Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 518

The Sword King’s Three Kings’ Martial Art.

It was a formidable power, born from the combined essence of the three kings of the three realms.

And then there was his own Chaotic Dance.

A power that had evolved beyond the Three Kings’ Martial Art, fueled by his own chaotic energy.

*Koo-oong!*

The Chaotic Dance and the Three Kings’ Martial Art collided.

The Sword King, wielding the Three Kings’ Martial Art, displayed a king’s majesty, his movements precise and unmatched by any master Rowoon had faced before.

*Shweeek!*

Precise and swift.

Fluid and light.

It was a display that any swordsman or martial artist would admire and aspire to achieve.

And yet, Rowoon…

*Kwaang!*

…began to overpower him.

He brushed aside the Espencia [a type of spiritual energy or aura] that reached for him and crushed the annihilation magic circle with a clenched fist.

In the midst of this, Rowoon’s empty fist struck through.

*Goo-oong-!*

It was filled with compressed chaos.

*Thud.*

That was the moment it impacted the Sword King’s body.

*Kwaaaaaaa-!*

The light of annihilation spread in all directions, consuming everything around it.

The shattered remains of the imperial castle turned to dust, and even that was engulfed in light, leaving no trace of its existence.

*Pasut-!*

The Sword King’s Espencia pierced through the light.

The Espencia, now tinged with red and black, indicated that the Sword King was becoming more attuned to the Three Kings’ Martial Art, naturally blending his energy with it.

But still.

*Kaang-!*

There was a distinct separation, a clear boundary line.

It meant that the energies were not perfectly unified.

*Kwaang!*

It meant that they could not be perfectly unified.

Before achieving Chaotic Dance, when he used the Three Kings’ Martial Art, it was the same.

The teachings of the three kings seemed to be perfectly blended and refined through their efforts.

‘But its limitations were clear.’

From the beginning, they were three perfect entities.

To reassemble them and create something new was…

*Kwaang!*

A challenge that no one could overcome.

He thought he had reached perfection, but it was an incomplete, unfinishable state.

Even though he had touched chaos.

“……”

Chaos…

Rowoon paused.

The Sword King, who had been in a fighting stance, slowly relaxed as he watched Rowoon.

“Chaos…”

Rowoon stopped like a broken robot, repeating the same word.

“Chaos…”

Clearly, the Three Kings’ Martial Art had brushed against chaos.

Because he had directly confronted chaos through the Three Kings’ Martial Art.

But.

“Chaos…”

Had he truly overcome chaos?

“No. No…”

It felt like a realization was about to surface.

A void space, empty of everything.

He.

“I…”

Memories, it felt like memories were returning.

“I couldn’t overcome chaos.”

Rowoon slowly looked at the Sword King.

It was the first time.

The Sword King, usually taciturn and reserved.

His intentions were usually conveyed through his rare, sincere words or when their swords clashed.

And now, Rowoon felt something while facing the Sword King.

The Sword King using the Three Kings’ Martial Art.

Himself using Chaotic Dance.

“I…”

Rowoon muttered again.

“I…?”

*Chwaaaa-!*

The sword in Rowoon’s hand turned into light and vanished.

At this moment, Rowoon was more vulnerable than ever before in his life.

However, the Sword King did not attack him.

Instead, he spoke carefully, letting his Espencia fall.

“Do you finally understand?”

He asked.

“Have you finally realized?”

What he felt while fighting the Sword King.

It was as if.

“What is this…”

The Sword King was like his past self, and he was…

“Chaos.”

It felt like chaos was facing the Sword King.

* * *

From some point, he had felt a sense of unease.

But he couldn’t pinpoint the source of that unease.

He had simply attributed it to the discomfort of facing his master and the strangeness of the Sword King using the Three Kings’ Martial Art.

However, that unease didn’t disappear as he faced the Sword King; it only became more pronounced.

And just now, when he unleashed the power of chaos.

When the Sword King countered it with the Three Kings’ Martial Art.

“Master…nim?”

The unease had grown to an unbearable level.

*Wul-lung.*

The world seemed to sway.

*Beetul.*

Rowoon staggered, losing his balance.

He didn’t fall, but he looked so unsteady that it wouldn’t be surprising if he did at any moment.

“Have you finally realized?”

The Sword King asked him.

-Have you realized….

Like an echo, the Sword King’s voice resonated in his mind.

“Kuek!”

A severe headache began to overwhelm him.

“Have you finally figured it out?”

The Sword King spoke, approaching cautiously, as if approaching a wounded animal.

“Have you finally… accepted it?”

At his question, Rowoon looked at the Sword King.

“Master…nim.”

“Didn’t you already notice?”

His body was changing, sometimes becoming like a giant, sometimes like a dwarf, as he approached him.

Rowoon instinctively stepped back from the terrible incongruity.

“Didn’t you… already know?”

The Sword King said.

His face, which had transformed into that of a huge monster, was filled with pity and sadness.

“What you are, too.”

“Master-nim…”

Rowoon stopped.

Numerous pieces of information flooded his mind, along with the questions he had had until now.

It was as if everything was exploding at once.

-You are my son.

The time he had spent at Saebom Orphanage.

Those hellish times and his brother, Shinwoo Lee.

-Rowoon-ah.

His close friends.

And then, his activities as Danker [a player or adventurer].

The time after he awakened as a player, when he left Saebom Orphanage and worked tirelessly.

That time when he felt happiness and a sense of accomplishment.

And.

-Keok!

Even his own image of collapsing in the volcanic waste disposal site after being betrayed by everyone.

Memories of his entire life flashed through his mind in an instant.

“Kuek…”

The memories that were still coming were not over.

The moment he had given up on everything.

-Who are you?

It was the moment he had seen the light once again.

The meeting with the three kings.

It was the moment he had first met his masters.

*Jijik-!*

His memories became blurry, as if there was static.

It wasn’t just the time he had spent with his masters.

His memories were being fragmented, as if there was static in his entire life itself.

In the next moment.

*Teong.*

Rowoon’s eyes went blank.

“……”

The Sword King, standing in front of Rowoon, had a look of complexity, sadness, and pity on his face.

It was a face he had never shown before, and it was not the face of an emperor.

A human being.

A master.

And a face like another parent.

“It’s time to wake up from the dream now.”

The Sword King said, looking at the empty Rowoon.

“My disciple.”

*Hwaaaak-!*

A huge magic circle began to glow beneath Rowoon’s feet.

And then.

*Chareureureu-!*

Huge iron chains flew in and bound Rowoon’s body.

In the disappearing imperial castle.

The person who had appeared slowly stood next to the Sword King.

“……”

His face was more distorted than the Sword King’s.

The immense sadness that could not be expressed in words made his body tremble, and the guilt he felt seemed as if it would break him at any moment.

“Bondenno.”

The Sword King called his name.

“This is his choice, so don’t be so sad.”

* * *

Rowoon slowly opened his eyes.

Rowoon already knew that this was not Yggdrasil [a mythical tree or world tree].

Nor was it the imperial castle of the empire.

Nor was it the battlefield where he had fought the Sword King.

His consciousness had left the battlefield.

And that was.

*Sseuek.*

Rowoon’s own will.

‘I have to confirm it.’

The questions that filled his mind.

If he didn’t resolve them now, the final battle with the Sword King would be meaningless, and if what he thought was correct.

‘Master-nim won’t touch me.’

Rowoon carefully raised his head.

This was his inner world.

Therefore, it was vulnerable to external shocks, and even a small shock would be amplified and rush into this place.

However, even as time passed, Rowoon could not feel any shock.

He knew that time flowed differently in the inner world due to the transcendence of time, but the Sword King was a man who had the ability to even chase after that.

That meant.

“You were hoping for it.”

It meant that his master was indeed waiting for him, hoping that he would go to his inner world.

It didn’t matter what was happening outside anymore.

*Jeobeok.*

It was time to find out the truth.

‘The truth.’

Rowoon had searched all over the outside to find it, chasing after his masters, and he thought he had reached the end, but the place he had arrived at was his own inner world.

And he could guarantee it.

*Jeobeok.*

His intuition was telling him that the truth was here.

It was his inner world that he had visited several times.

A place that looked like a pitch-black dungeon.

However.

*Sseuek.*

The beings that should have been locked in cages were not visible.

It was as if someone had taken them away or released them.

Or were the beings trapped here just illusions?

Or else.

‘Were they eaten?’

Rowoon passed through the empty inner prison and continued to move forward.

From the moment he stepped into this place, his destination was already set.

A corridor that seemed endless.

However, Rowoon was taking slow steps.

“……”

He was afraid.

That was Rowoon’s honest feeling.

‘Why did you hide it so much?’

The images of the Martial King and the Demon King, who had tried so hard to hide the truth, came to mind.

At the same time, he was grateful.

His masters might have hidden the truth for their own purposes, but the expressions they showed were all the same.

Pity and sadness.

His masters already knew.

‘Fear.’

The shock he would feel when he faced the truth.

He fully felt that emotion.

He was more afraid at this moment than ever before.

To have everything he knew collapse, to have the truth he knew turn into a lie in an instant, was more frightening than anything else.

But he did not stop, even though he was taking slow steps.

He would find out.

He would know.

And.

*Koo-oong-!*

He arrived at the huge prison.

The iron cage that had imprisoned chaos.

“Chaos.”

At his quiet call.

“……”

No answer was heard.