The Guardian Fox's Illusion
A thick cloud of dust swallowed everything around us.
The moment Team Leader Woo Sang-shik's fist collided with the nine-tailed fox, this dust had come billowing out to blanket the entire area.
Even my senses are dulled.
No matter how hard I strained my five senses to feel out my surroundings, nothing registered at all.
What's going on?
Neither Team Leader Woo Sang-shik's presence nor the nine-tailed fox's could be felt.
I guess I have no choice but to go in myself.
Waiting here until the dust settled was an option, but I ruled it out immediately. If Team Leader Woo Sang-shik had been injured by the nine-tailed fox, there would be no time to waste standing around.
"Whew."
I let out a single breath.
The nine-tailed fox was a demon creature — but at the same time, it was also a divine beast. In other words, the same category as Cheongun.
If I'm careless, I'm the one who gets hurt.
From what I'd just seen, it was definitely weaker than Cheongun. The problem was how much weaker. That part, I couldn't tell.
"I suppose there's nothing for it but to clash head-on."
Muttering to myself, I stepped into the shrine.
Intruder detected in the shrine.
Activating defensive illusion.
The instant I read that message, I launched into my footwork.
Hwanmu — the Illusory Fog footwork.
Mubo, the Fog Step.
Before the enemy could deploy its illusion, my own phantoms swallowed the surroundings whole.
It was essentially overlaying my illusions on top of the dust that had risen moments ago, but for now, that alone was enough. Illusion arts cannot defeat an illusion.
Now then, let's start searching.
My senses had been sealed outside, but here inside, it seemed I could extend them freely.
Search footwork.
Seek.
I unfolded the technique while still maintaining the Fog Step. The amount of mana it drained was no joke.
I need to find them fast.
If this dragged on, my mana would hit rock bottom before the intruder even arrived. And that would be dangerous.
Found them.
As my senses expanded, I located Team Leader Woo Sang-shik lying in the dust.
No injuries.
He was unharmed — he had merely fallen into a deep slumber.
With Team Leader Woo Sang-shik's safety secured, there was no longer any need to keep the fog deployed.
Hwanmu footwork.
Clear.
The moment I took the step, the fog I had spread out vanished — and so did the dust with it.
The dust was an illusion too?
The dust had cleared, but I still felt no presence. Nowhere could I sense the nine-tailed fox with the golden fur that Team Leader Woo Sang-shik and I had seen.
What is this?
Watching a presence I had clearly sensed simply vanish left me a little flustered.
For now, I should carry Team Leader Woo Sang-shik outside.
There was no law saying an illusion that had triggered once couldn't trigger a second time.
I hoisted the unconscious Team Leader Woo Sang-shik onto my back and made my way out of the shrine.
"So what am I supposed to do now…?"
I set him down nearby and stared at the shrine.
A defensive illusion that activated when an intruder entered. And a nine-tailed fox that appeared only when the illusion was cast.
Is there some kind of connection between the defensive illusion and the fox?
I didn't mean the simple relationship of one triggering the other. Something about it felt off.
I suppose I'll just have to test it.
After a moment's deliberation, I walked back into the shrine.
Intruder detected in the shrine.
Activating defensive illusion.
Three seconds after the message appeared, the golden nine-tailed fox materialized.
The fox appeared, but I didn't react at all.
"Grrrrr!"
When I showed no response, the golden fox didn't move either. Instead, it bared its teeth and growled, as if taunting me.
Just as I thought….
Watching it, I all but confirmed the hypothesis I'd formed.
The golden nine-tailed fox was not a nine-tailed fox. The creature before me wasn't a true nine-tailed fox — the fox itself was the defensive illusion. A phantom conjured to protect the real one.
Well, it is a nine-tailed fox that hates slaughter….
The nine-tailed fox was a divine beast, but also a demon creature. And demon creatures are usually driven by instinct to crave blood and flesh. Yet the fox here was suppressing that very instinct.
"You're an interesting one, aren't you?"
A yokai that hated slaughter so much it defied its own instincts. Such a creature couldn't help but pique my interest.
"Then let's go find the real one."
Muttering under my breath, I moved.
Just as I'd predicted, the golden fox didn't stir from its spot. The condition for generating that dust that had cut off my senses was, most likely, striking the golden fox.
The trigger condition couldn't be more obvious.
If you were hit by it for the first time, you'd panic and fall straight into the trap. Of course, I'd only figured it out because I'd watched Team Leader Woo Sang-shik get taken down from outside.
Now, let's find the….
And at that very moment, an attack came flying at me.
BOOM!
The strike grazed past me and detonated the tree behind me. The trunk, now sporting a massive hole, toppled over backward.
What the—!
I whipped my head around toward the golden fox — and immediately understood. The one who had attacked me wasn't the fox.
"So you're Han Jin…."
Killing intent — no, something far heavier. Malice, pure and concentrated. And laced through it, demonic energy.
Without question, this was a demon-human.
A demon-human carrying demonic energy this dense….
Only one name came to mind.
The Sword Demon, Matsumoto Ken.
His condition is… wrong.
The handsome face I remembered was buried under a beard, unrecognizable. His hair had grown so long it seemed to reach his waist.
What the hell happened to him in these past few weeks?
The Sword Demon was a close confidant of Lust. For him to come after me, Lust would have had to give the order. But Lust hadn't seemed to want me dead.
And yet that was unmistakably murderous intent….
A madman whose mind was consumed by a single thought — killing me. That was the Sword Demon's state right now.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Then the Sword Demon suddenly burst out laughing. He laughed and laughed, like a man unhinged, showing no sign of stopping.
"He's lost his mind…!"
And the bigger the laugh grew, the thicker the demonic energy pouring out alongside his killing intent became.
Then Matsumoto swung his katana.
Swish!
I moved my body on pure reflex.
He's like a completely different person from a month ago.
Back then, his katana had carried emotions — fury, irritation — but also a clear trajectory and a firm will behind every swing. The katana he'd just swung carried no will at all.
The blade of a madman.
A sword that simply cut whatever stood before it, that killed whatever it deemed an enemy. That was what Matsumoto's katana had become.
I can't win fighting him head-on.
But I couldn't run either, and even a surprise attack held no chance of success. A fight with zero odds of victory.
Of course — that was, if I were alone.
"Cheongun."
The moment I called his name, a gate opened behind me, and out stepped Cheongun — at full size, not a single scale shrunk down.
"Contractor, is that wretch the enemy?"
"He is."
Cheongun glared at Matsumoto before him. Not a human — a demon-human. It was likely Cheongun's first time seeing one. Until now, I had always dealt with them alone.
"A soul that bears resemblance to the trace of a soul left behind in my master."
"That one's a demon-human too."
"I see… So this is a man who sold his soul to a demon, is it?"
Killing intent laced Cheongun's voice. Cheongun was the guardian left behind by the Primordial Humans — he instinctively loathed humans steeped in demonic power.
"Thunder."
Cheongun immediately began gathering storm clouds. Vast quantities of mana swirled into the converging black masses. Commanding storm clouds and lightning was Cheongun's innate power.
KRAKOOM!
"GAAAAAAGH!"
Struck by Cheongun's thunderbolt, the Sword Demon howled in agony. The residual currents crackled and scorched through his clothes.
Cheongun didn't pause even at that sight, pressing the assault.
"Bolt."
Lightning fell once more — but its power was different from before.
That has to hurt….
Pitying my enemy, perhaps — but in his current state, the Sword Demon looked genuinely pitiful. Yet he did nothing in response to the second bolt. Instead, he drew his katana and charged at Cheongun.
Cheongun was flying through the sky, but the Sword Demon didn't seem to care. He leapt upward and in a single bound reached the spot where Cheongun hovered.
"Heehee."
With Cheongun right in front of him, the Sword Demon smirked.
"Cheongun!"
"Fear not!"
With that, Cheongun lunged at the Sword Demon instead, seized him in his jaws — and hurled him away.
CRASH!
The Sword Demon slammed into the ground and vomited blood with a wet retch.
But that was none of my concern.
"Cheongun!"
"I'm fine…."
Fine, he said — but a sword wound had been carved into Cheongun's face. Red blood dripped from it, yet Cheongun forced himself to hold on. It was as if to prove the name "Sword Demon" was no empty title — he had landed a strike in that mere instant.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The Sword Demon rose to his feet again and charged Cheongun. This time, Cheongun refused to let him close, rapidly adjusting his lightning.
KRAKOOM!
Another bolt struck true — but the Sword Demon ignored it entirely and charged even faster. Cheongun grimaced and rapidly widened the distance.
"Hahahaha!"
But the Sword Demon, as if enjoying himself, began targeting Cheongun all the more relentlessly.
What do I do?
Cheongun opened the distance while weaving his lightning to block the Sword Demon's every path. Something only Cheongun could manage.
Right now, I had two options.
Clear the gate, or help Cheongun kill the Sword Demon.
Both had problems.
If I cleared the gate, I could get outside. But after that? Tell the Japanese government that their national hero attacked me?
Not a chance.
They'd pin the blame on me instead — insist that I was the one who provoked the Sword Demon. That's the kind of symbolic figure he is.
That leaves taking down that monster….
CLANG! CLANG! KRAKOOM! CRACKLE!
There was no way it looked winnable. Lightning raged everywhere, and the Sword Demon darted through it, dodging and weaving. The moment he spotted an opening, he drew his katana and swung.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
I didn't remotely have the nerve to jump into that fight. But if I wanted to live — and if Team Leader Woo Sang-shik, lying over there, was going to live — that monster had to fall.
"Ha…."
A sigh escaped me on its own. Ever since my fight with Envy, I had avoided unfavorable battles. And yet here I was, about to throw myself into another one.
Why can I never catch a break?
Yes, I was building my strength to ward off danger after my regression. But this much danger? This much, I could do without.
Basic footwork.
Haste.
I took the step and wedged myself between Cheongun and the Sword Demon — and in that instant, the Sword Demon's katana came flying at me.
CLANG!
His katana met my dagger. And instinctively, I knew.
Why is he so… weak?