The Black Tiger’s Vengeance
The cruel, miserable truth: he was not the Sand-Wind Black Tiger, the great yokai who commanded the world, but merely a pitiful porter and slave ghost, a Chang-gwi, torn to shreds and devoured by a tiger’s maw.
In the back alley of an abandoned factory in Yeongdeungpo, Sahyeon’s screams, which had been tearing at his own head with blood-filled tears, slowly faded away. The image of the beastly ferocity and arrogance that had distorted his face washed away, leaving behind only the bitter resentment and wretchedness of a weak human who had been trampled and manipulated under a beast’s foot for five hundred years.
That was when it happened.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!
With a bizarre, deafening roar that tore through the silent night sky of Seoul, the eastern horizon began to bleed a deep, crimson red, moving toward the Yeongdeungpo district where we stood.
Beyond the forest of skyscrapers, a massive blood-colored sandstorm surged like a tidal wave, approaching us with terrifying speed, as if it were the apocalypse foretold in scripture.
"It has caught the scent of the Pure Yang energy radiating from my pack mule," Hurai muttered coldly, standing beside me with her arms crossed.
The silhouette of the massive catastrophe approaching from afar was clearly reflected in her crimson eyes.
"It gorged itself on the blood of a thousand people in the Gangwon-do region, so it must have been looking for a supreme elixir to perfectly digest that vast amount of yokai energy. Its target was you from the very beginning, pack mule."
"It’s coming... to eat me?"
A chill ran down my spine. The energy surging from afar was on a completely different level than what Sahyeon had been emitting just moments ago. It was the scent of pure death—so thick and heavy that even drawing a breath felt like a struggle.
I was staring blankly at the blood-red sky when he spoke.
"......Please, let me go."
Sahyeon, who had been prostrate on the ground shedding tears of blood, staggered to his feet. His eyes were hollow, as if they had lost their focus, but deep within them, a black, viscous murderous intent flickered, burning for only one purpose.
"I want to tear out the throat of that damn tiger—the one who made me rip my own family to shreds and used my soul as a beast’s dog—with my own hands. Please, let me do it."
Vengeance.
It was the only driving force sustaining Sahyeon now that the grand illusion of being a great yokai had shattered. Until just a moment ago, he had been an enemy laughing madly, vowing to tear me to pieces, but now, his gaze was terribly desperate and sorrowful.
Do Jaehyuk spat the lollipop he had been holding onto the ground and slung his blood-stained, worn-out wooden sword over his shoulder. His gaze pierced coldly into Sahyeon.
"Fine. Lead the way. You’re the one who wants to kill that bastard the most... I’ll deal with your punishment after we take down the Sand-Wind Black Tiger."
As soon as Do Jaehyuk gave the order, Sahyeon kicked off the air like a beast, kicking up a cloud of sand as he soared. We, too, began to sprint with all our might toward the heart of the city, the source of that massive blood-red storm.
. . .
"What... on earth is this?"
Upon arriving at the scene, I gasped at the sight unfolding before me.
A massive, translucent golden barrier covered the ten-lane road and the surrounding large commercial buildings in a perfect dome. Inside that barrier, a horrific, living hell reminiscent of the end of the world was unfolding.
A true giant, as large as a house—no, easily as tall as a three-story building. Its fur was darker than pitch, and its golden eyes flashed like the fires of hell. Every time it swung its massive tail, the asphalt was ripped away like paper, and a crimson Blood-Sand Wind swirled like a massive tornado.
Hundreds of field agents from the Gwimun Seoul Branch were desperately throwing talismans and setting up formations to bind its feet, but they were swept away by the massive blood-red storm, bouncing off like fallen leaves and coughing up blood.
"W-with this much chaos... do the civilians outside the barrier not know? The cars are just passing by peacefully, avoiding the barrier!"
When I asked in shock, Seo Hwarin, who had drawn her Haetae Sword, replied urgently.
"It’s the Empty Barrier, the highest-level concealment technique of Gwimun! The entire barrier team from headquarters, including the branch manager, has risked their lives to twist the coordinates of the space itself away from reality. To the civilians outside, that space is perceived as just an ordinary road. No sound or vibration leaks out. However..."
Seo Hwarin gritted her teeth and looked up at the golden barrier, which was beginning to crack.
"There is a limit to how long the barrier can hold. The moment the tiger’s yokai energy exceeds the critical point and that barrier shatters, the blood-red sandstorm compressed inside will pour out all at once, and the entire Yeongdeungpo district will literally evaporate!"
"Damn it, get out of the way!!!"
Before our conversation could even finish, Sahyeon let out a mad roar and leaped into the golden barrier. Squeezing out every last drop of his remaining yokai energy and vitality, he transformed into a half-human, half-beast form, his hands and feet sharpened into ferocious claws, and flew toward the massive face of the true Sand-Wind Black Tiger.
Clang-!!!
Sahyeon’s full-force strike landed squarely on the giant cheek of the Sand-Wind Black Tiger. But it only left a shallow scratch on the beast’s thick fur; Sahyeon was the one who bounced off, colliding with the tiger’s steel-like jaw and vomiting blood.
[Ho-ho...?]
The real Sand-Wind Black Tiger, having identified the existence that had swiped at its cheek like a fly, tore its massive maw open and smiled fishily, letting out a beastly, unpleasant metallic sound.
[Look who it is. My cute little chess piece that I tossed aside five hundred years ago. To dare bare your fangs at your master... have you come to offer me back the yokai energy I lost, right into my mouth?]
The overwhelming voice of the great yokai, who had drunk the blood of thousands, echoed loudly inside the barrier. The air around us was so heavily suppressed by that voice alone that it was difficult to even breathe.
"Shut up, you beastly bastard!! The price for killing my family and defiling my soul... I’ll rip your belly open and collect it right here today!!"
Sahyeon shed tears of blood, forced his broken arm back into place, and charged at the beast once more. It was a desperate, suicidal charge—he had no regard for defense, determined to trade his own flesh to break the beast’s bones.
Thud!!
[You pathetic insect!]
The Sand-Wind Black Tiger’s massive forepaw struck Sahyeon’s torso. Sahyeon’s ribs shattered and his internal organs ruptured, but instead of being blown away, he wrapped his arms tightly around the beast’s massive claw and began to bite into it like a wild animal.
"Kuaaaaagh!! Die!! Dieeee!!"
Sahyeon’s insane venom and tenacity. In that desperate struggle, fueled by five hundred years of resentment down to the bone, even the Sand-Wind Black Tiger, which had held absolute superiority, flinched for a moment, revealing a tiny gap in its movements.
"Now! Move in!"
Do Jaehyuk and Seo Hwarin did not miss that split second. Seo Hwarin swung her Haetae Sword, raising a massive barrier of water energy to soak the blood-red sandstorm emitted by the tiger, pinning it to the ground. And through the gap in the now-heavy storm, Do Jaehyuk leaped, his worn-out wooden sword plunging ruthlessly toward the beast’s massive knee joint.
Kuaaaaaang!!!
[K, Kuaaaagh...!! You little rats!!]
The Sand-Wind Black Tiger screamed in pain for the first time, staggering. Sahyeon’s fierce onslaught, throwing his life away to bite at the beast’s ankles, combined with the perfect coordinated attacks of South Korea’s strongest exorcist and the field agents. Their battle, crossing with speed and destructive power that defied imagination, was completely shattering the intersection.
"......"
I stood outside the barrier, staring blankly at the overwhelming scale of the battle. A cold fear and a terrible sense of helplessness crawled up from the pit of my stomach.
This was on a different level from the yokai I had faced until now. The mass and intimidation radiating from the real Sand-Wind Black Tiger roaring inside that barrier were like a massive natural disaster that would burn me to ash, bones and all, the moment it touched my current level of Yang-gi.
My energy was completely suppressed. My two legs felt like they were bound by invisible, heavy chains; I couldn't move an inch.
That was when it happened.
A small, hot hand and a cool, soft hand were placed on my frozen shoulders at the same time.
"Why are you so scared and trembling, you foolish pack mule?"
Hurai, the young lady who had placed her hand on my left shoulder, clicked her tongue as she stared at the hellscape inside the barrier.
"If you fold your spirit just because the size of your power is less than a beast’s, that battle is already lost before your swords even clash. If you lose the momentum, you die."
Huchu, who had placed her hand on my right shoulder, added in a calm, intellectual voice.
"Master. Do not be afraid. Keep your eyes fixed on their movements—how they clash bone and flesh without taking a single step back, even in the face of an overwhelming catastrophe."
The guide of the underworld and the incarnation of the sun stood firmly on both my sides, leading me.
"Watch closely, Kang Hankyul. That is what a 'battle' where you stake your life truly is."
"Watch their desperate struggle and find the answer to how you will sharpen your vast spiritual energy to cut the throat of that massive beast. We will guard your back."
At the heavy yet firm advice of my Shikigami, a solid focus began to form once again in my pupils, which had been shaking with fear. That’s right, I was a Gwimun agent who had jumped into the middle of this insane hell for 10 billion won.
Inside the barrier, Sahyeon was struggling desperately to sink his teeth into the Sand-Wind Black Tiger’s eyes, even amidst the horrific pain of having one of his arms torn off, and Seo Hwarin and Do Jaehyuk were also becoming covered in blood within the crimson storm, taking the beast’s area-of-effect attacks with their bare bodies.
I couldn't just hide in a safe place and watch like this.
I took a deep breath and began to draw the flames of Pure Yang from the deepest part of my Dantian to their absolute limit once again. Above my two fists, flames as dazzling and massive as the sun began to burn fiercely, as if they would incinerate even the blood-red sand in the air.