Chapter 56

Chapter 56. Let's Go, North! (2)

"Good thing they're not using us as meat shields."

"You can say that again."

SSS-rank Yacha.

SSS-rank Half-Elf Yuki.

Two of Japan's Transcendents had come to Korean soil at Shin Si-woo's call.

They had joined the frontline forces.

"Yuki, we'll stand with the Korean military here."

"As per Si-woo-sama's orders, if it comes to it, we'll evacuate all frontline personnel via portal."

Their role was to support the Korean military stationed here.

If a monster the military couldn't handle appeared, Yacha would step in.

If even he couldn't resolve it, Yuki's spirits would pin the polluted beasts down while the soldiers were evacuated.

"It's starting."

An intense power could be felt from the sky.

That intensity was familiar…

"B-bombers."

Yuki and Yacha also sensed the sky's trembling.

That thing which had occasionally visited Japan.

That thing which had fired bombs in stealth mode and vanished.

That thing was…

Hwiooooo———.

Filling the sky to a degree beyond counting.

Because they too were Transcendents, and because the Patriot's power was not as enigmatic as Shin Si-woo's, they could sense it.

"S-sugoi!!!"

Yacha was gaping in admiration without a thought, but Yuki was thinking something different.

'That's…'

Not thoughts like 'those bombers nearly came for Japan' or 'how reassuring to have such a monster as an ally.'

Yuki's entire mind had been seized by a certain scent radiating intensely.

'Mother's phytoncide!!!'

The bombers filling the sky, the aircraft carriers existing somewhere above, and Shin Si-woo and the Patriot crossing into North Korea on the ground — from all of them, an intense World Tree fragrance emanated.

'Last time, it only came from the Patriot alone…'

The Patriot — who had slaughtered the World Tree and elves countless times inside a [Black Gate] — had carried a strong scent.

But from Shin Si-woo, something faint yet deeper, something more fundamental, could be felt.

It was reacting to the World Tree seed Shin Si-woo carried.

'It's like… when I stood before the World Tree herself…'

That was when.

"Yuki, incoming!"

Yacha shouted.

Yuki hastily looked toward the front line — the darkness to the north.

The sky split open and the blocked view cleared wide.

Hwiooo——.

Through the gap, orderly descending shells came into view.

And fierce flames surging up, ripping the darkness apart.

Kuguguguguung——!!

It was overwhelming violence.

Explosions erupted as though devouring everything, the surroundings flashing on all sides, and intense tremors followed on the ground.

Stronger than the Great East Japan Earthquake.

As though the earth itself were raging.

Kiiiiiik——!

A chilling noise suddenly rang out.

The world was still blazing bright from the bombardment's aftermath, yet following the noise, some form of shape emerged through the wall of light.

It was something enormously vast — like a terrain feature come alive.

Monsters cloaked in pitch-black darkness, assuming human shapes.

Dozens of such titanic monsters.

And below them—

"A tidal wave from the ground…"

"Yuki, that's not a tidal wave."

A black surge was pouring forth.

But its true nature was 'polluted beasts' packed into a dense mass.

Tangled and crushed and fused together, the monsters had merged into something like a ghastly tidal wave.

"I'll go first."

Yacha made his judgment.

He could handle this much.

Behind them, the Korean military's bombardment had begun, and all he needed to deal with were those colossal polluted beasts.

Though, one question nagged at him…

'There's no way that Shin Si-woo missed those.'

The demons that devoured everything.

The azure blue sword that had annihilated Mt. Fuji whole.

Or the holy sword that had moved Jesus, or the blunt club that had beaten the British Doctor to a pulp.

Yet Shin Si-woo had taken no action against these.

'If things this big are coming through, what on earth is inside there?'

The question crossed his mind.

* * *

Since the Gate crisis.

No — perhaps even before that.

I had become the first Korean to set foot on North Korean soil.

Our once-divided territory had been transformed into a demonic hellscape.

"What in the…"

The harrowing sight inside North Korea.

Nothing that had once been human remained — only horrific destruction.

Near the 38th Parallel, where mines and nature had coexisted, the land had turned black.

Just as the contaminated soldiers had, the earth and all of nature had become a terrible black fluid.

The only traces of people that could be found were ruins of buildings, reduced to rubble.

"That was my bombing!"

The Patriot shouted proudly.

Honestly speaking…

I felt grateful for the Patriot's patriotism.

'Without the bombing, who knows what would've happened to South Korea.'

The Patriot's bombardment hadn't always been this powerful.

It was the result of his stubborn, relentless bombing of North Korea long before my Awakening.

The destroyed buildings were packed with polluted-beast corpses.

The same held true even now.

"These bastards really did develop immunity."

Of course, those dead beast corpses coming back to life was something he hadn't anticipated.

Graaaaaah———.

Blackened monsters filled every direction.

They'd supposedly developed immunity to bombardment, and so they had.

Furthermore…

"Regeneration. That Chinese bastard's ability."

China periodically disclosed its Hunter strength on [WorldNet], and the numbers were abnormally high.

The regenerating Transcendent they'd revealed recently was an Awakened who could recover even after his head was blown off.

Some of the polluted beasts, blasted to pulp by the bombing, had begun regenerating.

Just like the SSS-rank Hunter China had disclosed.

The source likely lay here.

'Well, I need to see something before I can fix it.'

I was a Transcendent, and so was the Patriot.

Sword Master Cheok Jun-gyeong, too, held formidable power as a Constellation.

We pushed past the miscellaneous rabble and drove deeper into North Korea.

Kuguguguguung————!!!

Bombardment rained down one step ahead of my path.

Air support was flawless.

"Junior, what about cleanup?"

"We have Yulgok Yi I, the Korean military, and even the Japanese Transcendents — let's leave that much to them."

There was no time to fuss over every minor obstacle.

Once the invasion had begun, this had become a battle against time.

That was why I still hadn't drawn a sword.

'The 100,000-strong army is handling the frontline and domestic issues, and the Japanese Transcendents are here — it'll be fine.'

We hadn't forged alliances for nothing.

I pressed on.

⦗Sword Master, it is that way.⦘

The natural enemy of the Dark God, Necribas.

From the world of swords, Reinhardt — watching over me — followed the traces and guided my path.

It was closer than expected.

Just above Paju — roughly where Kaesong had been.

'If I go in a straight line from here…'

Pyongyang.

Where North Korea's capital had stood.

The vessel of the Dark God — Necribas — was most likely hidden there.

The reason I was so certain was—

"Grrrrrk——."

Because of the being that had come to greet us.

A monster with crimson skin, spraying chilling blood.

Its appearance closely resembled the Descended Necribas I'd seen before, yet the power it radiated was far deeper and more fathomless.

'A clone.'

The surprise attack must have caught it off guard.

To think it had sent a clone — a portion split from its very source — from the start.

"Krrrrrrk——."

A clone, incapable of human speech.

Yet possessing 10% of the main body's combat power.

Pweoong—!

The crimson monster that had been far away appeared before me in an instant.

That confirmed it — a main body definitely existed, and the Dark God had driven its 'source' into the earth.

Kkudeudeuk—.

The area around the crimson monster warped.

An eerie, bizarre, uncanny aura.

The power of a Dark God raised on blood and despair and death.

Watching that overwhelming presence, the Patriot asked,

"You taking this one?"

I knew well.

When a Dark God that fed on the deaths of others split off a piece of its source, it meant…

'The situation is genuinely dangerous.'

So I was saving my swords.

Pyongyang was still far away.

* * *

'This crazy bastard! Why is he holding back his power against that monster?!'

The Patriot was furious at being left to fight alone.

He too was a Transcendent — he had endured trials alongside his Constellations for 'centuries.'

An immense power still lay dormant within Shin Si-woo, and he could use it at any time.

As a Transcended being's senses, he was 100% certain.

'If he just summoned the demons, he could steamroll everything…'

All that talk about Dark Gods to scare him.

And then a monster appeared that his Constellations and he could defeat through combined assault.

"This is only the beginning. I'm saving my power for the real thing."

Was there a time limit on sword-summoning?

The Patriot thought that, while also wondering if this might be some kind of 'deception tactic.'

Or perhaps, summoning swords recklessly would alter the world the way Jesus did, so he was being cautious.

Anyway…

"Cheok Jun-gyeong, I'm fine — clear the surrounding monsters first!"

Cheok Jun-gyeong was the Patriot's shadow.

Since the Constellations would vanish if their master — the owner of the Constellation Spaces — died, protecting him was the absolute top priority.

But when the Patriot gave this order, even he could head for the battlefield.

In that brief instant, Shin Si-woo's and Cheok Jun-gyeong's eyes met.

Spat!

Both moved before a word was exchanged.

Two men sprinting simultaneously in different directions.

Kwaaang———!!!

Shin Si-woo charged toward the crimson monster's position, and Cheok Jun-gyeong swung his sword at the polluted beasts flooding in from all sides.

Sreuk—.

Cheok Jun-gyeong was also a warrior at his core — before the SS-rank Hunter Sword Emperor had gone missing, the two had crossed swords.

He was both a Sword Master and the greatest martial artist of the Realm of Creation in all of history.

And so—

'Truly, artistry approaching the divine.'

From the corner of his eye, he could see how wondrous Shin Si-woo's swordsmanship was.

That was a completed something.

A completed, perfected swordsmanship interwoven in six streams — or deeper, more complex forms still.

'Like someone who has mastered the Heavenly Demon's Steps using the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.'

All of his power was enigmatic.

Yet there was a sense that the level of his body and his fundamental application fell far short of the swordsmanship's Caliber.

'Is it the sword that's weak?'

Perhaps he had not yet reclaimed the 'perfect' body gained from his trial.

Just as it had taken time for Jesus to fully become a god, just as the Patriot had needed time to summon three Constellations simultaneously.

He too might be going through that process.

A mere month since Awakening.

'Truly, one worthy of being called EX—'

Cheok Jun-gyeong thought so while dispatching the surrounding polluted beasts.

Their numbers were staggering, but clearing trash mobs was well within his means, so he kept his eyes on Shin Si-woo's sword.

Thwack—.

Blood sprayed.

But the crimson monster's body instantly reverted to its original state.

Sculpted muscles.

And endlessly dripping viscous crimson blood.

'If Shin Si-woo used his true power, he could kill that thing in an instant.'

Yet Shin Si-woo was still fighting the monster with his power restrained.

Even restrained, the intensity was such that before long — pik — one of the crimson monster's arms flew off.

Seizing that opening, Shin Si-woo shot to the Dark God's rear.

Then came an intense aura.

Ziiiiing—————.

It was different from the energy when he'd summoned demons or drawn the azure blue sword.

If those swords had emanated an 'inhuman' strength, the sword Shin Si-woo displayed now radiated a ferocity that inspired reverence for a 'human.'

That was…

'The extreme of humanity.'

Cheok Jun-gyeong instinctively fell back.

And simultaneously—

* * *

Paat!

[Natural Enemy — positional superiority established.]

[Dark God Necribas's Authority is restricted.]

[Azure blue aura drives out the demonic.]

The enemy was nothing more than the Dark God's clone.

I faced the Dark God's clone using only my own power and the Baby Sword's.

To be clear, right now, I too—

'Am strong.'

The enlightenment of the swords dwelling within me.

And the 33 Forms obtained in the Tower.

Reinhardt's swordsmanship was the ability to transform fundamentals into ultimate techniques through extreme cultivation.

I had internalized it.

And so, I held the advantage over the Dark God's clone.

Now it was time to finish it.

'I'll press all at once.'

The 33 Forms.

But among them, one streak that remained as a skill.

Envisioning my strategy going forward, I swung the sword.

[Single Slash, Sky Splitter.]

An upward slash from below.

A stance that made it difficult to generate much force.

And yet, the result?

Thwack————!!!

The Dark God's clone lost its balance.

Its body was torn vertically.

The trajectory of the sword — drawn from below to above — stretched all the way to the distant sky.

My sword, which had not yet truly Transcended — and yet it ripped through the darkness blanketing the heavens in an instant.

"Grrrrrk——."

A monster stripped of language, sending a gaze of hatred at me.

A clone bearing 10% of the source.

But now, weakened by the natural-enemy penalty and its regeneration slowed.

I used the Baby Sword's power to close the creature's 'time-space.'

Its wounds would regenerate more slowly, and its severed body would reconnect more sluggishly.

Now it was time for the demons.

Not Iris's power — but the 10 demons bound to my Baby Sword.

And the Life-and-Death Demon that Muratan had forged.

"Eat."

Ten demons lunged at the sluggishly regenerating monster.

A piece of the Dark God — Necribas — who had claimed endless life through blood and death.

With the Life-and-Death Demon, I devoured its 'life' and forced death upon it.

And so, the crimson monster was killed.

Saaaa————.

A collapsed world consumed by darkness.

Sunlight descended upon North Korean soil.

Not all of it — but here, where I stood, the land affected by [Sky Splitter] had changed to its normal surroundings.

Against the sun, the prow of an aircraft carrier floating in the sky came into view.

'Can you see it?'

The carrier's stealth had been dropped.

That probably meant a powerful enemy had appeared up there as well.

That was fine.

'The Patriot is far stronger than I expected.'

For the first time, I had witnessed the Patriot's true power in action.

Fighting alongside him had given me certainty.

The fact that he could command a front this wide and sustain firepower continuously for 24 hours — that alone defined what 'Transcendent' meant.

And now, something beyond that had to be prepared.

"Purification."

I used the [Purification] skill on the surrounding area.

The colorless black recovered its true colors.

The earth — defiled by polluted-beast ichor — was purified and revealed its original form.

And upon this land—

"I, Jesus Christ, decree. I shall raise the light."

—A gaze descended.

The one true god of living humanity.

Jesus had begun observing everything on this land.

With this, the condition was met.

<Precursor of the war against the Dark God confirmed.>

The World spoke.