Chapter 1: The Hibiscus Has Bloomed
The Origin that governed half of the entire universe.
As the supreme being approached the end of its existence,
the great entities who had once served Him—beings who now each presided over a universe of their own—gathered together.
They had come to establish a new Origin.
Fifteen.
The first time Jang Il stepped onto a battlefield, all he saw was hell.
More loathsome than blood was the ugliness of human nature.
More cowardly than death was the pitiful desperation of those who clung to life.
For an entire year,
he barely survived that storm of despair thanks only to his master’s guidance.
And then he witnessed something he could never have imagined.
While desperately holding back the ferocious enemy assault, Jang Il looked away for the briefest moment.
Thud!
Splaash!
His master died.
A crude bamboo spear—the kind everyone had dismissed—pierced straight through his master’s side as though it were nothing.
Thud! Thud! Slash!
More bamboo spears stabbed into his master’s rigid body one after another.
At last, a dull, unimpressive sword severed his head.
It was an absurdly meaningless death.
Considering that his master was the very warrior who had just slain the enemy commander, it was an ending almost impossible to believe.
But the battlefield had already tipped so overwhelmingly against them that such an outcome had become possible.
Crunch!
Jang Il clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
The death of the man who had been like a father made it feel as if his own heart would burst.
Yet somehow, he forced down the overwhelming grief and tightened his grip on his sword.
Because he knew…
If he surrendered to his emotions, even for a moment, he would soon follow his master into death.
Clang! Clang! Boom!
He swung his sword again.
And again.
But against enemies who already held the advantage, there was little he could accomplish.
Slash… Slash…
Enemy blades grazed his body one after another, soaking his clothes until they grew heavy with blood.
His meager inner energy had completely run dry.
His footwork technique no longer functioned, his movements becoming tangled and clumsy.
The skin on his sword hand had peeled away, making the hilt slippery with blood.
Even maintaining his grip had become difficult.
Whoosh!
Finally, he sensed a sword slicing through the air toward his head.
It seemed this was the end.
Unable to face his own death, Jang Il shut his eyes.
…What?
Yet moments later, he realized something was wrong.
Enough time had passed for his head to have already been cut off…
Yet he felt no pain whatsoever.
Gasp!
His eyes snapped open.
The sight before him stole his breath.
The sword that had been only an instant away from splitting open his skull was advancing slower than a crawling turtle.
For a brief moment he wondered if the enemy was mocking him.
But the instant he looked at the man wielding the sword, he knew that wasn’t the case.
The soldier’s face was twisted with murderous rage,
and the killing intent pouring from him was terrifyingly real.
W-What in the world…?
Only then did Jang Il look around.
He was left speechless.
The enormous battlefield—
No.
The entire world—
had slowed to an impossible crawl.
Crunch!
He had no idea what had happened.
But he wasn’t foolish enough to waste this opportunity.
Gathering every last ounce of strength, he took a powerful step forward.
His eyes lit up.
Thank heavens!
He didn’t understand this bizarre phenomenon.
But he realized that he alone was free from its effects.
And what happened next was inevitable.
Slash! Stab!
With nothing more than a tilt of his head, Jang Il dodged the sword aimed at him before splitting both helmet and skull apart.
Without pause, he rotated his blade halfway around and thrust it into the left eye of the spearman attacking his flank.
The sword pierced all the way through the back of the man’s head.
Death was instantaneous.
The blood from the two men he had slain blossomed slowly through the frozen air in a strangely magnificent display.
Jang Il didn’t spare it even a glance.
Instead, he retreated into the opening their deaths had created.
It was the only logical choice.
His stamina and inner energy had both reached their limits.
Running away was his only chance to survive.
“Huff… Huff…”
Suppressing the urge to collapse, Jang Il focused solely on retreating.
The situation behind the lines wasn’t much better.
But from experience, he knew there was still at least a sliver of hope there.
However…
As the rear lines gradually came into view, he was forced to stop.
Enemy cavalry had already broken through.
Though there were only a few dozen horsemen,
that alone was more than enough to shatter the already collapsing formation.
I… can’t give up.
He could almost feel death’s fingers brushing against the back of his neck.
Still, he gritted his teeth and searched desperately for any path to survival.
His resolve was admirable.
Unfortunately, his circumstances were hopeless.
Had he remained at the front, he might have exploited the chaos.
But the rear was already being squeezed shut like a noose.
Damn it!
For some reason…
He understood that instinctively.
Normally, such insight would’ve been beyond him.
But his desperate will to live, combined with this bizarre phenomenon, allowed him to grasp the situation immediately.
Just as he was about to surrender to despair—
Something even stranger happened.
“Mu~gung~hwa~~… Flo~wer~~…”
A playful voice carrying a bizarre melody echoed across heaven and earth.
…Have I gone insane?
No matter where he looked,
no one else seemed to hear that enormous, uncanny voice.
“…Has~ Bloomed~.”
The moment those strange words were completed—
The already sluggish world came to a complete stop.
Countless soldiers froze.
The blood suspended in midair froze.
The wind froze.
Even the blazing sunlight ceased moving.
“Hahaha!”
An eerie burst of laughter rang out.
Jang Il instinctively looked upward.
What he saw was beyond belief.
Descending gently from the heavens was a man with jet-black skin.
He wore a pure white suit made from an unrecognizable material,
a white hat with an unusually long square brim,
and held a pristine white umbrella.
He floated lazily through the sky toward Jang Il.
Gulp.
The scene was more fantastical than any legend or folktale he had ever heard.
Jang Il forgot to breathe, barely managing to swallow.
Ignoring his shock,
the bizarre being accelerated as it descended toward him.
Tap.
Landing so lightly it was almost unbelievable,
the man greeted him with elegant courtesy.
“There you are.
I’ve been searching for you for quite some time.”
“Huff… Huff…”
Unlike the cheerful stranger,
Jang Il could only gasp for breath.
His breathing had yet to recover enough for speech.
But even if it had,
he doubted he could have said anything.
Instinct told him the truth.
This strange being…
was the one who had slowed the world,
and then brought it to a complete halt.
Before such an unfathomably powerful existence,
he was nothing more than an insignificant insect.
The mysterious being, seemingly oblivious to Jang Il’s feelings, merely sighed in annoyance.
“My apologies.
I should have found you much sooner.
But this world is cluttered with far too many trivial things…
Honestly, had I not discovered traces of Him, I might have erased this entire place.”
“…”
Jang Il had no idea what he meant.
But instinctively,
he knew those casual words carried an unimaginably terrifying meaning.
After grumbling for a moment,
the being looked at him with genuine admiration.
“So it truly is His bloodline.
Even that alone is enough to surprise me.
Even the beings worshiped as gods in this world cannot escape these restraints.”
He seemed to be referring to the fact that Jang Il alone had been able to move freely within the slowed world.
Apparently…
Even someone like this found that astonishing.
But overwhelmed by the being’s presence,
Jang Il couldn’t grasp the significance.
The stranger smiled broadly.
“Hmm.
I’ve long since transcended the need for a name…
But introductions are only proper.
Long ago…
I was known as Maka.
I am a servant who attends Him, the Origin of half of all universes.
I came because one of your ancestors inherited His legacy.”
“…”
Jang Il fell silent.
Not because he failed to understand.
But because he understood all too well.
After swallowing hard, he finally managed to ask,
“…A-Are you saying…
He… is my ancestor?”
“Indeed.”
“!!”
The revelation left Jang Il utterly stunned.
A being so magnificent that someone like Maka called himself merely a servant…
was his ancestor?
For someone who, before meeting his master, had been treated as a life so insignificant that he could disappear without anyone noticing,
it was impossible to comprehend.
Watching his astonishment, Maka continued.
“That is not what truly matters.
What matters is that this qualifies you…
to become one of His successors.”
“…Is…
is that really possible?”
Jang Il couldn’t help but ask.
He couldn’t even survive this battlefield.
What Maka was saying was far beyond anything his mind could process.
A being capable of interfering with the very laws of the universe and binding entire stars…
Of course Maka understood exactly how he felt.
Laughing heartily, he replied,
“Hahaha!
In your current state?
Absolutely impossible.
However…
A candidate for succession is granted one of His countless divine authorities.
If you awaken that power properly,
you will become something entirely different from what you are now.”
“…Divine authority?”
Jang Il’s eyes trembled.
He couldn’t comprehend what such words even meant.
Seeing his confusion, Maka chuckled before casually waving his hand.
Fwoooosh!
A white, glowing box appeared in the air before Jang Il.
“Inside are countless orbs containing His divine authorities.
You have the honor of choosing one.
Even the most insignificant among them would be a blessing beyond measure.
Perhaps…
one of them may even save you from your present predicament.”
“!!”
Jang Il barely cared about mysterious powers.
What struck him was the possibility…
that he might survive.
Rustle.
After cautiously watching Maka’s expression and receiving an encouraging smile,
he finally reached into the glowing box.
The instant his hand entered,
he pulled it back out.
Resting in his palm was a single orb,
radiating a brilliant platinum light.
