The Incompetent Hero and Yeomhyeongok (3)
Yeomhyeongok (Yanjiong Prison).
True to its name—a prison that confines brilliant flames—Yeomhyeongok's fundamental concept was that of a jail.
Whether designed to keep something inside from ever escaping, the place was packed with countless traps and the soldier dolls that stood guard over them.
Above all, the soldier-doll monsters roaming these halls were of a rather high level. Try to enter at the bare minimum entry level and you would feel the wall of monsters pressing down on you—overwhelming raw levels and absurd physical resistance.
Especially the physical resistance. That part is the most annoying....
Ordinarily, the units you were forced to rely on were the protagonist Hero Leon—whom you had no choice but to use—and Baekryeon, who offered solid performance. But both Leon and Baekryeon were physical-focused dealers or pure physical dealers, so in the success story of the Incompetent Hero, which assumed a five-person party, you suddenly had to play with two members effectively sealed.
On top of that, the remaining three were a sub magic dealer, a flawed extreme magic dealer, and a supporter. Trying to clear the place with just those three would make your head explode.
So the standard strategy for Yeomhyeongok was to obtain the Brush Sword that converted physical damage into magic damage and hand it to Baekryeon. Honestly, there wasn't really any other method.
Of course, weapons alone weren't enough.
Yeomhyeongok consisted of thirteen floors in total, and the first was called the Floor of Snakes and Poison—where every kind of poison trap sprang out at you.
Unless you planned to dodge every single one by hand, high-grade antidotes were essential.
As for the other floors... well, that would be spoilers, so no comment.
"Are the preparations complete?"
"They've been ready for quite some time."
"Is that so? Haha—as reliable as ever."
Standing before Yeomhyeongok, the old days when I had gone through absolute hell trying to clear this place came flooding back, and I must have zoned out without realizing it.
Heh. Nostalgic memories.
"But you're going alone? I was certain those two bodyguards would be coming along."
"Ah, well—it turned out this way."
"Those two actually let the Emperor of Yeom go alone."
"Hahaha. Persuading them was rather difficult."
Smiling cheerfully and speaking with feigned nonchalance, the Emperor of Yeom drew from his robes a bright red key that looked as if it had been forged from gathered flames.
The key to open Yeomhyeongok's entrance. The Key of Flames.
So the Emperor of Yeom had it after all.
Well, looking at the current flow of events, it was only natural that he would.
Creeeeak!
Yeomhyeongok's heavy door opened, revealing the dark interior.
Like the mouth of a prison, the space beyond the door was extremely dark and formed a single narrow path.
After gazing at that space for a moment, the Emperor of Yeom briefly turned his eyes to me and spoke.
"In truth, this is not the first time I have come to Yeomhyeongok. In the past, I once came here leading soldiers, accompanied by the warriors who protected me."
Actually, this isn't my first time here either. I've been here quite a lot.
I've even memorized the patterns, you know?
"The first floor is called the Floor of Snakes and Poison. Dangerous traps—particularly poison mist—are scattered throughout."
"I see. I'll be careful of the poison."
I already knew all of this, but I acted surprised, as if hearing it for the first time.
Besides, it would have been strange for me to start spouting information about this place first.
"Then there's something I should tell you as well."
"You have something to tell me?"
"Yes. I said I would help you break through this place—but I won't actually provide much help in clearing Yeomhyeongok."
"Is that so? Very well."
The Emperor of Yeom simply nodded without further comment and stepped into the dark interior.
....Huh? Wait a second?
This wasn't the flow of conversation I'd expected. Why isn't he asking why?
"This place is a secret palace left by the first Emperor of Yeom for his successors. Therefore, completely conquering it is something that must be done by one's own power alone. So what you mean is that you will only help enough to keep me from dying—is that not so?"
"Uh...."
What? I was going for that concept, but how did he figure it out?
Does he use mind-reading or something?
As I looked at him thinking that, the Emperor of Yeom wore a faint smile and drew from his robes a lantern containing glowing stone fragments, illuminating the dark passageway.
"You look as though you're wondering how I knew."
"That's exactly right."
"It's nothing special. I simply deduced it from the fact that you didn't bring anyone else along."
"Just from that?"
At my question, he stopped walking for a moment and looked back at me.
His crimson eyes, reminiscent of red flames, seemed somehow to pierce right through me.
"A person's actions and words contain far more information than one might think. Whether one can discern and utilize that is a separate matter, of course."
The Emperor of Yeom spoke as if it were nothing and averted his gaze.
He strode forward.
Feeling a strange sensation from the Emperor of Yeom's gaze, I ran down the corridor after him.
We had passed through Yeomhyeongok's entrance, but the true entrance to Yeomhyeongok still hadn't been reached.
We hadn't even properly arrived at the first floor yet.
Because of that, there weren't any particularly notable traps here—but that didn't mean it was safe. The moment you lit a flame to illuminate the darkness in this place, the colorless, odorless gas filling the area would cause an explosion and instant death.
Judging by how he had brought a lantern using night-luminous pearls as if he already knew that, his preparations were quite thorough.
He really has been here before.
"I should have asked earlier, but if you've been here before—how far did you go? From what you said about the first floor, it seems there are second and third floors as well."
"Indeed. We have not explored everything yet, but according to the stories passed down, there appear to be thirteen floors. And we made it as far as the third floor."
The third floor.
They went pretty far.
They must have been short on means to deal magic damage.
"We have arrived. From here is the true entrance to Yeomhyeongok."
What stood before us was a massive iron door painted green.
It was extremely old and rusted, showing the marks of time, but the image of a snake biting its own tail engraved upon the door still stood intact, projecting its imposing presence.
That thing is harder than I expected.
Of course, it wasn't locked.
It required considerable strength, but it was structured so that it could be pushed open by force.
The Emperor of Yeom seemed to already know this as well, looking at me as he spoke.
"Would you push this open for me? I lack the strength to move it myself."
"Easy enough."
I pushed with a slight application of force.
With a heavy sound, the door opened, revealing the interior.
The inside was extremely bright thanks to night-luminous pearls glowing with green light—unlike the pitch-dark corridor we had come through.
"There are no combat dolls on the Floor of Snakes and Poison. Instead, as I mentioned earlier, there are various dangerous traps—so carefully remember the positions where I move and follow them."
"Understood. I'll be careful."
Step by step.
Unlike before, the Emperor of Yeom began walking carefully.
The patterns here were random, but not completely random. There was a kind of pattern, and that pattern appeared at random.
Whoosh, thud.
Pabababababat!!
Whoosh, thud.
Pabababababat!!
Whoosh, thud.
Pabababababat!!
"I see. So it is that sequence this time."
He pulled something like a pebble from his robes and threw it ahead.
Three times. Throwing them at different positions each time to grasp this first floor's trap pattern, the Emperor of Yeom continued walking.
Honestly, the first floor was relatively simple if you could just figure out the trap patterns well.
There were no doll soldiers to interfere with solving the gimmicks, after all.
But....
The path to the next floor is quite long—he's memorized the entire pattern?
I had written it down in something like a notepad.
When I came to Yeomhyeongok, I opened the notes I had prepared in advance to check the patterns—but right now the Emperor of Yeom wasn't recording anything in particular. He was figuring out the trap positions with three stone fragments and memorizing the entire pattern.
What is this? Is he a monster?
"The path here is long. As long as we avoid the traps, there is nothing particularly dangerous. So shall we have a conversation? Since it is just the two of us, let us set aside all the pretenses surrounding us—Emperor this, Hero that."
"That's fine with me, but... what did you want to ask?"
"I do have things I wish to ask, but... I shall give you the first question. What are you curious about?"
What I'm curious about....
"Why is the Yeom family's influence weakening? Looking at you, it doesn't seem that way."
"Haha—thank you for the compliment. To explain the reason... it is because I am incomplete."
"Incomplete?"
I had no idea what he meant by incomplete.
"I... have not fully mastered the martial art passed down to the Emperors of Yeom. The Flame Heaven Great Method."
"The Flame Heaven Great Method?"
"Yes. Originally, the Flame Heaven Great Method is a secret martial art inherited from Emperor of Yeom to Emperor of Yeom. I too should have learned the Flame Heaven Great Method from the previous Emperor—that is, my father. But... my father unfortunately contracted an unknown disease and passed away first."
"!"
Like an enlightened immortal, the Emperor of Yeom—who had maintained his composure throughout—revealed a faint longing mixed with loneliness when he spoke those words.
"I believe the Beastman Alliance was behind the previous Emperor's death."
"The Beastman Alliance?"
"Yes. The conflict between the Beastman Alliance and the Yeom Kingdom that has continued from the previous generation—no, from even more distant ancestors. I see the previous Emperor's death as the demonstration that this conflict has reached its peak. So I intend to sever it in my generation."
"When you say sever it...."
As I trailed off, he smiled faintly.
"I do not believe all beastmen must be eradicated. Above all, is not the entire Dan family of Sichuan composed of beastmen who inherit the blood of the Imugi? Not all beastmen are good, but neither are they all evil. And the same is true of humans. Applying a strict standard only to beastmen will not do."
I couldn't help but feel admiration at his enlightened, sage-like attitude.
"If the Beastman Alliance wishes to surrender, I am prepared to accept it. Of course... until the war ends. And even after the war ends, I will have to watch them to some degree to ensure they do not do anything strange."
"Of course."
That was the normal approach.
As we talked, we reached the end of the first floor.
And the steel door marking the end of the first floor and the beginning of the second—a bright green steel door with a book and brush painted upon it.
The door announcing the Floor of Brush and Wisdom appeared before the Emperor of Yeom and me.
After gazing at that door for a moment, the Emperor of Yeom turned his body to look at me and spoke.
"But... whatever the case, all of that is only possible if one has power. The Flame Heaven Great Method is not simply a technique that raises the martial achievement of the Emperor of Yeom himself. Gathering the strength of those who follow him, growing them, and leading them forward—that is the true form of the Flame Heaven Great Method, and the martial art that contains the spirit of the Yeom family which united all under the name of flame."