전생검신 89권 02화

I asked Lee Gang-ryong if he understood the secret of this wheel, but he shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“You recognized it as an external secret the moment you laid eyes on it, though.”

“Well, that’s because I’ve seen a similar picture in books… But solving this riddle is a different issue altogether. Moreover, if we think about it more fundamentally, isn’t it strange why this is here?”

“What do you mean?”

“From your reaction, it seems that there’s a huge reward waiting if we solve the riddle of this wheel. That means the demon sorcerer or the evil god who can be considered the owner of this ruins must have a high status. Am I right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then why would such a being leave this riddle lying around? Wouldn’t it simply take the tremendous reward for itself?”

“…!!”

“The fact that this riddle exists unsolved means one of two things. Either the demon sorcerer who claimed this ruins couldn’t solve it, or this riddle is a trial laid down for that sorcerer.”

I realized that Lee Gang-ryong’s words were extremely rational and thought deeply. After contemplating for a while, I said,

“The former… could be possible, but what about the latter? Why would a trial be given?”

“I don’t know which god the sorcerer serves, but the ‘Old Rulers’ don’t just bestow kindness on their followers without reason. Being as vile as the alien gods they are, even those who believe in them often serve merely as toys. Thus, throwing down trials like this and playing with them is quite common.”

“……”

“In other words, this riddle is likely a trial given to that demon sorcerer and may be such a difficult riddle that no one has solved it yet. However, looking at the demonic energy lingering in this ruins, that sorcerer must be quite a high-ranking being. If even someone with such magical prowess couldn’t solve it, how could an insignificant mercenary like me?”

“Y-You’re right…”

With Lee Gang-ryong’s words, the situation finally made sense.

‘The [Black Goat]… Is this riddle the trial given by the external god to its follower, Simon Magus?’

If that’s true, then this is a problem that can’t be solved right now. Simon Magus had reached the realm of a demon god from being a magician through his own power and was a disciple of Hermes, the god of magic—yet even he couldn’t solve this riddle! That meant this riddle had a tremendous degree of difficulty. What kind of trial could a foreign god lay down?

‘Hmm… On the surface, it doesn’t look all that difficult… Since the rotations of the six wheels are limited, can’t I just try every single one, even if it takes time?’

Thinking that, I gave the wheel a slight nudge. When I moved the wheel, I realized that even the tiniest movements were possible, and I checked how much movement was achievable.

“…!!”

W-Whoa… This is really precise!!

It looked like there were at least 300 units on one wheel?

So if there are 6 wheels… does that mean there are at least hundreds of trillions of possible combinations?

If there are that many combinations… would it not take eons just to rotate this one thing?

Lee Gang-ryong, who had been watching me blankly, spoke up.

“And we don’t even know if we need to get just one answer. What if there are three different answers for steps one, two, and three?”

“……”

“This is a problem that cannot be solved through simple repetitive work. The reason the demon sorcerer hasn’t solved this riddle until now is probably because he doesn’t know the fundamental formula needed to solve it.”

“Y-You’re right… Even so, the reward for solving this would be incredible. This is probably a riddle laid down by the external god.”

“Oh? Tell me more about that.”

Feeling curious, I explained to Lee Gang-ryong that this ruins actually belonged to Simon Magus, the first leader of the Baehwa Sect, and mentioned that the deity he served was the external god [Black Goat]. While he listened to the story, Lee Gang-ryong crossed his arms and said,

“…I see. It definitely won’t be easy.”

“Is there any way to solve it? You seem to know a bit about magic, so I’d like to get your insight.”

“Hmm…”

After pondering for a long while, Lee Gang-ryong spoke.

“First of all, reviving the sorcerer who created this isn’t going to be meaningful.”

“Why not?”

“He couldn’t solve it, after all.”

“Ah…”

“Saying you can solve it through conventional means would require absurd effort. Thus, it would be more appropriate to use a shortcut.”

“A shortcut? What kind of…?”

“I would just ask the creator of the riddle what the answer is.”

“…?!”

Huh?!

I was taken aback by Lee Gang-ryong’s completely unexpected response, and he continued without a care.

“Why are you so surprised? Even if everyone in the world doesn’t know, the creator of the riddle must know the answer.”

“B-But that would defeat the purpose of the trial!”

“It’s a trial for that sorcerer, not for you. There’s no reason they can’t tell you.”

“……”

“Making a trade like that with the external god might sound ridiculous… but for some reason, I feel like you could pull it off. Anyway, if you can’t solve the riddle, then learning the answer without trying to figure it out seems like the right approach.”

I was left speechless by Lee Gang-ryong’s way of thinking.

‘Such free thought!’

His mindset was entirely different from any humans I’d encountered in the martial world. He was very familiar with sorcery and seemed to have no prejudices. I had never met anyone like him before, and while I was fascinated, he yawned and said,

“Huff… Anyway, the fact that you can’t solve this riddle right now doesn’t change. Rather than staring at a tantalizing piece of cake, you should either find something valuable or quickly go training.”

“Ah? Y-Yeah, that sounds good.”

I snapped back to reality and continued searching the temple.

‘Using Fire Eye Golden Spirit to see, I can find the position of valuable treasures.’

After digging around for a while, I stumbled upon some pretty decent-looking treasures.

Two divine statues!

The black and white statues of strange divine beings were facing each other, emanating a considerable powerful aura. Guessing they were at least valuable items, I grabbed one of the statues and, sure enough, it contained a substantial amount of divine power.

‘This is the first time I’ve sensed divine power. Could it be the form of a divine being I had never encountered before…?’

No matter what, this was much stronger than the statue of Jeon Wook I had encountered in his ruins. Of course, I wasn’t thrilled enough with this small amount to celebrate, but in the world, this would surely be one of the treasures of treasures.

While I was feeling the divine power embedded in the statue, Lee Gang-ryong approached me from behind and said,

“Those are Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu.”

“Do you know these statues?”

“Ahura Mazda is the benevolent god worshiped by the Baehwa Sect, while Angra Mainyu is the opposing evil god. I recall seeing a similar shape in the demon cave.”

“…I know that, but these statues look too strange. They hardly resemble a human figure and seem more like alien evil beings… How can you call them Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu? They don’t resemble the images of those beings I know at all.”

Indeed, Ahura Mazda looked like a tentacle monster with many eyes, and Angra Mainyu had such a peculiar form that made me doubt if it was even a living being. There was no way I could believe these were the statues the Baehwa Sect worshiped.

Then Lee Gang-ryong said,

“That’s probably the true appearance of the Baehwa Sect’s twin gods. Aren’t you aware that the actual appearance of a god is never similar to that of a human?”

“Hmm!”

“I think when the two gods merge, they become a new god called Juuban. That god is newly revived but has existed since ancient times as one of the creation deities.”

Speaking of which, I remembered that Jeon Wook’s statue also looked extremely peculiar. I looked back and forth between the statues of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu and said,

“…Zhuge Clan is said to be served by Simon Magus, the first leader of the Baehwa Sect, who worships the ‘Black Goat.’ Therefore, I thought these two gods they worship were actually fake gods that didn’t exist… But then they actually existed.”

“Not everything is entirely true or false. At least to my knowledge, there were sorcerers in the Western Regions who drew power from Angra Mainyu. That’s why I recognized the identity of the statues.”

“Hmm.”

While I was pondering, I suddenly found it intriguing and asked Lee Gang-ryong,

“…How can you be so deeply exposed to the knowledge of darkness without suffering from mental contamination? You seem completely unaffected when you mention the names of the gods.”

“Haha. Would I not have received some divine favor while playing the role of a cleaner in the lair of the ‘Old Rulers’?”

“Divine favor?”

“You seem to have a special ability to discern hidden powers, so you should keep a close eye on me.”

Swoo…

Bam!

I used Fire Eye Golden Spirit to take a clearer look at Lee Gang-ryong’s essence. After a moment, I noticed a significant amount of traces of divine power surrounding his body.

‘Is this divine favor?’

As I examined it, I was quite surprised and exclaimed,

“There are not just one or two… It looks like there are at least over ten?”

“Right. Not everyone is a great god, mostly medium to minor ancient gods… or rather, beings closer to spirits, who have granted me their favor. Because of that, I’ve been exposed to numerous sorcery knowledge without ever suffering mental contamination, and I can resist most demonic energies. I’ve even resisted the commands of demon kings without issue.”

I couldn’t help but marvel. Indeed, if an expert in the Absolute Realm held this level of favor, they could probably squash even the most formidable demon sorcerer with their bare hands. The Absolute Realm itself offered some degree of magical resistance thanks to the Intent Heavenly Pillar. There was surely a reason ancient gods hired Lee Gang-ryong as a mercenary.

“…That’s significant. But even with such favor, you’re afflicted by the curse of aging? What kind of creature cast that curse?”

“Ahri-man, the ‘Old Ruler.’ He’s the leader of the sect worshipped in the Western Regions and is quite a high-ranking deity.”

“Ahri-man…”

I felt I had heard the name Ahri-man before.

‘Hmm… I think the heretical sect that attacked me back when I was in the Great Bear Empire worshipped Ahri-man.’

Keeping that name stuck in my head, I nodded.

“Don’t worry. I’ll knock that Ahri-man down whenever I get the chance to avenge you.”

“Hahaha!! I really believe you can do it.”

Lee Gang-ryong, chuckling, said,

“You can take those two statues for yourself and head out now. It seems that further martial arts training is more important right now.”

“Got it. Sorry for taking up your time.”

Pa-at!!

I left the ruins of Juuban and continued toward the west, guided by Lee Gang-ryong. When I finally broke through the boundary of the Western Regions and reached Europe, I felt that Lee Gang-ryong had traveled a lot in the West. He was navigating every terrain as if it were his own home.

‘How much mercenary work has he done to have wandered around so much…?’

Maybe if I looked at history books or asked the members of the Western Zodiac, I could learn more about Lee Gang-ryong. While I was lost in thought, Lee Gang-ryong finally stopped in a particular area and said,

“We’ve arrived. This is the place.”

Crackle…!!

Thunder Abyss!

The massive, clear lake that shone white due to the countless lightning strikes was breathtaking. This truly was a lake of thunder, and it seemed that no living creatures existed here. I’d gone on countless adventures, but I could never have imagined such a bizarre terrain would exist on Earth, and I stood there, mouth agape.

“A lake of thunder? Can something like this be formed naturally?”

“This is the sacred ground of the ancient god, Ru.”

“Ru?”

“The deity, Ru Labada, sleeps beneath this lake. Along with him are several powerful ancient gods sealed here, including a hammer god with immense thunder power. Thus, a convergence of divine power has created this surreal place.”

“Hmm. I see… But why haven’t humans discovered such a place?”

“Because it’s sacred ground, unauthorized individuals can’t even sense it. The dimension is isolated. However, I received an entry pass through divine favor in the past, and it seems that as a complete divine being, you don’t fall under that dimension isolation.”

“……”

Hearing all this talk about being divine really gave me mixed feelings. Am I really going to become a god at this rate?

‘But I don’t want to be a god…’

I’m keen to keep enhancing my achievements as a human till I become the Sword God, not actually becoming a god.

Lost in my reverie, Lee Gang-ryong said,

“Then let’s train the Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts. I’ll teach you the essentials.”

“Got it.”

For three days, I learned the method and essence of the Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts from Lee Gang-ryong, and when the teaching ended, I decided to give the Lesser Circulation a try.

Kaboom!

‘Hmm! It really does react strongly to the thunder energy…’

I could feel my internal power soaring up instantly and was taken aback. At this rate, my internal power would accumulate over tenfold faster than training in any other location. Then Lee Gang-ryong spoke,

“Why are you training outside the lake?”

“Eh? You mean…?”

Pointing toward the lake where lightning crackled in real-time, he said,

“Isn’t it obvious? The most efficient method would be to dive into that lake and perform Greater Circulation!”

“…Are you out of your mind?”

“Haha, I’m not joking… I gained an unparalleled level of internal power that way. If someone trained well in the Thunder God Lineage, they could definitely do it!”

“……”

Crackle! Crackle!

Crazy or not, the idea of plunging into a lake where lightning was raging like that was insane…

But with a deep sigh, I said,

“It’ll be shocking…”

Shortly after, I stepped into the Lake of Thunder, immersing my lower body in the pond and started operating the Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts.

Crackle!!!

I felt immense thunder energy channeling into my body. However, rather than pain, all the thunder energy felt as though it were being absorbed into my body.

‘The Thunder Spirit I have in me is far stronger than this lake’s thunder.’

To a master of the Thunder God Lineage, the torturous training method would feel more like a light tickle rather than suffering.

Swoosh!

Finally, as the thunder energy from the lake absorbed into me, I felt lightning elemental internal power that usually would take ordinary humans hundreds of years to obtain. After absorbing the thunder energy with the Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts calmed the lake momentarily, Lee Gang-ryong, who had been watching, was astonished.

“Wow, this is incredible! You are actually calming the thunder lake…!!”

“……”

However, I sensed a powerful surge of thunder energy rising again from the depths of the lake. Realizing that if that thunder energy erupted, I’d be overwhelmed by a much greater thunderstorm, I needed to know the source of it. So I turned to Lee Gang-ryong and said,

“Hang tight, I’m going for a quick swim.”

Splash!

I dove underwater, swimming deeper. As I made my way to the bottom of the lake, I smiled when I saw lightning erupting from below.

‘So that’s what it is.’

There must be the ruins of the ancient gods buried right there.