The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 205

Swordmaster Wants to Live Peacefully – Episode 208

The Heavenly Jade Palace (4)

Chiiiiik….

Batory calmed down only after throwing away her burning hat.

A meteor shower could have put it out, but I was too busy enjoying her flustered expression.

“Alright, what do you have to say?”

“…This isn’t a typical Abyss. As you might have noticed, it’s a separate dimension based on mental imagery. It’s similar to a unique world.”

“I already figured that much. So why do we need to get out of here?”

“I’ve been rushing to get people out, but I found traces of human sacrifice all along the way here. It seems like dying inside the Abyss immediately results in being sacrificed, a reversion system of sorts, but anyway, that’s not the important part.”

“You’re saying you don’t know the expected firepower from the sacrifices.”

“…Yes, unfortunately. If sacrifices have been going on since the past, the power will be enormous. And, the owner of this power is someone I know… well, not really, but a yokai [a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore].”

“A yokai?”

Batory turned her head to look at the palace gate.

Upon closer inspection, there was a pattern engraved on the gate.

It was so old that it was difficult to recognize, but she knew very well whose mark it was.

“…The White-Faced Golden-Haired Nine-Tailed Fox, Daji. That’s who this person really is.”

“A nine-tailed fox, huh.”

Yoosungwoo listened to her and then looked at the collapsed Chunwoogong.

So that’s why he was wagging his tail like that.

Bewitched by a nine-tailed fox.

“Daji is famous even within the Witch Society. She caused trouble in China in the past and fled to Japan, but she couldn’t control her temper there either and almost got subjugated. The Witch Society helped with the search during the subjugation.”

“And after barely preserving only her soul, she returned to China and has been hiding until now.”

“That seems to be the case. I never thought I’d see her again here…”

“You speak as if you’ve seen her in person. Daji must be much older than you.”

“I’ve just heard so many stories about her. And the Witch Society has two of Daji’s tails that were obtained during the subjugation, so I could quickly recognize her energy.”

Batory urged Yoosungwoo to get out quickly.

If a mental world could be expanded to encroach on dimensions, it wouldn’t be impossible to wield omnipotent power within it.

They had to escape while he hadn’t fully recovered and couldn’t move.

“…What about after we get out?”

Yoosungwoo asked.

What would they do after they got out?

Batory answered irritably.

“Why should we care?! It’s another country anyway…”

“We should care. It’s the future that will come sooner or later. If we just let this guy go, he’ll devour even more people and eventually try to increase his influence.”

“…Even so, now isn’t the time. It’s better to prepare thoroughly and come back.”

“No, now is the best time. My specialty is beating up guys who have just woken up and are disoriented. And the sacrifices will be insufficient. He was planning to grind up all the guys in the Cheonmaeng Fortress for sacrifices, but the ritual started faster than expected because of me.”

“Ugh, seriously… I feel like I’m going to lose my hair.”

“It would be funny if you had a bald spot on the top of your head.”

Yoosungwoo chuckled, and Batory stomped her feet in frustration.

But all it did was hurt her weak ankles.

“Hmm, you said the Witch Society has two tails, so are the tails here newly recovered?”

“Probably. We took away eight tails back then…”

“What’s the possibility of him retrieving them?”

“…The ones in the Witch Society are fine, but I don’t know where the others are stored.”

“Then if he retrieved those too, he might have more than ten tails. Up to nine tails is a yokai, but a ten-tailed fox is almost a god, isn’t it?”

Batory nodded at his words. Yoosungwoo pondered for a moment and then said.

“You go back outside. Go out and call anyone who can help with this situation, whether it’s the Witch Society or someone else.”

“Then what about you?”

“I’ll either buy time here or kill him.”

“…Okay. Just don’t die. I’ll bring someone no matter what…”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s going to work anymore.”

“What do you mean…”

Did I waste too much time?

Yoosungwoo and Batory turned their heads back, and there stood Chunwoogong.

Without a sound, as if he had been moving all along.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a guy move after being subjected to the Life and Death Command. Seeing him move even after suffering damage to his soul… it seems there’s a longing that surpasses even the damage.”

“What are you talking about again?”

“That guy was completely bewitched by a nine-tailed fox named Daji and built the Cheonmaeng Fortress. He was going to use them all for human sacrifices.”

“That crazy bitch… she’s good at catching men, isn’t she? She couldn’t control her temper and got kicked out of China and Japan.”

“That must be a skill too. Anyway, it looks like we have to deal with that guy first to get out of here.”

As Yoosungwoo raised his sword, the tail wagging behind Chunwoogong simultaneously pierced his body, scattering blood.

Red blood stained the floor, and then Chunwoogong’s energy amplified in an instant.

Soon, the tail that pierced him completely permeated Chunwoogong’s body and became one with him, opening his closed eyes.

Batory, who was watching his movements, said.

“…It doesn’t seem like he’s moving on his own will?”

“So that’s why he can move even after being subjected to the Life and Death Command. Even if his soul is torn, the essence remaining within is still there.”

“…W-wait, what’s that?!”

Batory was surprised by the enormous energy flowing out of Chunwoogong, but soon her eyes widened as she watched the energy erode the surroundings and construct a separate world.

The blue energy flowing out of Chunwoogong dyed the world in night, and turned the land they stood on into a desolate rocky mountain.

What floated behind him was a full moon.

It was clearly the unfolding of a unique world.

‘Chunwoogong wasn’t even at the level to unfold a unique world. Daji is forcibly unfolding the world in Chunwoogong’s mental imagery with power close to authority.’

This isn’t good.

I was going to send Batory out and then try to catch Daji….

As Yoosungwoo took a stance, Batory took out her staff and prepared her magic.

“…You will not go any further here. Even if I have to burn this one body completely, I will protect her.”

The blood-soaked man standing on the high peak, with the moon behind him, said.

Chunwoogong reached out and refined the moonlight into the form of a sword, then pointed it at Yoosungwoo.

The longing felt in the golden-burning eyes finally completed his unique world.

[Unique World]

[Hwasan Moonlight Remembrance (華山月下備忘錄) – Hwasan Moonlight Memoir]

Never to be forgotten.

Hwasan, the story of the two of them that took place there was built into a world with Daji’s power.

Chunwoogong jumped off the peak and swung his sword with his only remaining hand.

Movements and momentum that were clearly different from before.

What were originally flower petals now became moonlight and swept in.

Yoosungwoo pulled Batory behind him and said.

“A unique world must be broken with a unique world. While I buy time, you unfold yours.”

“…What are you talking about!”

“I have to deal with Daji. If I use it all up here, I won’t be able to catch her.”

“I don’t even know how to do that!”

“Just do something.”

With those words, Yoosungwoo immediately jumped up and clashed with Chunwoogong.

Not only did he draw all the power from his body, but he even burned his soul.

Even though it was a sword swung with one hand, its weight was no different from Mount Tai, and the flower petals made of moonlight sweeping in from all directions seemed like they would pierce the aura armor.

This is the power of a unique world.

A world that only those who have reached the realm of rewriting the laws of the world can reach.

“I don’t like it.”

It’s not something he built himself.

To declare that he will kill me with a world created with someone else’s power.

It was extremely arrogant.

I wanted to unfold my unique world right away, but.

The enemy right now wasn’t just Chunwoogong.

After defeating him a second time, I would have to deal with Daji.

Yoosungwoo said again.

“Hurry up! If you don’t want to be called a mosquito anymore!”

***

Batory was going crazy at Yoosungwoo’s words to unfold her unique world.

She had practiced it countless times, but had never succeeded even once.

But to unfold it without preparation in this urgent situation.

‘…What should I do?’

I don’t know any tricks to unfolding a unique world.

I don’t even grasp how high of a realm it is.

To construct a mental world as reality on the outside.

‘That’s impossible.’

She had clearly reached the realm of a Great Mage, but the unique world was an area she couldn’t touch.

I remember the unique worlds that Vlad and Yoosungwoo unfolded.

The world that Vlad unfolded was a sea of blood made of all kinds of blood.

A vampire’s world made of blood, returning to blood, and circulating with blood.

The world that Yoosungwoo unfolded was a desolate place.

A world that seemed to express the aftermath of the war.

Should I imitate their worlds?

No, I wouldn’t be able to unfold a unique world in that way.

What needs to be constructed must be completed only with one’s own mental imagery….

Kwaaaang─!!

Yoosungwoo crashed next to her as she sat on the floor and concentrated.

He got up from his seat with scratches all over his body, exhaled briefly, and said.

“Don’t think too complicatedly. It’s about gathering the past, present, and the future you desire and releasing it as magic.”

“That’s easier said than done…”

“The world you truly desire. That’s all you need.”

After giving a short piece of advice, Yoosungwoo jumped towards Chunwoogong again.

He and Chunwoogong collided, spreading loud noises and shockwaves.

Under the full moon, two swordsmen risked their lives.

Only one of them would survive, and she realized that she had to do it herself to save the one she wanted to save.

Batory closed her eyes tightly and drew up her magic power.

The magic power in her body resonated with the magic power outside, drawing red concentric circles around her.

‘Past and present, the future I desire…’

What did I see in the past, how am I living now?

What future am I drawing and living in the present?

This was close to a Zen question.

Can you define your mental imagery?

Can you give a concrete and clear answer as to what it is like?

Ordinary humans cannot do that. That’s why the unique world is the exclusive property of the strong who have defined their mental imagery.

Domain, microcosm, unique world, territory… that world called by various names.

‘Hoo…’

It’s not enough to just unfold a unique world.

The burden was even greater because she had to construct a world that would cover the scenery that had devoured them now.

She looked back on her past.

She traced the life she had lived for hundreds of years, crossed the present, and drew the future she desired in her heart.

She was so focused that she couldn’t hear any sound anymore.

Neither the sound of Yoosungwoo and Chunwoogong clashing swords, nor even the sound of the wind blowing over the peaks.

Then now, a voice was heard in her heart.

-Did you think you could just run away and be comfortable?

-It’s all because of you that everyone died.

-Madam, please save me, Madam….

-If you hadn’t run away, we would all be together….

I couldn’t tell what the voices were based on.

However, she does not deliberately exclude it.

In order to look back on the past, live in the present, and walk towards the future, it was necessary to accept everything.

That must be the world she had been drawing in her heart.

“Wake up, Batory.”

This time, a voice was heard in her ear. A familiar voice, Yoosungwoo’s voice.

When she slowly opened her eyes, the scenery she had seen before closing them was nowhere to be found.

When she turned her head to look at Yoosungwoo, he smiled and said.

“You succeeded. I didn’t think you could actually do it. Give the completed world a name. That’s how it becomes complete.”

Batory licked her lips as she looked at the scenery she had created, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“The name of the world is….”