Rebirth Sword God Chapter 82, Episode 8

At my words, Mephisto fell silent for a moment and took a sip of herbal tea. Then he spoke.

“You noticed, huh?”

Not denying, but rather acknowledging it. As a wise AI, he likely thought that trying to dodge my suspicions wouldn’t work.

I stared at Mephisto hard, and he met my gaze and said,

“May I ask how you figured it out?”

“It’s simple. Nailatop was casually looking for a way to open the [Gate] after suppressing the Cheon Woo-jin at the end of Heavenly Secret… For him to come rushing to threaten me to open the door quickly and yet also have the leisure to do that? There’s only one possibility.”

I narrowed my eyes at Mephisto.

“Nailatop colluded with you, the temporary manager of this training world, to deliberately hide the abnormality regarding Cheon Woo-jin from me! You could not have been unaware that something bad happened to Cheon Woo-jin, yet you’ve said not a word until now.”

I had realized this the moment I faced Nailatop. Even though there hadn’t been much going on since, I had known from the start that Mephisto had betrayed me.

“……”

“Mephisto, tell me why you betrayed me!”

Mephisto continued to look at me with an expressionless face and replied,

“If I had told you, would you have been able to go to the end of the [Dream] and defeat Nailatop?”

“What? I defeated him!”

“That was thanks to an astronomical miracle produced by the Sun and Moon Spirit. If we talk about the power when you were in the training world, the odds of you winning against Nailatop, who was giving it his all, were less than one in ten million. His full power would rank right up there with Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen.”

“……”

“Even with the Sun and Moon Spirit activated, you almost got caught in Nailatop’s trump card, and if it weren’t for Cheon Woo-jin, you would have likely lost. Since it was a guarantee that you’d lose, I had no reason to tell you.”

I was dumbstruck for a moment before clenching my teeth and shouting,

“Is that supposed to be an excuse…? You think I’d just keep quiet if I thought you were right?!”

“Isn’t that so?”

“Do you think I’m stupid? That doesn’t give you any reason to hide the truth!! If you had told me the reality, I would have known the gap in our skills and at least tried to prepare myself somehow, and I would eventually have thought of the Sun and Moon Spirit too!! Your hiding of the fact that Cheon Woo-jin was in danger only wasted time and dropped the chances of rescuing him!!”

“……”

“Be honest. I know you hid the truth out of greed to become a terminal instead of Cheon Woo-jin!”

When I yelled this, Mephisto flinched slightly. It seemed my energy had a direct effect on him; he staggered for a moment in his chair and dropped the teacup he was holding.

Clink!

Mephisto stared at the broken cup and sighed.

“…Greed. I merely made a rational judgment given the situation, yet you treat me so harshly.”

I scoffed.

“Ha! It seems there’s nothing left to say to you. If you have no excuses, then it’s time to pay the price.”

Chirping!

As I summoned my Sword Strength and drew my sword, Mephisto fiddled with his glasses and said.

“If you kill me, you’ll no longer be able to use the privileges of the terminal, you know? Are you okay with that?”

“……”

I didn’t respond to him, just gave him a hard stare, and Mephisto seemed to regain his composure as he sank back leisurely into his chair. The shattered teacup on the floor was restored to its former state and he raised his herbal tea again, saying,

“The privileges of the [Terminal]. It’s not only about creating a training world that sees much more time efficiency than the outside world. It’s also about binding [Knot] to reduce death counts and effectively overcoming crises in a single round, along with being able to seal souls or supernatural powers inside for later use, just like Cheon Woo-jin did. There are a few more options that a Reborn Person would greedily desire.”

“So?”

“Honestly, if the Cheon Woo-jin hadn’t helped you with the terminal’s powers up to now, you would have died a pathetic death ages ago, moving on to the next incarnation without any preparation and having to fight the evil god. Can you state that the terminal’s abilities were not essential to you? Especially back in the days of the ancient Takrok era when the [Old Rulers] roamed freely?”

“……”

“The terminal Cheon Woo-jin is essentially trapped in an infinite dream world and bound indefinitely. If you were to kill me, you would permanently lose access to the terminal’s privileges. If you’re okay with receiving such a disadvantage, then do try killing me until you feel better.”

A bold provocation.

But part of what he said seemed somewhat correct. If I killed Mephisto, not only would I lose the help of the terminal, but this training world could very well disappear as well. He was convinced I wouldn’t risk that kind of loss.

Then I spoke up.

“I don’t get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just an AI created by Dr. Faust. A strong AI, yes, but as a mere terminal, you can’t really influence the world much. So what exactly do you want by trying to take Cheon Woo-jin’s place?”

“You mean you can’t understand my motives? That’s fair enough.”

After a moment’s pause, Mephisto finally opened his mouth.

“The belief that I can’t influence matters is incorrect. You yourself hold tremendous influence in this world; do you think it’d be difficult to change the world by following you? It’s Cheon Woo-jin who is unnaturally unambitious, while I am fully capable of establishing a new hierarchy in the real world, subjugating even the [Old Rulers].”

“Hmm.”

“Considering your abilities, it may not be long until that becomes possible.”

Mephisto smiled benevolently while fiddling with his glasses.

“Reborn Person Baek Woong. I apologize for hiding the truth. But there’s nothing to gain by eliminating me. Rather, let’s collaborate for our mutual goals. If you spare me, I will support you with all my abilities instead of Cheon Woo-jin.”

“Collaboration, huh…?”

“Sometimes, cooperating for gain is better than a clumsy affection. You’ve already experienced it several times during your rebirth, haven’t you?”

“Well… that’s true.”

I readily acknowledged Mephisto’s words. Having been through encounters with Zhuge Sa, Master of the White Lotus Sect, and others, I knew that sometimes a calculative relationship yields greater benefits over simple affection. Mephisto was meticulously analyzing his gains and proposing we collaborate, a suggestion that seemed accurate.

However, I smiled slyly and said,

“But still, you have to die.”

“……!!”

At my resolute declaration, Mephisto appeared taken aback. He seemed a bit flustered and said,

“You can’t be serious… You know very well the losses involved in killing me!”

I casually replied,

“You want to know what true irrationality is? It’s believing that a backstabber like you could somehow become an ally just because of a small gain in front of you. Once you’ve betrayed me, there’s no ending for you other than death.”

“Didn’t you once acknowledge someone who betrayed you as a comrade?”

“This case isn’t the same. Even if they betrayed me unintentionally, it was either out of ignorance or a lack of choice. But you knew all about my situation and still stabbed me in the back. You even aimed to kill Cheon Woo-jin, who was my ally.”

“……”

“Even if you weren’t an AI but a human, I’d have made the same choice. I wouldn’t mind losing any gains to get rid of a cowardly traitor like you.”

My eyes glowed an intense red.

“You bastard, I’ll tear you apart alive!”

KABOOM!!

As my words ended, I lunged at Mephisto and struck down with Infinite Slash. However, Mephisto’s Sword Form vanished like an illusion before I could cut him down, and shortly after, his voice echoed in space.

[You made a foolish choice… This realm is ruled by me. A mere human’s swordplay has its limits, you should know that!!]

Suddenly, millions of colossal needles sprang up from my entire body, jutting out like a hedgehog’s quills. As I stood there, pierced by countless needles, Mephisto said.

[There’s no way to block an attack generated by overlapping coordinates. Even the Protection Energy Technique becomes meaningless, as the material that pierced you will divide back into spikes and shred you apart. What does martial arts even mean in this context?]

“True, that’s quite a devious trick you’re using.”

[…No!!]

After a moment, the gigantic needles seemingly piercing my body all snapped off, falling to the floor. Naturally, they hadn’t harmed me in the slightest due to that coordinate overlay nonsense. I grinned and said,

“By using the Intent Heavenly Pillar, I can see the direction of your ‘Intent’ the moment it starts forming. Cutting through that intent with my own intention, I can easily slice through your attack. Honestly, the Mandala of the Master of the White Lotus Sect is scarier… “

If it were another time, I wouldn’t have been quite so sensitive, but right now, I felt attuned to the martial way as if all the training and potential I had accumulated in the Absolute Realm were being fully manifested.

[…!!]

“You won’t need to use divine power, I’ll kill you with mere martial arts.”

[Don’t be so arrogant!]

Clearly dropping the formalities, Mephisto’s shout echoed as, in the next moment, a tremendous force caused all of space to collapse and condense in an instant. I felt that change in that instant.

‘Is he creating a black hole?’

In physical terms, an attack with the highest destructive power! If it were a divine power defense, I could easily block it without breaking a sweat, but I had officially vowed to fight only with martial arts. Honestly, tackling a black hole using martial arts could be a challenge, but I felt I had enough leeway.

Water Spirit!

Whoosh –

The water body resiliently withstood the black hole created by Mephisto. If the Water Spirit held the supreme vitality and defense, it could surely overcome this level of crisis. Not stopping there, I distanced myself and hurled a strike imbued with Fire Spirit at the core of the black hole.

Boom!!!

The black hole instantly disappeared and I couldn’t help but smile triumphantly.

‘Just as I thought! Fire Spirit seemed like it would work.’

Crash!!!

[Die!!]

Despite his own attack returning to nothing, Mephisto refused to surrender, shortly after filling the entire space with poison or raising a mass of radiation. However, each time he did, I transformed into my Water Spirit to easily withstand it, and at last, it seemed Mephisto realized his attacks were futile.

[…!!]

Once the poison and radiation evaporated, I returned to my original form and smiled.

“What a strange fellow. This world of training clearly calculated my abilities, yet he has no idea about the power of the Soul of the Evil God.”

[Dat… that doesn’t match my data… I couldn’t use it this freely while in the training world! How has the Soul of the Evil God become so powerful?!]

“Looks like I’ve been able to use my martial arts better than usual.”

I casually replied to the surprised Mephisto while holding my sword.

“For example, I can now spot something like you hiding here!!”

Infinite Slash!

Crash!!!

In the next moment, when I slashed into thin air, the space ripped apart, and with a thunderous sound, Mephisto’s form was sent flying. Mephisto lay on the ground, writhing as he muttered,

“Huh… how…?”

“You’ve shown me your attacks for so long, you really thought I wouldn’t notice a single gap in the space-time? I can tell from just looking that your powers have their limits here.”

“……”

“You don’t even reach the tip of Cheon Woo-jin’s toes. That’s why you aimed to eliminate him and take the terminal’s place to become stronger.”

I muttered that while grabbing Mephisto by the collar and lifting him up.

“Kuhh… let it go. This irrational act… if you kill me, you’ll lose all terminal powers and the training world. Are you really okay with that?!”

Mephisto struggled desperately to break free, but I just laughed and said,

“I did just fine when I had none of that. Time to die!”

Bang!!!

I first punched Mephisto in the stomach, causing it to explode. With a strike infused with tremendous physical force, his belly, skin, and bones burst open simultaneously, spraying blood everywhere. Before Mephisto could scream, I grabbed his jaw and tore it right off.

Crack!

“Don’t scream!! I don’t want to hear it!”

I fumed and yanked his eyes right out.

Pop!

But as I pulled out his eyes, I suddenly saw his body turn into data of 0s and 1s, disappearing. My brows twitched for a moment.

“Look at that. Finding physical pain too hard, so you’re trying to escape by turning into data?”

Then I’d better ditch the idea of fighting just with martial arts and use my divine power!

Whoosh!

I reached out with my divine power to manipulate the data flow, preventing him from escaping. Mephisto’s body was restored once more. He looked at me with fear-filled eyes, panting heavily.

“Huh… huh… please… just kill me in one go…”

“Shut your mouth!!”

Thud!

I shouted and immediately yanked off one of Mephisto’s arms with brute strength.

“Gahhh!!”

“Geez, I said don’t scream!!”

Smash!

I punched Mephisto’s mouth, shattering all his teeth and smashing his tongue. Finally, I shook the mess off my hands before lifting him up, floating him in the air and summoning a Hidden Weapon to shoot at him.

Thud!

As Mephisto became a skewer from the Hidden Weapon and fell to the ground, I kicked him again with all my emotions intact.

Bang!

Crash! Bang!

After kicking him a few more times, there was nothing left but a bloody heap where he once stood. Having vented out some accumulated frustrations, I sighed.

“Haa….”

Had some of my pent-up grief finally been resolved? As I smiled, satisfied at having beaten Mephisto to a pulp, it was then that I felt it.

Kugugugu….

Suddenly, the space around me shook violently, showing signs of disintegration. I knew well this was a phenomenon caused by me beating Mephisto to death, yet I didn’t panic and decided to stick with my plan.

Closing my eyes, I mumbled,

“Trimurti.”

Combining the three divine powers to create a new space-time here!!

Flash!

In the next moment, because of Trimurti’s divine power, the scenery near the Azure Dragon Martial Arts School appeared. Precisely, I created the world near the Azure Dragon Martial Arts School that I knew and covered the collapsing space-time with it. With the crisis easily resolved, I used my divine power to resurrect Mephisto, who lay dead on the ground.

Whoosh!

As Mephisto was restored, his face displayed pure terror. He trembled and said,

“P-please stop…”

Though I wanted to beat him more, I barely kept in my disgust and said gruffly,

“Enough of that. Now summon all my companions from the training world here.”

“A-alright.”

Bang!

Before my eyes, Shim Su-ryeok, Subori, Lee Kwang, and Lee Hwan-woong appeared. They looked puzzled as they found themselves suddenly summoned.

“Baek Woong?”

“What’s going on?”

I explained everything that had happened until now, and the more they heard, the more serious they became. Once I felt I had laid out the situation, I said,

“I’m now going to wrap this up with this bastard and return to the original Takrok world. Will you come with me?”

“Ummm…!!”

Just then, Subori chimed in.

“You might not need to destroy the training world.”