What You Desired
"That monster might have already marked them. I worry that if we lay a hand on them, it will anger the beast and make it hunt us down."
Though he thought it was an overly cautious concern, Jekyeong obediently withdrew his Flame King Whip. He did so because he could tell from Myeong-ha's serious gaze that there was another reason he hadn't put into words.
"You...!" The Heumwon, who was coughing up blood, glared at them with eyes full of venom, but Jekyeong merely snorted and walked past him. He feared that if he looked any longer, he might unconsciously gouge out those arrogant eyes.
"Well then, Fellow Daoist. We shall take our leave first. I wish you martial fortune."
Unlike Jekyeong, who had simply walked past, Myeong-ha even offered a smiling word of blessing. Perhaps the Heumwon was deeply moved by those well-wishes, as he coughed up blood violently, his entire body trembling.
Once they had distanced themselves from the battlefield, Myeong-ha explained why he had stopped him from touching the Heumwon before Jekyeong could even ask.
"That fellow is likely no ordinary figure. I mean, even within the Heumwon Clan, he must hold a significant position."
Myeong-ha glanced up at the churning sky and continued.
"Such individuals always keep a hidden trump card up their sleeve. That card might be for preserving their life, or it could be a lethal trap reserved for a mortal enemy. Whatever it is, there is no need for us to be the ones to test it, is there?"
"Indeed. You are right."
Just as Jekyeong nodded, a massive tremor shook the area. This time, the vibration rose from the earth, not the sky, and the accompanying roar was loud and violent enough to tear through the shroud of darkness.
Jekyeong looked back toward the path they had traveled and saw a reddish phantom standing tall beneath the trembling, collapsing sky.
"A Dharma Image!" Myeong-ha exclaimed in awe.
Jekyeong also widened his eyes, staring intently at the colossal phantom.
A Dharma Image. It was the exclusive domain of Core Formation cultivators, proof that the Daoist laws they had constructed were beginning to take physical form. While not every Core Formation cultivator could manifest a Dharma Image, those who sought the higher realms of the immortal path constructed one without exception. Thus, a Dharma Image could be considered the seed of a Nascent Soul.
"It seems that was his hidden card."
Suppressing his astonishment, Jekyeong examined it closely. The massive phantom indeed took the shape of a Heumwon. However, just as a house cat and a lion were entirely different beasts, the Heumwon manifested as a phantom was vastly different from the one they had seen earlier. Simply calling it ferocious was nowhere near enough to describe the difference. There was a more fundamental disparity, but Jekyeong could not fathom what it was.
"Aaaaargh!" The Dharma Image roared as it stared up at the black sky.
A single stomp of its foot shook the world, and a single flap of its wings swept away the darkness. Yet, what was revealed beyond the retreating darkness was not light, but a hazy shroud that felt even more ominous than the dark itself. Even the power unleashed by the Dharma Image lost its luster and withered before that shroud.
"This Secret Realm... is truly mysterious to an excessive degree."
Though he felt the same way, Jekyeong kept his mouth shut. He suppressed the rising dread in his heart and averted his gaze.
"The situation seems to be deteriorating rapidly. We must hurry."
"I agree."
They began to accelerate in earnest. The appearance of the Dharma Image and the shroud stretching beyond the darkness fueled their anxiety.
"Three ahead! I cannot tell if they are a group or not!"
As Myeong-ha, who was trailing slightly behind, shouted, Jekyeong immediately summoned his Flame King Whip.
"Ugh!"
"Martial Uncle! Hurry!"
As they crested the uphill path and emerged onto an open hill, they spotted three humans scattered haphazardly below. One of them was half-collapsed, while the other two were locked in combat. However, the state of one of the combatants was highly abnormal. While the left side of his body appeared to be that of a normal human, the right side was unnaturally twisted and bloated. His left eye was relatively normal, but in place of his right eyeball, a bizarre lump of flesh was writhing.
"Who goes there?!" The half-collapsed human cultivator spotted Jekyeong and Myeong-ha and cried out in alarm.
But Jekyeong had no intention of wasting time on them. Standing right there on the hill, he lashed out with his Flame King Whip. The whip of fire, which had originally dangled just below his knees, instantly elongated hundreds of times over, tearing through the empty air.
*Whoosh!* A single red line was drawn across the void.
The one who had shouted while looking at them, the one who had degenerated into a monstrosity that was neither human nor beast, and the one fighting against him—all of them froze instantly. Their necks were severed, their heads split open, and their bodies and hearts cleaved in two. Only after a delay did the thin red lines manifest upon their flesh. No sooner did the lines appear than they expanded, swallowing them whole.
In the blink of an eye, the three cultivators vanished without a trace. In the spot where they had disappeared without leaving even a speck of ash, only tiny embers remained, scorching the air. Jekyeong swung his Flame King Whip once more, reclaiming the embers.
"That is a trick I haven't seen before."
"Did you think you knew all of my abilities?"
After replying coldly to Myeong-ha's subtle probe, Jekyeong frowned and pressed a hand to his head. For a brief moment, something seemed to brush past him. Was it an auditory hallucination? Or a visual one? He had definitely felt something, but he could not recall what it was.
"...The encroachment of the contamination is growing increasingly severe."
Myeong-ha, perhaps having experienced something similar, also frowned as he regulated his breathing and focused his gaze on their 'destination.'
"If it is like this now, I dread to think what will happen when we actually arrive there."
"It is not as if we can turn back now."
"Of course. However..."
"Hmm?"
Myeong-ha frowned as he stared at the towering 'destination' in the distance.
"No. It is nothing. Let us hurry. If we cannot halt the encroachment of the contamination, it will truly be a race against time from here on out."
As they made their way toward the 'destination'—which was now visible from anywhere at a single glance—they encountered almost no difficulties. They did not catch so much as a glimpse of the monsters they had seen before; their only encounters were with a few human cultivators. Normally, encountering human cultivators was not something that could be dismissed so lightly, but every single one of the humans they ran into was in terrible shape. Those whose minds were merely unhinged, preventing them from displaying their proper strength, were the lucky ones; quite a few had mutated to the point where they could no longer be considered human. However, those who were completely contaminated proved slightly troublesome, as they were essentially no different from the monsters they had encountered previously.
"Now!"
Of course, they were merely troublesome, not dangerous. At least, not yet.
"Gaaah!"
Flying in sync with Myeong-ha's signal, the Flame King Whip wrapped around the monster's torso. The monster attempted to react, but its response was slightly delayed because Myeong-ha's Lost-Soul Puppet—which had intentionally allowed itself to be captured—squeezed out the last of its strength to pin the beast down.
*Whoosh!* That was the end of it.
The Flame King Whip instantly melted the monster's hard carapace and sliced through its flesh.
*Thud!* As the monster collapsed, its body severed in two, Jekyeong and Myeong-ha immediately struck again. Jekyeong incinerated the beast with fire, while Myeong-ha shredded its flesh into tiny pieces with dozens of strands of his Heavenly Cursed Thread. Though they knew this would not truly kill the monster, it would at least delay its 'regeneration.'
"Phew..." Both Jekyeong and Myeong-ha were breathing heavily. With mental exhaustion compounding their physical fatigue, they desperately wanted nothing more than to collapse and rest.
"Pah!" Jekyeong spat out something that had been practically choking his throat. It was a dark, mucus-like substance. Even after hitting the ground, it writhed as if alive, presenting a thoroughly disgusting sight.
"Damn it." Jekyeong stomped on it irritably and burned it to ash.
How much longer can I hold out?
He did not fear the humans, nor did he fear the monsters they had become. What he truly feared was himself—the self that might, at any moment, reach his limit and break.
"..." Jekyeong habitually reached for his waist, only to remember that the Spirit Wine he had brought had run out long ago. He had definitely known that, so why had he forgotten? Could his memory already be affected?
No, that can't be. It's just... because of fatigue.
Jekyeong silently followed behind Myeong-ha, who was walking ahead. Even that fellow, who used to babble incessantly at every opportunity, had fallen silent at some point. While the quiet was welcome, it only made his heart feel heavier.
"We have arrived."
How much time had passed? Walking in a daze, Jekyeong snapped back to his senses at the sigh-like words from ahead. Before them stood a structure as towering as a mountain. Indeed, it was a building. An indescribably majestic creation that overwhelmed the senses just by looking at it. Seeing it from this close, he could finally understand and realize. Before this majesty, one must kneel, bow their head, and kiss the earth. And one must naturally offer oneself up to become a part of this greatness...
What? Jekyeong snapped out of it with a jolt.
No, something is wrong.
I snapped out of it? Didn't I just do that a moment ago? Back then, surely...
Grit! Jekyeong instinctively clenched his teeth. He tasted the metallic tang of blood, having bitten his tongue, but he did not care. In fact, it was better this way. Thanks to the pain, his mind cleared slightly more.
"Roaaar!" Jekyeong continued to follow his instincts. Before he knew it, he was roaring, transforming into his massive true form. Flames enveloped him, burning away and shaking off the things that had crept into his body.
*Thud! *Thud!* He lashed out with his tail, shoved with his massive body, and rammed with his head. His massive, grotesque horn pierced and tore apart everything that blocked his path.
At that moment, a voice reached Jekyeong. It was a question filled with incomprehension.