The Wood Demon's Bargain
Unlike the lotus, which had been but a single blossom, there appeared to be roughly a dozen of these fruits.
'He must have noticed by now.'
Sure enough, his body suddenly grew slightly heavier. It was a change that occurred in an instant, without any warning.
That "heaviness" grew progressively stronger the further Jekyeong advanced. If he had not been on high alert from the beginning, and if his senses were not so sharp, by the time he noticed the change, his body would have already felt as heavy as if he were carrying a mountain of iron.
'Is this his poison? Completely colorless and odorless.'
Jekyeong tightened his guard, yet he couldn't help but find it an enviable ability. If he possessed such a power, he wouldn't have to struggle so much every time he went hunting.
Wuuung—!
As Jekyeong glided across the ground, which had now turned into a muddy flat, a sound like a horn trumpet echoed. The ground shook, and three or four large, elongated objects burst from the earth all at once.
Revealed amidst the flying clumps of mud were massive roots. Jekyeong accelerated as he saw the tree roots falling like an executioner's axe. However, because the roots were so massive and moved in a way that exquisitely blocked his path of evasion, completely dodging them seemed impossible.
Making a split-second decision, Jekyeong stopped in his tracks and whipped his tail. The massive root collided with Jekyeong's tail, which looked relatively meager in comparison.
Boom!
Splinters of wood flew in all directions. The tree root, which had been falling with great momentum, was deflected back even faster than it had descended. Jekyeong struck the ground with his slightly displaced tail and surged forward at full strength.
At that moment, the giant tree, which looked as if it wouldn't budge even in a typhoon, flinched.
Wuuuu—!
The ground shook once more. This tremor was even greater than the last. And then, the rerun began. The only difference was that this time, eight roots burst forth, spraying mud. Soon, more than ten tree roots flew at him from all directions.
Boom! Boom!
He couldn't dodge them. He couldn't strike back with his single tail either. He had no choice but to trust his durable body and endure.
'Ugh!'
Fortunately, his body was sturdy enough. More than ten tree roots lashed at him from above and from the sides, but he withstood them without budging. It didn't even hurt that much. At most, it was a slightly sharp sting. He could easily endure this.
Gaining confidence, Jekyeong sensed the movement of the tree roots trying to bind him and tensed his entire body. As if a balloon were being inflated, his body swelled in an instant.
"Kraaa!"
Do trees feel pain? It would be nice if they did, but it didn't matter if they didn't. The moment he realized he could withstand being battered by over a dozen tree roots, Jekyeong's confidence soared.
Crunch!
He forcefully broke free from the tree roots wrapping around his body and savagely bit into the ones tightening around his head. After becoming a Demon Beast, Jekyeong's teeth had grown even sharper. As his saw-like teeth sank in, the thick, hard tree roots were instantly shredded.
Jekyeong bit down and pulled with all his might on the tree root, which had gone limp like a saliva-soaked squid leg. With a loud snap, the large tree root broke off. Mok-yo, the wood demon, shuddered. The tree roots moving like tentacles trembled along with it. It seemed the tree did indeed feel pain.
Riding his momentum, Jekyeong pushed forward. The tree roots tried to grab and stop him, but they only managed to slow him down briefly; they could not halt his advance.
'So this is what it feels like.'
In the midst of the battle, Jekyeong suddenly found the situation amusing. Wrapping around and constricting an opponent was one of his primary fighting styles. But now, he was on the receiving end of being squeezed. He wondered if the prey he had hunted felt this exact same way.
'But it lacks strength.'
Though the roots looked threatening and were numerous, the strength of each individual root wasn't that great. It seemed the wood demon's primary weapon was indeed its poison. Its hunting method was likely to neutralize the opponent with poison, or at least drain their strength as much as possible, and then finish them off with the roots. It was a fairly sophisticated and efficient method, but unfortunately for it, it had met its match this time.
'Our meeting is a stroke of luck for me, and a misfortune for you.'
Jekyeong bit through his fourth tree root that was desperately trying to hold him back and continued to advance. He could feel the wood demon's attacks becoming increasingly desperate. Even its long, howling cries seemed to carry its pain.
'But where is this thing's weak point?'
Biting and shoving aside the blocking roots, Jekyeong finally drew close to the wood demon's main trunk.
Wuuu—
As Jekyeong tensed his body once more to shake off the roots, a sound different from before echoed. Then, Cheongo, who had been watching the fight from high in the sky, shouted.
"He's begging for mercy!"
Jekyeong cleanly ignored the useless translation and prepared to finish it. Since he was almost there, one more push would bring him to the wood demon's main trunk. Though he still didn't know where its weak point was, if the main trunk was shredded, it would undoubtedly suffer a massive blow.
"Kyaaaak!"
Just as Jekyeong, having secured his victory, was about to exert his strength once more, the heat in his eyes cooled to ice. It wasn't because of the noisy cries coming from far off to his right. It was because of the aura he sensed from that direction.
'A mistake.'
He had been so absorbed in his battle with the wood demon that he hadn't noticed.
"Jekyeong! Monkeys are coming! Four of them!"
Even if Cheongo hadn't noisily informed him, Jekyeong could feel it too. Four of them. All Demon Beasts.
Wuuuu—
"Jekyeong! The tree is begging for mercy! And it wants you to help!"
"..."
Until just now, he hadn't even pretended to listen, but the situation had changed. The wood demon before his eyes, and the monkeys drawing closer. Quickly running the calculations, Jekyeong stopped his advance and shook off the tree roots trying to block him.
"If I do that, what can you give me?"
When Jekyeong asked, Cheongo chirped, and the wood demon replied.
Wuuuu—!
"It asks what you want!"
"The fruit."
Cheongo chirped a few times, and the wood demon flinched. The wood demon, which had remained motionless as if hesitating, let out a low howl as the noisy cries of the monkeys drew even closer.
"It says okay."
"Good."
Hearing Cheongo's translation, Jekyeong glanced at the wood demon, which now seemed somewhat limp, and turned his body toward the monkeys running from afar.
There were four monkey Demon Beasts rushing in, but the aura of each individual was not that strong. To put it in perspective, it would take the two strongest monkey Demon Beasts combined to match Mok-yo. Of course, that was referring to Mok-yo before their clash. Now, Mok-yo... judging by its aura alone, looked as if it would struggle to handle even one of them.
'Did those bastards plan this?'
Judging by Mok-yo's reaction, it seemed to be acquainted with those monkey Demon Beasts.
Wuuuuu—!
Well, probably acquainted in a bad way. Its long, drawn-out howl was filled with rage, appearing even more heated than when they were in the middle of their fight earlier. Just from that, one could guess that Mok-yo and the monkey Demon Beasts had clashed before.
"Kyaaak!"
The monkey Demon Beasts drew closer. They basically looked like monkeys or apes, but they had a large horn on their foreheads, arms as thick as their torsos, and bodies larger than an average bull. Furthermore, contrary to their brutish appearance, their eyes, which shone brightly even from a distance, were filled with the ferocity characteristic of Demon Beasts, and an even greater level of cunning.
The moment he saw their triumphant glints, Jekyeong was certain they had raided them targeting this exact moment.
'Is their target the fruit after all?'
Mok-yo's fruit made beasts lose their minds, and even drove Demon Beasts to drool as they approached. Those monkey Demon Beasts must have also been drawn by the fruit, just like Jekyeong himself. The only difference was that they had hidden and bided their time, whereas he had not.
Had he made a mistake? Had he been a bit careless? Certainly. But now was not the time to shrink back in self-reflection; it was time to stoke his fighting spirit and show his dominance.
Thud!
As Jekyeong slammed his tail against the ground, the muddy floor cracked deeply, sending out a shockwave. The momentum of the monkey Demon Beasts, who had been charging with bizarre shrieks, faltered, and their bodies momentarily froze. Only now did they realize that the serpent, whom they assumed would be heavily injured from clashing with Mok-yo, was far more intact than expected.
"Cheongo!"
"Yeah?"
"Tell those bastards to get lost right now. Otherwise, I'll devour every single one of them, leaving not even a single strand of hair."
Cheongo chirped at the top of its lungs from high in the sky. Jekyeong had been with Cheongo for quite a long time, but he still didn't understand the mystery behind those noisy chirps. However, once again, that "universal language" proved effective. The monkey Demon Beasts, who had briefly lost their nerve, grew furious and began to let out even wilder, more savage shrieks than before.
"No way, Jekyeong! They say they're going to eat the fruit and eat you too!"
"Hmph!"
Once a beast became a Demon Beast, it grew far smarter than ordinary animals, but the degree of intelligence varied wildly depending on its original species. While not an absolute rule, in most cases, the smarter the original species, the greater the intelligence boost upon becoming a Demon Beast. Thus, the intelligence of those monkeys-turned-Demon Beasts might not fall short of an average human's. Even now, it was clear their intelligence was at least high enough to see through a bluff.
'There's really no choice now.'
Jekyeong let out a massive roar, unleashing his aura. Yet, he did not step forward. Though his mind was heated with fighting spirit, it was only moderately warmed, not completely unhinged. Why should he throw away his advantage and court disadvantage?
Wuuuuu—!
Mok-yo's ability. The colorless, odorless poison was still in effect. If the monkeys entered the range of its effect, they would immediately begin to be affected, and that influence would grow stronger the deeper they entered and the longer they fought.
'The problem is... they know that too.'
The monkey Demon Beasts stopped just short of the boundary where Mok-yo's poison took effect. Sure enough, they had a precise grasp of Mok-yo's ability.