Sword God Reborn

Chapter 1 : It Is Not Yet Time

Living through several lives, I came to a realization.

No one can escape death.

The decay of the flesh cannot be stopped, no matter how profound one's martial arts or internal energy.

"Master..."

A deep sorrow appeared on my disciple's face.

Seeing the sparse white hairs mixed in his own hair made me realize just how long I've lived.

He used to be such a snot nosed kid.

I smiled faintly.

"Are you afraid of me dying?"

"Master. You must live longer. You must live on, kill that Heavenly Demon for good, and ascend to the celestial realm with dignity."

"My part was finished when I cornered that Heavenly Demon in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. The rest is up to you. How long are you going to work your old master?"

"Of course, I must work you. I must keep the peace of the martial world, even if it means working the Sword God."

"Tsk, you fool! Deal with that Demonic Cult whelp yourself."

"Master..."

"Don't be sad. Everyone meets death, don't they? Though, of course, I don't..."

"Pardon?"

I looked away from his wide eyes and gazed at the sky.

"I want to die now."

"How can you say such a thing?"

"No, I'm serious. I'm sick and tired of it. I want to die."

"What in the world..."

A smirk escaped my lips seeing my disciple's confused face. To think this guy is called the Sword Venerable and respected by the entire martial world.

He looks like he's about to cry because I'm leaving, but what can I do?

I genuinely want to end it.

I don't want to be trapped in this dreadful cycle of reincarnation anymore.

I want to go to the underworld.

"My disciple! I will definitely go to the underworld!"

"Master? What on earth...!"

"Pray that I make it to the underworld. That is this master's last wish."

"How can you say something so dreadful?"

"Hmph! Quiet! Just pray, you brat! If your prayers fail, I'll come back and kick your ass so hard!"

"..."

Yes.

Let's die now.

For real.

* * *

'Damn it all! Again!'

The blue sky instantly turned black.

It was different from night simply falling. The world was painted black as if ink had been poured over it. The sky, the mountains, the land, the rivers, even the trees. Everything in the world.

It was a bizarre phenomenon that would startle anyone seeing it for the first time, but I was just indifferent.

As expected, again.

A world painted only in black.

A man armed with a brilliant light walked towards me.

"Hey. Isn't it about time we introduced ourselves?"

No response.

Well, I didn't expect an answer.

The man drew his sword, as he always did.

Shing.

"Wouldn't it be better to fix that habit of drawing your sword instead of answering? That might have worked in the old days, but not in today's martial world."

Still no answer.

"Ha. Right. I must look like a pushover. I've lost so many times until now. You must be tired of winning every time, right? This time will be a little different."

His right hand was behind his back, a sword held in his left.

As he slowly raised his sword, my entire body tensed as if it would burst from the strain.

"Damn, you damn egg face."

In the end, no pleasant words came from my mouth.

An unseen face.

Just the shape of a face, with all the features gone.

I couldn't read his expression or the look in his eyes.

This was a disadvantage.

In a duel of swords, you must read your opponent's breath, expression, gaze, the movement of their pupils, the twitch of their facial muscles.

All of it.

But this man had no face.

"Tsk. You damn grim reaper! Celestial realm or whatever, I'm telling you I'm going to the underworld! Why are you stopping me?"

I threw the words out bluntly, but it was hard to even open my mouth.

An overwhelming presence. The man in the jet black martial uniform was otherworldly.

Shing.

The moment the man pointed his sword tip at me, a shiver ran through my entire body.

That sword tip that had blocked my path every single time.

The dangerous scent it gave off just by being pointed at me.

"Tell me honestly. Why are you blocking my path to the underworld?"

The man remained silent to the end.

"You damn bastard. I'll carve a mouth into that face of yours with my blade. I must hear the reason!"

I drew the sword from my waist.

"The last time we met, I was merely a Sword King, and then a Sword Saint, but now the martial artists of the world call me the Sword God. This time, I will go to the underworld."

Isn't it a bit of a funny story?

It's not about sending my opponent to the underworld, but about me going there myself.

I have lived through many past lives over hundreds of years.

A never ending cycle of reincarnation. The reason I can't even step on the threshold of the underworld is right here, right now.

After dying, shouldn't one ascend to the celestial realm or go to the underworld?

But every time I reached the moment of death, this monster stood in my way.

As if he would not open the path to the underworld.

Yes. I wanted to end this tiresome life of reincarnation. I wanted to transcend all worldly affairs and go to the underworld. To forget everything of this life.

But the man before me would not allow it.

"Damn it. Fine. What's the point of talking between men with swords?"

The only way for me to go to the underworld was to defeat this man.

People sometimes ask.

Can action be faster than thought?

Can movement be faster than the process of calculation in the head?

I answer.

A thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred million times.

If your muscles melt and melt again, you die, and in the next life you swing the sword again.

It is not the body that remembers the path of the sword, but the soul.

Then, the speed of the sword becomes faster than the speed of thought.

'I cannot understand.'

My disciple had tilted his head and replied.

'That is why I am the Sword God, is it not?'

A realm that cannot be reached in a single lifetime.

I have held a sword through countless past lives.

The supreme realm of the Sword God that I have now reached.

I will surely kill this man and go to the underworld.

Craaaackle!

A thunderbolt struck.

Like a descending lightning bolt, it produced a terrifying roar and destructive power.

The sword strike pierced through the air, compressing and distorting space.

A single sword path that, with a deafening roar, aimed for the man's heart.

"...Ha."

I was confident. But seeing the result, a hollow sound escaped my lips.

The man did not bleed. No, I couldn't even leave a scratch.

A perfect defense, holding his sword vertically to block the tip of my sword precisely at his heart.

I felt a sense of futility.

"You could use both hands?"

The right hand that had always been behind his back was now gripping the sword tightly.

Goosebumps rose on my skin.

The greatest masters of their time that I had seen countless times.

No, even the greatest masters from the previous generation, the one before that, throughout the hundreds of years of my past lives, would have to shrink before this man.

Because throughout all my past lives, spanning hundreds of years, the greatest master was me.

It was a thrust that the martial artists of the world said could even shatter Mount Tai, but ridiculously, it couldn't even break the man's sword.

Suddenly, the man moved.

An honest and clean movement. A sword path that pulled back and then shot straight forward.

Watching that sword path, I felt something.

'It's damnably firm!'

A sword path without even the slightest tremor.

In contrast, what about me?

'I was still far from it. Far, damn it.'

I laughed inwardly. I had held a sword for hundreds of years, but compared to his sword path, mine wavered. If the mind wavers, the body wavers.

If so, I still have a long way to go.

"..."

Even so.

Even if the opponent is superior to me.

'I'll block it!'

He blocked mine, so what's to say I can't block his?

At that moment, the opponent's sword seemed to expand.

Overwhelming speed.

So fast that it looked like it had momentarily grown larger.

But I blocked it.

By tilting my sword and letting it slide off.

In a single breath, the wrist...

Clang!

My sword shattered mercilessly.

I didn't feel the coldness of the sword piercing my body.

A moment ago, that single strike that shattered my sword.

It was a dull impact that shook my mind.

'It wasn't that there was no shaking.'

Only then did I see what was different between his sword and mine.

'Rather, it was vibrating like crazy. Like crazy. On the outside, it was still as if it had stopped, but inside, it vibrated and vibrated countless times, increasing the power of the sword.'

There is no pain.

My flesh and blood are already down there, with my disciple holding on and crying his eyes out.

I am already a dead body.

Greater than the pain was the emptiness.

"Hey. Do you know what people called me in this life? Sword God. Sword God. As in, I reached the realm of a god with the sword. I honestly thought it would end this time. I thought I'd beat you and finally cast off this damn cycle of reincarnation. Huh? I was going to go to the underworld, meet King Yama, and demand to know why he was doing this only to me! But what the hell...!"

I didn't expect an answer.

I thought I would just lose consciousness like this and start a new life again.

But something unexpected happened. A chilling, dreadful cry that sounded like it came from the deepest abyss.

A turbid voice, devoid of any emotional highs or lows, flowed out.

"This is the first time. That I have used both hands."

I saw it.

The man's hands trembling from the impact.

From the man's featureless face, a blue ghostly fire blazed.

As if he were looking straight at me.

"But, it is not yet time for you to come."

In an instant, the man's radiance enveloped me.

It's familiar.

"The moment you defeat me and reach the true Sword Kiuk. You will be able to cross this place."

Sword Kiuk [Sword Extreme]. The extremity of the sword.

Was there such a realm?

In this life, I had reached the highest realm in all my past lives.

An absolute martial prowess that people praised as the Sword God.

But...

'Ha. Damn it. Was it an empty name?'

Even if people called me the Sword God, had I truly reached the end of the sword?

The hundreds of years of my past lives flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

In my first life, I saw the sword, fell in love with the sword, and held the sword.

In my second life, I met a master and set my heart on the path of the sword.

In my third life, I became a martial artist, went out into the martial world, and became a first rate master.

.

.

.

.

.

And in this current life.

I start a new life.

'To see the end of the sword, the Sword Kiuk.'

(End of Chapter)