While the Nine Sword Divinity was a stranger, Minos ultimately benefited from him and the books he had left behind.
To then go and destroy the grave of the same person who helped you didn't sit well with Minos.
The coffin was only an arm's reach away, and with a single tug, Minos could reveal its contents. It goes without saying that whatever the Nine Sword Divinity took the grave with him must be incredibly important, and even the Heaven-Sundering Sword was likely in there as well.
As his fingers reached closer towards the coffin, Minos's open palm suddenly shifted into a fist. Letting out a deep exhale, Minos looked up towards the sky, which had begun darkening at this point.
Eventually, he climbed out of the grave, the coffin untouched. Using the large mound of dirt at the side, Minos quickly recovered the grave, patting down the earth such that it looked like nothing ever happened.
He slowly walked towards the edge of the steep mountain cliff, sitting as his feet hung down off the ledge.
Treasures were valuable, but a man's conscience was priceless. The Nine Sword Divinity had only ever benefited Minos, so how could he go and tarnish the man's resting place?
While there was no denying the pain of giving up such a treasure, Minos still couldn't help but have a wide smile on his face. He was no saint, but at the very least, he tried to never be a monster.
Looking down, he noticed the ring he was still wearing. The ring was definitely something incredible, and while Minos still had yet to understand its true value, he knew it was incredible.
But still, he pulled off the ring, the smile still wide on his face. Standing up, Minos made his way back to the grave.
With his hands, he cleared away the dirt, leaving behind a small hole. Minos held up the ring, as if to inspect it one more time, before putting it into the earth and reburying it.
'I hope you can forgive me for what I was about to do. Greed is a powerful beast, and even I was nearly consumed by its gaping maw.'
'While it isn't much of an apology to give you back something that was already yours, I hope you will accept it, wherever you are, and I hold Yulda will forgive you. Rest in peace.' Minos thought as he stood back up.
Minos's heart felt light as he looked out towards the sea. The sun had begun to set, and its light flickered off the ocean's surface, leaving behind a beautiful orange hue, like the most brilliant gem one could ever see.
Despite just having lost a lot and gained nothing, Minos felt happy. He knew he had done the right thing, even if the price of doing so was enormous.
Night had already come, so Minos decided to sleep on the island and leave in the morning. Laying back on the hard earth, Minos slowly shut his eyes as he entered a deep sleep, the smile still on his face.
What Minos didn't know however, was that the ring he had buried in the earth was slowly being pulled towards the coffin through an unknown force, inching closer with each passing minute.
…
The bright sun woke Minos up from his deep sleep. He got up with a yawn as he stretched out his sore body, caused from sleeping on the tough earth.
Pulling out a piece of beef from his spatial ring, he used a heat talisman to quickly cook it before munching away.
After eating enough to make 10 normal men full, Minos was finally content. Standing up, he began training his Twelve Beast Movements, causing his bulging bell to quickly shrink back to normal size.
After training for a few hours, and sweating up a storm, Minos stopped. Spending another half hour to recover himself fully, Minos realized it was about time to leave.
"Goodbye, and rest well." Minos said out loud, as he was about to begin heading down the incredibly steep mountain.
Just as Minos was about to start the journey back, he noticed a slight green glimmer shooting out from the earth.
The glow was weak, and barely visible against the bright sunlight, but Minos managed to catch it with his incredibly sharp vision.
The area where the glow came from right above where the Nine Sword Divinity and Yulda's coffin was, peaking Minos's curiosity.
He slowly walked towards the glow, kneeling down on the earth and using his hands to dig out the area where the glow came from.
As Minos dug, the green glow got denser, and with one more handful of dirt, the glow became incredibly bright, catching Minos off guard.
Minos quickly covered his stinging eyes, which were temporarily blinded by the light. After wiping away the tears, he reopened his eyes, but what he saw left him in complete shock.
The green glow had gathered together to form a projection of a person. The shocking part however, was that the person it formed was an exact replica of the pictures of the Nine Sword Divinity Minos had seen in the past.
The light clone also had a ring embedded on its forehead, the exact same one Minos had buried the day before. The ring's gem acted as a sort of third eye, making the light clone look even more sacred.
The clones' shut eyes slowly opened as Minos backed away. Soon enough, the light clone's eyes were completely open, but it only looked around in shock and confusion before focusing its vision on Minos.
The second the light clone looked at Minos, he felt as if an entire mountain's weight had been added to his shoulders, causing his knees to begin shaking and his forehead to bead up in sweat.
But Minos was incredibly strong willed, not to mention the Soul Rune Ascension technique he had been training, which further refined his soul strength.
After gritting his teeth so hard his gums began to bleed, Minos managed to barely steady his quivering body, standing up with a straight spine.
"Impressive, to think you could take 1% of my pressure, but let me ask, who are you, and why are you here?" The light clone asked.
"It should be me asking that question." Minos said through grit teeth, the strong pressure still acting on him.
The light clone suddenly let out a light laugh, releasing the spiritual pressure. Minos let out a long exhale as he felt a sense of relief travel through his body, suddenly feeling as light as a feather.
"I guess that's fair, but I think in your heart, you already know the answer to that question." The light clone said with a slight smirk.
"That's impossible, the Nine Sword Divinity has been dead for at least a century, how could you be him?" Minos asked incredulously.
"Boy, you speak like I'm an average person, and anyhow I was planning on dying, but you ruined my plans."
"Ruined your plans, how is that possible, I don't have that kind of power." Minos said.
"You don't, but the ring of life certainly does." The Nine Sword Divinity said as he pointed towards the gem studded in his forehead.
"Ring of life, so that's what it's called? But how could it bring you back to life? Does such a miraculous thing really exist?" Minos asked in wonder.
"Well to say it brought me back to life would be a lie, rather it allowed my soul to temporarily take form."
"Your soul to take form?" Minos asked curiously.
"Those things are still far from you, but yes, once you are strong enough you can allow your soul to take form and act independently. After so many years, my soul had already become too weak to do this, but the ring of life makes it possible."
"But if the ring has such an amazing ability, why would you abandon it?" Minos kept asking.
"Who said I want to live? Originally I entered a deep slumber, and after a few more years my soul would have dissipated completely, finally letting me rest, but you had to bring the ring of life. Worse than that, you decided to bury it. Boy, why cant you be selfish like normal people?"
"..." Minos didn't have an answer to such a strange answer.
"I suppose this is fate as well… To think I'd have one last chance to see the world before I left, I guess it isn't too bad." The Nine Sword Divinity said with a slight smile.
"Why do you want to die so badly? Don't you want revenge?" Minos questioned.
"Revenge? Does it matter? Those who harmed me will also die with time, at most I'll just bring that end faster. More than revenge, I just want to rest. My life was ultimately a failure despite my strength, and now all I want to do is move on."
"But if you come back to life, you can change that failure, make your life a success! As long as you're alive, everything is possible." Minos said.
"Yes, but Yulda will stay dead, and I'll stay lonely. Sometimes death isn't a bad thing, in fact, it's finally a chance to meet those who you've missed the most." The Nine Sword Divinity said with slight melancholy in his eyes.
Minos wanted to say more, but the Nine Sword Divinity stopped him before he had a chance.
"No need to say anything more, my mind is made up. While you slightly messed up my plan, I am still grateful for your kindness. Originally I was planning on leaving my sword to whoever had the strength to claim it, but since we've met, take it."
The Nine Sword Divinity said as he proceeded to reach out towards the stone-sword stabbed deep into the earth. With a tight grip of the hilt, he pulled the blade out in a single swift movement, causing the earth surrounding the blade to break off.
As the flakes of earth crumbled off the sword, a long glimmering silver blade of about a meter long was revealed. The hilt was abyss black, standing in opposition to the blade that glimmered like a thousand jewels.
Just by looking, Minos felt a sharp sting in his eyes, as little cuts appeared all over his flesh. The sword hadn't even come close to Minos, yet he had been injured by it.