Chaos (4)

The Four Guardian Beasts. The four divine creatures known as the East Azure Dragon, West White Tiger, South Vermilion Bird, and North Black Tortoise.

Standing in direct opposition to the Four Perils, they were anomalies that eradicated evil and protected the world.

'Righteous anomalies.'

When I first learned about anomalies, I thought they were all wicked.

But then I remembered that Shin-nim was one too, and I successfully shattered that prejudice.

After that, I found out about various groups cooperating with friendly anomalies.

'The White Tiger's probably the same.'

I didn't need to guess who had summoned it. It was obviously the shamans from the Mu-dang Alliance who had promised support—they'd called forth the White Tiger.

The right call. If Chaos started rampaging in earnest, it would bring disaster to the whole area. Better to stop it as quickly as possible before mass casualties piled up.

'Perfect.'

My body was already in rough shape anyway. No reason to turn down someone handling the ritual in my place.

The White Tiger landed on the opposite side from where I was, its massive bulk visible even over the factory buildings.

It bared its fangs ferociously, glaring at one spot with piercing blue eyes. Naturally, that gaze was fixed on the descending Chaos.

The ritual wasn't complete yet, so it wasn't in full form. But whether Chaos's mind had already taken root or not, a voice different from the cult leader's emanated from it—deep, chilling.

But what it said was ridiculously flippant.

Not a beast of calamity, but a sleazy con artist. Its power was overwhelming, but it had a natural talent for trash-talking on top of swinging violence around.

Its long tongue flicked wildly, hurling endless insults at the White Tiger and spewing curses I'd never heard before.

But the White Tiger just laughed and swung its front paw. Its claws unleashed a slashing strike that rent the air—and cleaved the incompletely descended Chaos right in half.

Chaos clicked its tongue in regret, while the White Tiger laughed down at it.

With its vessel body shattered, the ritual naturally ended. Chaos's form crumbled into powder and vanished bit by bit.

When the powder reached right below its neck, Chaos let out one final bellow.

Ignoring the annoyed White Tiger, it spat out an ominous prophecy before vanishing completely.

With those words, Chaos disappeared entirely. The fiery storm filling the sky gradually dissipated, and the barrier's heavens fell silent.

'Is it over?'

I'd worried it might revive somehow, but with Shin-nim's confirmation, it was definitely dead.

That aside, Gonggi? It reminded me of how the Gonggi cultists had targeted me recently.

'Shady bastards.'

They hadn't pulled off large-scale terrorism like Chaos, but they'd definitely been scheming behind the scenes.

With Chaos itself prophesying it, there was a high chance it'd get summoned into the world.

'Please summon it somewhere else.'

Honestly, if it popped up in some other part of Korea, it wouldn't be my problem. Just not Incheon, please. Did they expect me to give up my days off for overtime? Work-life balance matters to me.

"Whoa!"

Lost in pointless thoughts while recovering my strength, the White Tiger had silently appeared before me, looming overhead.

It wasn't baring its teeth or anything, but those blue eyes that pierced sin and truth made me tense up for no reason, even though I hadn't done anything wrong.

'Could I win if we fought?'

The thought crossed my mind. From the White Tiger's perspective, maybe I was the villain too? I was part of Cheon-do-hoe, had killed plenty of people, and wrecked a ton of buildings in my rampages.

Unlikely, but possible. It might attack me.

'If shit hits the fan, I leave it to you.'

Even if the White Tiger was benevolent with some greater cause, I wouldn't go down without a fight.

'If it comes at me, I'll fight—and win.'

Didn't matter if it was the White Tiger or its grandpa. My life, my loved ones, my daily ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠routine—if it touched any of that, divine beast or god, I'd smash it flat.

Of course, messing with the White Tiger would make enemies of the Mu-dang Alliance, indirectly wrecking my routine.

But I couldn't just roll over and die either. I hoped things wouldn't get that messy...

"..."

Then the White Tiger addressed me. No hostility—just a pure desire to talk.

I didn't want to fight either, so I responded readily.

"White Tiger, why do you speak to me?"

"Is my name what piques your interest?"

It shook its head at my question, as if who I was or what kind of person didn't matter. A transcendent air, like an immortal sage.

But it kept glancing between the Destroyer beside me and myself, giving off a subtle sense of unease.

'My imagination?'

Was my heightened senses piercing its inner thoughts, or just paranoia? I couldn't tell right now.

"No."

"No."

The questions kept coming.

"Fight."

"I'll stop you."

What to say... The White Tiger's questions felt oddly suspicious. I couldn't read its intent, and being a tiger, its expression was inscrutable.

"Ask away."

"..."

I didn't answer right away. The White Tiger didn't press me either; we just stared at each other.

My reflection showed in its massive eyes—body wrecked, floating limply, looking half-dead at a glance.

"Aigoo..."

No way I could give a serious answer in this state. I hauled my exhausted body upright.

I nearly stumbled a few times, but Shin-nim supported me, so I stayed on my feet.

"..."

Standing tall, facing the White Tiger for a moment, I gave my short reply.

"I'll kill you, White Tiger."

"Save them, by any means necessary."

Just the thought of losing family I'd just met today filled me with massive disgust. If someone precious to me died... even I couldn't predict what I'd do.

"What was the intent behind asking?"

With that, the White Tiger leaped out through a hole in the barrier and sped away.

I gazed at the gaping sky for a bit, then sensed people entering through the breach in the barrier.

"The shamans."

We hadn't managed the planned civilian protection, but summoning the White Tiger to stop Chaos's descent meant they'd fulfilled their role.

To avoid any clashes with the shamans, I reverse-summoned the Destroyer and deep-sea bugs into powder, then withdrew the deep-sea aura blanketing the area.

That should drain the seawater soon, making cleanup easier for them.

"Let's go, then."

"No, this is unfair! Shin-nim was with me, so count it as going out."

And so the terror incident wrapped up.

I summoned a sea cucumber with teleportation abilities to escape the barrier, trudged home from a back alley nearby, and collapsed onto the bed.

"Not even energy to shower..."

This was the toughest fight since the Chung-sul-sa battle. Body and mind in tatters—I was too wrecked to even breathe comfortably.

Honestly, I wanted to lie in bed for a week straight.

But the world wasn't that kind.

"Gotta go to work tomorrow, ughhh."

A lot of time had passed since Cheon-do-hoe trashed the company. My vacation was over; back to daily commutes starting tomorrow.

Protect the city, then protect my paycheck. Life, huh?

"Sigh..."

A wave of pathos hit me, but no alternatives. Wasn't this the everyday routine I'd freaked out over losing?

Had to cherish it, even if it was a hassle.

'Thanks, Shin-nim. That's healing.'

'Wait, hold on. That's fine%&)@$'

I passed out into sleep like that, getting some non-healing healing in my dreams and recovering my weary body and soul somewhat.