Chapter 280
Chapter 280
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: Variable
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Why! Why on earth won't you kill me!! Haven't you been betrayed enough already!!"
After the suffocating plum blossom fragrance that Master had unleashed dispersed.
Still clutching my neck—which somehow remained attached—I screamed at her.
"What the hell is that guy a disciple for! How much more do you have to sacrifice yourself for my sake...!"
"That's not it."
"Not it? What do you mean, not it!"
"It's not for your sake, So-yeon."
"Pardon?"
Pat.
Master's hand naturally settled atop my head.
It was a sensation that felt incredibly familiar... yet one I hadn't experienced in ages.
"They say that to reach the pinnacle of Mount Hua's swordsmanship, one must cast aside the five desires and seven emotions, sever all ties to the mortal world, and become an immortal."
"...Isn't that the teaching all disciples hear?"
"I thought the same, so I followed that teaching all my life... but the higher my realm climbed, the harder it became to let go of those final few things I'd grasped."
Stroke, stroke.
Deep down, a voice urged me to swat away the hand now gently petting my head,
but an inexplicable comfort washed over me, making it impossible.
"Instead, things I'd thought discarded long ago would return as inner demons, strangling my throat... and the guilt over being unable to release what I'd grasped became an inner demon as well."
"...Are you trying to impart some teaching now, of all times?"
"Of course not. This is just my grumbling."
...What on earth is she grumbling about?
"Every moment spent with him fills me with such joy... He tempts me lasciviously at night, then shyly greets me at dawn—and each time I see him, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for being alive, for existing right now."
"..."
Grind.
"Yet Mount Hua's teachings... all the enlightenment I've built my life upon... demand that I abandon this."
"Such emotions are forbidden to a Daoist, after all. You told me the same, Master."
"...So I decided to abandon Mount Hua's teachings."
"What?!"
Master had been the most righteous among Mount Hua's disciples, the one who adhered most faithfully to its doctrines.
And now she was saying she'd abandoned those very teachings?
"H-Have you lost your mind?"
"The one who abandoned them first has a foul mouth, I see."
"That's why I'm asking—why would you do the same thing as me!"
It was absurd that she'd emulate a disciple who'd gone mad for a man and thrown away all her accumulated teachings.
At Master's level, discarding doctrines wasn't something you could just mouth off about.
It meant forsaking everything she'd built—something that could easily lead to qi deviation if mishandled...
"Rather than flail about trying to become an immortal, I chose to live as a human. Selfish and faithful to my desires... but that's what allows a human to forge their own path."
"...Hah, but then your sword..."
"You're misunderstanding. My sword is the product of the process to become an immortal—that is, what I built while still human. Abandoning immortality doesn't mean I have to destroy what I've gained."
"...Isn't that sophistry?"
"When a strong one speaks it, sophistry becomes conviction."
Stare.
...Is this really the Master I knew?
The one who'd bound not just those around her but herself in rigid constraints had changed so suddenly—I couldn't help but be flustered.
"So... not for your sake, but for mine, I won't kill you."
"...Is that what you want, Master?"
"He might one day bear my child, so I have no desire to relive the experience of cutting down someone I raised like my own flesh and blood."
"...Haha."
If that's the reason, I had nothing left to say.
I'd orchestrated this out of frustration at Master being shackled to me, unable to move forward... but now...
"How much more miserably do you need to make your disciple before you're satisfied?"
"Considering what you've done, you could be far more miserable and it still wouldn't be enough."
"...You're right."
Truly.
I'd lost completely.
What could someone like me do for someone who'd already forged her own path in a direction I never imagined?
"Then... since it's come to this, let me ask one thing."
"What?"
"Yuseong already has all these formidable women around him... Do you think I have a shot too?"
"...Give it your best."
"Master?!"
"Or, as an apology for all the trouble you've caused... serve several times over, then bide your time and ask later. Given his personality, he won't refuse—aim for that."
"...There's a method like that."
Trying to reclaim Yuseong now might seem pathetic,
but my life was already as pathetic as it could get.
A little more wouldn't change anything...
So I'd have to struggle within it.
"So you ended up siding with them? Ah, what a shame. I figured it was about fifty-fifty odds."
"...Um. Master."
"No need to say it—shut up and stay quiet."
We'd arrived where Master and that woman were facing off, only to witness an unbelievable scene.
Rumble rumble rumble!!
Crack... crack...
"The space..."
A massive rift hung in the air.
Like a glass pane on the verge of shattering, cracked and threatening some catastrophe at any moment.
And that rift was...
"...the barrier enveloping this dimension."
"...Pardon?"
"I suspected as much when she started ranting about taking my disciple... but I didn't expect such a drastic method."
Yuseong's master—who'd arrived first—explained.
"If that barrier crumbles, external dimensional beings will enter and exit this world unchecked. From that woman to cosmic monsters that prey on life—they'll invade without restraint."
"You know your stuff. Not that I care... as long as I can extract the Hero."
"What does that fool have that's so great to make you throw such a tantrum..."
"Everything."
Rumble rumble!!
"His innocent look when we first met... the resolve in his frightened eyes as he vowed to fight... the joy when he won for the first time... and later, when he despaired and crumbled into my arms—all of it. Every aspect of the Hero. Every element. I love it all."
"...So-yeon."
"...I won't say I can't relate at all..."
From a third party's view, had I looked like that too?
Captured by the emotion called love, thinking of nothing else, charging ahead blindly—
A pathetic sight, nothing but a nuisance to the object of affection and those around him.
...Though it stings to admit it about myself.
"Han So-yeon? I thought you'd understand me, at least."
"Understand? It was a lie anyway."
Who does she take me for?
If she's like me, she wouldn't tolerate talk of "lending" or "renting" Yuseong.
She'd be desperate to get her hands on him a second sooner.
"Ahaha! Birds of a feather do flock together."
Shing.
"I want to gouge out those filthy eyes looking at the Hero the way I do—how about you?"
"...S-Sam..."
Kaboom!!
The moment I tried to reply, a massive pillar of flame erupted from beneath that woman's feet.
"Enough chit-chat—focus! She's no one to take lightly!"
Clang!
Without a word, we drew our swords and charged the flame pillar,
and
"...I don't much like others interrupting me by force."
Chill!
A low voice pierced straight into my brain—not my ears—instinctively ducking my body,
Swoosh!
Boom!
"Oh, you dodged?"
The slash that had passed through where my upper body had been moments ago slammed into the surrounding mountains.
Gulp.
"Do whatever with the weapons you've taken so far. They're useless to me anyway... As for the holy sword the Hero used, only he can draw it, so just that one..."
Halt.
Clang!
"...Hero?"
She lightly blocked the sword I'd swung in her momentary pause, then glanced elsewhere with an anxious expression.
"Ha... haha... Finally... finally back, right, Hero? Not in that weird shell... my Hero... mine..."
"Damn it! Block her! We can't let her go!!"
Bang!!
With those words, she charged madly in one direction,
and a desperate battle began to keep her from reaching Yuseong.
"Heeeerooooo!! Why!! Your memories are back, right?! Then why are you only clinging to those bitches instead of me?! Even if you add up all the time you've spent with them, I've got dozens of times more!!! Why!!!"
"Ughhh..."
"S-Sorry! I'm rushing so hard I can't keep my balance..."
Ridiculously piggybacked on Dang Ayoung, desperately fleeing Erdel.
Each step sent shocks through my body, leaving me seasick in real time.
But one silver lining:
Unlike before, I could now deftly let Erdel's emotions flow past me.
Back then, that torrent would've made me hurl.
'At least I left the holy sword with Yeo So-cheon, so she'll wrap things up...'
'?!'
'Damn it...!'
I thought the usage restrictions lifted after the sword spirit vanished, but apparently not?
No, if it's humming on its own, maybe the spirit revived or a new one was born in the interim.
Godslayer's karma had power enough for that.
'If so, wake up and say something sooner!'
I went through hell to get it to her, and now it rejects her?
First, reply to Yeo So-cheon...
......
"Ayoung."
"Huff, huff, yes?"
"Sorry to burden you when you're already struggling. I need to send her a mental message... Tell her to hold on while I retrieve it."
"Okay..."
I felt bad for Dang Ayoung, panting from carrying me as she ran, but I had to ask...
Whirr!
Shing!
'C-Careful not to stab Dang Ayoung...'
Cautiously raising one hand, I resummoned the holy sword from that side.
Hummm!!
The moment it appeared, the holy sword began trembling violently.
'Ah. It's back.'
A reunion that was welcome... yet not.