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The Man Who Broke Hyedam

Two weeks later.

The ritual begins in the depths of night.

A massive altar has been erected in the center of the village. Atop it burns a gigantic fire, created by every villager contributing their own fox fire.

“Once you enter, tremendous pain will assault you.”

The elders gently embraced Hyedam’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry. For making you bear such a burden.”

“……”

“And thank you. You are the one who will save the Yoho tribe. Hyedam.”

“Put this on.”

The elder grandmother held out a gag.

“You might spit out the fox orb due to the pain. This is to prevent that by blocking your mouth.”

“……”

“And wear this.”

It was handcuffs.

“Even the most mentally strong Yoho tribe member might instinctively leap out from the agony of burning alive. This is to prevent that.”

“……I don’t need it.”

Hyedam refused.

Her resolve was firmly set.

She takes a deep breath and heads toward the altar.

In the sky…….

“The red moon rises!”

A shadow began to cover the moon, and the moonlight started turning red.

Three minutes ahead.

Within that time, Hyedam would burn to death, the Nine-tailed Fox would descend within that, and the Yoho tribe would be reborn.

“Farewell, everyone.”

Hyedam stepped toward the altar.

And right at that moment.

“Hye…dam!”

Someone came running from the village entrance, shouting.

It was Caleb.

***

“I am the last survivor of the group that invaded this place half a year ago!”

With his voice, a great storm of chaos sweeps through Fox Pass.

“The guardian of the Yoho tribe, come down and duel with me!”

He was holding five talismans.

“You……”

For Hyedam, that scene was so shocking it was hard to believe even seeing it with her own eyes.

The residents of Fox Pass murmur from all directions.

“What! Drag that bastard away!”

“What’s he doing!”

“Don’t let him interfere with the ritual!”

“The Yoho tribe guardian cannot refuse a duel!”

Caleb shouted.

“That’s the rule of this village!”

“……Uh……”

Hyedam gritted her teeth.

“Foolish man!”

She jumped down from the altar in anger.

“What are you doing right now! What the hell are you doing!”

“I’ve challenged you to a duel.”

“How could you possibly beat me!”

“Three minutes.”

Caleb held up the talismans.

“I just need to last three minutes to win.”

“……”

Hyedam’s face filled with sorrow.

“Caleb.”

She clenched her teeth.

“Do you think I can’t kill you?”

“Well.”

“Do you think you can last even three minutes against me?”

“……”

“Even if a miracle happens and you last three minutes, do you know what will happen to you after that!”

She took the fox orb from her mouth.

“Foolish boy. I’ll accept your duel.”

Hyedam said.

“You won’t last even 30 seconds, let alone 3 minutes……”

Tziiiik!

Caleb tore one talisman.

Fox fire erupts.

***

The talismans made by shamans and Taoists of Windham can be compared to the scrolls made by magicians of Soren.

The difference is that, unlike scrolls, Yoho tribe shamans can create Gotier talismans.

And the commonality is that whether scrolls or talismans, their power follows not the user’s ability but the creator’s ability.

The fox fire from the talisman made by Hyedam, the strongest shaman of Fox Pass, was as massive and hot as the flames burning on the altar.

“Kuk……”

Even Hyedam herself was surprised enough to take a step back.

Kwagwang!

The flames shot up to the sky once, then fell down burning the ground and spreading in all directions.

“How much time do you think you can steal from me with something like this?”

A fierce wind blows from Hyedam’s orb. Yoho tribe 6th-tier magic, ‘Valley Gale‘.

The wind instantly suppressed the fire and cleared a path, and Hyedam leaped through it.

“Enchantment.”

Magic erupts from Hyedam’s orb.

Caleb tore another talisman.

‘Soul Orb Barrier.’

Something like a translucent soap bubble shimmered and wrapped around Caleb’s body. It was 7th-tier magic of the Yoho tribe.

Defending against all kinds of harmful attacks and mental attacks.

‘The remaining talismans are Fox Burrow, Soul Rush, and Fox Bewitchment.’

Hyedam counted the cards Caleb had in her mind.

He’s not a combatant to begin with. As a wandering traveler, he’d be good at improvisation, eloquent, and quick-witted, but weak in combat.

If she just removes all the talismans, it’s over.

“Tail Wind Blades.”

Hyedam’s eight tails lashed forward like whips.

It’s neither a skill nor magic. It uses tails as a medium, but it’s a mysterious power activated from the orb.

The sharp wind currents are like well-forged blades, and since they’re wielded by the Yoho tribe’s greatest shaman, their power could tear apart even decent deep-layer monsters in one strike.

Kwagwagwang!

Moreover, there are eight of them.

The blades flew like grenade fragments and struck the barrier, bursting it like popping a soap bubble with a needle.

Dadadadak!

Hyedam charged straight at Caleb, who was exposed again.

She planned to catch him with her hands and subdue him, but she could also predict how Caleb would respond.

‘It’s Fox Burrow!’

As expected!

The moment Caleb tore the talisman, Hyedam immediately recognized what it was.

Caleb’s body disappeared.

Fox Burrow creates teleportation points within a 100-meter radius, the number matching the caster’s ability.

While the magic is maintained, the caster can move to any desired location at any time, but.

“Do you think I don’t know my own magic?”

Hyedam held her orb and concentrated. A beast-like gleam flashed in her spirit lake-like blue eyes.

‘Soul Tracking.’

If created with Hyedam’s ability, the magical Fox Burrow would have eight total.

There’s no need to search for their locations. She just needs to track where Caleb is heading.

“Ground Ignition.”

A massive explosion occurs where the orb gazes.

The ground bursts and a huge pillar of fire shoots up.

The first Fox Burrow exploded.

“Ground Ignition.”

Following the direction of the soul’s movement, she calmly destroys them one by one.

“Ground Ignition!”

After destroying all the Fox Burrows, the only cards left for him are Soul Rush and Fox Bewitchment.

She must be careful of Fox Bewitchment.

Soul Rush……

“Chase.”

She sends the fox orb flying to catch him.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

Caleb, who burst out of the last burrow, ran through the Yoho tribe members at tremendous speed, but the fox orb chased him at even greater speed.

However…….

‘Don’t collide.’

The fox orb racing at high speed carries tremendous magical power. Someone like Caleb would die just from being grazed.

The best method is just to threaten.

Chase closely to prevent him from using the Fox Bewitchment talisman.

And allow him to escape.

If Soul Rush was activated with Hyedam’s talisman, even the Yoho tribe warriors here would find it difficult to pursue him.

‘Let’s threaten him with the orb and chase him away.’

If she’s going to summon the Nine-tailed Fox and leave anyway, she wants to avoid killing at the last moment. Especially if it’s Caleb.

‘Please just leave the village like this!’

***

Thud.

He stopped.

After circling the altar about two times in roughly 7 seconds.

In front of the path leading to the village entrance.

“Huk…… Huk……”

Instead of running away, Caleb stood still.

Exactly one minute had passed since the duel began.

“You idiot!”

Hyedam shouted in anger.

“Do you want to die? Why are you stopping!”

“Huk…… Huk……”

Caleb caught his breath and took out the last talisman.

‘Fox Bewitchment!’

That’s dangerous. It will cause a wide-range bewitchment state to all residents in Fox Pass.

“Damn it!”

Caleb’s hands slowly lifted the talisman. And just before tearing it.

‘Phase Swap.’

Hyedam activated magic to switch positions between the orb and herself.

Kwang!

And immediately grabbed Caleb and knocked him to the ground.

It was close. She twisted his wrist with her right hand to make him drop the talisman.

“……”

Hyedam, mounted on top of Caleb who had fallen to the ground, pointed her sharp fingernails at his chest.

“Finish him! Hyedam!”

The elders shouted.

“……”

“……”

Hyedam briefly met Caleb’s gaze. She felt miserable.

“You……”

She said.

“There’s no way you could win against me. How could you last 3 minutes? Did you think such a foolish strategy would work?”

“……”

“Did you think the red moon would set after 3 minutes so I wouldn’t have to die? Did you think such a clumsy plan would work?”

Hyedam gritted her teeth. Her eyes burned, making her glare even more fiercely.

“How could you beat me……”

“Too……”

Caleb burst into laughter.

“You’re underestimating me too much. I already won.”

“……What?”

“Look at the sky.”

Hyedam looked up at the sky.

The red moon was disappearing.

***

For the past two weeks, Caleb, who had gone down to Windham, searched for Yoho tribe shamans.

To confirm the performance of the talismans he had brought.

“It’ll last 2 minutes.”

The Fox Bewitchment talisman, that is.

“I lied. The time I needed to endure was 60 seconds.”

What Hyedam knocked down Caleb and seized wasn’t the Fox Bewitchment talisman. It was paper used for talismans, but blank paper without magic. Just scribbled with random doodles.

“I already used the real talisman. Around the time the red moon began to rise.”

He had cast Fox Bewitchment on the entire village.

So they wouldn’t notice Caleb.

So they wouldn’t know the red moon had risen.

That magic makes those who are bewitched see only what the caster wants to show them.

“The red moon…… Has already set……”

The moon had already lost its power.

Hyedam collapsed to the ground, and shock was spreading through Fox Pass.

“This……”

The enraged elders jumped down from the altar.

“You insolent fool, do you know what you’ve done!”

“Do you know what crime you’ve just committed!”

Caleb shouted back at them.

“I know very well!”

“What?”

“I saved Hyedam. That’s what I did.”

“Hyedam!”

The elders shouted.

“What are you doing! Hurry up and kill that bastard!”

“We shouldn’t have kept such a harmful man near Hyedam.”

“We should have disposed of him long ago!”

“Didn’t we tell you to keep your body and mind well-ordered to avoid impurity!”

“……”

Caleb looked at Hyedam with a tired expression.

“You…… Do you know what you’ve just done?”

Hyedam’s voice trembled.

“What will you do now? Now…… How now…… How will you get out of here?”

She asked.

“Why didn’t you think about that? Are you an idiot? I’m this village’s guardian. Now I have no choice but to kill you……”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot.”

Caleb answered like that.

“I chose this.”

Hyedam’s shoulders flinched.

“You said you’re not being exploited and sacrificed, but martyring yourself. So am I. I chose this.”

“……”

“Hyedam!”

The elders shouted again.

“Hurry up and kill him! And we need to discuss the current situation again. Since the red moon has disappeared, now we need another method……”

“Elder.”

Hyedam withdrew her claws.

“I can’t…… Kill him……”

The guardian of Fox Pass, who had been like a steel fortress, crumbled. Like dripping water piercing stone, tears fell drip, drip from her eyes.

“This person…… Can’t we spare him……?”

“This is getting more ridiculous.”

The elders took out their fox orbs.

“Stand aside. I’ll kill him.”

Between the elders approaching step by step and the resigned Caleb.

Hyedam felt like she was going insane.

Like peeling the hard shell of a fruit to reveal the soft flesh inside, once her heart crumbled, the true feelings she had turned away from were revealed from deep within.

Honestly, she was glad.

That Caleb had come.

That he had challenged her to a duel before she jumped into the flames.

Actually, she was grateful.

That he had held her back.

And…….

“Fox Fire.”

A powerful flame summoned by an 8th-tier Yoho tribe shaman falls.

Kwagwang!

Like a meteor, in front of the elders.

“Hyedam!”

“I……”

She was like an adolescent girl rebelling against a strict father.

Standing up with trembling arms and legs, gripping Caleb’s hand tightly in fear.

“I’m sorry. As a defeated guardian, I should atone with death. But before I die……”

She said, wiping her tears.

“I want to see.”

“What…… What are you talking about?”

“Snow…… And.”

It was the dream of someone who could never leave Fox Pass.

“Eternal snow. And the Lizard tribe…… Pasta sold in Windham……”

Hyedam, the strongest shaman of the Yoho tribe, stepped down from her guardian position.

Because she had been defeated in a duel with a human man.

And exactly two months later.

A new deep-layer adventurer was born in the labyrinth city of Windham.

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