Chapter 59 - Episode 9. Three Fortresses Meeting (4)
Chapter 59: Episode 9. Three Fortresses Meeting (4)
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The Hall Masters divided into their respective ‘Adaptation Team’ and ‘Awakening Team’ and began training.
The Adaptation Team trained on the Tower’s first floor, while the Awakening Team continued training on the newly expanded second floor.
The Adaptation Team was led by the eighth-stage Adapter, Hall Master Shin Mugeuk of Limitless Hall. Shin Mugeuk let out one heavy sigh after another as he watched the Hall Masters either learn one another’s skills or hurl curses at each other.
He wondered whether this would really work the way the Fortress Lord expected.
The idea of gathering those prideful Hall Masters in one place and making them teach one another their skills had been good. Yet once inside the Tower, they were far more interested in boasting about their own skills than earnestly learning from each other.
“...Are you daring to look down on Goddess Hall’s skills?”
“Hmph. No matter how fast Goddess Hall is, you cannot keep up with the speed of my Thunder God Energy!”
“Speed is not important. What matters is destructive power! And when it comes to destructive power, the Fire King is naturally the best!”
Mugeuk clicked his tongue as he watched the Hall Masters work themselves into a fury and point their weapons at one another.
“Pathetic fools. None of you have improved at all.”
The most diligent person on the Adaptation Team was Hall Master Jegal Myeong of Scholar Forest Hall. Originally assigned to the Awakening Team, he had actually begun making quicker progress after joining the Adaptation Team.
“This is truly killing me. How long have you trained in this skill, Hall Master Mugeuk?”
“Four hundred years.”
The technique Jegal Myeong was currently training in was Azure Sky Sword Form, Hall Master Mugeuk’s top-tier skill. It possessed some of the greatest destructive power in all of 《Chaos》 and ranked among the best of the existing top-tier skills.
It could not compare to the transcendent-grade skills used by ninth-stage and higher Adapters, but below that level, it was undeniably one of the finest skills available.
“Well, it still seems more manageable than being on the Awakening Team.”
Jegal Myeong sheathed the sword he had been swinging.
There had not been this many people on the Adaptation Team from the beginning. Despite Hall Master Ja Geukryeong of Goddess Hall’s concerns, when the training first began, the Awakening Team had been the one crowded with volunteers. Four of the six Hall Masters had joined it.
Yet before even a day had passed by 《Chaos》’s reckoning, three of those four Hall Masters had left the team.
Jegal Myeong had been one of them.
“...No matter how I think about it, this is insane.”
Hall Master Jegal Myeong of Scholar Forest Hall muttered, his fingertips trembling as a bad memory returned to him.
* * *
In the empty void, a solitary sword flash adorned the pitch-black sky.
A middle-aged man gripped a sword and repeated the same Stab into empty space. His posture was precise, and each lonely sword strike was regular and unchanging.
“Pick up the pace, Cayman.”
At Jaehwan’s voice, Cayman’s hand moved even faster. His Stabs were orderly, yet astonishingly swift. He was releasing every bit of spiritual power he possessed to increase their speed.
How many times had he repeated this already?
A hundred thousand times? A million?
No. By now, he must have reached at least ten million. He had been repeating the Stab day and night, so it would not have been strange if he had already passed eight digits.
Even for Cayman, who possessed immense spiritual power, repeating Stabs at that speed for so long was difficult.
After some time, Cayman gathered his exhausted Spiritual Pressure and spoke.
“Can I really grow stronger this way?”
“You should be able to feel it yourself by now.”
Jaehwan was right.
Not long ago, South Sea Hall Master Cayman had passed the first threshold of Awakening. Cayman could not forget how the world had changed at that moment.
The sight of the world after he gained the keyword 「Doubt」.
For Cayman, who had lived in the world of Adaptation for so long, it had been a tremendous shock.
The only reason he had not gone mad from that intense mental shock was Jaehwan. Because Jaehwan had walked this path first and helped him, Cayman had barely managed to preserve his sense of self.
Cayman recalled what Cheongheo, the Divine Doctor of Despair, had said.
“Trust the Fortress Lord. When it comes to Awakening, he is better than I am.”
Jaehwan spoke.
“Your posture is wavering. Correct it.”
“My apologies.”
“Are you still worried? That you will not be able to defeat the other Adapters?”
“...Yes.”
At some point, Cayman had begun speaking respectfully.
As he walked the path of Awakening, he had acknowledged Jaehwan as his master regardless of age.
“I know well that I lack talent.”
Cayman thought of the other Hall Masters, who were likely training with all their focus on the floor below. Perhaps they were already advancing toward the eighth stage of Adaptation.
“Fortress Lord, do you truly believe I can do this?”
“I do.”
From the beginning, Jaehwan had believed that the first Awakened One would be South Sea Hall Master Cayman. Unlike the other Hall Masters, who had received the blessing of Overadaptation, Cayman had led his life through nothing but pure effort.
Steadiness and diligence. The force that led an existence to Awakening was not talent, but will.
Only those with the strength of will to begin everything again could overcome the wall of Awakening.
In that sense, South Sea Hall Master Cayman was the most suited among the Hall Masters for Awakening.
“So trust me as well.”
His voice carried certainty.
Cayman gave a small nod and resumed his Stabs. If he had not trusted Jaehwan from the start, he could never have made it this far.
What kind of experiences had the Fortress Lord gone through to become so strong?
Cayman soon shook his head, clearing away the stray thought.
A new world awaited him.
* * *
Night had settled over the spire of the Inner Fortress.
A woman with a chain wrapped around her waist sat on the railing of the dark spire. She had recently participated in the tournament and earned the nickname ‘the woman with the chain scythe.’
“...This liquor tastes good.”
The woman dangled her legs over the railing and gently shook the bottle in her right hand. A faint flush had spread across her cheeks, as though she was rather drunk.
It was strange. The dead of 《Chaos》 could never become intoxicated, yet the woman truly looked drunk.
With unfocused eyes, she stared at the massive structure in the Inner Fortress’s rear garden below. After taking another swallow, she let out a quiet laugh.
“Carpe Diem, huh?”
Now and then, Hall Masters whose contamination had risen too high could be seen crunching medicine made from Horned Beast horns before heading back into the Tower.
Every second seemed precious to them.
“...Everyone is working hard. Even after living for hundreds of years, they still think they can change something. Idiots.”
No one answered her.
Even so, she continued speaking into the darkness.
“So, is that the new ‘hope’ you found?”
An answer came from the darkness a moment later.
“...Seolha, what exactly are you plotting?”
“Plotting? That hurts. We are meeting again after so long, and you are going to be so cold?”
The woman with the chain scythe, called Seolha, glanced behind her.
When had he appeared? The Cloak of the Recluse shimmered there. He took the form of an old man, dressed in a dignified black robe that trailed to his feet.
It was Cheongheo, the Divine Doctor of Despair.
Seolha smiled.
“Master, be a little warmer to me.”
“I have no intention of letting you call me by that title.”
“What a temper.”
“Why are you here?”
“I have business.”
Cheongheo’s expression hardened at those words.
“I told you. I have no intention of returning to 「Rupture」.”
“Ah, do not look so serious. You look even older when you do that, master.”
Seolha giggled and shook the bottle.
“Want a drink?”
“No.”
“What is this? You used to be unable to get enough of liquor and women.”
Instead of answering, Cheongheo asked, “Is the Rupture Master well?”
“They are. These days, they still mention you sometimes.”
“What nonsense.”
“I miss you too, master.”
“Do not lie.”
“Okay.”
Seolha smiled. Yet her pale smile held no emotion at all.
“Still, come back, master. Everyone is waiting for you.”
“I will not return.”
“Why?”
“Because I cannot be with those who are not even human.”
Seolha’s expression twisted strangely.
“You always said that. Humanity, humanity. ‘You must not give up on humanity.’”
“「Rupture」 abandoned humanity.”
“That is not true. We fight for humanity too. More precisely, we are the only ones who fight for humanity.”
“No. After the 「Great Disappearance」, Rupture was already finished. You are nothing more than an organization that has lost both its purpose and ideals.”
Seolha fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“Master, you have no right to say that.”
An indescribable passion filled her voice.
“Because you were one of the people who planned that damned 「Great Disappearance」, were you not?”
“...That is not true.”
“Of course, it did not unfold the way you wanted. Still, you did not stop the 「Great Disappearance」 in the end. More precisely, you stood by and watched it happen.”
“...”
“Well, I am grateful. Without you, I would not exist as I am now.”
Cheongheo did not answer. He silently looked at Seolha’s face.
The face of a little girl who had survived the 「Great Disappearance」 seven hundred years ago passed before his eyes.
“Master, did you know? Even now, there are people in Rupture who try to Awaken through the method you taught them. They are people with neither talent nor connections.”
“...”
“To become stronger, they swing their swords at one another a hundred times, a thousand times. They swing their swords like that, then kill each other again and again.”
“...”
“After swinging their swords millions, tens of millions of times and killing all their friends, they gradually forget why they first took up a sword. Once they have swung it a hundred million times, some of them start breaking down and drive their swords into their own throats. Only a very few survive and reach one billion. They become numb to life and death, and they can see the world from beyond humanity. Only then do they gain the first keyword of Awakening, 「Dismantling」.”
“...That was the wrong keyword.”
“There you go again. What would you know when you could not even become a complete Awakened One?”
“I know. I have seen beings reach the third stage of Awakening through the method I created.”
“No. A coward like you does not know.”
At those words, pure white began to spread around Cheongheo.
Cheongheo’s Unique World, White Horn World, had unfolded.
It was an intense threat, declaring that he would settle the matter with the power of Awakening if necessary.
“It has not changed, this ‘Unique World’ of yours.”
Seolha spoke mockingly as she looked at Cheongheo’s Unique World, blank as white drawing paper.
“You were too afraid to paint anything into the ‘Unique World’ you worked so hard to create.”
The next moment, lightning began striking throughout White Horn World.
Seolha’s chain scythe was unraveling.
When lightning tore apart Cheongheo’s Unique World, a new Unique World began staining the white backdrop.
A foul scent of blood rose fiercely around Cheongheo.
Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood.
A world dyed crimson. Tens of thousands of corpses. Bloodstains forming an ocean.
Cheongheo instantly realized where this Unique World had come from.
“How does it feel? Looking at the masterpiece you made, master?”
Cheongheo staggered back. The collision of their worlds alone had inflicted a severe blow on him.
Gritting his teeth, Cheongheo spoke.
“...I heard you became a commander. Have you reached the third stage of Awakening?”
“Third stage? Only that?”
Under that terrifying force, Cheongheo fell to his knees without realizing it. An immense pressure weighed down his entire body.
Cheongheo bit down on his blue lips and resisted that world with all his strength.
Seolha looked at Cheongheo, who could not even lift his head as he knelt, and spoke.
“Master, do not let a ‘living person’ pretend to be one of the ‘dead.’ Come back to 「Rupture」.”
“...”
“You know it too, master. Nothing can change in Chaos. No, the world will not change.”
Cheongheo raised his head at those words.
“It can change.”
“What?”
“I said it can change.”
Something like heat passed through Cheongheo’s eyes.
Seolha took a step back as though that heat had scorched her.
At that moment, lights came on outside the Inner Fortress’s spire, and a man appeared.
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