Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 496

Tales of Nangsane – Part 2, Episode 205

Rin hadn’t changed a bit.

Unlike the other disciples, who had matured somewhat, Rin remained exactly as I remembered her.

Perhaps that was a good thing.

The tense atmosphere instantly dissolved, replaced by fond memories, making for a pleasant meal. Everyone seemed to be lost in the past rather than the present.

“Haa.”

After dinner, I stepped outside for a moment to enjoy the cool night air.

“San!”

“Rin.”

Rin followed me like a chick trailing after its mother.

Was it because we hadn’t seen each other in so long?

She didn’t want to be apart from me for even a moment.

I didn’t mind Rin being like that.

It reassured me that our connection was the same as before, and I was grateful for her openness with me.

“Where have you been all this time?”

“I’ve been wandering here and there, experiencing many meetings and partings.”

“It seems my reunion wasn’t included in those many meetings and partings. How disappointing! I’ve been searching for you all over the world!”

I hadn’t realized that.

Feeling a pang of guilt, I gently touched Rin’s flushed cheeks.

I initially thought her cheeks were red from the cold, but that wasn’t the case.

Rin’s cheeks were hotter than my hand for some reason.

“Why are you so warm? Do you have a fever or something?”

“N, no, it’s nothing like that.”

Rin tried to cool her face by pressing the back of her hand to her cheek.

“I guess it’s because of the divine skill you’ve mastered. I used to have that problem when I couldn’t control fire properly.”

“…It’s not that. It must be because of the alcohol I drank earlier.”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

“What are you looking at?”

“I was looking at the moon.”

“Why the moon?”

“I’ve been all over the world… but I’ve never been to the moon, so I’m thinking of going there sometime.”

“I see… Are you going alone?”

“Yeah. My master once told me about the moon.”

“Your master?”

“Do you know what he said?”

“He said that there’s something you shouldn’t get involved with there, so don’t go.”

“Then shouldn’t you not go?”

“That’s right. But I… after being called Nangseon [Wandering Celestial] and wandering around, I realized that there’s meaning in seeing, hearing, and going with my own two eyes, two ears, and two legs, instead of just hearing or reading about it.”

I felt that you can only truly know something by experiencing it yourself.

Only then can you truly understand.

Whatever it is.

“You want to see and judge everything for yourself.”

“Yeah….”

“Even what those guys are trying to do?”

“Yes.”

Geoma, Yedong, and Shinwi wanted to protect this land, calling it a Celestial Realm.

This place where the old master’s belongings and memories remained.

So they suggested something to me and Rin.

To build a palace here together.

The palace that the master had built.

The Celestial Palace.

“You’ll be staying here for a while.”

“I wanted to see what kind of Celestial Palace they’re trying to build. And if my strength can help the people, all the better.”

“…Okay. If that’s what you want, then I will too.”

That’s how I settled in the Celestial Realm.

Ageom and Yedong.

And many others began to gather, with Shinwi as the center.

Our strength was considerable.

Because we were the master’s disciples.

We each taught the lesser celestials in different ways, showing them how to accumulate and release energy, and how to manifest it.

There were many trials and errors.

They and we were different.

There was an innate difference.

If we could accumulate a hundred units of energy with one unit of effort, they could only accumulate one unit of energy with the same effort.

For a while, we couldn’t figure out the reason for the discrepancy.

But soon, we realized that it was due to the blood in their bodies.

We had assumed everyone was the same, but the accumulation and strength of power were proportional to the divine blood and celestial roots they possessed.

Once we identified the cause, the solution was straightforward.

All we had to do was replace the blood flowing in their bodies and replace the celestial roots with something else to strengthen them.

But, as is the nature of all things, not everything in the world goes smoothly.

“That child went into the Water Realm and stole their celestial roots?”

“Yes, Celestial Sovereign.”

That was the beginning.

“Not bad. If that’s how our soldiers can become stronger….”

Yedong didn’t see it as a particularly bad thing.

“Life is inherently about taking from others to survive. What’s wrong with invading the Water Realm and taking their lives to benefit ourselves? San, it’s a natural act.”

“But Yedong, if we do that, they won’t just stand by. They have emotions too. Sadness turns into anger, and anger will inevitably turn toward the Celestial Palace over countless years.”

“That too is something we have to endure. Creatures are meant to become extinct when they are eliminated. They are simply flowing according to the natural order.”

Yedong’s decision was beneficial as the leader of the Celestial Palace, but from the perspective of the Upper Realm as a whole, it was harmful.

“I think the same way. San, there are too many beings in the Upper Realm. They’re just pointlessly harming the celestial origin energy.”

“Shinwi, what about you?”

“I’ll remain neutral.”

“Then it’s decided. Since we’re not directly involved, and the disciples of the Water Realm won’t get involved either, it won’t harm us. It’s all their business.”

The quietly surging anxiety gnawed at my flesh like shackles on my ankles.

I didn’t know what to do.

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more, hearing that I was paying too much attention to the affairs of the lesser celestials.

They and we are different.

Completely different beings.

Thinking that way made me feel somewhat better.

“Celestial Sovereign!!”

It was one of the lesser celestials.

It was the child who attended to me, and that child, with tears in their eyes, reported to me as if rejoicing.

“A celestial, a celestial has been born among the lesser celestials!!”

A being who defied the celestial order was born among the lesser celestials. It was the most intelligent child among them.

There was no name.

Because to us, all lesser celestials were the same.

So we gave a name.

“Yujeong. Let it be Yujeong.”

Yujeong.

The first celestial among the lesser celestials.

He was amazing.

He adapted the system we had created to better suit the lesser celestials and shared it with them.

As a result, the achievements of the lesser celestials became faster, more numerous, and more diverse.

The more that happened, the more solid Yujeong’s realm became, and he was able to wield more power.

“As expected of a lesser celestial… It’s an idea I never thought of.”

“You flatter me.”

With Yujeong’s efforts, the development of the Celestial Realm soon shone with dazzling promise.

Of course, we also created many theories and methods with him.

Changes in cultivation techniques.

The development of magical artifacts.

The classification of divine skills.

The definition of laws.

As we compiled various things, time flowed without rest, and the next generation of celestials sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

It was as if we had gained comrades, and I felt like new disciples had been born under the master.

But that was just my feeling.

The other disciples didn’t feel that way.

“It’s good that celestials are being born… but every time they are born, I feel that the purity of the celestial origin energy is gradually becoming turbid. Yedong, don’t you feel that way too?”

“I’m aware of it. Their power is nothing compared to ours… but unlike us, who seem to be frozen in time, they are fast. They are fast and frightening.”

“Frightening?”

Why be afraid?

I couldn’t understand.

They are like our children.

How can we be afraid of them?

“San, you don’t know how great their desire for knowledge is. Their obsession with power and their desire for life are too great. Like a bottomless pit, they are never satisfied no matter how much you fill them. Like a leaky pot.”

“That’s why we’re afraid, San. Because their swords may one day be pointed at us.”

“Yes, San. They want power. They want it endlessly without knowing satisfaction. They stole celestial roots and divine blood from the beasts of the Water Realm. But are they satisfied with that? No. They want even greater power. Eventually, they will reach out to us.”

“Th, then what are you going to do?”

Rin asked, stammering.

Soon, the three of them met eyes.

“We’re going to start a war. There are others who are having the same problems as us. The disciples of the Water Realm are also suffering from similar issues.”

“That’s good.”

That’s how the war broke out.

I could only watch the horrific scene.

It was a reality where I had no choice but to send those I had raised with my own hands to their deaths.

I was disgusted with myself for feeling a sense of relief in being alive amidst the deaths of those who were torn apart and disappeared powerlessly.

“The celestial origin energy of the sky is being filled with their deaths. As expected, life and death must be repeated according to the natural order.”

Ageom and Yedong were only interested in the laws that appeared in the repetition of life and death.

The guilt that had nowhere to go weighed heavily on my heart.

“San! What are you doing here?”

“Rin… I just… I always feel like I’m doing foolish things.”

Rin smiled at my pathetic appearance and pulled me along.

“Let’s go to the moon.”

“The moon?”

“You said you wanted to go to the moon.”

I agreed without much thought.

Rin had been thinking a lot about the moon for me, and she created a divine skill to move by creating bloodlines in the gaps of space using her divine power.

After several trials and errors and several spatial movements, we reached the moon.

“Ah….”

The moon was a precious place.

There was no atmosphere or anything there, but there was a world beyond the heavens.

‘Was the Upper Realm this small?’

Or were we, who were just a speck of dust, even more insignificant?

There were many realizations.

And we met.

[Who said you could come to this land? You insects.]

It was a giant bird with blue feathers, a strange bird that used fire the same color as its feathers.

He called himself a phoenix.

[You, what’s your name, insect?]

“San’s name is San! What are you!”

[San? A strange fellow. You will meet me once more in the future. I can see that destiny.]

Suddenly, he’s talking nonsense.

I immediately showed fire to the threatening guy. As soon as the ice flowers that bloomed on the moon melted and burned away, the phoenix was startled and screamed to stop.

[San! I curse you!! You will face a terrible death before long! And I will be by your side!]

“San! Let’s burn him. He thinks he’s some kind of phoenix… He’s not even worth a phoenix feather.”

[I am the phoenix itself! I just haven’t been able to find my divided soul for a long time, so I can’t use my power. If I find my true power, you will be annihilated to your souls with just one of my flames!!]

He was quite an interesting guy.

Rin hated him, but I liked the phoenix.

So we became friends.

Again, time passed.

It was nice not to have to think about many things when I was here.

It wasn’t bad to settle down in Jawol [Moon Dwelling], build a decent house, and live there.

There was nothing, but it wasn’t boring because I had Rin and the phoenix.

[San, do you remember what you said before?]

“That I’m going to die horribly?”

[Yes. That’s not a lie.]

“I see.”

[Aren’t you afraid?]

“I’ve already seen the deaths of many people. I may die too. I have seen many deaths and births. If I don’t want to… I can avoid death, but it has lost its meaning now.”

[I see. You’re already….]

The phoenix said something meaningless, then transformed from a blue phoenix into a human and sat next to me.

A woman with white, almost blue hair and alien eyes.

The phoenix kissed my forehead and said.

[It is the blessing of heavenly longevity. One strand of your soul will never perish and will survive until I die.]

Whether that would be a blessing or a curse.

No one here knew.