Chapter 197
Chapter 197
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Emergency Edict
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I picked up the mask Seo Cheon-seul had tossed aside and shouted.
"Reddie!"
"Kee-ee-ee!"
Vwooooong!
Not its usual tiny form, but its massive body unleashed at full power.
A gigantic white owl big enough to carry two or three people soared toward me.
"Take Heavenly Gold Leader and get out of here!"
"Kee-ee?"
"I'll handle things myself."
"Kee-ee-"
"Yeah. Don't worry. As for Yeom Geum-ja..."
I glanced toward the direction of the tomb Yeom Geum-ja had occupied, but—
"She's already bolted. Her instincts really are top-notch."
It actually made things easier.
I no longer had to worry about protecting Yeom Geum-ja and her minions in the fight.
"At least an abyssal being hasn't descended. That's a relief."
At first, I'd even hallucinated from the delirium and paranoia that an abyssal being had come down, but that ridiculously huge tentacle wasn't it. Not even an avatar.
[Blood Leech].
Primitive humans might have worshipped it as a god, but that leech was merely a herald sent by [Predator of the Mountains] for its cultists.
In other words, just a single tendril?
No, even weaker than that. Just a mindless behemoth, massive for mass's sake.
A grating voice erupted from atop the blood leech's head.
"Kuhahaha! Now it's just you and me!"
Against the backdrop of the enormous full moon in the sky, a bulky shadow resembling an elephant came into view.
"You're honestly the most loathsome judge you've faced out of all of them."
Ignoring my words, Seonbu, the judge of the Gourmet Expedition Corps, bellowed.
"It's time to settle this! No goblins, no dokkaebis! Rules have changed! You and me! A pure duel between two! Let's begin the most primal, primitive fight where the victor devours the loser's flesh and bones!"
Rumble!
The blood leech shuddered in response to Seonbu's shout.
A massive earthquake shook the entire Paju Samneung area.
"You lunatic elephant bastard! How's this a two-man fight with that leech around?"
"This is a blessing bestowed upon me by our captain! It's no different from my own power! If you defeat me, it becomes entirely yours!"
"Ah, damn it. Never mind. Talking's pointless."
Arguing with an idiot just makes you an idiot.
'At least while the dokkaebis were here, I could play numbers game or hit weak points.'
Thanks to the dokkaebis, the atmosphere had lingered around Joseon-era mysticism, but this brute elephant's declaration had plunged it back to prehistoric times.
"Rules are set! Here we go! I'm coming first!"
The massive blood leech stretched its head toward the sky and began thrashing.
Rumble! Rumble!!
"Ugh—damn it!"
The blood leech spewed an enormous volume of blood toward the heavens. A scene recreating a volcano's eruption.
Shwaaaaa—
A horrific rain of blood poured down across all of Paju Samneung.
"Don't do that, you mad bastard!"
[Madness latent within you begins to manifest, inducing delirium.]
My heart raced.
It felt like this heart wasn't mine.
My hands felt unnaturally distant. Were those really my hands?
[Mind check... Success!]
"Grraaah—the fourth one."
Everyone named Kim Shin-hwa across the nation. Just a bit more. Fight on. We can do this. Hang in there a little longer.
"Eat this!"
To me, the blood spraying everywhere was the worst attack imaginable, but to Seonbu, ignorant of my hemophobia, it was just hype-building theatrics.
The real attack was coming now.
Shwaaaaa—
The blood leech carrying Seonbu on its head swung toward me. A simple, brutish, primitive strike.
I quickly pulled out my skateboard and leaped backward.
[Leap]
Boom!
"Ah, this guy's fighting so brainlessly. Ranged attacks? He'd probably just swallow and spit them out."
Weak curses or soul spells get ignored by the blood leech's sheer physicality.
"Kuhahaha! Dodged it? Next attack incoming!"
And attacks devoid of tricks or feints.
Dodging was easy, but dodging alone wouldn't end this.
Shwaaaa—
Boom!
I leaped again to evade, ramped up the skateboard's speed, and widened the distance.
Heading west.
"Yeah, you bastard. Let's have the brute-force showdown you want."
At the western edge of Paju Samneung lay the Four-Eyed Minister Sword, still unleashing lightning.
'Once I recover that, buff my fire attributes to max, and smack him with full firepower...'
Sure, the barely stabilized leyline would go haywire again, but since he'd demanded a strength contest, it didn't matter.
"Kuhahaha! Where you going! Where!"
Seonbu's shout from the east.
Ugh, another attack?
This isn't some old-school shooter; patterns are way too basic.
I turned to brace for the assault.
The moon in the sky.
The crimson pillars on the ground.
The blood leech charging with terrifying momentum.
The elephant-headed judge riding atop it.
And—wait, those 200 chickens still clucking and flapping off in the distance.
"No, that's not right."
[Leap]
Boom!
I leaped into the air to dodge again, thinking as I went.
Come to think of it, who the hell is this guy to change the rules? A goblin sorcery duel would've favored me way more.
"Man, I got swept up in the momentum and blanked out."
"Kuhaha! Ho Sang-hyeon! What're you muttering about!"
"Hey! My name's Kim Shin-hwa!"
Clean landing.
I'd arrived at one of the three remaining crimson pillars.
A disgusting pillar entangled with a pig's head and entrails.
"Emergency Edict! I command the retainers of Gongbira General. Embrace the time of bitter cold. Embrace the time of bitter cold. Embrace the time of bitter cold."
Crackle—
Frost formed on the crimson pillar adorned with the pig's head.
Right, among the Twelve Generals, Gongbira General rules winter.
I converted the cold air emitted from the crimson pillar directly into mana and cast the spell.
[Glacial Steel Wall]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximized]
Crackle! Crackle!!
Ice granted unyielding defense formed a thick barrier, surging skyward with piercing momentum.
"That all you got? Think that'll stop me?"
Boom!! Bang!!
The ice wall, empowered by the leyline, didn't crumble easily and withstood the assault.
"Hah, tougher than expected?"
With yin-yang and five elements overflowing here, no reason to play tag with this guy.
"Hoo—"
I exhaled, scanning the surroundings.
White breath leaked from the mask's gaps due to the forcibly summoned cold.
"No eyes on me."
[Mask of Carcosa] was a fine artifact with great options, but useless right now. The survival teleport was on cooldown till tomorrow since it was daytime.
"Urgh. Still, outdoors it's a bit..."
No time to be picky.
I removed [Mask of Carcosa] covering my face and hastily donned Seo Cheon-seul's mask, which resembled a goblin's visage.
This was the mask of Heavenly Gold Leader, guardian of Cheongeum-dang.
Thump-thump-thump—
Drumbeats echoed from somewhere.
A crisp, exhilarating rhythm that lifted the spirits just by hearing it. Is this what Seo Cheon-seul always heard? No wonder her personality's so upbeat.
Ah, hard to hold back.
Just wearing the mask stirred an urge to sing and dance.
Caught up in the drums' infectious energy, I uttered words I'd never say normally.
"Alright!"
I infused mana into the skateboard at my feet and ascended the near-vertical ice wall.
Shwaaaaa—
With a refreshing whoosh, I reached the top in an instant.
Incredible height. A slight turn of the head would reveal Bongilcheon's bustling streets.
"Kraaaah!"
Even now, the brute bellowed mindlessly, ramming the ice wall.
I shouted at them.
"Cut it out, you dumb elephant bastard!"
"Aha! Showed yourself again! Made some prep? Or finally steeled for it? Frontal clash! Flesh against flesh, will against will—a desperate deathmatch! You ready!?"
He's insanely hyped.
Drunk on the blood he's gathered and that absurd blood leech's power, reveling in ecstasy.
To douse his head with cold water, I spoke slowly.
"The Restrictive Bloodline Seal the dokkaebis made to suppress Heavenly Gold Leader's power is long gone, and the Four Seas Disruptive Seal's tangled with other beasts' powers, losing its malign function?"
"What're you on about all of a—"
Ecstasy drained rapidly from Seonbu's face.
"—Still wanna play childish goblin games?"
"Hahaha—hear me out to the end, you thick-headed elephant! The malign circuit of disharmony in five tones and one yang that you—no, the dokkaebis—created is now primed to blend with the yang energy I've prepared and the two beasts' powers into a Circuit of Cyclic Generation."
"No clue what you're saying! So what? Can you get huge? Summon lightning or drink fire?"
"Hard to grasp, huh? Yeah, that's what happens borrowing someone else's tech you don't understand."
I extended my hand westward.
"Emergency Edict. As proxy of Heavenly Gold Leader, I command!"
Thump-thump-thump—
The drumbeats returned.
Seo Cheon-seul's borrowed mask lent me goblin power—and Cheongeum-dang's power.
"Hear me, retainers of Jindalla General! Swiftly send the wood power you hold to the northwest!"
Jindalla General's retainer is the tiger.
In its absence, the Four-Eyed Minister Sword trembled with thunderous roars.
Dancing-like, I swept my hand northwest.
"Hear me, retainers of Indalla General! Wood power comes your way—ditch the yin fire you've been spewing till now and belch yang fire toward the northwest!"
Wood begets fire. Wood fuels flame.
And Indalla General's serpent retainer holds power of revival, rebirth.
That rebirth power had converted all the stagnant yin energy in Paju Samneung to yang at once.
"Stop! You bastard! Whatever scheme, stop!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blood leech rammed the ice wall furiously.
Crack!
The ice wall finally shattered.
But beyond it waited something else I'd prepared.
Rustle—groooow—
Enormous tree trunks sprouting behind the ice wall. A wondrous sight replaying the rapid formation of a vast jungle.
Rustle!
Trees suppressed by yin and soaked in blood surged forth at once, ensnaring the blood leech and Seonbu.
"Kraaak! This crap!"
Groooow!
"Achilles!"
[S-grade magical artifact 'Staff of Beacon Fire's' unique function, 'Binding of Flame's Kin' activates.
// Binding of Flame's Kin: Grants the owner ability to summon and control kin of the 'Living Flame'.]
"Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!!"
Wood followed by flames.
"Kraaaak!"
I already commanded the two powers dwelling in this place.
Shwaaaaak—
I rode my skateboard down the crumbling glacier.
"Alright, no time—let's wrap this quick!"
Simultaneously, I pointed northeast and shouted.
"Emergency Edict! Hear me, oxen retainers of Chodulla General! Take the yang fire and rend the earth to purify this land's corruption! Emergency Edict! Retainers of Migira General! Cry out! Drive away evil and darkness, summon the world-renewal!"
"Clo-ck-doo-dle!"
"Clo-ck-doo-dle!"
Off in the distance, 200 chickens unleashed furious crowing.
At the sound, the blood leech—grown on malevolent power—shrank back.
"Strength against strength! Brute force! Drop the damn goblin games!"
Rustle!
Seonbu uprooted and hurled a massively grown tree.
I landed and immediately cast.
[Leap]
Boom!
The spot I'd stood shattered.
"Now the finale—listen up! Emergency Edict! Retainers of Gongbira General! Absorb all the leyline power cycled and grown through wood-fire-earth-metal, and generate water energy!"
At the same time, I unleashed spells at Seonbu and the blood leech.
[Thunderbolt]
[Inferno]
Rumble! Boom! Roar!
Lightning tore the sky, flames erupted from the earth.
"Kraaaak!"
Even now, the bastard greedily seized and devoured my lightning and flames.
"Ah, persistent fucker."
"Now—now—goblin games over!?"
Crackle—roar!
Lightning sparked between his teeth, scarlet flames rippled from his breath.
But I felt great right now.
Thump-thump-thump—
Drumbeats from afar.
"Okay, here's the kicker!"
"What?"
"Normally, you'd cycle water back to wood for the Cyclic Generation Circuit, but I didn't. So what happens to this overflowing water?"
"Shut your yapping!?"
Groooow! Craaack!
The blood leech snapped the entangling trunks and charged.
I leaped again, shouting.
"Reddie!"
"Kee-ee-ee!"
Reddie flew in, clutching Heavenly Gold Leader in its three talons.
Astride Reddie's back, I yelled.
"I'll give you all this leyline's power! Emergency Edict! Gather even the sea god's power in your body and change this land's weather for me!"
"Kee-ee-ee-ee!!"
Paju Samneung's five elements surged into Reddie's body.
[Phase Shift]
[Weather Alteration]
[Monsoon Downpour]
Rumble!!
Rumble!!
Sudden thunderclouds boomed massively.
Then rain poured as if the sky's ocean had burst.
Rain bearing different power from the wicked downpour on Paju before.
It would wash away the evil blood, purify Paju Samneung's leyline.
Unable to resist the vibe, I sang like Heavenly Gold Leader.
"The storm rends the night with song, soaking the buried bodies in the earth!"