948 Episode 55 Giant Tree (14)

A phrase suddenly flashed through his mind.

When he first heard that story, Yoo Joonghyuk thought he had finally gone mad after years of training.

To him now, it wasn't particularly unusual.

He had already experienced 41 regressions, repeatedly losing his memory as he repeated his life. He had been captured and tortured by constellations, and even entered the belly of a deity from another world.

And that wasn't all. He was now being tortured by a stabbing monster from another world, so it wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly lost his mind and became delusional.

"Concentrate. Your mind is wandering."

Yoo Joonghyuk steeled himself once more. Just as he had said, a new realm was now before him. The realm he had longed for, the realm where he could mercilessly tear apart those constellatio s.

But with each successive sentence, his concentration continued to drift.

"Thoughts keep coming to me."

Jaehwan frowned, dumbfounded by Yoo Joonghyuk's words.

"Thoughts? Are you trying to joke?"

"I'm not kidding."

It had been hundreds of years of training. Training utilizing the time density of a highly compressed time fault. The end of that training was just around the corner. And yet, amidst all this, you're talking about distracting thoughts?

"You pathetic bastard."

Jaehwan, staring blankly into the empty air, suddenly reached out and grabbed the sentence floating through space and time.

Stories writhed painfully in Jaehwan's strong grip.

"This guy is the culprit. I'll get rid of it."

Faced by Jaehwan's impatience, Yoo Joonghyuk hurriedly stepped in to stop him.

"Wait. Such a story can't suddenly appear. We need to find out where it came from."

Jaehwan's lips twitched in annoyance, but his eyes quickly glowed golden. His [suspicion] was discerning the origin of the story.

"It came through an item you possessed."

"Item?"

"Midday Tryst. Is there such an item?"

Startled, Yoo Joonghyuk immediately checked the item. Then, the item activation message actually appeared before his eyes.

He wondered where the story had come from, but it seemed to have seeped into this channel.

"Is that him?"

Frowning, Yoo Joonghyuk considered it for a moment before calling out to someone.

"■■■."

The message was immediately filtered.

Yoo Joonghyuk tried to correct the name.

"Kim Dokja."

The story, as if responding to the name, grew even stronger.

"…Breaking the Sky Sword Saint looked up at the sky one last time.」

Yoo Joonghyuk's eyebrows twitched. It was a story about his master, a story he knew well.

A story he'd wanted to change countless times—but never could.

A story that taught him despair and vengeance, a story that shaped him into who he was.

The fact that he was hearing this sentence now, of all times…

"Someone seems to be looking for you."

Yoo Joonghyuk's mind was deeply disturbed. He was on the verge of the final stage of his training, and he couldn't just leave.

Nevertheless, the words written in the story were earnest.

Jaehwan looked down at Yoo Joonghyuk for a moment, then turned to the direction the story had come from. The power of [doubt] radiating from his eyes was staring down the path it had flowed from.

"I can send you away for a moment with my power."

Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been silent, raised his head. Perhaps reading the emotion in his eyes, Jaehwan spoke again.

"But if you leave now, you'll never reach beyond the meadow. But if you dare, I'll let you go."

Beyond the meadow, Yoo Joonghyuk now knew for sure that such a realm existed. The man before him was precisely that realm.

Beyond the limits, a monster capable of confronting even those fearsome mythical constellations, Jaehwan was such a being.

"I."

Yoo Joonghyuk knew this was a fate that would never happen again. If he left here, his contract with Jaehwan would end.

Nevertheless, Yoo Joonghyuk thought. If this story meant the situation he was thinking of—

"It seems you're already made up your mind."

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded.

Looking at Yoo Joonghyuk, Jaehwan muttered softly, perhaps thinking about something.

"Sometimes, it's important not to forget your purpose of becoming stronger."

As Jaehwan spoke, his pupils clouded for a moment. Perhaps he was reminiscing about something old.

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't know what Jaehwan had lost to become this strong. However, the strength of a being is largely determined by the magnitude of the loss it has endured. Considering the fact that it was proportional, he cautiously guessed that Jaehwan must also be harboring an immense amount of sadness.

Jaehwan asked again.

"Are you going now?"

"Can you send me off?"

Jaehwan nodded.

"But there's a condition."

"Condition?"

"You won't use the 'spear' in this fight. "Because you're not ready to use it yet."

Yoo Joonghyuk pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"And what else?"

"I can't send your incarnation body there myself."

"What do you mean?"

"If I use my power to throw you there, your body won't be able to withstand the impact."

"Then how are you going to send me there?"

Jaehwan's lips twisted into an inexplicable smile.

"It's not necessary for the 'incarnation body' to go there yourself."

Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly stood up, overcome by a sudden sense of foreboding.

"Wait, you—"

"Go."

Jaehwan's palm touched Yoo Joonghyuk's back. And in the next moment, Yoo Joonghyuk felt as if his soul was being shaken.

"Go, prove to this world that you've endured here."

Yoo Joonghyuk's soul, ejected from his body, traversed the <Star Stream> like a meteor. Across the vast starlight, Yoo Joonghyuk headed to the world of the scenarios.

Under normal circumstances, entering the scenarios with a pure soul would have been impossible.

But this time, the circumstances were special.

Under the protection of [Fate] written by someone, the power of 'Fear', which grants strength to the strong justice, manifested.

With a dazzling beam of light, Yoo Joonghyuk felt skin forming over his soul. His incarnation body, overlaid with someone’s memories, was regenerating on the battlefield of the past.

The battlefield that had taken his master. A return war caused by the calamities that had returned to the 'First Murim' out of hatred for the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint.

The constellations in the sky roared at Yoo Joonghyuk’s appearance.

A probability aftershock raged.

His coat fluttered among the falling constellations.

Yoo Joonghyuk descended to the center of the battlefield, his sword piercing with a rippling, pulsating energy.

A temporary body gained through the effects of 'fear'.

The air of the scenarios filled his lungs for the first time in a while.

Yoo Joonghyuk quickly absorbed the information from the battlefield.

The sword moved, and the heads of the constellations fell like toys.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s sword was neither the 'Jincheon Sword' nor the 'Heukcheon Demon Sword'. It was simply a broken sword floating in the skies of the battlefield.

That single broken sword. Holding it, Yoo Joonghyuk ran relentlessly across the battlefield.

Yoo Joonghyuk, covered in pitch-black yet divine energy, seemed to descend upon a mountain of scholarly writings. Dozens of constellations were slaughtered in an instant, and eventually, the higher-ranking constellations stepped forward.

Vidar uttered an unpleasant mantra and released his energy. His wolf skin emitted a mysterious light and began to pour out stories.

The story of the Heavenly Demon, the leader of the Demon Sect.

The essence of that story was being recreated through Vidar's incarnation body.

The story of the Heavenly Demon, who returned as a disaster, single-mindedly seeking revenge against Breaking the Sky Sword Saint.

Yoo Joonghyuk immediately recognized the story.

"The power of the Heavenly Demon. Were you using this as a stage transformation?"

The Heavenly Demon was the key protagonist of the 'Return War'.

As the story of the Heavenly Demon blossomed in earnest, wounds large and small began to appear on Yoo Joonghyuk's new body.

Vidar, smiling with satisfaction, poured his power into the Heavenly Demon's fist.

As if this were the end, Vidar's fist struck Yoo Joonghyuk.

As if he had hit a solid wall, Yoo Joonghyuk's left hand caught his fist.

A look of bewilderment crossed Vidar's expression. It was a blow that no ordinary incarnation could have withstood. Even without the effects of 'stage transformation', he was already a constellation approaching mythical status. How could a mere incarnation have withstood his blow—

"I."

Starlight blazed in the eyes of the disciple, who resembled his master.

"How many times do you think I've killed the Heavenly Demon?"

Vidar's eyes widened, realizing belatedly that something was wrong.

The sword light surged before his eyes.

This instant, Vidar couldn't come to his senses.

With a helpless scream, Vidar's entire body was reduced to tatters.

Yoo Joonghyuk had already prevented the 'Precious War' and killed the Heavenly Demon several times. That age-old story was already influencing the 'stage'.

Vidar, who had just finished drawing a handful of story, hurriedly prepared to deviate from the scenario. But Yoo Joonghyuk's sword was a little faster. The moment the halved blade finally sliced ​​through Vidar's neck,

With a harsh crack, Halla's Heavenly Demon Sword struck Yoo Joonghyuk's sword.

Halla's eyes were deep.

She stared at Yoo Joonghyuk with a stern gaze and added,

Halla, who had been speaking up to that point, fell silent. More precisely, she could no longer continue.

"Is there anything left to say?"

Yoo Joonghyuk's sword, moving in a strange trajectory, sliced ​​through Halla's lower body. Apollo stepped in to take Halla's place, who was paralyzed by shock.

With Apollo's shout, the five hundred generals charged at Yoo Joonghyuk simultaneously. Yoo Joonghyuk dodged their fire and stood beside Breaking the Sky Sword Saint.

"Master."

The Master he had finally encountered after a long time was not the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint he remembered. Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, already half-transparent, opened her lips as if trying to convey something to him. It seemed like a call to run, and another to survive.

Yoo Joonghyuk lifted Breaking the Sky Sword Saint onto his back and laid her down under a nearby tree.

It was a shade where starlight couldn't reach.

"Stay here."

The shadows of the leaves swayed darkly over Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's face. Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at his master for a moment, then gazed into the vast sky.

The constellations, blazing with radiance, raced toward him. The sky overflowed with constellations possessing immense power, unmatched by anyone in the Star Stream.

Nevertheless, Yoo Joonghyuk remained calm. It wasn't simply because he had grown stronger through his training.

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, watching her disciple's back, moved her lips with difficulty.

It was the disciple's back she had seen countless times. The regressor, running forward with his eyes fixed on the ground. The disciple turned around.

Only at that moment did Breaking the Sky Sword Saint realize something.

The disciple's eyes were filled with starlight. A star, invisible to her vision, flickered within his.

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint gazed at the sky, as if gazing into her disciple's eyes. Then, her disciple looked up at the same sky.

Perhaps it was because the starlight was so thick, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's eyes couldn't see the star her disciple was looking at.

In the fading light, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint asked,

Yoo Joonghyuk swung his sword in silence. Cracks spread across the sky, and stars began to fall.

Looking at the shattered night sky, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint pictured a tree stretching its branches toward the stars.

A tree that bears no fruit or leaves. A tree that grows solely to destroy this world.

In the shade cast by the tree, the God of Murim finally fell into a deep sleep.

A series of violent tremors echoed around the World Tree.

The constellation of Tamra—the 'Ruler of the South Sea Dragon Palace'—who had been observing the World Tree's movements from the skies of the 'New Murim' spoke in an anxious voice.

One of the Five Hundred Generals prostrated himself in shame and said,

That couldn't be possible. As far as he knew, Halla, Apollo, and Vidar had acquired fragments of the 'Oldest Dream' and were near-mythical constellations.

But what could be happening inside that could cause all three to lose contact simultaneously? There were only two possibilities to consider.

One, that the 'World Tree' was a 'fear' far more powerful than they had imagined.

Second, that within that 'World Tree' lay a being more powerful than even the constellations approaching mythical level.

In either case, it was not a pleasant situation for them.

The Ruler of the South Sea Dragon Palace, relying solely on Halla's words, had brought Tamra's main force here without the consent of the mythical constellation 'Seolmundae Halmang'.

If the mythical constellations were to catch wind of this—

A dizzying thunder rumbled from afar.

The Five Hundred Generals, their faces paling, added,

Zeus's name sent a violent shiver through the Dragon King's eyes.

It was the worst possible situation.

<Tamra> had already deployed the 'Five Hundred Generals', including Halla, risking a critical power vacuum in a higher-level scenario. If any sabotage from other myth-level constellations were to occur, <Tamra> would face annihilation.

Looking around, the other myth-level constellations seemed to be thinking similarly.

The 'World Tree Cultivation Plan' of the 'New Murim District' was a scenario carried out without the consent of the myth-level constellations.

If the myth-level constellations were held accountable for this incident, not only Tamra, but all the myth-level constellations involved in this story would bear the responsibility.

The constellations that entered the World Tree had lost contact, the World Tree was out of control, and the arrival of a myth-level constellation was uncertain.

After a brief moment of deliberation, the South Sea Dragon King finally made a decision.