Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: The Bell's Guidance
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‘Why so suddenly?’
That was my first thought.
I didn’t feel any particular regret, nor did I wish to turn back time, so why had the Blessing activated?
‘Is there a trigger beyond my mental state?’
The only thing that came to mind right away… was my death.
Of course, that was absurd in itself.
‘Did I die……?’
Without even realizing it?
Was that even possible?
Not out of arrogance, but that was simply the truth.
I hadn’t been asleep or defenseless. I’d been walking right through the heart of enemy territory, my tension at its peak.
And then I’d suddenly dropped dead……
It was hard to accept.
So was this place some boundary between life and death?
Jingle.
“…Hm.”
The bell sound snapped me back to attention.
I had no idea what was going on……
But from a purely practical standpoint, regressing now wasn’t a bad thing.
No matter what point in time I returned to… the current situation wasn’t exactly ideal anyway.
Going back to the past would give me more useful information to exploit and vastly expand my options.
In short, regression was a net gain no matter what.
Instinctively, I walked left, toward where Spirit Mountain was visible.
Jingle.
And once again, when the bell sound rang……
“……”
An old memory suddenly surfaced.
* * *
It was utter darkness.
You’d expect that with my eyes covered, but completely blocking out light with just a thin cloth isn’t actually that easy.
In that sense, the blindfold from Second Brother was a wondrous item.
The moment I put it on, my vision plunged into blackness as if night had fallen.
It felt faintly nostalgic.
Spirit Mountain was a place shrouded in hazy mist and soft light twenty-four hours a day, every season.
Darkness was rare in a land eternally wrapped in twilight.
Jingle.
Maybe because my eyes were closed.
The bell sound reached my ears more clearly than before.
‘Right. About ten steps… eight, five…….’
The moment the bell grew closer, I thrust out my left palm.
My hand sliced through empty air. No contact with flesh or even the brush of cloth—it was bewildering.
Thwack!
“Ow!”
A heavy pain bloomed at the back of my head, and I crumpled. It felt like a steel rod had stabbed me; tears pricked my eyes.
A low chuckle accompanied a gentle hand stroking my hair.
The blindfold came off.
“You can’t rely solely on hearing.”
The soft voice caressed my throbbing skull.
I wiped my tears and shot back.
“…With my eyes gone, I have to use my ears.”
With a familiar rustle, Second Brother unfurled his iron wire.
“You think I rely only on hearing, Ruan?”
“Uh…….”
“You’ve heard the saying: lose one sense, and the others sharpen?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not entirely wrong. It’s more that they finally fulfill their true potential.”
“Uh…….”
I looked at Second Brother.
I’d never seen the eyes beneath that cloth. He claimed there were none.
Meaning no eyeballs.
It wasn’t congenital.
Second Brother was blind from acquired injury.
Someone had gouged out his eyes.
He’d say sometimes:
It was fortunate it was just his eyes.
Word was, among the five senses, sight mattered least to a martial artist.
“…….”
You have to lose it to unlock its full function.
I kind of got it.
Like how I’d honed my swordsmanship with my left arm alone after my right tendons snapped.
“I lost my sight, but I still have my other senses. My four senses now include a sixth sense.”
According to Second Brother.
At that realm, skin could hear the wind’s whispers, the nose taste stone, ears see the flow of waves.
“The easiest thing to fool in a clash of masters is internal energy.”
“Ah.”
That made sense.
Even basic tricks rely on the foe ‘seeing’ you.
Second Brother said escaping that bias lets you see more without eyes.
“But how’d you make that bell sound? I attacked where I heard it…….”
Second Brother chuckled low and shook his iron wire.
The bell at the tip rattled wildly—but silently.
“Uh…….”
“Sound arts. Nothing grand.”
The moment he finished.
Jingle.
“……!”
Not from Second Brother before me, but from a spot nearby.
I whipped my head around, but of course, nothing was there.
“Uh…….”
“A simple feint. In battle, I swing this wire, leaking the bell’s sound to the enemy. Hide for even an instant, and they’ll rely on hearing, anticipating the next jingle.”
I continued.
“Then you slip in a misdirection to draw their eyes, striking from the unseen blind spot.”
“Exactly.”
Second Brother said, patting my head.
Truth be told, neither Master nor Eldest Martial Brother treated me this childishly, so it felt oddly pleasant.
Not bad, just peculiar.
Probably how it’d feel with a real sister.
I had a few half-sisters… but honestly, they were less than strangers. I barely remembered some names.
“Seems simple, right? Who’d fall for that?”
“Uh…….”
“Yet even renowned, upright masters in the martial world fell to it repeatedly. I crushed plenty of those hypocritical orthodox bastards this way. They never realized until their limbs tore off. What a ridiculous end…….”
“…….”
Even I wouldn’t joke here: “But Brother, you’re blind! Haha!”
“Remember this, Ruan. Nothing baits an arrogant old fogey like provocation.”
“…Yes. I’ll keep it in mind.”
His tone sometimes turned rough……
And it scared me as much as Master, leaving me nodding meekly.
* * *
“…….”
Snapping from the memory, I looked ahead.
The hazy Spirit Mountain and Second Brother’s silhouette.
If that writhing figure felt like perfectly baited temptation, was I overthinking?
Jingle.
One thing was clear.
If that path was truly right……
Second Brother wouldn’t give such an obvious hint.
In teaching, he was as harsh as Master.
He’d grown up in a dog-eat-dog world.
A life of scraps; hesitate to seize, and you lost it.
Absorb every scrap of guidance or die undeveloped.
“Sorry. This is all I know.”
He seemed uneasy, even repulsed, by his methods……
But I was fine with it.
Unlike Master, who’d dump impossible tasks and leave me to grope blindly……
Second Brother perched on his lofty crag, watching, offering timely advice.
“Question the obvious. Not just battle tactics—life’s easy paths are mostly traps.”
“…….”
I hadn’t grasped it then, but now I did.
One fair rule in life’s unreasonable race:
The obvious is a trap.
True desires lie beyond hardship.
I smiled.
Of course, I could be wrong.
I might be in dire peril, Second Brother luring me the easy way.
It was all intuition.
And my gut said left was wrong.
I turned right.
Jingle.
Was the bell more urgent? Imagination?
Giggling at the silly thought, I headed right.
Midway, the path’s mist warped; the scene shifted rapidly.
- Wh-what……!
- There’s still time left……?
First to catch my eye: a building.
On closer look, Building 12, held by Dean Alderson.
He, Varter’s special forces, battle-tested cadets, and remaining leaders fought a grueling defense.
Alderson’s barrier held firm.
No mechs deployed yet; just adult puppets swarmed everywhere.
Inside looked safe.
For now.
- Y-you’re all gonna die!
- Save me! We gotta get out!
- You idiot!
Even if safe, puppets crammed against windows, fists flying—no pretty sight.
A nightmare for green cadets.
Overwhelmed despite no real threat, panic spread from within.
Honestly, I hadn’t foreseen this level.
Step.
I kept walking.
Scene shifted.
- D-Dean? Can the barrier hold?
- Know the greatest danger in a siege?
- Uh……? Sudden question……
Dean and Arin appeared.
Arin Ohandel hesitated at the abrupt query, answering uncertainly.
- So… endurance?
- Vital, but not the danger.
- Ah.
- The answer: cracks from within. No matter the sturdy gates or high walls, open from inside, and the war ends.
- …….
- Barriers work the same. Vulnerable to internal shocks. Hours against puppet hordes, but fragile cadets’ struggles shake it……
Dean spoke gravely.
- We won’t hold long like this.
I walked on.
Scene changed.
Familiar now.
Building 13 we’d infiltrated, wrecked second-floor hall.
Mir Giant’s form.
Blood dripping, smiling, propping the puppet like Atlas……
Frozen solid.
Alive or dead? Unknown.
But I grasped his final choice.
When he couldn’t hold, he released his chill, freezing himself and puppet together.
Unlike Seren.
Mir’s hands buried wrist-deep in the puppet’s sole, locked; frost sprawled across the floor.
Even if it shattered his skin, he wouldn’t budge.
Unless it excised the thorn called Mir inside.
Did he know?
Even frozen, he smiled.
“…….”
I walked.
Scene shifted.
Three leaders mid-battle, wounds mounting; puppet swarms endless.
Teetering on the brink.
Amid the fray, Karon hurled his sword at the Princess.
She startled from her relaxed seat. Unforeseen ambush.
Stab!
The blade pierced her. She screamed, collapsing.
Success, but costly.
Throwing’s wasteful, especially full-force.
Pitching a small ball strains; Karon chucked a long sword.
His guard collapsed; hand empty.
Smack!
Nearby puppet backhanded his face. Left eye probably crushed.
As Karon hit the floor, dozens piled on.
Crunch.
Seren gritted teeth, arms wide. Chill storm raged outward.
It caught fallen Karon and even Evan……
But better than abandonment, she figured.
“…….”
Regress now?
Turn back.
Not too late.
As if some unseen whisper urged.
And I.
Step.
Didn’t stop.
Forced to rethink my Blessing’s power.
Initially, a golden opportunity.
Rewind mistakes, retry choices endlessly—a convenient force.
Far simpler.
A thought struck.
If I regressed now, what of their feats, resolve, struggle—above all, growth?
Obvious.
Vanished.
Somehow, trampling human dignity.
Arrogant thought, maybe. Most value life over duty.
‘But…….’
Regression was my Blessing.
My power.
And power, once wielded, bends to subjective scales.
By mine, I made the hard call.
Not yet.
Step.
The path ended.
Darkness lingered, but I sensed it.
A blatantly different vista emerged.
Blood-red moon at darkness’s edge.
“…….”
The moon spun madly, as if crazed.
Crimson clouds gathered, forming shapes.
“…….”
Tongued monster.
Skull in black robes.
Crude, but recognizable.
‘Demon Kings?’
Green Tongue Demon King and Black Mire Demon King.
Between them, a human figure. Child’s scribble……
‘Me.’
I knew it was me.
Then the absurdity peaked.
The Demon Kings seized my arms, tugging like a tug-of-war.
“What the…….”
I voiced aloud unwittingly.
What to call this.
Two kids squabbling over a toy doll.
But kids as Demon Kings, doll as me—no grin for even a joker like me.
Rip, tear.
The Ruan doll’s arms strained.
As I watched with unease and tension……
Swoosh!
A new figure plummeted from the sky, slashing both Demon Kings instantly.
Wounded, they glared at the newcomer before dissolving into mist.
The new arrival: sinister full plate armor draped in tattered black cloak.
Unfamiliar.
Yet I knew who.
Armored, but hands gripped familiar sword and blade, back slung with spear.
“…….”
Hand instinctively on my waist’s yin-yang blade hilt, a voice echoed.
[Their, desire, I understand.]
Choppy voice.
From the distant blood moon, I knew.
[Possession.]
Low whisper.
[I, too, want, you.]