Chapter 165

Chapter 165

Inside the dark cave.

“Heueu. Heueuu…….”

“Strange~?”

Looking at Choil breathing heavily before her eyes, Ilnachar tilted her head and felt puzzled. Ilnachar’s eyes glowing eerily and ominously.

“Little one. Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“That can’t be. Yeah yeah. You’re not such a bold child. I can tell just by looking.”

Finding the answer herself and nodding, Ilnachar tilted her head again at the arising question. The current situation didn’t make sense logically.

The ‘ritual’ of offering fear can only be performed when the target is terrified of their own death.

So Ilnachar had the village chief make Choil feel fear. She decided to use the method the village chief always used—gradually inflicting wounds starting from the extremities, then making him aware of approaching death to feel fear.

No matter how bold someone is, they cannot be completely detached before their own death. Moreover, isn’t this Choil just an ordinary kid, even if his head works fairly well?

She just had to do it the usual way. She judged so and executed it.

Two days since being dragged to the cave.

Despite his face becoming pale from blood loss during that time.

Choil wasn’t being consumed by fear at all.

“Village Chief. Is the method wrong?”

“……From experiments so far, this has been most effective. If you don’t like it, you could just implant fear with sorcery.”

“Eheung. Sorcery isn’t that omnipotent.”

When the village chief, forced to follow orders due to Ilnachar’s sorcery, talked back with a displeased expression, Ilnachar let out a strange sigh and shrugged.

“Such artificial fear can’t corrupt a Divine Beast. If such artificial fear could be sustenance for yokai in the first place, wouldn’t yokai with the ability to give people fear have ascended to the position of supreme Great Yokai instead of being mere trash?”

“So I have no choice but to use this old-fashioned method. But it’s not showing results.”

The final stage of corruption isn’t completed just by offering fear alone. Dense emotions other than fear. Despair or loathing. Hatred. Such things must be mixed for corruption to be possible.

However, such emotions aren’t visible even a hair’s breadth in Choil’s appearance. The only thing visible is one.

Trust in those who will come to rescue him.

“It seems the existing method won’t work.”

“……Demoness. What are you planning to do?”

“He’s still a child anyway. Right now he’s holding his heart firm unlike a child, but…… if I torture him a bit, won’t he crumble quickly?”

“……Torture such a young child? Can you still call yourself human after that?”

“Ahak! What are you saying to a Blood Cult member? The Blood Cult is where bastards who don’t want to call themselves human gather!”

As if hearing a funny joke, Ilnachar bent over and burst into laughter, then tapped the village chief’s shoulder with her slender finger. The declaration that followed.

“Think carefully, Village Chief. I don’t enjoy torture either. Fear forcibly extracted has poor quality……?”

“I want fear with higher purity than that kind. They say it’s fine as long as it’s completed either way, but I want to make a quality work if possible. Our great master and I think a bit differently, you see.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You have to think about what to do, Village Chief.”

“……I need time to think.”

“Sure. As much as you want. But you’d better not think about stalling for time.”

“There’s a sorcery formation I’ve set up in this area, so people can’t come. Unless Cheonra comes to the area directly himself, they won’t find us.”

There is no hope. Salvation will not come.

“No matter how long you wait, your knight in shining armor won’t come~”

Smiling brightly and letting out a nangso, Ilnachar looked at the village chief standing blankly, then slowly walked outside. Soon after exiting the cave, the surrounding environment became clearly visible.

“They’re searching diligently?”

Where did so many come from?

Looking at those who had begun searching the forest area where Ilnachar existed since yesterday, Ilnachar tilted her head. The appearance of those mobilized in numbers too many to count.

‘There aren’t many warriors though…….’

Most are commoners. If she tried to kill them, she could, and it would be possible to kill and conceal them instantly without people around knowing.

‘If Cheonra catches me, it’ll be troublesome.’

They continuously maintain contact with each other. If people die, there will definitely be holes in the communication network, and if holes appear in the communication network, Baek Riyun will notice the abnormality.

Don’t kill them. That’s safer.

With conviction, Ilnachar manipulated the Cloud Mist Formation and smiled brightly. In the end, she just had to not kill them.

“If I just make them naturally avoid the area, they can’t notice the abnormality.”

Just don’t kill them. Then, instead of a killing formation that kills those who enter, she could just spread a formation that naturally prevents people from entering.

‘This should be enough, right?’

Having completely changed the formation by destroying and adding several formation axes, Ilnachar smiled brightly and entered the cave again.

Ilnachar, who entered the cave after completing the formation modifications, didn’t see because of that.

“Now, maintain formation!”

“Formation? What formation?”

“Don’t know, but they say it’s a formation to counter sorcery formations!”

“There’s such a thing?”

“I don’t really know either, but they say it’s necessary. Let’s line up for now! One jang apart!”

At one order from above.

Those who had been participating in the search in disorderly fashion began searching while maintaining distance in orderly fashion.

The search was carried out quickly.

“Group 1, nothing unusual.”

“Group 2 also nothing.”

“Group 3 couldn’t find them either.”

“Group 4 also…….”

Those who had gone out to search together with Anhwa County residents reported the situation clearly. Still no news of Choil.

Maintaining silence, I turned my gaze to the presence I felt beside me. I heard the sound of something being chewed.

“Are you anxious?”

“……Pardon?”

“I asked if you’re anxious. About whether something has happened to the children’s safety.”

“……Yes.”

At my question, Seohwa, who had been anxiously biting her nails, nodded as if agreeing. And the answer that followed.

“……It’s already been three days since they went missing. If they’re performing a ‘ritual,’ by now…….”

“They’ll probably be fine, so don’t worry too much.”

“What?”

“I mean they’re still safe.”

Looking at Seohwa who couldn’t continue speaking with a miserable expression, I shook my head. While not completely impossible, the probability of Seohwa’s concerns becoming reality was low.

“Do you know why they didn’t kidnap just the Divine Beast but took Choil along too?”

“That’s…… because they needed him.”

“Why? Was there a reason they had to specifically take Choil?”

Watching Seohwa briefly sink into thought, I smiled faintly and continued.

“As I think about it, it’s a simple reason. Because Choil has the deepest emotions for the Divine Beast.”

According to Hyeong-nim’s letter, corrupting the Divine Beast requires offering fear like yokai, but actually, the core of the ritual to corrupt the Divine Beast isn’t the emotion of fear. Rather, it’s emotions other than fear.

“Unlike yokai, Divine Beasts grow by eating ‘other emotions.’ However, those ‘other emotions’ are quite comprehensive, making it hard to distinguish between good will and ill will. For instance, jealousy and competitive spirit.”

“They’re similar emotions, yet one is considered ill will and the other good will. Of course, even if similar, there are differences, but those differences aren’t large. Do you know why?”

“Because they’re the same type of emotion…….”

“Right. In the end, because they’re emotions with the same cause.”

Jealousy and competitive spirit. Boredom and comfort. Recklessness and courage.

Even exposed to the same environment, the emotions people feel change by a hair’s breadth. Emotions that actually change into each other with a single difference can’t be precisely defined as ‘this!’

“Unlike yokai that only eat fear, Divine Beasts keenly sense even such emotions and use them as sustenance.”

“Fortunately, it’s usually fine. They’re sensitive to good will and sensitive to ill will too. However, what happens if they’re continuously exposed to ill will, then encounter good will, and fail to notice that good will turns into ill will?”

“They’ll…… eat ill will.”

“Right.”

At the correct answer flowing from Seohwa’s mouth, I nodded and continued.

“They’re trying to corrupt the Divine Beast by feeding her ill will instead of good will. Conversely, this means Choil must remain alive until the emotions he holds for the Divine Beast change from good will to ill will. Such emotional changes can’t be forced using sorcery or such. It would become artificial negativity.”

“Is the Choil you saw the kind of child who would harbor hatred or resentment toward the Divine Beast in just two or three days?”

At my words, Seohwa, who had been thinking about something, firmly shook her head.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“I thought so.”

Then he’s still alive. As long as the Blood Cult values this plan, they wouldn’t easily kill Choil, who could be the key to the plan.

“Let’s trust and wait.”

“……Yes.”

“By the way.”

Looking at Seohwa maintaining silence then carefully nodding at my words, I smiled and changed the subject. I was curious about something anyway.

“To think of examining the formation’s exterior alone—quite bold. It wouldn’t have been easy with yokai covering the ground.”

“What? Alone?”

“Right. When you came to receive Uicheongeom from me, weren’t you alone? I was so surprised seeing that.”

“I was with Jangil Salsu-nim though?”

“Jangil? Who’s that?”

“The Salsu-nim who was in the formation axis destruction team.”

“……I met them right after the formation axis was destroyed, but there was no such person in the formation axis destruction team?”

“What?”

“Mm?”

At Seohwa’s puzzled expression blinking, I made a similar expression. I wasn’t teasing—I really had no memory of seeing such a person.

“I was definitely with him…….”

“What did this person look like?”

“Well, definitely. Huh……? Definitely…….”

Looking at Seohwa unable to properly remember even the features despite it surely being something that should remain vividly in memory if her words were true, I narrowed my gaze with a serious feeling. And.

“……This also doesn’t seem like a matter to easily pass over. Are there others who saw this person called Jangil?”

“Of course, all the other people also…….”

“All the other people also saw him, but none of them told me about it.”

Just as I was about to properly investigate Jangil’s identity with a strange feeling.

Kwang!

“We found them!”

At the cry of the Gyoryongpa disciple who burst through the door, Seohwa and I simultaneously stood up.

For now, shall we handle the urgent matter first?