Chapter 646:

Chapter 646:

Dongbang Sak was angry like that for a while, then the third future prediction disappeared.

"Phew…"

Seong Jihan ended the authority of observation and let out a soft sigh.

The three futures he just saw, were the most likely in the current situation, huh.

'First, I should organize the futures I've seen…'

Seong Jihan recalled from the first one.

He successfully cut off Urd's neck, but the transcendent being manifested blue and absorbed him right away.

'Hmm. The blue light of the transcendent being seems to be related to the President's ability nullification.'

The transcendent being that dissolved the blue and swallowed Seong Jihan.

It couldn't deal with Urd directly, but as soon as Seong Jihan cut her down, it absorbed him as if it had been waiting.Even if it was bound by Urd's time reversal, once freed from that restraint, it could easily subdue Seong Jihan, was that it?

'Hmm… Even if I break through to the center, there's still a problem to solve.'

But in the most likely future, it didn't show how he broke through to the center.

Seong Jihan tried using the authority of observation to see if he could view the process before that, but

Flash…

His right eye flashed briefly,

Then the light quickly faded.

'Future prediction doesn't seem to activate at will.'

It seemed there was a cooldown after using it once.

Seong Jihan, disappointed that the authority of observation wouldn't activate, recalled the second future prediction.

'In the second future, Urd took the server hostage and made me submit.'

Taking the server hostage.

It was a ridiculous idea, but thinking of the people and family living in it, it was a threat that could be fatal to Seong Jihan.

'Of course, Urd couldn't easily believe it either… It seems I could deceive the opponent.'

Regarding the server, if he bluffed saying it meant nothing to him, how would she react?

Seong Jihan was thinking of countermeasures while recalling the second future, when his thoughts moved to the next scene.

'…Right. In this prediction, Dongbang Sak said I should marry his daughter.'

On top of a huge rock, Dongbang Sak looking down arrogantly at Seong Jihan.

Referring to himself as "we" like that,

And saying he'd give the imperial surname "Jiang" if he married his daughter.

'The Dongbang Sak I saw in the third one isn't the Dongbang Sak I know… He's like Emperor Jiang Shang of the Murim Empire.'

Back in Server 2101.

Jiang Shang, who conquered humanity with one sword and established the Murim Empire.

The Infinite Sword stuck in the northern area now was practically the last legacy he left behind.

But Dongbang Sak holding the Infinite Sword, and talking like Jiang Shang from Server 2101…

'I should ask him about this directly.'

Rather than pondering alone, hearing from the person involved would be more accurate.

He deactivated the authority of observation and instead activated the Tower manifestation, then immediately summoned the Tower.

Then,

Rumble…!

The ground shook,

And the Tower grew taller than Seong Jihan, soon reaching the ceiling.

"W-what is this?"

While Id, who hadn't come to his senses, showed a startled reaction, Seong Jihan looked at the Tower with a satisfied smile.

'It was worth strengthening the Tower's manifestation.'

Last time it only grew to about waist height before stopping, now it reached the ceiling.

This meant Dongbang Sak summoned here wouldn't be small like last time.

And as he expected,

Swish…

"Hmm. This is… the Ark?"

Dongbang Sak was summoned from the Tower in his original size.

"This time you were summoned in your original body."

"I developed my ability a bit."

"But it seems you entered the Ark earlier than planned… Did Urd's avatar notice something?"

Seong Jihan nodded at those words and told him what happened in the Tower of Martial Gods.

"You say Urd rewound the time of the space and saw the server management device…"

"Yes. So I had no choice but to come for a server rollback. When I return to the server, it will probably be the point where you were confronting her in the Tower."

"I see… Hmm. Even though memories disappear with a server rollback, I should still keep a close eye on her. I should also consider ways to tie her feet."

"Yes. When we go back, we should prepare for that too. But right now, there's a more urgent problem."

"What is it?"

To Dongbang Sak's question, Seong Jihan replayed the third future prediction he had seen earlier through mental imagery.

The one who looked like Dongbang Sak, urging Seong Jihan to be betrothed with an arrogant attitude, then

-Time to think? Huh. You dare to! Are you rejecting my 1001st daughter of the imperial family?

When Seong Jihan didn't immediately accept, he got angry in return.

"…No. What on earth is this?"

"It's a scene from the future I saw with the authority of observation."

"With the authority of observation…? Hmm. Is it similar to the prophecies made with the divine eye before?"

"The mechanism is probably similar. Though this seems to be a superior version."

At Seong Jihan's words, Dongbang Sak slowly stroked his beard.

"Come to think of it, those prophecies… None of them came true…"

"That's true, but they still served as a means to avoid traps so far."

"That's true… Can you show me your mental image again?"

At that request, Seong Jihan manifested the mental image several more times.

Dongbang Sak examined it closely and slowly opened his mouth.

"I'm not certain… but it seems Emperor Jiang Shang is sealed inside the Infinite Sword in the northern area."

"You mean the Emperor of the Murim Empire?"

"That's right."

Swish…

As he said this, Dongbang Sak summoned his Taiji Sword.

* * *

"You've almost reached the realm of infinity."

The Taiji Sword, not completely transparent like the Infinite Sword, but with more than half its blade invisible.

Seeing the sword that had developed further than when he last saw it, Seong Jihan marveled.

"The sword manifestation is definitely better in the Ark…"

Swoosh.

After looking at his sword once, Dongbang Sak turned his gaze to Seong Jihan and opened his mouth.

"Didn't I tell you last time that more of Jiang Shang's memories came up when I confronted the Infinite Sword?"

"Yes, you did."

"I wasn't certain so I didn't say more to you, but… When training in the Tower, there were times I felt a strange sense of kinship with the Emperor of the Murim Empire."

"A sense of kinship…?"

"Yes. Even if the Emperor of the Murim Empire is 'me' from another server, he's still a different being from me, isn't he? But since confronting the Infinite Sword, I've had the illusion that the current me is fake and he is the real one."

Jiang Shang, who was the Emperor of the Murim Empire.

Although he was born with the same name and talent as Dongbang Sak, there was a big difference in their lives after that.

The two were merely beings who shared a starting point, but in the end, they were different entities.

"He and I are different, yet why did I feel such kinship… It always remained an unresolved question in my mind. But seeing the future prediction you showed, I found the answer."

"What is it?"

"Jiang Shang exists inside the Infinite Sword. And it seems he's trying to manifest in this world again through me."

Seong Jihan's eyes darkened at those words.

He thought Jiang Shang had ultimately been defeated by Urd and became her sword.

Was he waiting for a chance to rise again from inside the sword?

"Then the future I saw is where his intention succeeded."

"That's right."

"But I have a question. You're ultimately a being bound to the Tower. Even if he takes over your body, I could just recall you and that would be it, wouldn't it?"

"He must have countermeasures for that too. That's why he showed such an attitude."

Well.

If recall was possible at Seong Jihan's will, he wouldn't have shown such an arrogant attitude.

He must have acted that way because Jiang Shang has his own methods.

Seong Jihan listened to Dongbang Sak's words and thought deeply.

'Should we give up on the northern route then?'

If he tried to suppress the Infinite Sword and our strongest ally, Dongbang Sak got replaced by the Emperor of the Murim Empire, it would be quite a loss.

It might be better to just charge through the southern route, accepting that Urd might wake up.

As he was pondering this, Dongbang Sak expressed doubt.

"Are you thinking of giving up on the north?"

"I'm considering it. After all, shouldn't we minimize the risk?"

"That's true. But if we could bring Jiang Shang to our side, the north would be the route with the least risk."

"That's true, but…"

It didn't seem like that Emperor would easily take their side.

Seeing Seong Jihan's skeptical reaction, Dongbang Sak pointed at the Tower with his finger.

"I'll place a restriction on myself to be bound to the Tower. Even if he takes over my body, I'll be recalled with one command from you."

"…Is that possible?"

"I am Dongbang Sak. Of course it's possible."

"Ha…"

At those words, Seong Jihan let out a hollow laugh.

Well.

If Dongbang Sak asserted it was possible, it must be.

"And instead of us going to the northern area, let's lure the sword here."

"Here…"

"The Tower's binding is strengthened when it's nearby. We should deal with him in our domain, there's no need to step into their territory."

The Tower summoned in Yggdrasil's domain.

Confronting the Infinite Sword near here meant the Emperor of the Murim Empire, 'Jiang Shang', wouldn't be able to take over Dongbang Sak's body easily.

'Certainly… there's some risk, but if we gain the Infinite Sword's cooperation, things in the Ark would become much easier.'

Although all three futures he saw were practically bad endings, a different future might appear if he brought the Murim Empire's Emperor Jiang Shang to their side.

Seong Jihan judged it was worth taking the risk.

After all, in the current situation, only failures were predicted.

'Let's try to create a variable through Jiang Shang.'

Thinking this, Seong Jihan said to Dongbang Sak,

"Alright. Let's try to lure it. Then, please strengthen your binding."

"I'll do that."

Step. Step.

Dongbang Sak approached the Tower, snd slowly placed his hand on it.

Then,

Whoosh…!

As intense energy spread from his body,

Dongbang Sak's energy engulfed the Tower that reached the ceiling.

Just looking at it, it didn't seem like the Tower was binding Dongbang Sak, but rather like Dongbang Sak was dominating the Tower.

'The connection has been strengthened.'

Contrary to what it looked like on the outside, Seong Jihan realized that Dongbang Sak had become more subordinate to the Tower.

In a way, despite being able to regain his freedom, out of concern that 'Jiang Shang' might take over his body, Dongbang Sak completely bound himself to the Tower.

Since he went this far, they should definitely lure the Infinite Sword here.

"Hmm… But how do we lure the sword?"

Id, who had been watching their conversation from behind, spoke up.

Seong Jihan answered as if it was no big deal.

"Well, we just need to make it come out."

Tap. Tap.

Seong Jihan touched the metal surface of Yggdrasil,

['Modify Yggdrasil's Registry']

He summoned Yggdrasil's registry, which only had the names of some government officials inscribed.

And there,

"Oh…!?"

"Here, you said you wanted to be in this, right?"

The single space allowed for Isolators.

Pointing at the space where 'Noah's' name was written, Id jumped up from his seat.

"D-don't tell me you're going to write mine now…? W-wait. My full name is… Ah, since Noah just wrote Noah, should I write just Id too? W-wait a moment."

"…Why are you so excited? I'm not going to write it now."

"What?"

Swish. Swish.

He just erased Noah's name with his hand and closed Yggdrasil's registry.

"Ah. No. Why. Since you opened it, why not write my name…!"

Id foamed at the mouth seeing this, but.

"Now's not the time for that. The registry modification was just bait."

As soon as Seong Jihan said this,

Screech…!

The door of the western area was pierced,

"It's here."

The Infinite Sword, with only its handle floating, appeared.