I grabbed the mask Seocheonseul had thrown off and shouted.
“Red!”
“Kiiii!”
Bauuuuuung!
Not in its usual small form, but the great body revealed to unleash its full power.
A massive white owl, large enough to carry two or three people, swoops in.
“Take Cheonggeum Daejang and get to safety!”
“Kiiii?”
“I’ll handle this.”
“Kiiii—”
“All right. Don’t worry. The twookshin are....”
I glanced toward Sunneung, where the twookshin had been holding ground, but—
“They’ve already fled. Their judgment is impeccable.”
That makes things easier.
No need to worry about guarding both Cheonggeum Daejang and his underlings.
“Fortunately, no Abyssal entity has descended.”
At first, I thought the delirium and paranoia meant an Abyssal being had appeared, but that wildly oversized tentacle is something else. It isn’t even an avatar.
[Blood Leech].
Primitive humanity would have worshipped it as a god, but that leech is merely a messenger the [Predator of the Mountains] sent for its cultists.
In other words, a small tendril?
No, weaker than that. Just a gigantic, mindless beast.
From atop the Blood Leech’s head, an unwelcome voice booms.
“Kahahahaha! Now it’s just you and me!”
Against the backdrop of the full moon, I see the elephantine silhouette.
“You truly are the most obnoxious Judger I’ve ever met.”
Ignoring me, the Gourmet Expedition’s Judger, Seonbu, bellows.
“Let’s settle this! No goblins, no twookshin! Rules changed! You and me! A duel for two! Let the victor feast on the vanquished’s flesh and bone in the purest, most primal battle!”
Gurururung!
The Blood Leech trembles in response.
An earthquake shakes all of Paju Samneung.
“You insane elephant brat! With that leech there, how can it be just the two of us?”
“This is the blessing our Captain bestowed upon me! The power that is part of me! If you defeat me, its full strength will be yours!”
“Ah, damn. Never mind.”
Arguing with a fool only makes me a fool.
‘At least with the twookshin involved I could use tactics or target weaknesses.’
Thanks to the twookshin, the courtly atmosphere of Joseon-era magic has plunged into the primordial age with that brute’s declaration.
“With the rules set, we begin! I go first!”
The massive Blood Leech raises its head to the sky and quakes.
Gururururur! Gururururur!!
“Ugh—damn!”
The Blood Leech spews an enormous torrent of blood skyward, like a volcanic eruption.
Chyarururur—
A horrific crimson downpour blankets Paju Samneung.
“Don’t you dare! You madman!”
[Your latent madness stirs, triggering delirium.]
My heartbeat quickens.
My heart feels foreign to me.
My hands feel impossibly distant. Are those really my hands?
[Willpower check... Success!]
“Kuuuu—fourth time.”
Fellow Kim Sinhwas across the nation. Let’s hang in there a little longer. You can do it. We can do it. Just hold on a bit more.
“Take this!”
Spraying blood in all directions is my worst attack, but to Seonbu, who doesn’t share my phobia, it’s mere theatrical flair.
The real attack begins now.
Chyarurururur—
The Blood Leech, bearing Seonbu on its head, swings toward me. A brutish, primitive strike.
I quickly pull out my skateboard and spring backward.
[Leap]
Kwaaaang!
“Fighting so primitively. Any ranged attack he spits out will just get swallowed and spat back.”
Crude curses or spirit magic won’t faze the Blood Leech’s raw power.
“Kahahahaha! Evaded? Next attack’s coming!”
And another mindless strike with no trick or technique.
Dodging is easy, but evasion alone won’t solve this.
Chyarurururuk—
Kwaaaang!
I leap again to dodge, then speed my skateboard to widen the gap.
Heading west.
“All right, you bastard. Let’s have the strength contest you want.”
At the western end of Paju Samneung still stands the Sain Chamjeong Sword cracking lightning.
‘First, I’ll retrieve that and buff it with fire property, then strike with full force...’
That will shatter the ley lines again, but since he demands a strength fight, it doesn’t matter.
“Kahahahaha! Where do you think you’re going! Where!”
Seonbu’s shout comes from the east.
Ugh, another attack?
Not a classic shooting game—his pattern is really that simple.
I turned to brace for his strike.
The moon hangs in the sky.
The crimson torii gates on the ground.
The Blood Leech charging with ferocious force.
On its head, the elephantine Judger.
And—far off, still flapping and cackling—two hundred chickens.
“No, no, no.”
[Leap]
Kwaaaang!
I vaulted into the air to dodge again, thinking.
Who does this bastard think he is, changing the rules? A goblin magic duel was far more advantageous to me.
“Damn it, I let his momentum distract me.”
“Kahahaha! Ho Sanghyun! What are you muttering?”
“Hey! My name is Kim Sinhwa!”
A clean landing.
I arrived at one of the three remaining crimson torii.
A pillar festooned with pig heads and entrails.
“Urgurgyeollyoyeollyeong! I command the followers of Captain Gongbira: embrace the season of harsh cold! Embrace the season of harsh cold! Embrace the season of harsh cold.”
Kadudududuk—
Frost forms on the pig-adorned torii.
Right—among the Twelve Generals, Captain Gongbira presides over winter.
I convert the frigid air released by the torii into mana and cast.
[Glacial Steel Wall]
[Spell Strengthening: Maximize]
Kadudududuk! Kadudududuk!!
An ice barrier of indomitable defense rises like a spear to the sky.
“Is that all? Do you think that can stop me?”
Kwaaang!! Kwaang!!
Reinforced by the ley line’s power, the ice wall holds firm against his assault.
“Hah, sturdier than I thought.”
With Yin-Yang Five Elements energy overflowing here, there’s no point in playing tag with him.
“Sigh—”
I exhale and survey my surroundings.
From the frigid air I forcibly drew, white breath escapes my mask’s edges.
[Mask of Carcosa] is a potent artifact, but of little use now. Its blink survival skill is on cooldown until tomorrow.
“Ugh. Still, outdoors is a pain.”
No time for such concerns.
I remove the [Mask of Carcosa] and hastily don Seocheonseul’s goblin-shaped mask.
It’s the guardian mask of Cheonggeumdang’s Captain.
Dumdumdumdumdum—
A drumbeat begins somewhere.
A brisk, cheerful sound that uplifts the spirit. Seocheonseul must have always heard this, hence his sunny disposition.
Ah, I can’t resist.
Merely wearing the mask stirs an urge to sing and dance.
Under the drum’s infectious rhythm, I utter words I’d never say otherwise.
“Eolssoo—”
Channeling magic into my skateboard, I ride nearly vertically up the ice wall.
Chyaaaaa—
With a refreshing crack, I reach the top of the ice wall in an instant.
It’s an incredible height. A glance would reveal Bongilcheon’s bustle.
“Kraaaaaa!”
Amid all this, Seonbu and the Blood Leech charge to smash the ice wall.
I shout toward them.
“Enough! You idiotic elephant brat!”
“Aha! You’ve revealed yourself again! Prepared something? Or finally steeled yourself? A head-to-head clash! Flesh against flesh, will against will, a fight to the death! Is that your resolve?”
He’s wildly excited.
Drunk on the blood he’s gathered and the absurd power of the Blood Leech, he must feel immense euphoria.
I cool his ardor with calm words.
“The Counter-Harmony Sal, forged by the twookshin to suppress Cheonggeum Daejang, vanished long ago, and the Four-Way Sal has lost its meaning tangled with other beasts’ power.”
“What are you babbling about?—”
Euphoria drains from Seonbu’s face.
“—Still want that childish goblin game?”
“Hahaha—listen to this, you thick-headed elephant! The Five-Sound Irregular Sal the twookshin created has now merged with the vigor I prepared and the power of two beasts to become the Cycle-of-Mutual-Flourishing Sal, and it’s ready!”
“I don’t know what that means! So what can it do? Grow huge? Draw lightning? Drink fire?”
“Hard to grasp, right? This is what happens borrowing strangers’ techniques.”
I extend my hand westward.
“Urgurgyeollyoyeollyeong. In Captain Cheonggeum Daejang’s stead, I command!”
Dumdumdumdumdum—
The drumbeat returns.
The mask borrowed from Seocheonseul grants me goblin power and Cheonggeumdang’s might.
“Hear me, followers of General Jindalla! Send the wood’s power you hold to the northwest!”
The followers of Jindalla are tigers.
In his absence, the Sain Chamjeong Sword quivers on its blade and rumbles.
I flick my hand northwest in a dance and call.
“Hear me, followers of Indalla! Channel the wood’s power! Cease spewing Yin fire and unleash Yang flame to the northwest!”
Wood generates fire.
And the snake followers of Indalla hold the power of resurrection and rebirth.
That rebirth power converts all the Yin qi pooled in Paju Samneung into Yang qi.
“Stop it! You brat! I don’t know your scheme, but stop!”
Kwang! Kwang! Kwaaang!
The Blood Leech slams the ice wall with heated force.
Kjijijik!
The ice wall shatters.
But beyond it lies what I prepared.
Ujijijik—Uddeududeuduk—
Massive tree trunks, hidden behind the ice wall, grow in a spectacle like a rapid-time-lapse of a jungle forming.
Ujijijik!
Trees, long suppressed by Yin qi and soaked in blood, surge up to entangle Seonbu and the Blood Leech.
“Kraaak! You think this’ll stop me!”
Ududeuduk!
“Achilles!”
[S-Rank Magitool ‘Staff of Beacon Fire’ Unique Function, ‘Binding of the Fire Followers’ activates.
// Binding of the Fire Followers: Summons and controls a ‘Living Flame’ follower for the owner.]
“Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!!”
Fire follows the trees.
“Kraaak!”
I now command both powers dwelling in this place.
Chyaaaak—
I rocket down the collapsing glacier on my skateboard.
“All right, no time—let’s do this!”
Simultaneously, I point northeast and shout.
“Urgurgyeollyoyeollyeong! Followers of Chief Chodura! Receive Yang flame and rend the earth to purify its corruption! Urgurgyeollyoyeollyeong! Followers of Chief Migira! Cry out! Drive out evil and darkness and bring about renewal!”
“K-o-k-k-i-o—!”
“K-o-k-k-i-o—!”
Two hundred roosters crow the angry call from afar.
Their cry, fueled by wicked power, stuns the Blood Leech grown on evil qi.
“A strength contest then! Strength! Enough of your goblin games!”
Ujijijik!
Seonbu rips up a massive tree and hurls it.
As soon as I hit the ground, I cast.
[Leap]
Kwaaaang!
The spot where I landed cracks.
“Last round—listen well! Urgurgyeollyoyeollyeong! Followers of Captain Gongbira! Receive the ley line’s power in the order Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water and generate Water Energy!”
At the same moment, I unleash spells at Seonbu and the Blood Leech.
[Thunderbolt]
[Great Flame]
Gurururung! Kwaaaang! Harururuk!
Lightning rips through the sky and flame erupts from the earth.
“Kraaak!”
Even now, he stubbornly catches and devours my lightning and fire.
“Ah, relentless bastard.”
“Now—now—are your goblin games finished!?”
Pajijik—Harururuk!
Lightning sparks between his teeth and red flame ripples in his breath.
Yet I feel elated.
Dumdumdumdumdum—
The distant drum calls again.
“Here’s the question!”
“What?”
“Normally the answer is to send Water Energy to Wood to complete the cycle, but I did otherwise. So what happens to the surplus Water Energy?”
“Stop your nonsense!?”
Ududeuduk! Wadudeuduk!
The Blood Leech snaps the vines binding it and charges me.
I leap again and shout.
“Red!”
“Kiiii!”
Red, clutching Cheonggeum Daejang on her three legs, swoops in.
I ride onto Red’s back and cry out.
“I gift you all the power gathered in this ley line! Urgurgyeollyoyeollyeong! Gather even the Sea God’s power within you and change this land’s weather for me!”
“Kiiiiii!!”
Red draws in the Five Element energy streaming through Paju Samneung.
[Phase Shift]
[Weather Change]
[Heavy Rain]
Gurururung!!
Kwaururururung!!
A thunderous roar as storm clouds gather.
Then, as if the sky’s ocean has burst, torrential rain pours down.
A rain of different power than Paju’s previous evil downpour.
It will wash away the wicked blood and purify the ley lines of Paju Samneung.
Unable to resist, I at last sang like Cheonggeum Daejang.
“With blessings tearing through the night and singing, the bodies buried in earth will soak in the dew!”
