Chapter 11: Doubt and Sorrow
The continent of Niveish...
It is said that it was once one of the oldest battlegrounds during the Great War of the Gods.
Because of that, this world was named the world of [Niveish].
The world of Niveish is composed of multiple continents, islands, and seas,
and it also holds several hidden domains and sealed dangerous zones.
The largest continent in [Niveish] lies in the far south, followed by the Niveish Continent as the second largest.
The Niveish Continent is governed by three empires,
among which the
The continent where Cloud City is located belongs to the
The other empire, holding a similar size to the Magic Empire, is called the
The
but it suffers a scarcity of experts—they're extremely rare.
---
Back to Mimin's breakthrough.
That celestial phenomenon that appeared during Mimin's advancement was seen from all corners of the empire.
Some thought it was divine punishment, others believed the immortals were descending from the heavens.
Reactions varied between fear, joy, and confusion.
Meanwhile, as Mimin struggled desperately against the Great Reckoning, she finally reached her limit—and surrendered.
"Don't you dare give up again when I'm right in front of you!"
Sayru appeared instantly before Mimin and blocked the strike of the Reckoning with a massive, strange mana shield.
But the power of the Reckoning was overwhelming. The shield shattered in mere seconds.
Yet those few seconds were exactly what Sayru needed to execute his technique.
〔Sky Ripper – Sword of Darkness〕
Sayru's technique converted the mana gathered in his hands into a sword of darkness element.
Slash…
Explosion…
That sword tore through the intense pressure, resulting in a violent explosion.
Sayru turned toward Mimin.
"Didn't you tell me you were only breaking through to the Golden Crimson level?"
He asked angrily,
Even as he inscribed new runes to reinforce the formation.
"I did break through just to that! Why are you so mad??"
Mimin responded through gritted teeth.
"Then why did a Great Reckoning descend that could destroy both our souls?!
And not just that—I had to break a seal from my Divine Body just to stop my soul from shattering."
Sayru had a point.
With his soul stronger than even Mimin's, why would a Reckoning directed at a weaker soul nearly destroy his?
"I truly don't know! Look, my Soul Flame is glowing in golden crimson—I haven't reached the divine level."
Mimin genuinely didn't understand what had happened.
She revealed her Soul Flame so they could both confirm it.
When Sayru saw it, he confirmed her words were true.
He began to suspect something deeper.
"There's something strange going on that I'm not aware of…
And I'm still uneasy about that girl with the special body.
In any case, I reinforced the formation. It will help speed up your recovery.
We need to head back quickly before any experts arrive due to the celestial disturbance…
Besides, there isn't much time left before the seal returns to its original state."
Sayru activated the formation for Mimin's healing, then sat in silence—deep in thought.
'Strange things have been happening ever since I returned through time.
It feels as if the world itself has changed, and for several reasons:
First, the number of high-level magical beasts is way too high—this place was never this dangerous before.
Second, the celestial phenomenon itself—specifically that Great Reckoning—its spiritual pressure is lethal, not physical.
And the strangest thing I just realized… is this tattoo.
I can sense the Stone of Fate from it, but I have no connection to it, nor can I control it.'
Sayru pondered over many things.
Yet the Stone of Fate remained the greatest mystery to him.
He couldn't find answers no matter how much he thought,
but at least he realized the situation he was in was far more dangerous than he'd assumed.
"Alright… but none of this changes my plan to reclaim my strength.
What's more important now… is the Sea of Knowledge.
It'll become a much bigger problem soon."
Sayru deactivated the formation, and Mimin returned to his spiritual sea.
On the way back to Cloud City, Sayru heard a mental message from Mimin.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't expect the situation to become that dangerous.
If I had known, I would've tried to suppress my breakthrough…"
Mimin was clearly remorseful for the chaos she caused.
The sorrowful look on her face confirmed her regret.
"It's not your fault. I'm the one who didn't plan things well…
In any case, now we have to deal with the issue of the Spirit Land,
and I think I have a suitable solution.
At the very least, it'll buy us a lot of time."
Their conversation continued until Sayru returned to his room in Cloud City.
Once inside, Mimin exited his spiritual sea and stood before him.
The two locked eyes for a moment—
Suddenly, Mimin burst into laughter.
Sayru smirked slightly and said,
"Well, I guess my plan does sound funny, huh?"
His tone made it seem like he was mocking himself.
"No! I just feel bad for the Spirit Land and what's about to happen to them."
Sayru stood and walked to the window.
"If they want trouble…
Why not play with them a little?"
He paused, then added,
"Anyway, aren't we forgetting something important?"
Sayru focused sharply outside the window, then activated a spiritual scanning technique that covered the entire city.
"I don't think I've forgotten anything important—especially after making such good progress with my spiritual cultivation."
Sayru smiled coldly toward Mimin and replied:
"I'm bored.
Why don't we go… play with our little girl—the one with the special body.
Hmm… I think I should come up with a beautiful way to kill her!!"
Mimin felt a cold shiver from Sayru's smile and remained silent.
The look in her eyes was filled with doubt and sorrow.
It was clear she believed Sayru was no longer the same as before.
All she could do now was keep watching over him,
and make sure his actions didn't spiral out of control.
That was the core condition of their new contract.
"Alright… where is that girl now? Still in that alley?"
"She's not there anymore. Looks like she moved to another district…
Wait—seems like something's happening.
This might be worth watching. Let's go!"
The two left the room and headed toward one of the southern districts of the city.
Apparently, that district was known as the Slums.
Just the name made it clear what kind of place it was.
---
In a world ruled by martial cultivation, the only law is the law of the jungle:
The strong devour the weak.
And the weak survive only by serving the strong.
Slavery and poverty were ordinary matters—especially among commoners and Faniin who lacked talent for cultivation.
However, Cloud City was under imperial governance,
which meant that even Faniin could live there as long as they had money.
A commoner and his family could live an entire year with just 12 silver coins.
If they had a single gold coin, they could live their whole lives without worrying about money.
But the same couldn't be said for the poor who had no money.
Even so, the government still provided them with a place to live—the Slums—as long as one member of the family worked in the spirit ore mines.
Sayru arrived at the slums and stood atop a relatively tall building, watching what was happening below.
There, the girl with the special body was arguing with two men in front of a worn-down shack.
At first, it was just a verbal argument.
"Hey girl, you know how generous we were.
We lent your mother money, and all she ever gives us is excuses instead of paying back.
Ain't that right, big bro?"