chapter 195
195. Black body
Even though it looks like there is nothing, the whole world is filled with thoughts instead of air. And the Sword Tower was an agglomeration of darkness born from rotting thoughts.
The same yet completely different forces collided, and gray sparks flew in the air. Enormous pieces of thought fell, and black scars were left in the world along the angle of the sword tower.
Proof that the world is being eroded by me little by little. Specters poked their heads out of the cracks in the blackening world. They rushed into it, longing for a new world.
[Kuhehehe!]
[I didn’t see that friend like that, but he’s a very nasty guy.]
[Are you kidding me? Wake up, why aren’t you waking up…]
A wave of ghosts rushed in with the hearty bullsh*t. However, unlike the small boats that had been helplessly swept away so far, the breakwater they had to cross was large and strong.
Hundreds of bookkeepers who have built up huge fortresses by tuning their thoughts into books. As their ears twitched as they were exposed beyond the wall, the books that formed the wall gradually slipped out.
In reality, enemy soldiers might be able to enter through the gaps, but in this fight for dominance in the spirit world, it doesn’t mean much. Of course, the defense of the castle wall would have weakened a little.
Instead of giving up their defense, they summoned a new army in place of the stone beasts. Books unfold randomly, and fluffy stories bloom between the scattered pages.
「Today, I will announce the end of this war. “Advance!”
「”Stop! Stop!” “No, I have to tell you.” The son glares at the man who once was his father.”
「”·······You finally left. But we believe you will come back one day. Listen everyone! There is only one person who will be our leader, alive or dead, and until he returns, the seat of the leader will remain vacant forever!”
The past, the present, and the future were mixed in a way that gave life to them.
The military of a small kingdom who lost their ruler and only have a vengeance, the rich who were enemies of each other but could not directly stain their blood because of the curse entangled in their bloodline, and the fanatics who longed for destruction more than anyone else because they were not saved. .
A tsunami of ghosts swept over them. The knight’s armor was entangled in the black mist, the enlisted men led by the two nobles were blinded by the darkness, and the zealots gladly embraced the dark fortune that I served.
[What?]
For an instant, the specter seemed to overwhelm them. But soon the situation reversed. Even if a story comes to an end, as long as the book is open, the finished story is repeated from the beginning.
Those who fell, torn, collapsed, and melted stand up again as normal. On the other hand, no matter how many deaths I swallowed, the number was never infinite.
「”Until we are forgotten, people will remember us! The name of the most hated motherland, which used the world as fuel to light a splendid flame!”
「That’s a taboo for nobles. At last, the moment his father’s blade pierced his son’s heart, and the drop of blood touched the old man’s distorted cheek, he was deprived of his title. Their territory will no longer be protected by the world.”
「”Now, I will call myself the Grand Master.” Although there is no longer a leader in the Dark Church, the leader will remain and lead them forever.”
In the never-ending story, the raging waves gradually lost their power. The uncountable number of the specter’s colony has been cut down and reduced little by little.
I exclaimed inwardly. Hey, so far, no one has been able to properly block even the sweeping ghosts. The bookkeepers who dealt with the thoughts of the entire world were certainly formidable enemies.
It was undeniable that it was definitely impressive. But I should have made the right decision. Dominating the darkness, casting specters, everything is good.
My essence is always a sword. I’ve never forgotten that fact.
[Oops, you should have judged the main attack correctly.]
Finally, the group of ghosts I unleashed melted into the muddy stream of thoughts without leaving even a fragment. If I tried to solve it further, it was a meaningless action like throwing a pebble into the sea, so I stopped.
Well, there is no need to do that in the first place. It was already too late when the bookkeepers realized their mistake as they looked at the shadows that were much thicker than before.
The shadow of the knife, which had already tilted more than halfway, approached as if it would tear the castle of the book apart at any moment.
“Stop it!”
The voice presumed to be the captain shouted with a high pitch. Following that cry, the entire castle of books shook, and more books escaped from the walls and clung to the sword tower flapping their wings.
No matter how good the tools you handle are good. The owner ate it up. Unless it is a special tool that makes it usable by manipulating the body of even a poor master like me, no matter how great a sword is, if it falls into the hands of an idiot, the blade will become dull.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Cream is the owner of the dish. Do you know my heart
“Yes.”
Cream threw an answer indifferently and began to concentrate again. The abyss of unconsciousness that eroded the sword tower and, furthermore, the flower garden of the four seasons, was maintained by me and her together.
Even if our souls are united to the point of becoming one, they cannot truly be the same. There is such a big difference from the basic tendency. Supporting my mental world, Cream swallowed the groans.
But as she carried her burdens, so did her enemies. At most, the flying books corroded and melted away before reaching the sword tower, leaving only the result of the walls loosening.
“No matter how demonic the opponent is, how can he have such a heinous mental world?”
“Don’t be afraid! Not even a handful of them! No matter how much the warriors receive their protection, the strength of the material world and the spiritual world are different!”
Well done. No matter how great my skills are, the real me is just a sword. It can exert its power only when it is held in someone’s hand.
However, since this place was half a spiritual world, and this place was full of muddy thoughts that had not turned into darkness, it was possible to show off such ridiculous miracles.
Of course, the virtue of Cream was also great. She was deserving of claiming to be my master.
[Oops, it’s time over!]
The books that escaped from the Castle of Books tried to slow down the steps of the Tower of Swords, which flew up and fell. Most made it before they could even reach it, but a few managed to cling to it and put the brakes on their speed.
But it was a futile struggle, a ridiculous sacrifice. All those stories, all those wills could only stop the shaking of the sword tower for a very short time.
Only ugly marks were left where the sword tower passed. As if everything had been burned and only ashes remained. The hideous black soot hinted at an impending catastrophe.
Soon, the sword drawn by one hero collided with the wall built by hundreds of bookkeepers.
“aaa!”
“aaagh!”
“·······!”
Screams crushed between the turbulent streams of the raging Sanyeongmyeon filled the void. Yes, the Castle of Books couldn’t block the sword tower at all, as if it were really a species.
The sword tower cut through the book’s castle in half and the handle stuck into the ground. A stroke of ink was drawn across the entire world along a hideous black track, and everything within that line was erased.
[Puha, aha, ha. I shouldn’t laugh.]
The bookkeepers who melted into the darkness without even feeling pain belonged to the lucky side. I laughed at the sight of the bug-like buggers beyond the ruined castle.
Just as I made the sword my mental body, they also made the book their own mental body. I don’t know if it’s one or two. The entire castle, created by interweaving each other’s minds, was cut in two as it was, but it couldn’t be okay.
The stories clearly arranged in the form of a book became incomprehensible noise and mixed together, and the darkness greedily devouring information chased its source and flowed backwards.
The book keepers screamed as they watched the melting limbs. A clear pain, yet still firm voice moved them.
“Run away, run away… Run away!”
I found it. You were there. Ignoring the scattering hordes of frightened rabbits, I approached the leader of the bookkeepers with a smile.
He was an elderly gentleman in a stylish tailcoat and monocle. The golden pocket watch he was holding was broken, and the hour and second hands could be seen digging into the palm of his hand.
“In the world, why are you disobeying the gods! Do you really not know that our world is barely maintained because of them!”
The captain of the book keepers screamed earnestly as if vomiting blood, or actually vomiting blood. Cream quietly moved right in front of him.
Then, at my will, she lifted her foot and trampled the golden pocket watch in his hand and the palm nailed to it. Wooddeuk. There was the sound of a watch or a wrist bone or both breaking apart.
“Unless the sun and moon pull the world on opposite sides, the planets won’t turn! If the sun does not bring light and warmth to the world, an endless ice age will overtake the entire continent! If the moon doesn’t take the soul, embrace it, and send it back to the world, no new life will be born on this earth!”
Yes, I know it because I heard it. And I know one more thing he doesn’t know. That the world maintained by the intervention of such a transcendent force is never normal.
There are no gods on Earth. At least as in this world, there is no absolute existence that clearly reveals its existence and intervenes. Even so, the earth is rolling along, if not perfectly.
The real sun, which originally would have blown light into this planet, has long since gone out, and the wheel of reincarnation has long since lost its spokes and deviated from its original orbit.
[What about stars?]
“The stars are…”
If you compare it to a human, it’s like having your heart and brain removed. And we don’t call it alive.
This world is already dead. That too a long time ago.
[Actually, I’m not really curious.]
I, spurred by the cream, pierced the book keeper’s face and locked myself in. No matter how obscure this place is to absorb the soul because it is full of useless thoughts, it is different if it is this close.
The pineal body was severed and the blood and soul that gushed out were sucked into me without a single drop left. Hmmm, that’s pretty impressive. The longer you live, the more time accumulates and the taste becomes dull.
This bookkeeper’s blood was quite tasty. I don’t know, but he must have lived for at least hundreds of years, so maintaining this level of taste would prove how upright and sincere he was in his lifetime.
Well, he died.
[Let’s take a break.]
The sword tower lost its shape and collapsed, returning to me. Cream sat down where the fragments of the story that raged and the moaning of the unfortunate book keepers who had not yet died flowed.
Her face was pale. Apparently, this time, Cream was also quite burdened. Well, it’s not that serious, it’ll be better if you take a little breather.
Crim pinned me to the ground and leaned against it. Little by little, her breath is getting better, and the rabbits run away from us. I chuckled.
[You must be relieved that we are not chasing you, right?]
“Oh, yes.”
Stupid response. Anyway, Cream doesn’t know romance. I grumbled lightly and expanded my senses in all directions.
If those rabbits run away, it will be pretty troublesome for us too. At least the gods will know that the hero has definitely changed his mind. But don’t worry.
No matter how much they are book keepers, it is inevitable that it takes up a considerable amount of time to go out from the inside as it was difficult to get inside from the outside of the Tower of the Four Seasons. And that wandering will come back with fatal consequences for them.
Now, the best hound is out hunting.