君ではない (3)
Seol Lip and Seo Eun-hyun charged straight toward Seo Hyul.
Boom.
The first strike was Seo Eun-hyun’s sword.
Yet Seo Hyul could not even identify it as a sword.
What was he swinging? The figure before him looked like nothing more than someone gripping empty air.
Seo Eun-hyun had always used the Invisible Sword. It was invisible, but its outline was unmistakable. Yet this was utterly unrecognizable.
Swish!
Before Seo Hyul could even react, Seo Eun-hyun had torn through the moment and appeared before him. He had already unleashed thousands of cutting strikes.
“…”
Seo Hyul’s smile never faltered. He began to cast his spells with calm precision.
Spell.
Dragon Sea, Drifting Moon, Ascending Song.
Cwooosh—
Dragon-shaped ocean waves surged out around him and rushed toward Seo Eun-hyun and Seo Lip.
Boom.
Behind Seo Eun-hyun, Seo Lip transformed the Clear Scale Armor around his body into a massive water arm.
He charged with insane speed and slammed it against the dragon waves.
Kwaaang!
A thunderous boom echoed as the dragon waves shattered into countless droplets, spraying like a fountain.
Thick fog began to drift around them.
Wooong—
I blew out cold wind while trying to sweep away the fog inside the thick mist.
But the fog refused to move. It stayed fixed around us.
Spat spat spat…
A whisper drifted from somewhere far away.
What is this?
I focused on the sound.
At that moment.
Whoosh—
A white cutting strike swept past in front of me.
Then, following the split path through the fog, Seo Eun-hyun walked forward.
“Don’t be deceived, Seo Lip. It’s one of his soul-seep techniques.”
“…The original…”
“It’s Seo Eun-hyun. Seo Lip.”
“…Yes, Seo Eun-hyun.”
I asked, puzzled.
“Why call me that? It means nothing to us.”
At those words, Seo Eun-hyun smiled faintly.
“You still don’t understand?”
“…?”
“You’ll understand naturally soon.”
Whatever he had experienced inside Seo Hyul’s domain, he felt calmer and more composed than before.
“Speaking of which, what is Seo Hyul’s ability? How did he infect me so easily?”
I asked about Seo Hyul, who had already invaded me and taken control of my thoughts.
Seo Eun-hyun’s smile vanished.
“It’s not infection.”
“What?”
“The ability is ‘contagion,’ ‘replication’… or rather, ‘assimilation’ would be more accurate.”
Seo Eun-hyun explained.
“He can disintegrate his own consciousness. I don’t know how that’s possible… but he breaks down his mind and soul, arranges them into a certain pattern, and when assembled, he becomes ‘Seo Hyul.’ Anyone who encounters Seo Hyul unconsciously imprints that pattern into their memory. Over time it spreads throughout our minds and, at some point, assembles into the existence known as Seo Hyul. It’s a form of soul-seeping.”
I felt it was absurd.
“What… an ability like a plague. No, more than that, how can he use such impossible techniques without any restrictions?”
“From what I’ve investigated, there are limits. First, to seep into someone stronger than himself requires a great deal of time and effort. That’s why he killed those Four-Pillaris like Gyoeom and the Jang clan members.”
“I see…”
“Second, those with weaker mental power are easier to seep into, while those with strong mental power require far more resources for the seeping process.”
“….”
I let out a hollow laugh again.
Had my mental power really been that weak?
Swipe.
Seo Eun-hyun placed his hand on my shoulder.
It felt oddly comforting, as if we shared the same world.
Wooong—
For a moment our minds connected, and I learned a shocking truth.
Our mental power wasn’t weak. We simply sank too deeply into Seo Hyul’s seeping condition.
“What?”
Was it really that simple? Just killing him wasn’t enough to break the seeping?
And hearing the seeping conditions that followed, I felt chills run down my spine.
[Seo Hyul’s seeping condition is: meeting him, talking with him, leaving an impression of Seo Hyul in your heart. The more you talk, the more you remember, the more you face him, the higher the probability and risk of turning into Seo Hyul. Our mental power wasn’t weak.]
Seo Eun-hyun’s gaze burned with cold fury.
He was warning me about Seo Hyul.
[I had been seeped by that thing since the first time we met three thousand years ago. I had been constantly eroding away.]
“Ah…”
So that was it.
Seo Hyul had been seeping me since the very first regression.
And in the three thousand years that followed.
He had seeped me for that entire span.
The result was the “me” of now.
It was simple for Seo Hyul to read my thoughts.
By that time I was already being eroded.
The arrays asleep in my consciousness must have been transmitting information to Seo Hyul.
Truly chilling.
“The Seo Hyul you see is also me who has been seeped.”
After stopping the mind-link, Seo Eun-hyun spoke aloud.
“The way to reclaim me is simple. Either make that bastard draw out the Colorless Glass Sword, or you do it directly, then through the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram…”
At the same time, a mind-message from Seo Eun-hyun’s “true” plan poured in.
[Overlay my memories over Seo Hyul’s arrays and re-seep his personality back into “Seo Eun-hyun.” Perhaps “digestion” would be a more fitting term.]
Boom!
Seo Eun-hyun swung his multicolored sword.
At the same time the fog that had enveloped us was completely torn apart and blasted outward.
Gugugugu—
Seo Hyul, preparing the next spell with serious effort, appeared outside the fog.
Spell.
Water Repulsion Three Billion Roots.
Cwooosh—
Kkuddudeuk!
Suddenly the Clear Scale Armor that protected me grew enormously heavy.
Spell.
Sea Tears, Furious Silence.
Tears of an enraged sea fell from the heavens.
“Hehe, even the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram doesn’t work on me. You two won’t be able to approach me.”
Boom.
I moved the heavy Clear Scale Armor and used its formless shape like an Invisible Sword to sweep away every droplet.
And Seo Eun-hyun raised his multicolored sword and said,
“To put it plainly, ‘The Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram is terrifying, so I won’t let you approach me at all.’”
We exchanged glances.
One word was enough.
“Let’s go.”
Tap!
I gathered the Condensed Curse sword and wrapped the dark ghost qi and yin qi around my surroundings, then formed a ghost armor with the power of the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation.
And Seo Eun-hyun charged forward in a pure body, gripping a sword of light.
“Hehe, my current power has reached the Integration stage…”
The next moment.
Boom—
Puk!
Seo Eun-hyun’s sword was stuck in Seo Hyul’s mouth.
I grew accustomed to the heavy Clear Scale Armor and began to handle the formless version like an Invisible Sword.
Chrrruk!
Thanks to Seo Hyul it had grown heavy, but the heavy Clear Scale Armor struck him with force.
Paat!
He used Goe-gun’s circuits to boost his physical abilities, drew out his true blood vessels, and further enhanced himself. He then unfolded a barrier with the Five Blessings True Origin axes and raised his power.
Chrrruk!
The Origin barrier covered the nine layers.
This…
Was it because of the Five Blessings Origin?
Seo Hyul’s barrier was not as strong as Baek Wi-ik’s or the other Four-Pillaris’ barriers. Instead, it was almost as solid and fierce as the Integration-stage High Spirit Sect Leader’s barrier.
The dark world I had seen before.
It was nauseating, just like Seo Hyul’s mind.
I was a little startled, but Seo Eun-hyun showed no reaction. He moved familiarly through the darkness, seeking a path and unleashing cutting strikes.
“Hehe, Seo Doo, you’re getting impatient. You’re already throwing cutting strikes anywhere. Are you afraid of my power inside the Origin barrier?”
From the opposite side of where Seo Eun-hyun had thrown his strike, Seo Hyul’s mocking voice rang out.
Yet Seo Eun-hyun remained unmoved. He looked at the place where his cutting strike had landed and his eyes gleamed.
“To put it plainly, ‘How did it happen? I didn’t even have time to realize before being struck by a cutting strike. How can such power be unleashed inside my Origin barrier?’”
“….”
I let out an exclamation as I watched Seo Eun-hyun fluently translate the words Seo Hyul had spoken.
“990 points in Seoyik…”
“…?”
“Ah, no… I couldn’t speak foreign languages back then. I even bragged about a TOEIC 900 before Kang Min-hee and then shrank in front of her when I scored 990. I remember now.”
It was astonishing to see that I myself, who had become fully fluent in Seo Hyul’s language and even Goe-gun’s tongue, was so different now.
Looking at me, Seo Eun-hyun focused power in his light sword and smiled as he prepared to throw another cutting strike.
“Seo Lip, you really think about Kang Min-hee a lot.”
“Ah, no. I was just thinking that something like this had come to mind. You… no, I seem to have become so fluent in extraterrestrial languages that…”
“Do you love Kang Min-hee?”
“No, what are you suddenly saying? Kang Min-hee is just… to me…”
Yet when I saw the tender smile in Seo Eun-hyun’s eyes as if he knew everything, I could no longer hide it.
“…Yes. Kang Min-hee… I like her.”
Chrrruk!
From the darkness, countless black chains came rushing toward us.
I moved the Clear Scale Armor to knock them away, and Seo Eun-hyun located Seo Hyul’s position through the darkness and struck him with perfect accuracy again.
Seo Hyul continued to chatter, “Hehe, where are you throwing cutting strikes? You can’t even touch me,” but neither of us paid the least attention to his words.
Seo Eun-hyun smiled calmly.
“It must have been back then. That’s when we split.”
“Hm?”
“Isn’t it fun? Love is… I also like Kang Min-hee. As an old enemy, I mean. But… I have already settled my feelings for her long ago. There are many lingering thoughts, and sometimes I miss her, sometimes I remember watching the sunset together on Namsan… but the one I love now already exists. But you… you haven’t let go of your love for Kang Min-hee, have you?”
“….”
“You are already no longer me. You are ‘Seo Lip,’ who started from loving Kang Min-hee and became independent from me.”
KuoOOOO—
Countless sound dragons rushed toward us and roared.
I poured my curse arts into them, and the original me poured cutting strikes until they were all destroyed. We then stood back to back.
I let out a bitter smile and said,
“Named Seo Lip… not Won Lip. You’ve really gone mad. You bastard, why name me Seo Lip?”
“About that I am truly sorry. When I visit the afterlife later, I’ll apply to change my name.”
“It’s fine. The name Seo Lip is…”
I loaded the Clear Scale Armor with countless curse arts.
The murky Clear Scale Armor turned into a formless entity and blasted outward.
Seo Eun-hyun also began a sword dance, swinging his multicolored sword.
“It’s not bad.”
“Good for you.”
The black-and-white sword dance tore through the darkness.
White sword and black sword qi merged, and the power of the cutting strike rose to the level of Integration’s supreme powerhouse.
And Seo Hyul’s barrier was torn apart.
* * *
I recovered my sword.
Around us the environment had returned to the Nine Layers.
Seo Lip began to turn the Nine Layers into a desert using the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation, and I started walking toward Seo Hyul with the Invisible Sword.
“You recovered the axes before the barrier was damaged.”
“….”
“Give up now. You can’t defeat us.”
Seo Hyul smiled and took a step back.
“Are you going to attack me?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe… it’s not bad. There is one thing I would like to tell you.”
“Don’t.”
“Well then, take care.”
I gathered the Ki sword.
And Seo Hyul raised one finger and said,
“I told you the [Pillar] of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram had already been found.”
Uddok—
I stopped in place.
“It was because I needed the qi of Four-Pillaris to grasp the [Pillar], so I couldn’t touch it until now… but hehe… after fighting with Seo Doo, I finally…”
He said with a bright smile.
“I was able to touch the [Pillar].”
“….”
Seo Lip’s face looked bewildered behind me.
“H-hey, Seo Eun-hyun. What is that guy talking about?”
Seo Hyul spread both arms and laughed loudly.
“Come now, shall we open up Seo Doo’s secret?”
Swaaa—
At the same time, the bastard stimulated the Colorless Glass Sword and spat out the fog of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram.
Looking at him, I felt confused.
I felt the same as Seo Lip.
‘What exactly is he saying?’
The Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram had no [Pillar].
No, to be precise, [Everything] was the Pillar.
I had thought every connection of my life was the pillar that formed the existence known as me, and I had recorded them with care.
So what exactly did Seo Hyul mean by the [Pillar] he spoke of?
* * *
Seo Hyul walked through the misty fog using qi.
It felt very distant.
Inside the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram, especially the part that protected the existence that was both foreign and the very essence of the diagram.
“Finally, I can glimpse the secret of Seo Doo. It’s truly enjoyable.”
Kwak—
Seo Hyul grabbed the shoulder of that [existence] inside the fog of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram.
“It is the memory you held most precious, Seo Doo. Please reveal your true self to me.”
Seo Hyul, who had been giggling as he thought he could see everything with the [Pillar] as a key to the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram, suddenly felt something was wrong.
“Hm?”
Ssu ssu ssu—
The being Seo Hyul had thought was the [Pillar] was revealed inside the fog.
She was a woman dressed in white, holding a jade-lit pearl in one hand.
And Seo Hyul noticed something and took a step back with a faint smile.
“…Who are you?”
At those words, “she” answered.
“I am nothing more than an ordinary traveler. A wanderer who came here while studying the Law Treasure.”
“…You are not the [Pillar].”
“I do not understand what you mean. I merely came here while investigating the target connected to the pearl.”
Seo Hyul’s gaze reached the jade-lit pearl she held.
“Ah, I see. Hehe, is it ‘it’ that is the [Pillar], not you?”
“Well, it seems to play an important role in this space. But I cannot give it to you.”
“Why?”
“Because… this space is whispering to me. I am a wanderer, but you are an uninvited guest.”
“Hoo?”
“Although I cannot act as a host as a guest… I can certainly drive out an uninvited guest.”
The woman in white smiled faintly and lifted the jade-lit pearl.
“Haha, I don’t know who you mean by uninvited guest. You two are the ones who barged into the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram without permission. Please hand over the pearl to this old man.”
Seo Hyul paid no attention to the woman in white and reached out to snatch the pearl.
Kwak!
Seo Hyul’s hand touched the jade-lit pearl and grabbed it.
“Umm?”
And.
Seo Hyul.
Saw.
Inside the pearl, the [Revenge Horn].