Chapter 364
The power manifested beyond the space, aimed at the child.
It contained divine power. For such power to reach across space and exert its influence—this wasn’t something possible without overwhelming might.
There was only one being in this world capable of that.
“You heretic bastard!”
The knight ground his teeth and stomped his foot.
Light enveloped the knight’s entire body.
“Doesn’t seem like you plan to answer.”
In that case, he would force an answer out of him.
Wreathed in divine power, the knight charged at Taesan. In his hand was a golden sword.
The blade targeted Taesan’s nape.
Taesan raised his sword.
Ka-ga-gak!
The sound of blades grinding echoed. Taesan deflected the knight’s sword and stabbed his chest.
Kaaaaang!
“Keugh!”
The knight coughed blood as he was sent flying.
The armor pierced by the sword was crushed.
“M-my armor…”
“Didn’t break?”
The knight was shocked by the crushed armor, and Taesan was surprised it hadn’t broken completely.
The difference in strength between Taesan and the knight was so stark it was insurmountable. It would’ve been normal for the knight to fall in a single blow, and yet—
He somehow held on.
The reason must be the power the knight had received from someone.
Taesan stomped. His body vanished.
The knight’s instincts screamed danger. He reflexively turned and swung his sword.
Kaaang!
“Urgh!”
Taesan applied just enough pressure for the knight to barely fend him off. The knight broke out in a cold sweat as he barely held on.
“Interesting.”
Taesan observed the knight’s strength slowly.
The knight’s own abilities weren’t anything special. He was on par with the swordmasters Taesan had met in the world of Vekeseta.
But the divine power granted to him elevated him to about the 50th floor of the labyrinth.
“Can an Apostle—not even a Transcendent—grant this much power?”
Taesan muttered as he brought down his sword.
Kaaaaang!
The ground beneath the knight’s feet caved in from blocking the strike.
‘Monster!’
The knight was horrified.
Even while using the full power granted directly by His Majesty the Emperor, he couldn’t even mount a decent resistance.
‘But!’
Taesan was letting his guard down.
The knight aimed for an opening.
Ka-kak!
Taesan swung his sword to block the knight’s attack. The knight’s eyes gleamed as he stepped in aggressively.
“Die!”
Kiiiiing!
His sword was imbued with radiant light like the sun. It was the knight’s full strength concentrated into a single strike.
The blade pierced toward Taesan’s chest.
Ka-ga-ga-gak!
But it failed to penetrate.
The golden light touching Taesan was being ground away.
“W-what?”
“There’s a gap in divinity.”
Taesan grabbed the knight’s neck and slammed him into the ground.
Even if power was granted, one could not obtain divinity. No matter how hard the knight tried, he couldn’t even consume one of Taesan’s [attack nullifications].
“I’ve got some questions too. So, how about answering?”
Three proofs activated.
Taesan’s very divinity manifested and began to trample the knight.
“Aaaah…”
The knight’s face turned pale. His mind started to submit to Taesan, and his body trembled like a leaf.
He couldn’t do anything.
A difference in divinity existed that could stop one’s actions through sheer will alone.
Just as Taesan was about to extract information from the knight—
Kiiiiiiing—
A pillar of light fell from the sky. It struck down with enough force to scorch the earth. Even Taesan couldn’t ignore the power it contained.
[You have activated Restricted Blink.]
Taesan swiftly escaped the pillar’s range. The pillar pierced through the knight.
“Aaaaaaah!”
The knight disintegrated with a scream. The power within the light rode the pillar and flowed somewhere else.
When the pillar of light vanished, nothing remained.
“Cold-hearted.”
It seemed the intention was to handle things personally rather than let Taesan extract any information.
Taesan returned to the child. After sending the wolves away, he looked down at the child.
The emperor was after this child.
That obsession was far from mild. It was clear he would do anything to obtain the child.
Taesan took out a leaf stained with divine blood.
This divine blood was the most critical piece of information.
Now that he had confirmed that, there was no reason to hesitate.
[You have activated Beyond the Boundary.]
[You have activated Magic Stacking.]
[You have activated Focused Detection.]
He released [Focused Detection].
When he had activated it before, he couldn’t read the information contained in the divine blood. But this time was different. What Taesan activated was [Beyond the Boundary]. He forcibly brought in the power that lay beyond mortality.
Even if it was a power of a higher divinity than Taesan’s, he could perceive it.
The information and power within the leaf flowed into Taesan’s mind.
“Got it.”
Taesan pressed his forehead, suppressing the pain. Using [Beyond the Boundary] meant reading information that someone of Taesan’s current state couldn’t normally handle. It was inevitable for mental strain to follow.
That’s why he had delayed activating [Beyond the Boundary] until now.
But it had been more than worth it.
He didn’t learn everything—
But he had identified all the necessary information.
“So this really is the power of a true god.”
Divine blood was, literally, the power of a god.
It was power that surpassed mortality, flowing through the blood.
But possessing divine blood didn’t mean one automatically surpassed mortality. That’s why most who had divine blood lived ordinary lives and died ordinary deaths.
To be more precise, it was closer to divine blood being sealed within their bodies.
That was why most bearers of divine blood—
Lived normal lives and eventually died.
Even so, it was a power that surpassed mortality. Once one reached a certain realm, they could forcibly wield it, like Helia.
If someone like Helia, who stood at the edge of mortality, could become that strong, then someone stronger could wield it more freely and with greater force.
Someone at Taesan’s level, for example.
The term “boundary” meant having one foot in mortality and one foot in immortality.
Stronger than the realm of mortality, yet clearly weaker than an immortal—it was an ambiguous state.
And if someone in that state were to obtain divine blood—
They just might be able to cross the boundary.
Taesan looked at the child who was quietly asleep.
The child had said it. Unable to endure the pain, they went to the temple and received an oracle. Cursed by all creation, only the Emperor could lift the curse.
And the method to lift the curse was for the child of divine blood to become a sacrifice to the Emperor by their own will.
“When a being with a self becomes a tribute, there’s no meaning in forcing them to be offered, right?”
[The meaning becomes significantly diminished. A tribute is about offering oneself. The will of both the one offering and the one receiving is important. They both need to agree and accept it.]
The ghost spoke. Taesan shook his head.
Why had the God of Choice sent him to the child’s side?
Now he felt like he understood what she wanted.
The child moved on to the location of the next trial. A day passed there as well, but once again, when Taesan blocked the curse, nothing happened.
“Haha… what the hell…”
The child shook his head. At this point, it was almost absurd.
“Why, though?”
The child, in the depths of long despair, had finally decided to become a sacrifice to the Emperor. That was what the seven trials were for.
But the moment the trials began, the curse vanished.
The child couldn’t understand.
“Maybe… because I tried to kill myself, the curse disappeared? Then now, I…”
The child mumbled endlessly.
Eventually, they reached a small rural village.
“Huh?”
The child’s eyes widened.
The village was lively. Many people were laughing and chatting, and stalls were lined with various foods.
“A village festival, huh.”
A small, local festival—common in every village. That seemed to be what was happening.
The child stared blankly at the festival.
Taesan asked the child.
“Do you want to join in?”
“Y-yes? No. I’m a cursed child. If I join a festival like this…”
The child’s words trailed off.
They hung their head low.
“B-but I…”
“Your curse takes a full day to activate, right? And it hasn’t activated right now. There’s no problem with joining.”
“But…”
The child wanted to join the festival, but seemed afraid of their curse and timidly stepped back. Taesan spoke quietly.
“It’s your choice. Do you want to enjoy the festival?”
“…Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
Taesan led the child into the heart of the festival.
The child looked around the festival with wonder. Since they were cloaked in robes, the villagers seemed to assume Taesan and the child were travelers.
“Mister! Is that your son?”
A burly man laughed as he asked Taesan. Taesan nodded. The man chuckled and handed over a skewer.
“Outsiders, huh? Hey, kid! This one’s on the house! Have a great time!”
“Ah, th-thank you.”
The child quickly expressed gratitude and took the skewer.
They took a bite and exclaimed in awe.
“It’s delicious…!”
The child had lived alone. The taste of seasonings created with care and thought overwhelmed the child’s senses.
Staring at the skewer for a moment, the child then offered it to Taesan with a decisive expression.
“This is really good. You should try it.”
“I’m good. You eat it.”
“Ah, thank you!”
The child eagerly devoured the skewer.
The festival continued.
A person dressed as a clown appeared, and a talking bird captivated the crowd. The child was no different—eyes sparkling as they wandered among the people, watching the sights.
Even then, the child didn’t let go of Taesan’s hand.
“…This is nice.”
The child murmured.
It was a short sentence, but full of emotion.
Taesan spoke.
“Do you long for an ordinary life?”
“Yes.”
The child nodded. His gaze rested on a boy their age, holding his parents’ hands and walking around with a smile.
“If I had been born normal… If I hadn’t been born with blue blood… what would it have been like? Could I have lived happily too?”
Despair, far too deep for someone their age, laced the child’s voice.
Taesan replied.
“What if you could live that kind of life?”
“Huh?”
“If your blood was merely blue, and it didn’t interfere with your life. Even if others persecuted you for having blue blood, but you could still live among them—would you still have made the same choice?”
“What do you mean?”
The child looked confused.
“You’ll understand soon.”
Taesan looked up at the sky.
From beyond space, a surge of power began to rush in. With a massive wave, it tried to manifest in the world.
Zzeojeojeok—
Cracks began forming in the ground.
Space twisted.
“Huh?”
The child’s expression stiffened. From experience, they knew this was a prelude to something terrible.
“I-it hasn’t even been a full day yet!”
“Getting impatient because the child seems to have found hope? How despicable.”
“W-we have to get out of here fast! If we don’t, this village—!”
The child desperately grabbed Taesan’s arm.
But before they could escape, a deafening roar rang out. Space warped, and the ground trembled.
People screamed and collapsed in fear.
“Aaaaaah!”
Despair covered the child’s face.
People were dying.
Because of no one else—but themselves.
Taesan stomped.
His divinity burst forth and collided with the divine power.
The twisted space began to stabilize quickly.
The power beyond space clashed with Taesan’s divinity and opposed it.
“…Huh?”
The child, who had been panicking, widened his eyes. Until now, he hadn’t realized what the power beyond space was. That was because Taesan had always suppressed it before he could notice.
But this time was different. The power beyond space collided with Taesan’s strength and clashed.
As a result, even a child who knew nothing could recognize the massive impact of the collision.
Taesan sneered toward the space beyond.
“Using your power from that far away won’t work on me.”
The power beyond space resisted as if to push back, but it was slowly trampled under Taesan’s strength.
“Just wait a little. I’ll be coming to you soon.”
Kwa-jik.
The space closed.
People groaned as they got back on their feet.
“W-what was that?”
“What happened?”
No one had died. The earth had shaken a bit, but not to the point of collapse. At worst, a few stalls had fallen over—that was the extent of the damage.
The child looked at Taesan with trembling eyes.
“…Taesan-nim?”
“Let’s head out for now.”
Taesan took the child and left the village.
The child stumbled and barely managed to collapse onto a patch of grass.
They bit their trembling fingernail.
“…What was that?”
This time, something was clearly wrong.
The curse had activated before a full day had passed. That had never happened before.
“And that…”
The power seen at the end—beyond space.
No matter how they looked at it, it didn’t seem like a curse.
The child was deeply confused.
“You’re not cursed. Just because you have blue blood doesn’t mean things like this will happen to you.”
“Huh?”
The God of Choice had said it. That she respects all choices. Even if that choice leads to death.
But a path that leaves no room for choice—one forced by others—was something she despised deeply.
Taesan slowly began explaining everything to the child.
* * *
A few days later.
The child stared at the golden temple with a lifeless face.
All sorts of negative emotions were written across his expression.
“All of this is your choice.”
Taesan spoke. The child, as if resolved, began walking toward the temple. The knights guarding the entrance pointed their spears at Taesan and the child.
“Halt! This is the temple where His Majesty the Emperor resides! Identify yourselves!”
“I… I am the cursed child.”
The child took off their robe. The guards, upon seeing the child’s identity, were thrown into confusion.
Suppressing their emotions, the child spoke.
“All the trials bestowed by His Majesty have been completed. I have come here, of my own will, to meet my end.”
