Chapter 22

Chapter 22. Bizarre (2)

Gwigokseong was a Bizarre formed from the screams of ghosts.

But compared to it, there was a sound so terrifying that made this one feel cute.

Have you ever heard the scream of a forest?

'That was probably during Iris's growth phase.'

The point at which her [Vampiric Demon Sword] had just evolved into the [Devouring Ultimate Demon Sword].

Iris herself had just reached the Sword Master realm and was beginning to walk the path of demonic arts in earnest.

"Those loathsome ear-pricked creatures have hidden themselves in the skirts of the Earth Mother Goddess to flee from Us!"

Iris's enemy was nature itself.

The great forest that sheltered the elves.

The ground where the Earth Mother Goddess, the World Tree who had lived through eons, still drew breath — and the true home of the elves.

Originally, the demon worshippers had corrupted the [World Tree] and made a terrible monster of it, so to prevent this ahead of time, I had sent Iris into the World Tree's forest.

"Slaughterer who commands cruel demons — leave my forest at once!"

The World Tree bellowed.

The entire great forest turned against a single Iris as its enemy.

Even the World Tree in an uncorrupted state was no pushover.

The years the Earth Mother Goddess had lived became seasoned authority, and made things difficult for Iris.

Because back then, Iris couldn't cut everything.

Ssaaaaa———.

The entire forest resonated as one, driving Iris's demons back.

The roaring cry, brimming with the life of all nature, was itself a symbol of holiness, and the demons vanished, unable to put up so much as a fight.

At that time, her demons were no more than summons, and their total number was only 100.

—To Us, the demons are but limbs. Old tree, become nourishment for Us!

Iris fought alone.

She set fire to the forest and hacked trees into pieces.

But that was all.

Because the World Tree, the source of life, stood there, nature shared its power with itself and regenerated endlessly.

Around ten playthroughs in, I found the answer.

'Can't she just devour the sound too?'

Even a sound made by nature had to have a source.

I used the [Advice] system to convey this possibility to Iris.

"Sword, what dost thou mean — have the demons consume sound?"

This was still before she started referring to herself as "this maiden."

I was still an adolescent myself.

"Eat, you say… eat…"

Anyway, Iris had an enlightenment on her own in that moment.

"Sound is formless. If We could teach the demons the power to cut the formless…? Haha! We are a genius."

In the end, Iris annihilated the elves and devoured the Earth Mother Goddess.

She fed the entire Eastern Great Forest to her demons.

And thus, she laid the foundation for the [Million Demons] legion build I had designed.

'Iris, who cuts anything, and demons, who eat anything.'

And now.

The Ghost Valley of Gwacheon.

Equipped with the [5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella], I passed through the corridor the Baby Sword had opened in a state wrapped in omnipotence — I had infiltrated a [Black Gate] not yet revealed to the world.

Kiiiiiiieeeee—————.

A hair-raising noise greeted me first.

And then—

Paat!

[You have entered Gwigokseong (Valley of Ghostly Wails).]

A beat late, the information about this place appeared.

I expanded my sensing with my Transcendent cognition.

A world of ghosts blanketed in purple mist came into sharp focus.

This was a place teeming with screams, death, and ghosts.

A land where humans could not live.

Kiiiiieeee————.

That atrocious sound, like fingernails scraping on iron, especially stood out.

In other words, the essence of this entire space was sound.

'So that's why my memories with Iris surfaced.'

The World Tree had been nature.

Gwigokseong, on the other hand, was ghosts.

Their properties were polar opposites, but both attacked intruders with sound — that was similar.

Kiiiiieeeeee————!!!

Gwigokseong — literally, the wails of ghosts.

Riding that wail, an energy seeking to annihilate me spread forth with ferocity.

'If the Gate manifests and this wail spreads into the world—'

If Gwigokseong properly revealed itself, ordinary people would surely be driven insane on the spot.

As it stood, property values in Seocho-gu had already bottomed out — that whole area would become uninhabitable.

Of course, it meant nothing to me.

To my Transcendent self, something like this was nothing.

The same went for Iris.

Ssaaa—.

The crimson greatsword in my hand scattered a blood mist.

A sphere of crimson wrapped around my body.

To protect me.

Naturally, it wasn't a power I had wielded—

【Just as my Master protected this maiden through his sword, now this maiden shall protect you!】

Iris was expressing her delight at seeing me.

Meanwhile, the wails of Gwigokseong kept growing louder, trying to tighten around me.

I waited for Iris's words with no concern whatsoever.

【That you avenged this maiden… it was for the sake of a day we could stand together like this, after all.】

Back then, I hadn't had any such intent.

I had merely become overly immersed in her — a girl abandoned by her family and rejected by the world.

'Let's not explain.'

Unlike with Reinhardt, I chose silence.

Flexible responses suited to each circumstance were what was needed.

Every one of my swords was out of the ordinary.

Small talk was enough.

I gave an appropriate nod and said,

"Feed."

With that as the final word—

Kuung———.

The world stopped.

No — it felt like it had stopped.

With [5/100], that was 5 seconds of omnipotence.

Small talk had already eaten up 1 second, leaving 4 remaining.

Slice and slice that, and in the end you get a distant span of time.

That was my Transcendent cognition.

'Time to spare and more.'

Atop the crimson veil wrapped around my body, enormous monsters began to appear.

The summoning of the Million Demons.

Enormous heads, with enormous mouths that split wide, side to side.

The demons opened their mouths.

Tzzeeok—.

Coarse, massive teeth chewed at the air.

They had devoured the wails of the ghosts.

Wuaaaaaaaaa————!!!

The demons let out a roar.

And then they began to swallow everything that composed this space.

Sound, mist, the shadows of ghosts, terrain and objects of course — even any breath or trace of presence. All of it.

【Ahh… the demons are sending their power to this maiden.】

Normally, in [Raise a Sword], the [Abyss] had rules, or conditions for clearing.

It was similar to how a quest appeared for the complete annihilation of the [Red Sea], telling you to deal with its source.

'What's the difference between Black and Red?'

Until recently, every Gate on Earth had been Red.

Having now experienced one firsthand, they felt similar.

The Red Sea was a kind of phenomenon, and the wails of Gwigokseong were the same type.

The difference, if anything, was…

'Difficulty.'

The Red Sea had started out as a small sea.

That was what the Gaecheonji cult leader Gye Man-hwi had grown.

This Gwigokseong was naturally of an enormous scale.

In other words, Black Gates could be thought of as an upper-tier version of Red Gates.

'Well… it has nothing to do with me.'

The level of a Gate held no meaning for me.

And I didn't need to worry about rules either.

The 5th Sword Iris — with her power to cut everything and her power to devour everything, ignored all such rules and order entirely.

Naturally, I had raised her that way on purpose.

'It's similar with the other swords.'

My swords could ignore any law imposed by a Gate and kill every Bizarre and monster that corroded reality.

Which meant I could do the same.

If there was one thing I regretted—

'The demon worshippers.'

I understood the changes in Gates.

But, unfortunate as it was, I had no information on the demon worshippers.

The most I knew was that they could wield their powers once they Fell.

To investigate them, there was no choice but to work it out on the ground.

Just like I had figured out the Black Gates.

Still, I wasn't worried.

'The Baby Sword.'

I had one more small, precious sword with infinite potential.

The power of [Chaos].

Its powers known so far were—

<The power to tear through space and open a path to a location of a different phase.>

That about summed it up.

As I raised this Baby Sword and searched out new builds, someday I might obtain an infinite power with no visible end.

—————.

Silence descended over <Gwigokseong>.

A perfect soundless zone.

As though nothing had ever been there, every direction fell utterly still.

And the 4 seconds passed.

【This maiden shall grow up, grow up, and look forward only to the day she meets her Master.】

With Iris's parting words, the form of the crimson greatsword vanished.

The small, precious Baby Sword was in my hand.

And then…

Paat!

[You have cleared the Black Gate.]

[Level Up!!! 4→5]

[The Baby Sword's trait has not yet been selected.]

[Select a trait and unlock a new ability.]

A message appeared before my eyes.

Because the Good-Evil ratio had been broken, I hadn't yet selected the Baby Sword's 'trait.'

I quickly examined the sword's options.

———————

Trait.

1. Time.

2. Space.

———————

When the Good-Evil ratio had been tilted toward [Good], traits like [Path of Divinity] had appeared, but now that it was back at 50:50, traits suited to the Baby Sword had shown up.

'Time or Space.'

If I chose Time, I could make more efficient use of my second-scale omnipotence.

If I chose Space?

'I'm not sure.'

The Baby Sword's Chaos already cleaved through space.

So I chose [Time].

Making second-scale omnipotence more efficient would surely be more important.

But as if to mock my deliberation—

Paat!

[Lv.5 reward. Please select a trait for the Baby Sword.]

Once I completed the choice I had been putting off, another opportunity was granted.

———————

Trait.

1. Space.

———————

Amusingly, this time only [Space] was left.

I selected the Baby Sword's trait.

With this, I had obtained both traits — Time and Space.

'Chaos, Holy-Demon Sword, plus Time and Space…'

Was it telling me to use something like a Spacetime Slash?

I had many questions, but I could figure out the new power little by little — now it was time to claim the [Black Gate]'s rewards.

Ssaaa—.

A vast plaza had appeared at some point.

Despite having just slain the very Korean-flavored Bizarre that was Gwigokseong, the plaza felt like medieval Europe.

Rough but tidy brown brick.

And in the center, an altar.

Vvvng—.

On the altar, a shimmering, iridescent, prismatic stone fragment could be seen.

A Mystery.

But…

'Why so much?'

While it wasn't as pure as the ingot I'd obtained from the Red Sea, the quantity was easily 500 grams' worth.

I could sell it for a staggering sum, and even if I used it myself, the applications were limitless — so I should have been delighted, and yet—

'The Mysteries increased now that a Black Gate appeared?'

I couldn't shake the feeling that this was an omen — that the world would grow more brutal from here on out.

* * *

Experiencing the strange and the bizarre.

Overcoming it.

These were the Awakening conditions everyone knew.

—Is Ghost Valley actually stopping for real?

And strange, bizarre things sometimes became monsters that invaded reality.

Among those, the ones regarded as especially 'Bizarre' were Gate-less corrosions like 'Ghost Valley.'

And yet…

—There really isn't any sound coming from Gwacheon?

—Seocho-gu skyrocketing to the moon, let's go?

—Seoul National University is about to rise again.

A few hours after Shin Si-woo headed into Ghost Valley, change occurred.

The root cause that had plunged Seoul National University — the country's top university — into the gutter was <Ghost Valley>, which had blanketed everything from Gwacheon to the Mount Gwanak area.

And it had vanished.

In a matter of hours, at that.

<There will be an official government announcement. The Bizarre that had corroded the Gwacheon and Mount Gwanak area, 'Ghost Valley,' has officially been annihilated.>

A Gate-less corrosion.

A Bizarre — gone.

South Korea was plunged into a cauldron of excitement.

—This is insane!!! Even the Patriot couldn't erase this thing, how'd he do it?

—Seoul property values back to normal, let's goooo!!

Starting with citizens who owned homes in Gwacheon and Seocho-gu—

—Can my 15-billion-won apartment be restored to its original state?

—I bought at the top and I'm in ruin!!! The WorldNet has the banking system transferred too, so now there's no dodging paying off the loan…

Residents of the Jamsil Lotte Tower, which had turned into a dragon's nest.

—Is stopping the corrosion at the 38th Parallel possible?

Residents of Gangwon Province, suffering from the polluted beasts China was letting slip through the 38th Parallel.

—Can I finally go home now?

—Is Jeonju in Jeolla-do salvageable too?

—Videos are still being uploaded to the Jeolla-man channel… there are survivors here!!!

—Save Jeonju first!!

Even residents who had been living in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do — a city swallowed by darkness.

Everyone was filled with anticipation.

Soon, that anticipation spread beyond Korea to the entire world.

He ended a Gate-less corrosion?

Even Jesus couldn't do that.

—Is he a real god?

—He's already Jesus's brother.

—And he even cures hair loss.

—That's GodWoo!!!

* * *

Immediately after I finished off <Gwigokseong>, Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin and President Lee Seok-hyeon summoned me.

Stepping through the [Hyeonmu] gateway, I found myself in the Presidential Office.

"This means we can recover a substantial portion of the land we'd given up on."

"Lord Si-woo, you are this nation's hope!"

The two of them spoke as they looked at me.

Their gazes were more profound than those of parents watching a grown child.

Especially President Lee Seok-hyeon — there was even a faint madness lingering in his eyes as he looked at me.

'He's grown a lot.'

Though just downy fuzz, the President's bald crown had gotten quite full.

The [Supreme Heavenly Cradle] I had laid over the entirety of South Korea.

Its effect was continuing to show.

"It truly seems like the miracle of God."

Noticing my gaze, the President said so with a sheepish look.

The miracle of God.

From my standpoint, it wasn't a welcome phrase.

—Summon Ego Sword (Authority):

[Communication Ability] [Sword Master's Dominion]

1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid. [4/100]

2nd Sword, Yuria Lanestia. [10/100]

3rd Sword, Jun. [0/100]

4th Sword, Muratan. [0/100]

5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella. [8/100]

6th Sword, Bellatrice. [0/100]

When I had devoured Gwigokseong, I had passed all the power to Iris.

Her Manifestation value, which had been 5, had grown to 8.

I thought I didn't need to worry since divinity was filling up just from breathing, but…

"Everyone keeps deifying me, can we do anything to stop that?"

With the whole country talking only about me, [Infinite Divinity] and [Divine Body] kept reacting.

Yuria's number was rising, and at this rate I was worried the Baby Sword's Good-Evil ratio would break again.

"Si-woo, think about what you've done."

Just then, Big Sis Kang Seol-a, who had been calmly staying by my side, spoke.

"You handled the overflow of the Red Sea, became Jesus's brother, and thanks to that, we became America's first ally since the Gate incident, didn't we?"

"……"

With everything I had done, I couldn't deny it.

It seemed I'd have to keep feeding the Baby Sword things that were Evil to balance the Good-Evil ratio.

"So what's the main point?"

Calling me in via the [Hyeonmu] gateway meant there was a major matter at hand.

At my question, Big Sis Seol-a naturally began her explanation.

At her words, I couldn't hide my shock.

The government had resolved a problem I'd been frustrated about.

"You captured a demon worshipper?"