Ch-318. **I will leave it to my disciple.**
—
The appearance of the second World Tree!
It was, quite literally, an unprecedented *massive update*.
The structure of Pangaenia—the entire balance built up so far—was being shaken at its foundation.
A vast number of Abyssal lands had begun to merge with Pangaenia.
And not ordinary Abysses, but hells ruled by absolute beings known as *Abyss Kings*.
The Heavenly Demon.
The Amplifier of Storms.
The Lord of Graves.
The Sunken Emperor.
The Star Breaker.
The Unborn One.
The Celestial Whale.
And other Abyssal monsters no less fearsome than them!
“Ohhh…”
“So this is the Continent of the Sky!”
“How beautiful!”
“The untainted world we dreamed of…”
“At last, our chance has come!”
“Everything will be mine!”
They were ecstatic.
Long ages in the Abyss.
Their bodies had warped, their minds shattered.
Dozens, hundreds—more—of forced adaptations to survive the Abyss.
The pain. The sorrow. The injustice.
Words could not describe it.
Yet through all that endless time, they had gazed only at the continent floating in the sky.
They had hoped.
They had yearned fiercely—and they had resented.
A beautiful land untouched by Abyssal poison.
A place of green forests and blue skies!
Yet it was the land where those who abandoned them lived.
So long had passed that many barely remembered who they once were, or what they had been.
But one thing was certain.
And then—
“…Cowards who live upon the land of the firmament.”
From among them, a man opened his eyes.
A dead World Tree.
A banquet of corpses.
Mountains of skulls piled high.
Upon them, the faded and torn banner of the Old Empire.
One of the great heroes who once led the Old Empire—said to be the strongest among the Hexagram Heroes.
The Great Warrior Odin.
He finally opened his eyes.
And not only him.
Beside Odin, the other Hexagram Heroes gathered, one by one.
Five heroes in total, excluding Sword Saint Riley.
Odin gazed at the blue sky beyond the boundary and spoke.
“Can you bear our Abyss?”
—
—
“In a way, this is for the best. The seal would have been lifted anyway.”
In the council chamber where the Grand Elder and elders had gathered,
Raiga broke the heavy silence.
The sanctuary had been forcibly lifted.
As a result, the First and Second Pavilion Lords, who had been opening the Five Gates, had been placed in an irreversible situation.
The Grand Elder let out a small sigh.
“The First and Second Pavilion Lords will die.”
Their deaths were a severe blow to Fang.
No one had practiced Fang’s martial arts longer than they had.
No one understood Fang’s essence better.
Raiga replied calmly.
“The death of the Five Gates can be overcome.”
“…Even you haven’t fully overcome it.”
When the Five Gates are opened, death follows.
An absolute axiom passed down since Fang’s inception.
Raiga had extended his lifespan by completing the Five Gates.
But the shadow of death had not vanished.
If one still dies in the end—can that truly be called *overcoming*?
“That’s only natural. The Five Gates aren’t the end.”
“…?”
Grand Elder Albino tilted his head.
The other elders did the same.
“The Five Gates aren’t the end?”
“That can’t be!”
“The First Sage of Fang clearly said the Five Gates were the end!”
Opening the Five Gates.
Becoming complete through it.
Naturally, there should have been nothing beyond—
After all, Fang’s secret arts had been passed down by the First Sage to the Grand Elder and elders through unbroken succession.
And yet, it wasn’t the end.
Swoosh.
Raiga took a book from his robes.
“That book is the Life-and-Death Realm…”
“Isn’t that the book cursed with the ‘Mutant Trait’?”
“But it doesn’t really contain anything, does it?”
The elders spoke with expressions showing familiarity.
The original text of the Life-and-Death Realm.
It had never been deciphered.
It only carried a curse that triggered the hidden trait *Mutant* under certain conditions.
Why a curse?
Because nearly everyone who manifested Mutant ended up dying.
Even with the Mutant trait, one could barely read a few characters at best.
Thus, Fang House had tried endlessly to decipher it.
The Grand Elder and elders included.
But it had never been solved, and they had even concluded that it *contained nothing of value*.
“The First Sage of 6 divided the secret arts into two from the very beginning.”
But Raiga had deciphered it.
Thanks to his disciple.
He now understood the true meaning written within.
Raiga continued.
“He split it into two, but left clues behind. One of those is this book—the Life-and-Death Realm. It describes a method to overcome the death of the Five Gates.”
“…You truly deciphered that book?”
The Grand Elder asked in shock.
The thing he could not decipher—something no one could properly read.
That Raiga, whom no one expected anything of, had deciphered it.
“Not I—my disciple did.”
“…!!!”
Their eyes once again turned to Raiga’s disciple, Hyun.
The scene that unfolded when he stood before the World Tree still lingered vividly in their minds.
And now, he had even deciphered the Life-and-Death Realm?
“The Life-and-Death Realm speaks of the martial art *Devouring Essence Art*. But that is not the true answer. The true answer lies with the lord of Heavenly Mountain—the Heavenly Demon.”
“You mean…?”
“To absorb the Heavenly Demon, who has perfected the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, using the Devouring Essence Art. Only then can one advance to the next realm beyond the Five Gates.”
That was why the First Sage had split it in half.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and the opening of the Five Gates.
They were originally one.
But because they could not coexist, each had to be mastered separately.
When one who has mastered one absorbs the other, completion is finally achieved.
“Then does that mean the Heavenly Demon could instead absorb one who has completed the Five Gates?”
“Yes. And if that happens, a catastrophe will follow.”
If Raiga were absorbed by the Heavenly Demon—or if the Heavenly Demon absorbed anyone who had mastered the Five Gates—
The Heavenly Demon would become incomparably stronger.
An unavoidable, overwhelming calamity would occur.
Then Grand Elder Albino spoke.
“Heavenly Mountain has risen. And the Heavenly Demon has appeared with it.”
Raiga nodded.
“That, too, was arranged by the First Sage.”
“You’re saying the First Sage anticipated the *release of the sanctuary* from the beginning?”
“Yes. The First Sage planned for it all—the one who would cut the sanctuary, and thereby cause the World Tree to pull Heavenly Mountain up into the continent.”
Completing the opening of the Five Gates,
And further, cutting the indestructible *Flow*.
The rising of Heavenly Mountain from the Abyss—
All of it had been arranged by the First Sage.
Of course, it wasn’t Raiga who had released the sanctuary.
But the elders seemed to believe it was.
“So the First Sage believed this was the only way to face *Destruction*…”
Grand Elder Albino murmured softly.
But his expression also held the look of someone who had finally found an answer.
Fang’s secret arts were a means to oppose Destruction.
But they alone were insufficient.
From the beginning, they had been only half.
The missing thread—the sense that something was lacking—had finally been unraveled.
The Grand Elder hardened his expression.
And spoke with utmost gravity.
“Head of the family. With Fang’s seal lifted—what do you intend to do next?”
“…I will entrust Fang’s next move to my disciple, *Hyun*.”
“…?”
The Grand Elder blinked in confusion.
Naturally so.
It was the first action of the new head.
The first step taken by the head was always of paramount importance.
And yet—he would entrust it to his disciple?
“……”
“……”
Yet no one objected.
In silence, they merely shifted their gazes.
Eyes tinged with faint reverence.
Raiga’s disciple.
The one who had completed honor.
The High Druid, master of the World Tree.
—
—
I was thinking.
The release of the sanctuary and the emergence of the World Tree.
The countless Abysses that rose because of it.
What they were discussing now—*Heavenly Mountain* and the *Heavenly Demon*—were truly only the tip of the iceberg.
*They don’t fully grasp the severity of the situation.*
The Heavenly Demon is a problem.
But he is not the only problem.
What happened on the Island of Gods.
Only Isabella and I remembered it.
And I couldn’t speak of it.
*All the territories of the monsters that competed on the Island of Gods have risen.*
Strangely enough, not a single one was missing.
Just from the names of the Abyssal regions, I could tell—it was certain.
*The Unborn One. The Celestial Whale. The Sunken Emperor…*
These three were the most troubling.
The Unborn One could devour all of Pangaenia.
The Celestial Whale was, like the Four Calamities, a retainer of Destruction.
And the Sunken Emperor in particular—
Raiga said he had seen the man’s face beneath the mask and called him *Your Majesty*.
The sleeping Emperor of the Empire.
Someone with the same face.
*The difference from what happened on the Island of Gods is that all of their subordinates have appeared as well.*
There would be no relying on luck this time.
I couldn’t steal what was precious to them through a game with rules.
Nor could I handle all of their factions alone.
I had to grow stronger.
I had to build forces, and raise overall military power.
If I transformed into Randolph, there might be a chance—but the aftermath would be unpredictable.
I still hadn’t balanced light and darkness.
The best approach was to strengthen *my own* power—Park Hyun-myung’s power and disposition.
For that, the next move was crucial.
At the center of everyone’s gaze,
I spoke slowly.
“I will fully open the ‘World Tree of Honor.’”
“…!”
“What—what do you mean…?”
The elders were startled.
The World Tree was sacred.
To fully open it—
But the World Tree of Honor was a key element for second class advancement.
It would allow the people of Pangaenia to grow stronger, to stand against them.
And more than that—
*I need to find party members to enter the Forgotten Dungeon of Honor.*
The Forgotten Dungeon of Honor that had formed at the World Tree’s core.
The moment I saw it, an inexplicable sense of duty arose.
That was why I chose the *full opening of the World Tree*.
To find party members as quickly as possible.
—
—
Rumors spread instantly.
The Sanctuary of Honor.
That the true sanctuary hidden within it had been revealed.
Countless beings, regardless of race, formed long processions.
Among them were monsters no one had anticipated.
“Mythic species?”
“There’s even a Leviathan!”
“The Sea King Turtlem! Whoa…!”
From mythic species rarely ever seen, to rulers of vast lands.
Yet none of them bore hostile intent.
This was where the World Tree stood.
A neutral zone—the Sanctuary of Honor.
To fight here without cause would be profoundly dishonorable.
As people stood in awe—
“Wait, that white tiger…”
“N–No way. The White King?”
“But why is the White King with a human?”
All who saw him froze in shock.
Compared to this being, the monsters seen before were nothing.
The ruler of the North—the White King!
The king of Cramdel, spiritual pillar of the northern monsters, had appeared.
What was even more surprising was who stood with him.
A man.
The White King, who despised humans, was accompanying one.
“…Do I have to wait?”
“Yes, Lord White King. You must stand in line.”
“Grrn.”
He even seemed awkward about it.
As everyone wondered who the man troubling the White King could be—
Kyakyakyakya!
With a raucous laugh, a small reaper appeared.
The man beside the White King smiled when he saw the reaper.
“Lord Hel. It’s been a while.”
Kyakyakyakyakya!
“And those with you are… ah.”
“Lord Andrew!”
“Lady Serengeti. Lady Isabella. And Lord Hudson, is it not?”
The Lineage Hel, accompanied by three.
Priest Andrew nodded upon seeing them.
But they were shocked when they saw Andrew.
“Lord Andrew, but why is your hair…”
“All white…”
“And why… are your eyes red?”
Andrew’s appearance was strange.
The sacred, transcendent priest was gone.
His hair had turned completely white.
And his eyes were dyed blood-red.
Andrew smiled faintly and said,
“I am no longer a priest of the Goddess Church.”
“What do you mean? A priest who is not a priest?”
Hudson asked—but the answer came from the side.
The White King spoke.
“…He has become a *Revenger*. To kill our common enemy—the Black King.”
A revenger.
Priest Andrew, who had gone to the Forest of Beginnings, had fallen.
Consumed by fierce hatred toward the Black King.
At that moment—
“I see a lot of Imperials too?”
“The Dersian family is here!”
“The Reaper Cult…”
“The Goddess Church came as well!”
“Is this going to turn into a war?”
Processions continued endlessly.
And the surprises did not end there.
“Elves!”
“Damn—this is my first time seeing elves!”
“Of course—it’s the first time they’ve ever appeared!”
“W–Wait, the one in the center… isn’t that the Elf Queen?”
“The Queen herself appeared?”
Once again, all eyes turned.
And then—
Someone stared in one direction, shuddering, and cried out in terror.
“B–The *Blade Dragon God*…!!!”
ALL hail to the blade dragon god !!!