Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

It was definitely the Young Cult Leader. From his name being Dokgo Seol to his oddly polite manner of speaking, everything evoked memories of him. I recalled that though his actual age was quite advanced, due to cultivating profound cultivation arts, he appeared almost ageless.

Yet what stood before me was a bizarre, otherworldly bipedal creature unlike anything I'd ever seen. Could that truly be the Young Cult Leader?

As I struggled to reconcile this with reality in my mind, the self-proclaimed "Cult Leader" Dokgo Seol spoke.

"Ah... wait... just a moment..."

Muttering in a whining tone, the being coughed as if hacking something up, and suddenly only its neck transformed into that of an adult human.

"Can it reshape its own body?"

Moments later, the voice of the Young Cult Leader I knew emerged.

"You've arrived at the perfect time. I was planning to seek you out soon myself, Baek Woong."

"He was my father..."

Rustle.

"......!!"

Dokgo Seol wiggled his wrinkled fingers to point at the White Lotus Cult Leader's corpse, and it suddenly weathered away. It crumbled into dust and sand, collapsing entirely and losing all form. At a glance, it seemed like a transformation technique, but it wasn't.

Thanks to the Apostle's power within me, I could instinctively sense the truth. An immense "time" had passed in an instant.

"What in the world?"

Dokgo Seol continued.

"Now he can rest in peace. I've absorbed the fate of destruction that clung to him-truly a blessing amid misfortune. And as I've succeeded him to become the head of the White Lotus Cult, let us speak, Baek Woong."

Absorbed the fate of destruction...?

His words sent a chill through me.

"The real blessing is that this monster isn't attacking outright but talking instead..."

I realized I needed to extract as much information as possible from this situation. I might die here, but at least I had to grasp what this "self-proclaimed Cult Leader" had done and why. Carefully choosing my words, I asked.

"What happened to the elders and cultivation experts who were here?"

"They've returned to the flow of time."

He killed them.

"No, that's not the priority."

Even I would have eliminated any obstacles. Probing further would lead nowhere, and it might annoy him, so I swiftly moved to a more crucial question.

"Dokgo Seol, I can sense you're an extraordinary being. How did you acquire such power?"

"......"

His wrinkled face turned toward me. In that instant, I knew an unimaginable madness beyond comprehension was searing into my mind from those glowing eyes. My head throbbed violently, my body feeling like it would melt and burst.

So utterly evil and wicked.

An infinite madness poured down from the age of mysteries.

A despair as malice poured from the constellations.

An illusion gripped me, as if reality itself was warping, rendering me utterly immobile.

"W- What... is this?!"

Objectively, it was just a grotesque, comical form, but meeting its gaze alone made my limbs refuse to move. Its sheer presence sealed my thoughts.

"Urk."

Yet forcing myself to regain composure and glare at it, Dokgo Seol spoke with apparent surprise.

"As expected... you possess remarkable mental defenses. Even as an Apostle of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, can a mere human resist the gaze of the primordial?"

"Did you just attack me?"

"No. I merely looked upon you. Mortals lose their minds from that alone."

He replied nonchalantly and continued.

"I am now the White Lotus Cult Leader... the sole child of the White Lotus Cult Leader, Dokgo Seol... and a 'Great Existence' summoned from the distant flow of time. All these are amalgamated into my self. Soon, Dokgo Seol's ego will fade, but before that, I wish to fulfill his final wish as an incarnation."

Though lengthy, my accumulated knowledge of the darkness allowed me to comprehend.

"...I see..."

This thing was an [Old Ruler]'s Incarnation!

For reasons unknown, an [Old Ruler] I didn't know had manifested by possessing Dokgo Seol's body. Not the true body, so not as powerful, but an Old Ruler's incarnation was calamity incarnate.

Memories from the past surfaced.

[This happened decades ago... I clashed with some divine being and destroyed its physical form. It was powerful, but no match for me.]

[Yet its soul fled elsewhere, and soon after, a horrific curse afflicted my son, the Young Cult Leader.]

[The Mother Without Birth or Aging. The name of the great god our cult reveres. The Creator, the Mother Without Birth or Aging, promised to send Maitreya to gather her scattered children, lead them to the True Void Home, and manifest a peaceful Millennial Kingdom in the human world. Do you know our White Lotus Cult's doctrine?]

[I once sought the most powerful sorcerer I knew to cure the affliction. He said he couldn't help, but called it a heavenly fortune.]

[The Old Ruler's magic could have cured our entire cult to ruin, but the Mother Without Birth or Aging's protection prevented it. Pondering how to offer the greatest tribute, I thought the myth-bearing sacred tree of our cult, the Dragon Flower Tree, would suffice.]

The White Lotus Cult Leader had told me before. A blue-eyed foreigner from the Western Regions came seeking the Nameless Sacrificial Scripture and offered aid, but the Cult Leader refused. The foreigner then summoned an Old Ruler's incarnation, which the Cult Leader defeated with his own power-only for the affliction to strike Young Cult Leader Dokgo Seol immediately after.

To cure it, the Cult Leader sent Dongbang Magesuk's group to the Southern Barbaric Lands for the Dragon Flower Tree, to offer to the Mother Without Birth or Aging. He also hoped the tree itself might aid the cure.

......

Could it be...

To confirm my hypothesis, I glared at him and said.

"The White Lotus Cult Leader didn't defeat the [Old Ruler]'s incarnation summoned by that Western sorcerer. He merely held it at bay."

"You know quite a bit."

"He told me himself."

"I see."

Dokgo Seol replied indifferently and continued.

"Correct. My incarnation's body was indeed destroyed in battle with the White Lotus Cult Leader back then, but my soul is immortal. And since that sorcerer begged with his dying soul, I possessed his bloodline."

"Possessed...?"

"The sorcerer's wish was a curse to destroy the White Lotus Cult Leader's clan. Thus, the Cult Leader borrowed his 'great father's' power to suppress me."

"What?! You mean..."

I cried out in shock.

"The White Lotus Cult Leader had you sealed within his Soul Infant as an Apostle?"

"Sealed? How unpleasant. Even borrowing the 'father's' throne power, it was mere human might. I could have broken free anytime. But there was no reason to exert myself for one sorcerer's request."

Muttering irritably, Dokgo Seol said.

"I originally had no interest in this world's affairs. But recently, the Sea Gatekeeper fell, shaking the laws of causality. Sensing the moment of the Cult Leader's weakened power, I emerged fully."

His hideous face seemed to smirk.

"If things go well, I might surpass Cthulhu and claim the first revelation at the 'Time of the End.'"

"Revelation?"

"I'll say no more. Even as an Apostle, you're just a lowly human."

"...I see."

I glared at him.

"You're not Dokgo Seol. You're merely pretending to be."

"Didn't I say so from the start? In my mercy, I merely fulfill a human's grudge."

Indeed.

Neither Dokgo Seol nor the White Lotus Cult Leader stood before me.

It was merely an [Old Ruler]'s incarnation, possessing a human via an ancient curse, mimicking Dokgo Seol's persona. Meaning this, thing wasn't human at all-it was among the ultimate bipeds, an incarnation preying on [Old Ruler]'s will.

"The Sea God fell, weakening the Soul Infant's contract... and it revived, slaughtering the White Lotus Cult's leadership."

Having grasped the situation, I sent a transmission to Musashi.

[Musashi. Can we escape?]

[Too late. Can't you sense it's already laid its trap?]

[What?]

[We'll fight with all we have, but we'll all die here.]

Musashi's calm transmission felt unreal.

Soon, the wrinkled fetal form-"Dokgo Seol," the [Old Ruler]'s incarnation-slowly rose and spoke.

"I cannot fathom the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors choosing a worm like you as an Apostle. Unlike an incarnation, a dead Apostle weakens their own power... Though I suppose that's why they created the Seven Wants to delay the end times, fond as they are of humans."

Flash.

In the next instant, I dashed toward Musashi, trying to flee with him via Instantaneous Shift. But it failed utterly, forcing me to invoke the Apostle's power instead.

"Urk!"

Even that didn't work!

The entire space rippled and undulated instead. Sensing my attempt, it laughed.

"Hahaha, amusing! Jeon Wook must be the one who granted you your power."

"What's so amusing?"

"His domain matches mine... so it's a contest of whose vessel excels. Hahaha."

Then Miyamoto Musashi stepped forward.

Boom.

Stamping down powerfully drew its gaze. Taking his ultimate Niten Ichi-ryu stance, eyes half-closed, he intoned lowly.

"I'll cut you down!"

Yet contrary to his words, Musashi didn't move.

Normally, he'd strike without warning-what did this mean? As I looked at him puzzled, the [Old Ruler]'s incarnation spoke.

"A mortal challenging the impossible. Can you truly do it?"

"I'll cut you down!"

"Then by all means."

Swish.

The moment it stepped toward Musashi.

Time warped before my eyes. Dust and bloodstains floating in the air froze as if embedded in space. Only a luminous flow-once human in form-moved. That lightflow was Musashi, who traced a sword path, slashing the space in a cross.

This differed from Mental Image Clear Sight. That merely heightened senses to perceive split-seconds, but Musashi had transcended it, reaching the flow of light itself.

Slash.

A massive fountain of blood erupted. The incarnation's fetal arm severed, flailing. A clear mortal wound from Musashi's single strike.

"Did we... win?!"

But against my hopes, the incarnation flailed while speaking joyfully.

"Hahaha! A mere human reading time's cross-section to strike? It piques my curiosity what power mortals are allowed. How entertaining!"

Splatter-crunch.

Musashi unleashed another invisible flash of light, and the incarnation's body exploded into dozens of chunks. It was unmistakably Musashi's overwhelming victory, so I approached grinning.

"You did it! You felled a god's incarna-"

"...Run."

Musashi cut me off gravely. Meeting his gaze, he continued, desperately hiding despair.

"That's no human foe..."

Rustle-rustle.

From empty air, dust and clay-like substance undulated rapidly. Absorbing the corpse fragments, it swiftly reformed into the incarnation's original hideous, wrinkled childlike shape.

"......!!"

Immortal?!

The instantly revived [Old Ruler]'s incarnation said.

"Unlike my past battle with the White Lotus Cult Leader, this time I'm fully committed. Your luck has run out."

The moment its finger pointed at Miyamoto Musashi.

Rustle.

That was it.

Miyamoto Musashi, hailed as Dongbang's supreme peak expert, turned to dust and vanished. No last words, not even a reaction. An immense time had weathered only the space he occupied.

"U, uwaaa..."

The hollow end shattered my mind. I never imagined Musashi would fall in one blow.

"I have to... escape..."

But could I?

Against such a divine being?

Whumm.

As I hesitated, Jang Sambong's soul descended through the soul link talisman. Possessing my body, he gazed somberly ahead and spoke.

"Great one... To you, good and evil are mere playthings, are they not? With such power, you could show mercy to the pitiful..."

The [Old Ruler]'s incarnation smirked.

"You who stand between god and man. Do ants speak of mercy and morals when you crush them?"

"...I knew, yet you truly are wicked existences..."

Grunting, Jang Sambong raised his hand toward it.

The stance was the Wudang Sect's martial art, the Grand Ultimate Fist's starting form.

And he addressed me.

[Young one. I'll endure as long as possible with the Peerless Hegemon. But defeat is inevitable-use your own arts to escape this place...]

[Jang Sambong Zhenren. That's impossible...]

He gave a bitter smile.

[No time for more words. Farewell.]

My vision blackened, consciousness fading.

Time passed.

I gradually opened my eyes. Day had turned to night, the moon high overhead. The once Cult Leader's hall was gone without trace, all buildings reduced to sand. Nearby mountains and rivers had vanished too.

I sensed it instinctively.

Their battle had annihilated the White Lotus Cult.

I barely stood, my body skeletal and withered. My internal energy long depleted, my eight extraordinary meridians shattered. Likely, Jang Sambong Zhenren could no longer maintain possession, returning control to me.

Agony and headache wracked me, making standing difficult. My forearms were shriveled, as if afflicted.

Before me stood the [Old Ruler]'s incarnation, the self-proclaimed Dokgo Seol. Expressionless, it regarded me.

[I salute that immortal. He withstood me, an eternal fetus, protecting himself.]

......

[Truly masterful skill.]

No strength to reply.

But I felt the change distinctly. Before, its polite human speech held the gaze of one viewing vermin; now, even its haughty archaic tone conveyed respect. Evidently, it highly valued Jang Sambong Zhenren's endurance.

[I shall grant you an equal end...]

Rustle.

The moment its finger pointed at me, my body began crumbling like sand. Ears and nose disintegrating serve by nerve-horrific.

Where its gaze or finger turned, an absurd span of time surged: a thousand years, ten thousand perhaps. Thus, no mortal could survive its touch.

Unbelievable power, yet this was an [Old Ruler]'s authority.

Sensing inescapable death, I closed my eyes.

Ah.

So this is my 22nd death...

[Apostle's power, activate.]

Click-clack.

A rewinding sound echoed.

"......"

Regaining senses, I stood with Miyamoto Musashi on the empty White Lotus Cult grounds.

"What's wrong?"

It felt like a nightmare.

But I knew it wasn't.

Pressing on would lead to that reality inevitably.

"...Ughhh..."

Trembling.

I collapsed, limbs shaking like aspen leaves. The terror of that horrifying divine presence lingered in my body. I'd felt the true [Old Ruler]'s power, indescribable by mere presence.

"Huff, huff, huff."

Panting, I told Miyamoto Musashi.

"L-Let's go back. Or we'll die."

"Hmm, fair enough. I was about to warn you myself."

So this was before Musashi's ill-omen warning? Right after teleporting to the Cult Leader's hall, then.

I gritted my teeth.

"I remember now..."

The Apostle's power I'd trained under Yeol for five years in the Ogocheon Gate.

Its activation resurfaced.

Sealed until now by causality due to its potency, encountering this overwhelmingly powerful being had undone the memory seal.

Indeed.

I'd just used that power to rewind time to moments before facing the [Old Ruler]'s incarnation, barely surviving. For Jeon Wook's power was also time manipulation.

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