Ranker Who Lives Twice

While Edora explained the pathway, Nocturne constantly changed his facial expression from moment to moment. At various points, he showed surprise, understanding, and finally realization.

Under the Martial King, Nocturne, too, had once trained in the Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword, and he never neglected his training even though he was excommunicated from the tribe. In fact, when he was dealing with the Martial King, Nocturne had attempted to show off his development by exuviating and transcending in front of the Martial King. Although the Martial King had forcibly stopped Nocturne’s attempt, Nocturne could still try exuviating and transcending whenever he wanted.

Nocturne grabbed tightly to the sword he had let go of not too long ago as he gained new insight from Edora’s pathway explanation. For some reason, he looked serious and was filled with a sense of duty to deliver Edora’s pathway to Yeon-woo. However, at some point, Nocturne seemed to have forgotten all those things as he immersed himself in what he was hearing.

Edora’s pathway explanation gave Nocturne a new realization and opened an entirely different new world. Although he thought he had reached the furthest boundaries of martial arts, Nocturne now felt that he was seeing a new universe, one he had never imagined before. Furthermore, he now realized how narrow and small of a corner he occupied in the vastness of martial arts. He had been living like a frog in a well.

Thus, Nocturne closed his eyes from time to time and quietly recounted the pathway’s points. As he organized and reorganized, his view of the world expanded at random as he reinforced his own pathway.

Even when Edora finished her explanation, Nocturne kept his eyes closed for a long period of time. Flash! The moment he opened his eyes, a bright light seemingly flashed past his eyes. A gentle smile appeared on his lips as a sense of relaxation took over his previously bleak gait.

“The yang sword is a process of reinterpreting oneself according to the framework that operates the world, and one becomes a part of it… That’s why Insight is needed, to look critically into the world. Have I understood everything correctly?” Nocturne added, “It must be in stark contrast to the yin sword, which attempts to forcibly manipulate the framework of the world by forcefully applying one’s will on the framework of the world.”

Edora tried to respond, but Nocturne raised his hand and interrupted Edora before she could speak. “No. Don’t respond. If you respond, I think I’ll lose what I’ve just been able to organize in my mind.” Nocturne was determined to interpret the yang sword within the frame of reference of the yin sword for Yeon-woo’s benefit. This approach would allow Yeon-woo to understand the main concepts of the yang sword more easily.

“But one thing is for certain.” Nocturne placed his hand on his sword’s scabbard.

For a moment, Phante and the other tribe members, who were staring intently at Nocturne, grew nervous and wary. The air and aura that flowed amongst them had changed to something foreign and unstable.

After reading that there was no killing intent in the aura, the Head Elder beckoned his tribe members to relax and retreat. The members of the tribe gave off dissatisfied expressions, but as instructed, they took a few steps back and made way for Nocturne.

“This pathway is not suitable for me nor for the youngest disciple, as we both live life as we please.”

While muttering those words, Nocturne slowly drew his sword. Flash! The sword shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Nocturne’s blade had not been properly maintained for more than a few years. But even though it was worn out with visible chips on its surface, his sword shone and glistened as if it had been newly made.

“Infinity…” Phante muttered after seeing Nocturne’s blade, which was the Infinity Sword. It was the sword that the Martial King had given Nocturne as a farewell gift after Nocturne declared that he would leave the tribe. Phante was well aware of how many craftsmen the Martial King had employed day and night to complete the Infinity Sword, and how much effort the Martial King had put into making it.

Nocturne clenched his Infinity Sword and stepped forward. It was just a step without any preliminary martial art movements or indication of preparation. However, the moment Nocturne swung vertically with the Infinity Sword, it felt as if the world had been slightly pushed away.

Seeing this…

“Yin?” Many members of the tribe seemed to have seen something, but they tilted their heads at the confusing fact that no trace was left behind by the strike.

“…!” Edora, who was still using her God Eyes, widened her eyes in surprise.

“…” Phante kept his mouth tightly shut.

The Head Elder soon muttered in a low voice, “If that damn Nayu ever comes back and distributes his sword arts, Nocturne might be the only one who’s qualified to take…”

Though the pathway was passed on to Yeon-woo, Nocturne was the one that realized the martial art concept and made it his own.

As the Head Elder recognized the various traces and influences that the Martial King left behind, he could not help but feel emotional. ‘Heart Sword… For any sword martial artist, the Heart Sword is a state that one hopes to reach someday.’

***

『So, when is that thing that you’re waiting for coming…?!』 While clashing with Allforone, Kronos suddenly stopped his movements as he sensed a strong attack approaching their location. Kronos had abruptly stopped because he felt a strong intuition that his soul would be cut in half if he stood in the line of the strike.

As the terrifyingly sharp strike cut through the cross-sections of space, Kronos knew that even a transcendent would not be able to withstand the oncoming attack. Moreover, the attack was sent out with the knowledge that it was entering a holy territory where light and darkness intertwined to prey on each other.

Kronos, who had essentially returned to his heyday power after having his status as the King of Gods restored, was astonished by the power and determination of the incoming strike. The strike felt like…the sword strike that the Martial King had shown before he achieved transcendence. However, strangely, there was no killing intent behind the oncoming strike, so Kronos thought it was strange.

Once Kronos read Yeon-woo’s thoughts and found Yeon-woo undisturbed, Kronos realized what was happening. This was the strike that Yeon-woo had been expecting.

『What is this…?』 On the other hand, Allforone, who had no knowledge of what was going on, had no choice but to voice his astonishment and confusion. The oncoming strike was based on his martial art temperament but also possessed the achievements of the Martial King. This fact was quite disconcerting for Allforone.

Whoosh! Yeon-woo and Allforone quickly separated from each other, and in the place where they had just been clashing, a straight line was drawn over as the strike passed by.

A gigantic sword scar was created where the realm of light and darkness clashed against each other.

From the sky to the earth, the elongated sword mark was deeply embedded in the space itself. Though the light and darkness tried to erase the scar, the scar mark did not fade. It was a phenomenon that had left an indelible mark on the world, a trace left by a strong will that transcended the laws of the world. Moreover, the phenomenon emanated countless thoughts.

『Ugh…!』 Allforone sighed deeply as if he was seeing the second coming of the Martial King.

『Oho.』 Kronos let out a sigh.

“…it’s here.” Yeon-woo nodded as if he had expected the phenomenon all along. ‘It’s good I left this task to him. Although, the odds of him carrying out what I expected was only fifty-fifty.”

Nocturne was a talent that even the Martial King, when he was alive, had recognized, even going as far as stating that Nocturne’s sword handling skills were like his own. This meant that, among his three disciples, the depth of Nocturne’s understanding of martial arts was exceptional.

With this in mind, Yeon-woo determined that he could learn the yang sword through Nocturne. By utilizing someone who was gifted in martial arts and who possessed characteristics like himself, Yeon-woo would be able to clearly see the difference between yin and yang, reinterpret it, and inform himself on how to realize the yang sword more easily.

Of course, as he was the main culprit in the disappearance of the Martial King, Yeon-woo initially had no intention of asking Nocturne for assistance. However, after some time passed and Yeon-woo’s heated emotions settled, Yeon-woo was able to accept the Martial King’s will to some extent. Thus, Yeon-woo had given Nocturne an opportunity to escape from the psychological trauma of being a ‘fake’…and an opportunity for Nocturne to find his ‘real’ self and achieve complete self-reliance.

‘Because that was Master’s will.’

Fortunately, Nocturne was able to awaken from his self-inflicted depression and once again hold his sword in response to Yeon-woo’s challenge. No, in fact, although he had not been holding his sword physically in his hand, it was clear that Nocturne was still holding his sword in his heart.

‘Father.’

『Yeah.』

‘You see it, right?’

『Ugh. You underestimate your father too much. Of course, I can see and read it.』 Kronos smiled coldly.『I can definitely ‘imitate’ it.』

No matter how inexperienced Kronos was in martial arts, he had built up a wide foundational base in the basic concepts during his long life as a heroic legend. Moreover, the sword mark that Nocturne left gave off such a strong impression that even those who did not know anything would feel a sense of awe. However, if a being was at the level of being able to read inherent thoughts, the sword mark left an indelible influence that would expand any being’s worldview. The conveyed thoughts were not just a pathway for the yang sword, but also conveyed the essence of Nocturne. Thus, Kronos was able to quickly interpret the underlying message based on his vast experiences.

Whoosh! Based on this, Kronos was able to quickly complete all the basic requirements for the yang sword.

Whoosh! Of course, Kronos was not able to completely perfect the yang sword. No matter how informative and exact the information that Nocturne transmitted, it was inevitably distorted by subjectivity, so Kronos had to interpret Nocturne’s subjective interpretation in his own way.

Yeon-woo knew of this fact, so he did not expect Kronos to perfectly acquire the yang sword. He only wanted one thing… He wanted for it to work just once for unity. If that could happen, Scythe would be able to create a phenomenon completely different from anything it had ever done before.

[Scythe embodies an unknown power!]

A strong whirlwind rotated around Scythe in a clockwise direction. When Kronos released his vestiges to fit the frame of the world, the law of the world began to revolve with him as its center. Soon, the strong wind that rotated around Kronos ascended upwards towards the sky and became the sun, yang.

Yeon-woo’s yin sword rotated its forces in the reverse direction and slowly sank downwards as it became darkness, yin. The conversely rotating air currents and forces did not interfere with each other, but rather, they interlocked like cogs to accelerate each other’s rotational speed.

『Oho. Its power is amplified by several multiples based on the release of one’s will…!』

The shape of the power was as if yin and yang were biting each other’s tails, like the tai chi symbol.

Soon, the world assimilated with the power and began to shake.

[An unknown force wants to break free from the constraints of the system!]

[Warning! An enormous amount of information is flowing out. The system cannot process properly. System lag is occurring.]

[Warning! The computation of the massive amount of information is slowing the system down. The system may soon shut down.]

…

[Warning! An unknown force is wreaking havoc on the entire system!]

[The control unit has stopped operating!]

Throughout all this, Yeon-woo realized that this was the true Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword.

At some point, Allforone’s Open Speaking could not be heard due to the enormous current of power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

[All functions supporting the seventy-seventh floor have been paralyzed.]

[The stage is collapsing.]

The world full of light and darkness was crumbling. Like how mixing white and black paints would turn the paint’s color gray, the entire stage was bending, refracting, and distorting. The space was becoming increasingly gray.

The Tower’s system had been disrupted. Then, once all information processing functions such as comparison, calculation, and judgment were forcefully stopped, Allforone’s rapid movements also stopped. Sss. Sss! Static noise rang out. Allforone’s image, which had been covered in light, swayed ominously as if it would crumble at any moment.

Allforone shouted something. His shouts could not be heard, but his expression, which was momentarily exposed as his light emission cut out periodically, conveyed total shock and an obvious message. ‘No way.’

Yeon-woo staggered under the tremendous force of the enormous reverse flow, but he was able to maintain his standing position because he was the central axis of the two opposite, rotational forces.

This was the Bright Tai Chi Pangu Sword. The two opposing forces that tried to change the world’s laws were intertwined and constantly returning to each other, Tai Chi. As a blessing of mixed, opposing wills, its shape was reminiscent of the basic material for the creation of the universe, an egg from which a giant was born, Pangu. And the unfolding shape was reminiscent of a sword.

Yeon-woo was nearing the completion of the power that his Master had worked so hard to achieve during his lifetime. Following the point where the yin and yang interlocked, Yeon-woo slammed down hard with Scythe.

At the same time, an enormous amount of magic power that had accumulated in the Philosopher’s Stone and Dragon Heart gushed out.

Bam! Whoosh! Whoosh! As if all facts that forcibly bound and defined existences were shattered, all the data and all the functions connected to the Tower’s system that made up the player Allforone was forcibly cut off.

[System error!]

[System error!]

[Cause not located.]

[Cause not located.]

[All disk fragments associated with the data have been corrupted for unknown reasons.]

[The original data could not be found.]

Although it was just a single blow, as the yang sword was not fully realized, the effect was clear.

All the elements constituting the existence of Allforone were destroyed in an instant, and the protection, blessings, and effects that Allforone received from the Tower’s system were all canceled.

All that was left was not Allforone, but a person named Vivasvat.

The light that had been emitting from Allforone had completely disappeared like candlelight that had been blown out by the wind. Vivasvat’s eyes were full of disbelief and astonishment.

Yeon-woo was on the verge of collapsing at any moment from a feeling of dizziness that followed the instant drain of his magic power, but with superhuman willpower, Yeon-woo used Shunpo and appeared in front of Vivasvat. His Shunpo was so quick that it seemed closer to Shukuchi, Shunpo’s final form.

Allforone, no, Vivasvat, tried to pull back. However, before Vivasvat moved, Yeon-woo grabbed his neck with his left hand.

“Finally, I got you.” Yeon-woo made a cynical expression as the corners of his lips curled upwards.