spirit had wavered during the fight.
For now, he seemed to have gotten past one critical juncture.
But it wasn’t over.
He would have to wait longer, more than the time that had passed until now, to know a definite result.
The key was the Divine Martial Sword’s mental power maintenance.
In an instant.
Cheol Ryu-heun’s gaze suddenly turned toward the distant side.
As if he had felt something…
At that moment, light burst forth from him in clusters that couldn’t be identified.
FLASH!
It looked like a huge door.
‘Hmm…?’
Cheol Ryu-heun, wearing a somewhat surprised gaze, tilted his head.
‘What is it? Why suddenly…?’
In an instant, the divine being of heaven spoke.
-Hut, look at this? Layering mental power upon mental power to harmonize? He hasn’t wasted his years.
Cheol Ryu-heun, who heard that sound, also suddenly realized something.
‘Ah! It must be a plan arranged in advance!’
The door made of light was not the only one.
FLASH, FLASH, FLASH…
Identical ones appeared in succession.
A total of five.
In an instant, Cheol Ryu-heun guessed the true nature of the strange phenomenon.
‘Is it a soul passage created by spiritual arts?’
Sure enough.
OOOONG, OOOONG, OOOONG…
The flashing doors made several trembles, then soon opened wide and five people stepped into the mental image space one after another.
Namgung Sang-rin, Hae Su-yeon, Cui Lan, Seol Pan-gyo, Mae Yak-bang. It was the entrance of the White Peak Sword Sect’s guest retainers.
Cheol Ryu-heun wore a barely visible faint smile while briefly murmuring inwardly.
‘Each one boasts an outstanding intangible Aura/Aura/bearing.’
They were all of the genius class.
Unlike himself in his previous life.
Meanwhile, Namgung Sang-rin and the guest retainers, upon entering the mental realm, flinched in surprise and wore puzzled expressions.
The reason was simple.
It was because two people with identical appearances had entered each of their fields of vision.
At a distance in the front left was Cheol Ryu-heun… and on the opposite right was also Cheol Ryu-heun.
‘Ah, no…!’
‘My, what’s going on?’
For them, it was an unexpectedly bewildering sight.
Yet.
Though their outward appearances were the same, there was something different.
The Cheol Ryu-heun on the left had his two eyes closed, in meditation, while the Cheol Ryu-heun on the right was standing at a distance, as if observing that appearance.
“Sect Master Cheol!”
“What has happened?”
At the moment Namgung Sang-rin, Hae Su-yeon, and the other guest retainers were about to head toward the Cheol Ryu-heun in the front right.
They stopped.
Each stopped their steps.
It was because Cheol Ryu-heun had shaken his head as if telling them not to come.
Seeing that, the questions in the guests’ minds only grew bigger.
But then Cheol Ryu-heun soon raised his left hand.
Following that.
SIK.
He extended his index finger and pointed at the meditating Cheol Ryu-heun.
At that moment, the guest retainers realized.
‘Ah…!’
Not this me standing here, but go to that side.
Everyone understood that it was a gesture saying that.
Yet.
The lips of the Cheol Ryu-heun who had gestured moved.
A soundless laugh.
It was a wordless smile giving a warm and good feeling.
The guest retainers were shocked upon seeing it.
“…!”
It was something that couldn’t readily be believed.
For Cheol Ryu-heun, who had always been full of only indifference, to wear such a smile…
Cui Lan murmured with a blank expression.
“He… He’s really alright, right?”
At that, Hae Su-yeon carefully added words.
“P-perhaps his spirit has split…”
It was right at that moment.
From the meditating Cheol Ryu-heun, a flashing energy light began extending out like a long stem.
“It seems to be a signal from Sect Master Cheol!”
Namgung Sang-rin, having shouted briefly, immediately moved swiftly and approached in front of Cheol Ryu-heun.
Simultaneously.
SSEUT.
When the stem of energy light connected with Namgung Sang-rin’s body, his appearance transformed into smoke and was absorbed into Cheol Ryu-heun’s body.
At that, Hae Su-yeon also moved quickly while giving a gesture.
“Now, let’s follow quickly!”
* * *
The Divine Martial Sword, who had been continuing the murderous and fierce melee, suddenly sensed a change in the mental realm.
‘Those fellows, have they finally come?’
Suddenly, a large hole formed above.
HWAAAK- KKUKKUNG!
Along with a waterfall-like light beam, one figure dropped down.
The one who appeared through the void was precisely Namgung Sang-rin.
Seeing him, the Divine Martial Sword softly spoke to the incarnations of agony storming like a tempest.
“Annihilation operation, begins.”