The Shaman King (5)
Dead? Ju Kang-rim panicked. Weren't grim reapers immortal?
"Kang-rim: Grim reapers can die too? My lifespan is 20,000 years, isn't it?"
Kangryeong Daegun's ritual, just as Ju Kang-rim had guessed, was a curse. He'd heard of salt-removal rites before, something like that. But this was a death rite—a flesh-stripping ritual meant to kill.
Then the glass ceiling shattered, raining down right on Ju Kang-rim's head. He barely dodged, but watching a pane bigger than he was explode inches from his nose told him this was no joke.
"Flesh piled on the lifeline? Pot calling the kettle black."
"Kang-rim: No way a grim reaper dies to some shaman hack! Who's gonna collect me if I croak?"
Ju Kang-rim bared his teeth and fired at Kangryeong Daegun. If it was a curse, hiding wouldn't help. Misfortune would shadow him like death itself, dragging out the fight and only putting him at a disadvantage. Harass with gunfire, close in, finish with Saingeom—that was his straight-up strategy.
As Ju Kang-rim charged, Kangryeong Daegun whipped his limp, dangling limbs at him. Like goddamn whips with insane reach, Ju thought, dropping low to evade. Kagagagak. Four massive gashes scarred the wall, exhibits shattering to dust. Claw marks from Kangryeong Daegun.
Ju Kang-rim wondered if he could even call this thing human anymore.
Thirty-eight guard captains to the Upper Hall.
Twenty-eight guard captains to the Middle Hall.
Eighteen guard captains to the Lower Hall.
Whirrr, whirrr. Kangryeong Daegun swung his arms relentlessly, shredding the museum. Ju Kang-rim ducked behind a pillar, sighing at the sight.
Darkened museum, corpse piles everywhere, a man in the center shedding bloody tears, limbs stretched grotesquely, dancing and laughing.
"What a face you don't wanna fight."
Hated the matchup, but no choice. Kangryeong Daegun had ditched all his minions for a head-on clash, unleashing his strongest spell. Beat this, and the bastard had nothing left.
"In a grim reaper vs. immortal showdown, backing down would trash the reaper's rep."
Ju Kang-rim let out a long sigh, then charged at Kangryeong Daegun.
Whirrrlic, whirrr. Air-ripping whips slashed the void in sequence. Ju Kang-rim focused harder than ever, sensing the prickling killing intent closing in. Death lurked everywhere. Trip on a footstep—dead. Slapped by a hand-whip—dead. Choke on spit—dead. Bad dinner from last night—dead.
Thud, crunch. The surging death sharpened his senses to the extreme. Paradoxically, realizing the "flesh" clung to his fate had unlocked his peak-era focus. Even as his body shredded, he dodged vital spots, preserving what he could move.
Flesh was tough, sure—but Ju trusted the luck that had carried him to humanity's final moments.
"To Saingeom, I offer 100 years of lifespan!"
Kwajajajajak. Saingeom exploded in growth, thunder cracking through the air. The hand-axe stretched to Ju Kang-rim's height in an instant, lightning sparking everywhere.
Boom, boomboom. Electronics detonated around them, flooding the space with blinding light.
Ju Kang-rim had never fed Saingeom 100 years before. The more he empowered it, the harder it got to wield. Swinging an overpowered weapon till you collapsed was suicide. Even 10 years left his body aching; this was ten times that.
As expected, the moment Saingeom grew, dizziness hit. But his body moved anyway.
'That's enough.'
Ju Kang-rim swung at Kangryeong Daegun like he meant to cleave him in two.
Kwakwakwakwang. Lightning erupted across the entire museum. Blinding flash seared his eyes shut. His body felt crushed, knees buckling. But he couldn't fall—not while the enemy stood.
Everything charred black. Kangryeong Daegun stood frozen, burns and festering wounds heaving with ragged breaths. Barely upright, just like Ju.
The dance had stopped, but the flung flesh still clung. Ju gritted his teeth, steadying his stance.
'Immortal bastard.'
Even charred to charcoal, he wouldn't die. Ju swung again. No explosive thunder this time—just faint sparks grazing past.
But Kangryeong Daegun hurled himself aside like a train barreled through. Thud, crack. So pathetic he broke something on impact.
Ju Kang-rim grinned wearily, glaring. "Scared of a little lightning?"
Kangryeong Daegun dragged himself up, glaring back. Both pushed to the brink. Or rather, Kangryeong Daegun still had some gas left.
But he stared at Saingeom in disbelief at the power it'd unleashed.
"Lightning?" he muttered, voice like he'd tumbled into the abyss. "That's no lightning... that's..."
No words fit. Nothing in the world compared.
Ju Kang-rim snorted. "Freakin' out over lightning? Guess you've got sins to hide."
Ju didn't know, but Kangryeong Daegun had seen it clear. That casual first swing had just aimed for his arm. The lightning hadn't even grazed him.
But the moment it passed, he'd glimpsed hell. In that split second, he'd boiled in Arm Eight Hell's cauldron, flesh peeling off. Frozen in Arm One Hell's glacier, cells crushed to burst.
A blink trapped in eternal torment.
'No illusion.'
Kangryeong Daegun shuddered, gasping. Studying shamanism, he'd researched hells and heavens endlessly. But even serving ghosts and generals, he'd only imagined hell—never seen it. The spirits spoke abstractly of the underworld.
Unseen, it was irrelevant. Immortal, it was laughable.
Now he knew: the underworld existed. Hell yawned beneath him always.
Ju's lightning was just the trailer. And it birthed a new feeling in him.
Terror. That this might truly be a grim reaper come to claim him.
"Huu..." Ju Kang-rim forced strength into his trembling hands. But Saingeom shrank back to hand-axe, fingers loosening like it'd slip any second.
'What now.'
He smiled bitterly at Kangryeong Daegun. Undertrained, yeah. Reckless? Sure. But he'd always been reckless—survival in apocalypse was reckless by default. He'd outlasted high-rankers like Gerald's poisons.
Ju Kang-rim advanced slowly. Torn muscles, dizzy blood loss, stabbing broken bones—ignored. Body obeyed spirit's command honestly.
Step, step.
As he closed in, Kangryeong Daegun rose too. Ju gripped the axe, bracing for the final clash.
He had one last card, but it'd flop if the bastard had reserves. Only way to test: use it.
The instant Kangryeong Daegun stepped forward, Ju readied.
Tatattak.
Then he realized: Kangryeong Daegun was better than expected. He'd bolted instead of fighting.
Ju stared blankly at the fleeing back, then yelled curses late. "Hey, you dog—!"
But chasing, he staggered and collapsed. Body at limit. Kangryeong Daegun's too, probably—but no catching him.
Ju scanned desperately, spotting a ghoul's dropped gun.
Tatattattang. Shots rang; a few bullets thunked into Kangryeong Daegun. He stumbled, groaning, but didn't look back, limping desperately away. His tenacity stood tall.
Clip empty, Ju crawled to another gun. Most were jammed or empty.
Meanwhile, Kangryeong Daegun reached the entrance, grabbing the handle.
Ju figured no choice. "Lee Hwi-myeong!"
His grim reaper's soul call began.
Tchiiing. At Ju Kang-rim's voice, Kangryeong Daegun face-planted into the glass door. Overwhelming pain seized his body rigid, control lost.
Glass shards embedded in his face, but trivial next to the agony shredding him apart.
"Gaaakkk!"
Hearing the most wretched human scream, Ju knew the soul call worked. Half-gamble, really. He'd dug up the name from records, but immortals lived long, changed names—true name recognition was iffy.
Ju smiled, inhaling for another—then choked.
"Kek, cough! Gack, heuk! Heuk!"
Face paling, violent coughing slammed his face to the floor. The clinging flesh was still active—even swallowing wrong could kill.
Finally calming, bloody coughs drooled spit.
Kangryeong Daegun dangled from the handle, then crawled out.
"You... dog... wait...!"
Ju crawled after. History's most pulse-pounding chase: two limits, clawing like bugs.
Not the immortal-shaman-downing-grim-reaper epic from moments ago.
After coughs, Ju rasped another soul call. "Lee Hwi-myeong...!"
No scream this time. Kangryeong Daegun plugged his ears tight, escaping the museum.
Ju stared blankly, then roared through bloody coughs. "What the—no, it's a soul call, and blocking your ears makes it not work?!"