〈Episode 643〉 Thunder Sky Sword.
[…Why?]
It was a question thrown back in utter incomprehension. At his attitude—the kind that showed he had never even conceived of the possibility of refusal—Uhyeok laughed, seemingly at a complete loss.
“…Even if you ask me why….”
[No matter how deeply I ponder it, I cannot understand. Why?]
Why refuse such a good opportunity? Is he mad? Namgung Myeong’s expression said exactly that. From his perspective, it truly seemed a wonderful opportunity, but if he had to explain the reason here—
“It is because I am not a member of the Namgung Clan.”
It was a very simple reason.
Whether that lingering will was truly Namgung Myeong, and if so, why he remained in such a form to appear here—Uhyeok had no way of knowing any of it.
But if his words were all true, and he intended to bestow this under the name of a fortuitous encounter—
“I cannot accept it.”
Uhyeok had not the slightest intention of accepting it.
[Just for such a reason?]
Having heard the answer, Namgung Myeong tilted his head. The look of still failing to understand remained unchanged.
“Just a reason, you say? If it is such a fortuitous encounter and matter, I thought it only right that it be left to a descendant rather than to me.”
Had the Namgung Clan fallen and disappeared, that would be one thing. But they still served as one of the Four Great Clans, a pillar of the Central Plains.
“Furthermore… I do not know if Senior is aware, but one of your descendants resides here as well.”
Both of them were likely not in good condition, but with that friend around, he didn’t think there would be a problem.
To obtain this for himself in such a situation? That was something he could not do.
[Hmm.]
Hearing this, Namgung Myeong’s expression grew subtle.
[A descendant, you say.]
The bloodline of the Namgung Clan had come here.
Even after hearing that, his reaction remained incomparably flat. Seeing this, Uhyeok couldn’t help but feel a sense of dissonance inwardly.
“…Could it be that there was some issue with the clan?”
Unable to suppress that dissonance, Uhyeok asked, and Namgung Myeong answered with an impassive expression.
[Not particularly. It simply has nothing to do with anything.]
“What do you mean by that….”
[It means I left such lingering attachments behind long ago.]
Left his attachments behind? Did that simply mean a dead man held no lingering attachment to the clan?
Something about the meaning felt ambiguous. It was hard to see it as something so simple.
Then what meaning did it hold? For now, it was something Uhyeok could not know.
[So, you mean to refuse my offer?]
“…It is not something for me to obtain. That is my judgment.”
[You mean to refuse.]
“Yes.”
It was not something he was meant to receive.
That was Uhyeok’s thought.
[Hmm.]
Hearing such an answer, Namgung Myeong’s expression changed minutely. Was he contemplating something?
Seeing this, Uhyeok spoke to Namgung Myeong.
“If you would rather, I could guide you to the bloodline of the Namgung Clan. Once I have finished matters here….”
He was about to say he would guide him.
Rumble-!
“…!”
At the vibration coming from somewhere, Uhyeok’s head whipped around.
A vibration felt from far beyond the collapsed wall.
Moreover, it was not just a vibration—an immense aura was felt as well.
Turning his gaze instinctively, Uhyeok looked there, and his mouth fell slightly open.
“Huh…?”
The night sky was shining brightly.
It should have been pitch dark, so why was only that place under a clear sky? Furthermore, what was this aura and heat he felt now?
Feeling the heat mixed in the breeze, something flashed through Uhyeok’s mind.
‘Could it be?’
He thought of a close friend who had left in a hurry saying he had matters to attend to.
Could that heat and that white night be that friend’s doing? Such a thought occurred to him.
He wondered if such a thing was truly within the realm of human capability, yet—
‘If it’s that friend.’
He was one who always did the inexplicable, so perhaps this too was something he had done.
‘And the direction, of all things.’
It was the direction where the Ice Palace Lord’s hideout was expected to be. That such a vibration was felt from there—did it mean something had happened?
‘Then.’
Not just the Palace Lord or his friend, but had something happened to that child as well?
Strength surged involuntarily into Uhyeok’s legs.
‘I must go.’
Shouldn’t he go right now?
He couldn’t afford to delay any longer.
Fwoosh-!
Energy leaked from Uhyeok’s heart. It was a subtle sensation.
For energy to emerge from the middle dantian—it was a truly alien feeling. Yet it was familiar.
As if he had used it that way from the very beginning, he wielded the energy without burden and wrapped it around his body.
He could go.
He was certain thanks to his hardened body and the energy contained within.
He didn’t know how far his heightened realm reached compared to before, but it wouldn’t take long to reach that aura.
He had to run.
The moment Uhyeok leaned forward, having judged thus—
Whooom-!
The vibrations burst forth incessantly, then fell silent for an instant.
A strange light flickered in Uhyeok’s eyes. Was the situation over?
With that question, he looked directly ahead.
Flash-!
“…Kuk!?”
Tremendous light erupted, obscuring Uhyeok’s vision.
What was happening? Trying to force his eyes open in bewilderment—
Roaaaar---!!!
Suddenly, an enormous wind pressure crashed in.
Uwaaaah-!
Screams came from below.
Fixing his feet, Uhyeok narrowed his eyes and looked ahead.
“Huh…?”
The place where light was erupting.
Beyond the storm mixed with heat, an overwhelming sight unfolded.
His expanded vision, widened by his senses, barely captured it.
Fwoooosh-!
Something cloaked in flames.
It looked like a beast, and among them, something resembling a tiger was sweeping across the ground.
The hair all over his body stood on end as terror surged in.
The massive energy composing the tiger highlighted absolute power that made even a martial artist keenly aware.
What on earth was that? Had that friend really done that?
If it was flames, it was surely that friend. Yet something felt different.
[Hmm.]
Regardless of the wind or erupting light, Namgung Myeong, who had been watching beside Uhyeok, showed a reaction.
[That is strange.]
His gaze toward the Flame Tiger was full of questions.
[In this era… it should never be able to ascend. How has this happened?]
Namgung Myeong muttered to himself, as if he knew exactly what that Flame Tiger was.
[The seal being released is one thing. It seems an aberration has occurred.]
“Senior…?”
Uhyeok looked at Namgung Myeong, trying to ask something, but—
[This won’t do.]
Namgung Myeong’s action came first.
Sssuk-!
“!?”
Namgung Myeong’s translucent arm dug into Uhyeok’s chest.
“What is this—!”
Startled, Uhyeok tried to pull away from Namgung Myeong.
There was no pain.
Rather, he felt nothing at all. However—
Zzzzt-!
He felt faint lightning energy from the inserted arm.
He had no time to panic. The lightning energy expanded, and by the time he noticed, it had enveloped Uhyeok’s entire body.
[Lend me this for a moment.]
With those words, Uhyeok lost consciousness.
******************
Right after hearing all that explanation.
I was looking at the one before me without easing my deeply furrowed expression.
“So… you came here in that form?”
A nod.
Namgung Myeong, using Uhyeok’s body, nodded at my words.
At his nonchalant reaction, I had to drag my hand down my face.
“…Really, he’s the neighborhood drum, beaten by everyone. And now he’s gone and gotten himself hijacked again.”
A sigh was unavoidable.
After all that suffering, this time he got his body snatched by some old geezer from hundreds of years ago.
‘I really shouldn’t save him next time….’
No matter how many times I saved him, I never knew whose hands his body would fall into next, so ignoring him seemed easier now.
‘Anyway…’
I looked at my opponent through the gaps of the hand covering my face. The one standing with hands behind his back, looking somewhere.
Though it appeared to be Uhyeok’s body, as he had already introduced himself, he was not Uhyeok.
‘Namgung Myeong, the Thunder Sky Sword.’
A man also known by another epithet: the Thunder God.
Moreover.
‘The original body of the lingering will that was inside the Roea.’
The Roea that was probably now with Namgung Bia. The lingering will that had been inside it.
He had said that he was merely a lingering attachment, and the original body would be in the Northern Sea.
‘So that’s what he meant by original body.’
A lingering will that had discarded its attachment to its own clan, leaving behind only the single-minded resolve to save the world.
That was what he was.
‘Indeed.’
Something was definitely different.
The frivolous and base emotions felt from the Roea had vanished. As mentioned before, a sharp blade stood in human form.
Namgung Myeong was a man with such an aura.
“Descendant of that damned fellow.”
I reacted to Namgung Myeong’s voice. The form of address was strange, but I didn’t object.
I could tell who that damned fellow referred to without being told. And it was no strange thing that he knew my identity.
‘I know because I’ve been through it so many times.’
That he had noticed upon seeing Sin Noya’s energy within my body. Even if it weren’t Namgung Myeong, judging by the reactions of those before me, it was no longer something that could remain unknown.
“Is that your doing?”
He pointed somewhere with his fingertip, and when I followed it, there lay the charred corpse of a hundred-grade demonic beast.
“…I did not do it.”
I had tried to catch it, but ultimately failed.
“Then whose doing is it?”
“Why do you ask that?”
What intention did he have in asking?
Wariness rose. When I spoke with emotion, Namgung Myeong finally looked my way.
“Do you know what that is?”
“…Is it not a hundred-grade demonic beast?”
The highest grade among demonic beasts said to have appeared bringing disaster during the Blood Demon Great War.
Moreover, due to their bizarre and powerful forms, they were beings that had been given the name 'Dragon.'
“That is something that should not appear in this era. Moreover.”
Strength entered Namgung Myeong’s eyes slightly.
“It is something you cannot catch right now. Hence my question. How on earth was it caught?”
“…Yes?”
What was he talking about?
I understood the former, but the latter made no sense.
“Something we cannot catch?”
It was lying there dead—what did he mean, it couldn’t be caught?
“The world has cast a curse. As long as the curse exists, demonic beasts cannot be caught. That should surely be the case… If not you, then I am asking who accomplished that.”
“…!”
I flinched and trembled at Namgung Myeong’s words.
Curse.
These were words Sin Noya had once spoken.
The world had cast a curse to give this world no more chances. Because of it, unlike the past, martial artists were blocked by a descending wall and could no longer grow stronger—that was what he had said.
Did that mean it was related to what was happening now?
“A question indeed. I had kept it sealed to prepare for such a situation. Just what has happened?”
“…You had kept it sealed?”
Those words meant that hundred-grade demonic beast.
More precisely, it meant Namgung Myeong was the one who had prevented Mang from appearing.
[Just a little more…]
Mang’s words came to mind. That it would have been perfect if there were just a little more time.
This meant that not much time had passed since it had reawakened or been released.
Setting aside why he had been doing such a thing, what was important was that Mang had been released unexpectedly.
‘That means it might not have happened originally.’
It might not have been so in the previous life.
I had never heard of a hundred-grade demonic beast appearing in the Northern Sea.
Because it was such a distant place, perhaps something had happened without me knowing. I had thought so, but now a slight doubt arose.
‘If it was something that hadn’t happened in the first place?’
If the hundred-grade demonic beast itself had not appeared. If Mang had been unable to appear?
‘That means something has happened now.’
It was right to think that someone had released Mang, who had been bound in the Ice Palace.
‘Who on earth?’
Who could have caused such an event?
An inexplicable discomfort crept up.
As my mind began to spin rapidly, Namgung Myeong continued speaking while looking at me.
“Those things should not appear in the world now. The time has not yet come.”
The time had not yet come.
Namgung Myeong’s words grated on me.
“By time, do you mean when Noya… no, when the Mount Hua Sword Immortal reappears?”
“From whom did you hear that?”
“From Hwang Abulyeong.”
The lingering will of Hwang Abulyeong that had permeated Shaolin’s white carp. Those were his words.
“I see. So you have already met that friend.”
“Yes.”
Not only Hwang Abulyeong, but I had also met Dangjemun and Yeonilcheon.
Moreover.
“I have also met Senior’s other lingering will.”
“…”
When I brought up the Roea, Namgung Myeong’s face grew slightly uncomfortable.
“It is probably not far from here….”
“I know. It has been yapping noisily since earlier.”
Hm?
‘Does that mean the Roea is trying to talk?’
I recalled the Roea that had cursed its original body like a mad thing.
It seemed they could converse even here.
While I looked on as if fascinated, Namgung Myeong continued speaking to me, seemingly intent on ignoring it.
“Descendant, where is Sin Cheol?”
“…”
I had to make a displeased expression at the question about Sin Noya.
“…He is not here now.”
“Not here now? Do you mean he was here before?”
“Yes.”
He had been here before, but not now.
Hearing that explanation, Namgung Myeong’s brows furrowed deeply.
“Do you mean to say he has completely perished?”
“That is not the case. He has merely… passed to another realm.”
“I cannot understand.”
“Neither can I. It is something I don’t quite understand either… but more than that.”
I asked while looking into Namgung Myeong’s eyes.
“What you mentioned earlier. Please explain what you meant by time.”
I had heard about Sin Noya’s reincarnation several times already.
Something the heroes who foresaw the Blood Demon’s revival had prepared, worrying about the future.
Namely, the plan to reincarnate Noya at the right time.
This was something I had already heard many times and knew.
‘Including the fact that it hadn’t gone well.’
Reincarnation. I wondered how such a thing was possible, but it wasn’t my place to speak, having defied time myself.
Having experienced numerous absurd things, I had thought it wasn’t unbelievable, but…
I had learned something more important from the conversation just now.
“…Are you saying the world’s curse and Noya’s reincarnation are related?”
A curse that prevented one from growing stronger beyond a certain level.
If one was afflicted by that curse, one could not properly hunt a hundred-grade demonic beast. If that was related to Noya’s reincarnation…
‘Does it mean that if Noya had reincarnated properly, he would have been reincarnated in a state that overcame the curse?’
If so, I felt I could understand why they had so desperately wished for Noya’s reincarnation.
At my urgent question, Namgung Myeong spoke with a slight nod.
“Did you fail to hear it properly from that fellow?”
“It is because he does not know much himself.”
I had wanted to know sooner too, but Sin Noya had seemed even more eager to know than I.
Since he was someone with little memory to begin with, he had been in no state to explain anything to me.
Speaking of which, Namgung Myeong’s eyes turned strange.
“He had no memory?”
“Yes. Let alone reincarnation, he couldn’t even remember how he had been contained inside the gwimul.”
Why he had been bound inside the Mount Hua Sect’s gwimul, why his comrades had remained as lingering wills enduring until this era.
Noya had known almost nothing.
I was reminded of our mutually frustrated states, and it felt amusing.
Namgung Myeong seemed to know about this, so I had hoped my frustration might finally be resolved—
“What does that mean?”
Namgung Myeong said with a still-questioning expression after hearing my words.
I had wondered if it was so strange that Sin Noya couldn’t remember—
“Contained inside the gwimul?”
Namgung Myeong delivered a rather shocking statement to me.
“Not the Mount Hua Sect’s secret cave in Shaanxi, but the gwimul. What are you talking about?”
A cold wind swept through my chest from somewhere.