-Mortal, you really are something. Blue Spirit clicked her tongue. I wondered why you were joining a group, it didn't suit you at all.
But to think you had such a plan. -Was this your intention from the beginning?
“How could I miss such a convenient opportunity?”
Mok Gyeong-un smiled gently and approached the last remaining person, no, the last corpse. The corpse belonged to the girl named So-hwa, the first one Mok Gyeong-un had killed by breaking her neck. Placing a hand on the girl's head, Mok Gyeong-un recited the incantation for the Binding technique in his mind and absorbed the remaining death energy. -Shuuuuuu!
The absorbed death energy spread throughout his body. As expected, absorbing it directly allowed him to secure a much larger amount than what had nearly scattered into the air during the battle for the steel beads. However, ‘From now on, I should do it in the order they died.’
Because he had absorbed it from the nearest person first, much of the death energy from the girl, So-hwa, had dissipated. It hadn't vanished completely, but there was less compared to the others.
‘Still, not bad.’
He had already secured far more death energy than he had at Lotuswood Sword Manor. If he could just remove the Forbidden Gate Locks embedded in his Qi gates, he felt he could greatly expand his dantian through energy circulation.
“I think I did well coming here.” -Did well?
You, don't tell me..... Just then, he heard a presence from somewhere. -Rustle! Soon, someone appeared.
It was a young boy. Seeing the boy approaching with a familiar gaze, Mok Gyeong-un chuckled and said, “You could have just killed him, but you possessed him instead?”
“I brought him because it seemed he would be useful.”
As soon as those words were spoken, -Thud! The boy's body collapsed, and the faint form of the Demonic Monk appeared. Mok Gyeong-un, pleased, said, “I'm very grateful.”
To think he understood my intentions so well when I only asked for one thing. He is truly a magnificent Spirit Guardian. Mok Gyeong-un approached the fallen boy.
He then twisted the boy's neck and absorbed the death energy. It did not take long. Having finished, Mok Gyeong-un stretched and loosened his muscles with a refreshed expression.
“Hoo. That feels good.” -Mortal.
What do you plan to do?
“What do you mean?” -From the looks of it, you don't seem like you'll be satisfied with just these ones.
At Blue Spirit's words, Mok Gyeong-un smiled gently. He then looked up the mountain and said, “I must have a pleasant mealtime until the sun rises. As much as possible.”
After all, according to the passing criteria, I just need to leave seven or more people, right?
A damp, dark cave at the foot of the mountain. -Fwoosh! The demon mask walked into the cave entrance, accompanied by two guards holding torches. The expressions of the two guards who entered stiffened.
It was understandable, for a strange energy had been stimulating their spiritual sense the moment they entered the cave. This was quite different from the presence of a person or human energy. It was unpleasant and made their skin crawl.
‘It's suffocating.’
This was what the two guards were feeling. But the demon mask strode inside as if accustomed to it. Just then, a voice came from deep within the cave.
“Are you the Corpse Blood Valley Master?”
“I am.”
“The light is bright.”
Hearing the voice from inside, the demon mask held out a hand to stop the two guards.
“Sir?”
“You two wait here.”
“But......”
“Wait.”
“Yes, sir!”
Leaving them behind, the demon mask went deeper into the cave alone. Inside, someone wearing a Daoist robe with a yin-yang symbol was standing. He cupped his hands and bowed his head as if he had been waiting.
“You have come?”
The demon mask asked him, “Are the preparations complete?”
“Of course.”
“What is it this time? I heard they are quite a bit more dangerous than last time.”
At these words, the one in the Daoist robe smiled and replied, “They are indeed dangerous if simply released.”
“I suppose so. Are they the things in the iron cage behind you?”
“That is correct.”
At the robed man's reply, the demon mask looked behind him. Just then, a strange sound came from there. -Oink!
Oink!
‘Hmm.’
It sounded just like a pig's squeal. There's no way a real pig would be here, so what in the world could it be? Curious, the demon mask tried to peer into the area with the iron bars.
But the man in the Daoist robe blocked him and said, “It is best not to get too close. Even if they are controlled, even the ones that have not yet reached maturity are lesser beasts.”
“Lesser beasts.......”
I heard they were something more than mere animals. The demon mask looked behind the man in the Daoist robe. There, a dangerous something with a rat-like glint in its eyes was staring intently at him.
“What did you say that was?”
“They are Horned Beasts. I brought them from the North Sea, near North Tiger Mountain.”
Horned Beasts...
The name alone sounds truly ominous. The demon mask turned and said, “Good. Release them when I give the signal.”
One hour had passed since the flag defense battle began. The mountain was vast, and perhaps because the flags were hidden so meticulously, no one had found one yet. However, there was one who found it first.
It was the boy from the Secret Mirror Sect. The boy's name was Yeon Mu-ung, and as soon as he spotted the flag, he ran toward it, filled with joy.
‘I found it!’
If the flag had been a brighter color, it would have been easy to spot, but its black color made it dark, and its position was cleverly hidden by bushes, making it difficult to find. But it was worth the effort of searching relentlessly without rest.
‘The pole is quite long.’
Approaching the flag, Yeon Mu-ung grabbed its pole. He intended to pull out the flag and secure a suitable position.
But, ‘Huh?’
The flag, which he thought would pull out easily, wouldn't budge from the ground. The pole itself isn't that heavy, so why is this? Puzzled, Yeon Mu-ung soon found out the reason.
‘What is this?’
The bottom of the flag was connected to a large chunk of iron. It was quite large, and even for Yeon Mu-ung, who had practiced external arts and was muscular and incredibly strong, it felt quite heavy to lift.
‘It's heavier if I try to move it by holding the pole.’
In that case, he had to lift the iron chunk at the bottom to move it. At first, he wondered why the flag was made this way, but soon he thought it was actually for the better. If it's this heavy, the other contenders will have a hard time moving the flag.
Especially since their internal energy is sealed.
‘This gate might be easier than I expected.’
He had thought that among those who found the flags, some might maliciously try to destroy or steal other flags to reduce the number of people who could pass. But if the flags were like this, it would be difficult to carry them, so there would be few who would go out of their way to steal someone else's flag.
‘Good. Then I just need to gather my group members and defend our position.’
I just have to hold out until dawn. Meanwhile, On a mountain ridge about two hundred paces northwest of where Yeon Mu-ung of the Secret Mirror Sect was. A little later than him, someone else had discovered another flag.
She was none other than the girl from the Ensnaring Flower Room. The girl's name was Mo Ha-rang.
“Ah........”
Her joy at finding the flag was short-lived, as she too was at a loss after seeing the iron chunk connected to the bottom of the flag's pole.
‘It's heavy.’
The iron chunk was incredibly heavy for her to lift. With her Qi gates blocked, there was nothing she could do, and it was even more difficult because the martial arts she practiced were based on speed, so she did not have much muscle mass.
‘Moving it is impossible.’
Even if she wanted to lift the flag and secure a good position, she would need group members. Defending the flag alone was a difficult task.
‘It would be nice if I could break the pole.’
Because there had been a prior warning that [The flag must remain intact.], the iron chunk was also considered a part of the flag. In the end, waiting was the only answer.
However, ‘Huh?’
Mo Ha-rang, who happened to be fiddling with the upper part of the flagpole, frowned. It was because something was engraved on the upper part of the flag. She wasn't holding a torch, so it was difficult to see with only the moonlight shining through the bushes, but, -Scrape, scrape!
As she felt it with her hand, she could roughly tell what was written.
‘Second origin sword stance, earth reversal dark mystery......!?’
As she fiddled with it and guessed what the engraved phrase was, she became certain. This was the ready stance of a Sword Art. And it was slightly different from a typical Sword Art.
‘Could it be?’
If my guess is correct... -Snap!
‘Huh?’
Mo Ha-rang's eyes narrowed. The incantation for the phrase ended. Up to this point, one might not feel anything was particularly strange, but it was not so for her.
‘It's incomplete.’
In her view, the incantation was lacking. If this was indeed the ready stance of a Sword Art, it couldn't possibly end here. Most martial arts are for effectively subduing and killing an opponent, but they also serve the purpose of protecting oneself.
Mo Ha-rang closed her eyes. -Swish, swish! The Sword Art formed in her mind. It was too low-level to be called a profound Sword Art, but the sword moves were not bad.
However, according to this incantation, four openings would appear. It meant there were precisely four areas that could not be defended with the given sword forms.
‘...... An incomplete Sword Art.’
Something about this was strange. She could have just ignored it and moved on. But they had engraved the incantation of a Sword Art on the flagpole, just below the banner, a place one might easily overlook.
And an incomplete incantation at that. No matter how she thought about it, it was too suspicious to simply ignore. Then, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘Could it be?’
She hoped not, but it seemed she had to check. She boldly decided to give up the flag she had just managed to find. Still, feeling a sense of regret, Mo Ha-rang stared at the flag for a long while before finally breaking off the upper part of the pole where the incantation was engraved. -Snap!
‘If it's not going to be mine anyway.’
There was no need to let anyone else have it. Mo Ha-rang buried the broken upper part of the flagpole in the ground so it couldn't be seen, and then ran.
About two incenses' worth of time passed. Unlike before, people who found flags and their group members began to appear here and there. And, as intended by the second gate, skirmishes also broke out as two groups discovered the same flag simultaneously.
The two groups fought a fierce, bloody battle to claim the flag. Without internal energy, it was close to a brawl, but eventually, a winner was decided.
“Gasp, gasp......”
The victorious group members, covered in blood, gasped for breath. They were once again realizing how difficult it was to fight with their internal energy sealed. One boy barely managed to get up and looked around.
‘Ah......’
Out of eight group members, only five had survived. He had hoped no one would die, but that was just wishful thinking. The only consolation was that they had secured the flag, and now they just needed to find three more group members.
Though he didn't know if that would be easy.
“What should we do?”
“Shouldn't we just defend the flag and wait?”
“That's true. If we wander around needlessly, we might get the flag stolen.”
Everyone seemed to agree. However, one boy offered a different opinion.
“Wait a minute. If we just stay here defending the flag and another intact group shows up, won't we be at a disadvantage?”
“Ah......”
He had a point. It was a truly difficult situation. But they couldn't just give up the flag they had fought so hard for.
Just then.
“So you found a flag?” -Flinch!
Everyone's gaze turned toward where the voice came from. Seeing the person standing there, they, who had been tense, felt a momentary sense of relief. It was because they saw only one person standing there.
‘Thank goodness.’
If it had been another intact group, they would have been in big trouble. As that one person approached and his face became visible, the relieved expressions of the group members stiffened. It was Mok Gyeong-un.
That ruthless fellow they had been reluctant to accept as a group member had appeared.
“Wait, stop! Don't move from there! Who are you?”
One of the boys stopped Mok Gyeong-un from approaching and asked.
“What do you mean, who am I?”
“Didn't you join a group that had a girl in it?”
This boy had seen Mok Gyeong-un join So-hwa's group, which had only one girl. That was why he was asking. At this, Mok Gyeong-un put on a pitiful expression and said, “Ah.
They were all taken down.”
“Taken down?”
“Yes.”
Mok Gyeong-un's eyes shifted, glancing at the surrounding corpses, and he said nonchalantly, “My group, just like yours, fought with another group over a flag. They were all defeated, and I barely managed to escape.”
“You escaped alone?”
“Yes. With my exhausted body, I couldn't face four opponents by myself.”
At Mok Gyeong-un's words, the boys looked at him with suspicious eyes. But they weren't entirely suspicious. Since they had just gone through a similar experience themselves, they thought it was entirely possible.
To them, Mok Gyeong-un said in a gentle voice, “Since we've both lost group members, I think we're a match. If it's not too much trouble, could you accept me?”
“.........”
At this suggestion, they hesitated. The reason they hadn't accepted him as a group member in the first place was because they found him unsettling. That wariness couldn't be easily diluted.
So they discussed it, whispering cautiously.
“What should we do?”
“That guy's a bit strange, should we just send him away?”
“But what about the flag then? It's barely been two hours.”
There are still more than four hours until dawn. If another group attacks during that time, we'll be trapped and have the flag stolen. Then we'd have to find another flag, which would be impossible with just five people.
“...... Let's accept him.”
“Accept him?”
“Yes. He must know that to pass this gate, we need to cooperate, right?”
“That's true. You need eight people to pass.”
No matter how reckless he is, he must have a brain. He must know that we have to join forces to defend this flag to pass this gate. Considering this, no matter what kind of person he is, he would never harm us.
Having convinced themselves of this, one of the boys said to Mok Gyeong-un, “Alright. But remember, until dawn, we are one. If we betray each other, we're as good as dead.
Keep that in mind.” At the boy's words, Mok Gyeong-un nodded. But his lips were twitching as if trying to hold back a smile.
‘Ah. This is just too good.’
It feels like they're setting the table for me.