Chapter 226: The Only Solution (3)
“Snap out of it, Mumyung! It’s urgent!”
“Ah······.”
I shook his shoulders vigorously and slapped his cheeks, but he didn’t respond.
He was as unresponsive as if his soul had been sucked out.
This was hopeless.
I picked Mumyung up and roughly threw him into the evacuation line.
I was relieved to see that even though he was out of his mind, he was still subconsciously following the crowd and walking into the air raid shelter.
‘If the bombardment hits like this, many people will die.’
It was exactly as Jill had said.
The interval between the second bombardment was too short.
The anti-aircraft guns were firing diligently, but they were not enough to break through the fleet’s defenses.
Since there was no way to shoot them down, the only solution was to buy as much time as possible to evacuate.
That was Jill’s role.
So what was I supposed to do?
It was already decided.
“Mijung. Can you imitate the magic that Mumyung showed you?”
“······Impossible.”
As expected.
“······Even so, try. I’ll, I’ll try.”
Mijung began to gather magic power at her fingertips and form the foundation of a magic circle.
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The ninth-tier magic that Mumyung had shown her.
She was trying her best to imitate the magic that created a soul.
Even though it was the first time she had used this type of magic, she was quite proficient.
If it were me, I wouldn’t even be able to remember the structure of the magic circle.
I was amazed as I watched her effortlessly assemble the exact same magic circle that I had seen before.
“······Ugh.”
However, even though it seemed like a perfect imitation, the magic failed to complete and collapsed at the last moment.
It was the same no matter how many times she repeated it.
It may have looked the same on the surface, but in fact, there was a big difference in the process.
It was a ninth-tier magic.
If it had been around the seventh tier, Mijung might have been able to imitate it, but······.
It seemed that it was impossible to jump to the level of a grand magic in one go.
“······I couldn’t do it.”
Mijung’s magic power was exhausted, and she collapsed with her eyes glowing red.
Her face was filled with exhaustion, disappointment, and hunger.
Mijung looked up at me and her facial muscles twitched as if she was about to cry.
I slowly looked down at the port instead of her.
I looked down at Mijung and stroked her head.
“Magic······.”
The result of relying on magic.
The plan had fallen apart at the last moment.
But don’t you think something is strange?
Where does this違和感 come from?
‘Creating an inner world with magic? Is that right?’
The realm of reaching the inner world has nothing to do with magic.
It doesn’t even have anything to do with swordsmanship.
The easiest way to obtain the Five Mysteries is to master swordsmanship and break through its limits.
However, its essence does not lie in swordsmanship itself.
The important thing is to make my will my own.
To handle the will that people do not even recognize and just let it flow.
And the realm of contemplating the inner world, the whirlpool where that will gathers, is that.
Can such a realm be created with magic?
Can a magician who knows nothing about will suddenly understand the enlightenment that has been gained through a lifetime of honing one’s will?
I should have doubted this from the beginning.
I was unconsciously trying to find a shortcut again and ended up taking a more twisted path.
“It wasn’t difficult.”
Thud.
Fragrant flowers spilled out of my pocket.
I had been thinking too hard about it.
I had been mistaken in thinking that the ‘inner world’ was something so grand.
You need to realize the Five Mysteries and have the vision to see the soul, but.
In the end, the essence of the inner world can be summarized simply.
The inner world is me.
It is a microcosm that all intelligent beings possess.
However, ‘I’ cannot be completed by myself alone.
‘I’ is something that is created through relationships with people.So, it was absurd to think that I could create the world within me from nothing.
Then, did the Underworld God lie to me?
Did he give me an impossible task?
That’s not it.
The Underworld God was right this time too.
Just as the Underworld God said, I was unable to take the last step even though I was fully prepared this time.
The world within me was already complete.
Everything was already in place.
“It was a very simple story.”
I knelt on one knee and dug up the evil soil with my hands.
I was an idiot.
It’s like the saying goes, “The darkest place is under the lamp.”
What makes me who I am are my past relationships.
Those relationships have always been in my arms.
I didn’t need any great magic or formulas.
“Where my relationships are is my world within.”
These children made me.
I thought I was manipulating and using the heroines as I repeated the regression.
But in the process, it was me who was being honed, polished, and changed.
The relationships with those who made me who I am are all in my hands.
So what more do I need?
My essence is already complete.
Did it matter where these things were planted?
I planted the flowers one by one in the dug-up soil.
Yellow jasmine.
Black rose.
Blue cyclamen.
And red camellia.
As soon as I planted all the flowers and covered them with soil, roots spread out below them in an instant.
And bright light scattered all around.
The light seeped into the ground and spread into the atmosphere.
Before I knew it, the surrounding landscape was being eroded, centered on the flowers.
Accordingly, I strengthen the will in my hands.
I forge it, and forge it again.
Until it turns red-hot and blue.
Before I knew it, what I was holding in my hands was a red-hot sword.
I swing it and step on the basic footwork of the Dakia style.
Next is the Merida style.
In turn, I melt the formulas of the Frost style and forge the sword even harder and sharper.
The landscape changes wherever the sword passes.
Snow falls where my feet pass.
As the sword is fully forged and filled with will, my body stops abruptly.
“Haah······.”
I looked around and exhaled a white breath, calming my breathing.
Before I knew it, what was spread out around me was a snowy country.
If I take out the Mistilteinn that I’m holding tightly in my hand, it’s a world covered in snow, with nothing else.
If there is one realization I have gained through 12 regressions, it is this:
Life is lived alone.
No one can fully understand me, and I cannot understand others either.
No matter how many times I regress, I will never meet the same person I knew.
Everything in my perception is erased, and I reappear as a completely different person.
That’s why everything in my world within is a pure white world.
The world I have seen 13 times is so familiar, but it is also unfamiliar.
I know everything, but I understand nothing.
There is nothing left in me, the regressor, but loneliness and cold.
······or so I thought.
“You’re finally back.”
“······.”
Swish.
I felt a warm sensation from behind me.
A soft touch wrapped around my waist and neck, and a chuckle escaped my lips.
It wasn’t in vain.
Nothing was.
The experiences from all the times I thought I had failed led me here.
The relationships I thought I had ruined remained within me, supporting me in the cold snowfield.
“It’s later than I thought, but it’s okay.”
“Ri, right now······ quickly······ go······.”
I can’t bring myself to turn around.
Because I know that if I do, she’ll disappear.
I just close my eyes and feel the energy gradually boiling up inside me, fueled by the voice that caresses and whispers to me.
“I’ll go and come back.”
Swoosh.
As if a wave was washing away.As if it were temporary from the beginning, the snowy landscape was pushed away naturally.
Then I returned to the middle of the Union Headquarters.
The situation is the same as before.
The cannons that have finished aligning are firing one by one, warming up.
[Corrupted data has been restored.]
[Reconnecting.]
[Welcome to Yggdrasil Online.]
[Username: Yoo Jin]
[Age: 21]
[The game will end immediately and you will return to reality if you clear the game and meet the escape conditions.]
[The escape conditions are as follows.]
[Escape Condition 1: All heroines’ 攻略率 must exceed 95 percent.]
[Escape Condition 2: The final boss ‘Draken’ must be 攻略.]
[If you do not meet the escape conditions when the game is cleared, you will return to the starting point.]
The system window that I didn’t think I would miss appeared before my eyes.
I can feel the lost powers being restored and returning.
One by one, in turn.
[Trait: Appraisal]
[Finds out information about items.]
[Trait: Fame]
[Checks your fame stat.]
[Trait: Weak Point]
[Can see the weaknesses of monsters. Effective against all types of monsters.]
[Trait: Celestial Plate Armor]
[Deploys a spherical plate armor that reflects all external impacts. Magic power is consumed for deployment and maintenance.]
.
.
.
All the traits have returned.
In fact, they are all just small tricks.
There was something else important.
[Initial Trait: Guardian Knight (Strengthened)]
[Stats are ‘greatly’ amplified when guarding someone. If not activated, the base stat decreases by 5 as a penalty.]
[Trait ‘Guardian Knight’ is activated.]
[Stats]
[Strength: 33(x7) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Health: 50(x7) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Magic Power: 68(x7) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Agility: 30(x7) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Luck: 6(x7) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
I can feel my strength increasing from the hand I’m holding with Mijeong.
Next, my shoulders, body, and other limbs.
Superhuman strength slowly fills my body.
Exactly 7 times!
I was getting used to my body without the Guardian Knight, and I felt that this was enough.
The body that has regained its traits is stronger than I remember.
At this level, I can even fight Yerina with confidence.
No. In some cases, I might be able to overwhelm her.
Now I am not a clumsy imitator of a superhuman, but an existence that can fight alongside real superhumans.
My strength is no longer in a trait that I accidentally acquired and might lose at any time.
It is only within me.
Traits only assist and amplify that strength.
Now that I realize that.
I will no longer lose my strength or be shaken.
Kwa-kwang!
An explosion erupted in the air with smoke,
The barrier breaks into one or two layers, and the entire headquarters shakes violently.
“E, everything is broken······!”
Jeil, who was stunned, sat down.
It seems that she has poured all her magic power into reinforcing the barrier, and she doesn’t even have the strength to move her fingers anymore.
I walked from behind such a quality and put my hand on her shoulder without thinking.
“You worked hard.”
“······!”
Now it’s my turn.
I carry Mijeong, who is sucking blood from my arm.
Move forward.
The amount of magic power circulating in my body is overwhelming.
Even if I draw all the magic power from this area, it will not be as much as what is in my body.
I turned again and pointed my finger at the airships that were turning the cannons.
And then Kwaak!
I clenched my fist and activated the magic that has become as familiar as a part of my body.
5th-tier magic. Telekinesis.
It’s basic magic.
“What······?”
Ku-gu-gung!Airships drawn to each other with a twisting sound.
They collide one by one, causing a huge explosion and falling apart.
Two, four of them fell like that.
The rest ignited their engines and pushed in the opposite direction to avoid the collision.
At the same time, the airships began to rise gradually.
It seemed that they were trying to get out of the range of influence, knowing that the influence of telekinesis would weaken as the distance increased.
“Where!”
But no matter how hard the airships tried, they just seemed to float in the air.
My telekinesis and the thrust of the airships were in equilibrium.
No. Rather, it seemed to be gradually sinking down.
Creak! Bang!
With a constant twisting sound, parts of the airships exploded and fell from the sky.
The hulls began to break down, unable to withstand the force being applied in the opposite direction.
Now my seemingly infinite magic power was showing its bottom.
It was time to finish it.
The sword in my hand, no, the will, boiled and fluttered like crazy.
Now it was impossible to tell whether it was a will or a real sword in my hand.
I designated a place for this boiling will to be released.
And swung it with all my might.
Dakia-ryu.
Merida-ryu.
And Frost-ryu.
The secrets of the three swordsmanships.
The worries and enlightenment of the three superhumans were mixed together.
The result of melting the three mysteries into one place.
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A mystery that transcends the limits of swordsmanship.
And the final destination where all those mysteries reach.
The one and only answer that all swords, no, all wills, seek.
The ultimate technique shot up towards the sky.