Chapter 68

Chapter 68. Confession (3)

FLASH!

[The Baby Sword grows.]

[Please select a new trait.]

1. Time—Delay.

2. Space—Leap.

This message appeared once I'd finished choosing about the Dual-Wielding Sword Master.

Since my level had risen, the Baby Sword grew with it.

The difference this time was that the time and space traits came with specific configurations.

'The swords can handle the time problem.'

Through the swords' cooperation, it was now possible to add Time.

The condition was that it required offerings of life in units of a hundred thousand, or demonic energy equivalent to that, but.......

'The former is out of the question, and the latter is easily achievable.'

Weren't Gates overflowing in this world?

Everything wicked and demonic could be obtained with absurd ease in the current era.

In other words, the time problem could be resolved, at least in a limited fashion.

That was why I chose Space—Leap.

FLASH!

[The Baby Sword learns the Authority of 'Space—Leap.']

The small but precious Baby Sword grew a bit sturdier.

'Growing up nicely.'

I nodded with satisfaction and gazed at the sword's Jewel.

'Still no name?'

I had a splendid name prepared, yet the quest to name it still hadn't appeared.

'Maybe the threshold is level ten......'

A lot had happened, but strictly speaking, I hadn't been Awakened for very long.

Hence the low level.

The Patriot was well past level fifty, and Jesus had exceeded a hundred.

For reference, levels were a rule that applied only to each individual and held no meaning in comparison to others.

This, too, was part of the "rewards" the system provided.

The useful thing to note was that the system set milestones at intervals of ten.

'At level ten, the Baby Sword will hit a turning point.'

Starting with naming it, the Chaos Holy-Demon Sword's Time-Space Slash should manifest as a proper skill.

It absolutely had to.

While I was steeling that resolve.

[Goodness! Sword Master, two people can now speak at the same time!]

[This maiden wishes to monopolize one of the slots!!!]

Suddenly, two lights flickered simultaneously from the Jewel.

'Simultaneous communication is possible now?'

I'd become a Dual-Wielding Sword Master.

As a result, it seemed two swords could now use Communication at the same time.

A bit noisy, perhaps, but having constant communication with two of my swords was a satisfying development.

[Grant this maiden monopoly rights!!!]

At Iris's insistent demand, I asked the other swords for their input.

"If everyone else agrees, sure. What do you think?"

The Baby Sword's Jewel flickered madly.

Seemed they had plenty to discuss among themselves.

After a brief pause.

[Sword Master, consensus has been reached that this maiden shall monopolize one slot!]

Iris declared brightly.

Something told me there'd been a terrifying pecking-order struggle behind the scenes.......

'Or maybe she charmed and coaxed them?'

I thought back on my memories with Iris.

The self-sovereign empress who'd annihilated worlds had conversed with no one but me.

Well, more precisely, with the swords I'd forged.

'Still, her temperament itself is splendid.'

Merciless to enemies yet capable of rallying her own—that was the quality of a sovereign, and that was Iris Ruzbella.

Had the world not abandoned her, she would have grown into a magnificent empress.

Surely, the sovereign's quality within her had shone among the swords.

A "class president of the swords," so to speak.

'The current Iris doesn't see the whole world as her enemy anymore.'

I hoped that while she was with me, Iris would find joy in something other than ruin and destruction.

Finishing the brief conversation, I stared into the void again.

Rewards still remained.

FLASH!

[Mystery Ingot: 1,000 kg has been granted.]

When I'd destroyed the Red Sea and the Molten Sea, the ingots I'd received amounted to ten kilograms.

Now, I'd been given a hundred times that.

Converted to Korean won, it would far exceed a quadrillion—no, it was a reward so valuable that monetary conversion was meaningless.

Enough that exchanging it for cash would obliterate the Korean economy.

'Money is meaningless to me now.'

I was currently a Transcendent of Korea who held both wealth and power.

Even trillions of won would have nowhere to be spent.

But—.

'The Mystery itself has plenty of uses.'

I knew exactly where to use this staggering quantity of Mystery.

According to Muratan, it was an "imperfect metal." Even so, it was a mystical metal that could force miracles upon the world.

And I was in a position where I needed to deploy those miracles liberally.

'Pyongyang.'

The apartments under redevelopment weren't even finished yet.

FLASH!

[Pyongyang—Owner: Shin Si-woo]

I'd become the owner of the city of Pyongyang.

A legitimate, rightful territory of mine, guaranteed by the system—incomparable to any deed of ownership.

'I can change its name, levy taxes, or reshape the territory itself......'

The way to use this Territory was very simple and convenient.

According to the Patriot, who'd reshaped Gwanghwamun, you simply provided Mystery equivalent to the law of equivalent exchange—and that was it.

Mystery was only required for reshaping.

'Things like naming rights and tax authority just activate on their own......'

[How about "Si-woo World," signifying the Sword Master's domain?]

Ignoring Iris's suggestion, I pondered how to reshape Pyongyang with Mystery.

My ultimate goal was to Manifest and bring forth the World of Swords.

But everything had its proper order.

'There's still too much lacking to manifest the World of Swords right now.'

I needed to raise the Baby Sword first, and only after earning a certain degree of qualification should I develop my territory to allow them to Manifest.

Attempting it without qualification would obviously fizzle.

'For now......'

Pyongyang was the only land designated as my Territory.

The rest of North Korea remained in its devastated state.

Manifesting Yuria had purified some of the evil energy, but given that North Korea had been thoroughly destroyed, the aftermath still lingered.

The land's spiritual energy, the life force of nature—there was none to speak of.

"If I plant the World Tree, will it be manageable?"

I was thinking of planting the World Tree Seed obtained from Jeonju's Void.

So I asked the swords.

From within the sword came an explosive response.

[O-our special treat!!!]

Iris exclaimed brightly.

[S-Sword Master! I too am very fond of the World Tree!!!]

Yuria suddenly chimed in.

[Sword Master, I shall forge you the hardest wooden sword!]

Then Muratan barged in, and.

[This old body has been finding it difficult to locate a proper training dummy as of late.]

Even the usually composed Reinhardt added a word.

'Hm.'

My swords adored the World Tree.

Planting it wasn't only about reviving North Korean territory.

The World Tree was something like the landmark of the world where the swords had lived.

It was also the very first special treat the swords had consumed on their path to Transcendence.

The first step toward manifesting the world of Raise a Sword.

'The act of planting it is meaningful in itself.'

Leaving the swords' lively clamor behind, I organized everything regarding the rewards.

I'd become a Dual-Wielding Swordsman, the Baby Sword had grown, and I'd gained the authority to reshape my territory with a massive supply of Mystery.

If there was one disappointment—.

'I still don't qualify for the Tower?'

Unfortunately, no quest related to Tower entry had appeared.

But the Patriot seemed to be different.

Having apparently finished organizing his rewards around the same time, the Patriot came striding over, his Taegukgi cape fluttering.

"Junior, I've got a fuckton of Mystery!!! With this, I can maintain a safe sea route connecting Jeju and Busan!"

He went on and on about what to do with the Mystery, then abruptly asked me.

"You're donating all your Mystery too, right?"

"No."

"Junior, I heard you've never once donated Mystery to the state?"

"And I don't plan to start."

"Why?"

"I have a separate use for it."

"D-don't tell me......"

The Patriot squinted.

"D-demon food?"

"......"

"That's not it, right? Phew—. Junior? Why are you looking at me like that?"

The Patriot faltered and took a step back.

Something told me, instinctively, that now was the moment.

'I have a feeling the Patriot received a Tower quest.'

Surely, last time when they'd taken turns going to the Tower, the Patriot had said, 'I upgraded Yi Sun-sin's carriers!'

He probably hadn't encountered a new Constellation yet.

"Patriot, did a Tower quest come up?"

"Oh! Right. Since I powered up a Constellation last time, they said I could draw a new one this time?"

Just as I thought.

Now was the perfect time.

I believed in the Saintess of Fate Im Ji-a's accuracy.

'Threaten the Patriot with swords.'

And so, I summoned two swords in my mind.

Swords that could terrify the Patriot into submission and force the number "2" upon him.

BOOOM————.

The world sank.

As if to say everything I'd Transcended through until now hadn't been true Transcendence at all.

FLARE—.

Searing heat blazed in my left hand.

In my right, deep crimson blood embroidered the air.

The Baby Sword remained in its scabbard, yet two swords wrought of lava and blood suddenly erupted from thin air.

FLASH!

[The Last Empress of the World, Iris Ruzbella, has been drawn.]

[The World-Reshaping Blacksmith, Muratan, has been drawn.]

Indeed.

I had become a Dual-Wielding Sword Master.

With two Transcendent swords in both hands, I felt more than double the omnipotence.

In that state, I leveled the blades at the Patriot's neck and spoke.

Now it was time to threaten.

"It's 2. No exceptions."

I followed the prophecy, mentioning nothing about the Tower or anything else—demanding only "2."

"Ugh, AAAAGH!!!"

TREMBLE—.

The Patriot's eyes rolled back and he collapsed unconscious.

Looking around, countless people were staring at me.

Through the carrier's windows, Senior Prosecutor Kang and the President sent looks of sheer horror, and.......

"Wh-what on earth have you done?!"

The Patriot's Constellations came charging toward me with faces pale as ghosts.

***

"I need to speak with you."

Yi Sun-sin requested a private audience with me.

Of all times, while the Patriot was unconscious?

He clearly intended to buy time for the Patriot to wake up under the pretense of talking to me.

But.......

"I beg of you, do not teach the Patriot anything."

He suddenly bowed his head and made a plea.

'A Constellation is obstructing the Patriot's education?'

For an instant, a possibility flashed through my mind.

'Is the Patriot being brainwashed by his Constellations?'

That was an incredibly alarming possibility.

But before I could even voice my doubt, Yi Sun-sin answered it.

"No, we are the ones being swayed."

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"After hearing something like that, it would only be natural to suspect us of brainwashing him."

Constellation Yi Sun-sin turned out to be gentler in temperament than appearances suggested.

"Above all, it shows on your face."

I wasn't exactly known for my poker face.

I nodded sheepishly and asked.

"So what's the real reason?"

The Patriot didn't know his history.

I doubted that someone like Yi Sun-sin would be unaware of that.

And yet, Constellation Yi Sun-sin delivered something deeply shocking.

"The Patriot's ignorance is the Republic of Korea's hope."

"Excuse me?"

Insane nonsense.

And yet.......

"The Patriot's imagination is the force that defines us."

Beginning with Yi Sun-sin's confession, Yulgok Yi I took over the explanation.

As far as I knew, Yi Sun-sin and Yulgok Yi I were heroes from nearly the same era—contemporaries, essentially.

But.......

"In the Patriot's trials, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was born a hundred years later than me, Yulgok Yi I."

The Patriot had only known that Yulgok Yi I advocated the Ten Thousand Troops Preparedness Theory.

"A-and regarding Admiral Yi Sun-sin?"

"Apparently the Patriot saw some movie. And a few comics. He combined the two, and I became what I am now."

"Roaring Currents: Yi Sun-sin," which had surpassed ten million viewers.

In it, Yi Sun-sin had sunk every last Japanese warship with just twelve battered ships and emerged victorious.

"The Patriot thought that film was government propaganda."

His reasoning was that destroying hundreds of Japanese ships with twelve rickety boats didn't make any sense.

The Patriot believed the real Yi Sun-sin was the carrier-fleet commander from "Trip: Great Korean Empire, 2077."

"He figured they downgraded the real history—where Yi Sun-sin just crushed them with carriers—and added dramatic flair because it would've been too easy otherwise."

"What?"

"He was dead serious."

And so, in the Patriot's trials, Yi Sun-sin ended up commanding aircraft carriers.

"When I first became an admiral of a carrier fleet. Ah......"

Yi Sun-sin's gaze grew distant.

"I knew nothing...... It was truly another world. But the Patriot assumed it was a problem with my memories."

The Patriot had believed: "In the trials, a Constellation's memories aren't fully intact!"

"Every time, he'd push me, saying, 'If you're Admiral Yi Sun-sin, you should at least be able to fire self-destruct drones!'......"

Astonishingly.

The instant the Patriot finished speaking, the operational knowledge would surface in Yi Sun-sin's mind.

From flying carriers to unmanned drones, unmanned fighters, unmanned bombers, and more recently, nuclear warheads and maneuverability that defied the laws of physics.

"We have come to this world and done some studying of our own."

As a result, the Constellations had realized something.

"If the Patriot learns real history, all of this disappears."

The power of the heroes protecting this nation would vanish?

Even I found that hard to accept.

"President Lee Seok-hyeon, Kang Mu-jin, and the entire government of the Republic of Korea are making tireless efforts to maintain the Patriot's current perception."

An entire nation working to prop up a single Transcendent.

I couldn't help but be in awe.

As I sat soaking in the emotion.......

Yi Sun-sin abruptly confessed.

"The truth is, I can no longer go back to the panokseon."

An aircraft carrier with autopilot and overwhelming firepower.

Yi Sun-sin said he absolutely could not lose that.......

"Please, I implore you! Do not send me back to those battered old ships. This is not merely my personal desire—it is for the Republic of Korea!"

So this was the real reason.

A shocking twist.