전생검신 85권 13화

Gold Cheon-jae’s words made Sword Demon frown a bit, but he quickly regained his calm. He then asked Gold Cheon-jae back.

“So what do you want? What does this mess have to do with us being nothing?”

At his words, Gold Cheon-jae burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha. Didn’t the Heavenly Mysterious Woman of Nine Heavens tell you long ago? To find a way to eliminate the ‘night’ of this dark age that covers the world… But what exactly have you guys been doing all this time?”

“……”

“Have you found Tsukuyomi? Or have you tried to reduce the realm of ‘night’? Or have you suppressed that Evil God rampaging in Dongyoung and Goryeo?”

Sword Demon fell silent. Instead, Yu Jeong, who was beside him, protested loudly.

“Amitabha. Human capabilities are limited. It’s a miracle for humans to have held on this long! If it weren’t for Baek Woong’s help, it would have been tough for us to defeat even the Demon King’s minions! Didn’t we all agree to do our best until the Lord of Soeul Castle, Baek Woong, returns?”

Yu Jeong probably couldn’t go hard against Gold Cheon-jae since he was relying on the Goryeo surviving remnants here in Nanjing Castle. Still, it seemed Gold Cheon-jae’s remarks were absurd enough for him to protest. Gold Cheon-jae chuckled at Yu Jeong’s words.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I already know everything. I know you’ve been deceiving people…”

“Deceiving? What exactly is it that we’re deceiving?”

Gold Cheon-jae’s next words were so unexpected that I couldn’t help but pay even more attention.

“You already found the Moon God Tsukuyomi! And yet, are you just leaving this situation as it is, claiming you’ll attack when Baek Woong arrives?”

“Amitabha, that’s not… As far as Bin Seung is concerned, there hasn’t been any progress!”

“……”

Yu Jeong expressed disbelief, and Sword Demon remained silent. Instead, he crossed his arms and said.

“All you’ve done is complain. So you think by behaving this way, you’re helping the situation?”

“Why should I have to help? The heroes who can save the world are slacking off!”

Gold Cheon-jae shouted angrily.

“If you had already defeated Tsukuyomi…!!”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence, trembling with anger. It was strange since there had been no real reason for him to be angry until now. Even though he had committed rudeness, his reaction was odd, hinting at some unknown reason. Sword Demon seemed to know that reason, quietly retracting his hand and gripping his Hand’s Control Sword.

Swish

As Sword Demon’s Invincible Sword was quickly sheathed, he said quietly.

“Gold Cheon-jae. If you keep acting like this every time I see you, I can’t take your feelings into account any longer. The survivors are doing their best now, and you are, after all, the lord of this Nanjing Castle and the master of the sect. If the pillar of the castle isn’t standing straight, everyone else will be at risk, so I won’t let you go easily.”

Gold Cheon-jae responded.

“Really scary. So what are you going to do? Do you plan to cut off my head with that fancy Invincible Sword?”

“Not today.”

“……Let’s get to the point.”

Gold Cheon-jae plopped onto a large chair, and Sword Demon said.

“Gold Cheon-jae. What will you do if Baek Woong comes back?”

“……”

Gold Cheon-jae looked almost incredulous for a moment before bursting into mad laughter.

“Ha ha ha!! The one who hasn’t shown his face in over 20 years is now back? Quite impressive indeed… So where is Baek Woong?”

“Here.”

While keeping a straight face, Sword Demon pointed at me, and all eyes in the room turned to me.

“……”

“……”

Oh, come on! Someone say something!

The expressions of the people froze between shock and disbelief as I couldn’t hold back the awkward silence and finally opened my mouth.

[Village Chief… no, Gold Cheon-jae, long time no see. I am Baek Woong.]

“……”

Gold Cheon-jae, along with Yu Jeong and every human at this feast, seemed extremely flustered upon hearing my mechanical voice. After a while, Gold Cheon-jae shook his trembling hands and exploded in rage.

“Sword Demon…!! You’re looking down on me just because I’m only a village chief! Is this how you disrespect me?”

Sword Demon calmly replied.

“I didn’t lie. I swear on my name and the honor of my sect.”

“Completely insane. Where do you see Baek Woong in that? I’ve met him earlier in this life than anyone else among your past life comrades! That person wasn’t anything like this metal man.”

“To explain would be complicated, but the main body of Baek Woong is still in another world. His soul came here through the Mirror of Clarity, and now that soul is controlling this metal man’s body.”

“Cree… ha ha ha.”

Gold Cheon-jae laughed in disbelief. Then, as if he thought it wasn’t worth discussing, he waved dismissively.

“Stop spouting nonsense and get lost. You won’t be allowed into Nanjing until I permit it!”

Bang!

In the next instant, I, Sword Demon, and Yu Jeong suddenly found ourselves on a red desert. It all happened in the blink of an eye, with no warning, and we couldn’t even resist.

[……?!]

What the heck? What just happened?

Sword Demon licked his lips and said.

“Guess he’s angrier than expected. I didn’t think he’d react in this way without hearing anything.”

[What did Gold Cheon-jae just do?]

“Gold Cheon-jae is a contractee of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman of Nine Heavens and can use half of her power within Nanjing. It’s basically like being a god. He forced us to shift spaces with divine authority.”

[……!!]

What?! Half the power of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman?! That’s enough to easily surpass the Great Immortal!

I was shocked, and Yu Jeong sighed.

“Ha… He liked to indulge in fleeting pleasures, but I didn’t think he’d get so angry. It seems Sword Demon may have disturbed his aura inadvertently.”

[Well, it didn’t help that he got mad at everything I said.]

“Anyway, we need to get back inside Nanjing. It’s dangerous outside.”

[Didn’t Gold Cheon-jae say he wouldn’t let us in?]

“Right. His divine power is probably blocking us from entering… we need to find a way.”

“The method is simple.”

Sword Demon said.

“There are four guardians defending Nanjing Castle, and just defeating one of them will allow us to enter. No matter how powerful Gold Cheon-jae’s authority is, he can’t do anything about that method. I’ve confirmed it before.”

[The four great guardians of Nanjing, huh? Are they strong?]

“Very strong… to be honest, I’m not that confident either.”

[……!!]

“What’s important is how much power you can wield now.”

I couldn’t believe Sword Demon, who had reached the Absolute Realm, would say something like this?!

What kind of guardians are these…?

But suddenly, I realized something and said.

[Don’t tell me… they’re the Overlay Technique?]

Sword Demon nodded at my words.

“Exactly. Those four Overlay Technique users each guard a direction.”

[What the heck… what are beings from the Celestial Realm doing as simple guardians of a castle?]

“This is the last line of defense for humanity, plus the forces of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman have descended here. Also, since they lack the law of cause and effect, they can’t participate in the subjugation squad, so they have no choice but to be the guardians of Nanjing. Those Overlay Technique users are probably all familiar faces to you.”

I pondered for a moment before replying to Sword Demon.

[Let’s find the weakest one.]

“If that’s settled, let’s head north.”

Whoosh

Soon, Yu Jeong used martial arts to speed up our steps immensely, and thanks to that magical technique, we comfortably covered almost half of Nanjing Castle without difficulty. Intrigued, I asked Yu Jeong.

[Yu Jeong. This doesn’t seem to be the Space Bending Technique, but what martial art is it?]

“It’s an ancient technique called the Thousand Patterns Lotus Technique. It was passed down to our warrior monks from Brahmanism.”

[Huh… Brahman?]

Why is Brahmanism suddenly being brought up?

As I tilted my head, Yu Jeong announced.

“We’ve arrived. There are the northern guardians.”

Boom!

Above the northern gate of the gigantic Nanjing Castle stood two Overlay Technique users. I squinted, recognizing their familiar faces, and scowled in displeasure.

[…… Is this really our best option?]

“Of course. Those two are probably the weakest of the four users guarding the north, east, south, and west.”

Hmm… If that’s the case, then other directions are probably covered by someone like Lee Rang-jin…

I reluctantly accepted but still grumbled.

[It seems likely, but… if we mess this up, these are the guys that could kill us]

“Why are you complaining? If you can’t even take them down, persuading Gold Cheon-jae will be impossible.”

[Hmm, that’s true.]

I realized I needed to brace myself and began to roll my shoulders as I walked forward.

Upon spotting us, the two Overlay Technique users lit up.

[These guys… are they insane?]

[Just coming down to the mortal realm and daring to challenge us mortals!]

As I walked forward, I asked Sword Demon.

[Sword Demon. Can I wipe them out myself, or do you want to join?]

Sword Demon opened his eyes wide in shock.

“How bold! They may be the weakest, but… do you remember, you can’t use any of your old capabilities right now?”

[It just feels like it’ll be easy.]

“……Alright then. I’ll watch your skills!”

Leaving Sword Demon and Yu Jeong behind, I proceeded close to the northern gate. The two Overlay Technique users leaped down silently from their position above and stood facing me at a distance of three paces. Each aimed their treasures at me and spoke.

[You’ve got some audacity.]

[Reveal your name! You must leave your ridiculously arrogant name etched in stone above this gate!]

I grinned at that.

[You two, Southern Dipper Star Lord and Northern Dipper Star Lord! Why don’t you leave a farewell message instead?]

[What?]

[My name is Baek Woong!]

Tydaht!

As soon as my words finished, I lunged towards Southern Dipper Star Lord and Northern Dipper Star Lord. They were originally high-ranking officials of the Underworld who had come to the Celestial Realm, where they held the rank of Overlay Technique users! They were indeed well-suited to be the guardians of Nanjing Castle, holding back the forces of the Celestial Realm with the deathly power of the Underworld.

As I rushed ahead, Southern Dipper Star Lord swung the huge staff he was holding and shouted.

“As a Death God, I command you, your soul shall find rest!!”

Thud –

In that moment, I felt a dizzying sensation, and my body seemed to freeze. In that daze, I thought.

‘This guy… he can unleash a death blow without even using the Book of Life and Death!’

I’ve encountered the Southern and Northern Dipper Star Lords many times in my past lives, but I didn’t know they could fight like this. Just using this technique would probably cause most living beings on the ground to perish unless they had resistance, regardless of their strength! Even the masters of the Absolute Realm would meet their end, making it extremely threatening.

[Not today!!]

Bang

However, I hesitated for a moment and then focused my magical power into the arm of Oreycalcos, dashing forward again.

[Gah.]

Seeing this, Southern Dipper Star Lord quickly transformed into clouds to avoid my attack, and beside him, Northern Dipper Star Lord exclaimed in surprise.

[To endure the power of the Death God! You must be a quite powerful being. Then I’ll properly finish you with the Book of Life and Death.]

Swoosh

Like a death tablet, a Book of Life and Death extended from his hands like a centipede! Northern Dipper Star Lord summoned the Book of Life and Death with glowing eyes.

[Die!]

Swoosh!

With a single motion, he wrote my name in the Book of Life and Death, and I immediately felt a deathly pressure ten times stronger than before. I stumbled momentarily, and I could hear Northern Dipper Star Lord roaring with laughter.

“Ha ha ha. Now you shall perish!”

This is the moment!

As Northern Dipper Star Lord got ever closer, I finally stopped pretending to be hurt, stretched out the arm of Oreycalcos, and gripped his neck hard. Taken by surprise, Northern Dipper Star Lord hurriedly tried to escape with his martial arts transformation, but his technique seemed ineffective, stammering and gasping for air.

[Cough… how…?]

[I infused my magical power into Oreycalcos’s arm. With that strong magical aura, your transformation technique doesn’t work!]

[It’s not that… how… can it still be in the Book of Life and Death?]

I couldn’t help but smirk at him.

[Does the Wheel King fear death in the Book of Life and Death?]

[What…?]

[Farewell!]

Kachow!!

I concentrated my magical power in my arm and squeezed tightly, and as that power peaked, Northern Dipper Star Lord exploded and died. Seeing the pitiful end of Northern Dipper Star Lord, Southern Dipper Star Lord screamed in horror and began to flee.

[Ah! This is insane…!]

Whoosh

As Southern Dipper Star Lord transformed into a dark light and took flight, I searched for the soul from the corpse of Northern Dipper Star Lord using the Soul Exchange Technique. I connected that soul to the arm of Oreycalcos, started spinning rapidly. Once the spinning reached a certain speed, I softly murmured.

[Soul Absorption.]

Zziing –

As the essence of the Soul Exchange Technique activated, a suction power began to form, drawing in the spirit. And with the magical power in Oreycalcos’s arm enhancing the Soul Exchange Technique, the power easily started to absorb the soul of Southern Dipper Star Lord.

Swish!

Firmly grabbing Southern Dipper Star Lord’s neck, I stared into his eyes, and he struggled desperately, terrified.

[Ahhh! P-please… save me…!]

[How pitiful. It’s better that I don’t even kill someone like you thoroughly.]

I said coldly, channeling power into Oreycalcos’s arm. I let my pupils gleam brightly.

Sephiroth

Sublimation!

In the next moment, the soul of Southern Dipper Star Lord that I was holding caught fire and began to vanish. To be precise, it ignited due to magical power causing a sublimation effect. Gradually reacting with the essence, the soul of Southern Dipper Star Lord burned for quite a while, and I started to convert that fire into magical power, absorbing it into my essence.

Goool!!

When the series of processes ended, I could feel the amount of magical power enveloping my body had grown significantly.

‘That was delicious.’

As I easily wiped out Southern Dipper Star Lord and Northern Dipper Star Lord, Sword Demon and Yu Jeong, who had been watching from a distance, hurried over to me.

“You really took them down!”

“Unbelievable! The Overlay Technique users of the Celestial Realm… to defeat the Death wielders of the Southern and Northern Dipper so easily…!!”

While Yu Jeong was in shock, I scratched my chin as if it was no big deal.

[It seems just as I expected.]

“What do you mean by that?”

[It seems I can’t use divine power in this world, but…]

I continued speaking slowly.

[It feels like I retained my original attributes.]