Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 309

The light vanished.

As if black ink had been spilled, everything visible was submerged in darkness.

All things under the sky were shrouded in darkness, and a bottomless abyss unfolded where not an inch could be seen.

In the midst of it, I sharply opened my eyes.

‘Jang Han. He really did reach the level of Mind Sword.’

The Mind Sword twists the rules of the world with the user’s mental image.

This pitch-black darkness was Jang Han’s mental image.

As if anesthetized, I felt all my senses rapidly blurring in the darkness.

As time passed, my vision blurred, my sense of touch dulled, and my senses of smell and hearing also faded away.

It wasn’t just simple senses.

The magical sense that manipulated mana, the feeling of breathing, all of it faded.

It felt as if the darkness was seeping into my body, painting over everything.

As my five senses blurred, I suddenly sensed a chilling intent to kill at my neck.

I forcibly pulled my head back.

And a sharp energy passed through that spot in the darkness.

───!

No sound was heard.

But I felt a strange sensation around my Adam’s apple.

When I touched it, I could vaguely feel a slick texture.

Blood.

Something had brushed past my neck.

Perhaps my sense of pain had disappeared, because even though blood was flowing, there was no pain.

Flash!

At that moment, another sharp ray of light flew from the darkness in front of me.

Pajijijik!

Without hesitation, I threw the Sky Quake [a powerful energy projectile] I was holding towards it.

The immense power of mana stretched out.

“……!”

But nothing happened.

As if submerged in fog, the light of the Sky Quake disappeared into the darkness.

‘Since I can’t sense the enemy’s location, throwing the Sky Quake is meaningless.’

I clicked my tongue lowly.

This time, I manipulated the weapons floating in the air.

Before my senses dulled further, I intended to indiscriminately stir up all the surrounding space to catch Jang Han.

But at that moment.

Ooh-!

This time, I felt killing intent from behind.

Soong Moo Yi Ga’s sixth sense sent a warning, and I quickly turned around.

Kaang!

Once again, a silver thread flashed in the darkness.

The moment I launched several weapons to block it, the thread danced through them like a snake and pushed right up to my nose.

Whik! Kwak!

I ducked my head to avoid it, then reflexively thrust my sword.

But it missed. I felt no sensation in my hand.

No, I couldn’t tell if I really missed and had no sensation, or if I had stabbed but couldn’t feel it because my senses were blurred.

……All my senses are becoming increasingly blurred.

‘Now…… I don’t even know if I’m holding a sword or not.’

The power of the Heavenly Net [a defensive technique], stirring through the darkness, was now only to be used for defense.

Unless I could clearly pinpoint Jang Han, I couldn’t attack with the Heavenly Net.

Jang Han wasn’t weak enough to be hit by a blind sword.

Seukak!

At that moment, another ominous energy rushed in from the darkness.

Like a child scribbling lines haphazardly, the attacks were too widespread.

────!

Now, even the sound of the blade being swung couldn’t be heard.

Even the silver thread of aura that had flickered slightly was fading.

‘Is this…… your Mind Sword?’

Only then did I realize what Jang Han’s Mind Sword was.

In fact, it was a very simple ability.

This pitch-black darkness gradually steals the opponent’s senses.

Meanwhile, Jang Han would freely roam through the darkness, cutting off the opponent’s life before they could even react.

“Impressive.”

I meant it sincerely.

Such a Mind Sword.

I had never experienced or even imagined it before.

I couldn’t even guess how much effort Jang Han had put in to obtain this.

‘I can break it with the Formless Sword [a powerful, shapeless attack]. But will he give me the chance?’

Of course not.

Even at this moment, countless slashes were flying at me.

He wouldn’t even allow me the brief moment to use the Formless Sword.

If it were the me from a while ago, I wouldn’t have had a suitable way to deal with this.

However.

‘Your Mind Sword is really amazing, Jang Han. I mean it.’

Clearly, if it were the ‘me from a while ago,’ I would have been flustered.

But having passed through the trials of the Aerial Fortress, I experienced a realm beyond the Mind Sword.

From Ru’s spear.

From the Ancestor’s single sword.

Although I hadn’t yet fully reached that realm, I had taken a step into a new place.

‘Now,’ I had a way to break Jang Han’s Mind Sword.

I reached my hand upward.

At that moment, a sword made of black energy was grasped in my fingertips.

I gripped the sword with both hands.

Woong!

The air distorted.

However, it was a distortion similar to but different from that of the Mind Sword.

If the Mind Sword was a twisting distortion, what was dwelling in my hand now was a distortion as if something was being painted over.

Firmly!

I felt the strikes that had been rushing at me in the darkness suddenly stop.

Jang Han shouldn’t have done that.

He should have gritted his teeth and charged at me.

“Hoo.”

I exhaled briefly.

And slowly, so slowly that it felt leisurely, I swung the sword down.

The sword path, from top to bottom, passed through the middle and drew a straight line towards the lower end.

Only silence filled the darkness.

A single line split the darkness, but nothing happened.

But a moment later.

Tuwhak!

A sound was heard.

The hearing that had disappeared had returned.

The sound of something being cut and bursting followed in succession.

Immediately after, the darkness split.

* * *

It was as if a curtain was being drawn back.

The darkness that had blocked the world split, and light seeped through the gap.

Jang Han’s Mind Sword had been shattered.

Under the light seeping in from the sky, Jang Han dangled his long sword and stared blankly at the air.

Thud!

Jang Han’s knees touched the ground.

The sound of his knees, which seemed like they would never bend, hitting the ground resonated heavily across the earth, heavier than anyone else’s collapse.

“Haha, ha…….”

A laugh full of emptiness flowed from Jang Han’s mouth.

Jang Han looked up at his own Mind Sword, which was fading into the air as if seeping into the atmosphere.

The Mind Sword contains the user’s mental image.

It holds the archetype of the strength one possesses.

In other words, this Mind Sword was the most ideal form of strength that Jang Han could have.

But it was destroyed by Lee Cheol’s single sword.

“What…… the hell is that.”

Jang Han looked at Lee Cheol with blurred eyes.

“I don’t even know the name.”

“It’s not a Mind Sword?”

“It’s something beyond that. I haven’t even completed it yet.”

Far from being complete, it was an extremely incomplete realm.

If I had fully mastered ‘this,’ it wouldn’t have ended with the collapse of Jang Han’s Mind Sword.

“If the Mind Sword is about covering something, that was closer to changing it altogether…… I see. You’ve once again advanced to a higher realm…….”

Jang Han’s voice no longer contained feelings such as resentment, annoyance, regret, or remorse.

It was because he had burned everything to the very end of himself, to the point where no ashes of such emotions remained.

“One last thing, let me ask.”

Jang Han looked at Lee Cheol.

Jang Han’s eyes were as clear as a lake.

In the battle with Jang Han, I had a conversation longer than a hundred words.

The sense of kinship, awe, and rivalry he had for me…… the life he had lived aiming for me.

I felt all of it, sympathized with it, and understood it.

“Speak.”

“Me, my sword…… how was it.”

“…….”

I picked out the words that came to mind one by one.

But I couldn’t open my mouth easily.

“……I don’t know. Honestly, I can’t express it well. I don’t have the confidence to put what I felt into words.”

“Still, tell me. You can do that much, can’t you? How was the fight just now?”

“The fight with you…… was a series of chills.”

I recalled the battle I had with Jang Han.

I felt my every trick being read and exposed.

I felt the threat that I might die if I made a mistake.

A sword forged solely to face me.

That sword was truly sharp.

“My sword was sharp, huh…… I see.”

“As I said, it was amazing. More than anyone I’ve fought so far.”

“Damn it. That’s really fucked up. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Jang Han suddenly lamented and clicked his tongue.

“Why are you suddenly acting like that after asking?”

Jang Han didn’t answer.

He couldn’t possibly say with his own mouth that he felt an indescribably great satisfaction from the words he had said, even though he had lost to Lee Cheol.

A moment of silence fell.

Jang Han looked down at his hands.

Hands full of calluses and scars were already turning into light and scattering into the air.

“I lost.”

Jang Han turned his gaze towards me.

I smirked and gestured with my chin.

“Have you ever won? You always lose and act like you’re all that.”

“Y-You, you son of a…… bitch…….”

Jang Han gritted his teeth.

I looked down at Jang Han and continued leisurely.

“So, come at me again when you’re ready.”

“……What?”

“You’ve always lost anyway, so this is just one more loss added. Nothing special. Besides, it’s a duel where your life is guaranteed. I don’t even know if I should count this as a defeat.”

Jang Han’s eyes widened slightly.

“So, if you’re bored, come at me again outside. I’ll beat you down anytime. But don’t surprise me, give me some warning.”

“Ha.”

Jang Han let out a weak laugh.

Just one more loss added?

He had prepared so much, but how could it be the same as before?

……But.

“Good.”

Jang Han unknowingly blurted out those words.

And he felt a small spark being ignited deep inside himself, in a place he thought had no ashes left.

“You son of a bitch. Be careful when you sleep. I’ll sneak in someday and slit your throat.”

Jang Han looked at me with a face full of competitive spirit.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You’re saying you can’t do it in a head-on fight, so you’re going to assassinate me? Well, that suits you better, you assassin scum…… Good luck. I don’t know if you’ll succeed, though.”

“You ba……!”

Flash!

The moment Jang Han was about to shout something, his body was enveloped in light and seeped into the air.

That was the end.

I had won.

* * *

“Haa…….”

Thump!

I collapsed to the ground.

My whole body ached.

Even though my body was regenerating every moment, I almost collapsed.

“Jang Han. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without that guy.”

It felt like my heart, which had only been stopped from bleeding, was chillingly cooling down.

Regardless of the nature of the battle, I felt ‘drained’ for the first time.

But thanks to that, I also had an enlightenment.

The habits of my battle that even I didn’t know.

And even the enlightenment about the realm beyond the Mind Sword, which I had wielded for the first time in my life.

‘Jang Han. Thanks to you, I think I can become stronger.’

However, whatever the case.

I wanted to feel the joy of victory now.

Because it was more valuable than any victory I had ever obtained.

As I was resting like that.

Woooowoong! Wujik!

All the colors of the space I was standing in began to be swept away.

“Ugh!”

As if being sucked into a black hole, I was also caught up in the flow.

Thadak!

I immediately tried to resist by sticking a weapon made of black energy into the ground, but it was useless.

Even that weapon lost its color and was weakly bounced back somewhere.

-Do not resist. You who have returned from death.

-You have seen the land of the beginning.

-You have faced your origin.

-You have seen the ancient times and experienced the myths.

-You have faced the hidden truth and triumphed over the adversaries.

-And now.

-The final testing ground has been prepared.

-That test will be conducted in reality, not in illusion.

The dwarf’s voice continued at length.

I hesitated for a moment at that voice, then stopped resisting.

Hwaaaaaak!

A feeling as if the top and bottom were mixed up like being swept away by a wave.

“Ugh.”

Thadak!

And when I came to my senses, I was already standing on the ground.

I staggered for a moment, but soon regained my balance and looked around.

Unlike what had always been the case, a pure white space was not unfolding.

A dark but wide space with weak fires hanging in various places.

‘My body…….’

At that time, I confirmed that the aftermath of the battle had completely disappeared from my body.

There was no fatigue or tiredness.

It felt as if my body condition had been reset to the same as when I first entered the Aerial Fortress.

-You who have returned from death.

-You who have returned from death.

-You who have returned from…….

And at that moment, I heard seven voices welcoming me.

Seven beings wearing robes.

They were standing in front of a large, cracked crystal ball, looking at me.

But…… their gazes were not only directed at me.

-You who death avoids.

-You who death avoids…….

The dwarves were calling someone again.

-You are the last singularities to survive until the end…….

Ttok!

The sound of a cane hitting the ground was heard from behind.

Surviving the test…… was not just me.

I turned around and looked back.

“As expected, you were the one who remained at the end. That’s how it should be. Yes, it has to be.”

Michael Garell.

He was approaching me slowly, leaning on his cane.

But…… he seemed different from the Michael I had known.

He was making a voice full of unknown joy.

“So, we meet again. Child.”

A strange remark.

It wasn’t the nuance of meeting after the fourth test.

At that moment, Michael Garell’s eyes, hidden by wrinkles, slowly revealed themselves.

I paused for a moment.

His eyeballs had no pupils.

Pure white eyeballs without a single blood vessel were staring at me.

“The Magic Tower Lord…… he’s not.”

I stared directly at the man with my magic eyes.

And my eyes widened greatly.

‘I’ve never seen a human with such energy…….’

The appearance visible to the naked eye was just that of a kind, elderly Caucasian gentleman.

But the appearance reflected in the magic eyes was that of a monster with all sorts of colors mixed up, something I couldn’t even comprehend.

“Did you recognize me because you have those eyes?”

Michael’s shell smiled gently.

I could tell who was inside.

“The Master of Kabbalah [an esoteric discipline].”

“We meet again. It’s been a while. Ah, is this the first time you’re seeing me?”

Meet again? It’s been a while?

His voice, filled with joy, felt quite unpleasant.

It was the first time I was seeing him, but he seemed to know me.

“It’s inevitable that you’re confused. You should be confused. Rather, I’m even more so…… That baby I thought was dead. To have grown up so much and stand before me. Keulkeulkeul!”

He walked towards me, showing exaggerated movements as if he was immersed in delight.

“Ah…… truly delightful. The flow of the world is truly unpredictable, surpassing human wisdom in this way. Child. I have sincerely longed for this meeting with you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

At that moment, I felt a heavy pain in one side of my head as I listened to his voice.

“It’s truly a mysterious fate that we’ve encountered each other in this place, the City of Great Wisdom, which holds all the history of this land, not somewhere else. Child. I sincerely wanted to face you like this.”

Ttok!

The sound of the cane hitting the ground echoed long in the silence.

“My…….”

His voice slowly stretched out.

The headache grew more and more severe.

Michael Garell, no, the Elder of Kabbalah smiled.

That smile was as ominous as that of a demon.

“Masterpiece.”