Chapter 191 : Chapter 191
Chapter 191 : Ghost Manor
Among the swordsmen I met after regression, only three had reached a higher realm than me.
Eugene, Luke, and Deiron.
That I could defeat Deiron was not simple coincidence.
He was drowning in emptiness, and I had the Sword's Will inherited from Eugene.
We Empire warriors believe a soul resides even in the sword.
That soul is the swordsman's conviction engraved on the blade, and the traces of their life.
The match with Deiron was—
More than skill, it was a difference in the temperature of conviction.
His soul had cooled, while mine was in the midst of burning.
‘Sword’s Will.’
What is the Sword's Will Eugene passed down to me?
—It is the heart to save everything within one's power.
Joel came clearly to mind from the moment he handed me the Blood Lion.
There is more.
It wasn't just Eugene who passed down the Sword's Will to me.
—Revere Elzerus, and protect His country.
—Become a fighter of justice and goodness against corruption and evil anytime, anywhere.
—Protect the weak, and respect them.
—Live for honor and glory.
…….
—Foolish swordsman, this is Chivalry. The path a true swordsman must walk.
I also have a Sword's Will I established after coming to this Kingdom land.
My conviction, my Chivalry, pledged every moment and engraved on the sword.
First. Do not turn away from corruption and injustice, but thoroughly destroy them.
Second. Harbor great ambitions.
Third. Move forward together.
Fourth. Protect and continue these things.
The soul residing in the Heavenly Demon vibrated.
It was the moment sword and will connected as one.
I gathered all the Sword's Wills within me into one place.
I recalled Eugene, Jayden, and all the connections that made me who I am today.
All their wills condensed into a single intent.
“I will declare an end to the era of violence.”
There is no mercy for evil.
Corruption and injustice must be punished.
The world is not yet ready to accept dialogue and persuasion.
Truth communicates only through one's own martial power.
Therefore I—
Intend to stand at the apex of the Empire and Kingdom, and engrave my Sword's Will upon the swords of all swordsmen.
The Ghost Eye is hot.
My left vision was dyed blue.
At the same time, the spell formula engraved on the Heavenly Demon's blade shone brightly.
I formed a sword finger with my index and middle fingers that had swept down the Heavenly Demon's blade.
“Ghost Manor.”
Vision inverted.
In an instant, all light disappeared.
The world shrank as if trapped in a frame I made.
No, it didn't shrink.
Because the Phantom Demon is at the center.
Kiyaaaaaah—!
Wailing specters poured out from all directions.
Black silhouettes clung to the Phantom Demon's body like a swarm of insects.
[Th, this is……!]
The Phantom Demon's trembling voice was quickly buried in the Wraith Cry.
The specters rapidly gnawed at him.
“……Not yet. I will crumple you a bit more.”
Violet radiance flowed from the tip of the sword finger raised before my brow.
Space gradually decreased.
Heaven and earth contracted, tightening around the Phantom Demon's form.
Wooooooo—!
He writhed in pain.
Wings tore and eyeballs burst.
The evil spirit's flesh became black ash and scattered.
[Impossi…… Kuaaaaaak!]
The Phantom Demon's scream and the sharp Wraith Cry tangled and rang out.
I twisted the corners of my mouth as if to show off.
“I must have been quite annoying. A headache, even.”
[……!]
I pretended to be calm on the outside, but in truth, I was barely swallowing my groans.
The Ghost Eye burned as if it would burst.
I clenched my teeth and endured.
Because I didn't want to show an unsightly appearance.
‘To him, my outward appearance is everything.’
The Phantom Demon is an evil spirit that invades and dominates the unconscious.
Humans cannot control their own unconsciousness.
Digging into that gap, spreading remnants of thought, and slowly seizing control is his method.
‘I am different.’
I am the only natural enemy he cannot see through.
Because I can handle my unconsciousness myself.
No matter how persistently the Phantom Demon digs in, the door to my unconscious world will never open unless I permit it.
‘Well, he probably bumped into Kuhn occasionally.’
The Phantom Demon is not an existence that simply crosses the spacetime of this world.
A lump of remnant thoughts wandering the gaps of dimensions, a formless condensation of consciousness.
‘He has no form.’
He exists only as consciousness and grows by eating the lingering scent of negativity.
He permeates the unconscious of all life and encroaches upon it.
I opened the Ghost Eye wide.
Blue ghost fire flickered.
I too—
“……I pondered for a long time on how to catch you.”
The scene of the Book of Eternity that Luke guarded came to mind.
The tower of books, the golden sky that opened at the end of the knowledge humans had piled up.
A sky of nirvana that was visible but unreachable.
A refracted reflection, a lingering image of a distant or opposite dimension.
‘The Phantom Demon is no different.’
A monster of remnant thoughts that cannot be defined or condemned by the laws and logic of this world.
A consciousness of negativity swimming through the entire universe, an incarnation of evil thoughts, a formless calamity.
Therefore—
Ordinary methods won't work.
To punish him, I must match the eye level of consciousness.
‘If I cannot completely ascend, I just have to make him come down.’
So I raised my sword toward the sky.
I shouted that I would willingly bring an end to an era with my own hands.
‘As expected, the Phantom Demon reacted.’
He finally revealed his true form.
Not a section partly reflected, but the main body whose breath I could cut.
‘Now, how to annihilate him.’
I had asked Luke the same question.
—If you were to witness Morosra directly, what did you intend to do with him?
Suddenly his decrepit voice rang vividly.
—Naturally punish him. In the name of His Majesty the King.
I actually knew that he had been fighting the Phantom Demon for a very long time.
That fight was a terribly lonely and long journey for Luke—
And the Phantom Demon was a cruel bastard who stole even those memories from Luke.
—He is an entity without substance. How did you intend to cut an evil spirit wandering the gap between illusion and consciousness with your sword?
Luke was a swordsman of a higher realm than me.
However, his unconsciousness remained within the category of an ordinary human.
It wasn't a weakness, but natural.
—What does it mean to cut.
Luke must have unfolded the mental world of the sword to cut the Phantom Demon.
It was self-destruction.
Like openly handing him prey.
He repeated endless fights in his own world, and as wounds and traces piled up…….
Like that, his mental image slowly collapsed.
—……And what is the sword.
Although his memories disappeared, the afterimage of the fight remained in his eyes.
That was—
The loyalty of an old soldier who willingly offered his life, and the essence of Chivalry.
—The sword is not for cutting. It is for drawing the path one must walk.
Unfolding a mental world of the sword is the supreme authority of one who has reached the extremity of the sword.
Now that I have just crossed the threshold of the Late Peak Expert, I dare to unfold a domain that transcends the stage—
This place is my mental world of the sword, Ghost Manor.
—In your heart, make your own path.
Because I inherited Luke's Sword's Will.
“……I command.”
I drew a sword finger in the void.
A white trajectory bloomed.
‘My path.’
Along that path, cracks spread over the Phantom Demon's body.
“Disappear.”
Specters in the darkness swallowed the Phantom Demon.
The swirling explosive sound and screams disappeared as if sucked into the silence that settled in an instant.
It was silent, like a lie.
What remained was—
Only a single gray jewel.
***
I opened my eyes.
Instead of the Wraith Cry, the buzz of people was ringing loudly.
“He's awake!”
“Th, that person is……!”
Voices bursting from all directions rushed in like waves.
It was dazzling.
The sunlight was so bright I couldn't distinguish if it was reality or a dream.
As my focus slowly returned properly, I realized where I was standing.
It was the middle of the deck.
I saw a multitude of crowds below my feet.
Like a podium on the sea, I was standing a level higher than them.
All gazes were focused on me.
“Are you conscious, Bihen?”
Noser approached.
He looked ready to support me.
If I was okay, I wanted to ask him to.
Exhaustion and dizziness poured over me like aftereffects.
“I'm dizzy.”
“This way for now.”
Before his hand could touch me, I looked around.
Ellen and his gang were staring intently at me while backed far away.
They were full of awe, as if looking at some monster.
“That hand, won't you let go right now.”
A sharp voice was heard.
Soon, heavy metallic sounds followed.
Thud— Thud— Bo— om!
Legions poured down from the sky.
Heavily armed steel soldiers lined up without an inch of a gap from the railing at the edge of the sailing ship.
Kuhn walked out from among them.
“…….”
Her leisurely walk was haughty.
The Legion army opened a path; truly, she looked like a commander reigning over them.
If I hadn't known—
I would have mistaken that the goddess crafted from metal, Rosaria, had come back alive.
A strange intimidation resided within her cold beauty.
“What is that again, Bihen?”
Noser asked, crumpling his face completely.
Since I purposely didn't mention Rosaria when conveying Grimlok's situation, it was understandable for him to be confused.
Step.
I didn't answer and took a step forward.
I stood as if to welcome Kuhn, but I was perplexed about what to call her.
Just as appearance changes depending on the angle, miraculously, Kuhn and Rosaria's faces coexisted.
Added to that was an atmosphere as if she harbored a sheet of ice.
She was a boundary existence difficult to define.
“Young Master— N, no…….”
She blinked in embarrassment after spitting it out herself.
Soon, she fixed her expression as if nothing happened and bowed her head to me.
“Heavenly Demon Manifestation—”
Kuhn knelt.
Soon the lined-up Legion army followed suit and knelt on one knee.
It looked like a large wave spreading out.
“Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission.”
Suddenly silence fell.
The surrounding crowd all held their breath.
‘…….’
Kuhn is a clever woman.
Through my eyes, she watched every situation from the decisive battle with Deiron.
‘Are you saying this is all your plan.’
As if answering, Kuhn wore a faint smile.
If it was Manuan in the first place, he would have designed the Legions to obey not just Panika, but Rosaria as well.
Now that I summoned Kuhn and the Legions to call out the Phantom Demon, Kuhn seemed to be using this opportunity to complete the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's plan to seize Brakenport.
‘……Well, she earned her keep.’
I nonchalantly picked my ear. Anyway, Heavenly Demon.
The name I attached to the sword to catch all Eight Demons was now being called so grandly.
“Yo, you really…….”
I turned my head.
At that moment, Ellen, whose eyes met mine, stumbled.
The guy opened his mouth as if squeezing out courage.
“……D, did you really kill Deiron?”
It was then.
A heterogeneous crying sound was heard from the distant sky.
“What is…… that?”
Someone muttered.
Everyone's gazes headed upward in unison.
The wind was torn by dull wingbeats.
It looked ready to raise a storm.
It was too massive to call a bird.
Dozens of shadows flew in a flock through the sky.
Black silhouettes circled between the clouds, then instantly changed direction and nose-dived toward us.
Flap! Flap!
They landed one by one on the railings and anchor ropes all over the deck.
Black feathers fluttered frantically.
The body was a giant bat, but it had a human face.
‘Chimera.’
Another of Homunculus's creations.
An artificial species made along with Dal and Automata.
They too bowed their heads toward me like the Legions.
Dozens of human-faced bats, steel soldiers, and the awakened statue of the goddess were prostrating toward me like believers.
“Ha…….”
Only sounds of swallowing gasps were heard everywhere.
No one could continue speaking properly.
Eyes mixed with awe and fear were hardened while facing me.
Another rough wind sound was heard.
A gigantic human-faced bat landed late.
On its back rode a huge man wearing a long robe over his head.
Chuck—
A situation where everyone's attention was focused.
The man who landed on the deck slowly took off the hood on his head.
A shiny scalp was revealed.
“Huhu.”
Bolero raised his thumb and laughed low.
It was his unique confident smile revealing healthy teeth.
He opened the lid of the wooden box he was holding in one hand, took out Deiron's head from inside, and held it high.
“Worship!”
Bolero shouted with all his might.
His ringing voice seemed to touch the sky.
Soon Kuhn, the Legions, and the human-faced bat Chimeras shouted in unison.
“Heavenly Demon Manifestation!”
“Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission!”
The magnificent roar echoed long over the sea.
In the middle of it—Only I stood alone.