Chapter 227 : Chapter 227
Chapter 227 - Tower of Causalitas (15)
The moment I opened the door of the Demon God Temple, I knew.
The frail old man holding a sword was, without a doubt, the Heavenly Demon.
And the energy I felt from that single small sword was nature itself, and also the universe the Heavenly Demon had created.
My friend……!
The Holy Sword called out to me, then failed to continue.
It offered no assessment of the Heavenly Demon.
It merely contained many meanings within that brief sigh.
I walked into the Demon God Temple one step at a time.
The old man must have sensed my presence, yet he did not move in the slightest.
He simply remained with his eyes closed, becoming one with the sword he had raised.
It was, in the literal sense, the realm of body-sword unity.
I held my breath at a short distance from the old man and waited for him to move.
“…….”
But the world inside the Demon God Temple still remained motionless, and I did not know how much more silence passed like that.
The old man’s figure gave the illusion that time itself had truly stopped.
“Phew.”
After a long while, what broke that silence was the old man’s brief breath.
He lowered the sword he had been holding and opened his eyes.
And silence continued once again.
In the end, I was the one who spoke first.
“It is only a shame that I could not witness the single strike you were preparing.”
The old man’s voice, which returned a moment later, was far clearer than I had expected.
“……My mind was disturbed, you see.”
What he had been preparing was clearly a single technique.
The fact that he had concentrated for so long just before that single strike might have meant he had been on the verge of gaining some realization.
“It seems I was an uninvited guest at an important moment.”
However, the old man neither affirmed nor denied it.
He merely showed me his back and changed the subject.
“Were all the disciples of this cult defeated by you, by any chance?”
Even a superhuman like the Heavenly Demon had not perceived anything that had occurred within the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
In that sense, this Demon God Temple was truly a mysterious place.
The mystery of the Demon God Temple had perfectly cut off the outside world from the world within.
“I did not kill them all.”
“In any case, that means there was a clash.”
“The Vice Cult Leader and several of his confidants lost their lives to my sword.”
“……I see.”
Contrary to my expectations, there was not the slightest sign that he was shaken.
He continued speaking calmly.
“He was my grandson.”
The Heavenly Demon slowly turned and met my gaze.
“Do you mean the Vice Cult Leader?”
“Yes. He was the last of my blood.”
The old man was chillingly composed.
“My condolences.”
“It could not be helped. This, too, must be fate.”
He looked as if he had become detached from the entire world.
It was somewhat unexpected.
After all, it was different from the image given by the name Heavenly Demon.
“In any case, the fact that you came all the way here means you have business with me.”
“I was thinking of exchanging swords with you for a while, elder.”
“……Swords, you say.”
The Heavenly Demon looked at me with eyes whose depth I could not even begin to fathom.
This was an emotion I was feeling for the first time.
At least when it came to the sword, I had always occupied a superior position until now.
It was something I had always known before crossing blades.
The only question had ever been whether my opponent would perform better than expected or not. Not once had the direction of the result changed.
‘This is a first.’
Settling the outcome with a sword against an opponent I could not predict at all.
“I shall accept your proposal.”
“Thank you.”
“In exchange, allow me to make one request. Will you grant it?”
The Heavenly Demon suddenly asked me.
“What request would that be?”
“Did you not say so yourself earlier? That you were an uninvited guest.”
“……It seems I interrupted you at an important moment.”
The old man looked at me with an indifferent smile.
“The fact that my mind was disturbed was also due to my own inadequacy. However, it is also true that I had nearly reached the one final step toward the single technique I must complete, and toward the ultimate end of the sword.”
“Then what you are asking of me is……”
“Give me some time. For the sake of that one final technique I have yet to complete.”
My friend! You must refuse this! If that old man reaches that final realm……
The Holy Sword cried out to me urgently.
I understood how it felt.
It had realized, for the first time, that there was a possibility I might lose.
Think carefully! If you are defeated here, we will have to begin the quest again, with all our memories of Murim lost! The fact that you found the Demon God Temple just before the Heavenly Demon completed his final technique may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! On the next attempt, nothing can be guaranteed!
The Holy Sword had a point.
Even at this moment, I could not guarantee that I would win if I fought the Heavenly Demon.
And if he gained his final realization on top of that……
“Very well. I will wait.”
But I did not include such calculations in my choice.
“Thank you. It will not take too long.”
“I will not believe that. How could it be easy to grasp again an enlightenment that slipped away once before you could seize it? You should know that better than anyone, elder.”
“You have seen through me.”
“I will wait, no matter how long it takes.”
This was also an opportunity for me.
A meeting with a rival I had never had before, and would never have again.
There could be no better situation for me to reach the ultimate end of the sword, where I still had one step remaining.
Well, it is certainly a decision worthy of you!
After all, I would not simply wait idly either.
***
There was another mystery within the Demon God Temple.
The sacred energy filling the air here freed the body from fatigue and hunger.
Of course, if more time passed, its limits would be revealed, but the mystery of the Demon God Temple endured for an eerily long time.
Rather, it felt as if the mana within my body was being filled and purified even further.
The Heavenly Demon still had his eyes closed and did not so much as twitch, like a block of wood or stone.
This was the final agony before reaching enlightenment.
How much more time it would take was impossible to know.
Enlightenment sometimes arrived faster than light, but sometimes it came as slowly as eternity.
I, too, quietly held my breath.
I closed my eyes and emptied my mind.
As I emptied it, and emptied it again, my time and the world’s time came to a complete stop.
Then came the realm of nothingness once more.
Reaching this state had become far easier than it had been the first time.
My friend! How astonishing!
Furthermore, I had become able to maintain this state without consciously making an effort.
I still could not say for certain whether this was the final step toward the ultimate end of the sword.
However, I knew I had reached the true realm of a thoughtless mind, a state I had never once attained before.
Freed from all idle thoughts and intentions, the great universe within me seemed to expand without end.
SWISH!
And at that moment, the Heavenly Demon’s sword cut through space.
It was only one light movement, but the straight sword path he drew was the realm of the natural sword, one that divided the entire world in two.
The Heavenly Demon’s expression became more comfortable than ever.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“It seems you have finally completed it.”
He nodded.
“It seems the same is true for you, so I can also set aside the burden on my heart.”
“Then I will begin at once.”
“Do not feel burdened. Pour out all your strength. This Demon God Temple is far sturdier than one might think.”
I bowed my head slightly toward the Heavenly Demon in courtesy, then raised the Holy Sword.
It would not be a long fight.
And no matter which direction the outcome leaned, the fact that both of our swords had reached the ultimate peak would not change.
SWISH!
The Holy Sword left my hand, flew toward the ceiling of the Demon God Temple, and cut through space vertically all the way to the floor.
The Heavenly Demon answered by splitting the world horizontally.
Then the entire world was divided like a coordinate plane, and our time felt as though it had stopped.
“……Your swordsmanship. It is not of Murim.”
“That is correct.”
Its roots were in Kalia, but it was not swordsmanship that belonged solely to Kalia.
On Earth, in the many dimensions connected to the Abyss, and finally in Murim as well. Taking every bond I had formed and every experience I had undergone as nourishment, my swordsmanship had finally come into full bloom.
“That sword technique from a moment ago. What do you call it?”
“Sword Control Technique. That is the name I gave it by myself.”
“A good name.”
THUD.
Then the Heavenly Demon placed one knee on the floor and vomited blood.
His eyes remained clear, and with no grimace on his face, he wore a faint smile.
He had poured out everything, so he could have no regrets.
Even if I had been in the Heavenly Demon’s position, I would have felt the same.
“Then I will be going.”
It was not that I had shown any mercy with my hands.
Of course, I had not had the luxury to do so.
If the Heavenly Demon’s sword had been heavier by even a single sheet of paper, I would have been the one to collapse while vomiting blood.
However, I had judged that settling the match in the first exchange gave us the greatest possibility of avoiding a death match, regardless of who won, and the result had been exactly that.
‘What a relief.’
After all, as an outsider, I did not want to create a major variable in this Murim.
That was why I had held back in my Bimu with the Leader of Evil Path Alliance and the Murim Alliance Leader as well.
Now I could leave Murim with a peaceful heart.
Behind me, as I headed toward the door of the Demon God Temple, I heard the Heavenly Demon murmuring.
“To think that the moment one touches the heavens, there is another heaven beyond the heavens…….”
CREAK.
The moment I opened the door of the Demon God Temple, the background of the world began to change.
The Abyss had judged that the quest had been cleared.
[You have fully cleared the Tower of Causalitas.]
[All Karma accumulated through the distorted Law of causality has been extinguished.]
[The connection between Earth and the Abyss has been restored.]
The Law of causality of the Abyss had been distorted because of me.
And so, the journey through this tower, which I had begun with the resolve to untie what I had bound, came to an end.
With many things gained along the way.
***
After I cleared the Tower of Causalitas, news arrived that the warriors of the sword families and guilds who had been trapped in the various dimensions of the Abyss were returning one after another.
This was very welcome news for our Haewon Sword Family as well.
Seo Ji-hoon’s Wolyeong Knights, who had departed for the Abyss long ago, had also become lost children of the dimensions there.
It was said that all the warriors who returned from the Abyss gave similar statements.
“They said the connection between the Abyss and Earth was restored through the power of a single person…… Who was it?”
It seemed the Abyss had transmitted only that much in its message.
I did not particularly want to reveal that it was me.
The fact that everyone had fallen into difficulty was also because of the Law of causality that had been distorted by my existence, and I had long since transcended any desire for fame.
And now, I came to feel that there was not much of my journey left.
The Demon Realm, and the Dragon’s Nest.
It was time to visit, one by one, the final destinations I had put off until now.
But before that, there was one thing I wanted to do.
Complete the Haewon Sword Canon.
One might wonder what meaning there was in completing yet another sword style when I had already reached the ultimate realm of swordsmanship, but the moment I was reincarnated as Seo Ji-han and formed a bond with the Haewon Sword Family, I felt this was my fate.
Of course, it would not be easy.
After all, the latter half of the Haewon Sword Style’s techniques was passed down only to the successor.