I handed the bell to the Illusion Witch, who had wrinkled up again.
"This is…?"
"It's a bell. I suspect this thing is deeply connected to the current upheaval, so take a look at it."
"…Well, I can tell it's an artifact of no ordinary nature. But I sense an unfamiliar energy from it. If it's not from an orthodox Daoist sect, nor from the sorcery of the dark path… could it be Buddhist? But how could Buddhist energy be twisted to such a degree?"
For all her faults, she had real ability—the Illusion Witch saw through the bell's nature at once.
I nodded toward her and continued.
"It's an artifact of the Blood Buddha, whom I mentioned briefly earlier. To be precise, it was the Blood Buddha's main body."
"Heruk! So this monster has lived for hundreds of years by overlaying his own memories onto other people's bodies?"
"That's right."
"Surely the memories contained in this bell are up to something…"
"No. The Blood Buddha's memories are completely gone."
"What? From what I've heard, this Blood Buddha was a being who had reached a level one step ahead of mine. Just how did you manage to block his sorcery?"
"I cut him down."
"…What?"
"Literally, I cut him down. There were all sorts of twists and turns in the middle, but in the end, he died completely by my hand, so there's no need to worry about being eroded."
"Gruk. So memories and spells and the like can be cut by a sword?"
"What's there to be surprised about? Didn't the sorcery you, the Illusion Witch, cast the other day get cut as well?"
"If sorcery could be cut that easily, there'd be no reason for the martial world to use the word 'sorcery' as an insult."
The Illusion Witch let out a hollow laugh, but she seemed to have properly grasped that they were safe, for she began examining the bell, pouring energy into it, and testing it in various ways.
And before long, she seemed to have reached a conclusion, speaking with a somewhat more serious expression.
"I have a rough idea of why this happened."
"What is it?"
Naturally, my gaze, along with that of everyone else who had taken part in this plan, focused on the Illusion Witch.
The Illusion Witch flinched for a moment, as if the sharp gazes weighed on her, but her explanation itself flowed smoothly.
"From what I can tell, this bell was originally made to contain mental images. Used properly, it's nothing to worry about. All it does is—while the bell is being rung—faintly convey the images stored within it to everyone who hears the sound."
"Could you put that a little more simply? I'm not the only one—especially among the Orthodox Sects, there are many who know little of sorcery."
"Hmm. To put it briefly, it means you can transmit a person's emotions or scenes of intense memory to others in a far more complete and direct form than words. This Blood Buddha fellow must have amplified and abused that function. After all, to a Harmony Realm martial artist whose Essence, Qi, and Spirit are united, mental images and memories are hardly any different."
"A means more complete than words."
Human speech is convenient, but it isn't all that precise. Just as trying to explain enlightenment in words always leaves something slightly off.
"Wait. You're bringing that up now… surely not?"
"Yes. It seems the mental images contained in the bell responded to my illusion art."
"So the Blood Buddha's memories weren't the ones left behind?"
"No. If mental images that intense had remained, I would have noticed. Even if something did remain, it would be no more than a fragment."
"I see. So it's not the Blood Buddha, but someone else's mental image."
"Probably. However, as I said before, it would only be a trace… but if even that much can cause a change of this scale, I should be a bit more careful."
"Is that so."
The first one to be suspected is, of course, me.
I had only just learned the proper way to use the bell, but hadn't I used it several times before, claiming to show memories from before my regression?
In that process, it wouldn't be strange if some of my mental images had naturally seeped into it.
Well, it wasn't confirmed yet, so it wasn't worth bringing up.
I chuckled and moved on to the next topic.
"Anyway, so it reacted to illusions… In other words, you're saying it's your fault, Illusion Witch, not mine."
"Wha— You're shifting the blame like that?! It might not be because of my sorcery at all—it could be because Kunlun Mountain has been famous as a sacred mountain since ancient times, and the Potala Palace is also skilled in Vajrayana sorcery, so maybe it got tangled up with something they had prepared…"
"I was joking, so don't be so sensitive. If we're going to assign blame, I'm also at fault for bringing the bell in the first place. What matters now is what we do from here, isn't it?"
The moment I finished speaking, the Murim Alliance Leader, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.
"As the White Moon Sword Lord says. Since things have come to this, now is not the time to argue over whose fault it is. Illusion Witch. Can you get us out of here? Or how about dispelling the illusion? You're the one who cast it, aren't you?"
"Ah, yes. As long as we don't die, we can definitely get out. It'll just take a little time."
"Why are you suddenly saying something so ominous?"
"Well. As I said before, a gourd is originally a vessel meant to hold someone's mental image. And the mental image that had been silent all this while suddenly reacted, causing the sorcery to become tangled."
"So this means it's no longer just your sorcery alone, Illusion Witch."
"That's right. I've been trying to dispel it since earlier, but it's not working. It seems we'll have to see the mental image contained within… no, experience it before we can get out."
"Ah, is that so? Somehow that sounds familiar."
The Murim Alliance Leader let out a hollow laugh as he looked my way.
I could tell immediately what he was trying to say.
He was referring to how I, with the help of the Jegal family, Great Master Gakjeong, and the Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal, had shown the memories from before my regression to the other women.
Now that I heard it, it did sound similar. Of course, it was more like a kind of accident, so it was far more unstable, and perhaps it might not even be my memory.
Those who roughly understood the situation let out sighs mixed with relief and worry.
It was because they knew this wasn't an incomprehensible problem, yet instinctively felt that getting out of here wouldn't be so easy.
Seeing the shoulders of the subjugation squad, which had been brimming with enthusiasm just moments ago, gradually droop, I stepped forward and raised my voice.
"We were caught up in this unexpectedly too, but put another way, the rogue monks of the Potala Palace must have taken a proper hit as well. Isn't that right?"
"Th-that's right. They were at the center of the sorcery, so they're probably suffering quite a bit right now. I don't know what the illusion inside the bell was, but since it was something that lured us out with the dreadful scene the White Moon Sword Lord personally advised us about, it can't be anything ordinary!"
The Illusion Witch nodded her head rapidly, agreeing with my words. She seemed to be trying to help, but… somehow it felt like she was taking a roundabout jab at me.
I shot her a glare for no particular reason and continued speaking.
"So in the end, what needs to be done hasn't changed. We go inside and deal with the monks who must be scared out of their wits by now. The rest of you rescue the hostages. The buildings are still Kunlun Sect's, even if they're on fire, so you won't get lost, right? I went through the trouble of making you a map."
As I cracked a joke to lighten the mood, the tension around us finally began to ease.
Only after confirming this did I turn my gaze to the Kunlun Sect before us.
Flames blazed as if someone had doused the place in oil. The strange thing was that despite burning this fiercely, the Kunlun Sect's buildings themselves remained intact. I couldn't even feel any particular heat radiating from them.
Well, of course. The current situation was, after all, an illusion. And not just any illusion—a twisted piece of sorcery. There was nothing strange about the expected not happening.
I nodded to myself inwardly and took the lead, stepping into the blazing Kunlun Sect.
As expected, along the way I saw the corpses of monks clad only in robes over their bare bodies—a sight somewhat different from what one would see at Shaolin Temple.
Their attire and the way they had fallen matched exactly what the Illusion Witch and I had anticipated beforehand… but something was off.
Every corpse had a sword lying beside it.
Some were broken, some had never been drawn, and some were still clutched tightly in death.
But the one thing that was certain was that every single corpse had a sword at its side.
Just to be sure, I asked.
"Illusion Witch. Did you do this?"
"Of course not. I know the Potala Palace is quite different from the Buddhist sects of the Central Plains, but even I know they don't use weapons."
"Great Master Jeonghyeon. I understand you had dealings with the Potala Palace until relatively recently."
"That's right. I made contact while looking into ways to ease my late master's lingering attachment, but once I learned they had fallen down a dark path, I ceased all communication."
"But at least you must know what they use as weapons."
"Unlike Shaolin, which trains both External Arts and internal energy in harmony, they focus solely on internal energy, and their bodies are often frail. They don't use bladed weapons, but they don't wield ordinary staffs either—they use all sorts of ritual implements."
"So at least they don't use swords."
"That's right."
Then that sword must be connected to the mental image of whoever was mixed up in this.
…Is it really because of my own mental image?
No, all the blame lies with the Potala Palace. If they hadn't attacked the Kunlun Sect in the first place, none of this would have happened.
I cast aside the pointless guilt and continued deeper into the still-burning Kunlun Sect.
We arrived at the point where the battle squad and the rescue squad split ways.
"One-Blade Asura. The situation has changed, so I'll need you to help out with the rescue squad."
"Understood. But you're not telling me to bow my head to that brat from the Namgung Clan, are you?"
"He's my sworn brother. Don't speak of him carelessly. …However, that's not to say you should cower either. Brother Namgung and the Paecheon Sect Leader have agreed to cooperate while moving separately, so you'll coordinate between them and take the lead. You are a sect leader yourself, after all."
"Hmph. I'm not like the Paecheon Sect Leader, who's either an inexperienced brat or at best has led a dozen or so people. Fine. Leave this side to me."
One-Blade Asura slipped in among the rescue squad with a confident expression and moved away.
I watched his retreating back for a moment, then spoke.
"We'll keep going in on our own."
I continued forward. The moment I arrived at a deeper part of the Kunlun Sect.
A scream echoed from afar.
—Kyaaaaah!
The sound came from the direction we were heading. In all likelihood, it was the death cry of a defrocked monk from the Potala Palace.
I drew my sword in advance and asked the Illusion Witch.
"Didn't you say illusions were just illusions, with no killing power? That was clearly a death rattle by anyone's standards."
"W-Well, normally that's true… but there are exceptions."
"Exceptions."
"If the illusion is so realistic that the person believes they've died—no, if they completely believe it—then their heart truly stops."
"Is that possible?"
"It is possible. Just not easy. Normally, it only works when a sorcery user of that caliber casts an illusion at full power on a commoner who knows no martial arts at all."
In other words, any decent martial artist wouldn't fall for it.
Something ominous was unfolding.
I steeled my resolve and headed toward the source of the screams.
And then I saw it.
A madman radiating such overwhelming killing intent that it completely dominated the entire surrounding area.
A body that bore a human silhouette, yet was formed of writhing black shadow instead of flesh and blood.
With only its eyes stained crimson, the sight of it slaughtering the renegade monks of the Potala Palace was all too familiar.
And that was only natural—that martial art was none other than the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art.
The owner of that dreadful killing intent that called to mind the Heavenly Killing Star, the owner of those tangled thoughts… was none other than me.
By this point, the situation was already riddled with problems, but if I had to name the biggest one, it would be that martial level.
Clearly, it was acting like me before the regression, but looking at the more refined Sword Art and the vivid blood-red Sword Force, its martial level seemed similar to my current self.
In other words, a monster that had reached the Harmony Realm while still being the Sword Demon was running rampant.
"Damn it."
It was an opponent even more terrifying than the Heavenly Demon.