22. Monstrosity (2)
The Ghost Cry was an anomaly born from the screams of ghosts.
But there was something far more terrifying than that—a sound so dreadful it could make even that seem cute by comparison.
Have you ever heard the scream of a forest?
It was probably during Iris's growth phase.
That was the moment when the [Vampiric Demon Sword] she wielded had just evolved into the [Predatory Extreme Demon Sword].
Iris herself had ascended to the realm of Sword Master and begun walking the true path of demonic arts.
"Those repulsive little elves have fled from ye and hidden beneath the skirts of the Earth Mother God!"
Iris's enemy was nature itself.
The great forest that sheltered the elves.
It was the home of the World Tree, the Earth Mother God who had lived through eons, and the true homeland of the elves.
Demon worshipers had originally corrupted the [World Tree] to create a horrific monster, but to prevent that in advance, I had sent Iris into the World Tree's forest.
"Begone from my forest at once, you butcher who commands cruel fiends!"
The World Tree bellowed.
The entire great forest turned against Iris alone and roared in unison.
Even in its uncorrupted state, the World Tree was no pushover.
The ages the Earth Mother God had lived became her profound experience, putting Iris in a bind.
Back then, Iris couldn't cut down everything yet.
Swaaaaa—.
The whole forest resonated, driving out Iris's fiends.
The thunderous chorus filled with the life force of great nature symbolized divinity itself, annihilating the fiends without a chance to fight back.
At that time, her fiends were mere summons, only a hundred in number.
—To ye, fiends are but limbs. Become nourishment for ye, you old tree!
Iris fought alone.
She set the forest ablaze and chopped down trees.
But that was all.
With the World Tree, the source of life, at its heart, nature shared its power endlessly, regenerating without end.
After grinding away for about ten trillion times here, I found the answer.
What if we just devour the sound too?
Even the sounds of nature had to have a source.
I used the [Advice] system to inform Iris of this possibility.
"Sword, what do you mean by having the fiends devour the sound?"
This was before she referred to herself as a 'girl'.
I was still a teenager back then.
"Devour... eat..."
Anyway, at that moment, Iris gained her own enlightenment.
"Sound is formless. What if I teach the fiends the power to slash the formless? Ha! Ye is a genius."
In the end, Iris annihilated the elves and devoured the Earth Mother God.
She fed the entire eastern great forest to her fiends.
Thus laying the foundation for the [Million Fiends] legion I had planned.
Iris, who cuts anything. Fiends, who devour anything.
And now.
In Gwacheon's Ghost Cry.
With [Sword 2, Iris Luzvela] sheathed, I passed through the passage opened by the baby sword, enveloped in omnipotence.
I had infiltrated a [Black Gate] not yet revealed to the world.
Kiiiiiiii—.
A chilling noise greeted me first.
And then—
Paat!
You have entered [Ghost Cry].
The information about this place appeared a beat late.
I expanded my senses with transcendent cognition.
The world of ghosts shrouded in purple mist came into sharp focus.
This was a place filled with screams, death, and ghosts.
Land where humans could not survive.
Kiiiiii—.
Especially that horrific noise, like nails on a chalkboard, stood out prominently.
In other words, the essence of this entire space was sound.
That's why memories of Iris resurfaced.
The World Tree was nature.
In contrast, Ghost Cry was ghosts.
Their natures were opposites, but they both attacked intruders with sound.
Kiiiiiii—!!!
Ghost Cry, the screams of ghosts, as the name implied.
The intent to annihilate me followed those screams, spreading intensely.
If this Gate appears and these screams spread to the world—
If Ghost Cry fully manifested, ordinary people would surely go mad.
Seocho-gu's land prices were already crashing, but the whole area would become uninhabitable.
Of course, it did nothing to me.
Such things were meaningless to a transcendent like me.
The same went for Iris.
Swaa—.
The massive red greatsword in my hand scattered blood mist.
A red sphere enveloped my body.
To protect me.
Obviously not my power—
Iris expressing her delight to me.
Even amid this, Ghost Cry's screams grew louder, trying to constrict around me.
I waited calmly for Iris's words without worry.
Back then, I had no such intention.
I had simply over-immersed in the girl abandoned by her family and rejected by the world.
Best not to explain.
Unlike with Reinhardt, I chose silence this time.
Flexibility in the right moments was key.
My swords weren't ordinary, after all.
Enough chit-chat.
I nodded appropriately and said,
"Devour it."
With those words—
Kuung—.
The world stopped.
Or felt like it.
[5/100], five seconds of omnipotence.
One second spent on talk, four left.
Splitting and splitting it created an eternity.
That was my transcendent cognition.
Time to spare.
Over the red veil around my body, massive monsters began to appear.
The summoning of the Million Fiends.
Enormous heads with massive mouths splitting horizontally.
The fiends opened their maws.
Tzueuk—.
Crude, gigantic teeth chewed the empty air.
Devouring the ghosts' screams.
Woooaaaaah—!!!
The fiends roared in triumph.
Then they began devouring everything that made up this space.
Sound, mist, ghosts' shadows, terrain, objects—every presence and trace.
In Raise a Sword, the [Abyss] often had rules or clear conditions.
Similar to the quest to eliminate the source for the complete destruction of the [Red Sea].
What's the difference between Black and Red?
Until recently, all Gates on Earth were Red.
Experiencing it firsthand, it felt similar.
The Red Sea was a phenomenon, and Ghost Cry's screams were the same kind.
The difference...
Difficulty.
The Red Sea started as a small sea.
Cult leader Gye Man-hwi had grown it.
This Ghost Cry was immense in its natural state.
So, Black Gates were an upgraded version of Red Gates.
Doesn't matter to me.
Gate levels meant nothing to me.
No need to worry about rules either.
Sword 2 Iris ignored all such rules and order with her power to cut anything and devour anything.
Obviously, as I had raised her that way.
The other swords are similar.
My swords ignored all laws from Gates, able to kill any anomalies and monsters eroding reality.
Meaning I could too.
One regrettable point—
Demon worshipers.
I understood the Gate's change.
Unfortunately, no info on demon worshipers.
All I knew was they gained power through corruption.
To investigate, I'd have to do it myself.
Like discovering the Black Gate.
No worries, though.
Baby sword.
One more small, precious sword with infinite potential.
The power of [Chaos].
Known abilities so far—
<The power to split space and connect to places in different phases.>
That much.
Growing this baby sword and finding new builds might grant infinite, unknowable power someday.
————.
Silence descended on the <Ghost Cry>.
A perfect soundless zone.
As if nothing had ever been there, the four directions fell utterly still.
And four seconds passed.
With Iris's farewell, the red greatsword's form vanished.
The small, precious baby sword was in my hand.
And...
Paat!
You have cleared the [Black Gate].
You have not selected the baby sword's trait.
Select a trait to unlock new abilities.
Messages appeared before my eyes.
Because the good-evil balance was broken, I hadn't chosen the baby sword's 'trait' yet.
I quickly checked the sword's traits.
———————
1. Time
2. Space
When the balance leaned toward [Good], traits like [Path of Divinity] appeared, but now at 50:50, fitting traits for the baby sword showed up.
Time or space.
Choosing time would let me use second-unit omnipotence more efficiently.
Space?
No idea.
The baby sword's chaos could already split space.
So I chose [Time].
Efficiency in second-unit omnipotence was more important.
But making my dilemma pointless—
Paat!
Select the baby sword's trait for Lv5 perk.
After the delayed choice, another chance came.
———————
1. Space
Ridiculously, only [Space] remained.
I selected the baby sword's trait.
Thus gaining two traits: time and space.
Chaos, holy demon sword, time, and space...
Meant to use space-time slash or something?
Many questions, but I'd learn the new power gradually. Now for the [Black Gate] reward.
Swaa—.
A massive plaza had appeared unnoticed.
Despite slaying the Korean anomaly Ghost Cry, the plaza felt like medieval Europe.
Rustic yet neat brown bricks.
And in the center, an altar.
Wuuung—.
On the altar gleamed a multicolored, iridescent stone fragment.
Mystery.
But...
Why so much?
Not as pure as the chunk from the Red Sea, but at least 500g.
Could sell for a fortune, endless uses even for me—should be thrilled, but—
Black Gates increase Mystery output?
It felt like an omen of a harsher world ahead.
* * *
Experience the bizarre and anomalous.
Overcome it.
The conditions for awakening everyone knew.
—Is the Ghost Cry really gone? For real?
And the bizarre and anomalous sometimes became monsters invading reality.
Among them, particularly anomalous were gate-less erosions like 'Ghost Cry'.
But...
Hours after Shin Si-woo headed to Ghost Cry, change occurred.
The top culprit burying Seoul National University, Korea's #1, was the <Ghost Cry> covering Gwacheon to Gwanak Mountain.
It was gone.
In just hours.
Gate-less erosion.
The anomaly vanished.
Korea erupted in excitement.
Starting with citizens owning homes in Gwacheon and Seocho-gu—
Residents of Jamsil's Lotte Tower, turned dragon's nest.
Gangwon residents suffering from pollution monsters China sent over the 38th parallel.
Even residents of Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, trapped in darkness.
Everyone brimmed with hope.
Soon, that hope spread beyond Korea to the world.
Ended gate-less erosion?
Even Jesus couldn't.
* * *
Right after I handled <Ghost Cry>, Director Kang Mu-jin and President Lee Seok-hyun summoned me.
Passing through [Black Tortoise]'s gate led straight to the presidential office.
"This means we can reclaim much of the territory we gave up on."
"Si-woo, you are this nation's hope!"
The two looked at me, their gazes warmer than parents beholding a grown child.
Especially President Lee Seok-hyun's eyes held a faint madness.
He's grown a lot.
Though still fuzzy, the president's bald pate had thickened considerably.
The effect of the [Sublime Celestial Cradle] I spread across all of Korea continued.
"Truly a miracle of god."
Noticing my gaze, the president said sheepishly.
Miracle of god.
Not a phrase I welcomed.
When devouring Ghost Cry, I poured all power into Iris.
Her manifestation rose from 5 to 8.
With divinity filling just by breathing, no worries... or so I thought.
"People keep deifying me—can't you stop it?"
The whole nation talking about me triggered [Infinite Divinity] and [Divine Body].
Yuria's gauge rising might break the baby sword's balance again.
"Si-woo, think about what you've done."
Then Kang Seol-ah noona, calmly by my side, spoke.
"Handled the Red Sea flood, became Jesus's brother—thanks to that, we're America's top ally post-Gate crisis, right?"
"..."
Couldn't deny with all I'd done.
Seemed I'd need to keep feeding the baby sword evil things to balance it.
"So, what's the main point?"
Calling me via [Black Tortoise] gate meant a major issue.
To my question, Seol-ah noona explained naturally.
I couldn't hide my shock.
The government solved my pressing problem.
"You captured a demon worshiper alive?"