Chapter 33

Chapter 33. Transcendent (2)

Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama Jiro.

He had witnessed a great power beyond description.

An enormous pressure that made humans feel like nothing.

It felt utterly sufficient to claim for itself the power of a god.

And on top of that…

'Created what?'

Even Jesus had yet to prove creationism.

According to the Voice of the World, Shin Si-woo had brought into being a species.

'Lord… Jesus!!!'

Unable to bear the reality, the Prime Minister cried out for God in his heart.

A world where Jesus existed in reality.

The Japanese Prime Minister was also a Christian.

In place of Yasukuni Shrine, destroyed by the Patriot's bombing, Japan held a prayer ceremony for Jesus as a state event.

Please, may a church of His universal healing be built in Japan as well! — carrying that wish.

Had such sincere devotion been repaid?

"J-Jesus!!!"

Suddenly, empty air split open, and from within it Jesus appeared.

The Jesus who always smiled wore an extraordinarily grave expression, unlike his usual self.

With the enormous cross slung over his shoulder.

It was as if to say, I shall take up all of your sins upon myself.

At that nobility, the Japanese Prime Minister bowed his head of its own accord.

"───────."

"───────."

He conversed with the Korean Transcendent Shin Si-woo…

Though he could see the figure and hear the voice, the Prime Minister could not understand a word of it.

'So this is the language of gods.'

He could only think — gods strolling through heaven are discussing the future of humanity.

His mind grew more and more distant.

That was when it happened.

"A—men."

Jesus surveyed his surroundings, drew a cross, and spoke.

At that single word, the mind of the bewildered Japanese Prime Minister — Hatoyama Jiro — returned to him.

The Japanese Transcendent spirit-master Yuki, who had been brought here after collapsing, also snapped her eyes open and rose to her feet.

The moment she saw Shin Si-woo, she started in alarm and vanished into the Spirit World.

'Just what did she go through…'

Just as the Prime Minister was spitting out that question, suddenly Jesus's voice reached him clearly.

"An interesting hypothesis."

He couldn't tell what Shin Si-woo had said, but the Jesus who had heard his words wore a completely different expression than he had upon arrival.

His usual mischievous smile.

He gave everyone in the space a tight! hug, then vanished into a cross that appeared in the air.

A space-transcending miracle of Jesus.

'He could even teleport?'

Were it the usual Japanese Prime Minister's depth of faith, he would have marveled at the scene — 'As expected of Jesus!' — but Jesus's power that erased even disabilities had made the Prime Minister's mind far too sharp.

So—

"Japan's future is truly bleak."

The Japanese Prime Minister bowed his head with a bitter expression.

"A lost century may be upon us."

Ahh—.

A lamentation spilled from the Japanese Prime Minister.

Where would Japan turn now to find its livelihood?

"Jesus places me under such a trial…"

Gates had appeared in every nation on Earth.

And those Gates had overflowed.

Places like Goyang City blanketed by the Red Sea, or Jeolla-do swallowed by darkness — there were many such tracts of land rendered unusable.

Japan was an island nation, and with all three of its Transcendents bound to the lava Gate, the severity had been even greater.

"Why… do You place me in a trial with no answer?"

What had allowed such a Japan to sustain itself was the inter-nation teleportation industry using [Mysteries] and the [Spirit World], was it not?

With Jesus's benevolence, He might well open free teleportation portals for all of humanity.

One of Japan's key industries was about to be wiped out whole.

The Prime Minister's head was throbbing when—

"Publicly, Lord Jesus's teleportation ability is a secret."

Shin Si-woo said so with a flat expression.

"A-a secret, you say?"

"Jesus has no intention of revealing that power."

The Japanese Prime Minister nodded with a somewhat relieved expression.

Yet Shin Si-woo's expression was strange.

Relief turned, in an instant, into unease.

And then came the words.

"Now we should finish settling accounts between ourselves, shouldn't we?"

The Japanese Prime Minister's head throbbed even harder.

He had no idea what on earth he was supposed to offer as compensation.

* * *

The short time I had spent in Japan.

A great many things had happened.

'My head's spinning.'

The Mount Fuji lava Gate and the Descent of the Dark God Necribas.

Having solved that problem, Japan had attempted to brainwash me.

Just as the brainwashing matter was wrapping up and we were about to discuss compensation, the British Doctor had picked a fight with me.

And then he'd died.

And the end of his death had left him bearing the brand of a Dark God.

"……What, exactly, did I help with?"

Jesus's voice still echoed in my ears.

It seemed that, without knowing it himself, he had rendered some kind of aid to the British Empire — the stronghold of ultra-conservative demon-worshippers.

'I don't know what the agreement between Britain and Jesus is, but…'

Apparently, it was considerably shocking.

"Shin Si-woo, thanks to you killing the Doctor, we've bought some time."

That was what Jesus had said with a resolute expression.

I had many questions.

Still, I didn't ask.

I let it pass, assuming there was some kind of secret history he couldn't reveal to me yet.

"In the name of Jesus Christ, I shall bless you, Shin Si-woo."

Because that same Jesus had personally granted me a blessing.

Beyond that, thanks to Jesus gracing us with His presence, there were no shortage of modest benefits.

First, the Japanese Prime Minister's response.

"I have committed a mortal sin. Please, forgive me—!!!"

The Japanese Prime Minister's reaction after Jesus left was almost absurd.

Like a man who had repented, he confessed every one of his crimes and performed the greatest form of apology in Japan — the dogeza — before me, muttering his repentance.

And the price he offered was also immense.

"Japan's research information on Mysteries will be shared in its entirety with South Korea."

To a preposterous extent.

'He's giving us information about Mysteries?'

Asked whether it was a great reward for Shin Si-woo as an individual — I could say it was so-so.

But if viewed by the standard of a nation in this age, it was an entirely different matter.

'In the old days, it'd be like semiconductor technology.'

He meant to share every bit of Japan's proprietary technology for utilizing Mysteries.

Put simply, he was handing over the most valuable asset of our age.

'America, they say, shrinks their foothold to the extreme and makes it into chip form.'

Japan was also quite advanced in Mystery technology.

As I was thinking that, the Japanese Prime Minister added,

"In addition… I will also grant you the ownership of the Roppongi Hills area as previously offered, and the rights to the Mystery teleportation used within South Korea."

Originally, I had meant to refuse due to the Patriot issue.

Because the Patriot would surely say something like:

<A traitor who borrows the power of those Jap bastards to legalize international travel, and acts like a feudal lord on Jap soil — how is that a Korean!!!>

Originally, I had intended to check the Patriot.

But it seemed the level of "checking" required would exceed my imagination.

Because compared to becoming a feudal lord of Japan or whatever, a bigger problem had arisen.

—Average Seoul housing prices up by 200 million won!!!

Housing prices right now were more expensive than when the Patriot had first declared real-estate regulations.

This was the first time such a thing had happened in the Patriot's era.

I had meant to show a little deference as his junior, but no matter how I thought about it, that was close to impossible.

So, I nodded calmly.

"I'll gratefully accept your kind offer."

Assets, by their nature, the more the better — wasn't that so?

Money, in today's world too, still wielded a powerful force.

Currency values should have long since shattered in the apocalypse, regressing the world to barter, but the emergence of [WorldNet] and the power of the Transcendents had allowed capitalism to survive.

So money was still good.

"Truly, with just this, you will forgive us? Regarding the lava Gate as well, I can offer further—"

Further compensation for the lava Gate, I politely declined.

To begin with, it had been the work of the Korean cult leader Gye Man-hwi, and I was already plenty satisfied with having obtained the Baby Sword's house.

So now—

"We will be taking our leave."

I needed time for myself.

The [4th Sword, Muratan], who had witnessed the end of the world for the fourth time.

I had to check what exactly that bastard had made.

I had held out as long as I could, but…

Paat!

[You may briefly observe the world of swords.]

[Observe the world of swords and enter the Tower!]

The status window kept prodding me.

I couldn't take it anymore.

* * *

Kang—! Kang—!

"Oho, this iron called a demon has hardness rivaling even [The Crawling Chaos]."

A workshop had appeared in Muratan's domain.

Compared to the one he had used in the [Raise a Sword] world, it fell short in many ways.

But it had sufficient equipment to crudely strike iron and combine it without issue.

Ziiik—.

The heat of the space shimmered.

The dwarf swung his sword like a hammer and devoted himself to his work.

"Haha! Our subject is hardy enough."

Iris watched Muratan's work.

Because her own interest had been stirred.

'Subjects that grew by feeding on the demonic obtain a new power—'

Iris's crimson eyes sparkled.

Because she saw the possibility of evolution for the Million Demons.

Her power had reached its end, and she saw no further direction for growth.

And in the midst of that, a new opportunity had come.

"Child, what manner of thing is a demon, fundamentally?"

"An impertinent tone. Calling Us 'child'—"

Iris felt fury.

She wanted to tear this dwarf to pieces right now and use him as nutrition.

But.

Seureureuk———.

A shadow fell over the world.

It was the gaze of the Sword Master, which appeared from time to time.

That gaze, which had always been hollow, felt different this time alone.

Eyes that had held no meaning beyond [sword] now gazed clearly at the souls within the swords as well.

Ziiing—Ziiing—.

Under that steady gaze, her heart tingled.

It was the first time his eyes had focused so clearly.

His gaze stickily examined the world of swords.

No — he was examining every corner of Iris's fourth-Sword Muratan's domain.

What was the reason?

'Surely he can't be looking at that lumpy little dwarf.'

To Iris, the Sword Master was a being like a father.

He must be watching how much she — his daughter-like being — had grown!

"Ahem—. We are magnanimous."

Iris straightened her back and put on airs.

Erasing her killing intent, she displayed the magnanimity befitting the last Empress of the world.

"A bland child, I see."

Muratan tilted his head and went back to his hammering.

To him, mid-work, all else was unimportant.

The new iron was already complete.

The work he was doing now was the finishing stage — tidying up the aesthetic aspects of the iron.

'I'd best make the division lines clear. A perfect sword comes, after all, from symmetry.'

The crimson demon had a large single eye and a mouth that split wide side to side.

The external form remained, but the color of its exterior had completely changed.

Kang——! Kang——!!!

An obscenely large, blunted greatsword hammered the power of [Guaranteed Life].

Half of the demon turned white.

Kang——! Kang——!!!

This time, the opposite side.

Then the other half was dyed jet black.

The demon's rough exterior had also changed somewhat.

The horrifying feeling of before had lessened a little.

A round-eyed one-eyed monster now looked, it must be said, somewhat cute.

"It is… done."

Muratan appeared calm, but his voice trembled.

A single thick drop of sweat ran down.

Because old memories had surfaced.

—Insufficient.

—Forging such a frail sword — can you still call yourself a blacksmith?

—I'll need to reforge a stronger iron. The name of the dwarven smith will weep. To call that a sword—

The Sword Master's eye for swords was absurdly high.

Despite having forged countless of the continent's finest swords, he had not been satisfied even once.

Only after striking a Dark God that had destroyed the world did he finally hear a single short word of praise.

Perhaps for that reason?

"Sword Master, how is this work?"

The dwarf gazed up at the heavens gravely and asked.

The skies above the world of swords.

The noble gaze that had been suspended in that distant place began to change.

It was clearly an eye-smile.

A clear eye-smile in which the mole beneath the eye stood out.

———A remarkable work.

He had lived his life as a blacksmith.

Having become a sword, he had made himself a hammer.

Thus the world had ended, and…

At last, he had been acknowledged.

"It is appreciated, to be viewed so kindly."

Muratan bowed his head toward the Sword Master — as he had done long, long ago in the dwarven palace.

It was the etiquette of an acknowledged smith, displaying humility and reciting the sword's performance.

"This sword is… a sword that encompasses life and death, that eats life and death."

A demon that eats anything.

An Authority that rules over life and death.

Weaving the two together into something similar yet new.

It was a power that could be said to have a foot in the realm of gods.

And so, the Sword Master ordered,

—Iris, aid him with your all.

Beside him, Iris replied with a 'Understood—' and a smile.

But in her eyes, one could sense an inexplicable hesitation.

'The new demon the Sword Master praised.'

Named thus — a demon that eats life and death.

It was only natural that Our subjects should be the strongest.

The thought came — I shall have that dwarf bastard remodel the entire Million Demons.

For Iris — already at the peak, with nowhere higher to climb — wasn't this the perfect opportunity?

But her pride did not permit her to ask another sword for a favor.

And so, she said,

"Your shoddy handiwork has its uses at times. We shall, as a special concession, leave you one more demon."

"Child, don't be stingy — generously leave a whole hundred of them!"

"If a work that pleases Us emerges, We shall grant the chance again."

The small child laughed 'Haha!' and vanished.

* * *

Meanwhile…

The Patriot, who had been trapped in the Black Gate — the [Abyss]—

"Sonic boom was the answer!"

"As expected, Patriot. Your imagination has been a great help."

"Yi Sun-sin, Yulgok Yi I, Cheok Jun-gyeong! Thanks to the Constellations!"

Mutually gilding each other in praise, he held a warm-hearted celebration with the Constellations.

Because they had found a way to escape this wretched forest.

The forest's source of power was sound!

"We add sonic-boom missiles to the carriers and issue the Yulgok Yi I army new sonic equipment."

The strategy was set.

The Patriot's bombing would burn the forest, the 100,000-strong army would slow the regeneration with sonic attacks.

Then sonic-boom missiles would strike the World Tree itself, dealing a great shock.

And finally—

"Sword Master Cheok Jun-gyeong. By the Patriot's order, I shall take the enemy commander's head."

Cheok Jun-gyeong's sword had been honed and re-honed to cut down the World Tree — the stronghold of those vile elves.

Now they could conquer this unidentified Gate.

"Information about Black Gates… and this mountain of Mysteries piled high."

He was deeply looking forward to what came after escaping the Gate.

How many citizens would this immense Mystery-haul save?

And how many of them would praise him for it?

Above all.

"Patriot, look at that species called elves. It must be a trap laid specifically for you."

"Indeed. Japan's elf, Yuki. That ear-pricked wench who creates strange spaces with her Spirit World — she has most certainly ensnared us."

They'd have to make Japan answer, wouldn't they?