Chapter 455
Crumble-
Desolate ruins, charred pitch black, were crumbling in eerie silence. There were no signs of life, with the only visitors being a translucent ghost and a group of nervous young spirits.
“Your spirit bodies might seem convenient, but they’re actually pretty tricky to manage. Especially if you end up under this kind of rubble.... In that case, good luck getting out, let alone being found. That’s why, in times like these, the first thing you all need to do is secure a good vantage point so you can see your surroundings—”
“Hey! Enough chit-chat. Get moving!”
Cut off by the shout of the skeletal overseer that had been passing by, the ghost leading the team frowned in irritation.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re going to move now. Seriously, these bony bastards have zero flexibility.... Anyway, let’s head in. I’ll explain everything inside.”
“Understood.”
Turning around, the ghost slipped into the rubble before the spirits slipped in after one by one. Soon enough, the spirits all went in—only to re-emerge soon after with everything intact they could salvage from beneath the debris in their hands. They would hand off those items to another undead, which would quickly sort and place in front of a portal leading to the Netherworld by type.
“Wrap it up in thirty minutes!”
“Check thoroughly in case you miss anything!”
Overseeing the entire process, the undead overseers barked out orders to the undead army. Under their lead, every inch of the now obliterated Black Arms was scoured, sweeping up the remnants of the demons’ belongings like a military-grade cleanup crew.
These items aren’t bad at all, Se-Hoon thought in satisfaction, nodding from the side.
The items they recovered were nothing compared to items inside the vaults of Ludwig or Wurgen, but there were occasionally some items that could only be found in black markets like the Black Arms. Naturally, that also meant they were banned by international law—unlike before his regression—which meant Se-Hoon couldn’t just use them recklessly.
If he struck the right deal with Gregory for some exceptions, though...
If I can’t, oh well.
In the first place, Se-Hoon had only used such items back then to survive. But now? When humanity wasn’t as desperate?
Thinking such thoughts, Se-Hoon calmly inspected the collected materials—components for bioweapons—when he suddenly turned to look at Kwang-Soo.
“...”
To the side, Kwang-Soo was absent-mindedly fitting together the broken pieces of Celestial Night, his treasured sword. His blank expression made it obvious the sword’s destruction had shaken him deeply.
“...”
Se-Hoon frowned awkwardly.
I knew the sword wasn’t in a good state, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad...
He hadn’t even hit the blade seriously! All he had done was lightly tap it for inspection, yet it had shattered completely. And if it had done that, then the sword must have already been past its limit, barely held together despite looking intact.
Honestly, at this point, it’s really his fault for not getting it repaired sooner...
Like that, Se-Hoon silently insisted that his own fault was that he was simply too competent.
“Haaa......” Letting out a deep sigh, Kwang-Soo set down the pieces of the Celestial Night. “...It feels like I’m paying for all my neglected karma at once.”
Kwang-Soo, too, had known for a while that Celestial Night was in bad shape but kept putting off repairs while making excuses. The pieces before him... were just the result. And yet, despite that, he’d had the nerve to lash out at others—Kwang-Soo let out another sigh, thinking he couldn’t have looked more ridiculous.
“...I’ve been nothing but pathetic all day. I’m sorry.”
“Eh? No, I mean, it wasn’t that bad...”
Honestly, Se-Hoon had indeed been thinking the old man was acting pretty immature. However, considering he’d spent the past few months tormented by inner demons, Se-Hoon also thought just the fact that Kwang-Soo could even reflect on himself at all was impressive.
“You don’t have to beat yourself up so much. I was already planning to reforge the whole thing from scratch anyway,” Se-Hoon consoled, patting the dejected Kwang-Soo on the shoulder.
“Really...?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I never thought much of it as a weapon to begin with.”
There were two main reasons Se-Hoon had been wanting to destroy the Celestial Night. First, he just found Kwang-Soo annoying. And second, the weapon was just flawed.
“Only a third of the blade remained, meaning that unless the wielder has mastered the Celestial Infinity Blade technique, they can’t even use it properly. For you, it might be okay if you just wanted to pass on your sword technique, but as a weapon? It had too many issues.”
“Hmm... You’ve got a point.”
“The core frame is solid, though. With a few adjustments, I can probably craft this into something decent.”
In fact, even with Kwang-Soo objecting and getting only simple repairs done, Celestial Night still performed at Legendary rank all those years ago. If he started from scratch, perhaps that past peak could even be surpassed.
“But in return, I’d like two things for the restoration of the sword.”
“...What do you need?”
“The most urgent thing is that you need to deal with your inner demons properly. In your current state, you wouldn’t even be able to wield the reconstructed Celestial Night.”
A true weapon didn’t just assist its user, it led them to a higher realm. But with Kwang-Soo’s mind consumed by his inner demons, all a weapon could do for him was to provide support—which wasn’t nearly enough to defeat Doppelganger.
“Personally, I think using the Blessing of the Sacred Lantern could fix this issue easily... but you don’t want to take the easy path, do you?”
“...Sorry.”
Despite looking apologetic, however, Kwang-Soo firmly rejected the idea of utilizing the Blessing of the Sacred Lantern. Such a reaction intrigued Se-Hoon, making him study Kwang-Soo curiously. He had a feeling it wasn’t just discomfort—it had to be something deeper, perhaps something in Kwang-Soo’s past.
As far as Se-Hoon could tell, everything weighing on Kwang-Soo all seemed to be rooted in former wounds. Most likely, even Kwang-Soo’s inner demons had resulted from the past resurfacing and destabilizing his synesthetic mindscape, not his loss to Doppelganger.
“Alright. Then let’s put the whole inner demons issue on hold for now.... Next, I want you to tell me what happened back then.”
“What... are you referring to by ‘back then’...?”
“All of it.”
Se-Hoon was firm. From the founder of the Celestial Infinity Blade, the original owner of the Celestial Night, to the entire history with Doppelganger, a once fellow disciple but now an irreconcilable enemy, Se-Hoon had to know.
To unravel the tangled web of problems, it had to start there.
“...”
Kwang-Soo fell silent in thought. Then, as though he had come to terms with something, his mouth slowly opened.
“I used to travel all across the country, hunting monsters to avenge my family that had been killed during the upheaval. And then, in one rural village... there, I... I”—Kwang-Soo’s eyes suddenly lost focus, his mana flaring wildly out of control—“huff... huff... I... why... why did I...”
Seeing the dangerous sign, Se-Hoon immediately acted. He reached over and quickly flicked Kwang-Soo’s forehead.
Smack!
“Ugh?”
Kwang-Soo winced, holding his forehead. He opened his mouth to protest, but then paused.
This...
As the pain subsided, Kwang-Soo noticed the fog in his head had cleared. When he had been flicked, Se-Hoon’s water mana had been injected into him naturally, blending in as though it had always belonged to him.
Even if I’ve become weakened due to my inner demons, for him to intrude into my body this easily...
Kwang-Soo stared in surprise. If Se-Hoon wanted, he could likely kill him or even impose restrictions to control him completely, all with ease. Of course, he knew Se-Hoon had no reason to do such things, but still, it was impossible not to feel an instinctive tension.
I’ve sensed it before, but something has definitely changed about him recently.
There was now an aura of overwhelming pressure, an irresistible force both power and technical ability wise, around Se-Hoon. It was as if... he was facing someone who had conquered the Tower of Heroes.
While Kwang-Soo marveled at the transformation of the man slowly unfolding before his eyes, Se-Hoon flicked off the lingering mana from his fingers before asking, “You’re alright now, right?”
“Ah, yes. I’m fine now. It seems like I’m always causing you trouble.”
“Not at all. But judging from your reaction, your inner demons definitely are linked to your memories. And that makes it hard to hear directly from you...”
Was there an indirect method to uncover Kwang-Soo’s memories without relying directly on his recount? Wondering, Se-Hoon’s gaze naturally shifted subtly toward his own solar plexus.
“Professor.”
“Hmm?”
“You trust me, right?”
“Apart from your safety awareness... somewhat,” Kwang-Soo replied after a pause, an ambiguous expression on his face.
“Hey, who’s more safety-conscious than me...?”
“Okay, let me revise that. Even your common sense is doubtful.”
Considering that Se-Hoon thought letting his head be removed or his heart burst was genuinely safe, then his common sense was twisted beyond doubt
“...”
Subjected to Kwang-Soo’s wary gaze, like he was staring at a ticking bomb, Se-Hoon clicked his tongue inwardly.
He’s overreacting just because of one joke...
Se-Hoon couldn’t believe Kwang-Soo was even making such a fuss about it despite having previously witnessed him regenerate his exploded head at Jason’s orchard. However, continuing that discussion further seemed likely only to deepen misunderstandings, so Se-Hoon just moved on to the main point.
“Anyway, if you’ll trust me just this once, we can resolve both your inner demons and your past. Interested?”
“How are we going to do that?”
At that question, Se-Hoon smiled lightly.
“By going deeper than your mind.”
***
With all of the assets of the Black Arms gathered and their base thoroughly smashed, Se-Hoon returned straight to the workshop.
“Oh! Welcome back!”
Terra rushed to greet him as soon as he entered, prompting Se-Hoon to pat her shoulder gently.
“Is training going well?”
“Of course! I can move easily up to my ankles now... oh? You brought a guest! I’ll go get some tea!”
Spotting Kwang-Soo behind Se-Hoon, Terra ran off to the kitchen before anyone could stop her.
She really loves staying up here. Se-Hoon chuckled at her enthusiastic behavior.
Despite training with the control methods for the Warhound all day long, Terra appeared joyful. Clearly, she was happy to do anything as long as she didn’t have to return to the planet’s interior.
Though the Seeker might be miserable because of that.
“Please get me out! I’m going crazy with boredom!”
Recalling the Seeker’s desperate cries during their regular check-ins, Se-Hoon quickly pushed those memories away. Perhaps someone else might pity the Seeker enough to swap them out with Terra, but considering how much trouble the Seeker had caused until now, she deserved a little time for self-reflection.
...That might be precisely why Terra is so happy.
Remembering Terra’s mischievous grin upon hearing about the Seeker’s complaints, Se-Hoon wore a bitter smile.
“What is that creature? The energy coming from it feels extraordinary...” Kwang-Soo asked curiously, looking toward where Terra disappeared.
“Ah, right. This is your first time seeing her. That’s Terra, a fragment of the Seeker.”
Instantly, Kwang-Soo’s jaw dropped. Se-Hoon had found and was... casually commanding a fragment of the Seeker, a Perfect One who’d vanished decades ago? Like a servant?
“That’s... I mean, sure. Impressive.”
He was deeply curious about how this had happened, but Kwang-Soo knew asking would undoubtedly just produce another absurd causal explanation.
Yes... It’s best to just accept whatever this guy says.
At that moment, Kwang-Soo resolved to no longer react too strongly in the future.
“Take a seat.”
“Mmm.”
Once they both sat down, Terra returned and placed tea and snacks on the table.
“I’ll go out for a walk now!”
Having noticed the tense atmosphere, Terra tactfully left.
And once she had, Se-Hoon took a sip of tea before speaking. “To explain simply... techniques that peek into someone’s memories normally target the synesthetic mindscape. Because the memories stored in the brain tend to be easily distorted.”
Judging by how Soul Honing could alter blood flow in the brain to erase or evoke certain memories, bodily memories had low reliability due to the potential for manipulation. However, experiences preserved in the synesthetic mindscape were different. Interfering recklessly with those risked complete collapse, making such memories harder to alter.
“So even though resistance is strong, targeting the synesthetic mindscape is usually preferred for accuracy. However, for you, Professor, even this approach isn’t viable.”
“Because of my inner demons?”
“Yes, exactly.”
If it were merely an unstable synesthetic mindscape, partial retrieval could have been possible. But Kwang-Soo’s current state was deeply intertwined with trauma, significantly compromising even those memories’ reliability. Deeply tied into the synesthetic mindscapes, those memories had likely been severely distorted by Kwang-Soo’s past emotional states—just like the hallucinations and delusions he experienced.
“Then the deeper place you mentioned earlier...”
“The soul.”
Hearing that, Kwang-Soo’s expression turned thoughtful.
The soul, huh...
Back when research about necromancy flourished, Kwang-Soo was a supporter of the theory equating souls with synesthetic mindscapes. His rationale was simple: things were confusing enough with mana and other strange energies, so having a separate existence of a soul would just be even more chaotic.
If Se-Hoon is mentioning it... there must be something different about it.
Suppressing emerging questions, Kwang-Soo then asked, “What should I do, then?”
“You just have to trust me on this one.”
No matter what happened, he must not doubt or resist. While it was simple, it was quite a difficult request—yet Kwang-Soo didn’t hesitate.
“I trust you.”
Even though he had been so unreliable, Se-Hoon had already gone so far for him.
Feeling Kwang-Soo’s resolve, Se-Hoon nodded and placed his right hand on Kwang-Soo’s shoulder.
Bond Extract
[Extracting bond from subject ‘Ma Kwang-Soo’]
[The bond with the host is Lv. 2.]
A heavy energy flowed into Se-Hoon’s right hand. Until now, he refrained from extracting Kwang-Soo’s bond to avoid misunderstandings.
It should be alright now.
Feeling the bond fragment enter his body, Se-Hoon concentrated the energy into his left hand.
“Hmph!”
Then, once the extraction and transfer finished, Se-Hoon thrust his left hand toward Kwang-Soo’s solar plexus.
[Bond Recreate has been activated with the subject ‘Ma Kwang-Soo’.]
And with the sensation of being pierced through the heart, Kwang-Soo fell unconscious alongside Se-Hoon.