Winter Journey - 5
Demonic creatures could arise naturally, but they could also be summoned through certain methods.
Just as a Demonic Cultist had once called forth a flame tiger, the Maek, too, was one of those creatures that could be drawn forth by such means.
As if to prove the point, the moment the Maek revealed itself, a nauseating demonic aura began spreading through the air, sharp enough to sting the nose.
At this level, even the Murim Alliance was bound to notice...
"Sa Yun!!"
Hong Ryeon cried out the instant she confirmed the Maek. At her signal, Sa Yun sprang forward, and the Maek—still parasitizing the old woman's body—sneered and forced that body to move against her.
"Husband!!"
Mun Ha-gong's scream tore through the courtyard as Sa Yun's sword came flashing down, and the creature moved to catch the blade with the old woman's own flesh.
But Sa Yun simply moved her sword with cold composure.
The thrusting blade wavered—just slightly. Shifting its course with effortless naturalness, it slipped past the old woman and pierced the tail trailing from her back, and the creature loosed a roar laced with agony.
—Kraaaaaagh!!
In the same breath, spectral energy rippled outward. The very instant the spirits the Maek had summoned tried to converge on the spot, Hyeon Hwi raised her fist.
"Hup!!"
And drove it down into the ground with all her strength. The energy of the earth, colliding with the internal force of the Hongseong Divine Art, erupted like an explosion, walling off the spectral energy rushing to the Maek's aid.
Just as the Maek began to boil over with fury at the sight, a greatsword flashed.
—KWAAANG!!
Even a blow struck against a massive pillar would not have made so thunderous a sound.
Hong Ryeon smashed the Maek's head with her greatsword in a single stroke, then signaled Sa Yun once more, and Sa Yun swung her blade at the tail still bound to the old woman.
A sword form of the Hongseong Divine Art—the Flowing River Circle.
A slash belonging to the latter half of the Hongseong Divine Art's techniques. The blade, wreathed in crimson sword qi, traced a perfect circle.
"Ohh..."
I heard Chae Jin, beside me, breathe in admiration. Had the Flowing River Circle landed cleanly enough to impress even her?
"Sa Yun has grown quite a bit over this journey. Fighting those Seekers must have done her good."
So she already knew Sa Yun's level, from the few practice bouts she had guided in the past. Chae Jin marveled at how steeply Sa Yun had climbed, and her words were more than enough to swell my chest with pride.
I figured I was owed a fair share of the credit for Sa Yun having grown this much, after all.
"She'll make a fine match for Ryeon someday."
"Who do you suppose would win if the two of them crossed blades?"
"Hard to say... Though Ryeon hides a good deal of her strength too. You can't count her out."
So even with all of Sa Yun's growth, she still couldn't overwhelm her yet?
Still, being rated this highly already was satisfaction enough for me.
Sa Yun had come farther than our scenario had ever predicted, after all.
While Chae Jin and I watched from the back, Mun Ha-gong was a bundle of nerves.
"I-is this really going to be all right?"
"Yes."
The Maek did everything it could to turn the tables using the old woman, but Sa Yun's strikes were keen and precise.
Thanks to that, she could attack only the parts of it connected to the Maek without disturbing so much as a single hair on the old woman's head.
Not only that—Hyeon Hwi's fist-and-kick arts were destructive yet disciplined, wiping out precisely, and only, the spectral energy the Maek called up.
And Hong Ryeon, orchestrating the whole flow of battle even as she swung her greatsword, together with Chae Ryeon backing her up, was more than enough to keep the Maek under crushing pressure.
Confident enough to say that even with me joining in, there'd be no problem at all.
"...Astonishing. They did say she was the Sword Saint's disciple... Ah. And that young lady as well."
"She is the Blade Emperor's daughter."
"The Blade Emperor's daughter...? Ahh. Now that I think of it, I heard one of his daughters had ties to the Imperial Academy... I take it that young lady is the one."
I glanced at Chae Jin, and she gave a small, guilty cough.
"Ryeon gets around, so she's been announcing her name far and wide."
"Haha. You must have your hands full, then?"
After all, Chae Ryeon was still eyeing the seat of successor to the Moon Lotus Pavilion. It looked as though Chae Jin, who had to deal with her, was in for a bit of a struggle.
"Oh, I'll manage. I have you, don't I?"
"And what help could I possibly be?"
"You're a tremendous help, as it happens."
With that, Chae Jin swung her saber without so much as a glance. A silver half-moon arced through the air, casually swatting away a stray fragment from the battle.
"...Th-that's remarkable."
"Hehe. You flatter me."
Chae Jin answered Mun Ha-gong's praise with a beaming grin.
While we waited, the Maek was steadily coming apart.
—KAAAAAAGH!!
Its death rattle? A final desperate struggle?
The instant the Maek roared and tried to gather spectral energy, Sa Yun marked that opening with a hawk's eye and unleashed the Flowing River Circle once more.
—Shhk!!
It was severed.
The Maek's tail, fused to the old woman.
Confirming the demonic aura pouring from the severed stump, Sa Yun scooped up the old woman and fell back, while Hyeon Hwi blasted away the surging spirits with Explosive Star, a fist form from the latter half of the Hongseong Divine Art.
Which left only the Maek itself.
"Here we go!!"
"Yes!!"
Hong Ryeon rose into the air and brought her greatsword crashing down upon the Maek.
Falling Meteor. A technique not yet complete.
But the colossal force packed into the strongest form Hong Ryeon could currently wield drove downward like judgment itself, and the Maek's body was shattered half to pieces.
—Kaaaagh...
The finishing blow fell to Chae Ryeon. Saber gripped in both hands, she kept her eyes shut—then—
"...Hup."
Her gaze flashed open, and she swung.
Moon Spirit Slash. As one of the Moonlight Blade Technique's forms unfolded, the Maek's body was carved into dozens of pieces.
—Ah... Aaaah...
It seemed it could not endure two mortal wounds.
On the Maek's face, slowly crumbling to ash, there was nothing but despair.
"Whew."
Once the Maek had vanished entirely into ash, Hong Ryeon lowered her greatsword. Then she stole a glance our way and smiled gently.
"Well done out there."
"Oh no, it was nothing."
Hong Ryeon said it breezily, but I knew.
I knew the Maek was never a creature to be taken down so easily.
That it had been possible at all was thanks to having three practitioners of the Hongseong Divine Art on hand—practically the Maek's natural nemesis—and to Chae Ryeon's support besides.
But easy is good. It's not as though the rewards improve for doing things the hard way.
"...Mmmnnn..."
The old woman cradled in Sa Yun's arms groaned softly and began to open her eyes.
At the sight, Mun Ha-gong came scrambling over, and the old woman smiled faintly up at him.
"My dear..."
"My dear! My dear!! Ahhh! Thank you! Thank you!!"
Sa Yun smiled brightly at Mun Ha-gong as he clutched his wife and wept for joy.
"W-well, her energy seemed to have weakened, so I used a little recovery art while I was holding her."
"Thank you! I don't know how I could ever repay you, young heroine!"
"Ehehehe..."
Being called a heroine must have pleased her.
As Sa Yun scratched the back of her head and giggled, Mun Ha-gong rose to his feet together with his wife.
Then he bowed toward us, again and again.
If I leave him to it, he'll do nothing but give thanks forever.
"I'm glad it all worked out."
"Haah... Indeed. Truly..."
Once he had settled somewhat, Mun Ha-gong led us out of the battle-scarred garden and guided us elsewhere.
He brought us to his study, poured the tea with his own hands, and beamed the whole while. And the way he kept his wife's hand clasped tight in his—they made a truly heartwarming picture of a couple.
Perhaps thinking the same thing I was, Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin were gazing at the pair with warm, contented smiles.
"You young heroines are no ordinary martial artists... I shall never forget this debt."
"Oh, please, it was nothing. Actually, this whole affair only came about because Innkeeper Yu Wol proposed it..."
"Hm? It feels poor form to ask after receiving your aid, but... why? Did Cheon Il-hwa request it of you?"
"No, I simply happened to hear the news. And all I did was make a proposal to the Hongseong Sect and the Moon Lotus Pavilion. What could I possibly have done?"
Jokes aside, it was true—I really hadn't done a thing.
At my answer, Mun Ha-gong smiled faintly and nodded.
"I truly don't know how to thank you. I wonder whether this will serve as proper repayment. I hear those of the murim prize elixirs greatly, so I would offer you this, which I obtained long ago."
What he held out was an elegant box. Within lay a single herb radiating a deep fragrance, and one talisman.
"It is called a Hundred-Year Fleeceflower Root. Had I still held office, I might have offered something finer, but I am a retired man now, so..."
"This is more than enough. A Hundred-Year Fleeceflower Root... why, that's an elixir you can simply eat as it is, isn't it?"
Hong Ryeon smiled at her ease. Then, quite naturally, she held the box out toward me.
"I'll pass. As I said before, I did almost nothing in this affair."
I pushed the box back, and Hong Ryeon, taking it, slid it toward Sa Yun instead.
"Oh? Eldest Senior Sister, I—"
"From what I saw earlier, your internal energy still looks a bit short, no? Take this, absorb its potency, and you won't need another elixir for a good while. And when you win elixirs of your own later, think of them as going to the others. You have to pay back what you were given."
At Hong Ryeon's words, Hyeon Hwi nodded too. When the hesitant Sa Yun finally accepted the box, Mun Ha-gong grinned wide.
And then, the remaining Taiji Talisman.
A talisman carrying the power of the Supreme Ultimate, handy in any number of ways. Hong Ryeon passed it along to me.
But this time too I gave the same answer as before and handed the Taiji Talisman to Chae Jin, who shook her head.
"I didn't really do anything either, you know?"
Saying so, Chae Jin passed the box back to me. I looked to Chae Ryeon, but she only shook her head as well.
"I think you'd put it to better use than I would, innkeeper."
"Oh... well, if you insist."
When the Taiji Talisman came full circle and landed in my hands once more, Mun Ha-gong burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Murim folk you may be, but you've far less greed than any I've ever known!"
"Hehe. We learned it from someone."
The eyes of Hong Ryeon, Hyeon Hwi, and Sa Yun—and Chae Jin's as well—turned upon me, and Mun Ha-gong spoke to me.
"If you should ever desire an official post, come find me. I have stepped down from office, but I still know plenty of people at court. A recommendation, at the very least, I can manage."
"Haha. Yes. Well."
There would come a point in the scenario when an official post was needed—something to look forward to, then.
With the matter concluded, we returned to the inn.
And of course, we had also obtained the clue for the linked event.
"Hmm..."
To celebrate a job well done—belated as it was—we decided to share a few drinks at the inn.
Perhaps because of the late hour, there were hardly any guests, and seated in the quiet inn, we enjoyed wine and dishes while studying the map Mun Ha-gong had given us.
"Mount Cheonhoe, hm."
A mountain in Mun Ha-gong's keeping—and a mountain the Demonic Cult coveted.
We had received entry permits for it, along with the authority to investigate.
And just as it had been in Cheonsang Myeongwol, a choice now lay before us.
"What do you suppose we should do with this?"
"Well. We could hand it over to the Murim Alliance, or we could investigate it ourselves."
"Mount Cheonhoe is rather far, though. It's a mountain you have to go even further east of Cheongho to reach, isn't it?"
"That's right."
As Chae Ryeon tapped the map and spoke, I nodded.
Mount Cheonhoe sat along the road toward the capital, which meant traveling even farther from Seomhwachon.
"What do you think?"
At Hong Ryeon's question, I considered a moment before answering.
"Well... matters like this have a way of giving you a stomachache if you try to swallow them alone. So I'd say we're better off simply requesting the Murim Alliance's cooperation. This is less a matter of aiding someone in distress than one of fighting the Demonic Cult, after all."
Besides, in our scenario we had already thrown our support behind handling this linked event with the Murim Alliance—or, to be precise, leaving the bulk of the work to them while we lent our names, collected the fame, and turned our hands to other matters.
The Traces of the Heavenly Demon could be obtained elsewhere regardless, and as for the rest—well, I knew exactly where every remaining one lay, and how to get them.
More than that, the Traces of the Heavenly Demon were nothing but symbols. No fine equipment, not so much as a stat boost.
They had precisely one effect.
Carry one, and the Demonic Cult would come at you tooth and nail.
Of course, back in Cheonsang Myeongwol, some players carried them around deliberately, angling for the badges, gear, and renown to be won from hunting Demonic Cultists.
I had been one of them.
But now it was worse than pointless—it would only obstruct the scenario.
Better to tell her later, once Sa Yun had grown stronger and the time came to pile up experience and renown by cutting down Demonic Cultists.
"From what I hear, the Inspection Department and the Law Enforcement Department are hardly on speaking terms. If the Inspection Department takes a step back here, wouldn't the Law Enforcement Department yield to them on some other matter in return? Let's take that opportunity for ourselves."
"Well... if that's how it is, I doubt the Vice Head would object either. Then let's do it that way."
Just as Hong Ryeon nodded at my proposal—
"...Hong Ryeon."
A cold voice drifted from the direction of the inn's entrance. I turned to look and saw a woman standing there—long silver ponytail, a staff in hand.
At the sight of her, Hong Ryeon cocked her head.
"Hm? One-Eyed Dragon Myo Jae?"
"What's the Law Enforcement Department doing here?"
The One-Eyed Dragon of the Law Enforcement Department, Myo Jae.
As its vice head, she was the signature martial artist of the department that stood in rivalry with the Murim Alliance's Inspection Department.
A touch simple-minded, a touch too hungry for glory, and fond of a good fight—but no bad person, all told. In Cheonsang Myeongwol she had aided not only Sa Yun but many of the other protagonists as well.
"I definitely sensed a trace of the Demonic Cult... demonic aura, at Mun Ha-gong's estate..."
As I thought—she had clearly felt the demonic aura the Maek spewed out when it revealed itself.
Was she sulking because she thought her investigation had been snatched away mid-task?
She looked so aggrieved that her eyes were brimming with tears.
In any case—an opportunity.
I rose from my seat and greeted her with a cupped fist.
"Greetings. I am called Yu Wol, of Seomhwachon."
"Oh. H-hello."
Only then did she look my way, returning the greeting in a fluster.
"I am Myo Jae, Vice Head of the Murim Alliance's Law Enforcement Department. But you see, I..."
"Well, this works out nicely. I was just thinking I had a favor to ask of the Law Enforcement Department."
"Huh?"
Pointing at her as she blinked at me in bewilderment, I asked Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin:
"Is that woman trustworthy?"
"Well, if it's Myo Jae, she's dependable enough."
"She does get her work done, that one."
"Ah. Ahaha... I'm really not all that..."
At their sudden praise, Myo Jae—who had been on the verge of tears only moments before—went red in the face.
And then, just as she collected herself and drew breath to cry out, I offered her a seat.
"Do sit down first. Allow me to explain, from the beginning, how we came to be involved in this affair."
I invited Myo Jae to the table, poured her a drink as well, and laid out the circumstances.
Having listened for a good while, she stared at me with a astonished expression and asked:
"So you mean to say... you came purely, simply, to help Mun Ha-gong?"
"That's right. But fighting the Demonic Cult is, in the end, a great charge of the Murim Alliance—shouldn't the Alliance be the one to take it up?"
"Th-that is true, but..."
"I would have this matter formally reported to the Murim Alliance, with the Inspection Department and the Law Enforcement Department joining hands to resolve it together. Please, raise high the righteousness of the orthodox murim and drive back the Demonic Cult."
"......."
Myo Jae gave no answer.
Hm... no good?
Even so, if they joined in, the Law Enforcement Department wouldn't lose a thing by it.
"Ha. Hahahah! Of course that is how it must be! Excellent! I shall show you what the orthodox murim is made of! We cannot ignore the request of one who stepped forward out of pure righteousness!"
Well, that worked.