Chapter 197
Chapter 197: The True Tower's Report (4)
The target was fast.
Far too fast.
No man's land.
He was breaking through every formation in the blink of an eye, leaving no room to carefully study and digest the principles behind the Eight Direction Uninterrupted Hell's formation arts.
As if.
'Why……?'
As if the formations were not functioning.
For anyone with a heart, the unease and terror should have been maximized until their mind shattered.
Was there no fear?
No anxiety either?
In reality, not a single ripple of any emotion whatsoever was detected.
As though trying to pour water into an empty vessel, only to find the vessel itself did not exist.
"Huh……?"
At some point, their eyes met directly.
It was something that could never have happened if the formations were doing their job.
Eyes whose depth was unfathomable, like a bottomless pit, looked this way.
A laugh slipped out.
"Ah, so that was it."
That was why he had made it through the first through fourth formations unscathed.
With no fear, he was not cowed by the cold energy.
With no rage, he was not swept away by the heat energy.
With no anxiety, he could calmly evade the lightning.
With no bewilderment, he could composedly shatter the rocks.
A being without emotion.
Because he was such a being, even the Bewilderment Formation had been meaningless.
"Interesting. How interesting!"
Dong Mu-toe moved his fingers.
"Then what about this?"
The sixth formation, Star-Absorbing Meridian-Severing Formation.
West. Trigram. Lake.
A vicious formation that forcibly sucks out the target's internal energy and severs their meridians.
Just as water flows to lower ground, energy too flows to where the pressure is low.
The Star-Absorbing Meridian-Severing Formation artificially lowers the energy pressure around the target, causing their internal energy to drain out regardless of their own will.
And into the void left behind by that drained internal energy, turbid energy seeps in. In this way the meridians become blocked, and martial arts are slowly lost.
The third principle, Meridian-Locking Energy Sealing.
A formation that kills slowly, like water evaporating away.
This has nothing to do with the flow of emotions, it's a……huh!?
The target bent their knees.
No—the moment he sensed them bending, they snapped back and the figure shot forward like a projectile.
"……What?"
Dong Mu-toe's eyes sharpened to a keen edge.
His vision, honed to extreme precision, caught something strange.
A faint fog-like thing was rising around the target.
True energy.
The suction force emitted by the Star-Absorbing Meridian-Severing Formation.
The instant it made contact with the target.
It was being sucked in the reverse direction.
Swoosh-!
The target's footsteps grew faster and faster.
As though the absorbed energy were refilling them in return.
'……He's eating it.'
The formation's energy.
My formation.
Strangely.
Not irritation, but excitement surged forth.
"That's it! That's the one! This is what a proper experiment should be! Heh-heh-heh."
Having broken through the sixth formation in an instant, the target entered the seventh.
The seventh formation, Space-Time Turbulence Formation.
Southwest. Trigram. Earth.
A labyrinth formation that warps the sense of space to prevent finding the exit.
The core of the Eight Direction Uninterrupted Hell.
The fourth principle, Spatial Reversal.
Go forward and end up in the same place.
Go backward and end up in the same place.
This space, composed of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, is folded through the logic of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams.
There is a hole to escape through.
However, that hole cannot be reached.
Ever.
And.
As anticipated, the target, who had been running furiously, stopped dead in their tracks.
Unable to move a single step.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Got them. Got them. Heh-heh."
Now it's impossible to break through this formation by physical force alone.
Doesn't matter if there are no emotions.
Doesn't matter if they absorb the energy permeating the formation.
Because space itself is folded.
Try to go forward and you move backward.
Try to go backward and you move sideways.
Escape is logically impossible.
This is the core of the Eight Direction Uninterrupted Hell.
Without breaking through the seventh formation, the eighth cannot even be touched.
They will wander forever within the seventh formation until dying of exhaustion.
To be more precise, it makes no difference whether they reach the eighth formation or the ninth formation or the hundredth formation.
"Truly the end."
Dong Mu-toe released the tension from his shoulders.
Honestly, he was quite disappointed.
Just making it this far was already remarkable.
If only they had given him just a little more amusement……if only they had helped a little more with the experiment.
— Is this all? Is this all you've got?
Dong Mu-toe's voice echoed throughout the entire formation.
— Let me tell you, regretfully. Even if you were to somehow break through the seventh formation and reach the eighth, you're designed to return back to the first formation. Because the eighth formation is the first formation. And the first formation is also the eighth. In other words, the logic and principles of the seventh formation fold space and connect the exit of the first formation to its entrance. An infinite loop. To escape, you'd have to shatter the Formation Eye……but that's impossible. Because……huh?
The target gave no response.
Only a finger rose.
Pointing toward Dong Mu-toe—or more precisely, toward the peak of Rainbow Peak where Dong Mu-toe stood.
"……!"
Space was folded.
The sense of direction was twisted.
Logically, from there, it was impossible to see here.
And yet.
Eyes met again with the target.
"Just how……how does that one keep seeing me, every single time?"
In that split instant.
The target's index finger flicked.
Whoosh.
Something flew over.
Something invisible.
In a straight line, disregarding the warping of space.
Dong Mu-toe reflexively twisted his head to the side.
Slice.
A single streak of blood ran down his cheek.
"……"
Dong Mu-toe wiped his cheek with a finger.
A red liquid staining his fingertip.
His own blood.
How long had it been?
Since he had last seen his own blood.
"Ha ha."
A laugh slipped out.
"Ha ha ha ha."
The laughter grew.
Space was folded, yet an attack had come flying in a straight line.
It was an impossible thing.
"Is the formation wrong?"
No, there was no way.
There was no way it could……
In that instant.
A presence was felt directly behind him.
Dong Mu-toe's eyes widened.
It was as though his heart had stopped.
A sensation he had never felt once in his entire life.
'Is this……what they call fear?'
So I was capable of feeling such an emotion too.
He slowly turned his body.
The target was standing there.
"No."
A flat, toneless voice.
The target—no, Dong Bong-soo, who had by now fully reclaimed the position of hunter, spoke.
"It wasn't wrong."
"……Then what was the problem?"
"It just didn't know."
"……?"
"Someone like me……that a person could be like me."
"What do you mean?"
"That I was never trapped to begin with."
"……?"
"Faith does not fold. Thanks to that, the direction that belief points is not warped either."
"Faith? Belief?"
"A principle that an ordinary soul like you cannot comprehend."
"……Ordinary soul?"
"……"
"Me?"
Dong Bong-soo gave no further reply and swept his gaze around the surroundings.
Among the flustered dispatch unit members, some tried to flee and some hurried to set up their formations.
First.
Slice.
Into the backs of the formation Taoists attempting to flee, an invisible energy shot and lodged itself.
Unable to even scream, they all collapsed at once.
Slice.
Second.
The wrists of those hastily trying to deploy their formations were severed in midair.
Before those wrists could even fall to the ground, every last one of their heads had flown off.
The rest did not need to be counted.
Because there were no survivors.
With a light swing of his hand twice, all acts of resistance ceased.
As is the usual fate of those who defy a 'hero.'
Either dead or worse.
And then.
Once more, Dong Bong-soo's cool eyes returned to Dong Mu-toe.
"Are you Dong Mu-toe?"
"……You know me?"
"Watch your tone."
"Even our Rank Committee couldn't figure out—"
Sensing that the blabbermouth was about to go on at length, Dong Bong-soo immediately cleaved straight through the middle of the man's words.
"You made a promise earlier, didn't you?"
"……What? Ah."
— Ha ha ha. Impressive. But the Eight Direction Uninterrupted Hell has only just begun. It is a hell with no escape, where eight layers of formations from eight directions close in upon you. Not even an Immortal can break free. If you manage to shatter this, I shall become your slave for li-fe!?
[The quest target has voluntarily declared a 'vow.']
[A vow made to a hero carries binding force under the blessing of goddess Lumina.]
An absolute promise that Dong Mu-toe himself could never have heard—one that only Dong Bong-soo was aware of.
Crack.
Dong Mu-toe's waist buckled.
For the first time in his life, his knees touched the ground.
'……What is this?'
It was strange.
He had clearly not knelt of his own will.
His body had moved on its own.
As if being controlled by someone.
No.
'……The promise.'
If you shatter it, I shall become your slave.
It had been a joke.
It could not have been sincere.
Because logically, the Eight Direction Uninterrupted Hell could not be broken through. Because it was a formation that was not supposed to be breakable.
And yet.
More than the fact of what had happened and how, what mattered right now was that he could not take any action whatsoever.
'This is……being compelled? When did he do it? How did he do it? Is it some new formation? Or a curse! It can't be a martial art!?'
He didn't know what it was.
He was merely fascinated.
Not resentful.
On the contrary.
'How interesting.'
Dong Mu-toe, on his knees, laughed Heh-heh.
Crack.
Of course, the feelings of Dong Mu-toe were of no concern to Dong Bong-soo. Dong Bong-soo's foot lightly came to rest on the man's face. Regardless of how the man himself felt about it.
Ding
[Guild] First Commission
[Chain]
: During a mission, unexpected additional enemies may appear at any time, so please always exercise caution. I hope you will not forget that cowardly ones are always targeting your back.
․ Disband the Red-Red Alliance.
├─ Progress: 100%
└─ Reward: History +1, Bae Dal-pae's Trust Level slight increase
․ Defeat all members of the Alliance Under Heaven Formation Dispatch Unit hired by the Red-Red Alliance.
├─ Progress: 100%
├─ Additional Condition: Complete full breakthrough of the Eight Direction Uninterrupted Hell
└─ Reward: History +1, Relationship with the Alliance Under Heaven Formation established: Vow relationship formed with one of the Eight Trigram Leaders, Dong Mu-toe
[Your heroic march advances Hero History considerably. A reward is given.][+2]
[The world has become quite a bit more beautiful.]
[A relationship with the Alliance Under Heaven Formation has been established.]
[In accordance with the vow, Dong Mu-toe has become your 'Subordinate.']
[A vow made to a hero carries binding force under the blessing of goddess Lumina.]
[The vow-maker cannot refuse.]
[However, if the subordinate's will is strong, partial resistance is possible.]
[Even a forced bond can sometimes become a good connection.]
[Because belief always brings corresponding rewards. ♡]
Dong Bong-soo quickly dismissed the irritating heart hologram text. And then, swinging the collapsing Dong Mu-toe over his shoulder atop it.
A Formation Taoist.
And going by what he had just personally experienced, one of a very formidable caliber at that.
"Should be useful."
For a little star candy, quite the premium grade as well.
The fact that his mouth runs nonstop is something that can be fixed gradually.
Thud
Soon his figure stretched rapidly in the direction of Gangdo and disappeared.