The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family – Chapter 119
It had been a while since I last thought about the Old Master.
The day when I first dismantled the Old Master’s magic and gave him a punch.
“Ouch, my jaw. You really hit me just because I told you to? That’s disrespectful, very disrespectful. Hmph.”
“Instead of breaking the mana array, you twisted it. Not bad, a decent idea. What? You want me to praise you properly? Khahah! Alright, alright, it was splendid, you little brat.”
This was probably the first time. The first time I defeated the Old Master with magic.
It felt like I owned the world back then.
Looking back now, it seems the Old Master might have lost on purpose for my sake.
At any rate, the Old Master gave me a gift to commemorate my first victory.
“Now that the time has come, it seems you should learn about ‘souls.'”
Soul (靈魂).
The essence of humanity.
Along with the body, it is the minimal unit that constitutes a human.
“If the body is the vessel, then the soul is the content.”
“While the body governs instinct and desire, the soul governs rationality and emotion.”
A body without a soul is merely a ‘doll.’
And a soul without a body is nothing more than a ‘ghost.’
“When the body and soul come together, only then does a human become complete.”
“And understanding this human essence is the heart of black magic. It’s not about using ‘sacrifices.’ It’s about manipulating humans.”
“The process of ‘birth’ is long and arduous, but the process of ‘d*ath’ is far too easy and simple. This ab*se of d*ath and mass d*ath is why the concept of ‘sacrifices’ came about.”
Black magic, with d*ath and darkness as its primary attributes.
I’ve mentioned it before, but black magic is absolutely not ‘evil.’ It is about studying and reflecting on d*ath and darkness and reaching ‘truth.’ It’s a perfectly valid stream of magic.
“Well, how do you study the soul? It’s simple. How did you learn about the body?”
“You’re right. I became familiar with the body because I was stuck in a room and lived with it all day. The same applies here. How do you study the soul? Just see many souls, feel them, and interact with them. How’s that? Not too difficult, right?”
To learn about the soul, one must interact with many souls.
Could these words be serious? I questioned them back then.
“Then, should one become familiar with fire magic by being cooked with flames?” “Or should one master water magic by drowning?”
To this, the Old Master applauded sealion-style.
“You’ve fully understood. You’re ready to go solo.”
In reflection, the Old Master’s words were correct.
What exactly is the essence of learning? Isn’t it simply about seeing more, practicing, interacting, and eventually understanding it with your own thoughts? Isn’t this the fundamental concept of all learning, not only magic?
From that day forward, I started seeking out souls.
Hospitals, cemeteries, crematoriums… even battlefields.
I explored and probed the concept of souls.
Eventually, I didn’t even need to go out. It seemed as if I had some sort of evil-attribute provoking pheromones drawing every bad character in the world to me – from those using counterfeit black magic, to fanatics sacrificing their children to gods, and nobles obsessed with power.
I encountered countless souls reeking of malice. During this period, I had probably taken more lives than anyone else.
As time went by, souls that were initially only visible with effort started coming naturally, then eventually, I reached a level where they were always visible.
This is referred to as ‘Demon Eyes (魔眼)’ or ‘Divine Eyes (神眼),’ the ultimate understanding of souls.
There’s one thing I can confidently claim.
No one in this world understands souls better than me.
Because no one has killed as many people as I have.
—
“…However, there’s something odd about this.”
As I examined the helmet of ‘Rose Knight’ from all angles.
“Should this be considered a ‘soul’…?”
Just as I was concentrating on the helmet,
A burst of flame magic descended.
It was a flame shot by Flame Ent. With one hand, I easily crushed it.
Here, ‘hand’ isn’t mine. It’s the gauntlet of the Alpha Gear ‘Rose Knight.’
The flames erupted in the sky, and a blade of fire aimed at me—’Flame Spear’ coming from all directions.
But I was still focused on the helmet when—
“Defend.”
With just one word, merely one phrase—
Armor appeared from the air. Full plate armor of the type medieval knights wore—’Rose Knight.’
The Rose Knight armor that broke off into parts deflected the ‘Flame Spear.’ The chest plate stepped in to block my front, and a gauntlet burst the flame perfectly.
Subsequent ‘Fire Shower’ was completely nullified.
Even the rising ‘Firewall’ from below was stomped out by steel boots.
Despite the relentless assaults by the Flame Ent, not a single spark could reach me, all being wiped out by Rose Knight.
And what role did I play in this?
Absolutely none.
By my single command of “Defend,” Rose Knight judged and acted entirely on its own.
“It judges.”
To judge means to think, and to think means to differentiate between the subject and object—between ‘self’ and ‘other.’
“Looking at this, it seems there is an ‘ego’ of sorts here…?”
Still, it would be wrong to claim it has a perfect self-awareness. The will of this Rose Knight is too weak.
“Hey, say something random.”
“…”
The silence of Rose Knight’s helmet.
Look at this. How can one claim it has a self-awareness?
Of course, by William’s own words, this ‘Rose Knight’ is a mass-produced model, and among the Alpha Gear types, it’s the lowest level. Apparently, these are the only ones that can be bought with money?
Maybe the tier is so low that the self-awareness isn’t fully developed.
Hmm, is this similar to that ‘Victor’ of Rosaria’s which I encountered earlier? The difference in class is unmistakable.
Just one question: regardless of its being the lowest tier, this Rose Knight is still Alpha Gear. If its base structure is supposedly identical to other Alpha Gear models…
“One last test.”
There are different types of Alpha Gear.
Some, like Victor, are ‘external control type,’ while others, such as Jin Yuri’s Draconian, are ‘wearable type.’ There are other types as well, like the ‘boarding type,’ but those are the two I’ve seen.
Fortunately, this Rose Knight is the ‘wearable type’ familiar to me.
Thus, it’s worth a trial.
With a flick of my finger,
The parts of Rose Knight which were busy blocking flames disappeared into the air, turning into iridescent colors.
The immediate rush of Flame Ent’s offense.
Flames rushed toward me.
KWAHHHHH-!!
In the midst of the blazing flames, I continued walking casually.
The silver full plate armor of ‘Rose Knight’ was now fully equipped on my body.
Currently, I’m walking while enduring all the attacks from the Flame Ent wearing Rose Knight.
“Hmm… honestly, it’s uncomfortable, not good.”
Could it be because of the ‘giant’ body? Having something dangling off me feels weird, almost sluggish.
Nevertheless, things need to be done.
“Hey, do something.”
Upon my command, Rose Knight emitted light and charged forward.
I found myself jumping instinctively—it wasn’t my will; this gadget jumped ‘on its own,’ causing me to be forcibly dragged along.
At the same time, an intention passed through to me.
“Sword? Shield? What is this?”
An incredibly weak and faint intention. It’s like a radio volume turned down to the minimum, the frequency not fully dialed in, so static sounds keep buzzing?
How come this Alpha Gear has a weaker will than my own Skeletons?
But for now, let’s follow it—it’s an experiment, after all.
I grabbed a shield and a longsword from the subspace.
Once equipped with the desired weapons, Rose Knight shone brighter and charged at a nearby Flame Ent with a shoulder tackle.
The staggering Ent received a shield to obscure its vision, followed by a stab from the longsword.
“Whoa…”
This is exactly what the imperial knights’ tactics manual used to teach.
Exploiting the weight of heavy armor to charge. Blocking vision with the shield and piercing through with the sword. If a counterattack happens, the shield narrows the distance, and you repeat the sword attack.
The most basic of basics.
I watched idly as Rose Knight fought.
Even though the idea of someone controlling my body usually makes me uncomfortable, this time, it was intriguing and fascinating, as I considered this an experiment.
After experiencing the combat of Rose Knight for a while, and just after defeating the seventh Flame Ent,
I finally reached my conclusion.
“This thing has no soul.”
Alpha Gear has no soul.
It merely has a learned identity.
The absence of a soul yet the presence of an identity? Sounds strange even as I say it, but that’s the truth.
“Disassemble.”
With a thought, Rose Knight detached from me.
I deflected the oncoming flames with the shield and hurled the longsword in my hand.
An Ent pierced by the sword croaked in agony with a “C-Cuh,” while writhing.
The Flame Ent raged, shooting flames high into the sky. Amidst this chaos, I summoned a demon from the subspace.
I continued eliminating Flame Ent after Flame Ent.
Summoning the Skeleton Army, I swept through the area.
By the time I was starting to loosen up, a voice carried through from the opposite end of the fire.
“Chris! Ignore the guy and take him out first.”
It was William. He had been sent to eliminate some elites long ago, but it seems he’s still fighting.
“Still doesn’t cut it.”
Nevertheless, since I agreed to oversee training in return for being given ‘Alpha Gear’ and other things, I needed to honor this promise.
After roughly cleaning up the battlefield, I took my place.
Sitting on a tree branch with a full view of the battlefield, I watched William fight.
Summoning wind spirits to hover in the air and commanding water spirits to attack—a very textbook strategy.
Junior water spirits fill the sky, firing ‘Water Arrows’ and ‘Water Balls,’ while occasional higher spirits deliver sharp attacks.
And the real fatal shots are delivered by the superior water spirit, a horse made of water, near William, to eliminate the target.
“Indeed, thanks to his freethinking, the spirit shapes vary widely.”
There were spirits in the Empire, too. Where there are elves, there must be spirits.
However, spirit magic derived from elves is very standardized, and the creatures summoned always tend to be the same shapes.
For instance, junior water sprites are always ‘Undines,’ senior ones ‘Undains,’ and superiors ‘Endorions,’ for instance.
In contrast, the spirit magic in this world is very freeform.
Junior water spirits summoned by William were in the shape of ‘birds,’ very small sparrows. The senior ones were larger, akin to eagles. The superior one is clearly a ‘horse.’
Personally, I find this more appealing. It’s far superior to the Empire’s methods. Creativity like this is how true development occurs, isn’t it?
Nevertheless, even this freeform creativity pales compared to the presence of something truly special.
“That one’s unique.”
A cute dragon spirit about the size of an average adult.
The cherished creation of William marked with his surname.
The artificial spirit ‘Chris.’
“If someone like Spring were to create it, they’d absolutely adore it.”
The crown jewel of American Palace spirit magic: the ‘Artificial Spirit.’
It overcomes the chronic handicap of spirit magic—command communication—by setting up an artificial spirit control tower.
This brilliant idea is simply awe-inspiring.
Even now, every time Chris emits a cute “Kyyaaa,” the battlefield situation is adjusted with perfect precision.
Spreading a water mist across the battlefield to weaken fire magic, re-liquefying the steam from water and fire into water mist, or employing senior spirits to neutralize the weaker Flame Ents.
Regardless of how detailed William’s commands might be, no matter how intricate, this artificial spirit clearly thought and judged independently.
I watched the battlefield for some time, focusing more on the battlefield transformations brought about by the artificial spirit Chris.
The constant flow of water magic made the Flame Ents emit smoke as they perished, and as the lower-level beings disappeared, the power of the Elite Flame Ent slowly diminished.
Finally, only one Elite Flame Ent remained on the battlefield.
The battle was essentially decided. Water sprays surged, engulfing the Elite Flame Ent.
The Elite Flame Ent desperately spewed flames in every direction, but the water sprays persistently contained and eventually extinguished it.
In the end, the Elite Flame Ent shattered after setting itself ablaze.
A perfect victory, just as expected.
Still, the more I watched, the more it evoked an intriguing feeling.
“Coincidence.”
If ‘Alpha Gear’ is a soulless puppet,
Then ‘Artificial Spirit’ is a bodiless ghost.
The soul and the body.
The ultimate outcomes of both advancing to their extremes.
And then what happens when soul and body are combined?
“Theoretically, a human.”
Yes, the forbidden territory of magic known as ‘creation.’
The result of human transmutation – ‘Homunculus’ is born.
“Could this truly be a coincidence?”
My eyes flickered back and forth between the Rose Knight’s helm and Chris.
—
The deepest area of Gears School, the Gate.
A space exclusive to ‘Giants.’
Unceasing cogs grinding away. The mana engines emit light while ramping up output, as mechanical arms move along the tracks swiftly processing components.
The crafted parts are magically refined, and magic circles are engraved.
As meticulously packed with magic circuits as the bones Park Ki-hyuk would temper for Skeletal ‘tempering,’ they then get assembled.
Affix the core and construct the torso, add the arms and legs, and finally the face.
And thus, the Golem is completed.
This operation resembles a factory so much that the Gate itself is called the ‘Giant Factory.’
Rosaria looked in awe at the spectacle within the Giant Factory and greeted an approaching Giant.
“Here?”
“I heard you were looking for me.”
“Yeah! I have a question!”
“…”
The Giant greeted cheerfully,
Whereas Rosaria froze solid.
No choice but to.
Asking for clarification means curiosity. This being personifies curiosity.
This being is the Giant. He’s asking questions out of curiosity.
And directly, he has singled out Rosaria.
In other words, Rosaria must somehow, regardless of method, satisfy this ‘curiosity.’
“Do you know a kid named Park Ki-hyuk? I want to meet him. Bring him here.”
The Giant commands.
Bring Park Ki-hyuk.
Now Rosaria must retrieve Park Ki-hyuk.
If she fails, she’ll be branded as a faulty product.
Since the Giant gave the order, Rosaria must mobilize all her resources to bring Park Ki-hyuk.
With a deep bow, Rosaria stepped out of the Gate.
