전생검신 84권 14화

I slowly walked into the inner part of the crystal cave. As I went deeper, an eerie aura started to spread around me, and suddenly, I felt the world shift into a scarlet hue. It was an obvious sign of otherworldly energy, making me frown.

‘I’m starting to feel something…’

No doubt about it, ahead lay a demon lair. If anyone could sense such palpable malice, they’d either go crazy or be consumed by hallucinations. But for me, this eerie energy was nothing—my current magical power rendered it utterly ineffective.

What really irked me was the source of this evil energy radiating malicious intent. If I were to conceptualize it with human standards, it would only describe horrifying tragedies that even the most wicked among humans would struggle to fathom. The level of malevolence was immense, transcending any dimension!

Surprisingly, I never felt this level of malice in the past. Even when I encountered beings referred to as evil gods, they were such high beings that they didn’t bother exuding malice. I briefly recalled the overwhelming malice I felt when the world plunged into chaotic turmoil.

“…This isn’t divine malice.”

[You’ve got that right, Master.]

Heuk Woong, who had been following me, chimed in.

[This is the evil intent and magical energy of a cult that worships the Evil God. However, the protective barrier we just passed concealed this malice from being detected.]

The protective barrier must’ve been the blinding orange light I felt earlier.

If that’s the case, then Heuk Woong’s ability to sense the concealed magical energy from such a distance was impressive.

I nodded at Heuk Woong’s words.

“Does Emperor Lemuria I know about this?”

[Of course, he knows. The dimension passage that connects to this place seems to be imbued with scientific technology.]

“Hmmm…”

Is it really true that this is a hidden place of Emperor Lemuria I?

I thought to myself as I slowly moved forward, and Heuk Woong came beside me.

[Ahead is a den of small fry. I’ll go ahead and clean it up.]

“Eh? I could do it myself…”

[The wicked ones use sickening techniques, so facing them head-on would be a waste of energy! Save your power. This place feels abnormal, so be ready to retreat if need be.]

“Hmm.”

Could it be that there’s an enemy I can’t handle with my current strength?

‘Are you telling me such a formidable creature is hiding in this trash? No way…’

Even though I thought it hard to believe, I nodded at Heuk Woong’s advice.

“Okay. I leave it to you.”

Guuuuu!!

Moments later, some of my power was transmitted to Heuk Woong, and his body grew to the size of eight arm spans, reaching as far as the cave’s ceiling. The moment he transformed, he zipped forward like a ghost, and soon after, I heard screams coming from ahead.

[Kyieeeeeek!]

[Kraaaaaak!!]

Boom!

Crash!!

I heard a lot of things bursting as I moved forward, eventually seeing the remnants of what Heuk Woong had cleaned up. I couldn’t help but scowl again.

“The whole earth is polluted with magical energy.”

The deeper I ventured, the more it felt like a different world. With an indescribable stench, otherworldly creatures lay sprawled on the ground like corpses, and their eyes rolled along the walls. It looked like numerous small monsters had existed, but they were completely shredded by Heuk Woong’s hidden weapons.

Chwaaaak!

As I was walking, a massive tentacle, ripped apart by the hidden weapons, suddenly came alive and lunged at me. I effortlessly grabbed the thrashing tentacle and scrutinized it.

‘This has clearly been affected by the magical energy, yet it possesses such strong life force that it tries to resurrect itself regardless of the magical corruption.’

The ability to resist the magical energy and revive! I hadn’t encountered such a potent demonic life form in a long time.

Pop!

I tightened my grip and smashed the tentacle to pieces, then continued forward.

‘Good thing I left it to Heuk Woong.’

If I had tried to engage directly, it might’ve turned out to be a rather bothersome situation. I felt immensely reassured having someone like Heuk Woong around.

A little while later, I spotted Heuk Woong floating nearby. He had already cleared out thousands of entities over a distance of five li and was standing at the edge of a cliff, gazing at something. When I approached him, I paused.

“What’s this?!”

Swoosh—

Before Heuk Woong, there was a massive ocean!

And this ocean was enveloped in a sea of clouds, stretching endlessly into a dark abyss!

I exclaimed in disbelief.

“They said this was close to the underworld’s mantle?! Why is there an ocean here?!”

[……]

“Is it subspace?”

Heuk Woong shook his head.

[No. It seems the entire dimension has been fused together.]

“Fused dimensions?”

[And connected directly to the time-space of a very distant Star Realm… but to attach it to this fragile reality? That’s insane power.]

“……”

[That ocean is likely the true space of the otherworld lying billions of light-years away. What’s more troublesome is that it seems to hold a red giant deep within its depths.]

“Eh? What did you just say?”

Heuk Woong pointed at the ocean of clouds.

[Feel it closely. Somewhere far below… there’s a colossal heat trapped deep beneath.]

“Hmm…?”

I focused my divine power to sense the ocean below, and as Heuk Woong said, I detected something incomprehensibly massive and hot resting at the bottom, so enormous that it was astronomical. I realized that it was a red giant and gasped.

“Are you serious? There’s an ocean capable of housing a red giant? Such a dimensional realm can’t exist…”

How do you even describe something of cosmic scale?

Confronted with a world devoid of common sense, my mind went blank.

[The universe is vast, so it’s conceivable. And such things can only be accomplished through divine power.]

Heuk Woong crossed his arms and continued.

[You might still be able to retreat without digging deeper. If we enter that ocean, we will undoubtedly encounter a Divine Being, so the choice is yours.]

“Hmmm…”

I pondered for a moment before turning to Heuk Woong.

“Earlier, you mentioned that Emperor Lemuria I would know about this. Did he play a role in creating this place?”

[…… I don’t think so. Although he appears to be a renowned magical engineer who could transform into a spirit, he’s still too inferior to be involved with this space.]

“What then?”

[He is likely aware and desperately hoping for the master of this realm not to reveal themselves to reality.]

“That sounds plausible.”

Nodding at Heuk Woong’s deduction, he asked,

[What will you do?]

After a brief moment, I made my decision.

“Let’s go in.”

[Are you sure?]

“After all, I promised to protect the Lemuria continent. Plus, the master of this space is likely some threat to that continent, isn’t it? If we’re going to do this, it makes sense to deal with the root of the problem.”

[That makes sense. But…]

Heuk Woong hesitated for a moment, seemingly about to say something, then shook his head.

[No. I will follow your wishes.]

Wuuuuuu

Heuk Woong then enlarged the hidden weapons. The massive hidden weapons, enlarged to hundreds of pieces, flew forward at his gesture, appearing to absorb into an unseen barrier.

Crackling… Smash!!

Moments later, the hidden weapons that seemed absorbed ripped open a new passageway, effortlessly breaking the dimensional seal. Heuk Woong shrank back and flew back to my side.

[Master, please promise to run if the situation goes south.]

“Of course.”

Swoosh….

The moment I entered the dimension door, I could feel a splash as I stepped onto the ocean of clouds. And the moment my feet touched the surface, I realized that the soles of my shoes had melted instantly.

“Whoa!”

Not just my shoes, but the clothes I was wearing had also dissolved in an instant! However, my body remained intact, so I was bewildered until Heuk Woong explained beside me.

[The temperature of this ocean seems to exceed several hundred million degrees. Naturally, anything material would melt. If you hadn’t covered your body with divine power beforehand, you would’ve been obliterated in less than 0.1 seconds.]

“What the heck! How can water be fine at that temperature? Does that make any scientific sense?!”

[This is a space created with divine power; do you expect it to follow conventional physics? This ocean itself isn’t even real water, but rather another cosmic entity.]

“Damn it… I guess I can’t help it.”

With a swift motion, I conjured a costume made solely of divine energy. Normally, I wouldn’t go this far, but this space was so bizarre that I had no other choice. I then began to leap across the endlessly foggy horizon of the ocean, but despite my maximum speed, the scenery remained stagnant.

‘This is insane… The distances must be cosmic too…. There’s no way I can traverse light-years with my movements…’

What on earth was the intention behind merging this space with the bottom of the Earth’s mantle?

Are they out of their mind?

As I pondered on that, a dark cloud began to amass on the horizon.

I finally felt something grand approaching, stopping in my tracks. Soon, dark clouds filled the sky, and I could see starlight twinkling. As unexpected starlight appeared out of nowhere, I looked up at the sky, and the divine voice reached my ears.

[I had to hide the light of the Twelve Palaces of the Yellow Emperor to maintain the space, but thanks to your divine energy interfering, I had no choice but to reveal the appearance of the constellations.]

Thud!

That one voice made my heart race. Because the overwhelming [power] encapsulated in that divine utterance was intensely profound.

‘This guy… is strong!’

It was immediately clear. This being had to be the [Old Ruler]!

I gazed at the newly emerged figure above the dark ocean and spoke.

“Are you the master of this space… huh?”

In the next moment, I stumbled over my words, feeling a sudden déjà vu; it was as if I had seen this figure somewhere before.

After a brief moment, it dawned on me, and I couldn’t help but shout.

“[The One Who Turns the Stars]?!”

[……]

Indeed.

Before me stood a bizarre creature, which seemed to blend human and cephalopod traits! Though its size was comparable to an ordinary human, its overwhelming power transcended all logic!

[The One Who Turns the Stars] let its white eyes glimmer and spoke.

[To discern my true nature at a glance, you indeed possess an unusual divine status.]

“No, wait…”

I stumbled over my words but couldn’t find what to reply.

What on earth is this being doing here!?

I had encountered it during a battle against the Sea God in the past, where Jeon Wook had faced it. Although Jeon Wook hadn’t tapped into his full powers then, he still struggled to defeat [The One Who Turns the Stars], whose magical prowess was remarkably high.

What’s going on…?

Feeling like I was missing something crucial, [The One Who Turns the Stars] flapped its wings slightly and said.

[May I kindly ask you to leave? The presence of an outsider here has not been permitted.]

“……”

[Also, agree that you won’t return. If you do not comply, I will have to show my strength.]

Kugogogog!!

As [The One Who Turns the Stars] uttered this, an intense divine power erupted, summoning numerous magic circles around its body. Each magic circle radiated immense power, making it crystal clear that this was serious.

‘This is insane…!!’

There was no doubt that this was a formidable opponent.

If my previous experience was anything to go by, this being was certainly on par with the Three Sovereigns.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, without help from divine power, I wouldn’t even dare to dream of challenging such a celestial being.

‘And it’s a divine being specialized in magic… If I accidentally get caught in its spells, I could be in deep trouble.’

All things considered, I sensed the danger of confronting [The One Who Turns the Stars] in this place. It seemed wiser to bring along a presence that could potentially stand by my side.

So, biting the bullet, I spoke.

“Alright…”

Just then.

“…?”

[The One Who Turns the Stars] had previously emerged to save the Sea God when it was about to perish.

So why did it want to save the Sea God?

Simply as a matter of an ally?

…No. [The One Who Turns the Stars] clearly looked down on the Sea God, considering him a lower being.

Yet, it still chose to appear and attempt to save him, and the reason was undoubtedly linked to ‘that city’ and its guardian.

I quickly pieced things together and mumbled without realizing it.

“Le Rue.”

The eyes of [The One Who Turns the Stars] glowed even brighter.

With that reaction, I gained a bit of certainty as I said.

“…Le Rue is here, isn’t it?”

Le Rue.

The legendary city of the underworld, said to be where hundreds of [Old Rulers] lie asleep.

It was rumored to be somewhere beneath the sea, and I had seen the scenery of Le Rue countless times through visions.

[……]

[The One Who Turns the Stars] didn’t respond to my words. It merely stared at me intently.

There was no doubt.

I pointed at the dark ocean beneath my feet as if to hammer home my point.

“Le Rue hasn’t yet revealed itself on the surface, has it? Because it has to be summoned gradually from a distant Star Realm over time!!”

[……]

“And you are the guardian keeping watch here until that summoning ritual is complete!”

Upon my outburst, [The One Who Turns the Stars] lifted its hands after a moment of silence.

Then it clapped slowly.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

It was such a human-like gesture—I was fixated on it as [The One Who Turns the Stars] seemed to be smiling for the first time.

[Well done. To uncover the truth is impressive indeed.]

“……”

[However, you should have hurried to escape instead of disclosing that fact. Now I have a reason to not let you go.]

And shortly after, the words from [The One Who Turns the Stars] made my vision go dark.

[My master has now descended.]

Kugogogog

The constellations of the Twelve Palaces of the Yellow Emperor seemed to be devoured by something within the dark sky.

And I found myself locking eyes with a malevolent deity from beyond the void.