Chapter 281: Yaksha (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 281: Yaksha (1)
The underground dungeon of the Heavenly Demon Cult did not only hold prisoners who had committed grave sins.
Various troublesome demonic beasts of the Murim were also locked inside, waiting for the day they would see the light of day once more.
Inside the iron cage, a pair of yellow pupils flashed.
"Grrr..."
It was a medium-sized demonic beast, at least five meters tall.
Since this is the Murim, maybe it's better to call it a 'yokai'?
Not only its size, but the mana it possessed also seemed extraordinary.
"Hold on."
Jinhyuk stretched out his hand toward Chae Hong-ah and the prisoners approaching from the front.
"If you come any closer, I might accidentally open this door. What do you think? Wouldn't things get pretty interesting if I opened this?"
It was clearly an extraordinary demonic beast, which was undoubtedly why it had been kept locked up for so long.
Naturally, if a beast like this broke loose, they would be in deep trouble too.
However...
"Fufu. Go ahead, give it a try."
Chae Hong-ah even lowered the spear she was aiming, as if telling him to do whatever he pleased.
She looked incredibly confident.
As if to say they were fully prepared for such an eventuality.
And sure enough...
Unlike the prisoners' cages, a green talisman drawn with complex patterns was affixed to the front of the demonic beast's cage.
"...You've placed a spell on it."
And a highly advanced one at that.
"It's a type that cannot be cut even with sword gang. Did you really think we would just leave such a dangerous element completely exposed?"
Usually, spells consisting of a single attribute were commonly used in the Murim.
Spells combining two attributes were a domain only accessible to those at the elder level of each sect.
However, the spell used here was...
Wood, Water, and Earth.
It was a grand spell composed of three attributes.
It must be a spell sealed personally by Shimmasaryong, the fourth-ranking member of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
"Three attributes... It certainly is a sturdy one."
Jinhyuk placed his finger on the talisman.
In the Heavenly Demon Cult—no, in the entire Murim—there was likely no one who could surpass Shimmasaryong when it came to jiangshi and sorcery.
Yes, that was true, but...
The problem was that no spell was perfect.
[1-Star Barrier 'Ring of Attributes' has been activated!]
[Lv15 'Primordial Flame' has been activated!]
The Fire attribute intruded into the mana circuit connecting the three existing attributes.
It had to settle precisely between them, eating away exactly 3.3% of the energy possessed by each attribute.
Then...
[The sealing power of the spell is weakening!]
Rumble!
Small cracks began to appear on the iron bars.
"H-how did you break Shimmasaryong's spell...?"
Chae Hong-ah's expression flipped 180 degrees.
She had no choice but to react that way.
An outsider who had just entered the Heavenly Demon Cult had dismantled a spell that the cult's foremost expert had spent over a decade perfecting.
Even if the Heavenly Demon himself came, it should have been impossible.
"This spell is highly effective at keeping things from getting out, but breaking it from the outside is surprisingly simple. It was already precarious trying to balance three different attributes, so inserting the Fire attribute made it impossible to withstand."
Jinhyuk poked the iron bars with his finger.
Crack!
Snap!
The iron bars crumbled with a loud, grating noise.
"Grrr!"
The demonic beast inside thrust its head close to the bars.
It had instinctively sensed that the cage's lifespan was coming to an end.
"N-no! If you open that..."
Chae Hong-ah's voice grew frantic.
"If I open it, what? Things will get troublesome? Or will everyone here die?"
"Save those kinds of threats for a situation where they actually work."
"I'm already in deep trouble anyway. With so many bastards openly trying to kill me, what difference does it make if I throw a little wrench into their plans?"
Adding a bit of capsaicin to Buldak Bokkeum Myeon with ten packets of sauce already mixed in doesn't change the fact that it's going to kill you.
"If we're going down, we might as well all go down together."
First, turn the whole world into hell.
And the one who survives there becomes the true winner...
That was the new rule of this game.
Clank!
The door sealing the demonic beast swung open.
"Roar!"
A black shadow lunged out from inside the cage.
Boom! Crash!
"Aaargh!"
"Kyaaa!"
A massive demonic beast in the shape of a fox swept through the prisoners.
In contrast to its massive size, its speed was beyond imagination.
The prisoners were all highly skilled martial artists in their own right, but the fox calculatedly targeted only those who were already injured.
Right then.
Whoosh!
A red spear aimed for the fox's head.
"Grrr..."
Sensing danger, the fox took a defensive stance for the first time.
"We just need to draw its attention from the front. I'll take that role, so the rest of you attack from the flanks!"
Chae Hong-ah grit her teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
Still, it was manageable for now.
Dokgoryong was also watching this situation, so he would surely send the Lightning Spirit Unit and other experts through the secret passage.
If they could just hold out a little longer, they would easily be able to subdue this fox yokai.
It's unavoidable that the Dark Emperor will find out about this now, but it doesn't matter. There isn't much time left before our grand undertaking begins anyway.
But right at that moment...
Clank!
"Wow. This zoo is really well-stocked. There isn't a single demonic beast missing. Is this some kind of turtle?"
Another door opened.
"You crazy bastard! Why are you opening that one too?!"
Chae Hong-ah, who rarely lost her composure under any circumstances, couldn't help but swear this time.
They were barely maintaining a balance as it was, so of course she was furious when he was making an even bigger mess instead of helping.
"Ah. Was I not supposed to open this one? My bad, my bad. Then... I'll just let a different one out. That guy over there looks like he really wants to leave..."
Jinhyuk approached yet another iron cage.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
A two-headed dog bared its sharp fangs, drooling heavily.
It was a creature similar to Cerberus, the watchdog of hell.
"Not that dog! Stop!"
"There are no bad dogs in the world."
"What kind of bullshit is that?!"
Along with Chae Hong-ah's desperate scream, another door was opened.
* * *
"My goodness..."
"W-what on earth is this..."
By the time Dokgoryong, the Leader of the Lightning Spirit Unit, and the peak-level experts arrived at the Avici Hell...
The situation had already spiraled into the absolute worst-case scenario.
Many of the prisoners were either dead or had escaped, and Chae Hong-ah, left all alone, was desperately fighting off three demonic beasts with all her might.
Urgent reports poured in from those scouting the interior.
"I-it seems three demonic beasts have escaped through the second passage!"
"The third passage is the same! We are doing our best to block them from getting outside, but at this rate, the entire main cult will find out about this!"
The secret passages, originally constructed to easily cultivate the dokkaebi fire, had instead turned into escape routes for the demonic beasts to surge up to the surface.
In the end...
Their plan to handle this as quietly as possible had completely gone up in smoke.
"We must deal with the demonic beasts first. Lightning Spirit Unit, follow me!"
"Yes, Leader!"
The Murim warriors of the Lightning Spirit Unit immediately moved to assist Chae Hong-ah.
Only then was there a brief moment to catch one's breath.
"Chae Hong-ah! Where is he? Where is that goddamn bastard?!"
The veins in Dokgoryong's neck bulged.
He wanted nothing more than to run over right now and melt that greenhorn alive.
"Inside... He went deeper into the dungeon."
"Inside? You mean he went toward the High-Grade Dokkaebi?"
"The High-Grade Dokkaebi is already dead. Further in... He went even further inside!"
The deepest chamber.
At those words, Dokgoryong's heart sank.
In the deepest chamber of the dungeon, the most important entity among all the demonic beasts was sealed.
The reason they gathered the dokkaebi fire...
And the reason they sealed the demonic beasts here...
Was all to use that single entity to achieve their grand undertaking.
We must... stop him.
If he possessed the skill to break Shimmasaryong's spell...
Then even the final seal was not safe.
Not that. Anything but that.
If that entity were to be released before they had even obtained the fully refined dokkaebi fire, they might face the absolute worst-case scenario—one that would be entirely irreversible.
* * *
While the demonic beasts ran rampant, Jinhyuk finished off the High-Grade Dokkaebi and managed to enter the deepest chamber of the dungeon.
And the moment he stepped inside...
All the clues clicked together like interlocking gears.
One of the greatest incidents the Heavenly Demon Cult experienced during its ten-year seclusion: 'The Night of the Wild Flower'.
And the named monster at the center of that incident, Yacha.
The entity right before his eyes was the very culprit.
So they planned to use the dokkaebi fire to brainwash Yacha and use him as a trump card against the Heavenly Demon and Master.
A chill ran down his spine.
Goosebumps broke out all over his body.
With a monster like this, it might actually be possible.
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
Indeed, this was why the system had called it a linked quest.
He had experienced various types of linked quests in the past, but this was his first time receiving one in the Murim.
Back then, the variable of 'dokkaebi fire' hadn't existed.
If there was one major change...
Is it Alice?
By extracting Alice from the Corridor, he had established an early connection with the vampire families.
They were probably the ones who handed over the dokkaebi fire from the upper floors to the Left Dharma Protector.
As the clues gathered, a massive picture began to form.
Whether he could utilize this well or not would completely alter the outcome of this affair.
Alright.
Calming his breathing, Jinhyuk walked into the darkness.
Whoosh!
[Lv15 'Primordial Flame' has been activated!]
As flames the size of human heads materialized in the air, his vision finally brightened enough to see clearly.
A massive pillar stretched from the floor to the ceiling.
And bound to the pillar was a humanoid demonic beast.
Its spiky red hair, reminiscent of a dokkaebi, caught his eye.
Jinhyuk used 'Gluttony's Eye'.
——————————————————
Name: Yacha
Gender: Male
Age: ??
Level: ???
Strength: ??? Agility: ??? Stamina: ??? Mana: 0 Inner Qi: ???
Unique Ability: Supernatural Strength and Chaotic Spirits
Skills: Lv?? 'Evil Spirits and Demons', Lv?? 'Indomitable Soul', Lv?? 'Taesan Sword'
The level of 'Gluttony's Eye' is too low to view all of the target's skills.
——————————————————
[Detailed Description: A demonic beast steeped in madness that compromises with no one and allies with no one. One who despises and seeks to kill everything solely according to its instincts. That is 'Yacha', one of the most powerful named bosses in the middle floors.]
[Copy Conditions: The survival of the Heavenly Demon is an essential prerequisite to suppress the entities of the 50th Floor. However, Yacha is one of the few weapons capable of killing the Heavenly Demon. If you can kill Yacha before he harms the Heavenly Demon, you will be able to copy one of his unique abilities or skills.]
The copy conditions had appeared.
And following that...
Tring!
[Due to the influence of the Hidden Quest, the failure penalty has been activated.]
[If the Heavenly Demon dies for any reason, one of 'them' will be able to manifest on the lower floors of the Tower. (Manifestation Time Limit: 30 minutes)]
As expected...
The Hidden Quest was indeed related to those bastards on the 50th Floor.
This meant that Yacha's very existence was the first quest itself.
The quest rewards are one thing, but I must obtain his ability as well.
Supernatural Strength and Chaotic Spirits.
A melee-type unique ability that perfectly suited the name 'Yacha'.
Just imagining the powerful synergy it would create when combined with the Black Heaven Demonic Emperor Art made his heart beat rapidly.
To obtain that...
Even if I have to pluck the moon from the sky, I must succeed.
These were tasks where failure was not an option.
And the first step...
[Yacha's seal has been released.]
...had finally begun.