SPLASH. SPLASH.
The familiar darkness stretched before me, leaving nothing visible.
It felt similar to when I had first entered the Demonic Path Academy at my father’s command to become Nameless. Once I passed through a dark cavern like this, the academy had appeared.
SPLASH. SPLASH.
Whenever I walked, I heard the soft sound of my feet stepping upon water.
How long had I been walking?
Even after walking for what felt like an eternity, nothing came into view.
WHOOOOSH!
Just as I began to hear the faint sound of wind, a purple light flickered in the distance, radiating a familiar Energy. I walked toward it, but the distance between us did not diminish.
‘Am I walking in place? Yet I cannot sense the Energy of an Illusion Technique.’
After some time, the pitch-black surroundings began to merge with the purple light.
DRIP. DRIP.
An unknown liquid fell upon my head.
It was not rain.
It was neither light nor delicate, but slightly heavy.
DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.
Before long, I sensed killing intent above my head.
Since I had no sword—
[Nameless Divine Fist, Third Technique.]
[Overturning Clouds and Rain.]
I had no choice but to attack with my hands. However, because I had not yet connected all my Dantians, the force wrapped around my fist felt somewhat unstable.
BANG!
SWISH!
At that moment, the air above my right ear stirred faintly. I quickly pulled my right shoulder back, twisted my body in a full rotation, flipped through the air, and unleashed a kick.
BANG.
The unseen killing intent easily blocked my attack before falling silent.
I had failed to regain my balance properly, so if it had attacked me then, I might have struggled to evade it. Yet it made no move and suddenly concealed its killing intent.
I raised my head and looked around above me, then lowered it again and stared straight ahead.
FWOOSH.
The purple light that had been flickering in the distance was suddenly floating before my face without the slightest warning.
Black clouds drifted above my knees in irregular directions, exuding cold Energy. The strange purple light released an incomprehensible Energy unlike anything I had ever felt in my life.
FLASH.
The purple light, which had merely flickered in the air, gradually began taking on a Human form.
It appeared in a shape resembling the image of myself I had seen through Kellick, engulfed in purple flames.
“Who are you?”
SPLASH. SPLASH.
Until then, only the sound of the wind had filled the silence.
Now, as though breaking that stillness, footsteps gradually approached.
SPLASH. SPLASH.
[Nameless Divine Fist, Fifth Technique.]
[Violent Storm.]
I unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks upon the approaching figure.
WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH.
Yet he redirected every one of the hundreds of exchanges by the narrowest margin.
‘He is strong.’
It appeared as though he was barely evading my attacks, but he was clearly watching them and dodging with ease.
My Sword Aura and Internal Energy were nowhere near their former strength, so my destructive power was limited. Even so, judging by his movements, he would have avoided my attacks even if I had regained all my power.
No one in this world could be entirely without weakness.
[Is that all?]
His voice was low like the black clouds drifting above my knees—heavy, yet hollow.
“What are you?”
I continued swinging my fists toward the source of the voice, trying to land a blow.
GRIP.
The figure, who had only evaded my attacks until then, suddenly seized my fist instead of dodging.
[Arrogant one… You exude an Energy that seeks to destroy all things.]
Tyrannical.
Seeking to shatter the heavens.
Challenging the heavens themselves.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art held such arrogance within it.
Did he know the true nature of my Internal Energy?
The moment I poured Internal Energy into my extended fist once more—
SPLASH. SPLASH.
The water beneath my feet began shaking as though an earthquake had struck.
The figure before me slowly spread both hands.
The purple darkness that had concealed everything gradually receded, and the surroundings became dyed with gray clouds so dark that they appeared almost black.
Without moving my head, I quickly surveyed the area.
Petals.
Had those petals been above my head all this time?
I instinctively looked upward.
Enormous petals were spread open as though trying to swallow me whole. The calyx connected to them was lined with massive teeth resembling those of neither a Human nor an ordinary beast.
Saliva pooled between the teeth.
Had the unknown liquid that fell upon my head earlier been saliva?
I glanced toward the place where it had fallen.
The water pooled below.
I had known it was water, but…
Countless skulls lay submerged beneath the surface.
Above me were petals so immense that their size was impossible to measure. If the petals alone were this large, I could not begin to imagine the size of the flower itself.
Had this flower devoured the skulls beneath the lake and discarded them there?
I cautiously looked at the purple Human-shaped figure.
Then this being was—
“The Flower of Death…”
[Correct. I am the seed of the flower, and I am a Spirit.]
I had never summoned him.
Had the Elves not performed a Spirit-Summoning Ritual, only for Kellick to summon me instead of a Spirit?
“I never called you.”
[That cannot be.]
Had Kellick called him before summoning me?
If so, it made sense that I knew nothing about it.
“They are performing something called a Blooming Ceremony.”
[It is nothing particularly grand. The Blooming Ceremony merely allows you to naturally sense me as you examine the Energy flowing within you more deeply.]
Was he saying that I would eventually have encountered him while performing Energy Circulation?
[I shall ask you something, one who failed to twist the heavens.]
!!!
Did he know who I was?
He approached me and spoke solemnly.
[One without will shall attempt to twist the heavens. Draw the same Formation as he did. Then pour into it a will so important that you would stake your life upon it, and call him forth.]
He reached a hand toward my face and continued.
[If your will is weak, the one without will shall not be summoned. If he appears before you engulfed in purple flames, then call for me from the depths of your heart.]
Were these the words Kellick had heard in his Oracle of the Spirit?
[If you receive the help of another, nothing shall come to pass.]
“Am I the one without will? No… I merely tried to do my utmost within the fate given to me.”
[How could one who merely sought to do his utmost within a given fate attempt to defy the heavens?]
……
I understood the meaning behind his words.
That was why my defiance of heaven had failed.
That was why I had died such a powerless death.
Kellick had given me a new life regardless of my own will.
[You lived quite an interesting life. How was it, living as a tool?]
Had he peered into the life I had lived?
The Spirits were said to be gods worshiped by the Elves. Were they perhaps beings who had achieved Immortal Ascension?
I gave no answer, but he continued as though my response did not matter.
[Following the instinct born of Mother’s wrath, I killed those who deserved death whenever I saw them. Mother was tenderhearted and ordered me to stop taking lives, but I should have defied her. After Mother died, many of the things she had protected were destroyed.]
Had this being ceased killing at the command of Hairi, the progenitor of the Elves and the Mother of Nature?
Then was his regret similar to mine?
Even when I knew the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would fall, I had done nothing because the Heavenly Demon ordered it.
[One who bears regret like mine, I am a conscious being unable to move according to my own will, while you are a person who chose not to act according to yours.]
The purple figure shaped like a Human dissolved back into a single point and slowly entered my heart.
[I shall pass my power to you. Live according to your own will in my stead. I shall watch over you from somewhere beyond.]
Kellick had also entrusted his people to me and told me to live according to my own will.
“What would you do if I answered that I do not know what I should do? Would you take my life back?”
The gray-tinted world darkened once more, and the Spirit’s voice became faint.
[If you do not know what to do, then wander until you find it. Even losing your way because you do not know what you seek is a privilege.]
As the purple light disappeared, perhaps because I had gained enlightenment, my Lower Dantian and Middle Dantian filled with as much Internal Energy as they had once held.
***
PITTER-PATTER.
PITTER-PATTER-PATTER.
RUMBLE—BANG!
FLASH.
The moment the purple Energy surrounding His Highness disappeared, rain began pouring endlessly from the sky as though a hole had opened in the heavens.
Had His Highness absorbed the Flower of Death, which had exuded that monstrous and overwhelming Energy?
Could a first-generation Spirit defeat a Dragon?
Why was I wavering again now?
RRRUMBLE.
The ground behind me trembled faintly, mirroring my state of mind, and the vibrations gradually intensified.
‘This Energy belongs to the Subspace!’
Had someone else who had been ordered by the Dragons to summon the Subspace opened it?
The instant I sensed the powerful Energy of a Dragon within it, my entire body froze cold, and I had no idea what to do.
I had imagined this situation hundreds of times, but now that it had finally arrived, my whole body began trembling.
It is the Energy of a Dragon!
Piskato betrayed us!
Everyone, prepare for battle!
Piskato did not possess much Energy, so the Subspace would be small and would not remain open for long.
“Nature has abandoned us—AARGH!”
Piskato died before he could utter more than a brief scream.
There are traitors among us!
Protect His Highness!
The Elves fell into chaos, unable to decide what to do.
Among the traitors I knew, the strongest was…
LOOK. LOOK.
‘Shimeron.’
I looked toward Shimeron, who was kneeling in the distance.
He had been scanning the surroundings with wary eyes when our gazes met.
Since he also knew that I had betrayed the kingdom, he slowly nodded at me with a tense expression.
What did that nod mean?
Was he going to carry out the plan?
Had he also been ordered to summon the Subspace?
Time seemed to slow as I saw his hands lowering toward the ground.
DASH!
Before I realized it, I was running toward him so hard that my heart felt ready to burst.
Why…?
The moment he attempted to summon the Subspace, I seized his arm, strained my voice, and rapidly shouted,
“Shimeron, Helion, Sharn, Rive, Lakishu, and Kesera are traitors!!”
“N-No… Doidra… You too…”
Shimeron, standing directly before me, looked at me in shock.
I was also a traitor.
I did not know why I was doing this.
SPLAT!
Shimeron’s head exploded before my eyes under a magical attack.
“Thank you, Doidra!”
The Elves moved quickly and began guarding the surroundings.
“There may be more traitors!”
RRRUMBLE!
It is a Dragon!
The Subspace has been summoned!
SWISH.
I turned toward the screams announcing the Dragon’s arrival.
THUD. THUD.
‘A Dragon.’
FWOOSH!
“Stop it!”
So they had summoned a Dragon after all.
In the distance, I saw Kesera muttering with both hands pressed against the ground.
DASH!
Damn it!
I did not know why I was running to stop them.
PING.
At that moment, someone fired a burst of Energy into my heart.
THUD.
“AARGH!!!”
Blood poured from my mouth as I turned toward the direction from which the attack had come.
There stood Rik, my friend since childhood.
Yet instead of the bright smile he always wore when he looked at me, his face was filled with helpless anguish.
“Rik…?”
“Doidra… Forgive me… The Ellar Kingdom cannot win.”
Rik was also a traitor?
I had expected there to be traitors I did not know about.
But I had never imagined one of them would be my friend.
[Bloom!!]
I gathered every trace of the Energy flowing through my heart and fired it at Rik.
TING.
Rik deflected the Spirit Energy I had released.
Tears streamed down his face as he raised a trembling hand and fired Energy toward my head.
PIERCE.
Rik’s knees seemed to tilt sideways.
THUD.
Ah.
Was it because I had fallen that he appeared tilted?
Ha ha ha ha ha.
Damn it!!
Why?
Why…
My vision gradually grew hazy.
Within that fading sight, I heard a distant voice.
“Father… Can we truly win?”
This was…
It must have been from the time after my wife and daughter were taken by the Dragons, when I had lived like a broken man.
I had volunteered for a mission to force myself to forget the painful memories, then returned to the Ellar Kingdom to deliver my report.
That was the day I spoke with my father.
“It will be difficult…”
“Then what are you risking your life for?”
“The future… will not flee from you until you let it go.”
“Father… I… I want to run away…”
“Once you begin running, you will continue running forever.”
Was this what they called seeing one’s life flash before one’s eyes?
Father…
I am sorry.
I…
I did nothing but run away.