A smile that reached his ears. Someone’s smiling face can sometimes disarm the other person’s wariness. But the moment the boy saw that smile on someone asking for help, he felt a strong malice that went beyond mere unease.
Flinch!
He paused in his tracks. However, the other two boys were not the same.
“Pant, pant! Hey! Help us! Some kind of monstrous wolf is chasing us.”
He ran toward Mok Gyeong-un, asking for help. The boy, flustered, shouted.
“W-wait, stop for a moment...”
Before his words could finish. The moment the boy who had run up asking for help reached him, Mok Gyeong-un all too naturally grabbed his neck and twisted it.
Crack!
“Guk!”
With a final scream, the boy with the broken neck collapsed to the ground. Startled by this sight, the other boy shrieked and fell backward.
“Hiek!”
Thump!
As Mok Gyeong-un was about to approach the fallen boy, “You, you bastard, what are you doing?” The boy who had stopped out of a sense of foreboding shouted. Mok Gyeong-un smiled as if it were nothing, then lightly leaped and kicked the head of the fallen boy who was trying to escape by pushing off with his palms.
Crack!
He kicked so hard that the boy’s head snapped back. His mouth hung open in that state; he seemed to be dead. The boy who witnessed this was at a loss for words.
‘This… this crazy bastard is…’
Even if they were competitors, this was not a situation where they were fighting over a flag. But to just kill someone who was asking for help as soon as they met. What kind of madman was this?
He was dumbfounded.
Ggwaek ggwaek!
The sound of a pig-like squeal came from behind. With it, the bushes rustled.
“Dammit.”
A coarse word escaped the boy’s mouth. It was truly a dilemma. Behind him was a lesser beast, and in front of him stood a madman on an indiscriminate killing spree.
No, perhaps the saying ‘a tiger in front and a wolf behind’ was more fitting.
‘It’s either kill or be killed.’
The choice of the boy, his face drenched in a cold sweat, was neither forward nor backward, but the steep mountain cliff to his right.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
With a shout, the boy threw his body to the right.
Tap!
If he was going to lose his life either way, forward or backward, he might as well leave it to fate. That was what he was thinking. He felt a strange sensation of something pulling at the back of his head.
With that, the boy's body, which had been about to fall, floated up and flew backward.
Then, Pak!
The boy’s head was caught in Mok Gyeong-un’s hand.
‘!?’
The boy’s eyes widened. What is this? He hadn’t been pulled directly by hand.
Could it be the telekinetic grasp, which allowed masters of profound internal energy to pull objects or something with their true energy?
‘…No way.’
It was unbelievable. How could this guy, who was no older than him, possess such profound true energy? Besides, their Qi gates were currently blocked by the Forbidden Gate Locks.
But how on earth did he do it? Just as he was wondering, Ggwaek ggwaek! With a pig-like squeal, a large wolf with red fur and the eyes of a rat emerged from the bushes.
Its sharp teeth, revealed in a wide gape, were stained with blood. Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un raised an eyebrow and muttered.
“What is this now?”
The boy, whose head was caught, spoke hastily in a voice full of fear.
“I told you. Something monstrous is chasing us.”
“Was that it?”
“This is no time for talk, we have to run!”
He said this, but it already seemed too late. The distance between them and the lesser beast was only about twenty to twenty-five paces. It was too close to escape from that beast, which was as fast as a horse.
Ggwaek ggwaek!
The lesser beast drooled as it walked toward them. As if certain it could catch them at any time, it slowly closed the distance, one step at a time. Feeling extreme fear at this, the boy muttered in a dazed voice.
“Damn you. This is all your fault…”
Tak!
Before the boy’s words could finish. Mok Gyeong-un let go of the boy’s head and quickly formed a hand seal.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
Soldier! Battle! Rend!
Forward!
It was the hand seal of the Nine Syllable Vitality Art.
‘What the hell is he doing?’
The boy wondered, as Mok Gyeong-un formed a square with the index and middle fingers of both hands and aimed it at the approaching lesser beast.
Then, Paaaaaaaah!
Four invisible pillars shot up around the approaching lesser beast. At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un said softly.
“Four Peaks Linked Chain Art.”
Then, faces formed between the four terrifyingly thick pillars. The boy couldn’t see it, but the lesser beast clearly saw what was blocking it, so it stopped and rolled its eyes. Then, as if deciding to force its way through, it launched its body.
Pak! Ggweoooook!
The lesser beast that had thrown itself into the barrier was flung backward.
“W-what?”
The boy couldn't understand the scene. He couldn't see anything, so why was that monstrous lesser beast acting like that? Could it be that this guy did something?
As he was thinking, Mok Gyeong-un opened his palm toward the trapped lesser beast, then made a clenching motion.
“Shrink!”
Paaaaaaaah!
At that moment, the four sides of the pillars imprisoning the lesser beast compressed, shrinking rapidly. As the space narrowed, the lesser beast, perhaps flustered, began to thrash about. Watching this lesser beast, Mok Gyeong-un clenched his hand even tighter.
Ggwaek ggwaek! Papakak!
The space in which the lesser beast was thrashing about grew smaller. It was the moment the gap had narrowed to a point where it could barely move. The lesser beast raised the red fur on its head and then let out a tremendous roar.
Ggweoooooooook!
“Ack!”
The sound was so loud that the boy covered his ears. Mok Gyeong-un endured it forcefully and tried to crush the lesser beast to death by clenching his fist, but, Jjeojeojeojeok! At that moment, cracks appeared on the four compressing faces.
Then, Chaekakakakang!
The Four Peaks Linked Chain Art shattered in an instant, and the lesser beast burst out.
‘Drat.’
When an art imbued with curse power breaks, the backlash hits the caster. Mok Gyeong-un’s form was pushed back about two steps.
Papak! Ggwaek ggwaek!
The lesser beast that burst out was agitated, crazily scratching the ground and roaring.
“Heek.”
The boy who had been covering his ears was flustered and tried to back away, pushing himself up with his hands. But the lesser beast that had burst out, contrary to its roar, stared intently at Mok Gyeong-un, then turned its body and disappeared into the bushes as if fleeing.
“Huk… huk… haa…”
The terrified boy, watching the scene, let out a sigh of relief. It was hard to believe even after experiencing it. To think he drove away such a monstrous being with such a strange method.
Just then, a voice came to his ear.
“What are you so relieved about?”
‘!?’
The boy’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly tried to get up. But it was too late. Mok Gyeong-un twisted the neck of the boy who was trying to rise.
Crack!
Once the boy was dead, Mok Gyeong-un started with the first boy he had killed and absorbed their death energy with the Binding technique. This was because the longer he waited, the more death energy was lost. Only after he had finished absorbing the death energy did he open his mouth.
“What was that red-headed wolf from just now?” -I’m not sure.
It’s the first time I’ve seen it myself, but judging by its appearance and pig-like cry, it seems to be a Horned Beast.
“Horned Beast?” -It is an evil spirit monster that inhabits the North Sea near North Tiger Mountain.
“I know it’s an evil spirit monster.”
Its appearance was completely different from that of an ordinary animal. Besides, being an evil spirit monster, it would have fallen for the occult art. Rather, he asked because seeing it break the Four Peaks Linked Chain Art, it didn't seem to be a low-rank evil spirit monster.
“Seeing it break the curse, it doesn’t seem to be of a low rank.”
Occultist Jo Ui-gong had said that the Four Peaks Linked Chain Art was originally a magic art created to eliminate vengeful spirits, so it could only handle lesser beasts of the lowest rank. The ranks of evil spirit monsters are divided into lesser beast, fierce Beast, demon beast, devil beast, spirit beast, and divine beast.
To Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Blue Spirit replied. -I believe I heard that when a Horned Beast reaches maturity, it is called a fierce Beast. However, judging by its size earlier, it is not yet an adult.
“It’s not an adult?” -That’s right.
Even so, it will be incomparably stronger than ordinary lesser beasts. It should probably be considered to have power somewhere between a lesser beast and a fierce Beast.
“I knew it.”
That seemed to be the reason why the Four Peaks Linked Chain Art had broken. It had exceeded the limits of what the magic art could handle. Against an evil spirit monster like the Horned Beast, it was merely a stalling tactic, so there seemed to be no need to use this magic art.
Mok Gyeong-un stood up and said.
“This is troublesome.” -Why?
You can’t use internal energy, and the curse you finally learned doesn’t work well, so are you suddenly scared? If that’s the case, this master…
“No. It’s not that, it seems I need to hurry.” -Hurry?
“I need to move more diligently before that evil spirit monster interferes with my meal. No, it might be better to deal with it first.” -……Ah.
So that was his perspective. His only worry was that the evil spirit monster would kill more boys than he would. Blue Spirit clicked her tongue inwardly.
Meanwhile, the group members led by Yeom-ga of the Killing Curse Valley were moving cautiously. Among them, three were grunting as they carried the iron lump at the bottom of the flag together, while the rest surrounded them closely. One of the boys carrying the iron lump said complainingly.
“Hey. We’re looking for a different kind of flag, so is there really a reason to carry this thing around? We can just break off the top part and go.”
At the boy’s complaint, Yeom-ga of Killing Curse Valley urged him on.
“Quit your whining and do as you’re told. If my guess is right, you all will have to thank me.”
At these words, the boys shook their heads. Did it make any sense that the monstrous lesser beast avoided them just because it was afraid of a flag? No matter how much they thought about it, it didn't make sense.
They thought it would be better to break the flagpole and move quickly to capture or find another flag, rather than carrying this one so inefficiently. But just as they were thinking this, a sound came from somewhere.
Ggwaek ggwaek!
Startled by the sound, they stopped in their tracks. It was undoubtedly him.
Fshhhhh!
The bushes in the northwest direction rustled, and soon the lesser beast revealed itself. Seeing this, the boys put down the flag they were carrying and were about to prepare to flee when, “Stay still.” Yeom-ga of the Killing Curse Valley stopped them.
Shouldn’t they either run away or join forces to fight? What did he mean by stay still? That was what they were thinking.
The lesser beast looked at the flag they were holding, then had a seizure, turned its body, and went back into the bushes.
“Huh?”
The lesser beast really did see the flag and avoid them. At this, Yeom-ga of the Killing Curse Valley said in a triumphant voice.
“See?”
He had confirmed that his judgment was correct. But after confirming this, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘If I play this right, I can use it.’
There were probably very few who yet knew that the flag served as protection. A sly grin formed on Yeom-ga of Killing Curse Valley's lips.