The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Side Story 43

The bottom of the Abyss.

After arriving at the midpoint, Seong Jihan first looked to the south.

The place where Yoon Seah and the Witch of the Void were.

Although the distance was enormous,

With his stats cleared and even having acquired the White Light, Seong Jihan could see her without difficulty.

And there,

"......"

Just as he had seen on the screen earlier, Yoon Seah was crouching and staring only at the ground.

Her eyes unfocused, she seemed almost soulless.

Seong Jihan quietly looked at her, then turned to head north, but—

[Wait...!]

Sssss...

A void surged behind Seong Jihan,

And the voice of the Witch of the Void was heard.

"Jihan, wait... just a moment!"

Unlike before, the Witch of the Void called him 'Jihan' by his name.

She urgently continued.

[Before you go to the Martial God, please... please listen to me!]

"What do you want to say?"

[...I, too, now know. About the truth of this world.]

Was that why she called him by his name?

Seong Jihan turned around and looked toward the Void.

Then,

Ssssss...!

A violet statue appeared there.

Except for her eyes and nose, the Witch of the Void was covered densely with the patterns of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams.

As soon as she approached, she knelt before Seong Jihan.

[Please. I'm begging you. You can kill everyone else. Yes, you can kill me as much as you want. Just please... don't kill Seah!]

She begged him to spare Yoon Seah's life; everything else didn't matter.

Hearing this, Seong Jihan asked her back.

"How did you find out the truth of this world?"

[That is... through the BattleNet system...]

A system message in which Mitra intervened.

So he told Seong Jiah the truth and incited her to plead for Yoon Seah's life.

'As expected, he wants me to accept the power of light again.'

If he accepted the Transcendent's power again, Mitra's code would be imprinted as well.

In the long run, it seemed his goal was to make Seong Jihan fully revive him.

And for Seong Jihan to regain the Transcendent, he had to crave the 'power of creation.'

So he used Seong Jiah to beg Seong Jihan to save Yoon Seah.

"Why do you think I would kill Seah?"

[Because if you go north... if you go to the Martial God, that's what will happen.]

"No. I just have something to confirm with him. Don't worry too much and take care of Seah."

[But... but...]

"Don't trust the system too much."

Although Seong Jihan said this,

The Witch of the Void was filled with distrust.

'Well, it's not easy to question the system.'

Seong Jihan looked at the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams pattern engraved on the Witch of the Void.

On the statue, countless overlapping patterns of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams.

It was the most elaborate and complex structure among the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams he had seen so far.

As he quietly looked at it,

Ziiiing...

A pure white light rippled over the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams, and letters appeared.

[Entry Condition: Accompaniment with the Martial God Dongbang Sak]

'Ah... is this what Seah saw?'

Previously, Yoon Seah had told him that he needed to accompany Lee Hayeon or Lim Gayeong.

It seemed the words she saw appeared like this.

Anyway, to enter, he had to accompany Dongbang Sak...

'This is the most powerful Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams I've seen so far, but the entry condition is Dongbang Sak.'

Seong Jihan gazed at the entry condition phrase absentmindedly,

Then spoke to the Witch of the Void, who was staring intently at him.

"If you're that suspicious, shall we go together?"

[Together...?]

"Yes. To the north."

The Witch of the Void thought for a moment, then said,

[...All right.]

She readily accepted Seong Jihan's proposal.

Rather than trembling in fear about what might happen in the south,

She seemed to think it was better to see with her own eyes.

[Then... let's go right away.]

"Okay."

As Seong Jihan took a step,

Swoosh...!

The distance compressed in an instant, and before they knew it, they reached the northern end.

And there,

Floating in the air in a lotus position was Dongbang Sak.

"You've come."

He greeted Seong Jihan with a calm face.

The Martial God Dongbang Sak.

He was effectively the final boss of this mission world.

'He looks just the same.'

He was exactly the same as the Dongbang Sak Seong Jihan had known before.

"So... have you made your choice?"

"Choice, you say..."

"Will you slay your kin for reality and master Infinite? Or will you be swayed by familial affection and accept the Transcendent again?"

Swoosh.

Dongbang Sak stroked his beard, looking back and forth between Seong Jihan and the Witch of the Void.

"Seeing that you've come this far, I thought you chose Infinite... but bringing that statue along, I still don't know your heart."

"...Before I make my choice, I have something I'm curious about."

"What is it?"

"It's about the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams."

Swoosh.

When Seong Jihan pointed at the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams engraved on the Witch of the Void,

Dongbang Sak stopped stroking his beard.

"I understand why this world was created. But there was one question I had."

"Speak."

"The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams... dismantling it and regaining emotions is, in fact, unnecessary for the purpose of this world. Through it, rather than becoming emotionless, emotions were revived. Is such a device necessary in a world meant to master Infinite?"

The fundamental reason this world was created was because of Jiang Shang's Infinite.

So, to stop it, there were two choices,

To master Infinite, or to absorb the Transcendent again.

So this stage was created to force Seong Jihan to choose between the two.

But the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams was a device that clearly went against the choices.

"......"

At Seong Jihan's question, Dongbang Sak remained silent for a moment.

Then,

Swoosh.

He pointed at the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams with his finger.

"Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. Would you like to go in together?"

[Wait...? Go where...?]

The Witch of the Void was startled by his words,

"Sure."

When Seong Jihan answered,

Swooosh...!

The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams engraved on the Witch of the Void began to move all at once.

"Let's go."

And as soon as Dongbang Sak finished his words,

Their bodies were sucked into the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams.

What kind of world would emerge this time?

As Seong Jihan entered the formation with such thoughts, @@novelbin@@

'Hmm...?'

Inside the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams engraved on the Witch of the Void was

The same scenery as before,

The underground of the Abyss.

However,

"This is..."

Unlike the earlier underground, which was mostly empty,

Here, fragments of human bodies were scattered all around.

Shredded pieces of human bodies.

In some places, only the eyes and eye sockets remained.

In others, only arms and legs remained.

Fragments of flesh were littered throughout the underground of the Abyss.

And as Seong Jihan looked at this, he quickly realized what it was.

"These are the Taiji's Lost Soul."

The Taiji's Lost Soul.

Fragments of Seong Jihan who had died countless times to Dongbang Sak.

All the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams formations Seong Jihan had examined so far were connected to the Taiji's Lost Soul.

But their main bodies were in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams engraved on Seong Jiah?

"That's right. The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams you saw are the worlds they dreamed of. Just like you."

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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"Like me... you say?"

"Yes."

Swoosh.

With that, Dongbang Sak looked calmly at Seong Jihan.

"Saving Yoon Seah from the first world. Wasn't that your true wish?"

"......That is."

"Follow your true heart, honestly."

Follow your true heart.

It was what Dongbang Sak in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams had repeatedly said.

But there, he had said it while urging him to pursue Infinite.

But the 'Martial God Dongbang Sak' he met in person

Was asking him to speak his true heart, looking at him.

"...I can't deny it. Yes, that's right."

And now that Seong Jihan had come this far,

He could no longer ignore the thoughts he truly held.

"I thought countless times even in the Ark. If I had the power of the Transcendent, the power of creation, could I save that child..."

He had saved Yoon Seah after regression,

But what he truly wanted to revive deep in his heart was Yoon Seah, who had sacrificed herself in the first round.

Like 'Seong Jihan' who had become Taiji's Lost Soul.

The two Yoon Seahs were the same but different people.

Whenever he had a moment to rest in the Ark,

"I thought countless times, 'If I have this power, could I save her...'"

"I understand."

"...But if I continued to hold such an obsession, it was obvious we would lose the final battle in the Ark. When I encountered the Transcendent, I wouldn't have been able to suppress the desire to create."

If he created, he would eventually succumb to the Transcendent.

Seong Jihan deeply understood this.

So he cut away all his emotions and senses to the extreme.

So at the last moment,

When Mitra revived the world of the first round and Jiang Shang's world, forcing him to choose,

"...I could judge calmly."

—At that time, among the worlds Mitra had created, he decided to re-seal their world.

Seong Jihan left Jiang Shang's world alone,

But completely sealed the world of the first round.

What he truly wanted with the power of creation,

He judged coldly and turned away from.

But hearing this, Dongbang Sak smiled faintly.

"No. That's not so."

"...Pardon?"

"If you truly judged calmly, what was the need to seal it? You could have just deleted it."

"Ah..."

"You were already wavering then."

Ah.

So that was how it was.

The reason he chose 'sealing' instead of 'deleting'

Was because, even as he tried to cut away his emotions, he still had lingering attachments.

When Seong Jihan couldn't deny Dongbang Sak's words,

"They are the same."

Swoosh...

Dongbang Sak looked at the Taiji's Lost Soul.

"They aided you in every way. At the final moment, they bore the emotions you had cut away. But when they recognized and touched the power of creation, their own regrets and wishes resurfaced."

"That is... the worlds I saw in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams?"

"Yes. They, too, wanted to return to before they died by my hand and live their lives with their families. It's a natural desire for humans, isn't it?"

Fragments who had married Sophia or Lee Hayeon.

Or fragments who had affairs with many women.

Countless lives of Seong Jihan were compressed within the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams.

They, too,

When they touched the power of creation, instinctively wanted to return to that time.

"In the end, the sealed world of the first round, the Taiji's Lost Soul, and fragments of the Transcendent—all mixed together in the Tower of the Martial God—that's this world."

Because they stuffed everything into the Tower of the Martial God, a hybrid like this was born.

As Seong Jihan gave a bitter smile,

Dongbang Sak pointed at himself with his finger.

"And, you know, you also feel sorry towards me."

"Towards you, Dongbang Sak?"

"Yes. In your world, didn't I give my body over to Jiang Shang? It seems that weighed on your mind. When you touched the Transcendent, you revived me."

"If that's so..."

"I was also in the Earth you sealed."

At those words, Seong Jihan's eyes widened.

No wonder he seemed to know everything.

So the Martial God Dongbang Sak here was the one who had always been with him?

Seeing Seong Jihan's surprised expression, Dongbang Sak grinned.

"By the way, do you know why I became the Martial God here?"

"Please tell me."

"Because that's how you thought of me."

"Me... you say?"

"Yes."

Swoosh.

As Dongbang Sak said that and looked around,

Squirm. Squirm...

Seong Jihan's fragments moved pitiably,

Trying to avoid his gaze.

The Taiji's Lost Soul seemed utterly terrified of Dongbang Sak.

Seeing a part of himself showing such behavior was not a pleasant sight, regardless of how glad he was to see Dongbang Sak.

"You received the title of Martial God, but you don't think of yourself as the Martial God."

"......"

"To Seong Jihan, Dongbang Sak is an insurmountable wall."

Well, of course.

Dongbang Sak.

His talent was classified as a bug even in the Ark.

How could he possibly surpass that?

Even though he had the title of Martial God,

Seong Jihan always thought the true Martial God was Dongbang Sak.

But,

"Now, that can't continue."

"What... do you mean?"

"You said you had two choices."

At those words, Seong Jihan nodded.

The dilemma he faced.

Should he slay Yoon Seah and master Infinite?

Or accept the Transcendent and seal Infinite with the power of light?

Those were the only two choices given to him.

"But in fact, there's one more."

"There's another way... you say?"

"Yes. It's simple. You just have to defeat me."

Tap. Tap.

Dongbang Sak pointed at his own body with his finger.

"Surpass the ultimate martial art with a power that exceeds it."

"......"

"And suppress the Transcendent with your own martial prowess."

The third solution proposed by Dongbang Sak.

That was—

"This is the path the Martial God must take..."

A straightforward answer to break everything with his own power.

"Isn't that so?"

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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