Episode 217

As soon as he left the place, Zaha said,

“Seol Young-rang is strange. Baek Eon-rang had just been through something like that, and you want to move casually? You don’t know when he will have another incident. We need to stick by his side to not let him fall..”

That was the problem.

Zaha was too quick-witted.

What if he found out Seol Young’s plan?

He would surely stop it. He would let Baek Eon and maybe everyone else know about it.

Although he himself had become a victim of that technique, wasn’t he the one with the character who wouldn’t allow anyone else to try it?

So he had to cheat and sneak up on the High Governor…

‘Can I really do it though?’

Looking back at the past until now, he knew it wouldn’t be easy. Wasn’t it Seol Young who got deceived by Zaha until now?

‘Still, I need to do something.’

Seol Young went to the corner of the barrier.

“It’s fine. Dae-rang can see well from here.”

The figures of people over there could be seen.

Jin Rim and Hwa Un began to search for a new way. Beside him, Baek Eon, Seo Gem, and Mu Won gathered all their righteous weapons and belongings to see what would work.

Everyone had traces of a disfigured spirit being infected in them, but they didn’t seem much aware of it.

Seol Young looked at them and said,

“Baek Eon-rang will be fine. Actually, I can’t imagine he’ll die.”

“Aren’t you feeling even a bit embarrassed to say all this? You are acting like a person without reasoning. Are you trying to ask me to save your Hyung, who is now a disfigured spirit? Seol Young-rang is arrogant enough to do things that no one else has dared to do till now.”

“…”

He either had to lower his head and apologize for his words or reply with, ‘Even the High Governor can’t pull out the sword, right?’ and just accept it.

Normally, he would have said it. However, Seol Young raised his spiritual qi at the tip of his finger without saying anything.

The air was crushed, and black smoke rose from within. At the end, another beginning was born, and when it ended, another beginning was born, and it spread out in the shape of a mandala.

This was expected.

“The aura of the God of Cataclysm is spreading through this space.”

Seol Young observed the flow of the demonic qi.

The mandala spread thinly like ink in the air. And then, when he met the barrier created by Zaha, he was instantly sucked into it.

This barrier also secretly hid Zaha’s demonic qi within the golden aura. It absorbed the energy of the God of Cataclysm and protected it.

Seol Young lowered his hand.

“But even this barrier must have its limits, right?”

“Did you call me out on purpose to ask that?”

Zaha looked around the barrier.

“I’ll be fine until I die again, so let’s quickly find a way before that. As always, we can surely find a way somehow.”

‘Yes, there is a way…’

Seol Young’s gaze went back to the other side of the golden barrier.

Red, green, orange, and dark blue. Lightning continued to hit the sky, mixed with colors. During that time, a huge tornado was rising and sweeping everything away.

“Still, it seems that the two of us are more resistant to the energy of the God of Cataclysm than the five…”

Seol Young took out a talisman from his pocket.

“Can we make a guardian with the demonic qi of the High Governor? Just like how the talisman was done to take the spirit for the painting.”

“I will try it once.”

On the paper he wanted to draw on, he drew strokes of his own accord and infused demonic energy.

“So shall we take this till the end?”

“Yes. There is nothing wrong with trying.”

The two of them came out of the barrier and asked to borrow Jin Rim’s Yin-Yang plaque as Governor. He set out with the protection of the demonic qi, which was equal to the God of Cataclysm.

However, after taking a couple of steps, black cracks formed on his fingers.

And it aimed at his heart.

The sense of the boundaries of his ego was collapsing, and the things that should be constant were now changing.

The feeling that everything that defined him had been scattered and was starting to be arranged in a completely different manner.

It was the same sensation as when Mita’s existence was accepted on the other side.

‘Dangerous.’

Seol Young sent a signal to retreat.

Zaha tried to create a temporary base by raising his qi.

But this time, his own barrier collapsed.

“Seol Young-rang, this way!”

The two hurriedly went into the original barrier shelter and realized that fighting against the darkness was breaking down their hearts.

Zaha frowned.

“Why can’t we put up barriers anywhere else than here? What’s in here?”

Seol Young knew something, but pretended not to know anything.

“I will try other methods.”

First, like the illusion in the case of Miss Dohwa and her dice, they created a new realm by using a spell with Zaha’s demonic qi.

However, even that place was quickly assimilated into the chaos outside.

Zaha suggested,

“Just like how the Governor used his spiritual qi to do it, how about we call a summoned beast with spiritual qi and then send it there to control it?”

“It sounds good.”

After a while, a bird created by combining the spiritual and demonic qi of the two of them flew outside with the Yin-Yang plaque of the Governor around its neck.

However, as soon as a seal was made to help it with directions and thoughts, the shape of the bird turned into smoke.

The summoned beast immediately perished the moment it was given free thoughts.

It was the same, no matter how many times they tried. However, if they didn’t manage to infuse the thoughts into it, then the beast would never find the stone tower.

“Not this either.”

After taking back the Yin-Yang plaque, Zaha threw the Dead Slayer Sword away, and it bounced off and flew his way.

“Is there another way?”

“…”

Seol Young didn’t answer him right then.

But then a dazzling light burst out of the storm raging around them. And Jin Rim and the other leaders who noticed it stopped moving. Seo Geom frowned, holding his flute.

“What is that?”

It was somehow unusual. Seol Young and Zaha quickly returned to them.

At that moment, a certain space opened up in wide light.

Everyone doubted their eyes.

“That…?”

At the top of Danseok Mountain, where the snowstorm raged, the outside of the barrier was visible.

The Hwarangs, trainees, and the officials, who were left behind… Everyone was covered in blood and crying out for help.

“An illusion.”

Seol Young tried to avoid Song Ok’s face and said,

“It’s a ploy to get us out of here. We must never head there.”

It did seem that way. Their familiar faces were crying out in fear, but they all turned their eyes away.

The hallucination soon vanished. But that wasn’t the end.

“What is that again?”

Jin Rim pointed in one direction. And a huge shadow appeared on the horizon.

It was a figure of a woman with a crown on her head and her robe fluttering.

The God of Cataclysm.

At that moment, the bodies of Jin Rim and Mu Won, who were on the outermost side, bent violently. Both of them were being dragged outside like puppets with strings.

“Governor! Mu Won-rang!”

The others hastily moved to grab them.

But was it because of the effect that was similar to a disfigured spirit? Jin Rim and Mu Won lost their reasoning and rebelled against those helping them.

“Governor! Calm down!”

Zaha grabbed Jin Rim and pressed him down, and Seol Young hurriedly wrote something onto a talisman.

On the other hand, Seo Geom quickly went around and cast Asura Arts to block Mu Won.

“Stop! If you don’t, you will die!”

Baek Eon and Hwa Un went to the side to avoid the powerful martial arts that Mu Won had unknowingly unfolded.

Mu Won was hit hard by Hwa Un’s fan, and soon after, Baek Eon’s physical tackling technique caught both of his legs.

They managed to barely suppress it.

However, the symptoms of suffocation and losing themselves, which they had suppressed for so long, spread to the left half of their bodies.

Jin Rim and Mu Won had changed from their faces to their waists. Baek Eon had changed until his chest, while Seo Geom and Hwa Un had changed until the nape of their necks.

Governor and the four leaders took another pill and cultivated its flow to calm their bodies. Eventually, Mu Won let out a long sigh and opened his mouth.

“I will become a vessel to the God of Cataclysm and throw myself to the other side. There is no reason to say such things.”

He glanced at Seol Young and said,

“7 years ago too, I said that the Ghost Demon King would end right away with our skills.”

At that moment, everyone’s face went stiff.

However, Mu Won himself didn’t seem to care.

“Why? I said it as a joke.”

“Joke?”

“Yes, Governor. When people die, others change. The thought of dying makes me want to say things.”

“Mu Won-rang, you are talking a lot today.”

Mu Won ignored Seo Geom’s words and turned to Seol Young.

“I’m sorry. If I think about it, it wasn’t just a big deal, and I was being naïve.”

Seol Young’s eyes widened. Although he apologized first, he didn’t expect that Mu Won would also come ahead and apologize to him.

“Right.”

Seo Geom let out a big sigh.

“Mu Won-rang is right. It wasn’t such a big deal, and misunderstandings continued to build up, which created a bad relationship. I am sorry. Seol Young-rang. At that time, I received an apology, but I couldn’t answer back. But actually, I thought it was us who were at fault.”

“Why is everyone being like this?”

Hwa Un tapped the fan with a slightly nervous look.

“Right. Well, to be honest, after Seol Young-rang went to our southern residence, I somehow didn’t get as angry as I used to. Then, I should accept the apology, and Seol Young-rang, I am sorry too.”

“No.”

Seol Young bowed his head to everyone.

“I was being narrow-minded.”

Then silence fell again.

In the midst of it, the light of the stone pagoda shone in the distance and went up to five levels.

“I wanted to see this sight once before I die, and one of them has come true.”

Zaha smiled and said,

“What we mean by saying…”

Hwa Un looked around at everyone,

“We were wrong. It was a situation where we had to ask each other to die, than offer ourselves first. If needed, I wouldn’t mind dying to stop them from coming out. Governor, High Governor, am I wrong?”

“Actually, this isn’t much different from the real disfigured spirit.”

Jin Rim spoke with a gloomy look.

“As the Governor said, I really have no face to show. If the same situation as before happens, I will cut my hands and die peacefully.”

“I want to, but…”

Seo Gem shrugged.

“If I lose my reasoning and go out as the God of Cataclysm’s new vessel, cut my hands before I use them. Understand? With the Asura Flames?”

Mu Won said,

“I might break muscles and bones with martial arts, so you will have to take me down. And take care of Hwa Un-rang, too.”

“Nice.”

Hwa Un-rang agreed.

“Instead, if I end up losing my sanity first, Mu Won-rang will handle me. I don’t want to be covered in blood and die oddly, so just strangle me.”

He handed a string to Mu Won. Baek Eon stared blankly at this scene before opening his mouth.

“If there is at least one truth in this situation, and it happens to us, it is that the High Governor and Seol Young-rang will outlive us. I believe that if you continue to look for a way, you will surely find something.”

After talking like that, he turned to Seol Young.

“Sorry. I promised your Hyungs that I wouldn’t let you get hurt….”

“Baek Eon-rang, it’s still early to have such talks.”

Zaha said with a stiff face.

“Being prepared and giving up are two different things. You cannot give up till the end. Don’t we still have time?”

“Yes.”

Everyone nodded.

“Even though we met an enemy that would be difficult to defeat at this moment….”

“We will protect the honor of the Hwarang troops till the end.”

“We fight till the end.”

Seol Young looked down at his hands and listened to their words. He thought that this might be a hasty decision.

‘But no. I already tried every method I could think of.’

He raised his head and looked at the five people who were really struggling with their bodies, and then he looked at Baek Eon.

‘Of course, Dae-rang would be sad, but if he were in my position, wouldn’t he have done the same thing without another thought?’

Seol Young clenched his fists.

And said to everyone,

“Actually, there is one last option.”

“What is that?”

Zaha asked,

“I didn’t say anything because I would be called insane again…”

Seol Young calmly said.