Tomb

Grudge begins revealing terrible lingering attachment as if resisting light.

Yuliver’s light flashes ominously as if to fulfill his vow even after death.

[Sal… vation…]

Spirits who ascended to the Netherworld harbor lingering attachment to life but often end in simple regret.

But souls that refused death like Yuliver fall into resentment, taking root in specific mediums and emanating grudges.

Souls fallen into resentment don’t ascend to the Netherworld even when lingering attachment is washed away.

Wandering the mortal world together with lingering attachment until souls wear away is typical.

But Pernok had one method to save even resentment.

‘I stimulate Yuliver’s trauma like this.’

Purifying this terrible resentment with overwhelming spiritual power.

But now the Synchronization Rate is low so he can’t draw spiritual power to the degree of erasing resentment.

Therefore, he must shave down resentment so purification ritual becomes possible with current spiritual power.

‘I make resentment contained in that lingering attachment spew out until roots surge up.’

Resentment also doesn’t recover like spiritual power and mana.

The more Yuliver continuously spews resentment, only more resentment is consumed.

‘At this rate roughly 30 minutes. Even just enduring seems like all resentment will ignite but…’

Pernok opened all mana.

‘…You refuse the easy path.’

Resentment filling the space was sucked into Yuliver and reconstructed like solid armor.

A form where resentment endlessly circulates so it doesn’t naturally consume.

To break this, there’s no choice but to find the circulating ring and destroy it.

‘Exact center of chest. That core must be destroyed for all resentment to ignite.’

Yuliver didn’t even permit thoughts of just buying time moderately.

Collision became inevitable, and his lingering attachment now bursts as angry shouts.

[There is no salvation on this land!]

Was it responsibility for not protecting the Knight King?

Or did he recall the nation’s last moments heading to ruin?

Resentment foul to the degree of stinking raised ripples in the tomb.

CRASH!

Bang!

Simultaneously with Yuliver’s hand trembling, Pernok activated the artifact.

But before ice covered him, it shattered to pieces by something sharp.

‘An artifact handling wind. It was called Ominous Wingbeat.’

The distance between Yuliver and Pernok was roughly 50 meters.

But Yuliver’s artifact handles wind.

‘Worthy of praise as one nation’s sword with greatsword technique alone, but the real thing is wind entering with consecutive strikes behind.’

Wind from the artifact penetrates irregularly with time difference following the greatsword’s trajectory.

Even dodging body once, they died unable to cope with consecutive attacks.

Pernok knows that eeriness, so as soon as he saw Yuliver’s preliminary motion, he overlaid even physical enhancement type magic on Mana Reinforcement.

BOOM!

It was the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously with Pernok leaping left, long sword marks appeared where he was.

If he hadn’t seen the artifact’s flow with the Observation Eye, his neck might have been cut.

But the shadow before his eyes was too thick to feel relieved at dodging.

Clang!

Yuliver who approached before he knew it struck the greatsword down vertically.

Pernok tried to block with the artifact wrapped in ice, but it broke like crystal without withstanding one stroke.

‘Many thought strong sword was the advantage seeing Yuliver’s build and greatsword. But Yuliver’s true sword is quick sword style accelerating with wind.’

Until reorganizing posture, mixing wind into the greatsword and striking down took one second.

Clang!

Just barely dodging, consecutive strikes continued.

Grrrrrtttt!

Though the Knight King’s memories and Observation Eye combined, barely dodging is at most.

Even capturing gaps, speed of the body reaching counterattack is insufficient.

When Pernok stretches his arm once, Yuliver’s greatsword moves four times.

Even overlaying level 4 enhancement type magic, this speed is the limit.

Now remaining enhancement type magics are only 5.

‘I need a weapon that won’t break colliding head-on.’

Pernok glanced at the stone coffin beyond Yuliver.

‘Only one chance.’

The moment blade wind surged from Yuliver’s greatsword, Pernok cast a magic fire pillar on the front.

Though fire pillars blazing while swirling, Yuliver split it without hesitation.

Though magic went out poof, Pernok wasn’t visible.

Yuliver threw the greatsword without even looking back.

Bang!

A stone wall surged and blocked the greatsword.

Pernok immediately overlaid freezing on the stone wall, but Yuliver rather kicked the greatsword and broke the barrier.

Thud! Bang!

As soon as gripping the greatsword, when drawing a semicircle, wind spread like a crescent moon shape.

Though Pernok used fire balls, wind didn’t go out.

Since there was no way to dodge from the ground, Pernok quickly jumped.

Simultaneously he wildly fired various nature type magics like a shower.

Scrape!

One sharp sound splitting air split everything.

Nature type magics surging split in two, and before he knew it Yuliver who jumped split Pernok’s body in half.

Resentment surged.

Killed.

As if shouting he erased the irksome uninvited guest who stimulated him from this place.

However.

Gggrrrrkkkk!

Following the eerie sound, Yuliver’s gaze turned downward.

Pernok who should have definitely been cut was fine opening the coffin.

[Water Mirror Lv.4]

Reflects self in water to make an identical self.

Replicates appearance and mana, everything identically.

Cannot move, but when released mana explodes.

The moment Yuliver felt boiling mana and tried to descend to the ground.

Pernok’s body split in half transforms into blue slime and bursts contained mana.

BOOM!

Yuliver blocked the shock itself by covering the explosion with wind.

But during that instant he let his guard down.

Pernok finally opened the stone coffin and met the Knight King’s last moments.

“…”

Only one rusty ring was placed there.

Though a tomb, remains didn’t exist from the start.

The Knight King’s body received ‘Ash Curse’ emitted by calamity and turned to dust simultaneously with being moved here.

Before it Yuliver cried out, the Knight King’s soul had to see his loyal subordinate covered in grudge from grief, and only the artifact he used remained.

“The First.”

Pernok lifted the ring.

A weapon growing together with its owner.

This special artifact transforms into weapon form the owner desires. And weapon hardness is proportional to the owner’s strength.

Classified into total 3 stages, even releasing only stage 1 activates self-repair function without special management.

But the point making this artifact stand out is that it absorbs energy bursting each time colliding and amplifies it into intense strikes.

Over Impact.

Strikes exceeding even the owner’s limits led the Knight King to a unique realm.

“It doesn’t inherit to stages the previous owner released.”

Pernok erected stone walls of several dozen layers before him.

Bang bang bang!

Ignoring Yuliver rampaging ferociously, he fitted The First on his index finger.

Whoong!

The First melted into his finger while sticking and recognized Pernok as the new owner.

A feeling like body and metal complexly entangling with each other.

Recalling what the Knight King once said, Pernok activated The First.

Imagining sword form, the ring spread as faint light powder then gathered in his palm and made an excellent black longsword.

Bang!

Yuliver who broke the last stone wall stiffened while highly raising the greatsword.

His light facing the black longsword wavered for a moment.

[My… Lord…?]

An amazing thing.

Resentment tied here calmed surging emotions even for just a moment.

Pernok aimed the longsword, paying respect to Yuliver’s noble mental strength.

[N… o… Kugh… No… I said no!]

Pernok burst undulating waves on the front and wrapped remaining enhancement magic around legs and arms.

And he collided the longsword with Yuliver’s greatsword easily splitting waves.

Bang!

Rather Pernok who swung the sword bounced away, rolling on the floor before straightening posture again.

A huge shadow already loomed above his head but he didn’t care.

Clang!

He blocked Yuliver’s greatsword struck down with both hands with the longsword.

Instantly, Yuliver’s resentment wavered.

Because he knows the cause of this phenomenon.

Divine Impact.

The fundamental reason for praising The First as the king’s sword.

The First made of the first and only metal has the nature of absorbing all artifacts’ flows.

And this steals flows each time colliding with artifacts and uses them as energy source for releasing its own limits.

[Why… why…!?]

Yuliver’s greatsword noticeably slowed.

All wind flow was sucked into The First.

That mighty power forcibly drew The First’s stage 1 release that was impossible with current Pernok.

Whooong!

Graceful patterns bloom on the black longsword.

Now in this world where special metal disappeared, it devours superior artifacts remaining together with The First and draws light.

Before he knew it, Pernok began rather overwhelming Yuliver.

He thoroughly knows his swordsmanship, and even blocks artifact flow with Divine Impact.

Pure weapon technique capability alone doesn’t reach Pernok who even uses magic.

Bang bang bang bang!

Persistently following Yuliver continuously pushed back, Pernok displayed the Knight King’s swordsmanship.

[My… Lord… Brother…]

Cracks begin in resentment circulation, and Yuliver gradually regaining reason unfolds greatsword technique as if drawn to something.

Eventually the two people’s swordsmanship entangles amicably like brothers who matched coordination for a long time.

[Brother…]

The Knight King and Yuliver were war orphans.

The Knight King directly carried and raised Yuliver emaciated from having nothing to eat.

The two people began passing through battlefields together like blood brothers.

The Knight King had special talent to mimic others’ weapon techniques at one glance, and Yuliver possessed ability to optimize weapon techniques the Knight King mimicked to each person.

The two people’s swordsmanship was finely divided but ultimately one in the big frame.

When Yuliver’s greatsword was loaded on familiar trajectory as if reminiscing memories, Pernok added new flow and changed the sword once.

Clang!

Yuliver’s greatsword bounced up, and toward the momentarily opened gap Pernok burst the light he gathered.

Divine Impact.

Condensed energy exploded at exact center of Yuliver’s chest.

Bang!

Yuliver staggered back.

Though chest bones broke and fell, light propping his body with the greatsword and raising his head conveyed indescribable lingering attachment.

[How… My brother’s sword…]

When resentment circulation broke, finally purification’s moment arrived.

Pernok loaded all spiritual power at the sword’s end and pushed it into where circulation broke.

His high purity spiritual power accelerated Yuliver’s cracks.

Releasing him so he can no longer remain here as grudge.

“Above this is the answer you desire.”

[Above…?]

“That was the promise.”

To Yuliver whose light grew faint, Pernok stuck in the sword.

* * *

“Yuliver… Yuliver…!”

At a voice longed for even in dreams, Yuliver opened his eyes.

It was a world like wasteland.

Surely he exchanged swords with a stranger, but where is this place?

Yuliver who wondered discovered a long procession of spirits below the cliff and realized.

That he died.

“Are you conscious?”

But Yuliver wasn’t sad.

That this place is the Netherworld, that he was released from the tomb, unfamiliar knowledge and strange environments, nothing was more precious than this person before his eyes.

“Were you… here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“Why didn’t you go first but in this desolate place…”

“I said farewell to other people, but weren’t you crying at my tomb?”

The day the nation perished and the Knight King also became ash and ascended to the Netherworld.

The procession was entirely full of only people.

The Knight King apologized to them with sorrow and escorted them to the end.

But worried about his younger brother remaining at the tomb, he couldn’t join people’s path to reincarnation.

“I was at a loss. How can I restore you, I worried and suffered here. But meeting that person, I see you again like this.”

When the last lingering attachment was resolved here, the Knight King could finally smile.

“I really missed you a lot, Yuliver.”

The Knight King extended his hand.

“Me too, brother.”

Gripping that hand, Yuliver stood up.

The two people faced each other and smiled.

“If we’re reborn, then let’s live without any worries in a peaceful world.”

“In a world without sorrow or resentment, ordinarily building a household…”

The two people walking the path stopped.

The Knight King looked back.

The throne where the transcendent who dominated absolute beings stayed.

Now as if expressing thanks to him who resolved lingering attachment in the mortal world, he bowed his head.

With other absolute beings watching, the Knight King hurried the path again.

“The road is quite long.”

“Let’s go while catching up.”

“Hahaha, right. What should I talk about first…”

After endless waiting, the Knight King joined the reincarnation path with Yuliver.