#120 Do-in U-hyeon
At that moment, demons burst through the underbrush from the opposite side.
“Gah!” U-jae hurriedly assumed a battle stance.
“They’re coming back!”
If the ones they’d just taken down were the lowest-grade demons, this time there were three low-grade ones.
Despair flashed across U-jae’s face. He glanced at the Ice Dragon and Kirin.
“P-Please... help us...!”
The instant he drew on his spiritual energy to move again—
Shing!
Choi Kang-ho appeared abruptly in front of the demons, swinging his arm once.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
A chilling sound rang out, like space itself was being sliced apart.
Psssh!
By the time he blinked, the three demons had shattered into pieces, scattering across the ground.
“......!”
Kang-ho impassively examined his new Oerblade.
‘Excellent performance.’
Its output was at least three or four times better. And when infused with mana—
Ziiing—
The effects of the six Demon Realm Eternal Crystals embedded within it became vividly apparent.
Shaaa!
The demons’ dismembered corpses shriveled rapidly all around, crumbling to dust and vanishing!
“Hiiik!”
Kang-ho gave a wry smile to the terrified U-jae before turning his gaze yonder.
Over there. Beyond the dense thicket, a massive presence loomed.
‘A new breed of demon.’
Pop!
Kang-ho kicked off the ground without hesitation and charged forward. With each step, kilometers closed in an instant, surrounding objects blurring past like stretching taffy.
—Senior Brother, Priest U-jae hasn’t returned!
—Let’s make our stand here!
—If they reach the village’s Divine Tree, it’s over! Priests, defend it with your lives!
The resolute voices of do-ins rang out.
Kwaaaang!
Suddenly, lightning crashed from the sky, unleashing holy spiritual energy in all directions.
Kang-ho spotted the new breed demon. It stood roughly 4 to 5 meters tall—a sufficiently massive frame—but its grotesque form was what chilled the blood. Human-like arms and legs, but a head like a pitch-black elephant, with writhing tentacles across its body corrupting everything with dark demonic energy.
The do-ins’ spells struck it, but the beast didn’t flinch, pressing its advance relentlessly.
In Kang-ho’s eyes, its essence appeared as...
‘Chaos...!’
Gray whirlpools churned around it.
Shaaak!
One of its horrific, rippling tentacles lashed toward a do-in.
Ziiing!
Kang-ho’s Oerblade gleamed ominously once more, its inky-black blade emerging.
Chwaak!
With a single slash, the new breed demon’s tentacle was severed cleanly.
“......!”
The do-in whose life was saved stared at Kang-ho in shock.
“Wh-Who might you be?”
Krreung!
Furball charged in, slamming a powerful body check into the demon’s side before positioning itself in front of the do-ins.
Kang-ho rushed the demon, scrutinizing it closely.
‘It’s carrying something strange.’
At its core! Something pulsed there—an unprecedented oddity that seemed to grant the demon overwhelming power.
Shaaaak!
Its tentacles converged, forming a massive spear that hurtled toward Kang-ho.
‘Let’s test it.’
Kang-ho deliberately didn’t dodge, taking the blow head-on.
Kwajijijik!
A gruesome sound echoed.
Krreung!
Furball startled and rushed to Kang-ho’s side.
‘Impressive.’
As the striking tentacle recoiled swiftly, Kang-ho cracked his neck side to side, unscathed.
‘This is...’
It reminded him of thirty years ago, when he’d lost Seolhwa—the demon he’d faced in Incheon! Compared to that absurd monster on another level entirely...
‘A tier below that, but...’
This one was still ridiculously strong.
Kang-ho swung his Oerblade without hesitation.
Kwak!
One strike lopped off its arm. In a flash, he severed both arms and legs, shattering its body to pieces.
“......”
However.
Kang-ho was gripped by an odd sensation.
‘What is this?’
The demon’s flesh was no challenge for him. The enhanced Oerblade granted tremendous power.
But—
‘It won’t die...?’
What remained of its shattered body was a bizarre heart, the size of a large watermelon. Neither the Oerblade’s power nor the Eternal Crystals’ affected it. Mana had no effect either, leaving Kang-ho deeply perplexed.
Only gray power writhed grotesquely from that heart.
Kang-ho swung the Oerblade again.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Yet the heart throbbed on undamaged—thump-thump-thump.
Then.
Chwaak!
From behind Kang-ho, a do-in rode in on a cloud. He resembled the U-jae they’d met earlier, but his hair was white, and he sported long eyebrows and a beard—an elder.
The spiritual energy radiating from him dwarfed U-jae’s. Clearly a much higher grade.
The do-in gestured, and lightning from the cloud struck the heart.
Pssshik!
Astonishingly, it reacted to the spiritual energy—the heart convulsed violently before turning to ash.
“......!”
Kang-ho’s eyes clearly captured the gray chaos power neutralizing completely against the spiritual energy.
The do-in looked at Kang-ho with a mix of fear and awe.
“Wh-Who... are you?”
“I’m...”
Then.
“Senior Brother! Senior Brother U-hyeon!”
U-jae came running, calling to the elder. He rushed up, staring in shock at Kang-ho and the ashen remains of the new breed demon.
“I-I know this gentleman, Senior Brother. He’s traveling with the guardian beasts from the Northern Fantasy Realm—Kirin and the Ice Dragon.”
Kang-ho smiled faintly and bowed his head to the elder called U-hyeon.
“Choi Kang-ho.”
U-hyeon gaped at Kang-ho’s group as they arrived, utterly flabbergasted.
After introductions, he wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
‘Such esteemed beings gathered in one place...’
U-hyeon bowed deeply and formally to Kang-ho.
“I am U-hyeon, a senior do-in of Yeongmaek Village. I offer my sincerest gratitude for your aid.”
Kang-ho gave a wry smile.
“No need. What do you call these things around here?”
“These... ah, we call them evil ghosts. The one you felled just now was a mid-tier evil ghost. On the continent, they’re sometimes called the Blood Cult...”
They seemed classified by size and grade.
Kang-ho glanced around. Flashes of spiritual energy and spells erupted here and there.
U-hyeon’s expression was grim. He gazed yonder and let out a long sigh.
“At least it’s settled for now. The sacrifices were heavy, but we held somehow.”
Soon, do-ins gathered from all sides, all bearing grievous wounds.
“We are the do-ins of Yeongmaek Village. We moved to protect the village’s Divine Tree.”
U-hyeon bowed again, adding,
“It’s poor hospitality to treat honored guests this way. Please, come to our village.”
* * *
Their village came into view in the distance. At its center stood a truly sacred tree.
Towering around 100 meters, its trunk was as thick as a hundred massive logs stacked together.
Kang-ho was reminded of the Mu Continent druids. Like their Tree of Life, this Divine Tree seemed to play a similar role.
Slender branches draped from its crown, exuding potent spiritual energy that shielded the village itself.
U-jae, walking beside Kang-ho and stealing glances, spoke up.
“The Divine Tree guards Yeongmaek Village. Do-ins in each village gain unique abilities from their Divine Tree! Lose it, and we’d all be wanderers, unable even to ascend.”
“Ah.”
It seemed like their power source.
‘Eternal Crystal?’
Kang-ho pondered as he observed it, but it was an entirely different force.
As curiosity mounted in his mind, he recalled the white mist-shrouded Immortal Realm he’d seen from the sky and asked,
“What’s with the white mist?”
“White mist? Ah...”
U-hyeon tilted his head as if puzzled, then nodded gravely, his face clouding with deep worry.
“Not long ago... Lord Baihu, guardian of the Immortal Realm, awoke and clashed with the great evil ghosts. In the process, Lord Baihu vanished... If you saw the Immortal Realm’s barrier, think of it as formed from his divine energy.”
U-hyeon’s demeanor was profoundly respectful and formal. From their perspective, awe and fear mingled inevitably toward the man who’d dispatched an unstoppable new breed demon in an instant.
“......Barrier?”
Kang-ho narrowed his eyes.
“Lord Baihu is the last remaining of the Four Guardians; his protective barrier is immensely powerful. It should thoroughly block the evil ghosts from invading the Immortal Realm for the time being.”
“.......”
Yeongmaek Village was small but beautiful. Neat houses of smooth pebbles dotted it charmingly. Roofs of bark gleamed brown, shoulder-high stone walls enclosed yards, and vibrant flowers bloomed in vivid yellows and colors, sparkling prettily.
As Kang-ho’s group entered, curious gazes poured from everywhere.
“!”
Seol-a, cradled in Theo’s arms, perked up and dashed toward a child beyond a stone wall. Her tail wagged wildly in delight—an unmistakable sign of joy at making a friend.
Watching Seol-a intently, U-hyeon asked Kang-ho,
“That child... a White Fang?”
“Yes, a subspecies.”
“......As I thought.”
U-hyeon looked genuinely stunned.
Kang-ho, now accustomed to such reactions, smiled and added,
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble in the village.”
U-hyeon jumped.
“Nonsense! To glimpse even once in a lifetime such a mythical being is fortune itself. For this U-hyeon, ascension must be near!”
Kang-ho chuckled. Calling ascension “near” seemed like an exclamation of awe among do-ins.
“Seol-a, come here!”
At Kang-ho’s call, Seol-a came running back, tail swishing.
“Daddy!”
Kang-ho scooped her up.
U-hyeon blinked in shock anew at Seol-a calling Kang-ho “Daddy,” his face blank.
U-hyeon’s house was the largest in the village. A small vegetable patch fronted it, and inside was as spartan as Kang-ho’s log cabin.
He served fragrant tea to the group and spoke.
“But... what brings you to the Immortal Realm at this time? It’s fully sealed by Lord Baihu’s energy now. Only high-spiritual-energy do-ins can pass the barrier...”
Krreung—
Outside, Furball yawned lazily, head tilted in confusion at the unfamiliar sounds.