Chapter 27

Chapter 27. Scabbard (Sword House) (4)

"The offerings for the Descent…"

The Red Sea was itself a sea of blood.

The Molten Sea was a sea of despair, thick with grudges.

The masterwork of the Gaecheonji cult leader Gye Man-hwi, built up from immense blood and death.

"O Dark God, why do You give me such trials!!!"

All of it had come to naught in a single instant.

"Unjust!!!"

Gye Man-hwi, cult leader of the cult Gaecheonji.

He had undergone the Trial of Awakening and Awakened as an S-rank Hunter.

It had been a trial of bringing faith to bloom among atheistic savages and becoming their sole god.

Having overcome it, he naturally believed he would become a great god on Earth as well.

But…

[The Authority of the sole god, Jesus, interferes with the accumulation of Faith.]

Even after Awakening, the Gaecheonji cult leader Gye Man-hwi had to go on living as a cult leader.

Earth already had the living Jesus, and Christianity and Catholicism had declared they would worship him as god.

Of course, he too had a possibility.

—Awakened can grow stronger by raiding Gates and reenacting trials in the Tower.

Every Awakened possessed a different power, but the methods of growth were similar.

But that was a matter of shouldering risk.

Even though he had Awakened, he didn't want to die in a Gate.

The Tower was the same.

There were many cases of people going missing in the [Tower].

'The cult leader must always be in the safest place.'

Gye Man-hwi acted the same as he had before Awakening.

He had his Awakened followers hoard [Mysteries] for him and lived an opulent life.

But even that hit a crisis because of the Patriot.

—What's an individual gonna do with over a trillion in assets — hell, what?! Before I cut it down to a hundred billion, hand all of it back to the state!

The Patriot proposed a 'Wealth Accumulation Restriction Act.'

An insane bill that forbade any individual from holding assets exceeding one trillion won.

The cult, whose wealth had been built over decades even before the Gate incident, had 90% of it stripped away.

Gye Man-hwi had felt wronged beyond belief.

That was when the Dark God had whispered.

—You are one who has piled up many deaths. Would you not become my child?

On that day, Gye Man-hwi had seen the true god.

The Great One had opened for him the possibility of becoming a god.

'An omnipotent being who can set off Gates and make his followers Fall.'

The Dark God had granted him the possibility of becoming a Transcendent.

He had believed he too, like that Patriot, would become a god ruling over a nation.

—You have offered up ten thousand, so I shall grant you the qualification of an Apostle.

The moment he became an Apostle.

The Patriot's violence had grown worse, and Gye Man-hwi had bolted for Japan.

Leaving Korea's Red Sea neglected like a side account, he detonated a Gate in Japan and stacked up offerings to present to the Dark God.

He resolved to summon the Dark God and become a demigod himself.

And just as he was on the verge of fulfilling the wish of the Dark God's Descent—

'Just what the hell is that bastard Shin Si-woo?'

A Transcendent who had appeared overnight had reduced all his efforts to nothing.

As he sat steeped in such thoughts—

Vvvng—.

Someone had entered the parent body of the [Molten Sea], where Gye Man-hwi was hiding.

This Gate was already like Gye Man-hwi's own body.

Naturally, he could sense the foreign object.

His recognition of it was instant.

And in that instant—

Kuung—————.

The world sank.

Within the stilled world, a man drawing an enormous blue greatsword was approaching him.

He was fast as light.

Along his footsteps, the Molten Sea's crimson was stained with the blue of an azure sky.

All of this had happened in the blink of an eye.

Blink.

He blinked.

Before he realized it, a blade was touching the generous rolls of flesh on Gye Man-hwi's neck.

At the same time—

"A Bishop would have a Dark God he serves. Who is your master?"

The man who had thrust the sword.

Shin Si-woo asked.

'……He knows everything?'

Gye Man-hwi thought.

It was Shin Si-woo who had made the existence of demon worshippers known.

It was Shin Si-woo who had killed the Fallen ones.

And he was the Transcendent currently regarded as the most promising.

'Is this not the true crisis the Dark God spoke of?'

—My child, in the moment of crisis, offer yourself. Then, even if offerings are insufficient, I shall Descend into your body.

Gye Man-hwi, who could never imagine abandoning himself, naturally recalled the Dark God's revelation.

And so, he muttered its name.

* * *

'So that's the end that awaits one who has abandoned being human?'

Demon worshippers or Bishops — both were seeds who had forsaken humanity.

They might look similar to Iris, who grew by feeding on the demonic — but their roots were different.

They gained power by stacking up impurity.

The power they took was a mere handful.

The rest flowed entirely to the Dark Gods or Outer Gods.

'Funny — a cult leader who exploited others doesn't even realize he's being exploited by the Dark God.'

I looked at the Gaecheonji cult leader Gye Man-hwi.

An enormous build that easily weighed 200 kilograms.

Layer upon layer of jowls, and fat fingers filled with rings made of [Mystery].

A peculiar power could be felt from the opulent clothing he wore — it was clearly some kind of [item].

By appearance alone, he gave off the air of a Transcendent whose mind had cracked completely.

But the power actually radiating from him was shabby.

'Weak.'

For all the countless offerings he had made.

For all the catastrophes he had unleashed, plunging both Korea and Japan into ruin.

Gye Man-hwi himself was weak.

'It was similar in [Raise a Sword].'

Demon worshippers were those who couldn't settle for the reality given to them, who sought causes outside themselves, and who pursued the easy path.

They leaned on others, offered up sacrifices, and lived grateful for the handful of grace they received.

Bishops were similar.

Of course, the bastards had the difference of organizing themselves more systematically and exploiting others more aggressively—

'The point is, they're twisted seeds who want to get strong power the easy, comfortable way.'

If I killed Gye Man-hwi here, I'd obtain the [Baby Sword's house] and this whole incident would end, but I had no such intention.

If possible, the mission of a [Sword Master] was to achieve the very best efficiency.

Just as I had taught my swords maximum efficiency, so would I.

'A Bishop, plus countless offerings. The conditions for the Dark God's Descent must already be met.'

And so, I waited.

For the Gaecheonji cult leader Gye Man-hwi to mutter the name.

Ssaaaaaa———.

Not long after my blade had been leveled at him.

The cult leader opened his mouth.

And muttered.

The name.

———Necribas.

The name of a Dark God that should not exist in this world rang out.

A name I knew.

At this point, it was settled.

'Dark Gods and Outer Gods are deeply tied to my trials.'

[Necribas] meant the vessel that holds blood and death.

As a symbol of impurity closest to humanity, he was one of the Dark Gods that appeared in [Raise a Sword].

"Ahh… O Dark God!!! Grant me Your grace!!!"

The whites and blacks of Gye Man-hwi's eyes inverted.

He was Falling.

The Fall of a Bishop Descended a Dark God.

By making himself a vessel.

Kuung————.

The world sank.

Gye Man-hwi's thick lumps of flesh dripped down like blood.

That hulking frame, at some point, had transformed into the shape of a crimson demon wrapped in a mist of blood.

Within that mist, a crimson being — one that resembled a human yet was in no way human — revealed itself.

"My child, now this body is mine."

A heavy, low baritone.

A voice perceived with perfect clarity despite not being Korean.

A being who bore [godhood] had appeared before my eyes.

A Dark God Descended into the human world.

A demon with crimson skin and sculpted musculature stretched both arms wide and gazed at the sky.

"Ahhh, the human world—"

He seemed immensely pleased.

The Dark God Necribas looked about his surroundings with a chilling smile.

Then his eyes met mine.

Twitch—.

Looking at me, he flinched.

"—W-what are you?"

Seureuk.

The Dark God scattered like mist.

Then he reappeared at a distance of easily several hundred meters away.

The 1st Sword Reinhardt's manifestation time was 4 seconds.

In the instant of slicing and slicing one of those seconds, the Dark God had put a distant gap between himself and me.

"Dark God, where is your true body?"

I was a Transcendent.

I possessed cognition and thought sharpened to the extreme, and the eye to see through to the origin of all things in the world.

Feeling a distant omnipotence, I walked toward the Dark God.

"W-what are you!!!"

The mist scattered and withdrew, again and again.

But the footsteps of my Transcendent self were not light enough to be avoided by such cheap tricks.

Because the sword in my hand was a sword of salvation that, at the end of supreme effort and years of diligent cultivation, had seen the end of the world.

And the Dark God before me had a deep connection with the 1st Sword Reinhardt.

【S-Sword Master! My enemy, in this world…】

Those who had annihilated Reinhardt's house had been the followers of the Dark God 'Necribas.'

——Blood, death, despair — wail!!!

A situation where no matter how far he pulled away, he couldn't distance himself from me.

The Dark God used his Authority on me.

Befitting a being Descended from the Red Sea and the Molten Sea, a horribly boiling sea of blood filled the interior of the Gate.

Calmly, I raised my sword straight.

Kiing———!!!

The deep blue blade sparkled.

A restrained knight's momentum pressed forth a pure flow along the edge.

The ultimate Yang energy, which had never once grown muddied, transformed into blue Aura and stained the crimson world.

This was Reinhardt's second Transcendent skill.

A wide-area technique obtained at the cost of certain minor functions.

[The Azure Blue Sun]

Befitting a knight of cultivation, the source of its power was simple.

A technique that detonated the ultimate Yang energy held in the blade, reducing the entire surrounding area to ash.

'Ten years.'

That was the time it had taken to complete this technique.

'Ten million times.'

That was the number of times he had swung his sword for it.

That supreme effort manifested at my fingertips.

"Die!!!"

At the Dark God's command, the crimson world engulfed me.

In that crimson world, I summoned the Azure Blue Sun.

The effort of Reinhardt, who had reached the rank of Transcendent with but a fragment of talent.

And this, like [Supreme Heavenly Cradle], was a powerful technique that remained active even after the sword vanished.

<Announcement. A power transcending the Gate's limits has been confirmed.>

<No further protective measures are possible.>

<Warning. The world of the Gate is invading reality.>

To Reinhardt's supreme effort, the world spoke.

The 'Voice of the World' that was said to sound during massive incidents.

With the dignified Voice of the World as the final word, this [Molten Sea] disappeared.

* * *

Immediately after the Molten Sea vanished, the Japanese Prime Minister headed toward Mount Fuji — where the Molten Sea had been — with his inner circle.

For some reason, Yuki's opened [Spirit World] had been forcibly closed, so the Prime Minister had to rely on the aid of another Transcendent, the 'Lord of the Imagined and Boundless.'

And then…

Kiiii—!!!

The Japanese Prime Minister was traveling astride a yokai called an imugi, but for some reason, immediately upon arriving at Mount Fuji, the imugi let out a scream and fled.

And…

"Y-Yuki!!!"

They discovered Yuki lying unconscious atop an enormous crimson demon.

"For now, she is alive."

The Transcendent Yacha offered the Prime Minister words of something that wasn't quite consolation.

It was a situation that demanded she be pulled out and woken immediately, but that demon was the problem.

It was one of Shin Si-woo's summons.

"Wh-where did Lord Shin Si-woo—"

"Prime Minister, the Gate, the Gate!!!"

Yacha pointed at the summit of Mount Fuji.

Coming down from it, astride a demon, was Korea's interpreter.

She shouted urgently.

"Don't come any closer!!!"

Just as her words finished—

<Announcement. A power transcending the Gate's limits has been confirmed.>

<No further protective measures are possible.>

<Warning. The world of the Gate is invading reality.>

A strange voice could be heard.

"Th-the Voice of the World!"

The Transcendent Yacha gazed at the summit of Mount Fuji with a stunned expression.

He had only heard of it by rumor — it was the first time such a voice had been heard within Japan.

And according to that voice, the parent body of the [Molten Sea] was now going to reveal itself to this world.

"Prepare for impact at—"

A world full of lava would blanket the Japanese archipelago.

They had to prepare.

That was what he wanted to say.

But…

Kuguguguung———!!!

What revealed itself at the summit of Mount Fuji was not crimson.

A distant blue light rose up.

It was the form of an enormous sword.

And a pure power that, simply by being seen, brought a settled peace to the heart.

"G-good heavens—."

By that power, Mount Fuji was being annihilated.

The blue light spread, transforming everything that had composed the mountain into particles.

Watching the scene, Yacha thought.

'Can a mere Transcendent like me even "prepare" in the face of that great power?'

That was something beyond the level of Transcendence.

Within that blue light—

——Kraaaaack!!!

A screaming crimson monster came into view.

From its body, blood kept welling up without end.

An overwhelming quantity, as though it would cover the world.

It boiled like lava.

It was crimson like the Red Sea.

'Th-that is the root of the Molten Sea?'

Paseusseuk—.

Even that blood was annihilated by the blue azure light.

———Kreuk……!!!

The crimson monster screamed.

And screamed and screamed.

Everyone watched the scene, dumbstruck.

'Good heavens…'

That was something beyond even a Transcendent.

If one saw Jesus's miracles — would they not be like this?

And within that transcendent miracle, there existed exactly one person able to move.

That was Shin Si-woo himself.

He approached the crimson mass and asked,

"Where did you hide your true body, the vessel of blood?"

His words carried some weighty meaning.