“Message?”
“It wasn’t anything special. It seems like The Ruler is expecting me to reach a higher realm… I accepted it for now since good is good. Though I won’t use it much.”
“Um… could you show me the sword?”
“Sure.”
The Heavenly Horse handed me the sword of muted light.
Just like from a distance, I felt no special power.
It seems the sword isn’t special by itself but rather amplifies the power of the Heavenly Horse.
[It’s a sword, a sword]
[Is Lily going to have it now?]
[Hmm]
[Is it Mokmujin or something?]
[Message?]
[I’m feeling uneasy about the Heavenly Horse]
[Not a True Immortal?]
“…Well, it definitely isn’t Mokmujin.”
I thought maybe it could be Mokmujin again, but I didn’t feel that power.
Trying to channel energy into the sword didn’t change anything either.
However, it was clear that this sword wasn’t just given away freely.
“It doesn’t seem to be made from ordinary materials. I can’t be sure, but it seems like it was created by an existence above the Marriage Device.”
“Marriage Device?”
“Yeah. I know a bit about the materials of Holy Artifacts, and this one is made from a material that’s not easily obtainable.”
During the time I spent as Lord Jeokmuhyang, I got to see various precious items from Jangmugye.
Each was made from materials that contained Cosmic Spirits for hundreds, even thousands of years, but this sword was different.
Sre.
“I’ve never seen this material before. If it can unleash the same power without the Cosmic Spirit, it must have been crafted by a higher existence.”
I returned the sword to the Heavenly Horse.
The Heavenly Horse accepted the sword, tilting its head in confusion.
“Why would an existence of Junseon level be interested in The Ruler?”
“Well, I don’t know either. As you said, maybe they have something they want.”
The Heavenly Horse seemed to be in doubt, but its growth speed wasn’t normal.
From the moment it entered the Main Temple, it was clearly influenced by someone significant, and the results of that were evident.
This sword is probably an arrangement made by someone who started intervening with the Heavenly Horse from the Lower Realm.
“For now, I don’t feel any malice. It wouldn’t be good to depend on it too much, but there’s no reason not to use it.”
“Heh. I’m The Ruler, there’s only me. I’m not one to rely on such weapons.”
“But you’d use it anyway.”
“…Exceptions do exist.”
Hmph. The Heavenly Horse deliberately turned its head away.
[Hahahahahahahahaha]
[The Heavenly Horse, ah… ]
[Great Heavenly Horse]
[So cute, seriously]
[That dog is really cute!]
[Heavenly Horse is so kawaii!]
[So, can we just leave that there?]
[This feels uneasy…]
[So, what do we do now?]
“Anyway… what are you planning from now on? Even I don’t know the whereabouts of Lord Heukmuhyang as mentioned before.”
“There’s always a way. By the way, weren’t you waging war?”
“Right. Black Grief Valley is somewhat strong, but there’s nothing to worry about. Time is on my side.”
Compared to Black Grief Valley, the Heavenly Horse Church is still weak, but the Heavenly Horse is a monster that continues to grow.
Because she’s a user, she’s immune to mental attacks, so even a Black Grief Lord at the third level cannot easily topple the Heavenly Horse Church.
Moreover, the main temple of the Heavenly Horse Church is wrapped in a powerful shield, making a frontal attack difficult.
If there’s a weakness, it’s the weaker followers of the Heavenly Horse Church compared to the Heavenly Horse…
And the Heavenly Horse is aware of this.
“My subordinates are still weak. I plan to develop them slowly.”
“But the Lord mentioned that the Heavenly Horse ‘brought’ another strange thing. Do you know what that is?”
“Oh. Are you talking about Sword Spirit?”
Sword Spirit?
When I tilted my head, the Heavenly Horse drew the sword diagonally as if it was nothing special.
Then, a spirit covered in black mist appeared around the Heavenly Horse.
At first glance, it resembled the Orc Heavenly Horse.
“The moment I held the sword, a technique entered my mind. It calls forth a spirit using the sword as a medium; I call this Sword Spirit.”
“Sword Spirit… are they fighting?”
“No, in this state, they’re just a bunch of flimsy ghosts. The believers wear them like armor while fighting.”
“Ah, I see?”
“Of course, not just anyone can wear and fight. The sword spirit they wear must match a certain degree of resonance with the spirit to unleash its power.”
So that’s why the Black Grief Lords and Black Grief Valley people misunderstood us.
Of course, the main reason for the misunderstanding was the Heavenly Horse’s technique, but they seemed convinced as soon as they saw us.
[Oh]
[That’s pretty cool, haha!]
[Hmm]
[What happens if you get caught by the Orc Heavenly Horse?]
[What’s that ability?]
The Heavenly Horse shook its head, seemingly displeased.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to use something like this… but there was no other choice to deal with Black Grief Valley.”
“You don’t want to use it?”
“Well… isn’t that right? It’s much more beneficial to cultivate my Heavenly Horse Divine Art than to get involved in such an evil way. If those vile ones hadn’t cunningly targeted my believers, I wouldn’t have given out something like this.”
“Then I guess we need to make up first.”
“Uh… huh?”
“Alright. You two are going to make up now.”
“……”
“…Lily?”
“Yes? What’s up?”
A small building located between Black Grief Valley and Heavenly Horse Church.
The leaders of both factions were sitting side by side, looking at me in my makeshift structure.
This situation seemed somewhat absurd.
“We can’t acknowledge each other, so let’s make up and protect our own territories. We can split it right down the middle using this building as the starting point.”
“Who died and made you king!”
Ka-woom!
The lord of Black Grief pounded the round table with a furious voice.
Ka-woom!
Of course, due to his anger, the table was also slammed down.
“Disorder is prohibited.”
“……”
[Oh!]
[Lololololol]
[No anger allowed]
[Calm down, haha]
[Big Lili]
[Seems to enjoy becoming one with the floor]
[For real lol]
“…Excuse me, Lord Jeokmu-hyang. This seems a bit excessive.”
“What do you mean?”
“This land has been under the domain of Black Grief Valley since the inception of Heukmu-hyang. In the past, present, and future, this is an extremely unjust situation.”
“It was the territory of the ‘Human Race,’ not just Black Grief Valley.”
Even though I look like this, I’m the lord of Jeokmu-hyang.
I might not know the details of each faction’s news or information, but I hear the big news here and there.
“A long time ago, the True Immortal Guimeung Jin-gun of human lineage was born and raised in this land and ascended to the Upper Realm, designating this land as the territory of the human race. The current lord of Jangmugye, Gyeoryu, has maintained this permanently to honor the True Immortal.”
“L, Lily? The true name of the True Immortal is…”
The Heavenly Horse showed a rare flinch.
It’s understandable because, for the ascetics, merely mentioning the name of an Upper Being can deal a massive blow.
The reason the Heavenly Horse remains intact is thanks to the ‘System’ that blocks even the interventions of such Upper Beings.
I looked at Yena and the lord, who were staring blankly. Then I chuckled.
“Don’t worry. I just muted the name. The lord probably didn’t hear it, right?”
“…You sure know a lot about old stories.”
“That True Immortal only designated it as the territory of the human race; he didn’t specify it for any particular faction. So, the territory of Lord Heavenly Horse, also being human, can be acknowledged.”
“Hah! Are you aware that the faction he established is the predecessor of Black Grief Valley?”
“Um?”
“As his legitimate descendants, it is only natural for us to protect this land! Not those rootless fellows!”
“You must protect it. Not those fundamentalless ones!”
“Fundamental? Ha! Just spouting nonsense with that gaping mouth…!”
Boom!
This time, the Heavenly Horse kicked the round table and stood up.
The Heavenly Horse exuded a deep killing intent.
Lord of Black Grief, who hoped to be knocked down to the floor as well, was disappointed as the Heavenly Horse only lightly bumped its head—plonk!—and didn’t end up fused with the ground.
The Heavenly Horse widened its eyes and turned to look at me.
“Hahahahahahaha!”
“Heavenly Horse’s head went plonk!”
“Hahaha!”
“Big Lily!”
“Heavenly Horse’s eyes are so cute!”
“Plonk!”
“Lily?”
“Please sit down.”
“No. The author… I understand.”
As the Heavenly Horse grumpily sat down, Lord of Black Grief looked at me with a wronged expression.
“Why do you let that person off so easily?”
“Because it’s the same logic as Lord of Black Grief.”
“? What do you mean?”
“Alumni connections, regional ties. You’re expecting that, right?”
Due to the mere connection of the past that the great Myung Jin-gun had with Black Grief Valley, this situation arose where he claims to be the owner of this land.
So, it’s only natural that I should treat the Heavenly Horse a bit more leniently.
“I have a connection with the Heavenly Horse. So, I may have cut down on the DC a bit.”
“De… what?”
“I’ve lowered the level of punishment a bit. Of course, the punishment will be carried out, but I won’t insert personal opinions into the decision.”
The punishment is secondary; the most important task is to divide the human territory.
Since I’ve received something from the Heavenly Horse, I want to give some level of assurance, but Black Grief Valley hasn’t really caused any trouble.
“Or there’s another way.”
“What is it?”
“? What is it?”
Creeeak.
The Orc Heavenly Horse appeared behind me.
Lord of Black Grief and the Heavenly Horse, who aren’t particularly fond of the Orc Heavenly Horse, narrowed their eyes.
“This Orc would become the new owner of the land based on that building.”
“???”
“I’ll guarantee the legitimacy since I’m the human-born territory lord, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Not everyone in your factions is human, right?”
Even in factions of specific races, there’s always an ascetic notion of mercenaries.
Glancing around, I noticed that both sides had about 3% of other races.
“Uh…”
“If you don’t like it, we could go this way…”
“I’ll agree to a truce.”
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
