Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 245

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 245

The Black Qi had changed.

It was still a black energy of unknown origin, but it had become a little more docile and gentle.

Before, it felt like it was listening to me out of necessity, but now it was quietly flowing through my body entirely according to my will.

Purification.

The change in the Black Qi was definitely best described as purification.

-It seems this will be my last greeting, Young Master.

At that moment, Chief Butler Choi’s voice echoed from afar.

-There is something left in the third compartment of the altar that must be given to you, Young Master. Please be sure to take it with you when you return to the family.

The power dwelling in my body was growing stronger and stronger.

-I am glad that I, a mere doll imitating a human, could be of help to you, Young Master.

The more my body changed, the more the sense of fullness within me grew, and I felt Chief Butler Choi’s voice fading away.

-If I were human, you would be like a nephew to me, Young Master.

Chief Butler Choi’s words resonated deeply within me.

I wanted to open my mouth and express my gratitude, but I couldn’t open my mouth at all.

I tried my best to offer my thanks inwardly.

‘Chief Butler Choi, I also thought of you as my family.’

I felt my mind slowly fading.

I couldn’t resist the languor spreading throughout my body.

I knew I had to say my farewells, but I couldn’t open my mouth.

-Thank you, Young Master.

Perhaps he understood my heart.

-Now, you are the last successor of Soongjeong Choi. I hope you will always move forward with courage.

Chief Butler Choi’s voice faded away, leaving those words behind.

* * *

Covered in a dark, husk-like substance, I opened my eyes in the darkness.

I had regained consciousness after a brief loss, but my head was surprisingly clear.

‘……Rebirth? I thought it only existed in legends.’

No one had ever actually experienced or seen rebirth, and scholars said it was all fiction.

Humans are not reptiles or insects, so there was no way the body could change so quickly, like shedding skin.

But I experienced it.

If what I just experienced wasn’t rebirth, then what else could it be?

Rustle!

As I raised my body, the black husks fell off.

I closed my eyes for a moment and examined my body.

‘Is this really my body?’

With the blessed strong body of Soongmoo Lee, and having consumed elixirs such as Amethyst Stone Essence, my body had reached the limit of human potential.

It was comparable to Ron, who had a dragon body, or Lee Seo-hyun, who had a high-intensity body that transcended humanity.

But this time, it had grown again.

‘My head is surprisingly clear, and the durability of my body, the movement of my muscles, the capacity for magic power… everything is better than before.’

In actual numerical terms, it would only be an addition of 1% or 2% from 100%.

But the fact that it was added is important.

Because it meant that I had crossed a limit that could not be surpassed.

I couldn’t even say for sure what kind of potential my body now possessed.

“……”

And I stood before Chief Butler Choi, who was lying as if asleep, with my mouth tightly shut.

Chief Butler Choi was leaning against the place where my mother’s memorial tablet was enshrined, collapsed as if he had fallen asleep.

Chief Butler Choi’s body, which had lost its movement, felt more like a well-made model than a human corpse.

That’s how faint his appearance as a person was.

However, the gentle smile on Chief Butler Choi’s lips was an expression that could never be made if he were not human.

‘How can you say you are not human, when you can make such a smile.’

Even though his life was coming to an end, and he dedicated even that last moment to me… he left with such a peaceful and gentle smile.

If such a person is not human, then who can be human?

I bowed my head in front of Chief Butler Choi, offering a moment of silent prayer.

* * *

“Has he departed?”

Lee Tae-shin muttered quietly.

His face was now etched with undisguised fatigue, and his steel-like body was sparsely covered in blood.

“What’s wrong?”

One of the Ten Swords approached and asked.

He had thick bandages wrapped around his chest.

Even though he looked worse than Lee Tae-shin, he approached, concerned about his lord.

“Chief Butler… no, Choi Yoo-woon has departed.”

Lee Tae-shin mentioned Chief Butler’s unknown real name.

As he had always preferred to be called Chief Butler, even Lee Tae-shin found the name unfamiliar.

A name he received from his lord, and one he didn’t like being called by anyone other than his lord.

A doll, but more human than anyone else.

“……”

At Lee Tae-shin’s words, the seven members of the Ten Swords who were nearby stopped moving.

“What happened? Did Chief Butler perhaps leave for Northern Europe alone?”

“No. Something I don’t know about is happening outside.”

Even though he had figured out the principles of the world and could see to heights beyond human reach.

There were still so many things in the world that were beyond his reach.

‘This trip abroad was as good as a failure. All that remained here were remnants.’

Lee Tae-shin looked behind him.

The corpse of a first-class monster, still unrotted and scattering black ash and blood, was visible.

The Specter of the Progenitor he had encountered there was just a shell of thought.

-The gears have already started turning. No matter how hard you try to stop it, the era will roll on without stopping.

“……”

“Captain? Are you alright?”

All of the Ten Swords turned around with worried expressions at Lee Tae-shin, who had suddenly fallen silent.

Lee Tae-shin shook his head.

It was nothing more than the Specter’s empty words.

“I will return to the family for now. I need to assess the situation.”

Starting with Chief Butler’s death, to the awakening of the King of Northern Europe.

Moreover, through this exploration of the Northern Unexplored Zone, he also learned that something that should not have awakened had awakened in the bloodline of Soongmoo Lee.

“Yes, I understand. I will clear the way.”

“Captain, please recover quickly.”

The roars of monsters echoed incessantly from the deepest part of the Unexplored Zone.

Cutting through the air filled with blood and poison, the Ten Swords tried to move forward.

Until that presence was felt.

“Something is coming.”

Lee Tae-shin looked across the transformed forest of the Unexplored Zone.

Rustle!

A sound like bushes breaking came out.

-Kuaaaaa……,

Along with a heavy roar that shook the ground, a mass of blood of unknown origin popped out of the darkness.

Thud!

What fell, splattering blood on the ground, was none other than the corpse of a monster.

The corpse of a monster that looked to be at least a third-class monster was torn to shreds and turned into a mass of blood.

“Long time no see, Lee Tae-shin.”

And a man appeared, brushing away the bushes.

A somewhat frivolous and light voice.

Nevertheless, the seven members of the Ten Swords could not relax their guard.

The man who appeared was one of the strongest of his time.

Kugung!

With his appearance, the surrounding air seethed.

The waves of undulating aura followed the man like a mirage behind him.

He was originally a man who should never have been here.

“Iron Fortress Star. What brings you here?”

Nine Dragons Fortress Lord, Iron Fortress Star.

One of the strongest of his time, and a man who had a deep-seated bad relationship with Lee Tae-shin since ancient times, appeared.

“What else could it be? I came to see you.”

Chwaak!

The Nine Dragons Fortress Lord shook off the blood on his hands.

Lee Tae-shin still stared at him with an emotionless gaze, then suddenly turned his gaze to the opposite forest.

“It seems that assassin is following us too.”

There are not many assassins who can move with the Nine Dragons Fortress Lord and have the power to follow him to the Unexplored Zone.

It was the old man who was the Moon Lord of the Thousand Murdering Demins and Jang Han’s teacher.

“I commend you for not coming alone. But it’s foolish to choose a place to die.”

Lee Tae-shin rarely showed anger, and turned his gaze back to Iron Fortress Star.

“That’s something you have to see.”

“Have you forgotten what happened to you back then?”

“Unlike then, you are not normal. Besides… I’ve prepared quite a bit this time.”

Sususut!

Soon, a group of people appeared, surrounding the area.

Black hair.

Yellow eyes.

And expressions that seemed devoid of emotion.

“……Soongmoo Lee’s bloodline?”

Some of the Ten Swords frowned.

The aura and visible characteristics they felt were clearly the appearance that only Soongmoo Lee’s bloodline could have.

“They are dolls.”

But Lee Tae-shin accurately saw through their essence.

It was because his level was high, but also because Lee Tae-shin had seen such things directly a long time ago.

They were experimental subjects by the man who was the previous head of the family and his father, and he had personally eliminated all the data and results.

But they appeared again like this.

These disgusting experimental subjects who had deviated from the path of humans.

And soon, bizarre masks began to float above the heads of those experimental subjects.

Lifelike masks that seemed to be modeled after monsters.

‘Kabbalah and Behemoth. The dirty bastards have joined forces.’

Ominous black energies began to surge and rise from all those individuals.

‘No, there’s no way they could have joined forces. Someone must have acted as a bridge. And that’s probably…….’

Lee Tae-shin’s eyes lit up as he looked at it.

“……It was Lee Gun-sung.”

Lee Tae-shin immediately realized everything.

It seemed that the gears were turning earlier and more than he had expected.

“Finally, I can cut off the head of the strongest today.”

The Nine Dragons Fortress Lord burst into laughter as if he was happy.

Kwaaaaaang!

A roar erupted.

Cutting through the dust that filled the space, Lee Tae-shin’s iridescent aura of light stretched out.

* * *

I burned Chief Butler Choi’s body with aura and scattered it in the lake where the Soongjeong Choi’s barrier was located.

I wanted to hold a proper funeral if possible, but there was no way I could take Chief Butler Choi’s body to the family.

‘Chief Butler Choi would want to be scattered here too.’

He was a person who liked the mountains, and he managed the declining Soongjeong Choi until the end.

If he was scattered here, he wouldn’t hate it at least.

“Now I’ve really become the last successor.”

I thought that as I looked at the scenery of Soongjeong Choi.

Woong!

When I raised the Black Qi, a jet-black energy like the night sky surged and spread around me.

Although the energy was different from the energy that Chief Butler Choi had given me, I could tell that this energy also had the power of purification.

I had now obtained the power that was passed down through the blood of Soongjeong Choi.

‘I don’t know what kind of destiny I have…….’

At least, like Chief Butler Choi’s last words, I was going to move forward with courage.

I took the will that Chief Butler Choi had left behind, looked around the Soongjeong Choi site one last time, and took a step.

* * *

“Young Master!”

“Nanny, I’m sorry I’m late.”

It had been three days since I returned to the family.

I seemed to have collapsed for several days after experiencing rebirth.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere…….”

The nanny trembled and looked at Lee Cheol.

‘Young Master…… has changed a little?’

He was already a handsome young man, but now he felt different.

I couldn’t easily recognize the subtle difference, but… I could tell because I had always watched Lee Cheol closely.

“Yeah, there’s something a little bit. More than that, I can finally talk to Nanny.”

There were many stories I wanted to tell.

I had simply left to do closed-door training, but I had experienced so many things as soon as it was over.

“……Young Master. I’m sorry, but that won’t work.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The Council of Elders has summoned you.”

The nanny continued in a sad voice.

“Not the First Brother, but the Council of Elders?”

I wouldn’t mind if it was the First Brother, but what would the Council of Elders summon me for now?

I hadn’t done any political maneuvering or anything else within the family, so there was no way an incident could have broken out.

‘Is it an attack by the Second Sister or Lee Gun-sung?’

That was unlikely.

Since I had ousted Lee Cheol-joong, the Council of Elders had not established a system that was swayed by the machinations of any one direct line.

“They say an emergency mission has been issued. Haven’t you heard anything for the past three days?”

“Three days? What happened?”

“Yes, a pretty big incident.”

The nanny explained the recent events step by step.

And as soon as I heard the nanny’s story, I had to open my eyes wide and head straight to the Council of Elders.