The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 298

Swordmaster Wants to Live Peacefully – Episode 297

Swordmaster Wants to Live Peacefully 297

Holy Shrine (7)

Sage Kozumi, the current Emperor of Japan.

Ignoring the encroaching specter of death, he gazed up at the meteor shower.

A man clutching the hilt of a crimson sword stared down at him.

His red eyes gleamed with murderous intent, yet held an unsettling calmness.

This place was his domain.

Despite being a world crafted by God through his divinity, he seemed utterly at ease.

Even stepping into another’s world, he acted as if it were his own.

That was only possible if there was a vast difference in power, rendering him unaffected by such a world, or…

It was a world he had already shattered once before.

“No, no! That can’t be!”

Kozumi beat his wings and soared into the sky.

He spread his crow wings against the backdrop of the vast expanse, facing the sun.

“If I kill you here and somehow seize that power for myself! This world will be mine!”

“If that’s how you want it…”

But Meteor knew it was impossible. He would stop him.

As Kozumi reached out, thermal energy coalesced above him.

Borrowing the power of Amaterasu [the Japanese sun goddess] through the Yatagarasu’s [a three-legged crow, a divine messenger in Japanese mythology] body, he summoned the sun.

It was an act impossible with Kozumi’s power alone. His desperate and tenacious obsession was slowly making the impossible a reality.

“Kyang! Kyaang! (Meteor! That’s dangerous! It’s the power of Amaterasu!)”

“Sorry, but I don’t speak fox.”

“Kyang! Kyang-kyang! (You idiot!)”

“What? Calling me a crazy moron? You’re dead later, you fox bastard.”

Meteor laughed, exchanging taunts even in this dire situation.

He nonchalantly tossed his life back and forth, gripped his sword tightly, and assumed a stance.

Holding the sword with both hands, he spoke.

“If you want to snatch even 1 percent of victory from me, you’ll have to squeeze out every last drop you have. Even if it’s just that pathetic sliver of a soul of yours.”

As Kozumi lowered his arm, the sun began to fall.

An immense heat gathered, threatening to engulf the world and incinerate everything in its path as it slowly descended.

Yatagarasu – Hidden Art

Amaterasu Heat Extinction Sphere

The sun, empowered by the borrowed might of Amaterasu.

The attack, fueled by everything Kozumi possessed, slowly plummeted towards them.

Meteor swung his sword to meet it.

There was no need to unleash his unique world. Why reveal his own world to cut down a world built on borrowed power?

A single swordsmanship, a fragment of his world, was sufficient.

Meteor Stream Swordsmanship, First Form—

The sword was swung.

From bottom to top, as if scooping upwards.

Meteor’s aura and divinity spiraled endlessly, distorting space as they ascended.

The single sword strike, imbued with everything Meteor had accumulated, revealed its form to the world.

Ascension Star

A red, ominous star rose into the sky. A star destined to obliterate all.

The red star, shining most brilliantly just before its cataclysmic explosion.

The retrograde shooting star pierced Kozumi’s sun, creating a gaping hole.

In the wake of this, the energy erupting from the sun surged along Meteor’s star, forming a ring encompassing his star in the heavens above.

Kozumi’s head turned towards the star in the sky.

The instant the sun was pierced, a large hole also appeared in Kozumi’s abdomen.

Not merely a loss of physical form, but permanent damage to his very divinity.

Meteor did not swing his sword a second time.

He sheathed his blade and looked up at the star in the sky and the falling Kozumi.

It was the end.

The story of Kozumi, who sought to become a living god through ascension and rule Japan, reached its conclusion here.

Then, the star in the sky detonated, utterly tearing apart even the remnants of Kozumi’s world, restoring the Holy Shrine to the form of the Imperial Palace.

The revealed Imperial Palace was far from intact.

The battle that had raged within Kozumi’s unique world had bled into reality.

The Imperial Palace, constructed with extravagant materials to embody the Emperor’s dignity, lay in tragic ruin.

As if signaling the end of the Emperor’s reign, Meteor stood amidst the ruins and took a deep breath.

“It’s an end for someone, but a beginning for someone else.”

Kozumi’s end.

Meteor’s beginning intertwined.

It was the first story he completed after attaining true divinity.

“This should make for a decent first myth.”

Meteor smirked as he looked at Inari and continued.

“Don’t you think so? Inari. I’m planning to build a myth that will dwarf yours.”

“Kyang! Kyaaaaaaang─!! (You son of a bitch─!!)”

“I can’t understand a word of that nonsense.”

Meteor closed his eyes and opened them again, accepting the divinity flowing in from Kozumi.

Then, he turned his head and spoke to a gaze watching him.

“Ascension Cult Leader, how long are you going to keep hiding and watching? I think it’s about time we met face to face.”

-…….

No answer came.

However, one thing was certain.

The Ascension Cult Leader, the source of that faint gaze, was smiling.

As if knowing that the time for their meeting had arrived.

A very faint answer was heard. In a voice so quiet it could only be perceived with intense concentration.

-I will prepare a good seat.

***

Meteor, having accomplished his initial objective, returned to Korea.

Even though he had killed the Emperor, no one condemned him.

Instead, he was met with praise.

This was because it was widely known that Kanto had invaded Kansai [regions of Japan].

Meteor suppressed the divers [superpowered individuals] of Kanto who had invaded Kansai at the request of an acquaintance (the Master of the Magic Tower) in Kansai, and the story of him defeating the Emperor, who was the leader of Kanto, was plastered all over the news.

Naturally, the Japanese government was in an uproar, and those who were either loyal to the Emperor or members of the Ascension Church were all expelled, taking advantage of the situation.

The fires set by Hong Seo-hwa and Schuel were all blamed on the divers of Kanto.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a satisfactory resolution.

“Uncle!”

Nox ran towards Meteor, who was emerging from the airport exit.

Meteor caught the running Nox with one hand, lifted him into his arms, and smiled softly.

“You’re awake, Nox.”

“Yes! I heard that you went all the way to Japan to wake me up?”

“That’s right. Did you sleep well?”

Nox nodded, nestled in Meteor’s arms.

It had been a painful dream, a dream filled only with darkness.

But what had roused him from that dream was undoubtedly a sword.

A sword that even cleaved through nightmares.

It was Meteor’s sword, so beautiful.

“Thanks to you, Uncle. Really, thanks to you…”

Tears welled in Nox’s eyes as he was held close.

As Meteor’s collar gradually became damp, he hugged Nox even tighter and said.

“Let’s go home.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s go home, eat delicious food, and talk.”

Nox nodded, slightly embarrassed by Meteor’s uncharacteristic tenderness.

Yu Ji-woo, who was watching the scene, frowned.

“Captain─!”

From afar, Veronica also leaped and embraced Meteor.

Meteor caught Veronica with his free hand and tossed her aside.

“Why me─!!”

“Act your age.”

***

On the way home, Hong Seo-hwa returned to her guild, and in the back seat of the vehicle driven by Yu Ji-woo, Nox and Veronica sat flanking Schuel.

Meteor, in the passenger seat, closed his eyes to the wind blowing in from the open window.

“But Oppa [term for older brother or male friend], when are you going to tell me what happened in Japan?”

“Didn’t it all come out in the news?”

“Our intelligence department has also pieced it together to some extent, but there’s nothing as accurate as hearing it from you, right?”

“Nothing much happened. I went to hell for a while, and I also went to heaven.”

“…Hell? Heaven? What are you talking about? Do those things really exist?”

“They do? I went to hell and taught them the importance of labor rights.”

“…Are you lying?”

“…….”

“You’re really lying, aren’t you?”

When Meteor didn’t answer, Yu Ji-woo began to tremble with anxiety.

I heard that if you go to hell, the sins of your relatives are also weighed…. In that case, I’m definitely going to hell.

“I heard that the hells of Japan and Korea have different jurisdictions. What you’re worried about won’t happen. No, in the first place, you’ve committed so many sins that you’re obviously going to hell, right?”

“Where else is there someone who has lived as hard and kindly as I have?”

“Really? I don’t know.”

If you think about it carefully, Meteor Industries was a conscientious company.

They paid better salaries than other companies, and they also ran a conscientious pharmaceutical business using new herbal medicines.

The number of people she had saved alone must have been tens of thousands.

“When I meet Yeomra [the judge of the dead in Korean mythology] later, I’ll have to beg him to send only my sister to hell.”

“Are you really my brother? How can you go all the way to hell to beg for your sister to be sent to hell?”

That’s what siblings should do. Programmed to kill each other from birth…….

Anyway, Meteor briefly recounted the events in Japan.

It was a concise summary, but still a shocking tale.

He ascended to the Japanese Celestial Realm, the Holy Shrine, and returned after defeating one of Japan’s highest gods.

“…You also killed the Emperor there? Wow, that’s a really incredible story. Is there a novel with that title?”

“If you wrote it as a novel, the plot would be nonsensical and you’d be torn to shreds, so there won’t be one.”

“…Crazy.”

Yu Ji-woo was speechless for a moment, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

And when they arrived at the parking lot, Yu Ji-woo, having finished parking, spoke.

“…Anyway, everything turned out well, so isn’t it okay? Right? Oppa.”

She said that and turned around. The three people in the back seat were already fast asleep, tangled together.

Meteor also turned around and chuckled.

“Maybe so.”

“…Oppa, you carry two of them. I’ll carry one.”

“My back hasn’t been good lately, so you carry two.”

“I’m going to die, really.”

***

After depositing the three soundly sleeping individuals on the bed and returning to the living room, Seo Yeon-jung was sitting there.

She definitely wasn’t there when I came in, but she had suddenly appeared and was sitting on the sofa.

Yu Ji-woo was also startled and blinked.

“Oh, Unnie [term for older sister or female friend]? When did you get here?”

“It’s not Seo Yeon-jung.”

Meteor walked to the living room and sat opposite Seo Yeon-jung, who was exuding a different aura.

“I was waiting. It seems you did a good job this time. Were you the one who slowed down Nox’s erosion?”

“…Yes. I did it.”

“You’ve earned your keep, so you wouldn’t have come to hear thanks, would you? Is it about the Korean Peninsula Holy Shrine?”

“You’re right. Did you know that the Korean Peninsula Holy Shrine is watching you? That someday they will invite you.”

“Yes. But I didn’t expect the invitation to arrive through you.”

“I was surprised too. It’s been hundreds of years since I’ve been holding my breath, but even if I do something like this now, I’m not happy about it.”

“Wait, what are you two talking about?”

Yu Ji-woo, who had been listening blankly, interjected.

Meteor said.

“We’re talking about adult matters. Sit down.”

“……!”

The moment she heard those words, Yu Ji-woo was dumbfounded and opened her mouth wide.

Seo Yeon-jung (with a different presence) smiled wryly at Yu Ji-woo and continued.

“A week from now, on the day the full moon rises. The path to the Holy Shrine will open.”