SWNOVELXO Chapter 339
Chapter 340. River of Blood, Mountain of Screams (3)
A dive from a dizzying cliff where the ground is invisible.
If it were a Transcendent Being, they would be fine, but Keter’s current body is not that of a Transcendent Being. This is the Mental World. Keter’s body is just like that of an ordinary human.
If you ask whether it doesn’t matter if you die in the Mental World, the answer is no. In fact, the wind, gravity, and pain are even more vivid than in reality.
The mind and body are one. If the mind collapses, the body dies, and if the body collapses, the mind dies.
‘Keter. You probably think you’ll be fine even if you fall. Heh heh heh.’
The height from which Keter jumped was so high that he remained airborne for a full five minutes before plummeting to the ground.
CRASHHHHHHHHH!
Paratool had made the ground out of basalt to maximize the pain upon impact. The rough surface and the sharp edges that split upon impact made the pain dozens of times worse.
“Thanks to your recklessness, we saved time.”
Paratool, who had arrived on the ground via teleportation, looked at the lump of meat that was once ‘Keter.’
It was completely torn and twisted. It was a fatal wound that wouldn’t be enough even if he died dozens of times.
A shattered body. The mind must have shattered as well. Over thousands of years, while observing hundreds of millions of people, this truth had rarely been broken.
But-
“Ah, the stiffness finally loosened up.”
The lump of meat stood up. Keter, whose body was bent at grotesque angles and whose flesh was torn off, stood up.
Moreover, by the time he fully stood up, his entire body had been restored to its original state. It happened in the blink of an eye.
Crack. Crack.
Keter, who had twisted his neck left and right, spoke towards the sky where Paratool was looking.
“You, you just skimmed through my life, didn’t you? The fear and pain of falling from thousands of meters? I’ve experienced worse than that in Ruquer.”
“Recovering your body in the Mental World? I’ve never even heard of that in my past lives.”
“This is my Mental World, so of course I can do anything, right? For example-”
Snap!
As Keter flicked his finger, a middle-aged man appeared before him. His attire was peculiar. It was an ancient, old-fashioned outfit that one might have worn a long time ago.
Keter suddenly threw a punch at the middle-aged man-
Thud.
The middle-aged man caught Keter’s fist with his hand.
“Indeed… Your mental power has far surpassed the human category. Well, if it’s my vessel, it should be like that.”
What had been summoned before Keter was Paratool in human form.
“However, how can human imagination compare to a god?”
Embrace.
Keter’s fist suddenly turned into a flower.
As the stem of the flower flowed up Keter’s arm, Keter turned his arm into flames and shook it off.
“Oh, a flaming punch. I’ve always wanted to try that.”
Whoosh!
Keter, who had turned both hands into flames, unleashed a barrage towards Paratool. It wasn’t ordinary fire. It coiled around Paratool’s entire body like a dragon.
“Is that what you call a dragon now?”
Paratool smirked and stomped the ground with his foot. Then, a mountain far away turned into a dragon and charged towards Keter.
-ROOOOOOAR!
It was clearly a fake created in the Mental World.
But at the same time, it wasn’t fake. It was a real entity made from a dragon that had actually existed, not just an imagination.
At the dragon’s roar, Keter’s body stiffened on its own. The dragon, made of rocks and forests, crashed into Keter.
“If it’s a mountain, I know one too.”
A giant rock hand rose from the ground where Keter stepped. It was the hand of Malphite, the guardian of Toban.
Malphite, who had risen from the ground, grabbed the rock dragon’s mouth and tore it apart. Thousands of rocks and trees poured down from the sky.
Paratool recognized Malphite and shook his head.
“The guardian of Toban? Do you think you can stop a dragon with that?”
He thought Malphite had stopped the rock dragon, but no. The collapsing rock dragon split into another dragon and began biting Malphite’s entire body.
“Who said I can’t make multiple?”
RUMBLE!
At Keter’s gesture, multiple Malphites rose.
The situation was utter chaos. Paratool watched from the sky as the rock dragons and Malphites fought, marveling.
‘Even if Keter is a subspecies with the blood of all living beings, his foundation is still human. But this mental power… it’s not human.’
In the Mental World, anything is possible, but it’s not without risks.
It’s like counting numbers in your head. 1, 2, 3, 4… Anyone can count a sequence like this regularly.
But what if there’s more than one sequence? And what if the counting rules are arbitrary?
Using ‘power’ in the Mental World works on the same principle. The stronger the individual’s power, the larger the size, the more complex the existence, the more things you have to think of in your head exponentially increase.
‘That guy is currently handling the mental power of 10,000 humans by himself.’
The average mental power of a Master-level is 100 humans, and even Transcendent Beings average around 1,000 humans.
But Keter’s mental power far exceeds the average.
“Even so… you’re just a hybrid. A dish prepared for me.”
Paratool, floating in the air, raised his finger. As if to say the game was over.
BOOOOOOM!
The world shook.
This wasn’t a metaphor, it was real. Gravity reversed, and the ground shook left and right.
Keter, who was on the ground, could feel it even without looking at the sky. Something that was clearly a ‘dot in the sky’ was gradually getting bigger.
“Have you ever seen such a madman?”
The dot approaching from the sky was the ‘moon.’ Paratool had dropped an entire planet towards this place.
Paratool smirked.
“Go ahead, make hundreds, thousands more of those Toban guardians.”
Numbers were meaningless. If the moon collided with the ground, this world itself would be destroyed.
Keter should feel helpless. By the rapidly increasing size and pressure of the moon. That’s what Paratool wanted.
But Keter, after a moment of anguish, raised both hands towards the sky.
“If you’re going to drop the moon……”
Squirm.
Paratool thought it was absurd and looked where Keter’s palm was pointing.
There, a brightly shining sun was there.
‘No way, it can’t be.’
Even if it’s a dragon, they wouldn’t think of dropping the sun. This planet and moon are rocky planets, but the sun is a gas planet.
Moving the sun is trillions of times harder than dropping a rocky planet. Even for a divine being, it’s not something just anyone can do.
But Keter didn’t know that. He just believed he could do it. That’s why Keter could move the sun.
“I am the sun!”
Paratool’s expression twisted as he witnessed the sun beginning to approach slightly.
*
Sephira Conference Room.
A heavy war atmosphere looms.
The silence is prolonged.
“What is the current situation of Prince Keter?”
General Pekda’s last question remained unanswered. Hisop pondered for a long time.
As Hisop’s pondering continued, the tension grew even more intense. A foreboding feeling that Keter might be dead enveloped the conference room. Otherwise, Hisop wouldn’t have pondered for so long.
“Ahem, Keter is……”
Instead of Hisop, Panir stood up from his seat. He, too, had naturally come after observing Keter’s condition.
Only the Lord and elders knew Keter’s exact condition. Panir intended to vaguely say that Keter had entered a rest period.
But Hisop interrupted Panir.
“Keter is fighting.”
“……?”
The room became chaotic. The ministers, unable to understand Hisop’s words, tried to interpret among themselves but eventually couldn’t find an answer and asked.
“Are you saying that Prince Keter has recovered and is fighting the enemy?”
“No. Keter is currently lying in the recovery room.”
That was something the other ministers also knew. But saying he’s fighting made no sense.
“Keter is currently in a comatose state. His body is fine, but he’s unable to wake up due to mental issues.”
“Ugh.”
“Comatose state… That’s serious.”
Even those without medical knowledge know what a comatose state is. It’s an illness yet not an illness. There’s no cure. A comatose state is like being alive in words, but in reality, it’s no different from being dead.
Despite the ministers’ concerns, Hisop continued.
“There’s no need to be gloomy. I told you, Keter is definitely alive and fighting to wake up.”
Hisop’s words weren’t just false reassurances to calm the ministers. He genuinely felt that way. Though he didn’t know the details, Keter was fighting. Even at this very moment.
“So, there’s no need to talk about Keter now. He will wake up someday and appear as always. We just need to do what we have to do.”
Hisop turned his gaze to Pekda, who had asked the question.
“Was that an answer, General Pekda?”
“Yes.”
Pekda, sitting down, had a very satisfied smile on his face.
After that, the conference room, filled with energy and heat, entered endless tactical discussions.
They had to consider all possible strategies against the two southern swordsmanship families, what strategies the opponents might use, and even prepare for the worst-case scenarios.
This wasn’t something that could be finished in a day. It continued for two, three, even four days.
During that time, no one left their seats. Even washing time was considered a waste, and meals were simply bread and water.
The conference room was filled with the smell of sweat, but no one cared. Everyone was engrossed in finding strategies and tactics close to victory.
“Indeed, the absence of the Prime is significant.”
Hisop stated a fact everyone knew but couldn’t bring themselves to answer.
Yes, House Sephira had no 7-Star Prime. Thanks to Keter’s recent training, the number of Masters and Grandmasters had increased, but there was still no 7-Star Prime-level. Except for Keter, that is.
On the other hand, the two rival swordsmanship families had as many as two Primes. And that’s just the known ones; there might be more.
Still, the reason they could still strategize was thanks to the allied forces from external powers.
The airships and Titans of the Baen Kingdom were tactical weapons on par with a 7-Star Prime, the Empire’s Special Operations Unit provided information and supplies that solidified their foundation, and among the elite troops of the Adeus Kingdom’s Kundelain, there was one 7-Star Prime.
Thanks to them, they could manage even without Keter, but otherwise, it would have been a great crisis.
At that moment, one of the ministers cautiously raised his hand and asked.
“Any news about Lord Basil and Sir Gasilious, who went into seclusion training……”
The two had entered seclusion training to break the limits of Sephira’s archery, the Zodiac Twelve Palaces. That was already half a year ago.
Half a year. Not short by any means, but ridiculously insufficient for enlightenment.
Simply spending time doesn’t make everyone a Prime, and there are plenty of people who, even after 50 years of seclusion training, don’t become Primes.
But after just half a year, could those two become Primes? No one knows.
Hisop shook his head.
“We’ve been guarding the door, but there’s been no news. We must proceed with the battle assuming Lord Basil and Sir Gasilious are out of the equation.”
“Hmm… Then we’ll have to strategize assuming there’s no Prime.”
While they were discussing, the two swordsmanship families weren’t idle either. They continued to tighten their encirclement and were now within a day’s ride.
The situation was at a critical point where war could break out at any moment. There was no more time to establish further strategies and tactics.
“Then, based on the strategies and tactics proposed by General Pekda, let’s divide the army and form the battle formations.”
Just as Hisop was about to strike the gavel-
BANG!
The conference room door opened, and Nabakin, panting, entered.
The ministers’ expressions soured at Nabakin’s appearance.
Hisop was no different. Hisop is the fastest in Sephira. That’s why he’s the one who delivers important news.
But lately, Nabakin only brought bad news, so naturally, people disliked his appearance.
‘What bad news has he brought this time?’
‘Has the invasion started?’
The ministers, filled with tension and displeasure, looked at Nabakin.
Hisop also took a deep breath and asked.
“Sir Nabakin. Have you come with urgent news?”
“Gasp, gasp. Yes. Urgent news!”
“Good. Speak.”
Hisop, predicting an enemy invasion, had already prepared his mind to leave.
But-
“The Elder has arrived!”
At Nabakin’s words, the ministers were in an uproar.
“Elder?”
“Elder? Does such a position exist in Sephira?”
“I was born and raised in Sephira, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
Most people didn’t know about the Elder.
But some did. Especially Panir, who opened his eyes wide and shouted.
“The Elder? Could it be that Endymion has appeared?!”
Panir had only heard of it in stories, never actually seen the existence. He had dismissed it as just a legend from fairy tales.
Then-
“Nice to meet you.”
A person suddenly appeared behind Nabakin.
The ministers, who had been looking at Nabakin, were startled as they didn’t notice the mysterious person’s appearance.
“Gasp?!”
“W-when did you?!”
The mysterious person wasn’t human. His pointed ears revealed his race.
An ancient race, an Elf. The guardian of Sephira, known only to a very few.
He had revealed himself in the conference room where Sephira’s ministers had gathered.