A Bitter Farewell
“Then let’s part ways.”
With those words, the words of farewell hanging heavy in the air, and Ampon’s greasy smile seeping into my ears at the exact same moment—
KRRRANG-!
“Ugh…!”
Jubern moved in an instant, slamming his blade up to block the arm Ampon had thrust forward.
“Well, well. You blocked it?”
Ampon narrowed his eyes at Jubern, the one who had stopped his attack.
“…Understood. Just as Lord Haru said. Until His Lordship arrives, I’ll hold this place with everything I have. Please, remain safe.”
“Though my strength is limited, I’ll join you as well.”
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
Beyond Jin, Hye’s body charged forward into the front lines. Multicolored lights began to spread across her form.
“…?”
Ampon tilted his head, perhaps because the light spilling from her body looked so unusual. He pulled back his arm and put some distance between us.
“Thank you for the assistance.”
“But I must make one thing clear beforehand. My duty is to protect the Lord. I agreed to accompany her under His Lordship’s command, but if danger threatens her safety, I will depart immediately.”
“Yes, do so.”
“Miss Hye, don’t say such things. Right now, we only need to do our best to survive this crisis together.”
“…Understood, Lord.”
As Jin spoke, strange symbols began to float around Hye.
The meaningless characters danced in circles, slowly orbiting her like a living spell.
“Oh? Is that a rune? I thought it was a real Ineung… but it looks so weird.”
Ampon stared at Jubern and Hye with cloudy eyes, then slowly stroked his chin.
“Hey, you two. I’ll let you off easy this time. Get lost. After all, my business is only with those shorties over there.”
“Utter nonsense. Stop repeating the same words over and over.”
Jubern’s decisive rejection made Ampon’s eyes grow dark with killing intent.
“Hmph. Well… no choice. We’ll just kill you all.”
Thud.
Ampon finally took his first step toward us.
“Shall we start? You boasted you weren’t afraid, so you must have confidence, right?”
Crackle—crackle—crackle—!
“Ugh…!”
Simply walking toward us was enough to summon an overwhelming pressure.
I was already tensed up back there. The closer Jubern stood, the more it pressed down on him—far from lessening.
I wanted to join the fray and help him, but—
“Hmph. Let the two of them handle that guy. We’ll deal with you lot in the meantime.”
The crisis wasn’t only on Jubern’s side.
There was still a yokai left behind in the plaza.
“Those who have been granted the Gold must engrave the gift into their own bodies without exception.”
An eerie yokai muttered this out of nowhere, raising one arm so his palm faced us.
On the back of his hand, a single star glowed with a golden shine.
“The post granted by the One is First Gold, rank is Brigadier.”
“First Gold… Brigadier…?”
I had clashed with this yokai only twice—once in Seo-Wangdo and once in Dongye.
The yokai in Dongye had three bronze stars. The one that ambushed us in Seo-Wangdo had, I heard, two silver stars.
The three-star yokai had been barely defeated half a year ago in Dongye.
Yet the two-star yokai in Seo-Wangdo was still a foe I, in my current state, could not easily defeat.
And now, in front of me, there was a yokai who—despite the ranking being lower—still possessed a full gold star.
He had been granted a rank two levels above the one that attacked us in Seo-Wangdo.
Even if the difference was only two, there was an immeasurable gap between them.
The sheer force of his aura was proof enough.
“Release.”
““…””
In that brief moment of silence, the yokai opened the gate first. Everyone flinched and shrank back.
But not just them—Maru, Teraden, Blanser, Jin, and Rui too.
““Release.””
Everyone except me and Junior instinctively opened their gates at the same time, pulling out their Ineung.
“Expansion.”
Junior, who had no Ineung, manipulated a mechanical sphere instead.
“YAAAH-!!”
Maru poured Activation into us all, her voice ringing with a fierce shout.
The effects of Activation went far beyond healing wounds.
Along with healing, the greatest benefit was the massive surge in Cheneung.
Of course, the increase varied by person, but in my case it felt like about twenty percent.
While Teraden’s Hwigwang focused purely on visible strength and power,
Maru’s Activation accelerated not only that, but flexibility, stamina, and every other factor as well.
With this, we might hold out until the First Gold yokai’s support arrived.
Swallow.
Yet despite the confident activation, no one dared to strike first.
The yokai’s aura was simply too overwhelming, and above all, we didn’t yet know what his Ineung could do.
So I decided to stall him a little longer and first figure out his ability.
“Hmm, trying to buy time until the Seven Pillars arrive… Then I’ll come personally.”
BOOM—!!
The moment Ampon finished speaking, explosions suddenly erupted from Junior and Blanser’s bodies without any warning.
“What the—?!”
Smoke and flames swallowed the two as they were blasted away at high speed.
“Kyah! It’s fine, Hyung!”
“Mine’s okay too.”
Soon the black smoke that had swallowed their bodies vanished, revealing their forms.
Despite the sudden blast they couldn’t evade, thanks to Blanser’s extreme reinforcement and Maru’s Activation, neither suffered major injury.
“Hm? You took that and you’re still standing? Why? Did that weird light completely nullify the shock? Then…”
Ampon’s gaze, which had been tilting his head, shifted toward Maru.
“Tch. Teraden.”
“Huh? I was just thinking the same thing. Let’s try it!”
Teraden and I charged toward the yokai while shouting to the others.
“As you all know, our opponent is at least a few steps stronger than us. Always fight in pairs. Watch each other’s backs.”
“Understood, Hyung!”
“Be careful, Lord Haru, Teraden.”
“And Rui and Jin. Can you look after my sister?”
Maru’s Ineung was still unstable.
She had only awakened it yesterday. Using it would always leave gaps.
Her forehead and temples were already covered in sweat from the massive stamina drain.
Maru never complained about hardship, but I figured she’d hide it if she could. So it was better to let her focus solely on Activation.
“Yes.”
“Yup! Just leave it to us!”
Jin and Rui nodded firmly.
WHAAAM—!!
“Fei Tian Zhen Guang.”
While I gave each of them their roles, Teraden unleashed a barrage of Hwigwang upon the yokai and the real battle began.
Yet the yokai simply laughed, unfazed, even with the light flooding the front.
The next instant, as if grabbing the void, he lightly clenched his fist toward the Hwigwang.
BOOM—!!
One chunk of Hwigwang exploded without warning.
* * *
A moment ago, in a building in Hwabaek.
“Did those kids leave?”
“Yes, just over half an hour ago.”
“I see.”
After hearing Jeongmyeong’s reply, Unhak nodded and briefly recalled the events of a few years ago.
“Waa? What did I hear wrong just now? What did he say?”
“From now on, I will succeed The One.”
“Will those kids really grow to be at that level…? Hm?”
As Unhak reminisced about the past, his senses suddenly caught something.
One enormously massive aura, and nearby—many large and small auras.
Some were familiar, but the rest were strange and carried an unpleasant feeling.
“Hah, it’s the pillar descending from the west. You’ve aged, old man. Finally noticing it now.”
“M-Master…? Why all of a sudden…?”
Jeongmyeong’s unease bubbled up at Unhak’s self-mockery when—
Knock. Squelch.
The door to the room suddenly burst open at the same time as the knock.
“Ah, Beortei Third Danju.”
Jeongmyeong hurriedly stood and bowed to the one who opened the door.
“Beortei Third Danju. You sensed the disturbance from the east and came here, didn’t you?”
“That is correct, First Danju Unhak.”
“Good. We don’t have much time. Immediately summon all Danjus in Hwabaek except the Sixth.”
Jeongmyeong didn’t ask why.
Given Unhak’s fierce expression, trying to pry for a reason would only get my head blown off. So I thought it was best to listen without question.
““Understood.””
Beortei and Jeongmyeong immediately left the room to gather the Danjus.
“What kind of bold fools would do something like this… right in front of the city gates.”
Unhak muttered to himself as he left the building. By the time he reached the entrance, every Danju in Hwabaek was already gathered there without exception.
“Follow me.”
The gathered Danjus followed Unhak without a single word.
* * *
After the Danjus left Hwabaek and headed east, it took half an hour.
One of the five yokai, the one heading toward Hwabaek, blocked their path.
“How many brainworms does it take to make an idiot like you…? Hm?”
Unhak, facing the yokai, stopped mid-sentence and blinked twice.
“This is just brainworms itself.”
“…!”
Even though they thought a Danju might block the way, it was actually the First Danju and chairman of the Danjus leading the group himself.
“Beortei Third Danju.”
“Yes, First Danju Unhak.”
“You lead the remaining Danjus. Hurry them along so those kids don’t die.”
“Understood.”
“No one can pass through this place…!”
CRASH-!
But before he could finish, Unhak’s huge fist slammed into the yokai.
The force in that massive fist sent the yokai flying back with a groan.
“Kk, kuh…! What kind of strength is that?!”
“Then we’ll head out first.”
“Eh? Okay.”
Meanwhile, Beortei, who had taken Unhak’s place, led the Danjus away in a hurry.
Crunch, creak.
“As my master said, to sever suffering, one must immediately remove the brainworms in front of you.”
On the quiet, narrow road connecting Hwabaek and the Imperial Capital, only the angry, muscular bodhisattva and the terrified yokai remained.