Lee Do-hyeon, Reina (the Heavenly Sword Monarch), and the bard Arknan set out in search of the floating island of Laputa.The path they took was not merely a road through the sky.
On the way to the heavens lay the Arcane Currents—a storm of sorcery, not mere wind,a vortex of magic strong enough to shake the fabric of space and tear apart the very essence of anything caught within.
Arknan's face was drawn tight with worry.
"If we don't understand these currents, we won't survive."
Lee Do-hyeon clenched his teeth.
"Then tell me—can they be pierced?"
Arknan's eyes darted as he analyzed the flow.
"You have to read the current! If we just charge through blindly, the wyvern will be the first to fall apart!"
The wyvern and its draconic hybrid kin beneath them beat their wings desperately, struggling to hold steady.But as soon as they were caught in the swirl, their wings wavered violently.
And then—
Reina closed her eyes.For decades in the Murim, she had trained to reach the state of becoming one with her sword.But here, in the world of Elysium, that sensation felt… different.
Here, there was no such thing as naegong (內功).Instead, there was mana and the raw flow of arcane power.
She gazed into the raging Arcane Currents.And then—
She felt it.
The pulse of the Murim.
Like an arrow loosed from the Celestial Divine Bow (天弓神弓),she leapt from the wyvern's back.
Shhhhk—!
Lee Do-hyeon's eyes widened.
"Reina!"
But she wasn't falling.
Her body became one with her sword—a streak of steel,a bullet tearing through the sky.
She rode the flow of the Arcane Current itself,channeling the sword-qi and bodily harmony she had forged in the Murim,to unleash a technique that split even the swirling chaos.
Her blade traced a vivid azure arc,cutting through the torrent—
And the Arcane Current parted.
In that moment, the wyvern broke free of the crushing resistance.A narrow, stable path opened through the storm.
Lee Do-hyeon's breath caught in his throat.That movement… that's beyond mastery.
She guided the raging stream with her sword,bending the flow itself—as if carving a channel through stone for water to pass.
Lee Do-hyeon turned sharply to Arknan.
"How… is she doing that?"
Arknan's eyes gleamed with fascination.
"Murim swordsmanship… is merging with this world's magic."
Lee Do-hyeon gritted his teeth.If that was true—
He, too, could read the flow and carve the path.
He drew his sword and followed where Reina had begun,reading the subtle divide she'd opened in the current.His blade moved in harmony, widening, stabilizing—transforming a single split into a clear channel.
Reina's sword and Lee Do-hyeon's sword converged in the storm.Their arcs crossed, layered, and fused—until their twin blades carved a perfect passage.
The wyvern surged forward, riding the path of steel and light.Even within the raging Arcane Currents, it found its balance,and carried them, unscathed, to the skies above—
—to the floating island of Laputa.
Arknan stared, awestruck.
"This… this is the power of the Murim."
Lee Do-hyeon allowed himself a thin smile.
"No. This is something new—the power of the Murim and this world's magic,woven into one."
****
Chapter : The Floating Island, Laputa
The floating island of Laputa hung in the sky like a dream suspended by magic.Massive stones drifted in the endless blue,and at its heart stood a sanctum overflowing with arcane power.
Lee Do-hyeon exhaled slowly.
"We finally found it…"
But they realized almost at once—this was no ordinary island.
Reina's sharp gaze swept their surroundings.She murmured under her breath,
"…Something is watching us."
Before her words had fully left her lips,the air itself stirred—unseen presences moving through the sky.
And then—
A colossal form emerged.
Eyes burning crimson.Wings that radiated power.A being of both light and shadow—
The Arcane Dragon revealed itself.
Lee Do-hyeon tightened his grip on his sword.
"At last… we meet."
The Arcane Dragon's voice rumbled low and deep, shaking the very air.
"Who are you… mortals?"
Reina raised her blade, her stance steady.
"We've come for the knowledge you guard."
The dragon's wings unfurled,their sheer force like a blade cleaving the fabric of the heavens.
And then—
The battle began.
***
Chapter : The Arcane Dragon – Fusion of Inner Energy and Mana
Above Laputa, within the raging arcane storm that cloaked the floating island, the battle with the Arcane Dragon began.Its presence was overwhelming.
Shrrrraang—!
Vast wings unfurled,and arcane magic warped space itself, bending the flow of light.
This was not mere strength.Here, atop Laputa, the Arcane Dragon had become almost one with the natural order.Its magic was fused seamlessly with this realm,making resistance itself feel impossible.
Lee Do-hyeon and Reina struck back through the endless storm of attacks.
The Seven-Blade Dance (칠검무) carved through the air,and Lee Do-hyeon's Flame–Thunder Sword Dance (염뢰검무) came crashing down like lightning.
But—
"Break."
The dragon's low murmur shattered their strikes.Blades and sword-light disintegrated midair,as if their very will to cut had been erased.
Lee Do-hyeon's eyes wavered.'My attacks… they're being unraveled?'
Reina grit her teeth.'This isn't just power—it's manipulation of the flow itself.'
The Arcane Dragon's magic was not a mere spell.It was a principle.
Before it,no physical force could reach against the current.
Arcane blasts exploded,driving Lee Do-hyeon and Reina toward the cliff's edge.
Behind them, nothing but endless sky.Before them, a dragon wielding the currents of arcane magic itself.
They unleashed their strongest combination.
Lee Do-hyeon's Flame–Thunder Sword Dance surged with fire and lightning, engulfing the dragon.Reina's Seven-Blade Dance pierced with razor precision, seeking a weakness.
But—
The Arcane Dragon's eyes glowed as it whispered,
"Light fades. Darkness flows."
In that instant,the arcane barrier surrounding it surged—
Reina's and Lee Do-hyeon's attacks were absorbed outright.
Reina bit the edge of her blade and muttered,
"This isn't defense… it's like—"
Lee Do-hyeon's voice cut in, tight with realization,
"In martial terms… it's like a soft flow that itself becomes defense?"
At that moment,Arknan, who had been watching, finally understood.
"…Because this is Laputa."
Laputa—a floating island where arcane magic flows like breath.
This was not just a skybound rock.It was a cradle of the arcane itself.
Here, the Arcane Dragon was not just powerful—it was amplified.
Arknan shouted,
"The arcane current itself shields him!You'll never pierce it with brute force!"
Lee Do-hyeon and Reina realized the truth.
Then how do we break through?
They stood on the edge.Their mana and inner energy were nearly spent.
And then—Reina's eyes sharpened.
Within the arcane torrent, she felt something familiar.
"This feeling…"
Lee Do-hyeon felt it too.
At the very moment exhaustion should have crushed him,his inner energy—his naegong—began to rise.
"This… it's the same as inner energy.No—it's another form of qi."
The arcane flow seeped into their bloodstreams,merging into the channels of their energy.
The weariness in their bodies faded.Their depleted reserves refilled.Their inner energy and mana began circulating as one.
The arcane current…was fundamentally the same essence as qi.
The Arcane Dragon sensed it—its eyes narrowing.
In that moment—
Reina gripped her swordand threw herself into the arcane flow.
Lee Do-hyeon cried out in shock.
"Reina!"
But she only smiled.
"It's fine. I understand now."
Her sword cut through the storm—and her body swam through the torrent like a fish through water.
She no longer resisted the flow.She accepted it.
She saw the arcane current not as foreign magic,but as another form of qi.
And in that instant—
The sword of the Heavenly Sword Monarch carved an entirely new path in the storm.
Lee Do-hyeon stared in disbelief.'She's doing it…?'
The arcane current,fused with inner energy,created something entirely new.
In that moment—
Sword and magic became one.
***
Chapter : The Arcane Abyss – Those Who Were Acknowledged
"One who has grasped the Arcane Flow… intriguing."
The Arcane Dragon spread its vast wings, gazing down upon them.Its deep, unfathomable eyes shimmered with endless magical currents.
Lee Do-hyeon and Reina stood their ground, breaths ragged.They had poured every ounce of strength into the fight—the Seven-Blade Dance (칠검무), the Flame–Thunder Sword Dance (염뢰검무), every technique they knew.
Yet the battle had not ended with victory or defeat.
The Arcane Dragon had never truly fallen,but neither had their blades been meaningless.Instead, their swords had begun to resonate with the flow of arcane magic itself.
And within them—something had changed.
The Arcane Dragon studied them, then finally spoke.
"You have reason to be here."
It was not a simple acknowledgment.It was a verdict—the battle itself had been a trial.
Reina sheathed her sword, meeting the dragon's gaze.The fire of battle still smoldered in her eyes,but there was also a rare calmness—the stillness of someone who had gained something profound through combat.
"So you were testing us, weren't you?"
The Arcane Dragon inclined its head slowly.
"Indeed. I wished to see… whether you understood the Flow.
Lee Do-hyeon exhaled and slid his sword back into its scabbard.
"So you never meant to kill us from the start."
The Arcane Dragon's lips curled into the faintest of smiles.
"I merely watched.And in watching, I saw you accept the Arcane—not resist it.I witnessed the moment you embraced its flow.That was the answer I sought."
Arknan's tense shoulders eased slightly, though his voice still carried caution.
"So… you've acknowledged us?"
The Arcane Dragon gave a slow, deliberate nod.
"Those who understand the Arcane…have earned their place here."
At those words,the oppressive magic saturating the air finally receded.
The raging currents that had engulfed Laputa's skies subsided,and the air became clear once more.
In that stillness,Lee Do-hyeon and Reina felt something stirring within them—a new possibility.
Their inner energy and mana reorganized themselves,circulating with a newfound precision,as if their very bodies had learned to breathe the Arcane.
The Arcane Dragon spoke once more, its voice like a deep chime across the sky.
"I know what it is you seek.But to claim it, you must descend into the Arcane Abyss.
Its enormous wings spread gently,the currents of magic streaming from its body like part of the heavens themselves.
Lee Do-hyeon's voice was steady as he asked,
"The Arcane Abyss… where is it?"
The dragon turned, lifting its great head.Far beyond Laputa's edge—a vast rift loomed, where light and darkness intertwined.
"There.Beyond that tear, you will find the truths you seek."
Reina's sharp eyes narrowed on the rift.The space seemed unreal—a place where reality blurred with dream.
And beyond that threshold,another step awaited.
Arknan's brow furrowed, his voice low.
"The Arcane Abyss… will the answers we need truly lie there?"
Lee Do-hyeon's grip tightened on his sword.
"There's only one way to find out."
Their path now led deeper—further than any of them had dared before.
The Arcane Dragon's recognition was not an ending.
It was simply the opening of a new door—one that led toward an even greater trial.