Chapter 33
Chapter 33
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 9
>Chapter Title: Armadillo (4)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Aaack!”
“Ma, ma’am!”
The maids cried out in agony.
The veins on their faces were bulging, as if they might burst at any moment.
“You wench!”
The guard Ho-ang grew even angrier and tried to launch herself forward.
But Great Madam Seok hurriedly shouted.
“Ho-ang! Stop!”
“Huh?”
At her cry, Ho-ang had to halt after just three steps.
She glared at Sorceress Sak, who was chanting her spell, with eyes full of fury.
She had pinpointed the madam’s weakness perfectly.
Great Madam Seok cherished her maids from her parental home and her guard, herself, as much as she did her own eldest son.
They shared the nostalgia of their homeland.
But letting herself be manipulated like this only gave the enemy an opening.
“Ma....”
-Whoosh!
Great Madam Seok raised her hand with a face grown ice-cold.
It was a signal not to interfere.
Great Madam Seok glared at Sorceress Sak as if she would kill her and said.
“Sorceress Sak. If you don’t stop right now, I promise you this. I’ll use every connection and all my power to wipe you and Ghost Shadow Pavilion off the face of the earth.”
She meant every word.
She had crossed a line that must never be crossed.
Not only had she dared to betray her, but she was tormenting her people?
Despite her rage, Sorceress Sak hid her bitterness, though she couldn’t fully conceal it.
In the end, things had gone exactly as Mok Kyung-un wanted.
[You said you’d do anything. I can manage that much, right?]
[..........]
This was the craftiest bastard she’d ever met.
She’d thought he was just a naive seventeen-year-old young master ignorant of the world, but he was a little demon.
To think he’d come up with a scheme like this.
Now Great Madam Seok hated both her and Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
No—from Ghost Shadow Pavilion’s perspective, a long-time patron had turned into an enemy.
‘Haa.’
She let out a deep sigh.
She wasn’t in a position to worry about Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
What would happen to her once this came to light?
She had broken several of Ghost Shadow Pavilion’s rules just to save one shikigami. Expulsion, banishment, or even worse punishment wouldn’t be surprising.
‘Is it time to leave?’
-Grip!
She bit her lip hard and stopped chanting her spell.
Then she shouted at Great Madam Seok.
“If you dare chase me down to harm me, you’ll lose these two maids.”
‘That wench dares!’
Great Madam Seok’s anger surged to the top of her head, but she barely suppressed it.
She had seen with her own eyes the eerie power of sorcery that could threaten lives from afar, so she couldn’t easily dismiss Sak’s threat.
-Flinch!
Great Madam Seok frowned as she glanced somewhere.
She could hear numerous presences in the manor rushing toward Hyehwa Hall.
Probably the outer hall warriors.
Great Madam Seok, still glaring at Sak, finally made up her mind.
“......Leave before I change my mind. Hurry.”
Sak let out a small sigh of relief.
“Phew.”
The technique she had unleashed was the Six People Male Slave Female Servant Method, a sorcery that could directly harm or control people.
Normally, it required a part of the target’s body, their birth time, six offerings, and two talismans.
Only with all that could she kill or do whatever.
What she had done now was merely a temporary activation using some special talismans and the power of a unique artifact called the Ring of Serenity.
-Rustle!
The Ring of Serenity in her bosom had shattered, so she could no longer maintain the spell.
In the end, it had been a gamble.
‘Let’s hurry.’
If she didn’t leave quickly, she might get caught.
* * *
-Creeeak!
Sorceress Sak carefully opened the door to the herb hall and entered.
Mok Kyung-un, sitting on the bed, raised his hand casually and spoke.
“Did you do well?”
“........Yes. I did as instructed.”
At her words, Mok Kyung-un asked again.
“But is it certain?”
“Yes, Young Master. I confirmed it.”
At the voice from behind, Sorceress Sak frowned slightly and turned her head.
The one who had answered from behind her was none other than the guard Go Chan.
‘She attached someone to watch me, as expected.’
Sak clicked her tongue inwardly.
Of course such a cunning guy wouldn’t fail to monitor her.
But she didn’t care much.
She had done exactly as instructed for the sake of her armadillo.
Sak looked at the frail armadillo gasping for breath in Mok Kyung-un’s right hand and said.
“Now keep your promise.”
“Alright. A promise is a promise.”
Even at Mok Kyung-un’s words, Sak didn’t relax her tension.
He was younger than her, but she had no idea what this man might do next.
That was why she couldn’t let her guard down.
Mok Kyung-un grabbed the armadillo by the neck and approached her.
“Ah! One thing I want to ask.”
She flinched.
He wasn’t changing his mind or saying something else, was he?
Suspicion arose, but she tried not to show it and said.
“.......What is it?”
“In that Ghost Shadow Pavilion you belong to, besides you, are there others who handle vengeful spirits like that ghost maiden or the Demon Monk as shikigami?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s question, Sak glanced at the Demon Monk, the yellow spirit.
No matter how she looked at it, that soul was undoubtedly a vengeful spirit in the realm of monstrosities.
She just couldn’t understand it.
Vengeful spirits lingered in this world solely due to a single grudge.
Because of that, their obsession with the grudge and their desire to harm couldn’t be controlled as shikigami.
No—they couldn’t even become shikigami.
‘They’re just targets for exorcism.’
How on earth was this man controlling a yellow spirit as a shikigami?
She couldn’t comprehend it at all.
And it wasn’t even a sorcerer spirit either.
“Don’t want to talk?”
Startled by Mok Kyung-un’s urging, she quickly answered.
“No. In Ghost Shadow Pavilion, including me, there are three sorcerers who can control shikigami.”
‘Though now it’ll be two.’
Not only had she broken pavilion rules, but she’d made an enemy of Timber Sword Manor’s Great Madam. She had no choice but to leave one way or another.
In the worst case, they might try to kill her or curse her.
Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
“Not that many, huh.”
“......In Ghost Shadow Pavilion, yes.”
“In Ghost Shadow Pavilion? So there are other sorcerer groups?”
At those words, Sak inwardly cursed herself.
She had said something unnecessary.
She would have to join another group after leaving Ghost Shadow Pavilion anyway. It was a mistake.
So she glossed over it vaguely.
“Just as there are many sects in the martial world besides Timber Sword Manor, there are also other sorcerer groups.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
“No more questions?”
“Could you tell me what the other two sorcerers’ vengeful spirits are?”
“.........”
Sak was genuinely impressed.
This man hadn’t let down his guard against Ghost Shadow Pavilion at all.
Not content with sowing discord between her and that Great Madam who wanted her dead, he was preparing countermeasures.
She glanced at the armadillo looking at her piteously, clutched in Mok Kyung-un’s hand.
After agonizing, she finally spoke.
“The sorcerer named Gu, who has long served the pavilion lord, handles a monster condor from Mount Nakoh as his shikigami.”
“What power does that vengeful spirit have?”
“I don’t know exactly. But I remember its appearance: an eagle-like body with strangely shaped horns.”
“You’re not pretending not to know when you do?”
“........Shikigami are like secret arts to sorcerers, so most keep their powers hidden.”
That was true.
Even among sorcerers, they didn’t reveal or inquire about each other’s sorceries or shikigami.
That was their unspoken rule.
Mok Kyung-un nodded and asked.
“And the other one?”
“The Ghost Shadow Pavilion Lord. I don’t know what vengeful spirit the lord possesses.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes. But at the very least, the probability is high that they possess a top-tier vengeful spirit as a shikigami.”
‘As one of the pavilion lords of the Sixty-Four Pavilions of the Cardinal Directions, that makes sense.’
The Sixty-Four Pavilions of the Cardinal Directions.
Sixty-four sorcerer groups scattered across the Central Plains.
Their leaders, the pavilion lords, were sorcerers quite renowned in the underworld.
Even if they didn’t reach the pinnacle called the Six Directional Gods, they were at least mid-tier, so their skills must be formidable.
“Do vengeful spirits have ranks too? Like with grudge spirits?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s question, Sak nodded.
“Yes.”
“What level is top-tier?”
“Vengeful spirits are divided into ferocious beasts, monstrous beasts, demonic beasts, magical beasts, spirit beasts, and divine beasts.”
Sak’s shikigami, the armadillo, was called a ferocious beast even in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
In truth, ferocious beasts were somewhat docile among vengeful spirits and tended to avoid humans.
But even monstrous beasts sometimes devoured humans.
Thus, from monstrous beasts onward, subduing or handling them as shikigami was extremely difficult.
“Hm. Then that pavilion lord must handle a spirit beast or divine beast.”
Sak shook her head at his words.
“No no, not that.”
“Not?”
“Yes. Spirit beasts and divine beasts are moving calamities themselves, so even the greatest sorcerers can hardly make them shikigami.”
Spirit beasts and divine beasts were called calamities or legends.
Even she had never seen such beings in person.
She had only encountered records in ancient texts or the Classic of Mountains and Seas while studying sorcery.
‘Seeing that makes the Six Directional Gods impressive.’
The Six Directional Gods, called the pinnacle of sorcerers.
They were the six sorcerers bestowed the title of gods.
She had heard that two among them had subdued spirit beasts as shikigami.
Only two out of countless sorcerers had reached that realm, worthy of the title of gods.
“Then a magical beast or demonic beast?”
“Probably.”
Even if not spirit beasts or higher, magical or demonic beasts were top-tier among vengeful spirits.
They were beings with tremendous notoriety in regions or demonic power beyond the ordinary.
Mok Kyung-un twitched his lips and muttered softly.
“It’d be nice if it were a demonic beast.”
“Huh?”
“Ah..... Nothing.”
Sak furrowed her brow.
What did this man just say?
While she puzzled over it, Mok Kyung-un handed the armadillo to her and said.
“Here. Now go.”
“.........”
She received the gasping armadillo with trembling eyes.
* * *
After Sak left, the guard Go Chan said anxiously.
“Young Master...... Is it really okay to let her go?”
“We promised to let her.”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Go Chan grumbled inwardly.
‘Since when has he been so merciful?’
But he didn’t show it on his face.
Perhaps he was just getting used to it.
“Is it alright? I’m worried she might harbor resentment and seek revenge......”
“It’s fine.”
“You’re not concerned?”
Just in case.
Nothing had been visible to his eyes, but from what he’d heard, Mok Kyung-un had blackmailed the sorceress woman with something precious to her.
So she might hold a grudge over it.
Mok Kyung-un gave a strange smile and said.
“You make a good point, Guard Go Chan, but she probably won’t be able to. Probably.”
“.........”
Go Chan was puzzled by Mok Kyung-un’s words.
He had no idea what gave him such confidence.
* * *
-Tremble!
Sorceress Sak, cradling the gasping armadillo.
Her heart ached terribly.
She had spent years with this child, and the armadillo was her one and only friend and family.
Yet it was on the verge of death.
Having expended most of its energy, it could die at any moment.
If she didn’t somehow replenish or restore it, she might lose the armadillo.
-Chomp!
Her heartache turned to rage.
She had been recognized as a prodigy, earning the title of sorceress at a young age.
To suffer such humiliation.
Sorceress Sak turned her head and glared toward the herb hall where Mok Kyung-un was.
‘.......I retreat like this for now, but soon....’
-Like you’re vowing revenge, mortal.
-Shiver!
Startled, Sak whipped around at the voice from behind, trying to put distance between them.
But someone wrapped their arms around her head.
-Swish!
‘Oh no......’
She didn’t know what to do.
The chill from behind made her spine crawl.
Even the armadillo in her arms was trembling like an aspen leaf—not from weakness, but from genuine fear.
‘This..... this presence......’
She could never forget this sensation.
The being that had deflected her counter-kill and struck her white eyes.
Cold sweat beaded on Sak’s forehead.
It trickled down her cheek.
-Drip!
‘Impossible.’
Now in direct contact, she knew for sure.
This was absolutely not some green spirit.
‘How could this......’
She couldn’t believe it.
To control such an evil, spine-chilling existence?
-Zing!
“Hk!”
Her white eyes, reacting to the monstrosity, brought tearing pain as blood tears streamed down.
She could no longer see anything with her white eyes.
-Slither!
In her blackened pupils, she saw someone looking down at her upside down.
'!!!!!!!'
A beautiful face.
In stark contrast, bloodshot eyes filled with madness.
The moment their gazes met, she couldn’t breathe.
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────