Side Story 61. Ascension (2)

‘We will not be able to defeat Ahim.’
Even if many great Transcendent masters, including Baek Ha-jun, had gathered.
Even if he himself, who prided himself on being the greatest sorcerer under heaven, was included, they couldn’t win.
That statement from Dam Hyun had not been empty words.
Even after they began tracking Ahim and the Crimson Fighting Fiends, Dam Hyun did not correct those words.

“We cannot win anyway. It really would be better to wait for that bastard to crawl out instead.”
“Why do you keep throwing cold water on us while we are already doing our best to track them?”

When Noh Shik, feeling frustrated, said something, Dam Hyun suddenly lost his temper.

“You people asked me to chase them! You said we had to save one old man and one girl because they were dragged away!”

Jin Li-yeon gently soothed the angry Dam Hyun.
She asked how they were supposed to oppose Ahim if he was that strong, and whether they could not simply summon Sun Wukong like last time.

“Forget it. That does not work just because you have offerings. There are not many Immortals who can be summoned, and even if we summoned them, they wouldn’t come.”

It seemed they could not make use of Sun Wukong like last time.

“There is one method. We call that Yi-gang bastard here.”
“You said Yi-gang is currently in the land of Egypt.”
“No matter how far the land of Egypt is, would it be farther than the Heavenly Realm where the Immortals are?”

Egypt lay in the farthest reaches of the West, where the desert was.
But when summoning Sun Wukong or other Immortals through an offering ritual, distance was likely not what mattered.
To most people, Dam Hyun’s words would have sounded like grasping at clouds, but Jin Li-yeon was the exception.
Understanding Dam Hyun’s words, her complexion turned pale.

“You are going to perform an offering ritual for Yi-gang?”
“What, why? Is that not allowed?”
“How can you perform an offering ritual for a living person!”

Jin Li-yeon, who rarely raised her voice, spoke sharply.
The others watched the two with curious gazes.

“Is that strange?”
“I don’t know.”

The Twin Tigers of the Peng Family knew nothing about this, so they merely muttered like that.
Dam Hyun answered indifferently.

“So it cannot be done?”
“Of course it cannot.”
“Don’t worry. I probably cannot summon Yi-gang either.”
“What…?”
“I am saying I will try. But it will be impossible. There needs to be an endpoint of connected karma and affinity, but right now…”

Saying that, Dam Hyun glanced at Cheongho.
Jin Li-yeon asked further what he meant, but Dam Hyun clamped his mouth shut and said no more.

They followed the footprints for a long while longer.
The distance was not tremendously far, but since they were chasing while using the Tracking Art, it naturally took a little more time.
The footprints led into a deep mountain.
They crossed several mountain peaks and entered deep into layers upon layers of mountains where there was not even a path.

In the midst of that, Dam Hyun walked beside Cheongho and asked.

“You really want to become human, right? No matter what happens.”
“Yes.”
“Why? Why do you want to become human?”

Cheongho thought for a moment, then answered.

“Because both you and Yi-gang are human.”
“Huh?”
“Yokai are different from humans. It is not simply that our bodies are different… I think our hearts are different too.”
“So you want to have a human heart. Yes, humans and yokai are different. Yokai also have joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, but… their essence is different. But I hope you do not become human. Do you know what the greatest difference is between a yokai’s heart and a human’s heart?”
“What is it?”
“A human heart breaks so easily.”

Dam Hyun had personally experienced the pain and evil of the world.
That was why he had even gone mad once.

“It is different from a yokai. Humans are easily wounded by painful things, and often, they never fully heal. Knowing that, will you still become human?”
“…Yes.”
“You answer so easily!”

Dam Hyun grew irritated.
At that, Jin Li-yeon said a word from beside them.

“Senior Brother, Cheongho thought deeply about this too. Please respect it.”
“…Fine. I understand.”

Dam Hyun answered as if he were not satisfied.
Then he quietly asked Jin Li-yeon.

“Respecting that child’s will. You don’t know what that means, do you?”
“…?”
“Yes, I suppose it is not your fault that you don’t know…”

Dam Hyun only said those cryptic words and did not open his mouth any further.
After that, he remained silent for half a day.
He finally opened his mouth when the footprints ended.
Even using the Tracking Art, the footprints could no longer be seen.

“Huh.”
“Has the Tracking Art been blocked?”

Jin Li-yeon asked worriedly.
People’s expressions turned grave.
The moment Baek Sang-ye hurriedly ran to where the footprints had ended.

“No, it is the opposite. It seems this is their base.”
Thud!

Baek Sang-ye slammed her face into an invisible, transparent wall.
Dam Hyun approached Baek Sang-ye, who was clutching her nose, and touched the barrier.

“Thank you for confirming the barrier by ramming into it yourself.”
“N-no problem.”
“Though even if you had not done that, we would have noticed if we saw that.”

The people who looked where Dam Hyun pointed flinched in surprise.
There, the corpses of several birds lay in a line.
It was an unnatural sight, as if someone had deliberately placed them there.
Moyong Jin quickly approached and checked them.

“It seems they hit their heads.”
“Because it is a transparent barrier. Its range is quite large. We cannot fly in through the sky either.”

The place they had arrived at was a valley deep in the mountains.
It was an especially deep valley, and inside it was a cave that looked suspicious to anyone.

“Seeing that they didn’t even disguise it, they seem to think it does not matter if they are discovered.”
“Let us just smash it!”

The one who said that was Peng Gu-in.
As expected of a heroic man of the Peng Family, he trusted his own body and saber instead of using his head.
That could not exactly be called a flaw.
Because the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber was an exalted martial art that could resolve most obstacles through sheer physical force alone.

“Kkeung.”

Aura Qi rose from Peng Gu-in’s saber.
Even a single handspan of Saber Aura would require tremendous internal energy, yet his Aura Qi swelled even further.

“Huaap!”

Then, from a certain point, that Aura Qi began to compress instead.

“Aura Qi Condensation!”

Someone shouted in admiration.
Aura Qi Condensation.
It was a supreme realm said to further increase power by compressing Aura Qi.
Then Peng Gu-in swung his saber at the barrier.

Jjeoeoeoeong!

Would such a roar ring out if lightning struck at close range?
A sound loud enough to make their ears ring erupted.
But the barrier didn’t even crack.
Peng Gu-in touched the barrier as if he couldn’t believe it.

“It withstood my strike!”
“Why not announce to the whole neighborhood that we are here?”

Dam Hyun sneered.
When Peng Gu-in failed, the other warriors each took out their weapons.
Baek Ha-jun, Moyong Jin, and Peng Gu-hwi as well.

“I will try using my sword.”
“No, let us do it together.”
“Something like this cannot stop us brothers.”

Dam Hyun snapped at them.

“Ah, move aside. This is why I am sick of Murim bastards. You think everything can be solved with blades.”

Dam Hyun said that despite being part of Murim himself.
Those who had drawn their blades awkwardly withdrew.

“A barrier made this crudely and simply…”

Dam Hyun placed his hand on the barrier.
His hair began to sway ominously.

“Can simply be dismantled in reverse order. Cut all the cloths tied to the trees back there.”

Dam Hyun gave the cue.
When they looked back, white cloths were tied to several trees.
Moyong Jin and Baek Ha-jun kicked nearby stones.

Pabababak!

As if they were performing a trick.
All the branches with white cloths tied to them were struck by stones and broke.

Ripples spread out from the place Dam Hyun’s hand touched.
And with a crunching sound, the barrier began to come apart.

Kwajak!

The sound of something breaking rang out.

“Huu.”

Dam Hyun waved his hand as if it had been nothing.

“You can go in now.”
“Wow, you really handled it easily.”
“This much is nothing.”

The people confirmed that the barrier had completely disappeared.
They passed by while praising Dam Hyun, and lastly, Jin Li-yeon stood beside Dam Hyun.

“Your hand… is it all right?”
“Huh?”

Dam Hyun quietly hid his left hand.
The hand that had just destroyed the barrier was stained black.

“It looks injured.”
“It’s fine. The bastard who made this barrier will hurt more than I do. If we are lucky, he may even have died.”
“Still. Shouldn’t you treat it?”
“I will take care of it myself. And I’m not going in and fighting directly, so what does it matter?”
“…You’re not going in?”
“Then what am I supposed to do, weak in martial arts as I am, inside a narrow cave? I said I am going to call Yi-gang from outside.”

After thinking for a moment, it sounded plausible.

“Shall I guard you and help?”
“That would be good. Originally, I wanted to have Cheongho stay behind with me.”

Cheongho looked ready to enter immediately.
Dam Hyun approached Cheongho with a bitter smile.

He lightly placed a hand on Cheongho’s back and spoke.

“Be careful.”
“…Yes.”

Dam Hyun said nothing more one way or the other and returned to Jin Li-yeon’s side.
Jin Li-yeon quietly asked.

“What did you attach to him?”
“A talisman.”

At some point, a violet talisman had been attached to Cheongho’s back.
It was a talisman of a different color from when he used the Tracking Art.

Baek Ha-jun naturally took the role of leader of the entry group.

“There doesn’t seem to be any guards, but there may be hidden mechanisms, so let’s enter carefully.”

The warriors entered the cave in the valley.

Pajijik!

A shock like being struck by lightning slammed through Ahim’s entire body.
A moment ago, a roar had sounded, and this time, the barrier was forcibly dismantled.
It was a barrier created with power received from the Yokai Realm.
The aftermath of the barrier being reverse-calculated and dismantled flowed backward into Ahim’s body.

“Keuk…!”

If Ahim had been any ordinary sorcerer, that shock alone might have killed him.
In fact, the skin across Ahim’s entire body burned black.
However, Ahim was in the middle of recovering Guihon Jade from the corpses of the Crimson Fighting Fiends.
The maw that had grown from his abdomen greedily devoured the Guihon Jade.
In the blink of an eye, the skin across his entire body regained its original color.
Not only that, Ahim’s body was growing stronger in real time.
At some point, he had crossed beyond his limits.
Now, even if he tried to stop, he couldn’t halt the momentum of the transformation.
Even if he simply remained still, he would be reborn as a new Guihon.

“A great sorcerer has come.”

Ahim vividly sensed the presence of Dam Hyun, who had destroyed the barrier.

“And the warriors and the fox.”

And he also sensed that the warriors and Cheongho had entered the cave.

“You have walked directly into the dragon’s maw.”

It would have been nice if the sorcerer who had dared to injure Ahim’s body had entered as well, but since the remaining warriors and Cheongho had entered, it didn’t matter.
This cave had not been a natural space from the beginning.
The yokai energy that flowed from the dead Guihon’s head had long since eroded the nearby area.
In other words, Ahim, who had obtained Guihon’s power, could handle this cave like his own toy.

“Well then, shall I leave the chaff alone and meet the fox?”

The Demon King of the Yokai Realm was watching Cheongho.
When Ahim rose from his seat, the blocked wall opened with a rumbling sound.

“Why is no one here?”

Moyong Jin muttered.
There were clearly traces of people having lived in this cave.
But no matter how far they went in, not even a single ant could be seen.
Tsering carefully offered an opinion.

“Could they have already all left?”

Could the Crimson Fighting Fiends have abandoned their base and fled?
But Noh Shik shook his head.

“Leaving all their belongings behind?”
“Maybe they no longer need them…”

For that to be the case, many objects had been left as they were. They could even see things that absolutely should have been taken, such as weapons and money.

“Let us go farther in.”

They were gradually proceeding deeper into the cave.

“I have no need for the rest.”

A thunderous voice rang out from deep within.
The warriors instinctively raised their weapons.
Among them, the one whose martial arts were the most exalted was Ha-jun.
Standing at the front, he sensed a presence the others couldn’t detect.
A transparent, stealthy energy rushed in.

Seugeong.

With swordsmanship as flowing as water, he cut at something formless.
But it was a pure force that couldn’t be cut with a blade. In an instant, it brushed past Baek Ha-jun’s side and slipped in behind him.
It seized Cheongho’s body tightly.
Cheongho began to be dragged helplessly deeper into the cave.

“Damn it, stop it!”

The people, including the Twin Tigers of the Peng Family, tried to stop it, but it was no use.
Peng Gu-in grabbed Cheongho’s hem and was dragged along, but in the end, the hem ripped.

Kwaang!

As soon as Cheongho was dragged away, a stone wall surged up from the floor of the passage.
The warriors could only stare in dismay in the direction Cheongho had been dragged.