The Play of the Jester and the Performer (4)
The time passed quickly, and it was now fifty days until the arrival of the Goe-gun.
"Then, let us summarize the plan we have built so far."
I began to speak before Yuhwa and Gyeobae, organizing the plan we had woven up until now, each person's position, and what each one hoped for.
"First, what Yuhwa desires is confirming Baeknyeong's condition and rescuing him. And if possible, she wants us to rescue the Baek-yeom clan as well. Is that right?"
"Yes."
"And what about you, Gyeobae-nim? You need time to meet with Seo Hyoel, correct?"
"Indeed."
"In that case, we must first separate Seo Hyoel from the Sea Dragon Palace or from the others so that he has no chance of receiving support from them. Once Seo Hyoel is pulled away from the Sea Dragon Palace, Yuhwa will infiltrate it to find Baeknyeong and the Baek-yeom clan, while I and Gyeobae-nim will go search for Seo Hyoel. That is the core of the plan."
Now, the method to execute this plan.
"First, fifty days later when the Goe-gun appears, Seo Hyoel will surely want to distance himself as far as possible from the Goe-gun. At this point, the Goe-gun is, frankly, an existence that even the Dragon King, Hyeon-eum, a mere Unity-stage powerhouse, could defeat."
In our past lives.
Kim Yeon, even though she nearly lost to Hyeon-eum using the Wondrous Castle and puppets, only lost because of the divine body part that was the Lord's foot.
The Blood Dragon King Hyeon-eum, who had the most battle experience among Unity-stage members, was pushed back by puppets controlled by Kim Yeon.
Therefore, puppets controlled by the Goe-gun, who is also an expert in puppetry, with only a few more than four Unity-stage members, would be more than enough to deal with him.
In short, the moment Seo Hyoel drew the Goe-gun's attention, he would be done for at that spot.
Seo Hyoel would certainly know this fact well, and therefore would distance himself from the Goe-gun as much as possible.
And since Seo Hyoel, the Sea Dragon Palace would not be safe from the Goe-gun either, he would hide in a place where countless other Dragon Clan chiefs of Unity-stage gathered.
And within the Outer Sea, there was only one such place.
'The Palace of Liberation!'
Seo Hyoel would hide inside the Palace of Liberation.
Then, we would act on that opening and execute our respective plans.
Yuhwa would go to the Sea Dragon Palace, investigate the situation of the Baek-yeom clan and Baeknyeong, while I and Gyeobae would go to the Palace of Liberation to find Seo Hyoel together.
Yuhwa had said she wanted to give Seo Hyoel one good blow, so after rescuing Baeknyeong she would surely return to us and join the fight.
Then, together with Yuhwa, we would give her one strike to Seo Hyoel.
In that case, no matter what, when Seo Hyoel reached the next realm, he would have to face Yuhwa's Heavenly Calamity as well.
'And I will show Seo Hyoel something interesting too.'
I had prepared a secret technique that would leave a stinging mark on the back of Seo Hyoel's head.
All I had to do was take him to a place where no one else could help.
How could I throw Seo Hyoel into such a place.
'It's impossible to lure Seo Hyoel by throwing a bait at him.'
Seo Hyoel would never move alone.
He would probably move with dozens, or even hundreds, of mid-stage or higher-level youkai alongside him while hiding inside the Palace of Liberation.
'But even if Seo Hyoel can't move, he can still make others move.'
At this moment, the one who was needed was Yuhwa.
She would reveal her presence on the lowest floor of the Palace of Liberation.
And if the other youkai sensed Yuhwa's scent of a spirit in the third stage of manifestation, they would become furious and head to the lowest floor of the Palace of Liberation to capture her.
Yuhwa would hide her presence using the Wansuigungmurok and slip out undetected.
Of course, even if Seo Hyoel fought and left some behind, I had prepared poison for such fellows.
Wonrip, the original body of Won-you, was a demonic cultivator who had prepared for a life-or-death struggle in the Underworld.
In short, the demonic techniques Won-you had learned, such as Blood Demon Array and Blood Shattering Forest, were extremely similar in qi to the Heavenly Demons of the Underworld.
That meant the other cultivators left behind with Seo Hyoel could be sent out as bait for the Heavenly Demons of the Underworld.
Of course, Seo Hyoel might follow after Won-you as bait, but I had prepared a secret move to ensure he could not move.
'When this move is activated, Seo Hyoel will have no choice but to remain at that spot.'
And once Seo Hyoel was completely alone.
After we surrounded him with Yuhwa and Gyeobae, eliminating any chance of escape.
After giving Seo Hyoel and Gyeobae a moment to speak.
After Yuhwa and I dealt fatal damage to Seo Hyoel.
That was the plan this time.
"...This is the plan we have devised this time. Is there anything you think needs to be added or removed?"
"There is nothing more on the grand scale. Now let us move into the details, and we will find out how Seo Hyoel hid on several floors of the Palace of Liberation. And also..."
We moved into the finer details and organized every little branch of the plan.
* * *
Paaaat!
After the meeting of the day ended.
I returned to the east, tied up Kim Yeon so she could not thrash about, and used the Ocean of Righteousness, Mountain of Grace.
Tswaah!
The starlight sword shot toward her as if it would fly into her consciousness.
My single strike containing my origin energy traveled into her mental world and traveled deep inside her.
And the goal was to gradually awaken her by wandering through her inner depths, calling her with my voice.
It seemed the Ocean of Righteousness was not ineffective, for I felt her dazed eyes gradually returning to focus.
Her condition was steadily improving.
If this continued, perhaps before the execution day I would be able to reunite with her.
'If only I can meet you again before this life ends.'
I looked at my right arm, which had already vanished to the elbow, and let out a faint sigh inside.
With this momentum, even the limbs might not remain by the time of the execution day.
'The day of death is approaching.'
I used the Ocean of Righteousness and, leading my weary body, looked up at the sky.
* * *
Weeiiiing―
A group of small puppet flies flew through the air.
Literally, the small puppet flies of the sergeant generals, the size of fingernails.
I raised a small swarm of these sergeant generals and sent them flying to every corner of the Palace of Liberation.
Since the Palace of Liberation was vast, if I planted this monitoring network in advance using puppets, I would be able to quickly ascertain where Seo Hyoel would move when the time came to execute the plan.
The small swarm-type sergeant generals spread out across the Palace of Liberation.
* * *
The execution day drew nearer and nearer.
As the day approached, Gyeobae's expression grew more complicated, and Yuhwa began to cry more and more frequently.
Every day until the execution day, I used the Ocean of Righteousness on Yeon to bring her consciousness to the surface.
And Hong Beom, as if to create something that would help me, tore up herbs, spiritual herbs, and poisonous herbs from everywhere and kept mixing something.
The small sergeant generals were now scattered throughout the Palace of Liberation, settling into many of the structures inside.
With these, they would become my faithful eyes and ears, guiding me wherever Seo Hyoel fled.
Weeiiiing―
I moved the small sergeant generals to survey the Palace of Liberation, checking for terrain that might help or harm Seo Hyoel.
And through the small sergeant generals, I also investigated the youkai's conversations and gathered information.
Several days passed like this.
Weeiiiing―
Controlling the small sergeant generals, I learned through rumors that there were 'hidden spaces' scattered throughout the Palace of Liberation.
'A hidden space...'
If such places existed, they would be perfect hiding spots for Seo Hyoel.
'I need to find them quickly.'
I sent small sergeant generals through the suspected locations of hidden spaces throughout the Palace of Liberation, planting remote circuits for the Goe-gun.
As the circuits were laid, in places with hidden spaces the circuit paths were blocked, preventing connection.
In places without such spaces, the circuit had plenty of room to lay down smoothly.
In this way, I discovered more than twenty thousand hidden spaces on almost every floor of the Palace of Liberation.
'It's mind-boggling.'
Fortunately, I had the small sergeant generals. Otherwise, I would have had to wander around finding roughly one hundred and twenty thousand monstrous hidden spaces with no ability at all.
I could not send the small sergeant generals into every space at once, but I entered them sequentially, one by one, to investigate the hidden spaces inside.
And, while we each worked hard, the execution day drew nearer.
* * *
"Master, please accept this."
"Hm?"
I received what Hong Beom handed over.
"What is this?"
What Hong Beom handed over was a blue light liquid contained in an emerald bottle.
I subtly smelled the liquid's scent and furrowed my brow.
"Poison."
"Yes, it is made from poisonous herbs."
"What kind of poison?"
"A poison that amplifies pain. It is not simply auditory; the spiritual energy contained in the poison stimulates the soul and causes pain to be heard in consciousness as well. One drop amplifies the sensitivity of pain by more than six thousand times for a short time. I poured every ounce of my talent into creating this poison."
"...I see. Did you make it for me to use?"
"Yes. Anyone who touches this poison with even a single drop will go insane, or would rather be killed because it is that painful."
"But the killing power?"
"There is almost none. It was created solely to inflict pain."
"Good. It will be a great help to me."
I realized that this poison was precisely what Hong Beom had deduced from listening to our previous plan and guessing my strategy to deal with the hidden Seo Hyoel.
'With this poison alone, Seo Hyoel would lose his mind instantly...'
I placed the poison Hong Beom had mixed carefully into my bosom.
This poison would be invaluable when needed.
And, as if by coincidence, the day before the Goe-gun arrived for the execution was upon us.
Patsuch...
Now my arms had become electric, and my lower body had disappeared as well.
Soon, the entire body would be electric and I would die.
Of course, since the formless sword of the Void was moving beneath my skin to replace my limbs, it probably looked fine from the outside.
'Finally, one more day.'
Tomorrow at last.
My small counterattack against Seo Hyoel would begin.
It was at that moment.
Weeiiiing―
"...Wait."
Through the swarm-type small sergeant generals, as I was checking the hidden spaces throughout the Palace of Liberation, I stopped one small sergeant general at a hidden space and had it illuminate the inside of the space.
"...Wait, wait...!"
I shot up from my seat.
The sergeant general's perception technique transmitted to me, illuminating the interior of the hidden space.
I paid no attention to anything else and hurriedly flew toward the Palace of Liberation.
Because my face might be seen, I wore the Blood Body Armor and used the puppetry technique to reshape my face with Won-you's distinctive features.
I quickly headed to the space the small sergeant general had found.
It was on the seventh floor of the Palace of Liberation.
Directly below the deck of the Palace of Liberation, the life floor.
The floor that handled the entire administration of the Dragon Alliance.
And I flew there with the scent of the dragon clan revealed, covering my skin with scales so that others would not look at me strangely.
Thud!
It was a familiar place.
The seventh floor of the Palace of Liberation.
The place where I, after my regression, had first come to the Palace of Liberation with Seo Hyoel.
The administrative building where I had gone to the market to watch the youkai market, evading Seo Hyoel's eyes.
"I see... "
I stood in front of the administrative building, feeling the hidden space inside and letting out a bitter laugh.
Oh Hye-seo was inside that space.
On the first day I came to the Dragon Alliance.
While I went to the market and toured the youkai markets, Seo Hyoel, pretending to handle business in the administrative district, had hidden Oh Hye-seo inside the Palace of Liberation, in the life floor's hidden space.
"That's why no matter how much we searched the Sea Dragon Palace, we couldn't find her..."
I stepped inside the administrative district to confirm how Oh Hye-seo was living.