Chapter 371
Chapter 371
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 98
>Chapter Title: Sword and Sword (1)
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“Because these enchanted swords contain human flesh and blood, as well as the grudges of those people.”
“Is that so?”
‘!?’
At Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu’s words, Mok Kyung-un looked at the enchanted sword Akjeuk with eyes full of interest.
He had sensed a strong demonic energy from the sword and figured there must be some story behind it, but to think it contained human flesh and blood.
Did that mean a life had been sacrificed to forge each sword?
‘······Is that all?’
Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu furrowed his brow.
He had expected Mok Kyung-un to be greatly shocked or find it repulsive upon hearing what was in the enchanted swords, but instead, he showed interest. Gu Cheon-mu inwardly stuck out his tongue in amazement.
He had thought this one was different from ordinary people, but this went beyond mere boldness.
No, was his way of thinking just fundamentally different?
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un gazed at the sword and asked,
“Not just one sword, but five of them—does that mean there was some special reason for it?”
‘······.’
He was different.
Truly very different.
Gu Cheon-mu, who had been inwardly amazed, soon answered.
“I do not know the exact reason. The clan records only state that five enchanted swords were born at someone’s request.”
“They were made simultaneously at someone’s request?”
“That is correct.”
“Hmm. What an unusual person. To request not ordinary swords, but five of these peculiar enchanted swords.”
“······That is precisely why our ancestor regarded the creation of these enchanted swords as a source of shame.”
“Because they were made with someone’s life?”
“Exactly as you say.”
“Then why not refuse?”
“If he had refused, our clan’s line would have been severed.”
“Aaah.”
Mok Kyung-un nodded.
In the end, it seemed they had been born not from a mere request, but from a threat.
Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu let out a sigh as he spoke.
“It is truly a strange coincidence. Though I failed to fully establish the sword heart, I never imagined this sword would come to our clan on the very day I completed it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Because today, I fulfilled our clan’s long-cherished wish.”
“Our clan’s long-cherished wish?”
“Yes. I forged a sword from ghostly night black iron with my own hands.”
Mok Kyung-un, puzzled by the subtle excitement in his trembling voice, gestured toward the enchanted sword Akjeuk with his chin and asked,
“Come to think of it, didn’t you say Akjeuk was also made from ghostly night black iron?”
“That is correct.”
“But why call it a coincidence? Is there a reason you’re speaking of it as something special?”
At this question, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu gazed at the blade of the enchanted sword Akjeuk and replied,
“Ghostly night black iron is not a metal that can be handled with simple methods.”
“Not with simple methods······. Don’t tell me?”
[Because these enchanted swords contain human flesh and blood, as well as the grudges of those people.]
In that instant, Mok Kyung-un recalled what Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu had said earlier.
Gu Cheon-mu nodded in agreement and continued,
“You are correct. It was not just for making enchanted swords—the ghostly night black iron, this peculiar metal, cannot be melted and shaped without human flesh and blood.”
“It truly is a strange metal.”
“Strange is an understatement—this metal is a monster.”
To think it required sacrificing a life just to melt and form it went beyond strange into the realm of the bizarre.
That was why, among the generations of blacksmiths who had carried this karma, no one who knew even a little about this ghostly night black iron dared to handle it.
To them, this metal was a cursed one long before it was the finest steel.
‘Ah. So that’s how it was.’
Mok Kyung-un now understood why he had been unable to hide his excitement upon saying he had forged a sword from ghostly night black iron.
He asked,
“I see. So the clan’s long-cherished wish was to succeed in forging a sword without using human flesh and blood?”
At his question, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu smiled and nodded.
The supreme artisan Gu Ya-ja had felt self-reproach and regret for creating these enchanted swords with someone’s life.
However, what had disheartened him even more was the shame as an artisan.
Because of this ghostly night black iron, which could not be handled without sacrificing a life, Gu Ya-ja had suffered until his dying moment.
He had failed as an artisan to conquer the metal and had submitted to it.
Thus, it became the karma and long-cherished wish of the Gu Clan across generations.
“As the Lord says, our Gu Clan has devoted ourselves generation after generation to wash away our ancestor Gu Ya-ja’s shame, and today we have finally achieved it.”
This was why he had secluded himself for so long, immersing himself in his work.
He had refused commissions from many others because he knew he would soon resolve this karma.
The only regrettable part was,
‘If only I’d had half a shichen—no, just one ke more······.’
He had not only fulfilled the wish but could have created his supreme masterpiece.
Unfortunately, it had not come to pass.
If the sword guest and the new Lord Mok Kyung-un had not appeared, the outcome might have been different, but there was no point in blaming them now—it was already done.
In the end, it was not fated to become a masterpiece.
‘I don’t know if that sensation will return, but there’s still plenty of time left.’
He had fulfilled the clan’s long-cherished wish in his generation, so now he just needed to create the masterpiece of a lifetime.
Then, he would have no regrets in life.
At that moment, he noticed Mok Kyung-un staring intently at something.
“Lord?”
“I’ve wanted to ask since earlier—is the sword you completed over there?”
Mok Kyung-un pointed with his thumb.
Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu couldn’t hide his puzzlement.
And rightly so, for there was indeed a sword where Mok Kyung-un was pointing.
‘······How did he know?’
This sword had not properly established its sword heart.
His concentration had wavered at the critical moment, twisting the sword heart.
Thus, the sword’s energy was not prominently displayed.
Moreover, the workshop was overflowing with incomplete swords like this, making it nearly impossible to locate it based solely on the sword’s emitted energy.
-Whoooong!
Unlike him, however, Mok Kyung-un’s eyes perceived something else.
He could see the surrounding natural energies slowly gathering toward some concealed spot.
“May I take a look?”
“That sword······. No. It’s fine.”
An artisan does not show an improperly completed sword to others and destroys it instead.
That was the stubborn pride of an artisan.
But it was the Lord’s command, so refusing felt wrong, and it seemed a waste to destroy a sword that had nearly become a masterpiece, seen only by himself.
“Please, take a look.”
Mok Kyung-un had reached a higher realm of the sword than he.
There was no harm in hearing his esteemed opinion.
With that, Mok Kyung-un moved toward the area where the final finishing touches were done. His eyes fell on a single sword with a dark hue.
The sword heart was being established, so it had no hilt yet.
But then,
‘!?’
Mok Kyung-un’s pupils trembled as he beheld it.
Gu Cheon-mu, standing behind him, couldn’t see it and spoke with half anticipation and half worry.
“The blade’s unusually dark hue comes from the inclusion of millennium cold iron. Though the twisted sword heart leaves some regret, it is close to a supreme masterpiece in its own right. In the Lord’s view, are there any deficiencies······!?”
Mid-sentence, Gu Cheon-mu stepped to the side.
He sensed something off.
‘No?’
Gu Cheon-mu couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
And rightly so—Mok Kyung-un was staring at the sword with dazed eyes, as if he had entered a trance, immersed in his inner vision.
‘Why?’
He knew the sword was near perfection, worthy of being called a masterpiece.
But could one enter a trance just from seeing its form?
Had he seen something that Gu Cheon-mu had missed?
* * *
Within the inner vision.
The surroundings were utterly different from any place he knew.
In a bizarre world where even the sky’s color was off and it felt like the world might collapse, he was swinging something.
It was a sword with a lustrous ink-black sheen.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to the one made by Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu.
The difference was,
-Whoooong!
The sword felt as if it possessed its own will, and it exuded a ferocity and savagery beyond measure.
And this ferocity felt strangely familiar.
It was the roaring demonic nature itself.
In the inner vision, he was not moving it by his own will, and his sword techniques were rough and crude.
Yet the sword accommodated everything, drawing out his peak performance.
After swinging the sword for a long while, he finally stopped, withdrew the power he had poured into it,
-Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!
and the ink-black sword suddenly split apart, transforming into a ring shape.
* * *
‘Ah······.’
Emerging from the inner vision, Mok Kyung-un looked at the hiltless sword.
He didn’t know when he had been drawn in, but this sword clearly resembled the one he had seen in his vision.
He asked Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu beside him,
“This sword······. Did you create it from your own inspiration, Clan Head?”
‘!?’
At the question, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu’s expression hardened for a moment.
After a pause, as if at a loss for words, he grimaced and spoke in a tone of incomprehension.
“······May I ask why the Lord inquires about that?”
“Because I’ve seen this sword before.”
“You’ve seen this sword—this form—before?”
“Yes.”
Gu Cheon-mu’s eyes filled with even greater doubt.
Puzzled by his reaction, Mok Kyung-un asked,
“If not, it doesn’t matter. It’s just that the final completed form of this sword I saw didn’t seem to end here.”
“Ah······.”
No sooner had Mok Kyung-un spoken than a sigh escaped Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu’s lips.
Wondering why, Mok Kyung-un watched as Gu Cheon-mu approached the ink-black sword, grasped the hiltless grip, and lifted it.
“There is no such thing as absolute in this world.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is truly shameful.”
“······.”
“Several generations have passed, so I thought no one would know, and I wished to realize this perfect form with my own hands. I never imagined the Lord would know of it.”
“So there was an original sword?”
“Correct.”
-Clack!
With his answer, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu set the sword down again and went somewhere.
From a bookshelf in one corner of the workshop, he retrieved an old, worn book.
Bringing the book, the Clan Head flipped through it and soon opened to a page, showing it to Mok Kyung-un.
‘!?’
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes lit up at the sight.
The book detailed the sword’s form in minute detail, even describing how it could disassemble into a ring shape.
“What······. is this?”
“A record left by my great-grandfather.”
“A record by your great-grandfather? Then did the Clan Head’s great-grandfather create this sword?”
At the question, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu hesitated briefly before shaking his head.
“No. At this point, how could I hide the truth from the Lord? This is a record of what my great-grandfather saw over a hundred years ago.”
Over a hundred years ago?
It was older than expected.
Mok Kyung-un couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
What had that inner vision been?
Usually, he entered inner visions through enlightenment or by reading residual thoughts left in traces.
Yet, seeing this newly forged sword, he had bizarrely witnessed a familiar scene despite it being his first time.
Did that mean he had seen a scene from a hundred years ago?
Something felt off.
At that moment, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu continued,
“My great-grandfather witnessed this sword through a horrific tragedy.”
“A tragedy?”
“Yes. As you know, our Gu Clan scarcely leaves Sword Valley as we forge swords without rest day after day. However, my great-grandfather had close ties with an exceptional female swordswoman and promised to deliver a completed sword to her personally at her request.”
“They must have been quite close for him to deliver it in person.”
“From the record he left, it seems my great-grandfather was deeply impressed by her exquisite and brilliant swordsmanship, leading them to build a friendship.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. He even praised her swordsmanship as resembling a graceful moon.”
“······A graceful moon?”
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes narrowed.
The description of swordsmanship evoking the moon suddenly caught his attention.
Among the sword arts he knew, only two came to mind that resembled the moon.
They were the Moonless Void Sword and Blue Spirit’s Moon Sword Forms.
At that moment, he walked to one side of the workshop and retrieved one of the wooden boxes stacked on a high shelf.
It too was covered in dust from long neglect.
-Pat! Pat!
After brushing off the dust with his hand, Clan Head Gu Cheon-mu carried the long wooden box over and said,
“What is that?”
“A sword that has lost its master.”
-Click!
Gu Cheon-mu opened the wooden box. With the musty scent of long-unopened wood, a single sword revealed itself.
It was a sword with a blade of pure, pristine white.
Even after a hundred years, it had not lost its luster, drawing a small exclamation from Mok Kyung-un’s lips.
“Ah······.”
At that moment, a trembling voice from Blue Spirit echoed in his ear.
-Mortal······.
-What is it? Ah······. Come to think of it, a hundred years ago would be when Blue Spirit was alive and active, right?
To his question came an utterly unexpected response from Blue Spirit.
-This······. is my sword.
‘!?’