전생검신 84권 9화

So the seal in the southern continent of Huayo is the place to resurrect Tezcatlipoca, huh?!

I paused for a moment, startled by Lee Hwan-woong’s unexpected words. Then I said,

“To cause a solar eclipse, I would need Black Woong’s help and use divine power for the Peaceful Technique…”

Before, I couldn’t fully master the Peaceful Technique and had to rely on the Eight Trigrams Formation and nearby sorcerers for help. Of course, I still can’t fully master it now, but this time, I can substitute my lack of proficiency with divine power.

‘If I didn’t have Black Woong, it would feel forced no matter how much divine power I had, but now I have Black Woong on my side.’

Black Woong would calculate the complex techniques derived from divine power for me. I glanced over at him, and he confidently said,

[Leave it to me. A solar eclipse is easy to pull off.]

“Great. That’s settled…”

I interlocked my fingers and looked at Lee Hwan-woong.

“Even if we resurrect Tezcatlipoca, how can we control that thing? I feel like you didn’t answer my question from earlier.”

If we were to gauge the power of Tezcatlipoca at his peak, he would surely be on the level of the Three Sovereigns, a true evil god. It took the combined forces of the gods from the Divine Temple of Memphis to capture him, so he definitely had strength recognized throughout the universe. Reviving such a being without a plan would mean we couldn’t control it at all.

Then Lee Hwan-woong smiled mysteriously.

“Baek Woong. You’re so focused on the immediate situation that you’re not thinking about the details.”

“What? D… details?”

Lee Hwan-woong slowly clasped his hands behind his back and continued,

“Let’s consider why Osiris initially handed us the [Navel of the Sun God]. If there was really a chance that the [Navel of the Sun God] could resurrect Tezcatlipoca, would Osiris have given you that artifact, even as a wager?”

“Hmm…”

“Osiris suspects the [Navel of the Sun God] is a ticking time bomb holding Tezcatlipoca’s evil magic, but he doesn’t think it would actively revive him. If Osiris is that confident, it means the [Navel of the Sun God] absolutely isn’t an item that holds Tezcatlipoca’s body. If it were at the Divine Temple of the Spirit Realm, they would’ve sealed the evil god’s body separately.”

“…So then, your guess that taking the [Navel of the Sun God] to Uluru to unseal it would resurrect Tezcatlipoca is wrong, right?”

In response to my counter, Lee Hwan-woong shook his head.

“No. Osiris doesn’t know, but you do.”

“What does that mean?”

“Most people think Tezcatlipoca is a complete evil god by himself, but actually, he is [Darkness] and belongs to the yin category. There exists another entity, the [Light] and the yang, that coexists with him, and you’re the only one who knows about that.”

My face stiffened in fear at Lee Hwan-woong’s words.

“Quetzalcoatl!! Don’t tell me…”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Lee Hwan-woong mumbled while gazing at the [Navel of the Sun God].

“I suspect that before Tezcatlipoca was sealed, he extracted and sealed his own [Light], Quetzalcoatl. Since Quetzalcoatl was something unexpected, Osiris’s side didn’t even grasp his identity.”

“…!!”

“Inferring Tezcatlipoca’s intentions, if he was going to be sealed anyway, he might have thought that if he could release the yang and eventually be revived when the seal lifted, he could use that boost in escape from the seal.”

Is that round object really Quetzalcoatl?!

I stared at the [Navel of the Sun God] in disbelief and then snapped back to reality.

“Wait… even if you’re right, if we cause a solar eclipse to offer, wouldn’t it be Quetzalcoatl that gets resurrected instead of Tezcatlipoca? What’s inside is Quetzalcoatl.”

“…Don’t panic, just think through the order of things.”

After a sigh, Lee Hwan-woong continued.

“Offering something containing Quetzalcoatl means a precious offering sacrificed to the universe’s principles is removed. So you can’t resurrect Quetzalcoatl by offering him. Conversely, if you offer the yang being Quetzalcoatl, the yin god Tezcatlipoca is resurrected, right? That fits with the principles of cause and effect.”

“Ah…!!”

“If you perform the offering ceremony, the yang Quetzalcoatl will be sacrificed, and instead, the evil god Tezcatlipoca will be resurrected.”

I struggled to understand Lee Hwan-woong’s words.

And after finally grasping the situation, I said,

“…Isn’t that something we shouldn’t do? Why would we offer the good Quetzalcoatl to resurrect the evil god?! It doesn’t make sense!”

Quetzalcoatl was a good guy who fought alongside me in outer space and even stood up to Nyarlathotep, while Tezcatlipoca, on the contrary, had bombarded me with countless spells. With that memory, I couldn’t accept sacrificing Quetzalcoatl to resurrect an evil god.

As Lee Hwan-woong fell silent, I firmly continued.

“Then let’s just unseal the [Navel of the Sun God] and revive Quetzalcoatl! That would be a hundred times better.”

“Hmm. I expected you to say that…”

Lee Hwan-woong let out a groan before responding.

“I said that as a fallback because it’s realistically impossible.”

“What? Impossible?”

“Even Osiris from the Divine Temple of the Spirit Realm gave up, not knowing the nature of the spell on the [Navel of the Sun God]. That means it’s a spell that hundreds of ancient gods couldn’t unravel. Why? Because it’s the sealing of the yang being that contains all of Tezcatlipoca’s wisdom and magical power. What makes you think you can unravel it now?”

“…”

“No matter how you see it, it’s going to take at least tens of thousands of years. No, a mortal shouldn’t even dare think of it.”

As I lost my words, Lee Hwan-woong continued.

“Anyway, since Quetzalcoatl, the yang god, is inherently weaker than Tezcatlipoca, it’s much more realistic to revive Tezcatlipoca by sacrificing Quetzalcoatl, then team up with Tezcatlipoca to quickly grow your influence.”

“No way, damn it… How can you just give up without even trying?”

“To me, it feels like the outcome will be the same, so I see no value in attempting it.”

Lee Hwan-woong said decisively, then looked at me and said,

“What significance does it hold for you now if he’s a benevolent god or an evil god? You’re already on friendly terms with old rulers and ancient gods. Then, when considering efficiency, you don’t really need Quetzalcoatl at all.”

“…!!”

“You asked me how to control this, but in fact, after resurrecting Tezcatlipoca, you can use the cause and effect of that resurrection to pull him into a corporation in the same way. And honestly, you don’t really need to control him.”

“You don’t need to control him?”

“With your skills, escaping from the newly resurrected Tezcatlipoca will be pretty easy. Humanity is in a primitive stage anyway, so what difference does it make if you resurrect one evil god? There are far more terrible monsters running amok in this era, so you don’t really have to feel indebted. The risk can be considered almost negligible.”

“…”

“Just resurrect him and see if you can negotiate after that. If he declines, then so be it… that’s all there is to it.”

Although Lee Hwan-woong spoke as smoothly as flowing water, I was left dumbfounded, unable to comprehend his mindset.

‘This… this guy’s… his ethical views are completely different from an ordinary person!!’

A mindset focused solely on efficiency and outcomes!

In some ways, it could be compared to Zhuge Sa, but the difference was that this guy had zero emotional investment or personal biases in his choices. He pursued pure efficiency mechanically and didn’t concern himself with the notions of good and evil like Zhuge Sa did.

…Somehow, I felt like I had encountered someone with such a mindset before…

I snapped back to reality and said,

“…Still, I want to revive Quetzalcoatl if at all possible!! Isn’t there any other way?”

“Hmm…”

I clenched my fists and shouted.

“If you’re a strategist, don’t just think of practical solutions; bring out some mystical methods that can break the reality!”

“You’re just throwing out ideas thinking it’s not your head on the line… In the future society, people like you will be the most shunned, you know.”

Lee Hwan-woong mumbled something annoyingly, then after a moment of thought, said,

“…There is a way to get help from a young girl.”

“Ah! Then let’s go to the girl right away.”

“Wait a minute. Even if the girl is on our side, you have to consider that any help we get from her will be a debt to us. How far do you plan to lean on someone whose intentions are unknown?”

“…”

“Since it’s not an urgent matter, let’s try to find a solution with our strength as much as possible.”

“That makes sense.”

“We need more information on obsidian. I didn’t receive any memory transfer, so I don’t know many of the details of your knowledge. If you know anything, could you share it with me?”

“Obsidian… if that’s the case…”

I rummaged through my memories diligently. After a moment, I suddenly recalled something and shouted,

“That thing called [Black Sun] once said that using obsidian containing the power of the constellation would grant the greatest blessing during a solar eclipse!”

“Hmm…!!”

I definitely remember something along those lines from my 28th life in Sagong Lin’s memories. Lee Hwan-woong’s expression turned curious as he heard my words and said,

“I’d like to know more; could you explain the circumstances in detail?”

I narrated the relevant part of Sagong Lin’s memory from my 28th life in detail. After listening to it, Lee Hwan-woong mumbled something as he was thinking and then said,

“…I see. Then it might be possible.”

“Do you have a method?”

“It may or may not exist.”

A moment later, Lee Hwan-woong’s eyes lit up as he said,

“Let’s look for Lemuria!! There might be answers there.”

“…Lemuria?”

What was that again?

I tilted my head, unclear on the memory, and Lee Hwan-woong said,

“You just mentioned that Oreycalcos, the king of Atlantis, talked about Lemuria. And the difference between Lemurian and Atlantis civilizations was the constellation.”

“Oh, right.”

“The king of Lemuria is a being descended from the constellations, as well as an agent of the ancient gods. Considering that, it’s highly likely that he knows something about obsidian, which responds strongly to the power of the ‘constellation.’”

“Whoa!”

“And if it were me, I’d be confident in easily negotiating with the king of Lemuria.”

“Hmm?”

What kind of confidence is this?

Looking bewildered, I stared at Lee Hwan-woong who smiled confidently and said,

“Just look at this.”

Wiying!!

In the next moment, a peculiar device materialized near Lee Hwan-woong’s body. It looked entirely different from machines of every civilization I knew, and it seemed to slightly change form every time I looked at it. That machine, which appeared to warp the space itself, exuded something eerie.

“That’s…”

“It’s the Lemuria Codex, an ultra-ancient artifact. In the era I lived in, Lemuria had already perished, and the emperor’s relic lay deep beneath the ocean. Humanity discovered the Lemuria Codex while exploring the ruins of ancient civilizations to fight against aliens.”

“Hmm…!!”

“It has the ability to locate anything no matter what dimension it goes to, and it has another capability… which I’ll tell you about later.”

“What’s so amazing that you’re keeping quiet?”

“I think it’s something you’ll definitely see during the process of finding Lemuria. Hehe.”

“Hmm.”

I pondered for a moment and nodded.

“Alright, let’s find this Lemuria thing.”

“Got it. It won’t take long.”

Wiying!!

In the next moment, Lee Hwan-woong levitated the Lemuria Codex in his palm and started chanting some strange ancient language.

[User control code 0000. We shall return to the realm of the Lemuria Emperor!]

Shaaack…!!

Then, multicolored light erupted from the Lemuria Codex, creating a dimensional door heading somewhere in the void. Lee Hwan-woong glanced at the door and gestured to me.

“You go in first.”

“Why do I have to go in first?”

“Because that’s the control code directly entering the emperor’s palace of Lemuria. But it seems too dangerous, so humans have never tried this code. You never know what traps could be inside…”

“Alright, I got it.”

After all, it would be frightening if there were traps from an ancient civilization. So it would make sense for me, who could ignore most of those traps thanks to the power of divine energy, to go in first.

Swish

Once I stepped inside the multicolored dimensional door, I realized I was standing in a gigantic palace filled with static. I had Black Woong scan for dangers in this place, and once he assured me it was safe, I brought Lee Hwan-woong inside.

Goooong…

‘This architecture is unlike any I’ve ever seen…’

I marveled as I surveyed the palace of Lemuria, and at that moment, Lee Hwan-woong summoned the Lemuria Codex again.

He then commanded the Codex,

[User control code 0003. Probability fluctuation initiated!]

Swoosh

In the next moment, it felt like water was being sprayed all around me, and Lee Hwan-woong’s body turned translucent. I looked at him curiously, and he suddenly narrowed his eyes and said,

“…It’s here!! That…”

Boom!!

A colossal monster made of dark rock suddenly appeared before our eyes. This monster literally materialized from a warped state of time and space, and I felt its deep-set eyes looking down at me. Moments later, the monster opened its mouth.

[Who are you to invade the royal palace of the Lemuria Emperor with his seal?]

I looked straight at the monster and said,

“I am Baek Woong. Are you the Emperor of Lemuria?”

[……]

After a brief pause, the monster slowly replied,

[Indeed. I’ve heard of your reputation, but what brings you here, O Great Being Baek Woong?]