Chapter 163

Chapter 163

It’s commonly said that no matter how many sheep gather, they cannot resist a tiger.

Thinking about it logically, the statement doesn’t make sense. No matter how strong and ferocious a tiger is, it should be helpless and trampled underfoot before the assault of hundreds of sheep. At that number, they’d inflict major damage just by running and colliding with it.

But reality is different.

While a tiger cannot catch and eat hundreds of sheep, hundreds of sheep gathered together will never rush at a tiger. They merely huddle together to prevent the tiger from charging freely, unable to resist the tiger’s terror, never rushing at the tiger. 

From that perspective, this case wasn’t limited only to tigers and sheep.

Like what was unfolding before Ilnachar’s  eyes right now.

“Hmm. So that’s Cheonra .”

Village outskirts.

Ilnachar, who had been sitting on a large rock looking at the village with her chin resting on her hand, smiled deeply at the unfolding scene. The massacre taking place before her eyes.

A single warrior overwhelms thousands of yokai. Wielding a white-bladed sword, fluttering the black durumagi received back from his disciple, the warrior sweeps across the battlefield.

“Strong.”

Having gauged his level, Ilnachar wore a broad smile. It was truly interesting.

‘He hasn’t revealed his full strength, but… if we fought, probably mutual destruction. Or a narrow victory for me.’

It’s absurd. Who is she, Ilnachar of the Blood Cult?

She’s among the top three experts among the Blood Cult’s hidden masters. Born with a noble constitution, she carries an enormous number of Great Arts  in her body and has imprinted both sorcery and martial arts into her mind.

Though not old in years, her innate constitution gave her a thirty-year advantage. She engraved the insights of previous Blood Cult Leaders into her body through Great Arts and packed various sorceries into her naturally opened Upper Dantian . Her master, the Blood Cult Leader, said she was a genius born once in a thousand years.

Then she should have no peers among her age group. And indeed, she didn’t. She could suppress even experts from higher generations.

Yet fighting with martial arts alone would be certain defeat, and only by employing all her sorcery could she achieve mutual destruction?

‘That basically means I’d lose if just a bit more time passed.’

It’s natural that one who digs one well grows faster and deeper than one who digs two wells.

Unreasonable talent and skill. Did he grow up drinking Blue Moon Sect  oil with every meal?

Watching Baek Riyun freely manipulate unstable lightning energy as if it were his own body, Ilnachar stopped dangling her legs and jumped down from the rock.

“I’m a bit jealous, but… well, doesn’t matter.”

Her goal wasn’t to see the end of martial arts through martial prowess anyway. As long as she could accomplish her objective, she could laugh off differences in talent.

What’s important is achieving the Great Plan . Using sorcery to see through the wall behind the village hall, Ilnachar smiled faintly. The future situation unfolding clearly before her eyes.

“Using sorcery to drive the villagers into fanaticism would be impossible, right?”

She knows several sorceries that stimulate human psychology, but among various sorceries, the pinnacle of Destroy Evil and Reveal Truth  are Lightning Energy  and Fire Energy . That means Baek Riyun, who handles lightning energy, possesses keen senses for demonic power and sorcerous power.

“I can’t use sorcery that requires time.”

Small sorceries could be mixed in during a chaotic battle without him noticing, but large-scale sorcery like that would be detected by Baek Riyun and blocked in advance. Then she needed to devise another method.

“What if I step forward myself to block Cheonra?”

Though it’s not the true body but a puppet, holding off Baek Riyun for some time is possible. The Blood Cult possesses numerous bizarre and strange sorceries unknown to the world, and if she could bind him properly for even a moment, the yokai could ravage the village again.

“……Then that scary old man over there would interfere again.”

Thinking of the one who could definitely stop the plan if he intervened, but wasn’t intervening, Ilnachar tilted her head. If nothing else, it’s certain that man doesn’t want the village to be destroyed.

“A dilemma. A real dilemma.”

There isn’t much time. She had to devise a scheme before all the yokai were eliminated. But no good ideas were coming to mind in this situation.

Recalling the reports submitted by Yuknachar  and Agwi , special circumstances and such, while briefly touching her index finger to her chin in thought, Ilnachar smiled faintly.

“That would be good.”

Right now.

Something useful had caught her eye.

—Keueueuuuk…….

Kung!

“Whew.”

Taking the fall of the large yokai as a signal, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and calmed the lightning energy. The jjireureuhan pain from the lightning energy trying to burst out around my body.

It’s natural since I overused Heavenly Thunder Body, which has considerable recoil.

Giving a bitter smile at the self-inflicted pain, I turned around. Before I knew it, Seohwa stood behind me with an anxious expression, holding Uicheongeom in her arms.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“……I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For putting not just myself but everyone in danger…….”

“Put in danger?”

“……Yes.”

Seeming to have many thoughts, Seohwa bit her lip and bowed her head. I gave a *pisik* smile. Isn’t that just like Seohwa?

“You should have been more cautious.”

“No matter how much authority I delegated to you, how could you not know to think carefully when coming to such a dangerous place? Each of your decisions holds the lives of your sajae.”

“I’m sorr…….”

“You seem to think I’d say something like that.”

“……Pardon?”

“I mean your judgment had no fault. No, rather, you did well. Well enough to deserve a reward.”

At Seohwa staring at me dumbfounded, I reached out my hand and covered her head with my palm. Her hair, which would normally be lustrous, was rough with ash blown by the wind.

“Seohwa. I don’t know how I look in your eyes, but there’s no perfect person in this world. Everyone makes mistakes.”

Don’t I make mistakes? Did Jegal Pyeong , who taught me strategy, never make mistakes?

That can’t be. If Jegal Pyeong never made mistakes, I would never have beaten him even once in simulated battles on the board, and conversely, if I never made mistakes, I wouldn’t have lost comrades during my Changcheon Corps  days.

But in the hundreds of simulated battles, Jegal Pyeong lost to me five times, and I also lost comrades during Changcheon Corps missions. Even experienced people are like that.

Then what about Seohwa?

“You should have been more cautious. You should have waited for me to join before coming. Do you think so?”

“……Yes.”

“Then let’s look at it from another perspective. What would have happened if you hadn’t come here? If no one could enter and dispel the formation, and hundreds of villagers were trapped inside withering away to death, what then?”

“……That’s.”

“You didn’t anticipate it. It was a coincidence? That’s the same. You can’t predict being caught up in the Blood Cult’s schemes. Even if there were warning signs, it’s the same.”

People don’t call it being cautious to predict and move based on things with such low probability of occurring. They call it indecisive.

“As long as you can’t prophesy, what humans can do is limited. From that perspective, Seohwa, you did everything you could. To criticize you for that would be demanding you do things even I can’t do. How could I criticize that?”

“……Yes.”

“You did well.”

“Ye-es…….”

Keung.

Looking at Seohwa making a keung sound and reddening her eyes, I gave a bitter smile and ruffled her hair. Seohwa silently buried her face in my chest. The sound of heuljiging echoed in the silence.

“Stop crying now. Didn’t we finish without anyone seriously injured?”

“I, I didn’t cry.”

After accepting Seohwa’s tears for a while, I lightly patted her back. Seohwa snapped to attention and hurriedly separated herself. Reddened eyes.

“By the way, Sect Master. What about the people who went outside…….”

“I met them. I eliminated all the yokai around when coming, so there’s no need to worry. I told them to return once their internal energy fully recovered, so they’ll be back soon.”

“That’s fortunate, but… there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“Mm? Ah.”

Watching Seohwa stammer while gauging my reaction, I gave a *pisik* smile. I had a rough idea what this was about.

“Let me guess. About the yokai?”

“……How did you?”

“There’s one yokai in the village and you want to spare it, right?”

“Humans can’t prophesy, yet Sect Master, are you perhaps……?”

“No. You little rascal.”

“Hehe.”

When I made a fist and pretended to flick her forehead, Seohwa shrank her neck and let out an awkward laugh, gauging my reaction. The words that followed.

“While being guided around this village, I made a promise to a kid named Choil . That if he guided us, I’d help him and his sister leave the village.”

“Mm.”

“……Honestly, even if it weren’t for that, I wonder if we really need to kill her. That kid. I saw her several times, but she was different from other yokai…… She never tried to kill people. She’s just a somewhat taciturn child. Around Seowoo’s  age.”

I see. She overlapped her with Seowoo.

Looking at Seohwa desperately explaining why the yokai should be spared, I smiled. I wanted to tease her more, but I needed to tell Seohwa, who had suffered mental anguish, the truth.

“That child isn’t a yokai.”

“……What?”

“Meaning the situation you’re worried about won’t happen. Because she’s not a yokai to begin with.”

“But the red eyes…….”

“They say it’s a Divine Beast . An existence standing at the complete opposite of yokai. I don’t know the details either, but I heard it from someone trustworthy.”

“What? Huh? Um……?”

Looking at Seohwa making a strange expression as if she couldn’t quite understand the situation, I continued explaining.

“From what I’ve gathered, this formation was originally meant to corrupt that Divine Beast into a yokai. It didn’t specify exactly how the corruption works, but if you had tried to cut down that child there, the corruption might have completed at that moment.”

“That means…….”

“She shouldn’t be killed and there’s no reason to kill her. If what you say about her not craving humans is true, she hasn’t become a yokai yet, so it can be reversed.”

At my calm words, Seohwa opened her eyes wide and fidgeted, stamping her feet. Clearly relieved.

“Should I go tell her……! Ah, but the cleanup…….”

“I’ll handle the cleanup.”

“Is that okay?”

“It was originally my job. I just delegated it temporarily. Isn’t it time to take it back?”

“Ah.”

Only then realizing she was still holding Uicheongeom, Seohwa carefully returned Uicheongeom to me and broke into a broad smile. A smile spreading across her entire face.

“Then I’ll go tell her right away!”

“Go ahead.”

Is she that happy?

Watching Seohwa rush off, I followed behind her. More than cleanup, reassuring the anxious villagers came first.

‘The village… will be difficult to restore.’

A completely burned village. How many would feel gratitude toward us for saving their lives? It would be fortunate if they didn’t just harbor resentment.

It was a village maintained by the presence of a Divine Beast from the start. Sooner or later, this was bound to happen anyway.

Jeobuk!

Slowly.

Thinking about the slash-and-burn village’s future, I stepped on scattered ash and entered the village hall with its ceiling blown open. And just as I was about to speak, I saw Seohwa’s back.

“What are you doing there?”

“She disappeared.”

“What did?”

“That kid.”

As I approached Seohwa who was maintaining silence and asked, Seohwa stepped aside with a hardened expression. The chains visible behind her.

“……The village chief took Choil and the Divine Beast and fled.”

Hearing Seohwa’s words, I quietly returned to the village hall and looked at the severed rope that had probably bound the village chief.

There was demonic power on the rope.

Very faint demonic power.