Chapter 397

"It wasn't the Martial God, but you… who suggested turning back time?"

Until now, Seong Jihan had assumed that the Martial God was using Ashoka's Golden Wheel to turn time back to the past.

'He stores power in the Constellations' Artifacts, continuously returning to the past to increase the number of artifacts… All those Constellations' Artifacts will become the Martial God's power. As this accumulates more and more, he will possess overwhelming strength.'

The Martial God was already incomparably powerful even now.

If he used the power contained in the Constellations' Artifacts on top of that, there would be very few beings who could oppose him.

Even Gilgamesh, who had witnessed a fragment of that power, judged that he couldn't possibly face him and proactively proposed cooperating with Seong Jihan.

"In the future, will he be called the 'Martial God'? …What an ill-fitting name."

Ashoka, smirking slightly at the title 'Martial God',

"What I proposed to him was infinite regression."

He spoke of infinite regression.

"Infinite regression… You mean continuously turning time back to the past?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Why in the world…?"

"To save humanity from the conflagration."

The conflagration.

Seong Jihan looked at the red World Tree.

That thing would ignite flames that would burn the entire Earth.

"If you just lent the power to go back to the past to Dongbang Sak, couldn't he have destroyed it?"

"If he drew out a Taiji Sword powerful enough to destroy that tree, this world would collapse along with it. Moreover,"

Swish.

Ashoka caressed the golden wheel that had appeared behind him.

"With my current power, I cannot keep sending Dongbang Sak to the past. Infinite regression is something that ultimately requires cooperation with the Martial God."

To make use of the power to turn back time, he ultimately had to collaborate with the Martial God.

In the end, to save humanity from the conflagration, he had offered the Martial God the carrot of infinite regression.

"…If humanity was saved because of that, I suppose even my birth is all thanks to you."

"Haha. Saying your birth is thanks to me is too much. It's thanks to your parents."

"But because of that infinite regression, a ridiculous monster was born. The already powerful Martial God kept accumulating power as he returned to the past…"

"I see. But looking at you, it seems humanity… has survived for a long time. Isn't that enough then?"

Since he had extended the lifespan of humanity on the brink of extinction anyway.

Is he saying he's done his part?

"So leave the rest to the descendants to figure out… Is that what you mean?"

"If that were the case, my future self wouldn't have chosen you."

"You mean there's a countermeasure against the Martial God?"

"For now,"

Swish.

Ashoka pointed at Dongbang Sak, who was floating cross-legged.

"Release the seal on this world and restore Dongbang Sak's memories."

"His memories?"

"Yes. One of the reasons the Martial God tried to discard the human species was because of Dongbang Sak."

"…Why?"

"The human species, with no set limits. Countless gifted individuals were born among them, but there was no martial artist with transcendent martial arts like him."

Ashoka looked around.

"He captured all the Blood Tribe across the planet, sealed them here, and controlled the World Tree's unrest. Thanks to Dongbang Sak, the Martial God's plans through the Blood Tribe were thwarted for a long time. He is now just waiting for Dongbang Sak to die after reaching the end of his lifespan."

Capturing the souls of the Blood Tribe wandering around the world, sealing them in the World Tree,

And guarding this place for 600 years to prevent them from running amok.

It was an absurd feat for a human to accomplish alone.

'No matter how you look at it, Dongbang Sak is the one who fits the title of Martial God.'

Thinking that, Seong Jihan asked Ashoka,

"Dongbang Sak is still strong even in the future. But what does this have to do with the Martial God discarding humanity?"

"He has a compulsive dislike for uncontrollable situations. But the human species, with no set limits, gave birth to Dongbang Sak. To prevent the variable of a second Dongbang Sak appearing, he wants to reset the species."

Because the variable called Dongbang Sak was born from humanity, he wanted to burn the Earth and go experiment somewhere else?

'That Martial God bastard… has a narrow mind.'

At that moment,

Dongbang Sak, who had been sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes.

"Hearing such words from you makes me ashamed. Wasn't the snake most afraid of you?"

"How could I possibly be his fear?"

"I merely used my strength. You, who repeatedly blocked the snake's plans, were the one he was most wary of…"

As he said that, he looked at Seong Jihan.

"Did you say my future self drew out the sword of light from the Taiji?"

"That's right."

"Then that sword is not one tempered to destroy souls."

"…Then what is it?"

"It's compressing power to pass on to someone."

Saying that, Dongbang Sak stroked his beard with a frown.

"You, make sure to show respect to my future self. Since it seems you're the only one I can pass the taiji sword to."

"I've learned so much that I'm being quite respectful in my own way. That's why I'm even using honorifics, right? I immediately use casual speech with other disciples of the Martial God."

"Oh my… Bragging, are you? You, don't get too excited about stealing martial arts in front of me even when you return to the future. It makes my beard stand on end."

"Hmm… I've already done that."

"…And you're still alive and well."

Dongbang Sak, who had been glaring at Seong Jihan with disapproval, spoke to Ashoka.

"I'll accept your proposal to become the snake's servant. Well, looking at this fellow, it seems I've already accepted it."

"You've made a wise decision."

"Then…"

Swish.

Dongbang Sak reached into the air and pulled something out.

A large red horn was attached to his hand.

"This is…"

"Dalgi's horn. It belongs to the wicked woman who drove my only lord to his death."

Dalgi, that's a story from the Kang Sang era.

As Seong Jihan quietly observed the horn,

Screech!

Chinese characters were engraved on it.

Save the World and Help the People.

"If I follow the snake and fall into delusion, if I can't believe your words and become suspicious, show me this horn and these characters. Then I'll come to my senses a little."

Saying that, Dongbang Sak handed Dalgi's horn to Ashoka.

Receiving it, Ashoka let out a deep sigh.

"Phew… Saving the people of the world. Isn't this what you've been doing all along? You should be able to rest now… I'm truly sorry for burdening you."

"I'm just doing what needs to be done. Don't worry about it."

"…I, too, shall reaffirm my resolve."

Swish…

As Ashoka brought his hand to the golden wheel,

Two characters were engraved on it.

"Forbidden Enlightenment. You mean you won't attain enlightenment?"

"I can't leave alone after dragging you into this, can I?"

"…Reliable. We'll be of the same mind from now on. Speak comfortably."

"Yes… I will."

As the two reaffirmed their resolve,

Seong Jihan, as a third party, stood with his arms crossed, observing them.

'Among the Martial God's disciples, these two seem relatively trustworthy.'

Currently, there were a total of four living disciples of the Martial God.

Among them, Gilgamesh was originally untrustworthy,

And Pythia had recently shown a series of strange behaviors, losing his trust.

However, if Dongbang Sak and Ashoka's actions in this sealed area were true,

They seemed to be more reliable than the other two, at least.

At that moment,

"What kind of mindset do you have, guest from the future?"

"Mindset?"

"The reason I chose you in the infinite regression. I want to hear it."

"Well… I don't have a lofty purpose like saving the world and helping the people."

Seong Jihan stroked his chin and tilted his head.

"Even coming this far was just for me and my family to survive. I'm just running around trying to somehow oppose that Martial God bastard."

"If it's to survive, there are plenty of other ways, aren't there? With your level of power, you could abandon this world and flee."

Flee.

The Abyss Owner seemed to have such thoughts.

But Seong Jihan didn't want to do that.

"I don't want to go that far. We just need to defeat the Martial God, right?"

"I see… You're right. We just need to win."

Hehe.

Ashoka smiled more joyfully than ever upon hearing Seong Jihan's answer.

"I chose you well."

"…This answer leads to that conclusion?"

"Yes, it's more than enough."

Saying that, Ashoka pointed to the World Tree.

"Now then, please release the seal."

* * *

Release the seal.

Does that mean write the code Gilgamesh taught?

'This is ending more easily than when I unlocked the outer formation of the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams.'

Perhaps because Ashoka came out and coordinated things,

This time, it felt like things were being resolved more smoothly than expected.

'If I write the characters, the seal will be easily released.'

The characters Gilgamesh taught were "It's time to behead the snake."

The snake here would be the Martial God, as they also mentioned.

If he wrote that, he could easily release this formation too, but,

'It feels like a waste.'

It felt regrettable to end things just by writing characters like this.

Seong Jihan silently stared at the tree, then turned his head to Dongbang Sak.

"Dongbang Sak, can you give me some guidance?"

"Ha, are you trying to rob more? Learn from my future self."

"That guy is not easy to meet. Not other martial arts, but I'm curious about this."

Swish…

As the Taiji appeared behind Seong Jihan's back, Dongbang Sak's eyes widened.

"Taiji Sword…"

"Yes, here I create the sword like this…"

Swoosh!

The sword Eclipse bloomed in Seong Jihan's hand,

And the void began to explode inside the Taiji.

Drawing out the taiji sword from the void like this was the principle behind how Seong Jihan created the Taiji Sword.

'It's not working well without the star buff.'

Perhaps because he lacked the star buff that greatly amplified his abilities, his sword couldn't easily come out.

However, it seemed sufficient for observation,

"Oho, this is…"

Dongbang Sak watched with interest as power surged within the Taiji.

"No…! What will you do if you use this dangerous power?"

Ashoka exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly tried to dissuade Seong Jihan.

"The void is a power that will collapse you from the inside. Just harboring it will devour you. This is a power that must never be handled!"

"No, Ashoka. We don't necessarily have to see it that way. It looks like the sword will be completed soon in the Taiji…"

"Dongbang Sak! He is the one chosen to oppose the Martial God who has entered infinite regression. Can we let him perish like this?"

Ashoka raised his voice at Dongbang Sak, whose eyes sparkled at the sight of the taiji sword, but,

"Is that so? Ashoka, you're the one who recommended this."

"…Pardon?"

"You said to use the void in the taiji sword."

"I… said that?"

At Seong Jihan's answer, his face, which always had a smiling expression, stiffened.