811 Episode 40 Fear Realm (3)

A light brain fog occurred in my head, and the alarm bells rang one after another.

The story was warning me.

I can't defeat that being with my current strength.

# not sure here about the outer god's speech

I thought as I quietly hid behind the smaller Yoo Jonghyuk.

Damn it. I think he saw me just now.

The good thing is that Skill hasn't been activated yet. That means there's no chance of me or Yoo Jonghyuk dying in this situation. At least not yet.

"Ah, Father! Please save me! Father!"

A desperate scream was heard from the crowd.

I turned my head to see a man reaching out to the stage.

"Ah, Father, Father is coming, the great Tooth King is coming…"

At one time, he was definitely one of the most handsome men in this 'First Murim', but now his face was sprouting fangs.

"No! Myung-ah! Damn it!"

The incarnation of the Emperor's Sword rushed toward the man.

It seemed that the young man was none other than the son of Emperor's Sword Namgung Jincheon, Young Master Namgung Myung.

As the history of the Emperor's Sword took hold in Namgung Myung's incarnation, Namgung Myung's body, which had been polluted by the story, began to calm down little by little.

"Ah, ah, ah—"

But the situation was not resolved. Namgung Myung's mental power was not enough to stop the contamination of the Shark Head's story. Unless someone defeats the Outer God, the Young Master would be finished.

However, all the Transcendents that were blocking the Outer God had fled, and soon even the heads of the Five Great Families and the masters were slowly retreating.

Of course, there were still some who did not run away.

Emperor's Sword shouted at him.

"Cheongae! Please!"

Cheongae, the Dragon Head Ark of the Beggar Sect, nodded.

"Everyone, come to your senses. Cover your ears and close your eyes. Don't be swept away by illusions."

The martial artists gathered around him began to resist the Outer God once again.

Cheongae, who struck out the fangs that had popped out of the sky, shouted loudly.

"Outer God! Go back! This is not your playground!"

However, the Outer God laughed as if they could not hear such a thousand voices. Then, large fangs fell out of the shark's mouth.

Kugugugu.

A shadow rose from the floor of Murim along with white dust.

Gyo-a-byeong.

Soldiers whose entire bodies were made of the teeth of the Outer God began to stab and kill the surrounding martial artists indiscriminately with sharp fangs that had grown instead of hands.

"Kkwaaaaaaaak!"

Cheongae hurriedly stepped forward to block the Gyo-a-byeong, but there were too many of them.

Cheongae, whose face turned pale, shouted.

"Emperor's Sword! Evacuate everyone! If this continues, we'll all die!"

"Fight! Fight!"

Instead of evacuating the people, Emperor's Sword shouted in a curse.

"If you retreat here, it's over! Murim is about to be destroyed!"

However, his rebuke only accelerated the departure of the masters.

In the end, the person who would be the target of Emperor's Sword's resentment was already decided.

"Breaking the Sky Sword Saint! Why on earth are you just sitting there! Didn't you come to protect your disciple?"

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint glanced at Yoo Jonghyuk at that question.

"That guy is not my disciple."

"Don't lie! That kid is your disciple! I already confirmed it through [Lie Detection]! You lied to me. You said you wouldn't accept disciples and then—"

"It's been a long time. You're the son of Namgung-ssi."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint looked at Emperor's Sword with her characteristically profound eyes.

Emperor's Sword couldn't bear to meet her eyes and looked away.

"You've grown a lot."

"I'm not here to hear that from you! I'm the head of the Namgung family!"

"..."

"Even if you are the Four Hundred Kings, I am the head of the household of the time! Before you were Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, you were Namgung's sword! Protect me! Protect my son! Protect this Murim!"

"What is your Murim?"

Emperor's Sword's shoulders flinched at Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's question.

I knew the reason after reading 'Ways of Survival'.

Emperor's Sword had once heard the same question from Breaking the Sky Sword Saint.

The year the first 'Outer God incident' occurred.

In the plaza of the collapsing Murim, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint asked Murim.

"I will ask. What do you think 'Murim' is?"

At that time, the Murim people could not give their own answers. So they followed Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's answer.

"Forest."

Fortunately, Emperor's Sword remembered that answer.

This Murim is a forest. A forest where lowly mortals are tied together and gathered to protect each other.

"Murim is a forest! Damn it! So please save Murim quickly!"

Was he proud of himself for remembering the answer in the midst of such dire straits? The Emperor Sword's expression was stained with faint joy.

But Breaking the Sky Sword Master slowly shook her head.

The embarrassed Emperor Sword shouted.

"Why, why are you doing that? This was the answer! You heard this answer and saved Murim back then!"

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint remained silent.

Was the Emperor Sword's magic power starting to decline? His face began to turn pale again.

The Emperor Sword, embracing his son, shouted.

"You are the god of this Murim. You have a duty to protect this Murim more than anyone else!"

"In your eyes."

Blood was blooming where Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's gaze landed.

A few of the Transcendents who were running far away had their bodies torn apart by fangs that emerged from the air.

A thousand voices screaming.

People who seemed to have gathered for a moment were now scattering.

"Does that look like a 'forest'?"

With a slap, a thousand people were pierced.

"Yongdubangju has been hit!"

"Kk, it's over. This Murim is over now!"

"Everyone, run away!"

None of them were protecting each other. The warriors running and running again. The cries of children left on the streets.

Emperor's Sword, his mouth open in a daze, couldn't answer. Perhaps, at this moment, he was finally realizing the identity of the Murim he had protected.

"I, I, my Murim."

Murim is no longer a forest.

A relationship woven through easy martial arts represented by [Skills].

They were together, but they didn't share the same history. They learned the same skills and trained for the same purpose, but even Goo Paebang and Oh Daese were different from before.

Perhaps Emperor's Sword also knew.

"Murim is..."

Their roots are no longer intertwined. Now there is no one in this Murim who seeks advice.

The Emperor Sword's hand, which had been trembling, groped the air.

He needed the elders of the Sega family to give him advice. But no one responded. It was only natural. The elders of the Namgung Sega family who had protected Murim together during the 'Outer God incident' had all passed away.

The Emperor Sword's incarnation staggered.

"Why, why do you always ask such things? What is important about Murim?"

The staggering Emperor Sword took a deep breath, holding the sword he had stuck in the ground. His eyes were bloodshot as he struggled to breathe.

"Do you know what was so great about your Murim? It was the same back then. It was definitely not the 'forest' you were talking about!"

"…"

"You, you made Murim like that! Because you, the great one, were so proud of yourself...!"

Blood poured out from the seven holes of the roaring Emperor's Sword. He too was beginning to be infected by the stories of the Outer God.

"Do you think a forest that relies on just one tree is a proper forest? Why did we send people to the Fear Realm? Why did we continue this expedition while dying so much—"

"…"

"This is all because of you! If you had only accepted me as your disciple, if you had only taught the people of Murim, this wouldn't have happened! You weakened this Murim! You are the one who destroyed Murim! You—"

I hit the back of the Emperor's Sword's head with all my might. The Emperor's Sword fell forward with a thud, unable to get up.

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint looked down at the Emperor's appearance for a moment and then turned her back.

"Breaking the Sky Sword Saint."

The God of Murim had now decided to abandon this forest. So what had she decided to become?

"Are you really going to leave like that?"

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint slowly turned around at my question.

"You—"

"My name is Kim Dokja."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint narrowed her eyes and said.

"You are not qualified to answer my questions."

I vaguely thought I knew why she said that.

She might have noticed that I was not from the 'Murim', or she might have recognized the Constellation stories within me.

But in reality, it didn't matter either way.

"That's right. I still don't have the 'eyes' to read Murim."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint paused for a moment at my answer.

I continued.

"Unlike you, who has already seen the destruction of Murim hundreds of times beyond the Fear Realm."

"How do you know that?"

A strange current began to flow from Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's entire body.

"It doesn't matter what I know. What matters is the 'Murim' right before your eyes."

"..."

"Isn't there really not a single tree left in this Murim that you want to protect?"

Little Yoo Jonghyuk grabbed my sleeve. It was a warning. Don't say anything more. If you say the wrong thing here, you'll die.

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, who had been thinking about something for a moment, answered.

"A single tree cannot become a forest."

"I know that too. But Breaking the Sky Sword Saint."

What I was going to say from now on was not my language.

"How many trees do you need to gather to make a forest?"

This was Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's language.

It was Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's return of the question she once asked Kim Dokja.

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint blinked her big eyes as if surprised by my question. Her clear-sighted eye began to glow brightly.

I swallowed.

"I don't know the origin of Murim."

I said, supporting the fallen thousand incarnations.

"However, I know the Constellation that was born in martial arts. I have survived until now thanks to the martial arts I learned from that Constellation."

"More than anything, I have a comrade who loves this Murim."

"Comrade?"

"That bastard who can't eat food made by others at all, eats the dumplings made here well."

I looked down at the little Yoo Jonghyuk who was standing there with a blank expression and continued speaking.

"So, 'Murim' must not perish here."

This Murim is the last 'home' left for my poor regressed comrade.

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's eyes widened as she recognized the magical power in my blade.

She must have recognized [Baekcheong-ganggi].

It said I had re-entered the scenario, but it had only been a short time since my incarnation body was repaired. I still couldn't fight at 100 percent power.

Even so, I was Kim Dokja right now, the Demon King of Salvation. As long as I had that name, what I had to do here was clear.

"Kim Dokja! Stop!"

Yoo Jonghyuk staggered and grabbed my arm. I let go of his small hand and smiled.

No matter how much my incarnation body had recovered, I couldn't defeat such a monster in my current state.

I'm not Jaehwan-nim. But I am not Jaehwan-nim, so I will not destroy Murim.

I looked up at the sky.

That Outer God came here after chasing the fragment of the story I absorbed.

In other words, there is only one way to save the 'Martial Arts World' now.

I threw myself into the entrance to the 'Fear Realm'.

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