Chapter 276

Chapter 276

Complete annihilation.

“This, this is different from what we agreed…!”

“Ahahaha! What’s different?”

Ilnachar, who lightly descended at the sight of Eumro screaming after losing all her subordinate yokai, wore a grinning smile. Despite clearly having fought a long battle, her skin was so smooth that not a single wound was visible.

“You, human, why are you alive…! I clearly confirmed you died!”

“Because what was killed was a split body, obviously?”

Ilnachar, who answered lightly, looked around and whistled. Because if Heukya’s appearance had been just a bit later, she would have been in terrible shape.

‘I almost died.’

Nakcheon is the progenitor of sorcery, but he never properly learned sorcery.

Ilnachar, who learned Bunhonsul, knew that fact, so she was optimistic about the situation. As far as she knew, no one here could block Bunhonsul.

The Demonic Cult’s Chilryun, Eungryong, has excellent knowledge in sorcery, but that field is specialized in formations, and Gonryunseon, who could block her Bunhonsul, cannot descend from Kunlun Mountain. Due to repeated revelations of Heavenly Energy, Gonryunseon has taken on enormous restrictions.

Nakcheon, who hasn’t learned sorcery, doesn’t know about Bunhonsul, and not knowing means not knowing how to counter it.

That’s why Ilnachar could maintain composure even in the midst of this chaotic situation. It meant she was confident she could extract herself at any time.

That was the story until before Nakcheon struck down.

‘If Nakcheon had cut me, I would have died.’

Who was it that taught her Bunhonsul?

It was none other than the Blood Cult Leader. Someone most knowledgeable in the Blood Cult’s sorcery. At the same time, someone who desires more than anyone to escape the limits of species.

When facing Nakcheon, the Blood Cult Leader couldn’t have failed to consider Bunhonsul. Being someone who prepares two or three countermeasures for whatever they do, they would have prepared countermeasures this time too. But what happened to the Blood Cult Leader?

They died to Nakcheon. Completely split in two at that. The Blood Cult Leader’s resurrection didn’t occur. And what that means is one thing.

If you die to Nakcheon’s strike, you can’t use Bunhonsul.

Ilnachar, who unknowingly touched her nape, which had broken out in a cold sweat, removed her smile and looked at Eumro. Because there was still work left to handle.

“Now, I did everything you wanted.”

“I took on and fought the humans’ strong ones, and ultimately almost annihilated them. Soon the Great Seal will be destroyed. I did everything you wanted, didn’t I?”

“Wh-what I wanted wasn’t this…!”

“Oh my, does sharing hurt your stomach that much?”

“That’s not the problem. You foolish human…! Don’t you truly understand what it means that ‘that thing’ is here!”

Looking at Baek Risan standing dazedly with fear-filled eyes, Eumro, who turned her gaze toward Sanggwi revealing its form beyond the sand dunes, buried her head in the ground. Because Eumro, though simple, wasn’t a foolish yokai.

“Heukya’s help isn’t needed to destroy the Great Seal… If Heukya moved humans to summon ‘that thing,’ there’s only one intention I can guess…!”

“What is it?”

“The Great Seal in Beijing!”

What is the Great Seal in Beijing?

It’s a seal whose scale differs from the Great Seal here. If the Great Seal here simply blocks yokai power from flowing into the Central Plains, the seal there is more directly involved in protecting the world. Because it’s a sealing formation binding four of the Childeayo.

“Your human ancestors paid special attention to the Great Seal in Beijing while making two Great Seals…! Do you know why? Because if those ones are released, humans can’t stop them…!”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“Heukya is a madwoman. She’s trying to release the ancient great yokai! If the Childeayo descend upon this earth, humans are finished. Heukya must also be aiming for the current situation and orchestrating it…!”

That’s not just a story about humans. If the ancient Childeayo are released, won’t those like Eumro and Cheongseol, who currently maintain the position of great yokai, also be shoved to the bottom of the food chain?

“Rather than exterminating all humans, stop here…! That’s a path that leads only to destruction. You must stop it by any means…”

“Hmm…”

Looking at Eumro crying out desperately, Ilnachar thought for a moment then grinned and wiggled her fingers. And the answer that follows.

“Well, doesn’t it not matter?”

“…What?”

“I mean whether humans perish or even yokai perish doesn’t really matter!”

Looking at Ilnachar speaking energetically, Eumro’s mouth fell open. However, Ilnachar continued speaking without caring.

“Anyway, I’m going to abandon being human and be reborn as a yokai, and I don’t care what happens to other humans, right?”

“Wh-what are you saying? If the Childeayo are released, even if you become a yokai, you won’t be able to rise…!”

“That’s the story for incompetent yokai like you, not me. Even now I can kill things like you without difficulty, so if I add a yokai body to that, how strong will I become?”

Childeayo.

I’ve heard they’re strong, but it’s none of Ilnachar’s concern. Anyway, yokai don’t live forming societies. If given eternal time, what’s needed isn’t immediate strength but a growth rate for future strength.

“Look at that, Eumro.”

At Ilnachar’s whisper, Eumro widened her eyes and watched the situation. The appearance of the settlement Oyeon shattering to pieces. And the Great Seal revealing its form beyond that.

“That’s the Great Seal you wanted to destroy. The Great Seal that will soon be destroyed.”

Soon a storm of yokai power will rage. When the yokai power latent within the Great Seal breaks its lock and is released into the world.

“It means humans and divine beasts are in the best condition to transform into yokai. That divine beast will be like that, and so will I.”

There’s a problem.

Sanggwi is already receiving more than sufficient, overflowing amounts of fear while wandering the world. Even if Sanggwi itself doesn’t want it, that’s how it is. But what about Ilnachar?

“Everyone who feared me melted into blood. So.”

“Wha…”

Udeudeudeuk!

At the blood tendrils rising from underfoot and gradually binding her, Eumro finally grasped the situation, widened her eyes, and looked around. Beyond her vision, Cheongseol’s form, stuck by crimson thorns in the neck and choking without her noticing.

“I need fear. If I can’t receive fear from many people, I need correspondingly high-grade fear instead, right?”

“…Y-you think I’ll let you!”

She destroys it.

Kwadeudeudeudeuk—!!!

The crimson thorns broke from the claws she swung. However, thorns rising even more densely than what broke, piercing through her entire body.

“It’s useless. It’s not just my power—I borrowed yokai power for a moment. From a great yokai so tremendous that you can’t do anything about it.”

“…You made a deal with Heukya—!!!”

“Did you just figure that out now? So slow. Is it because you’re a yokai?”

Ilnachar, who patted Eumro’s head as if stroking it while she was stuck unable to move by the crimson thorns, stretched greatly and turned around. The Great Seal that had completely revealed its form.

“You’ll become offerings for my transformation into a yokai.”

The Blood Cult Leader failed. Because they didn’t understand the essence of becoming a yokai. But she’s different.

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

“Wh-what are you trying to do…!”

“There’s a problem, Eumro.”

Ilnachar, who grinned, reached out and grabbed Eumro’s head. Simultaneously, Eumro’s soul began to shake.

“If two souls are trapped in one body, and one of those souls genuinely feels fear toward that body’s master… is that fear created by oneself? Or is it another’s fear?”

“N-no. If you do that…!”

“The answer is it can be treated as your own fear. Even if souls mix, the vessel remains the same, so two existences combining becomes one existence.”

For those unwilling, it might be unbearably terrible suffering. Being trapped in another’s body, unable to do anything, having to live for tens of thousands of years—that itself is terrible punishment.

“Please feel fear deeply.”

“Don’t. Don’tdon’tdon’tdon’tdon’t—!!!”

Peoseok—!!!

Ilnachar, who crushed the head of screaming Eumro and sucked in that soul, quietly closed her eyes and savored the feeling. Eumro’s soul screaming in painful agony in one corner of her mind.

“It’s soon now.”

Soon everything will be overturned. Humans will perish, she’ll become a yokai, and the Childeayo will be revived.

“Ahak!”

Ilnachar, who burst out with a scream-like laugh, opened her eyes and quietly looked at the Great Seal.

In the distance.

Heukya, who had been fighting, was slowly approaching the seal.

To destroy the Great Seal.

The Demonic Cult clashes with yokai countless times.

Thinking about it, that’s natural. Because the Demonic Cult protects the Great Seal.

Yokai aiming for the Great Seal don’t come just once or twice a year. At the very least dozens, and when it’s many, up to thousands aim for the Great Seal in a year.

But even so, Eungryong never felt those great yokai were overwhelming. That’s because yokai rarely band together and the Demonic Cult has countless strong ones.

In other words, surprisingly, Eungryong has never experienced a proper crisis.

“This is…”

What on earth is this situation?

“Completely screwed.”

Eungryong, who succeeded in cleaning up all the miscellaneous yokai and reached the front of the battlefield where they were fighting Heukya, let out a hollow laugh seeing the scene that unfolded. A terribly tragic scene.

Everyone who had been facing Heukya is sprawled on the ground. Each in a combat-disabled state.

Daesageom’s sword is broken in half and stuck in the ground, and not the sword but the person himself is vomiting blood mixed with organ fragments, as if his organs shattered. The hematemesis shows no sign of stopping, so he’ll probably die before long.

The others’ situations aren’t much different either. Dokgo Cheon and Songbyeok Jinin, who had been handling one tail, have their limbs broken yet fought as if they did, lying collapsed with swords bound to their grips with cloth.

Then what about Ilryun?

“…Are you alive?”

“I’m alive, keulreok! I’m alive.”

This side is relatively better. Ilryun, who had withdrawn suffering internal injuries, raises his body using his sword as a support with Eungryong’s help. And lastly visible is Nakcheon.

Unlike the others, only Nakcheon is still responding to Heukya’s attacks and enduring. But Eungryong could instinctively know.

That’s not Nakcheon enduring but Heukya sparing him.

That Heukya has no intention to kill Nakcheon.

“The cult is completely screwed.”

“Couldn’t you have finished the yokai faster and come?”

“I’m sorry but Ilryun elder. This is me doing my best. And even if I had joined, what would have changed? The gap is this severe.”

“That’s… true.”

At Ilryun’s self-deprecating laugh mixed with blood phlegm bursting out, Eungryong drew up internal power to manage Ilryun’s shaken insides then turned his gaze. What catches his eye at the end of his gaze is Baek Risan sitting dazedly.

‘They said Sogongja died.’

Baek Risan. And above her, Baek Riyun.

While traveling together, he roughly heard what that person, who was Gongsun Yeonbi’s child, meant to Baek Risan. Because Eungryong’s interest in the Baek Ri Family, which received Gongsun Yeonbi’s blood, was extremely great, and he didn’t hesitate to listen to stories.

As far as Eungryong felt, the one who most deeply inherited Gongsun Yeonbi’s way of thinking wasn’t Baek Riseon or Baek Risan but Baek Riyun. Rather than saying Baek Risan inherited Gongsun Yeonbi’s way of thinking, it would be right to say she was influenced by Baek Riyun.

So he wanted to meet and talk with him at least once. About how Gongsun Yeonbi lived. And how she died too. However.

‘Tragic.’

The moment he sees it, he can tell. How tragically that corpse lying with eyes peacefully closed died.

Though not revealed externally, every single blood vessel throughout the body was torn apart. The human body, unable to withstand receiving a tremendous torrent of yokai power head-on, burst.

In that state, even if revived as a gangsi, he won’t be able to demonstrate martial arts. A situation where even if Darashinseon returned, they couldn’t revive him.

“Completely screwed.”

Looking at Taeak and Bulgoe approaching from far away using lightness arts, Eungryong raised both hands. Because blocking Heukya with the remaining personnel was absurd.

“What will you do?”

“What do you mean what, we must block.”

“Stop with such unrealistic talk, isn’t the Great Seal about to break? Once the Great Seal breaks, the cult’s restraints will also be released, so what will you do?”

“Block the yokai.”

“That?”

Looking at Heukya while asking, at Eungryong’s appearance, Ilryun, who unconsciously lost strength, gritted his teeth. Isn’t there no way to defeat Heukya right now?

“Even gathering everyone here won’t kill the current Heukya. At best, couldn’t we just inflict some scratches?”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“This.”

Uuuuuung!

Simultaneously with the words, confirming the formation emitting a resonant vibration, Ilryun widened his eyes and looked at Eungryong. Simultaneously, a trembling voice.

“…What is this?”

“It’s a teleportation formation. Do you know? Originally, the Blood Cult’s scheme was to use a teleportation formation here to blow all the warriors to the Central Plains.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t need to know…! What are you doing right now!”

“What do you mean what? I’m trying to escape. Don’t you know we’ll all die if we stay here?”

“I know, I know. But this is…!”

“The caster can’t move? I know that too. The moment this bursts, my body will go peong and explode.”

Jjeojjeok.

Eungryong, who let out a chuckle, confirmed the Great Seal beginning to crack in the distance and shrugged his shoulders. If caught up in a torrent of yokai power that massive, no one here will survive except Nakcheon, who is a yokai.

“Well, what can I do? This is the given Heavenly Mandate. It’s just the difference between all dying together or only me dying.”

“No. There’s a way for you to live too…!”

“Ah, there isn’t. Elder. Such a method doesn’t exist. And I don’t want to take the risk.”

“Not wanting to take risks, what does that…”

“Aren’t they Agassi’s blood?”

Baek Riyun’s death.

It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped. Eungryong never even met and conversed with Baek Riyun to begin with. But what about Baek Risan?

“Doesn’t she resemble Yeonbi Agassi a lot?”

“I regret not being able to visit Yeonbi Agassi’s grave even once, but this still seems more important than that. Because what Yeonbi Agassi cherished most remains here.”

Favors go back and forth.

Just as he was saved by Gongsun Yeonbi before, now it’s time for him to repay. He can’t reverse the predetermined destruction, but so that a few more can survive.

“I’ll try doing something at least.”

“N-no…!”

Jak!

The moment Eungryong, who smiled brightly, clapped his hands, the teleportation formation surrounding the wide area contained light. And Eungryong waving his hand.

“My ability is insufficient, so I couldn’t send everyone. But I’ve made contact with the cult. Once the cult members grasp the situation, they’ll start fleeing to the Central Plains right away.”

“…Hwan-ah.”

“Hahaha. I don’t remember how long it’s been since you called my name, Elder.”

Eungryong, Gu Hwan, burst into loud laughter and waved his hand. Memories suddenly flashing before his eyes.

—Where do you think you’ve come! What does Agassi trust to be so fearless? Aren’t you afraid of dying?

—I’m afraid. But I’m like that.

—I’m more afraid of losing things precious to me than dying myself.

The face of the brightly smiling girl gradually distorts. A memory too old. A memory existing beyond time buried in sand.

“I entrust Agassi to you, Elder.”

“Hwan-ah!”

“And while I’m at it, please, Elder, you too live long and prosper. Didn’t you also give me much, not just Agassi?”

Gu Hwan, who bowed his head politely, wore a playful smile. And.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuung—!!!

The moment a resonant sound rang out, light burst forth then subsided.

Extending his senses, Ilryun intuited.

“Ah, aaaah…!”

That the place where he now stands his feet.

Is the Central Plains he had longed for so much.