The Swords I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 11
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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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Chapter 11. The Red Sea (1)
“Why does no one acknowledge us?”
The live broadcast of the demon worshipper corrupting the Red Sea garnered zero attention from the world.
[Viewers: 0]
Afterward, his comrades recorded the footage and uploaded it to WorldTube, yet it too drew no interest whatsoever.
[Views: 0]
And for good reason.
A massive scandal had already erupted across South Korea.
[Yeouido Transcendent’s Identity Revealed—NOT Patriot!!!]
[A New SSS-Rank Transcendent Born in South Korea!]
[The Righteous Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin Deceived the Nation! What Are His True Intentions in Concealing This Transcendent?]
Countless analysts dissected and analyzed the Yeouido footage frame by frame.
With 45 million South Korean WorldNet users joining in the frenzy, the truth unraveled relentlessly.
—The Yeouido terrorist was B-Rank Hunter Park Chang-seok. Apart from his severe addiction to awakening drugs, he seemed like a normal guy…
Naturally, the terrorist’s identity was exposed.
—But how did a B-Rank transcend?
A B-Rank Hunter becoming a Transcendent?
Even the government’s hidden truths came to light.
—Why is the identity of the SSS-Rank who obliterated that B-Rank being concealed?
In the end, truth always emerges.
—Kang Mu-jin’s daughter was transferred to the Hunter-dedicated division.
—Her handler is A-Rank Hunter Shin Si-woo, and he’s the only one authorized for solo dungeon raids, yet there’s virtually no public information about him.
—Isn’t information control something Patriot absolutely despises?
The reason the public learned all of this was thanks to the ‘Information Disclosure Act’ that Patriot had enacted.
Thus, the identity of the new Transcendent was revealed.
[Hunter Shin Si-woo, possessing the ability to intercept targets with tens of thousands of swords. What is his true identity?]
[Why did the Righteous Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin conceal information from the people?]
Sensational headlines grounded in facts poured forth relentlessly.
All of them carefully skirting the line of the ‘Patriot Anti-Fake News Special Law.’
“Phew—. All of this in just one day.”
But those observing this chaos were not merely the general public.
Chief Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin, seated in his office, released a heavy sigh.
“I had hoped the demon worshipper issue would remain hidden…”
Whether B-Rank or C-Rank, corruption leads to transcendence.
Which meant the entire nation was essentially living under constant threat of terrorism.
In the midst of such mounting concerns.
Beep—beep—beep—.
An alarm sounded in Kang Mu-jin’s office.
Followed by the urgent report.
—The Red Sea is beginning to overflow!!!!
News broke that an anomaly had occurred in the Red Sea engulfing Goyang City.
It was a catastrophe that made the Yeouido incident seem trivial by comparison.
‘Could this be enough to bury the affair of the Transcendent Shin Si-woo?’
Kang Mu-jin pondered this while observing the government’s response.
Code Red.
A national disaster was unfolding.
The presidential office mobilized immediately.
“Declare martial law!!!”
Wee-woo, wee-woo—
【Dear citizens of South Korea, movement from the Red Sea encroaching upon Goyang City has been confirmed. In accordance with the Patriot Special Act to protect the safety of our people, I, President Lee Seok-hyun, hereby declare martial law.】
The Red Sea ceaselessly spewed forth smaller Gates.
Even so, deploying Hunters kept the situation manageable.
But then….
—Insane, is martial law actually happening?
—Gate break???
Whoooosh—.
The Red Sea surged upward from the heart of Goyang City.
Waves so towering they were visible even from Seoul.
The Red Sea was rampaging, pouring its force beyond the Gate’s boundaries.
—Where is Patriot?
When the Red Sea had flooded before, Patriot summoned [Constellation—Yi Sun-sin] and pushed the Red Sea back.
As fighter jets streamed from the aircraft carrier unleashed their bombardment, the Red Sea was helplessly driven back.
Martial law had not been declared then.
【Breaking news: An official statement has been released that Patriot is currently within the Gate to prevent an even greater catastrophe. One might wonder if Patriot’s absence was a factor in our government’s decision to declare martial law.】
The news covered these developments in real time.
【Can you see it? All of South Korea’s elite Hunters are converging on the Goyang City vicinity!!!】
Correspondents who arrived at the scene transmitted vivid footage from Goyang City.
【Citizens, all you need do is endure in the evacuation shelters until the situation is resolved….】
Whoooooosh—!!!
Waves piercing the sky itself surged upward.
The correspondent’s words ceased.
Keeeeee—————!!!
Everyone covered their ears against the deafening roar the Red Sea emitted.
Gate break.
It was actually happening.
—Hey, what is that?
—Did someone film inside the Red Sea?
Meanwhile, a video on WorldNet began gaining traction.
It was presumed to be footage captured by an Unknown Hunter from within the Gate, and as the Red Sea flooded, it climbed the trending videos list.
【I shall offer myself as sustenance!!! Gate, return to the place of corruption where you belong!!!】
The Red Sea….
It’s possible to deliberately rupture it?
This was an issue that would send shockwaves far beyond South Korea—across the entire world.
—Ep. 05 The Red Sea
Whoosh!
I returned home.
‘In the end, I couldn’t exchange even a single word with Iris Ruzbella.’
【For me, such a magnificent world… Ah, there are innumerable lifeforms!!!】
Facing the [5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella] who drooled while gazing upon Earth, I found myself utterly speechless.
【Ah…!! And moreover, a sea of blood!!!】
Though I might have continued to suffer, fortunately the problem resolved itself once I grasped the usage of [Communication Ability].
[Communication Ability] applies only to the sword I designate.
This too is one of the means to control the swords.
【Master Swordsman, I shall do my utmost to safeguard the Sword World.】
For now, I entrusted Iris’s matter to Reinhardt.
‘Though that too won’t last long….’
I would soon require her power.
Because of her build.
‘Reinhardt was a mad training monster.’
Whatever I commanded, he would lock himself away for ten years, thirty years—a monster who did nothing but train.
Iris, however, was different.
‘A being who grew stronger by treading the path of heresy.’
She became stronger easily, quickly, and effortlessly.
In a certain sense, the [5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella] was precisely what I needed most for myself and the ‘Young Sword’.
‘For now, I’ll set this matter aside and think about it later….’
I activated [WorldNet] to check the time.
‘Another day has passed.’
Time flows peculiarly within the Tower.
Though I spent roughly one hour within the [Tower], an entire day had elapsed outside.
‘One hour in the Tower equals one day outside.’
Conversely, if one spent one hundred years in the Tower, only one hour would pass outside.
That’s the general principle, though the time ratio doesn’t apply with perfect precision.
Even experts have failed to understand this phenomenon.
‘It’s also the basis for the Sword Emperor’s death theory.’
The old Sword Emperor, who was trapped in a training chamber for n000 years, likely died within the Tower.
If something like a ‘one-million-year training chamber’ had appeared as the rumors suggested, then only an instant should have passed outside.
While contemplating such matters, I discovered something strange.
[Missed Calls +821]
[Text Messages +999]
[WorldTalk +999]
An enormous flood of messages and notifications.
And then….
【Martial law declared ― All civilians must proceed to designated evacuation shelters. All combat-capable Awakeners must assemble at designated locations immediately.】
An alert window appeared at the top of WorldNet.
‘Martial law?’
Martial law had been declared for the first time in five years.
It was the first martial law since North Korea’s collapse.
As a Hunter, I had the obligation to move to my [assembly point] when martial law was activated.
I quickly checked my messages.
[Seol-ah Noona: Si-woo! Come to Yeouido right now!!! Don’t you dare go to Goyang City!!]
My home was near Yeouido, where I worked.
I hurried toward the Yeouido branch of the Awakener Management Agency.
Amid the chaos of evacuating citizens, I moved against the tide toward the Yeouido branch of the Awakener Management Agency.
“Hey, did you check WorldNet?”
Seol-ah, who had been waiting for me, asked with a flustered expression.
“The martial law declaration?”
“No, other things.”
“Martial law just erupted the moment I left the Tower. How could I have had time to check anything?”
“You didn’t even see the news?”
“With martial law just breaking out, how could I have bothered to look at such things on the way?”
There was something odd about her expression.
I asked her to explain in detail.
Then she delivered some deeply serious news.
“So you’re saying my identity was exposed to the entire world, and right at that moment, the Red Sea overflowed and martial law was declared?”
“Yeah. Remarkably, all of it happened in a single day.”
A sinister premonition washed over me.
I had cleared the Gate at the moment the Red Sea moved.
And just after returning from the Tower, the Red Sea burst open and unleashed a sea of blood.
‘Could this be because of me?’
Such an ominous feeling gripped me, but the truth was different.
Seol-ah continued her explanation.
“So while I was away at the Tower….”
A demon worshipper had risen up and publicly corrupted a Gate in a mad situation.
“The demon worshipper even livestreamed it. Why didn’t you see it beforehand?”
“Because all attention was focused on the incident involving SSS-rank Transcendent Shin Si-woo.”
“Ah….”
“Anyway, a Gate forcibly rupturing is unprecedented, right? You need to be separated out as an exceptional force.”
It was certainly shocking news.
Yet I remained eerily composed.
‘Similar pattern to sword cultivation.’
Even there, demon worshippers occasionally corrupted the Abyss.
Of course, the conditions were exacting.
‘Human sacrifice was necessary for it to be possible.’
And the conditions were so stringent that it required sacrifices numbering in the thousands before one could even discuss the possibility.
Yet to this day, demon worshippers on Earth had never committed such large-scale massacres.
【Perhaps—that sea of blood may have served as the condition.】
It was then that Reinhardt spoke.
The Red Sea was a sea of blood.
Human blood, at that.
‘Had the conditions aligned of their own accord?’
As my thoughts reached this point, a man with a sinister visage emerged from behind my sister.
A gleaming axe glinted in his hand.
“The unofficial SSS-rank Hunter, and the Transcendent Shin Si-woo. It’s been a while.”
Deputy Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.
My sister’s father.
‘How did I fail to notice he was dressed in a full suit…’
Lamenting my own poor judgment for not discerning it from my sister’s attire, I greeted Deputy Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.
“It’s been a long time, sir.”
“We’ll talk about the rest on the way. Seol-ah, you head to the shelter.”
“Father?”
“I’ll take this one and catch up on my own.”
Deputy Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin ushered my sister out and then led me down into the basement of the Management Bureau.
Kuguguguung——.
A massive iron gate rose up from the depths of the Management Bureau’s basement.
The dimensional gate of the special operations unit Hyunmu, which I’d only heard about in rumors.
The power of a Transcendent related to spatial displacement.
“We’ll be moving through this.”
I detected something odd in Deputy Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin’s words.
We?
“But… aren’t you an Awakener, sir?”
“That’s right.”
Ordinary people suffered necrosis upon contact with the Red Sea.
Then they died horribly.
No matter how much the Hunters protected them, it was tantamount to suicide.
“Then… why?”
“I overheard you talking with Seol-ah earlier. You really haven’t seen WorldNet at all, have you?”
Deputy Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin dropped a bombshell on me.
“The truth is, we’re not in a position to worry about the Red Sea.”
“Pardon?”
“It looks like we’re about to be branded as traitors.”
What do you mean by this sudden talk of treason?
“How could I commit treason when Patriot is here?”
“Your identity has been exposed. Everyone knows it was I who concealed it.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
With an issue as massive as the Red Sea flooding, would the people really make that their concern?
“You bury one issue with another. Isn’t that the prosecutors’ favorite method?”
“Kh―. Shin Si-woo. You are an SSS-rank Transcendent. You’re far more significant than the Red Sea.”
An SSS-rank Transcendent carries a certain weight—they’re treated as a force unto themselves, a state power in human form.
Much like Patriot himself.
“You are a new deity. I have kept you hidden.”
“And… is Director Kang Mu-jin one of Patriot’s inner circle?”
My mind flashed with sudden clarity.
So that’s how the politicians in the capital managed to survive near Patriot.
“The only entity in South Korea capable of standing against the nation’s sole SSS-rank Transcendent. That is your position.”
He was scheming quite brilliantly.
“But Patriot is a benevolent man, isn’t he?”
“Not entirely. He’s rather… petty underneath. Ahem. In any case, he may come to see you as a thorn in his side.”
Only then did I grasp the gravity of the situation.
I understood that if I blurted out ‘Actually, I can only maintain Transcendent status for four seconds!’ things would go very wrong.
So I listened in silence.
“We must sway public opinion. The entire nation needs to understand why I concealed you.”
I distilled everything into a single, clean statement.
“You’re saying I need to display such tremendous power that Patriot has nothing to say when he returns?”
“Exactly!”
It seems he’s demanding a spectacular performance.
Faster than expected, but…
It appears the time has come to test the power of [5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella].
* * *
Screeeech―Boom!
Beyond Hyunmu’s gate, a crimson world unfurled.
A sea that towered to the heavens blocked every line of sight, and crimson waves churned from all directions.
This was a battlefield.
“Second wave, fire!!! All units, target the monsters surging from the waves!!!”
Hunters capable of ranged attacks stood arrayed upon massive tiles.
[Mages] [Archers] or peculiarly-formed ranged dealers.
Kaboom―――!!!
The sight of countless Hunters standing upon black tiles, unleashing attacks upon the crimson sea, was quite spectacular.
‘They’ve deployed this many platforms?’
Black tiles―platforms, the pinnacle of modern military industry, known as [Mobile Pseudo-Gates].
‘Allowing every Awakener to exert their full strength.’
It is a world where, save for an infinitesimal number of transcendents, power cannot be wielded outside the Gates.
Just as when I registered as an Awakener, one can create pseudo-Gates using the [Mystery] obtained from Gates—.
“Mage corps, prepare firepower!!!”
The massive tile-shaped [Mobile Pseudo-Gate] boasts the finest performance even here.
Of course, there is the problem of consuming [Mystery] at an astronomical rate….
“By releasing government Mystery reserves, we can sustain resistance for approximately seven days.”
“Will Patriot return within that time?”
“…I cannot say with certainty.”
From the conversations around me, they all appeared to be high-ranking officials.
‘Older sister’s father certainly wields considerable power.’
Yet they still seemed unaware of the gravity of the situation.
I approached Kang Mu-jin and spoke.
“That massive wave will come crashing down soon.”
“That will… come crashing down?”
The waves surging from the source of the Red Sea had now grown so towering that their peak was no longer visible.
I could sense it.
The will dwelling in the blood of the Red Sea.
It was a murderous intent so vicious it was suffocating.
It had reached its extreme.
“Huh?”
“I-It’s coming down!!!”
The moment I spoke, the wave began to tilt.
Whoooooooosh————.
An overwhelmingly massive crimson wave.
So enormous that it appeared to advance with terrible slowness, yet in reality it was bearing down on us at dozens of meters per second.
Hunters and everyone else scrambled to retreat.
“Tsk, remain composed.”
Meanwhile, the non-Awakened leadership here observed the wave with remarkable calm.
“Is this person… a transcendent you’ve been hiding, Director Kang?”
An unnamed officer who had seen me asked this.
“Shin Si-woo, do you have any countermeasure? If not, we should retreat—.”
This time, Seol-ah’s father spoke.
Yet their voices grew increasingly distant to my ears.
‘Iris is calling for me.’
I instinctively reached into empty space.
My fingers grasped the hilt of the small, precious sword.
Click—.
A blade that would not be drawn.
In that state, I connected my consciousness to Iris.
‘Perhaps she resents being ignored and refuses to lend me her power….’
A flicker of worry crossed my mind.
But it proved unfounded.
【Ah, yes! Master did not ignore me after all!!!】
A distant cry of joy accompanied a cheerful voice.
【To prepare such a magnificent feast for me… such deep, crimson blood! A reunion meal shared together!!!】
Whoosh!
[Iris Ruzbella’s loyalty has reached its maximum level.]
[As a special reward, manifestation increases by +3.]
—5th Sword, Iris Ruzbella. [4/100]
To answer her joy, I drew my blade.
My 5th Sword surged forth, cleaving through empty space.
It was a grand sword, crimson and resplendent.
Boom————.
The world sank.
It felt as though everything had come to a standstill.
Within that moment, I became a transcendent being.
The Red Sea was nothing.
That was how it felt.
Shhhhh―.
A hilt that gleamed with sinister crimson allure.
A shimmering violet blade forged from refined blood.
And the enlightenment I felt.
Whoosh!
[You have drawn the Last Empress of the World, Iris Ruzbella.]
[You have become the master of a million demons.]
[You have acquired the True Heavenly Killing Star.]
[The power to sever concepts.]
[The power to sever abstractions.]
[The power to sever illusions.]
︙
The 5th Sword who killed all things in this world, Iris.
She whispered to me.
That I could kill everything in this world.
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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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