Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 89 - Origin Kill Pavilion Lord (4)

Chapter 89 – Origin Kill Pavilion Lord (4)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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It was something no one had expected.

From the beginning, the chain of incantation words bound one’s will through an oath one made oneself, so just as with a shikigami tied by fate, one could not absolutely refuse its commands.

That was why neither In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, nor occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong, who had received the oath of incantation words, had even imagined such a thing could happen.

“Ghk!”

In Seo-ok’s eyes widened as though they might split.

Before he knew it, Mok Gyeong-un’s hand had pierced into his chest.

‘!!!!!!’

In the enlarged pupils of In Seo-ok, Mok Gyeong-un no longer wore a blank expression.

Instead, the corners of his mouth were lifted in a sinister smile.

‘H-how in the world did this brat…?’

No matter how one looked at it, this was not the face of someone being pressed down by the chain of incantation words.

At that moment, the flustered occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong hurriedly recited the binding spell.

-Pak! Pak!

“As the ring returns without stone, as the ring is mirror-like, as there is no self…”

Since he wore the chain, once the binding spell was recited, he should become unable to move at all.

“Kugh…”

-Sseuk!

Enduring the pain of his chest being pierced, In Seo-ok tried to move his fingers and form a hand seal.

Among the forbidden secret arts he knew, there also existed arts that consumed one’s vital force to raise one’s regenerative power to an extreme.

But then,

“Ah, no. That won’t do.”

-Crack!

“Huaaaagh!”

A scream burst from In Seo-ok’s mouth.

As he tried to form a hand seal, Mok Gyeong-un bent all his fingers backward.

Because his chest had been pierced, even his scream would not come out properly.

The pain was pain, but even more than that, the thought that he might truly die like this made him desperately try to chant even a spell with his mouth alone.

“Secret text…”

“Mouth.”

-Pak!

“Keh!”

At that instant, Mok Gyeong-un struck In Seo-ok’s Adam’s apple with the blade of his hand between thumb and forefinger.

Struck in the throat, In Seo-ok coughed up blood and writhed in agony.

He had to cast some sort of spell somehow, but Mok Gyeong-un gave him no opening at all to do so.

‘Th-this brat…’

Watching him struggle, Mok Gyeong-un said mockingly,

“As expected, an occult practitioner who cannot use spells is inferior even to an ordinary person.”

Those taunting words from Mok Gyeong-un no longer reached In Seo-ok’s ears.

His mind had already gone entirely blank.

The pain was so severe that it would not have been an exaggeration to say he stood one step from death.

At that sight, Jo Ui-gong cried out with a twisted face,

“What is this? Why are you not being bound?”

At that shout, Mok Gyeong-un smiled and said,

“Who knows. Why do you think that is?”

There was no reason for him to explain it in detail.

Of course, the reason it had not taken effect was that the name Mok Gyeong-un was not, from the beginning, his true name, so the oath of incantation words meant nothing.

Occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong glared harshly at Mok Gyeong-un.

‘You wretch!’

He did not know what had happened, but the chain of incantation words did not work on Mok Gyeong-un.

Naturally, there was no way the boy would explain why it did not work.

So Jo Ui-gong made a quick decision.

-Pat!

He needed to widen the distance between them.

Since the boy came from a martial clan, if the distance remained close, then it would only put himself in danger instead.

‘Forgive me.’

His master, In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, was already as good as dead. The forbidden secret art called the Art of Returning Life had not been taught to any disciple at all, so there was no means of saving him.

As he widened the distance, Jo Ui-gong pulled something from the pouch at his waist.

They were wooden dolls with talismans attached.

[Wood-Drawing Incantation]

There were three wooden dolls marked that way.

Jo Ui-gong threw them forward.

Then, rapidly forming hand seals, he recited a spell.

“Willow spirit youth, willow spirit youth, born on the old yellow bridge road, this day make blue force into divine generals, avoid bridge and wild beasts in the night wind, four times and eight seasons by sacrifice, each day by incense and broth upon the line, blazing and radiant, with the sunrise in the east, by one talisman attend this place, five directions, Supreme Lord, swift as law!”

The instant that cry ended,

-Parururur!

The wooden dolls shook like mad, and then the soil on the ground clung to them.

Then the clinging soil transformed into giant figures each about two heads taller than an ordinary grown man.

‘Ho.’

Those transformed wooden dolls took stances with sabers and swords in both hands.

At the sight, a strange light appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

This was an art that occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong had not taught him.

“What sort of art is that?”

“As if I would tell you.”

Jo Ui-gong shouted.

Of course, he had no intention of telling him.

This was an art he had not even told his master, In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion.

They were Willow Spirit Divine Generals, made by carving century-old willow trees, enshrining them in a spirit hall, and pouring focused intent into them for a long time in order to face martial artists.

Creating even one required enormous effort, and he had spent ten years making the three of them.

For occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong, it could be called a trump art.

“You rebellious-boned bastard, release Master at once!”

-Tak!

Jo Ui-gong formed the Sword Formula Finger seal and pointed at Mok Gyeong-un.

-Papapapapak!

Then the Willow Spirit Divine Generals charged with quite rapid movements and surrounded Mok Gyeong-un. If each were compared to uncanny beings, each was stronger than a ferocious beast.

Of course, they did not reach monster-beast rank.

That said, Jo Ui-gong could confidently say that even first-rate peak masters in the language of martial artists would have difficulty dealing with three Willow Spirit Divine Generals stronger than ferocious beasts.

‘He still lacks experience.’

By contrast, Jo Ui-gong had prepared for battles against martial artists through his connection with the Fate Blade King and had sparred dozens of times.

His master, In Seo-ok, had said that if he had time for such things, he ought to refine his spell force further.

But Jo Ui-gong believed that one had to prepare to some extent even for battles against martial artists.

The result of that was the Willow Spirit Divine Generals.

‘……It was a mistake.’

Jo Ui-gong clicked his tongue inwardly.

His eyes had turned over the boy’s extraordinary talent, and he had taken him in, but that boy was effectively nothing less than a rebel with no one able to control him.

To him, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,

“I still have much to learn, Master.”

“Silence! Who says I am your master?”

“Isn’t one who was once a master, a master forever?”

-Grit!

Thinking those words from Mok Gyeong-un were mockery, occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong ground his teeth and could only stare in disbelief.

A disciple taken into the school had killed his grandmaster.

Such a thing was absolutely not common.

“I was foolish to think I could control you.”

-Pak! Pak!

Occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong formed hand seals and shouted, pointing at Mok Gyeong-un.

“Kill that…”

“Ah. It would be better not to do that. If you keep going, Grandmaster here may die very soon. Is that really fine with you?”

At those words, Jo Ui-gong found it absurd.

Once a hand had pierced through the chest, the man was already as good as dead.

Rather, the very fact that he was still breathing at all was what felt strange, so by what means could the boy possibly save him?

“It looks as though you are trying to stall for time, but that is usel…”

“Master. You are throwing away the opportunity I am offering you rather too easily.”

“What?”

What nonsense was this boy spouting now?

As he was thinking that, Mok Gyeong-un said in a meaningful voice,

“You want to become the next Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, don’t you?”

‘!?’

At those words, for an instant, occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong hesitated instead of ordering the boy killed.

What was he talking about now?

In a voice gone cold, Jo Ui-gong said,

“Have you gone mad?”

“In what sense?”

“Are you trying to tell me that since Master is about to die, an opportunity has opened up for me to become Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion?”

It was so absurd that a dry laugh almost came out.

If one coveted the upper seat, did that mean that if the one above died, that seat would simply become one’s own?

And besides, In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, had three disciples.

Among them, the one closest to succeeding him was naturally senior brother Jo Tae-cheong.

So if Master died, then the opportunity would in fact grow more distant.

“It seems you are not very attached to the position.”

“Kill him!”

It seemed he must not listen to the boy any longer.

The boy kept trying to beguile him with words, but at least now he had become certain of one thing.

This boy had to die no matter what.

He was not someone Jo Ui-gong could control.

-Papapapapak!

The instant the command fell, the three Willow Spirit Divine Generals surrounding Mok Gyeong-un rushed him all at once.

It was at that very moment.

-Chwarrrrrrr!

Chains burst from the ground and at once bound the bodies of the Willow Spirit Divine Generals.

-Craaaack!

“What?”

The one who did this was none other than Green Spirit Gyu So-ha.

-You damned occult practitioner. Did you think I would stand by and let you lay a finger on Master?

‘What is this?’

Occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong furrowed his brow.

That Green Spirit had clearly expended much of her spirit power, so she should not have been in a state to wield such power.

Yet before he knew it, her appearance had almost returned to normal.

‘What method did he use?’

It was not night, nor was there any situation from which she should have been able to draw power to restore her spirit energy.

As he stood there unable to understand, Mok Gyeong-un suddenly grabbed the head of the dying In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion.

Then, in the next instant,

-Pak!

‘!!!!!!!!!’

He tore out the heart that had been inside the man’s chest.

It was truly shocking.

Since becoming an occult practitioner, Jo Ui-gong had seen all manner of grotesque things and numerous corpses, but to see the master who had transmitted occult arts to him have his heart ripped out alive, his state of mind could not be expressed in words.

‘Th-this boy truly is…’

To the dazed Jo Ui-gong, Mok Gyeong-un twitched his lips and said,

“I’ll give you one final chance.”

“What?”

“If you take the hand I offer you even now, Master will have nothing to lose.”

“……No matter what words you use to entice me, do you think I would ever beli…”

-Crush!

At that moment, the heart in Mok Gyeong-un’s hand was crushed.

Then Mok Gyeong-un brought the crushed heart to the mouth of In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, whose breath had stopped.

The moment he saw that, occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong’s eyes shook.

He could guess what Mok Gyeong-un was trying to do.

‘The Six-Person Spirit Descent Art?’

The Six-Person Spirit Descent Art.

That was a forbidden secret art for creating a living corpse demon.

If one fed the blood of the heart, which could be called one’s very source, to one who had just died and then carried out the art by gathering in one place the yin-cold energies of those who had died not long before, that being would be born.

A living corpse spirit.

It became a being to which those words were suited.

However, a living corpse demon was even harder to create than an ordinary corpse spirit or a jiangshi.

‘Its utility is far too poor.’

And no wonder, because to create just one living corpse demon, nearly thirty people had to be killed so that their death energies could be gathered into one place.

And if one could not periodically kill people and replenish the living corpse demon with the yin-cold energy of the dead, its body would rot, making its utility extremely poor.

It required endless sacrifices for the sake of a walking corpse with no will of its own, so it had been banned by the Thirty-Six Pavilions of the Square and Circle.

Of course, that was not a problem for the occult practitioners of Origin Kill Pavilion, who practiced forbidden arts in the first place, but

“Ha!”

Occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong clicked his tongue.

By what method was the boy intending to turn the Pavilion Lord into a living corpse demon now?

To replace the heart, one had to kill thirty people and fill the body with their death energy, but even if everyone collapsed here were killed, that would be only ten people.

-Pak! Pak! Pak!

Mok Gyeong-un formed hand seals with his bare hands instead of using talismans.

Then he began reciting a spell.

“Wash away the blossoms, steal the vital force, if as if within the Immortal Mirror, one becomes ten thousand…”

‘Foolish. If he does not bury the freshly dead around him and gather their yin-cold energy, then a living corpse demon can never…’

-Twitch!

It was at that moment.

The body of In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, whose head Mok Gyeong-un was holding, moved.

At the sight, the eyes of occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong widened.

What in the world was going on?

“Uuuugh…”

Then soon a sound even came out from the dead man’s mouth.

That phenomenon, his overturned white eyes blinking, was the sign of someone becoming a living corpse spirit.

Seeing that, Jo Ui-gong was left speechless.

‘Impossible.’

The required yin-cold energy of the dead had not been filled, so how could this happen?

And then at some point, the pupils returned to the eyes of In Seo-ok, Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un released his grip on the man’s head.

-Thud!

Wobbling, In Seo-ok then stood upright on his own strength.

“M-master!”

Occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong called out to In Seo-ok.

At that call, In Seo-ok turned his head slightly, then shifted his gaze to Mok Gyeong-un with a vacant expression.

Then he staggered forward and knelt down on both knees.

‘!!!!!’

Seeing that, occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong was truly stunned beyond measure.

Even without fulfilling the condition of the dead’s yin-cold energy, Mok Gyeong-un had truly succeeded in the Six-Person Spirit Descent Art.

‘Who in the world is this brat…’

As he stood there bewildered, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head and smiled at occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong as he said,

“Do you still not want the chance?”