Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

Startled.

The first to sense the anomaly was Miyamoto Musashi. He was locked in a standoff with two Guardian Lion-level experts, dodging their ferocious Heavenly Spirit Group's assaults with his Intent Absolute Technique while probing for openings. Then, a shockwave erupted nearby, rapidly expanding and devouring his qi. His hypersensitive instincts immediately told him something was gravely amiss.

Flash.

Miyamoto Musashi suddenly slashed through the fabric of space-time as if concealing his presence, retreating far back.

[You bastard! Where do you think you're running?}

Infuriated as Musashi's form fled into the distance, Dokgo Jun gave chase alongside the Reincarnator Jin So-cheong. Musashi's stealth technique was normally undetectable unless one was an Absolute Realm master, but in his current panicked state, it failed to unleash its full power.

Whoosh.

As the three experts soared through the air in pursuit, someone emerged from a cave midway up the World Tree. His face was somewhat pale, hand on his head, looking utterly exhausted. He let out a sigh.

He muttered curtly.

"Emergency Edict."

Moments later, his figure vanished.

He still had unfinished business.

Thump!

[Ugh... Hngh.]

The White Lotus Leader, mid-clash with Jin So-cheong, collapsed in agony from an overwhelming pain. Jin So-cheong could have easily slain him on the spot with a single strike given the massive opening, but he deliberately held back, lowering his spear tip. Looking down at him, Jin So-cheong said.

"Your limit has come."

[End it.]

The White Lotus Leader replied calmly. Even if ambushed, he could have fought on for a while, but he essentially living on borrowed time. Facing an Absolute Realm master like Jin So-cheong would only shorten that dramatically. After a brief hesitation, Jin So-cheong spoke.

"...The Zhuge Sage instructed me to ask you this. If this crumbling world could be saved, would you accept it even if done by someone other than yourself?"

[Of course. Had such a hero existed, I would have gladly sacrificed and devoted everything for him.]

Jin So-cheong shook his head, denying it.

"Your actions thus far show nothing of the sort. You've shrouded everything in mystery, insisting all along that no one but yourself could do it."

[I won't deny it. However... among those I've seen, there was simply no one I could trust.]

With that, the White Lotus Leader slowly shifted his gaze to the ceiling.

[This very situation... on the brink of my death... doesn't it prove the absolute absence of that trust?]

"......"

[In the end, we devoured ourselves.]

Indeed.

In the end, it was merely a contest of who struck first from behind, and Baek Woong's group had seized the initiative. Had the order differed even slightly or the plan gone away, it would be Jin So-cheong lying cold and dead at the White Lotus Leader's hands right now.

Jin So-cheong said.

"I want to know why you ended up with a weakness like the Young Cult Leader."

[What good does knowing now do...]

As the White Lotus Leader sneered, Jin So-cheong stared straight at him and said.

"Cult Leader. I am a comrade of the Reincarnator. And the Baek Woong we follow is that Reincarnator himself. He will save you one day."

[......?]

The White Lotus Leader tilted his head as if hearing absurd nonsense. It was rare for him to look so baffled. He had resigned himself to death with detachment, but Jin So-cheong's words were too unexpected.

Yet with his brilliant mind, he quickly grasped the implication, trembling violently.

[N-No way. It can't be. So that's why you targeted my weakness... and while gathering the Seven Essentials and Four Great Divine Artifacts, you drew in the Twelve Laws and Eight Legions too.]

"I'm not lying. Please, I beg you, Cult Leader."

Jin So-cheong revealed the truth now precisely because he had cornered the Leader, pushing him to the verge of death. Had the Leader any freedom to flee or act otherwise, he never would have disclosed such a secret.

[Ugh... heh heh heh......]

The Leader soon burst into mad laughter.

[Hahaha! Unbelievable... This can't be real. In this world... such an absurd power...]

He laughed uproariously for a while before muttering as if sensing something off.

[Wait... then... that one too... no way....]

"That one?"

[......]

The Leader fell silent, utterly still for a time. Then he spoke.

[...Heh heh.... The reason for my weakness... It must be because of my blood kin... I should have killed him... but I couldn't.]

"What do you mean?"

The Leader continued without elaborating.

[The me that Baek Woong will face, Dokgo Uncheon, won't be swayed by mere words from the Reincarnator. As you saw, after learning the underbelly of all worlds in the Shushin-ryu library, I became one who trusts nothing... I must deceive until the very last moment...]

[But I can provide a clue.]

"What clue?"

[Bring the Four Great Divine Artifacts... and prove before me that the Divine Maiden's prophecy has come true... then Dokgo Uncheon will submit to him.]

"----!!"

For an instant, the Leader seemed to smile bitterly.

[That was my lifelong regret....]

Sooh.

Dark energy began slowly seeping from the Leader's body. As death claimed him, the contract pulled his soul to the eternal throne of darkness. He slowly let his hand fall.

[...I'm tired....]

Crackle....

His mask clattered to the ground, leaving only his robes. His flesh and spirit crumbled to sand and vanished. Witnessing the pitiful end of one once called the supreme master of the Central Plains, Jin So-cheong felt a pang of sorrow.

That's when someone addressed Jin So-cheong.

"Jin So-cheong."

Jin So-cheong glanced back.

"Cheon Woo-jin."

"Let's go. No time."

"...You really did it?"

Jin So-cheong stared at the urging Cheon Woo-jin in bewilderment. He knew exactly what mission Cheon Woo-jin had been assigned--and how insane it was. Considering Cheon Woo-jin's sense of duty and justice as a sorcerer, he never thought it possible.

Cheon Woo-jin replied in a weary tone.

"Yeah. Smashed it to bits... real good. Didn't think about the aftermath...."

"You okay?"

Cheon Woo-jin scoffed mockingly.

"Not the time to worry about me. Why're you fretting over others with a face like your parents just died?"

"Hmm."

Only after hearing Cheon Woo-jin's mockery did Jin So-cheong realize how deeply dejected he looked. Unaware himself, the act of ambushing and killing the White Lotus Leader had crushed his pride and convictions. Unable to respond, Cheon Woo-jin continued.

"You should've steeled yourself the moment you knew the strategist was a ruthless bastard. No choice now but to see it through."

"...Lead the way."

"Right."

Cheon Woo-jin spoke in a voice of utter resignation.

"World Tree or whatever... it's all over now."

Rumble.

[Heh heh heh, you annoying bastards... how many times are you gonna come back to life?]

The Volcano King's incarnation snarled irritably, unleashing dozens of massive fire pillars. He had been relentlessly overwhelming the true bodies of Three Eight Legions nonstop, yet just as he thought them finished, they revived. Not regenerating, but popping up out of nowhere like a surprise attack--utterly infuriating.

A deva replied.

[Shouldn't you be ashamed? A high-ranking [Ancient Ruler] like you meddling in mortal squabbles.]

[Heh heh heh... you've been exploding left and right but your month's still alive... huh?]

Sizzle.

In an instant, the Volcano King's incarnation warped like a water droplet hitting the surface and vanished.

Its abrupt annihilation left the Eight Legions battling it utterly baffled.

[Huh?] [What tho?]

Garuda of the Eight Legions turned to the deva.

"Hey. What happened?"

The deva replied, equally perplexed.

"No idea... Some strategy?" [Preparing a grand spell?]

[If so, he'd do it right here.]

None of them fully grasped what had just occurred.

"......"

But Ha Eun-cheon, the Twelve Laws Lord, watching remotely from afar, knew exactly what happened. Seated with chin propped, he muttered.

"The White Lotus Leader is dead...."

With the summoner dead, the Volcano King's incarnation returned to its realm.

The most fundamental principle of summoning magic.

Who killed him?

Obviously Baek Woong's faction. Neither the Twelve Laws nor Myriad Crane Command Gate planned to take out the White Lotus Leader immediately. This was their home turf--better to wait and counteract.

Yet the Twelve Laws Lord couldn't fathom their intent, feeling perplexed.

Why?

'I thought the Zhuge Sage ailing with the White Lotus Leader to strike me as the highest probability.'

Among the three great powers, the Twelve Laws held the strongest position and forces, making it easy to predict the two weaker ones ganging up on the strongest. From the Zhuge Sage's view, killing the White Lotus Leader gained no real advantage. Thus, their strategy of assassinating him first let him stunned.

'No way they think they can take out me, the Three Sages, Twelve Laws, and Myriad Crane Command Gate with just their own power...?'

Impossible. A strategist like the Zhuge Sage wouldn't indulge in such reckless bravado. Purely rationally assessing forces, it was the worst possible blunder.

That was when the Twelve Laws Lord pondered.

Thud!

Thud!

"Ugh...."

"My lord...."

The Three Sages standing beside him suddenly collapsed. Ha Eun-cheon shot to his feet in shock, immediately unleashing a wave of spirit energy with his Milky Way Scattered Blade Fan.

Flash.

The condensed spirit energy dispersed, slightly stabilizing the Three Sages.

"What happened?"

"My lord... disaster... Our binding origin... has been destroyed."

The Twelve Laws Lord quickly pieced it together. Rage gave way to profound absurdity, draining his strength.

"Insane..."

Now he understood the Zhuge Sage's intent.

Ghost Operation!

But realizing it changed nothing. He saw he had only two choices left.

Die.

Or surrender to madness.

He let out a hollow chuckle. Even a hundred Zhuge Sages couldn't match him in raw power, yet the strategist had forced this dilemma from the shadows with an unthinkable mad strategy, executed with terrifying resolve.

He noticed the Three Sages' forms fading. He had to accept they were being saved--like shattered hearts. Placing a hand over their heads, Ha Eun-cheon said bitterly.

"I'll put your power to good use."

Wu Sa and Un Sa closed their eyes.

"Please..."

"Save the future."

They dissolved into light, absorbed into the Twelve Laws Lord's hand one by one. Pung Baek, resigned, shut his eyes and said.

"Great Ancestor. At least save this land, the people of Goryeo...."

"... I will."

With all Three Sages absorbed, he slowly walked outside. Standing silently on the vast plain under the pitch-black sky, someone appeared before him.

"My lord. I've subdued them all."

"Hong Gil-dong."

At Hong Gil-dong's feet lay Geuk Ho, Myoung Yong-ja, and Choong Wol, all unconscious. It had taken time, but he had captured every intruder alone. Thinking how capable Hong Gil-dong was, the Twelve Laws Lord said bitterly.

"It's meaningless."

"Pardon?"

"Grand Elder. Follow me. No need to dawdle in a lost battle."

"What do you...."

Rumble.

Suddenly, a massive quake shook them as a black hole tore open in the ground. Startled by the sudden rift, Hong Gil-dong froze, but the Twelve Laws Lord muttered as if expecting it.

"It's begun."

"What happened?"

Geuk Ho, barely conscious nearby, vaguely overheard their exchange.

Lying there, he thought the Twelve Laws Lord's words.

The World Tree's core is shattered. The Divine Tree will die soon.

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