Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Command Spell
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The judge's face crumpled up in an instant.
"You bastard, are you truly trying to insult His Great Majesty the King? Not content with mocking His Great Majesty's magnanimity—like that of Lady Na—through your sly tongue up to now, and now even—"
"Judge, enough. The conversation with this Great King is not yet over."
"But this wretch—"
"Judge."
"...This humble servant has overstepped his bounds."
The judge finally hung his head low, but he made no effort to hide his animosity toward me.
Crunch crunch crunch!
This won't do.
I need to wring every last bit out of this place as fast as possible and get gone.
Otherwise, I'll be the one getting devoured.
"You're asking for aid from this Great King without even becoming one of his subjects? You are a greedy one indeed."
"I've heard from my master long ago that among the Ten Kings who govern the Ledger of the Dead, only the lord of the Cold Ice Hell is as stern as a winter ice sheet toward sinners, yet as soft and warm as a spring stream toward the virtuous."
I bowed sharply at the waist.
Great King Songje was renowned as one of the greatest tycoons across both Heaven and the Underworld.
Souls consigned to hells like the Boiling Pool or Serpent Hell typically saw their treasures melt away, but in the Cold Ice Hell, they simply froze solid and were confiscated wholesale into Great King Songje's vaults.
As the old saying goes, money makes kin of all in Heaven and Earth alike.
And with respect for one's elders, hadn't Confucius himself decreed from ancient times that one could bow and scrape to one's big brother as much as one pleased?
So what I'm doing here is perfectly reasonable! It's not like this wounds my pride or costs me face! Heh heh heh heh!
"You—"
"Yes?"
"If you're going to run your mouth so freely, shouldn't you at least wipe the drool dribbling from your lips first before speaking?"
At Great King Songje's chiding, I swiftly wiped my mouth clean and spoke in a solemn tone.
"—Thus, I harbor only the faintest hope in His Great Majesty's magnanimity. Disciplining those scoundrels will be a grueling ordeal, after all."
My words flowed with elegant grace.
"Needless! To! Say! With His Great Majesty's magnanimity—like that of Lady Na—such a thing would never, ever happen, but even absent that, merely His Great Majesty's blessing alone would steel my resolve all the more."
"...Do you slather your tongue with glue every day? Your speech flows smoother than a crystal stream."
"My thanks for the praise. I scarcely know where to put myself."
"You take that for praise?"
"Words from His Great Majesty are all blessings and praise alike, are they not?"
Great King Songje's gaze shifted to one that said he'd witnessed every manner of bizarre creature under the sun.
Even so, I kept my face as thick as possible and beamed broadly.
Tsk!
Great King Songje gave a light click of his tongue and shook his head slowly.
"I set out for a casual jaunt, and now it seems I've gotten my nose thoroughly pierced."
Yet for all his words, he appeared oddly amused.
Great King Songje stroked his chin with one hand.
"But you have a point. Disciplining the sinners may be your task, but it spares this Great King some tiresome labor all the same. To offer no aid at all would only spread idle gossip through the Underworld that this Great King's magnanimity—like Lady Na's—has soured."
"I merely fear my own failings might blemish His Great Majesty's dignity."
"It's a mouse fretting over a cat. Still, this Great King finds your company far from disagreeable. Is there something specific you desire?"
It wouldn't do to keep pushing my luck.
Best to pull back just a touch here.
"As one receiving aid, how could I possibly dare to make so bold a request? If it bears His Great Majesty's grace, I would drink even ashes and brine with relish."
Of course, give me something utterly worthless and you'll earn my grudge, brother Songje!
"You're leaving it to me to offer, then. Such an insolent mortal."
Unlike the lightly chuckling Great King Songje, the judge and attendants looked as pale as if treading thin ice.
"What might suit... This Great King, grown bored of all things, has at least found meager amusement in you, and that cannot go unacknowledged. Hm! Ah, yes. That will do nicely."
My eyes sparkled.
A gift from none other than Great King Songje.
Thump thump!
My chest pounded with thrilled anticipation.
At that moment, Great King Songje snapped his fingers with casual ease.
Snap!
Fwoosh—
A pure white, chilling halo of light erupted over the back of my right hand.
Oho!
Looks like he's bestowing some dharma treasure—what could it be, with light this dazzling... Huh?
The glow faded in short order.
Leaving just a single strange sigil upon my hand.
—?
I narrowed my eyes.
This is... Brahmic script?
I'd encountered it while mastering various sorceries, including the yoga spells of Tianzhu.
Mystical letters, each brimming with arcane significance.
A sidelong glance at the judge and attendants showed their displeasure—sign enough it was a worthy gift.
But what on earth was it?
"Why so silent? Hoping for a Vajra Scepter or Flame Wheel dharma treasure, only to get a mere letter in their stead—disappointed, are you?"
"No, not at all. I was simply curious as to its meaning, unable to guess."
"You who've delved into the ancient magics of Persia and even Rama ought to recognize it well enough."
"Does it not signify 'three (三)'?"
"Indeed. And it marks the number of Command Spells you may wield henceforth."
Command Spell?
A vague inkling stirred.
"By Command Spell, you mean—"
"A incantation bearing this Great King's authority of command."
"!!"
My eyes flew wide.
Great King Songje's authority of command.
It meant the Word of Spirit.
"His Great Majesty's authority of command... does it pertain to the powers of the Cold Ice Hell?"
"Precisely. As expected of one who chases the arcane—you grasp it swiftly."
I could only gape in astonishment at the mark etched upon my hand.
The command of a god signified authority over the divinity under his purview.
In essence, I could wield Great King Songje's own authority at will.
True, limited by count—but the implications were staggering.
A hidden trump to upend the board when the moment called.
To receive a boon far grander than anticipated left me dazed.
As I stared in a stupor, a smile of deep satisfaction curved Great King Songje's lips at last.
"Are you not to discipline Our foes in this Great King's stead? Such authority is requisite if the Saha World is to know full well this Great King's magnanimity—like Lady Na's."
"I am overcome with gratitude."
"Note well, however: a Command Spell bearing this Great King's authority is no panacea. No miracle beyond this Great King's divinity may manifest, nor any wish to disorder the Saha World's precepts be fulfilled."
"Self-evident, Your Great Majesty. Yet with grace so profound, no foe could stand unbowed before it."
"Well spoken."
A grin of contentment bloomed upon Great King Songje's lips.
Flash!
The encircling icy ravine encasing me vanished in the blink of an eye.
"But as this Great King has entrusted you with his power in trust, henceforth you must comport yourself with utmost propriety. Every deed of yours reflects upon this Great King's countenance. Know that this Great King shall ever watch over you."
"Your grace rivals Lady Na's own."
I fought to still my quivering lips.
It might curtail my every move going forward in some eyes, but Great King Songje could scarce meddle in the living realm so freely—no true cause for alarm.
"This Great King's business concludes here. You may depart."
"Then, until our next meeting."
I offered a ceremonious bow and withdrew with due decorum.
At once, my body felt hurled outward with violent force, the Cold Ice Hell receding at speed.
Command Spell, eh.
I'd braced for peril, yet scored a fine prize after all.
Those bastards are done for now.
I'll cram the lot of 'em into Cold Ice Hell's Avici. Heh heh heh!
* * *
The Cold Ice Hell, emptied of Unhwi.
The white blizzard that blanketed the heavens ceased, and the space began to seal shut.
The judge lifted his gaze to the Great King he had served for tens of thousands of years.
The Great King was smiling.
For the first time in over a millennium of tedium and loathing toward the world.
"My lord, speak if you have words to impart."
The judge bowed his head deeply.
"Is it truly wise to release the sinner Yeon Unhwi back into the living realm thus?"
"What would prevent it?"
"The sinner Yeon Unhwi, for all his pursuit of nature's great principles through sorcery, stands guilty of treason against reincarnation's edicts by willfully choosing rebirth. His name in three crimson characters yet fresh upon the Ledger of Life and Death—was not Your Great Majesty's journey here precisely to rectify such deviance?"
Great King Songje was the arbiter who judged and punished the shades of the dead.
Thus did duty bind him to drag Unhwi—revived as Dang Unhwi—back into the Underworld.
Unhwi could scarce have guessed it, but Great King Songje had indeed intended to seize his soul for the afterlife forthwith had he spurned the offer to become his priest.
Yet Great King Songje had simply sent Unhwi away.
"So it was."
"Yet—"
"Why then, you wonder?"
"This judge, unable to plumb Your Great Majesty's wisdom, must humbly inquire thus."
"No grand cause. Merely the divine fire agleam in that youth's eyes intrigued me, and so I released him."
Divine fire?
Unhwi's words flickered unbidden through the judge's mind.
'Because divine fire yet blazes fiercely within my heart.'
The eyes are windows to the soul, as they say.
Thus, true divine fire in the heart shines visible through the eyes.
"That was no mere flame in homage to 'that one' slumbering in the abyss. A ghostly fire, wild and stained with grudge and fury—a kalpa blaze fit to consume the world entire."
"!"
"To cram such a blaze deep into Cold Ice Hell's Avici by force—think you it would snuff cleanly? Nay, it would raze every last Cold Ice Hell, engulf the rest, and burn other hells root and stem into an asura's carnage."
The judge recoiled in shock.
Never had any mortal earned such esteem from Great King Songje.
"...How might the will of but one human shake the Great Hells themselves?"
"A manner of speaking, merely that. Yet prisoned in Avici, that youth would claw his way back to the living world by some means. Even as the captives of that lofty tower have done."
"......"
"Hence my Word of Spirit bestowed. To turn that divine fire not toward this Great King's own domain, but toward the sinners' lair. A mere waft of a fan, and see how splendidly it would blaze."
The judge bowed his head in silence.
These were the Great King's words.
Who was he to gainsay them?
"Let us watch, then. Whether that youth's divine fire can truly raze the tower."
Great King Songje's languid eyes curved wide into a crescent moon.