Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Spendthrift Necromancer (37)

Ancient Dragon (1)

There was a saying about being struck speechless.

When someone witnessed something so bewildering or overwhelming.

Their lips would stick together as though glued shut, refusing to move.

The kid named Park Siwoo had shown some fairly astonishing ability too, but even he couldn't compare to the Sword Immortal today.

Divine Spear, Fist King, Poison Demon.

All three knew the Sword Immortal's skill very well.

Their big brother was certainly damn good with a sword.

But today, he was on an entirely different level.‘W-What the hell?’Fist King, the youngest of the four, blinked. A pack of monsters well above Level 500 had blocked their path.

By the time he, Divine Spear, and Poison Demon had each dealt with two, more than six corpses already lay before the Sword Immortal.

The Sword Immortal was certainly Korea's greatest Awakened. But that didn't mean there should've been such an overwhelming gap between them.

The four of them had only ever been separated by the slimmest of margins.

“……

Big Brother. Did you secretly eat some ginseng behind our backs or something?”

“I didn't. But I did receive a good gift.”

“A gift? What was it? Tell your little brothers too! Let us turn young again together!”

The Sword Immortal looked at the three of them.

Not only Fist King, who had asked the question, but even the normally taciturn Divine Spear and Poison Demon were looking at him with curiosity.

“I'll tell you after we finish this Gate.”

“……

Fine! Let's hurry up and clear it!”

Mana blazed around Fist King's fists. Divine Spear's spearhead grew even sharper. Green vapor billowed from Poison Demon's body.

And when they finally reached the boss room.[The tomb trembles violently before the first mighty enemy it has encountered!][The tomb's final guardian, ‘Ancient Dragon,’ appears!]

“……

Huh?”

Poison Demon and the others tilted their heads.

A dragon-type monster always appeared as the tomb's boss.

But none of them had ever heard of one called an Ancient Dragon.

This was a monster all four were seeing for the first time.‘Hidden piece?’The Awakened's eyes gleamed.

There had once been a time when they too had explored Gates with passion burning hot in their hearts. The flames had dimmed with age, but they had never vanished entirely.

“Haha, now this is interesting! Brothers, I'm going first!”

The impatient Fist King charged toward the Ancient Dragon first. An enormous mass of mana gathered around his fist.[Using Hundred-Step Divine Fist(S)

!]

Booom!

The moment he punched out with all his strength, a gigantic fist-shaped force formed and slammed into the Ancient Dragon's body.

Fssshhh.

Smoke rose.

Yet as expected of the tomb's final guardian, the Ancient Dragon's body hadn't budged an inch.

Then pitch-black energy began gathering inside its mouth.

At the terrifying force, Divine Spear and Poison Demon's expressions hardened.

“Little brother! Watch out!”

Dangerous.

The instant they reached that conclusion, they kicked off the ground.

The dragon's dark-red breath was already flying toward Fist King.[Using Moonlight Slash(S)

!][Using Venom Spray(S)

!]

The two hurriedly activated their skills. Massive forces surged toward the breath. Fist King also launched an attack at it.

Then all three were stunned.‘We're…… losing?’Their skills were being crushed by the breath. The enormous mass of energy slowly approached Fist King.

That was when it happened.

A chilling sensation struck everyone's spine.

Their gazes turned toward the Sword Immortal without conscious thought.

His sword showed no visible aura at all. Yet an unbearable pressure radiated from it.

It felt as though they had been stripped naked and forced to bare their necks before a blade.

Even the Ancient Dragon urgently turned its head. Tremendous pressure squeezed violently around its draconic heart.

Just as the direction of its breath began shifting toward the Sword Immortal.

Slash!

With the sound of something being cut, the Ancient Dragon's body split cleanly in two.

“……!”

Everyone's eyes widened until they couldn't widen any further.

Byproducts burst from the Ancient Dragon's corpse, but not one person paid them any attention.

What they'd just seen from the Sword Immortal was simply too shocking.

Nobody had seen him swing his sword.

Yet the Ancient Dragon was dead.

The Sword Immortal descended from the air and looked at the messages before him.[Incomprehensible

Achievement accomplished!][You have acquired the title, ‘Fanatical Disciple’!][You have acquired the title, ‘Wielder of the Mind Sword’!][New Title List][1. Fanatical Disciple][Through fanatical faith, you brought forth a miracle.][Effect: When together with the master in your heart, the likelihood of attaining enlightenment greatly increases.][2. Wielder of the Mind Sword][You have crossed the boundary of the material realm and become a swordsman capable of cutting essence itself.][Effect: Damage increases by 30% when using the Mind Sword

.][You have glimpsed the realm of No-Self

between illusion and its boundary.]

“……

Only now.”

The words Kim Minwoo had spoken.

Only now did he feel like he understood them, even a little.

The illusion was the material realm itself.

Beyond that boundary, the Sword Immortal had opened a new domain—the sword of the heart.

A realm in which he'd been stagnant for over twenty years.

Without those words, that stagnation might have lasted for the rest of his life.‘Still…….’He was slow-witted.

He still had no understanding whatsoever of the realm of No-Self

.

But it no longer mattered.

Because now, a master existed within his heart.

As the Sword Immortal organized the enlightenment he'd newly attained.

The three old men hurriedly surrounded him.

“……

B-Big Brother!”

“What the hell was that just now?”

“A skill? No, that's not something you can define as a skill.”

Perhaps because his little brothers possessed considerable insight of their own, they could at least tell it hadn't been a skill.

“That was the gift I received.”

“Argh! You're driving me crazy! So what the hell was the gift?!”

The impatient Fist King pounded his own chest.

Curiosity had risen all the way to his throat, almost enough to spill out of his mouth.

“I received a very great teaching.”

“A teaching?”

“Big Brother did?”

“From whom?”

“You expect me to tell you for free?”

“What?!”

“Come on, that's cold!”

“Big Brother! After all the years we've spent together! Didn't we come here to help you too?!”

“……

Ahem.”

The Sword Immortal cleared his throat and looked at his little brothers.

He'd teased them enough.

Time to get to the point.

“Fine. I'll introduce you to that person. However, doing so may inconvenience him. You acknowledge that?”

Nod.

“Then we should at least bring a gift.”

The Sword Immortal pointed toward the dragon's corpse.

Understanding his meaning, the three old men nodded.

They had only joined the raid because he'd asked for help in the first place, not because they coveted the rewards.

If they cared that much about loot, they wouldn't have half-retired to begin with.

If giving up something like this let them form a connection with such an astonishing expert?

They would've gladly handed over ten or twenty corpses and every last byproduct besides.

And so the Sword Immortal placed the Ancient Dragon's corpse and byproducts inside his Spatial Ring. Soon, along with the Gate-clear reward, their figures disappeared.* * *Kim Minwoo.

He had been surprised several times today.

On his way back after seeing the auction house news.[You have acquired the title, ‘Greatest Master’!][New Title List][1. Greatest Master][A disciple you instructed has brought forth a miracle.][Effect: Learning effects greatly increase when you give instruction.]

First, by the completely unexpected title-acquisition message.

Then by the Sword Immortal, who had apparently been in such a hurry that he'd rushed over after giving only a perfunctory interview outside.

And then…….

“You're giving me the entire corpse and all the byproducts? For free?”

“Yes. It was a boss we'd never seen before, called an Ancient Dragon. Its level also seemed far beyond an ordinary S-rank monster, so I'm sure it will be of great help to you.”

Ancient Dragon.

Even Kim Minwoo had never heard the name.

Because no boss like that had appeared when he'd cleared Dragon's Grave.‘Did it appear because of the Sword Immortal?’He'd said he swept through everything inside the Gate.

That was probably what triggered the Ancient Dragon.‘This should be top-tier material…….’Even searching the entire world, finding dragon materials comparable to an Ancient Dragon would be difficult.

There were only a tiny number of Awakened capable of killing a monster like this.

Its price would easily climb into the trillions.

Dragons were already expensive from head to toe, and this one was even stronger than any previously encountered.

There was no telling how high the price could climb once bidding started.

And they were giving it to him for free.

Of course he was surprised.

“Everyone else agreed to this too?”

“Yes. We decided to do so if you'd grant us one request.”

“A request……”

“Nothing difficult. I'd simply like you to meet those three.”

“Those three?”

The Sword Immortal nodded.

“They probably want your guidance. Whether you choose to teach them after that is entirely up to you. What you taught me isn't something worth only one dragon corpse.”

Minwoo thought about it.

Truthfully, even if the Sword Immortal had spread those words around, it would've been difficult for Minwoo to complain.

For one thing, that teaching had originally come from the Sword Immortal himself.

And Minwoo hadn't even known whether those words truly had any effect.‘And he's setting me up with them like this?’He could build connections with three masters using nothing but a few words?

And get a dragon corpse for free?‘Fucking sweet.’Divine Spear, Poison Demon, Fist King.

There was nothing to lose by forming ties with any of them.

Kim Minwoo wasn't stupid enough to refuse free benefits.

“Sure. Are the three of them outside?”

“If you heard that, hurry in!”

At those words, the door opened and three old men hurried inside.

“Hoho. I wondered, but it really was this brat.”

“We already had some idea when we came to Ilseong Group.”

“True, but…….”

The three old men stared intently at him.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Minwoo. I've heard plenty about all three of you.”

“Ahem! Did you truly give Big Brother that enlightenment? It's simply hard for me to believe.”

Divine Spear cleared his throat as he asked.

“Calling it enlightenment sounds a little grandiose…… but something like that, I suppose.”

The three old men immediately crowded around him.

“What exactly was that enlightenment?”

“Tell me as well! I won't forget the favor!”

“Can't you at least give us a clue?”

Even if they asked like that, all he could do was parrot the same things he'd said last time.

He looked at the Sword Immortal.

Conveniently enough, a super-genius who had already attained enlightenment and refined it somewhat was right in front of him.

“Why don't the Sword Immortal explain it?”

“……

Would that be all right? In the end, you're the one who taught me…….”

“Yes. You've already reached that realm, so you'll explain it far better than someone like me who only glimpsed it.”

“……

Very well.”

The Sword Immortal began explaining to the three of them.

Roughly summarized, he was talking about seeing beyond the material realm into a world past it.‘What the hell is he talking about?’It was definitely Korean, but it sounded like an alien language.

Even more absurd was how seriously the three old men's expressions hardened as they listened.

Hmm.

I see.

They nodded while murmuring things like that.

“……

However, regarding the realm of No-Self

that Minwoo spoke of, I still haven't grasped the slightest understanding. I only feel that something must exist there……”

The Sword Immortal glanced toward him.

A barely concealed thirst for knowledge blazed in his eyes.

The other three old men turned toward him as well.

Somehow, the atmosphere made it feel like he had to say something profound around now.

Minwoo hurriedly rifled through the Sword Immortal's old sayings.

The remarks the old man had casually tossed out.

Among them, he found the most plausible one.

“I don't know exactly either. Only…….”

“Only?”

“No-Self means forgetting oneself. The more you do so, the freer you become, but the limitation is obvious. We are human. Is it truly possible for a human being to forget oneself?”

“……”

“That is why all I know is this: forget yourself, yet do not forget.”

Forget, yet do not forget.

One of the things the Sword Immortal had once told him.

The surroundings fell so silent that even a dropped needle would've sounded loud.

After keeping his eyes closed for a long while, the Sword Immortal nodded.

At that moment.[‘Greatest Master’ effect activates!][‘Fanatical Disciple’ effect activates!][Effects overlap!]

Messages appeared.‘What the hell, that's scary.’Did he actually realize something again?

“Forget, yet do not forget…… Once again, I've learned something profound from you.”

Seeing that, the expressions of the other three old men also turned grave.

They hadn't attained enlightenment themselves, but they could at least sense that Minwoo's words weren't meaningless.

“……

I thought young people these days were all hopeless, but I was wrong. Korea's going to soar in the future.”

Divine Spear spoke first.

“You said Kim Minwoo, right? Here's my number. Call me anytime if you need a favor.”

“Ahem! Same for me. Here, take my number too.”

Fist King and Poison Demon practically competed to hand him their numbers.

Connections were piling up at a terrifying rate.

The Ancient Dragon's corpse falling into his lap was just a bonus.