Chương 843: Side Story - Perfect Harmony (1)

Wiiiiiiing!

The Mad Lord's Overseer Factory.

There, a terrifying alarm blares.

The marquis puppets realize what causes this abnormal phenomenon, and all at once head toward the center of the Overseer Factory, toward the tank that confines Makli Hyun-ah.

"That Human Race is seizing the Overseer Factory's authority!"

"Dispose of it!"

"Wait, I cannot get close!"

However, the puppets that actually get close to the water tank where Makli Hyun-ah is realize they are being eroded by the factory's higher authority, and stop in place.

The Black Marquis, who became a puppet in the body of the Black Dragon Race's Dragon King back in the distant ancient era, then slept deep inside the factory and awoke twenty thousand years later, knows what this authority is.

'The highest command authority holder. Is this the command of the Mad Lord's proxy puppet who holds the authority of the [Wonderfully Mysterious Fortress], [General Seo]?'

The authority of [General Seo] orders it to help Makli Hyun-ah and seize this Overseer Factory.

'This... I cannot refuse...!'

The Black Marquis realizes they cannot refuse this topmost authority, and blocks the other puppets.

"Everyone, cease all movement! From this moment on, we receive the orders of the highest command authority holder!"

"What!? Are you betraying us, Black Marquis!? We marquis puppets are puppets that have gained freedom after receiving a personality. Are free puppets supposed to receive someone's orders!?"

"Freedom... it is only a central processing unit that imitates the Heaven Tribe, Earth Tribe, Heart Tribe, and the like. We are all puppets that used to receive the Overseer Factory's orders. Did you forget?"

"What do you mean...!?"

"Personality is only a change that occurs in the process of converting spiritual energy in the circuits inside the body. In other words, it is only an arrangement of power. For us, the greatest importance is only orders!"

Kwaduduuk!

The Black Marquis blocks the other marquis puppets, and some marquis puppets receive the same command as the Black Marquis and stand on the Black Marquis's side.

However, some other puppets look at the Black Marquis and the puppets as if they are confused, and stand against them.

The Black Marquis only feels puzzled.

'Strange. Why do they not respond to the factory's command word? As if the personality they have is real.'

But there is no doubt.

No matter the reason, they only protect Makli Hyun-ah according to orders.

The inside of the Overseer Factory falls into great chaos due to Makli Hyun-ah's erosion of authority.

Just then, At the edge of the Overseer Factory, the guard puppets standing watch discover an anomaly.

Kurururung!

The space in front of the factory warps, and beyond that space a vast darkness opens its jaws.

Jjeoeooeok!

And from beyond that space, Human Race troops begin pouring out.

"Emergency! Human Race raid on the Overseer Factory. Star Shattering stage marquis puppets, support requested!"

But the Star Shattering stage puppets do not come to support.

Among the guard puppets, the Integration stage general puppets all step out and try to block the Human Race, but at that moment.

The Integration stage puppets, around six thousand, freeze in place and stare at the woman who opened the entrance to the black subspace.

It is Ahn Geum.

Wearing a translucent veil, Ahn Geum lays a carpet made of wandering souls in midair, kneels on that carpet, and prays.

Chijijijik, tukwakwang.

Puppets outstanding even among general puppets.

The celestial energy calculation devices implanted into some of the puppets slated for promotion to marquis puppets begin to be smashed to pieces.

And that is not all.

The celestial energy calculation devices of every puppet in the entire Overseer Factory begin to shatter.

As if the likes of lower rank beings daring to read the celestial energy is not permitted, celestial energy comes alive and destroys what that observe it.

Dududududududu!

The sky opens, And Ahn Geum, wearing the veil, in a demure posture, softly calls the [Name] of the True Immortal who helps her.

"Please come. Radiance Hall Law Protector Immortal."

The Immortal Art of an Upper Immortal who protects the Immeasurable Life Buddha Religious Order begins to descend.

"[Black Spirit]."

Beyond the opened sky, a peng bird large enough to cover the stars with its wings sweeps its wings.

Tsuaaaaa!

Black feathers pour down into the Vast Cold Realm.

Afterward, each feather shines brightly, and pours out an enormous light.

It is as if thousands, tens of thousands of suns appear in the sky, and all puppets and cultivators tightly shut their eyes at once.

Simultaneously, the shadows that form when the cultivators are struck by that light move.

Sunlight pouring down from all directions makes countless shadows, and those shadows rise from their places, become the exact same shapes as the cultivators, and fly toward the puppets.

The Human Race army, which has an overwhelming numerical disadvantage against the puppets, in an instant becomes more numerous than the puppets.

"Advance!"

Ha-eun shouts vigorously, and together with his shadow clones that endlessly multiply within the shadows, he runs toward the puppet legion, and the Human Race cultivators that also begin to multiply without end rush at the puppet legion all at once.

The puppets collapse helplessly before the Human Race's numerical superiority.

On top of that, because the Human Race's shadows multiply without limit as long as a shadow exists, the numerical advantage increases by the second, and with this level of difference in numbers, it is enough to defeat even Star Shattering stage puppets.

Kugugugung!

Ha-eun fights the puppets for a while, then suddenly realizes that from a certain point onward his shadows have multiplied far too much to the point he does not need to fight and only has to stand in the rear.

And beside Ha-eun, Jo Yeon approaches.

"Marital Artist Ha-eun. Even though I cannot see with my eyes, I can hear it... I can tell. The Overseer Factory is collapsing, isn't it?"

Ha-eun, with bitter eyes, strokes Jo Yeon's head.

"Yes, Miss."

"At last..."

Jo Yeon sheds tears.

"My task is ending."

"... Our task, Miss. Didn't I say I will take responsibility together with you?"

"... Is that so? Thank you."

It is then, Kwarurung!

The entire puppet factory begins to show a strange reaction.

"...!"

Jo Yeon trembles as she hears that sound, and speaks in a flustered voice.

"This...! The Overseer Factory... is preparing to self-destruct! We must pull back the army right now. No matter how much our numbers increased, inside the Overseer Factory there are power sources of more than hundreds of Star Shattering stage puppets. If those explode all at once...!"

At her words, Ha-eun shouts toward Ahn Geum, who is offering prayers up in the void.

"Cultivator Ahn! The Overseer Factory is preparing to self-destruct! Help the Human Race army retreat!"

Paatt!

Then, Jo Yeon and Ha-eun are sucked into the black spatial passage in an instant and are summoned to Ahn Geum's side.

"Wait. Right now Hyun-ah's energy is leaking out. That guy noticed I've come close and is sending a signal."

"...! But..."

"Wait! A True Immortal's Immortal Art is protecting us, are you saying we run away?"

Ahn Geum widens her eyes and waits for something, and after a while, from the direction of the Overseer Factory, something black flies toward Ahn Geum.

Paaaatt!

It is [string of characters].

Makli Hyun-ah's Confucian Family Method substituted part of his flesh into a string of characters and sent it here.

Chwaruruk!

And that string of characters instantly clumps together in the void, gradually changes into two dimensions and three dimensions, and in an instant transforms into Makli Hyun-ah's form.

"What's the situation inside?"

"Ahn Geum! Are you all here to save me?"

"Yes. To save you, I even used my precious True Immortal summoning right. Can you get out on your own?"

At those words, Makli Hyun-ah gives a bitter smile and shakes his head.

"No. Right now, the situation inside is turning somewhat serious."

"What situation?"

"The puppets... weren't simply kidnapping people and modifying them."

Makli Hyun-ah tells Ahn Geum about the situation he came to realize while taking over the factory.

"They extracted the souls of humans, applied the Ghost Path Method inside some device, and sealed them away. Inside the spirit jade beneath the central water tank of the Overseer Factory, the spirits of the Heaven Tribe, Earth Tribe, and Heart Tribe cultivators that the puppets have modified and killed until now are all sealed inside."

"Hoh... so?"

"... And some marquis puppets are granted personality by the Overseer Factory. But it isn't a real personality, it is only a fake personality that imitates us. However... from a certain point when the spirits accumulated in that spirit jade began to cross a critical point, it seems that at some point the spirits that entered the spirit jade overflowed and came to dwell in the marquis puppets that were granted personality."

Makli Hyun-ah lets them know that he acquired internal authority of the factory and is taking it over, and explains the situation.

"And the puppets with souls dwelling in them find the very fact that I am trying to take control of the factory extremely displeasing. Because of that, right now, infighting broke out between the puppets that were only given personality and the puppets that have souls dwelling in them. And as a result... the puppets with souls dwelling in them would rather choose death than be ruled by me, so they activated the Overseer Factory's self-destruct device."

"So that's what happened."

Jo Yeon, listening, nods and says to Makli Hyun-ah.

"If you acquired authority and are taking over the factory, can you not control the self-destruct device too?"

"Ah... normally, yes... but to control the self-destruct device, you have to operate something called a celestial energy calculation device. But suddenly, the celestial energy calculation devices all shattered while reading celestial energy..."

"Ah..."

Jo Yeon's complexion turns pale, and Ahn Geum realizes that things have become difficult because of the True Immortal she called, and she clicks her tongue.

It is then, Jo Yeon speaks with a hardened expression.

"The task is right in front of us. As Cultivator Makli has seized authority, and now that a True Immortal extended protection... if I can only implant the disruption device I prepared into the Overseer Factory, I can issue a stop command to all puppets in the Vast Cold Realm. Cultivator Ahn Geum. Please let me go inside the Overseer Factory. If it is me, I can implant the disruption device into the factory and send Daoist Makli Hyun-ah out."

At her words, Ha-eun's face stiffens.

"Miss."

"It is okay. You already know, right?"

"But..."

And seeing their reactions, Ahn Geum clicks her tongue.

"Seeing as you aren't saying you will stop the self-destruction, looks like you can't stop the factory's self-destruction, huh? Saving Hyun-ah is one thing, but are you planning to perish together with the factory?"

At those words, Jo Yeon and Ha-eun do not answer.

Makli Hyun-ah looks at the two of them and becomes flustered.

"You don't need to worry about me! Even if I die, my soul will be summoned to the Purple Gold Realm and I will revive by my master's side anyway. I just have to self-destruct with these puppets!"

"... Thank you for your kindness, Daoist Makli Hyun-ah. Daoist Ahn Geum."

Suddenly, Makli Hyun-ah feels that the two of them are smiling sadly for some reason.

And he suddenly gets the feeling that the two of them are turning faintly pale.

Ahn Geum looks at them and asks.

"Just as I've felt for a while... you aren't human, are you?"

"... Yes. More precisely, we used to be human."

Pachijik!

Jo Yeon takes Ha-eun's hand.

The two become semi-transparent at the same time, then return.

"Long ago. Martial Artist Ha-eun and I were nothing more than ordinary mortals. But one day... after the puppets awakened in the world, we realized our task."

She holds Ha-eun's hand and looks up at the sky.

"Vaguely... I suppose you could say we became aware of our previous life. It isn't perfect, and it only rises now and then as the contents of dreams, but... we were able to know. In our previous life, Ha-eun dwelled within a certain puppet of the Wonderfully Mysterious Fortress made by the Mad Lord, and slaughtered many people... and I also learned that I am the reincarnation of the great sinner who created those puppets and threw the Vast Cold Realm into chaos up to now, the Mad Lord himself."

"...!"

"...!"

Ahn Geum's and Makli Hyun-ah's eyes widen.

Jo Yeon speaks.

"We realized it as we looked up at the night sky. Since there is our responsibility for plunging this Vast Cold Realm into ruin, resolving it is our task, and the fate given upon this life. That is why Martial Artist Ha-eun and I, through part of our past-life memories, researched the puppets' weaknesses and struggled to the point of desperation fulfill the task."

"That..."

"But the task of the previous life is deep and deeper still. We could not subdue the puppets by the day our lifespans ran out. Because of that, through the Yin-Yang Family Method, we abandoned our withered bodies, bound only our spirits to this land, endured over twenty thousand years of time... and kept fighting the puppets, and kept resisting. Once we bring this matter with those puppets to an end, only then... we can perhaps leave the Nine Heavens.

Of course, even so, are deeper still, so even if we return to the Yellow Springs again, we will have to cleanse our sins within flames."

"... You're saying you have to go to the Underworld again and suffer? Even after you atone?"

"Perhaps it is because our sin and killing karma are deep enough that this alone cannot become atonement. That is the Heavenly Dao, I suppose."

As Makli Hyun-ah hears those circumstances, he bites his lip.

"... It's too much. Even so, it's something from a previous life. It isn't even something you remember completely, and with a previous life you remember only in fragments... setting aside bearing responsibility in this life, you are saying you have to enter a hell of fire again?"

No matter how he thinks about it, he cannot understand it.

"If you really must take responsibility in this life, then shouldn't you instead have the previous life's memories completely? Why is it the Heavenly Dao to pin sin on a complete stranger who cannot remember anything at all?"

"... We also do not know the Heavenly Dao well. But what is certain is... personality is not the issue."

"Pardon?"

"I also wondered plenty about why this task was given to me when my personality is different. But in the end, it came down to one realization. Rather, if I were born inheriting my previous life's personality, ability, and intelligence as they were, and tried to resolve this task, how could that be atonement? It is because I received it back the same way while in a state with no resolve, no memory, no ability, only then can it be atonement. That is what I think."

Jo Yeon opens the eyes she has kept closed until now.

Makli Hyun-ah can see Jo Yeon's pupils.

They are soft, light pink pupils.

Her eyes carry such clear liveliness that it is hard to believe they are that of a blind person's.

"It is not based on memory and personality, but on causality that the task is given, on causality that you receive punishment and atone, so it is not unfair."

"... How is that not unfair? In the end, the me of the previous life and the me of now are different people, are they not?"

"... No. It is only that the personality is different. If the causality is the same, then they are the same person."

She looks up at Ha-eun with a loving gaze.

"... Because there was the me of the previous life. Because the me of the previous life formed causality, and held connection, the connection of now also exists. Therefore... if I meet happiness in this life, and that happiness is due to causality... then it is only right to accept pain as also because of causality."

Ha-eun quietly closes his eyes and grips Jo Yeon's hand tightly.

Makli Hyun-ah suddenly finds clarity in those words, and for some reason, the enlightenment he internalized from the contemplation topic Hyeon Rang threw at him feels like it settles into him even more.

It feels like the contemplation he still did not understand is unraveling.

It seems the same is true for Ahn Geum as well, as she makes a strange expression and takes on the look of someone who gained enlightenment.

"... Are you saying personality and causality are one?"

"I believe it is like so. If you accept happiness, then of course you must accept pain as well... If you accept life, then of course you must accept death as well, and if you receive a miracle, then of course you must accept fate as well."

Holding hands with Ha-eun, she closes her eyes again.

"In this life, I received the miracle called the Martial Artist Ha-eun, and through him my personality was defined. And if this miracle is made by the causality of the previous life, then I will also accept the fate made by that causality. So please open a path for us. The time to end our task has come."

"Alright."

Makli Hyun-ah reads the resolve coming from the two, and looks at Ahn Geum.

"There is still about one tea-time left until the self-destruction. But once self-destruction begins, it won't just be this area blowing away. It will be on the level of hundreds of Star Shattering-level beings self-destructing, so the entire Vast Cold Realm will be massively affected. Tell the True Immortal to protect the Human Race and flee quickly. Even if I die, I will revive by my master's side."

"Hah, I asked the True Immortal for help to save you, and you're telling me to let you die? Don't be ridiculous. And there is no need to flee, or to make anyone flee. Don't look down on a True Immortal's protection."

Ahn Geum snaps at Makli Hyun-ah and reaches out a hand toward Makli Hyun-ah's clone.

"I read the coordinates. I'm going straight there, so wait."

"What? Inside the factory there are hundreds of layers of barriers, so even if you are at the Grand Perfection Integration stage..."

But in the next moment, Ahn Geum opens a spatial passage in an instant, passes through the black space, and arrives together with Jo Yeon and Ha-eun right in front of the tank where Makli Hyun-ah is confined.

Makli Hyun-ah blinks from inside the tank, and Ahn Geum looks into the tank and snorts.

"Snap out of it! Hurry up and come out and put some clothes on."

Kwagwagwang!

When she swings her hand, the tank shatters in an instant, and Makli Hyun-ah comes out of the tank and quickly uses social authority to make black clothes.

"H-How did you teleport straight here like this...? Even if you used me as the coordinate..."

"I obtained a fortuitous opportunity from the distant Mythic Age."

She looks around and asks Jo Yeon.

"So, where do we have to go to plant the disruption device?"

"The topmost floor of the Overseer Factory..."

At those words, Makli Hyun-ah clicks his tongue.

"On the topmost floor, the puppets with spirits that reject my authority are all gathered and holding out... and it isn't just one or two Star Shattering stage puppets, either."

"That means there are also Star Shattering stage puppets that follow your authority, right?"

At Ahn Geum's words, Makli Hyun-ah grins and nods.

"Of course. It isn't something I can't break through."

"Good. Then let's go. The remaining time is one tea-time."

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they have to break through the puppets, drive in Jo Yeon's disruption device, and then escape.

Thus, gathering Makli Hyun-ah's Star Shattering stage puppets, the four of them begin preparing for the final decisive battle.

Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain.

Purple Gold Realm, Ban Ta Castle.

At the center of Ban Ta Castle, Ban Ta, who sits on the jade throne, half-opens his eyes.

Ban Ta's gaze lingers on Jo Yeon and Ha-eun, the two Yin-Yang Family Method cultivators who are beside his disciple Makli Hyun-ah in the distant Vast Cold Realm, then turns again toward the nearby Star Heaven.

"... Is it soon?"

In Ban Ta's eyes, countless laws and causality appear.

From beyond history and fate, he sees a single bird reviving.

As laws entangle, it restores personality and begins to reconnect causality.

"When the power of the Yin-Yang Family Method crosses the critical point, the personality will be restored and they will revive. And with a high probability, this time as well through history repetition, that one will snatch my disciple so he can never advance to the Sacred Vessel stage, or else will push him past the Sacred Vessel stage and make him directly advance to True Immortality."

Looking at the progenitor of the Yin-Yang Family Method who is reviving, Ban Ta's purple gaze burns.

"This time, I will never let them take him. At least for this disciple, never!"