Chapter 19
"What the hell? Have these beast-brained maniacs lost their minds?"
The team members were thrown into chaos by the night march of the mountain beasts.
"Kiiiiiieeek!!"
"Bark! Bark!"
Deer, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, snakes, dogs, and buntings — it was an all-star assembly of mountain wildlife.
"Cut the crap and get your weapons out already!"
Geom Mujin shouted at Team Four, who were still blanking out even with the beasts right on top of them.
Team Four was, for some reason, packed with total trash-tier members.
Snapped out of it by his barking, they drew their swords and swung.
"Die!"
"Yipe!"
One of the raccoons was cut down by a flashing blade, and blood sprayed through the air.
As the blood droplets obscured their vision, tiny birds like sparrows and buntings rushed in.
"Get the hell away from my face!"
He flailed his hand at the birds pecking around his face, and that was when the dog, which had been waiting for its chance in silence, moved.
CRUNCH-!
"Aaaagh!"
The team member whose ankle had been bitten let out a scream.
Thud-!
The pain drained the strength from his legs, and he dropped to one knee.
"Ghk...! You damn dog!"
He looked around, trying to find the dog that had bitten his ankle and run off so he could crush it, only to have his words die in his throat.
"Huh...!"
Countless crimson eyes glared at him from beyond the darkness.
Then those blood-red lights surged forward and swallowed him whole.
"Aaaahhhhh!"
As the mountain beasts bit him here and there and drank his blood, he shrieked.
But no one came to help him.
Strictly speaking, no one could help him.
"What kind of strength is this...!"
"There are too many of them!"
The others were completely swamped themselves.
It had once been said that a first-class martial artist could beat a boar and a tiger alone, but that only applied to one-on-one fights.
If you got jumped by dozens of them like this, even small, weak animals could become a real threat.
"Ugh!"
One of the team members was sent stumbling backward by a dog charging straight into his gut.
These bastards have been enhanced.
No matter how you looked at it, a mangy mutt should not have been able to shove a martial artist around like that.
The mountain beasts attacking them had physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary animals.
"......"
Then, from the darkness, something with quietly flashing eyes leapt.
A ferocious pair of fangs lunged for Geom Mujin's luscious neck.
"Kkyuuaaa!"
"Huh?"
Something snagged on his senses, and when he turned his head, a flying squirrel was rushing at him.
The sight of its limbs spread wide in all directions was enough to terrify any opponent—
"Ah, jeez, you scared me."
Geom Mujin, startled, thrust out a finger toward the flying squirrel.
"Kkyu-chik...!"
BOOM-!
The wind bullet fired from his fingertip blew the flying squirrel's torso apart like a balloon bursting.
Its head and limbs were blasted off in different directions.
No one saw that, right?
Thankfully, the beast-fight was still in full swing, so no one had noticed.
Tap- roll, roll—
The forcibly ejected head of the flying squirrel rolled to his feet.
O bird of flight. Why have you come with only your head?
Like Guan Yu's severed head getting rocket-delivered to Cao Cao, the flying squirrel stared with its eyes wide open.
I met its gaze.
The flying squirrel had red pupils, which was not normal at all.
Right. Why had I been thinking only about bloodsucking?
Since I had assumed the vampire beast was some sort of blood-drinking monster, I’d vaguely thought its abilities might stop there.
Bloodsucking was certainly its signature trick, but vampires weren't just creatures that bit people and drank their blood.
Thrall conversion.
The red-eyed mountain beasts attacking us right now.
All of them were the vampire beast's thralls.
Their unnaturally enhanced strength was probably also the result of thrall conversion.
"Aaaah!"
"Help meee...!"
The team members dragged away by the mountain beasts were being drained of blood.
Watching the animals that should have been dancing and playing violins at the Mountain Tiger's birthday feast put on a whole ass circus while sucking blood was pretty damn grotesque.
They’re getting stronger every time they drink blood.
Ever since a deer had stood out in particular, I’d had the feeling it was growing stronger by the second.
THUD-!
"Urrgh!?"
One of the team members was sent tumbling by the deer’s kick.
That made Team Four sound like a bunch of useless losers getting beaten one-sidedly, but that wasn’t entirely true.
A fair number of mountain beasts were already lying sprawled around them.
They might have some trash-tier aspects, but they were still disciples of Gangneung's Number One Sect.
They weren't that easy to handle.
"Damn it, these bastards. They never end."
Every time they killed five mountain beasts, seven or eight more came scrambling up from below.
This was not exactly an era in which nature had the upper hand in a fight.
Wild animals could rut to their hearts' content, so their population was in a whole different league from modern times.
Still, these guys should count themselves lucky this wasn't the Korean Peninsula.
If it had been, they wouldn't be fighting deer — they'd be fighting mountain duds.
Still, the numbers really are insane.
I shared vision with Sodam again.
Sodam was circling around Mount Mui.
Thanks to that, I could finally see the situation properly.
The Taeho Sect's encirclement around Mount Mui had been trapped inside a ring of crimson eyes.
They tried to surround it, and got surrounded instead.
The Taeho Sect had thought they were conducting a driven hunt, but in reality, the opposite was happening.
If the vampire beast had been trying to leave no escape route, then climbing the mountain had only erased their own.
On top of that, driving the mountain beasts away was the same as politely opening a path for the enemies who were surrounding them.
And as a bonus, it made it easier to stab them in the back.
All of this had happened because they’d needlessly climbed the mountain.
Lord Taeho, that complete ass in the role of Mosu...
More importantly, I had no idea the vampire beast's abilities were this extensive.
I was honestly impressed by the vampire beast's skill set.
Based on what I'd seen so far, it already had at least three abilities: bloodsucking, stealth, and thrall conversion.
I’d hunted quite a few goema so far, but none of them had such a rich, practical set of abilities as this one.
And it seems intelligent, too.
Usually, once something becomes a goema, its intelligence goes to shit as well.
So why the hell didn’t this thing show up in the original story?
As far as I remembered, the vampire beast had never appeared in the original.
Is this another variable created by me?
Then something caught Sodam's eye.
"....!"
It was the blood-red mist the Green Snake Sect had reported seeing.
The suddenly appearing crimson fog moved swiftly and stealthily.
So now you're finally showing yourself.
I had thought it might have been observing the battle from the mountain summit, but apparently not.
Just as I turned my head toward where the bloody mist had been spotted—
"Hm?"
—someone grabbed Geom Mujin by the collar.
"Huff...! Huff..."
The one who had grabbed him was the team member who’d been causing a scene earlier.
In the blink of an eye, he had been mangled by the mountain beasts, and now he looked like a complete wreck.
Body and soul both.
His pupils, dark with fear, trembled as he said, "This isn't going to work. We can't hold out any longer."
More than half the team was dead.
They had to retreat.
The most important thing in a withdrawal was something to cover the rear.
"You lot are going to have to do your original... job."
"Original job? What's that supposed to mean?"
The team member didn't even notice that he'd abandoned honorifics, and gave a crooked grin.
"What else? You're the bait, obviously... urk!"
As he tried to throw Geom Mujin toward the mountain beasts, a strained noise escaped his mouth.
"Grrrgh...! Nngh! Aaaagh!"
Geom Mujin's body had become as heavy as a mountain, and wouldn't budge an inch.
"Y-You bastard, what are you!?"
"What do you mean, what am I? I'm the laborer your Taeho Sect hired."
"Don't give me that bull—khek!"
As he was spitting out objections, Geom Mujin struck a vein, and the man went limp.
That wasn't all.
"Now then, everyone, go to sleep."
Tap tap tap tap-!
The team leaders and members fighting the mountain beasts, and even the laborers trembling in terror.
All of them collapsed unconscious under the wind bullets Geom Mujin fired.
"I'll borrow this for a bit?"
I picked up the sword the fallen guy had been using.
"Oh, this guy's got a pretty decent one."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Geom Mujin swung the sword a few times through the air and muttered, "West, huh."
Tap-!
With that final flick of his toe, Geom Mujin's figure vanished.
Shaaak—
As he left, straight lines were carved across the bodies of the mountain beasts.
"Grrrnnk!?"
"Rrraaaaar..."
"Chirp!"
Blood leaked from the lines, and soon the beasts' bodies split into pieces and collapsed.
The sword wind he had casually unleashed while swinging the blade wiped out every mountain beast that had attacked Team Four.
Swaaaaaa—!
Geom Mujin surged forward like a shot, his whole body wrapped in wind.
"Wait for me a little longer."
The job of laborer, which I had never asked for, was over.
Now that the vampire beast had shown itself, there was no need for me to keep hiding either.
* * *
Near the foot of Mount Mui.
"The formation's a mess."
An Gojun frowned as he looked up at the mountain where a large number of disciples had been deployed.
At present, he was patrolling the base of the mountain with twenty members of his personal guard.
His plan was to rush straight to wherever the signal came from when the vampire beast appeared and the disciples sent out the warning.
Even in the cold, there were layers of priority; even in claiming the final blow, there were layers of priority.
By the time they passed the western side of Mount Mui, he saw the formation of the western team begin to tremble.
What the hell?
It looked like they were searching without any unusual issues, and then suddenly this happened.
Had the vampire beast appeared?
The signal flare issued for use when the vampire beast showed itself hadn't gone off, but An Gojun was a seasoned martial artist.
He knew that even when you set out clear instructions in advance, they rarely went according to plan on the ground.
In other words, the situation might already be so desperate that they didn’t even have time to fire a signal flare.
Flicker— flicker—
The torch marking the position of the eastern team swayed precariously.
They couldn't just stand here and watch any longer.
"All units, move out with this sect master—"
Just as An Gojun was about to advance with his guards, he sensed human presence.
Rustle— rustle—
And not just one — many.
The guards immediately drew their weapons and pointed them toward the source of the sound.
"Stop right there. If you don't, we'll cut you down at once."
The guards issued their warning in wary voices, but what emerged from the darkness was unexpected.
"They're our disciples."
The source of the presence was none other than disciples of the Taeho Sect.
Staggering as they came down the mountain, they were covered in blood, bruised all over, and clearly exhausted.
"What happened up there? How did you get hurt like that?"
An Gojun asked the disciples.
"Wait a second, aren't you the leader of the First Team?"
Seeing the face of the disciple at the front, a flicker of recognition crossed An Gojun's eyes.
He was the kind of hard-ass who usually didn't bother remembering the faces of ordinary disciples, but he did remember the faces of those who had risen enough to become team leaders.
"You were definitely assigned to the east. What happened to your sector? Why are you here?"
"......"
But even after his questions, the First Team leader and the others remained silent.
"You lot! The sect master is addressing you — how dare you not answer!"
The guards barked at them, but nothing changed.
The disciples simply stared at An Gojun and the guards in silence.
There wasn't a trace of life in their eyes.
"Why don't you open those pretty eyes of yours properly?"
Feeling the situation was taking a strange turn, An Gojun growled.
Shiiing—
The great saber slung across his back slid free.
"F... for HEEER..."
"What did you say?"
"For that one... for HEEER....!"
The disciples of the Taeho Sect with red-stained pupils — no, the vampire beast's thralls — launched their attack.
The converted disciples followed behind the First Team leader.
"You damn bastards, you're betraying us?!"
"No, something about this is wrong! Is this the vampire beast's doing!?"
"Whatever it is, it's betrayal! Cut them down!"
An Gojun swung his great saber and sliced a thrall in half.
In the evil sect, killing your comrades and climbing over your superiors was the highest virtue.
He had no hesitation in his hand.
"I don't know what crap you've all eaten to end up like this, but this sect master will fix it."
Strictly speaking, it wasn't because they'd eaten something, but he had no way of knowing that.
Living up to his title, Trench Saber, An Gojun began “treating” the thralls as he cut them down with his domineering saber style.
That treatment meant freeing the soul from a diseased body.
Slash, slash, slash-!
The great saber thundered onward, smashing bone and flesh alike.
"These bastards shouldn't have had this much strength...!"
"Were they hiding it!?"
While An Gojun hacked at the thralls like mad, a different scene was unfolding for the guards.
Even ordinary mountain beasts had been enhanced enough to shove martial artists around, so what about martial artists themselves?
Leaving aside An Gojun, who was in the Transcendence realm, the guards were being pushed back by thralls that had been massively strengthened.
Clang-!
"Aaaagh...!"
One guard's sword snapped, and the thrall bit into his neck.
The guard was drained dry, slower than when the vampire beast did it, but just as surely.
"So this really was the vampire beast's doing!"
An Gojun tried to unleash his martial aura, but there was something he didn't know.
The other teams had been thrown into danger by the mountain-beast thralls attacking from behind, but Team Five was different.
Team Five had been attacked by converted disciples.
What did that mean?
It meant the mountain-beast thralls that should have attacked Team Five were still out there.
The mountain-beast thralls, which had erased their presence and hidden themselves, now ambushed An Gojun and his guards.
"Kkeeeek!"
CRASH-! CRASH-!!
Boars slammed into the guards.
Freed from their fear of death by thrall conversion, the boars' head-butts were mercilessly powerful.
"D-Dodge! Kaaah!?"
"Cough!"
Boars' tusks and charges sent disciples flying like they’d been hit by a delivery van.
"You pathetic..."
As An Gojun sighed at the sight of the flustered guards—
—the First Team leader suddenly rushed him.
"Fool."
No matter how distracted he might be, there was no way he’d be taken in by an attack like that.
The great saber flashed, splitting the team leader's waist and separating his upper and lower body.
"F...or t...hat one..."
Here’s the surprising part!
Normally, if a body is cut in half, it dies.
Not a thrall, though.
Thanks to the influence of its master's power, it could keep going for a while.
Thud-!
Its upper half wrapped itself tightly around An Gojun's head.
"Y-You bastard! Get off me, now!?"
Faced with the most physically repulsive kind of contact possible — a hug from a man, even one whose lower half had been severed and who could arguably no longer be called male — he let go of his saber for a moment to pry it off.
That was when it happened.
CRUNCH-!
"Aaagh...!"
Fangs sank into his right forearm.
"What the hell!?"
An Gojun tore the clinging team leader away.
And then he saw the blood-red mist that had bitten into his forearm.
The thing let out a soft, delighted giggle at finding an all-time great meal.
Sluuurp-!!
Blood and internal energy were sucked away.
Was this what it meant to be a Transcendence realm expert?
"I-I am the sect master... don’t look down on me...!"
He tensed the muscles in his forearm and fought back against the bloodsucking.
Thanks to that, only his right arm withered instead of his whole body.
An Gojun raised his qi to smash his fist down on the vampire beast's head, but—
Thud-! Thud-!
The thralls that had finished off the guards grabbed his arms and legs.
As the thing focused on its meal, blocking the prey's resistance, An Gojun's entire body rapidly dried out.
"L-Let go...! Let go of me...! Aaaagh!"
Just as he screamed in terror at the death creeping closer and closer—
Shiver—!
"!?"
A qi so sharp it was unlike anything he had ever felt before was approaching this way.
Swaaaaaa—!
He landed after slicing through the night sky at ferocious speed.
The moment he touched down, he swung his sword and unleashed a slash.
The thing hurriedly pulled back.
Swish—!
"Huh?"
"Aaaagh! My arm...!"
But the slash didn't cut the vampire beast — it cut off An Gojun's right arm.
"D-Don't worry! I sent the vampire beast flying, so—!"
...and his left arm along with it.
With a completely innocent air, Geom Mujin, who had accidentally severed An Gojun's right arm, said, "Relax."