Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 12 - Demon Monk (1)
Chapter 12 – Demon Monk (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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It had been trapped in a body for a long time.
The owner of that body possessed a will and decisiveness stronger than it had expected.
As it tried to seize the body quickly, the owner blocked the flow of qi and blood and cut off his own consciousness.
-Enduring is useless.
Taking away the consciousness was only a matter of time.
No matter how strong the will, it was bound to submit in the end.
Once it could claim the weakened body and consciousness, it would be able to steal that flesh.
-It will not be long.
It had thought everything was proceeding smoothly.
But then an unexpected variable appeared.
With only a little more time, it would have been able to break through the sealed consciousness, but an interfering factor arose.
-Who are you?
Ordinary humans cannot perceive their existence.
But this being knew a strange sorcery by which to control it.
-Are you trying to drive me out?
And so the being began a contest of strength.
It depended on whether it would be expelled or claim the body.
Then the being was tricked by the person handling this strange sorcery and ended up entering a wooden doll.
-You dare deceive me.
The resentment-filled being grew even angrier.
Only by taking that body again and twisting the neck of the being that had tried to drive it out did it feel this anger would subside.
But in the middle of that, it was interrupted.
So the being aimed not for the body it had intended to seize, but for the one who interfered.
-A fine body.
A young body.
Unlike the body it had originally intended to seize, it was not overflowing with vital essence, but rather leaned more toward yin, which made it easier to rampage within.
This body was worth taking.
Because it was younger and more juvenile than the former body, its ego and will would likely be weaker as well.
-I will seize it quickly.
It only had to erase the bastard’s consciousness.
If it stimulated the consciousness and kept it confined, the ego would weaken in the end.
However,
-This is…..
The being could not hide its surprise.
What in the world was the owner of this body?
There was a primal desire that seemed enough to stab through the viscera.
It was the desire of killing intent.
-Is this bastard truly a living being?
Death.
Darkness.
Anger.
Killing intent.
All of these were mixed together and filled with yin energy.
For the being, this desire brimming with death and killing intent was an irresistible instinct.
-This is supreme.
The being felt joy at this desire.
But soon it was also seized by disappointment.
It was the greatest desire, one that would have bloomed splendidly if left alone, but something had suppressed it so that it could not properly flower.
-I will remove the factor that suppresses your desire.
If it was a desire that had not yet blossomed, it was better to open it completely.
After all, the finest body required a perfect mind.
But then something unbelievable happened.
‘What are you?’
The bastard recognized it.
It had tried to confine him within the reality his consciousness desired, but it failed.
-This cannot be.
How had he recognized it?
It was impossible for a living being to directly perceive or touch it.
‘I asked what you are.’
Then there was no helping it.
Even if it had to be somewhat rough, it would have no choice but to proceed with the erosion by force.
It chose forced erosion.
The erosion of the flesh had already begun, and if it devoured even the will and consciousness, he would have no choice but to yield the body.
-Creeeeping!
-!?
For the first time, it felt flustered.
The erosion was occurring in reverse.
The energy that had burrowed into the body was instead being absorbed into him.
It was happening at a speed beyond imagination.
-Stop.
‘What nonsense are you babbling?’
-Stop.
‘You’re noisy.’
-No.
‘I said you’re noisy.’
-I will give up. I will leave, so stop.
At this rate, it might be completely devoured.
It tried somehow to escape.
But now the bastard was the one holding on to it.
* * *
“Hoo.”
Occult practitioner Myo-shin let out a tired sigh, then soon picked up the sword that had fallen on the floor.
He had thought it would be light, but the sword was quite heavy in his hands.
Holding the sword with both hands, occult practitioner Myo-shin looked at the Manor Lord with a tense face.
‘Can I do it?’
He had exorcised things like strange phenomena before, but he had never killed a living human.
So now that he was actually about to do it, he was tense.
But he had to do it.
‘I have to kill him.’
Only then could he finish the First Madam’s commission and pin everything on this bastard.
He intended to say that, having been possessed by the strange phenomenon that had been in the Manor Lord, he ran wild and killed the Manor Lord.
If that happened, he would naturally be able to get rid of this bastard with the First Madam’s help.
‘Do it.’
He had to hurry.
If this bastard’s bodyguard waiting outside came in, the matter would be ruined.
Occult practitioner Myo-shin was just about to step toward the Manor Lord.
It was right then.
-Flinch!
Occult practitioner Myo-shin, who had been moving his feet, stopped short.
Seized by a chilling cold that made goosebumps rise, he slowly turned his head with a hardened face.
‘!?’
Myo-shin could not hide his bewilderment for a moment.
He doubted his own eyes.
A giant, hazy being, seemingly more than two heads taller than an ordinary adult, was glaring at him with chilling light in its eyes.
‘Th…..this…..’
A gigantic monk wearing blood-soaked kasaya robes and a necklace of skull beads around his neck.
The face of the monk, without even a trace of blood color, lacked all vitality.
That was,
‘A strange phenomenon?’
Myo-shin knew for certain that this being was a strange phenomenon.
Occult practitioners like himself called them strange phenomena or vengeful spirits, but ordinary people also called them ghosts.
-Drip, drip, drip!
Cold sweat ran down Myo-shin’s forehead.
Had his spiritual sight suddenly heightened?
This was the first time he had seen a strange phenomenon with such a clear and solid form with his own two eyes.
‘Damn it!’
Myo-shin cursed harshly inwardly.
There was no way his spiritual sight had suddenly risen like this.
This strange phenomenon was surely a being of such a high grade and such a powerful resentful soul that it was beyond his ability to handle.
That was why it could manifest its own appearance like this.
-Clang!
Myo-shin threw away the sword and formed a hand seal.
-Papak!
‘Rim!’
-Papak!
‘Byeong!’
-Papak!
‘Tu!’
-Papak!
‘Ja!’
-Papapapak!
At the same time, having formed a sword seal and the Vajra Fist Seal, Myo-shin recited an incantation toward the strange phenomenon.
“Before the Dipper’s divine authority, strike down soldiers, generals, and brigands, see the five watchtowers, with one star drive out impurity, demons, ghosts, and monsters outside……”
He had been in the middle of chanting the spell.
At that moment, the strange phenomenon in the form of a demon monk moved like mist and approached him.
-Srrrrrrr!
‘It is useless!’
He had attached the Seven Stars Descending Talisman to his chest to protect his body.
Exorcising it would be difficult, but it would be impossible for this strange phenomenon to affect him directly……
-Thud!
“Ugh!”
At that moment, Myo-shin, having been punched in the face, had no choice but to stop chanting.
It hurt, yes, but more than that, the bewildered Myo-shin blinked his eyes.
“H-how?”
The one who had struck him was none other than Mok Gyeong-un.
Should he not have been unable to move, having been possessed by the strange phenomenon that had been in the Manor Lord’s body?
He should have been suppressed by the Suppress talisman.
As the puzzled Myo-shin looked on, his eyes shook when he discovered something.
From Mok Gyeong-un’s chest, some hazy black thing was flowing out like a thread and connecting to the demon monk strange phenomenon.
Seeing this, Myo-shin realized that something had gone wrong.
‘…….How can this be?’
There was only one meaning to that.
If soul was connected to soul, it meant a spirit familiar.
A spirit familiar literally meant an inhuman being bound to oneself so that it obeyed.
But the reason Myo-shin was shocked was simple.
‘How could a strange phenomenon……?’
That strange phenomenon was a vengeful spirit.
They were souls knotted with resentment in order to resolve their grudge, and such things did not follow humans.
It would not be strange to call them pure malice.
There were occasionally outstanding occult practitioners who handled spirit familiars, but those were ancient beings or a kind of benevolent demon and monster.
‘Impossible.’
How could an evil strange phenomenon filled with killer aura like that become a spirit familiar?
Moreover, that fellow was not someone who had learned occult arts or Daoist arts.
He could not understand it at all.
Ordinarily, if common people were possessed by a strange phenomenon of that level, it would be normal for their bodies to be stolen or for them to lose their lives.
‘How……’
“Do I just remove this?”
“What?”
-Pak!
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un stretched out his hand and pulled something off his chest.
The fluttering yellow paper was,
“Huh?”
the Seven Stars Descending Talisman.
At this, Myo-shin’s eyes widened.
That talisman was exactly what protected him from strange phenomena.
And if that was removed,
-Srrrrrrr!
The pale giant demon monk was approaching with a chilling smile.
Flustered, Myo-shin hurriedly formed a seal and tried to recite a protecting spell in place of the talisman.
But,
-Thud!
“Guh!”
Mok Gyeong-un kicked him in the stomach.
Struck in the stomach, Myo-shin collapsed like a shrimp from the pain of feeling as though his five viscera had been turned upside down.
He tried to endure the urge to vomit and form a seal again, but,
“Kuh!”
Myo-shin’s waist bent backward.
His face darkened, and veins bulged out.
-Tick, tick!
Myo-shin understood.
The strange phenomenon had entered him and was trying to kill him.
If he did not quickly form a seal and use occult arts, he might be eroded by the strange phenomenon and lose his life.
Myo-shin tried with all his might to form a hand seal with one hand.
However,
-Press!
Mok Gyeong-un stepped on that hand.
So that he could do nothing at all.
Startled, Myo-shin panted and begged with all his remaining strength.
“Huff, huff! Y-Young Master, please spare me. Please…..please, if you only let me save my life…..I….I will do…..anything…..”
“No need.”
“I-if it is because I deceived you…….”
“No.”
Mok Gyeong-un shook his head.
“You did it in order to survive, so what could I do about that? But you also heard where the seal and secret manual are.”
‘!?’
At that, Myo-shin was left speechless.
Did that not mean that regardless of his deception, Mok Gyeong-un had already intended to kill him?
Looking at the dumbfounded man, Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and said,
“So just die.”
-Shiver!
The corners of his mouth were smiling, but both eyes did not move in the slightest, like those of a dead man.
That sight felt more chilling than the strange phenomenon itself.
“Kuh! Kuh!”
Blood flowed from the mouth of Myo-shin, whose entire face was bulging with veins.
Then the body, which had been convulsing, gradually came to a stop.
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