58
058 ― Kanok
A standoff continued in front of the cave. The Goblin sorcerer generated electricity in his hand as if he would strike lightning at any moment, but he couldn't easily unleash it.
It seemed he was worried that he might accidentally cause harm to his own side, specifically to the one inside the cave.
Jin-woo also had to cut down the guy blocking his way if he wanted to check the cave. Should he cut or not? While he was hesitating about that.
—Stand back, Keron. He is not an opponent you can face.
A voice filled with thought transmission came from inside the cave.
Upon hearing those words, the Goblin sorcerer flinched in confusion, then showed restless behavior.
He couldn't decide whether he should really retreat or disobey the order to guard the front.
—Step back.
Once again, a gently persuading voice came from the cave.
Only then did the sorcerer called Keron reluctantly retreat from the entrance.
Of course.
"Kyaaak!"
Even while retreating, he didn't forget to glare at Jin-woo and let out a threatening roar.
Even though they couldn't communicate, Jin-woo could guess what it meant. It was probably a threat that he wouldn't let it slide if Jin-woo tried anything funny.
—How long will you stand there? Come in.
A voice inviting him came from inside.
After a moment of consideration, Jin-woo touched his sword hilt and took one step, then two steps into the cave.
At the sight of him gripping his sword, the sorcerer Keron almost had another fit, but this time, too, the voice from inside the cave calmed him down.
What he saw inside the cave was.
'Is this one also a Goblin? He looks old and also......'
It was a single Goblin that was dying.
The first impression was that the expression ‘withered old tree’ would suit him well.
It was a Goblin with long, dry whiskers, so emaciated that he was close to a skeleton, with drooping eyelids that prevented him from properly opening his eyes.
When you think of Goblins, they're a greenskin race with green skin, but the old Goblin before him had discolored to a brownish hue.
And on his right shoulder, one drop, two drops of water were falling on him.
They were water drops falling from stalactites on the cave ceiling, and they carried the same thick medicinal scent that stung the nose as he had smelled in the herb garden.
The shoulder that was constantly receiving drops of water made by boiling medicinal ingredients.
From that shoulder to half of his upper body was blackened by Erosion.
—A guest in such a remote place, are you a noble visitor or a malevolent guest?
The old Goblin's mouth didn't move at all, but his voice could be heard.
He was speaking through thought transmission, and he had no choice but to do so.
This was because the Erosion that extended from his right shoulder had spread to his face as well, hardening most of his mouth.
"I'm called Kang Jin-woo."
—Kang Jin-woo...... Kang Jin-woo...... It's a name I've never heard before.
"This is my first time in this area."
—Is that so? I am called Kanok. That child is Keron. He's a good disciple who takes care of me in this state with devotion.
Even now, behind Jin-woo, Keron was tensely watching Jin-woo's every move.
Especially focusing on the sword hilt that Jin-woo absolutely wouldn't let go of.
When Jin-woo deliberately moved his hand slightly, Keron jumped and generated crackling electricity.
—Stop it, Keron. Guest, please don't tease that child too much. Isn't he pitiful?
"I wasn't really thinking of teasing him."
Inside the body of the old Goblin, who introduced himself as Kanok. The flames of Erosion were covering his blue flames as if trying to devour them.
Even so, his flames shone brilliantly, desperately enduring it.
That was fascinating.
'This is the first being I've seen that can withstand Erosion. As expected, should I call this the Spirit Realm?'
Anyone swallowed by Erosion becomes its slave. It was the same with Ireland and the dragon soul that Johan had controlled.
Kanok wasn't much different either, looking like he would soon be consumed by Erosion. But for now, he was still holding on.
With his emaciated, skeletal body, he was firmly protecting his soul. He was somehow enduring by receiving medicinal water on his body 24 hours a day.
"Are you enduring the Erosion with that medicinal water?"
—To be honest, it doesn't have much effect. It's just a comfort to the mind, but it does help at least as much as comfort does.
Jin-woo fidgeted with his sword. Of course, it wasn't with the intention of teasing Keron or anything. He was just concerned.
Could he cut away those black flames, only the black flames?
Thinking about the time with Cheon Ju-hyeok, it seemed possible. Back then, too, he had cut away only Johan's sorcery without touching Cheon Ju-hyeok's soul.
But Johan's magic and Erosion had completely different meanings.
Erosion was an extraordinary power that even absorbed the energy of stars. It was on a different level from a black magician's magic.
—Do you want to cut me?
Kanok casually brought up the topic.
"You're quite perceptive."
—I thought such a day would come someday...... May I ask one thing? Who sent you here?
"Sent?"
—I asked which lord sent you. To think they would send a subordinate, even to a lowly creature like me, it must be a lord in quite an urgent situation.
Kanok spoke with a chuckle. It was the maximum mockery he could send to a lord's subordinate who was about to cut him down.
Of course, it had nothing to do with Jin-woo, who wasn't some subordinate.
"I'll make you comfortable soon."
Jin-woo couldn't guarantee which way he would become comfortable.
The opponent already had no will to resist. Rather than having no will, it would be correct to say he was in a state where resistance was impossible.
Skipping lengthy explanations, Jin-woo swung his sword first.
The sword is always faster than words.
***
Kanok had foreseen that such a day would come someday.
Having already been affected by Erosion, someday he would catch a lord's attention and be absorbed into their ranks.
Still, he tried his best. He deliberately settled in such a remote place and hid in a cave to treat himself.
If he could cure the Erosion before catching a lord's attention, there would be nothing to worry about.
But.
'It was impossible after all.'
Resolving the Erosion was impossible.
Even mobilizing all his knowledge, enlightenment, and capabilities, slowing down the Erosion's progress was all he could manage.
Even that was only possible thanks to his disciple's presence; if he had been alone, he might have despaired and broken mentally long ago. If that had happened, even enduring this much would have been impossible.
With his body unable to move long ago and his soul directly facing erosion, what had allowed him to endure until now was only his spirit. Only his heart.
"I'll make you comfortable soon."
And the reaper's sword fell.
He had been preparing for death for a long time. He planned to organize all his emotions and leave cleanly.
However, when he actually saw the falling sword, the hidden feelings in his heart rose to the surface.
He wanted to live. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to die.
If he was going to die here like this, what would happen to his disciples' efforts who had devoted themselves until now? How would he teach his disciple the divine greeting sorcery in the future?
Was there any guarantee that this reaper wouldn't kill him and then point his sword at his disciple?
All thoughts eventually led to one thing. The desire to live.
When that intense feeling shone and lit the last candle.
Jin-woo's sword split the flames. The cleanly bisected flames split apart, up and down.
—Ugh, uheoeoeoeo!
It was indescribable pain. He thought he had already transcended pain long ago, but he was wrong. There was still more above that.
It was as if heaven and hell were pulling him from both sides, tearing his soul in half.
Finally, unable to bear it, Kanok.
"Heoeoeoeoeoep!"
He screamed, forgetting all dignity.
Cough cough, cough cough. He squeezed his throat with dry coughs and vomited up phlegm.
The pain was so severe that he wanted to roll on the ground. Actually, he did fall over and rolled about halfway. If he had just a little more strength left in his body, he would have rolled five and a half more times.
Then, carelessly.
He opened his mouth at a realization so profound that he completely forgot even the pain.
"Sp, speech...... My body......!"
It had returned. His mouth moved, and his body moved.
The flesh that couldn't move since being affected by Erosion, which had been completely hardened, had all returned to normal!
"Ke, keureuk!"
Keron was also greatly surprised and came running in one bound. He couldn't even dare to touch his master's body and was fidgeting restlessly, worried that if he touched him, something might go wrong again.
"It seems to have been successful somehow."
Jin-woo spoke while touching his blade, which didn't have a single drop of blood on it.
He had clearly cut through Kanok's body, but Jin-woo's sword passed through his body and cut only his soul. Among that, only the black flames of Erosion.
Kanok, who had been lying prone from rolling on the ground, looked at Jin-woo.
The figure he looked up at couldn't be seen properly as it was backlit by the light from outside the cave.
'He, he's not some subordinate.'
He realized he had misunderstood.
He wasn't a lord's subordinate.
A subordinate who had been eroded by a lord and become their slave couldn't possibly have a method to cure Erosion.
'He's not a lord either.'
But he wasn't a lord either.
Lords were beings that only caused Erosion. Immoral beings who blackened all kinds of souls and played with them.
He had never heard of a lord conversely curing Erosion or liberating someone from Erosion.
Then what kind of being was he?
Just one thing.
If there was a word that could definitively describe him at this moment.
"I, I meet my benefactor."
"Kerok!"
Kanok and his disciple Keron prostrated themselves flat and bowed to Jin-woo.
***
Incredible words spread among the Hunters who had been to the 3rd floor.
—The temple of the 13 gods, now it's 12 gods!
It was said that one of the 13 temples in the 3rd floor's Pandemonium had fallen, and now there were 12 temples.
└ A temple fell? What do you mean by that?
└ Literally crashed down. It was the God of Sky's temple, and the temple was destroyed, and the island almost fell on the city, but a tree that extended from the Moonlit Forest blocked it.
└ ???
Even when they explained exactly what they saw, very few people understood.
That was understandable because the story was too absurd.
The sky temple was completely destroyed, lost all authority, and was expelled, and the sky island that lost its floating power almost fell on the city, but suddenly a big tree grew and blocked it?
It wasn't some movie scenario, so how could anyone take such words at face value?
└ It's not an exaggeration; it's real. The God of Sky's contribution points completely disappeared, too, so people who were accumulating contributions there are in chaos.
└ Weren't most of them Hong Kong guys anyway? Lin Shenlin was in control there.
└ Speaking of which, what happened to Lin Shenlin? Wasn't he the 1st place in the Sky Temple?
└ Now Kang Jin-woo is in 1st place. All the God of Sky's contribution points that Lin Shenlin and Hong Kong Hunters had accumulated went to Kang Jin-woo.
└ ?????
Everyone was dumbfounded by the consecutive bombshell information.
A little later, someone who had actually been to the 3rd floor uploaded a proper summary post.
It was a summary that roughly organized the flow of events in a big picture.
1.Delhi's Mahiri had a fight with Lin Shenlin. The reason is unknown.
└ Could Mahiri be a match? Isn't she rumored to be weak among S-rank hunters? On the contrary, Lin Shenlin is top-tier among S-ranks.
└ I don't know. I don't know the circumstances, but one day I saw them fighting.
2.When two S-rank Hunters fought and the city was turned upside down, Kang Jin-woo rode a wyvern and invaded the empty Sky Temple.
└ You know Poldere, right? That nasty Elf who won't even give humans rides. For some reason, he's been going around bragging that he personally dropped Kang Jin-woo off at the Sky Temple.
└ How do Poldere and Kang Jin-woo know each other?
└ The 3rd place, April follows Kang Jin-woo around, so it's speculated that she introduced them.
└ What about April? Why is that name suddenly coming up?
└ I don't know either.
3.Kang Jin-woo invaded the Sky Temple and (middle part omitted) as a result, the temple collapsed, the God of Sky was expelled, and the Island began crashing toward the city.
└ Damn, there's too much omitted!
└ Then what can I do? I'm not Kang Jin-woo; how would I know what happened there?
└ That's true....
Since the Ireland incident, there wasn't a Hunter who didn't know Kang Jin-woo's name. With such a powerful issue erupting in this situation, the topic never ceased.
Hunters of all nationalities began gathering in the 3rd floor.
Some to confirm the truth of the rumors. Some to check how Pandemonium had changed. Some to examine the temples where they had been accumulating contribution points.
Even without that, recently, the occurrence of Erosion had noticeably decreased.
Not just one region, but worldwide.
According to announcements from international organizations, Erosion occurrence rates being this low was the first time in 35 years.
Naturally, many Hunters found themselves with free time, and their attention turned to the recent sensational issue.
Not only B-rank and A-rank Hunters, but even S-rank Hunters began gathering in Pandemonium after hearing the rumors.
***
"Does it suit your taste, benefactor?"
"Yeah. All the ingredients here are delicious."
Somehow, Jin-woo, who had cured Kanok, was receiving extremely warm hospitality from the two Goblin master and disciple.
There were dried fruits and jerky that Keron had gathered and stored, and even clumsily brewed alcohol.
Keron's brewing skills couldn't be called good, even as a lie, but since the water tasted so good, the alcohol was also decent.
With delicious alcohol and snacks in front of them, the distance between them naturally narrowed.
Being like this with different species reminded him pleasantly of drinking and playing with Bulkar and Rona in the waterfall cave long ago.
'Still, I have things I need to do.'
Jin-woo organized in his head the many things he wanted to ask Kanok.
About the Spirit Realm, about this area, about blue portals.
"Have you ever seen a blue portal around here?"
"Keron."
"Kureuk."
Keron shook his head. It meant he had never seen one.
But he didn't stop there and jumped up, pounded his chest, then quickly ran out of the cave.
"He says he'll go look for it right away."
"Oh, that's appreciated."
He quite liked the prompt attitude.
Having finished the most important question, Jin-woo let out a small sigh. Should he ask a lighter question next?
"Keron was using lightning. Did you teach him that?"
"Yes. It's a traditional sorcery passed down among Goblin sorcerers since ancient times."
That was puzzling. As far as Jin-woo knew, Goblin sorcerers could only use fireballs.
"Weren't Goblin sorcerers supposed to throw fireballs?"
"That sorcery is the source of this. Rakarga. In Goblin language, it means the sorcery of greeting gods."
The sorcery of greeting gods. Sorcery for greeting gods?
"If you wish, I will teach it to you."
Kanok spoke seriously with an expression as if he would really give his liver and gallbladder.