Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 359 – Sacred Orb (1)

Bizarre monsters breaking through the bottom of the precipice.

They had a form reminiscent of earthworms, but what was different was that on the part that seemed to be the head, there were dozens of black eyes along with countless sharp teeth that were difficult to count, from the outside to the inside of a round mouth.

-Kwang! Kwakwakwakwang!

Although described as earthworm-like in form, their thickness was much thicker than a human’s torso, and their length appeared to be at least 6 to 8 jang.

Moreover, these monsters that suddenly sprang out were not single entities.

There seemed to be dozens of them.

‘What on earth are those?’

As Mok Gyeong-un frowned, Cheong-ryeong’s voice rang in his ears,

-They’re Earth Mole Dragons.

-Earth Mole Dragons?

Earth Mole Dragon is another name for earthworms.

Because he dealt with medicinal ingredients, his grandfather also called earthworms Earth Mole Dragons.

Of course, that wasn’t the important thing right now.

-They don’t seem to have strong spiritual power.

-Even so, they’re probably at the level of monstrous beasts. Although most evil spirits and monsters are like that, I’ve heard Earth Mole Dragons extremely dislike light and only live deep underground.

-A precipice this deep seems like a perfect place where light doesn’t enter well.

-That’s true. But the reason those things are rampaging like that is probably because of that, right? Huh?

-What do you mean?

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the sacred orb.

‘!?’

He could understand why Cheong-ryeong had such a reaction.

He saw that cracks were forming in the brightly shining sacred orb.

‘Cracks?’

Come to think of it, the light of the sacred orb had weakened considerably.

That’s why the cracked parts were clearly visible, but,

‘Ah……’

He wondered why it had cracked, but he understood the reason.

There were very small blade marks on the sacred orb.

He had tried his best to keep the blade aura from touching the sacred orb while fighting with the blade user, but it seems some of that sharp energy had touched it after all.

Mok Gyeong-un looked at the sacred orb as if troubled.

If the sacred orb breaks and shatters, it would mean their efforts in coming here were in vain.

‘For now……’

-Kuaaaaaaaa!

It was at that moment.

The Earth Mole Dragons that had broken through the ground and were thrashing about soared upwards with monstrous cries.

About a dozen stretched up simultaneously, and what they were aiming for was none other than,

‘Me?’

Two or three of the Earth Mole Dragons stretched towards the blade user, but most of these numerous creatures were stretching towards Mok Gyeong-un.

Judging by their roaring with monstrous cries, they seemed enraged.

‘Wasn’t disliking supposed to mean avoiding?’

They really hated light.

No, it was at the level of extreme hatred.

Perhaps because of this, they all aimed at him as if desperate to quickly eliminate the light of the sacred orb.

-Woowoong!

At this, Mok Gyeong-un raised his demonic energy and unleashed black sword energy.

Unlike in the past, now these evil spirits and monsters at the level of monstrous beasts were not something he couldn’t handle no matter how many there were.

After raising sword energy like this, he aimed his sword at the stretching Earth Mole Dragons, pulling it back.

It was at that moment.

-Hwareureureureuk!

Along with a heat so intense it felt scorching, a huge flame blazed up.

Puzzled by this, he looked in that direction and saw that the blade user’s entire body was covered in a blazing huge flame.

‘His body is enveloped in flames?’

What kind of sorcery is this?

As he was wondering about this, the blade user shouted as if for Mok Gyeong-un to hear:

“Watch closely, Cheonma. This is my true power!”

With that shout, the blade user unleashed an ultimate technique made of flames towards the Earth Mole Dragons rushing towards him.

‘Fourth technique, Blade Extreme Wave Force – Fire!’

-Hwareureureuk! Chwachwachwachwachwachwacha!

Blade energy imbued with flames crashed down on the Earth Mole Dragons like a huge tidal wave.

For the Earth Mole Dragons, flames were truly their antithesis.

As the flaming blade energy mercilessly cut through the bodies of the Earth Mole Dragons, they screamed bizarre cries as they burned in the fire energy.

-Keukakakakakakakas!

The momentum of the blade technique imbued with fire energy was so strong that the Earth Mole Dragons were helplessly overwhelmed.

But then, a coincidental event occurred.

-Keuweoeoeoeo!

-Kwakwakwakwas!

The many Earth Mole Dragons that had been rushing towards Mok Gyeong-un because of the sacred orb’s light all suddenly changed direction towards the blade user.

Not only that, but even the Earth Mole Dragons that had still been on the ground also soared upwards.

‘No!?’

This wasn’t intentional.

However, coincidentally, the blazing flames emitted an even stronger light than the sacred orb, and this was enough to stimulate the Earth Mole Dragons.

He could easily handle two or three, but when this many Earth Mole Dragons entangled and surged like a wave, even the blade user would have trouble dealing with all of them.

-Papapapapapak!

‘Oh no!’

Individually, they weren’t evil spirits and monsters that were difficult to handle.

But not only were there many of them, their pushing force and momentum as they entangled and surged was tremendous.

As a result, the blade user, who had been wielding flaming blade energy, was unable to withstand their surging momentum and ended up being swept away by the group of Earth Mole Dragons.

-Pak!

Mok Gyeong-un, who was hanging by sticking his sword into the wall, smiled slightly as he watched this scene.

If he hadn’t raised fire energy saying he would use his full power, this wouldn’t have happened, should one say he’s unlucky?

It was truly a case of self-entrapment.

Mok Gyeong-un looked down.

He could see the ground at the end of the precipice.

Thinking he couldn’t keep hanging on the cliff wall forever, Mok Gyeong-un decided he should go down, so he pulled out his sword and launched his body downwards.

As it was only about twenty zhang, he slowly descended while controlling air resistance with true qi,

-Tak!

And landed on the ground.

After coming down to the ground like this, the ground wriggled and the few remaining Earth Mole Dragons revealed themselves.

Most of the individuals had rushed to the blade user, and the few remaining ones seemed to be young Earth Mole Dragons that hadn’t fully grown yet.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un was about to raise strong energy to deal with them, but

-Kuaaaaa!

Even if they were not fully grown Earth Mole Dragons, they were still much larger and longer than humans, so they were equally threatening.

The Earth Mole Dragons rushed towards Mok Gyeong-un with monstrous cries.

But the Earth Mole Dragons approaching nearby suddenly started trembling.

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes glinted with interest as he was gauging the distance.

Why are they suddenly acting like this?

As he was wondering, the Earth Mole Dragons suddenly lowered their bodies and began to retreat, crawling on the ground.

‘What’s going on?’

-They’re afraid.

“You say they’re afraid?”

-……Don’t you know why?

At Cheong-ryeong’s words, Mok Gyeong-un suddenly pulled out an accessory he was wearing at his waist.

As he pulled this out, the Earth Mole Dragons that had been flinching and retreating gave up even being wary and completely turned their bodies, digging into the ground.

-Kwareureureureuru!

Seeing their behavior, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the accessory.

This was an accessory that the White-faced King, the Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox, had made for him using the fur from its cut tail.

She had said that with this, he wouldn’t have to deal with most evil spirits and monsters, and it seems that wasn’t just empty talk.

Al-yu, the demonic beast trapped in Shaolin’s Demon Subduing Cave, perhaps because it was of high rank and possessed intelligence, tried to use the Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox’s spiritual power while fearing it.

But the Earth Mole Dragons, perhaps because they were low-ranking monstrous beasts, seemed rather true to their instincts.

“It’s quite useful.”

-Well…… I suppose so.

Watching them escape into the ground, Mok Gyeong-un put his precious sword Evil Commandment Sword back into its scabbard.

-Chak!

Cheong-ryeong then said to him:

-But how did you enter that state of deep concentration earlier? Could it be because of that sacred orb?

At her question, Mok Gyeong-un pulled out Ou Woon-seong’s severed hand that was stuck on Plundering-killing Sword.

The sacred orb that the severed hand was grasping had cracks in it.

It seemed like it might break at any moment if handled carelessly.

“I’m not sure. I suddenly entered the mind’s eye state.”

-Suddenly, you say?

“Yes.”

-That’s strange. I don’t understand how you entered that state of deep concentration when you’re not the chosen one that old woman or that girl mortal talked about. So what did you see?

“Yes.”

-What did you see?

“……A possible distant future.”

-A possible distant future? Then you say you saw revelations, no, future events?

“I don’t know. Since it’s a future that might happen.”

-If it’s the future, what happened?

She asked out of curiosity.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and answered:

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem like I saw what I really wanted to see, and it seems to have shown too distant a future, so it seems useless.”

-You say it seems useless?

“Yes…… Well, not all of it.”

Mok Gyeong-un couldn’t forget that scene he saw at the end.

It brought a shock close to ecstasy.

Seeing that one thing alone was enough.

Then Cheong-ryeong said:

-I don’t know how you came to see such things, but it seems you need that girl mortal’s power to see what you really want.

“That’s true, but……”

The state of the sacred orb wasn’t very good.

It had cracks and seemed like it might break if handled even slightly wrong.

Moreover, the energy flowing out of the sacred orb along with the bright light was gradually weakening.

Looking at its state, it seemed like it would soon lose its power as an object.

-For now, mortal, hide that. No, I’ll manifest and take that up the cliff.

“You, Cheong-ryeong?”

-Yes. Look at where the Earth Mole Dragons are. How long do you think they can hold out?

-Kuguugugugu!

Red fire energy was flowing out from between the entangled monstrous Earth Mole Dragons.

Although he was swept away because there were so many, the blade user would soon break out of there.

-I don’t know what that monster-like mortal’s identity is, but it seems he has consumed the true sources of beings called spirit beasts.

“Spirit beasts?”

Suddenly, Mok Gyeong-un recalled what Dam Baek-hwa, the Blood Saint of the Nine Blood Sect, had said and what he had seen in the Book of Mountains and Seas Strange Beasts.

Unlike evil spirits and monsters born from the gathering of yin energy, spirit beasts were beings formed by the gathering of natural energy and pure spiritual power.

A typical example is the dragon, which has been called the most sacred being since ancient times.

“Ah!”

-Why do you say that?

“……It seems to be that person.”

-That person?

“The peerless expert who appeared on that day of great calamity and used strange blade techniques.”

Dam Baek-hwa, the Blood Saint of the Nine Blood Sect, had faced the rampaging spirit beast Dragon Turtle, and in the process, a blade expert of unknown identity appeared and finished off the weakened Dragon Turtle, taking its true source.

Dam Baek-hwa, who had consumed just a little of the spirit beast’s blood, didn’t age and gained lightning energy.

-I see. That guy could indeed be the one that woman from the Nine Blood Sect mentioned.

From lightning energy to incredible regenerative power.

These weren’t abilities that an ordinary human could possess.

Surely, that person must have absorbed the Dragon Turtle’s true source.

No, it might not be just one.

-Seeing that he handles fire energy in addition to lightning energy, he must have obtained the true source of another spirit beast as well. Probably the Fire Qilin.

Fire Qilin.

That too is a legendary spirit beast.

This being, said to have been born in hot lava, is also called the incarnation of flames.

Come to think of it, Ten-thousand men Commander So Ye-rin said that on the day of great calamity, a Fire Qilin appeared in the imperial capital of Kaifeng and turned the place into a wasteland.

‘Just how many true sources has he eaten?’

Although he had seen the years he had lived and possible future events through the sacred orb, he was still a being full of questions.

-Kwajik! Hwareureureru!

At that moment, someone sprang up as flames soared from among the Earth Mole Dragons.

It was the blade user.

He thought he wouldn’t last long, but he had managed to break out from there.

-Kwadeuk!

At that moment, Cheong-ryeong broke the wooden puppet and manifested.

She, who had come out after a long time, reached out her hand to Mok Gyeong-un.

-It’s about time. If you fight with that, it will surely break. Hand it over to me.

“I suppose we should.”

Thinking her words were right, Mok Gyeong-un then carefully tried to open the fingers of the severed wrist stuck on the precious sword Plundering-killing Sword to take out the sacred orb.

It was the moment his hand touched the cracked sacred orb like this.

***

‘!?’

Mok Gyeong-un frowned.

The world changed to a state of nothingness again.

In an instant, he had fallen into deep concentration again and entered the world of the mind’s eye.

‘There’s no time for this.’

Mok Gyeong-un focused his mind and tried to escape from the state of deep concentration.

But at that moment, a strange thing happened before his eyes.

-Hwareureureureureuk!

Black flames began to blaze in the space where there had been nothing.

Why is this phenomenon of flames burning black, not reddish or scarlet?

As he was wondering about this strangeness,

The black flames suddenly began to swirl.

-Whiiiiiii!

As it swirled like this, the flames gradually gathered in one place.

Then eventually, the gathered black flames began to take on a form, and it took on a human shape.

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes glinted with interest as he watched this.

This was because the appearance of the being that had taken on a human form was none other than himself.

‘……What is this now?’

Why is his own appearance suddenly visible?

As he was wondering, the being created from the gathered black flames that had taken on his appearance suddenly approached.

‘What’s going on?’

Is this just a simple illusion?

Unlike when he entered the mind’s eye earlier, this being born from black flames and having the same appearance as himself seemed to be aware of him.

Then this being opened its mouth.

-So that appearance is the result of your choice.

‘……Are you talking to me?’

-Yes. Who else do you think I’m talking to?

At these words from the being, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes were instantly filled with wariness.

He had thought it was different from a simple illusion, and it really was recognizing him and speaking.

At this reaction from Mok Gyeong-un, the being with the same appearance as him smiled slightly and said:

-Interesting. Although the result can’t be helped, for something you desired so much, it’s quite an imperfect appearance. Or is it because you’ve become an imperfect being?

‘……What on earth are you talking about?’

-I’m talking about your choice, no, our choice.

‘Our?’

Mok Gyeong-un’s mind became confused by this being’s words.

He couldn’t understand at all what it was saying.

-What do you mean by ‘our’?

To that question, the being approached and said:

-Well. Isn’t that a question you should ask your closed self?

‘My closed self?’

-Yes. The fact that you closed yourself is ultimately your own choice. It doesn’t seem to be an area I should interfere with.

‘You’ve been talking about choice this and that, but what on earth are you saying? If you know something, can’t you explain it properly?’

-Even if you closed yourself, you are also me. Of course, I could answer your questions, but there’s no time for that.

‘What do you mean by that?’

-The cracks are spreading rapidly. The fragment will soon disappear.

‘!?’

By fragment, does it mean the sacred orb?

Then the being walked right up to him and said:

-Hurry. Already nearly half the energy has been lost due to the cracks.

‘What on earth……’

-Tak!

At that moment, the being reached out its hand towards Mok Gyeong-un.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un tried to move his body to avoid it, but he couldn’t move as if something was restraining him.

In the meantime, the being placed its palm in the center of Mok Gyeong-un’s chest.

-Hwareureureuk!!

At that moment, the being resembling himself was enveloped in black flames.

What on earth is it trying to do?

As he was wondering, the being smiled and said in a meaningful voice:

-I am a fragment of the core. Just a piece of you.