One Sword Ends the Heavens
Tyrbing spoke lowly.
Hey, you've used up all your saves.
"I know."
I knew. And anyway, that thing had to be beaten with a gimmick.
Sa Mu-yeong spread his wings. And began gathering mana in his right hand.
Then, a single spear formed from bright white mana appeared. Its ominous aura made every student brace to dodge.
The instant Sa Mu-yeong's body twitched, someone yelled.
"Dodge!!!!"
Spear Forest
Krraaaack!!!!!!!
Sa Mu-yeong hurled the spear at the ground, and pure white spears erupted from the floor in a torrent.
Kwa-gagagang-!
At the same time, Sa Mu-yeong intoned.
Domain Expansion
A power that Sa Mu-yeong's level should never have been able to wield.
Domain. The ultimate technique—projecting one's deepest imagery to unfold a virtual space, transcending mere mana manipulation.
Crackle-! Cracklecrackle-!
The dozens of pure white spears bursting from the ground cracked open, spewing vast mana.
Woooong-!
In that instant, the domain unfurled.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-!!!
A domain is the caster's most ideal world.
Sa Mu-yeong—born from the curse of a failed hero's will. He yearned for every human to become flawless, perfect heroes. A pure white world began to spread. Winds that could shred flesh assailed us. The sky was already dyed white, and now the ground followed, blanketed in snow.
Before our eyes stretched endless fields buried under pristine white snow, the sky afloat with thousands of heavenly punishments.
No trace of human civilization anywhere—just vast, snow-shrouded plains.
And standing there was one man.
Half-buried in snow, he looked mid-thirties. The grotesque form from before was gone; Sa Mu-yeong now appeared as an ordinary human, gazing at us.
His skin was deathly pale, his face gaunt. Several fingers were missing from his hand.
And then, cautiously, he opened his eyes. Eyes devoid of any spark of life.
The specter's vision: one who had lived far longer than his original's lifespan, yet couldn't forget those beginnings—haunted by memories, forever sketching only that lost time in his heart.
-….
The man spread his arms wide, savoring the chill air.
-Huu….
He exhaled slowly, his breath misting in the frigid cold.
-Now that I'm actually back… no thoughts come to mind.
Sa Mu-yeong turned his head languidly, surveying his surroundings.
-I wanted to become a hero. But it was impossible. I pondered it endlessly. What separated me from those Transcendents up above?
“…”
-I finally realized. All I had to do was let go of what I wanted….
Sa Mu-yeong's form began to dissolve, reverting to that mana clump shaped like a human with six wings of pure white.
-Three years. It took three years to escape this hell. No beings to talk to, nowhere to lean on.
He gazed cautiously at his right hand.
-But I never resented me. That desperate wish to be born had created me. Made from his mana, my purpose was to fulfill his desire.
His gaze shifted to us.
-He wanted to be a hero, so I became one. But being a hero… it was nothing like I imagined.
Bam-! He conjured a pure white spear and slammed it into the ground.
-Heroes weren't heroic. People drove the true heroes to their deaths. Even with mana to fight monsters, they invented excuses to shirk responsibility.
Bam-!
-Wasn't this a war between humans and monsters? Is this the conclusion from those who barely survived that hell?
Bam-!
-I reached one conclusion: Make everyone a hero.
Sa Mu-yeong drew something from his body and held it up for us to see.
Sa Mu-yeong stowed the Clay Ark back in his body and flung his arms wide.
-I shall redeem all humanity.
-I shall rebirth you all as eternal heroes, forever uncorrupted.
The Relic Management Association imposes such strict regulations on them for many reasons. Unlike low-grade relics, the power of top-grade ones is on another level entirely. A single 1st Grade relic alone can shift the balance of national power depending on its wielder.
Sa Mu-yeong had already failed to balance relic and user. He was consumed by the overwhelming might of a 1st Grade relic.
Was it gradual erosion… or had he been corrupted from the very start?
Sa Mu-yeong clapped his hands. The surroundings reverberated and began to warp.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-!!!!
‘…It’s starting.’
This was going to be brutal. I scanned our surroundings cautiously.
‘Can’t save everyone…’
I didn’t know. We’d have to fight and see.
I drew a deep breath. The icy air sank deep into my lungs.
And I pulled out the 6th Grade Relic: Black Life Dagger. Since ‘sword’ and ‘dagger’ weren’t classified the same, no penalty applied.
Of course, I still couldn’t use my traits, talents, or skills.
That was when.
Put that away.
Tyrbing spoke up. Unknown mana surged from my body.
Woooong-!
At the same time, I felt the ‘chains’ binding my body shatter.
I told you—I’d help you as much as I can.
As his words ended, a sword radiating golden light materialized in my grip. My Sword Saint trait screamed: this was one of the world's finest blades, no doubt.
I drew the sword from my waist sheath and tossed it aside. The black dagger went back into my subspace.
I sheathed the golden sword. Its form matched exactly what I’d envisioned, fitting the scabbard perfectly.
Instinct told me: right now, I could cleave Sa Mu-yeong.
No—perhaps even the heavens….
The chains that bound me were gone. All that remained was….
One Sword Ends the Heavens
“Huu…”
I exhaled. Mana surged through my body in a rush.
All my abilities spiked wildly. No illusion—they were actually rising.
And that power converged to a single point.
I dropped into stance.
‘….’
Shrrring-.
Even before drawing, my domain was complete. My true slash reached every corner of this place.
I unleashed iaijutsu.
—-.
In utter silence, a straight line scarred the world.
Sa Mu-yeong saw it and screamed.
-Wh… what the hell is that…!!!
He flared his six wings. His face twisted in agony.
-I… I have six wings. That means I’m closer to those heavens called Transcendents. I’m not like the birds that abandoned walking.
It means I’ll soar higher, farther.
And in that moment, a thin line etched across Sa Mu-yeong’s body.
-Huh…?
Then.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!
A razor-sharp strike—as if slashing the very space of his domain—carved away half his body….
-I… can’t die…!
He endured. The 1st Grade Relic Clay Ark.
In the instant it severed, it recreated his body anew.
But lines spiderwebbed across his form again.
This time, three at once.
Sa Mu-yeong stared at me. In the moment I drew, he glimpsed two faint afterimages mirroring my strike.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!
Another true slash ravaged him.
But… if it rebuilt once more…!
Fwoosh.
Flame Sword (Lv 3) suppresses regeneration.
Fwooooooooosh!!!!!!
Flames roared to life across Sa Mu-yeong’s body, burning with insane ferocity.
Kwaaaaaaaa!!!
His body convulsed. Flames that refused to die.
They felt familiar… from somewhere….
-No way…?
Crack.
The world itself began to fracture. The inferno devoured Sa Mu-yeong, burning without end.
Krraaack.
-Hah… hah….
The fire wouldn’t extinguish. Flames fierce enough to incinerate all life.
Sa Mu-yeong writhed like a dying insect desperate to survive, but the blaze consumed him relentlessly.
-Wh… why….
Why? Why!
I’m not like those birds that gave up walking. I… I…!
One Sword Ends the Heavens
One blade to sever the heavens themselves.
A six-winged bird could never withstand the sword that fells the sky.