2.
[Key Formation Complete.]
[99th floor is cleared. ]
The flower bed split wide open.
[ You are entering the 100th floor. ]
From deep within the split flower bed, something surged up.
It was a gigantic mirror.
It was too large to reflect just a person. It was of a mythical size, capable of reflecting an entire army at once. The edges were rough with crystal formations, and both sides of the mirror were ominously dim with a purplish hue.
Like a barrier from hell, the mirror stood between me and the Sword Emperor, and it had nine keyholes.
[Please insert the keys.]
I lifted my head. Slowly, I walked up to the keyholes.
Though a mirror typically cannot show what is beyond it, I somehow knew that the Sword Emperor on the other side was mimicking my actions.
[The first key, by those who breathe in the shadows you have cast]
I looked into the first keyhole.
+
What kind of person were you?
Were you a strong person? A lovely person? A beautiful person? A pitiful person?
+
I pulled out a key and inserted it into the first hole.
"I was someone people could rely on."
From the other side, the Sword Emperor's voice could be heard.
"I was someone worth waiting for."
The sounds of clinking echoed simultaneously.
The brightness and saturation of the mirror increased.
The now clearer purple mirror seemed to bring up the next question.
+
[The second key given by those who chose to follow you.]
What were apostles to you?
Were they tools? Lovers? Family?
+
I inserted the second key.
"My apostles were my equals."
Similarly, the Sword Emperor's response came from the other side.
"My apostles were like my brothers."
The mirror's brightness fluctuated once more.
+
[The third key given by the gods you faced.]
What were gods to you?
+
"They were beings capable of being negligent and make mistakes, thus naturally capable of evolving."
"The kind of people I would have become if I hadn't met my master."
I inserted the fourth key, then the fifth in succession.
"Honestly, I did have some regrets. It was unfortunate. If I had been there, if I had stayed until the Grey Spider met her end, without climbing the Tower. Maybe I could have done something more."
"I don't think so. As you once talked about the first wave, Grey lived as she wanted to live. The one who was my key on the 94th floor was the same in that sense. Those who do not blame others walk on their own feet, and naturally, they don't lean on others' shoulders."
"I was happy that stories about me had spread widely. And it was scary. There were people who assigned meanings to every aspect of my life that even I didn't know about. I'm not talking about malicious distortion. Nor am I talking about misunderstandings. It was a realization that what I thought was completely under control, in fact, wasn't."
"Becoming a myth goes beyond just being a topic of conversation. People don't fight about whether the nice uncle next door has hemorrhoids or athlete's foot. But if that uncle is bald, and the people talking like bald people, then it gets complicated. People fight as much for those they love and respect as for excluding those they hate and despise. And becoming the cause of a war is a pretty crappy thing."
Clink, clink.
The phrases that came to mind and the act of inserting the corresponding keys had become a question-and-answer session between me and the Sword Emperor, separated by the mirror.
"I realized I wasn't alone. Probably the Tower Master had been with me all this time. From the moment I entered the Tower until now."
"Ah, and probably still watching. Hey~ old lady~ are you watching~? We'll be heading there soon~"
"…Ah, well. Anyway, if you're watching like that, I did think you could've saved me sooner, like when I first met the Tower Master and heard about that ideology. But on second thought, if you consider the other timelines that Mutia showed, getting an opportunity for one means depriving another of that chance."
"Hmm."
"Even if that someone doesn't realize that it was a possibility they could have had, the one who turned back time can vaguely feel it. They can't help but doubt. Is this really the best? Was this truly the best path for everyone, from an eternal perspective?"
"Zombie, can you hear it? The screams of countless victims created each time you rewound time. The sound of the footsteps of doom approaching you, from an avenger who lost everything due to the butterfly effect caused by your actions that day."
"Doing everything is the same as doing nothing. The Tower Master chose to handle everything by doing nothing. On the other hand, I chose to take responsibility for all the changed causalities caused by my actions. If someone blames me for that, then it's a burden I must bear."
"That's too arrogant. I know what you're thinking, but…"
"What about you, Sword Emperor? Would you regress if you could?"
"Would regressing prevent regrets?"
Clink.
"No. Usually, it leads to even bigger regrets. You might resolve those regrets, but then even bigger ones soon block your path. It's a continuous cycle."
"And if you just live your life without regressing, won't that also cause issues?"
Clink.
"Indeed. Definitely."
"Yeah. Whether you regress or not, in the end, it's all the same."
Clink.
"Even so, saying it's the same is a bit…"
"To someone who can't run, a runner might seem like a person with a special ability. To those who can't travel through time, a regressor must seem like a monster. But in the end, they're all just people."
"The Alchemist's words come to mind. But isn't that too arrogant? The Alchemist was also someone who could hold their own in arrogance."
"Being able to do something means that you can also die because of it. People who can do things that others can't often suffer in ways ordinary people don't. In that sense, the world is fair."
Clink.
"Sword Emperor~nim."
"Suppose you still think you could have saved your master?"
"...."
"Even if you say, [the first wave went where it wanted to go]. Even if you fully accept that, don't you have to convince yourself again every morning when you wake up? Don't say no. I've been watching you as you fall asleep and as you wake up."
"You're right."
I sighed.
Before I knew it, the mirror had become almost transparent. No matter how transparent, a mirror cannot show what's beyond, so I couldn't see the Sword Emperor. I only saw my reflection in the mirror.
"Every morning when I wake up, I ponder."
"Hmm."
"Every time I feel the wind is cold today. Every time I see peonies at the florist while walking down the street eating ice cream with Bambolina and Venomous Snake. I think about how great it would be if my master was still alive, and whether I could bring hre back right now."
"I know."
"In the end, I decide not to do it. I think that's truly the best way to honor my master. But then, when I wake up again, I have the same thoughts. [But the dead ultimately cannot hope for anything. Is leaving them dead really the best way to honor them? Isn't that just my own satisfaction?]"
"I know."
"[If I revived my master, surely my master wouldn't forgive me. But isn't that really just a problem that ends with me suffering? Isn't that what I'm truly afraid of?]"
If alive, if still alive, perhaps someday my master could become happy again.
"In front of my master's tombstone… in front of those red peonies, I carried the nine worlds in my bow and thought about it continuously."
"...."
"It's paradoxical. Contradictory. It's truly ugly and pitiful. Perhaps these concerns will never leave me as long as I live."
"Rather, it will probably increase as the days go by. You mentioned it earlier, but now every morning when you wake up, you'll think about the Grey Spider again, won't you?"
"Yes."
"Brat."
I looked into the keyhole in the mirror.
Only one hole was left… I quietly stared at that keyhole… That was when.
With a bang, a blade burst forth from the keyhole.
"...."
I recognized that blade. Far too large to be simply called a sword, it was the one used by the Sword Emperor.
The enormous blade, reminiscent of a barracuda, twisted diagonally. The thinning mirror, as if sensing the atmosphere, cracked and shattered like sugar.
Amidst the falling purple glass, there stood the Sword Emperor.
The Sword Emperor pointed the tip of his sword at me and said,
"As if to prove you're a coward, you're sitting there harboring such dark thoughts."
"You act indifferently, just like someone from the righteous faction."
"I'm just a bit too cool by nature. I'm so cool that when I see a pathetic loser wallowing in self-pity, I want to smash their head in, brother."
"Will you be able to?"
"It's only now become possible."
Despite the mirror shattering, the ninth keyhole remained in its place, as did the Sword Emperor's sword still inserted in it.
The Sword Emperor, as radiant as the blooming flowerbed, was smiling brightly.
"Let's have a match."
"...."
I.
"Is there a need for that?"
"I don't really need it. It's you who needs it."
"...."
"You know. I was quite impressed by you from a rather early stage."
"Well, I do possess some damn impressive talent."
"Yeah. So exceptional that even bleach couldn't straighten out the creases. But despite being so wrinkled, you know, there was something about you that truly amazed me."
The Sword Emperor continued with a smile.
"You held a memorial for those children."
10th floor.
The words he had spoken and the actions I had taken flashed before my eyes.
"That was an idea I hadn't thought of. And if you hadn't shown me, I would have never thought of it. Do you know what I felt when I saw that?"
"What did you feel?"
"[Ah. Is this how my master felt when he looked at me?]"
I tilted my head in confusion, but soon after, I lifted it in surprise.
On the Sword Emperor's face was an expression familiar to me, yet one I could never have imagined on him.
"It was humiliating."
This was the first time I knew this man could wear such an expression.
The Sword Emperor smiled broadly once again, yet this smile still carried a lingering trace of resentment.
"But if you can do it, I guess I can do something similar."
"Sword Emperor~nim."
"I'm best at using a sword, so if I were to do it, it should be with a sword, shouldn't I?"
The Sword Emperor flicked his sword tip.
"Come. I'll give them their rites."
Not knowing what else to say, I just blurted out.
"But you were supposed to be the ghost."
"I'm not anymore. And saying comforting things makes my skin crawl."
"What's wrong with a little goosebumps…"
"Gong-ja, from now on, I will comfort you…"
"Aaaaack!! Totally cringey!!"
"I warned you."
"Damn…"
The wind blew.
Unknown flower petals scattered wildly.
From there, beyond the shattered mirror, across from the ninth keyhole, the Sword Emperor was speaking.
"My nickname is Sword Emperor. A blade tempered at the bottom of the Great Yin Grotto, a disciple of the Sun Sage, inheritor of the righteous faction. Thus recognized as the greatest under heaven in the World of Myriad Swords."
Sword Emperor.
Origin, World of Myriad Swords.
The greatest under heaven.
Righteous faction.
"I request a bout."
I.
I remembered the expression I wore in the mirror before it shattered. It was a pathetic face that the Sword Emperor would want to smash.
It wouldn't be the same now. Or maybe it could be worse. Honestly, I'm not sure. I tried to smile.
It didn't work out.
People want to cry not only when they are sad but also when they are happy.
"My alias is the Sky That Gathers Screams. As one who will eventually oversee the afterlife of this tower, other nicknames include Screaming Sky, Moon of Ivansia, the White Lion of Lion World, and the guardian deity of the Asuras. The rightful young master of the Demonic Cult, inheriting the law of the Heavenly Demon…."
No.
I corrected myself.
"I am the head of the Demonic Cult."
Screaming Sky Demon.
Origin, Lion World.
The greatest under heaven.
Demonic Cult.
"Let the
Duel
Begin."