Chapter 65

Chapter 65. Reversal (5)

"What?!"

The Japanese Transcendents had been helping manage the interior of North Korea in accordance with the Korea-US-Japan alliance.

Among them, Yuki—the half-elf who traversed worlds through the Spirit Realm—had been the first to witness and expose China's atrocities.

The horrific laboratories and the Chinese officials transporting test subjects.

China's Transcendents had been born from within those pitch-black eggs of darkness.

So why was it like this?

'Why are they so normal?'

After Shin Si-woo destroyed the Fragment of Impurity, the surroundings had gone quiet.

In that lull, the Japanese Transcendents had been observing the state of China beyond North Korea.

The Japanese Transcendents had two objectives:

1. Cooperate desperately with the Republic of Korea and prove that Japan harbors no imperial ambitions.

2. Confirm China's true nature and obtain authorization from Si-woo and the Patriot to bolster the Self-Defense Forces' armaments.

Objective one was nearly accomplished.

Both Transcendents had genuinely risked their lives defending Korea's frontlines.

All that remained was objective two—confirming China's true nature, but.......

"Yuki, everything you saw in the Spirit Realm was the truth, right?"

"Y-yes. But how come?"

China.

It was a perfectly managed, functioning nation.

No Gate Corrosion. The corrupted world had been purified with Mysteries, restoring beautiful nature. That kind of landscape.

Far better managed than Japan.

Almost like the Seoul metropolitan area.

"Yuki, are they actually pure humans?"

"Th-the Spirit King says they're just regular people."

The Chinese military arrayed amid beautiful nature.

They were certainly threatening, but their appearance was markedly different from the enemies they'd seen in North Korea.

'This is a matter to resolve through diplomacy.'

At the very least, they didn't seem like an opponent worth attacking out of the blue.

She'd assumed Si-woo and the Patriot would also pull back and discuss countermeasures, but—.

"Ma, masaka!!!"

Suddenly, reckless action followed.

The Patriot dove into the heart of the Chinese army.

Then self-destructed an aircraft carrier.

BOOM——!!!

And the result?

Yuki and Yacha were struck speechless.

Only after a long while did Yuki manage to whimper.

"An-annihilation......"

Hundreds of thousands of troops, along with everything else, had vanished.

It wouldn't be wrong to call it a massacre.

Ironically, even after witnessing such carnage, Yacha and Yuki felt relief.

'We're all friends here.'

Korea, the US, and Japan were allies.

Japan had been really lucky.

That Patriot was a lunatic who'd wipe out hundreds of thousands in one go the moment he snapped.

Just as that thought crossed their minds.

Something even stranger happened.

"......"

China's Transcendents regenerated.

They were lab-born Transcendents, so that much was conceivable.

The problem was what came next.

"Th-the entire army is regenerating?"

Not just one or two.

Hundreds of thousands—literally an entire army reconstituting itself whole.

Tanks, uniforms, rifles, and all.

"Yuki, you're saying those are human?"

"The Spirit King says they really are just people."

An army that annihilated and regenerated, yet supposedly composed entirely of pure humans.

That was even more terrifying.

If only they'd been Polluted Beasts.

If only they'd been a calamity spawned from a Gate.

If only they'd been demons.

Then they could have fought them without guilt.

But those things were unmistakable people, possessing intact physical bodies.

Yuki, and even Yacha—whose mind had been somewhat warped by his trials—hadn't gone so far off the deep end that they could do anything about hundreds of thousands of human beings.

Before either of them could even come to terms with the situation, the bizarre events kept piling on.

"The Patriot resurrected, and......"

"Si-Si-woo-sama!!!"

The Japanese Transcendents had no choice but to acknowledge that even among Transcendents, there were tiers.

The Patriot, who'd vanished along with hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops, had revived atop the carrier.

And Shin Si-woo appeared to be confronting the Chinese Transcendent head-on, attempting to negotiate, when—.

"Hk!"

In an instant, Yuki's breath caught.

Si-woo had suddenly summoned his demons.

Then fed the Chinese Transcendent to them.

CRUNCH———!!!

And then.......

Through the Spirit Realm, the image was visible.

Within it, the Chinese Transcendent regenerated.

<The human in love with a sword, this is strange. Ling Ling is an immortal. But why has Ling Ling's bond been severed?>

The Transcendent who'd been devoured by the demons had come back to life.

***

Iris's demons.

—Well, not quite, but I summoned the demons bound to my Baby Sword and had them swallow the Chinese Transcendent whole.

The demons possessed two Authorities:

1. They proliferate by consuming targets.

2. They absorb the devoured target's power and transfer it to the master.

Without question, my demons had consumed the Transcendent called Ling Ling.

BOOOM——.

Immediately after consumption, a new Authority dwelling within the Baby Sword flared to life.

Separation, originating from Muratan.

I couldn't absorb an entire Transcendent at my current level, so I had to choose which ability to separate from her.

I chose the power of regeneration.

FLASH!

[The demons have absorbed—a fragment of regeneration.]

[Regeneration ability is bestowed upon Sword Master Shin Si-woo.]

'I can steal Awakened abilities?'

I hadn't expected that to work.

Truly, a shocking development.

Perhaps China had already been doing something similar—proliferating or replicating Awakened abilities.

Just as that thought crossed my mind.

———DEVOUR!!!

The demons consumed everything else that had composed Ling Ling.

All of it was sent to the World of Ten Demons within the Baby Sword.

The surplus energy would be used to maintain the demon population within that world.

If I kept accumulating power like this, one day even the Baby Sword might possess a World of Million Demons like Iris.

But why was it that.......

"The human in love with a sword, this is strange. Ling Ling is an immortal. But why has Ling Ling's bond been severed?"

Right before my eyes.

Ling Ling regenerated from thin air.

Only then did I get a proper look at her face.

'What is China, really?'

A bob-cut framing a refined face.

For a Chinese person, the woman called Ling Ling had a remarkably Korean appearance.

She tilted her head at me with a somewhat vacant expression.

I was the one who should have been asking questions, yet she kept firing them at me.

"How did you sever Ling Ling's bond with the Party? I pursue peace."

As if I'd dignify that with an answer.

Only one thought dominated my mind.

Is that thing really human?

I wasn't the only one thinking it.

Judging by the Patriot's expression visible through the carrier's windows, it was as if he'd just witnessed a plague.

The same went for President Lee Seok-hyeon and Senior Prosecutor Kang, both pressed close beside him.

'Looks like everyone's in shock.'

Every face had gone white.

They'd been horrified by the Patriot's reckless stunt, then shocked even further by China's impossible regenerating legion.

Honestly, I'd tensed up a bit myself when the Patriot self-destructed.

'We're not talking about one or two—hundreds of thousands of people annihilated.'

That's a completely different story from killing a handful of demon worshippers.

I'm not some psychopath who commits mass slaughter on a whim.

Even so, as time went on, I found myself wishing the Patriot would send another carrier.

"Ling Ling is attempting to contact the Party. But it is not working. The human in love with a sword, I demand an explanation."

I kept getting the feeling she was buying time in front of me.

The Chinese forces arrayed in the distance had nearly completed their regeneration.

Wait—tanks coming back to life too? What even is that?

I couldn't make sense of it.

'What if I fed all of them to the demons?'

Feed three hundred thousand Chinese troops to the demons?

The world would probably grant me an Epithet like "Demon King" or "Slaughterer."

For one thing, I was fairly sure Jesus was observing this.

Anyway, as I watched in silence, Ling Ling raised both hands and surrendered.

"Ling Ling surrenders. I request that international laws regarding prisoners of war be observed and my safety be guaranteed."

I regarded her calmly but with gravity.

Wasn't she the one who'd just said I could kill her as much as I liked?

Her attitude had shifted abruptly.

First, she'd threatened that they wouldn't fight so long as we didn't cross the border. Now her eyes were wavering.

I knew why.

'Her regeneration is gone.'

My demons had eaten it.

And.......

'Her ability to fly, her immense physical capabilities—all of it is gone.'

Those had vanished into the demons' bellies.

From this, I formed a hypothesis.

'There's a very high probability that China is using the Dark God's power in a highly systematic manner.'

The "bond with the Party" that Ling Ling claimed had vanished might actually be a Transcendent's Authority.

There was likely a Transcendent progenitor born in the North Korean laboratories, and China had used some power—most likely a contract with a high-ranking demon or a Dark God—to make its army and Transcendents share Awakened abilities.

'I need information.'

My Eye was certain.

The woman called Ling Ling standing before me was a civilian now.

So I'll ask.

"Patriot, do you take Chinese prisoners of war?"

The Patriot, who'd appeared on the carrier's flight deck at some point.

He too must have grasped the severity of the situation, because he nodded with a deeply grave expression.

Then said:

"Chop off her arms, legs, eyes, nose, and mouth—then we'll take her in conditionally!"

That was no idle threat.

Cheok Jun-gyeong, along with Yi Sun-sin and Yulgok Yi I, advanced on Ling Ling with menacing gazes.

I wasn't the kind of villain who'd do that to a civilian.

Even so, I watched.

'Ling Ling knows it herself.'

She was aware that she'd become a civilian.

That was precisely why she'd surrendered and begged for her life.

I needed the truth—the hidden side that we didn't know.

'She gets devoured by demons and then regenerates?'

Something was going on.

Something truly terrifying.

SHING—.

Cheok Jun-gyeong drew his lightsaber.

Ling Ling's legs buckled.

With trembling eyes, she gazed toward the distant Chinese mainland, then spoke in a resolute voice.

"I-if I do not carry out the Party's orders, Ling Ling will disappear. Please, Transcendents of Joseon, show mercy!"

With those words, the reason to keep Ling Ling alive was proven.

Alongside her wretched confession, an anomaly erupted in China.

SWOOSH——.

Far, far away, in the heart of China.

A distance on an entirely different scale from the border where we stood.

Something appeared on the horizon, at a position so remote it was barely visible to the naked eye.

BOOOM!

It was an enormously gigantic human head.

The earth shook with every step the thing took.

BOOOM!

As it drew slightly closer, the colossal being was still at an immense distance, but its features became marginally clearer.

A giant with scarlet skin and a jet-black beard.

The giant held a crescent blade even taller than itself as it gazed toward the North Korean land where we stood.

And the giant's—.

'Its eyes......'

It had inverted eyes just like fallen demon worshippers.

Black where the whites should be, white where the iris should be.

That eerie gaze.

For some reason, I felt as though those enormous eyes had locked onto mine.

'Dangerous.'

This was instinct.

And I am a man who is deeply faithful to his instincts.

"Yuria Lanestia."

I immediately whispered the sword's name.

Simultaneously, my cognition shifted to that of a Transcendent's.

The world slowed as if it had stopped.

And at the same time—.

[Synchronization 100%]

Temporarily, I possessed the true Eye of a Transcendent.

Wasn't this the first time I'd Transcended while possessing the Eye?

An overwhelming flood of information poured into my eyes—far more than any physical body could contain.

'A Green Dragon Crescent Blade.'

In truth, I'd identified the red giant at a glance.

It was a figure so famous in China that anyone could recognize it.

'Guan Yu.'

A red-skinned giant wielding a crescent blade.

You're not a real man if you don't know the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

On top of that, Guan Yu is even worshipped as a god in China—there was no way not to recognize him instantly.

'In a world where Jesus and Yi Sun-sin exist, Guan Yu is hardly a surprise......'

The existence itself wasn't what shocked me.

What shocked me were the eyes.

FLASH!

[A Descended Vassal of the Dark God]

That was my Eye's verdict on Guan Yu.

[That is...... a form of evil never seen before, and a form of demonic power never encountered.]

A mythological hero once revered through faith.

The fact that a being who should have been manifested through the power of the Awakened had Fallen and become a vassal of the Dark God was truly shocking.

I recognized all of this in a single instant.

————!!!

In that instant, the red giant's eyes widened.

Just as I had seen him, he too had seen me.

Within my Transcended cognition, the world was frozen.

The only things moving within that stillness were China's Guan Yu.

And.......

"D-did they summon a knockoff Yi Sun-sin?"

The Patriot's mouth.

The more I observed him, the more I realized—the Patriot knew far too little.

How could he not know Guan Yu?

'Nobody would've been crazy enough to try educating that superhuman.'

But I was different.

Once this battle was over, I would absolutely teach the Patriot history.

To do that, I'd need to deal with China somehow.

HWOOONG───.

That enormous being swung its crescent blade at me.

Blazingly fast and precise, aimed squarely at my position.

Yet in my eyes, both its telegraphing and trajectory were vividly apparent.

Darkness.

The suffocating darkness I'd felt in North Korea surged from that colossal crescent blade.

Transcending the immense distance, cleaving through space, black sword energy poured toward our position on Mt. Baekdu.

"J-Junior, hurry and pull out the turtle ship and defen—."

The Patriot's frantic voice reached me.

He at least knew "turtle ship," using it like an ultimate attack, but that was entirely unnecessary.

I shook my head lightly and raised my sword.

This was my domain.

'A Fallen hero.'

Nothing special, when it came down to it.

The sword I held was Yuria Lanestia.

The most exalted Holy Sword.

I manifested a single strand of her power.

[Sacred Battle Art—Thunderbolt]

The power with which she'd saved the Holy Nation from Outer Gods.

By the rites of the Holy Empress Yuria Lanestia, only the chaste may execute this exalted art—and so I name it the Sacred Battle Art.

I raised the sword vertically.

With a heart that was pure, chaste, and noble, I willed it.

Let thunderbolts fall before me and burn away all evil.

Let golden thunderbolts stand as beacons in the darkness, guiding the lost to salvation.

And so, I shall make the world shine.

KRRRRUMBLE———!!!

My strike blazed with brilliant gold and soared skyward.