Chapter 72: The Lord of Ten Thousand Blades (2)
In the barren wastelands, corpses could occasionally be found. The thin, tattered clothes on them provided faint clues about what they might have worn in life.
“Looks like they were taken down by a sword,” Flora remarked as she inspected the remains. Part of the ribcage had been cleanly severed, the cut so precise that it was undoubtedly the work of a skilled swordsman. Most of the corpses found in the wasteland looked similar.
The closer they traveled westward, the more frequent these discoveries became. It was evidence of the growing number of people heading in that direction.
There was even a signpost stuck into the ground, looking recently made. The strong scent of ink lingered on the wooden plank, suggesting it hadn’t been long since it was painted.
Theo struck the signpost, shattering the upright wooden board with ease.
“This thing’s sturdy,” he commented.
“It’s written in the language of the Reincarnators…”
The words on the sign were written in various unfamiliar characters, yet their meaning was the same.
There were still some sentences that Saeorin couldn’t fully decipher.
Likely, they belonged to memories of dimensions I hadn’t yet absorbed.
But thanks to the memories I had acquired through my sword, I could roughly understand the Reincarnators’ script.
The direction on the sign matched Max’s guidance. Confident that we were on the right path, we picked up our pace.
A week passed before we reached our destination. I gazed up at the rocky mountains ahead of us.
These weren’t ordinary mountains; the clean-cut surfaces hinted at the handiwork of an unparalleled swordsman.
Someone had used a sword to slice the mountains, creating natural walls. And not just one mountain—there were three.
The sharply-cut cliffs formed a fortress-like barrier that surrounded the construction site at its center. It was an excellent defense against external threats.
“Someone did this…?” Flora’s voice was filled with awe.
“A mountain… sliced clean through…” Theo added, marveling at the sight.
As swordsmen themselves, they could recognize the traces left by a blade on the mountains. It wasn’t until later that we noticed the large-scale construction happening at the base of the cliffs.
“So, they really are building a city…”
The rumors of a city being built were true. Even now, throngs of people were flocking toward the construction site.
I could feel their sharp gazes on us. We were close enough that others could clearly make out our figures, just as we could see theirs.
There was no need to hide. Instead, I acted confidently.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Are you serious…?”
“You actually want to go there?”
Theo and Flora’s faces twisted with unease. It was only natural—they were looking at a place inhabited by someone capable of slicing mountains.
I turned to face them.
“Turning back now would be even stranger. Someone with that level of skill would have already noticed us by now.”
“That’s… true, but still…”
Even as we stood and observed the construction site for a while, there was no reaction from the other side. It seemed we weren’t worth special attention.
‘Or they’re simply too busy to care.’
My instincts, honed through countless experiences in the wild, told me that the person who had carved those mountains wasn’t there. I trusted my gut.
As we moved forward, figures blocked our path. They wore wide-sleeved robes, garments that clearly originated from another dimension.
“Halt,” one of them ordered.
I didn’t sense any hostility—just a faint tension. Looking around, I saw others dressed similarly, spread out across the area. Perhaps they were guards maintaining order at the construction site.
We decided to comply with their instructions.
“What is your purpose here?”
The man who asked tensed his muscles subtly. I immediately realized that the question itself was a kind of test. A fragment of memory from a week ago flashed through my mind.
What had been written on that sign Theo broke?
I opened my mouth calmly and said, “Isn’t there supposed to be a new world here?”
It seemed to be the right answer. The man visibly relaxed. His hand, which had been resting lightly on his sword, fell away, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“So you’re one of those people. I’ll take you to your place.”
The man at the front turned and gestured for us to follow him. The others remained behind, guarding the entrance.
Exchanging glances, we silently followed him. The proximity was too close for us to converse, so Theo, Flora, and I communicated with brief looks.
“You’re one of them? I had a feeling you weren’t ordinary, but so it’s true!” Max, lacking any sense of discretion, babbled nonsense.
The man led us to a large tent. It was spacious—too much so for just the three of us. There wasn’t a soul in sight, but it was furnished with layered leather beds, indicating that it was an interim accommodation until the city’s construction was complete.
As we inspected the tent, the man spoke.
“The Commander will meet with you upon his return. Until then, please wait here.”
Once the man left, the three of us finally relaxed and sat down, each finding a comfortable spot.
The moment the man disappeared, Theo and Flora hurriedly approached me.
“Saeorin! What does he mean by ‘one of those people’? What’s going on?”
“Are you associated with them? What is this?”
I stayed silent for a moment. My vague answer from earlier had turned out to be the correct one.
Only Reincarnators could read the signpost’s writing, so quoting it had naturally led to a misunderstanding.
After shaking the dust from my clothes, I casually smacked Max on the back of the head with my sheathed sword. A crisp sound accompanied his collapse.
Finally, I spoke.
“They seem to think we’re Reincarnators.”
“What…?”
“Wait, are you saying that answer you gave earlier…?”
“This actually works in our favor. We can gather more information this way.”
“Well, yeah, obviously… but isn’t it too dangerous? Pretending to be Reincarnators? What if they figure us out?”
“Do you really think they’ll find out?”
At Saeorin’s question, Flora and Theo exchanged glances. After thinking seriously about it, they realized it wasn’t likely.
As members of the Azure Wing, our main mission was to observe and subdue Reincarnators.
Because of that, we were already well-acquainted with their behavior patterns and personalities, making it easy to imitate them.
Lying about our origin world wasn’t an issue either. Reincarnators came from a multitude of dimensions, many of which were vastly different—even those that seemed similar often hailed from entirely different eras.
Reincarnators rarely interacted with one another. The chances of them sharing information about their respective dimensions were slim.
That’s what the Azure Wing’s intelligence had suggested. And even if some overlap occurred, there was little risk. Tracking every dimension Reincarnators came from was practically impossible.
As the frequency of Reincarnators appearing increased, so did the number of dimensions they came from.
“Ah… I’m not that great at acting…”
“Well… if I take this angle…”
Once the situation was clear, Theo and Flora started brainstorming their roles. Drawing from the wealth of information we had gathered about Reincarnators—dimensions, ages, and other details—they crafted elaborate backstories.
I didn’t put much thought into it. For me, it was easy. All I had to do was pull a memory from the many I had absorbed and overlay it onto my own face.
The more familiar the memory, the less room there was for error. I recalled a memory engraved within the White Dragon Sword and let it shape me.
As I began to embody the role, subtle changes occurred. My posture shifted, my breathing slowed and lengthened, and even the way my sword hung at my side altered slightly. Just those minor adjustments were enough to change the atmosphere I projected entirely.
Some time passed. My heightened senses picked up on a group of unfamiliar presences approaching. Ten of them, to be exact. A faint breeze carried the scent of oil and metal.
“I’ll handle this.”
I stood before Theo and Flora could react. As I rose, the tent was torn open, and men armed with swords stormed in. Their vigor was impressive, but that was all.
‘There’s no hostility here…’
I drew my sword, and the mana that spiraled outward from it seemed to dominate the space. A chilling cold settled over the area.
‘This is a test.’
The test wasn’t over yet. Were they here to evaluate my skill or for some other reason? I’d soon find out. I glanced toward the faint gaze I could sense observing from afar and smirked arrogantly.
The Manifestation of the Inner World
A World for the Empress
The swordsmanship that transcended dimensions transformed into a new world through my hands.
Space twisted, and a pristine snowy field unfolded. The intruders’ movements slowed noticeably, as if the very air had turned against them.
The intangible energy that had once surrounded their blades had long since dissipated.
In this world, only one person could move freely.
‘I alone am the center of this world.’
The cold, arrogant gaze of the Winter Empress shone through. As the biting winter winds wrapped around the intruders, their faces turned pale, and one by one, they collapsed.
It took less than ten seconds for all ten of them to fall. Even after they were down, the snowy landscape I had summoned continued to dominate the area, refusing to fade.
The frigid wind lingered until the moment I sheathed the White Dragon Sword.