Evening Comes
As evening fell, "Meow!" Hyeonro pointed toward the eleven o'clock direction from inside my sleeve. At the same time I glanced at Pigeon 1's face. ...Jackpot. Pigeon 1 gave a silent nod. The spot Hyeonro indicated matched the marker on the map exactly. Our advance slowed to a crawl.
"Communication magic is now prohibited. We're being eavesdropped on."
"...That's impossible."
"It's already reaching me, which means that bastard can definitely hear it. From this moment forward, refrain from using communication magic. Only employ it for true emergencies like a distress signal. There's a risk they could manipulate the spells to create interference."
It was a bitter pill for any magician, but his prized communication arts were still a form of mystery and therefore vulnerable to outside meddling.
"Do you have a better plan?"
Nam Hong-ryeon asked on behalf of the party, her eyes trembling with unease. Learning that their private conversation had been leaked must have been a shock.
"First, every method we use inside the pocket dimension must be performed through talismans..."
"Hisss!" Hyeonro's sharp hiss hit at the exact same instant a chill raced down my spine and gooseflesh rippled across my skin. Something was coming. Something was definitely coming.
"Sister, barrier! Now!"
A perfect circle of golden light erupted around the nun, enclosing the entire party without a single gap.
The nun's reaction was excellent. I scanned the direction of the creeping dread while already gripping a talisman.
"...?"
For a split second the situation refused to make sense. Whatever carried that murderous energy was approaching steadily and fast, yet nothing was visible. Then, one heartbeat later, I sensed the presence rising from directly below us.
"It's coming up from the ground...!"
-Thump!
At that exact moment something burst up between us. A cylindrical can with a protruding rod on top, painted in military olive drab. A mine. A bounding mine, to be precise. How or when it had gotten here was irrelevant now.
Breath locked in my throat, I hurled the talisman at it. I wasn't about to play the fool and tamper with gunpowder whose detonator might already be active. What I truly aimed for wasn't control of the explosive itself.
Before I even finished confirming the mine was saturated with energy, I kicked it with every ounce of strength I possessed. The instant I saw it had become a condensed mass of power, I struck without hesitation. It was a gamble. My kick might set it off immediately, but it might also send it soaring high enough to clear the barrier. Or it might fail to pierce the shield and simply detonate right here.
-Clang!
The gamble paid off. The mine punched straight through the barrier, rocketed skyward, and burst in a brilliant explosion. Yet my relief lasted less than a second before my expression froze. I might be fine, but the others would surely have taken damage. We needed countermeasures immediately.
That mine hadn't been stepped on; it had sprung from the earth without warning. Because the barrier had been deployed in an oval shape, the ground itself lay outside its protection. Moreover, our talisman-wielding opponent had not hesitated to incorporate fully modern technology.
"Switch to individual barriers instead of the oval! Make them reach the ground completely!"
"...Hoo, Lee Han. I retract my earlier message. That is no half-hearted dabbler but a proper warrior. I cannot possibly allow you to fight her."
Lee Han was in full agreement. Never had he imagined the surprise strike that perfectly erased the flow of energy by borrowing the voice's power would be dismantled so cleanly.
She cannot move. No, she could, but it is correct to say she would not go that far for my sake.
Lee Han reexamined his relationship with the voice. The voice required a capable limb to carry out its will, while Lee Han needed power, technique, and knowledge to achieve his personal Great Work. There was no point asking which of them burned with greater desperation.
"Do you have a better suggestion? I have already positioned traps and shikigami here..."
"Come to my side."
"...I never thought the great and terrible Gangcheori would urge his own contractor to flee."
In this rare spectacle of the incarnation of fury and the dark aspect of the Imugi telling his contractor to run, Lee Han made no effort to conceal his sarcasm.
"I am not so foolish as to reach the land of opportunity and then lose control of my rage. There are no youkai or immortals above me here, nor any other sun gods including Jogwangshin. If this is not the very opportunity Changcheon Moshin has granted me, what could it possibly be?"
Gangcheori's voice overflowed with such pure ecstasy that Lee Han's mockery found no opening. Yet a sudden question occurred to him.
"Wait. Didn't you say Ha Dowol enjoys the protection of Changcheon Amgui? Wouldn't that put us at a disadvantage?"
"Tsk. Most humans invoke her far too casually. In cases like this the rule is simple: both sides may employ every force available to them, and the victor claims everything."
"The gods truly are savage."
"She is nature itself. Such an expression is hardly strange."
Lee Han decided the gods were spiteful creatures. If they were not, the world would never have fallen into this state. Had the gods been honest, his own family would never have suffered such a fate.
"Uwaaak!"
The magician, Lai Al, stumbled mid-stride and let out a short scream. It was understandable; while his body had been shielded from the mine blast, the earth itself had not. He nearly fell several times, yet each time a helping hand reached him.
"Follow me! We're breaking straight through!"
Dowol's energy-infused shout rang out. It was a simple cry with no room for manipulation, and for that very reason it was the surest method. Lai Al ran. Everyone ran. They kept their eyes on Ha Dowol's back, enduring the mines that had transformed into flying missiles, smashing through them as they followed her.
The sole exception was Lee Soo-hyun, who had to maintain the Holy Shield and was therefore being carried on Nam Hong-ryeon's back. Even so, one could only marvel at the nun's terrifying concentration in keeping the barrier active under these conditions.
-Boom!
What erupted from the ground was not limited to mines.
"Shikigami!"
The shikigami rose in unison from the earth. Yet even as they stood, the force of the earlier explosions damaged or shattered many of them. The real problem, however, was what came next.
-Kwaaaaaang!
The shikigami began to detonate. And because they were constructs powered by talismans and qi, the flames they unleashed were anything but ordinary. Even indirect blasts were enough to start cracking Lee Soo-hyun's Holy Shield.
"Tsk!"
Dowol clicked her tongue at the sight. This could not continue. After a single deep breath she launched herself high into the air.
"Hyeonro, I'll trust you with the route!"
"Meow!"
Hyeonro poked her head from the sleeve and cried out. She was not merely riding along; through their linked senses and the ghost eye she guided Dowol directly. Their target was the scorching, ferocious core of yang energy.
Seeing it, Dowol did not hesitate.
"Swift Decree."
"Infinite Cold Jade."
⟨ Extreme Yin Bullet ⟩
The ultimate essence of yin energy became a projectile, drawing a black line across the twilight sky. The orb struck its intended mark. A cataclysmic explosion of yin qi erased the entire terrain in one stroke.
With the blast, the mines that had been violently launched and the shikigami charging the party all froze at once.
"Swift Decree."
"One Step to Heaven."
Powered by the reactivated talisman, Dowol charged straight toward the impact point that doubled as the enemy's lair. Her sword stood ready for whatever traps lay ahead, yet—
"Meow? Meow! Meow!"
"What?"
Hyeonro's urgent cry caused the strength to drain from the hand gripping her blade. After landing, Dowol endured the terrible cold long enough to stare at the enemy's position, then clicked her tongue in disgust.
"The bastard has fled. More importantly, is everyone all right?"
Still wearing a faintly displeased expression, Dowol walked over to the party and inquired after their condition.
"The carrier pigeons are unharmed. However..."
"Hiss!" Lai Al swallowed a groan and twisted his face in pain. A burn resembling a handprint had been seared into his right ankle. More precisely, the infernal heat still lingered inside the wound.
"This is no ordinary injury. Sister?"
"...I'm sorry. It's actively resisting treatment."
Dowol examined the wound, clicked her tongue again, and prepared several talismans.
"It's a cursed flame. These will ease the pain and symptoms, but complete purification will take time... And the sun is already beginning to set. The youkai will start behaving differently from now on."
"But the lair is right in front of us, isn't it?"
"It seems he noticed our approach and ran immediately. We'll stop here for today."
"I agree. Contrary to our expectations, it appears there are organizations besides the gangsters supporting him. Preparing catalysts and materials on this scale would be impossible for a lone individual."
The black carrier pigeons nodded in agreement with Dowol's assessment. This place was enemy territory and simultaneously the domain of countless youkai. They had already cut down more than fifty on the way here, and that number only stayed so low because they had stuck to the safest possible path.
"Let's move. I have a very bad feeling about this."
