#22 The Stirring of Evil
#22 The Stirring of Evil
'If I've gotten this far...'
I'd put a decent distance between us. I climbed a tree and watched the fight unfold. There's a phrase, isn't there — "a clash of titans"? It fit the scene perfectly.
'Fucking strong.'
A monster with over 640 Magical Power and 600 Vitality. By pure stats, the flesh heap should've crushed her outright — but Hong Yuri had technique and intelligence on her side.
'And magic, too.'
Honestly, I had a harder time picturing Hong Yuri being taken out helplessly by a flesh monster.
'...I really hope it dies.'
No matter how I looked at it, Hong Yuri losing didn't seem likely. The monster's only edge was that time worked in its favor?
'Because it's getting stronger in real time.'
Its other stats had nearly stopped growing. Strength 506. Agility 419. But its Vitality just kept climbing endlessly past 600. People are drawn to anything huge and powerful. I caught myself staring at the battle in a daze, my attention completely stolen, and snapped myself out of it.
'What the hell am I staring for?'
The important thing wasn't two monsters beating the shit out of each other — it was my own situation.
'First, Gu Ma-jun is handled.'
This was the best window to slip away, with everyone's eyes fixed on the flesh heap monster. But going outside right now would be pointless — the Temple or the major clans would have the perimeter locked down tight. I needed to wait until the dungeon lost its novelty and the attention died down.
My immediate objective was Stealth at C-rank.
***
"———!"
The monster let out a sound beyond description, a howl of pure rage. Facing it, the red-haired girl — Hong Yuri — made no effort to hide her killing intent.
"...I said I'd kill you, didn't I?"
Her lips moved, the words laced with a chilling calm.
"Distruge, Flacără—!"
The first true display of magic. As though everything up to this point had been a game, her wild magical power took shape in accordance with the will behind her words and created a phenomenon. Flames that heralded annihilation washed over the monster, and the creature shrieked with a boiling, searing scream.
"Shut up."
The moment the red-haired, red-eyed girl spat out the word "Tăcere," the monster fell mute. The lingering fragments of intellect still buried inside the creature puzzled over one question.
Why was it always getting pushed back? Why couldn't it even touch them? Why couldn't it touch that Wolf, or this girl?
As if to vent its fury, the monster sharpened the tips of thousands of tentacles into fine points. The tentacles, now spearheads, swept through the air without pause.
"Know your place, vermin."
Know your place. The arrogant declaration landed, and the monster unleashed a silent scream.
'——!'
A scream that never left its mouth.
Before she knew it, Hong Yuri's crimson mana was shifting — clearing, yellowing, blanching, until it was dyed pure white. Watching the flame that had lost all color, the monster had a single thought: 'That... isn't that light itself?'
"Alb pur Stelele sunt sa explodeze—"
In the instant it beheld that radiant, beautiful light, the monster forgot its fury and was transfixed.
"Lată moartea ta—!"
At last, the pure white light swallowed the monster. In its final moment, the creature felt something — 'Warm.' — and then the thought was gone, cut off in less than a fraction of a heartbeat.
"Hmph."
Hong Yuri dusted off her hands dismissively.
But the moment she turned her back, something inside the blackened, charred, overcooked heap of flesh — no, inside the monster — stirred. From deep within the creature, it heaved and began to pulse.
Quickening. Something was shedding its shell and taking on will.
'———!'
The remnant of what had been Gu Ma-jun, that fragment of intellect, let out a silent death-cry and wailed.
In the middle of crossing the river of death, countless Malices beckoned. The Malice of every species that existed and every species that did not whispered: do not accept death.
'——.'
The Malice sealed in the vial should have been capable of nothing more than warping an existence into a chimera.
But this [Unfinished Product of Incidental Results], brought into being with the aid of 'some rat bastard,' far surpassed the original. Not only in effect, but in the Malice contained within. The research had imbued it with the residual thoughts of those who had died in increasingly horrific, wretched ways.
In proportion, the Malice had swollen, and something even more terrible had taken root — so it was.
'——.'
The Malice kept whispering.
The fragment was afraid — and yet a desire pulled at what remained of its intellect: a wish to see that brilliant light, just once more, just once more.
"What?"
A strange sensation made Hong Yuri's brow furrow. She'd definitely killed it. She'd killed it, and yet...?
"...It's alive?"
How? Before Hong Yuri's question could fully form, the thing made its presence known with a howl.
The moment the Malice devoured the remnant intellect it had ensnared, the horrific evil fully encroached upon the monster.
"———! ———!"
Throb! Throb! Throb!
Her judgment hadn't been wrong.
Nothing can return from death.
And so this was a thing one could call a miracle.
—A miracle of the purest, most terrible evil, born of the foulest Malice.
"What the hell did you bastards make?! You sons of bitches!"
The red flesh was staining black — and so the monster became the incarnation of Malice.
***
"Grooooonk!"
The boar's enormous tusks swept past, narrowly missing me.
'Whew. That was close.'
They called it a boar, but its size was more comparable to an elephant.
'Still, a boar's a boar.'
I dodged the creature's wild charge like a bullfighter. Its Agility might've been over 200, but at this point? I couldn't bring myself to feel threatened.
'My own Agility's not even 200.'
Exactly 180 after the level-up. I'd been fighting nothing but monsters — my standards had gotten warped.
I activated Gust, and the boar, which had been coming at me without pause, suddenly balked. The chill wind sliced through the air, menacing the beast. It seemed to realize escape was impossible and made a final desperate charge with its huge tusks — but when those tusks shattered to splinters, it screamed. "Grooooonk!"
'I didn't realize it was this strong.'
Tusks that looked rock-solid came apart like they'd been fed through a blender.
'This is C-rank?'
I couldn't wait to see what Devouring and Ember looked like when they hit C-rank. The boar thrashed with everything it had, but in the end—
[Large-Tusk Boar consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increased.]
[EXP 38074 / 62743]
Level-up wasn't far off. I was searching for my next prey when, far in the distance, a pure white flame exploded — and I went pale with shock. It was an overwhelming sight, like footage I'd once seen of a supernova's burst. Even from this far away, I felt like I might go blind.
'I really did survive by a miracle, didn't I?'
That I'd walked away from Hong Yuri alive was nothing short of miraculous. That monster of a woman. Just thinking about her chasing me down, having the time of her life, made my teeth chatter.
'...Park Yo-han, that son of a bitch.'
I chewed Park Yo-han's name to shreds in my cursing. I'd wasted precious Skill Points saving that shaven-headed monk, and now this was the price.
'Still, one more level-up, and...'
I'd be at 4 remaining Skill Points. I could learn D-rank Stealth. If I played it right, maybe I could even push it to C-rank. And then— a primal chill made me snap my gaze back.
'Whoa. Shit. It's still alive?'
Disgusting vitality. But that also meant it would buy me that much more time. I had to grow as fast as possible.
'...I thought Hong Yuri was going to win.'
Now I wasn't sure. Curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself using Spying.
[Spying (E) Lv.9 proficiency at maximum. Spying (E) Lv.9 → Spying (E) Lv.10]
[Spying (E) Lv.10 has reached maximum level. Spying (E) Lv.10 → Insight (D) Lv.1]
'Well, it's practically handing out free proficiency.'
Which meant the thing was that incomprehensible a being. I used my newly evolved Insight skill to examine its stats.
[The Quickening Evil]
[Body Length ...] [Body Height ...] [Body Weight ...]
[STR ...] [AGI ...] [VIT ...] [MP ...]
[Skill List]
[Rapid Regeneration (B)]
"......!"
I was startled that I could now view its skills, but that wasn't the real shock.
'A monster — no, Gu Ma-jun had a skill like that?'
Gu Ma-jun's original Acceleration was nowhere to be seen. Where had this B-rank skill suddenly materialized from? That should've been impossible unless it had become an entirely different existence.
'Rapid Regeneration?'
Even my own D-rank Regeneration was enough to regrow severed limbs. So what did a B-rank version two tiers higher look like?
'No wonder it held its own against Hong Yuri.'
And combined with the creature's Vitality, the synergy would be terrifying. Just imagining the stacked effect made me sick. And its Magical Power...
'Not zero?'
100. 200... Like its Vitality had done earlier, its Magical Power was surging at an unnatural pace. How? What on earth had happened? And what did "The Quickening Evil" even mean?
'What the hell is going on?'
Even knowing it had drunk the [Unfinished Product of Incidental Results], there were too many things that didn't add up. But one thing was certain, no matter what — that thing over there had truly and fully become a monster.
'...Uggghhh.'
The hair rose on my skin. If that were me fighting it instead of Hong Yuri?
'I wouldn't last ten seconds.'
Even as I looked for other prey, I couldn't tear my eyes away from that battle.
***
The small, fragile being had always watched the Wolf. And because she stood at the opposite pole from it, she could sense the Malice nesting inside that monster before anyone else.
"Kyurrr..."
It was evil, vast and skin-crawling — evil incarnate. The young being could do nothing but tremble before the immense Malice that had swallowed the monster whole. She could not dare resist. The power she held was still too weak, too insignificant for that.
But she could still save him.
She might not be able to defeat the Malice, but she could take the Wolf and run.
"Kyurrrk! Kyurrrruk!"
The young being felt the need to act — to save the Wolf who had once saved her.
That place was the Spirit Realm.
The homeland of all fairies and phantom beasts.
***
"Hong Yuri!"
The Team Leader shouted up at Hong Yuri, suspended amid her crimson mana. When her crimson eyes looked down at him, a question crossed his mind.
'Already at Crimson?'
It meant she was using her mana in full. He'd seen the proof himself — that white-flame magic of hers. And she still hadn't put it away? Daybreak's Dawn's finest mage?
"What?"
She answered with a voice that made no effort to hide her irritation. Meeting those crimson eyes, the Team Leader spoke.
"...I can join in, right?"
For a moment, her face held a flicker of deliberation — an obvious war playing out right there on her expression.
'Pride, or else...'
After a beat, Hong Yuri clicked her tongue and turned her head. She didn't say the word, but that was the last shred of her pride right there.
'Hah.'
It was so transparently easy to read that he laughed a tiny laugh — which she caught, shooting him a glare. Hurriedly dropping his head, the Team Leader wiped the smile from his face and drew his sword from the edge of his coat.
Zzziiing—. A clear note rang out on the cold wind.
'Vitals?'
None. It wouldn't matter where you struck. But what the team leader needed to do wasn't to kill it.
'Assist.'
Dozens, hundreds of tentacles came at Hong Yuri with terrifying speed. They carried power and speed on a whole different level from before. —Why?
'Magical power?'
It hadn't lacked it; it simply hadn't been using it. Each tentacle now bore magical power and resisted Hong Yuri's own. The gap was so extreme that they caught fire, but it was the first moment Hong Yuri managed to dodge.
"Tch! Glonț arzător!"
Eight bullets fired from between her fingers. The eight bullets punched through every oncoming tentacle, yet—
'Damn.'
That was all they amounted to. A needle won't kill an elephant, and bullets couldn't kill this monster. The ever-growing creature shaped a tentacle unlike any before — ten times the size. As it swelled, it resisted Hong Yuri's magical power all the more.
"Flacără—!"
The magical flame barely held the tentacle back. But what if there were dozens of them?
"......!"
Too late to dodge. No time to cast. All she could do was focus her magical power and brace for the impact. Not a single one of the dozens of tentacles reached Hong Yuri.
Thud! The severed tentacles hit the ground and writhed like fish out of water.
"That was close."
The team leader wiped the blood from his rapier and let out a short breath.
"Close my ass, you idiot!"
"Sure, let's say that. More importantly, your magical power?"
"I have plenty left, so quit worrying about useless things and focus on yourself."
"I'd like to, but the matchup isn't great."
His calm words were a blunt fact. His beloved sword was trembling from the tip.
"...This sword wasn't made for a brute-force slugfest."
"You useless bastard, Gu Jin-ha!"
As the name Three Swordsman (細劍士) implied, he favored graceful technique and precisely calculated combat. No matter how skilled he was, a thin rapier wasn't suited for fighting a monster like that. His specialty lay in duels — fighting people, not massive creatures.
"Can't argue with that, and that stings."
At the very least, it was true he wasn't much help in this fight. The team leader gave a bitter smile and sliced through an extending tentacle to assist Hong Yuri. It was around then—
"Team Leader!"
Woo-taek arrived with others in tow.
'Tricky.'
The team leader glanced at them, sizing them up.
'Four of them. Between C-class and B-class.'
He'd heard there were six; two were missing. Since they'd joined up with Woo-taek, perhaps they'd found survivors?
'Not enough.'
The head count was lacking. Hunters below a certain level would only be a hindrance. With the situation this dire, maybe it'd be better to send everyone back except Woo-taek.
'...Nothing to be done.'
He didn't have the authority. The dungeon itself had been delegated to the Temple.
'Let's use them for now.'
He could strong-arm them into leaving, but he chose not to.
'They can buy time until Team 2's leader arrives.'
They could at least serve as meat shields. That alone would ease Hong Yuri's burden considerably. Having coldly finished his calculations, the team leader called down to Woo-taek.
"Woo-taek! You move with those gentlemen. I'll operate freely!"
"Understood!"
As if in response to that vigorous reply, the tentacles changed direction. A tentacle shot toward the group—
"Haah!"
—and was blocked and crushed by a sturdy iron fist. Still, Woo-taek's expression was far from good.
'...The recoil's stronger than I thought.'
A single exchange was enough to gauge the monster's level.
'They were dealing with something like this?'
Another came flying. While Woo-taek readied himself, the paladin in front of him swung his hammer like a batter at the plate — a blow that relied on raw power with no thought of precision. But at that size, even a wild swing would connect.
"Ngh!"
He'd barely blocked it, but the tentacle was unscathed. The paladin's wrist throbbed; he nearly lost his grip on the handle.
"Don't tell me this is the dungeon boss?"
"No way. Much weaker than the real one!"
The monk and Woo-taek crushed the tentacle from both sides.
"...It's weaker, right!"
"I can't tell if that's fortunate or unfortunate. If we beat this and the dungeon boss remains, that's unfortunate, I suppose?"
"Brothers! Another one incoming!"
Compared to the tentacles flailing above, this was truly just the tip of the iceberg, but even blocking these was difficult. And the numbers kept growing. Block, block again. Blood seeped from Woo-taek's knuckles where the skin had peeled away.
"Hoo! We'll worry about surviving first!"
"That, I'd say, is a damn fine point!"
Hammer and fist flew ceaselessly through the air.
***
"Ngh...!"
Hong Yuri rubbed her eyes with her palm as a headache surged. It was the inevitable result of burning through that much magical power. The early signs of mental exhaustion were creeping in.
'Remaining magical power...'
Less than half. Unlike her dwindling reserves, the creature kept growing larger.
'...So annoying.'
Frustration aimed both at the disgusting flesh heap and at herself for not being able to kill a single pest like this.
No, she had definitely killed it. Yet somehow it had returned from death. The resurrected creature was an immortal monster that wouldn't die no matter how many times they killed it. Just fending off the incoming tentacles was overwhelming. Gu Jin-ha was covering most of them, but even so, a single thin rapier couldn't block everything.
'It just won't die.'
She'd burned it, crushed it, shattered it. No matter the method, it regenerated in less than a second. That meant she had to obliterate a creature now as large as a building in a single blow. After mulling it over, Hong Yuri finally—
"Gu Jin-ha!"
The team leader, weaving between chunks of flesh and slicing tentacles, turned his head slightly. The instant their eyes met, Hong Yuri bit her lip.
"...Keep them off me."
"Got it."
Even at that calm reply, Hong Yuri trembled with fury. Just because she couldn't kill one measly thing!
'I'll kill it!'
She'd tear it to shreds — no, she'd burn it all to ashes, not leaving a single handful.
Her pride wouldn't allow anything less. Vengeful killing intent saturated her crimson eyes, yet her consciousness sank coldly, deep into the abyss.
"Fuuu..."
She exhaled and steadied her breathing. Soon, her crimson eyes scattered light. As red magical power rippled, her lips moved.
"—Se înroșesc."
With words imbued with power — a curse — her magical power deepened. Matching the color of her irises, from scarlet to deep crimson. Eventually, her magical power stained true crimson.
"Puterea cuvintelor mele Acoperă lumea."
As the chant recited, it began to cover everything.
"Ah..."
Amidst the battle, the paladin stared up at her in a daze.
The crimson magical power emanating from her spread, encroaching on the plants, the living things, and eventually the very atmosphere, placing everything under her dominion.
"Prin urmare, Ceea ce vreau este devenit realitate—"
According to her will, the magical power manifested not merely as a form, but as a phenomenon that revealed itself to the world.
"―――!"
It was then that the dazed monster moved. Unlike before, it didn't just shoot tentacles — it dragged its massive body across the earth. Trees toppled, birds took flight. Amid the screams of flora and fauna—
"Woo-taek!"
Woo-taek looked up at the team leader's call.
"Just for a moment! A single moment! Can you stop it?!"
A monster so vast that even craning his neck didn't reveal its end. The team leader was asking Woo-taek to stop that thing. A request anyone could see was impossible — yet he clenched his fist.
"Yes! I'll do it!"
At that response, the paladin and the monks' eyes went wide.
"That's insane! How do you intend to stop that monster?!"
So far, everything they'd done was defensive — just blocking the tentacles. And even that had left Woo-taek's fists bloodied. And now they wanted him to stop the entire monster?
"Step aside."
"Although we belong to different factions, we are comrades who fought together! Sending you to certain death is—"
Before he could finish with "—something I cannot do," Woo-taek pushed them aside and took his stance.
"Stop! You'll be crushed to death!"
As they watched, unable to approach the mountain of flesh now right before them, they reached out—
"Haah!"
Woo-taek's arm drew back past his shoulder. The motion, originating from his flexible waist, traveled up his solid shoulders, through his elbow, received rotation at his wrist, and culminated in his fist. —And on top of that, dense magical power enveloped his fist.
"No way!"
The paladin, Seong Dae-woon, gaped.
Indeed, Woo-taek's fists had turned red just from blocking tentacles. No matter how tempered, one couldn't so easily withstand overwhelming weight and colossal force — not barehanded.
Immense magical power churned within him. Following the motion of his muscles, that power surged through his entire body and concentrated wholly into his fist.
"...Don't tell me he hasn't been using magical power until now!"
That was what they had misjudged.
Woo-taek had never once used magical power. He'd relied purely on his bare body and iron fists to smash the tentacles. They'd simply assumed he was using it.
"This isn't just B-class!"
B-class — a realm that was already daunting. Only a handful of talented hunters could even reach it. But Woo-taek had reached B-class over five years ago. The Iron Fist who had trained under Dawn's greatest mage, Hong Yuri—
"What a monster!"
—had long possessed the power to step into A-class.
"Haah!"
Exhaling sharply, he thrust his iron fist forward.
"Grrrgh!"
The monk and the paladins could do nothing but grab onto each other to avoid being swept away.
In the past, the slime that had been the Wolf had seen Woo-taek's Strength at 517. A monstrous power for a mere human — but from the even greater 578, a result of relentless effort, he launched himself — unleashing a storm.
The mass of flesh quaked under the blow, and when the wind settled, what they saw was a gaping hole as if dozens of tons of gunpowder had detonated at once. Beyond it — trees drenched in flesh and black blood, a scene of sheer devastation. They could only stand speechless.
"What... what is this."
And their astonishment was not yet over.
—For Hong Yuri's spell was finally complete.