Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: Monsters of the Demonic Realm
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Deep within Mount Wudang.
More precisely, at the source of the blood-red energy shooting up toward the heavens.
The roars of the "holy beasts" echoed in the ears of Yuk-gan, one of the Bloodwood Cult's stems known as So-so.
"…Hm?"
Yuk-gan tilted her head at the eerie sound reverberating throughout the entire mountain.
Then, Il-gan's voice reached her ear.
[Is something wrong?]
"No, nothing at all. The holy beasts are just reacting strangely... It seems like some clueless herbalists have wandered in again."
[Understood. Stay vigilant, just in case.]
"Yes, I will."
Yuk-gan replied with a stern face to Il-gan's warning in the mirror.
But inwardly, she was quite relaxed.
'With this much overwhelming force gathered here, who would dare target this place?'
She alone, as an apostle of the Bloodwood, along with the sacred beasts blessed by the Wondrous Tree's power, could easily wipe out one or two sects.
'And then there are those as well.'
Yuk-gan's gaze turned beyond the mirror.
At the end of her line of sight were three humanoid figures, but a closer look revealed they weren't human.
That was only natural—ordinary humans didn't have their entire skin covered in bark without any facial features.
It was as if someone had carved a large tree into human-sized dolls and plastered them with bark.
Their appearance wasn't much to look at, but Yuk-gan knew their true power well.
Wood Spirits.
Secret weapons created through the cult's forbidden arts specifically to counter special forces like the Ten Lords.
The sorcerers who made the Wood Spirits were confident that three of them could kill one of the Ten Lords.
And now, three such Wood Spirits were by her side.
This meant she could wield the power of a Ten Lord herself.
'No one who comes will reach this spot.'
As Yuk-gan grew confident, a horrific failure from not long ago suddenly flashed in her mind.
A groan escaped her lips involuntarily.
"...Ugh."
Why was that damned bastard popping into her head right now?
Yuk-gan thought of Ja-seong, the owner of the faint blue light that had destroyed the blood citadel, then shook her head.
'There's no way he'd come here.'
She had erased her tracks far more thoroughly than necessary while fleeing from the Zhuge family.
Unless he had some divine tracking ability, there was no way he could follow her.
'Right, no chance of that.'
As Yuk-gan tried to shake off her anxiety, Il-gan in the mirror examined the massive tree visible beyond her.
[Fortunately, the avatar seems to be growing without issues.]
Hearing that, Yuk-gan nodded vigorously.
"Yes. It's absorbing the mountain's spiritual energy and growing rapidly."
Ecstasy filled the space where her anxiety had vanished.
She gazed at the towering blood-red tree behind her with dreamy eyes.
The great divine tree that had responded to their sorrow and rage.
Contributing to its avatar's growth was an immense honor for her.
[Now that the avatar has begun emitting divine energy in earnest, its growth should finish soon.]
Once growth was complete, it would scatter divine energy beyond Mount Wudang to the entire world.
The Wondrous Trees planted in other regions would follow, dyeing the whole world in beautiful crimson.
[It will be a great step toward the beautiful, red world we dream of.]
Yuk-gan clenched her fist at Il-gan's words.
"I will definitely fulfill my mission."
[I believe you.]
With those words, Il-gan's image faded from the mirror.
Yuk-gan tucked the now-dim mirror into her bosom and looked up at the avatar with a face full of sense of purpose.
"...I will protect it, no matter what."
As if responding to her murmured vow, a portion of the energy pouring from the avatar flowed toward her.
"Ahh...!"
Yuk-gan, suddenly enveloped in blood-red energy, shuddered as it burrowed into her core.
-Kududuk! Kuduk!
Her shadow writhed, twisted, and swelled repeatedly, then returned to human form over and over.
*
- Kieeeek-!
"Persistent bastards, really...!"
I clicked my tongue at the monster's screech from behind and turned around.
A monster with twisted legs was somehow bounding after me, leaping nimbly—I'd given balance to the dogs.
It dragged its enormous ears along the ground.
Judging by its shape, that was a rabbit.
"A giant rabbit with shark teeth? What kind of horrific hybrid is this?!"
- Kieee-!
I slashed down with my sword in irritation at the jagged teeth protruding from its gaping maw.
- Chaak!
The sword wrapped in sword energy cleaved the rabbit monster in two with one strike.
The corpse split apart and tumbled to either side.
I'd cut down the monster that had chased me right to my heels, but my expression soured further.
Beyond the rolling rabbit corpse, dozens more monsters were still charging en masse.
"Eugh...!"
A helpless sigh burst out involuntarily.
I'd been slicing them one by one while fleeing, and it had been ages since the count passed ten—yet there were still that many left.
"Don't just stand there—hurry up!"
"...Yes, coming."
I answered the voice calling from ahead and chased after the group again.
Our party had left the stairs leading to the Wudang Sect and was now cutting through the mountain forest.
We'd tried to hide before other monsters reacted to the deer monster's cries, but in the end, we became the ones chased by monsters swarming from all directions.
The pursuit had continued nonstop since then.
I'd kept fleeing while dealing with the ones closing in, but the relentless monster horde showed no sign of giving up.
"Huff...! Huff...!"
On top of that, Daoist Hyunjin on our side was reaching his limit.
Seeing him panting as if he might collapse any moment, I shouted to Ye So-ha ahead.
"We can't keep running like this! How about we back against a sheer cliff and fight with the wall at our rear?"
It wasn't that I couldn't wipe them all out alone—that's why we were running.
I just didn't want to get caught in the tightening encirclement from all sides.
Once the rear was secure, I was confident I could handle them all by myself without anyone else's help.
"...Let's find a good spot! Wait just a moment!"
As if reading my intent, the group immediately scanned the terrain.
Soon, Seol-i, piggybacked on Master's shoulder, pointed somewhere.
"Th-there! Over there!"
Turning my head in the direction of her small, slender finger, I spotted the perfect terrain.
A massive pit, too big to call a cave, lay at the base of a fairly high cliff.
I'd herd the rest of the group inside and become the unbreakable shield.
Of course, the weapon in my hand was Hwa-ryeon's spare sword, not the eight-foot spear.
"Good job, kiddo!"
"Who're you calling kid...!"
Ignoring Seol-i's reflexive outburst, I led the group toward the cliff base.
But then, an unexpected crisis struck.
"Krack-!"
"Master Hyunjin!"
While I was tied up with two monsters ahead, a small shadow darted past me and bit into Daoist Hyunjin's right arm.
"Hah!"
Using Hyuncheon Gale, I shredded the two into dozens of pieces and rushed to Hyunjin, slashing the small monster gnawing his forearm.
- Puhak!
Thanks to that, Daoist Hyunjin was drenched in the monster's blood, covered head to toe.
"Are you okay?"
"F-Fine... Ack!"
Even after being severed, the monster wouldn't let go of Hyunjin's forearm. I pried off its head, then hoisted him over my shoulder.
"Sorry... ."
"I'm gonna run fast, so shut your mouth to avoid biting your tongue."
- Boom!
I erupted true energy from Dragon Fountain Point and kicked off the ground.
I closed the gap with the others in an instant, reaching the pit and handing Hyunjin to Ye So-ha.
"It got its arm bit by a small one—take a look."
"You're always making me do the clumsy work...!"
Confirming Ye So-ha carefully receiving Hyunjin and checking the wound, I turned and stood with my back to the pit.
Now to properly imitate a shield wall, but Master and Hwa-ryeon positioned themselves to my left and right.
"...I can handle it alone, you know?"
"Quit talking nonsense and focus on the enemies."
"We can't leave it all to Ja-seong."
Pushing them away by force would be pointless—they wouldn't listen.
I shrugged and pointed my sword forward.
- Kyaek!
- Kiii-!
The monster horde approached with chilling screeches.
*
"Ugh...!"
"Just bear with it a little longer."
Hyunjin let out a pained groan.
Ye So-ha pulled a clean cloth from her bosom and staunched the bleeding from his deeply gashed wound, where bone was visible.
If asked why she bothered staunching when her touch alone could heal wounds instantly, it was because her healing arts were disappointingly basic.
They were only foundational, so without staunching, their effect dropped sharply.
'I should've learned some healing arts from Hwang if I knew it'd come to this.'
Ye So-ha inwardly clicked her tongue thinking of the absent subordinate, then carefully treated the wound once the blood stopped.
As the green light at her fingertips touched the injury, the wound closed as if time rewound, new flesh sprouting.
It was an astonishing sight Daoist Hyunjin, unconscious during his treatment at the brothel, had never seen.
But he had no leisure to marvel at it.
'...Pathetic.'
He'd stubbornly insisted on coming to save his senior brothers, only to drag everyone down like this.
Hyunjin bit his lip, watching the backs of the three who had stepped forward to protect them. Their proud stance against the loathsome horde of malice-filled monsters only deepened his shame.
- Kieeek!
The monsters didn't charge straight at the three backed against the pit; instead, they circled and encircled them.
Having lost many kin(?) during the chase, they were wary.
- Grrr...!
- Kyaaak!
Unable to approach rashly, the monsters bellowed noisily.
Seeing this, Ja-seong smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth to mock them.
"Heh, charging like rabid dogs earlier, and now this? Standing still like that'll save you?"
- Kyaek!
The monsters' ferocity spiked as if understanding the taunt.
Ja-seong swung his sword wide, unperturbed.
A crescent-shaped sword energy followed its arc, surging into the horde.
- Chaak!
In an instant, four monsters were bisected, blood spurting.
The horde flinched sharply at their sudden deaths.
Some began backing away hesitantly.
'Looks like I could just drive them off like this?'
As Ja-seong chuckled inwardly at the sight,
- Thud!
A heavy footfall echoed through the mountains.
And from behind the horde, a massive shadow approached.
"...!"
Ja-seong, gauging its form with his energy sense, hardened his face.
Seeing his unusual reaction, Hwa-ryeon and Dae-un's expressions stiffened too, their eyes widening at the revealed massive shadow.
- Grr...
A tiger.
The massive shadow was none other than a tiger.
Of course, it wasn't a normal tiger—the monstrous horde was parting to make way for it.
Its shoulder height matched a large boulder.
A hulking frame to match.
Fur dyed blood-red as if soaked in gore.
That alone was intimidating enough, but it didn't end there.
Its particularly sharp, enormous claws seemed ready to shred a human in one swipe, and where whiskers should be, razor blades protruded.
Finally, a horn rising from its forehead, with a human head impaled on its tip.
As the three grimaced at the head dangling like some ornament, a loud cry erupted from behind.
"Ah, aaah-!"
"...Daoist Hyunjin?"
Turning, they saw Hyunjin—who'd been under treatment—staring at the impaled head with a face mixed with despair.
"No way...?"
Ja-seong muttered unwittingly, struck by a bad premonition.
Then Hyunjin's bloodcurdling shout confirmed it wasn't wrong.
"Senior Brother Hyun-un-!"
The head on the tiger monster's horn belonged to Hyunjin's senior brother, Hyun-un.