I Will Obtain Everything

I will obtain everything.

No-Self.

Forget the self.

Forget existence.

The state of no-self is what we call a condition of such extreme concentration that one can no longer recall anything else at all. What people commonly refer to as immersion. And when a human immerses, they invariably draw forth power beyond the limits of their own skill.

Upon reaching Sword Mastery Level 35, a new technique had opened: Disarm. The description merely stated that it was usable; how to actually employ it remained a complete mystery. Just as one could not instantly wield Sword Qi or Sword Gang simply by unlocking them, one first had to understand what the technique truly was and how it was meant to be used before it could be applied. Yet Disarm was a concept I had never once witnessed anyone employ. In truth, it was far more abstruse than either Sword Qi or Sword Gang.

It is a technique that connects to the Knot.

But now I understood. Disarm was the concept of the Knot refined to a higher degree. Still, because it existed only as a pure concept, it had to be given three-dimensional form before it could be properly used. In other words, the concept had to be imprinted onto a technique—exactly as Wilhelm had hammered his own concept into Creation of Heaven and Earth. Just as he had completed a swordsmanship that was the concept itself rather than ordinary swordplay; just as he had clothed the art in his very existence and compressed every principle until Creation of Heaven and Earth could finally be expressed.

Therefore I needed something upon which to imprint the concept of Disarm. After searching and searching again, I found it.

Mind Sword.

Within the state of no-self I drew a single blade. At first its form was the Supreme Sword—the very weapon the other Randolph had used to drive Wilhelm to the brink of death. Its power had been on an entirely different plane from when I myself had wielded it. Even so, that was not the shape I desired. If something must be cut, it need not necessarily be someone’s death. Death, after all, is far too common. What I wished to sever were things no one had ever succeeded in cutting.

This was not some empty boast about cutting the world or cutting a god. I simply—

I want to cut the impossible.

I only wished to be the first. I only wished to set foot in a realm that neither I nor anyone else had ever reached. The countless unknowns that fill this Pangenia. The things everyone waves away as impossible, the things that appear, at a glance, utterly perfect. Those were what I wanted to cut.

And so I immersed myself. I wanted to know just how far a single swing could reach if I poured into it everything I currently possessed—or power beyond my own limits. The moment I swung the Martial God’s Mind Sword within my mindscape—

CRAAAACK!

…A fissure appeared.

In the world itself.

In this place—the Sanctuary.

Yet this was by no means a simple matter. It was an earth-shaking prologue announcing the birth of an entirely new concept: one that could destroy the very notion of the impossible.

“Who creates concepts?”

At the Korean Hero Association, in the center of the training ground where awakeners had gathered, Arin suddenly asked the question. She was Basara, Seventh Lord of Hell, wearing a human disguise. At present she was amusing herself on Earth under the name Arin, training the recruits here.

“A god… wouldn’t it be?” one trainee answered.

Arin turned the question back on them. “Ordinary people would think so. But from an awakener’s perspective, is that truly the case? Do you believe concepts such as ‘Defense,’ ‘Penetration,’ and ‘Evasion’ were also created by a god?”

“……Those were made by the System, weren’t they?”

“Then who created the System’s concepts?”

“Humans, I suppose?”

“No. The ‘Pioneers.’”

“Pio…neers?”

The trainees tilted their heads. In common understanding a pioneer was “one who conveys the will of God.” But that was not the meaning Arin intended.

“Those who first attained enlightenment. When they give a specific name to what they have realized, that becomes a ‘concept.’ It becomes a definition, a truth. However—”

“……”

“These concepts are never complete. Suppose there exists someone with infinite Defense. How would you overcome them?”

“You would need an extremely high Penetration value.”

“Correct. Through the concept of ‘Penetration,’ the concept of ‘Defense’ was ultimately pierced. Now consider which of the two concepts appeared first.”

“Defense, I would think. Penetration was created in order to break through it.”

“Exactly. Had the concept of Defense been perfect and absolute, no concept capable of dismantling it would ever have been born. Evasion likewise became powerless before concepts such as ‘Accuracy’ and ‘Focus.’”

“But Invincibility and Indestructibility are, by their very names, impossible to penetrate, aren’t they?”

“That is precisely what I wish to say. Are such things truly concepts that can never be dismantled?”

The trainees fell into thought. Their conclusion, however, was unanimous: it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠impossible. Arin smiled.

“The first person who created the concept of ‘Defense’ must have been quite proud. They believed that as long as Defense was high enough, nothing could ever pierce it. Then the concept of Penetration appeared and shattered that belief. Of course, even Penetration eventually met concepts it could not surpass.”

“Those would be options like Invincibility and Indestructibility.”

“Indeed.” Arin nodded. “Or concepts similar to them—obscure ones such as ‘Minimum Physical Resistance,’ for example. No matter how high one’s Penetration, that resistance cannot be broken. Yet even these did not exist from the beginning.”

“So reverse the thought. What if the only reason such options remain unbroken is that the concept capable of dismantling them has simply not yet appeared? What if they are called Invincibility and Indestructibility merely because they are unfamiliar to us and no one has discovered the method?”

“Then the one who finds that method… would become a Pioneer.”

“Become Pioneers. If you remain buried only in existing concepts, you will one day face an insurmountable wall.”

That was the true message she wished to convey: do not accept the impossible as truly impossible—press forward. Keep seeking, keep desiring. The timing for such words was perfect. In every eye burned the fierce desire to grow stronger.

The Wilhelm craze, is it?

A fever had swept across Earth. Wilhelm, who had climbed the Tower of the War God. Countless awakeners who had been moved by the sight of him had ignited an untimely Wilhelm craze. She too had watched Wilhelm. She had not climbed the tower herself.

Wilhelm. You still shone.

He had shone just as he had when he faced her in the Demon Realm. No—he had shone even more brilliantly. Because of him the world itself had begun to shine. That was why. She simply wanted to see how far he would go. And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when, at the very end, Wilhelm delivered his answer—when she saw the final sword he swung—the Seventh Lord Basara had smiled with quiet satisfaction.

At last you completed it, Wilhelm.

He had finally created a world. He had stretched himself into a realm no one had ever reached, carrying a stature utterly different from when he had dueled her. And so Basara was searching for the one who had made such a Wilhelm possible—someone who must be here on Earth.

Phantom.

…The one people called by that name. If it was him, he might finally answer the question she had carried for so long.

“Master. If someone appears who can dismantle Invincibility and Indestructibility, what kind of person would they be?”

At the sudden question she merely shrugged. “Who knows.”

One thing was certain: they would not be a mere Pioneer. They would have dismantled a concept that countless Pioneers had attempted and then abandoned. It was hard to capture in a single word, yet it could be explained in a sentence.

“Someone qualified to hold everything in the world in their hands… I suppose. For them, nothing would be impossible.”

…Someone like the master of the world, for instance.

“Halt the opening of the Fifth Gate!!!”

Great Elder Albino shouted urgently. He had instinctively sensed that a crack had formed in the Sanctuary. And a crack in the Sanctuary meant—

Time has begun to flow…!

The frozen time of the Sanctuary had started moving normally again. The Sanctuary’s blessing had been lifted. That meant anyone who continued opening the Fifth Gate would die. Only within the region designated as the Sanctuary by the blessing of the World Tree could the higher pillars among the Sixteen Pillars open the Fifth Gate and still survive. Yet the Sanctuary had shattered.

“Stop at once…!!”

“Guh!”

“Cough!”

The First Pillar and Second Pillar vomited blood. They had halted the opening, but a step too late. The only one who remained unscathed was a single man—Raiga. Even Raiga, however, was not entirely fine. His expression, his eyes, trembled with unmistakable shock. And those eyes were fixed not on them but on the second floor of the main hall—on his own disciple.

Just now, that was…

A Mind Sword. Without question. Because Raiga himself had realized the Mind Sword, he could tell that his disciple had just swung one. Yet it had not been an ordinary Mind Sword.

What in the world… have you completed?

The Knot was different. That was why the question arose. Before he could even voice that question—

Heavenly Mountain.

The Heavenly Demon, who had been healing his internal injuries, opened his eyes. A deep, resonant rumble filled the air. The entire earth around him began to quake. With a thunderous roar the ground heaved and rose. Every domain of the Abyss that the Heavenly Demon had ruled floated up toward the sky.

…What is this…

Even the Heavenly Demon could not help but feel bewildered by the sudden upheaval. One fact was clear: the Abyss was rising into the heavens. And not only Heavenly Mountain—countless other Abyssal domains as well. Countless lands and the countless masters who ruled them.

The lands of the Abyss are joining Pangenia?

They were being forcibly pulled upward. Never once since the Abyss first came into being had such a thing occurred.

“Aaaaah!”

“S-save me!”

In the end the Heavenly Demon rose from his seat and addressed the throng of gathered disciples.

“Do not act rashly.”

On the contrary, this was an opportunity. Rather than surprise or panic, they ought to rejoice. The Heavenly Demon smiled and spread both arms wide.

“From this moment we face a new world—the unpolluted land we have dreamed of!”

“……!!”

“Therefore rejoice and cheer! For this seat shall become the master of Pangenia!”

“Ahh, Heavenly Demon!”

“Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand times ten thousand years!”

Every head bowed; foreheads struck the ground without pause. A new land. The long-dreamed entry into Pangenia! Suddenly it had become possible. Though God’s Island could not be reclaimed and the memories of that place had vanished, once they set foot upon Pangenia, God’s Island would no longer matter.

I will obtain everything.

Pangenia. The world. And thus he would raise Heavenly Mountain as the very center of that world. He would make the name of the Heavenly Demon Cult known throughout the heavens. The Heavenly Demon’s eyes blazed with fierce resolve.

I shall leave it to my disciple.

The appearance of the second World Tree! It was, quite literally, an unprecedented large-scale update. The very structure of Pangenia, every balance of power that had been built until now, was being overturned. The lands of the Abyss had begun joining Pangenia en masse. And these were no ordinary Abysses—they were the hells ruled by absolute beings called Abyss Kings.

The Heavenly Demon.

The Multiplier of the Storm.

The Owner of the Tomb.

The Sunken Emperor.

The Star Destroyer.

The Unborn Being.

The Whale of the Celestial Axis.

And still more Abyssal monsters who stood equal to them!

“Ohh…”

“This is the Continent of the Heavens!”

“How beautiful!”

“The unpolluted world we dreamed of…”

“At last the chance has come!”

“Everything is mine!”

They were ecstatic. The long ages spent in the Abyss. Bodies twisted, minds broken. Dozens, hundreds, countless times they had remade themselves simply to adapt to the Abyss. That pain, that sorrow, that injustice—words could not begin to describe them. Through all those uncountable years they had never stopped gazing at the continent floating in the heavens. They had hoped. They had yearned fiercely, and they had also resented. The beautiful land unpolluted by the Abyss’s poison. The place where green forests and blue skies still existed! Yet it was the land of the cowards who had fled and left them behind in the Abyss. So much time had passed that they could scarcely remember who they once were or what they had been—yet that single truth remained certain.

And so—

“…Cowards who dwell upon the land of the heavens.”

From among them a man opened his eyes. A dead World Tree. A banquet of countless corpses. A mountain of skulls piled high as a hill. Upon it stood the faded, tattered banner of the old empire. One of the great heroes who had led that empire, said to have been the strongest among the Six Heroes—Great Warrior Odin. At last he opened his eyes. Yet he was not alone. One by one the other Six Heroes gathered at Odin’s side—five in total, excluding Sword Saint Ryleigh. Odin gazed beyond his domain at the blue sky and spoke.

“Can you bear our Abyss?”

“It is just as well. The seal would have been broken eventually.”

In the council chamber where the Great Elder and the elders had gathered, Raiga broke the heavy atmosphere. The forced release of the Sanctuary had left the First and Second Pillars, who had been opening the Fifth Gate, in an irreversible state. The Great Elder released a quiet sigh.

“The First and Second Pillars will die.”

Their deaths would deal a severe blow to the Eight Houses as well. No one had cultivated the martial arts of the Eight Houses longer than they. No one understood the essence of the Eight Houses more deeply. Raiga answered without concern.

“The death of the Fifth Gate can be overcome.”

“…Even you have not completely overcome it, have you?”

Open the Fifth Gate and you die. That absolute proposition had been handed down since the founding of the Eight Houses. Raiga had completed the Fifth Gate and thereby extended his lifespan. Yet the shadow of death had not been lifted. If one still dies in the end, can that truly be called “overcoming”?

“Of course not—because the Fifth Gate is not the end.”

“……?”

Great Elder Albino tilted his head at Raiga’s words. The other elders did the same.

“The Fifth Gate is not the end?”

“Impossible!”

“The teachings left by the First Immortal of the Eight Houses clearly stated that the Fifth Gate was the final stage!”

Opening the Fifth Gate and thereby becoming perfect and absolute. Naturally there should have been nothing beyond it. From the beginning the secret arts of the Eight Houses had been transmitted by the First Immortal to the Great Elder and the elders, generation after generation. Yet now they were told it was not the end.

Raiga drew a single volume from his robes.

“That book is the Sutra of Life and Death…”

“Isn’t that the book cursed with the ‘Mutant Trait’?”

“But there shouldn’t be any real content in it, should there?”

The elders spoke with the air of those who already knew. The original Sutra of Life and Death. Originally the book had never been deciphered. It merely contained a curse that, under certain conditions, triggered the hidden trait “Mutant.” It was called a curse because nearly everyone who manifested the Mutant trait died. Even those who possessed the trait could barely read a few characters. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Eight Houses had labored tirelessly to decipher the book—the Great Elder and the elders included. Yet it had never been solved, and in the end they had concluded that “there was nothing of substance.”

“The First Immortal of the Eight Houses divided the secret arts into two from the very beginning and transmitted them separately.”

Yet Raiga had deciphered it—thanks to his disciple. He now understood the true meaning written within. Raiga continued.

“Though divided in two, he left behind hints that could be found. One of them is this very book—the Sutra of Life and Death. It records the method by which the death of the Fifth Gate may be overcome.”

“…You truly deciphered that book?”

The Great Elder asked in astonishment. Something he himself had never managed to read, something no one had ever properly deciphered—and the one who had done it was Raiga, upon whom no one had ever pinned any expectations.

“Not I. My disciple deciphered it.”

“……!!!”

Their eyes once more turned toward Raiga’s disciple, Hyun. The spectacle that had unfolded when he stood before the World Tree still had not faded from their minds. And now he had even deciphered the Sutra of Life and Death?

“The Sutra of Life and Death recorded the martial art known as the Great Absorption Technique. Yet that is not the true answer. The true answer lies with the master of the Heavenly Mountain domain—the Heavenly Demon.”

“Meaning…?”

“To absorb, through the Great Absorption Technique, the Heavenly Demon who has perfected the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Only then can one advance to the stage beyond the Fifth Gate.”

That was why the Immortal of the Eight Houses had divided it in half. The Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the opening of the Fifth Gate—originally they had been one. Because they could not coexist, each had to be mastered separately to perfection. Only when one of the two perfected arts absorbed the other would the whole finally be complete.

“Then conversely, the Heavenly Demon could also absorb one who has completed the Fifth Gate?”

“Correct. Of course, in that case a catastrophe would unfold.”

If Raiga were absorbed by the Heavenly Demon, or even if the Heavenly Demon merely absorbed someone who had learned the Fifth Gate, the Heavenly Demon would grow incomparably stronger. An irresistible great calamity would inevitably follow.

Then Great Elder Albino spoke. “Heavenly Mountain has risen. The Heavenly Demon will have appeared with it.”

Raiga nodded. “That too is part of the First Immortal’s arrangement.”

“You mean the First Immortal foresaw the release of the Sanctuary from the beginning?”

“Yes. The First Immortal of the Eight Houses planned for the Sanctuary’s release from the start. The one who would cut the Sanctuary, and thereby cause the World Tree to draw Heavenly Mountain up onto the continent—everything was calculated.”

Completing the opening of the Fifth Gate, and going further to cut the unbreakable Knot. The rising of Heavenly Mountain from the Abyssal domain—all of it had been arranged by the First Immortal. Of course, the one who had actually released the Sanctuary was not Raiga. Yet the elders seemed to believe he had done it.

“Only by doing so could one face ‘Ruin’… is that what the First Immortal believed?”

Meanwhile Great Elder Albino murmured softly. Yet his expression also carried the look of one who had at last found the answer. The secret arts of the Eight Houses were a means to confront Ruin. Yet they alone were insufficient. From the beginning they had been only half. The part that had always felt lacking, the tangled thread, had finally come undone.

The Great Elder’s face hardened. In a tone of utmost gravity he asked, “Family Head. The seal of the Eight Houses has been lifted. What do you intend to do from now on?”

“…The next steps of the Eight Houses I shall entrust to my disciple, Hyun.”

“……?”

The Great Elder blinked in bewilderment. It was only natural. This was the Family Head’s very first action. The first move of one who had become Family Head was more important than anything else. And he intended to leave it to his disciple?

“……”

“……”

Yet no one voiced opposition. In silence, every gaze simply shifted. With eyes that held even a trace of reverence, they looked upon Raiga’s disciple—the one who had completed Honor, the High Druid who was master of the World Tree.

I was thinking.

The release of the Sanctuary and the appearance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the World Tree. The countless Abysses that had risen because of them. The “Heavenly Mountain” and “Heavenly Demon” they were discussing right now were truly only the tip of the iceberg.

They still don’t grasp the full severity of the situation.

The Heavenly Demon was a problem. But the Heavenly Demon was not the only problem. The events that had taken place on God’s Island—only Isabella and I still remembered them. And I could not simply speak of those facts.

Every domain of the monsters who competed on God’s Island has risen.

Yet something strange had occurred. Without a single exception, every monster that had competed on God’s Island had appeared. The names of the Abyssal domains alone were so intuitive that I could be certain.

The Unborn Being, the Whale of the Celestial Axis, the Sunken Emperor…

These three concerned me most. The Unborn Being could devour all of Pangenia if it wished. The Whale of the Celestial Axis was a subordinate of Ruin, equal to the Four Calamities. And especially the Sunken Emperor. Raiga had seen the face beneath the mask and called him “His Majesty the Emperor.” The sleeping Emperor of the Empire—and a being who wore the same face.

The difference from what I experienced on God’s Island is that every subordinate they rule has also appeared.

I could no longer hope for the same stroke of luck as before. I could not steal their precious things through a game with rules. Nor could I resolve their entire forces alone. I needed to grow stronger. I needed to build a force and raise overall combat power. Transforming into Randolph would give me an advantage, yet the repercussions were difficult to predict. I had not yet balanced light and darkness. The best method was to cultivate my own power—the power and disposition of Park Hyunmyung. For that, the next step was crucial.

Under the weight of every gaze, I spoke slowly.

“I will open the World Tree of Honor completely.”

“……!”

“W-what do you mean by that…”

The elders were flustered. The World Tree was sacred. To open it completely? Yet the World Tree of Honor was a vital element that granted second-class advancement. It would allow the people of the Pangenia continent to grow stronger and stand against those who had risen. And that was not all.

I must find party members who can enter the Forgotten Dungeon of Honor.

The Forgotten Dungeon of Honor that had appeared at the heart of the World Tree. The moment I saw it, a strange sense of mission had arisen. That was why I chose the complete opening of the World Tree—so that I could find party members even one day sooner.

The rumor spread in an instant. The Sanctuary of Honor. Word that the true Sanctuary hidden there had been revealed. Regardless of race, countless people formed endless lines. Among them were monsters no one had expected.

“Mythical species?”

“There’s a Leviathan!”

“Sea King Turtlum! Whoa…!”

From mythical species one might never see even once in a lifetime, to those who ruled vast territories. Yet they showed no will to fight. This was the place of the World Tree—the neutral Sanctuary of Honor. To fight here without reason would be truly dishonorable.

While the people were still marveling—

“Wait, that white tiger…”

“C-could it be the White King?”

“But why is the White King with a human?”

Everyone who saw him froze in shock. Compared to this being, the monsters that had appeared earlier were nothing. The master of the North, the White King! Ruler of Kramdel and spiritual pillar of the northern monsters had appeared. What was unexpected was the person accompanying him. The White King, who loathed humans with a passion, was standing beside one.

“…Must I wait?”

“Yes, White King. You must stand in line.”

“Urgh.”

And he looked somehow troubled. While everyone wondered about the identity of the man who could make the White King so uncomfortable—

Kyahahahaha!

A hearty laugh rang out as a small Death God appeared. The man standing beside the White King smiled at the sight of that Death God.

“Hell-nim. It’s been a long time.”

Kyahahahahaha!

“And those who came with you… ah.”

“Andrew-nim!”

“Serengeti-nim. Isabella-nim. And Hudson-nim as well?”

The three who accompanied Hell, the Orthodox Death God. Priest Andrew nodded upon seeing him. Yet they could only stare at Andrew in shock.

“Andrew-nim, but why is your hair…”

“Completely white…”

“A-and why have your eyes turned red?”

Andrew’s appearance was strange. The holy, transcendent bearing of a priest was nowhere to be found. Hair that had turned pure white. Eyes dyed the color of blood. Andrew smiled faintly and spoke.

“I am no longer a priest of the Goddess Sect.”

“What do you mean? A priest who is no longer a priest?”

When Hudson asked, the answer came from beside him. The White King opened his mouth.

“…He has become an ‘Avenger.’ He seeks to kill the same enemy I do—the Black King.”

An avenger. Priest Andrew, who had once headed for the Primeval Forest, had fallen. He now carried fierce enmity toward the Black King.

Just then—

“There are a lot of Empire people too.”

“The Dercian family is here!”

“The Death God Religion as well…!”

“The Goddess Sect came too!”

“At this rate there might be a war!”

Countless processions continued without end. And the surprises did not stop there.

“Elves!”

“Whoa, crazy! I’ve never seen an elf before!”

“Of course not—they’ve never appeared until now!”

“W-wait a second, the one in the middle… isn’t that the Elf Queen?”

“Even the Queen appeared?”

At the appearance of the Elf Queen every gaze once more converged. And in the midst of it all, someone looked in a certain direction, shuddered, and cried out in terror.

“Th-the Blade Dragon God…!!!”