First Snow - 2
Winter is a harsh season. Perhaps that is why the magical beasts tied to it tend, on the whole, to be wicked and cruel — and the most infamous of them all was the Sanbeom.
A beast that, even out of season, summoned a brutal winter through sheer malice and power, sneering at those who readied themselves for the cold — then froze them solid and made them its meal.
That arrogant serpent, parading its strength behind a drifting veil of snow mist, now loomed before my eyes — but calculation outran my worry.
In Cheonsang Myeongwol, the Sanbeom unquestionably ranked among the mightier beasts. But was it beyond us to catch? Not at all. True, it could twist the weather and freeze anyone who approached through its mist — yet it remained a beast we could most certainly bring down.
And with the strength we commanded now, could we take it? The answer came quickly; there was no need to calculate for long.
Not impossible.
"Haaap!!"
As if to prove my point, Hong Ryeon leapt with a battle cry. The crimson sword qi coiled around her greatsword shot forth in a half-moon arc, and the Sanbeom's eyes flashed as it loosed an eerie, hissing laugh. In the same breath, the snow mist shrouding the beast grew thicker still.
-Shhhkranng!!
Cold fierce enough to freeze even sword qi. But Hong Ryeon, it seemed, had expected to be stopped — she swung her greatsword once more.
-KWAAAAAANG!!
A thunderous boom, and the snow mist burst apart. The Great Sword Form of the Hongseong Divine Art — she had used Crushing. As the shockwave, born of her internal energy slamming against the qi of the earth, began driving the mist away, interest and mockery rose in the Sanbeom's eyes. From its massive maw flicked a long, red tongue — and the instant it lashed out—
"Yap!!"
Sa Yun, leaping at Hong Ryeon's back, slid into motion. She slipped past the whip-like tongue with practiced footwork, and the moment she raised her sword, light erupted from the blade.
-Shrrk!!
Blood Wind. The moment the Hongseong Divine Art's sword technique flared to life, blood sprayed from the Sanbeom's tongue — and Hyeon Hwi reached out toward it.
-Bam! Bam! Bam!
Three fist strikes blasted away the beast's blood — blood that froze whatever it touched. Three disciples of Hongseong Gate were pressing the Sanbeom with a fluidity as natural as flowing water, and through it all, the disciple of Moon Lotus Pavilion slowly slid her saber into its sheath.
Then—
A white flash stretched out from the scabbard, and in the same instant the snow mist was cleaved in two. Having erased the mist with a single draw, Chae Jin grinned and swung her saber at the Sanbeom, now stripped of its protection.
-KRAAANG!!
But perhaps the Sanbeom was no pushover of a beast either. It turned its thick scales against the qi-laden strike and swung its long tail — a tail brimming with the power of snow and ice — in one great arc, and a storm of cold came crashing down.
"Sa Yun! Hyeon Hwi! Chae Jin!! Get back!!"
It was a ferociously powerful attack. To meet it, Hong Ryeon slipped a hand into her robe and drew out a single talisman — a Flame Talisman. Geomseong had once warned her that a Sanbeom might appear and told her to prepare, and this, it seemed, was part of those preparations.
-FWOOOOSH!!
The talisman ignited, raising a wall of flame, and the beast's attack — the one turning the ground around it to frozen earth — melted into the fire. Only the ground where Hong Ryeon stood remained untouched; as ice sheeted the surroundings and white snow began to drift down, Chae Jin gave a low whistle.
"Works pretty well, huh?"
"It's Chang Ju's special blend!"
Hong Ryeon declared it proudly, laughing heartily. Haha. In the old days, she'd never have reached for something like that — a single one of those talismans cost a good ten nyang of silver. But as if to prove that times had changed, she flung out several more.
-FWOOSH!!
The talismans soaring into the empty air became tongues of flame, raining down around them. The frozen earth thawed, and the cold the Sanbeom had conjured began to gutter out, little by little.
-SSSHAAAAAH!!
The beast, it seemed, did not like watching the cold it had made die away. Then again, to a Sanbeom, they were surely nothing more than a single meal — playthings at best. But the women rampaging over there were absurdly, impossibly strong to be treated as such.
"Huaaaaap!!"
Hyeon Hwi closed the distance in a flash and seized the Sanbeom with both hands — then heaved it up and slammed it into the ground. Sent rolling hard across the ground, the beast shrieked and tried to shroud itself in snow mist once more.
"Ugh!"
-Shhhkrak!!
The mist spilling from the beast's gaping maw must have frozen her clothes where it touched. Chae Jin's face twisted, and she tore the frozen sleeve right off her arm. Krrrang — the ruined garment shattered like glass and burst apart against the ground, and at the sight of it, Chae Jin roared.
"I'm turning you into snake meat!"
-Shrrk!!
-SSSHAAAAAH!!
Chae Jin's saber fell in a single sweeping line — Moonlight Flash. Unlike every attack before it, this one sheared through even its scales, and the Sanbeom rolled across the ground keening in agony. Weaving this way and that to dodge the shockwaves it kicked up, Sa Yun suddenly sprang high into the air.
"Sa Yun!!"
"Yaaap!!"
At Hong Ryeon's shout, Sa Yun loosed a cry of her own and drove her sword straight down. The strike, charged with crimson sword qi, bored straight between its scales and bit deep — and the Sanbeom convulsed harder than ever.
-KWANG!!
In the same instant, Hong Ryeon and Hyeon Hwi moved in on the belly the strike had exposed — Hong Ryeon's greatsword, and Hyeon Hwi's fist. The Sanbeom froze for a heartbeat under those two crushing blows, and in that instant Sa Yun, riding atop its body, scrambled up the beast quick as a squirrel and slashed down at its great eye.
-KRAK!!
-SSSHAAAAAAH!!
Losing an eye, it seemed, had hurt it badly. The Sanbeom threw its mouth wide in a roar — then stretched its jaws wider still, aiming to swallow Sa Yun out of the air in a single gulp.
But Hong Ryeon was not about to stand by and watch. She sprang lightly upward and swung her greatsword up into the beast's jaw, caught the falling Sa Yun — and hurled her straight back. Riding that momentum, Sa Yun struck into the beast's mouth one more time and landed, and as she let her breath out slowly, Chae Jin grinned.
"Not bad at all."
"Hehe. I've been working really hard, you know!"
"Good!"
Chae Jin was right — the mood was a good one. And so the women pressed their assault, and just as the Sanbeom, soaked in blood, crept toward death, it raised its tail.
-KAAAAAK!!
Its final desperate flail? The tail, now sharp as a spearhead, came plunging straight down.
-KUUUUNG!!
A colossal storm of cold erupted outward with the Sanbeom at its center. Seeing it, Hong Ryeon swept Hyeon Hwi and Sa Yun behind her and raised her talismans.
"Chae Jin!! Protect the innkeeper!!"
"Got it!!"
Chae Jin, who had been handed a few talismans earlier, came running my way. Did she think I'd be caught in it, with an attack that wide? I smiled at her.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
The talismans flared to life and held back the storm of cold. And then—
-SSSHAAAH!!
"Huh?! This thing—?!"
The Sanbeom, which we had taken to be thrashing in its final death throes, twisted its whole body in a frenzy — and came charging straight for me, the one who had pulled back to the rear when the battle began so as not to get in the way. Hong Ryeon, Hyeon Hwi, and Sa Yun lunged to stop it — and Chae Jin swung her saber.
-Shrrk!!
A long gash opened across the Sanbeom's triangular face. Even so, the beast did not stop. Was it planning to snatch at least me, the one who looked easiest? Perhaps because of the winter power it carried, the temperature plunged the instant it drew near, and I felt the chill seeping through my whole body. As if to gather that cold still tighter, the Sanbeom opened its mouth.
As the white energy pooling in its maw swelled stronger, Chae Jin threw a talisman and moved to swing her saber. With Chang Ju's talismans, she could likely block that attack. But that would fall short of stopping the attack outright.
And so I took a single step forward. I couldn't swear it would work. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.
In martial theory, the "King" of King's Steps refers to the one who stands above. The one who stands above need not be strong. The only thing they must possess is an unshakable will. That was why Cheon Il-hwa had called King's Steps a martial art that manifests the will, and why the military, too, said it forged willpower in those who trained it.
Then the step itself need not be strong. It need only fall — one pace, natural and unhurried. And I could tell that this alone was enough, because those blood-red eyes, which until moments ago had held nothing but hatred, violence, and killing intent, had gone slack.
I took another step, and the Sanbeom, as if spellbound, eased its body slightly back. And in that same instant, light returned to its eyes.
Hm... I thought I might push it a little further. So this is where it ends.
Emotion began to surface in those once-hollow red eyes. Some of what I could read there was hostility. Fury. And shame. Was it feeling humiliated, I wondered — that prey it had barely deigned to consider food had made it flinch back with a single step? Radiating a fiercer aura than before, the Sanbeom opened its mouth.
But it was already too late.
"How dare you!!"
The Sanbeom had frozen for no great length of time — literally the span of a single blink. But that was enough. Hong Ryeon's greatsword came rushing in and split its back; Hyeon Hwi's fist drove up beneath its jaw. The moment Chae Jin's saber flashed and struck at its neck, Sa Yun's sword tore into its remaining eye.
-KYAAAAAH!!
A death rattle rolled across the field. I could see it plainly — the Sanbeom, the beast said to summon winter and freeze all things to devour them, meeting its end. And with it, the weather slowly loosened its grip, the black clouds dissolving to bare the sky.
"Are you alright?!"
The moment the Sanbeom's death was confirmed, Sa Yun came running up and asked. I smiled and gave her a nod.
"Just now... was that you, innkeeper?"
"It was."
The way the beast had stiffened right before its final strike was surely King's Steps taking hold. Remembering how enemies in Cheonsang Myeongwol had reacted much the same whenever I used it, I nodded — and Chae Jin stared at me in astonishment before breaking into a grin.
"How did you do that?"
Hong Ryeon came running over, marveling, and asked the same. I shrugged.
"It's one of King's Steps' effects. Truthfully, I didn't know it would work myself. But I trusted Lady Chae would shield me, and I believed all of you would bring the Sanbeom down right on schedule — so I simply gave it a try."
"Still, that's incredible. Haha. I'd say you're even stronger in a real fight than you let on?"
"You flatter me. More importantly—"
I pointed at the Sanbeom's corpse.
"This fight has won you a great deal. Congratulations."
Yes — this was truly something worth celebrating. Several stretches of the scenario could now be skipped with ease.
I smiled as I looked down at what remained beneath the Sanbeom's corpse, which was slowly scattering into ash. A tail steeped in the power of snow. A few shards of Sanbeom scale. And—
A pearl the size of a fist.
It was the Sanbeom's Core.