Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Reunion (4)
After Kim Yang-soon died, hunters invaded the house.
They came in groups of five, and a mage was always included.
There were three such attacks, and each time the Witch stepped forward.
"The hunters' level was quite high. Since they kept failing, they'll find our house suspicious, so I needed the Reaper."
Her summoning of the Reaper was an unavoidable choice.
In the end, she decided to re-contract with the Grim Reaper. It was to continue the contract that had been terminated by her past life's death.
So she created a magic circle and met the Reaper.
The problem occurred here.
The Witch judged that even if a battle broke out, she could win sufficiently. She thought the Reaper would also recognize this and not attack recklessly.
It was her misjudgment. She didn't know that the Reaper could grow.
The Reaper had grown compared to its past life and didn't accept the forced summoning contract.
The Witch didn't give up either.
Eventually, they entered into battle with each other's souls at stake.
As a result, the Reaper was far stronger than her calculations.
-I will repay the humiliation from last time.
Becoming a human's summoned creature was also a humiliation for the Reaper, so it had been looking for an opportunity for revenge.
The battle progressed evenly, but as time passed, the Witch revealed her limits.
She too had hit the limits of her young age.
Eventually, the Reaper began to gain the upper hand, and the Witch barely preserved her life with a shield. Then even that shield broke, and she sensed death.
At that moment, I appeared.
"So did you catch the Reaper?"
Instead of answering, the Witch turned her head back.
The Reaper, which hadn't been visible until now, appeared behind her.
Seeing the Reaper, my blood boiled again. I wanted to clash with it once more but held back.
"When did you know about the hunters?"
"Follow me. There's something I want to show you."
I followed the Witch to the archive room next to the training room.
"Sit down."
Following the Witch's words, I sat in front of the computer. Then the Witch played a video.
It was CCTV footage of a dark alley, so the screen wasn't clear.
Two men were facing each other when they suddenly started fighting. While watching their fight, I unknowingly moved closer to the screen.
'Martial arts.'
They were competing in martial arts.
Although the screen wasn't clean, the characteristics were so distinctive that it wasn't difficult to recognize.
'Qingcheng Sect's Wind Thunder Palm.'
The man in his early thirties, used the Qingcheng Sect's Wind Thunder Palm, characterized by simple but powerful strikes.
'Wudang Cotton Palm.'
The opponent showed composure and countered with the Wudang Sect's Cotton Palm.
The fight continued for about thirty seconds, but eventually both stopped fighting and withdrew. They were quite skilled, and it wasn't a life-or-death match to begin with.
"They're quite skilled."
Thinking back to when I was reincarnated, the light entering Earth wasn't just me alone. Countless lights entered Earth.
It doesn't make sense that among them, only the Witch and I have memories of our past lives.
"Look at this, too."
The Witch spoke seriously and showed me several videos.
There were people stopping trucks with their bare bodies, and footage of a lake freezing by a single person.
Dozens of videos were all short but intense. These were all people who came from the martial world or the magic world.
"On the internet, they're evaluating them as videos manipulated with special effects."
"How many reincarnators would there be?"
This is what I'm most curious about. All those in the videos were skilled.
"Maximum five thousand. My estimate is about three thousand."
"What's your basis?"
"If there were more than that, they couldn't have kept it secret until now. They definitely would have been revealed, and everyone would already know of their existence."
It was a convincing basis.
"The problem isn't that there are other reincarnators."
"The hunters are the problem, right?"
"Right. All those in the videos are currently missing."
Those words stuck intensely in my mind.
"Someone is killing reincarnators, but who is it?"
"It could be anyone. There are plenty of reasons."
As she says.
It could be to show off power or for profit. Perhaps someone ordered it.
"You must have an expectation."
The Witch showed a bitter smile. It was a laugh directed at the hunters who hadn't yet been revealed.
"Even in my past life, there were many who tried to kill me. Including you. Why was that? I was just staying still within my domain."
"Because you'd become a threat someday."
Saying this answer somehow made one side of my chest ache.
The Witch was an absolute being in the magic world. However, she didn't lead an organization.
In reality, the organization that ruled the continent was the Gaia Empire, and they achieved unification through military force.
The Gaia Empire's final goal was the Ice Castle.
They attacked the Witch's castle.
The result was total annihilation.
The Gaia Empire lost half its forces in their first defeat and no longer attacked the Witch's castle.
The Witch also didn't touch the Empire. She just killed those who entered her domain.
The Gaia Empire was brought down by me.
The Heavenly Demon Cult fought them for 15 years and achieved unification of the world.
My final goal was also the Ice Castle.
There should be only one absolute being. I couldn't let the strongest person live.
It took 5 years to conquer the Ice Castle. All my subordinates died to the endlessly appearing summoned creatures, and in the final battle, the Witch and I perished together.
"That's exactly the reason. Because they'd become a threat someday. Then, when reincarnators first appeared, didn't the absolute beings of this place make the same decision?"
"If they're the absolute beings of this place, it would be an organization. Or a nation."
This is the biggest difference between the past life and this world.
Power in this life is organized into groups. Strong people create connections with each other to make their walls even more solid.
The Witch stated her theory.
"Those who died first would have been born earlier, right? Naturally, they would have been the weak ones. They probably could have been controlled. Enough to be handled with just the weapons of this place."
It's a story I can fully sympathize with.
First, I waited for her to finish speaking.
"If they recruited skilled people one by one and offered good conditions, it would have been hard to refuse. If they refused, they'd die. Once control starts like that, from then on it's easy."
It's a fully possible story.
But that wouldn't be all. There's a critical weakness in her experience.
"Martial arts people don't surrender easily. In the video I saw, there was definitely Qingcheng Sect and Wudang Sect martial arts. They're people who died by my hand in the martial world."
I experienced both the martial world and the magic world.
On the other hand, the Witch doesn't know the martial world. The only ones she faced were the Heavenly Demon Cult. So she doesn't understand the martial world.
'Those stubborn old-timers wouldn't surrender to money or power.'
Rather, there's a high possibility they're gathering strength.
"Organizations will start forming. Perhaps they've already been created."
They'll gather the power to resist. This is the martial world's way.
The name of the organization I hated most came to mind.
The Murim Alliance, the orthodox faction alliance.
The Evil Alliance, the unorthodox faction alliance.
This was the method they chose as a last resort to resist the Heavenly Demon Cult. We paid tremendous sacrifices to bring them down.
After listening to my story, the Witch asked with an even more serious expression.
"You know who their final goal is, right?"
In fact, this is the biggest problem.
The martial world was unified by me. This means they all died by my hand.
It's the same in the magic world. Most died to the Witch.
If reincarnators have memories of their past lives, who would they want to kill the most?
Naturally, the person who killed them.
"So this is karma."
"Everyone will think it's an opportunity. Because we'll be the youngest."
Those who died late reincarnate late.
If this theory is correct, the Witch and I are the youngest. This means we had the least time to recover our power.
"So what are you thinking of doing?"
I was curious about the Witch's thoughts.
The fact that she had conducted such investigations suggested she had an intention.
"I won't just sit and take it like in my past life."
"It sounds like you're already preparing."
The Witch smiled.
"Did you think I'd be playing around?"
From when she could read, the Witch collected various information.
At the time, I thought it was just to understand the world, but now I see she must have been making plans and preparing.
"I'll dominate."
An unexpected statement came out.
The Witch continued with cold eyes.
"So no one can kill me, I'll dominate the world."
If the Witch regains the power of her past life, she could certainly do that.
However, you can't unify the world with just power alone.
I tried to explain, but stopped. It wasn't something that would happen immediately anyway.
There was something more important right now.
"I need to recover my power quickly."
"I should. The hunters are definitely a huge organization. They're already deeply involved in politics and society. With current power, we'll eventually hit a limit."
The Witch's words made me laugh for no reason.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I'm wondering if you're the Witch I know. Are you scared or something?"
The Witch's eyebrows twitched.
"I'm just worried about my ignorant younger brother."
I observed the Witch for a moment.
Why is she revealing this information to me?
Considering our relationship until now, there's no reason to share it. And she hasn't done so until now.
Is it repayment for saving her life?
I don't know.
The reason I risked my life to save her isn't actually clear either. I just thought she shouldn't die.
'Would the Witch have stepped forward if I were in the same situation?'
This doubt brought to mind one old incident.
"Let me ask you one thing."
I hadn't asked until now because my pride was hurt.
But I felt that if I heard this answer, my current doubt would also be resolved.
"Back when we were newborns, why did you spare me?"
On the 270th day after birth.
The Witch created a fireball above me but ultimately didn't throw it. If the Witch had attacked then, I would already be dead.
The Witch didn't avoid my gaze and answered calmly.
"Because you resembled me."
It was a convincing reason.
I greeted my parents as if I came from school and spent the day. Then I returned to school again.
'Was it indeed too much leisure for me?'
I entered the morning class that I had found so bothersome. The students were in the middle of preparing for midterm exams.
Although I had been absent without leave for two weeks and hadn't appeared at the dormitory, no one said anything to me. I hadn't been very noticeable originally.
For just that one day, I stayed in the classroom throughout the morning class.
'Now that I can't have it, I realize its value.'
Everything—sitting at the desk, listening to music on the playground stairs, eating meals in the cafeteria—became memories.
'Eight years old.'
It was too young an age to handle my past life. For the first time, I acknowledged my age.
'Let's organize.'
I decided to quit school.
'If I get the chance someday, I'd like to attend again but......'
You feel the value when you leave.
All I had to do at school was done.
I didn't go to the afternoon class and went to the back mountain. I could see traces of my training.
I had worked hard in my own way, but reality isn't easy.
'Can I win with my current self?'
The top masters of the past life's martial world would have been born 40 years before me.
I must acknowledge that I'm lacking.
Reality and personal circumstances are just excuses. What's important to those pointing swords is skill.
If I've acknowledged it, I must overcome it with my own power. I must accomplish it no matter what sacrifice I pay.
This is the duty of an absolute being.
I called So Iryeon.
-Yes, Cult Leader.
"I'm entering the Hell Gate. Prepare."
Two thousand days of hell.
I decided on the worst training I had postponed all this time.