Chapter 62 – Beache (４)

A sword containing a fragment of Mahabi himself.

[Draw this sword and make it your own.]

Mahabi said those words then.

Draw that sword and claim it for himself.

Gijun slowly reached his hand toward the blade.

In that moment.

Crackle—

“…Haah.”

Startled by the sparks leaping from the sword, Gijun snatched his hand back in haste.

[That is no ordinary sword.]

Mahabi continued.

[As I said—it is a fragment of myself, and at the same time, a blade imbued with the vengeful spirits of those who lost this land.]

“….”

[To make that sword yours, you must placate the spirits of the dead.]

‘…I see.’

So the force that had pushed him back moments ago must have been those very spirits.

“Understood.”

And so Gijun once again reached his hand toward the sword.

In that instant.

Fizz—Fzzzz!

Powerful sparks erupted, coursing through Gijun’s entire body.

It was agonizing.

Yet Gijun held on, refusing to let go.

In that moment….

[Die! Die! Diiie!]

[Who do you think you are!]

[Get lost! I said get lost!]

[I hate this! I hate all of you!]

[I’ll kill you aaaaaall!]

Horrific voices clawed at Gijun’s ears.

Voices thick with curses.

He knew they weren’t aimed at him, but still, his head swam to the point of dizziness.

And that wasn’t all.

Fizzzzt—fzzzzzzt!

Sparks leaped higher, wilder.

His grip felt like it was being torn apart.

At last, the countless vengeful spirits coiled within the sword began to seep out.

Kwaaah! Kwakwakwa!

Dozens. Hundreds.

Maybe even thousands — they spilled from the blade and swirled around Gijun, closing in.

“….”

They poured endless curses down on him.

[Give it up!]

[Give up!]

[You think you can claim us?]

[Don’t make me laugh!]

[Die!]

[Die! Die! Die!]

Now their curses turned directly on him.

They choked his throat, battered his mind without end….

“Hah.”

Gijun let out a breath.

Then he gripped the sword again.

Crack—!

His hand tightened, every muscle straining.

[What are you doing!]

[Let go of that hand!]

[You insolent piece of—!]

Despite the furious spirits’ resistance, Gijun only clenched harder, heaving the sword upward.

And then….

Huummm—!

A white current surged from his heart to his palm.

It was the power of the Ancient Heart.

Only two fragments, but their noble, potent force was enough to counter the spirits’ defiance….

Screeeak—!

The sword began to lift from the floor.

Sshhhhk—!

Centimeter by centimeter.

Slowly, steadily, the blade revealed itself, following Gijun’s hand.

[Kyaaaaah!]

[You daaaaaare!]

[Stooooop!]

The spirits screamed and screamed.

But their resistance could no longer touch him.

Flash!

A brilliant white light, strong enough to engulf every last spirit, blanketed the entire area.

Shing—!

At last, the sword came completely free from the floor.

[You have overcome the vengeful spirits’ resistance.]

[You have acquired the Sain-geom.]

‘Got it.’

In the end, Gijun had overpowered the spirits’ resistance and claimed the blade.

Information about the sword surfaced in his mind.

[Sain-geom]

-Grade : ???

-Incomplete

-Attack : 0

‘…What the hell is this?’

The moment he took the weapon, only one thought surfaced.

‘Grade is a question mark… a sword that isn’t even finished. On top of that, no attack power at all?’

Could this even be called a sword?

Just then, Mahabi smiled and spoke.

[That sword is one that can encompass the five forces.]

“The five forces?”

[Water and Fire, Wind and Wood, and Earth. When it fully contains those powers, that sword will be able to bear its own strength.]

Libre picked up where Mahabi left off.

[I see. So the demon sword hidden in the Underworld was this one.]

Mahabi nodded.

[When you hunt the five sacred beasts that exist in the Upper Realm and the Sain-geom absorbs their power, you will obtain the strength to break through the ‘Status Barrier.’]

“…Status Barrier?”

[You are human. No matter how strong you grow, you cannot compare to the might of a ‘Monarch.’ That means none of your attacks can ever reach a Monarch.]

“Then…”

[Yes. Only by awakening that sword’s power can you fight on equal footing with a Monarch.]

“…!”

Gijun’s eyes widened.

In that case, wasn’t this sword the only way to fight a Monarch?

‘I’ve gotten my hands on something incredible.’

He could’ve almost charged into battle against a Monarch blindly, knowing nothing.

And thinking about it again, the fact that all the Monarchs had to be taken down—

—meant that only Gijun could do it.

As long as he didn’t hand this Sain-geom over to anyone else.

[Remarkable. I had only ever heard of this sword in rumors myself.]

Libre let out an exclamation of wonder.

Gijun too looked at the sword once more and thought.

‘Once I get the third heart, I’ll have to complete this Sain-geom next.’

The third heart.

If he took down the five generals he was currently fighting, he could obtain the third heart.

That meant after getting the third heart, he would properly set out to complete this Sain-geom.

Because only then could he obtain the ‘Status’ to fight a Monarch.

‘Then again. Even without the Sain-geom, there was no way I could’ve fought a Monarch right now anyway.’

He was right about that too.

When even a fight with a general wasn’t guaranteed, of course he couldn’t take down a Monarch.

‘Right. First, it’s the battle with the general.’

The road ahead was still far too long to be thinking about Monarchs.

Wasn’t even Beache, the general waiting right in front of him, a mountain of a problem that Gijun would find hard to overcome?

But then.

[Power dwells within that sword.]

Mahabi said.

“Power, you say?”

[Yes. The power of souls. If you, who have already subdued the vengeful spirits and claimed that sword, should be able to use that power.]

Gijun tilted his head and looked at the sword.

At that moment…

‘Ah.’

He felt something surging within the blade.

In time with the thumping of Gijun’s heart, the sword too was pulsating.

It felt as if a voice was echoing from within.

This was not the same voice spewing curses as before.

Not that he could understand it, either.

It was simply a sensation of some unknown language flowing past Gijun’s ears.

Along with it, a message appeared.

[The power sealed within the Sain-Geom has awakened.]

[You have learned the Skill ‘Soul Strike.’]

It was a message saying he had acquired a skill.

[Soul Strike]

-Grade: Mythic

-Passive

-When attacking an enemy, each attack deals additional damage equal to 100% of Attack Power.

-Soul Strike damage ignores the target’s Defense and Magic Resistance.

‘…Huh?’

Gijun’s eyes went wide as he confirmed the skill’s details.

Mythic grade.

Not even Legendary — a full-on Mythic-grade skill.

He’d never so much as laid eyes on a Mythic-grade anything except for Libre.

And now here, a Mythic-grade skill was appearing.

‘My god.’

Gijun’s mouth hung open.

The name was Soul Strike.

And its effect was jaw-dropping.

‘One-hundred-percent bonus damage on every hit.’

That meant every single attack would deal double damage, didn’t it?

On top of that, the damage from Soul Strike ignored Defense and Resistance.

In other words, it was pure true damage.

*

[Stay strong!]

After that farewell, Gijun moved again under Riri’s guidance.

Once he opened the door and stepped out, he’d have to go fight the General again.

But this time, things were definitely different from before.

‘I got the Sain-Geom, and I picked up a skill too.’

He had a new goal now, and he’d gained a skill that would be a huge help in fighting a General of the Underworld.

‘Let’s push harder.’

Of course, that didn’t mean the fight against the General — let alone the Monarch — would be anything close to easy.

Still, Gijun moved.

He opened the door and stepped back inside the fortress, and now…

‘Let’s go.’

The compass began pointing toward the General’s room again.

*

‘…What’s this?’

Around that time.

The General of the Underworld, Beache.

She narrowed her brow.

‘That brat’s presence vanished a little while ago.’

She had known of the Seeker’s existence the moment he entered the fortress.

And she had been waiting.

For him to find his way to her room.

But for about an hour, there had been a gap in his presence.

She had sensed the Seeker infiltrating inside the fortress, yet for a little over an hour, that presence had completely disappeared.

‘What did he do?’

An uneasy feeling crept over her.

Losing track of someone who’d infiltrated her fortress was supposed to be impossible…

‘Hmm…’

But she soon dismissed the unease.

‘What does it matter? He’s still just a bug.’

Right now, she held the power personally bestowed upon her by the Monarch.

No matter what tricks those bastards pulled, nothing would change.

It was a foregone conclusion.

And now.

He was getting closer.

Thud — Thud —

Footsteps.

A sickening stench stabbed at her nostrils.

But she steadied her breath and pushed herself upright.

Now it was time to face the enemy.

Creeeeak—

The door swung open.

Beyond it stood two humans—and the Flame Monarch, the mere sight of whom made her stomach churn.

“You’re here.”

Beache said, sweeping her great cloak wide.

Shrrrk!

A dozen swords materialized in the air around her.

[Heaven-Obliterating Ten Swords]

A divine treasure bestowed directly by the Monarch.

Ego Swords—each possessing its own will, relentlessly hunting down a designated target until it drew its last breath.

But that wasn’t all.

Huummm!

The Heaven-Obliterating Ten Swords drank in Beache’s Magi and began to transform.

“Grrrrrr….”

The ten blades warped into ten soldiers, taking their places in a rank beside Beache.

“Orders….”

“We want to kill….”

“Who do we kill….”

They had become nothing but murderers who knew only slaughter.

Amalta and Gijun exchanged a glance and nodded at each other.

At that signal, they moved in unison.

Amalta charged straight ahead.

Toward Beache.

“Hurry and follow me!”

“Leave it to me!”

The plan was simple: Amalta would take on Beache while Gijun handled the rest.

[It seems that man trusts you greatly, my master.]

“That’s right.”

And it was true.

This was Amalta’s way of showing trust in Gijun.

If he didn’t trust Gijun, he never would have recklessly charged at Beache from the start.

But he could do it because he was certain Gijun would quickly dispatch the others and come to his aid.

“How arrogant!”

Beache let out a snort as he watched Amalta.

A sword materialized in Beache’s hand.

A jet-black longsword, nearly two meters in length, radiating darkness.

Then Beache swung that sword toward Amalta.

Whoosh!

Her sword, tearing through the air as it crashed down toward Amalta, was impossibly heavy.

Crack!

Even though Amalta dispersed the weight through his entire body and caught the blow with his Spear, his face had twisted into a death mask.

“Damn it…”

Amalta spat out the curse.

Watching him, Beache sneered.

“Yes. Let’s see how long you can hold.”

Beache was still at ease.

No matter how wildly he thrashed, before her, he was nothing more than an insect.

That was the arrogance of her confidence.

But Amalta was the same.

“Hmph…”

Despite Beache’s overweening pride,

despite having taken that power into his own body, Amalta was not cowed.

Instead—

Crash!

“…!”

“Think I’d be scared? This body is—the King of the Plains!”

Whoosh!

With that roar, Amalta’s Spear plunged toward Beache.

BOOM! CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-BOOM!

Now, Amalta and Beache were locked in an endless exchange of blows, their attacks raining down on each other without pause.

‘Then…’

There was no choice but to live up to Amalta’s expectations.

‘Let’s finish this as fast as possible.’

Grrrrumble!

Gijun cast his spell in a flash, the magic surging through him.

In moments, all five Shape-Transformed Fireballs were ready, blazing at his command.

But that wasn’t all.

[The effect of Soul Strike has been applied.]

A new ability.

Soul Strike had just activated, its power now woven into the flames.