Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

"Got it."

I had received the right to use a weapon from the Tower of Infinite Arms through the Prophet. What the Zhuge elder meant was to use that power to reduce Luoyang to rubble beforehand, entering in the most advantageous position possible. There might be casualties among the people inside, but in that living hell, staying alive would probably be even worse.

Wooong.

As I silently recited the incantation etched into my mind, thinking of using the weapon, my consciousness soon shifted elsewhere else.

I floated in a blank white space devoid of anything.

It felt like a mental realm, but ahead of me stretched a pitch-black sky of dark rock, densely packed with tens of millions of star clusters. I knew this was the outer universe, and the blue star before my eyes was the world I lived in.

[User recognition confirmed.]

With an inhuman voice came a mechanical clank from the far side of the space, and something bizarre popped out. It had round eyes and looked like a leopard, but a third eye was embedded in its forehead. The monstrous beast addressed me.

"I want to wipe out Luoyang and its surroundings—especially the Nine Yin Cult Leader and the Nine Yin Cult Bishops there."

[Inputting target... Rechecking for execution level compliance. Is the goal the extinction of surface civilization?]

"No. Just Luoyang... and no damage to the surrounding areas. Spare humans as much as possible."

[Please wait.]

The three-eyed leopard-like beast's eyes spun like a blue storm. After a long pause, it raised its head and spoke.

[Target confirmed as quasi-[Ruler]-class. Weapons of grade 16 or below, such as ray bombs and atomic bombs, along with orbital strikes, are ineffective. Damage required to eliminate the target measures 1.98 rotals. Dimensional reversal field confirms the target's chaos reserves vastly exceed civilization levels. Estimated at 1297 years... Minimum weapon grade projected for elimination: 18.]

The three-eyed leopard muttered incomprehensible words, then continued rapidly.

[To release grade 18, royal approval is required. User, please reconfirm that liberating a grade 18 weapon constitutes a species-level crisis.]

"...?"

I had no idea what it was talking about.

Did that mean I needed royal approval to use a grade 18 weapon capable of taking down the Nine Yin Cult Leader? After pondering, I said,

"How do I get royal approval? Didn't I already come here with the king's permission?"

[No precedent; analyzing. Recommend connecting communication with royalty for approval.]

"Do it."

Beep beep beep.

[Communication with the king authorized.]

After a repeating tone, an image appeared before the leopard's eyes.

And astonishingly, the Prophet stood in that lifelike, moving projection!

"Prophet!!"

He stood amid an indescribably bizarre landscape. It seemed he'd long fled to some distant galaxy in another dimension beyond my knowledge.

[Caught in the gods' scheme... heh heh heh...]

The Prophet said something profound, then continued.

[Baek Woong... Sorry, but I can't approve a grade 18 weapon for you... It's for repelling [Ancient Rulers]... The backlash of causality could be too much...]

"......!!"

[Instead, I'll authorize the next level down: grade 17... Know that even that's a heavy burden for me...]

I hurriedly asked him,

"Wait, did you sell my info to Changhil...?"

[Ah... Seems something urgent came up...]

Flash!

The Prophet cut off communication without answering. As I stood there stunned, the leopard said,

[Grade 17 weapon unlocked by royal authority.]

"That rotten bastard!!"

Rage boiled inside me. Cutting off without a reply like that was too suspicious. Changhil knowing I was a reincarnator was already fishy, and according to the Zhuge elder, it meant the Prophet had sold my information. I'd tried to press him, but he just ignored me.

'I knew he had no loyalty.'

Expecting more from an information broker was pointless anyway.

I barely calmed my emotions and ordered the leopard,

"Got it. Use the grade 17 weapon to sweep away the Nine Yin Cult Leader and his cultists in Luoyang!"

[Command approved.]

Whiiiing.

Was this a celestial body floating in space? With a dry sound, a pure white cannon barrel aimed at the round world.

[Installing space-time compression array at target point [Luoyang]... Capturing 6 quasi-apostle bodies... Activating chaos spectrum device... Antimatter meson detonator attached. Greetings from the Alliance Lord of the Great Universal Future Information Thought Integration Federation: 'Enjoy the hunt!' Etheric particle barrier deployment in progress... Confirmed complete block of [Ancient Rulers] thought waves. Blocking super-regeneration, causal immortality, and space-time reversal abilities... 99% elimination probability for upper apostle-class confirmed. Antimatter field capture complete from the Stellar Heavenly Position.]

"......"

[Protest diplomatic letter received from the Western Galaxy Tribal Alliance for the user. Attached letter expresses strong regret that using hostile [Ancient Ruler] weaponry on a primitive planet threatens peace, voicing deep disappointment to the [King] and demanding 5000 years of diplomatic isolation. Forwarding letter to royalty.]

Incomprehensible words flew back and forth, but it was clearly some unimaginable weapon beyond my current knowledge.

[Western Galaxy Year 3839827, Week 85, Day 7. In the name of the great king, firing the Grade 17 Anti-[Ancient Ruler] Near-Ultimate Annihilation Weapon: Antimatter Spirit Thunder Supreme Bliss Wave Cycle Cannon.]

Pew—

Zzaaang.

A tiny thread-like line shot from the barrel, and that was it. Far plainer than I'd expected, I wondered if it had even fired properly. But soon the leopard wagged its tail and said,

[Impact confirmed. Returning user's consciousness.]

Flash!

The next instant, I was yanked from the white space back to where I'd stood. But the sight before me left me dumbfounded.

A pillar of pure white!

Silently, it was as if a white pillar had impaled all of Luoyang. No—actually, a pillar of white light was erasing the entire city.

Bzzzbzzzbzzz.

An unidentified eerie hum vibrated like static, with no sense of an attack amid the stillness. Then the light faded, leaving only ruins.

"......"

"Baek Woong... what the hell did you just do?"

The Zhuge elder's lips trembled in shock. He muttered without hiding his astonishment.

"I never imagined it would be like this..."

Total devastation.

That was the result. What had been called Luoyang City was gone without a trace, as if it had never existed. Just in case, I said,

"The Nine Yin Cult Leader's probably dead too, right?"

"That would be ideal!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Eliminating humanity's greatest calamity without a fight would be the best outcome. We watched the scene for a while before advancing. In about five li, we sensed no signs of life.

But surprisingly, things began popping up from underground here and there. They coughed as they rose—humans, by the look of them.

"You alright?"

"Huff... huff... what happened...?"

They were survivors who'd hidden throughout Luoyang. They said a blinding light had suddenly erased everything, burying them shallow underground. The Zhuge elder told Yeon Jeong-hwi,

"You handle rescuing the survivors. We need to confirm the fates of the Nine Yin Cult Leader and the archbishops."

"Understood."

We pressed on. As we walked, I sensed something and said,

"The demonic energy's completely gone."

"That beam must have had purifying power too. It spared humans but destroyed everything else? Incredible. But..."

The Zhuge elder eyed the sky with disgust.

"The grand barrier remains."

"......"

"Even this great race's super-civilization can't breach it, it seems."

Maybe. If even a determined descent of the baleful spirit couldn't breach it, that made sense. But then what kind of being was the [Mangyang Immortal] sustaining it? I was struck anew by how formidable that black cat was.

Bubbling...

"Ah."

Suddenly, bubbles boiled from spots in the air, and something began regenerating. They soon turned into fiends draped in bright red robes. Jin So-cheong muttered lowly upon seeing them.

"Bishops."

The Nine Yin Cult Bishops!

There were six in total. I couldn't make out their faces clearly, but tentacles oozing from under their robes suggested they weren't pretty sights. They'd fused with tentacles, no longer human. I swallowed hard, and Mangyang said,

"Something's off. Each one used to boast power that even guardian lions struggled against, but I barely sense any now."

"......?"

Poison King Dang San grunted.

"That beam let them regenerate their bodies but drained their power! Easy pickings now."

Ssssh.

Intent Severing Technique.

Formless Poison.

Drip drip.

Dang San's will pierced the air, enveloping the bishops. Their bodies melted away in seconds—astonishingly, reduced to blood puddles in just two breaths.

"......!!"

What kind of poison was that? No matter how potent, nothing dissolved flesh and bone instantly like that! Even the deadliest I'd seen could only corrode skin, not liquefy everything in moments. I was awestruck by the absolute realm poison master's formless poison.

'If that hit me...'

No way to handle it. I could resist once or twice by raising my Thunder Spirit power, but the longer the fight, the deeper the poisoning until death.

After massacring the bishops, Dang San looked baffled.

"What? Already done? Normally they'd sprout tentacles even after formless poison and revive. One was hard enough before—what happened to make 'em this weak?"

Jin So-cheong replied,

"The Tower of Infinite Arms weapon must've interfered with their regeneration and stripped their immortality. A true miracle."

"Damn... what kinda move was that? You're something else."

Dang San eyed me with genuine admiration. From that, I realized the bishops were monsters ranked above guardian lions, not meant to be die so easily. Even absolute realm masters couldn't overwhelm their infinite regeneration and immortality.

How much farther did we go?

In the ruins' center stood a figure in black robes. It stared silently at us, and the moment we saw it, Jin So-cheong paled. Mangyang and the Zhuge elder ground their teeth in unison.

"The Nine Yin Cult Leader."

Unlike the bishops, the Nine Yin Cult Leader hadn't revived from the air. Instead, it stood as if it'd always been there, perfectly still. Yet the space around it felt devoured by its presence—even with two absolute realm experts here, we couldn't help shrinking back.

But something was off. The face behind the Nine Yin Cult Leader's black robes looked familiar. As I puzzled over it, Jin So-cheong said,

"Baek Woong, fortunate amid misfortune. Its power was once impossible to face, but now it's down to half or less."

"You saying we can win?"

"......Not sure. Might not."

"......"

Jin So-cheong admitting weakness like this? Even with its power halved? It didn't make sense.

Right then,

The Nine Yin Cult Leader looked at me and spoke.

"I won't kill you."

"Huh?"

I understood the arrogance but not the intent, leaving me flustered. This was the supreme expert who'd single-handedly massacred the White Lotus Cult's elites and Yi Cheong-un, surviving the Tower's weapon to boot. Arrogance was expected, but why spare me?

And its voice wasn't male—it was female. Familiar, too, stirring suspicion.

"No way, you're..."

The Nine Yin Cult Leader slowly parted its robes, revealing its head. Then it said,

"Because this body's owner wishes it."

"?!"

My jaw dropped.

That white-haired woman—I definitely knew her.

A heavy blow struck my mind, making my body tremble.

"Seomoon Hye..."

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