A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 280 : Southern Invasion (4)

“Do you recognize it?”

“…The blade of the Xuanyuan Sword.”

Nod—

At U-jin's low murmur, the Emperor nodded and replied.

“Indeed. As you see, it is the other half of that item.”

After saying that, the Emperor carefully stepped inside the sliding door and picked up the blade, supporting it with his hands.

Ssh—

Even at a glance, it exuded an aura that warned one not to touch it.

…Well, everything in this palace belonged to the Emperor.

As an outsider, U-jin had no right to comment on that.

As it moved in the Emperor's hands, the sword caught the light, its brilliant decorations boasting of its beauty.

The elegant curves blending with the pure white made it look more like an ornament than a weapon.

“…It was not left in the traditional records of the Imperial Family, but the previous Emperor…”

“…….”

“That is to say, there is an ancient imperial message passed down orally from my late father.”

The Murim Empire was one of the organizations boasting the longest history within the Church Alliance.

If their records were true, it was a historic nation that had continued since the distant primordial age.

For such a Murim Empire to refer to a time as ‘ancient,’ it meant a period far before the formation of the Church Alliance.

“…When the abominable thing from the ancient destruction reappears, join this sword to command the Divine Beasts.”

“…….”

“Do you understand?”

Though the two sentences felt somewhat short to be called a ‘message,’ they certainly contained the core message intended to be conveyed.

‘…Divine Beasts.’

To anyone’s eyes, those words seemed aimed at the Primordial Demons and the Four Divine Beasts.

Naturally, U-jin couldn’t know how much credibility the message from the previous Emperor held, but at the very least, it didn’t seem like a completely absurd story.

After all, someone in the position of the Emperor of the Murim Empire wouldn’t pass down meaningless words to his child, and there was the clear physical evidence of the fragment of the Floating Sword.

Of course, if it weren't for the other fragment U-jin had obtained from the Shandong Peninsula, it wouldn't have been easy to verify the authenticity of that halved Holy Relic, but that wasn't the case.

If those words passed down from the Imperial Family were true, it suggested two facts.

One was that the fragments of the Nameless Sword actually possessed the power to command the Four Divine Beasts, just as Allen Tigris III had mentioned.

『In short, it is a sword that awakens the power of the Four Gods.』

『…I am also taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Son of Heaven’s sword, which hasn’t appeared for an eternity… but it is an unmistakable fact. In the first place, that sword is designed to lose its power if the four Divine Beasts do not exist.』

Allen Tigris had also clearly spoken about that connection and even made a direct mention that it ‘awakens the power of the Four Gods.’

The Murim Empire was a historic member state that had long served as a pillar of the Church Alliance, while the Beastkin Nation was the leading nation of the neutral zone before it was destroyed at the time of its incorporation into the Order—a strictly neutral country.

In other words, historically, there had been no exchange between the Beastkin Nation and the Murim Empire.

Of course, while small-scale trade or cultural exchanges might have occurred—difficult to track given the vast size of the Murim Empire—it was a fact that there had been no official state-level exchange.

Despite being so clearly separated, the fact that the same content was passed down through the royal families that led both nations provided a solid reason to believe it.

A sort of ‘cross-check,’ so to speak.

This was especially true considering that both places were related to the Four Divine Beasts in some way and had enjoyed considerable prestige.

At this point, it was a fact hard to deny that the completed ‘Xuanyuan Sword’ would be able to command the Four Divine Beasts in some form.

‘…….’

And the other point was that if one could command the Four Divine Beasts, they would be able to face the Primordial Demons.

Exactly in what way and using what power the Divine Beasts could affect the Primordial Demons was something U-jin didn’t know, but if the Emperor’s message was true, that was the very reason for the Xuanyuan Sword’s existence.

『When the abominable thing from the ancient destruction reappears, join this sword to command the Divine Beasts.』

Defeating the ‘Primordial Demons,’ the unknown monsters that had driven the continent to ruin in ancient times.

…And that was, needless to say, not an easy task.

The ones responsible for destroying the mighty Dragon Race of the primordial skies were none other than the ancient ‘Primordial Demons.’

A dragon was a powerful mana-based lifeform that, as a single entity, possessed the power to bring rain and wind, breathe fire, and destroy an entire nation.

Although they were completely extinct and no traces remained, the strength of dragons glimpsed in ancient records was beyond standard, to the point where neither humans nor any existing being on the continent could come close to them.

And it was the Primordial Demons that had not only wiped out the entire Dragon Race but had also devoured them and pushed the whole continent to the brink of destruction.

Of course, they were eventually sealed by the appearance of an exceptional figure known as the ‘Messiah,’ but that was merely a stroke of heavenly luck for humanity.

The Primordial Demons were irregular existences of a different scale altogether, making resistance impossible for the level of power humans possessed at the time.

Simply put, until the Messiah appeared when the continent was on the verge of ruin, no one had shown power capable of standing against the Primordial Demons.

Being able to oppose them in some way meant that the Four Divine Beasts were indeed as significant as what U-jin and Kim Satgat had been searching for.

『Because you are looking for those legendary beings, the Four Divine Beasts you mentioned.』

In other words, it was an important enough task for Sejong to break his own rule of ‘not employing those with talent in physical force or mana’ and personally entrust it to Kim Satgat, whose talent was exceptional enough to be summoned to the Floating Territory.

If it was enough to face the Primordial Demons, then the judgment was correct: it didn’t just stop at reaching the unknown realm of the transcendent dimension to bolster military strength, but possessed enough influence to perhaps take charge of all the military aspects of the Floating Territory.

And around that time, U-jin could sense it instinctively.

‘…….’

His original intention was to obtain additional clues about the Four Divine Beasts through the Emperor, but there was no need for that.

Simply joining the two fragments of the ‘Xuanyuan Sword’ gathered here would allow him to confirm the existence of the Four Divine Beasts and command them.

The reason was simple.

Vrrr—

The hilt of the Xuanyuan Sword, wrapped in cloth and held in his hand, sent out a vibration as if it had been waiting for this very moment.

“…It seems neither of them is a fake.”

Because the blade of the Xuanyuan Sword held in the Emperor’s hand was also vibrating.

“…….”

But that only made things more difficult.

‘…This ruins everything.’

The fact that one could command the Four Divine Beasts through the Xuanyuan Sword and oppose the Primordial Demons through them was confirmed by the Emperor’s own words.

This meant that the Emperor knew it as well.

There was no way the Emperor wouldn’t realize what U-jin had just figured out.

Ultimately, the problem lay in the ownership of the Xuanyuan Sword.

‘…….’

The origin of the Xuanyuan Sword was, quite naturally, the Imperial Family of the Murim Empire.

It went without saying.

It was the Imperial Family that held the direct message about ‘commanding the Divine Beasts with the Xuanyuan Sword to oppose the Primordial Demons,’ and they were also the ones who held the other fragment.

Of course, since U-jin was the one who had discovered and possessed the hilt in the Shandong Peninsula following the suggestion of the Heavenly Demon Chiyou, his contribution couldn't be entirely ignored.

But that was merely a point U-jin could appeal from his side; it wasn't a core factor strong enough to claim ownership.

Even if U-jin’s contribution in finding half of the Xuanyuan Sword was recognized and taken into account, he had already revealed to everyone that the space where the hilt existed was the Shandong Peninsula of the Murim Empire.

According to the principle of territoriality adopted by the Church Alliance, unless it was a matter serious enough for the Order to intervene and mediate directly, the current practice was to follow the laws of that country.

And the law of the Murim Empire was none other than the person standing right in front of him.

‘…….’

Gongsun Zan, the last Emperor of Murim.

His word was as good as the law of the Murim Empire.

This wasn’t a metaphor; it was reality.

The Emperor’s decree stood above any existing laws within the Murim Empire.

This was a land where a single word from him could even release a prisoner on death row.

No matter how he looked at it, given the flow of the conversation, U-jin thought it was only common sense that he would have to hand over both fragments of the Nameless Sword to Emperor Gongsun Chan.

But even so, he couldn't just give up right here; the power of the Xuanyuan Sword was too desperate a need for U-jin.

Of course, since he had never experienced it either before or after his regression, he would have to experience the power of the Four Divine Beasts himself to be certain, but he already knew from the Imperial message that it held enough power to oppose the ‘Primordial Demons.’

From U-jin’s perspective, as he approached the end, that power was bound to be absolutely vital.

Especially since the point where things began to diverge most from his pre-regression life was from now on.

While he had moved carefully in other places to intentionally reduce the aftershocks of events.

The ‘Northern Subjugation War’ turning from a catastrophic defeat into a great victory had an unspeakably massive aftermath.

It was already a self-evident fact that the subsequent developments would be completely transformed from that point onward.

Even if he couldn’t know exactly what they were, since the Northern Subjugation War had been overturned, the countless events that would unfold from here were beyond U-jin’s expectations.

Therefore, to somehow suppress those unexpected variables, he needed an ability that could provide additional control over the variables.

And the power he thought of and chose was that of the Four Divine Beasts.

‘…What should I do?’

U-jin was pondering how on earth he could avoid having the fragment of the Xuanyuan Sword taken(?) by the Emperor.

Surprisingly, that worry didn't last long.

“You take it.”

“…Pardon?”

Surprisingly.

It was because Emperor Gongsun Zan reached out with the fragment of the Xuanyuan Sword first and transferred ownership to U-jin.

“I said, you take it.”

“…….”