The End of the World
**Whoosh!**
“Guh!”
An overwhelming pressure slammed down on the **Invisible Sword**, crushing it.
Countless streaks of color and light sliced past us.
I gritted my teeth and held on, pouring my Pure Force deeper into the **Invisible Sword** to keep it alive.
How long had I been fighting like that—on the verge of death?
**Flash!**
**Whoosh!**
The crushing force vanished. Only then did I realize I was right above the **Song Jin** remnant.
The air inside the **Bongmyeong Castle** was completely different.
**Pishit...**
The **Song Jin** remnant beneath my feet flickered out.
It looked like this one was a rechargeable model, drawing on nearby spiritual veins.
‘Where are we?’
I scanned the surroundings.
**Twirl.**
“Ah! Sorry, miss.”
I released Buk Hyang-hwa, who had been wriggling in my arms.
“Puhaha! How did you get out so well?”
Whether the heat in her face came from being cramped in my chest for so long or from the pressure of spatial transmission, it was flushed crimson.
“By the way, what was that thing you showed me earlier? It was like some kind of transparent barrier covering us...”
“Um, that’s...”
I tried to deflect, but noticed her face was still red.
“By the way, miss, your face is still blushing. Are you feeling unwell? I’m a doctor, after all—I can check your pulse.”
“Ah, no! Answer me first! Tell me what that was!”
For some reason, Buk Hyang-hwa was unusually agitated with me, shouting.
‘Yeah, a lot of sudden things happened. Her mind must be exhausted.’
I set the **Invisible Sword** aside and explained it instead, then changed the subject.
“Haha. Anyway, first things first—we need to figure out where we are.”
The area was inside a cave.
The cave’s structure showed branching passages in every direction, like a labyrinth.
“No, stop dancing around! What was that thing? You said it was spewing Core Formation-level pressure!”
“Miss, let’s get out of this cave first and talk.”
Buk Hyang-hwa finally calmed a little and nodded.
I led her through the cave, searching for an exit.
But because it was a twisting maze, every path looped back to the original **Song Jin** remnant spot.
“Hmm. This cave... feels like a formation.”
“Indeed. But for a formation, it’s strangely... not artificial?”
I stared at the maze and said.
“Probably a naturally-formed one—the hardest to break.”
Sometimes trees, cave shapes, or terrain itself created formations.
Human-made ones had rules and logic, so they could be broken if you understood them.
But naturally formed ones were governed by nature, not human logic, making them brutally difficult to break.
“I’ve learned the Earth-attribute Martial Art. I can just dig through the ground with Earth Piercing Technique?”
“I’ve learned it too. Let’s dig together.”
Buk Hyang-hwa and I made a pact and struck the cave wall with **Earth Piercing Technique** at the same time.
**Boom!**
But...
**Thud, thud...**
“W-wait...”
The **Earth Piercing Technique** didn’t work. Buk Hyang-hwa’s expression darkened as she sensed something.
“This rock... it’s a **Devouring Stone** that absorbs spiritual energy! Once it absorbs and shatters it, it scatters the energy, so normal spells don’t work on it...”
“...”
I fell silent, then let out a deep sigh.
“Huu...”
No choice.
“...There’s nothing for it. Miss, step back.”
“Oh, you’re going to use that thing again!”
Her eyes sparkled as she took a few steps back and pulled out a notebook and brush.
“...What’s that for?”
“Didn’t I say I’d create the perfect artifact for you, the **Sword God**? The more I know about you, the better I can optimize it.”
“You’re still not giving up?”
“Huh? What do you mean by giving up?”
I sighed softly.
“As I said, this is to remain a secret for the **Cheongmun Clan**.”
“Got it. I even swore to it.”
“Then...”
**Boom!**
I brushed the air.
My consciousness merged with it, turning the **Invisible Sword** into a blade.
“Consciousness domain...”
Buk Hyang-hwa observed it from a distance, recording everything in her notebook.
**Whoosh, whoosh!**
Before swinging the **Invisible Sword**, I used my inner force to blast the walls, testing whether the impure inner force could pass through the **Devouring Stone**.
The stone only absorbed pure spiritual energy and shattered it. It didn’t take impure inner force well.
‘Good.’
It could be pierced.
**Boom-boom-boom!**
Raising my momentum, I grabbed the **Invisible Sword** and swung it.
**Danak Sword Art—Ascending Pulse!**
**Kwaaang!**
The **Invisible Sword** shot into the sky, shattering the cave ceiling and punching a hole in the sky.
Beyond it lay a starry night sky.
“Huu, I made it through.”
“...”
I glanced at Buk Hyang-hwa, who was watching me.
She was still writing in her notebook with a dazed expression.
“Miss Buk...?”
“Ah. Right.”
She nodded, looking slightly empty, as if she had understood something.
“You’re a Core Formation senior. With this power, there’s no doubt. If you were hiding your Core Formation rank as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, my artifacts would seem weak. For a senior who should be using artifacts refined with Golden Core fire, mine are too basic.”
“Um... something’s off. I’m not Core Formation.”
“Eh...?”
I held out my arm.
“If you don’t believe me, feel the energy. I’m not Core Formation at all—I’ve just learned an unusual technique at that level.”
“Hmm... If you say it like that, it must be true.”
She sighed softly.
“Anyway, let’s get out and talk.”
“Alright.”
Buk Hyang-hwa took a leaf-shaped flying artifact from her pocket and tossed it to the ground.
It grew large enough for the two of us once I fed it spiritual energy. We boarded it and rose through the hole.
**Whoosh—**
Sea breeze brushed my nose.
“Where are we...”
I looked around.
The area was the sea.
The cave we had escaped from was a maze cave on a small island in the middle of the ocean.
I checked the stars to confirm our position.
‘This is... west of the **Dabcheon Desert**...’
Beyond the great mountain range west of the **Seongje Empire**, in the far western sea.
‘Actually, a little southwest.’
I roughly estimated our location using the stars.
‘So, if we keep flying northeast for a few days, we should see the great mountain range where the **Geumsin Cheonraemun** was.’
Thankfully, we hadn’t been dropped somewhere completely unknown.
‘Cheongmun Ryeong and Cheongmun Jung-jin are probably the opposite side, far east. In the eastern countries of the **Dabcheon Desert**, places I’ve never been. If we’d landed there, it would have been a real mess.’
I let out a small sigh of relief and looked at Buk Hyang-hwa.
“Thank goodness, Miss Buk. If we fly northeast, I know the way. This is the road west of the **Seongje Empire** great mountain range...”
But Buk Hyang-hwa was watching me with an expression as if she had something to say.
“Miss Buk?”
“I’ve decided.”
She clenched her fists.
“Even if you’re a Core Formation Sword God, I’ll make an artifact that suits a Core Formation Sword God!”
“No... I’m not even a Core Formation Sword God...”
“Then for Foundation Establishment, I’ll make a supreme-grade artifact you can use with regular power. When you reach Core Formation, I’ll refine it into a law treasure using Golden Core fire inside your body! I was being too modest. Even as a Core Formation Sword God, I can create an artifact that will tempt you! It’s a challenge for myself, so please don’t stop me.”
“...”
I sighed softly.
‘Since it’s come to this, I need to prove clearly that I don’t need artifacts.’
“...Then, let me show you, Miss Buk.”
**Boom!**
I brushed the air again.
I swung the **Invisible Sword** toward the sea beside us.
**Kwaaaang!**
The sea split open, a storm raging over the night sea.
Huge waves washed around us. I deflected every single wave and droplet with the **Invisible Sword**.
“Honestly, I really don’t need artifacts. This **Invisible Sword** is overwhelmingly superior to any law treasure or artifact. It can freely transform, its power can keep growing as long as my ability supports it, and its sharpness is indescribable. The power is enough to split the sea and collapse mountains, as you just saw. And because my consciousness keeps growing, it grows with me. So honestly, something like an outer world item means nothing to me.”
“I see.”
She nodded.
“Thank you for explaining. I’ll remember this.”
“Haa...”
I took a deep breath.
She really seemed determined not to give up.
“Alright, then I have a few conditions.”
“Tell me.”
I set conditions for the girl burning with challenge.
One: It must be an artifact easy to make with ordinary materials.
Two: The crafting difficulty must not be too high for me to make later.
Three: It must capture as much of the **Invisible Sword**’s infinite changes as possible.
‘Will she really give up at this point?’
Making an artifact with high power using ordinary materials requires carving countless circuits.
But I asked for low difficulty, so it couldn’t have too many circuits.
Yet it still had to contain every impossible transformation of the **Invisible Sword**.
In truth, these conditions were exactly what I needed as someone who regressed.
The materials had to be something I could easily obtain during my regressions. She might not meet me again, so it had to be something another artifact refiner could successfully craft. And since it had to help me, it had to be able to contain the **Invisible Sword**’s transformations.
But in practice, these conditions were basically a demand to give up.
“The crafting conditions are really strict.”
“I told you. I’m a body that really doesn’t need an outer world item.”
“...I’ll try once.”
But she didn’t give up.
‘She really thinks she can make it?’
“...Well, do as you like.”
I ended up yielding to her will.
“Alright, then let’s head back for now.”
“Ah! Wait, there’s something I wanted to ask.”
She pointed west, as if she had thought of something.
“You said this is the road west of the **Seongje Empire** great mountain range?”
“Yes.”
Buk Hyang-hwa looked west with sparkling eyes.
“Then if we go further west than the road, we reach the **Edge of the World**, right? Let’s go see it!”
“The **Edge of the World**?”
“Yes. Didn’t the **Sword God** read fairy tales as a child? Going to the ends of the west, north, east, and south leads to the **Edge of the World**. I was always curious how so much seawater didn’t fall to the bottom of the world. If we’ve come this far, we should see the **Edge of the World**, right?”
“Ahaha...”
I smiled awkwardly.
I had lived in the sword sect for hundreds of years.
I had even surpassed 21st-century human technology and law arts, so I had forgotten.
The common sense of people in this world was medieval level.
‘There’s no **Edge of the World**... how do I explain that the earth is round?’
After thinking for a moment, I realized I didn’t need to explain.
‘Wait, if Cheongmun Ryeong and Cheongmun Jung-jin fell to the east, going west would actually bring me closer to them?’
In that case, I might as well circle the entire world and meet up with them.
‘I’ll keep using the sound transmission jade to contact Cheongmun Ryeong as we go west. If he’s within range, the jade will work.’
“Sounds good. Then let’s fly a little further west.”
“I’m so excited! We’re actually going to see the **Edge of the World** that’s only in legends...”
“Haha. I’m looking forward to it too.”
Buk Hyang-hwa took a white boat-shaped flying artifact from her leaf-shaped flying artifact.
“I made this artifact. I’ll pilot it, so you just need to pour your Pure Force into it?”
“Understood.”
After a while, the boat-shaped artifact shot west at high speed.
* * *
Three days passed.
‘What the hell...?’
“Wow, this is the **Edge of the World**.”
‘Is this real?’
I felt dizzy, completely unable to understand the situation.
I had left common sense behind.
“**Sword God**, come see!”
“...Ah, sorry. Miss Buk. I feel a bit dizzy.”
“Oh, do you get airsick when flying?”
“Just a little tired.”
“I see. I’ll keep sightseeing!”
Something was wrong.
This world...
“Wow, the sky looks like it’s right above our feet.”
I turned my gaze toward where Buk Hyang-hwa was looking, dizzy from the feeling.
The **Edge of the World**.
There, the sea was sliced off like a cliff, and beyond the edge of the land was a completely pitch-black sky.
As evening approached, stars began rising from below.
What the hell!
This world...
This world was not round.
This world was flat and circular, cut off like a cliff.
“...Is this the **Edge of the World**...? I’ve never seen it either.”
“You’ve never seen it either, **Sword God**. Makes sense, since most people spend their whole lives inside a vast continent.”
I slowly walked over to where she was watching the sky below the edge.
“It’s really strange, isn’t it? This...”
**Tung, tung...**
When I reached out and touched the air, a transparent barrier blocked the way into the emptiness beyond.
“A barrier that stops seawater from gushing out. In the fairy tales I heard as a child, it was called **World Shield Power**. It protects our world from the outside world and also keeps the sea from leaking down.”
I didn’t know much about fairy tales or legends in this world.
No, I had known them, but I dismissed them as ignorant medieval superstitions and false stories.
**Tung, tung, tung!**
I struck the **World Shield Power** several more times.
“Miss, is this **World Shield Power**... not just the edge of this world, but... covering the entire world in a sphere?”
“Yes, didn’t you read the fairy tales?”
“...I see.”
I felt a strange, eerie feeling toward this bizarre world.
‘The transparent barrier covers a flat world?’
It was almost like an aquarium or fish farm...
What kind of world was this?