Heartscape (6) - The Giant with a Hundred Eyes

A giant with a hundred eyes. The thing towered over five meters tall, its limbs stretched out freakishly long like the other anomalies I'd faced before. But unlike those others, this one was packed with muscle, and those hundred eyes left zero blind spots. It screamed pure physical brute—no way this was gonna be an easy fistfight without magic.

"You know what that thing is?"

"Hm..."

From the aura it gave off, it felt yokai-adjacent. Unfortunately, my magic eyes didn't come with an enemy scan function. Strictly speaking, Gung-gi here was like the boss of the yokai or something similar. When I asked if she knew anything, she seemed to recognize it right away.

"Looks like a Hundred-Eyed Oni to me."

"Hundred-Eyed Oni?"

According to Gung-gi's quick rundown, it used to be human—a pickpocket whose eyes sprouted one by one with every theft until it turned yokai. No particular weaknesses, but not all that strong either.

"It looks pretty damn tough."

"Must've gotten some buff or something."

Judging by the mana I sensed, it was at least upper Folk Tale rank, low Legend Lower at minimum. And she called it weak? Looked like this mystery fog was pumping it up somehow.

"So why isn't it charging?"

"..."

Anyway, after that brief info swap, Gung-gi tilted her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head at the Hundred-Eyed Oni, which still hadn't lunged despite fully manifesting. Was it possible it didn't want to fight us?

No way in hell.

Its gaze was locked on my magic eyes. I could practically feel its burning ambition to gouge them out and get stronger. So if it wanted me that bad, why hold back?

The answer turned out to be pretty straightforward.

"Clever bastard."

The thing was waiting for the village folks turned anomalies. It kept roaring, stomping, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠making a racket—and now those anomalies were swarming in toward the noise. At this rate, we'd be sandwiched front and back.

Retreat's... not an option.

Running would've been ideal right now, but sadly, we had a time limit. I had to smash that altar before Yu-hwa's brain got crushed. Needed to come up with something...

That's when a decent idea hit me. I laid it out for Gung-gi immediately.

"Hey, Gung-gi."

"What."

"Go outside and pull some aggro."

The anomalies chased noise. But not a hundred percent blindly—they prioritized what was right in front of them, more like.

That's why luring didn't work before.

Earlier, when the villagers were chasing us, I'd tried all sorts of tricks to shake them. Throwing noisy stuff the other way, yelling from afar to split the aggro. But they only went after what they could see up close; no dice.

Putting those clues together, sending Gung-gi out to tank aggro was solid tactics. If she peeled off the adds, I could duel the eyeball giant one-on-one, nice and easy.

"No way! Why should I?!"

"Do it, or we both die—and then I'll kill you again."

"...That's a fucking shitty reason."

Gung-gi balked, of course, but when I raised my fist, she grudgingly caved. She'd grumble nonstop, but one glare and she'd shut her trap.

What a drama queen.

I couldn't help chuckling. Who else but the master bluffer could pull off such convincing victimhood? It looked like I was bullying her into it, but truth was, her own skin was 99% of why she was cooperating.

Can't let Yu-hwa get hurt.

Gung-gi was fused with Yu-hwa. If anything happened to her, it'd hit Gung-gi full force. Old Gung-gi from the Four Evils era wouldn't have cared, but now? Disaster. Yu-hwa dies, Gung-gi drops dead too.

"Grrraaah...! Curse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you, Lee Jin-seok!!"

"Got it. Now go."

Gung-gi hurled curses my way as she stormed out of the church. Moments later, chaos erupted outside.

I could see Gung-gi leading every anomaly in the village on a merry chase, even using her spirit command to max out the aggro. No way they'd circle back to the church now.

"Just you and me now."

I turned to face the Hundred-Eyed Oni. It looked a bit rattled, realizing its plan had failed. But it shook it off quick, firing up its battle lust.

"You want these that bad?"

Obvious source of its rage: greed. It couldn't tear its eyes off my magic eyes. Kinda funny, but it pissed me off too. Who the hell did this thing think it was, eyeing Shin-nim's gift? Death sentence right there.

"Just die already."

I leveled my spear. It raised its club-like palm. Collision—and our fight kicked off.

The Hundred-Eyed Oni was a pro at close quarters. More precisely, a dirty tricks master. For its massive bulk, it moved insanely fast, and its handwork was top-tier.

"Ho ho?"

Take right now: ten claws total, whipping around like independent daggers. Its fingers were elongated, joints all wrong compared to a human's—perfect for that freakshow technique.

"Tricky bastard."

Strong, fast, and unpredictable. A nightmare for a close-combat noob like me. I'd swing my spear, it'd block everything, and I'd take hits instead.

"Ow."

Slash!

Of course, I wasn't just on the defensive. I was a hair faster, and my strength held up fine.

Landing wounds, at least.

I'd poked holes all over it too. Blood flowed, wounds piled up; it knew I wasn't easy prey and stayed cautious. But none were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fatal.

Size difference is a bitch.

Our builds differed by damn near five times over. Me, barely thirteen in body; it, a five-meter-plus titan. Sure, it had more wounds proportionally, but I was tiring faster. My monster body was regenerating, but...

Time limits—plural.

Two ticking clocks: before Yu-hwa's brain got squashed in this heartscape, before Gung-gi got anomaly chow. Fight had to end now.

Hit the weakness.

And its weak spot was blatant: all those hundreds of eyes. Eyes are a universal soft target; smash 'em for big damage.

"Hup!"

Slashslashslash!

I spotted an opening, unleashed a spear barrage ripping its gut. Not confident on precision eye shots—just gonna clip some.

Focused strike paid off—some hit eyes dead-on, drawing a pained groan. But not enough for a game-changer.

"Too many damn eyes!!"

Over a hundred of 'em. Losing one or two didn't blind it. Hurt more than most spots, bled heavy, sure—but time was dragging. I didn't just need to win; I needed to win fast.

"Nngh..."

I kept racking my brain mid-clash. How to drop it quick? Brute force took too long; its tricks outplayed mine. Only answer: magic.

But how?

I couldn't cast right now. No deep-sea power, no mana in this body. Not depleted—straight-up absent, like the fuel tank vanished.

For a me like this to use magic...

"Ah."

Lightning insight flashed: fundamental question on magic. Why only my mana? Why can't I pull external?

Why?

Simple: mine vs. not-mine. Like controlling your body but not a distant ball. Ball ain't part of you, so no dice.

Why not mine, though?

But doubt crept in. Why not? Mistress of the Sixth Sea, ruler of oceans, mother of the abyss. All waters' owner was my wife—and marital property is joint, right?

What the.

Yogurine's faint voice echoed in my ear. A new sensation bloomed in my chest: every drop of water around felt like an extension of my body, ready to move at will.

Time to test it.

"Bye, Hundred-Eyed Oni. Was a fun scrap."

I brushed off its confused look and cast my spell(?). Holy water jar in the church corner—water burst from it, sharpening into blades that flew at the oni.

Shiiiing!

The water slash cleaved the Hundred-Eyed Oni clean in half from head to groin. Not done, it sliced the altar, then the whole damn church.

Shhhhh...

Altar shattered, fog started lifting from the area. Distant anomaly cries faded out.

"It's over."

My tumultuous country life was finally done.