28. The Secrets of Time and the Sword of Memory
Starting November 2023, The Korea Daily is excited to publish the fantasy novel series “Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years” on our website. This new captivating series follows a trio of young adventurers on their quest to uncover the mysteries of ancient civilizations, including the Maya and Inca. In an exciting development, Netflix is currently adapting the novel’s storyline into a film.
The ‘Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years’ is the latest novel authored by Jeeyoon Ha, who created the “Pangaea series.” Ha’s debut novel, “The Pangaea: Finding Xibalba,” was selected by the Korea Creative Content Agency in 2022 as part of their initiative to support the global export of fantasy literature.
Readers can eagerly anticipate the online publication of two installments each month, with new chapters appearing bi-weekly, offering a regular escape into this magical realm. *Mark Oh translated the Korean novel into English.
Suri felt himself being slowly pulled into a very quiet black hole. It was only for a brief moment. As he crossed some rift in space and time with Marblem, he witnessed an unexpected scene.
The world before him appeared to be an era dominated by dinosaurs. Not the Jurassic period, but an extraordinary world where dinosaurs coexisted with sorcerers. What was even more astonishing was that spaceships were flying through the skies inhabited by dinosaurs. The entire world was filled with the sounds of dinosaur roars and spaceship engines. And the sorcerers were engaged in battle.
“Where are we? Where on earth have we come?”
Suri was bewildered.
“It’s the same… it’s just like the Marblem War a thousand years ago… only the era and background are different… and their magic hasn’t changed at all. The magic is the same…”
Marblem must have been equally startled.
“Look over there, over there!”
Suri shouted.
There, behind the prayer tree guarded by dozens of Bahar tribe members, was the sword. It was a colossal sword, radiating an indomitable aura, forged in the crucible of countless battles. The hilt of the sword was clearly made of Almitan metal. The blade itself was dazzlingly transparent, revealing its interior. Inside the transparent sword, something was swirling. It was the unknown hieroglyphs that Suri had seen in his dreams. The hieroglyphs were trapped within the sword.
“The Black Panther told me to find the sword. That’s the sword right there. That sword… but it has hieroglyphs on it… what could it mean? Why are there hieroglyphs… Wow… what is this? It’s amazing. It’s so mysterious… so, so…”
Suri’s exclamations continued.
“…That sword is the memory of the stars. It’s the first time I’ve seen it. I’m sure I participated in the battle, but why didn’t I see it before?”
Marblem was bewildered.
“That sword holds a terrifying secret. The memory of the stars… you said it’s a memory? What kind of memory is it hiding?”
Suddenly, Suri shouted.
“It’s because of you. Suri… the sword appeared because you showed up.”
Marblem repeated the same words, seemingly unable to believe it.
“Really?”
Suri, just like Marblem, couldn’t believe it either.
“…A secret? What kind of secret could it possibly be?”
Suri was moved just by the fact that he had encountered the sword that the Black Panther had told him to find. The Black Panther had been spot on.
“But do you know where we are? You said we’d go a million years back, right? A million years ago… where are we? Where?”
Suri asked urgently.
“A million years ago… is exactly where the Marblem War took place a thousand years ago.”
Marblem spoke with certainty.
“No, no… we’ve been to both a thousand years ago and a million years ago, haven’t we? Right?”
Suri couldn’t contain his excitement.
“But now that I gaze upon it… there’s an ethereal revelation unfolding before my eyes. The hallowed ground where titans clashed is also the prophesied realm… the sacred prayer tree and the Bahar tribesmen with eyes like shimmering crystals… they’re the celestial sentinels, aren’t they?… Hahaha… Perhaps I was never destined to be the protagonist after all?”
Suri chuckled in disbelief, his voice tinged with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
“Listen here, you… you’re the most formidable sorcerer in the entire cosmos. When you utter such self-deprecating nonsense… I’m torn between wanting to hex you or simply knock some sense into that thick skull of yours. You’re really pushing the boundaries of my patience.”
Suri felt an overwhelming urge to deliver a swift punch to Marblem’s arm.
“It only dawned on me today, Suri. My hubris has always been my greatest charm… and now that very arrogance is crumbling like sand through an hourglass… The Marblem War… no, no, the cataclysmic clash of sorcerers is…”
Marblem’s voice dripped with a palpable sense of disillusionment.
“Malta.”
Suri’s eyes widened with excitement.
“No, no… it’s not the Mediterranean Malta you’re envisioning… picture Malta nestled within the Canis Major Triangle. That Malta isn’t a continent or an island, my dear.”
Marblem’s enthusiasm now surpassed even Suri’s.
“What in the name of all that’s magical? If it’s neither continent nor island… then pray tell, what enigma are you speaking of?”
Suri found himself at a loss for words.
“By the stars… so that’s what it was all along?”
It wasn’t a continent, nor an island. It wasn’t even a planet. It was Altima-39.
“Altima was far more than a mere metal… my predictions have proven true.”
At that moment, a cacophony of sounds erupted – a thunderous roar, the clash of metal, and the crackling of lightning – all melding into one deafening symphony. The combined magical might of the six tribes was truly awe-inspiring. The sorcerers had looked down upon Marblem, dismissing him as nothing more than a juvenile magician dabbling in trivial spells. But Marblem possessed powers beyond their wildest imaginings.
The reason the sorcerers of the six tribes erroneously believed they had emerged victorious in the Marblem War stemmed from their distorted memories. They thought they had launched an assault on Marblem, but in reality, they had never even touched him.
“Cast your gaze yonder,” Suri said to Marblem.
He saw himself atop the hill, moving with fluid grace amidst the lightning strikes.
“Those sorcerers, oblivious to your true identity as the Lightning Man, would claim you never engaged in battle. And thus, they would have woven their own self-serving legend.”
Marblem merged with the dancing lightning, a dazzling spectacle as he weaved between the grand sorcerers and lesser mages of the six tribes. He possessed their magical essences, controlling and manipulating their arcane energies at will. He sensed each tribe’s unique magical signature and became one with it. The sorcerers, in their confusion, mistook their own tribesmen for Marblem. The crux of the problem lay in the fact that many sorcerers who participated in the great battle misidentified each other as their supposed enemy. However, the six magical tribes ended up attacking one another. The sorcerers deluded themselves into believing they had vanquished Marblem. And after that fateful battle, Marblem… simply vanished without a trace.
The only truth etched into the collective memory of the six magical tribes was the image of Marblem standing atop the lofty hill, his piercing gaze fixed upon the sorcerers of the six tribes.
When the dust settled and the battles ceased, Marblem was nowhere to be found. All that remained where he had once stood was the enigmatic Dead Disk. This Dead Disk was a soul trap of immense power, capable of ensnaring both the bodies and minds of sorcerers. The soul trap exerted complete control over the physical forms and consciousness of those it imprisoned.
“Should anyone dare to liberate Marblem from the confines of the Dead Disk, they shall be banished to the very edges of the universe. I have even encrypted the password to the Dead Disk with an unbreakable cipher.”
The grand sorcerer of the Arcanus tribe proclaimed with misplaced pride that he had successfully imprisoned Marblem within the soul trap. With an air of false humility, he presented the Dead Disk to the emperor of the Nova Empire.
While the six magical tribes had indeed suffered grievous losses, they clung to the belief that they had achieved a monumental victory. They meticulously recorded the events of that fateful day in the annals of stellar history.
Yet, the sword known as the Memory of the Stars, which had briefly materialized only to vanish behind them, went unnoticed by all. This mystical blade, the Memory of the Stars, had borne witness to every battle and beheld all the truths. That sword, the keeper of cosmic memories, dissipated like smoke on the wind.
* Jurassic Period – The second period of the Mesozoic Era when the geological timescale is divided into three periods
[To be continued…]
