Reincarnated Swordmaster

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

The library definitely seemed to be underground. There was a round, dark passageway carved out that was wide enough for someone to walk through. The floor of this worm-like tunnel was finished with a steel-like material, and there was hardly any earthy smell. It was eerily quiet, but it wasn’t something to worry about too much.

Wiying –

The round door opened. Uniquely, instead of sliding or swinging open, it opened as I approached, as if it had detected our presence. I marveled at such technology that I had never seen before and stepped through the door.

After climbing a spiral staircase for a while, I saw a round door leading up toward the surface. This door seemed to open manually, unlike the last one, as it didn’t automatically respond to our approach. I had no idea how to open it, so Miho and I pondered for a moment.

‘How do we open this?’

After a while, Miho noticed a square device next to the door and said,

“Isn’t it a matter of touching that?”

“What if it’s a trap?”

“……”

No matter how extraordinary Miho’s reflexes and reaction time were, if there was a pre-set trap, she could still get hurt. But since she was confident, I decided to take the risk and placed my right hand on the square device next to the door.

Beeeeeep

At that moment, the door opened as if it had been waiting for me, disappearing into the floor.

Wiying

“It opened!”

It was so unexpectedly easy that I felt a bit deflated. Miho chuckled and said,

“It’d be odd if there were traps. If we were entering from outside, it’d be one thing, but having a trap activate while leaving goes against common sense.”

“Who knows? At least we can get out.”

Miho looked around the library exit and said,

“This library was definitely built by Otherworldly Beings. The internal partitions and the technology used for the doors seem very advanced.”

“Right? Who could’ve made this?”

According to the Prophet, the Otherworldly Beings aren’t just one race but consist of hundreds, even thousands of different races. So the ones who built this library likely belonged to a specific group. Intrigued, I headed for the exit.

Stepping outside, I found myself in a dimly lit basement. Miho and I spotted various spell-like Cyrillic characters engraved throughout the underground space. She carefully examined each character and said,

“It’s a seal. It prevents entry from the outside.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place is a structure somewhere, and local sorcerers designated it as a forbidden area. They likely made sure that no one could enter, thinking it was a relic of the Otherworldly Beings.”

I looked across the basement. It was only about three meters away.

“There’s a door there; can’t we just open it and leave?”

“Since we’re going from inside to outside, that shouldn’t be a problem. There aren’t any direct attack barriers set up either. But there is a detection barrier, so the moment we go out, we’ll alert the local sorcerers to our presence.”

“That’s annoying.”

As Mandu said, it wasn’t just a matter of whether our actions would be revealed to the outside. The place we occupied was very likely the capital, Moscow, of the Arasa Empire, and causing a ruckus here would undeniably create serious problems as we headed towards the Arctic. I asked Miho,

“Isn’t there a way to sneak out?”

“It seems unlikely. I don’t have the skill to cleverly unravel such complex magic spells.”

“Sigh, I guess we have to go out as is.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“If worse comes to worst, we’ll just run away…”

I muttered nonchalantly as I approached the door and opened it. The moment I did, I felt as if dozens of gazes were scanning my body, along with a slight tingling sensation in my fingertips. Opening the door itself posed no problem, but I was definitely sensitive to the latent magical energy surrounding me.

‘So that’s what it meant.’

At this very moment, the sorcerers in Moscow were surely rushing towards us. I shouted to Miho,

“Miho! Turn into an inanimate object!”

“What?! Are you planning to go in alone?”

“It seems wiser that way.”

“Hmm… Just don’t overdo it.”

While I could return to the RiverSong’s Mandu through the teleportation, it would be quite a waste. The distance from Moscow to Central Plains was several thousand li, so if I just confirmed the important spots here, I could save time next time. Besides, there was the possibility that fighting together with Miho would complicate things.

As Miho transformed into a necklace, I stepped out of the door and started running. This place undeniably featured an architectural style distinct from that of the Central Plains.

‘Is this a palace?’

With a grand, majestic feeling, it resembled a royal palace. I quickly confirmed that there were no signs of life around and rushed deeper inside. Using the Soul Destruction Technique, I reached the opposite side in less than ten seconds.

Swish

Climbing up the stairs, the ground level came into view. Once again, there were no signs of life here either. Suddenly, I felt a pang of unease.

‘Why is there no sign of life?’

I could usually sense the presence of surrounding creatures easily, but even after rising from the underground to the surface of this massive palace, I still felt no life signs. It was strange that not even a single person occupied such an enormous palace. Spotting the palace gate leading outside, I found myself in deep thought.

‘…Should I go in or out…’

There might not be another chance to explore inside next time. Thinking like that, it might be better to disturb the interior first, but if it caused unnecessary trouble, it could be wiser to leave it untouched. Either way, benefits and risks coexisted, so I hesitated for a moment.

Just then.

Whoosh

An illusion appeared before me like smoke. It took the form of an old man wrapped in a robe, leaning on a staff. His lips fluttered as he spoke,

[ someone… $$$*…?]

I couldn’t understand it, but I could vaguely tell it was in the language of the Arasa Empire. I had learned it from the Lord of North Sea Ice during the three-month course. But since I barely understood it, it seemed the old man was using very refined vocabulary. So I cleared my throat and responded in the basic vocabulary of Arasa that I knew.

“Hello, nice to meet you. My name is So Woong.”

[ ……]

“Have you eaten yet?”

Maybe my pronunciation was bad…

The old man fell silent, as if he picked up on something. He mulled over something deeply before finally speaking,

[A person from the Ming Dynasty?]

Central Plains language. I let out a sigh of relief and answered in Central Plains language,

“That’s correct.”

[How did you come out of the seal? What is your purpose in coming here?]

Fortunately, the old man spoke Central Plains language fluently. His appearance suggested he was well-versed in literature. I replied cautiously,

“While traveling, I had to seek the Prophet in the Grand Temple of Astana. He merely transported me to this ancient library, and I just came out.”

[The Prophet of Astana… I see… After all, it’s a library created by his race… So you are a traveler from the Ming Dynasty?]

“Indeed. What’s going on?”

[There’s no choice but to trust you…]

As the murmuring old man paused for a moment, he continued,

[Hurry and leave this place. The Kremlin Palace has transformed into a Magical City, and it’s extremely dangerous.]

“This is the Kremlin Palace? Who are you then?”

[My name is Velof, the Archbishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church.]

Eastern Orthodox Church? Archbishop?

I wasn’t entirely sure, but since he spoke Central Plains language fluently, I understood his name was Velof. His name wasn’t difficult to pronounce, and as I memorized it, he said,

[There’s no time to chat. Quickly escape from the palace. If you’re late, there will be no opportunity left.]

I glanced back into the dark interior of the palace.

“What’s in there?”

[There’s a nightmare that drove Ivan IV into madness.]

“……?”

[Hurry and leave! There are many minions of malice around, but I will grant you the power of the holy relics.]

Swish

As Velof extended a sacred energy towards me, golden leaves infused into my body in an instant. I was startled, fearing it might harm me, but it seemed to be nothing of the sort.

‘Is this like the blessing of a great immortal?’

The figure of Velof vanished. He must have exhausted all his magical energy after granting that blessing. Realizing I couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer, I began to leave the Kremlin Palace. If a mysterious ally went that far to warn me, the internal circumstances of the palace must be dire.

Thud

The Kremlin Palace was impressive with its white walls. It was also incredibly large, seemingly rivaling the imperial palace of the Central Plains. As I crossed over the palace’s inner wall and approached the outer wall, I sensed a suspicious presence.

‘What is that?’

It wasn’t just a presence. It was a clear animal presence, filled with murderous intent. I drew my sword, pausing for a moment to scan my surroundings. Sure enough, something began to creep out around the gate.

Growl…

It was a beast. Its skin was flayed and stained with blood, shaking alongside the human form, complete with the head of a mad wolf. One hand wielded a mace, indicating they were beasts capable of wielding weapons.

‘What kind of monster is this?’

Nevertheless, I planned to sweep away the beasts. I gathered my energy and released it, but the beasts showed no signs of being affected. Given that even a peak expert would find it hard to ignore such pressure, they appeared to lack any emotions or survival instincts.

In that instant, I seemed to understand the essence of these beasts. It might sound strange, but they were already dead. Being dead, they were not influenced by techniques that stimulated survival instinct.

Swish!

I charged in, slicing the necks of two beasts. They fell, and others began to pounce. But I dodged easily, unleashing the Thunder Spirit Seal as I moved.

Boom!

The Thunder Spirit Seal exploded, tearing three of them apart simultaneously. As the remaining beasts hesitated, I took the chance to observe them and made a startling discovery.

“Regeneration?”

With a slurping sound, tentacles surged from the severed necks of the beasts, quickly pulling them back toward their bodies. With the bodies reattaching, the beasts grabbed their maces and stood again. Even those who had been torn apart by the Thunder Spirit Seal were sprouting tentacles from their bodies, attempting to regenerate.

Fighting them for a long time would only drain my energy. Grimacing, I tossed out the Thunder Spirit Seal once more and then darted forward using the Soul Destruction Technique.

Boom!

The beasts were battered by the Thunder Spirit Seal, yet made no sounds as they were obliterated. My assumption that they were not living beings was confirmed. They resembled the legends of the jiangshi, it seemed.

“Ugh, this is unsettling.”

Snow silently began to fall around me. I leapt under the roofs of the houses, shaking off the snow, lest it trigger any spells. It must have been roughly ten li when suddenly, a sinister laughter echoed loudly.

[ Hoohoohoohaha…!! ]

I hid under the eaves of a house. Even though it was a house, only the structure remained, and not a single human presence was felt. This city, Moscow, was devoid of humanity—everyone had vanished. When the laughter finally quieted down, an enormous illusion appeared in the air.

Boom!

It was the image of a young man dressed elegantly. The young man, resembling a foreigner, rose to a colossal size, his aura ominous and powerful as he boomed,

[You dare to intrude into my palace? Do you intend to leave without greeting me, barbarian?! Come here at once!]

Perhaps it was due to his overwhelming ability that I could grasp some of his meaning, breaking through the language barrier.

‘I? Then that guy is…’

I could infer his identity from what he said. This was Moscow, the Kremlin Palace was at the center of Moscow, and the only person claiming to be “I” could only be one—this young man’s illusion was none other than Ivan IV, the emperor ruling the Arasa Empire.

However, from what the Lord of North Sea Ice had told me, Ivan IV was reportedly an old man teetering on the brink of madness. He had launched a powerful campaign of conquest, but for unknown reasons, he had amassed a reputation for being half-crazy.

‘No, it’s not the time to think about that!’

Fighting him now would be extremely disadvantageous. This was his territory, and I had no idea what abilities or strength he possessed. I realized I needed to escape Moscow before relying on the Shadow Step to flee. There was no point in taking chances in a den of evil.

Thud!

As I attempted to leap over the city walls, a sudden wall of darkness blocked me, bouncing me back. I was so close to getting over when the fateful obstacle appeared. I unleashed a slash of flame infused with my energy against the dark wall, yet it didn’t budge at all.

As Ivan IV came floating in the air, he let out maniacal laughter.

[ Hoohoo… Your power is vast… Barbarian, accept your fate. ]

I turned back, irritation bubbling inside me.

“What do you know about my fate, you idiot?!”

[ ……]

I yelled in Central Plains language, yet Ivan IV wore a look as if he understood. I contemplated whether to use Shadow Step right then, but at that very moment, golden leaves sprouted from my chest area. The energy from Velof, the Archbishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Boom!

The sacred energy bestowed by Velof punctured a large hole through the dark wall. Realizing this was my only escape route, I dashed through. Behind me, Ivan IV erupted into insane laughter.

[ Hoo-hoo-hoo… Hoohoohoohaha!! ]

Whoosh

As I landed on the ground, the dark wall sealing off the Magical City of Moscow visibly began to restore itself. It seemed Ivan IV had no intention to pursue me beyond the city walls. I let out a sigh of relief, grateful to be alive when a voice suddenly rang out.

“You’re quite a martial artist despite your young age. To have escaped that place…”

It was Central Plains language. I glanced at the old man emerging from behind a snow-covered tree. He appeared identical to the illusion I had encountered earlier.

“Velof. Thank you.”

The man identifying himself as the Archbishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church stood there, smoothing his jet-black beard as he spoke.

“You are a boy from the Ming Dynasty. Come, follow me. I believe we have much to discuss.”

“Before that, I have a question.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“The beasts I just faced and the illusion of Ivan IV were not demons. But they displayed immense power—what was going on?”

Indeed, the illusion of Ivan IV exhibited an overwhelming strength I could barely contend with, but he stood there unyielding. The same went for the beasts. Their power was not derived from demonic origins.

“You seem to understand what demonic races are.”

Velof, speaking in a hushed tone, replied,

“His power does not come from demonic energy. It comes from the power of Mythology.”

“Mythology?”

“In any case, make your decision. Will you follow me or not?”

After a moment of contemplation, I answered,

“I will follow.”

While finding Makya was important, and I had a gut feeling that understanding this matter was equally crucial. Given the likelihood that this case involved Otherworldly Beings, there might be significant information at the end of it all.

200 chapters!

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