You Admit It, Right?

The investigation team had expected an uproar when they reached the Murim Alliance.
After all, the existence of yokai had been revealed.
However, when the investigation team actually arrived, no one had any attention to spare for them.
Confused, the investigation team headed to the Strategist Department to deliver their report.
There, they learned why.
Scholars hurried back and forth.
At the center of the commotion, Strategist Jegal Tae was reviewing documents with a weary expression.
The problem was the enormous head beside him.
A head resembling that of a mosquito.
Jegal Tae raised his head and looked at the investigation team.

“Welcome back. I received word that the prisoners were handed over. You have all done excellent work.”
“Strategist. That is…”
“Ah, the Tang Clan sent that. It is the leader of the mosquito yokai. Sichuan nearly ended up overrun by those creatures.”
“What?”

The group’s eyes widened at the unexpected news.
The leader of the mosquito yokai?
Tang Un-jeok, who came from the Tang Clan, was particularly shocked.

“What in the world happened…?”
“The Tang Clan is safe, so don’t worry. Tang Ho held them off admirably.”

Tang Ho was one of Tang Un-jeok’s relatives.
Just as Tang Un-jeok was about to speak again, Jegal Tae spoke first.

“Hmm? Where are Namgung Hyeok and Taoist Gyo?”
“They went to receive treatment for their injuries.”
“Injuries. Of all times.”
Jegal Tae clicked his tongue.

“More importantly, what exactly happened here?”

Unable to contain himself, Moyong Hwi asked. The others felt much the same.
Upon closer inspection, the head was not the only thing present.
The corpse of a mosquito larger than a grown adult lay on one side of the Strategist Department.
However, Jegal Tae shook his head.

“This is not what matters right now.”

Yokai had appeared, yet he claimed that wasn’t important.
The group was left dumbfounded.
However, his next words made them understand.

“The Murim Alliance’s Shaanxi Branch has fallen to Ironblood Hall.”
“…!”
“…!”

The atmosphere changed in an instant.

“We have received word that they didn’t stop there and are now heading toward Mount Hua. The Evil Heaven Alliance has also dispatched forces to support them.”

Jeon Pung’s and Jeon Pyeong’s expressions changed.
The Mount Hua Sect.
It was their sect.

“Commander Moyong.”
“…Yes.”

Moyong Hwi stepped forward at Jegal Tae’s call.
Jegal Tae took a letter from his robes. It bore the Murim Alliance Leader’s official seal.

“Take your unit and depart immediately to reinforce the Mount Hua Sect.”
“As you command.”

Moyong Hwi cupped his hands and respectfully accepted the written order.
It was an order issued to the commander of the Azure Dragon Unit, the Murim Alliance’s strike force.

“I apologize for giving you another assignment immediately after your return.”
“Not at all. It is my duty.”

Jegal Tae looked away from Moyong Hwi and turned toward Jeon Pyeong and Jeon Pung.
Urgency showed on both their faces.
They appeared ready to leave for the Mount Hua Sect at once.

“I understand that matters involving your sect make you anxious. However, the Black Tortoise Unit also has work to do.”

Jeon Pyeong and Jeon Pung bit their lips.
However, they had received no orders from their sect and could not act as they pleased.
Moreover, the Jongnam Sect was also located in Shaanxi Province.
If the two sects joined forces, they would not fall easily.

“The Commander of the Black Tortoise Unit will explain the details personally, but the unit will be heading to Guizhou.”

Guizhou Province.
Unorthodox influence was strong there.
Not only was the Evil Heaven Alliance’s Guizhou Branch located there, but so was the Guizhou Shin Clan, one of the Seven Powers.
The listeners’ gazes changed upon hearing that.

“When someone gives you something, it is only polite to return the favor.”

Jegal Tae spoke lightly, but his eyes flashed coldly.
Everything until now had merely been a prelude.
From this point onward, it was all-out war.

While the Murim Alliance was in turmoil preparing for war, Gyo-ha opened his eyes in the darkness.
Darkness without a single speck of light.
He wondered whether he was dead, but the sensation felt strangely familiar.

‘Hasn’t this happened before?’

He had experienced something similar.
He tried to move his hands as he had then, but only pain answered him.
He attempted to turn his head to look at them, but moving was difficult.
The material surrounding him was thicker than before and sticky with some unknown mucus.
No matter how much he struggled, it would not open.
For some reason, his head was also throbbing.
Even so, he couldn’t give up.
He rubbed his face against the surface, trying somehow to bite it.
Then.
Jjijik.
He heard something tearing somewhere.
He also sensed a presence outside.
It wasn’t human.
Jageujageujageu.
Something moved around busily.
At the same time, he heard another tearing sound.
However, it was extremely faint.
After hesitating briefly, the creature scurried around Gyo-ha.
Gyo-ha wondered what it was doing, but stopped struggling and observed it.
After wandering around for a while, it headed toward his feet and disappeared.

‘…I’m upside down.’

His feet were above him.
The creature had disappeared toward the ceiling. It seemed his head hurt because blood was rushing into it. Before long, he sensed movement again.
It was not alone.
Jageujageujageujageujageujageujageujageujageu.
Countless creatures moved around him.
Apparently deciding the task was too difficult alone, it had brought its friends.
Quiet tearing sounds came from every direction.

‘Good.’

Gyo-ha also began squirming. His efforts soon produced results.
The small cracks gradually widened.
A faint breeze seeped inside.
And then.
Jjijijijik.
The previously impenetrable cocoon split open.
Tuk, Gyo-ha’s head popped out.
The spiders gnawing through the cocoon recoiled in surprise when his head suddenly appeared and fled.
Countless spiders climbed their threads toward the ceiling.
Before Gyo-ha could take in the sight, he plummeted toward the floor.

“Gah!”

Thump.
Unable to move his hands, he landed flat on the ground.
As pain surged through him, his eyes met those of a spider.
A spider the size of a human head.

“…It was you.”

The one that had brought its friends.
The creature tilted its head as it looked at Gyo-ha.

“Isn’t it adorable?”

Gyo-ha turned at the unexpected voice.
He hadn’t sensed anyone approaching.
The woman was walking toward him through the darkness.
At her words, Gyo-ha looked at the spider again.
It did not possess an appearance most people would call adorable.
Anyone waking to find it inside their home would recoil in horror.
When the woman extended her hand, the spider climbed onto her arm.

“It must have thought you were a sibling trapped in the same cocoon and unable to hatch.”

Her voice was as tender as her gaze.
It was truly the gaze of a mother looking upon her child.
At the woman’s words, Gyo-ha looked up and saw countless eggshells across the ceiling.
Thinking of it that way made the spider seem slightly adorable.
However, he soon had to withdraw that thought.
After all, these creatures ate humans.
As though reading his thoughts, the woman laughed coldly.

“You humans eat animals as well, do you not?”
“…That is true.”

Cows and pigs.
From their perspective, humans were no different.

“Thanks.”

She might have been a yokai, but Gyo-ha still had to express his gratitude.
When Gyo-ha waved his hand, the spider shook its body in response.
The woman regarded Gyo-ha curiously before turning away.

“Now go and eat.”

When the woman set it down, the spider hurried away. Watching it depart, she spoke.

“Let us go as well. You frightened my children.”

The woman glanced toward the ceiling as she spoke. Countless spiders were holding perfectly still and watching Gyo-ha.

“Only docile children hatch in this chamber.”

When Gyo-ha looked puzzled by the sudden explanation, she continued.

“The impatient ones even devour their own siblings. Newly hatched children are difficult to control. They may obey an order at first, but they soon forget it.”

Had Gyo-ha been placed among those creatures, he would no longer be alive.
That was why she had deliberately moved him here.

“…Are there many chambers like this?”

A chamber for raising spiders.
Judging by her words, there appeared to be more than one.
The woman smiled softly at his question.

“Who knows?”

She had no intention of telling him. Gyo-ha had expected as much and was not disappointed.
As they walked, the woman looked back at Gyo-ha and asked.

“Are you going to keep walking around with your hands like that?”

At her words, Gyo-ha looked down at his hands.
And then.

“Whoa! What is this?”

He recoiled in shock.
Sharp claws had grown from his limp hands without him noticing.
The woman hummed thoughtfully at the sight.

“It seems you hadn’t noticed.”
“…Had I known, I wouldn’t have struggled so much inside the cocoon.”

When Gyo-ha calmed down, the claws shrank until his hands returned to normal.

“Those are the wild dog’s weapons.”

The woman considered it briefly before nodding.
As expected, she had watched Gyo-ha’s battle.

“Myeong-gong’s?”
“Yes. A yokai of that level can have a Power imbued in its claws.”

Gyo-ha tilted his head. For someone with such claws, Myeong-gong hadn’t used them very effectively.
He failed to consider that he had never given Myeong-gong an opening to use them properly.
His experience fighting Darkshadow Mountain Ghost had played a large part in that.

“There are occasionally yokai capable of stealing Powers by devouring other yokai. It is normally accomplished through consumption, but even I have never seen one steal a Power using yokai power alone.”

Gyo-ha did not particularly like the word stealing, but it wasn’t inaccurate.
However.

“Why did it happen only this time?”

This was not Gyo-ha’s first encounter with a yokai.
The woman shrugged.

“Who knows? Perhaps the previous yokai were too insignificant to possess Powers, or perhaps you already gained them and simply failed to realize it.”

She responded as though the matter did not interest her.

“Your own ability is also a Power. If someone as close to human as you can acquire Powers, the being mixed into your body must be equally extraordinary.”

Gyo-ha nodded.
However, that didn’t matter at the moment.
Both his hands had turned black. They were dying.
They hung limply whenever he moved.
Even Gyo-ha understood now. No one could heal them.
Growing claws didn’t mean he could actually use them.

“A Power of recovery or regeneration might be able to heal those hands.”
“…!”

Gyo-ha’s eyes widened.

“Of course, stealing yokai power doesn’t guarantee that you will acquire a Power.”

Gyo-ha stopped walking at her explanation.
The woman looked at him curiously.

“…Why are you being so kind?”

Wariness entered Gyo-ha’s eyes. The woman burst into laughter when she saw his suspicion.
She laughed as though thoroughly delighted.

“Right. There is no such thing as kindness without reason. You have received my help three times. No, someone else agreed to settle one of those accounts, so that leaves two.”

Gyo-ha frowned at those words.
He could guess what had happened. There was only one person who would have brought him here.
Namgung Hyeok.

“You admit that, do you not?”
“Yes.”

Gyo-ha nodded. Whether she was a villain or a yokai didn’t matter.
A debt was still a debt.
She took a deep breath.

“I greatly enjoy this place as it is. This world as it is now. That is why I discarded most of my power to come here.”

Her words came without warning, but Gyo-ha listened quietly.

“Unlike me, however, some great yokai are so dreadful that even other yokai call them calamities. Some scatter poison with every breath, while others turn the ground they pass into rotting swamps.”

Gyo-ha blinked.
Even after hearing her description, he struggled to imagine such beings.

“The gate is not yet large enough for such creatures to cross. But at this rate, it will not be long. Once even those creatures cross over, this place will become no different from the Earth Realm.”

Perhaps imagining that horrifying future, her elegant brow furrowed.
The Earth Realm. If this world was the Lower Realm, then the Earth Realm was the world of yokai.

“So continue doing what you must. Then, when I desire it, you will perform two tasks for me.”

When Gyo-ha stared at her, the corners of her mouth rose.