< Chapter 8 - Nine Heavenly Gates #2 >
&
“Je······, Jeong······ De······a?”
A voice was heard.
But it was muffled so I couldn’t hear it properly.
Perhaps Landius’ voice.
My blurry vision began to clear up, and at that moment, I heard a voice clearly in my head.
“Uder? Are you okay? Huh?”
“Cordelia.”
The moment I spoke without realizing it, my vision cleared up.
I could see Cordelia’s pretty white face right in front of me, and Landius’ face looking down from a little distance away at the same time.
“Are you awake? Do you know how many of these there are?”
When Uder suddenly spoke, Cordell flinched, but soon shook his finger with a happy expression.
“2. That’s just like you.”
“what?”
Cordelia growled, but when I looked into her eyes, she was smiling.
It seemed that Yuder himself was very happy to have woken up.
‘Did it take long?’
After I started memorizing the nine thousand nine hundred sentences, I couldn’t really feel the passage of time.
Still, judging by Cordelia’s reaction, it seemed like quite some time had passed.
“I see you’re flirting with a girl, so you must be fine.”
As Landius approached with a snickering laugh, Cordelia stepped aside.
Landius spoke again.
“I don’t think you’re aware of it, but it’s been a whole day since you started memorizing the spell.”
“One day?”
“Yes, Haru. It was night when I closed my eyes, and is it still night now?”
Yuder nodded without realizing it and looked back at himself.
Perhaps because I had just realized it, I felt weak all over and hungry.
“That’s why the girl came. She was heartbroken because her fiancé, whom she loved more than her life, didn’t wake up all day… Why, no? Lucas said so.”
“No, that’s right. That’s right.”
“Uh… yes! My beloved Prince Yude didn’t open his eyes all day, so I was worried and couldn’t do anything. Yes, that’s right.”
When Landius asked with narrowed eyes, Yuder and Cordelia quickly answered, but Cordelia’s answer was problematic. As always, it was reading a Korean textbook.
“Hmm, well. Anyway.”
Fortunately, the generous Landius didn’t care about trivial things.
Moreover, it was an unchanging fact that Cordelia was here because she was worried about Uther.
“Disciple, if my eyes are right… it seems you have opened a door. Am I right?”
“Yes, I think so.”
Yuder answered cautiously, placing his hand on his lower abdomen where the lower abdomen was.
A place where a Japanese door is installed.
Cordelia looked at Yuder’s lower abdomen with an expression that said, “Oh, that’s just it,” but Landius was a little different.
I thought he was laughing in vain, but soon he burst into hearty laughter.
“Indeed, indeed. Is this the Heavenly Body?”
“Master?”
“That’s fast. It took me over a month to open the door.”
But Uder opened the door in just one day.
“As expected··· The immortal’s divine power was for the purpose of the Heavenly Martial Body······.”
Both Uther and Cordelia focused on Landius’s low voice.
The divine power of the sages.
Because it was a word that could not be found in either Heroes Chronicles 1 or 2.
“Master, you say I am a good person······.”
“Yes, because you are qualified. One······.”
Landius’s gaze, with the end of his words clouded, turned to Cordelia, and she flinched and then slowly stood up from her seat.
If he was reluctant to talk because of me, I was planning on leaving the place.
‘Uder will tell you later anyway.’
But at that moment, Uther grabbed Cordelia’s hand.
‘why?’
Cordelia asked with her eyes, but instead of answering, Uder looked at Landius and spoke.
“Master, Miss Cordelia and I are one body. Miss Cordelia has the right to know what happened to my body. Please let me hear it together.”
“Hmm, that’s true. The disciple and the girl are engaged, so they are no different from one body.”
‘No, right? Yuder and I are two bodies?’
The final thought was Cordelia’s, but only Uther could guess her true feelings just by looking at her eyes.
“Okay. Let me tell the girl the story too.”
“thank you.”
“Uh… thank you.”
Cordelia, who greeted them in a flustered manner, sat down next to Uther, and Landius also sat down in front of the two of them and began talking.
“Disciple, and girl. Do you by any chance know about the overlords of hell?”
“Uh… yes. You mean the five great lords of hell?”
Landius nodded as Cordelia answered.
“Yes, the five overlords. Asmodeus of lust, Belial of corruption, Belphegor of cruelty, Behemoth of violence, and Lilith of love and hate. But in fact, the overlords of Hell were originally seven, not five.”
It was a story that even Uther and Cordelia knew the gist of.
It was a story set in the story of the Heroes’ Chronicles, where two of the seven great monarchs disappeared, leaving only five.
“Long ago, in a time that could be called ancient, two of the seven great monarchs descended upon the human world. Many human nations fell to the hands of these two powerful demons, and several races met their eternal end.”
The High Dwarves, the ancestors of the current Dwarves and a superior race, were virtually extinct, and the Elves lost the greatest empire on the continent.
“All the races living on the continent gathered their strength to fight against the devil… and after countless sacrifices, they were finally able to win.”
Up to this point, it was a fairly well-known story.
Although the general public didn’t know much about it, it was a story that all wizards, scholars, and clergy with a certain level of knowledge knew.
“Then who could it be? Who could have defeated the great monarchs with transcendent powers?”
Landius’ gaze turned to the sky.
He continued the story as if he was telling it to himself, not to Uther and Cordelia.
“I was curious about that. I thought that if I could find out who and how the Overlord was defeated, it would be of great help in the fight against the demons in the future.”
Unlike the swordsman Kamael, who joined the Holy Cross Guardians, Landius wandered around the continent alone.
“After a long search, I was able to find a record in the ancient ruins that are the origin of the Holy Cross. It was a record of heroes who defeated the overlords.”
As if they had made a promise, Uther and Cordelia swallowed dry saliva at the same time.
Because it was the first time both of them had heard the story.
“Seven heroes who were neither demons nor angels, but possessed powers like gods. It was a truly magnificent lineup. The strongest warrior of the dwarves, the elven queen, the champion of the sun god Solari, and the greatest assassin of the continent, each and every one of them was worthy of the title of great hero.”
And among them, there was one being that particularly caught Landius’ attention.
“The Sage. The ancient guardians called him the Sage, even though his name, age, and even gender were unknown. And he used special martial arts.”
“that is······.”
“Yes, it is the Nine Heavenly Gate.”
Landius’ gaze turned back to Uther and Cordelia.
“Only the nine-fold sentence remained. And even that sentence was not perfect. But I could not give up the nine-fold sentence.”
Landius, who had obtained the incomplete sphere, did not worry alone. He asked for help from his old comrades, including the swordsman Kamael – the comrades who had defeated the Demon Prince Bykazel together, and each of them began research and investigation activities on the Nine Heavenly Gate and the ancient heroes.
“The current Nine Heavenly Gate was restored by Kamael, me, and Lena together. And in the process, we concluded that a special talent was needed to fully master the Nine Heavenly Gate.”
There was no need to even say what it was.
The Thousand and One Body.
The incarnation of the heavenly being.
“In the past thousand years, there have been less than ten people born with the Heavenly Martial Arts Body. That’s why I had practically given up on it… but then I met you.”
That was also why he told me to become his disciple without even telling me my name.
Uther and Cordelia, whose hearts were pounding at the story that was much larger than they had expected, looked at each other, and Cordelia spoke first.
“I… Lord Landius. What exactly is the Nine Heavenly Gate martial art?”
“It is a martial art that allows one to ascend to a higher level of spirit and body. Well, to put it simply, it is a means to become a being that transcends humans – a transcendent being.”
Uder nodded at Landius’s words.
Because it was the same as what I felt during the process of opening the door.
“Yuder, what changes have occurred since you opened the door?”
“My soul… felt like it was expanding. My body… also felt better.”
It was a simple story that suddenly became a topic of conversation about the soul, but it actually felt like my body had gotten better.
Landius nodded.
“As the name suggests, the Nine Heavenly Gates are made up of nine gates. As you open each gate, you will get closer to the transcendent being, and your physical and spiritual self will be strengthened. As an additional effect, you will also gain various abilities.”
“Is this a talent?”
“Yes, when I opened the door, I gained clairvoyance.”
Landius spoke, Uther turned to Cordelia, and Cordelia narrowed her eyes.
“what?”
“No, just.”
Landius laughed cheerfully.
“It can only be used when the gate is open, so it is very noticeable. When the gate is opened, a red energy rises up like flames all over your body, and when you use your clairvoyance ability, even the eyes glow.”
“That’s too bad.”
Cordelia’s eyes narrowed even further as Uther sighed.
“It is always open until the Samun Gate, but from the Omun Gate, it is opened whenever necessary. This is because after the Omun Gate, it is difficult to maintain it for a long time because the burden on the body is too great.”
It was a convincing story.
“I opened the Seven Gates. In fact, the reason I turned toward the return of ancestors was to gain the starting point for opening the Eight Gates.”
Landius, who had said that, suddenly smiled broadly and stood up from his seat.
“Only the one who has the door can open the gate of the nine heavens and nine gates. Therefore, I can no longer teach you anything about the nine heavens and nine gates. I can only give you a little advice. Oh, of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t be your teacher. There are endless things I can teach you besides the nine heavens and nine gates.”
After finishing his rather long speech, Landius flexed his muscles as if he was trying to show off, and Yuder flinched without realizing it.
But that was only for a moment.
Yuder, who soon regained his senses, stood up from his seat and said.
“Master, I have something to tell you.”
“What? Do you think you’ve lost muscle mass after sitting all day?”
“No, that’s not it… It’s about the Nine Heavenly Gates.”
The 36 treasures of the world that have made progress in response to the nine heavenly gates.
“It’s a martial art I accidentally obtained from the Dungeon Book······.”
When Yuder spoke about the 36 treasures of the world, Landius’s eyes became very serious.
“You responded to the nine heavenly gates… Perhaps the thirty-six treasures of the world that you mentioned are also the martial arts of the immortals.”
It was a possible story.
Cheondungoobo and Gucheongumun.
Fantasy martial arts whose very existence was unclear.
“Okay, then tell me quickly.”
“yes?”
“It’s the 36 treasures of the world.”
Landius spoke in a tone of great excitement. It seemed as if he really wanted to learn it right away.
“Uh… I understand. However, it will take time to tell you both the route and the conclusion, so there is something I would like to talk about before that.”
“What is it?”
Instead of answering right away, Uther looked back at Cordelia for a moment.
‘Are you going to do it now?’
‘Because there is no other way than now.’
I had completely forgotten about it while undergoing hellish physical training for six days, but the purpose of meeting Landius in the first place was not to learn the Nine Heavenly Gate.
Landius’s rescue.
Warning to Duke.
‘I wonder if it’s necessary…’
Honestly, looking at Landius now, it doesn’t seem like he would have killed Duke if he had killed him.
But still, there was a “what if”.
There was nothing to lose by telling me.
“This is the story of when I met the witch’s spirit in the witch’s forest.”
After the Fairy Queen comes the Witch’s Soul.
What should we do if an ancient witch leaves behind a prophecy about Landius?
Should I check it out?
how?
“The witch’s spirit said that the warrior of the sun we will meet in the future will face great danger. It is highly likely that the danger will be the venom of the red scorpion, so she told us to be sure to prepare countermeasures.”
Because the Duke was a man who enjoyed using poison.
In particular, the red scorpion venom he used was so deadly that even a simple touch could cause death.
“Hmm… I understand. I will prepare an antidote.”
I was worried that he would snort at me and say that he wasn’t afraid of poison, but Landius surprisingly took Uder’s story seriously.
“Okay, so is that all you wanted to say?”
At Landius’ question, Uder looked back at Cordelia, who swallowed hard and raised her hand as she asked.
“Lord Landius, may I ask you one thing?”
“Ask, girl.”
“That… didn’t you originally use a sword? Like the Solar Blade?”
The Solar Blade is one of the reasons why Landius is called the Warrior of the Sun.
Landius laughed heartily at Cordelia’s question.
“I still use it. I just don’t take it out for training.”
“Cultivation?”
“Yes, that’s what Kamael said. Once you understand the truth, you can use swordsmanship without a sword.”
It was the so-called realm of the invisible sword or the mind sword.
But how should I put it, it feels like the current Landius isn’t using swordsmanship without a sword, but rather just using martial arts?
“Uh… So you don’t use a sword?”
“I’m trying out different things.”
“Uh… yes.”
Anyway, my question has been answered.
Judging from the way he spoke, it seemed he still had the Paragon Kingdom’s secret weapon, the Solar Blade.
‘Is that okay?’
‘First of all…?’
It was strange that they asked me to show them the Solar Blade here.
As Uther and Cordelia exchanged glances, Landius smiled happily as if he saw something cute and said.
“Hmm, good. I guess the story is over. Then, the world… No. I got so excited that I forgot something important. I’m still lacking.”
Landius, who suddenly started to reproach himself, looked over Yuder’s entire body and said.
“First, eat rice. Focus on protein. Since you’ve been starving all day, fill up on nutrition first, and then learn Cheonhasamshipyukbo. When you starve and lose weight, you lose muscle before fat.”
Because muscles are precious.
At Landius’ urging, Yuder began to eat.
The menu was chicken breast.
&
< Chapter 8 - Nine Heavenly Gates #2 > End
