Dosul in the Flames
Sa-bok, the leader of Nokrimchae, stared wide-eyed at the burning buildings. The bandits who made up Nokrim were gripped by terror within those flames.
“Water! Bring water!”
“Fuck, you think water’s gonna put that out?!”
“Shit, shit, shit!”
“Aaaaargh!”
Some tried desperately to douse the flaming wooden structures with water. Others shouted that escape was the only option. A few had already begun fleeing. And from afar came the sound of screams.
Sa-bok couldn’t fathom how the situation had spiraled like this. Until moments ago, this place had been peaceful.
“Hey!”
Sa-bok grabbed a man who was looking around helplessly and yanked him by the collar, glaring into his eyes.
“S-Sa-bok-nim.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“It’s… martial artists. They’ve invaded.”
Troublesome. He’d expected enemies to come eventually, but not like this. Who would have thought the orthodox faction would resort to arson? Did the Hwasan Sect Master learn the value of fire after getting beaten by one person?
“How many?”
The people of Nokrim had received the Blood Cult’s blessings, granting them strength enough to easily overpower most third- or second-class martial artists. Even if their martial skill was lacking, their internal energy and numbers more than compensated. If mediocre opponents had come to subjugate them, they would have been crushed long ago.
The fact that Nokrim’s people were paralyzed with fear meant their opponent was no ordinary martial artist. If they could cause this much chaos, their numbers must be considerable.
Still, it didn’t matter. No problem at all. No matter how skilled the martial artists were, they would be powerless before the Blood Cult’s jiangshi. In fact, this was perfect. The stronger the opponent, the more delicious the internal energy they carried. He wondered just how much stronger he would become this time.
“There are two of them.”
“…What?”
Two? Two people caused all this chaos? Nonsense. No matter how exceptional a martial artist might be, they were still human. One body. Two people couldn’t possibly throw Nokrim into such an uproar.
As Sa-bok reached that thought, he lifted his head at the sound of footsteps approaching from afar. A woman and a young girl were walking side by side through the heart of the chaos. They looked utterly out of place amid Nokrim’s scenery.
Agonized screams. Voices thick with terror. The crackle of burning buildings. In the midst of it all, the two chatted leisurely, as if separated from the surrounding scene.
“Look, Min-ga. Can you see the energy moving when that tree catches fire? If you use it properly, you can do this—ignite the tree itself.”
“Oh, like this?”
“Yes. Exactly right.”
Sa-bok, the leader of Nokrim, found himself momentarily speechless at the sight of the two giggling while setting buildings ablaze with Dosul. He didn’t know who the girl holding a staff as tall as herself was. But he recognized the woman.
The woman in black robes, her hair pulled back with a hairpin—she was unmistakably the current Hwasan Sect Master. The monster who had single-handedly forced the Murim Alliance to submit. The nightmarish existence who had thwarted the Blood Cult’s plans time and again. Even Hyeolgyoju had ordered retreat if the Hwasan Sect Master appeared. She was a walking disaster.
He’d heard she rarely concerned herself with matters outside her own sect. So why had she shown up here?
Sa-bok bit his lip hard as he watched the Hwasan Sect Master nod while conversing with the girl. What should he do? Defeating her was impossible. She was the one who had crushed the Murim Alliance alone. What difference would a handful of Nokrim bandits make against such a monster?
But would she let them go? Of course not. For someone who only cared about her own sect to venture outside, their existence must have been an eyesore. He didn’t know why they had offended her, but with such a colossal figure arriving, she wouldn’t simply watch them flee. Even if she ignored the small fry, she would definitely come for his head—the leader.
In this situation, Sa-bok had only one choice: struggle desperately to survive. He hadn’t even accomplished what he needed to do here yet, and now this.
Sa-bok threw the man whose collar he’d been gripping to the ground and fled in a panic. He needed to prepare his desperate struggle.
*
“You’re letting him go?”
Baru asked as the apparent leader fled. Of course not. He didn’t care what happened to the other small fry, but that man had been leading this place. If left to escape, he would only cause similar trouble elsewhere. At the very least, his dantian needed to be destroyed.
When I shook my head, Baru tilted hers.
“Then why leave him be?”
“He’ll bring back training dummies, won’t he?”
The opponents we’d faced on the way here had been far too weak to serve as practice for Dosul. In short, all Ara and Baru had done since arriving was set off fireworks. At this rate, it wasn’t training—it was a retreat. That was why I let him escape. Someone connected to the Blood Cult wouldn’t be leading just this ragtag band of Nokrim. When his life was threatened, he would surely bring jiangshi or something similar.
My guess proved correct. Not long after the Nokrim leader fled, jiangshi began emerging from between the flames.
“Decent opponents have appeared.”
The energy the jiangshi carried was truly repulsive. It felt similar to what I’d sensed when facing the dead with Enry before. I hadn’t liked the existence of jiangshi even then, but now I found them even more distasteful.
Grumbling inwardly, I unleashed blade winds. I wanted to test how effective the Dosul I’d learned would be, but the results weren’t impressive. They only managed to scratch the surface of their skin.
“The firepower is definitely lacking.”
Their tenacity was excessive. Unless I severed all their limbs, they wouldn’t fall. Since they were already dead, their blood points didn’t function, making it difficult to target them as I would with living opponents.
That didn’t mean there was no solution. If one blade wind could wound their skin, then overlapping enough winds to slice through them should work.
I projected energy outward and drew. Not one, but dozens, hundreds of winds. A single blade wind was little more than a flimsy breeze capable of cutting leaves, but when dozens merged and overlapped, the story changed.
The winds I unleashed flew forward, severing a jiangshi’s arm and even slicing through a burning building behind it. Watching the collapsing structure lose its balance and crumble, I nodded.
“This much isn’t necessary.”
“Min-ga?! What did you just do?! Don’t tell me—”
“I merely overlapped multiple winds.”
It was simple arithmetic. Even the largest tree couldn’t withstand dozens of axe strikes. I had simply unleashed numerous winds to cut what lay before me. The only difference was whether they were fired sequentially or overlapped at once.
“Huh?”
“How could I possibly be the same as ordinary people?”
Otherwise, all the years I’d lived would feel meaningless. I’d survived desperately enough to hold my own anywhere. I couldn’t possibly resemble someone who dabbled in this as a hobby.
“Does wrapping magic power around your fist and punching count as magic?”
Regardless, if I created phenomena using magic power, it should count as magic, shouldn’t it? I offered that opinion, but my viewers only protested, asking where I’d sold my conscience. What fussy fellows.
While chatting like that, I dealt with the foremost jiangshi.
“Since this is my first time, it’s difficult to use efficiently.”
Because I wasn’t yet accustomed to handling Dosul, it was hard to bring out only efficient power. Sometimes the force was excessive, other times slightly insufficient. If this were my real body in reality, I wouldn’t need to worry about efficiency, but the body in Hwaryong Muin didn’t have infinite internal energy. It would take some time to get used to it.
“…I have nothing proper to teach.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Simply informing you of the various types of Dosul will suffice. I shouldn’t have suggested real combat practice.”
Had she wanted to see my skill at drawing with energy? Haha. Then it must have felt meaningless. Drawing with internal energy was far too familiar to me. She probably didn’t know because she lacked knowledge of martial arts.
“By the way, Min-ga. I sense Blood Cult energy gathering in the distance. It seems they’re preparing something.”
“I know.”
Hadn’t I said it? I needed opponents for Dosul practice. These jiangshi were fine training dummies, but they lacked a sense of urgency. If I faced whatever that fellow prepared after desperately struggling with all his might, it would be satisfying. That was why I left him be.
“Haa. Fine. Do as you please.”
Baru stared at me for a moment before sighing and transforming into a fox to perch on my neck. She must have thought of several things, only for them to twist into meaninglessness. I’d have to buy her something delicious on the way back to lift her spirits.
“Then let’s go wrap this up.”