Chapter 59 – The Enemy

Lee Lee Se-min’s auror flew towards the goblin. The goblin blocked it with an axe. Lee Lee Se-min continued to fling his sword energy and walked towards the goblin. Once, twice, the ax cut through his auror without hesitation.

Soon the distance between the two became closer.

Lee Lee Se-min turned around and slashed the goblin sideways.

The goblin blocked it with an axe.

Two weapons collided.

The goblin stumbled.

Lee Lee Se-min used the recoil to raise his sword and slash it vertically. The goblin blocked it with an axe, but could not overcome the shock and collapsed. Lee Lee Se-min kicked the goblin with his foot. While the goblin hesitated after being hit in the chin, he struck Rufus again.

The goblin kicked the floor and hurriedly retreated.

A black floor was drawn.

Taegeukhye emanating from Saemin growled.

The goblin, who had found some leisure time, raised the corners of his mouth.

“Kiao, kiaa, kiao.”

The guy was talking nonsense.

Those words felt like ridicule, so Lee Lee Se-min became angry again. I ran like crazy and swung Rufus. However, the goblin lightly twisted its body to avoid his attack and then rammed its shoulder into Lee Lee Se-min’s abdomen.

Lee Lee Se-min bounced and rolled on the floor.

I tried to get up again, but the goblin didn’t give me a chance. The guy grabbed Lee Lee Se-min by the neck and threw him into the outer wall of the building. Lee Lee Se-min flew and collided. The building collapsed and debris fell.

Lee Lee Se-min raised his aura and went through the rubble.

I attacked the goblin again.

But his axe skills were always ahead of Lee Lee Se-min’s. The goblin predicted Lee Lee Se-min’s entire trajectory, and went back to attack it.

Time passed like that.

Lee Lee Se-min attacked desperately, but in the end, the gap in strength was obvious.

Goblin grabbed me by the neck again.

I couldn’t resist any longer.

Black aurors bound his limbs.

The goblin raised his axe.

Lee Lee Se-min looked away.

I saw Bang Yu-bi’s body lying down.

Death.

And life.

Everything was fleeting.

The faces of the people he could not protect passed by.

Noh Hak-jae, who died saving him, Kim Ye-na, who was sacrificed on what should had been the happiest day, and Bang Yu-bi, who closed her eyes in front of him.

And the countless unnamed deaths he witnessed.

Now it was his turn.

In the face of death, he was just an equal human being.

I could feel the trajectory of the goblin’s ax flying through my whole body.

Lee Lee Se-min accepted his fate.

Death was approaching.

‘You are not a coward.’

The moment I let go of everything, that voice suddenly came to mind.

‘Taegeuk refers to yin and yang, heaven and earth, and furthermore, the original form.’

My vision was dark.

His mind saw not death, but what lies beyond.

Taegeuk came to mind in my mind.

It soon divided into yin and yang and spun in a circle.

They moved away. The principles of yin and yang that make up the world ultimately lie within the bonds of heaven, earth and man. Humans stand with their feet on the ground and look at the sky.

Then the world came to mind.

All things arise, grow, come true, and were thus completed.

It went back again, came into being, grows, came to fruition, and was then completed.

Creation, change, and circulation never stop.

Life and death were only a part of it.

‘Fighting is ultimately a process of subordinating the enemy’s universe to one’s own universe. Therefore, martial arts is the path to self-perfection, and if you are perfect, your enemy will surrender on his own.’

The world proliferates infinitely from a small universe to a large universe.

No, big or small actually had no meaning.

Lee Lee Se-min saw that the universe embraces a small universe, and that the small universe was once again intertwined with smaller and smaller universes.

Fractal.

The Tao of yin and yang, heaven, earth and human beings, and the original principle indicated by Taegeuk were circulating in the same way, from dust to the scale of the universe.

Taegeukhye ().

It means the harmony of all things and the generosity of Taegeuk.

A person who embraces Taijihye holds the universe within himself.

Lee Lee Se-min felt the texture of black aura crawling on his skin. It was distorted. It was a force that did not belong to the universe. It was heterogeneous and did not follow the flow of nature. The very existence was a deformed distortion.

But even that.

It will eventually circulate within the grand principle.

Taegeuk refers to yin and yang, heaven and earth, and even the original form.

Because circularity encompasses everything.

Lee Lee Se-min already had everything he needed.

Taijihui no longer pushed the black auror away. The boundary between light and darkness had become blurred. The black auror could no longer bind him.

Lee Lee Se-min’s image faded away, and his mind returned to the reality of confronting the goblin.

The goblin’s ax was still flying.

In the slow, slow trajectory of the axe, Lee Lee Se-min saw not death but an infinitely cyclical universe.

Lee Lee Se-min stretched out his hand.

His hand grabbed the axe.

The goblin’s eyes widened.

When Lee Lee Se-min let go of the axe, the goblin hurriedly stepped back.

Lee Lee Se-min checked his body.

Something had changed.

Taijihui was no longer bound by the boundaries between the body and the world. Aurors passed through his body and communicated with the universe. The world responded to his will, and natural energy was in his control.

Now, Lee Lee Se-min was able to see Taegeukhye’s true body after being released from the leash.

‘Taegeuk refers to yin and yang, heaven and earth, and furthermore, the original form.’

***

“I will go. Please allow me.”

“I guess it’s already too late?”

“We will check and if there are no survivors, we will retreat.”

“Well.”

Oh Jeong-hee scratched his head when he saw the two subordinates standing in front of his door since morning.

“The director told me not to go in the first place. Are you going to break that?”

“We have unique command authority.”

Seongjun Ahn spoke, and Hyeonjaeyoung continued his words.

“But we would like to get permission from the leader.”

Oh Jeong-hee chuckled.

“What are we going to do?”

Neither of them answered.

Oh Jeong-hee went into the room and made coffee. His room was full of mixed coffee that he had been saving to consume until it expired. I folded the packaging bag, stirred it roughly, and took a sip.

“Phew.”

He took the glass and went back to the door.

The two were still waiting for him.

“It’s a disaster beast.”

“…….”

“If we go now, do you think Lee Lee Se-min will be alive?”

The two continued to be silent.

Disaster beast.

It was literally a disaster. There were one or two Black Mark Raiders and dozens of Platinum Mark Raiders. It was not an enemy that could be stopped.

The upper levels of the Radar Management Bureau had already accepted Ryu Gwan-cheol’s death and the destruction of Cheolma’s base as a fait accompli.

“Go.”

After saying that, Oh Jeong-hee took a sip of her coffee.

Hyeonjaeyoung and Ahn Seongjun looked at him blankly. I was confused as to whether the word “go” meant to stop talking nonsense and go back to the room, or to go save Lee Lee Se-min.

After they remained silent, Oh Jeong-hee spoke again.

“If he’s alive, bring him.”

Both of their eyes widened.

“If it was a mistake, both of you will die to me.”

Seongjun Ahn and Hyeonjaeyoung answered at the same time.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Then get out.”

Oh Jeong-hee put the coffee cup back to her mouth and closed the door.

Hyeonjaeyoung and Ahn Seongjun left the building immediately.

Outside, Black Armor members dressed in black armor were lined up.

“Departure.”

Each member followed his or her team leader in two rows.

I left the Black Armor area and entered the Raider area. The raiders looked at me with envious eyes. Soon we reached the public area. I was met with looked of awe and fear.

I left the Heron base.

Ruins spread out.

Hyeonjaeyoung suddenly asked.

“Team leader Seongjun Ahn, why do you want to go?”

“Why are you going?”

“I’m close, right?”

Hyeonjaeyoung was a close associate of Lee Lee Se-min, but Ahn Seongjun was different.

Lee Lee Se-min did not like Ahn Seongjun very much.

If you listen to the story, it was a bad relationship that could not get any closer. Although Lee Lee Se-min did not mention it properly, Hyeonjaeyoung guessed that he had been beaten by Ahn Seongjun once.

“I, well…”

Seongjun Ahn trailed off.

He thought for a moment and spoke again.

“I want to do well this time.”

“Yes?”

“There is such a thing.”

Seongjun Ahn laughed. Hyeonjaeyoung tilted his head. Despite his flashy image, Ahn Seong-jun did not talk much. It was hard to believe that he was a member of a gang who had viciously bullied his classmates in the past.

“Do you think Lee Lee Se-min is alive?”

This time, Seongjun Ahn asked.

Hyeonjaeyoung answered without any hesitation.

“Yes.”

There were two things Hyunjaeyoung cannot imagine.

One was breaking up with his girlfriend Min Ji-hyun.

And the other thing was that Lee Lee Se-min dies.

Hyeonjaeyoung said with a smile.

“The goblins may be dead when we arrive.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go quickly. Before he gets the ball rolling on his own.”

Their steps quickened.

Seongjun Ahn shouted.

“Speed up everyone!”

The members of Black Armor responded loudly.

“Yes!”

They started running.

***

Lupus pierced the goblin’s heart.

The goblin stopped.

The guy looked down at his chest, then raised his head again and looked at Lee Lee Se-min. The mouth was torn long and took the shape of a smiling face.

“Kiaak.”

After Lee Lee Se-min’s Taegeukhye progressed to a new level, the fight against the goblin progressed one-sidedly.

The goblin desperately resisted by emitting black aura, but Lee Lee Se-min’s Taegeukhye erased everything.

The guy eventually met his end at the hands of Lee Lee Se-min.

“Kiaa… kiruk, kiruk….”

What did the goblin say?

At the same time, the black aura filling his body began to evaporate.

It fell into thin air as if it had never existed in the first place.

Lee Lee Se-min saw the darkness covering the goblin’s eyes disappear, and the white whites and blue pupils returned.

The goblin’s face, which was ugly and distorted due to cracked skin and dead skin cells, gradually calmed down and took on a normal appearance.

The dark skin also changed to a slightly brighter color.

A goblin with tan skin and blue eyes.

Blood flowed from the goblin’s mouth.

Lee Lee Se-min pulled Rufus out with his anger welling up. Then the goblin’s body shook. What was sticking out of the end of the rufous tube was a heart that had become a block of blue stone.

Magic stone.

A crystal of power that can be obtained by killing demonic beasts.

When it disappeared, the power radiating from the goblin’s body completely disappeared. The goblin sat down. Despite losing its heart, the goblin did not die and was looking up at Lee Lee Se-min.

Those eyes were clear.

Lee Lee Se-min’s lips twisted.

He roughly grabbed the goblin by the neck.

It shouldn’t be like this.

Lee Lee Se-min’s grip tightened.

The goblin who killed Bang Yu-bi and harmed other people should never claim that he was also a victim.

“Where does the bastard get his work from?”

The goblin stretched out his hand.

A blue light appeared from his hand.

The same light spread from Lee Lee Se-min’s chest. It was a necklace that Lee Lee Se-min always wore. The necklace floated up and slipped out of Lee Lee Se-min’s t-shirt.

The goblin said.

[Ah… … .]

I started to understand that giggling.

Lee Lee Se-min’s necklace contained a magic spell that interpreted the language of the other world.

It had now been revived by goblins.

Their language continued.

[No way, in a place like this… … Then you… … .]

The goblin touched Lee Lee Se-min’s skajan, the dragon engraved on his chest.

What on earth were you trying to say?

Lee Lee Se-min’s grip became stronger. The goblin’s neck was crushed. But he continued speaking regardless.

[I am Kirakk, the great warrior of the Sawtooth tribe.]

“Shut up.”

[I will not apologize.]

As Lee Lee Se-min applied strength, the goblin’s neck shrunk.

His vitality was running out.

[Remember.]

The vitality drained from the goblin’s body, which had lost its source of power.

[If you want to save your world.]

The goblin’s blue eyes looked at Lee Lee Se-min.

Above that large pupil, Lee Lee Se-min’s own face, infinitely distorted, was reflected.

[If you want to end this tragedy.]

Lee Lee Se-min couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Only the necklace that floated between him and the goblin radiated a soft light, connecting their emotions.

The goblin smiled.

He had a tired face.

It soon changed into a peaceful expression about to rest.

Just before he died, the goblin spoke one name.

[Kill Badurbarok.]