“Elder brother, I was wondering about something.”
“What?”
Everyone had retreated to leave the two in an empty space. Faceless smiled as he stretched before their fight. The Martial King had an annoyed expression as if he would rather be anywhere else but where he was. Unfazed by the Martial King’s expression and with a cold smile still on his face, Faceless continued speaking calmly, “In my entire life, I never thought that I would be able to stand in this position.”
The Martial King didn’t reply.
“In other words, to me, you are the sky. My family considered me quite talented, and the adults had high expectations of me. I could have seen you as a rival like my brethren, but you were as bright as the sun. Standing next to you was enough for me. And…” Behind his bandages, Faceless’s eyes curved. “It was the same thing for Seon as well.”
Seon was the nickname that the Spear God Flanc called the Sword God. The Sword God was the first disciple that the Martial King had taken under his wing, hoping to awaken the Yin Sword. However, Seon was an ex-disciple now.
“That guy was completely intoxicated with your dazzling presence, and he always stated that he wanted to be just like you. I was the one who advised him to learn martial arts, but it was your path that he pursued. In the end, you still cast him off.” Faceless’s eyes shone brightly, contrasting against his ghastliness. “It wasn’t just me and Seon. Most of the guys who pursued martial arts in Cheonghwado were like us. There were those who looked up to and admired you, those who were frustrated by your existence. You left a very strong impression in more hearts than you think.”
The Martial King frowned. He had planned to calmly listen to what Faceless had to say since those might be his last words, but he soon grew annoyed at the nonsense Faceless was spewing. The Martial King leaned on one leg and cocked his head. “So? What are you getting at?”
“Of course. You’re always the same.” In an instant, Faceless eyes gleamed with a dark green color. “My point is simple. You have a huge following that is eager to see you.”
『Husband, back away!』The Psychic Medium cried out in a hurry as if she had discovered something, but Faceless had already started clapping loudly. The Martial King sensed all the bandages around Faceless’s body loosen.
Bam! The Martial King’s world was instantly thrown into chaos.By the time he regained his bearings, the Martial King realized that he was no longer in the One-horned Tribe’s training grounds.
He was in a world where everything was gray.All he could see were hills crowding densely along the endless horizon. Flanc now stood where Faceless had been. Furthermore, he looked completely different. His body was large, with copper-colored muscles that weren’t inferior to Phante’s. In his right hand, he held a black spear about three meters long, and in his left hand was a spear of about one and a half meters long.
This was what Flanc had looked like at his peak when he had still been the Spear God. Even within the tribe, he had no equal other than the Martial King and the Head Elder. Flanc had returned to his former self, the one who had helped Cheonghwado become the top clan.
For the first time, the Martial King’s eyes, which had only shown signs of being annoyed, calmly settled. ‘I didn’t notice it at all.’ It was no small matter that the Martial King couldn’t see through Faceless’s plans. Although the Martial King appeared surly and indifferent to the duel, he had in fact concentrated with all his senses on Faceless. The Psychic Medium had done the same thing as well.
As she maintained the village’s barrier from the Spirit Pond, at the same time, the Psychic Medium closely monitored the sentiments of the village and all the tribe members. She particularly made sure to keep an eye out on those who might have a grudge against the Martial King. Furthermore, her eyes could not easily be avoided. Although she hadn’t reached the level of the Thousand Li Eyes that Allforone possessed, she could confidently state that she knew almost everything that occurred in the Tower.
In fact, the Psychic Medium had witnessed Faceless secretly contacting several elders in the tribe, including those of the Baekseon family. However, his actions were not proof that he was stirring up a rebellion, so she left it alone. Furthermore, she closely monitored Faceless up to the time of the duel, and she even checked to see if he had a dangerous object on him. And yet, even with all this surveillance, Faceless had easily dragged the Martial King to another place.
Faceless had not used magic since the barriers of the village forced visitors to release magical spells that might harm the tribe members. In other words, Faceless had achieved this feat with the skills he had learned and the powers he had acquired. Regardless, no matter what method he used, one thing was certain: this was most likely the trap that led to the prophecy of the Martial King’s death.
“Is this an Illusory Barrier?” the Martial King asked., looking at the gray world that surrounded him. There was no sign of concern on his face. Although it was a great feat to achieve this while avoiding the Psychic Medium’s eyes, the Martial King had already suffered through many traps during his lifetime.
Faceless, or rather, the Spear God, nodded with a confident smile. “It’s similar. Do you know of the otherworld gods?”
“Vaguely.”
“The Black Prince borrowed some of their power after coming across them by accident.”
“The Black Prince?”
At that moment, a black mist rose next to the Spear God and took on the form of a human. “It’s been a while, Martial King.” He was one of the Nine Kings and the head of the Daud Brethren. He laughed happily. However, his eyes glittered fiercely, as if he would swallow the Martial King whole at any moment.
The Martial King looked ready to snort in exasperation at any moment. “Is everything all right with your nose?”
“Yes, but now that you mention it, the only complex I’ve ever had was about my relatively flat nose, but thanks to you, I got a reason to raise it in the air. I always wanted to thank you. I never thought that an opportunity like this would come by. Hahaha!” The Black Prince burst out laughing, clearly enjoying the moment. How could he not be overjoyed? He had finally obtained the chance to get back at the Martial King, who had stomped on his pride in the past!
The spies who infiltrated the Cave of Yaanek weren’t only supposed to dig up Blood-Tear Stones but also to contact the beings located deeper below. The real goal was to go to the demonic sea through the Central Bureau, to meet the kings that resided in the demonic sea, and to borrow their powers.
The Black Prince didn’t think that the pool of players available to him would help him take control of the Tower, and he realized that he wouldn’t be able to deal with Allforone and the transcendent beings in the heavenly world. As a result, he decided to borrow other powers.
His decision had been the right one, and as a result, he managed to meet the rabbit, one of the kings of the demonic sea. He obtained the powers that he wanted, one of which was the Illusory Barrier. Using the Blood Essence from the demonic sea as a foundation, the Black Prince could build an Illusory Barrier that marked out an Illusory World within a designated area. He was creating his own holy territory within the physical world!
“And also…” The Illusory World was Faceless’s holy territory. Although the Black Prince had obtained the power, he didn’t use it because he decided that it would be more efficient for Faceless to do it. His reason was simple: “The others I’ve partnered with also feel the same way.”
Sss. A black mist like the one that the Black Prince had appeared out of bloomed and encircled the Martial King. The black mist slowly took the form of humans, who drew their weapons and pointed them at the Martial King. Each of the human forms exuded a strong killing intent. Some of them were not inferior to the Spear God or the Black Prince.
There were ninety-nine of them at first, but when the hundredth mist bloomed between the Spear God and the Black Prince, the Sword God appeared. With the four swords of his past life floating in the air, the Sword God opened his eyes.
『Do you like the stage we set for you, Master?』 the Sword God asked, raising his voice and using a tone that harkened back to his days as an ignorant disciple.
“Hmph!” The Martial King could help chuckling in exasperation as he looked at the faces in front of him, including the Sword God, Spear God, and Black Prince. All the faces were all familiar. At one point in time, he had defeated them. They all harbored a deep resentment towards the Martial King.
“How the hell did you assemble such a pile of trash? I must say, you’re very talented.”
『It wasn’t too difficult. When I stated that I would fight against Master, everyone offered to help of their own accord. Some even opened their chests and pulled out their own hearts.』
All the beings that appeared in the Illusory World were the strongest ones that the Sword God had absorbed through his Cannibal skill. 『I’m confident that this will be a fun game for Master as well.』
“Do you want to know something?”
『Yes?』
“Don’t you know that no matter how much dust you collect, once someone blows on it, it all disappears?”
At the Martial King’s arrogant remark, the spirits all frowned at once. However, the Sword God was quiet and unperturbed.
『I know.』
“You know? Yet you still did this?”
『Of course, you know that it won’t end with just this, right?』 The Sword God slowly raised his right arm. At that moment, the bracelet around his wrist unwound and took on the shape of a spear. It was the divine weapon that the Sword God had once called “Gungnir”. The Sword God took hold of Gungnir and stabbed it into the ground.
[‘Gungnir’ has been activated!]
Gungnir was known as the divine weapon used by Odin, the supreme god of the godly society Asgard. It was not limited to divine retribution or thunder. Otherwise, the Sword God wouldn’t have loved and valued it so much. Gungnir’s true power was that it enforced the laws of Asgard in the lower world.
[The Illusory World has received a new quality!]
[The law of causality has been received.]
[The law of causality has been received.]
…
[The rank of the Illusory World has been forcefully increased!]
[The rank of the Illusory World has been forcefully increased!]
…
[The Illusory World has created a connection to the heavenly world, and [Asgard] is exerting direct influence!]
Boom! As the Illusory World trembled wildly, it began to fill with divine power.
[Heimdall, a god of [Asgard], has designated the player Flanc as an Apostle.]
[Heimdall is descending!]
[Baldur, a god of [Asgard], has designated the player Sakandal as an Apostle.]
[Baldur is descending!]
…
Once all 100 spirits were designated as Apostles, the gods of Asgard borrowed their bodies and descended into the Illusory World one after another. Amid the countless flickering effects lit up the Illusory World, the Sword God said coldly to the Martial King, 『Master. You will not make it out of here alive.』
[Thor, a god of [Asgard], has designated the player Seon as an Apostle.]
[Thor is descending!]
Crack! Crack! Crackle!
The Sword God’s body started flashing and crackling with Thor’s yellow lightning.
