Open State

Seeing it, Aera cried out.

"Grandpa Lu?!"

"Th-that's... Master's..."

With Grandpa Lu's whisper, the single rose in his hand billowed thick smoke as its form gradually transformed. Vines erupted across his entire body in an instant, and the rose he had been holding was gone without a trace.

Within the smoke, Grandpa Lu's hand held only a sword.

A thin, elongated blade of deep gray. The hilt was painted black, and vine-like tendrils wound around both the sword and his grip.

"It's been truly a long time since I last held this sword...."

Grandpa Lu flexed his hand on the hilt, opening and closing his grip. Blue veins stood out starkly across it.

Seeing this, Giseok charged straight at him and threw a punch — the same fist that had punched clean through soldiers' armor with ease.

But Grandpa Lu blocked it with the edge of his blade. Giseok's skin had shattered iron and turned aside spears — yet Grandpa Lu's sword was different. The blade bit into that hardened flesh and sank deep.

Startled, Giseok yanked his fist free, planted his right foot for balance, and drove a vicious kick into Grandpa Lu with his left.

The heavy blow hurtled toward the old man's ribs. Seeing it coming, Grandpa Lu turned his sword sideways and caught the kick on the flat of the blade.

"Ugh..."

But Giseok's kick was heavier than expected. Grandpa Lu was driven sideways in a spray of sand and dust.

"Heavy as expected... but..."

He drew his sword arm back and charged forward.

"We're far from finished!"

A flurry of thrusts followed. Giseok fell back, dodging what he could, but his shoulder, side, cheek, and thigh were grazed and pierced, wounds opening across his body. At the end of the barrage, Grandpa Lu spun and swept his blade in a wide arc.

With his cry, Giseok's chest was carved open in a great slash, blood spraying skyward.

"Guh..."

Giseok dropped to both knees and collapsed forward onto the ground.

"Finally quieted down."

As Grandpa Lu approached and looked down at him, a dark aura suddenly began gathering around Giseok's body.

"Th-this is?!"

Giseok rose to one knee. The dark energy filled the wounds across his chest and body, then healed them in an instant.

"Not as easy as I thought...."

Grandpa Lu stepped back at the sight. But veins stood out at Giseok's temples, his face twisted with pure rage.

"Grr..."

A low growl rumbled from him as his body gradually darkened to a deep gray.

"This... is going to be a problem..."

Grandpa Lu swallowed hard and settled into his stance. Giseok closed the distance step by step, then broke into a run. The moment he was close enough, a torrent of attacks poured down.

Grandpa Lu hastily blocked with the edge of his blade — but this time it couldn't pierce the skin. Only dull, ringing impacts answered each blow.

Right fist, left fist, kicks, elbows — the assault kept coming, and Grandpa Lu barely managed to fend it off. But Giseok's movements only grew faster, until at last he landed a decisive strike.

It was a reverse kick — a spinning back kick driven with full force. Grandpa Lu desperately caught the blow with both hands on the hilt and the broad of the blade, but the sheer power of the kick, amplified by its acceleration, sent him flying with a resounding bang.

He sailed a long way before slamming into a massive boulder.

"Gah!"

His back struck the rock, shattering the point of impact, and a short groan escaped with a spray of red blood from his mouth.

Giseok advanced steadily toward the boulder. Grandpa Lu pushed himself up against the crumbling rock, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his mouth, and said,

"I'll have to do this properly.... Otherwise, I might be the one who dies."

Seeing him rise, Giseok lengthened his stride, lifted his knees, and charged. Watching him come, Grandpa Lu drove his sword into the ground.

Ting—

A resonant vibration rang from the blade, followed by Grandpa Lu's voice.

With the cry, Grandpa Lu's eyes deepened in color, and the ground began to tremble.

Rumble.

Moments later, the earth split open and something erupted all around him — an enormous mass of vines. Each vine bore buds, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and those buds burst open into brilliant red roses.

Climbing roses that adorned the surroundings in beauty — yet these roses bore thorns larger and sharper than any ordinary bloom.

Then Grandpa Lu gave the planted sword a slight twist, and the vines suddenly shot toward the charging Giseok.

Giseok flinched at the sight, then abruptly spun and ran the other way. If they catch me, I'm done. That thought must have crossed whatever remained of his mind.

But the vines kept blooming and pursuing him at tremendous speed. When they had nearly caught up, Giseok gave up running, bent his knees, and launched himself high into the air.

That was no human jump. Ten meters — that was how high Giseok soared. At the apex, he thrust out his left arm.

Seeing this, Grandpa Lu smiled faintly.

"I won't give you the time to use that."

He gripped the hilt with both hands, twisted them inward, and cried out.

The vines shot skyward in an instant, filling the space around Giseok. Panicking, he lashed out with fists and kicks at blistering speed midair, but the vines regenerated endlessly, encircling him in a sphere and sealing him in.

"Got him."

Grandpa Lu released the hilt, clenched his fist, and said,

At that same moment, dozens of thorns from the vines pierced straight through Giseok's body.

Shaaah.

Dust and pollen from the earth the climbing roses had torn open drifted through the air. Aera and Aiham fell silent at the sight.

"...."

A trickle of blood seeped from between the vines. Then the cocoon-like mass slowly descended and began vanishing back into the earth.

"Giseok!!"

Aera and Aiham came running. Aera gathered the fallen Giseok in her arms and began to sob. His body was riddled with small holes.

"Hic... Giseok..."

Grandpa Lu walked over to them. Aera, still crying, said,

"Grandpa Lu, even so — if you kill Giseok like this.... What are we supposed to do?! Sob..."

Her tears fell drop by drop onto Giseok's face in her arms.

Grandpa Lu spoke.

"My lady, take a closer look at Giseok."

"Sob... Huh?"

Aera looked at him again. Where her gaze settled, she found a chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, and the soft snore of someone lightly asleep.

"Giseok?! Giseok is alive?!"

"Master, how is this possible? His ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole body was full of holes... and the holes are still there."

Grandpa Lu replied,

"Why would I kill Giseok...? Thorn Prison is a skill for restraining an opponent, nothing more."

He transformed the sword back into a rose, tucked it into his breast pocket, and continued,

"I didn't kill him with the thorns. I simply struck his pressure points to calm him down."

"Pressure points?"

"Yes. The human body is full of pressure points. Strike them precisely, and you can produce a calming effect like this."

Hearing this, Aera hugged Giseok tight again with relief, then turned back to Grandpa Lu.

"Then what about these holes?"

"No need to worry. They aren't large wounds — a few drops of fairy elixir will close the flesh cleanly."

"Thank goodness..."

Grandpa Lu walked to the carriage, climbed into the driver's seat, and said,

"Still, we need to treat him quickly. Otherwise the wounds may not close. Get on, hurry."

At his words, the two hurriedly carried Giseok aboard. Plenty of carriages remained, but they had no choice but to leave them behind. And so we set off down the road once more.

Clunk—

At the sound, I gently opened my eyes. I was inside the carriage. Outside was pitch dark, and Aera was dozing off in the corner, her head bobbing.

"Ugh..."

I tried to sit up, but pain forced me back down. What the hell happened? The last thing I remembered was a red system warning window flashing that I was about to go berserk. After that — nothing. I'd opened my eyes to find myself lying here.

Aera stirred at my groan, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seeing her, I raised one hand in greeting.

"Yo. Looks like everyone's okay?"

"Huh? Gi... Giseok!!"

"What? Giseok's awake?"

Aiham, up in the driver's seat, peered through the window in surprise.

"Giseok, are you all right?"

"My whole body's aching, but I'm fine. What happened, though? I don't remember anything."

"Well..."

Aera began carefully explaining everything from the point my memory cut off.

"I... I transformed into something weird and attacked Butler Lu... so he had to...?"

I looked down at myself. My entire body was wrapped in bandages. I'm... okay? Charging at Grandpa Lu was something no sane person would do.

Seeing my expression, Aera said,

"We bought elixir from a major trading house I know near the border and treated you as best we could. But you'll need a few more days of rest."

"I see... Thank you. Spending that much money because of me...."

"We're the ones who should be thanking you. Without you, we wouldn't even be here."

Then Grandpa Lu's voice came from the driver's seat.

"Giseok, when did you get that mark on the back of your shoulder? I noticed it while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠treating you — a rather peculiar mark."

"The back of my shoulder? Ah... the spider-shaped mark with a crown? It appeared after I fell into an underground area while hunting on the first floor of the Tower."

Aiham cut in.

"There he goes lying again. There's no underground in the Tower."

"I'm telling the truth!!"

Grandpa Lu chuckled.

"Heh heh. The inside of the Tower is practically a new world. There must be plenty of places yet undiscovered. Giseok may well have found one of them."

"See? Look at that, Aiham. Even Butler Lu believes me."

"Master..."

Grandpa Lu turned his gaze forward again.

"I see... The underground of the Tower... so that's where He..."

And so we raced on toward Tebe, the capital of the kingdom.