episode_0309

I continued to push through the labyrinth.

Following the endless corridor, I moved as far away as possible from the central area where I first opened my eyes. If I hit a tentacle wall, I pierced it with sword energy and moved on to the next space. Fortunately, the tentacle walls seemed considerably thinner than before.

After repeating this three or four times, the space opened up a little. It felt like I had gone from the corridor to the outside of a building. When they first trapped me, they must have tightly wrapped me in tentacles, while only loosely surrounding the outer portion.

*Gulp-*

Still, the unpleasant tentacle labyrinth remained unchanged. I continued to break down the tentacle walls and ran without rest.

“Gurgle- Creak-”

For the first time since I started running, I stopped. I felt a presence. A mass of tentacles was bulging out from the wall, alive and moving.

“Seriously… why are you doing this to me today?”

Their number wasn’t small. The tentacle walls on the outer edge were sparsely placed, apparently not to underestimate me, but to birth these monsters.

The tentacle masses lacked any particular form. If it resembled anything… it would be closest to a ‘Black Star.’ And then I realized.

‘This tentacle labyrinth itself… was a Black Star.’

Finding, consuming, destroying. The Black Star was nothing special. It’s just a cluster of black tentacles. The only problem is that it’s on a planetary scale.

When encountering monsters, there’s only one thing to do. Just as they destroy light, I, too, will destroy the darkness.

I gathered my strength and swung the Muyeong Sword. Pure white light erupted from my body. Sword energy imbued with ether sliced the black tentacles in half.

*Whoosh-*

I didn’t stop. The tentacles were still increasing. If even a small gap appeared in my swordsmanship, they would endlessly multiply before I could react.

I gathered my energy and unleashed it. A round hole was pierced through the mass of tentacles.

I launched two sword energies, overlapping them diagonally. A long horizontal line was drawn, and pieces of tentacles rained down.

Spinning my body, I made a circular cut. I sliced through all the tentacles surrounding me like mowing them down.

Even when they pressed in with an overwhelming number, I superimposed my spirit onto my body and instantly swung a thousand swords.

Leaping into the air, I shot out sword energies, evenly overlapping them like a checkerboard. I also recklessly plunged my sword into the tentacle wall and greedily absorbed magic energy.

I poured all my swordsmanship into it. I’ve already completed the 0th self-portrait, connecting this sequence of actions, nearly ten thousand times.

The Muyeong Sword was losing its light.

*Squish-*

When I had cut down almost all the approaching tentacles, I could no longer maintain even the small foothold made of ether.

I stepped onto the tentacle floor and looked around. I need to get out. I looked ahead, behind, and to either side.

“The outside… which way was it?”

The tentacle cluster had consumed more than just my ether. Ether is spirit, and spirit is mind. After the grueling battle, it was difficult for me to keep my mind clear. So much so that I couldn’t remember the direction.

I simply walked somewhere. Like a withered leaf blown away by the wind, I was powerless. My body was so heavy that even walking was difficult.

*Thud-*

The end was inevitable. My foot caught on a tentacle that jutted out from the ground. I lost my balance, fell, and my face slammed into something squishy.

The feeling of the wriggling tentacles was repulsive. But more than that, lying down on the ground was so comfortable. Strength slowly drained from my body.

Something gnawed at my now empty and drowsy body.

Darkness, deep darkness, black tentacles. Emptiness gradually eroded me, trying to turn me into the same nothingness. A void so immense that my mind grew hazy, a black universe where nothing existed.

“Ha… Haha…”

A hollow laugh escaped. My emotions were fading, resulting in my body moving against my will. My body was no longer my own.

*Crack-*

Black tentacles tore at my limbs. My flesh was ripped, and blood splattered. But my senses had long been dulled. There was no pain. In the black universe, even pain did not exist.

Slowly being consumed by the darkness, I saw the universe before creation. An empty universe where even stars had not yet formed.

That empty universe is the perfect world. The current universe, full of stars, is chaos. The void, without light or darkness, is a world with established order.

That Emptiness—

Emptiness is the most beautiful essence of this world, and I am merely an impurity that disrupts order, destruction and chaos. I desperately pray that my body and mind be broken right now and returned to nothingness, so that complete peace regarding my soul and existence may arrive. Emptiness, only emptiness, never emptiness, never emptiness…

…

…

…

*Fwush-*!

A searing pain made me open my eyes wide. Immediately, I looked down at my chest. The pure white Muyeong Sword pierced my heart.

From somewhere outside this black universe, someone had observed me and plunged the Muyeong Sword into me. The faintly connected threads of my soul drew out the resonance of the two beings, and my collapsing existence began to coalesce again.

‘…Thank you.’

Pure white light flowed out, reconstructing my severed limbs. The hole just pierced through my chest also disappeared. A considerable amount of power flowed in from my other self.

I pushed myself up from the tentacle floor. My torn clothes were falling down, but it didn’t matter.

It seems this place isn’t the real world. No matter how I continued to pierce the tentacle walls and try to get out, there was no sign of an end. Since the moment I first opened my eyes, a constant amount of magic energy has been felt around me. Everywhere felt like the center.

‘…Like the nature of the universe.’

A universe expanding faster than the speed of light can never be observed in its entirety by human capabilities. This black universe created by Eve is not physically possible.

But it’s possible in a mental world. Even in Nix’s dreams, anything could be achieved if you could imagine it. I never imagined Eve possessing such power, but what she called a ‘realm’ must have been the realm of her mind.

I can’t possibly defeat Eve mentally. I’ve only lived three lives, while Eve has repeated life and death countless times.

Moreover, she possesses the power of a demon god, so escaping this tentacle labyrinth is like observing the end of the universe. Absolutely impossible.

The premise was wrong. Trying to get out didn’t mean I would get out.

*Whoosh-*

I created a foothold with ether and leaped. My body had recovered somewhat. I raised the Muyeong Sword, pointing it in one direction. My senses had also returned, and I could feel precisely.

I need to return to where I first opened my eyes. Not the outside of this realm, but the innermost part. I have to touch that inner part.

*Slash- Swish-*!

I cut down all the tentacles that rushed at me. The collapse of my mind just now was due to Eve’s strategy of forcing a protracted battle. Knowing that, I don’t need to fight stubbornly against these tentacles.

‘…I seem to have found it.’

The number of tentacles increased the closer I got. Judging by how tenaciously they’re blocking me, the innermost part is the weakness. It’s certain. Tactilely, there are three times more tentacles trying to grab me than there were in the vast space.

‘Get out before I’m caught!’

I need to go a little faster. My legs were already running at full speed, so I thought of a different method.

Reciting the movements of Florain martial arts in my mind, I brought out my spirit clones. Three clones rose above my body.

‘Just be gentle, please.’

One of them slipped behind me. Gathering energy in his right hand, he struck my back hard.

Florain martial arts, White Ghost Strike.

*Booming-*

“Cough!”

A powerful force slammed into my spine, pushing me forward. A groan burst out. But my spiritual weight decreased and my strength increased, allowing me to move faster than before.

My body isn’t actually getting hurt. This is a mental world. If I just endure this pain, I’ll only have some aftereffects.

I gritted my teeth.

‘Once more…!!’

A second clone emerged and punched my back.

Florain martial arts, White Ghost’s Multiple Strikes.

*Bam Bam Bam Bam-*

Dozens of punches pounded my spirit. This time, I almost lost my mind. Because it focused intensely on the area around my waist to prevent my strength from being dispersed, it was far more painful.

Similarly, my real waist wasn’t harmed. I adapted to my increased speed, swung the Muyeong Sword, and cut down the tentacles in my path.

‘Last one…!!’

A third clone emerged and twisted its body. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Florain martial arts, Heavenly Soaring Strike!

*Boom!*

A pure white explosion erupted from behind me. I was propelled forward at an unbearable speed. However, the shockwave completely destroyed the tentacle wall in front of me, and I slipped through the gap into the deepest part of the tentacle labyrinth.

*Whoosh-*

At that moment, a bright light filled the surroundings. Having been in darkness for so long, I frowned. Through the slits of my strained eyes, I saw the sight of a farmhouse.

I plunged towards the farmhouse from the sky.

*Boom!!*

Even though I fell from hundreds of kilometers above, strangely, I didn’t feel any pain. Only dust rose up noisily. I got up and looked around.

A house… a very familiar house. It was exactly as it appeared in someone’s memory. I was hypnotized, opened the front door, and walked inside, out of long-standing habit.

The living room, the stairs… and a room on the second floor. The door was tightly shut. But for some reason, a pure white key was in my hand.

It seemed like it wanted me to enter.

*Click- Click- Click-*

I opened the door and went inside. The room had pure white curtains fluttering in the wind. In the center, on the bed, a young girl huddled.

A girl with pale blue hair. Her body was too big for the small child’s bed. But huddled in fear, she looked like a fragile and delicate girl.

She lifted her forehead from her knees, slowly raising her head.

“…Don’t come.”

Seeing Eve’s tear-stained face, my heart felt like it stopped beating.