전생검신 90권 17화

Suu

I casually drew my sword from my waist, aiming it at the guy and continued speaking.

“Thanks for telling me about the Heavenly Secret. Now, explain the situation.”

Tsukuyomi responded with a scoff.

“What do you want me to explain?”

“I killed myself to ensure you had no chance for a comeback. So why did I wake up here in my original body, and why did Zhuge Sa suddenly disappear?”

“……”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t want to.”

At this rate, it couldn’t just end with a light emotional release.

“Oh really? Then just take my stab since you’re going to disappear anyway.”

Swoosh!

In a split second, my sword energy flew like a thin razor, slicing into his flesh. Blood spurted from the cut, as though it were being drained from a slab of raw meat, and at the same time, I infused him with thunder energy, shocking his body.

Zzzzzt!!

“Kraaaah…!! Aaaah!”

Tsukuyomi screamed. Having tortured others before, I sensed that his scream wasn’t feigned but came from deep, heartfelt pain, and a satisfied smile crept onto my face.

“Seeing you tied up by those tentacles, I guessed, but it seems like in this space, you’re just a mortal and not a god. How does it feel to have your nerves fried by thunder energy?”

“Ahhh!! Ugh… Aaaaaaaah!! Aaaah!!”

“According to Lee Gang-ryong, if you extend thunder energy into someone’s body and touch all their nerves, it feels like having your teeth ripped out multiplied by ten.”

Zzzzzt

“Aaaah!!”

Tsukuyomi couldn’t respond to me; he was just writhing in pain. I continued leisurely.

“By training in the Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts, I’ve learned various applications of thunder energy. Before, I only knew basic torture techniques using thunder energy. The Heavenly Flower Thunder Dragon Divine Arts can even torment creatures of chaos created by tentacles, so I’m confident I can make you suffer until you perish.”

“……!!”

Zzzzzt……

I momentarily retracted the thunder energy, relieving him of his pain.

“Hah… Hah….”

As Tsukuyomi gasped for breath, I said in a calm voice.

“You hate me, someone you’ve never met, intensely. But honestly, I don’t dislike you that much. I’m not the type to hate someone I haven’t even seen that badly. So if you just tell me, I’m not planning on torturing you anymore.”

I meant it. Tsukuyomi was annoying, but I had dealt with plenty of such guys in my past life. It was bothersome to put all my emotions on each one of them.

“……”

“Do you really want to be tortured by some unknown rookie like me until you turn to ash? If that’s what you want, I’ll be happy to oblige.”

Swish.

As I reached threateningly toward his face, Tsukuyomi flinched and desperately shouted.

“W-Wait!!”

I paused.

Once I stopped my hand, Tsukuyomi trembled and said.

“Y-You must have used the Soul Exchange Technique to fuse with the spirit of the Golden Moon. That was the only way to break my strategy… but at the same time, that gave the Golden Moon the Law of Cause and Effect.”

“What do you mean?”

I didn’t quite get it, so I questioned him, at which point Tsukuyomi, seeming to have stabilized, spat out some blood and spoke.

“While the spirit is fused, your life and death are linked to the Golden Moon. Would I not know such a sorcery?”

“……”

“If you die, the Golden Moon dies too. Do you think the ‘living being’ that is the Golden Moon would accept death so easily?”

“……?!”

What? What are you talking about?

I was shocked by the unexpected statement. The Golden Moon is involved?

Tsukuyomi, struggling to stay awake due to pain, swayed his blurry face from side to side as he continued.

“The Golden Moon of Dark Heaven Village is a direct descendant of the Coming Chaos. Although it appears to be an inanimate object, it surely has its own will and is a high-level living being. Upon feeling the intent of your suicide, it must have devised a plan to avoid dying.”

This was getting complicated…

I pondered Tsukuyomi’s words and finally grasped the main point.

“So… you’re saying this whole situation was created by the Golden Moon?”

“That’s right.”

So the Golden Moon, not wanting to die, rejected my suicide and created this weird phenomenon?

It was absurd, but there was logic to Tsukuyomi’s statement. Otherwise, the situation before me wouldn’t make sense. I thought some more and then addressed Tsukuyomi.

“That alone doesn’t explain why I’ve returned to my original body instead of a mechanical one. You had a direct contract with the Golden Moon, so you must know more.”

Tsukuyomi seemed to think carefully before replying cautiously.

“I’ll tell you, but promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Promise that you’ll kill me without pain after I tell you everything.”

“I promise.”

Considering what Tsukuyomi had done, I could torture him more, but for now, getting out of the situation was the priority. As I responded, Tsukuyomi opened his mouth.

“The Golden Moon is the most special existence in Dark Heaven Village, connecting dreams and reality. Tsukuyomi is also a being of the ‘dream’, which is why he could contract with the Golden Moon. The Golden Moon has the ability to break the boundary of dreams and swap places with reality.”

I got angry because I didn’t understand Tsukuyomi’s explanation.

“Damn… are you trying to explain this to me in a difficult way on purpose? Want to die?”

“Uck… The reason you’re in the Takrok form is that it summoned your past self through the world of dreams!”

“What? Is that even possible?”

“Where do you think this space is? I’ve already offered myself as a sacrifice to the Golden Moon; this place is basically the Golden Moon’s insides… like a heart! This is the space of dreams itself!”

“……!!”

Are you saying this place is like the heart of the Golden Moon?

‘Since it’s a dream, does that mean my Takrok body can be manifested here…!!’

Finally, I started to understand the situation, but I still had some things I couldn’t fathom.

“……Why did the Golden Moon do such a thing? Why give me a body from my Takrok days?”

“Because it doesn’t want to die!”

Tsukuyomi shouted angrily.

“It thought you were suicidal because you were unhappy with life! Assuming that ridiculous reason was due to that crappy mechanical body, it provided a powerful body from your prime! And now, since it gave you a strong body, it doesn’t want you to die!”

“……”

“If you die, it dies too!”

What the hell…?!

Is it really that simple?!

‘But it makes sense!’

I found Tsukuyomi’s words improbable, but soon came to consider that it might be plausible. I didn’t doubt that Tsukuyomi was lying. I was flustered and said.

“So then, Zhuge Sa…?”

“Since Zhuge Sa urged you to commit suicide, all it did was eliminate the risk of sending you to kill yourself again!”

“……!!”

What the hell!

If what he said were true, then Zhuge Sa was already…!!

I gritted my teeth, realizing that I didn’t need to hear it directly; I could tell just by the state of Zhuge Sa.

It’s best-case scenario is obliteration, and in the worst case, it might be imprisoned somewhere in a dream’s space!

Just like Tsukuyomi before me!

‘Damn it… everything has gone sideways!’

How was I supposed to predict that the Golden Moon itself was a living being and all this would happen?!

‘What should I do now?’

I was confused about the priorities, my mind in chaos. Finding out the situation through Tsukuyomi was great, but I had no clue how to resolve it.

Should I just directly smash the Golden Moon?

But even with my current strength, I doubted if I could easily take down a descendant of the Coming Chaos. Besides, this method seemed unrealistic.

‘Right now, I’m in my prime body… but being inside the body of the Golden Moon, what can I even do…?’

At that moment, a wild thought flashed through my mind. I looked at the grotesque tentacles and flesh walls surrounding me and said.

“It’s alive… is that what you mean?”

“What are you thinking?”

“If the Golden Moon is a being of dreams, then why fear life and death? In a dream, life and death are meaningless, aren’t they?”

Tsukuyomi looked taken aback, as if he hadn’t expected such a question. He then responded.

“Even beings of dreams can die. The Golden Moon merely has the ability to connect dreams, it hasn’t transcended existence, so it naturally fears death.”

“I see…”

“The only ones who can truly become transcendent in dreams are the protagonists of the dream.”

The protagonist of the dream…

Finding some significance in this, I paused to think before saying.

“And why were you wearing a mask earlier? I want to know that reason.”

“……”

Tsukuyomi fell silent, seemingly caught off guard by my seemingly trivial question.

As I noticed his reaction, I realized something and pressed on.

“So… where did the Half White Half Black mask go?”

“I lost it when I was offered as a sacrifice here.”

Upon hearing Tsukuyomi’s answer, I quickly proclaimed.

“Alright… I guess I need to take off your mask!”

I suspected this guy might be lying!

Even if I couldn’t remove the mask, it would just tear his face’s skin; I wouldn’t lose anything!

“Wait…!!”

Tsukuyomi squirmed in panic, but I dashed in and pulled off his mask.

Technique of All Things!

Cha-ching!

As Tsukuyomi’s beautiful face was revealed, something was ripped out, and I found myself holding the mask.

‘As expected!’

I had wondered why Tsukuyomi wasn’t wearing the mask now when he had it on during our earlier fight, but it turned out he was still masked—all that was hidden was just his appearance! And when I took it off, something indescribably bizarre, a swirling golden light came out from inside Tsukuyomi’s face.

Kiki-ki-gi-ki

Kiki-ki-ki-ki…!!

A horrifying cry echoed. And within it, something began to crackle with bizarre waves, something I could discern as ‘words’ reaching directly into my head.

[What… is your displeasure…?]

The moment I heard the voice of that wave, I realized I was right about my suspicions.

“Are you the Golden Moon?”

[……]

Swish!

As soon as I finished speaking, the tentacles that had been binding Tsukuyomi’s body all released, and from that, what resembled a chaotic whirlwind of gold poured into the air as a being that was both Tsukuyomi’s body yet something utterly alien emerged.

The Golden Moon occupying Tsukuyomi’s body spoke.

[Baek Woong! Because our souls are connected, I too cannot meet death… I will use all my power to ensure you do not die!]

Damn… Tsukuyomi’s words were true.

I frowned as I stared at the mask in my hand.

“Tsukuyomi was already absorbed by you long ago, leaving only a husk behind. This mask must be Tsukuyomi.”

[That is correct… ]

“Damn it.”

I grimaced at the Half White Half Black mask trembling in my hand.

I had held onto the hope that it wasn’t true, but it indeed was the voice of the Moon God Tsukuyomi, which had been shaking the heavens and earth. By self-destructing and offering himself as a sacrifice to the Golden Moon, he must have lost all his divine power and body, leaving only his last soul as residue in the mask.

‘I guess if I wear this mask, I could talk to Tsukuyomi again… but…’

I thought looking at the Golden Moon now inhabiting Tsukuyomi’s body.

“Golden Moon. You’re able to use the powers of dreams like Tsukuyomi does in Dark Heaven Village, but you’re still not a being that completely belongs to the ‘dream’. If you’re a being of ‘dream’, then you shouldn’t need to worry about your own annihilation.”

[……]

“Then it’s simple. You’re still a being with a body and soul and can be killed.”

[So…?]

Tsuu-tsuu

I thought the conversation was finally going my way as I raised my sword at him.

“I’ll kill you, and then I’ll die too!!”

Even though he was a direct descendant of the Coming Chaos and had absorbed Tsukuyomi’s power, it didn’t matter.

I just needed to take down the one who’s interfering with my past life!