Chapter 40

KRAKABOOOM-!!

As lightning struck nearby, Jun-gyeong’s brow tightened sharply.

“Let’s go.”

SHHHHHHH-

The rain was falling so heavily that it was impossible to see ahead, but none of it reached inside the covered market.
Jun-gyeong and Ok-hee walked along the passage.
The torrential rain hammered loudly against the roof, but the noise did nothing to hinder them.
Ok-hee asked quietly.

“Are we following that beastfolk?”
“No. I’m following the smell.”

Ok-hee looked at Jun-gyeong without understanding.

“My five senses have become a little sharper. Especially when it comes to sensing the smell of ghost energy or yin energy.”

He walked while circulating his internal energy.
Following the source of the ghost energy.
곧 길이 갈라졌고, 수인은 오른쪽으로 준경은 왼쪽길을 따라 걸었다.
천장이 막힌 통로가 끝이 나고 앞으로 비가 세차게 내리는 외부가 드러났다.
마장동의 깊은 구석.
준경은 아무 거리낌 없이 빗 속으로 걸어나갔다.
순식간에 옷이 젖고 몸이 젖어들었다.
옥희 역시 아무 말 없이 그의 뒤를 따랐다.
얼마 걷지 않아 컨테이너 박스가 나타났고, 준경은 그 옆을 돌아 공터로 들어섰다.
공터의 중간에는 벼락을 맞은 축령비가 박살이 난 채로 바닥에 널려 있었다.

“The lightning really destroyed it.”

Jun-gyeong shook his head.

“No. It didn’t burst from an external impact. The force came from inside.”
“What?”

Jun-gyeong pointed toward the top of one of the shipping containers.
Fragments of the shattered monument were embedded there.

“Something exploded from inside it. If the impact had come from outside, the fragments might have scattered in every direction, but they wouldn’t have been launched upward like that. The lightning was only the trigger.”
“Then…?”
“Right. When the barrier broke, the monster regained its power.”

Ok-hee’s expression tightened.

“If the monster regained its power, it must be strong.”
“Stronger than anything we’ve encountered so far.”

Jun-gyeong raised his face toward the rainy sky.
Then he slowly shifted his gaze in one direction.

“And it isn’t far away. It’s inside the market. That crazy monster bastard.”
“…”

Ok-hee could say nothing.

“Let’s go. Time to hunt a monster.”
“Okay.”

They left, leaving only the shattered Livestock Soul Monument scattered across the clearing.

In-cheol opened his mouth, revealing his grotesque teeth.

“What? Can’t do it?”

He waved one hand lazily as he continued.

“Come on~ Don’t be like that. That’s not like you guys. You’re not just going to die quietly, are you? Rawr!”

When In-cheol curled both hands like cat paws and gave a small mock growl, the gangsters hurriedly backed away.

“Kahahaha! Scared? How cute. Look at you with your tails tucked.”

In-cheol slowly walked among the gangsters as though browsing merchandise.
Then he stopped in front of Ji-ho.
He lightly slapped Ji-ho’s cheek a few times.
Ji-ho flinched every time In-cheol’s hand touched him.

“Don’t be so scared. It’s fine. I’m not going to eat you.”

In-cheol continued walking.
Then he stopped behind the gangster who had stabbed him in the stomach.

“What? Scared?”

His hand slowly slid from the top of the gangster’s head down the back of his skull.
It was like someone appraising a luxury handbag.

“Don’t tense up so much. If you get that stiff, the meat gets tough. You swallowed up Majang-dong and you don’t even know that?”

When his hand reached the nape of the man’s neck, In-cheol seized it tightly.

“Relax. If I snap your neck and kill you first, you won’t taste as good.”

His mouth split wide open.
Then he brought it down over the gangster’s head.

CRUNCH!!

Half the gangster’s head vanished in a single bite.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!!

After devouring the rest of the man’s head, In-cheol released his neck.

Thud-

The headless gangster collapsed, blood spreading across the floor.
It seemed this was the source of the metallic blood smell that had filled the place earlier.
Ji-ho stared at In-cheol, trembling violently.
Then his knees hit the floor.

“Spare me. Please. I’m begging you. Spare me.”

Blood streamed from In-cheol’s mouth as he answered.

“I told you. I’m not going to eat you. Right, my god?”
“I won’t eat him either.”

At the voice from behind him, Ji-ho twisted his head around.
The black cocoon attached to the wall had split open, and a naked man sat at its edge.
In sharp contrast to the atmosphere, his voice was bright and cheerful.

“Beastfolk have this smell to them. Gamey, I guess? It’s strangely strong. So I don’t eat them. Instead…”

He stepped onto the floor and slowly approached Ji-ho.

“I’ve decided to do this instead.”

When he pointed at Ji-ho, his finger stretched unnaturally long.
The elongated finger, tipped with something like a sucker, sealed Ji-ho’s mouth and nose.
Something began squirming beneath the man’s forearm, then traveled through the long finger and into Ji-ho’s mouth.
Ji-ho thrashed in agony, but he could not escape the finger.
When his struggling finally stopped, the finger withdrew from his face as though its work were done and returned to its normal length.

“You’ve evolved again. Congratulations, Lord.”

At In-cheol’s greeting, the man waved dismissively, picked up the neatly folded clothes nearby, and began dressing.
Then he fastened a gold necklace and gold bracelet with a click.

“What do you think? Looks pretty good on me, right? Who did this belong to again? Ah! Was it Seon-gi? Whatever.”

Once dressed, he gave Ji-ho a light kick.
Ji-ho’s body shuddered, then he immediately stood.

“I’m going to swallow up their organization. You butcher the rest of these guys while I’m gone.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Let’s go, slave.”
“…Yes.”

Ji-ho rose and began walking.
The two left the refrigerator and the door closed behind them.
In-cheol smiled brightly at the remaining gangsters.

“All right~ Shall we begin the slaughter?”

Krrrk-

A long blade-like bone extended from his finger.

“GRAAAAAAGH!!!!”

Screams erupted inside the refrigerator, but the insulated walls that perfectly contained the cold also completely contained the sound.

“This is the place.”

Jun-gyeong and Ok-hee stood outside In-cheol’s office, staring at the door.
Dense ghost energy seeped from both the doorway and the room beyond it.
Ok-hee stepped aside and gestured toward the entrance, and Jun-gyeong immediately kicked the door in.

BANG!!

The door flew across the office and slammed into the walk-in refrigerator with a deafening crash.
No one was inside the office.
But from the moment he entered, Jun-gyeong’s gaze remained fixed on the refrigerator.

He strode forward without hesitation and kicked that door as well.

CRASH- CLANG- CLANG-

After several kicks, the thick walk-in refrigerator door shattered just like the office door and crashed onto the floor inside.

“Kekekeke… And who might you be? Haven’t seen you around before.”

Even as he looked at Jun-gyeong, In-cheol casually swept his finger across the throat of the last remaining gangster.
Then he lifted the severed head and looked at Jun-gyeong.

“Haven’t eaten yet? How about it? Freshly butchered.”

Still looking at Jun-gyeong, In-cheol raised the head toward his mouth.

“Half-yokai? You’re just a lunatic.”

SHRAK!!

Jun-gyeong’s sword cut through In-cheol’s arm, sending his forearm and the severed head it held crashing to the floor.

“GRAAAAAAGH!!!!”

In-cheol screamed as though discovering pain for the first time and rolled across the floor.

“GRAAGH! Kgh! Kehehehe… KHAHAHAHAHA!”

He rolled into a corner, sat up, and burst into loud laughter.

“Huh? You cut it off? That’s a nice sword you’ve got.”

He sprang to his feet, walked over, and picked up his severed arm.
Then he pressed the forearm back into place as though assembling a part.
Black, tentacle-like strands wriggled out and reattached it.
Jun-gyeong gave a faint laugh at the sight.

“That’s a useful trick.”
“Ah, this?”

In-cheol raised the arm and rotated it back and forth.
Then he looked at Jun-gyeong with a bright smile.

“Or did you mean this?”

CRRRRACK!!!

The bony protrusions growing from his back suddenly lengthened and stabbed toward Jun-gyeong.

CLANG-!

Jun-gyeong spun Mukhwa once, severing the bony spikes and sending them clattering to the floor.
But In-cheol’s attack didn’t end there.
The bony spikes continued growing and thrusting toward Jun-gyeong, while In-cheol’s blade-like fingernails stabbed at his throat.

CRACK!

Jun-gyeong cut away the bones, then released Mukhwa in midair.
The sword dropped.
Jun-gyeong’s gaze followed the falling blade, and In-cheol’s eyes instinctively followed it as well.
At that instant, Jun-gyeong’s empty hand clenched into a fist and crashed into In-cheol’s face.

BANG-!!
“Gah!!”

In-cheol tumbled across the floor from pain that felt as though his face had been torn off.
He felt no pain when his bones were severed, but a direct blow to the face was another matter.

“It hurts! It hurrrts!!!”

In-cheol rolled across the floor, repeatedly screaming that it hurt.
But Jun-gyeong remained utterly resolute.
As though refusing to allow even the slightest opening, he gripped Mukhwa in reverse and approached to cut In-cheol’s throat.

“GRAAGH!! IT HURTS!! I SAID… IT HURTS!!!!”

In-cheol’s ribs erupted outward and rose toward Jun-gyeong.
They stabbed toward Jun-gyeong’s sides as though trying to wrap around him.
They moved too quickly for Jun-gyeong to react in time.

CRUNCH!!!

The ribs struck Jun-gyeong, but that was as far as they went.
Unable to pierce the skin strengthened by his recent reward, the bones stopped against his flesh.
In-cheol made a confused sound.

“Huh?”

In-cheol’s eyes trembled.
It was the look of someone whose faith in his god’s overwhelming power had begun to waver.
His faith in the god he had believed capable of anything was on the verge of collapsing.

“W-Why… Why isn’t this…?”

Jun-gyeong raised his palm over In-cheol’s face.

“Looks like things aren’t going the way you expected.”

BANG!!

His fist crashed down into In-cheol’s face.

BANG! BANG! BANG! CRUNCH! BANG! CRACK!

When the sound of the skull breaking apart finally rang out, Jun-gyeong stopped.
Then he broke away every rib still pressing against him and stood.

“Are you okay?”

At Ok-hee’s voice from behind him, Jun-gyeong gave a small nod.

“I’m fine.”

He drew Mukhwa again to finish it.
Then he cut across In-cheol’s neck.

SHRAK-

His head came free and rolled across the refrigerator floor.
Only then did Jun-gyeong let out a sharp breath and look around.
Black webbing covered one entire wall, with a dark cocoon trapped within it.

Jun-gyeong approached and lightly struck it with Mukhwa.
As the cocoon and webbing came cascading down, he let out another long breath.

“It’s not over yet.”

He turned and looked at In-cheol’s head lying on the floor.
Then he looked at Ok-hee.

“He wasn’t the end of this.”

Ok-hee examined the refrigerator floor and spoke.

“These men are Beast. Beastfolk gangsters. The other one may have gone after their leader.”
“Do you know where?”
“Finding the sort of building gangsters would use as an office is easy enough.”

Ok-hee left In-cheol’s office and headed back toward the market.
Jun-gyeong followed behind her.

Ok-hee stopped in the middle of the market and raised a finger.
A building stood in the direction she indicated.

“There. Idiots and gangsters love looking down on people from high places.”

The top floor of a building overlooking the entire market. That was where Felix, the leader of Beast, was waiting.

“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”

This time, Jun-gyeong took the lead, and Ok-hee followed behind him.