No.88 Gathering of Villains (4)
Five superhumans charged in with hoes, and in no time the weed field had been reduced to bare wasteland.
And the result, exactly as I had predicted—
Another hefty heshouwu root popped out of the earth. With that, the mild grievance Jang Mu-geuk had been nursing melted away entirely — if anything, he now looked thoroughly satisfied.
"A short detour, and two high-grade elixirs to show for it. A fine start."
"With your encyclopedic knowledge, Brother Kim, we reap the rewards at every turn."
Go Hyeon-woo was just as quick to sing my praises. Truth be told, this hidden piece only looked like small fry at a glance; it belonged to the devilishly hard-to-find kind. You had to comb every corner of the vast dungeon and even tear up whole fields of weeds to unearth it. The information alone would have fetched a decent price, but I chose to share it freely with my party members.
That way works out better for me anyway.
◈ Bloodclot Herb (D) ×3
◈ Heartbreak Grass (C) ×2
◈ Cutleaf Herb (C) ×2
— and more —
A whole mound of poisonous herbs, dug up on borrowed labor. Their value was nothing to sneeze at, and thanks to my credit for revealing where the elixirs lay, every last one reverted to my share. The elixirs would be divided up later; the poison herbs I would put to good use myself.
"Shall we head off to claim it, then? The Ghost Without Shadow."
"So at last we go for it."
Expectation he could not quite hide bled through Jang Mu-geuk's tone. Fair enough, with the thing he had craved and awaited for so long now within arm's reach.
We doubled back the way we had come to the mouth of the bamboo forest and stepped straight in. As we walked on, a fog began to settle, thickening steadily until not only the ground beneath our feet but even the figure of the person behind us blurred into haze.
But it was the middle of the day, and the sky had been bright until moments ago. How could fog roll in this thick?
Dang Gyu-young swept her gaze around us. "It's a formation."
"That's right."
A rather high-level formation blanketed this whole area. The fog obscuring our sight was merely the basics; layered on top was a disruption effect that stole your sense of direction. Pressing onward with no countermeasure in these conditions would have been a terrible choice — not that I had any intention of doing so. I turned my head toward the rear.
"Go Hyeon-woo."
"Right here."
Go Hyeon-woo handed over a wooden piece the size of a palm, as though he had been waiting for exactly this call. The Bodhidharma Statue from the Black Snake Gang — a legacy left behind by some unnamed grandmaster of the sword, and at the same time a trinket that unraveled formations with ease. When we raided Sealing the Demon, this very statue had flushed out the High Altar Master hiding beyond a barrier.
It works here too.
The effect was instantaneous the moment I thrust the statue forward. Like a candle flame pushing back the dark, the fog thinned around me alone, laying the dirt ground bare.
Fine performance, too.
The Ghost Without Shadow was the legacy of the Phantom Demon, once one of the Four Demons of the World. Set beside the Blood Demon's Secret Cave that Paeng Mi-ryeong's expedition was bound for, it fell short in nothing. Just as that place had demanded a treasure map, this one, properly speaking, called for a key item of equal standing. The reason I had chosen to force our way through regardless was Trusted Asset No. 1: the Bodhidharma Statue. Not the true key, perhaps, but it would serve well enough as a master key.
And Trusted Asset No. 2 was—
Me, of course.
A veteran-gamer sensor holder who could feel his way through even a Confusion Formation installed by a graduate. What's more, I had breached this place countless times without any statue at all, so finding the path was no great challenge. That said, none of that applied to my companions, so I passed a word of caution over my shoulder.
"From here on, stay glued to the person ahead of you and follow nothing but their back."
"One slip and we'll all scatter to the four winds, huh?"
"That could happen."
At my answer, Dang Gyu-young smiled with her eyes. Then she held out a hand. "Grab on, shall we?"
"Let's."
Her intent to indulge herself looked plain enough, but it was also true that hand in hand made for a steadier march. And Dang Gyu-young, perhaps not driven by self-interest alone after all, stretched her other hand behind her. "Da-bin, take it."
"Yes, President."
Chae Da-bin then clasped Go Hyeon-woo's hand, and Go Hyeon-woo's outstretched palm was grudgingly taken by Jang Mu-geuk.
"...Must we truly hold hands?"
"Haha, for safety's sake, you know."
With the human train complete, I shifted my gaze forward once more and took the lead, statue held out before me.
"Then follow along nicely. The Kim Ho Express is now departing."
"All aboard~"
Dang Gyu-young snickered at my back. The Kim Ho Express advanced in single file or wound in serpentine curves as the bamboo forest's terrain dictated. Every so often the path forked in two or three, but most of the time a thrust of the statue merged them back into one as if by magic.
And when it didn't—
Just watch where you're going.
The moment I sharpened my gaze, a feel for the way forward came to me. Pressing on by trial and error, the fog thinned somewhat and a broad clearing opened up. A sweep of the surroundings showed that, besides the towering bamboo, a number of stone statues stood erected there. Each clutched a stub of candle, and the instant we set foot in the clearing, they caught fire of their own accord.
Fwoosh, crackle—
And the moment every candle had flared to life in turn, the fog at one corner of the clearing lifted, unveiling a narrow side path.
Dang Gyu-young eyed it. "If the candles go out, does that path vanish too?"
"Yes. We have to keep them lit."
The candles had flared and the path had appeared from the moment we entered the clearing. In other words, keeping the side path open required someone to remain behind here. Standing idly about burning time, however, would be no easy task — because the candles had revealed more than just the side path.
Swish, swish...
Presence stirred on all sides, and black-masked figures came walking out from between the bamboo. Black from head to toe — even the weapons gripped in their hands were lacquered black. They looked for all the world as though they had anticipated our arrival and lain in ambush, but anticipating it should have been impossible, which left only one answer.
Go Hyeon-woo studied them with intrigued eyes. "So this, too, is the formation's doing."
"That's right. An illusion formation."
A formation that rendered illusions real. Fog was merely the basics — it could conjure natural calamities, drowning the area in a sea of fire or shaking the ground with earthquakes, or, as now, make warriors and monsters come bursting out.
"But if they be illusions, might we not simply disregard them?"
"Normally, yes. But this one is a far cry from ordinary."
After all, it was an illusion formation arranged by the Phantom Demon himself. Its level towered beyond all comparison, blurring the line between reality and fabrication. Take a strike from them, and you would suffer real wounds.
Go Hyeon-woo hummed. "Hmm. Then a bout of battle is unavoidable, I see."
"Be careful. They're quite strong."
Moreover, the martial might of each black-masked figure was nothing to scoff at. The single biggest reason I had left Shin Byung-cheol behind was precisely this illusion formation — you needed at least Jang Mu-geuk's or Go Hyeon-woo's caliber of skill to manage it at all.
Swish, swish...
The masked figures were tightening their encirclement with every passing moment. Battle would break out soon, so I took my stand before the side path.
"Hold the line and buy me some time. I'll be right back."
"Yeah, hurry back."
With Dang Gyu-young's send-off behind me, I stepped into the side path. That instant, the masked figures lunged as one, and a wild clamor of clashing weapons erupted. But within a few steps the din grew muffled, and soon it vanished altogether — as though the fog had swallowed it whole.
They'll manage. None of them lacked the skill to come to grief here, so I folded the worry away. I had a role of my own to play.
I quickened my pace, and before long the side path dead-ended into yet another clearing. It was tiny compared to the ground where my companions were mid-battle, its floor paved with square marble tiles.
Something like a solo training ground.
Around the marble loomed statues of giant dokkaebi and evil spirits, each a head or two taller than a man, encircling it like sentries keeping watch over a trainee. This was the place — the Phantom Demon's legacy, where the Ghost Without Shadow was to be claimed. Of course, merely discovering it granted nothing.
I have to pass the trial.
The moment I stepped onto the center of the marble, change came at once. In a blink, fog rolled in like storm clouds and blotted out everything. All that remained visible were the marble floor and the evil spirit and dokkaebi statues.
Grrooomble—
Then the statues rose as one and strode toward me with heavy, deliberate steps. Each clutched a long staff or club like a ruyi scepter, thick as a building pillar — one glancing blow looked fit to snap bone. It was the sort of sight that would stir primal dread in anyone, yet I stayed planted on the marble, arms hanging loose at my sides.
Fighting them is pointless. This, too, was part of the illusion formation. They were hard enough to fell in the first place, and even felled ones were swiftly replaced by fresh statues — a pure waste of stamina.
And brute force was never going to settle this anyway. I could cut corners on the road to the legacy, but actually claiming the skill or trait was another matter entirely. There was nothing for it but to sit the trial exactly as the Phantom Demon intended.
That said, being a trial, it did come with a few pro tips. Pretend the statues do not exist. That did not mean ignore them and eat hits for free. It meant cast off your fear of the statues and fix your attention elsewhere.
I lowered my gaze a hair below dead ahead. Footprints were being stamped down one by one, as though someone walked ahead of me leaving them behind. I would plant my feet on them exactly as they appeared and press forward.
Whuumph!
The statues swung their massive weapons, but I poured every last nerve into the footprints — striking them precisely, keeping my own movements natural, and linking each step seamlessly into the next. And then, without my so much as attempting to dodge, their attacks skimmed past me by a paper's width.
That's exactly why you pretend they don't exist. Move as instructed, and evasion takes care of itself. The more consciously you watch them, the tenser you become, the more your focus scatters — and the harder it gets to land your steps true.
The Trial of the Illusion Demon pressed on. I seemed to have traveled a long way, yet I remained at the center of the training ground, still hemmed in by statues on every side.
About time the difficulty started climbing. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than the statues' offensive grew fiercer. Where two or three had swung at me before, now it was five or six, and their blows came faster besides. The footprints quickened to match — sometimes falling at sparse, wide intervals, sometimes zigzagging without rhyme or reason, one right on the heels of the last. Only by following them instantly could I keep the statues' weapons from finding their mark.
THUD! THUD-THUD!
Massive weapons slammed down behind me or right beside me, thundering and spraying stone dust. Even so, I stayed ruthlessly dismissive, sliding half into a selfless trance, stepping on footprints and nothing else, over and over and over.
How long did I keep it up? When the footprints — which had never once paused — stopped appearing, I came to a halt where I stood. I looked around: the fog had lifted, and the clearing had returned to its original state. The training ground, which should have been smashed to rubble, stood unscathed, and the statues held their posts as though nothing had ever happened.
So it's over. I had passed the Trial of the Illusion Demon.
As if to confirm the thought, a notification printed itself at the edge of my vision.
You have acquired Ghost Without Shadow.
[241] The Support Ate It All