The Imugi's Ambition
Whoosh!
Thud.
"Phew, that was close. If you fail to pull free during a spatial transfer, you end up lost forever in the abyss."
"......You...... you...... You can use dragon magic too???"
Canteas still could not climb out of his shock; his jaw hung open.
Just how had Doha used a dragon's technique???
After decades spent at Doha's side, Canteas had believed he finally understood everything about the man.
Yet new facts he had never known kept surfacing one after another.
"I can't use it freely either. I only reverse the force when the other party has already cast the technique and seize control of it."
Even now he had merely borrowed a fraction of the power because their opponent had performed a spatial transfer.
He himself was no dragon, so he could never open such gates at will.
If he could have, he would have been hopping through space from the very beginning.
"......No one else can do even that much."
Watching Doha speak of it as if it were nothing, Canteas felt a surge of indignation.
Even if he had only hijacked a dragon's power, that alone was extraordinary.
Ordinary people—no, even true dragons—could not manage such a thing.
"Anyway, where are we? Something reeks."
Canteas wrinkled his nose at the stench that stabbed at his nostrils.
Humidity hung thick in the air, and the way their voices echoed suggested a cavern—yet the scale was immense.
From the floor where they stood to the ceiling looked a full hundred meters high.
"Did the transfer go wrong? There's nothing here."
Spreading his senses as far as they would go, Canteas tilted his head.
Even at maximum range the only living things he found were insects.
Swoosh.
"Hmm......"
Doha scanned the surroundings, eyes narrowing.
No energy, no presence.
Yet this was the place the spatial transfer had delivered them to.
"Shall we test how long you can keep hiding?"
Swoosh.
A meaningful smile curved Doha's lips as he raised one arm and drew power into it.
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Eighth Step: Bi-roe Gong
Rumble—!
Swoosh.
Despite the colossal force he had summoned, what emerged from his palm was only a tiny round sphere.
Sparks flickered across its surface, yet it was small and drifted forward at a leisurely pace.
"Ugh......"
The moment Canteas saw it, an involuntary groan escaped him.
He had good reason—long ago he had suffered that very technique firsthand.
"If you're going to detonate that thing, I'm leaving."
"Too late."
Clench!
While the wriggling little sphere bobbed along, Doha closed his fist.
In that instant—
Flash!
KRA-KOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!
A storm of lightning exploded outward in every direction, flooding the entire cavern.
Unlike a bolt that falls from the sky, Bi-roe Gong radiated thunder in all directions at once.
Flash!
Rumble......
"At this rate the cave's going to collapse."
Stone fragments rained down; Canteas's face tightened with worry.
Only Doha's reduced power kept the destruction this mild. Had his full strength remained, the cavern would have caved in the moment Bi-roe Gong detonated.
"It'll show itself before that happens."
"There's really something here?"
"Yeah. Right over there."
"Kreeee!"
The instant Doha finished speaking, Yong-yong sensed something and unleashed a savage cry he had never voiced before.
A ferocious roar never heard until now.
Zzzzt-zzzzt-zzzzt.
"Hup?!"
From empty air a colossal form gradually materialized; Canteas nearly jumped out of his skin.
Its sheer size was staggering, and the murderous aura pouring from it was thick enough to choke on.
"I wondered what sort of bastard was going around killing dragons...... so it was an Imugi."
The being that had slain dragons.
Gazing upon the gigantic Imugi, Doha smiled.
It was as massive as any dragon, and malice as dense as a demon's rolled off its body.
"A lowly beast coveting a station far beyond its worth. Did you truly believe that by killing dragons and seizing their Yeouiju you would become a dragon yourself?"
"KYAAAAAAAH!"
Understanding every word, the Imugi screamed and unleashed a tidal wave of killing intent.
So steeped in negative emotion was the aura that the very stones it touched began to corrode.
"Two Yeouiju and you still can't speak. Pearls before swine, indeed."
"KYAAAK!"
Chirrrr......
Whoosh—!
"Not so fast!"
Zaaang!
Scales shot from the Imugi's body; Canteas instantly raised a shield spell to block them.
"So this is what killed the dragons."
Watching the razor scales hammer the barrier, Doha nodded.
He had wondered how the wounds on the dragons' bodies had been made; now he knew.
"Canteas, your shield's cracking."
"This...... damn earthworm......"
Pouring mana into the barrier, Canteas scowled.
He kept repairing it, yet the rate of destruction outpaced him.
"In that case, do it like this."
Whirl.
Whoosh—!
Doha flicked his hand; control of the spell transferred to him, and the shield protecting them both shot forward.
"Pop."
Crash!
Flash!
The flying shield shattered, releasing a blinding burst of light.
"KYAAAAK!"
"That, my friend, is called a flashbang."
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Third Step: Cheon-hyeon-geum-gang
Rumble—!
Kwaaaah!
Seeing the Imugi squeeze its eyes shut, Doha formed a gigantic arm of pure qi.
"Let's see just how tough you really are."
Whoosh—!
BOOOOM!
The colossal arm of energy smashed into the Imugi's jaw.
Crash!
"Ugh, the cave's about to come down."
Canteas swept the falling rubble away from Doha's head with a quick spell.
He was furious, yet his own power was nowhere near enough to face the Imugi alone.
All he could do was support Doha like this.
"KYAAK!"
Flash!
Fwoooosh!
Struck on the jaw, the Imugi activated the Yeouiju clutched in one claw and spat a torrent of flame.
"It even grew arms? Hey, Canteas, look at that. It looks just like a salamander."
"KYAAAAK!"
The word "salamander" only enraged the Imugi further.
How dare a mere human mock it?
Whoooosh......
"Uh...... I think we need to dodge that......"
A massive thundercloud formed high in the cavern; Canteas's face hardened.
The power gathering there far exceeded anything he could withstand.
"Dodging would be boring."
"You'll find the Underworld plenty interesting if you keep chasing thrills!"
Flash!
KRA-KOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
A colossal bolt of lightning crashed down from the cloud.
It was dozens of times thicker and more powerful than the Bi-roe Gong Doha had unleashed earlier.
Swoosh.
"I'll pass. You can have it."
Flick.
The instant the bolt fell, Doha crooked a finger; the thick shaft of lightning bent and slammed into the Imugi's own body.
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!
"KYAAK?!!"
Struck by the very technique it had cast, the Imugi's face filled with pure bewilderment.
Why had its own attack turned on it?
"I've always thought this: no matter how refined a counterfeit is, it's still a counterfeit."
Watching the Imugi scream, Doha laughed.
Had that attack been a true dragon's, he could never have seized control.
But the creature before him was only an Imugi.
It borrowed the Yeouiju's power to cast techniques, yet in the end they remained cheap imitations.
"Earth Bind."
⟨ Earth Bind ⟩
Zaaang.
Gurgle......
Shhhhrrrk!
The moment Doha cast the spell, the solid ground came alive, transforming into writhing tentacles that coiled around the Imugi's body.
"I'll turn you into snake soup myself."
Kwaaaah!
As he drew power, three more arms sprouted from his back.
Then—
Ban-ya Geum-gang Shin-gong
Fifth Absolute: Yacha Baek-pal-ta
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The four gigantic arms that had formed behind him began mercilessly pounding the bound Imugi.
Yacha Baek-pal-ta was already a ruthless assault that targeted only vital points; combined with Cheon-hyeon-geum-gang, the effect was devastating.
"Kya...... KYAAAAK!"
Slash!
Unable even to move while the fists rained down, the Imugi used a Yeouiju to tear open space.
It had to escape this place first.
But Doha had no intention of letting it flee.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Grab!
Snap.
Doha seized the torn space and simply closed it.
"Every time I see that, it still amazes me."
Watching the scene, Canteas let out a hollow laugh.
How could anyone use an opponent's technique like that?
If he himself were the Imugi, each time control was stolen he would have been crushed by sheer emptiness.
Grab.
"KYAAAAAAAAH!"
In the end the Imugi ground its fangs and began channeling the second Yeouiju as well.
KWAAAAAAAAAAH!
"This is bad."
Rumble—!
The runaway energy shot skyward; the cavern ceiling punched open and boulders began to fall.
Whoosh—!
"Doha, that thing's flying!"
"Let's go."
Tap.
Whoosh.
Doha and Canteas shot upward after the Imugi through the broken ceiling.
Whooooosh......
This is...... Xinjiang.
Rising into the open sky and surveying the landscape, Doha fixed their location.
So the spatial transfer had dropped them in the Xinjiang region.
"KYAAAAH!"
Flames blazed in the Imugi's eyes as it flicked its tongue.
Using both Yeouiju at once had driven its energy past the limit; the power was now completely out of control.
It's gone berserk.
The Imugi itself must have known that simultaneous use would cause a runaway surge.
Yet continuous attacks from a human had filled it with such crisis that it chose this desperate path.
"I don't feel like fighting in the sky, so let's bring you down."
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Seventh Step: Eok-cheon-ma-hwang Gong
Hummm!
Thud!
"KYAAAAK!"
Crushing gravity seized the Imugi and dragged it earthward.
It tried to escape with techniques, yet something kept interfering with every attempt.
The energy's gone completely wild, so I can't seize control anymore.
Still, he could disrupt the Imugi every time it tried to cast.
Swoooosh......
Now.
"Earth Stake."
⟨ Earth Stake ⟩
Zaaang!
Swoosh!
Just as the Imugi nearly reached the ground, Doha cast the spell; the earth itself shifted and rose into a colossal, razor-sharp stake.
Thud!
BOOOOM.
"KYAAAAAAK!"
As it crashed down, the stake punched clean through its midsection; a scream of pure agony tore from the Imugi's throat.
"KYAAAH?!"
The Imugi stared at its own body.
Why was there a pointed formation like this in the ground?
No—how had something so simple pierced its flesh at all?
Clench.
Zzzzt-zzzzt.
Brow furrowed, the Imugi tried to heal the wound with the Yeouiju it still clutched.
Yet Doha continued to interfere with its energy.
Crack!
"Kyhak!"
The technique shattered; the wound tore wider and black blood gushed from the Imugi's maw.
"Kii...... kiii......"
Sensing true danger at last, the Imugi began to retreat.
Everything kept going wrong against this human.
If the fight continued like this, death was certain.
"Trying to run?"
Saaaah......
A cold, thin smile on his lips, Doha fixed the Imugi with eyes that had gone utterly still.
Stupid creature. That is precisely why you remain an Imugi and never become a dragon.
Even holding two Yeouiju, it only tried to crush its enemy with raw force.
That was a fundamental mistake.
The true power of a Yeouiju lay not in overwhelming strength but in infinite versatility.
In short—freedom.
It allowed the wielder to shape any attack they desired without restriction.
"As if a mere Imugi like you could ever understand that."
Saaaah......
As Doha drew Un-jeop-bi-jang, crimson energy began to pour from his body.