Chapter 9

Chapter 9. New Growth Path (2)

"Is it reacting to blood?"

The world within the sword was peculiar.

A structure where the outermost swords sealed in the ones deeper inside.

The very last was Reinhardt.

'Those wretched things—.'

He sensed the chilling auras nestled deep within and reflected on why the sword's world was structured this way.

'I am the guardian.'

Behind him lay the small and precious world of the Baby Sword.

The world Reinhardt had to protect.

But then.......

SLURP——.

That world suddenly changed.

Reinhardt gazed at the small world beyond his own.

"YUMMY!!!"

The [Baby Sword] had formed a faint sense of self and abruptly absorbed blood.

Whereupon the Sword Master transformed the Baby Sword into a bizarre form where Good and Evil coexisted.

"Chaos......"

Reinhardt could only watch over the Baby Sword's growth.

"The will of the supreme Master."

His role was not the Baby Sword's upbringing, after all.

"I am the guardian."

Reinhardt took up his sword and approached a massive gate.

A gate connecting deeper into the world of swords.

A deeply unsettling presence emanated from the very deepest reaches.

WHOOSH————.

From the second-deepest seat, a crimson, bewitching entity had begun to stir.

'The 5th Sword.'

It had merely awakened— nothing more yet.

Just as Reinhardt was inwardly sighing with relief—.

SLURP——.

The Baby Sword absorbed blood a second time.

"Heavens!!! Little sword, how could you!!!"

WHOOSH—.

The second blood didn't blend into the Baby Sword's domain.

Instead, it fell as rain across the world of swords.

The rain was faint.

It vanished as quickly as a passing breeze.

But the smell of blood was vivid.

And because of that—.

"Aah......"

A wretched demon sword forged from slaughter and blood.

It awakened.

"Master of the Sword—."

Blood.

She had consumed blood.

A small child clutching a crimson greatsword rose to her feet, scattering a mist of blood.

The 5th Sword, the one who had witnessed the world's end second.

Iris Ruzbella had awakened.

"—Why do you rouse this maiden?"

The throne she'd been sitting on was made of bones, and what draped her body was a dress woven from blood.

On her small frame, the dress dragged along the ground.

The girl hefted the greatsword— larger than her own body— with ease.

Then stepped beyond her domain.

SCREECH—.

Her dress, far too large for her frame, left a trail of blood on the ground.

It extended all the way to [4th Sword, Muratan]'s domain.

"I'm short on ore."

A dwarf knight with a shattered mind.

"Hmm, ore made from a pretty little demon brat......"

He muttered while eyeing Iris Ruzbella's head.

A gaze that regarded it as something to be smelted.

To which the crimson girl spoke.

"We shall procure a great deal of ore for you. Won't you let Us pass?"

She was a tiny little girl, yet her manner of speech alone evoked the image of the Empire's last Empress.

No— that was her very nature.

Looking at her, the dwarf nodded.

"Fine. Just keep your promise about the ore."

Iris crossed the 4th Sword's domain.

She reached the 3rd Sword's domain, and then—.

"......"

Stepped directly into the 2nd Sword's domain.

It was brimming with sacred energy.

Iris Ruzbella grimaced at the stinging divine power.

This place felt as holy as if a deity had descended in person.

But something was off.

'A broken saint, I see.'

Iris smirked.

A resplendent golden greatsword lay discarded on the ground like refuse.

Beside the sword sat a woman with hollow eyes.

She asked.

"The smell of blood...... are you the root of evil?"

Iris scoffed.

"Fallen saint, may We pass?"

"Fallen, am I...... Cruel girl, pass. I will do nothing."

She chose silence in the face of evil.

And so Iris Ruzbella crossed the 2nd Sword's domain.

And faced the 1st Sword— an old man.

He was the oldest of them all, yet the most vigorous.

"How many things...... have you killed?"

The old man raised his sword.

Iris narrowed her eyes.

"You've already received the Master's grace......"

Her gaze was thick with jealousy.

"Go back. Young fiend."

"Young, you say—. Heh heh heh, Our flesh has merely shrunk from lack of blood. Feed Us some ten thousand and We shall grow back in no time."

"HALT!!!"

The old man threatened the girl.

And the girl attacked the old man.

SLASH——.

"Surely, our master has fed me blood. He must be calling for Us."

A legion of ten thousand demons erupted from the crimson greatsword.

The wicked things engulfed the old man, and—.

WHOOSH——.

"Go back."

The old man unfurled a sword barrier against the blood.

The crimson blood and the procession of demons crashed against a brilliant blue curtain and were stopped.

"We have waited an eternity."

The small girl glared at Reinhardt with an ever more vicious look.

"Go back—."

"The master said We would grow if We consumed blood. He prepared a feast for Us—."

5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella.

Having never received the Sword Master's favor, she lacked power.

"Go back—."

"What a tiresome old man."

Iris Ruzbella looked beyond the old man.

A tiny, minuscule domain.

A world of the sword where good and evil intertwined.

A thick smell of blood wafted from it.

"Blood! It's blood! A sea of blood!!! That little one has consumed blood...... Aah, how delicious it must have been!"

"That young sword is not for you to covet. Go back, fiend."

"Fiend, you say...... Hmph! Our amusement ends here. When We emerge again, it will not be this easy—."

The small girl vanished with a cackle.

* * *

Awakened Management Bureau, Yeouido Branch, Hunter Division.

"A Mystery...... Si-woo, you really did become an absurd Awakened."

Seol-a noona, who'd transferred departments for my sake, murmured her thoughts on the 'Mystery' I'd brought back.

"That Park Chang-seok bastard could've soloed the same thing, so there's no need to be that impressed."

"Si-woo, that's exactly what's abnormal. A Gate that a B-rank Hunter with three years of built-up power could solo-clear, and you did it on your first raid......"

Seol-a noona trailed off with a peculiar look.

I asked, just to be sure.

"Are you my handler, noona?"

"Yeah. You worked at the Bureau too, so you know how it goes, right?"

Promising Awakened were assigned a dedicated staff member.

In my case, it seemed to be Seol-a noona.

Her father might have pulled strings.

'Works out great for me.'

Above all, the comfort of working with someone familiar was a relief.

'Though the treatment does seem a bit excessive......'

In truth, I'd received enormous privileges even on the way back from the Gate.

As if I were some high-ranking politician, I'd been escorted back to Yeouido in a military vehicle.

"Wasn't that your father pulling strings when I came back, noona? It felt like they were transporting a nuclear warhead."

I tested the waters.

"Hmm...... Beats me, I'm just a low-ranking civil servant."

Seol-a noona deftly changed the subject.

Pulling out a topic she knew I couldn't resist arguing with.

"The Mystery is worth 100 million, and the small Red Gate clear reward is 10 million. I'll deposit it to your account."

Money, naturally.

Flash!

[Awakened Management Bureau: Deposit — 110,000,000 won]

A notification popped up from the banking app linked to WorldNet.

They really weren't kidding when they said Hunters made good money. It exceeded all imagination.

A single Gate had earned me double my annual salary.

"Over 100 million......"

I should have been the one in shock, but the gasp actually came from Seol-a noona.

I was equally thrilled.

'The money tied up in real estate isn't a problem anymore.'

I'd earned over 100 million won.

Under the guise of a 'housing mortgage,' my assets, which had been sitting at a flat '—,' suddenly had a glimmer of hope.

"I'll treat you to a meal soon."

It was currently 3 PM.

Now that I was a [Hunter], something like a quitting time held no meaning for me anymore.

Just as I was thinking about heading home—.

"Si-woo, I think I should tell you about this after all."

Seol-a noona stopped me with a grave expression.

"What happened?"

"The thing is...... Goyang City—. No, the Red Sea. Did anything happen while you were in there?"

"Huh?"

I flinched in surprise as I asked.

Then noona continued in an unusually serious tone.

"What I'm saying is—."

An anomaly had occurred in the [Red Sea].

Not the small Gates around Goyang City.

This was about the [Parent Body of the Red Sea] that occupied the center of Goyang City.

'So the Red Sea sensed intense killing intent and started moving......'

I asked nonchalantly.

"So that sea reacts to killing intent?"

"Yeah. Dad told me to keep an eye on things and ask you if anything seemed off."

"Do I seem off to you?"

"No, nothing's off, but...... even if nothing's off, I figured I should tell you anyway."

Thanks to noona filling me in on the details, I was able to piece things together.

'So Special Task Force Hyeonmu noticed the anomaly in the Red Sea, and noona's father sent an escort because he was worried about what might happen to me.'

"Dad said to just feel things out casually and keep it quiet, but......"

"Aw, come on, noona. Keeping secrets between us? That hurts."

When did a child ever act only as the parent wished?

"No, Dad's worried you'll get cocky if you find out you're getting special treatment."

Noona's father, Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin, apparently cared about me quite a bit.

While simultaneously not wanting me to find out about it.

The reason was obvious.

"Your father's always been a bit overbearing, hasn't he? Remember when noona got so drunk she was practically a puddle?"

"When? There've been too many times......"

"The first time I brought you home."

"AH!!!"

I had two memories that were most seared into my mind.

One was when my parents died in a Gate overflow.

The other was the first time I met Kang Seol-a noona's father.

"Remember that axe he'd sharpened to a gleaming edge?"

"Y-yeah......"

Seol-a noona's father, Kang Mu-jin, was favored by the Patriot.

Because of that, he'd received a [Relic] from a Constellation the Patriot had summoned.......

[Constellation Yi Sun-sin's Axe]

I still couldn't forget the ominous aura that axe blade had radiated.

Now I knew that had been killing intent.

'Noona tells me everything down to the last detail since we're close, but......'

Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin was different.

"Your father has regarded me as a dangerous wolf from day one."

I smiled wryly and rose to my feet.

Noona asked.

"Where are you going?"

"The Tower."

The late Hunter Park Chang-seok.

He'd given me a Tower Entry Pass, and I'd earned more passes as a reward for clearing Floor 1.

"The Tower? Why?"

"Why else would a Hunter go? To level up."

"To see that sword again?"

"Naturally."

"O-okay......"

I bade noona farewell and left the Awakened Management Bureau.

In truth, my reason for going to the Tower wasn't merely to see the sword.

Flash!

『Sword Master, Shin Si-woo Lv.3』

—Skill Acquired: [Single Slash — Horizontal Cut]

—Sword Summon (Authority):

Status— Baby Sword / Name— Unnamed (Lv.3)

Alignment: Chaos.

—Ego Sword Summon (Authority):

[Communication Ability]

1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid. [4/100]

2nd Sword, Yuria Lanestia. [0/100]

3rd Sword, Jun. [0/100]

4th Sword, Muratan. [0/100]

5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella. [0/100]

6th Sword, Bellatrice. [0/100]

My level had risen from the Gate clear reward.

And with that—.

Flash!

[Quest Triggered!]

[Enter the 'Tower' and overcome the Sword's Trial.]

[Reward: Sword Master's Dominion]

I'd received a personal quest.

Every Awakened underwent different experiences.

But the growth methods were similar.

Level up, receive a [Personal Quest], complete it, and gain new power.

I treasured all of my swords.

I was dying to see the other swords too, but.......

There was a reason I hesitated.

'The dark history of my pubescent years.'

Looking back on the past, I couldn't bring myself to face it.

'Back then, I thought that stuff was cool.'

The swords I'd made, let alone the NPCs who'd wielded them, were rarely sane.

The early swords were even worse.

But all those worries would be resolved once I got through this Tower run.

'The reward is the Sword Master's Dominion.'

Wasn't that likely a means for me to control the [swords]?

If I obtained the means to control them, that changed everything.

'I'd love to be able to comfortably see the other swords too.'

Besides, there was another reason I needed to enter the Tower.

Of all times, the Parent Body had moved right when I'd visited the [Red Sea]?

That alone was suspicious, and.......

'Reinhardt went silent.'

The exact moment was when a red glow had flickered in the jewel at the tip of the sword.

Even with the [Communication Ability], there was no response.

Might as well enter the Tower and check on things while I was at it.

* * *

"Comrade Park Chang-seok has failed."

Somewhere in Seoul.

A clandestine gathering was held.

People draped in black robes convened in a dim room to mourn Park Chang-seok's death.

"The Transcendent who killed Comrade Chang-seok— I can say for certain it wasn't the Patriot. I've been in Gates with him a few times, so I know......"

The Patriot's power was oddly modern.

The fact that Yi Sun-sin commanded super-massive aircraft carriers was evidence enough.

"If that deranged Patriot had done it, our fellowship wouldn't even be able to hold meetings like this."

"Then does the government have a hidden Transcendent we don't know about?"

"Maybe the Sword Emperor, who went missing in the Tower, came back as a Transcendent."

"Can you really hide someone that powerful?"

"If it's that justice-obsessed Kang Mu-jin......"

Kang Mu-jin, the righteous prosecutor.

If it was him, he might have persuaded an SSS-rank Awakened to conceal their identity.

Or perhaps he'd used the Patriot's power to coerce them.......

"Even with the demon lord's power, we can't compare to a real Transcendent."

In any case, the demon worshippers had gleaned a lesson from Park Chang-seok's case.

Even if a B-rank Hunter gained the ability to wield power in reality, the ceiling was clear.

"In the end, even if we Fall, we get cleaned up at the level of some unknown Transcendent."

Falling to wield power on the surface.

Even so, there was little they could actually accomplish.

'At best, massacring a few hundred lesser beings.'

And after that?

They'd be punished by a Transcendent and meet their death.

Just like their B-rank Mage comrade, Park Chang-seok.

"Then...... what do we do?"

One comrade had died.

He had given the other demon worshippers a profound revelation.

"The answer is the Gates. If we sacrifice ourselves...... it should be possible to make a Gate Fall."

This was a new possibility.

"What happens if a Gate Falls?"

A Fallen Awakened could never enter a Gate again.

In exchange, they could wield power on the surface.

Then what about a Gate?

"A Fallen Gate would breach reality, crossing beyond its world."

And the timing was perfect.

"The demon lord says the Red Sea has started to move."

According to the demon lord, the Red Sea was a sea of blood.

"A sea made of blood. The government probably knew about this and hid it."

The demon worshippers steeled their resolve.

"Let's bring the sea of blood into this world."