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I swung the sword.

I always swung the sword.

But I didn’t know what I was swinging it for.

I just swung it endlessly, grasping at something invisible.

The world was silent, not even the sound of the wind could be heard. Everything was still, as if time had stopped and tightened around my neck.

Every moment felt like death. No, perhaps I was already dead.

Yet still, I held onto the sword. For some reason, I moved to let the existing become altered, aiming for its end.

I took a step forward.

I swung the sword down.

And I began to crawl toward the sky.

Even as the world remained silent, I continued to move. I forgot my goal, yet I did not stop.

That alone was everything for me. In moments that felt like the end of life, not releasing the sword for myself.

Blood flowed from the moving sword. It lost its form and thrashed about.

But still, I did not stop. I climbed toward the invisible.

I didn’t care if I wandered in the nine heavens. I didn’t care if I lost everything in the world.

I was the sword.

And the sword was me.

In the halted world, the sword swung endlessly and finally reached its end. Before I knew it, the sword that touched the wall could no longer advance and came to a stop.

And I…

Heard a sound.

I turned my head. I moved my steps toward the sound.

Gradually deepening colors. In the halted world, I discovered the black thread tied to my arm.

Someone led my hand. Someone pushed my back.

And…

“Third Brother.”

I saw him.

“You came too early.”

“…….”

I couldn’t remember his face.

But in that voice, in that tone, I unconsciously uttered his name.

“…Ja Myung?”

“Go. The one calling won’t forget you?”

The voice still echoed. The shape nudging my back and leading me forward slowly came into view.

A small child and a tall woman.

A girl with white hair…

And a woman with black hair.

“Third Brother. Let’s postpone sharing drinks for later.”

“…Ja Myung.”

“Nice to meet you.”

My friend.

Seongja Myung smiled.

“We’ll see you later, friend.”

In an instant, my body was pushed forcefully down. I closed my eyes without flailing.

The voices became clearer. I pulled at the black thread bound to my hand.

…Right.

I need to go higher.

Higher than this stagnation…

To touch the sky.

. . .

I opened my eyes.

I heard crying.

But I couldn’t tell why it was audible.

Who am I? I couldn’t remember.

The crying I heard before me also made no sense. Whose voice is it, and why are they crying?

I just want to swing the sword.

Just like always.

“…….”

My head hurt. The more it did, the slowly appearing world began to become visible beyond my glazed eyes.

I also heard whispers. Something endlessly whispered towards me, different from the crying sound.

It sounded like a small whimper. As if it were shaking its head, not wanting to part.

Something preventing me from closing my eyes again. And in between…

Hid the growling akin to a beast.

“……”

It groaned as if beckoning me to return. I quietly listened.

What are we, and what must we return for?

I asked it quietly. It answered me.

Don’t you still have unfulfilled dreams?

“……”

Dreams?

What is that?

I asked earnestly. Then the faint cry of the beast began to fade.

It exerted its strength and no longer howled. But I chewed on that last question.

Dream… huh.

I felt like I had been dreaming of something. But what was it?

I forgot everything. Isn’t life and death ultimately something like that?

No matter what achievements one accomplishes, they’ll eventually be forgotten. Even if you have pleasant times, eventually, everyone will fade away.

Time is like that. Why must we turn back for such meaningless things?

…But.

I focused on the endlessly ringing crying sound.

Someone is crying. I realized that the voice resembled someone yet was not quite the same.

Who? Whose voice did I think it resembled?

An unfulfilled dream…

What is that?

“…….”

At that moment.

A small chirp was heard.

Reality deepened and the divine faded. In between, a voice I somehow found familiar echoed for the first time.

And that voice…

Connected to the sword that had never been drawn once since it was acquired.

Born while devouring the heavens, I had refused to draw it, merely holding onto it all this time.

In that moment, I realized.

Who I am…

And what I need to do.

“…Gumang…”

I called that name. I inhaled. In an instant, the deepened colors of the world returned entirely.

I moved my hand. Focusing slowly on the movements of my fingers, for the first time in a long while, I moved my body with my will.

“…Is it… you?”

The voice answered. In a frail voice.

It was.

I quietly sighed. The quietly risen body creaked as it moved.

The act of moving felt unfamiliar. But it wasn’t too difficult.

What puzzled me was in front of me.

“Daddy… Daddy aaah…”

A small thing was crying.

A girl approximately the same age as Sua.

I quietly looked down at it.

Unaware that I had awakened, in the sobs of that child, I heard the whimpers of my left-behind daughter.

“…Ah.”

The voice I actually let out reached reality. In an instant, the child who had been bent down jolted back.

Looking up at me. With it, the waves of memories slowly returned.

In it, I realized the true fact that I had crossed back over the ‘line of life and death.’

“…Oh, Brother…?”

Why does the child in front of me call me brother?

But I reached out. I wiped the child’s tears.

I didn’t know the context, but I didn’t want to see her crying.

“……”

I completely raised my body. Dust and the vines clinging to my body fell away.

As sensations slowly returned, I felt my changed body.

The four swords had reduced to one.

But that didn’t mean it disappeared somewhere.

I sensed the spiritual energies swirling around me. My senses had become more acute than before. As someone who had truly tasted death and lived again, I realized I had opened my eyes to sights I had never seen before.

Fortuitous… or rather, inevitable.

What brought that to me was the faint cries of the beast.

I felt the energy of the heavens writhing within me. This child led me, and the souls of those who had lost their forms named ‘Ear Sword’ kept me anchored to this realm.

“…Bai Ya. Black Pearl.”

Yin and Yang.

Even having lost their bodies, the spirits that had kept protecting me were sucked into the remaining sword at my brief call.

I slowly drew the sword. The blade, glinting like blood, contained my very life.

The sword that had returned when everyone forgot.

Gumang (九忘).

Gathering the shards of the shattered Blood Sword and Ear Sword…

The sword of Gumang (九忘), forged by itself, shone in the sunlight.

I realized that the blade was made from all my blood and sweat sent forth during its existence. The time I spent polishing it all fused between its shards.

The Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword itself…

Now, combining the Blood Sword, Bai Ya, and Black Pearl… it was truly the Ear Sword forged into one.

“…Hoo.”

I lifted my gaze forward. Not only could I see the natural spirits, but I felt as if I could manipulate more than whatever dream I wished to conjure with my fingertips.

How much time had passed? I didn’t know. But one thing was certain.

I must move.

Toward the crying child.

First… I need to begin with that.

“Do you… need help?”

“…….”

The child slowly nodded. I carefully lifted her.

Where would Sua be by now? Had she safely arrived at the Demon Cult?

What’s even happening in this current world…?

…First.

Let’s resolve what’s in front of me.

“Let’s go.”

If it weren’t for this child, I would have likely remained in a deeper slumber.

“To your parents.”

. . .

The great war between the Cheonryong Association and the Sado Clan.

After that event, it is said two years have passed.

It felt just like I briefly closed my eyes, yet two years had gone by. That’s not all. It has reached my ears that currently the Demon Cult and Sado Clan, along with the Martial Alliance, are in constant conflict due to territorial disputes.

“Oh, Brother… are you… a transcendent being?”

“Well…”

I am not a transcendent being.

But I feel like I’m nearing that level…

I skipped a step. To put it accurately, death.

In that space, the sword I swung elevated my level further.

I checked one and made efforts to see its end.

In the meantime, I could say that I was indeed dead.

The Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword, the closer I got to death, the stronger it became. And in that state, I had been continuously swinging the sword without skipping a single day for the whole two years.

I had already surpassed countless barriers. And thus, I had distanced myself greatly from my former level.

Transcendence.

I must have at least entered the realm that Jin Baek-cheon called that.

If I refine what I learned…

It could become something beyond that.

I felt like there was so much more to see than meets the eye. Simultaneously, it was felt within my body.

The boundary between life and death. The vividness of blood that lies between.

I had completely merged with the Nine Heavens. The Nine Heavens was me, and I was the Nine Heavens.

The sensation of carrying countless deeds on a human body.

This must be…

Similar to how Sua views the world.

It’s not just a matter of merely increasing my level. I realized that the sensitive sensations felt at my fingertips brought numerous pieces of information.

The Heart Eye (心眼).

Once it awakened, it felt as though I could easily follow any movement. Moreover, the body, which had crumbled and was newly restored, felt like it had been reborn into the optimal form for learning martial arts.

A third life…

Couldn’t I express it that way?

It feels odd for me to say it… But it’s tenacious. Really.

But good. I actually prefer it this way.

Isn’t this life made from the things I built myself?

Tearing through the sky, I came down forcefully, clutching tightly…

The talent built through effort.

I looked back on the life I had lived. And in that, I still caught the scent of a dream that refused to extinguish.

The Nine Heavens.

Bai Ya.

Black Pearl.

Gumang.

And more than anything…

The Blood Sword I had built up myself led me to this point.

So should I not show results fitting of that?

“I’m a transcendent being.”

“…….”

“I’m not a transcendent being.”

“Th-that’s right…?”

“I plan to catch someone who is similar.”

I walked, holding Yuk Hae-won, toward the direction she pointed.

Yuk Nam-pyeong and Yuk Hae-won.

They say those two had taken care of me. Then repaying that kindness should also be my way.

In the village that had gradually come closer, people overflowed. But that didn’t mean the atmosphere was pleasant.

Everyone’s expressions were gloomy as they passed by. Some walked with their heads completely down, making their faces unseeable.

An unusual atmosphere. I gently set Yuk Hae-won down. I grabbed one of the passing people and asked.

“Is there someone named Yuk Nam-pyeong nearby?”

He flinched.

“Are you a friend of Nam-pyeong…? T-this isn’t the time to talk about that! Quick, run away! Hurry!”

The man pushed me hard.

“Nam-pyeong was already caught! He’s been taken!”

“…What was he caught for?”

“Forced conscription! One of the Sado Clan’s military officers is randomly taking combat-ready youths! Nam-pyeong has been forcibly conscripted and is heading for the Sado Clan! The military officer is still roaming here, so hurry and get out of here! You can’t leave that child alone…!”

“There!”

The old man flinched. He was shoved to the ground by a man.

The man in front of me looked up at me. Behind him, several warriors stood.

They all wore the same attire. But the one in front of me had on an outfit marked with the character “Gap” (甲).

A warrior from the Sado Clan…?

“You have a big build and sharp eyes. Join the Sado Clan.”

“Ah, oh! Elder! I’m the man looking after Nam-pyeong’s only daughter! If he leaves and that person leaves too, what will happen to Nam-pyeong’s daughter!”

The old man clung to his pant legs. The muscle-bound warrior, appearing irritated, looked at Yuk Hae-won beside me.

His gaze glistened with desire.

“I’ll take care of the child. I’ll look after her well.”

How blatant. I sighed.

Still, out of courtesy, I asked once, respectfully.

“Where is Yuk Nam-pyeong?”

“Just hand over the child! I don’t have to care about Yuk Nam-pyeong! Didn’t I say I’d raise her well!”

With those words, I determined his treatment. I broke the hand reaching out towards Yuk Hae-won.

—Crack.

“…Huh?”

The dangling arms shattered to pieces, precariously swaying. Blinking, he alternated his gaze between me and his own arms.

A late scream erupted. The warriors, startled, placed their hands on their swords.

So I said.

“Only those who know the location of Yuk Nam-pyeong can speak.”

I grabbed the face of the howling warrior with my hand.

As an example.

“Next time, it won’t just end with breaking.”

 

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