Chapter 241 : Chapter 241
Chapter 241 - Sword Master Who Lives Twice (2)
The scenery was one I had seen countless times in my dreams. It was a place I had not forgotten for even a single day, so the world unfolding before me now felt as familiar as my own home.
The lukewarm air entering through my nose, the sound of the wind reaching my ears, even the sensation of the ground beneath my soles. All of it was familiar.
STEP.
STEP.
I walked without hesitation toward the center of the nest.
The sunken ground here and there, the countless trees burned black, and even the cracked rocky mountains. The traces of the battle we had left behind long ago remained exactly as they had been.
For a moment, seeing it completely unmanaged made me wonder if the Dragon’s Nest might be empty, but that was likely impossible.
A nest closed the moment a Dragon was no longer present.
‘It should be about time he appears.’
No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than a silhouette appeared in the distance.
But I could sense no presence and no energy.
An existence capable of perfectly controlling his own mana.
Without a doubt, it was a Dragon.
It was the reunion I had longed for so desperately, yet my heart was more composed than I had expected.
My friend. Let us go!
The Holy Sword’s voice was the same.
We slowly closed the distance between us.
The shape of the silhouette gradually became clearer.
A tall, slender frame, red hair that fell to his shoulders, and exceptionally pale skin.
Red Dragon Devrias still maintained that appearance.
And when I hastened my steps and moved a little closer, the handsome young man with the red beard also stopped before me.
Then he welcomed me with a benevolent smile.
Looking not the slightest bit changed from back then.
“Welcome, young sir.”
I nodded and looked into Devrias’s eyes.
“May I ask your name?”
For a moment, I hesitated. Then I calmly opened my mouth.
“Seo Ji-han.”
After hearing my name, Devrias seemed lost in thought for a moment.
“I nearly mistook you for someone else.”
“……”
“There is something vaguely familiar about you.”
His exceedingly gentlemanly tone was also unchanged from before.
When I remained silent without answering, he continued speaking.
“However, there is one thing I would like to ask you. Did you know what this place was when you entered?”
This question, too, was part of the fixed repertoire.
“I was told it was Red Dragon Devrias’s Nest.”
“So you did come here knowing. Then allow me to ask one more thing.”
The way he said he would ask only one thing, then asked another, was also the same as back then.
“Do you believe, by your own judgment, that you are qualified to meet a Dragon?”
“If it is a matter of qualifications, I have more than enough.”
“On what basis?”
“Because I am the owner of the map that leads to the Dragon’s Nest.”
At my words, Devrias’s lips twitched slightly.
“You must know that is not what I meant.”
“Does that mean I do not seem qualified to you?”
“Not quite. I can sense something mysterious from you.”
It was a reply similar to what I had heard when I was Johan Raven.
“However, there is one unique tradition in a Dragon’s Nest.”
As expected. I knew he would bring that up.
“A tradition?”
I feigned ignorance as I asked.
“Visitors to the nest receive one gift before meeting the Dragon.”
“That is a fine tradition.”
“There are many rare treasures in the nest. Would you choose one of them?”
With that, Devrias led me to the place where the treasures were.
There were divine weapons and peerless armaments that would instantly capture any warrior’s eyes, as well as expensive jewels and splendid ornaments.
Items worth fortunes even if one took only a single piece lay scattered casually in piles of dirt.
But such rare treasures had meaning only while one was alive.
None who had visited this nest had ever taken them outside.
Because they must have all died immediately after choosing.
The Red Dragon’s Mana Training Manual, which I had chosen back when I was Johan Raven, immediately entered my sight.
Perhaps that ancient book was, in practical terms, the most valuable treasure in the Red Dragon’s Nest, but there was something else that immediately drew my gaze away.
My friend! Is this not your nameplate?
A relic personally made by the mother from my previous life, whose face I had never even seen, just before she gave birth to me.
Though it had been blackened by the Dragon’s Breath, the family crest and the name Johan Raven were still clearly engraved on it.
‘To think this remained here.’
Without hesitation, I picked up the nameplate and brushed off the dirt.
“Surely, young sir, you have not chosen that?”
When I nodded, Devrias’s expression as he looked at me became subtle.
“An interesting choice. That is merely a nameplate with no function at all.”
“I simply like it.”
“In truth, it is not an entirely meaningless object.”
When I gave him a puzzled look, Devrias immediately continued.
“It was left behind by the only person ever to leave a mark on a Dragon’s body.”
“A mark……?”
“He left behind a wound that would not disappear. On a Dragon’s belly.”
I had not known I had left such a thing.
Every second of everything that had happened with the Dragon had been like walking a precarious tightrope.
“Now then, young sir. Are you ready to meet the Dragon?”
From beginning to end, Devrias had been referring to the Dragon in the third person.
It was a mischievous prank peculiar to Dragons.
The so-called tradition of Dragons he had mentioned earlier referred to that absurd practice of sparing visitors who saw through his identity and brutally killing those who were deceived.
“What is there to prepare? I simply have to meet him.”
The moment my answer ended, Devrias raised the corner of his mouth slightly with a wicked smile.
“Unfortunately, young sir. You have not passed.”
“You are dragging this out too much.”
“Ha ha ha. Very well. Then I shall let you meet the Dragon now.”
Then came a brief silence.
Our gazes crossed.
Soon, the Red Dragon’s eyes glowed red, and mana began to churn.
It meant he would no longer conceal his identity.
“Open your eyes wide and look well, young sir!”
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
KABOOOOM!
Along with the thunderous sound of mana tearing through the air, the transformation happened in an instant.
The handsome young man with red hair had become a gigantic Red Dragon and soared into the sky.
His laughter shook heaven and earth.
I raised my head indifferently and looked up into the air.
‘So that is it.’
A long sword scar was drawn across his belly.
It seemed that was the trace I had left.
“Foolish human! Why have you entered a Dragon’s domain without fear?”
I adjusted my grip on the Holy Sword and smiled slightly.
“I am not the sort of person who can live while owing a debt.”
“I do not understand what you mean!”
“I will show you.”
Not with words, but with my sword.
SWISH!
SWIIIIISH!
There was no reason to delay.
The secret art of Johan Raven’s house immediately unfolded, and a long streak of Sword Qi stretched into the air.
BOOM!
But even against my sudden attack, Devrias leisurely formed a Barrier and defended himself.
Of course, my attack did not stop there.
BOOM!
KABOOM!
The Sword Qi I fired in succession fiercely battered the Dragon’s Barrier.
Beyond the Barrier, I could see Devrias’s blank expression.
Naturally, he must have been flustered.
He had likely expected me to tremble in terror after seeing his Dragon form.
He surely had never even dreamed that such a ferocious attack would come flying at him.
CRACK!
CRACK!
The Barrier even began cracking in no time.
“Not bad, human! To think I would be the one struck first!”
In that instant, Devrias’s eyes turned red, and a tremendous energy erupted out from beyond the Barrier.
KABOOOOM!
Along with a vibration that seemed to shake heaven and earth, a scorching heat poured down toward me.
Evading it here looked absolutely impossible.
‘As expected, he is far stronger than the Demon King.’
I could not help but marvel at the Dragon’s overwhelming mana.
I immediately stretched the Holy Sword straight toward the sky.
Strength against strength.
When an opponent tried to crush me with power, my way was to answer with fire without hesitation.
In the past, doing that had sent me to my death, but such a thing would no longer happen.
KABOOOOM!
The Sword Qi fired by the Holy Sword pierced through the rain of flames and narrowly drove away the heat that seemed as if it would melt the world.
Of course, even the lingering heat alone was enough for me to feel its power.
A laugh mixed with all sorts of emotions escaped me on its own.
“Human!”
“Are you starting to understand now?”
It seemed he had seen through it from that single clash.
Since he had said my sword had even left a wound on him, it must have been a sword he could not forget even if he tried.
“But this makes no sense!”
“It does not. For a while, I also wondered whether this might be a dream.”
It was the first time I had confessed the secret of my reincarnation to someone.
I had thought about it for a long time.
If the day ever came when I revealed my secret, the other party could only be Devrias.
It would not have been strange for him to be confused by this absurd truth, but a Dragon was a Dragon.
He immediately recognized reality.
“Foolish human! I do not know what the reason may be, but if you were fortunate enough to live two lives, you should not make the same mistake!”
“I told you. I cannot live while owing a debt.”
“Human. What cannot be done cannot be done. Whether it is twice or a million times!”
I adjusted my grip on my sword and smiled.
If the technique from a moment ago had belonged to Johan Raven’s house, from now on it would be Seo Ji-han’s swordsmanship.
It would be the Haewon Sword Style.
“Then shall we confirm it right away? Whether it can be done or not.”
“Come!”
***
The essence of the Haewon Sword Style was engraving the memory of swordsmanship into mana.
Through endless training, one entrusted oneself to the sword and mana, excluding thought, emotion, and all calculation. This ultimately led to the realm of Body-sword unity, the state all swordsmanship in the world ultimately pursued.
‘Though it is certainly a sword style with a rather unique process.’
I prided myself on having broad knowledge of the sword, but I had never once seen a sword style based on such a concept.
In other words, the Haewon Sword Style was unique.
That was why I found it interesting, and why I truly wanted to complete it.
In the end, thanks to my father’s deep consideration, my wish was fulfilled.
And then.
As the saying went, all streams return to one source. Just as the ultimate end of all paths led to one, the Haewon Sword Style showed me the end of swordsmanship.
“Human! Are you already tired?”
By now, the world inside the nest was covered entirely in blackened traces.
Since a contest in which each and every sword strike carried the full force of our beings had continued without end, it would have been a lie to say I was not tired.
But that was no different even for a Dragon.
“You must be getting impatient.”
“How do I look impatient to you?”
“See? You are getting worked up.”
When I raised the corner of my mouth slightly, Devrias soon let out a furious voice.
“A mere human dares!”
Both of us vaguely felt it.
The conclusion would come soon.
I let out a breath and gripped the Holy Sword again.
My friend! Are you about to make your decisive move?
As expected, the Holy Sword’s instincts were astonishingly sharp.
There was one conclusion I had reached after exchanging several full-force clashes with the Dragon.
If this continued to the end, I would win.
“You will become black ash once more!”
But the Dragon had no idea.
He was trapped by the memories and glory of the past, and he could not see the present accurately.
FWOOOOOSH!
A blaze that seemed capable of annihilating even his entire nest shot down from the sky.
Hellfire.
The Dragon had also made his decisive move.
Its size alone was immense, but more than that, it was the ultimate art, highly concentrated with mana like a vast ocean.
‘Beautiful.’
Back then, too, I had thought the same thing as I watched this tremendous feast of fire.
But today’s ending would be different.
I launched the Holy Sword toward the center of that fire.
KABOOM!
Two enormous powers collided.
But the Holy Sword’s movement did not lose even the slightest strength.
The mana wrapped around the entire blade and the memory of swordsmanship engraved into it continued pushing the Holy Sword forward.
“H-how can this be?”
I could almost picture the Dragon’s bewildered face beyond the grand blaze.
KABOOOOOOM!
Then Hellfire shattered and surged upward into the air.
The flames of hell had created an ascending current.
“You baaaastard!”
And that was the end of the Dragon’s voice.
The Holy Sword, which had shot upward even faster than the inferno, embedded itself in the Dragon’s heart.
It was only afterward that the gigantic hellfire burned the Dragon away.
It felt as though an invisible curtain had fallen over the grand finale.
Only then could I let out the breath I had been holding.
“Phew.”
Thus, every battle came to an end.
As strength drained from my entire body, I lay down where I stood and looked up at the sky.
The magnificent Dragon’s body had already turned to ash and scattered, and the two suns that had been illuminating the nest were already slowly sinking beyond the mountains.
The wind blew gently, cooling the sweat that ran down my skin.
I had thought there would be an enormous whirlpool of emotion at the end of my revenge, but my heart was as peaceful as the world inside the nest.
It felt as though I had awakened from a very long dream.
There was one fact I could feel relieved about.
“I kept my promise.”
The promise that I would return to the Sword Family, to Earth.
[The master of the nest has disappeared.]
[The Dragon’s Nest is vanishing.]
As always, the Abyss did not give me the leisure to enjoy the afterglow.
***
Three years later, on a clear day in May.
The great training ground of the Haewon Sword Family was crowded with many people.
Choi Ho-joong’s wedding was about to be held here.
As he greeted the guests in his tuxedo, the smile never left his face.
“Are you that happy?”
“The bride is Ah-yeon, is she not?”
“Well, it is true that she is far too good for you.”
“I am sorry, Unit Leader.”
“For what?”
“For going first. Heh heh heh.”
Even I had not expected the two of them to end up like this.
I had known Ho-joong’s feelings from the beginning, but Shin Ah-yeon had not seen him as a man for a long time.
I still found it astonishing that this bashful fellow had somehow confessed and hidden their relationship all this time.
The guests continued streaming in.
Part of it was surely because Ho-joong had conducted himself well in society, but they had also come to show their faces.
After all, he had now come to lead Chamryongdan, which had become, in name and reality, the greatest sword unit in South Korea.
Of course, some among them were my guests as well.
Like Heo Jeong-ah, who had just arrived.
“You look well, Seo Ji-han.”
“What an honor. To think the next Family Head of the Taeseong Sword Family would personally grace us with her presence.”
“Are you teasing me?”
“Teasing you? The article was already printed in huge letters.”
It was an unprecedented event.
She had become the Family Head of a prestigious Sword Family before even turning thirty.
Of course, in terms of ability, there was no problem whatsoever.
She had a rare talent, and Old Man Heo Gyeong-woo was teaching her with all his heart and soul, so it was only natural.
Recently, the old man had been going to the Abyss often, and it turned out it was for the sake of raising Heo Jeong-ah.
“What about you, Seo Ji-han?”
“Me?”
“Yes. I heard you have completely stepped away from Chamryongdan. Is that true?”
“It is time for them to grow on their own now. Well, I suppose it is time for me to withdraw to the back room.”
“So it is true. You gave up the successor position.”
I had already accomplished everything I wanted, so there was no reason to cling to such a position.
Even without me, the Haewon Sword Family would run perfectly well.
“Leaving the successor position aside, have you completely stopped going to the Abyss too?”
“Who knows?”
It had already been three years since I returned from Devrias’s Nest.
During that time, all I had done was live at leisure and occasionally look after Chamryongdan.
“It is a waste. If it is you, you might be able to see the end of the Abyss.”
“Well, someone will manage it. Even if it is not me.”
Still, one could never know.
If something interesting arose, my steps might lead me toward the Abyss once more.
Or perhaps a sudden whim might sweep over me, and I might return to my homeland, Kalia.
“Huh? It looks like the ceremony is about to begin.”
The sound of the orchestra’s ensemble began to ring around the great training ground.
On the stage, Chamryongdan was about to perform a celebratory sword performance for Choi Ho-joong and Shin Ah-yeon.
Amid the applause of the many guests who had come to congratulate them, the bride appeared in a white wedding dress.
On a warm spring day, the scenery of the Haewon Sword Family was especially beautiful.