The Sea (3)

In the space of a moment, the colossal dragon had become an old man well into his later years, seated upon the throne.

The dragon I just saw. That was presence, given shape.

The full measure of a creature called a dragon, sculpted into a form made of presence itself. And so, though the thing had taken on a human appearance, there was simply no denying that it was a dragon.

So he dressed an intangible presence up as something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you could touch.

Bihyung thought he understood the method. He had done it himself once—when he killed Yu Gyeongsu, forging formless presence into something with a shape.

"E-Eldest… th-that old man over there, he's strong, he is……."

Eodugi, perched on his shoulder, got the words out while shaking from head to toe.

Hard to blame him. The momentum rolling off the being before them was simply that fierce.

…9th Rank. Nothing else explains a spirit like this.

Yes. The opponent had not achieved the tenth rank, Transcendent Shedding—but he stood at the very end of the ranks all the same. A being more than qualified to be called the peak.

Oh, come on. Why do people like that show up in the opening act?

Great Sage Equal to Heaven. What kind of life did you even live?

Just the GOAT of raising hell.

He was still turning that over when the Dragon King's gaze found him.

"I have heard the rumors well enough. A rock upon Flower-Fruit Mountain, heavy with the essence of sun, moon, and stars, split open—and from within it was born a prodigy unmatched in the age."

There was, if one could call it that, a fortunate point. With his role fixed as Sun Wukong, the Dragon King had taken him for the Monkey King of Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Even before he ever reached the Dragon Palace, Sun Wukong's fame was already enormous.

Hadn't they said the celestial realm itself was startled by the light in his eyes at birth? From the Dragon King's place—forever petitioning the heavens on account of Sun Wukong—word of the Monkey King would of course have reached him.

Bihyung decided to meet it head-on. He folded his arms and tipped his chin up with arrogant ease.

"That's right. This body is none other than the Monkey Emperor, Sun Wukong."

"And what business brings such a being to this lonely Dragon Palace?"

"I hear the place is stuffed with the treasures of all under heaven, and I don't have a weapon worth using. Gift me one, and I'd be grateful."

The Dragon King's brow creased, ever so slightly.

And where, exactly, was the manner of a man asking for a gift? The words were dressed up nicely enough, but the intent behind them was plain as day: just hand it over.

Even so, the Dragon King could not move rashly.

The first reason was the presence that had refused to yield to his own upon entering the throne hall—no, a presence of a higher order, stronger than his. The second was the rumor that the monkey had learned arts from a Daoist master and plied every sort of uncanny scheme.

If I cannot kill him at once, a figure like that will surely come back stronger still.

And the one to suffer then would be the Dragon Palace. Better to keep a yokai carrying that kind of potential on friendly terms.

Under that judgment, the Dragon King nodded.

"Then I shall make you a gift of a weapon."

He rose himself to lead the way.

Bihyung stared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blankly at the retreating back, and thought.

This works?

He had expected that, playing the role, he would be able to obtain the Ruyi again. How could he not? This was nothing more than a history already past, being staged once more. But for it to come this easily—for the Dragon King himself to escort him—that had not been part of the plan.

Privately grateful for Sun Wukong's infamous reputation, Bihyung followed.

They arrived at a single chamber. The entrance blazed gold, and when the doors opened, a light fiercer still glittered from within.

A storehouse where treasures of every kind lay heaped like mountains.

The Dragon King indicated it.

"Choose whichever one pleases you."

At that voice—resigned, or rather, detached as if he had already transcended the matter—Bihyung swallowed his awkwardness and stepped inside.

…Whatever I pick, every one of them is an extraordinary weapon.

Carried outside, they were the sort of things that would readily be appraised at a High Rank grade. Scattered among them were even a few that looked to be of the 9th Rank.

Weapons that set the mouth watering just to look at.

Regrettably, Bihyung could not choose them.

Crunch.

The instant he took hold of one, it crumbled and shattered in his grip, as if declaring that it would not do.

It wasn't that they were fakes. It was simply that his role was Sun Wukong.

…Now that I think of it, didn't the Great Sage say every weapon in here was too light and too weak?

Was that why the Dragon King's wife had told him to just give the Ruyi away?

A deep thrum rolled in from far off the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment he remembered it. The Ruyi's resonance, all but saying: quit the nonsense and focus on the role.

…Haa. What a waste. What a waste.

Bihyung kept the regret to himself and left the storehouse.

Seeing him return empty-handed, the Dragon King asked,

"Why have you come back with empty hands?"

"The weapons in there are far too light for this body. Don't you have something sturdier? Something heavier?"

"Hah…."

As the Dragon King let out a short sound of dismay, his wife—who had at some point entered the throne hall—could be seen whispering at his ear.

"My lord husband. Then what of bestowing upon him the Divine Treasure Iron That Plumbs the Depths of Heaven?"

"…But, my lady. That is the object Lord Lao granted us so we might measure the sea. How could we…."

"The measuring was finished ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long ago, and now it is nothing but a nuisance stuffed away in the palace, is it not? Give it away while the chance is here. And besides… we cannot even be sure he can lift it."

The thin curve of her smile all but said it outright: and how could the likes of him possibly lift that?

The Dragon King caught his wife's true meaning and nodded as if in agreement.

Ah. So we're going to humiliate the monkey. That's what this is, isn't it?

"Very well. Then, Monkey Emperor—in accordance with your wish, I shall show you a weapon."

"You should have done that from the start."

"……."

Watching the Dragon King and his wife clamp their mouths shut, Bihyung clicked his tongue.

Did I get too deep into the role?

He should have left that last line unsaid.

When he followed the Dragon King out, the Great General came into view, already beaten to a pulp. Before him, Dueogsi was heaving for breath.

"…You did this even to the Great General?"

The Dragon King looked Dueogsi over once, then turned back to Bihyung.

"The Great General, with a mere clone… hah…."

He seemed to believe that both Eodugi and Dueogsi were Bihyung's clones.

Bihyung offered a suitably vague nod and, where it wouldn't be seen, raised a thumb toward Dueogsi.

"Rest inside the shadow for a bit."

"Yes. And more than that, Boss—thank you. I have gained a great deal from this chance."

Astonishingly, Dueogsi broke into a bright smile and stepped into Bihyung's shadow. He meant to put away the Lore he had refined this time, no doubt.

The Dragon King watched for a moment, then walked on without a word toward the rear of the Dragon Palace.

There stood a single black pillar.

…Ruyi.

It soared as if it might keep rising straight into the sky, and its girth was so great that dozens of grown men linking arms around it still could not span the whole.

What in the world are you thinking, showing me something like this?

To him, whom it still had not even acknowledged as master—why this?

Please. Answer me.

Pouring that feeling into the gesture, Bihyung set his palm against the surface of the Ruyi's pillar.

……!

In the same instant the Ruyi's emotions came flooding in, and its memories, and that impossibly distant Lore, blazed up as if to burn through his mind.

Krgh……!

Even so, he clenched his teeth and endured without giving way.

The Ruyi's will. The thing was simply casting those words at him.

Feeling them, Bihyung ground his teeth until they were on the verge of cracking.

Shut up….

……?

I am the one who gathered you. I may not be your original master, but the one who put your shattered pieces back into one—that was me.

All the hardship along the way. The countless playthroughs. The pillar he had raised through them, stubbornly refusing to wield anything but a single spear.

Ruyi. You are mine.

He had never asked the Great Sage Equal to Heaven outright, but hadn't he been acknowledged, at least to a point? That they were alike, and so the temper was foul. Even that the Ruyi's essence was not that of a weapon.

If the Sage had never meant to hand the weapon over, why teach him something like that? Bihyung never would have.

Therefore.

Stop resisting. He didn't want to waste any more strength on it.

Loading that meaning into the act, he drew his presence up.

The Lore he was stacking with his own hands, and one passage—one verse—received from the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. The two mingled and began, little by little, to encroach upon the Ruyi.

Oo.

Wooooong—!

The trembling accelerated. Something like refusal, or like deliberation, rode the quickening shivers and reached him.

The more it did, the harder Bihyung clenched his grip, simply pouring his presence into the thing.

And then, in that instant—

A grinding crack, like bedrock giving way, rang out.

The Ruyi caught in Bihyung's hand had begun, gradually, to shrink.

Unity.

Not missing the moment, he attempted Divine Weapon-Body Unity.

From the right arm holding the Ruyi, all the way down to the right leg, half of Bihyung's body became one with it.

Come.

And the instant his eyes took the Ruyi in, the staff—its girth reduced until a single hand could readily close around it—rested in his grip. The Ruyi Jingu Bang.

The corner of Bihyung's mouth lifted.

Not yet far enough for a perfect unity. But this means you've acknowledged me, doesn't it.

As your master.

As if to prove it, brilliant notices burst up before his eyes like fireworks.

…Huh? But what's that last one?