Absolute Regression

Chapter 603: Since It Reached You

Geom Mugeuk was there.

When he jumped down from the cliff and arrived at the camp first, fortunately, the Heavenly Will Palace Master was not in the tent.

Thanks to that, after successfully infiltrating in secret, he was able to observe and listen to the entire conversation of the three.

The matters related to the prophecy were things Geom Mugeuk already knew, so they weren’t particularly surprising.

What did surprise him was the gift brought by the Dark Palace Master.

When he pulled out the Ice Dragon Divine Armor and the Heavenly Yin Pill from his pouch, Geom Mugeuk was truly shocked.

‘Those two items were given by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?’

It was unthinkable that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which had joined hands with the Dark Palace Master, would willingly offer protective armor and an elixir for the sake of the Heavenly Will Palace Master.

‘Did they mix poison into the elixir?’

At first, that’s what he thought. That they had done something to the Heavenly Yin Pill.

But after the Heavenly Will Palace Master ingested it and showed no signs of abnormality, that doubt faded.

‘Does the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult wish for the Heavenly Will Palace Master to win?’

No matter how he thought about it, that didn’t seem likely.

Soon after, the Heavenly Will Palace Master donned the Ice Dragon Divine Armor. Watching this, Geom Mugeuk felt another wave of suspicion. These were suspicions even the Guardian Palace Master had not raised.

‘Did they tamper with the Ice Dragon Divine Armor?’

What if the Heavenly Yin Pill was merely bait?

What if the point was to make him lower his guard the moment he confirmed there was nothing wrong with the elixir?

Sure enough, the Heavenly Will Palace Master put on the Ice Dragon Divine Armor without the slightest suspicion.

What if they had coated the inside of the armor with something even he wouldn’t notice?

Yet, the Heavenly Will Palace Master showed no sign of discomfort.

Soon, Geom Mugeuk shook his head.

‘No. That might get discovered.’

There was a possibility he might inspect the inside of the protective armor, or perhaps he would decide not to wear it later. At the very least, it didn’t seem like a perfect plan, and the Dark Palace Master, filled with such cold ambition, didn’t seem like someone who would carry out things this sloppily.

‘Then what was the intention?’

As he continued to think, assuming there must be a trap there—

‘No way?’

Both being of Extreme Yin properties, when the Heavenly Yin Pill and the Ice Dragon Divine Armor combined, the Heavenly Will Palace Master’s body was engulfed in an indescribable state of Extreme Yin.

And at that moment, they had only been anticipating an Extreme Yang attack from the Martial Emperor Divine Sword.

But what if he were to be ambushed with internal energy imbued with Extreme Yin while in that state?

Then, that Heavenly Yin Pill and Ice Dragon Divine Armor would instead function as deadly poisons.

Regardless, the conclusion was clear.

In tomorrow’s duel, the Heavenly Will Palace Master would die.

Because the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had intervened in this way, the battle was not recorded in detail in the history of the Martial Alliance. All that remained was the record that the Martial Emperor Divine Sword killed the Heavenly Will Palace Master.

And after sending out the Guardian Palace Master, the Heavenly Will Palace Master and the Dark Palace Master exchanged a shocking conversation.

“Did you bring the Secret Box?”

“Yes, I brought it.”

You brought the large Secret Box here? The moment he heard those words, Geom Mugeuk recalled the prophecy.

The darkness shall guide you to heavenly will.

Geom Mugeuk instinctively realized that the prophecy was connected to the large Secret Box. After all, the Dark Palace Master was leading him to the place where the large Secret Box was kept.

“Where is it now?”

To the Heavenly Will Palace Master's question, the Dark Palace Master gave a cryptic answer.

“The Secret Box is beneath the lamp.”

Swaaahhh...

The heavy rain made it difficult to see ahead. The rain poured down like blades, shattering into countless fragments upon hitting the ground.

Flash! Rumbleee!

With every lightning strike, the surroundings briefly lit up, revealing glimpses of the Heavenly Will Palace Master and the Dark Palace Master, clad in bamboo hats and straw cloaks, ascending the mountain—only to vanish from sight again.

With each thunderclap, they appeared in a different location.

Through the storm, the two continued walking and arrived—surprisingly—at the mid-slope of the mountain where tomorrow's duel would take place: Baekyang Peak.

Pushing through an unused trail, the Dark Palace Master spoke.

“From this point on, the maze formation of our palace begins. Please step exactly where I step from here on.”

The Heavenly Will Palace Master followed each of the Dark Palace Master’s steps precisely.

Passing through the formation and pushing deeper through the undergrowth, they eventually arrived at a slightly open space, where a temporary wooden structure stood.

“It was built hastily, so it's not well made.”

But for something hastily constructed, the building looked quite decent.

Before entering, the Heavenly Will Palace Master asked:

“Why here, of all places?”

It was a question asking why it hadn’t been stored somewhere farther in the rear.

There was a reason why the Dark Palace Master had done this.

“For your sake, Palace Master.”

“For me?”

“I thought, perhaps, that if the Secret Box were kept close to the duel site, it might display some divine power.”

Even now, the Dark Palace Master was saying things that sounded good to the ear.

The Heavenly Will Palace Master knew well the ambition of this Dark Palace Master, but he had to admit one thing.

That among all people, the only one who could conceive of such an unexpected hiding place for the Secret Box—and actually carry it out while evading enemy eyes—was none other than the Dark Palace Master.

“Please go in. I’ll wait here.”

The Heavenly Will Palace Master gave a single nod, then entered the building.

Inside was the Secret Box.

The very Secret Box that had been the beginning of all this.

The Heavenly Will Palace Master stood before it.

Just how urgent must his heart have been to bring the sacred relic of the Heavenly Will Palace all the way here?

Back when the large Secret Box had first revealed the small Secret Box, he never imagined a moment like this would come. He had been overjoyed, believing the will of the heavens had reached him.

As he gazed upon the Secret Box, a flicker of past regret passed through his eyes. His heavenly will had begun from a very young age.

“Did you know? I grew up watching you since I was little.”

He spoke as if the Secret Box were a person.

“To protect you—I was told from a young age that it was the mission of our palace. Because you were a sacred treasure imbued with the will of the heavens, I didn’t even dare look at you directly. I lived with the mission to protect you.”

At this moment, he did not confess one truth.

The reason he had so faithfully believed in and protected the Secret Box was not to uphold the will of his clan, nor was it because of its sanctity.

Unifying the world.

It had been to realize that true dream. He believed that if only the Secret Box awakened, he would be able to achieve that dream.

“Even as I grew older, I tried my best not to let that feeling fade. You are not some dust-covered statue. I never believed you were merely an old symbol passed down in the palace.”

The Heavenly Will Palace Master's voice, while staring at the Secret Box, suddenly rose.

“But then you awakened. You—whom I watched all my life, whom I believed in all my life.”

The Heavenly Will Palace Master pulled the small Secret Box from within his robes and held it high.

“So grant me strength! Bestow upon me the heavenly will!”

But neither the large Secret Box nor the small one reacted in any way.

The Heavenly Will Palace Master's expression stiffened.

He had held on to a faint belief that if he conveyed his sincerity, the Secret Box would respond in kind.

He brought the small Secret Box close to the large one this time. Tension gripped him, fearing that it might get reabsorbed—but again, nothing happened.

He did not give up.

He circled around the Secret Box, even tried infusing it with internal energy.

In the past, he would never have even imagined laying a hand on this sacred artifact.

“If you’re not going to grant me power, then why did you awaken at all?!”

His shout echoed thunderously.

But the moment he had hoped for never came.

Suddenly, the Priestess’s prophecy came to mind.

—The will of heaven does not lie with the Palace Master.

Even so, the Heavenly Will Palace Master did not abandon hope until the very end.

“I believe in you.”

In the midst of a fierce battle, when life and death hung in the balance, he believed that the Secret Box would grant him power.

The birth of a great hero who would unify the world would not come so easily, after all.

Leaving behind those final words, the Heavenly Will Palace Master stepped outside.

Outside, the Dark Palace Master was waiting for him in the rain.

Having overheard what was said inside, he knew the Heavenly Will Palace Master had failed to receive the power.

“Let’s go.”

The Heavenly Will Palace Master walked into the rain.

The Dark Palace Master followed behind. A hint of pity appeared on his face, but inside, his thoughts were different.

‘The prophecy has abandoned you. Why would the Secret Box respond to you?’

It was clear the Dark Palace Master believed in the Priestess’s prophecy.

To him, the awakening of the Secret Box meant this:

‘The Secret Box didn’t awaken for your heavenly will. In the end, it awakened to place me as the Heavenly Will Palace Master.’

Just the fact that the Secret Box did not grant him power made him believe his assumption was correct.

And so, the two—each dreaming a different dream—disappeared together into the rain.

After they left, a lone figure revealed himself.

Of course, it was Geom Mugeuk. He had been secretly tailing the two from a distance using the New Eye Technique. Thanks to the pouring rain, his pursuit had succeeded.

Truly, it felt as though this rain was a gift from the heavens, sent just for him.

While following them from afar, Geom Mugeuk used the New Eye Technique to observe exactly where they stepped.

Once the two had left, he entered the place himself. Geom Mugeuk stepped into the building that held the Secret Box.

The Secret Box, which would alter everyone’s fate, was there.

Today, the three people who had come to this place were each experiencing their own form of heavenly will.

The same was true for Geom Mugeuk.

“You—three hundred years from now—brought me here.”

Geom Mugeuk slowly approached the Secret Box and spoke to it like a friend. Having spent so much time with the one he kept close in his robe, speaking to this large Secret Box came naturally.

“There must be a reason the you from the future brought me to the you of the present, right?”

Geom Mugeuk placed his hand on the Secret Box. Though it looked identical to the one he’d seen beneath the Golden Dragon Martial Hall alongside the Sword King, there was something different about the energy it gave off. This one felt more alive, more vigorous.

“You’ve changed a lot, haven’t you? Well, I suppose it makes sense after enduring three hundred years.”

Geom Mugeuk made up his mind to comfort the future Secret Box once he returned—tell it it had done well.

Did that thought somehow reach it?

The Secret Box gave a faint vibration.

‘The Secret Box is responding to me.’

If so, then this was the moment to say what he must.

Perhaps he had been summoned to this world not just to witness the past, but to deliver these very words.

With his hand resting on the Secret Box, Geom Mugeuk spoke calmly.

“The darkness shall guide you to heavenly will.”

Since it has reached you—now, show me my heavenly will.

At the very moment Geom Mugeuk spoke the prophecy, the small Secret Box he carried in his robe began to tremble.

And then—

Bababababak.

A strange roar erupted from the large Secret Box. It was the very reaction the Heavenly Will Palace Master had so desperately wished for.

Startled, Geom Mugeuk jumped back.

The next moment, a wondrous sight unfolded.

Chiiiiing.

With a sound he had never heard before in his life, something began to be inscribed upon the surface of the Secret Box.

They were circles. A black circle, a white circle, a blue circle, a red circle, a yellow circle, and finally, a purple circle.

As soon as the absorbed energies saw the circles etched into the box, they all stirred and began to writhe.

And then—!

From the six circles, beams of light suddenly burst forth all at once—and then, those lights began forming words in midair.

—This martial art is only complete when the six energies move as one. In moving true energy, it must be as free as the wind, yet as heavy as the earth. It must surge as fiercely as fire, yet be able to stop like ice. It must be as deep as darkness, and as powerful as lightning. If one can unite these six energies into a single force, they shall possess the power of the Greatest of All Time.

The moment he read those words, Geom Mugeuk’s heart pounded violently.

This incantation was undoubtedly the martial method that allowed him to use the energies he had acquired through the Secret Box.

And then—!

Ziiiiiik.

The air directly in front of Geom Mugeuk tore apart. The empty space was pulled from both sides, split open as though by invisible hands, and darkness unfurled through the rift.

Within that darkness, white smoke began to rise—and form letters.

‘It’s the martial incantation!’

But he couldn't understand what it said. Strange words were mixed in—likely terms once used in the ancient martial world.

That was only the beginning.

Rumble...!

The ground beneath his feet overturned, and the layer of earth beneath surged upward. On that upturned earth, incantations were inscribed in soil. Some were in languages he recognized, others not.

At the same time, something began pressing down from above the ceiling.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

What came down from the air were massive icicles. Just like something carved with an awl, those icicles also glowed faintly with incantations.

Fwoooooosh!

Flames erupted in every direction.

Within the searing heat, the incantations flickered and rippled.

It was a breathtaking spectacle, each moment more astounding than the last.

Whoooooosh.

A fierce wind roared above his head. Unbelievably, characters floated even within the wind.

Crackkkkk!

Lightning struck. Even in the charred marks left by the bolt, traces of the incantation remained.

The incantations revealed themselves in ways he had never seen in his life. Geom Mugeuk could feel just how extraordinary this martial art truly was.

But no matter how intelligent Geom Mugeuk was, he couldn’t possibly memorize everything—there were simply too many unfamiliar words.

A brief silence passed.

Then, the small Secret Box tucked against Geom Mugeuk’s chest began to vibrate.

Uuuuuung...

The next moment, all the incantation characters that had appeared throughout the surroundings began to glow in their respective colors—

Fwaaaaaaaaaaaash!

Six radiant streams of light, each carrying a different incantation, surged toward Geom Mugeuk’s body and began pouring into him.