The Soul-Binding Blade
Park Chanwoo let out a low, agonized groan.
A sword had pierced straight through his chest. His mind was already in shambles from the soul-shattering shock of staring directly at a dragon, yet he had somehow scraped together the last of his strength for one final counterattack.
But Go Wonjin’s strike from behind had shattered everything.
With his eyes slowly losing their light, Park Chanwoo spoke.
“D-don’t think this is the end. You will pay dearly for daring to touch the Ghost Temple.”
“Why? Planning to come back later and get revenge?”
Go Wonjin grinned viciously.
“I know you Ghost Temple bastards pretty well. No matter what dirty tricks you use, you always manage to survive in the most disgusting, underhanded ways and keep coming back like cockroaches. I really, really hate leeches like you.”
Go Wonjin wasn’t a fool. If he had been, he would have died quickly in Astelgard.
Ever since that shaman had moved in next door, and from the very moment the man had rubbed him the wrong way, Go Wonjin had done his research.
“You people have a way to keep your souls alive and resurrect yourselves, don’t you?”
“H-how could you possibly…?”
Park Chanwoo’s pupils trembled violently. Under normal circumstances, he would have maintained a poker face and played dumb. But right now, both physically and mentally, he was backed into a corner. He couldn’t even react properly to Go Wonjin’s sharp words.
Go Wonjin glanced sideways at Lim Dojun.
“Hey, brother. You know about the Extreme Martial God Sect?”
“Don’t you mean the Extreme Demon God Sect? I’ve heard of it, but…”
Lim Dojun had indeed heard of the Extreme Demon God Sect. It was impossible not to.
On the continent, there were exceptional powers like the Ten Great Magic Towers and the Eight Great Noble Houses. Among them, the one considered the strongest was the Extreme Demon God Sect.
A den of evil spirits that worshipped only strength and would do anything to obtain it. They usually kept to themselves, quietly honing their power. But every time they launched an attack on the continent, they left behind catastrophic damage.
“It’s not the Extreme Demon God Sect. It’s the Extreme Martial God Sect. A gathering of pure souls who pursue the pinnacle of martial arts. The continent calls them whatever they want, but the sect itself doesn’t like that name much.”
“Ah, I see. I didn’t know. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“Good. Anyway, brother. I actually rose pretty high in the Extreme Martial God Sect back in the day. The technique I learned then is called the Soul-Shattering Heart Heaven Sword. Want to know what it does?”
Go Wonjin’s smile grew darker.
And the first to realize what that smile meant was Park Chanwoo.
‘M-my soul… it won’t move!’
High-ranking sorcerers of the Ghost Temple could eject their souls in life-threatening situations. After a difficult process, they could resurrect without dying. The key requirement, however, was that the soul had to remain intact.
The soul needed to fly back to the Ghost Temple’s headquarters, but right now it was trapped tight, as if bound by iron chains.
“Khehehehe. You noticed. This technique binds and seals the soul. Your little tricks won’t work.”
“W-what kind of ridiculous sword art is that…?”
“So don’t even think about running off. Just stay quietly by my side.”
“Aaaaaaaaagh—!”
Park Chanwoo thrashed desperately to escape, but nothing changed. He let out a horrific scream before collapsing shortly after.
The Soul-Shattering Heart Heaven Sword—a technique that bound and sealed souls. It was one of the Extreme Martial God Sect’s secret arts, and Lim Dojun considered it incredibly fortunate.
‘If we’ve captured his soul, we can interrogate him.’
The Crystal Dragon had been created artificially. The sorcerer had just confirmed what had only been a suspicion before.
There were mountains of questions he wanted to ask—what exactly had happened, what their goal was, who in the military was involved—but he had nearly let the man slip away. It was a relief that Go Wonjin had sealed him so well.
So Lim Dojun had told him what he wanted, only to receive this response…
“Huh? You want to interrogate a sealed soul? I wouldn’t know how to do that.”
“Pardon?”
“I only know how to use the Soul-Shattering Heart Heaven Sword.”
The technique that bound and sealed souls. But all Go Wonjin knew was the sealing part.
“If you want to do anything with it, you’ll have to find the mages from the main sect who learned the related techniques.”
Go Wonjin answered while tossing and catching the soul stone.
It was a stone that now held Park Chanwoo’s sealed soul. They called it a soul stone. Normally it would be sealed inside a jewel, but since nothing suitable had been prepared, they had simply used a random rock lying around.
“As far as I know, there aren’t any other returnees from the Extreme Martial God Sect in the Astelgard Returnee Association besides me. So… honestly, it’s pretty hard to make use of this thing.”
“So you just sealed him to prevent escape, that’s all.”
“That’s right. If you break it in this state, he’ll die completely—no escape, nothing.”
“Wait. In that case, would it be all right if I took it?”
“This?”
“Yes. As a souvenir.”
It felt like a waste to simply destroy it, so Lim Dojun had asked. Go Wonjin handed it over without hesitation.
“Sure. After everything you’ve done for me, brother, this is nothing. Take it. It’s not much of a repayment, but still.”
And so, Lim Dojun obtained the soul stone.
After logging into Astelgard, Lim Dojun fell into deep thought.
‘For now, I’ve brought it into this world.’
Go Wonjin had said it would be difficult to use because there were no mages from the Extreme Martial God Sect on Earth. But for Lim Dojun, the situation was completely different.
If it didn’t exist on Earth, he could simply bring it to Astelgard!
The soul stone was small enough to fit easily inside his subspace.
The real problem started now.
‘I need to find the Extreme Martial God Sect. And as quickly as possible.’
It should have been sealed inside a jewel, but since none had been available, it was currently stored in a random rock. Its durability was naturally poor, and it wouldn’t last long.
He had to locate a mage from the Extreme Martial God Sect before Park Chanwoo’s soul completely disintegrated.
-Our headquarters? It’s in Monster Land.
That was what Go Wonjin had told him when he asked about the location of the Extreme Martial God Sect’s main base.
Cross the Western Mountain Range, push through the monster-infested territory, and keep going. Eventually, the hidden headquarters of the Extreme Martial God Sect would appear.
‘Even if I ride Dreck-i… it would still be too dangerous.’
Lim Dojun looked at the drake lying beside him. It had been snoring contentedly, but when it felt his gaze, it cracked one eye open. As soon as he stroked its brow, it closed its eyes again and went back to sleep.
Perhaps because it had been drawn by the Crystal Dragon’s will, the creature followed Lim Dojun like a parent. Its combat power was formidable, but even with it by his side, he couldn’t guarantee they would safely cross Monster Land.
‘And trying to find sect members scattered across the continent would be just as difficult…’
Most of them hid their identities, so simply locating one would be a challenge.
“Wake up. Let’s go.”
“Krrk.”
Lim Dojun stood and climbed onto the drake’s back.
He had an appointment today.
“Whoa. So there really is a mage who rides a drake.”
“As expected of Milberg. You really do see everything here.”
Lim Dojun had grown used to the stares. He moved down the main road, calmly accepting the attention of the crowd.
By now, his fame had spread throughout the entire city.
‘Once my name reaches the other cities, my achievement points will probably rise even more.’
Gaining fame and becoming well-known granted achievement points. There were simply too many powerful people on the continent for ordinary strength to stand out, but the unique trait of being a mage who rode a drake was an enormous advantage.
It had already spread across the city and earned him points. Becoming even more famous probably wouldn’t take long.
The place Lim Dojun reached atop his drake was a tavern attached to an inn.
“...You certainly know how to make an entrance.”
“It’s been a while, Lady Olivia.”
Olivia, the fire mage and loyal vassal of the Rodonos family, looked at Lim Dojun with clear displeasure.
His original reason for coming to Milberg had been to check on the Rodonos people before heading to the Canyon of Frozen Snow.
“Are you really here to help us? You know we’re fugitives, right? Why not just announce it to the whole world and tell them to come capture us?”
“People are only interested in the drake. They won’t pay much attention to who I’m meeting.”
“Haa…”
Olivia let out a long sigh.
The Rodonos County had fallen, and they were dreaming of a comeback here in Milberg. But they still had to watch out for possible pursuers. Having this much attention focused on them was burdensome.
Of course, who would bother chasing after survivors of a ruined house that may or may not even exist anymore? As Lim Dojun said, there wasn’t much to worry about, and they had disguised themselves well. Still, the heart of a fugitive was never at ease.
Lim Dojun followed Olivia to a seat partitioned off by a screen.
Once seated, Olivia got straight to the point.
“Well, thank you for coming to find us. We did make a promise, but I didn’t expect you to show up this quickly.”
“A promise is a promise. How has city life been treating you?”
“It wasn’t a bad start. We managed to locate the secret trading company the Rodonos family had been nurturing, and their capital reserves were better than expected. It’s been a big help.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“However, there’s a problem. We’ve gotten entangled with the Extreme Demon God Sect.”
“!”
Lim Dojun flinched in surprise.
Why was that name coming up here?
“Those Extreme Demon God Sect bastards have been meddling with our company for a long time. We’re on the verge of a direct clash. I was worried because colliding with them would be quite the burden, but you arrived at the perfect time.”
Even as she spoke, Olivia watched Lim Dojun’s reaction carefully.
She had just told him they were about to clash with the Extreme Demon God Sect, of all things. While people on the continent dismissed them as lunatics, there was no denying how strong they were. Recklessly provoking them could bring down even the greatest powers.
If their headquarters somewhere in Monster Land decided to move directly, the entire continent would have to step in to stop them.
That was why she had expected Lim Dojun to hesitate at such a request, but…
“Let’s go right now! Where are those bastards?”
“......?”
When Lim Dojun shouted with visible excitement, Olivia was completely taken aback.
Why does he look so happy?