Cosmic Demon 3077 - Chapter 347



Only Krnovel

Space Heavenly Horse 3077 Episode 347

**. Nirvana – Solitary Nirvana

The central power plant of the Jegal family, located on the northern outskirts of the city.

At the top of that power plant stood your absolute master.

The true dragon sword master Lee Mok-jin, the manhwa sword master Yong Jeok-san, the black magician Asura Buddha, and the western sword master Kim Yeon-hwa.

Among them, Mokjin, who was sitting on the railing and looking up at the blue sky, suddenly burst into a small laugh.

“Isn’t it a really interesting shape?”

The three people’s gaze turned to him.

“What’s so funny, senior?”

When Yongjeoksan asked, Mokjin answered.

“Didn’t I take up my sword to protect those who once tried to kill me, and who only a few hours ago said they had vengeance against me?”

“Haha, that’s true! If it had been the Lord from the time of Leeds, he would have swept this place clean!”

The monk with the bald head burst into laughter as he was munching on the finest jerky he had stolen from the food warehouse of the Zhuge family.

“Isn’t that how things in the world of martial arts are supposed to be?”

Kim Yeon-hwa, who had been checking the condition of the blades while pulling out her favorite pair of swords, said with a faint smile.

“Senior, you are here because you think it is right.”

“We too are here to do what we each think is right.”

“Isn’t this world called Gangho created by these selfish beings gathering together? Wow, it’s delicious!”

Yongjeoksan smiled gently at Kim Yeonhwa’s words and responded, and Asura Buddha responded cheerfully by eating jerky and beating a drum.

At their words, Mokjin smiled brightly and nodded.

“That’s right. That’s just how things are in the world of martial arts.”

Ha! Asura Buddha burst into loud laughter.

“Master, you have attained a great enlightenment today! In my view, you will soon reach nirvana. So, please continue to work hard in the future!”

Mokjin chuckled.

“Isn’t that ridiculous? If I become Buddha, what could be more contradictory than that?”

A heavenly horse that became a Buddha? Isn’t that the very irony? Yongjeoksan and Kim Yeonhwa also burst into laughter at the words of Asura Buddha.

It was around that time that a communication was heard from Sunja, who was acting as an operator at the Jegal Se-ga emergency command center for four people.

– Gravity levels have been observed rising near the planet’s moon. We will arrive there in 5 minutes.

Five minutes. That’s how long it will take for the city to be engulfed in flames.

The atmosphere of the four people, which had been lighthearted until just a moment ago, changes. It becomes calm yet sharp, with the aura of a warrior.

“It’s almost time.”

“Since the Zhuge Liang side said that they can somehow handle the energy bombardment, we just need to focus on intercepting the missile warheads.”

“Fortunately, the throwing weapons were prepared in abundance by Jegal Se.”

“I guess I’ve even been hit by an orbital bombardment in my lifetime. Well, after I die, I just go through the cycle once and get reincarnated with a pretty face, that’s it.”

The four absolute masters put on the breathing apparatus prepared by Jegal Se-ga and looked up at the sky, waiting for the Sin-ma and the Corruption Fleet.

And after a while, Mokjin slowly raised one hand.

He said.

“Here he comes.”

In that way, the Heavenly Demon and the Sin Demon faced each other.

After completing the warp voyage and emerging into real space, a planet appeared before Sinma’s eyes.

There it is.

The eyes of the sin demon that stood on the landmass scanned the planet’s surface and stopped at one place. It was the city where Mokjin was, Jegalse.

Was it because they were observing each other from a higher dimension, or was it because of the pull of fate? I don’t know why, but somehow they immediately recognized where Mokjin was.

But one thing was certain.

As it looks into him, he also looks into it.

Don’t look at me.

A terrible discomfort and thrill consumed Sin-ma’s consciousness.

More than anything, I want to erase it from this world as quickly as possible. It was the first time since I was born that I was overcome by such a desire.

So, he did so.

There is no threat, no plan.

There was no need for such a concept to erase a single small creature crawling across the planet.

It whispered in waves.

– Go away.

The sixteen battleships that his strand touched opened their gun ports wide.

– Planetary direction 5-6-12, a large fleet appears near the moon! Identification code confirmed! It’s an erosion fleet!

“······You really came.”

Nathaniel Zhuge, the leader of the Wuhou Empire, who was in charge of defending the power plant from the orbital bombardment of the space fleet, looked up at the sky with a dumbfounded expression upon hearing the operator’s shout.

When the emergency siren sounded while he was mourning the death of Jegal Hyeon, the warrior he respected the most, his first thought was, ‘Is there an evacuation drill today?’

But when he saw the situation code transmitted through the emergency network along with the sound of the siren indicating that this was a real situation, he doubted his eyes.

[CODE:EXTERMINATUS:ZERO.]

A situation code that refers to the situation when the main house of the Jegal family, newly established after the destruction of the Sacheondang family 17 years ago, is subjected to orbital bombardment from space.

He hurriedly gathered his weapons and saw that the final gathering place that had been additionally flown in was the central power plant, and realized that this situation code was not some kind of incident, but a real situation.

The outer wall construction has not been completed yet, so if a real situation were to occur, the three thousand people would gather together and fight in a six-way battle to defend this place. If we fail to stop this place, we cannot guarantee the lives of our families and friends who are currently taking refuge in the shelter.

While he was preparing his equipment with his subordinates at Muhugak, the message from the head of the household, Jegal Jiwon, that he received through the radio was shocking.

Seventeen Central Army warships, now contaminated with the Blood Cult, are en route to attack this planet, and will arrive in less than an hour.

It was an incomprehensible statement.

Why on earth did the warships of the human government get contaminated by the Blood Cult, and why on earth are they heading towards this Zhuge Family?

But there was no time to ask about such details. There was much to do in preparation for the orbital bombardment that would burn the planet, and there was little time left until the Erosion Fleet arrived.

He recalled the training content that he had learned in theory and went over it, and encouraged his trembling subordinates to each take their seats. Even while doing so, the thought that there was something wrong with his mind, or that the training was a disguise of a real situation, never left his mind.

But now everything is certain.

Just as the Sacheondang family was engulfed in flames and destroyed seventeen years ago, the Zhuge Family will also be struck by orbital bombardment from the space fleet.

“after······.”

Nathaniel took a deep breath and with trembling hands took out a gray syringe the size of a little finger and inserted it into his neck.

A special tranquilizer used when one’s mind and body become unstable during a mission. Having risen to the ranks of S-rank masters, I thought I would never need to use it again in my life, but even that required the help of drugs when faced with the most powerful violence created by humans.

-······The Holy Land Security Forces have been annihilated. The Corrosion Fleet is approaching at high speed and will reach exosphere in 30 seconds······!

“There’s no point in wasting time.”

There was no way that the security forces, simply maintaining order, could stand against the Central Army fleet. Nathaniel muttered bitterly, feeling his spirits rise.

But the urgent situation did not allow even a moment to mourn the dead. He opened a channel to the Guardians, consisting of the Muhugak and Cheonsungdan’s unmanned units, and gave orders.

“Six combined resonance formations, open the bombing response defensive formation!”

At his command, Guardians riding special drones with long cables extending from the ground take to the sky and form a formation.

The incomparable members who have ascended to the position of Tongyu (通幽), the sixth rank, are in charge of the five elements (五行) and occupy the four directions, and the members of Cheonseongdan (天然) who are at least in the third rank (鬪力) and are positioned along the nine palaces (九宮) in the direction of the twelve branches (十二支) that connect the six axes of the six combinations (六合).

The same layout as the general Yukhap Gongmyeong Daejin. However, the equipment they have is not a cold weapon for fighting against martial artists.

“Activate charged particle shield!”

As Nathaniel’s command to fly up together was given, a protective shield was formed above the drone linked to the Guardians’ internal energy drive.

An energy bombardment shield formed by amplifying the internal energy drives of each unit and the massive energy supplied from the ground through a six-way resonance. In theory, it is a planetary shield-level shield that can withstand over a hundred shells from a third-class battleship.

Since the operational area defended by the shield was not the entire city, but only the site of the central power plant, the defense would have been even stronger. Nathaniel, who confirmed that the shield had been properly deployed, looked up at the sky while wearing specially treated goggles.

Seventeen space battleships, whose shapes can barely be seen even with the eyes of an unmanned being strengthened by internal energy.

‘Come.’

The order of orbital bombardment is to secure the view with the ion cannon using the battleship’s core, remove the obstacle in the middle, and fire warheads that destroy the ground between them. Then, of course, the first to be attacked would be the Guardians and the shields. It was most important to properly block that first attack.

however.

He didn’t know.

That the fleet in that space is not a human military.

– Open the entire Erosion Fleet’s cannons! This is ridiculous, I plan to pour everything out at once!

“What-.”

The operator’s scream-like shouts and twinkling lights spread out around the battleships floating in space.

Nathaniel realized a little too late that they were a number of missiles.

– Missile types confirmed! These are atmospheric incineration missiles! These guys are planning to burn the entire planet from the surface······!

“crazy······.”

Nathaniel muttered without realizing it.

– We respond by intercepting the defensive facilities!

The market’s defenses fire lasers and spit out anti-aircraft missiles at hundreds of missiles that fall in long arcs in all directions.

– Twenty shots are flying this way!

– Sir! We need to change to interception formation!

As soon as the operator’s communication ended, a series of communications came in from the buoy. However, Nathaniel shook his head firmly and shouted.

“Leave the interception to the interception team! Just maintain formation and lower your altitude!”

If the interception team is made up of absolute masters, they will be able to block it. In particular, Manhwageomjon and Seocheongeomhu are masters who are well-versed in Kinetic Sword Techniques, so they will be able to block the missiles.

He lowered his altitude and clenched his fists as he watched the missiles flying in the distance.

– Missile entering the atmosphere! Coming!

The operator’s malicious screams heard over the comms.

and-.

In a split second, a single ray of light illuminated the sky.

‘rod······?’

An object moving at an unbelievable speed that even his expert eyes could barely see as it passed by.

It was only when exactly twenty lines of light burst from the sky following the sword’s trajectory that he realized it was in the form of a sword wrapped in a dark aura.

“laugh!”

A light so bright that even special goggles could not block it out. And as soon as the light subsided, the ground and the atmosphere shook madly, and a huge ball of fire approached from the sky and the ground in all directions.

– Defensive shield compression deployment!

The operator shouted through the muffled hearing. The shield generators installed around the power plant activated, protecting them from the flames that were burning the world.

“······.”

Nathaniel stared blankly at the crimson flames filling his vision beyond his goggles.

It was as if looking at the surface of the sun, a blazing flame consuming the world outside the shield.

Nathaniel, faced with a sight beyond the realm of understanding, was unable to think of anything. That was the reaction of a human being when faced with a state beyond the realm of imagination.

The flames of hell, which no human could dare to resist, continued for so long.

And when the seemingly eternal flame died down a little, he could see.

The outside world was hidden behind the red-hot flames.

No, it was the world.

“······!”

The sky, which had been a clear blue just a moment ago, is now dyed red, and the red sky is filled with black smoke. The earth is completely melted and boiling like lava, and the deafening roar just a moment ago is nowhere to be found, and all that can be heard is the eerie sound of the wind, like a wailing bell.

And that’s it.

It was the scenery of the place where the Zhuge Liang family was.

“iced coffee······.”

A formless sound flowed from Nathaniel’s mouth. Dry tears flowed from his unfocused eyes.

The outside world was destroyed.

The flames of hell brought hell.

A terrible hell was born, devouring the glorious and beautiful city where he was born and raised.

Nathaniel looked at the sight and thought.

‘Ah······Is this what happened in Sacheondangga?’

Said.

But time did not give him the leisure to be absorbed in his emotions as he looked upon his burned hometown.

– A large-scale energy field distortion has occurred in the Erosion Fleet! Prepare for the Guardians’ energy bombardment!

The creation of this hell was merely a preparatory work to clean up the surroundings, the real thing starts now.

Nathaniel, realizing this, shouted into the Guardian channel.

“······Huh! All Guardians, maintain your shield at your original position! It’s bombardment!”

Nathaniel’s gaze turned to the red sky as he confirmed that the shield was complete.

Battleships visible through the black smoke. The moment I thought I saw something sparkling there-.

A huge beam of light descended over their heads.

—!

A barrage of charged particles that transforms the red sky and black smoke in the area into plasma and falls on the shield.

“Ugh······!”

Nathaniel instinctively raised his hand to cover his face as the pure white light covered his entire field of vision. However, in the meantime, he checked the linked systems and checked the damage rate of the shield.

‘The damage is already 2.4%······It’s an unbelievable amount of power······!’

The bombardment of the first-class central force battleships easily surpassed the power of the three-class battleships that had been assumed when this formation was first planned. The concentrated bombardment of the sixteen battleships, excluding the captain who was protecting himself with a barrier, was gradually accumulating damage beyond the speed of the shield’s recovery.

The problem is this: Nathaniel shouted as he watched the massive steel warheads fall through the huge pillars of light.

“-Interceptor!”

And as if responding to his shout, numerous rays of light penetrated into each pillar of light from the roof of the power plant.

The red flag is the thousand-piece sword of the Manhwa Sword Master Yongjeoksan.

And the one wrapped in a blue-white aura is the Thousand-Headed Secret Dragon Flash of Seocheon Sword Master Kim Yeon-hwa.

Countless dark machines are controlled by kinesis swordsmanship, tearing apart thermonuclear warheads that fall between ion cannons.

However, it wasn’t those two martial arts that caught Nathaniel’s attention.

A single sword that single-handedly deals with the bullets of a single pillar of light, scattering a dark aura reminiscent of black ink.

Unlike the mechanical movement of Kinetic Swordsmanship, the sword, which draws a strange, dark trajectory as if it literally has a will, is inevitably destroyed by the pressure of the ion cannon every time it pierces a warhead with a diameter of several tens of meters.

He had a gut feeling.

Whose sword is that?

True Dragon Sword Master Lee Mok-jin.

Who else could be the master of that sword if not he who brought even that god to his knees with a single stroke of his sword?

‘That’s it, I’ll win······!’

The ultimate goal that everyone dreams of at least once, if they are unmanned.

While his gaze was momentarily drawn to the dark trail, the fleet’s gunfire, which had felt like an eternity, ceased.

‘What about the shield?!’

Nathaniel quickly checked the damage to the shield. The shield that had blocked a single attack had 24.3% damage. It would be a bit tight to recover until the next attack, but this was still a good enough result. This was probably because the shield’s output could be raised beyond its original specifications thanks to the narrow defense range.

And at that moment, he realized one thing and muttered blankly.

“We······stopped······?”

I stopped it.

It withstood the orbital bombardment of a fleet of not one, but sixteen battleships that could not be stopped by human power.

“I did it······!”

As a warrior and as a human, this was a feat that no one could accomplish. Nathaniel clenched his fists involuntarily, overwhelmed with emotion.

Of course, it wasn’t over yet. They had only just managed to repel the first attack, and the fleet above had plenty of energy and ammunition.

But if we continue to block like this, we will be able to withstand the remaining attacks as well.

He saw a ray of hope.

Until I heard the transmission from the operator.

-······Bide-class annihilation battleship barrier loss confirmed! Energy field distortion confirmed! The scale······Ah······What the······is this?

The operator’s voice, filled with awe, could be felt through the communication. Nathaniel, who sensed something was wrong, shouted at the search party.

“Search party, reactivate shields! Prepare for artillery fire!”

– Sir?

“hurry!”

Nathaniel urged him on, a chill running down his spine. He checked the status of the shield forming again, and repeated the operator’s words.

The enemy fleet’s flagship, which did not participate in the bombardment while maintaining the barrier, lifted the barrier and energy field distortion was confirmed. Then, wouldn’t it be natural for the bombardment to come again?

The only thing that bothered me was that the operator kept his mouth shut, as if he was scared of something.

But for now, he had to do what he could first. He started by checking the damage to the restored shield.

‘Damage is 8.3%. It’s enough to withstand artillery fire.’

He looked up at the sky again.

It was a protective shield that could block the concentrated fire of sixteen battleships. No matter how cutting-edge the aircraft was, there was nothing it couldn’t handle against a single bombardment.

But he didn’t know.

The existence of degeneration. And its power.

The battleships in the sky sparkle as before, and a huge pillar of light descends upon them.

—!

Light covers his vision again.

But this time, something was strange.

There is no protective shield that should cover the sky.

‘Why?’

Nathaniel checked the damage to the shield with the system.

The damage was 100%.

‘System error?’

I didn’t feel the question of “why.” Because his clothes and skin had already started boiling before that.

‘Honest defense······!’

In the sudden change, he used his instincts to defend himself.

And then I realized.

He confirmed that the shield damage was not a system error or anything like that.

The shield was destroyed because it could not withstand the excessively strong bombardment from the beginning.

‘ah.’

He saw the thickness of the gi he had spread out diminish at a frightening rate.

‘It’s the end.’

Nathaniel Zhuge had a premonition of his own end.

The self-defense spirit that had been holding out until the end was gone.

A blue glow of charged particles enveloped him.

“······.”

Mokjin slowly looked around.

I saw hell.

Here, there, and beyond.

From beginning to end, all I could see was hell.

The only place on this planet that wasn’t hell was where he stood.

‘I think I now understand how the Earth came to be like that.’

Despite raising my self-defense skills to the max, my clothes were like rags and my skin was red from burns.

Even though I had a bad feeling and took refuge behind a building and raised my self-defense to the limit, this is how it was. If I had taken it head-on without any preparation, I wouldn’t have been able to guarantee my life or death.

Mokjin looked back. He saw Yongjeoksan and Kim Yeonhwa lying unconscious on the floor, and Asura Buddha barely holding on to his senses on one knee.

– Are all three alive?

Asura Buddha barely nodded his head at Mokjin’s warning. It was thanks to Mokjin at the front and Yongjeoksan behind him who took the artillery fire once more.

– You held up well.

Mok-jin spoke while looking at the blue protective energy that was precariously wrapped around the fallen Yongjeok Mountain and Kim Yeon-hwa, as if it would shatter at any moment.

Asura Buddha grinned. With his voice muffled by the air that had turned to plasma, he printed out a message over the visor of his eyes that barely managed to remain intact.

– I guess this is it.

The Zhuge Family’s garrison has completely evaporated, and the central power plant has been completely destroyed. The shelter and the people may still be intact, but without the central power plant, they will not be able to withstand the next offensive.

Ten minutes.

This is the time that all of them risked their lives to earn.

That was their limitation as mere humans.

– Maybe so.

Mokjin said.

– But it’s not over yet.

He bent down and pulled something out of the melted debris.

Sword.

Although it was cracked here and there and barely had any shape left, the dark-colored sword gifted to him by the Heavenly Demon Sect had not evaporated at all.

He took up his sword.

– I can still fight.

Turn your body and look up at the sky.

Sin-ma was watching him from space beyond the sky.

He aimed his sword at it.

“I am here.”

Then sixteen ships and one battleship shone with light.

Mokjin saw the light.

There is no way to stop the firearms that are burning the world with just one sword.

There is no way to approach the battleship beyond space.

But we cannot just sit back and do nothing.

Because the only martial arts and chivalry that remained were those.

He opened his mind’s eye.

And for the first time, I saw things that were not souls.

Sixteen and one lights shot towards him at the speed of light.

Mokjin thought.

Can you ring me?

And then I thought again.

I’ll cut it.

As his mind became set, his body followed suit and swung the sword.

Then, the light disappeared.

It was death.

Then, naturally, I remembered the first time I pulled out the sword of my heart.

Even then, he swung his sword at the thread stretched out by the old demon to save Hwarin, the disciple of the volcano.

For what?

It was to save that child.

That was life.

ah.

Mokjin, who had gained enlightenment, let out a soft exclamation.

Life and death.

He finally attained the essence of life and death.

Embracing life and death for the other person.

Mokjin laughed.

I think I understand now.

He was mistaken.

What he had been discussing so far was life and the things between life and death, not death.

Only now is he qualified to discuss death.

That means that it became possible to speak of death in this world.

Now I will tell you of death.

Mokjin stared at the high sin demon. It was looking at him in confusion, covered in countless layers of sin.

– Don’t look at me.

Sinma roared. The waves that shook the other dimension and the universe rushed towards only one human.

But that too disappeared before his eyes.

Mokjin, who had been quietly watching it, swung his sword.

Then, one layer of sin disappeared.

– Stop it!

Sin-ma cried out in pain as a part of him was being cut off.

Mokjin continued to swing his sword. He swung it ceaselessly. Until all the sins that had enveloped Sin-ma were gone.

And when all the sins were finally gone, Mokjin was able to face its true nature.

This is you.

Now Mokjin only had sin in his eyes.

And Sin-ma too, only after facing Mok-jin with all his sins removed, was he able to see him properly.

And then I realized.

Why couldn’t I see him?

Why do your sins disappear with just one swing of your sword?

Why can’t we stop him?

Sin originally comes from desire, so it was natural that the sins of the living could not control their desires.

Sinma now knew the name of the being looking at him.

The master of this world, the world of desire.

The highest heaven of the world of desire, the king of the Heaven of Other-Transformation Freedom.

Sin-ma said the name with a shiver of horror.

Heavenly Demon.

Then the devil whispered death to him.

The sword of the mind pierced the sin.

And at that moment, he was able to reach through the sin.

In the past, present, and future.

And in all that space-time martial arts.

It was something that the owner of the Muyeongtap, who once wanted to reach the end of nothingness, had longed for.

If you have that, you can definitely reach the end of nothingness.

But for some reason I wasn’t happy.

He pondered the reason. And then he came up with an answer.

They were someone else’s path.

If it was before, he wouldn’t have known. But the 31st century’s Lee Mok-jin, who met Sigma, the leader of the Muyeong Tower, the nameless swordsman, and many others, knew.

I’m already on my own path, so what’s the use of following someone else’s path?

So, he very simply let go of the martial arts he had been so obsessed with, and which all martial artists had been obsessed with.

Then the realization that had come to him began to fade away. It was regrettable for a man without a name, but he did not feel any regret at all.

Nothingness disappeared, enlightenment disappeared.

But he was still there.

Mokjin simply walked forward, on his path.

He forgot what he was doing, he forgot where he was going, and finally he even forgot himself.

The birth and death of the infinite universe, the changing of all things, passed him by.

And when he finally reached the end of the road-.

He realized.

Martial arts.

And everything.

In Buddhism, everything is said to be about one who has realized the truth.

Buddha.

Buddha.

Or.

Buddha.