Chapter 211
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: Within the Count's Memories
Within Count Rataren's memories.
The presence of Sheiks existing within them, along with the familiar flow of qi permeating this place.
At first, it should have been shocking beyond belief.
The current locus of his consciousness was already within a timeline that had vanished.
Thus, he had assumed there would be no flow of qi at all—and indeed, he hadn't sensed any.
But when Sheiks used runes to tear open space...
The frozen flow of qi in this vanished time was forcibly set in motion.
'Demon King runes... Just what in the world are they?'
The martial world and reality.
The shock of all common sense he knew crumbling across the board sent chills racing over Yong-un's entire body.
For the halted time and qi flow to resume with nothing more than the characters known as Demon King runes.
The impact hit him like a bolt of lightning, and at the same time, Yong-un felt a tidal wave of excitement, like a sage who had discovered a new truth.
And then, as he discerned the rules within this peculiar qi flow, exploited them in reverse, and recombined space...
Yong-un experienced an indescribable pinnacle of joy.
'Is this the end of martial arts that warriors pursue?'
A miracle that went beyond merely confining qi within the body—not stopping there, but forcibly awakening the stagnant qi that refused to flow.
Yes, this was a miracle.
The Heavenly Brain Sage—no, Yong-un—had pursued the pinnacle of martial arts beyond mere vengeance.
All these phenomena were Yong-un's dream, his ideal, now made reality.
Thud. Thud.
Even if he returned to being a mere practitioner of these laws, how could he not question it?
The spatial laws that even Sheiks, who existed within halted time, could not unravel.
They resembled the flow of qi described in the Heavenly Brain Sage's nameless manual.
How could he, a martial artist who had fully mastered that manual, ignore it?
"Answer me, Sheiks."
Yong-un's question shook Sheiks to his core, and compelled by the law that demanded he speak the truth, Sheiks finally parted his tightly sealed lips.
"You know."
Was this a truth he was meant to hide until the end?
The very act of voicing what he shouldn't had made Sheiks forget his turn to tear space open.
"Who is the Heavenly Brain Sage?"
"Enough..."
Yong-un's relentless questioning forced even Sheiks—the creator of this space—into a sequence that unraveled the law itself.
Runes not found even in Count Rataren's memories, which had enabled fluent demonic speech, formed in Sheiks' hand.
The halted qi flow began rewinding once more.
As if time itself were reversing, the torn spaces returned to their original state.
Suddenly, runes hanging on the wall—previously hidden by the vanished space—came clearly into Yong-un's view.
"Someone slightly different was waiting, they said... So it was you."
The sensation of time rewinding wasn't limited to the surrounding space.
One of Sheiks' arms, standing perfectly intact until moments ago, began to slowly fade away.
"The price for forcibly removing the law."
"You're truly bizarre. How does a mere human know so much?"
The flow of qi twisted.
This place, akin to the truths inscribed in the Heavenly Brain Sage's nameless manual.
The distortion in qi caused by the forcible severance of that familiar flow manifested in Sheiks' vanishing arm.
Yong-un knew what came next without needing to see it.
The arm lost as the price of the law could not be healed, even by a demon's absurd regenerative power.
Like the Extreme Severing Heavenly Sword described in the Heavenly Brain Sage's manual, which severed existence itself, Sheiks' arm was gradually fading from being.
And once that single arm had completely vanished, the smoothly flowing qi came to a complete halt once more, just as it had been upon their initial arrival here.
"You judged losing one arm preferable? To revealing who the Heavenly Brain Sage is?"
"Interpret it as you will. I have nothing more to say."
Whoosh.
A dark hole formed beneath Sheiks.
Like sinking into a swamp, Sheiks began to seep into the dark void.
"We'll meet again soon. Not as mental bodies, but flesh against flesh."
With those final parting words, Sheiks—missing an arm but wearing a smile—slowly vanished into the hole.
Yong-un stared intently at the departing Sheiks.
Sheiks, whom he had intended to handle himself, like the Royal Class called the Light of Dreams.
Yet instead, Sheiks had been exploited by the law, lost an arm, and handed over a wealth of information to Yong-un.
"I've certainly learned much..."
But Yong-un was not satisfied.
Bam!
Within Count Rataren's memories.
Yong-un kicked off the ground, his form appearing before Sheiks, whose body was now two-thirds overtaken.
"There's still more than one or two things I need to know."
A vanished incident where the qi flow had halted.
In this space where even the laws had vanished and nothing existed, Yong-un summoned his extreme intent with all his might.
And then.
Grab!
"What are you—"
Just as he had done to Count Rataren, Yong-un placed his hand on Sheiks' head.
Sheiks immediately tried to swat Yong-un's arm away.
But his two arms, already sunk into the hole, wouldn't budge no matter how he struggled.
Exploiting that opening, Yong-un's hand rested on Sheiks' head, locking eyes with him as he unleashed the gathered extreme intent.
'Soul Enslavement Art.'
Just as it had permeated this space before.
The supreme Soul Enslavement Art, heedless of whether it turned the target into an idiot, was unleashed at full power against the high-ranking demon who seemed to know so much.
Toward Sheiks.
Twitch. Twitch.
Yong-un's body, seated cross-legged on the sofa, jerked violently.
That wasn't all.
His hands moved, scribbling runes into empty air.
His consciousness clearly hadn't returned.
Yet the moving hands and the runes embroidered in the air made the Mercenary King guarding him grimace deeply.
"This doesn't look good."
Worry clouded the Mercenary King's face.
"Please, don't let it be."
Because the current state eerily mirrored the time the second Royal Class, the Light of Dreams, had vanished.
The Light of Dreams had been exactly like this.
His body convulsing wildly as he scrawled runes, only to vanish without a trace with a sudden pop!.
Those memories resurfaced in the Mercenary King's mind.
"It's too identical..."
It was a spitting image.
He feared that if this continued, his long-cherished hope—the final solution to his homework—might slip away.
Grip.
In that moment, the Mercenary King unconsciously moved.
He seized the collar of the convulsing, rune-scrawling Yong-un and hoisted him up.
'Absolutely do not touch me.'
Ignoring Yong-un's warning, identical to the Light of Dreams' words.
"Hraaaah!"
With a thunderous roar, the Mercenary King slammed Yong-un onto the sofa with all his strength.
And then.
"Huuuugh!!"
Like forcing air into withered lungs, Yong-un bolted upright with a gurgling rasp.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Yong-un, who rarely breathed hard even in fierce battles or blood-boiling wars.
But now, his breaths came ragged, sweat pouring from his entire body.
"You okay?!"
Relieved that Yong-un hadn't vanished, the Mercenary King grabbed his shoulders—still dazed—and shook him vigorously.
Yong-un grimaced fiercely, seized the Mercenary King's collar, and slammed him to the floor.
Thud!
The massive two-meter frame made the living room floor creak and dip.
The impact was so fierce it cracked the concrete beneath the flooring.
"Urgh..."
The Mercenary King winced at the blow.
But Yong-un's following words left him speechless.
"I told you not to touch me!! You made me lose it! I had it, and you made me lose it!!"
Yong-un raged furiously.
The Mercenary King could only look at him apologetically.
Sheiks had never anticipated that Yong-un would forcibly restart the qi flow in that halted place and turn the Soul Enslavement Art on himself.
Let alone that he would exploit an opening where defense was impossible.
That was the fatal mistake.
Even as a mental body in a vanished timeline, with souls connected...
He couldn't block Yong-un's Soul Enslavement Art, unleashed at full power with the qi flow reactivated.
"Gaaahhh!!!"
Sheiks, who always exuded the lofty pressure of a high demon, screamed in agony.
And the memories within Sheiks' unfolded soul.
"Cough!"
After mastering the supreme technique Extreme Severing Heavenly Sword, his extreme intent had grown further.
Never had his body been pushed to such extremes since.
Was that why?
The excessive outburst of inner energy, depleting all his extreme intent, brought Yong-un pain so intense he gritted his teeth.
Grind.
But Yong-un didn't let go.
Pain that would make an ordinary person writhe and scream.
For Yong-un, who had lived as a demon elite of the Heavenly Demon Cult, it was bearable at least until unconsciousness.
Whoosh.
The memories within Sheiks' soul imprinted into Yong-un's brain via the connected extreme intent.
His head felt like it would split open.
The memories of a human living a century differed vastly in volume from a demon's, potentially millennia.
"Sheiks, I'm proud of you! The first of the Shadow Clan chosen by the Demon King... Incredible!"
"When can I meet the Demon King?"
"Only one demon across the entire demon realm knows the Demon King's face."
"In the end, I never met him... The sole demon who knows the Demon King's face—that will be me."
Numerous memories flashed by rapidly.
Fragmented flows of recollection.
Among them unfolded the longed-for knowledge of countless runes.
"Your brilliant mind earned the Demon King's favor. Here—most of the Demon King runes bestowed by His Majesty. Study them and fulfill your ambitions."
Whoosh.
From the contract-related Demon King runes in Count Rataren's memories.
To entirely unfamiliar Demon King runes.
Vast quantities imprinted into Yong-un's mind like ink spilled on paper.
And at the book's end, the Demon King rune that Royal Classes had long coveted as their ultimate wish caught his eye.
Yong-un focused with utmost concentration to memorize that one.
But right then.
"I win, human..."
Sheiks' voice echoed quietly.
Something felt off.
"You... I will tear you apart. Sword Demon."
In that instant.
Boom!
A massive shock obliterated all extreme intent, forcibly severing the barely maintained Soul Enslavement Art with Sheiks.
Having fully regained his senses, Yong-un organized the memories gained from Sheiks.
Within the vanished Count Rataren's memories.
He recalled the meanings of most runes hanging on the wall.
But one alone.
Flutter.
The rune drawn on paper spread across the table—the crucial one Sheiks had refused to answer about.
No matter how he ransacked his memories, it eluded him.
"This means time, and this one spirit?"
The Light of Dreams had revealed meanings for many runes left behind.
The Mercenary King, apologetic, carefully transcribed each one.
Sorry was sorry, but important was important.
Yong-un nodded, and the Mercenary King tucked away the now-meaningful runes.
And the last remaining rune.
"This is the one I missed."
Regret was plain on the Mercenary King's face.
Yong-un glared at him and said,
"Yes."
"I-I'm sorry... I truly am. I thought I'd lose you like the Light of Dreams. I'm apologizing again like this."
The Mercenary King knelt before Yong-un.
Then bowed deeply, forehead to the floor.
"Then you have to grant whatever I ask next, no exceptions. I can't just let it slide."
"But... if we go back in, couldn't we see it again...?"
"Can't go back now. He's gone into hiding."
Killing intent flickered across Yong-un's face.
The Mercenary King slammed his forehead to the floor again and shouted,
"I'll do as you wish! I swear it unconditionally!"
"I'll interpret the final rune myself. Now go."
"Got it! Thank you! I'll talk to our alliance to make sure you become a Royal Class—I'll make them lend their full strength!"
"Go."
"Thanks! Truly, thank you!"
His business done, the Mercenary King bolted out.
The door closed, his presence faded.
"Haa..."
Left alone, Yong-un collapsed onto the sofa.
And then...
"He read it too, huh."
His grimace deepened further.
Just before the Soul Enslavement Art was forcibly severed.
Sheiks' words lingered unshakably in Yong-un's mind.
'He definitely said... Sword Demon.'
A name from the martial world that only family would know.
Thus, Yong-un fell into uneasy sleep, exhaustion overtaking him.