Chapter 1190

Silence fell for a moment.

The monsters blinked their glowing eyes at the unexpected turn of events. So did the four Black Ghosts who were supposed to be commanding them.

In that brief stillness, Jeok Cheongang slowly turned his head. Over his shoulder, he found a pair of eyes staring blankly at him.

“What is it, you bastard?”

Unlike his Master, who had barely managed to squeeze out the words, the Disciple answered without hesitation.

“It’s me.”

“Not that.”

“What, then?”

“When did you wake up? No—how?”

“I just woke up.”

“……I mean, how?”

Jeok Cheongang wondered if he was seeing things.

Hadn’t the Slaughter Saint—and the Divine Physician himself—insisted that the effects wouldn’t fully wear off for at least another half a day?

Could this be a hallucination caused by Magic or something?

Just as that rather plausible suspicion began to grow, a familiar voice reached his ears again.

“What kind of question is that? I woke up because I woke up.”

The expression and tone were unmistakably annoyed.

With much of his suspicion fading, Jeok Cheongang asked, “Proof?”

“What proof? Do you wake up every morning thinking, ‘Wow, that’s crazy. How on earth did I wake up today?’ Well, considering your age, maybe you do.”

“……!”

You could imitate the outside, but what was inside never changed.

Jeok Cheongang’s fists began to itch, as though he’d been reunited with his long-lost soulmate. At last, he let go of every doubt.

“So it really is you!”

“Yes, it’s me. So could you lower your voice a little? I’ve been listening to you this whole time, and I think my eardrums are a little busted.”

“I should’ve known better than to believe a word that quack said—wait. What do you mean, you’ve been listening this whole time?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“You were awake? Since when?”

“When you said, ‘How many hearts do you have?’ Judging by that line alone, you sounded like the Heavenly Demon.”

At that answer, Jeok Cheongang let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Thank goodness.

If Jin Taekyung had regained consciousness a little earlier, he would have seen what happened before. He would have been hurt to learn that his Master still hadn’t been able to put that burden down.

Then a thought struck Jeok Cheongang.

“……If you were already awake, why did you stay quiet?”

“At first, I thought it was a dream.”

Jin Taekyung answered without a hint of shame, then added, “But it was comfortable, so I stayed put a little longer.”

“Heh.”

Jeok Cheongang smiled warmly at his Disciple’s honesty.

“Still comfortable?”

“Of course.”

“How strange. I’m not comfortable.”

“One thing I’ve learned from all my years of living is that life isn’t always comfortable.”

“And do you plan to keep living?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Then how about you get down already?”

“My back’s nice and warm from your Scorching Yang Qi, so could I stay up here another seven or eight minutes?”

“Of course. Anything’s possible.”

The smile vanished from Jeok Cheongang’s lips.

“You’ll just be half dead.”

“Ah. I’d rather not.”

With a deep sigh, Jin Taekyung hopped down to the ground.

He didn’t have to focus, put any strength into it, or draw on his internal energy. The moment he thought of moving, the thick iron chains binding Master and Disciple together burst apart like a spiderweb crushed beneath a boulder.

Crack-crack-crack!

The act was as simple as breathing. Its consequences were anything but.

Shhhhing—SPLAT!

A harsh metallic shriek. A blurred streak cutting through the air. Then the dreadful sound of torn flesh and blood gushing up like a fountain.

A group of monsters caught by the chains as they flew apart crumpled like straw. Four glowing gazes flashed around them.

“—Jin. Taekyung.”

The voices echoed through the space, layered over one another.

Jin Taekyung studied the Black Ghosts’ faces and shrugged.

“Yeah, it’s your hyung¹.”

“—The chosen one.”

“—Target confirmed.”

“—Carry out the order. As that person wills.”

“Pick one of you to do the talking. You all look so alike I can barely tell you apart as it is.”

His tone and expression were calm. But White Flame, the spear now in his hand, gleamed unmistakably through the mist.

“Still, there’s something familiar about those mugs. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere.”

Jeok Cheongang faltered at the unexpected response, then swallowed a bitter smile.

Perhaps it was only natural that Jin Taekyung didn’t recognize those faces. To him, they were just one among countless villains he’d glimpsed for a fleeting instant.

It’s probably better if he doesn’t remember.

A Master should always be a pillar for his Disciple, someone he could lean on.

That was why Jeok Cheongang didn’t want him to know. He couldn’t let him see how rotten he was inside, beneath a surface that looked so solid.

Yes. This is enough.

Suppressing the words circling in his heart, Jeok Cheongang spoke in a deliberately calm tone.

“Well, even if you have seen them, what would that change?”

“Fair enough.”

Bzzzz.

At Jin Taekyung’s answer, the silver spearhead trembled.

A tremendous energy began to pulse at last, and dark blue flames rose and billowed.

“Be careful. These things are different from the ones we’ve faced so far.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I’ve been to places like this so many times I’m sick of them.”

Jin Taekyung drew a deep breath. The air was unpleasantly damp and foul-smelling.

He knew this place.

More precisely, he could feel its true nature against every inch of his skin.

Even if those translucent letters hadn’t appeared in midair, that fact wouldn’t have changed.

System

• You have entered the restricted area Tianshan Mountains.
• You have entered the mutated Gate Forest of Death-I.
• The abilities of all enemies within this restricted area and Gate have been greatly increased.
• All manner of evil Magic and the energy of death are consuming the area. Do not let your guard down.
• You have not yet met the Gate-clearing conditions.

A Gate. A passage through which demons marched into another world—and a land of death that had become their prison.

A graveyard that had swallowed countless Hunters.

Whoosh.

The flames wrapping around the spearhead surged higher.

They burned like a campfire sheltering souls that had died in the cold, and like a gravekeeper’s torch driving off the unclean things wandering this vast cemetery.

Higher. Fiercer.

Until their dark blue light filled his Master’s wide eyes.

Jeok Cheongang drew a sharp breath.

The flames before him were that vast, that hot—

And that bright.

They shone with a different light from his Master’s, yet carried an even warmer power.

“……!”

Jin Taekyung gave his wide-eyed Master a faint smile.

“I told you. A lot’s happened.”

“You……”

What was Jeok Cheongang supposed to say?

He didn’t spend long wondering. After a brief moment at a loss for words, he clenched his fists.

“Let’s go.”

No answer or question followed that brief command.

The moment the words left his lips, Master and Disciple were already surging toward their enemies, setting the air ablaze.

No.

The two Fire Kings.

Rrrrrumble!

Their flames merged into hellfire nothing could extinguish and tore through the darkness.

I don’t know.

I don’t know exactly how much time passed after I lost consciousness, or how many monsters I cut down in this place.

Truthfully, none of that mattered.

Looking back, I’d always been that kind of guy.

Like someone being chased, I’d race ahead with my eyes fixed forward, only to come to my senses somewhere I’d never expected.

And then—

I had to run again. Without even having time to look back.

I still don’t know the true name of the thing chasing so close that I can feel its breath on the back of my neck.

All I can do is cling with all my strength to a hope that seems ready to go out at any moment, and believe that if I take one more step—just one more—I’ll finally reach the end of this road.

Yeah.

Just like right now.

Shhhaaa.

Thousands of times. Tens of thousands.

No—more times than I could count.

As I repeated that familiar movement, an unnervingly low whistle ran along the spearhead slicing through the air.

The strike was precise and swift. The result it would bring was just as clear.

Shhk.

A slicing sound as familiar as the wind—and the sensation of death traveling up the shaft in my hands.

It’s over.

I was certain, and this time reality agreed.

Splash.

The enemy before me dropped to its knees in a pool of blood—or, by now, what would more accurately be called a stream.

But there was no groan of pain, no pleading look begging to survive.

The last Black Ghost stared at me with unfeeling eyes and said only this:

“—That person. Is waiting.”

Like an actor carefully delivering every word of the line he’d been given.

“—For you, Jin Taekyung.”

And that was all.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

System

• Mutated Gate Forest of Death-I successfully cleared!
• You have gained a tremendous amount of EXP!
• Level up!
• All status ailments and fatigue have been recovered.
• Gate-clearing conditions have been met.

A clear ringing sounded for me alone, and strength filled me once more. Beyond the fading mist, a field of magical power appeared in midair.

But neither Jeok Cheongang nor I reacted to any of the changes around us.

I looked at him. He looked silently at the Black Ghost that had met its end.

At the soulless shell of a boy who had once been someone’s joy and reason for living.

Then, after a silence that was brief but felt long, Jeok Cheongang turned away.

“Damn it, what kind of place is this? I can’t even tell how to get out. I feel like a lost child.”

He grumbled as usual, but his voice was thick, as though soaked through. Somehow, I heard relief in it.

Or at least I wanted to.

For his sake.

I hoped the tremor in the voice that had said I can finally let you go now would ease, if only a little. The painful shudder I’d felt through my back, too.

This is enough.

If someone was facing and overcoming the pain they’d hidden inside all alone, then I could only believe that keeping my eyes closed for a moment had been the right choice.

A pillar was a reassuring support simply by being there. But it couldn’t stand upright on its own.

“What are you waiting for? Get moving.”

“Yes.”

I smiled faintly and nodded.

“I’ll lead the way.”

We walked on together.

The place was still dark, covered in blood and corpses. But for some reason, it seemed a little brighter.