“Ko-kkio!!”
“Ko-kko-kko-!!”
At the eastern edge of Paju Samneung, the premature rooster calls spread out.
“What the—!?”
“Why chickens!?”
“What is that? What can a chicken do?”
Confusion rippled through the Gourmet Expeditionary Force’s cultists.
Yes, not tigers or bears, only chickens.
What can chickens do?
For one, they can make sounds both dokkaebi and Dueoksini detest.
“Ko-kkio!!”
“Ko-ook! Kko-kko-kko! Ko-reureu, kko-kko!!”
A slightly absurd {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} situation?
Yet the sight of two hundred enraged fighting cocks flapping their wings and surging westward was a spectacle in itself—and a terror beyond imagining for the Dueoksini.
“Gyaaah!”
“Chickens! Chickens! The retinue of General Migira!”
“The day is breaking! The sun rises!”
Sunrise was still far off.
But the Dueoksini, as if afflicted with ailurophobia, went berserk and fled westward en masse.
“What are you idiots doing!? They’re just chickens!”
A shout erupted somewhere. Cultists of the Gourmet Expeditionary Force strove to calm the panicked Dueoksini.
Again, they were just chickens.
Brave chickens couldn’t single-handedly destroy Dueoksini.
All that was needed was a momentary diversion.
At the precise moment when Dueoksini and cultists alike were thrown into chaos, the avatar of Greed, watching from even farther east, moved westward.
“Now’s our chance! Seize that fucking stronghold!”
“Let’s go! Cheongeumdang is on our side!”
Yeomgeumja and her underlings rushed westward.
There lay Sunneung, the easternmost tomb of Paju Samneung.
“Fuck! Look at these snakes!”
“Uagh! How can this be!”
Rough curses burst forth at the sight of snakes covering Sunneung.
They were criminals and gangsters at life’s lowest ebb, but even they were Confucian-nation citizens.
Even if once they’d dismissed Paju Samneung as a worthless park eating away at land value, no one from Bongilcheon would be ignorant of it.
Their anger at cultists desecrating the place they’d known since childhood was inevitable.
Perhaps sensing their rage, Yeomgeumja the leader urged her subordinates on.
“What are you waiting for, idiots! Throw them—quick!”
Or maybe she just lost her temper as usual.
“Y-yeah! Just throw—hurry!”
They hurled fist-sized, glinting objects westward toward Sunneung.
Portable devices anyone could use—universal exorcism tools.
Kwaaaang!
“Explosion!”
“What the—!?”
The quickest way to fill deficient yang energy?
Since ancient times our people used cannons and gunpowder.
The Bongilcheon gangsters threw the mana-crystal bombs I’d distributed in advance.
With a single explosion, Yeomgeumja and her men cleared the snakes entangled around Sunneung, then held their ground in siege.
Behind them a tomb.
Ahead, two hundred chickens.
The gangsters, having seized this bizarre perch in history, unleashed rocket launchers and submachine guns westward.
Between bursts, the cracks of mana bombs.
Under their boisterous assault, the Dueoksini—already retreating westward—were pushed still farther.
“Damn it. Is this really okay?”
Yeomgeumja muttered with a worried look.
Though they’d staged a satisfying spectacle, the shock rattling Dueoksini and cultists would soon fade.
Once they counterattack, these gangsters wouldn’t hold for a moment.
After all, their only fortress was a flock of chickens.
‘But even chickens serve as a sufficient symbol.’
I don’t know how this turned into an Eastern-themed event—
“Well then, I’ll lean into the theme too.”
I swung the Sain Chamjeong Sword, gathering mana.
“Retinue of General Migira possess Metal energy, so: Geupgeupyeoyuryul! Form the cycle Metal generates Water and channel your vigor to my companion Bokjo the Owl, who wields Water energy!”
It was not magic nor incantation, but a mere command.
Under normal conditions, such words would be meaningless, but within this barrier shaped by Dueoksini efforts—where reality and reason bowed to dream and delusion—this place became, perhaps, akin to Guiro’s realm: Paju Samneung, capable of extraordinary phenomena.
Giiiiiiiing!!
My will radiated through the sword toward the chickens.
It guided the yang energy and Metal qi stirred by two hundred roosters in one direction.
“Redbean! Push them back! To the west!”
A colossal white owl with four wings and three tails ascended, soaring westward from Paju Samneung’s easternmost edge.
“Kiiiii!”
A few deranged cultists lunged at Redbean.
“How dare a beast impede our great work!”
“Seize it! Drag it down!”
Futile gestures—this area was the furthest edge of Paju Samneung.
The few guards posted here could not halt Redbean.
Bawoooom! Chaaahhh!
Four mighty wings summoned a storm, while water-imbued magic streaked from its beak and triple talons.
Kwarrrr!
The Dueoksini and cultists—already pushed west—were driven farther east.
“S-stop! Over here! Here—!”
A shriek from a Dueoksini.
Those driven to the very center of Paju Samneung faced a truly horrific monster.
“Bahahaha— come, come! Let your laughter ring endless! Laugh yourself to death with no regrets!”
The golden dokkaebi—Master Cheon—was laying waste to the ritual site.
“Well done, Redbean! Now leave them to Master Cheon and clear the snakes at Yeongneung!”
“Kiiiii!”
Redbean flew toward Yeongneung.
Seeing this, Master Cheon, in range, swooped and shouted.
“Yes! How thrilling! Sound the drums!”
Dum dum dum dum dum—
Though no player was present, the beat of drums echoed.
“There, there, there— is Geumgangsan over there? Stretch out your legs!”
Kwahjjijik!
With each stomp of Master Cheon’s foot, a Dueoksini was folded in half and felled—
“U-huyara— nehe— hoo—!”
Kwarrrr!
Each somersault flipped two Dueoksini into the ground—
“Eoh— countless gold and countless wealth! Shall I strike with gold or strike with wealth!”
Kwaaaang!
With each swing of the Diamond Vajra, three Dueoksini were flung skyward.
Power enough to rend sky and earth.
Yet they were mere Dueoksini.
If body was destroyed, a head charged in; if a head was split, a body crawled forward.
“There’s nowhere left to run or hide!”
“Fight!” “Attack!”
“Seize it!” “Kill it!”
They lunged like beasts sensing their final prey.
“Bahahahaha— come on, let’s see you try!”
Kwaaaang!
Master Cheon struck the ground and rocketed into the sky.
“Dueoksini who abandoned Cheongeumdang! Foolish Mr. Kims enslaved to the Blood Demon King! No matter how many flips you perform, you stand beneath Master Cheon’s feet!”
Master Cheon’s command, steeped in illusion.
The Dueoksini and cultists made the error of looking up at him.
His golden eyes shone more brilliantly than the full moon.
And his form expanded to blot out the dark night sky.
“Bahahahaha! You tiny pests! I will trample you into dust!”
A foot larger than clouds descended toward the cultists.
“Keep your eyes open! Don’t look at the sky!”
“It’s Master Cheon’s illusion!”
“Bahahaha— too late!”
As if he’d summoned lightning from the heavens, an immense radiance poured from Master Cheon.
Kwaaaaang!!
It was not lightning, but the sheer force of the Diamond Vajra swung east to west.
“Kraaaak!”
A Dueoksini struck by the Vajra flew westward.
Kwaang!
It slammed into Gongneung, on Paju Samneung’s western edge.
“Keeeee—”
Its neck twisted 180 degrees, face to the ground, left chest and shoulder crushed, and body below the waist gone.
Yet the Dueoksini pulled itself upright.
“What, what is this?”
Regaining some consciousness, it stared at the bizarre creature before it.
Kkikikik—
It was an alarm clock, a game console, a rabbit doll, glass shards, clockwork, old telephone, coiled wires, a crushed soda can, glass bottles, metal badges, bottle caps, a rocket-shaped toy, a steering wheel—every junk object a Dueoksini might name in one breath.
“Junk pile?”
Hm, quite an apt term.
Kkikikik—
“M-moving? You... junk-monster!?”
Of course it could speak.
“Achilles!”
Kkikikikik—
Achilles turned its head toward me, to the west.
Tigers correspond to Wood and bear yang energy.
Just as I empowered Redbean.
‘There are no living tigers here, but something similar exists.’
Following Wood-generates-Fire, Achilles was imbued with immense Fire qi.
“Yes, Achilles! Burn every snake around there!”
Hwarrurrurr—
Flames from Achilles incinerated the snakes entwining Gongneung.
A Dueoksini shrieked in horror and shouted toward Paju Samneung’s western edge—my direction.
“M-Mr. Kim! This is our Dueoksini magic! How dare you steal and use our ritual! You cowardly, wicked thieves!”
“What? Who’s calling whom a thief?”
Seo Cheonseul would be furious to hear that.
This ritual belonged originally to dokkaebi and to Cheongeumdang.
No further reply was needed.
Hwarrurrurr—
Achilles’ flames consumed that Dueoksini as well.
“Now we’ve cleared Sunneung and Gongneung.”
And farther off, to the south of Paju Samneung.
At Yeongneung, Redbean stirred water and wind to drive off the remaining snakes.
“They’ve cleared all the snakes covering the tombs.”
This was enough.
Yang energy was restored, rebalancing yin and yang;
Elements were replenished, achieving Five-Element harmony.
And the rightful masters of the earth veins freed from serpentine bondage— the Dueoksini’s ritual was on the brink of collapse.
“Good. Next—”
I raised the Sain Chamjeong Sword again, targeting one point in Paju Samneung.
The four torii gates marking strategic sites.
Grotesque symbols adorned with ox, snake, sheep, and pig carcasses.
“If I destroy those, this’ll be nearly over.”
And they were the core of the Dueoksini’s barrier.
Giiiiiiing—
Mana radiated from the sword skyward, forming a pure white magic circle.
Those must not be shattered carelessly. They required destruction in a set order to avoid unforeseen side effects.
“First, the sheep.”
Urrr—rrr—
[White Thunder]
Kwaaaang!
Mana condensed, converted, and amplified above the clouds, bursting forth as a white lightning bolt of immense destructive power.
The torii festooned with sheep’s heads and entrails crumbled instantly.
Urrr—rrr—kwarr—rrr—
Mana danced across the skies like a dragon.
Yes, go further—
I waited until the sky-tossed mana converged at the right point, then cast again.
“Second, the ox—”
[White Thunder]
Kwaaaang!
Lightning poured down onto the torii entwined with ox carcasses.
[System: Feast Offering Trait activates.]
At that moment, a burly cultist leapt atop the torii. Damn! It’s him again!?
A bizarrely mutated, elephant-faced behemoth with absurd size and superhuman strength.
“Today’s... tre-asure... feast!!!?”
The Expeditionary Force’s judge, Seonbu, performed a spectacle of drawing the lightning into his mouth and devouring it.
He made no careless slips.
He focused mana precisely, summoned it with meticulous calculation, then unleashed the spell.
Yet he swallowed the entire bolt.
“Khaaaah! Hot, so hot! Arrgh! I’m gonna die!”
The elephant-headed judge Seonbu flailed in ridiculous agony.
Though he screamed about dying, he showed no signs of imminent death.
“Damn, he ate fire at noon, now lightning at night?”
He couldn’t have heard my voice, yet he shouted with tremendous ferocity in my direction.
“So we meet again, Hosanghyun!”
Ho... what?
“Is that elephant bastard doing it on purpose?”
