Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Things Accomplished
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“I haven’t lost yet!! The power he gave me isn’t just this!!”
Even after losing her homunculi, Heo Ji-hyun desperately unleashed her magic.
“Looks like someone did give you something, at least?”
Heo Ji-hyun gave a completely offbeat response to my question.
“Spiders! Spiders!”
“Spiders?”
*Kirrrk—chirrrk—*
An enormous number of spiders surged in from all directions. Thousands of them, at least.
‘[Swarm Summon] spell?’
It was a spell that called forth swarms of insects or beasts below a certain size.
“But why spiders?”
She’d summoned enough of them to provoke disgust just from the sheer numbers, but they were literally just spiders.
Ah, could it be that the [Blind Weaver] was lending power to Heo Ji-hyun to avenge the Arachne I’d killed earlier?
If so, that would explain the similar pattern repeating.
“No, isn’t the timing too tight for that?”
It felt off to chalk it up to a scheme by the enraged [Blind Weaver] after I killed the Arachne.
“Well, let’s take a closer look.”
*Snap!*
I flicked my fingers, igniting flames.
*Whoosh—*
Not even magic. Just fire.
Yet that blaze alone incinerated Heo Ji-hyun’s spiders in an instant.
‘Doesn’t seem related to the [Blind Weaver] after all.’
The [Blind Weaver], also known as the [Spider Queen], was an entity from the Abyss.
If she were truly behind this, Heo Ji-hyun would have summoned far more potent and specialized spiders.
“This! Is mine! This house too! This body too!”
Heo Ji-hyun thrashed about with demonic fury.
“Hmm, time to wrap this up?”
“Kraaaah!!”
A change rippled through Heo Ji-hyun’s magic.
She’d severed the magic controlling the homunculi and begun channeling all her power into a single surge. Her mana swelled with tremendous force.
Lightning cracked, and whirlwinds began to stir.
“What’s this, a phase two? It’s exactly the same pattern as that spider freak earlier?”
Even at a glance, it wasn’t feeble power.
She’d been controlling three homunculi at once, so it made sense. But where the hell had this mana come from?
“Either way, you’ve cut ties with my homunculi now, right?”
With her abandoning control of the homunculi, I had no more reason to play along.
I let out a sigh and activated my spell.
[Voice of Authority]
『Jang Hyun-deok, do not move. Magic use is forbidden.』
*Crack!*
Heo Ji-hyun suddenly froze.
“W-what!? What’s happening!? What did you do!?”
She shrieked and writhed, but her limbs remained utterly rigid.
“Exactly. Why’d you crawl into that idiot’s body?”
Jang Hyun-deok’s body was laced with all sorts of barriers and traps.
First, talismans and wards to block petty spirits.
Then traps to capture anything strong enough to breach those wards.
“You tricked me! You had this from the start! Why’d you run!? You toyed with me!! You pathetic monster! Horrid demon! Die!! Dieee!!”
Ouch, that stung.
I could have triggered it sooner, but I hadn’t.
“I held off because activating it while connected might wreck the homunculi.”
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
Until just moments ago, I’d been too unstable to cast even basic spells properly. Using something like this then could have caused unforeseen issues.
“Anyway, Auntie. Shall we try this again? Who helped you pull this off?”
“Let me gooo!! Let me goooo!! Kieee!! Kieeek!!”
“Her condition’s deteriorating fast.”
No reasoning with her.
‘Should I extract her from Jang Hyun-deok’s body first and figure it out then?’
Lock her in a barrier and analyze slowly. Or the culprit behind her might reveal themselves before that.
[Leap]
I bounded straight to the rooftop in one jump.
“Kyaahhh!! Nooo! Let me move! I wanna get out! Let me gooo!!”
The closer I got, the more frantically Heo Ji-hyun raged, but it was pointless.
She couldn’t even escape the possession now.
“It’s a binding even high intelligences can’t break free from. Squirm all you want.”
I raised one hand and yanked at her spirit form.
*Bzzzt!*
Her resistance sparked vivid red arcs, but it only tightened the restraints.
A brilliant magic circle bloomed amid dazzling light.
“Perfect. Seal complete.”
I added a sealing ritual to a mana stone from my backpack, trapping her inside. A blue flame of resentment flickered within the transparently glowing stone.
Far too much mana for a single wraith.
“For now, sleep tight.”
I pocketed the mana stone and checked Jang Hyun-deok’s condition.
The long black hair settled, the enveloping skirt crumbled away—and a blond delinquent covered in piercings emerged.
But Jang Hyun-deok’s expression remained dazed.
“Let’s see—ugh, what’s this?”
A grotesque lifeform writhed beneath the skin of Jang Hyun-deok’s abdomen.
It thrashed violently, as if ready to burst through his flesh at any moment.
“So there was something else besides Heo Ji-hyun?”
But it wasn’t much different from Heo Ji-hyun’s predicament. Though wriggling in his guts, it was caught in my bindings, unable to wield real power.
Just a beast thrashing in a trap. Desperate to escape but unable.
“Hmm, hey. Want me to let you out?”
…….
The monster hiding in Jang Hyun-deok’s gut lacked vocal organs. Instead, it conveyed intuitive concepts.
“Yeah, you wanna get out, right?”
I raised both hands, lightly touching my [Mask of the Dead], cleared my throat, and spoke.
“If that’s your wish, tell me your name. Open everything you have to me and offer it all. Then I’ll pull you from there.”
…….
It thrashed in terror, conveying a name no human vocal cords could replicate.
Something like [The Crawler in the Entrails]? I’d seen this one while playing the game. An ending where it ripped out my guts—thirteen times, I think?
I sighed briefly and imposed new bindings on [The Crawler in the Entrails].
*Bzzzt—*
An intricate magic circle surfaced on Jang Hyun-deok’s skin.
“You who offered your name to the master of the Hungry Manor. Now lose your power, your authority, your meaning.”
I stripped away [The Crawler in the Entrails]’s mana and authority.
Why keep Jang Hyun-deok around?
Not risk-free, but as long as he was under my influence, he was less a living altar and more a living trap.
I could do whatever I wanted with the fools who drooled and crawled in.
‘No, that’s not why, is it?’
I wasn’t sure. Strange thoughts jumbled in my mind and faded.
I stroked the [Mask of the Dead] covering my face. The corrupted necromancer’s soul trapped within.
My mind steadied at once.
‘Shame, though.’
Would’ve been nice if something stronger had slipped in.
[The Crawler in the Entrails] was trivial; I could catch it without tricks like this.
I started to siphon its extracted power and mana but changed my mind.
‘Better to bind it to Jang Hyun-deok entirely.’
If he leveled up more, I could expect real medium abilities beyond just [Living Altar].
I forcibly extracted the impurities he couldn’t digest and absorbed them myself.
…….
[The Crawler in the Entrails] pitifully writhed as its abilities and power were stripped one by one, but so what?
“I’ve devoured and erased your name. Now I’ll let you out.”
…….
“Yes, bereft of name, power, and authority, you’ll lose all meaning and dissipate the moment you emerge.”
…….
As expected, it begged me.
“Then abandon your creator—your parent—your god. Serve the master of the Hungry Manor as your new master—parent—god. Do you wish it? Then I’ll grant you a new name—new power—new meaning.”
Hmm, but can I even raise this thing?
Bad matchup with the ones I’m already growing.
…….
[The Crawler in the Entrails] betrayed its abyssal master and pledged loyalty to me.
“Good. Your soul and body now belong to this manor. Not just you, but your offspring too. You’ll serve me for generations.”
With that declaration, I bestowed a new name.
“Your name is now ‘Squirmy.’”
…….
“Nice, right?”
…….
“Shut up and get out here.”
Jang Hyun-deok’s mouth gaped wide.
*Gurgle—* Along with the sound, a massive slug the length of an arm poured out.
A horrific slug slithering across the rooftop.
“Hmm. [Intestine Slug]……”
Not just a monster or parasite. A familiar crafted by an abyssal entity detaching its own tentacle.
Same lineage as the [Blood Leech] I’d crushed before.
“In other words……”
The one behind Heo Ji-hyun was the [Mountain Predator].
That bastard’s persistent.
“Unlike [Blood Leeches], [Intestine Slugs] don’t roam solo. I figure you’re the leader or the queen, right? Where’re the rest?”
…….
“Damn. Parasite eggs in someone else’s homunculus?”
…….
“Ah…… Right? My bad……”
The [Mountain Predator] had infiltrated via its power mixed in the water from Paju Samneung Cemetery.
Crude analogy, but like underboiling water and leaving parasite eggs.
“So what exactly did you want?”
…….
“I see. That’s why it happened. Got it. For now, Squirmy, stay in the attic. No leaving or contacting the outside.”
Squirmy slithered through the rooftop window into the attic.
[An abyssal being sought to seize and destroy your dwelling and possessions, but you repelled it. You even turned the ‘Living Altar’ into a trap, capturing all its minions. An astonishing feat.]
“Quiet.”
[But this is far from over. It’s merely the beginning. The ‘Mountain Predator’ won’t back down easily. And the ‘Blind Weaver’ will soon stir. What will you do? A chaotic future approaches.]
Petty experience gains and rewards followed.
A few wraiths spat out mana stones as rewards and ascended, while lingering spirits around the manor submitted and became my familiars.
“Not a bad haul.”
The local spirits becoming my familiars was huge. The manor and surrounding forest were now my domain. Call it [Domain Level 2]?
Level 3 would make all of Jangmyeongsan mine.
“Something feels off.”
Standing on the rooftop, I surveyed everything.
The spirits’ forest, now my domain.
The spirits, now obedient to me.
Jang Hyun-deok, collapsed unconscious after serving as bait.
Homunculi that looked too much like me.
Heo Sang-hyun, barely rising.
Heo Ji-hyun’s soul, bound in the mana stone.
Squirmy, wrested from the [Mountain Predator].
And the Hungry Manor, my dwelling.
All my accomplishments.
I fiddled with the [Mask of the Dead] over my face, lost in thought.
‘Is this really what I wanted?’
Each choice made sense alone. But seeing them together felt strange.
“For now…… I should sleep.”
Probably another Second Kim Shin-hwa Summit in my dreams.