Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 284

Lee Jin-yoon had finished the second test.

She stared blankly into the air.

It was a somewhat different sight from Lee Jin-yoon, who would casually dismiss anything unusual she saw.

“It is over. The second test. Woman of the Heavenly Demonic Star.”

The second dwarf appeared before Lee Jin-yoon.

“Why? Are you alright? There shouldn’t be any problems.”

The dwarf called out to her again, but Lee Jin-yoon didn’t even flinch.

She remained sitting there, stiffly, merely recalling the scene that had been reflected in her eyes until just now.

Lee Jin-yoon faced an unbelievable, terrible secret hidden within her bloodline.

“Answer quickly. Before the next test, you must. The reward, as agreed.”

The dwarf flew right up to Lee Jin-yoon’s nose, shining its yellow eyes.

At that moment, Lee Jin-yoon’s eyes turned to the dwarf.

“You…….”

Whack!

Lee Jin-yoon reached out and grabbed the dwarf by the collar.

“Tell me! What I just saw, is it… is it really true! Don’t even think about some dog-like trickery, and tell me straight!”

Clang!

Lee Jin-yoon’s magic power exploded violently.

A warrior who had reached the realm of Sword Heart [a state of perfect unity with one’s sword, signifying mastery] was so overwhelmed with emotion that she couldn’t even control her own magic power.

“Let go. What is this, you doing…….”

The dwarf seemed flustered and wriggled, then slipped away.

Lee Jin-yoon reached out again, but the dwarf passed through Lee Jin-yoon’s hand as if it had no substance and floated into the air.

“It is true. Everything you saw. There is no falsehood anywhere.”

“……Bullshit! Don’t talk bullshit!”

Thud!

Lee Jin-yoon slammed the ground as if she couldn’t believe it.

Her eyes burned with anger.

“How could that be possible? No, in the first place, you bastards could have just shown me some dog-like illusion.”

“If so. Will you. Receive, the reward, with that?”

Reward.

Lee Jin-yoon’s eyes flashed open.

The dwarves of the aerial fortress seemed to have to properly respond to the answers after this test for some reason.

“Alright, fine. Then show me the proof. Proof that what I saw is true.”

Lee Jin-yoon’s eyes smoldered.

And, Lee Jin-yoon saw the truth about what she had seen in her mind.

The questions she had about her family, the sense of alienation she could feel because she was a direct descendant, and the actions of her father, Lee Tae-shin, and the foundation of the Sungmoo Lee family.

“…….”

Lee Jin-yoon gritted her teeth.

She still had an expression as if she couldn’t believe it, but now what was contained in her eyes was more like anger and hatred than disbelief.

“How… how is that possible?”

“It is over. The reward. I cannot answer any more questions. It is not permitted. The causality.”

“…….”

Lee Jin-yoon contorted her face.

“Decide. Will you give up the test here? Or will you challenge the next test?”

A moment of contemplation.

Lee Jin-yoon sincerely… considered giving up halfway.

Not for any other reason.

Now that she knew the truth of her family and the other side of it, she wanted to go out and confirm it again with her own power.

‘No, more than that.’

The current situation of the family without Lee Cheol, herself, and even her father… was truly worrying.

“Tsk.”

Lee Jin-yoon clicked her tongue and looked at the dwarf.

In the end, there was only one answer to her worries.

“I…….”

* * *

As a direct descendant of the Sungmoo Lee family, I had been taught about the history of the family, along with all sorts of elite education, from a very young age.

And the history of the Sungmoo Lee family was known to have practically started from the 2nd generation, Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon.

This is because there are strangely few related records or history passed down about the founder, Lee Hyul-hyun, and even the transmitted content is often unrealistic.

In the first place, many in the world view the founder Lee Hyul-hyun as a fictional figure, and even the Sahun Office [historical records office], which organizes the history of the family, has speculated that the founder was merely a minor warlord.

It was none other than King Mu, Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon, who left records in the world as a proper military family and built the form of a noble family under the name of Sungmoo.

The practical starting point of the Sungmoo Lee family.

And… the founder’s child, the person who would know more about his true nature than anyone else.

Why did the founder Lee Hyul-hyun try to hide the Black Night?

And why did Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon try to reveal the Black Night?

Even though he tried so hard to reveal it… why did he take the inefficient method of hiding only three books called the Black Night Record in your tomb?

Why was the end of the person who pioneered the great family of Sungmoo Lee family merely in a secretive and gloomy tomb?

…I was finally able to face the reality of all those questions.

* * *

The location of the third test was none other than the tomb where the ancestor entered eternal rest.

The scenery was not much different from when I had visited.

The tomb chamber was still dark, and the walls of the room were covered with all sorts of charms, amulets, and gold threads containing the meaning of various seals.

The only difference was that, unlike when I visited, the charms still had life in them.

And Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon was sitting in the center of all those things.

“Who are you…….”

Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon looked at me.

A blue light shone through his long hair.

I couldn’t just stand there with my back straight in front of him.

“I am Lee Cheol, the last descendant of the Sungmoo Lee family.”

“Last descendant, last descendant, you say…….”

A word meaning a distant descendant.

Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon seemed to have difficulty even lifting his head, and dropped his head and kept repeating those words.

‘……What is it?’

I felt a strange sense of incongruity as I looked at such an ancestor.

Appearance, tone, the energy emanating from him…….

Something was strange.

It is clear that he has strong martial power. I can also feel the unique air of someone who has entered the Sword Heart.

But, somewhere…….

‘……His hair is black.’

I suddenly sent my gaze to the hair of the ancestor who was muttering.

If you are a member of the Sungmoo Lee family, dark black hair was a genetic trait that everyone had.

But that doesn’t apply to those whose hair has turned white with old age.

Those who have reached the realm transcend the limits of their lifespan, but this feels different.

The hair of the ancestor, who clearly entered the tomb chamber before his death, was even glossy.

There wasn’t a single wrinkle on his skin, and even his bright eyes were somehow strange.

“I see.”

At that time, Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon opened his mouth.

The muttering disappeared, and soon Ancestor’s head was slowly lifted.

Doo-geun!

I felt a strong vibration in my heart at that moment.

The Black Qi [a dark, corrupting energy] is reacting.

What the Black Qi was pointing to as dangerous was none other than the ancestor…….

‘That’s……?’

…I saw a very familiar black energy swirling in the ancestor’s amber eyes.

“You are trying to confuse me again.”

Light flashed.

The light was Ancestor’s long sword, which had already reached in front of my neck.

* * *

More than ten years ago, when I entered the ancestor’s tomb chamber.

I had faced a fragment of the primordial monster.

And the power of that black smoke was none other than showing illusions and visions, and after absorbing it, I felt that my recovery and regeneration had increased dramatically.

‘The ancestor’s current appearance, as if he has been rejuvenated, is ultimately because he accepted the Black Qi.’

And the reason why he wields his sword without asking questions is… because he has been invaded by the illusion that the Black Qi shows.

‘I forgot.’

The dwarf clearly said.

What the aerial fortress records and shows is only the history related to the primordial monster.

The reason why I didn’t realize it right away was because of the surprise of seeing the ancestor and the many energies hanging in the tomb chamber.

The conditions for this test have also become clear.

Solving the ancestor in some way.

That is what the dwarves are asking of me.

Swish! Pfft!

The reason why I succeeded in pulling my neck away from the sword light that had pushed right in front of me was entirely because the ancestor was sitting on the floor and not standing up.

It is inevitable that it will take a little longer to draw and wield that long sword while sitting down.

But even so, I felt blood flowing from around my neck.

‘Fast!’

I saw him drawing the sword, but when I came to my senses, it was already in front of my neck.

A terrifying speed.

I can feel that the alias of King Mu was never obtained for nothing.

I jumped back and tried to deploy Cheonra [a complex sword technique].

Drrrrr!

Now I can create dozens or hundreds of weapons in just a moment, but all I could create was only thirty-seven.

The reason is that the moment I was about to approach forty, Ancestor Lee Hyang-seon moved his sword again.

Clang! Ka-ka-kak!

More than twenty sword strikes in one breath.

The ancestor’s sword drew a graceful line.

Ten of the weapons floating in the air are shattered as they are, and the rest are caught in the aftermath and fly out and crash into the wall.

Swish!

At that moment, I saw the tip of the sword in front of my nose.

I forcibly turned my chin and avoided it.

When I tried to grab and wield the weapon floating in the air, I felt the power of the aura that enveloped the space a beat late.

‘9th Form of the Esoteric Art! Meteor!’

One of the 12 seasonal divisions of the main family, the decisive skill of the main family that greatly helped in completing the Gyeol of Cheonra [the culmination of Cheonra]!

Woo-oong! Bang! Kwa-ga-ga-gang!

A bundle of sword energy struck the ground.

I trusted my eyes.

I see what I want to see straight.

I concentrated on the flow of magic power without being deceived by the phenomenon in front of me.

‘The third sword energy on the left arrives first.’

I twisted my elbow and fired the sword in the air and flew the sword as it was.

An explosion occurs in the air with a Kwaang! sound.

As a result, several sword energies around it disappear as they are.

Next is the left.

I lowered my body and avoided the flying sword energy, and waved both hands wildly.

Ganggi Art Wave [a technique to manipulate internal energy].

3rd Secret Technique Hanul [a powerful defensive maneuver].

…….

I wielded all sorts of moves like water in succession.

I succeeded in shooting down one by one the ancestor’s bundle of aura that poured down like a rain.

“…….”

Even the ancestor, who was possessed by madness, paused for a moment at the sight and stared at me.

“Hoo…….”

Barely succeeding in defending, I took a long breath in the dust that rose in the air due to the ancestor’s esoteric art.

“That black energy… it is definitely Black Qi. No, but the esoteric art of the main family… no. Disgusting thing… you are indeed an illusion. Indeed, this dirty…….”

The ancestor looked at me with his eyes flickering with Black Qi, and poured out words like a madman.

“…….”

I silently looked at the ancestor.

He was the one who gave up entering eternal rest and shouldered the heavy burden of self-burial in this gloomy tomb.

For the family, for the greater good, for the future.

For a long time that I cannot know how long, he sacrificed himself to seal the fragment of the primordial monster.

Such a person is being ridiculed by the Black Qi and is showing such a figure.

Even if this is just a record of something that has already ended…….

Leaving the test aside, I couldn’t just leave that figure alone.

This was a responsibility as a descendant of the Sungmoo Lee family, and it was something that only I, who inherited the power of purification of the Soongjung Choi family, could do.

‘In the end, hearing the detailed story will be after the fight is over.’

The top priority is to save the ancestor from madness.

The questions I had, the reason why the dwarves showed me this test, all of that would be after that.

“Please forgive me for wielding a sword rudely at my predecessor.”

I said that and raised my magic power even more.

Koo-goo-goo-goo!

The ground trembled.

And the next moment, this time I reached out my sword towards the ancestor first.