Lee Do-hyeon and Reyna had begun to understand through recent battles that Arcane Magic shared the same resonance as naegong (inner energy).Arcane Magic was fundamentally different from all other forms of magic they had known.It wasn't an elemental spell of fire, ice, or lightning—It was the raw flow of power itself.
To delve deeper into this force, Arknan gathered the finest scholars and mages of Arcane—those touched by the influence of the Arcane Dragon in Laputa,masters of secrets few dared to whisper.
And in that gathering, the truth of Arcane Magic was revealed.
One mage raised his hand and spoke:
"Fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning, light, darkness…Every magic you know—it all began with Arcane."
Lee Do-hyeon's eyes narrowed."So you're saying Arcane is… the source of all magic?"
The mage nodded.
"Arcane has no inherent attribute.Instead, it is the power that grants attributes.That is why it is called the first magic, the origin of all."
Reyna tilted her head, a sharp smile curving her lips."If someone can master Arcane… then they can master all elements?"
"In theory—yes."
The mage stretched his hand into the empty air.Mana churned around his fingertips,and from nothingness, pure energy bloomed.
"How you mold this power—determines if it becomes flame,ice,or even the distortion of space itself."
Lee Do-hyeon and Reyna watched silently, absorbing every word.
The mages demonstrated Arcane.
One mage flicked his hand—and bread and fruit materialized in the air.Not an illusion, not conjured trickery—real food.
"Arcane can shape matter.It cannot create life—but it can create what sustains life."
Lee Do-hyeon plucked the bread from the air, skeptical.He bit into it.It tasted real.It was real.
A low breath escaped him."…With this, we'll never starve, no matter where we go."
Another mage swept his hand—and his body vanished, reappearing tens of meters away.
Reyna's eyes glinted."…Even the highest mastery of martial arts cannot match that so easily."
"Arcane bends space.This—" the mage smiled faintly,"is called teleportation."
The last mage reached out into the void.Blue light gathered, shaping itself into the faint outline of a humanoid figure.It had no flesh, no true form—only the flow of Arcane holding it together.
"Through Arcane, you can create beings—echoes, servants, constructs.They have no will of their own—but they obey."
Lee Do-hyeon's brow furrowed."…Like a martial artist forcing bunshin—a body of ki—into existence."
And in that moment, Lee Do-hyeon and Reyna understood:At the zenith of martial arts,naegong and Arcane were not merely similar—
they were the same stream.
The flow of qi and the flow of Arcane were one.
The transcendence of martial arts mirrored Arcane's power to fold space.
The way of shaping naegong was the way of shaping Arcane.
Reyna murmured, her voice low, almost reverent."…Now I see.When I reached the realm of the Demon King of the Heavens,that 'flow' I felt…It was the same flow as Arcane."
Lee Do-hyeon nodded, slowly.He raised his sword and let it slice through the air.
Sword-ki shimmered—and subtly shifted, drawn into Arcane's current.
And in that single motion, he knew.
Arcane was not just another branch of magic.
It was another form of naegong.The source of all power.
***
Chapter : The Path of Gods and the Path of Man
The nights in Elysium were long.
Since the War God Arrekar's proxy, Erion, had led his crusade on their stronghold, the city had regained a semblance of peace.But it was a fragile calm, a thin layer over a storm that could shatter it at any moment.
Lee Do-hyeon stood atop the high spire of the temple—no, Æthernion, the new name for the reclaimed sanctuary—and looked down.
People were gathering, following him and Reyna.What was once just a refuge had become something greater:a power in its own right.
Yet doubt still lingered in his mind.
Do-hyeon gripped his sword tighter.Since grasping the essence of Arcane, his naegong and swordsmanship had begun to evolve into something new.But even so, he felt the weight of insufficiency.
He swung his blade, slicing through the empty night air.
What does it even mean… to be strong?
Reyna approached in silence.Even now, she carried that crushing aura of presence—the Demon King of the Heavens.
"You've been brooding more than usual lately," she said, her voice as casual as if she were commenting on the weather.
Do-hyeon hesitated, then asked quietly.
"Reyna… why do you seek strength?"
Reyna twirled her sword in her hand, the movement as natural as breathing.
"Is there any other choice but to grow stronger?"
"Then where does that strength end?"
For a heartbeat, she paused.The answer had always been obvious to her—until now.
"To become a god."
The words left her lips like cold iron.
In the Murim, they believed that if one pursued the absolute peak of martial arts, one became something akin to a god.For Reyna, the pinnacle of strength was, naturally, to reach that realm—to become the Martial God.
But Lee Do-hyeon shook his head.
"Does becoming strong always have to mean becoming a god?"
Reyna's brows furrowed ever so slightly.
"If not, then what are you chasing strength for?"
It was then Do-hyeon realized the fundamental difference between them.
For Reyna, strength itself was the goal.
For him, strength was only a means.
He met her eyes and spoke clearly.
"I have no intention of becoming a god."
Reyna's eyes sharpened with interest."Then what path will you walk?"
Do-hyeon lowered his sword, holding her gaze.
"I'll find a way… to become something greater than the gods—without ever becoming one."
Reyna laughed softly, a sound halfway between amusement and challenge.
"Interesting. But do you really think you can surpass gods without becoming one?"
Do-hyeon's voice was calm."Why were gods born as gods in the first place?"
"They were gods from the beginning. That's all."
"No." His words cut the night air."Gods are fed by worship.By faith.By belief.
Without those, they cannot grow."
Reyna fell silent.
She had ruled sects in the Murim, commanded legions of followers, and to many she had been as a god.
And yet—she was not one.
"So what are you really saying?"
Do-hyeon raised his sword again, his eyes unwavering.
"Gods aren't just 'strong beings.'They only exist because of belief.But if someone could gain strength without that belief—someone could stand beyond them."
Reyna's sword moved lightly, the edge of her smile sharp as her blade.
"Does such a being even exist?"
Do-hyeon's answer was firm.
"I intend to become one."
"That's your path, then?"
"Yes."
She studied him for a long moment.There was no tone of a master lecturing a disciple,but strangely—it felt like a master appraising a student.
Finally, Reyna smiled faintly.
"Good. Then I'll watch and see if you find that path."
From that moment,even without naming it,Reyna began to guide him.
She corrected his swordsmanship.
She taught him to read the flow in the middle of a fight.
She even worked with him to weave Arcane and naegong together.
Do-hyeon realized what she was doing—and chose to say nothing.
"If you wish to become a god," he said one evening,"then I'll find a way to surpass them without becoming one."
Reyna's lips curved into the faintest, most dangerous smile.
"Let's see if you can."
Their paths were diverging.
But for now—
they still walked together.
***
Chapter : Elysium, the Sealed Planet
Lee Do-hyeon, Reyna, and Arknan had finally uncovered deeper truths about Elysium.What they found in an ancient archive was a revelation that shook them all.
"This entire world… is Titan?"
Arknan flipped through the brittle pages, his face etched with disbelief.
"This isn't just a world…"
Do-hyeon silently read on.Reyna crossed her arms, her sharp eyes narrowing as she processed the meaning behind the words.
According to the records, this world had not been merely created—it had been shaped from something greater.
Before the birth of the gods, Titans had carved out reality itself, laying down the first order of the cosmos.In doing so, they embedded fragments of their own essence into the land.
When the gods rose, the Titans fell.
But their defeat hadn't been as simple as chains and prisons.
The gods had done something far crueler:they transfigured the Titans' bodies into the very foundation of this world.
Elysium itself—was not just a planet.
It was a seal.
A corpse.
A fragment of a Titan's body.
"Then this world… might actually be Gaia."
Do-hyeon's voice was low, almost reluctant to give form to the thought.
"Gaia…?" Reyna turned to him, her expression unreadable."You mean… that Gaia?"
Arknan traced his fingers along a line of script, his tone dry but weighted.
"Gaia—or the 'Mother of Earth'—appears in myths across countless worlds."
He tapped a particular passage.
'This world… was once alive.'
Reyna's eyes narrowed."…What does that mean?"
Arknan exhaled slowly.
"It means this planet isn't just a rock in the void.It might have been… a living being."
Do-hyeon's hand lingered on the page.
'The Titan's flesh was sealed by the gods.But the seal was never absolute.Its traces remain, scattered across this world.'
He closed the book with a muted thud.
"Then this world itself… could be the seal."
Reyna's expression darkened, sharp as a drawn blade."So the ground we're standing on…"
Arknan gave a humorless chuckle.
"…Might very well be a Titan's flesh."
"Then why is this the only world with life?"
Do-hyeon's voice cut through the silence.He'd wondered this before, staring up at the unfamiliar constellations of this realm.
"Didn't you say none of the other stars have living worlds?"
Arknan nodded grimly.
"Yes. As far as we know, Elysium stands alone—the only world teeming with life."
Do-hyeon's gaze hardened.
"Then that's no accident."
Reyna tilted her head, intrigued."What are you getting at?"
Do-hyeon flipped the tome open again, his fingers brushing the worn pages.
"Think of the Gaia Theory.
If this planet itself holds life—if it is life—then it was never like other planets to begin with."
Arknan leaned closer, his brow furrowed."You mean…?"
Do-hyeon's voice was calm, but the weight of his words filled the chamber.
"If this world isn't just stone and soil,but a living fragment of a Titan—
Then Elysium isn't just a stage for this war.
It's a Titan's body."
In that moment, all three of them reached the same grim conclusion.
This world was special not because of divine favor or cosmic chance—
but because the land itself lived.
The planet beneath their feet was Gaia.
A Titan's sealed, sleeping form.
"What if that seal breaks?"
The question came unspoken yet clear between them.
If the seal truly shattered—the Titan wouldn't just awaken.
The world itself would change.
Elysium might not survive it.
"Order itself could collapse," Do-hyeon muttered, his hand tightening around his sword.
"Then there's only one path left for us."
He turned to the window, staring out at the endless horizon.
"We have to find a way… for this world to survive."
Reyna's lips curved, an amused smile tugging at the corner.
"Or you could just become a god."
Do-hyeon laughed quietly, a dry, bitter sound.
"…I'm not there yet."
But even as he dismissed it, he understood something fundamental.
This wasn't just a war between gods and men anymore.
It was a fight for the existence of the world itself.