The Swords I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 43

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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 43. War Preparations (3)
“Isn’t that right?”
In gambling, the game must be fair.
“I only just arrived. After you had already won.”
When The Saint Im Ji-ah pressed me on this victory, I deflected by insisting it was no manipulation whatsoever.
Perhaps because only one finger remained at the moment of triumph, she seemed inclined to believe me.
Her face brightened with joy almost immediately.
“True enough… If I’d lost, I would have actually died. If it were rigged, that wouldn’t make sense. If I won because of you, Shin Si-woo, I really was planning to quit gambling altogether.”
The way she forced politeness upon herself.
Yet her body trembled noticeably, and I sensed something—anxiety.
Naturally, it wasn’t fear of me.
The fact of the Patriot’s return was what was driving her to this state.
‘How has she been managing normally until now?’
But the Patriot’s disappearance was an extremely recent event.
Why would she be reacting like this now?
As I stared blankly, Im Ji-ah began elaborating on her own.
“The government barely rescued me just before my neck was in the noose. Honestly, if it weren’t for the Patriot, I could have made 600 trillion won—.”
I nodded vaguely, letting it pass.
It was all just her lamenting how she lost because the Patriot raided the gambling den.
‘Perhaps because of that….’
To my eyes, Im Ji-ah seemed far more unhinged than the Patriot.
“But why are you even more frightened this time?”
“Ah… A friend who plays cards with me asked if I wanted to join in on a big game.”
A big game.
Im Ji-ah had participated in such a big game and squandered 300 trillion won of the national budget.
The government had quietly supported her through it.
‘Her prophetic ability is certainly remarkable.’
I’m not ignorant of why the government would back her.
I’d thought it strange how well she controlled the Gates, but perhaps it was thanks to Im Ji-ah’s assistance all along.
In any case, what I truly wanted to know was something else.
Namely—.
“How on earth did you flip the cards with only one finger remaining?”
Humans die when their brain or heart disappears.
My Swords are different, but The Saint Im Ji-ah clearly falls within the category of ordinary human.
Yet she flipped the cards with that lone finger and won, did she not?
Perhaps she possessed some extraordinary ability—sustaining herself through spiritual power even as her physical form vanished, or something equally bizarre.
But….
“Muscle memory! You don’t know?”
I received a truly shocking answer.
She had actually gambled with only the muscle memory remaining in her finger, her consciousness and soul completely gone.
“You see, sometimes even when a head is severed, the body continues moving for a brief moment. I trusted the sensation lingering in my fingertips and the memories etched into my body, and I made a bold bet.”
Instinct.
The memory dwelling in my fingertips.
Such things would flip the card—that was the claim.
“I trusted the habit of splitting cards.”
I was left speechless.
‘….’
If Kang Seol-ah ever learned of this, she might think, ‘Is that what a Transcendent says? I could skip Awakening altogether—.’ or something similar.
Ahem.
I changed the subject.
“You didn’t win as much as I expected. Did you lose all that vast fortune back then?”
The last time I saw her, The Saint had stacked coins like mountains and was carrying three [Tarot Cards] no less.
If she gambled with those, shouldn’t she have won at least ten times over?
“I donated everything except enough for one cycle of gambling to the nation!”
This was another unexpected answer.
“It was part of a contract.”
The Republic of Korea Government—the price paid by President Lee Seok-hyun and Chief Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin, who risked their lives to save her from the Patriot’s execution….
Well, my guess is that the Patriot already knows The Saint is alive.
‘With the Patriot’s detection ability, there’s no way he wouldn’t know.’
I can say this with certainty, having Transcended myself.
At minimum, there must be a way for him to learn of her fate through the President or Kang Mu-jin.
The Patriot’s abilities are remarkably versatile.
‘Perhaps the Patriot is deliberately leaving Im Ji-ah alone.’
I’m not sure why.
He might consider her already punished, or he might tacitly overlook her and acknowledge some patriotic cause within her.
And yet her fate is to be confined in an Underground Bunker, gambling endlessly….
‘Is it a reward rather than a punishment?’
In any case, I approached the casino table to accomplish my purpose for coming here.
“Right now there are only three, but… if I win big, there will be ten.”
That’s what she said as she handed me the cards.
It felt as though she were demanding gambling funds from me.
Indeed, her eyes were fixed on my wrist, where a bracelet made entirely of Mystery hung.
An item that became useless once I obtained the [Sword Sheath].
‘Though its power has faded somewhat, its value remains.’
The duration I spent manifesting Aga Sword’s power through [Mystery] wasn’t that long.
Originally, I had intended to donate it to the nation….
‘Should I give this and make her win?’
After all, I possessed a secret method to make Im Ji-ah win absolutely.
First, let me verify whether her supernatural power remains intact.
Slip—.
I drew a single golden card.
And then….
[A massive black vortex swallowing Jeolla Province. Black palms surging from within it.]
The tarot card contained an image that hinted at my destination.
‘It must mean I should head toward the land submerged in the Void….’
Could those black hands be symbolizing the Demon Worshippers?
Perhaps.
‘Has it already become the land of demons?’
The Void was where Jeolla Man, the Jeolla Province spokesperson, continued sending distress signals.
And regarding that place, opinions varied widely.
The Korean Government, at the Patriot’s strong request, had asked nations worldwide for analysis, and the results were somewhat grim.
The experts’ assessment was as follows.
[High probability that the message itself is an anomaly consumed by a monster.]
—Referencing similar cases, the interior of Gates similar to the Void is presumed to be a barren environment where humans cannot survive.
—The Necropolis that infested Canada also exhibited large-scale anomalies similar to the Void in its early stages.
—Therefore, the figure of 170,000 claimed by the presumed survivor lacks credibility.
—Presumed to be a more evolved Gate or a novel monster phenomenon.
However, our government’s assessment differed.
[High probability that they are alive.]
The reason was quite simple.
【Citizens of the Republic of Korea could not have died so pathetically!】
It was thanks to the Patriot’s faith.
Of course, I understood such phenomena very well.
Therefore, I could be certain.
‘There won’t be anyone alive inside.’
Such phenomena appeared frequently within [Sword Cultivation] as well.
The Abyss—a precursor phenomenon of Black Gates, its scope hints at the Gate’s scale.
‘It must be enormous.’
The Necropolis that had annihilated half of Canada displayed a precursor phenomenon as vast as the Korean Peninsula.
In the case of Jeolla Province, it was not quite as large, but it had infested the world more intensely.
Perhaps something tremendous was about to unfold.
‘If I make it consume the Void entirely―.’
Erase everything.
That was what I thought—.
“In Jeolla Province, there is an enemy of Shin Si-woo. And at the same time…there are many who seek salvation.”
The Saint’s interpretation was different.
“Those palms are the pleas of survivors begging to be saved from darkness.”
Those terrifying palms were hands reaching out for salvation.
“Salvation?”
“They must be alive.”
The Saint of Destiny, Im Ji-ah.
Titles aren’t always created merely through Achievements; they also embody the convictions of the person who bears them.
There was a reason why the word “Saint” had been attached to her name.
“That’s what I believe in. The card reading confirms it as well.”
“I understand.”
I nodded calmly and revealed the next two cards.
“They’ll prove quite useful to you in the near future.”
“I trust you.”
The Saint of Destiny, Im Ji-ah.
The prophetic power she possessed was extraordinary.
‘The other two cards…’
I examined all three cards carefully.
Now it was time to gather my thoughts and head toward my destination.
But then something changed.
Thrum——
Suddenly, Aga Sword vibrated.
The jewel gleamed, and a voice spilled forth of its own accord.
⦗Master, allow me to be of service.⦘
Muratan had suddenly declared his willingness to help me.
* * *
At first, I had been indifferent.
The world of Earth that the Master showed me was far too tedious.
‘So many humans who can’t even become iron scraps.’
In the world of [Sword Cultivation], most beings were at least worthy of becoming iron scraps.
Of course, many fell short of even that, but the proportion was far higher than on Earth.
Yet this world—Earth—was different.
‘Despite billions of intelligent beings, the vast majority lack the qualifications of iron.’
So I had lost interest.
But as the Master’s sphere of activity expanded, my perspective shifted as well.
Beginning with the British Doctor, infinite possibilities opened before my eyes.
“A world brimming with fascinating iron!”
The Patriot, who carries constellations within him.
The Saint of Destiny, who draws forth the future.
An ordinary woman living while rejecting tremendous power.
A world alongside fascinating iron.
Truly, it was filled with extraordinary iron I had never witnessed before.
I should immediately tap, chew, tear, and taste them all…
Yet the Master, as always, continued his mundane existence.
He grew passionate about saviors and such nonsense.
“Always fretting over tedious matters.”
Weaklings who lack even the value of steel.
Such creatures simply need to be confined within a safe zone and locked away entirely.
Not a single ant would slip through.
Demon Worshippers could never arise.
I would simply isolate the safe zone with exceedingly powerful Swords and create their own utopia within it.
Compared to the world I inhabited, Earth was a remarkably stable environment, was it not?
‘Moreover, Earth possesses [Mystery] as well.’
[Mystery] appeared intriguing at first glance—a fascinating metal—yet it failed to truly captivate me.
It was merely a mass of energy that granted wishes, an imperfect power with clearly defined limitations.
This meant it was something artificially created.
What truly captured my interest lay elsewhere.
My eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Awakened abilities.”
The ingenuity humanity possessed.
This ‘Awakening’ that emerged after mysterious, inexplicable trials.
‘A strange and bizarre power born from individual experience.’
Remarkably, it could be separated from the body itself.
If I were to extract these powers, gather them, combine them, and continuously forge them?
If I were to blend the totality of [Awakened] abilities into steel itself?
‘Perhaps the ultimate Sword would be born.’
Of course, mixing it with ordinary steel would cause the Sword to shatter immediately.
Yet I harbored no such concerns.
‘That arrogant brat of a Demon would endure it sufficiently.’
Or perhaps an ancient Sword worn by age.
Or even a Holy Sword whose mind had fractured.
The Third Sword standing there as if dead, or the First Sword—the original—whose thoughts remained inscrutable within.
The [Sword World] created by the Sword Master overflowed with the most durable entities imaginable.
Beings harder than [Outer God], the steel I had last forged.
Thus, the possibilities were endless.
‘To accomplish this… there exists a problem.’
The Sword Master’s cooperation was essential to fulfill my aspirations.
For that, he could not waste time rescuing trivial humans.
To me, [humans] meant civilians with no value whatsoever—not even worth a scrap of steel.
“Sword Master, I shall aid you.”
* * *
South Korea possesses a special operations unit.
Composed primarily of the rare S-rank and SS-rank Hunters, they are the elite among elites who have passed the Patriot’s patriotism examination.
During operations, they maintain a constant transcendent state by activating [Mystery], or they can install [Gates] to move to desired locations.
Though it may resemble the portal laid down by the half-elf Yuki, the [Hyunmu Gate] possesses the advantage of allowing movement to any desired location within a certain range.
“Special Task Force Hyunmu, all personnel assembled!”
I relayed the identities of Seoul’s Demon Worshippers to Special Task Force Hyunmu based on the defector Kim Chang-seok’s intelligence.
“Priority target: elimination. Capture if possible. Operation parameters acknowledged.”
I had no intention of revealing that my sword could still redeem Demon Worshippers.
But the intelligence I’d obtained would prove invaluable.
The task I assigned to the Special Task Force was straightforward.
The comrades Kim Chang-seok had witnessed at the Demon Worshippers’ gathering.
I would provide their identities and have the unit apprehend every Demon Worshipper residing in Seoul.
And I would—.
“All I need is for you to open a Gate toward the Void from nearby.”
I was heading toward Jeolla Province, consumed by the Void.
Starting at three hundred thousand. Now seventeen thousand.
Many had perished, yet an enormous number of survivors were estimated to remain in that place.
A deep, resonant hum——.
As I crossed the Spirit Realm barrier Yuki had installed, a city near Jeolla Province materialized before me.
An unnamed soldier from the Special Task Force who had accompanied me to provide support stood at attention before me.
A man clad entirely in combat fatigues.
He opened the Gate.
A sharp, piercing sound——.
The Gate of Hyunmu, inscribed with bizarre patterns.
The moment the Gate opened, the soldier saluted me.
“For the nation! May fortune guide you!”
A brief utterance.
Yet within those words lay countless wishes.
The hope that I would drive back the Void that had consumed an entire metropolis and rescue the survivors dwelling within.
【Shin Si-woo has arrived at the Void zone!】
The entire nation was watching me.
A voice echoing from a distant helicopter rode the wind and pierced my ears.
‘This weight.’
A land I had believed held no survivors.
Yet by meeting Im Ji-ah, I had confirmed that survivors did exist.
That is why my steps felt so heavy.
I had no desire to see the reactions on World Net.
‘Seventeen thousand.’
How could my heart not feel heavy upon hearing that number?
And yet.
Still.
I stepped forward into the darkness where the Void lurked.
Thus—.
‘As expected.’
I stood alone in the darkness.

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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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