Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 106 - Master of Corpse Cadavers (2)
Chapter 106 – Master of Corpse Cadavers (2)
===================
Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
The Classic of Mountains and Seas says,
within heaven and earth there exist countless strange beings that humans cannot see.
Among such strange beings, there are those that dwell in a higher realm that not only humans but even those beings themselves can never dare approach.
Those are spirit beasts that have lived long lives over unfathomably vast ages.
‘Spirit beast?’
A strange light entered Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes as he looked at the white-haired middle-aged man.
That was only natural, because if one spoke of spirit beasts, then aside from divine beasts appearing in myth, they were legendary beings within the hierarchy of strange entities.
But what in the world was this appearance?
Outwardly, it was no different from a human, not a spirit beast.
-……Mortal, this is not something you can fight.
Blue Spirit spoke in a whisper.
Her tone was not merely tense as usual, but downright stiff.
She, who always showed only arrogance and oppression, was feeling fear as she looked at the being before her.
‘……Had I not absorbed all its power?’
Mok Gyeong-un narrowed his eyes.
He had thought it was in a weakened state because he had absorbed all the ominous demonic aura coming from the crack in the wooden box.
And yet it was releasing such tremendous demonic aura.
Then the white-haired middle-aged man haughtily swept back his hair and opened his mouth.
-Are you trembling, human?
“Who knows.”
He was not trembling.
Mok Gyeong-un was not someone who placed much significance on death to begin with, nor did he fear it.
But the tension caused by a clear difference in power could not be helped.
“For something that was sealed away, you are overflowing with power.”
-Overflowing with power? Hah.
The white-haired middle-aged man snorted.
Then he raised his hand, opened and closed his fist, and said,
-Though I have been sealed inside this hanging scroll for thousands of years and weakened to the utmost, do you think insignificant insects like you could ever dare approach me?
‘Insects?’
Mok Gyeong-un knit his brows slightly.
But rather than feeling offended, he merely grasped the reality that, by this being’s standard, he amounted to no more than an insect.
‘To this one, I am no more than an insect.’
It was hard to deny.
The demonic aura this one gave off was at a level he could not measure at all.
Was there another heaven above the Seven Heavens?
If this was a weakened state, then if this monster recovered all its power, he could not even imagine how strong it would be.
No, this might well be closer to a calamity.
It was right then.
-Ssk!
The white-haired middle-aged man held out his hand.
In that instant,
-Pak!
Two wooden dolls tore through the chest of Mok Gyeong-un’s clothes and flew out.
‘Ah?’
At this, Mok Gyeong-un hurriedly reached out his hand and unfolded the Form of Attachment.
But there was no way he could withstand the pulling force of that overwhelming demonic aura.
Even though he had unfolded the Form of Attachment, the two wooden dolls that flew out without slowing in the least came to rest in the hand of the white-haired middle-aged man.
-M-master!
-Kgh.
Inside them were Gyu So-ha, the Green Spirit, and Blue Spirit.
Even while inside the wooden dolls, the demonic aura was so strong that even the Green Spirit was plainly showing fear.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un said calmly,
“You are putting me in a difficult position. Could you return them?”
-Hmm. You are a peculiar human. To walk around alive while carrying such petty ghosts.
-……
-……
Normally Blue Spirit would have flown into a rage, but she did not open her mouth.
It seemed she had grown cautious, likely because she did not know what sort of disaster might happen if she provoked him for no reason.
Blue Spirit found this situation extremely troublesome.
‘This is the worst.’
Unlike vengeful spirits, who as dead spiritual bodies were somewhat different from the concept of spending power, strange entities weakened rapidly once they expended demonic aura.
From that standpoint, she had thought that if it had been sealed for a long time, it would have become greatly weakened.
But who could have imagined that what had been sealed in such a wooden box would be a spirit beast?
‘What do I do?’
If it was a spirit beast that had reached a level high enough to transform even into human form, then it could be said to have reached a realm nearly akin to that of an enlightened immortal.
Even weakened, it far surpassed a realm that even she herself could handle.
‘Is this the end……’
She felt despair.
Could bad luck really work in this way?
She had only just thought she had finally seized a chance to soothe her resentment, and yet to encounter a being like a disaster in a place like this…
‘Mok Gyeong-un……’
Usually she would have placed her hopes in that fellow’s cunning mind.
But the opponent was too bad.
It was not a human being, and it had lived for far too long, so it would be difficult to overcome this situation with mere skillful words.
Perhaps this fellow too was feeling fear for the first time in his life.
Before an absolute being he had never met before.
It was right then.
-I happened to be hungry, and you even brought me a meal. My thanks.
“Pardon?”
-Ahh.
With those words, the white-haired middle-aged man simply put the wooden dolls sealing Blue Spirit and Gyu So-ha straight into his mouth.
It was at that very moment.
-Pagagak!
The wooden doll entering his mouth shattered, and Blue Spirit sprang out from inside it at tremendous speed while clutching Gyu So-ha’s wooden doll and flew forward.
However,
-Pak!
-For a petty ghost, your spirit power is considerable.
The white-haired middle-aged man seized Blue Spirit by the leg and immediately flung her to the floor.
Though she could not feel physical pain, for some reason, as soon as she was slammed onto the floor she let out a painful groan.
-Ugh!
-I am the Master of Corpse Cadavers, a being born from gathered delusions. Offer up that spirit power for the sake of your master. Huuup.
-Shwaaaaaaa!
No sooner had those words ended than something like red haze rose from the body of Blue Spirit, who lay on the floor, and was sucked into the mouth of the white-haired middle-aged man.
Then, perhaps because it was painful, she screamed.
-Aaaaaaah!
It was right then.
-Pak!
Mok Gyeong-un shot forward and thrust his sword-finger sign, laden with sword energy, toward the glabella of the white-haired middle-aged man.
He had been trying to strike during an opening,
-Pak!
but in that instant the white-haired middle-aged man lightly caught Mok Gyeong-un’s right wrist.
Then he merely made a motion of lifting upward,
-Kwang!
and Mok Gyeong-un’s body was driven nearly halfway into the cave ceiling before falling back down to the floor.
-Kung!
“Cough, cough!”
Bloody coughing burst from Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth as he hit the floor.
He had protected his body with death aura for an instant, but from that single blow, infused with battle intent, some of his bones cracked and he suffered internal injuries.
-Mortal!
“Cough… cough… this one went properly… cough…… wrong.”
Mok Gyeong-un shook his head as if dumbfounded.
Looking down at him, a strange light entered the eyes of the white-haired middle-aged man.
-You are a peculiar human.
He found it odd that even while feeling pain, that face still held a trace of laughter.
An ordinary human, placed in such a situation, would likely be terrified with fear, but looking at this fellow’s face, that did not seem to be the case at all.
At this, the white-haired middle-aged man made a lifting motion with his head.
Then,
-Doooong!
Mok Gyeong-un’s body, which had been sprawled on the floor, rose into the air.
“Ah?”
Mok Gyeong-un’s two eyes saw it clearly.
The tremendous demonic aura flowing from the white-haired middle-aged man was wrapping around him and lifting him up.
-Human. I wish to see fear spread across your face.
The white-haired middle-aged man curled the corners of his mouth wickedly and tried to place a hand on Mok Gyeong-un’s shoulder.
-Chwarrrrrrrrr!
It was right then.
Chains made of spirit power shot up from the floor and in an instant bound the arms, legs, and body of the white-haired middle-aged man.
The chains moved like snakes and coiled around the middle-aged man’s neck.
‘Gyu So-ha?’
This was the power of Gyu So-ha, the Green Spirit.
Gyu So-ha shouted.
-Let go of Master! Or else…
-Paseuseuseu!
It was before those words could even finish.
The chains wrapped around the body of the white-haired middle-aged man shattered in an instant and scattered like ash.
-!?
The spirit chains had been broken so easily it was almost empty.
Gyu So-ha’s eyes shook wildly.
-So you are a petty ghost with some tricks. But you must pay the price for touching my august body.
-Ssk! Tak!
The white-haired middle-aged man flicked a finger toward Gyu So-ha.
In that instant,
-Papang!
Gyu So-ha’s two arms burst and disappeared.
As the arms made of spirit body exploded from demonic aura, a scream burst from Gyu So-ha’s mouth.
-Aaaaaaah!
She seemed seized by tremendous pain.
‘This is……’
Blue Spirit, who was collapsed on the floor in pain from having her spirit power absorbed, was appalled.
Even if it was a spirit beast, it was overwhelmingly strong to the point that it was hard to believe it had only just been released after being sealed.
Just as it said, no matter how much they struggled, perhaps they were no more than insects fluttering their wings.
‘……Even if I use that, would there be any hope?’
But if things went on like this, they would all die.
If so, then rather than that, doing everything she could…
It was while she was thinking that.
“No. What is this?”
At a voice heard from somewhere, everyone’s gaze turned there.
It was outside this small cave chamber.
Outside the red line stood Vault Keeper Yang Mu-won, looking startled.
He doubted his own eyes at the bizarre spectacle unfolding inside the cave.
‘Who in the world is that white-haired middle-aged man?’
He had already run up in alarm at the loud crashing sounds.
The source of those sounds had been that very place.
He had repeatedly warned them not to go inside, and had run over thinking they had finally caused an accident, but what in the world was this?
‘Who exactly is that person?’
Seeing Mok Gyeong-un, who had internal injuries, floating in the air, it was surely telekinetic grasping through empty space.
Within the Heaven and Earth Society, only someone at the level of the Five Kings or above could perform such a high-level technique.
Yang Mu-won was thus thrown into confusion over what to do.
How had such a peerless expert invaded this place and done something like this?
It was while he was thinking that.
-Yes. I had wanted to eat you as well.
-Ssk!
The white-haired middle-aged man tilted his head toward Vault Keeper Yang Mu-won.
In that instant, the startled Yang Mu-won raised his true qi and took a stance.
But nothing at all happened.
‘What?’
As he was thinking that, the white-haired middle-aged man raised one eyebrow and, looking at the red line drawn on the floor, muttered,
-Was it done by that Three Eyes bastard?
With those words, he left Mok Gyeong-un hanging in the air and walked toward the red line.
“S-stop.”
Seeing him coming toward him, Vault Keeper Yang Mu-won shouted.
Naturally, the white-haired middle-aged man had no intention of stopping.
He kept walking and tried to pass straight through the red line drawn on the floor.
At that instant,
-Paaaaaaaaang!
With intense pressure, space warped, and the body of the white-haired middle-aged man was flung backward and smashed the bookshelf inside.
-Kwaang!
Then the body of Mok Gyeong-un, which had been bound in the air, fell to the floor.
-Tak!
‘What?’
He did not know what was going on, but the white-haired middle-aged man Blue Spirit had called a spirit beast had failed to pass through the red line and had instead been flung backward.
If that was the case,
“Get out!”
This was the chance.
At that shout, Blue Spirit and Gyu So-ha, whose two arms had burst apart, flew outside as if they had been waiting for it.
As spirit bodies, their movements were far faster than Mok Gyeong-un’s.
He wondered if they might be caught by the red line, but
-Paak!
the two vengeful spirits passed through the line without issue.
And then, just as Mok Gyeong-un too unfolded lightness skill and tried to pass through the line,
-Paaaaaak!
his body stopped right in front of it.
-Mortal!
Blue Spirit cried out with a flustered expression.
‘Kgh.’
Mok Gyeong-un turned his head with difficulty.
There, from among the shattered and fallen bookshelves, the white-haired middle-aged man was rising to his feet with an outstretched hand.
-Where do you think you are going?
“Haa… haa… you are quite troublesome.”
-The troublesome thing is me. To think that an omen of doom, not even an immortal, would possess power to this extent.
The white-haired middle-aged man clicked his tongue as he looked at the red line.
He was feeling displeasure that, despite having been released from the seal, he could not pass through that thing and was flung back.
-Mortal!
Then outside the red line, Blue Spirit hesitated and then looked as though she was about to thrust a hand back inside.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un hurriedly shook his head.
In the current situation, if she came back inside, she would be seized just as he had been.
As that was happening, the white-haired middle-aged man smacked his lips as if regretful and said,
-You judge the situation well. If you had been a little slower, I would have devoured that petty ghost.
At those words, Blue Spirit, who had stopped the hand she was extending, flinched.
Mok Gyeong-un’s judgment had been right.
The moment she reached in, that thing would have dragged her inside.
But she also could not simply leave Mok Gyeong-un in there like this.
If Mok Gyeong-un lost his life, then because of the bond of the shikigami, they too would be extinguished.
‘Damn it!’
This was truly the worst situation.
As that was going on, Mok Gyeong-un glanced at the red line on the floor.
He had not known it from outside, but the red line on the floor had been drawn throughout the entirety of this small cave chamber.
As if to prevent that thing from escaping.
At this, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the white-haired middle-aged man and opened his mouth.
“Is the proposal you made earlier perhaps still valid?”