Chapter 317

Chapter 317
### Chapter 317

He would possess it all.

Total self-abandonment.

He cast aside his own identity.

He let go of his very being.

The condition of selflessness was a state of focus so absolute that no outside thoughts could penetrate. It was the phenomenon widely known as “immersion” or “the flow.” In such a state, a human being was destined to manifest capabilities that far surpassed their standard limits.

Upon his sword mastery hitting Level 35, he had unlocked a fresh technique: **Disarmament**. While the system noted its availability, he hadn’t yet grasped the essence of how to trigger it. Much like **Sword Qi** or **Sword Gang**, which cannot be wielded the moment they are unlocked, one had to understand the core nature of the skill before it could be manifested. Yet, **Disarmament** was a concept unlike any he had witnessed. In truth, its complexity and depth were far greater than that of **Sword Qi** or **Sword Gang**.

“This is a method that interfaces with the **Grain**.”

Now, the realization struck him. **Disarmament** was the evolved progression of the **Grain** concept. However, since it still existed merely as an abstract idea, it required a three-dimensional form to be functional. He needed to wrap the technique within the concept itself. It was the same principle Wilhelm utilized when he forged his own intent into the **Creation of Heaven and Earth**. Just as Wilhelm had perfected a style based on the concept rather than mere physical form—coating his blade with his very existence and condensing every mystery into the final expression of the **Creation of Heaven and Earth**.

Consequently, he required a vessel to hold the concept of **Disarmament**. After a grueling search, he discovered the answer.

“**Heart Sword**.”

Within the empty space of his selflessness, he manifested a single blade. Initially, it took the form of the **Sword of the Supreme**. This was the weapon the alternate Randolph had used to push Wilhelm toward the brink of extinction. Its potency existed on a plane entirely different from when he had wielded it before. And yet, this was not the image he sought. If a thing truly needed to be severed, it didn’t have to be “death.” Death was too mundane, too frequent. He desired to cleave through things that had remained uncut since the beginning of time. He didn’t harbor delusions of slicing the world apart or slaying a deity. He simply…

“I wish to cut through the impossible.”

He wanted to be the pioneer. He yearned to set foot in a territory that no soul, himself included, had ever reached. The “unexplored” was everywhere in **Pangenia**. There were things that seemed flawless, objects everyone dismissed as unbreakable. Those were the targets he wanted to strike.

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He surrendered himself to the flow. He funneled every ounce of his being into a solitary swing. He grew fascinated by the potential of a strike that contained his current self and the power that transcended his boundaries. As he executed the **War God’s Heart Sword** within his mind…

*Crack!*

A fracture appeared. In the world. In this very location, the **Sanctuary**.

This was no minor event. It was a monumental signifier, a prelude to a new concept—one that eradicated the very idea of impossibility.

—

“Who is the architect of concepts?”

At the **Korea Hero Alliance**, standing among the trainees in the center of the training area, Arin posed this sudden question. She was the **Seven Lord Basara** in her mortal disguise. Currently, she was savoring her freedom on Earth as “Arin,” mentoring the students there.

“Wouldn’t it be… a god?” a student suggested.

Arin countered. “The masses might think so. But is that true for an Awakened? Do you believe concepts like ‘Defense,’ ‘Penetration,’ or ‘Evasion’ were divine creations?”

“……Wasn’t it the **System** that developed them?”

“Then who developed the **System**?”

“Humans, I assume?”

“Incorrect. It was the **Prophets**.”

“The… **Prophets**?” The students looked on, puzzled.

In a religious sense, a prophet is a messenger of the divine. But Arin’s meaning was different.

“The ones who understood first. When they label what they have realized, that label becomes a ‘concept.’ It becomes a rule and a reality. However…”

“……”

“These rules are flawed. For instance, imagine a being with limitless defense. How do you strike them?”

“You would need an incredibly high level of penetration.”

“Precisely. Through the concept of ‘Penetration,’ ‘Defense’ was eventually overcome. But consider which one existed first.”

“It would have to be defense. Penetration was likely invented to counter it.”

“Exactly. If defense were an absolute, flawless truth, the idea of piercing it would never have been born. Just as ‘Evasion’ was rendered moot by ‘Accuracy’ and ‘Concentration’.”

“But things like **Invincibility** or **Indestructibility** are truly impossible to bypass, aren’t they?”

“That is my point. Are they truly impossible, or just currently unchallenged?”

The trainees pondered this. The logical conclusion was that it was impossible. Arin smiled at them.

“The creator of ‘Defense’ was likely overconfident. They thought high enough defense would be a wall that could never be scaled. But ‘Penetration’ eventually tore it down. Of course, ‘Penetration’ eventually met its match as well.”

“That would be things like **Invincibility** or **Indestructibility**.”

“Indeed,” Arin agreed. Or other obscure concepts like **Minimum Physical Resistance**. No matter the piercing power, that resistance remains. But that concept wasn’t there at the start of time either.

“So, look at it from another angle. What if the ‘concept’ needed to shatter those options simply hasn’t been found yet? What if they only seem absolute because no one has discovered the path to breaking them?”

“The person who finds that path… would be a **Prophet**.”

“A **Prophet**. If you live only within the rules already written, you will eventually hit a wall you cannot climb.”

This was her true lesson. To view the impossible not as a dead end, but as a challenge to move past. To keep searching and hungering. Now was the time for such words. The fire to grow stronger was visible in their eyes.

“The **Wilhelm** fever, then.”

A craze was sweeping Earth. **Wilhelm**, who had ascended the **Tower of the War God**, had become an icon. Inspired by him, a wave of passion had hit the Awakened community. Arin had seen **Wilhelm** herself. However, she hadn’t climbed the tower.

“**Wilhelm**. You are still brilliant.”

He was radiant, just as he had been when they clashed in the **Demon Realm**. No, he was even more luminous now. Because of him, the world itself began to glow. She wanted to see how far his journey would take him. And so, when **Wilhelm** finally reached his destination and swung his final blade, the **Seven Lord Basara** smiled with genuine pleasure.

“You’ve finally done it, **Wilhelm**.”

He had birthed a world. He had reached a height no other had seen. His status was far beyond what it had been during their duel. Thus, Basara began searching for the individual who made this **Wilhelm** possible. Someone who had to be on Earth.

“**Phantom**.”

…The name the public used for him. If it was him, she felt he might have the answer to a question she had carried for a long time.

“Master. If someone appeared who could shatter **Invincibility** and **Indestructibility**, what kind of person would they be?”

Arin shrugged. “Who knows?”

One thing was certain: they wouldn’t just be a **Prophet**. They would be someone who broke a rule that even the **Prophets** gave up on. It was hard to define, but she could summarize it.

“A person with the right to hold the entire world in their palm… I suppose. Because for them, nothing is out of reach.”

…Like a Master of the World.

—

“Halt the activation of the **Five Gates**!!!” **Great Elder Albino** screamed in a panic.

He felt the **Sanctuary** cracking. And if the **Sanctuary** was broken…

“Time is moving again…!”

The frozen time of the **Sanctuary** had returned to its normal flow. The **Blessing of the World Tree** was gone. If they continued the **Five Gates** ritual now, it meant certain death. Only within the protected zone of the **Sanctuary**, designated by the **World Tree**, could the high-ranking **Pavilion Lords** of the **Sixteen** survive the opening of the **Five Gates**. But the barrier was shattered.

“Stop it this instant…!!”

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

The **First Pavilion Lord** and **Second Pavilion Lord** spat out blood. They had aborted the technique, but the backlash hit them. Only one man stood unaffected.

…**Lyca**.

Yet **Lyca** was not calm. His eyes were wide with shock. He wasn’t looking at the elders; he was looking toward the second floor of the pavilion. At his student.

“What I just saw…”

It was a **Heart Sword**. He was certain. Having mastered the **Heart Sword** himself, he knew his disciple had just released one. But it felt fundamentally different.

“What… what exactly have you created?”

The very essence of it was alien. Before he could ask for an explanation, messages flooded the air.

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—

**Thousand Mountains**.

The **Heavenly Demon**, who had been recovering from internal trauma, snapped his eyes open.

*Rumble!*

The very foundation of the earth beneath him began to shift.

*Crash!*

The ground shook violently. All the abyssal territories ruled by the **Heavenly Demon** were being hoisted toward the sky.

“……What is the meaning of this……”

Even the **Heavenly Demon** was stunned by the sudden upheaval. It was clear the abyss was ascending toward the heavens. It wasn’t just his domain; various other regions were rising as well. Countless lands and their powerful masters were moving.

“The abyssal lands are merging with **Pangenia**?”

They were being pulled up by an irresistible force. This had never happened since the abyss was formed.

“Aaagh!”

“Someone help!”

The **Heavenly Demon** rose from his throne and addressed his gathered followers.

“Stay calm.”

This was a grand opportunity. Instead of being afraid, they should be celebrating. He smiled and opened his arms wide.

“We are entering a new era. To the pure lands we have only seen in our fantasies!”

“……!!”

“Be joyful! For I shall become the Sovereign of **Pangenia**!”

“Oh, **Heavenly Demon**!”

“Long live! Ten thousand years of life!”

His followers prostrated themselves, their heads hitting the ground in worship. A new world. The invasion of **Pangenia** they had always yearned for was now possible. Though he couldn’t return to the **Island of the Gods** and his memories of it were gone, it didn’t matter if he could conquer **Pangenia**.

“I will take everything.”

The world. He would make the **Thousand Mountains** the heart of the world and spread the name of the **Heavenly Demon Cult** to every corner of the earth.

“I’ll leave it to my student.”

The arrival of the second **World Tree** was a massive, unprecedented shift—a “Large-Scale Update.” It was a tectonic move that would rewrite the power structures of **Pangenia**. Abyssal lands were merging with the continent in waves. These weren’t just random places, but hellscapes ruled by **Abyssal Kings**.

The **Heavenly Demon**.
The **Weaver of Storms**.
The **Master of the Grave**.
The **Sunken Emperor**.
The **Star Crusher**.
The **Unborn Being**.
The **Whale of India**.

And other terrors of the deep who were just as formidable.

“Oh……”

“This is the **Continent of the Firmament**!”

“It’s stunning!”

“The clean world I always wanted……”

“Our time has finally come!”

“It’s all mine!”

They were ecstatic. After ages in the abyss—where their bodies had twisted and their minds had shattered as they adapted to the darkness—the pain and resentment were beyond words. For all that time, they had stared up at the continent in the sky. They had wanted it, loved it, and hated it. A land without the abyss’s poison. A place of green and blue. But it was also the land of those who had abandoned them. They barely remembered who they used to be, but they remembered that betrayal.

“……You cowards who live in the sky.”

A man opened his eyes. Around him was a dead **World Tree**, a field of bodies, and a hill made of skulls. Atop the hill stood the tattered banner of the **Old Empire**. He was one of the **Great Heroes**, the strongest of the **Six Houses**. **Great Warrior Odin**. He was awake. And he wasn’t alone. The other **Heroes of the Six Houses** gathered—five in total, with only **Sword Saint Riley** missing. Odin looked at the sky and spoke.

“Can you handle the weight of our abyss?”

—

“This works in our favor. The lockdown was going to end regardless.”

In the meeting hall of the elders, **Lyca** spoke into the heavy silence. The **Sanctuary** was gone. The **First** and **Second Pavilion Lords** were now in a dire, irreversible state because their ritual was interrupted. **Great Elder Albino** sighed.

“The **First** and **Second Pavilion Lords** will perish.”

Their loss was a massive blow to the **Eight Houses**. No one knew the **Martial Arts of the Eight Houses** better than them. They held the core knowledge. **Lyca** dismissed the concern.

“The fatality of the **Five Gates** is just another hurdle to clear.”

“…Even you haven’t fully cleared it, have you?”

To open the **Five Gates** was to die. That was the rule. **Lyca** had extended his life by finishing the gates, but he was still pursued by death. Could that be called “clearing” it?

“That is because the **Five Gates** isn’t the finish line.”

“……?” The elders were confused.

“The **Five Gates** isn’t the end?”

“Impossible!”

“The records from the **First Ancestor** said the **Five Gates** was the pinnacle!”

They believed the **Five Gates** was the ultimate state of perfection. There was nothing after it. This was the lore passed down through generations. **Lyca** then produced a volume from his robes.

“That is the **Scripture of Life and Death**……”

“The book with the **Mutant Trait** curse?”

“Isn’t that book mostly empty?”

The elders knew the book well. The original **Scripture of Life and Death** was undecipherable. It carried a curse that gave the **Mutant** trait to those who tried to read it, usually killing them. Even those with the trait could only read fragments. The **Eight Houses** had tried for years to crack it and concluded it was useless.

“The **First Ancestor of the Eight Houses** split the secret techniques in two from the start.”

But **Lyca** had solved it, thanks to his student. He understood the true purpose.

“He split them but left clues. This book, the **Scripture of Life and Death**, explains how to survive the death of the **Five Gates**.”

“……You actually decoded it?” the Great Elder asked, shocked. No one else could even read it.

“It was my student who decoded it, not me.”

“……!!!”

Their focus shifted back to **Hyun**. They remembered how he looked before the **World Tree**. And now he had solved the scripture as well?

“The **Scripture of Life and Death** discusses the **Heaven-Devouring Art**. But that’s only part of it. The final piece is with the **Heavenly Demon**, the Master of the **Thousand Mountains**.”

“What does that imply……?”

“It means using the **Heaven-Devouring Art** to consume the **Heavenly Demon**, who has mastered the **Heavenly Demon Divine Art**. That is the only way to surpass the **Five Gates**.”

This was why the **Ancestor** split the secrets. The **Heavenly Demon Divine Art** and the **Five Gates** were two halves of one whole. Since they were incompatible, they had to be mastered separately and then merged through consumption.

“Does that mean the **Heavenly Demon** could consume the one who finished the **Five Gates**?”

“Correct. And if that happens, it would be a disaster.”

If the **Heavenly Demon** absorbed **Lyca** or anyone else with the **Five Gates**, he would become an unstoppable monster. **Great Elder Albino** spoke.

“The **Thousand Mountains** have returned. The **Heavenly Demon** is here.”

**Lyca** nodded. “As the **First Ancestor** intended.”

“You mean he planned for the **Sanctuary** to fail?”

“Yes. The **First Ancestor** planned the deactivation, the person who would cut the **Sanctuary**, and the **World Tree** pulling the **Thousand Mountains** back to the surface.”

Completing the **Five Gates**, cutting the **Grain**, the rise of the abyss—it was all a preordained plan. The elders assumed **Lyca** was the one who deactivated the **Sanctuary**, and he let them believe it.

“Was this… the only way he saw to prevent **Destruction**?” the Great Elder whispered. He looked like he had finally found a missing piece of a puzzle. The martial arts of the **Eight Houses** were meant to fight destruction, but they had only been half-finished. The Great Elder turned to **Lyca** with newfound intensity.

“Family Head. Now that the **Eight Houses** are open again, what is your first move?”

“……I am leaving the future of the **Eight Houses** to my student, **Hyun**.”

“……?” The Great Elder was stunned.

It was a bizarre first act for a new Family Head. To immediately hand over authority to a student?

“……”

“……”

But no one protested. They looked at **Hyun** with a sense of awe. He was the one who completed honor, the Master of the **World Tree**, the **High Druid**.

—

I was thinking. The fall of the **Sanctuary** and the rise of the **World Tree** had brought the abyss with them. The **Thousand Mountains** and the **Heavenly Demon** were just the beginning.

‘They don’t realize how bad this actually is.’

The **Heavenly Demon** is a threat, but he’s not the only one. Only I and **Isabella** remember what happened on the **Island of the Gods**. I can’t tell them yet.

‘Every monster from the **Island of the Gods** is back.’

It was strange. I knew it just by seeing the names of the abyssal zones.

‘The **Unborn Being**, the **Whale of India**, the **Sunken Emperor**……’

Those three were the worst. The **Unborn Being** could eat the world. The **Whale of India** was a servant of destruction. And the **Sunken Emperor**… **Lyca** had called him “His Imperial Majesty.” An emperor with the same face as him.

‘The difference now is that they have their entire armies with them.’

I won’t be as lucky as I was on the island. I can’t just win a game to take their things. I can’t fight them all alone. I need a faction. I need to increase the world’s overall strength. If I become **Randolph**, I might win, but the cost is unknown because I haven’t balanced light and dark yet. I have to grow as **Park Hyunmyeong**. That makes my next move critical.

Under the eyes of everyone, I spoke.

“I am opening the **World Tree of Honor** to everyone.”

“……!”

“W-What do you mean by that……”

The elders were shocked. The tree was sacred. But it was the key to the **Second Job Advancement**. It was the only way for the people of **Pangenia** to get strong enough to fight the abyss. And there was another reason.

‘I need a team for the **Dungeon of Forgotten Honor**.’

That dungeon appeared in the heart of the tree. I felt a pull toward it. Opening the tree was the fastest way to find allies.

—

The news spread like wildfire. The true **Sanctuary** in the **Shrine of Honor** was open. A massive crowd of all races gathered. Even legendary creatures showed up.

“Mythical beasts?”

“Is that a **Leviathan**?”

“The **Sea Monster King**, **Turtle-lum**! Incredible……!”

Monsters that were usually myths were appearing. But they weren’t fighting. This was the **Shrine of Honor**, a neutral territory. Fighting here was considered dishonorable.

“Wait, that tiger……”

“Is that the **White King**?”

“Why is he with a human?”

The crowd was terrified. The **White King**, Master of the North and King of **Kramdel**, had appeared. He was a pillar of the monster world and a known human-hater. Yet he was walking with a man.

“……I have to stay in this line?”

“Yes, **White King** Oppa. You have to wait your turn.”

“Ugh.”

He looked annoyed. Everyone wondered who the man was that could make the **White King** so uncomfortable.

*Kyahyahyahya!*

A small **Reaper** appeared with a laugh. The man next to the **White King** smiled.

“**Hell**-nim. Long time no see.”

*Kyahyahyahyahyahya!*

“And the others with you are…… ah.”

“**Andrew**-nim!”

“**Serengeti**-nim. **Isabella**-nim. And is that **Hudson**-nim?”

**Priest Andrew** nodded to the group with the **Reaper**, **Hell**. But the group was shocked by his look.

“**Andrew**-nim, your hair……”

“It’s white……”

“And your eyes are red?”

He looked nothing like a holy man. White hair and blood-red eyes. **Andrew** just smiled.

“I’m not with the **Goddess Church** anymore.”

“What does that mean?” **Hudson** asked.

The **White King** answered for him.

“……He’s an **Avenger** now. We share an enemy: the **Black King**.”

A man driven by vengeance. **Priest Andrew** had fallen in the **Primal Forest**, fueled by his hate for the **Black King**.

“I see Imperials too!”

“The **Dercian** family is here!”

“The **Reaper Cultists**……!”

“The **Goddess Church** arrived!”

“Is a war about to start?”

The crowds kept growing. Then, another shock hit.

“Elves!”

“No way! Real Elves!”

“They never come out of hiding!”

“Is that the **Elf Queen** in the middle?”

The presence of the **Elf Queen** took everyone’s breath away. And then, in the middle of it all, someone pointed and screamed in terror.

“It’s… it’s the **Blade Dragon God**……!!!”