Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 398 – Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul (3)

Over two hundred jang above the inner city of Heaven and Earth Society.

There, a small bird, not particularly large, was quietly gliding through the air without flapping its wings, looking down at the ground below.

From afar, it looked like an ordinary bird, but up close, its appearance was completely different from what we commonly know.

Its ears, mouth, and nose were remarkably similar to a human’s, while its body resembled that of an owl.

Even more chilling was that it had three feet and four eyes.

This bizarre owl-like creature was a Monstrous Beast called Ong (Yu/Yong, 顒), a type of monster.

To the east of Mount Danzuan, about 2,700 li away, there’s Mount Lingqiu, where many areas lack vegetation.

This Monstrous Beast Ong is a monster that only roams in dry areas of the mountain. Its appearance is said to be an omen of crop failure for the year, making it a symbol of ill fortune.

-Ong! Ong! Ong!

Peculiarly, this Ong only seeks out dry land, so why is it in the sky above Heaven and Earth Society?

Strangely, the pupils of the four eyes on the Monstrous Beast Ong had characters inscribed in them.

示 (Si).

This meant “to show”.

-Kirik! Kirik!

The four eyeballs moved independently in an eerie manner, looking down below.

The way the eyes moved separately made it seem as if it was observing all directions at once.

However, these independently moving eyeballs, except for one focused on the main compound of the inner city, all three others were directed towards one place.

That place was none other than Young Master Na Yul-ryang’s estate.

-Swish!

As the Monstrous Beast Ong’s pupil view narrowed, the fights taking place in the estate became visible.

But as if quickly losing interest in those fights, the gaze of the three eyeballs soon focused on just one person.

That person was Mok Gyeong-un.

The three eyeballs focused on Mok Gyeong-un began to examine every minute detail.

Everything from his appearance to his movements.

But it was right then.

‘!?’

The surroundings of the Monstrous Beast Ong, which had been concentrating on looking down at the ground, suddenly darkened.

Belatedly noticing this, the Monstrous Beast Ong tried to flee without even thinking to check the shadow that had covered it.

However,

-Chomp!

The Monstrous Beast Ong was swallowed whole by something’s mouth.

It was none other than the Demonic Beast Heumwon, a monster with the upper body of a bird and the lower body resembling a hornet with spines.

The Monstrous Beast Ong, just one rank below, struggled desperately to escape from inside the mouth, but

-Crunch! Crunch!

It was crushed inside the Demonic Beast Heumwon’s mouth and breathed its last.

At the same time,

In a dark space.

-Drip drip!

Tears of blood flowed from the left eye of a being seated on a chair shrouded in shadows.

As blood tears flowed, an eye on the forehead of this being suddenly opened wide, and then maniacal laughter erupted from its mouth.

“Kuhahahahahahaha!”

As the laughter spread, the surroundings shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

After laughing for a while, the being in the shadows stopped and muttered in a voice that had regained sanity:

“There are always meddlers, it seems.”

***

-Swish!

‘!?’

Along with a sharp sensation cutting into flesh, the sensation that had been continuing suddenly disappeared.

The right leg that had been burning white was severed and fell limply to the ground.

With this, a scream of pain burst from the Spiritual Beast White-Flaming Dokgok’s mouth.

-Roar!

“Hmm.”

Mok Gyeong-un glanced back and smirked.

He had aimed to behead it in one strike, but White-Flaming Dokgok had tried to dodge at the last moment by kicking off with its front legs, resulting in just this much.

It could be said that it had barely saved its life.

-Swish!

Mok Gyeong-un looked up.

There, he could see the familiar Demonic Beast Heumwon, appearing as small as a fingernail, flapping its wings and circling in the sky.

‘Well handled.’

Now that annoying gaze was finally gone.

He had first felt this irritation since arriving at Heaven and Earth Society.

It clearly felt like someone was watching him.

But it was difficult to easily spot it with just a gaze alone.

However, after arriving at Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang’s estate, the faint irritation he had felt began to grow stronger.

Because of this, he finally found where that gaze was coming from.

‘Above.’

It was positioned higher in the sky than expected.

Which meant it wasn’t human.

It was a monster.

If he tried to approach to catch it, it would surely flee given the distance.

So all he had to do was draw its attention by fighting without going all out, controlling his strength, and then deal with it.

The Demonic Beast Heumwon had already recovered from the injuries it suffered from the magical tools at Shaolin Temple.

Thanks to Heumwon, the annoying gaze had completely disappeared.

There was no longer any reason to hold back his strength.

“…What on earth are you?”

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Mok Gyeong-un’s suddenly changed aura.

Though masked by the scream, it seemed the Spiritual Beast White-Flaming Dokgok had been injured.

‘Because of the sharp energy, my senses keep…’

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul’s brow furrowed.

In place of his missing eyes, all his other senses were extremely developed, and normally he could spread his spiritual energy in all directions to accurately perceive everything invisible.

However, due to this sharp sword energy spreading from Mok Gyeong-un, his senses were disrupted, making it impossible to perceive with spiritual energy.

‘I don’t know what technique he used, but if we don’t hurry and attack together, instead…’

-Swish!

It was at that moment.

Something brushed past him, and a voice was heard from behind.

“Let’s start with the right arm, shall we?”

-Thud! Splash!

No sooner had those words ended than his arm fell off from the shoulder, and blood spurted like a fountain from the cut surface.

-Screech!

The Diabolic Beast Yual, which had become Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul’s armor through Human-Monster Unity, also screamed in pain.

“Kuuuh. Yu, Yual!”

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul also wanted to scream in pain.

But with extreme endurance, he suppressed it and called out to Yual.

At this, Yual’s body near the severed area of the right arm began to undulate, compressing the cut surface and simultaneously blocking it.

Thanks to this, the blood that had been spurting like a fountain immediately stopped.

“Quite a useful Diabolic Beast, isn’t it?”

-Pop!

At Mok Gyeong-un’s voice, which could have been either sarcasm or genuine praise, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul hurriedly leaped to create distance and shouted:

“White-Flaming Dokgok!”

At his cry, White-Flaming Dokgok, which had been suffering after losing one of its front legs, immediately kicked off the ground with its hind legs and launched itself upward,

-Whoosh!

It curled its body and began rotating at an incredibly fast speed.

As White-Flaming Dokgok, its entire body now white flames, started rotating, the surrounding area wavered with heat.

-Crackle!

-Pop!

In sync with this, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul launched his body.

Although it was difficult to spread spiritual energy around, there was no problem with his other senses, so he could at least guess the position.

‘In this case, with our combined secret technique, we’ll…’

-Swish!

It was at that moment.

A black line appeared diagonally from the ground,

-Flutter!

Then the body of White-Flaming Dokgok, which had been rotating rapidly in a spherical shape, began to stop.

But that wasn’t the end.

The white flames covering its entire body were slowly extinguishing.

Then,

-Thud!

Eventually, the body of the Spiritual Beast White-Flaming Dokgok fell limply to the ground.

“White-Flaming Dokgok!”

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul shouted with an even more distorted expression at the sound of White-Flaming Dokgok falling, having lost its strength before they could even unleash their secret technique.

What on earth just happened?

A sharp energy that could even split the air soared into the sky.

From that moment, along with the heat, the demonic energy of the Spiritual Beast White-Flaming Dokgok was rapidly dispersing.

-Tap!

To Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul, who had stopped mid-flight, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile:

“Shall I give it to you?”

“What?”

“This.”

-Whoosh! Thud! Roll!

Something heavy rolled on the ground and then stopped at Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul’s feet.

Heat was still emanating from it, indicating how hot it had been just moments ago.

‘…White-Flaming Dokgok.’

Indeed.

It was none other than White-Flaming Dokgok’s severed head.

-Throb!

Suddenly, he felt pain in his chest.

Because of this, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul could know for certain.

Just now, as the Spiritual Beast White-Flaming Dokgok’s head and body were separated and it completely ceased breathing, the karmic bond of the familiar was also severed.

As a result, the backlash had rushed to him.

‘This can’t be.’

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul was genuinely shocked.

It wasn’t just anything, but a Spiritual Beast.

Although it might not match up to the Six Demons, said to be close to divine beasts, Spiritual Beasts were at nearly the highest rank among monsters.

Even though he had made such a being his familiar, something many diviners wouldn’t dare dream of, he too had to fight for nearly three days and nights to capture it.

Yet, the Spiritual Beast White-Flaming Dokgok, which even he had struggled so much to make his familiar, had lost its life in such a pitifully easy manner.

-Gnash!

Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul bit his lip hard before opening his mouth.

“You… what… What on earth are you? How can you have such power…?”

“I told you I was giving up on holding back, didn’t I? Ah, more precisely, there’s no need to do so anymore since there are no more watching eyes.”

At these words, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul unconsciously swallowed.

Though he couldn’t see, judging from Mok Gyeong-un’s words and the fact that he was pointing his finger at the sky above, it was clear.

[He will be watching.]

[Watching? You don’t mean…]

[Do your job, Grand Divination Master.]

Myeong-ryul suddenly recalled the words that person had said to him.

Does that mean this guy somehow dealt with His eyes?

As he was bewildered, he felt Mok Gyeong-un approaching.

“Now then, shall we hear everything you know?”

-Flinch!

Myeong-ryul, overwhelmed by the pressure just from Mok Gyeong-un’s approach, unconsciously took a step back.

What could he possibly do against a monster capable of killing a Spiritual Beast like White-Flaming Dokgok in an instant?

It was then.

-Rumble!

“It’s him!”

“Kill him!”

Dozens of martial artists began pouring in through the doors of the northern pavilion of the rear garden.

These were Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul’s reinforcements that had arrived belatedly.

‘Ah!’

Although they might be somewhat inferior to those coming from the east and west sides, there were still some branch leader-level experts among them, so it seemed they could buy some time.

He needed to slip in between them and use them as shields…

“How annoying.”

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un slightly raised his foot and then,

-Boom!

Stomped down hard on the ground.

Instantly, the ground split and the surrounding air spread out in a wave-like pattern.

Simultaneously, the dozens of martial artists rushing towards them clutched their chests, spat blood, and collapsed.

“Kuk!”

“Kuuk!”

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

At the sound of them falling, Grand Divination Master Myeong-ryul stopped in his tracks, his whole body trembling as if having a seizure.

‘In one step?’

As so many experts fell with just one stomp, something flashed through his mind like lightning.

It was an urgent report he had received not long ago.

It was about the bizarre rumor of a new Seventh Heaven appearing.

The new storm that was said to have collapsed Shaolin’s One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation with a single step and single-handedly forced the closure of Sichuan Tang Clan.

Hearing such an unbelievable rumor, he had been more skeptical than believing.

But this one step… could it be…

“Cheon…ma?”