Chapter 199: Straight Lines and Curves
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 199: Straight Lines and Curves
The blue ray, imbued with the profound principles of Gekgek, pierced through the Iron Head Dragon's roar.
Kwwaaaaang!
The aftermath of the attack shook the surroundings, and the Iron Head Dragon, having taken a direct hit, was sent flying into the distance.
But it wasn't over yet.
“Sir… Sir Gomodo!”
The Daoist, dragging his exhausted body, finally managed to emerge.
“The Iron Head Dragon… possesses an Adamantine Body.”
An Adamantine Body. I suppose being a spirit beast of Shaolin, it would have something like that.
After all, even someone like Dilopho could use the Tang Clan's secret techniques and even partially access the realm of a Poison Master.
An Iron Head Dragon, stronger than him, should at least be at that level.
That must be why the Daoist tried to handle him with a Lion's Roar rather than a direct attack.
Still, it didn't seem perfect. When I cut it with my claws, it bled, even if just a little.
It was a defense I could definitely break through.
Of course, it didn't seem like a single Gekgek Death Beam was enough to take it down.
Grrrr….
“I know this is shameless of me, but… could you please show some mercy?”
He was asking me not to kill it. That was his request.
I looked at the scattered wreckage. The snow mountain was half-destroyed, revealing a tragic scene. I could see the crushed bodies of the monks.
The Iron Head Dragon, right now, was evil.
It had clearly killed humans.
Even if they were humans unrelated to me, this was irreversible.
If I hadn't stopped it, it would have killed the Daoist too.
“…Could you please just spare its life?”
What was I supposed to do with this frustrating man?
Even if the Iron Head Dragon miraculously repented, you can't put spilled water back in the glass.
It would not only be exiled from Shaolin but would likely be executed immediately.
Even if I spared it, its ultimate fate wouldn't change.
…Getting tangled up in something that had nothing to do with me. It just made my heart heavy.
Grrrrrr….
After a low growl, I leaped in the direction the Iron Head Dragon had been sent flying.
Dealing with it came first.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
“Guh… Gyaaaaaaah!”
The Iron Head Dragon was clutching its head as if in agony.
So it really was an Adamantine Body. …Perhaps that Adamantine Body was limited to its head.
“To think… it would be this strong…”
The Iron Head Dragon panted for breath.
“But it's not over yet.”
The Iron Head Dragon slowly took a stance. Its center of gravity shifted forward into an extremely unstable posture. It was preparing its strongest attack.
Normally, I would have avoided confronting that attack head-on. I could easily win by accumulating damage from a distance.
Even if not, if I used the Power of Wood, I might be able to subdue it without expending much energy.
But that would be meaningless.
Its eyes were stained red. Even if I won, it wouldn't accept defeat. It would crave human blood and continue its slaughter until it died.
Killing it would solve the problem, but I couldn't do that either.
“…Are you waiting for me?”
“My client made an unreasonable request.”
“Client? Right. What did my senior brother ask of you? To protect my inner core? Or to take the fox marble? To retrieve the Ice Bird's inner core?”
It glared in the direction of the Daoist with eyes full of hatred.
Whatever it was thinking, it had nothing to do with me.
Without answering, I also took my stance.
“…That bravado, that recklessness. You will surely regret it.”
Ruuuuuumble.
An immense amount of internal energy gathered at a single point. This was the final phase.
I also prepared my stance, ready to counter its attack. To break it, I had to break that attack. I had to make it use its full power and then overcome it, leaving no room for excuses.
“I'll carve into your very bones… why Shaolin is called the pinnacle of the martial world!”
Kuuuuuuung!
With all the power of the Dragon Gate gathered in one place, space itself seemed to warp like a heat haze with its every move.
If it didn't have its self-proclaimed Adamantine Body, it would be impossible to handle all this power. It was only because of the Iron Head Dragon's exceptionally hard head that it could withstand such force.
“Kraaaaaaaaah!”
It let out a battle cry and charged at me.
With every step, small peaks vanished as if they had evaporated.
The snow covering the mountain instantly melted into water. But at the same time, the power of its cold energy refroze it, turning the soft snow into sharp shards of ice.
The Iron Head Dragon was wielding enough power to change the very terrain.
I focused my mind.
Shaolin's martial arts draw curves.
Those were my master's words to me.
Back when I was still a small lizard, I didn't quite understand what she meant. When I thought of Shaolin's martial arts, the first things that came to mind were power and straight lines.
My master, Baek Yeon-yeong, loved straight lines but hated curves.
Was it because she saw the straightforwardness of a straight line as a reflection of herself? What was it about curves that so displeased her?
What was the profound principle of the straight line?
What was the profound principle of the curve?
Even now, after all this time, I still didn't fully understand.
Kaaaaaaaaaaang!
The spirit beast of Shaolin, the Iron Head Dragon, was also drawing a straight line.
No matter how I looked at it, that was a straight line, not a curve.
Why did Master say they drew curves?
If I were to venture my own answer, a straight line is strong and upright. That must be the martial path my master pursues, the way she has lived her life.
If a straight line is strong and upright, does that make a curve weak and crooked?
The world isn't divided so dichotomously.
If it were, all martial arts would draw straight lines.
A straight line is fast and strong.
But at the same time, it is easy to break.
Unless one is as powerful as my master, it will eventually snap.
A curve, on the other hand, is weaker and slower than a straight line, but it will never break.
Just as one cannot cut flowing water.
That's likely why Master detested martial arts that drew curves. Because she maintained her straight line without ever breaking. She couldn't understand those who drew curves that bent so easily.
That's not to say curves are inherently bad.
Not everyone is as powerful as my master.
They have no choice but to draw curves.
Knowing that, Master probably didn't hate curves unconditionally. Perhaps she simply wished for them to see through the conviction they had when they first founded their sects.
Stealing from the innocent common folk and leaving them to starve.
Killing a child for simply speaking to them.
Rather than bend in such a way, Master would choose to break.
That is why Master hates the group known as the Orthodox Factions.
And that is likely why she hates the curves such groups draw.
Kwagagagagak!
The Iron Head Dragon charged forward at an overwhelming speed.
Had I known nothing, I would have thought it was just a straight charge. But just as Master said, Shaolin's martial art began to draw a curve.
Its strike bent into an unavoidable trajectory.
However.
Unavoidable did not mean unstoppable.
I caught its head with my left hand.
Tuk.
I caught its tail with my right. It would be more accurate to say I simply placed my hands on it.
There's no way I could block that attack with just this.
With a fluid motion, like a dragon swimming.
I let its destructive power circulate through my entire body.
Redirecting the force.
Drawing a graceful curve that even my master would have to acknowledge.
The Grand Shift of Heaven and Earth.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
“Gyaaaaaaaah!”
The Iron Head Dragon was slammed straight into the ground.
“My, my head… My heaaaaaad!”
It roared in agony. The battle was over. No matter how much of an Adamantine Body it had, it couldn't escape injury from its own attack.
“Heok… Heok!”
I saw the Daoist running over from the distance. I had subdued it as he asked, but the problem was what came next.
“Ggeueup… Ggeueueueuk!”
A fierce cold energy began to leak from its body.
“Stay, stay away from me!”
The power of the Dragon Gate was running rampant.
“Ggeueuk, gyaaaaaaaah!”
The Iron Head Dragon continued to clutch its head. I turned my head and looked at the Daoist.
Rather than let it suffer like this, it would be better for me to end it. If the rampage worsened, the Daoist could get caught up in it too.
But the Daoist shook his head.
“Bakgigae!”
He was calling its name, dragging his broken leg as he crawled this way.
“Se-Senior Brother? Do-don't come here!”
“You fool! Just hold on, just a little longer!”
A frustrating human, and a frustrating spirit beast. At this rate, they were both going to die.
…….
This wasn't worth it. This was why I hated getting involved with humans.
I drew upon the power of my dantian. The rampant power of a Dragon Gate could probably be suppressed by the power of another Dragon Gate.
Paaaaaaaaat!
From deep within the snow mountain, plants began to sprout like bamboo shoots after a rain.
“Keoheok!”
The Iron Head Dragon coughed up a purple orb along with blood.
“You brat! Get, get a hold of yourself!”
This was the end. The Iron Head Dragon would collapse after its rampage. The Daoist, though injured, would be able to leave alive. It was a long story, but not a very good ending.
“Se-Senior Brother… my, my head… it hurts so much…”
…The Iron Head Dragon wasn't dead yet.
The large shard of ice embedded near its heart began to melt, and its massive body started to shrink.
It was clearly nighttime, but I felt a warm sunlight.
…The power I gained from taking the Dragon Gate should have been the Power of Wood, so what on earth was this phenomenon? It was as if ice was melting under the sun's rays.
The snow covering the surroundings also began to slowly melt.
Splish.
The Daoist crawled over, his feet splashing on the wet ground. He placed a hand on the Iron Head Dragon's head. He looked down at it with a benevolent face, a gesture he seemed to have made for a very long time.
The Iron Head Dragon's seizures, which had been causing it such headaches, stopped.
“Finally… finally… have you come to your senses…”
Drip.
Tears streamed from the Iron Head Dragon's eyes.
“What… what have… I done…”
The Daoist didn't scold it, nor did he resent it.
“Namu Amida Butsu…”
He simply chanted.
*
“Namu Amida Butsu…”
The Abbot of Shaolin, Hyemyeong, chanted.
“To think it tried to devour its own flesh and blood…”
In the arms of a giant evil dragon lay a small Aryong. The tiny dinosaur was staring blankly at its fallen parents.
“Poor thing.”
Hyemyeong looked at it with pity in his eyes.
“Daoist. We must erase its memories.”
“…Its memories? Even if it's young, it is the spawn of an evil dragon. We should eliminate it before it causes trouble…!”
“What sin has this little one committed?”
“It is an Aryong born under a star that bears the name of slaughter! It is destined to go mad if it does not kill!”
Stars did not only appear for humans. This spirit beast was born under the Earthly Star of Slaughter. If we did not kill it now, it would surely bring about a tragic outcome.
“I will take responsibility.”
“…Master. Does that mean…?”
“I will bring this child to Shaolin.”
“Bring the Earthly Star of Slaughter into Shaolin!”
To allow a being with a destiny of slaughter to enter Shaolin was unprecedented. However, when the Abbot of Shaolin, also known as the Divine Monk, said so, one could not blindly oppose him.
Nevertheless, the Daoist vehemently objected. He knew what it meant to take responsibility.
“Are you saying… you will bear the burden of everything this child does, Master?”
A child born with the destiny of slaughter cannot help but kill. The more you suppress it, the more violently it will erupt.
Therefore, Hyemyeong intended to take on the infamy the child would incur and bear all of its karma.
“Why… go to such lengths…”
“Because once is enough for failing to take in an abandoned child.”
They were words he couldn't understand. The eyes of the old, eminent monk Hyemyeong saw another being in the Aryong. A child he had chanced upon on a cold winter's day. A memory of a lotus and a snowflake.
Children born with a destiny incomparable to even the Earthly Star of Slaughter. He had been afraid and failed to take them in, a decision he regretted his entire life.
“Think of it as an old man's whim, a cowardly hypocrisy.”
The Abbot of Shaolin, Hyemyeong, picked up the Aryong.
“Piiyaak…”
The small dinosaur cried weakly.
Hyemyeong gave a benevolent smile.
“Seeing this, do you still think this child is guilty?”
He handed the Aryong he was holding to the Daoist.
Not knowing what to do, the Daoist accepted the Aryong.
“…Well now, its head is round like a pearl, and its body is thick as if wearing armor.”
Its cry was cute, and he found its appearance strangely endearing.
The Daoist placed his hand on the Aryong's head.
“Ppyak…”
Seeing the Daoist like this, Hyemyeong's lips curled into a smile.
“Hoh…. To so casually give a Buddhist name to a child who hasn't even been initiated. This old man must have misjudged you.”
“Master. What are you…!”
Hyemyeong laughed as he watched the flustered Daoist.
“Ppyak! Ppiyak!”
The Iron Head Dragon, nestled in the Daoist's arms, flailed its short arms wildly.
“Th-this little rascal…!”
“The child seems to like you too.”
“Master?”
“Ah, not 'the child.' It has a proper Buddhist name now.”
Bakgigae (拍璣鎧).
The Aryong born with the destiny of the Earthly Star of Slaughter received such a name.
It was a name that completely ignored procedure and tradition, but no one complained.