[Dramatic remodeling] hit the [Hungry Manor].
It means every wall that once divided the second floor collapsed, and most of the first-floor ceiling and the second-floor floor vanished.
“Wow, the living room got bigger!”
Everyone, look at this.
Isn’t it great how the sightlines open up once you turn the living room into a mezzanine?
“Hey! It’s caving in here!”
[Right Hand of the Creator God]
Rrrrrrrrumble!
Walls and pillars surge up at once and reinforce.
Screeeeeeee—
Necromantic golems brace the building’s key points while sucking down my mana.
Damn it. Considering what happened in that short window inside the [Hungry Manor], it should’ve already come down.
“Sanghyun, not the kitchen! The meat I was trimming!”
Heo Sanghyun’s ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ cry keeps coming, desperate.
“Ugh, don’t worry! Hey—mutts, you hear me? You can’t touch anything for the guests’ meal tonight!”
At my shout, necromantic golems sprint to Heo Sanghyun’s side.
Kkiririririk—
I turned the other necromantic golems to pure building defense since they can only make physical attacks anyway—but exactly two of them
can
use magic.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
With a graceful ballet pose—and a necromantic scream packed with spellcraft—the golden necromantic golem lets loose.
And—
Kkiririririk—
[The unique function ‘Binding of the Fire Vassals’ of the S-rank magic tool ‘Beacon Staff’ activates.
// Binding of the Fire Vassals: Grants the owner the ability to summon and command the vassals of ‘living flame’.]
“Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!!”
“Uhraaaaaaaaaa!!!”
Fireblobs go berserk, rampaging.
The dog-form necromantic golem, Achilles.
“Ah, this is chaos.”
“It’s always been like this around you. Always.”
“And whose fault is that right now!”
One lucky point: these things only target [Time Traveler]s or [Regressor]s.
Strictly speaking, only people who carry the penalty trait [Prey of Tindalos].
So unless you get caught in the crossfire, there’s no need to worry about Heo Sanghyun or Jang Hyundeok taking direct attacks.
However—
“Krweeeeeeek!”
A disgusting tongue and filthy teeth lunge for me.
[Blink]
Tswap!
Right. I’ve got the [Prey of Tindalos] trait too.
I time-traveled to fix what happened in Sokcho.
“Let’s see—looks like they’re all here now?”
My sensing picks up the number of monsters ravaging the [Hungry Manor].
So far, thirty.
And just now—one more joined.
Thirty-one!
Ah, that was work.
“Now we can finally move to the next phase.”
“Hey, was sending that guy up to the attic supposed to mean something? Tell me this isn’t a psychotic break and actually a plan. A real plan.”
“Ah—have a little faith! Remember the trust I built with future Kim Sinhwa?”
“That’s exactly why I can’t trust you! Aagh! Catch me!”
[Fireball] [Ghastly Strike] [Summon Necrobug]
[Chain Lightning] [Cold Breath]
[Invisible Hand]
I fired attacks in five directions at once and tugged Gong Isu in with telekinesis when he failed to dodge.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
The [Hounds of Tindalos] shriek.
Kwooooooom!
Ah, hell. My vintage sofa!
“I didn’t expect you to ‘enter’ like that, so it’s a tad off, but I’ve prepared everything.”
Just needs a little fine-tuning.
“Looks like I’ll have to let myself be fooled again.”
“Ha! Fooled you!—Aagh! I was kidding, don’t lightning me!”
While I fought off the flooding [Hounds of Tindalos], I sent intent to Jang Hyundeok in the attic.
“Hyundeok, how do you feel right now?”
— I’m mad you tricked me, Wizard. You should’ve told me what this was! I got my hopes up for nothing!
By now Jang Hyundeok knows what’s going on. I needed to send him up while he was still clear-headed.
“Haha, it was that kind of surprise. You jumped, right? Anyway—can you do it?”
— Auntie’s explaining it to me. Hm... I think... I might be able to...
“Hey, I told you to practice!”
— I did practice!
“Then do it! No rehearsal—we need a one-shot success!”
“What are you doing?! Don’t zone out!”
Gong Isu plants his right hand on the floor and triggers his ability.
[Right Hand of the Creator God]
Wrrrrrrrrumble!
The floor under my feet rockets up and turns into a tall dais in an instant.
“Hyatchacha—! Ah, that startled me.”
A [Hound of Tindalos] smashes its head on the dais.
Kwooooooom!
“Got you, you bastard!”
[Sanctify]
[Flame Step]
Fwooooooooosh!!
Light and flame vent through my toes as the medium.
“Khwirrrrrrrrk!”
Along with the [Hound of Tindalos]’s scream comes another message boring into my head.
— We’re set! Kkumul too!
“Good. Nice, dramatic platform.”
Standing on the dais, I switched the left hand holding the Sainchamjeong Sword to tentacle mode.
Shlaaaaaaash!
A bundle of snake-like tentacles whips the Sainchamjeong Sword in every direction. But that alone won’t cut it.
“Punch a hole in your space for me!”
“Where and how big?”
“Somewhere good, just right, and pretty!”
“Why do you always—!”
Gong Isu fumed, but it seems he figured out roughly what I’m going for.
Kiiiiiii—
A neatly sized dimensional rift opens in midair.
“Perfect! I love it.”
I sliced the rift with the [Sainchamjeong Sword] and cast.
[Sword Realm: Sainchamjeong Sword]
Shlaaaaaaash!
For things that ignore the laws of reality, the best answer is power that exceeds those laws.
Power from the rift pours out—the might of the sword realm.
Normally, pure cutting force would be enough, but—
‘For enemies with the [Ignore Physical Attacks] trait, you need another force.’
So I layered the concept of [Sword] with [Tiger], with [Soul], and with [Flame].
Grrrrrrrr—
Ink-dark sword shadows radiate from the rift in all directions. Flame blooms like flowers. The tiger’s soul branches out and grows.
Raking and tearing—and then burning and devouring—the power of the Sainchamjeong Sword blankets the interior of the [Hungry Manor].
“Krueeeeek!”
“Even you lot can tell this is bad news, right?”
It’s sword nature enhanced with necromancy and flame.
Sensing that force, the [Hounds of Tindalos] dodged in outlandish ways—but that’s exactly the reaction I wanted.
“Gathered so pretty!”
I shifted the foot planted on the dais to a specific bearing—and cast the spell I learned through the [Bongam Codex].
[Immovable Seal]
[Spell Boost: Multi Cast]
Tzzzzzzzt!
Thirty-one monsters snap-bound to space in a surreal fashion. I can’t hold them long.
What about Jang Hyundeok?
I stretched my senses—checked the attic.
The attic was still dark, but items that weren’t usually there had been arranged.
A wide folding screen. A quickly assembled table set with ritual food. Luxurious five-color cloths.
A ritual table Heo Sanghyun scrambled to prepare last night.
Facing the table, Jang Hyundeok raised a fan and bells.
“Ugh—really not confident about this.”
He muttered a few more complaints, then took a long, serious intonation.
“Huuuuuuuu—”
Kiiiiiiiii—
Golden mana pours from his whole body. Abstract petals bloom with the mana. His hair shoots long in an instant.
“Blue Emperor Bird King of the East— Red Emperor Bird King of the South— White Emperor Bird King of the West— Black Emperor Bird King of the North— Yellow Emperor Bird King at the center. We offer devotion before the great hall of the Eighty-Four Thousand Sea Emperors. Mm—”
Jang Hyundeok goes “Mm—” as he blanks on the chant for a moment, then speaks again.
“Behold— I mean, I haven’t learned much and I don’t know much— so I might be a bit lacking, but isn’t it pretty devoted of me to wake up and do all this? The ritual table— this— mm, I think Sanghyun set it up, and wow, impressive. Doesn’t it look delicious? Couldn’t get a hog’s head, so it looks like a whole roast suckling pig went up instead. A round of applause, please. In your mercy— descend upon us— descend— descend—”
Ah, I’m going to lose it.
[Demon-Sealing Array]
What? That actually triggers?
Kiiiiiiiii—
The power of the [Demon-Sealing Array] spreads outward.
“Kid, that Jang Hyundeok fellow is impressive.”
“First time seeing Jang Hyundeok?”
“No, first time seeing him like that.”
Hmph, that’s one more question for later.
But Jang Hyundeok’s [Demon-Sealing Array] is unstable.
This isn’t like last time where the [Guardian of Bongam Hall] possessed him—he triggered it purely with his own ability—and the chant was a mess.
He probably couldn’t have activated it without the [Living Altar] trait.
I raised my mana to complete the half-baked [Demon-Sealing Array].
Kiiiiiiiii—
A magic circle of East-Asian motifs and hanja-like figures.
[Demon-Sealing Array]
[Spell Boost: Maximize]
[System: ‘Demon-Sealing Array’ has activated. Select a medium for the seal.]
“Kkumul!”
Kwarrrrrrumble!
A huge hole opens in the attic floor—and something enormous surfaces.
“What is that? You were keeping that thing?”
Kkumul has grown so huge it’s practically a dragon, and it yawns wide.
While I focused on the [Demon-Sealing Array]—
[Left Hand of the Destroyer God]
[Right Hand of the Creator God]
Tzuzuzuzuzut—
Gong Isu’s head reshapes into a big camera.
Click! Pow!
With the pop of a flash comes the sound of a photo being taken.
“What did you shoot?”
“A close inspection. Hm—did you put a piece of an abyssal entity into that worm? The attributes don’t match.”
I fed Kkumul—who I hadn’t had time to care for—the [Camouflage] of the [Scaled Stratagem].
Thanks to that, it gained the potent power to swallow anything.
I set Kkumul’s belly as the sealing site—and completed the rite.
Fwoooooooosh—
The [Hounds of Tindalos] get vacuumed into Kkumul’s mouth as if by a giant vacuum cleaner.
“Krweeeeeeeek!”
“Kririririririk!”
They thrashed to resist, but with the doubled [Demon-Sealing Array]—and even the [Intestines] and [Stomach] of the [Scaled Stratagem] brought to bear—it was a massive ritual.
Tzzzzzzzzzzzt!
[You have completed the quest.
Reward: 1,000,000 XP (per head) + critical information + the favor of ‘/null Head’.]
[You have sealed all the trackers sent from Tindalos. The denizens of Tindalos will remember your name.]
Hm. So my popularity climbs by the day.
I ignored the message window’s scroll of info and looked at Gong Isu.
“Done. They’ll probably send more hounds from Tindalos again... but thanks to this, we can stretch our legs and sleep for a while.”
“You’ve become Kim Sinhwa Who Repaid the Favor.”
Anyway, Gong Isu’s problem is handled for now.
But thanks to it...
Thud!
Furniture topples sideways.
Ugh. What a mess.
The household is completely devastated.
“I’ll fix it.”
“No. I can do it.”
“Kid, we each have our specialties, right? If I do it, you’ll spend a tenth of the effort you’d need. And... I’m doing it because I’m grateful.”
Hmm—can I leave it to him?
I did just say Kim Sinhwa Who Repaid the Favor a second ago, but there were parts of Gong Isu’s words and deeds that felt fishy...
Then I notice Heo Sanghyun, wearing the face of a man who’s lost his country.
“...Let’s ask for just the frame. The furniture and the rest have restoration magic on them—leave them and they’ll fix themselves.”
“Good. That much is simple.”
“Thank you. By the way, can you eat?”
“I can—huh? We eating?”
“Yes. I defended the kitchen with my life.”
“It’s fine. I don’t have to eat.”
Saying I don’t have to eat means I can, huh.
“You can’t skip it.”
“I can’t?”
“This is the [Hungry Manor], remember?”
“So what?”
“If we send a guest away hungry, our butler will scold us, so sit tight and eat.”
“Hm...”
Gong Isu stalls way too dramatically, stares at me for a long while—(whatever sensory organ he’s using to look at me)—then answers.
“Alright. Thanks for the invitation.”
“Don’t mention it.”
