The One Who Failed to Ascend 2
Some put it this way.
An Imugi may never become a dragon, yet it remains a sacred beast. Even should it ascend, it merely enters the realm of the immortals. In form, a dragon and an Imugi are scarcely different at all.
But in the eyes of the people of that age, it was otherwise. An Imugi was a monster.
A being born to heap up good karma and rise to the heavens — twisted by an irreversible sin into an evil that would never ascend.
KYAAAAAAK!!
Such an evil was howling now, writhing in the agony of shattered fangs. A frail human life that should have been nothing more than prey — a human gripping nothing but a single spear carved from wood — dared to stand against a sacred being born to a dragon's destiny.
But the Imugi did not know. The one bearing hostility toward it had once been a fighting demon who dominated an entire era.
"You're better than just this, aren't you? Imugi!"
Shin Gi-woon kicked off a layer of air and vaulted onto the creature's head. True mid-air walking was beyond him, but using qi to leap high was child's play.
The Imugi broke off its howling and began thrashing its entire body, trying to shake the foreign thing from its skull. Shin Gi-woon channeled force into his fingers, drove them between the scales, and locked his grip fast.
Perhaps realizing that no amount of thrashing would dislodge him, the Imugi changed tactics.
KYAAAAAAK!
"Oh, hell!"
It charged headfirst into the wall, meaning to crush him flat. The problem was that the Imugi was severely underestimating Shin Gi-woon's level.
BOOM!
Grrrh...
"You dumb bastard. You think I'd just sit still for that?"
Shin Gi-woon hooked his spear over his shoulder and taunted the Imugi. Even if it had failed to become a dragon, the creature still possessed intelligence. That ought to be provocation enough, he thought — and in that instant:
"Huh?"
Something strange began happening to the Imugi. Beyond mere trembling, its body seemed to be contracting in on itself.
It's not suddenly ascending, is it—
Hisssss.
Then the anomaly struck. Enormous clouds of steam erupted from the Imugi's body. Shin Gi-woon narrowed his eyes and watched the transformation unfold.
Steam is water in its gaseous state. Steam pouring from a body meant liquid had vaporized — which meant the Imugi's temperature was climbing.
"No. It's not just body heat."
The air itself was baking. The heat radiating from the Imugi was anything but ordinary. He didn't know the reason, but instinct was screaming at him to stop it now. Fail, and something he could not handle would emerge.
"Haaaah!!"
Shin Gi-woon accelerated and was about to drive his spear down into the Imugi's skull when the heat blasting from its scales dulled the blade tip —
CRACK!
"Ah, fuck."
The spear snapped clean, and the attack ended in failure.
Shin Gi-woon put distance between them at once. Watching the Imugi slowly contract, his master's words came flooding back.
"Until you reach the Peak realm, don't even think about fighting an Imugi."
"Most Imugi aren't a problem to face — but a few of them are. If an Imugi falls from heaven for some unknown reason... your first thought should be to run."
Because a monster no First-Class martial artist could handle would appear.
His master had said it with a bitter smile. And only now, with crisis upon him, did Shin Gi-woon remember those words.
"He said it was only a tiny fraction — don't tell me this Imugi is..."
On a small peninsula in the east there existed a monster unknown to the Murim of the age. An Imugi that failed to become a dragon, consumed by hatred — a beast of karmic fire forged through fall after fall from heaven.
"Gangcheoli!"
The Imugi Shin Gi-woon had been fighting had transformed into a Gangcheoli.
Meanwhile, in the closed-door training management office of Jamma Cave—
"Hmm?"
They detected that the temperature in exactly one closed-door training ground was rising. Not merely climbing — as if flames were roaring inside.
The instructor urgently reported to the chief instructor's office, and Lee Hyeong-seop entered the management room with a hardened face.
"The temperature in one of the closed-door training grounds is rising exponentially?"
"Yes... at least double, it seems."
"Keh — kahahahahaha!!"
Lee Hyeong-seop burst into peals of laughter. He'd thought it unlikely — yet that Imugi had actually fallen and become a Gangcheoli.
He'd believed it nothing more than a tale from another world. And of all people, Number Seven — the one he'd been watching most carefully — had come face to face with the strongest of monsters.
"What should we do? Shouldn't we halt the closed-door training?"
"No. There's no reason to stop something this significant."
If the temperature inside the training ground kept climbing, the oxygen would oxidize until even breathing became difficult. In truth, Shin Gi-woon's odds of defeating the Gangcheoli were less than one in ten.
But that did not mean Number Seven would be killed by it.
"Send down the White Fang Spear."
"Sir?"
"If things get dangerous, I'll intervene myself. That's all."
Lee Hyeong-seop's eyes gleamed with a sinister light. It was a measure of just how high his expectations for Number 295 truly were.
"Haha. I'm screwed."
Shin Gi-woon exhaled roughly and stared straight ahead. The Gangcheoli, having shed the Imugi's skin, was smaller than before — yet still larger than a tiger. And with newly grown legs, it looked capable of far more precise movement.
I hope they've noticed the situation outside.
Facing a predator with no spear at all. The situation was as bleak as it got — but he did not despair. If he couldn't overcome a hardship of this level—
"There's no point in being ali—"
That was when it happened. The Gangcheoli before his eyes vanished, and in the same instant a dull impact rang against his left temple—
BOOOOM!
"Gahk!"
Shin Gi-woon was blasted into the wall in a single blow. His consciousness flickered out, then staggered back. What the hell had just happened?
The Gangcheoli disappeared, and the hit landed immediately.
Speed beyond imagination. And for something that had only just grown legs, its application of them was considerable. Because the blow had been unexpected, he even felt the early symptoms of a concussion. The world swayed, and his cognitive speed slowed — which was why he saw it so clearly: the Gangcheoli charging straight at him.
In that moment, everything snapped back to normal. Shin Gi-woon briefly released internal energy and wrenched his body free of the wall.
"Kh!"
CRAAASH!
There was no time to think. The instant he pulled free, he rolled across the ground. Still unable to properly control its strength, the Gangcheoli drove its head straight into the wall.
He'd dodged by a hair's breadth — but the assault wasn't over.
The tail too?!
SCREEECH!
The Gangcheoli's tail, its head still buried in the wall, cracked through the air like a whip. Shin Gi-woon urgently flooded both arms with internal energy, crossed them, and blocked —
Or rather, he was sent flying backward.
"Look at this insane blockhead of a bastard..."
Shin Gi-woon landed safely and spat the blood from his mouth. The rising temperature had been leading to nothing good from the start. The situation practically demanded swearing.
It had headbutted a wall at high speed and come away without a single scratch. Meanwhile, Shin Gi-woon had lost all sensation in his left arm. Slamming into the wall had clearly torn the muscle. The one silver lining:
The internal cultivation method surged through torn muscle and ruptured tissue, restoring the body more vigorously than ever before.
In this life, he had yet to properly draw on the Battle Demon Divine Art's power. He simply hadn't suffered a wound severe enough to need it.
One of the reasons the Battle Demon Heavenly Spear arts specialized in fighting many at once was the Battle Demon Divine Art's rapid recovery. The muscle was torn, but given time the art would heal it on its own. As long as he didn't thrash the arm around and break it further, using it shouldn't be a major problem.
Though he'd need a good long rest afterward.
This is bad...
Forget a spear — there wasn't even a long, pointed object in sight. Wood would never withstand the Gangcheoli's searing heat. Unless it was a divine weapon.
TING!
"Huh?"
In that moment, he heard the sound of metal striking earth. With the Gangcheoli right in front of him, all he could do was shift his eyes. But contrary to his intention of merely rolling his eyeballs for a glance, the moment he confirmed the object, his gaze locked onto it of its own accord.
Because a divine weapon was lying right there.
KRAAAAH!
"Shit!"
The Gangcheoli, snapping back to awareness, spewed fire. Come to think of it — hadn't he heard that Gangcheoli were skilled with flame?
Fortunately, its accuracy was poor. Maybe because it was firing for the first time. An opportunity.
Shin Gi-woon sprinted toward the White Fang Spear with everything he had. Right now, while the Gangcheoli still couldn't properly grasp its own power — this was as good as a golden chance to grab the spear.
The Gangcheoli, unable to control its own strength, staggered. Seizing that opening, he easily closed his hand around the White Fang Spear.
"Hooo..."
A divine weapon that radiated a chilling edge of killing intent. The moment Shin Gi-woon lifted the spear, one corner of his mouth hooked up toward his ear.
Having grown to the First-Class level, he could finally perceive it — the special ability hidden within this spear!
The feel of ice arts!
Internal energy poured into the spear. A frigid cold burst outward, dragging the superheated air down degree by degree. Steam rose in thick veils, cloaking the chamber in a natural shroud of concealment.
A fight that would have to be conducted with vision blocked. The optimal conditions had been met.
"Alright — now let's fight for real!!"