The front of the grave, after the fairies had left, was as desolate as when I first arrived.
I let out a bitter laugh as I looked at the clearing now shrouded in deep darkness.
"They didn't even bother to clean up after themselves."
Should I say it was typical of fairies? The guardian statues, used during their battle with me, lay sprawled on the ground in bizarre, unidentifiable poses.
Fairies liked to hide or move human belongings to play tricks, but they were never the type to diligently return things to their original state.
I brushed my hand over the surface of one of the fallen guardian statues.
The once-smooth bronze had turned rough, and powdery dust clung to my fingertips.
'Did it decay the moment the fairies left?'
The entrance to the tomb, along with the guardian statues that once stood sentinel, had aged rapidly as if time had been fast-forwarded.
The statues' once-lustrous golden surfaces had rusted into a dull turquoise, and the brick arch that formed the tomb's entrance had crumbled in several places, the joints between bricks loosening.
'I wonder if this will be okay to report to the clan later.'
When I returned, I'd have to report everything that happened during this mission, and this place—one of the major accomplishments—would naturally be included.
The problem would start after the scholars came here to investigate.
To begin with, it was odd enough for a human grave to have guardian statues, but those statues were now scattered far from where they were supposed to be, in cryptic poses.
'Well, they'll figure it out.'
I turned away, brushing off my concern.
What trouble those scholars might have was none of my business.
Leaving the burial site was much easier than entering it.
On the opposite side of the chamber from the tomb entrance, there were twelve stones laid out once more.
But there was one difference this time.
'Thankfully, it seems I don't have to infuse them with magic again.'
The magic infused from outside must remain active until the person who entered returns.
I gathered my belongings and stepped into the center of the twelve stones.
Whoooosh!
Just like when I entered, a torrent of magical energy surged around me.
I preemptively drew up my own magic to brace for the impact.
'Ugh!'
Despite preparing, it didn't make much difference.
It felt like the sky and ground flipped upside down.
My eyes spun, and my insides twisted.
Crash!
I was thrown out and slammed almost straight into the ground.
I barely managed to regain my balance and let out a sigh.
A wave of nausea surged, but I forced it down.
'This… I just can't get used to it.'
Shaking my head, I slowly opened my eyes.
When I had entered the tomb, it had just been dawn. But the world was still enveloped in deep night.
I'd essentially stayed up for two full nights.
I figured I should go greet Valérie briefly and get some rest.
But then—
Shiver!
A chill ran down my spine.
I dropped my belongings and hastily drew Mujin.
"...!"
Suddenly, I was surrounded by dozens of people.
In the darkness of the mountain, just as the moon broke through the clouds, its light shone down on them.
Grin!
All at once, they tilted their heads back and smiled at me.
***
My heart sank.
Sensing danger, I instantly leapt backward.
Swish! Boom!
An instant later, something flew past and struck the spot I had just been.
'An arrow?'
There was no time to think—the dodge had been pure instinct.
If I hadn't listened to my gut and moved, that arrow would have pierced me between the eyes.
"Who are you?"
I raised Mujin and opened my Mystic Eye.
'What the…?'
And in that moment, I couldn't believe my eyes.
What I saw wasn't human energy.
It was the twisted magical flow emitted by monsters.
Every one of the figures surrounding me was cloaked in the aura of a monster.
'But their presence clearly feels…'
What I sensed through my intuition was human, despite my Mystic Eye showing me monster magic.
The contradiction between what I could feel and what I could see.
Then, suddenly, they began to twitch.
"Foundfoundfoundfound it!"
"The pieces, all the pieces, we found them!"
"Remove…the mask… must remove…"
"Aaaaaaaahhh!"
They all began babbling madly in unison.
Dozens of voices overlapped in a grotesque chorus.
'What the hell are these things?'
Their presence was so twisted, it was nauseating.
I felt my brows furrow instinctively.
"What the hell are you things?"
In response to my question, one of the bizarre figures jerked its neck at an unnatural angle.
"Blue is always fast, great beast! We follow. Moisture is always strong. But humans don't know. Give freedom."
As if possessed, the words made no coherent sense.
Voices from the others followed.
"The mask is great, but why are you crawling like that, when running is what tempts?"
"The door. Opened. How did a human get there."
"Hand it over. That is. Great freedom. The mask!"
"Kyeek! Keeeeek!"
Incomprehensible mutterings, fragmented language poured out.
Just hearing it was enough to make me nauseous, the tones were disturbingly grotesque.
'They can't be reasoned with.'
As the cacophony clouded my mind—
"Chwiik! Chwiieeek!"
Thud!
Someone stepped forward from within the group.
No—just as I felt they were stepping forward, they suddenly closed the distance at incredible speed, and something was swung at me.
"Guh!"
Already having activated my magic eye, I instinctively swung Mujin to block it.
Mujin, in the form of a sword, clashed with the 'something'.
BOOOOM!
The air exploded, and a powerful gust swept across the ground.
A weight almost unbelievable pressed against my fingertips.
When I saw what Mujin had clashed with, my eyes widened.
'Did they really just swing that?'
As bizarre as their speech and actions were, their weapon was no less insane.
What had collided with Mujin was a log.
A massive tree trunk, something no normal person could even hope to lift, had been swung through the air.
A tree trunk.
"Kyaaaagh!"
Whoooom!
Even though they had merely swung it, a violent sonic boom echoed.
This wasn't the strength of a human.
I twisted my waist to evade it and stared at the attacker wielding the trunk.
'What the hell is that.'
I couldn't believe my eyes.
'An orc?'
Murky green skin, a hulking build, facial features resembling a pig.
It could only be described as an orc.
A monster—appearing suddenly in Gyeongju, a place famous for having no dungeons, no gates, no monster sightings.
'No, that's not an orc.'
Focusing more intently, I realized something: what I had taken to be orcish features were actually leather.
Peeking through the seams on the facial "mask" was flesh-colored skin. Through the eyeholes, I could see human eyes.
A human was wearing an orc's skin.
'Why would someone wear an orc's skin?'
And more importantly, how could simply wearing a skin allow a human to emit a monster's magical energy?
"Human! Kieeek!"
Even the voice from its mouth was more orc than human.
As the tree trunk was swung again, something else came flying from behind.
Clang!
Instead of blocking the trunk, I twisted my body and slashed down the projectile coming from the rear.
"…A needle?"
A pungent smell hit my nose. A poisoned dart.
Kiiiik—
A non-human voice echoed from the bushes the dart had come from.
It was a boy, in the form of a goblin.
He had a blowpipe in his mouth, his eyes glinting as he fired the poisoned dart from the underbrush.
An orc and a goblin.
'What the hell are these things?'
I clicked my tongue low.
But there was no time to ponder. From all directions, more and more projectiles came flying.
A sudden battle—outnumbered from the start.
I tried to assess my surroundings, but there were too many enemies.
There wasn't even a moment to glance away—attacks kept coming.
'I don't know who or what these things are…'
But I knew one thing for certain—they were out for my life.
Whoosh! Ping!
I deflected the flying weapons as my eyes glinted with resolve.
'I need to change locations. This place isn't good for fighting a large group alone.'
But to do that, I first had to break the flow of the battle.
Kang Qi Technique: Lightning. Modified form.
Crackle!
I deployed a variant of the lightning skill I'd used even in battle against my sixth sister.
In a flash, like an electrical discharge, my aura radiated outward, repelling all ambushes and attacks around me.
'Now!'
As soon as the skill ended, I activated a speed technique that stimulated all the muscles in my body.
"Chwieeeek!"
"Kieeeeek!"
The enemies, staggered from the lightning burst, were half a beat too late to react.
I kicked off the ground and dashed forward without hesitation.
The monsters began pursuing us, albeit belatedly.
They were unbelievably fast—but still slower than me.
If I could just widen the gap a little more like this…
'…!'
My Mystic Eyes and sixth sense rang the alarm.
No good. This way is blocked.
Ka-ga-ga-gak!
The moment I sensed it, I abruptly halted by thrusting Mujin into the ground.
Immediately after, hazy threads spread through the air like a web, covering the direction I was headed toward.
If I had kept moving, I would've been completely ensnared by that net-like trap.
"Kieeek!"
Chaak! Chaaak!
As soon as I stopped, white projectiles flew out endlessly from the forest's shadows—as if they had always been there.
'Could it be…'
I swallowed dryly, batting away the flying thread-bundles.
The threads sizzled and burned upon touching the aura surrounding Mujin, releasing a pungent stench.
I'd seen something similar in the Forest of the Face-Spiders.
It was the same type of web the face-spiders used to cocoon prey and cover the forest.
I turned my gaze to identify the being that had fired those threads at me.
"Tch…"
That woman—or rather, the thing I couldn't even tell was a woman—had eyes that weren't human.
Instead of whites and irises, she had dozens of layered compound eyes like a face-spider.
"Catchcatchcatchcatch."
"It's mine mine mine. I'm going to catch it aaack!"
More attacks followed in quick succession.
A flood of bizarre beings consumed by madness charged at me like a rising tide.
***
There was no time to retreat and reassess the situation.
In the end, I had no choice but to confront each enemy head-on and think quickly.
'About thirty enemies? As for what they are… honestly, I don't know. They're clearly human, but they're using monster-like powers.'
In all my lives, past and present, I'd never heard of anything like this.
I couldn't tell whether these were humans turned into monsters, or monsters that had taken human form.
'Goblins, orcs, face-spiders, even dragonkin… their types vary. They seem to be part of one group, but they don't operate in any coordinated way. Their movements often clash with each other.'
Their movements are clumsy.
They show no signs of controlling mana.
Despite their numbers, they simply charge in and attack en masse without any strategy or order.
'Where the hell did these guys even come from?'
A sense of frustration started building within me.
"Gimmeeeeee!"
BOOM!
To make things worse, these monsters didn't just use monstrous powers.
They also used human weapons—bows, firearms, swords and blades, even logs like the one the orc swung earlier.
Shhk!
Suddenly, a thrown weapon I couldn't fully deflect grazed my skin.
Even though I was fighting at full power, using both Mystic Eyes and sixth sense, there were too many enemies, and the terrain didn't favor me.
'It's not certain, but these bastards know about the ancestor's tomb. They're demanding something from me.'
I quickly used magic to stop the bleeding.
Something cold ran along my veins—probably poison—but I ignored it.
Ever since consuming the Zahaseokcheong, I'd developed immunity to toxins.
"Hoo…"
I exhaled deeply and surveyed my surroundings.
The crazed monsters were flooding in relentlessly.
There were too many, and I only had one body.
I had taken out a few of them, but they kept swarming like they didn't care about their comrades' deaths.
If I faced them one-on-one, I could have ended them instantly—but this number posed a real threat.
This was the limit.
For recon, at least.
"This should be enough. I'll get the rest of the info from whoever I capture."
The form of Mujin in my hand began to change.
Now—it was my turn to hunt.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]