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“Ugh.”

Sophia let out a soft groan as her internal organs and limb muscles vibrated with a “zinging” sensation. Despite using the Yosanggyeol technique to deflect most of the damage immediately after suffering internal injuries, her condition was still far from optimal.

‘Clearly, they still have the upper hand in pure combat power.’

Clenching and unclenching her still-trembling fist, Sophia quietly assessed the lingering weight in her arm, as if it were an illusion, and sighed.

She hadn’t anticipated that her opponent would wield the gravitational force of stars to launch an attack that interfered with destiny. Spirit Drayg-Haegis couldn’t hide his astonishment as he spoke.

{Nonsensical. Just how advanced is the civilization behind them? To cause such a phenomenon, they would need at least a hundred high-level astrologers and a top-tier observatory.}

From what she heard, such a feat would have been considered a grand endeavor even during the peak of the Bronze or Silver Ages, when civilizations were at their zenith.

‘Coming from a spirit born in an era when giants built sky cities, that’s quite a humble statement.’

The sky city of the giants she saw in Plymouth was a structure that seemed to delay the end of an era, a ridiculous feat. Hearing such a spirit call it a “grand endeavor” made Sophia wonder just how skewed their power balance was.

Of course, from Spirit Drayg-Haegis’s perspective, it was nonsense.

{Is it logical to compare something built with the collective effort of an entire race to this?}

Well, the more people there are, the more good ideas, technology, and knowledge there will be. The sky city of Plymouth was the result of such collective effort in the face of a common threat—the end of an era. So, it was only natural that the result was extraordinary, argued Spirit Drayg-Haegis.

While nodding in agreement, Sophia corrected him on one point.

“By the way, that move earlier wasn’t the work of many. It was just one person.”

{What?}

Spirit Drayg-Haegis reacted as if he had heard something absurd. Regardless, Sophia sank back into thought.

‘The problem is that my mind, energy, and body are still out of balance.’

Sophia had regained most of the power from her past life as Lee Beom-seok. That power was vast, encompassing myths, legends, taboos, religions, and philosophies from across time and space. Its depth allowed her to transcend human limits effortlessly.

But whether it matched the level where even celestial gods feared her past self, or where she could overpower the authority of death, was still questionable.

Just moments ago, she had been fine. In theory, when the mind, energy, and spirit harmonize, the body’s life force is preserved, leading to immortality. Moreover, the soul’s integrity remains intact, preventing physical damage.

When the mind and body are in harmony, techniques at that level are executed flawlessly, ensuring peak performance within that realm. Transcendence relies on one of the three elements—mind, energy, or body—to break free from the constraints of the other two. If all three were balanced, the result would be clear.

Endless freedom, unerring precision, and the ability to achieve goals without failure—an immortal martial art.

If Sophia had been in harmony earlier, she wouldn’t have suffered internal injuries or had to deal with the aftermath.

As evidence, during the recent clash, while she did sustain internal injuries, her soul and mind remained unscathed. Using the Heart Sword and Wu Xin Dong techniques, she withstood the backlash of blocking the star’s gravitational force and even managed to send a beam of light through the gap. Only her physical body was harmed, meaning her mental strength was not inferior.

Despite equal mental strength and flawless technique, her body was injured, indicating a lack in physical strength and, consequently, a flaw in the technique’s completeness. This also implied insufficient training in the life force (Qi) and divine spirit (Shen) aspects of her energy.

But Sophia wasn’t disheartened. To her, this incident was almost welcome. Through her energy, she sensed that her opponent had been a long-standing adversary since their encounter in Agnon. The recent clash was a good opportunity to gauge the gap between them.

‘The gap between us has narrowed significantly.’

When she faced that unnamed Great Demon in Agnon, the gap was so vast that she couldn’t even think of opposing them. Compared to that, the gap she felt now was much smaller. Though she couldn’t fully withstand the backlash and suffered internal injuries, it wasn’t an insurmountable problem.

‘I’ve already established a way to resolve the imbalance.’

{Are you planning to use it?}

Suddenly, Spirit Lucas-Kukunis, who had been silent until now, spoke.

‘Since I’ve acquired it, it would be rude not to use it. It’s a matter of respect for those who left the legacy.’

{Tiwaz (ᛏᛁᚹᚨᛉ) and Wodanaz (ᚹᛟᛞᚨᚾᚨᛉ) probably wouldn’t care about that.}

‘Don’t talk as if it’s someone else’s business after we researched it together. We restored a nearly lost legacy, didn’t we? Show some enthusiasm.’

Despite Sophia’s teasing, Spirit Lucas-Kukunis still seemed down.

‘Are you reminiscing about the past?’

{Hmm. To think I’d encounter traces of those great monarchs and adventurers from the Bronze Age in this era. The world is truly unpredictable.}

Tiwaz and Wodanaz, once great figures of the Bronze Age, were now celestial gods, while Lucas-Kukunis had been revived as part of a dungeon and was now a contracted spirit. The emotions he felt were indeed complex.

‘But it was an entirely unexpected form.’

{Hmm, who would have thought they’d hide the secrets of reverse muscles and reverse brains in such a way?}

‘The March Formation is said to have been created by the war god Mars himself. If Mars refers to Tiwaz and Wodanaz, then it’s not so strange, is it?’

{It’s not common sense to think of transplanting the principles of spirit entity refinement into a formation (fylking). Without your “Formation” knowledge and that chicken-lizard fellow’s insight, and without having met them myself, I might have missed it entirely.}

Spirit Lucas-Kukunis grumbled, ‘If it weren’t for all that, their arrangements would have been lost forever.’ Even Spirit Drayg-Haegis, who seemed uncomfortable with the “chicken-lizard” remark, silently agreed.

Seeing the spirits like this, Sophia smirked and said,

“They probably didn’t intend for any results.”

Somehow, she felt she understood why Tiwaz and Wodanaz left the formation behind.

{What do you mean?}

Spirit Lucas-Kukunis asked, but Sophia just smiled without answering. The legacy they had restored was found through researching the March Formation. Naturally, she had gained a deep understanding of the formation in the process.

The March Formation, the more one mastered it and survived battles using it, the more one unknowingly benefited from the hidden legacy within. Even without understanding the fundamental principles, simply maintaining the formation allowed one to grasp the essence of the legacy.

Sometimes, the profound mysteries of high-level techniques fail to be properly passed down. Haven’t many traditions on Earth been lost in such a way? If Lee Beom-seok hadn’t been a genius capable of restoring the true form from mere traces, they would have been lost to history.

Thus, many schools devised ways to pass down such ancient knowledge. They might split a single legacy into multiple parts to lower the entry barrier or create a step-by-step system to gradually ascend to higher levels.

Sophia was familiar with and resonated with such methods.

‘If I hadn’t trained disciples, I probably wouldn’t understand.’

As she mused, Sophia felt a warm breeze in her chest. Fortunately, she had been blessed with good disciples like Conra and Maria, who followed her guidance well, sparing her much worry. By now, the two could likely forge their own paths without her guidance.

So, there was only one thing on Sophia’s mind.

‘You’re still stronger, but wait a bit. The great work is almost complete. When everything is finished, let’s go all out.’

She was confident that the next encounter wouldn’t end like this. Soon, she would regain all her past life’s achievements and restore the balance of her mind, energy, and spirit. Then, she would no longer be dragged around by the enemy’s preemptive strikes.

In her past life, Lee Beom-seok had never feared the powers of celestial gods or underworld demons. Sophia believed that even if her current adversary was formidable, she could defeat them once she regained all her strength.

+++++

After hunting the Spell Eater, the port purification proceeded smoothly without any major issues.

Though there were resisting monsters, their resistance was no match for the bravery of the northern warriors wearing horned helmets and deploying the March Formation. After occupying and purifying the ghost ships docked at the pier, the subjugation team completed most of the major objectives related to port purification.

There were minor disputes between the court treasurers and local magnates over the handling rights of the byproducts left by the Spell Eater (elemental stones, enhancement stones, spell items, etc.), but these were eventually resolved through mutually acceptable trades and distributions. After all, this was a country that had stubbornly maintained the “Ting” parliamentary tradition even during the king-led reforms.

Of course, these were all internal matters of the Kingdom of Dane, and Sophia’s group, as outsiders with separate goals, had no business with them. Having resolved the immediate problem, Sophia quickly moved on to the next step.

Even before the aftermath of the København liberation operation was fully dealt with, she immediately headed to Malmö for a special operation. Of course, she didn’t act recklessly; she had her reasons.

First, Malmö was practically a sister city to København, separated only by a strait.

The main reason her group had to coordinate with others was to rely on local knowledge, especially for maritime routes. But Malmö and København were so close that no separate maritime route was needed, and Brantley Somz, a member of her group, was familiar enough with the area to call himself a local.

There was no need to move cautiously, gauging the surroundings.

Second, they still hadn’t found the mastermind controlling the monsters in København. Despite Soren Christensen Hiltman thoroughly searching København, no trace was found, meaning the mastermind was either not in the city or so well-hidden that human efforts couldn’t uncover them.

To clarify this, they needed to quickly check the remaining two suspicious locations: Malmö and Gotland. Specifically, they needed to use Soren Christensen Hiltman’s tracking skills to sweep the area and establish a network related to these locations.

Once the decision was made, the action was swift and decisive. Sophia’s group crossed the strait and entered Malmö the morning after completing the København purification.

The early morning assault on Malmö began wrapping up by late afternoon. The forces involved included Sophia’s group from København, clergy from the København church, spellcasters from the Somz family, and soldiers from the Kingdom of Dane who had been on “leave” from their duties.

By the time they had roughly occupied the entire city, Karl Hector Meyer watched the soldiers moving in unison, controlling the streets and slaughtering monsters, and let out a bitter laugh.

“Huh, really. They said it was hard to send regular troops, but then they tell us to take soldiers on leave. Isn’t this just ‘covering your eyes and pretending not to see’?”

“The kingdom has staked its life on this matter. Within the limits of maintaining diplomatic face with Svea, they’re willing to do anything.”

Brantley Somz chuckled as he responded to Karl’s remark. Karl noticed that Brantley looked extremely tired, likely from taking over the command of the family’s spellcasters and directing the situation all day, only getting a chance to rest at dusk.

Regardless, the “leave” soldiers from the Kingdom of Dane and Brantley’s spellcasters were a tremendous help in quickly liberating Malmö. The combination of Dane warriors skilled in the March Formation and Brantley’s spellcasters, who had mastered the mysteries of Qi Men Dun Jia, was surprisingly effective.

With Brantley at the center, the spellcasters established communication networks for command, and the Dane warriors, skilled in the March Formation, moved with sparkling eyes under their guidance. Having experienced the harmony of the March Formation and Qi Men Dun Jia in København, they adapted quickly.

Naturally, with fewer troops covering a larger area, they secured influence over the entire city faster than in København.

This time, unlike before, there were no incidents of star gravity causing disasters, allowing Sophia to project her full strength.

The power of a superhuman nearing the completion of mind, energy, and body was truly formidable.

A vast ritual area encompassing one end of the city to the other. Within it, the blades of will and providence moved as naturally as breathing.

The superhuman’s strikes, without delay, warning, or miss, appeared simultaneously everywhere, unhindered by distance or obstacles. The incomprehensible sword strikes pinpointed and eliminated monsters strong enough to disrupt the operation, leaving onlookers in awe.

Compared to Sophia’s divine-like sword strikes, Karl Hector Meyer, Conra, and Maria’s martial arts showed a clear direction for warriors to aspire to. Their Heart Sword and Wu Xin Dong techniques, though still incomprehensible, provided enough enlightenment and inspiration.

Already spiritually elevated by the harmony of the March Formation and Qi Men Dun Jia, the warriors naturally advanced to the next level with the insights and inspirations they gained.

With the smooth occupation of Malmö,

“We still haven’t caught the mastermind.”

Conra frowned deeply at the failure to capture the mastermind.

It wasn’t a complete failure. They had captured several witches and demon worshippers suspected of controlling the monsters, and even buried a few demons lurking in the city.

But they were all small fry; the true mastermind remained elusive. Interrogations yielded little, only revealing their next target.

“So, we’ll have to go to Gotland to catch them.”

“Ah, that’s…”

Upon hearing that the demons were seeking something in Gotland, Sophia decisively stated, while those around her, especially Brantley Somz, looked troubled.

“The Somz family’s spellcasters and the Dane warriors can’t follow us to Gotland.”

“Of course. The kingdom has done its best. The rest is up to me.”

Sophia waved her hand dismissively in response to Brantley’s words.

Indeed, while the Kingdom of Dane held influence over the Øresund Strait and the Baltic Sea, the surrounding areas were still uncivilized tribal states. As a civilized kingdom, Dane had to prepare thoroughly before venturing into such territories to avoid future troubles.

An expedition to Gotland, with its lack of infrastructure, was no small feat even for a powerful kingdom like Dane. With neighboring countries watching closely, it was too risky.

As they were deciding who would accompany Sophia to Gotland,

“Urgent news!”

The meeting room door burst open. Everyone turned to see a nun staggering in, out of breath. Recognizing her as one of the clergy sent to restore the local church in Malmö, Maria spoke up on everyone’s behalf.

“What’s the matter? No, first, catch your breath. Here’s some cold water…”

“Phew, no, this is an urgent message for Lady Sophia. It can’t wait.”

“Hmm? What’s going on, sister? Did the demons do something again?”

As Sophia wondered, the nun, having calmed down, slowly began to relay the urgent news.

 

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