The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 367

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Mad Swordsman Returns – Chapter 367

The Destroyer of Saints stood before me.
No—the lingering consciousness that remained after being devoured urged Han Yu-sung to become a transcendent being.
Not a transcendent in the sense of bearing the title ‘Lord’, but a true transcendent in the absolute sense.
Han Yu-sung gazed quietly at the Destroyer of Saints.

“How?”
[Enlightenment. You already possess everything you need. If you look within yourself and touch the ‘Primordial Harmony’, you will be able to achieve it.]

Through that enlightenment, I would be able to become a transcendent being.
At least, that was what the Destroyer of Saints claimed.

[Do not worry. I shall aid you. Even if I must stake everything I possess, I will help you become a transcendent.]
“….”

Once more, Han Yu-sung gazed silently at the Destroyer of Saints.
The Destroyer of Saints readily offered to help Han Yu-sung. At first glance, it appeared to be an act born purely from goodwill.
But.

‘Can I trust this being?’

Doubt took root within me.
It was inevitable. From my previous life, I had distrusted the existence called ‘Lord’, and even more so the existence called ‘transcendent’.
I had not even bound Kakasha with a contract leash, for I could not trust him.

‘Yet now I’m being asked to trust a being I’ve never encountered before?’

For a man like Han Yu-sung, such a thing was impossible.
Each time I reached this place and conversed with the Destroyer of Saints’ consciousness, an indescribable unease bloomed within me.
An unease born from distrust of the being before my eyes.
That unease made me question this very situation.

‘…There are more than a few elements that trouble me.’

This made it impossible for me to readily accept the Destroyer of Saints’ proposal.
He stood silently, as if waiting for Han Yu-sung’s response.
His expression revealed nothing of what lay beneath.
Han Yu-sung exhaled softly.

“There’s something I want to ask. Why are you helping me? Why did you leave behind fragments, preparing for the possibility of defeat? What’s your purpose?”
[….]

The Destroyer of Saints before me said it was ‘to prepare for the future’.
That was a fair point. His arrangements had created the being known as Han Yu-sung.
But I sensed that wasn’t the true reason.
Upon hearing that question, the Destroyer of Saints fell silent for a long time.

[To save….]

After deliberation, he offered that answer.
But only briefly—a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

[I would like to speak of such noble reasons, but no. It was an utterly personal reason. Namely, ‘vengeance’.]
“You wanted revenge against the Absolute Being?”
[I turn the question back to you. Did I appear to be such a virtuous existence? Does one bearing the name ‘Destroyer of Saints’ seem like such a noble being?]
“….”

It was an abrupt question.
Han Yu-sung couldn’t answer. He didn’t know what kind of being the Destroyer of Saints was, nor could he understand what intentions had driven his war.
Seeing this, the Destroyer of Saints—or rather, his consciousness—shook his head.

[Why do you think the epithet ‘Destroyer of Saints’ was bestowed upon me? I annihilated the Lords and Gods who stood in my way, and the stars they ruled. Then I absorbed the power contained within them and made it my own.]
“That’s….”
[Yes. Isn’t it similar to the Absolute Being’s methods?]

He was right.
Just as the Absolute Being had absorbed energy for himself.
The Destroyer of Saints too had destroyed stars to make their power his own.
The reason he went so far was utterly simple.

[The reason I continued the war was ‘greed’. I had no desire to serve beneath the Absolute Being like a dog on a leash. I would topple the Absolute Being and seize everything he possessed. I would take his place.]
“…Was that the cause the Destroyer of Saints embraced?”
[It wasn’t always so.]

A faint smile played at the corners of the Destroyer of Saints’ lips.

[When I first transcended, I possessed a noble purpose. To topple the Absolute Being and liberate all things….]
“Greed seems to have clouded that purpose.”
[Indeed. I was more covetous of power than any other.]

The Destroyer of Saints shrugged his shoulders as he finished speaking.
The gesture struck Han Yu-sung as peculiar.

“You speak of it as though it were someone else’s affair.”
[Does it sound that way? I am merely a fragment of his consciousness—a thought born from him. Perhaps that is why. The purpose the Destroyer of Saints once harbored, the greed he once felt… they all seem distant now, as though belonging to another lifetime.]

The Destroyer of Saints gazed silently at the Universe spread before him in all directions.
As though recalling a distant past.

“Hmm….”

Witnessing this, Han Yu-sung’s thoughts crystallized rapidly.
The Destroyer of Saints was a being driven by the ambition to seize the Absolute Being’s throne—ruthlessly consumed by avarice.
In preparation for defeat, he had scattered the fragments that composed him across the Universe, and the largest of those pieces lay hidden here.
In the form of the Destroyer of Saints’ consciousness itself.

‘His words now differ greatly from what he said at first. Back then, he claimed he would make his battle a cornerstone for future generations.’

Having been defeated, he would entrust everything to those who came after.
He would make his battle a cornerstone for future generations.
That was what the Destroyer of Saints’ consciousness had told Han Yu-sung when they first met.
Yet now he confessed that his true purpose was greed.

‘Why does that consciousness need to exist here?’

To explain all of this?
Han Yu-sung knew nothing of the Destroyer of Saints as an entity. But would one who had annihilated countless stars and coveted power truly be so benevolent?
Especially one who had sought to usurp the Absolute Being’s seat?

[Han Yu-sung, you have proven yourself to be the most qualified among those who possess ‘fragments’.]
[The consciousness of ‘the one who lost existence’ awaits you.]

I recalled the message I had seen before coming to this place.
Among those who possessed fragments, the one with the most suitable qualifications.
I thought the Destroyer of Saints must be the one who possessed the most fragments yet refused to become a Lord.
But if that assumption was wrong.

“….”

I gazed upon the Destroyer of Saints’ consciousness.
From him emanated a power that was both formidable and strangely familiar.
It was the aura felt from those who possessed ‘fragments’.
The fragment this consciousness possessed was comparable in magnitude to my own.
Or perhaps even greater still.

‘How have I been collecting fragments until now?’

By eliminating those who possessed fragments.
Those who had been robbed also attempted to eliminate me and absorb my fragments, though they lacked the strength to succeed.
If, by some infinitesimal chance.

‘…What if this consciousness is aiming to steal the fragments I’ve collected?’

It might be excessive thinking.
But it was a possibility worth remaining vigilant about.
The possibility that this consciousness might steal my fragments or harbor intentions difficult to predict.
All the more so because I was one who did not trust transcendents.

‘If there’s one final question remaining, why did this consciousness reveal to me that the Destroyer of Saints is a greedy being….’

I organized my thoughts there.
Regardless.

‘I have no choice but to try.’

I couldn’t completely trust what this consciousness before me was saying.
But sincerity resonated from its offer to help me become a transcendent. The problem was not knowing what that sincerity truly meant.
I exhaled.

“Fine, what do I need to do?”
[It seems you’ve finished organizing your thoughts.]

The Destroyer of Saints, who had been gazing upon the Universe, turned his head.
He had been waiting for Han Yu-sung to gather his thoughts.
He raised his hand lightly in a dismissive gesture.

[Close your eyes.]

My vision was consumed by darkness.
In that same instant, the space where Han Yu-sung stood was swallowed by a suffocating void.
A space where not even the faintest glimmer of light could penetrate.
I could not perceive my own form, nor could I discern the figure of The Destroyer of Saints standing before me.

[Look within yourself.]

All that remained perceptible was my inner world.
Enshrouded in absolute darkness, my senses grew unnaturally acute.
Those sharpened senses turned inward.
I felt something dwelling within my depths.

[Contemplate.]

I sensed the ‘Primordial Essence’ condensed within my heart.
And beyond it, my very soul itself, taking root in that boundless expanse.

[You have already transcended humanity itself, yet you wait for qualification to be granted. Can you not yet perceive it?]

Gazing upon my own soul, I felt a sudden doubt arise.
For that soul was far too immense.

[Your vessel is far too narrow to contain such a soul.]

It was impossible to believe that such magnitude could dwell within this small human frame.
This flesh seemed to be forcibly suppressing the soul itself.
Then, what must I do?

[The time has come to shatter your vessel and forge it anew.]

I heard something fracture within my mind.
Simultaneously, an indescribable sense of liberation washed over me.
It was the liberation a soul feels upon escaping its prison.

Shhhhhhh….

Through the shattered vessel, the Primordial Essence bloomed forth.
The Primordial Essence seeped into the fragmented shards. As if preparing to transform into any form, all the pieces of the vessel melted away.
Soon, the melted fragments began to take shape once more.
Into the form of the vessel Han Yu-sung desired.

[You must now accept me. Only then will the scattered fragments unite, forming the ‘Singular Whole’.]

At that moment, another Primordial Essence bloomed from the oppressive darkness.
Han Yu-sung instinctively grasped what that darkness was.

[And if you cannot overcome me….]

The Destroyer of Saints’ consciousness.
Its form trembled violently.

[The master of the newly formed vessel shall be me.]
“….”

It was a declaration.
A declaration to devour Han Yu-sung and make his flesh my own.
Upon hearing this, Han Yu-sung felt his mind grow strangely serene.

“So that was your true purpose.”
[Hmm, a calm response. You are not surprised?]
“There’s nothing more unsettling than kindness given without reason. Now that I understand why you’ve been helping me, my heart feels at ease.”

At this unexpected answer, the Destroyer of Saints’ eyes widened considerably.

“Something felt wrong. Why would someone so greedy scatter the fragments containing their own power? Why would you make those who possess the fragments kill each other to complete it?”

The Destroyer of Saints had scattered the fragments that composed him across the entire world, allowing them to settle within the most suitable vessel.
Even taking measures to wait for such a vessel to appear, should none exist.
What could be the most suitable ‘qualification’ that he spoke of?

“It was to find a vessel that could become yours. If someone possessed the most fragments while being a suitable vessel to transcend, that would be perfect.”

As that consciousness said, the Destroyer of Saints is a being consumed by insatiable greed.
One need only look at the Wanderers to understand. They scoured the entire world seeking fragments and legacies left behind by the Destroyer of Saints.
The Destroyer of Saints is one who left nothing—not even for those who fought alongside him.
There is no chance such a being would leave anything for future generations.
His purpose remains unchanged, then as now.

“To resurrect in the form that stole my body, and this time finally slay the Absolute Being and seize his throne. That is your purpose, is it not?”
[….]

The Destroyer of Saints fell silent.

“In the first place, are you truly a consciousness?”

A fragment left behind after being consumed by the Absolute Being. A consciousness meant to guard this place.
The entity before me had revealed itself in those terms.
When everything is a lie, can I trust those words?

[Excellent. Your suspicion is commendable.]

An indescribable smile appeared at the corners of the Destroyer of Saints’ mouth.

[And utterly correct.]

A smile tangled with complex emotions.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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