Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Retrieving the Old Power (3)
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My head was ringing.
Had I lost consciousness for a moment after using up all my strength?
The last thing I remembered was being dragged away in the Heavenly Demon's grip.
I snapped my eyes open to the chill air, and the pre-dawn night sky filled my vision.
I was lying in the mountains like a beggar.
'Looks like getting beaten up is just my daily routine.'
Beaten here, beaten there.
Now my body had even come to the past to get thrashed by the Heavenly Demon.
I chuckled as I propped myself up on my upper body. The Heavenly Demon, who had been sitting right beside me, spoke up.
"You're awake."
"Yes."
He must have been meditating while waiting for me to open my eyes.
This guy was really tenacious.
And on top of that, his body was incredibly sturdy. Even after a fierce battle, a mystical energy flowed over the old man's frame.
"Right."
The old man cut his words short.
"I'll ask three things. Where are you from?"
"From a very distant place. One I can't describe in words."
The old man twitched his eyebrows with his eyes closed.
"Does that have something to do with the power you wield?"
It was a sharp hit right on the mark.
But I couldn't voice any answer beyond that.
Mentions of the future were forbidden.
Even if I tried to speak, my throat would close up the moment I parted my lips. I tried to nod, but even that wouldn't move.
Seeing me hesitate to respond, the Heavenly Demon fell silent as if he understood.
"Who is the rotten old tree connected to you?"
"......"
"Insolent brat. If I were ten years younger, I'd snap your neck right now."
What was I supposed to do when I couldn't answer?
The old man continued riding a serene flow of demonic energy with his eyes still closed.
"Can't say where you're from. Yet you use my power?"
-Kuhk.
"As I thought, you don't belong here."
I couldn't even admire the old man's insight.
He seemed to know far more about my situation than I could have imagined.
"Fine. The fact that you have that power means I've done something pretty insane myself."
"......"
"Wondering why I think that?"
Just by looking into my eyes, the Heavenly Demon pierced straight through my thoughts.
"That move you showed. It was exactly like mine."
The Heavenly Demon's power.
He took immense pride in his own strength.
"It's impossible for two martial arts born in the same era to share the same technique. Think about it—the answer's already there. Still not going to speak?"
I stayed silent. The old man let out a laugh.
"You can't speak, huh."
Just as he said.
Once again, the old man had seen right through me in an instant.
How he pierced that far? I had no idea.
Trying to read that old man's mind with my limited experience was a grave insult to begin with.
'I could never know the years he's lived, or the things he's been through.'
He had his experiences.
And on that foundation, he could see through even this situation.
Age wasn't an empty word.
It was the kind of sight that let me understand why the World Tree of Time had led me to the Heavenly Demon.
"What's your reason for coming here?"
"Well, I don't know the details myself."
"The mute finally speaks after eating honey. You don't know why you came here?"
-Zirrrrir.
The sound of grasshoppers echoed.
The subtle melody of a summer night pleasantly filled the mountains.
I'd been rebuked, but I still didn't know why I'd come here.
I'd come to the past without any clear goal from the start.
I'd trusted the World Tree's words to find a purpose somewhere and even talked with Cheon-do right in front of me.
But now that I'd met the old man like this...
Naturally, my mind could only lean one way.
"...Personally, I'd like to ask for your teachings."
I felt my many shortcomings.
I had the skills that had earned some recognition even from Cheon-do.
But clashing with the real deal showed me how much I still lacked.
That inadequacy would eventually hold me back in the future.
But from the old man's perspective, such a request from me was no different from the stubborn demand of some bloodless pup.
"You give no answers to my questions. And you just demand to serve me?"
"I'll do anything you ask."
"Until when?"
"......I don't know that either."
"Nothing was set from the beginning."
The old man—the Heavenly Demon—finally opened his eyes.
"How much do you know about me?"
"Nothing but your title."
"Is that so."
With that, the old man burst into mocking laughter.
"Do you know how many young martial artists have come begging for my teachings so far? The ones with half-baked resolve, drawn only by my name."
The name Heavenly Demon. There must have been countless martial artists blinded by its weight and value.
The old man raised his pinky finger.
"Do you know what's the best way to test their resolve?"
"......No."
"Pain."
Demonic energy gathered at his fingertip.
Flawless darkness enveloped his entire body.
"Slice their flesh, gouge their eyes, sever their arms... They'll curse and flee on their own."
A faint pain throbbed in my right arm.
I glanced down to see my skin turning blue, as if poisoned.
"Can you prove you're different from those half-hearted fools?"
The Heavenly Demon said.
If you truly crave power, then try it.
In a way, it was a stern warning.
Your naive mind could turn you into a cripple. Better back out now.
"......I can."
I answered reflexively.
A sliver of anxiety that refusing here might doom the future.
And a faint hope in one corner of my heart that it might not be a big deal.
A flimsy pride that pain was familiar.
All those jumbled feelings led to my nod.
"Ha."
But to the Heavenly Demon, my hesitation must have seemed utterly childish.
"Your resolve is lacking."
A disappointed remark fell.
Soon, excruciating pain surged from one arm.
It was so sudden I couldn't even scream.
"Eup-"
Blood spurted from my half-severed arm.
When? How?
I collapsed from the unnoticed attack. The Heavenly Demon snorted, stood, and headed down the mountain.
"Come back tomorrow with your mind made up."
-Throb!
The pain was too intense for any reply.
Was what hit me some nerve-amplifying poison?
Veins bulged on my skin. I suppressed it with healing power, bit my tongue, and endured.
"......Kuhahaak, haa. Fuck."
The agony began to subside gradually.
"Kuhk, huu."
By the time I came to, the Heavenly Demon was already gone.
I was left in the mountains, sprawling atop the pool of my own blood.
-Zzirrrir.
The damn grasshoppers were still chirping.
"Thought I was gonna die."
Still, he must have some expectations of me.
He hadn't slit my throat outright—that was fortunate amid the killing intent.
'Strengthen my resolve... How exactly?'
The Heavenly Demon surely found me untrustworthy.
'Barging in shamelessly, demanding to learn martial arts. Normally impossible.'
The silver lining was that he saw through my situation to some extent.
He might have been subtly asking me.
'Do you have a desperate reason to seek my teachings?'
And to show that resolve.
'Problem is, I got dragged here without knowing why.'
Even if I had motivation, desperation was another story.
I thought I lived diligently.
But sometimes it doesn't look that way to others.
And as always, the problem was with me.
It meant I still hadn't adapted to this world.
'Is there no way?'
-Rustle.
As my worries deepened.
The nearby bushes shook.
No wind—had some mountain beast smelled my blood?
-Pop!
A small head poked out from the bushes.
Someone I knew.
"Why'd you come?"
At my question, the girl with leaves decorating her head replied curtly.
"To see the world's biggest idiot."
Cheon-do.
She must have rushed here—her head was full of leaves and spiderwebs.
"Hey, calling an adult an idiot?"
"Adults don't do stupid stuff like this."
Cheon-do's hands were stuffed with bandages and medicines.
Her training clothes' pockets bulged like she'd swept up everything available.
"Master hates it most when people beg to be accepted as disciples. 'Disciples are my choice, not yours.' That's all I've heard my whole life, so he's fed up."
"...I see."
"Lucky you didn't die. Seems you caught his eye."
The bleeding had stopped, but Cheon-do personally disinfected the wound and wrapped it tightly with bandages.
-Smack!
As treatment ended, her palm slapped my shoulder hard.
My nerves still sensitive, a yelp escaped.
"That power, what I saw then... Lots I wanna ask, but I won't. You have your reasons, right?"
Cheon-do said that with an awkward smile.
Curious but won't pry—that was her expression.
She'd always been so mature, even as a kid. I admired it anew.
"Oh, right."
Cheon-do clapped, then reached into her collar, pulling out something wrapped in leaves, and held it out.
"Eat this."
Unwrapping the leaves revealed a bunch of onigiri.
Ugly ones stuffed with veggies and sesame oil.
Steam rose invitingly.
My mouth watered. I shoved one in.
"Grabbed whatever was left in the kitchen. Hope it suits you."
Cheon-do crossed her arms and huffed.
I swallowed a chuckle amid the mouthful of satisfaction.
Clumsily shaped, overly salty.
No real cook would make them like this.
And freshly cooked, still hot.
"Tasty. You did good, kid."
"Really? Anyway, I'm going now."
"Wait, before you go, come here. Can't walk around all messy like that."
I grabbed the departing Cheon-do and picked off the leaves and webs from her hair one by one.
She accepted silently, then bolted like a rabbit.
'She was so different as a kid, personality and all.'
Bright face, smiling warmly.
Not reborn-level different from now, of course.
Her eagerness to care for others was the same.
Her tsundere side too.
I watched her vanishing back, then leaned against a rock.
When would morning come? Time dragged.
[Lee Si-heon.]
'Yeah. You're back.'
[What happened today... I had to use mana to reconnect.]
'My ability.'
[I see. As expected of the Wood Spirit King...]
The World Tree murmured admiration softly, then fell silent before speaking again.
[Heading back today?]
'No. I'll hold out till tomorrow. Need to know what's lacking.'
What did "lacking resolve" mean?
Taking it literally, I had no solution.
I needed to grow stronger. That desire was already plenty.
I'd trained till my blood ran dry for it.
Gazing at the starry night sky, I pondered repeatedly.
Should I scream out the surging emotions? But I stopped.
-Plip.
A raindrop bounced off my forehead.
Rain streaked down my face, wetting the dirt.
What I wanted was always one thing.
To end it all and return to normal life.
Whether my old hometown or the place with Lee Se-young and Cheon-do—didn't matter.
The anxiety of not knowing when a blade might pierce my back.
That was the biggest urge to escape.
[......]
Had she read my heart completely?
The World Tree whispered to me.
[Understood. There's one way to grant what you desire. It'll shorten my lifespan, but in this situation, it seems efficient.]
'Do it.'
[Are you sure?]
I answered before even hearing it.
The Heavenly Demon had said my resolve was lacking.
'The World Tree sent me to the past to change the future.'
I had talent.
Serendipity too.
The recognitions and achievements I'd earned wouldn't have come easy without them.
But future me failed.
What was the reason...
[Then, close your eyes.]
'What is it?'
[Listen well. Just think of it as a nightmare for one night.]
The World Tree of Time warned me in a worried voice.
-Throb.
My arm from earlier ached.
Deep sleepiness followed.
I let my eyelids drop willingly.
[I'm sorry.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Nothing visible in the sewer.
Exhausted body. Like waking from a long dream.
Was the past a dream, and this reality?
The tangible feel in my hands denied all those experiences.
Dry skin, stench assaulting my nose.
Immense weight pressing both arms.
Someone was clinging to me.
-Drip.
Water dripped from my chin. My head was soaked.
Moisture lingered everywhere, eyes stinging.
Cold, cooling skin beyond my hands. Water dripped from my chin again.
'......What the hell.'
My distorted face reflected in the sewer filth.
A twisted smile, hard to believe it was mine.
Trembling hands without reason gave a horrific sense of deja vu. I gathered mana in my palm for light.
The face of the one in my arms emerged.
"......"
Green hair. Eyes closed, woman slumped.
A woman with a peaceful face despite the tragedy.
Congealed blood crusted below her pale face.
The moment I realized how and who, my mind jumbled, thoughts halting.
"......Huh."
I couldn't speak.
"H-Huh... Huh."
A high-pitched ring pierced my ears.
"T-Te... Teacher?"
A massive pressure crushed my chest.
Thud, emotions sinking.
Like slowly sedimenting into dark, deep ocean depths.
How much time until I wake from this dream?
No answer came no matter how I asked.
It was a悲夢.