Ch-317. **I Will Take Everything.**
—
No-self.
To forget oneself.
To forget oneâs very existence.
The state of no-self refers to a condition in which, through extreme concentration, one becomes unable to think of anything else.
What is commonly called *immersion*.
And when humans enter such immersion, they often display abilities beyond their usual limits.
When my swordsmanship proficiency reached level 35, a newly unlocked technique appearedâ**Disarm**.
It merely stated that it was usable, but offered no clue as to *how* it should be used.
Just as one cannot immediately wield sword aura or sword force simply by unlocking themâ
One must understand what it is, and how it is used, before it can be applied.
Yet *Disarm* was a concept I had never once seen anyone use.
In truth, it was even more abstruse than sword aura or sword force.
*âItâs a technique connected to Flow.â*
Now, however, I understood.
Disarm was an advanced evolution of the concept of Flow.
But for now, it existed only as a *concept*.
To use it properly, it had to be concretized in three dimensions.
In other words, the concept had to be clothed in technique.
Just as Wilhelm had hammered his own concept into *Heaven-and-Earth Genesis*.
Just as he had completed a sword art that was not merely swordsmanship, but the concept itself.
By embedding his very existence into swordsmanship, compressing all profundities into it, he had finally expressed *Heaven-and-Earth Genesis*.
Thus, I needed something to embody the concept of Disarm.
After searching and searchingâ
*Mind Sword.*
Within the state of no-self, I drew a single sword.
Its initial form was the *Supreme Sword*.
The blade that another Randolph had wielded, driving Wilhelm to the brink of death.
Its power was on an entirely different level from when I had used it.
And yetâ
It was still not the form I desired.
If something must be cut, does it truly have to be someoneâs *death*?
Death is too commonplace.
What I wish to cut are things that no one has ever been able to cut.
It is not some absurd fantasy of cutting the world or slaying gods.
I simplyâ
*âI want to cut the impossible.â*
I want to become the first.
I want to step into a realm that no oneâincluding myselfâhas ever reached.
The countless unknowns scattered throughout Pangaenia.
Those things everyone dismisses as impossible, seemingly perfect and unassailable.
Those are what I want to cut.
ăYou can use âMartial Godâs Mind Sword (Disarm).âă
Thus, I immersed myself.
In a single swing.
I wanted to know how far I could cut if I poured *everything I am now*âor even power beyond my limitsâinto it.
When I swung the Martial Godâs Mind Sword within my mindâ
Craaaack!
âŠA fissure appeared.
In the world.
Here, within the sanctuary.
But this was by no means a simple event.
It was a heaven-shaking, earth-splitting prelude announcing the emergence of a new conceptâone that destroys the concept of impossibility.
—
—
âWho creates concepts?â
At the Korean Hero Alliance.
In the center of the training grounds where Awakened gathered, Arin suddenly asked.
She was the Seventh Lord Basara, wearing the guise of a human.
At present, she was enjoying herself on Earth as a woman named *Arin*, training the cadets here.
ââŠGods, perhaps?â one trainee answered.
Arin countered with a question.
âThatâs what ordinary people would think. But from an Awakenedâs perspective, is that really so? Do you think concepts like *Defense*, *Penetration*, or *Evasion* were created by gods?â
ââŠWerenât they created by the *system*?â
âThen who created the systemâs concepts?â
ââŠHumans?â
âNo. *Prophets*.â
âPâProphets?â
The trainees tilted their heads.
In common understanding, a prophet is âone who conveys Godâs will.â
But that was not what Arin meant.
âOne who awakens first. When what they realize is expressed with a specific name, it becomes a *concept*. It becomes a definition. A truth. Howeverââ
ââŠâŠâ
âConcepts are not perfect. For example, imagine someone with infinite defense. How would you defeat them?â
âYouâd need extremely high penetration.â
âExactly. Through the concept of *Penetration*, the concept of *Defense* was ultimately pierced. But think about which concept came first.â
âDefense, I think. Penetration arose to break it.â
âCorrect. If the concept of defense had been truly perfect, no concept to undermine it would ever have been created. Evasion, too, has been rendered powerless by concepts like *Accuracy* and *Focus*.â
âBut things like Invincibility or Indestructibleâby definitionâcanât be penetrated, can they?â
âThatâs precisely my point. Are such things truly concepts that cannot be broken?â
The trainees fell into thought.
But the conclusion was one.
Impossible.
Arin smiled.
âThe one who first created the concept of defense must have been proud. They probably believed that as long as defense was high enough, it could never be pierced. But then the concept of penetration emerged and broke it. Of courseâeven penetration later met concepts it could not surpass.â
âThose would be options like Invincibility and Indestructible.â
âYes.â
Arin nodded.
And concepts similar to them.
For example, *Minimum Physical Resistance*âa lesser-known concept.
No matter how high penetration is, it cannot break it.
Yet even that was not a concept that existed from the beginning.
âSo think in reverse. What if itâs simply that no concept capable of breaking those options has appeared yet? That theyâre called invincible or indestructible only because theyâre unfamiliar to usâbecause no one has discovered how to overcome them?â
âThe one who finds that method⊠would become a prophet.â
âBecome a prophet. If you remain buried within existing concepts, you will eventually face an insurmountable limit.â
That was what she truly wanted to say.
Do not treat impossibility as truly impossibleâpress forward.
Continuously explore. Continuously desire.
It was the right time to say such things.
The burning desire to grow stronger was visible in everyoneâs eyes.
*The Wilhelm craze.*
A craze was sweeping Earth.
Wilhelm, who had climbed the Tower of the War God.
Countless Awakened inspired by him had sparked an unexpected Wilhelm fever.
And she, too, had seen Wilhelm.
But she had not climbed the Tower of the War God.
*Wilhelm. Youâre still shining.*
Just as you did when you faced me in the Demon Realm.
Noâshining even more brightly now.
So much so that the world itself began to shine.
That was whyâ
She simply wanted to see how far he would go.
And when Wilhelm finally arrived at his answer.
When she saw the final sword he swungâ
The Seventh Lord Basara smiled in deep satisfaction.
*Youâve finally completed it, Wilhelm.*
He had finally created a world.
He had reached out into a realm no one else had attained.
Bearing a stature entirely different from when he fought her.
Thus, Basara was searching for the one who had enabled such a Wilhelm to exist.
Someone on this Earth.
*Phantom.*
âŠthe one known by that name.
Because she believed that person could answer the question she had carried for so long.
âMaster. If someone appears who can overcome invincibility and indestructibility, what kind of person would they be?â
At the sudden question, she shrugged.
âWho knows.â
One thing was certainâthey would not be a mere prophet.
They would have broken a concept that countless prophets had challenged and abandoned.
Hard to express in a single word, but perhaps a sentence would do.
âOne who holds the qualification to grasp everything in the world⊠because to them, impossibility would not exist.â
âŠIn other words, the master of the world.
—
—
âStop the opening of the Five Gates!!!â
Grand Elder Albino shouted urgently.
He had instinctively realized that cracks had formed in the sanctuary.
And cracks in the sanctuary meantâ
*âTime has begun to flowâŠ!â*
The time that had been halted within the sanctuary was now flowing normally again.
It meant the sanctuaryâs blessing had been lifted.
Which meant that continuing to open the Five Gates would now lead to death.
A place where even the upper Pavilion Lords could open the Five Gates without dyingâ
Was only possible because this area had been designated a *sanctuary* through the blessing of the World Tree.
But the sanctuary had broken.
âStop immediatelyâ!!â
âGuhk!â
âCough!â
The First and Second Pavilion Lords spat blood.
They had stopped opening the Five Gatesâbut it was too late.
Only one person remained unharmed.
âŠRaiga.
Even so, Raiga was not entirely fine.
His expressionâhis eyesâ
They trembled, as if shaken.
And his gaze was not on them, but on the second floor of the hall.
On his disciple.
*âJust now⊠that wasâŠâ*
A Mind Sword.
Without a doubt.
Raiga had comprehended the Mind Sword, so he could tell that his disciple had just wielded it.
But it was not an ordinary Mind Sword.
*âWhat⊠in the world⊠did he complete?â*
The Flow was different.
The question arose.
But before he could even voice itâ
ăThe âSanctuaryâ has been lifted.ă
ăThe second âWorld Treeâ is revealed to the world.ă
ăThe rate of âPangaenia Collapseâ is reduced.ă
ăThe âWorld Treeâs rootsâ lift lands sunken into the Abyss.ă
ăâHeavenly Mountain,â âThe Sunken Land of the Immortal,â âThe Land of the Faithless,â âThe Vast Whale Sea,â âThe Place of Nothing,â âCliff of Sleeping Place,â âGrave of Dolls,â âHell of StarsââŠă
ăThe âWorld Tree of Honorâ blesses all âHonorable Ones.âă
ăFrom now on, you may verify qualifications through the âWorld Tree of Honorâ and perform a âClass Up (Second Advancement).âă
—
—
Heavenly Mountain.
The Heavenly Demon, who had been healing his internal injuries, opened his eyes.
Guuuuung!
âŠCentered on where he stood, the entire *land* began to quake.
Kwarururung!
The earth liftedârose.
And thus, all the Abyssal territories once ruled by the Heavenly Demon ascended into the sky.
*ââŠWhat in theââ*
Even the Heavenly Demon could not help but be bewildered.
But one thing was clearâthe Abyss was rising into the firmament.
And not only Heavenly Mountain, but countless Abyssal regions.
Countless lands, and their countless rulers.
*âThe lands of the Abyss are joining Pangaenia?â*
They were being forcibly drawn up.
This had never happened before.
The first time since the Abyss came into existence.
âAaah!â
âSâSave us!â
At last, the Heavenly Demon rose to his feet.
And addressing the many gathered followers, he said,
âDo not act rashly.â
Rather, this was an opportunity.
Not something to fear or panic overâbut to rejoice.
The Heavenly Demon smiled.
Spreading both arms wideâ
âFrom this moment on, we face a new world. The untainted land we have dreamed of!â
ââŠâŠ!!â
âSo rejoice and exult! For I shall become the master of Pangaenia!â
âAaah, Heavenly Demon!â
âLong live! Long live! Long, long live!â
All prostrated themselves, repeatedly striking their foreheads against the ground.
A new land.
The long-dreamed entry into Pangaenia!
It had suddenly become possible.
Though they had failed to reclaim the Island of Gods, and their memories of it were goneâ
Once they ascended to Pangaenia, the Island of Gods no longer mattered.
*âI will take everything.â*
Pangaenia.
The world.
And I will place Heavenly Mountain at the very center of the world.
I will make the name of the Heavenly Demon Cult known across all lands.
The Heavenly Demonâs eyes shone with fierce resolve.
—
Now that’s intresting