Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 043
Chapter Title: Fierce Training, Beacon Keeper's Graveyard (3)
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4.
Why?
Because it's obvious.
- We came to save you.
That day, their voices.
So gentle and radiant, beyond words.
- It's okay now.
I wanted to become like that, too.
I wanted to be that single ray of light piercing through the endless darkness of despair.
「Hurry. Just a little further.」
Even a tiny candle flame.
If I could share the light I received that day with others.
Yeah.
I admired it. I longed for it.
That heroic life of devotion and sacrifice.
That's why I became a cop before the apocalypse, and kept fighting after it.
Because I walked that path.
I was chosen by the [Master of the Broken Dawn], with that one burning wish to save others.
「Come on, hurry. We're out of time.」
That's how it's always been in every fight.
Just remembering that voice fills me with power.
The power to fight.
The power to press forward.
「Yes! That resolve from back then! That sensation! Draw your sword with the feel of wielding your humanity!」
Remember.
Bloodlight covered even my eyes.
My vision vanished amid the pain of my eyeballs melting.
Remember.
- Blood is compassion, devotion, and ultimately, the symbol of sacrifice.
Yeah.
The answer was right there in that question and response.
The sensation of carving away your own life for others. The cold flame igniting in your heart.
That is... wielding humanity.
「Soon, there'll be no turning back.」
Recall that sensation.
Recall their voices. Etch them in.
- We came to save you.
Blood pulsed wildly through my entire body.
I thrust out both hands and gripped the hilt. But...
...it's not hot. Not hot at all. Not even a little.
────Srrrrring!
I slowly drew the sword.
The blade began to emerge from my body.
「I knew you'd succeed.」
The moment the blade fully emerged.
The pain that had gnawed at my body vanished like a lie, and my senses returned.
「Never forget that sensation. Hold onto it.」
That's when the woman's voice faded away.
「It'll be your guiding light toward dawn when madness threatens to consume your reason.」
I exhaled the breath I'd been holding.
I cracked my eyes open, searching for the woman, but...
...she was nowhere.
Instead, only a mystical sight greeted me.
The bloodlight that had burned my body.
It was being sucked into the blade that emerged from me.
The Dawn Sword, having absorbed all that bloodlight, blazed radiantly.
More brilliantly than any moment I'd seen before. Because I gripped it with humanity activated?
I silently gazed at the blade, then suddenly looked up.
There, a boulder lay.
Can I do it?
I tried to recall how he used the 《Sacred Dawn Sword》.
“ The Dawn Sword is a weapon that turns humanity into tangible power. Its driving force is blood.”
Since when?
He was standing beside me.
“ Now, let me explain the core of the 《Sacred Dawn Sword》. Rub your left palm along the blade to coat the sword with your blood.”
I blinked.
The silver-haired woman—was that his transformed state?
It seemed like he wore a sad smile (though I couldn't see his face, as always).
“Truthfully, I hoped you'd fail.”
“......Pardon?”
“Resting here would be better than continuing down that sorrowful path...”
As he said that, he shook his head.
“But I believed you'd succeed. Forgive the rough process? It was unavoidable for awakening in the shortest time.”
I have to admit it.
Without that guidance just now, it would've taken me a lifetime to reach the answer.
It was ridiculous, but...
In the end, she helped in a woman's form. Quite the twisted hobby, but I'm too tired to dwell.
“Must I... definitely use blood?”
“Humanity. It's the symbolic act of proving that resolve to yourself and the Dawn Sword.”
I see.
Like when I recalled my parents' voices.
I swallowed hard.
In that instant, I raised the Dawn Sword high.
I gripped the blade with my left hand. Then, roughly dragged it upward, coating it in blood.
“《Sacred Dawn Sword》.”
As I intoned it.
Cracks——chk chk chk——split open along the blade.
Crimson threads emerged, wrapping the blade layer upon layer...
...and soon forged a greatsword of dawn.
A blade that was crystalline, radiant, and imposing. Dragon patterns danced nobly upon it.
I couldn't believe it.
It succeeded just like that, as if it were natural?
But the heavy weight of the greatsword in my hands proved my success.
“Ha... haha... hahaha.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
I... really did it?
“The concentrated humanity is now in the blade. [Focus of Power] is exploding that concentrated force.”
“Understood.”
“Thus, it's your power that wields it. Not a god's, not another's—solely yours. Your life force, your will. Shall we test it?”
I nodded, and he stepped aside.
Movement is the expression of will. The slash consumes a fragment of life force.
The single-point burst is humanity.
- We came to save you.
Carve away your own life with your own will, forging a transcendent blade.
That is the 《Sacred Dawn Sword》.
I inhaled, twisting my waist.
Drew the sword to my side, stomped the ground with my foot, and thrust forward.
At the end of that sequence.
Crimson sword ki shot forward, swirling ferociously.
A savage yet noble blood-red storm.
The storm's sword tip pierced and pulverized the boulder, howling purely.
“......Kh!”
In that instant, the backlash hit.
So intense I couldn't keep my eyes open, I had to raise my left hand.
When the dust finally settled long after, I beheld my achievement and shuddered.
“......My god.”
I hadn't shattered the boulder to pieces.
But the 1-meter-deep hole bored into it... was proof of my success.
“Congratulations. Success.”
At those words, crushing fatigue washed over me. As I nearly collapsed, he steadied me with a firm hand.
“How do you feel?”
Feelings. Feelings, huh.
I might've resented him a bit, but that emotion was gone now.
“What can I say.”
So I smiled weakly and spoke my honest heart.
“Refreshed. Exhilarated.”
5.
The Beacon Keeper's Graveyard is an illusionary world.
All things in it are determined by the whim of its lord. The lord is like a god.
The current lord of this world is ■■■.
Thus, if ■■■ wills it, Kim Baek-jun needs no time to recover from fatigue and wounds.
They heal in an instant.
In that sense, the illusionary world might be the perfect space for training.
6.
“Second lesson.”
He snapped his fingers again.
“For the next two days, you'll learn footwork.”
The world's scenery shifted to a valley. A cliff with raging winds... cold sweat broke out involuntarily.
“Footwork?”
“Footwork is the foundation and core of combat.”
In that instant, he vanished from sight. Precisely, he turned into golden fireflies, then reappeared beside me in a flash.
“Like this, when pressing an offensive against an enemy.”
The voice came from right beside me.
As I turned, he turned to fireflies again, reverting to human form far behind.
“Or like this, creating distance in danger to solidify defense.”
“Wow......”
“Those are just two prime examples, but its applications are truly endless.”
It really seemed so.
From that brief glimpse, I could tell how invaluable footwork was in battle.
“But I've never used it, even with combat memories.”
“Warning: don't blindly trust combat memories.”
“......?”
“Combat memories are [instincts] that emerge only in crises. They're purely supplementary.”
He pointed his Dawn Sword straight at me.
“The core of combat, Kim Baek-jun, always lies with you—your decisions.”
I swallowed dryly and nodded.
What could I argue? His mastery of combat was untouchable.
The combat memories were borrowed from him, after all.
“Now.”
He turned his gaze.
Across, to a cliff about 60 meters away. But between our cliff and that one, something odd appeared.
Floating stones.
Barely large enough to stand on. Two floated in the air, 20 meters apart.
“You must reach there in just two steps. Without shaking or falling. As if it's natural.”
“How the hell......”
The core of footwork is humanity.
Concentrate the [sensation of carving away your life force] into your feet and eyes.
“Amplify leg strength, you mean?”
“It's not physical footwork.”
“......Such footwork is possible?”
“Why use humanity? It's powered by the Dawn Sword. The second core is using 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 for [spacetime control].”
He activated 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 and stepped beyond the cliff. And.
Something unbelievable happened.
How...?
His foot was planted on a floating stone.
“The principle is compressing the space between me and the floating stone via [spacetime control].”
He held up two fingers.
“This lesson grants proficiency in two abilities. One: freely manipulating humanity. Two: wielding 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 not just with [time control], but its true power, [spacetime control].”
My eyes widened.
It would be an incredible power. If I could use that footwork he just did...!
“Focus. This is the hardest lesson, but equally core. This teaching will save your life, and the lives of those you love.”
I nodded.
He crossed back in one step.
“Let's begin. First, activate 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》, then close your eyes.”
I followed orders.
“Now, draw up your humanity and concentrate the 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》's energy into your eyes.”
The world of 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》.
Time stretched, wrapping my body in an odd floatiness.
“......Hoo.”
I slowly inhaled.
The next instant, I coldly drew up humanity from my pulsing heart. Concentrated it into my eyes.
“Good. Now open your eyes.”
What... is this?
A monochrome world unfolded.
No light, no darkness. Everything gray, like gazing at the world before creation.
“Look at the floating stone.”
“I see it.”
“Perceive the space between you and the stone. Then... slowly shrink that space. If words are hard, think of pulling the stone closer.”
Suppressing bewilderment, I focused.
Pulled the stone closer. Closer... closer... as if it were right at my feet...
...Huh?
In that instant, a miracle occurred.
Even blinking, I saw the stone drawing nearer.
“No way... for real?”
A pleased chuckle escaped.
Precisely, the space between us warped, bringing it close.
“Once space is sufficiently narrowed, concentrate humanity into your feet. Then, step onto the stone.”
Half-doubting, I extended my right foot. Stepped on the stone. ...The footing was solidly fixed.
I pulled my body onto it.
As both feet stood firm on the stone, the scenery flipped.
I was now midway between the cliffs, standing in midair.
I blanked out for a moment.
Even after experiencing it, I couldn't believe.
From 20 meters back in the valley to here—in a single step?
“Now deactivate 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 and release the humanity concentration.”
I obeyed.
Floatiness vanished, the world regained color, sensations normalized.
Then, dizzying headache.
Strength drained from my body.
I dropped to one knee, barely keeping from tumbling into the valley.
“Humanity is the power of using your life force. Naturally, it demands immense stamina and mental fortitude.”
...What kind of massive risk is that?
“But with repeated use... it tempers. Like muscle.”
The solution was simpler than expected.
As I relaxed, he raised both index fingers.
“As I said, you must wield humanity freely. And perform [spacetime control] in an instant.”
“Always in an instant?”
“Combat's fate is decided in moments. Think an enemy will wait hours?”
The [Master of the Broken Dawn] seemed to smile gently.
“Now, let's start.”