Chapter 675
I had thought of this place from the start, but even then, I didn’t expect it would actually be here. The Southern Barbarian Region is impossibly vast, and I’m still a Korean who barely knows the geography of the Central Plains.
Honestly, out of all the martial artists in the world, no one is a bigger hybrid than me.
‘Practically an outsider in the Central Plains. An outsider with no excuses in the Southern Barbarian Region too.’
So there was no way for me to know exactly where I was heading or where I would stop.
Besides, Muyaho is a spiritual beast that understands human speech, not one that can speak it.
That’s why, when the white tiger finally slowed its steps, I realized it.
‘Damn, the “no way” really came true. Fuck.’
Just looking at the terrain made an ominous feeling creep over me.
Mount Aino, which I had returned to after only a few days, was the same as ever. Dark, cold, and with a thick fog that seemed to carry the scent of blood.
In short, a place that feels like shit no matter when you visit.
If any mountain deserved its own special character instead of just being written as “mountain,” it was this one.
“…Is it really here?”
‘Grr.’
“You know your head’s coming off if you lie, right?”
‘GRRRR!’
“Ah. Okay.”
Shit, so it really is.
I gently scratched the annoyed white tiger between the eyebrows and scanned the surroundings.
Occasional wolf cries, and mountain birds flapping away each time. That was all the noise there was.
‘Yeah, at least sound-wise it tracks.’
I muttered internally and checked the quest window.
The linked quest that started automatically when I separated from the group with Muyaho was short and simple for an advanced-grade quest.
[Yohee’s Scent of Pursuit]
You have chosen to pursue the fragrance.
At the end of the path you walk now, may what you desire be waiting.
Grade: Advanced
Restriction: Jin Taekyung
Objective: Locate Yohee (Incomplete)
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
Locate Yohee. Of course I’ll succeed.
But honestly, whether it’s Yohee or Heukung doesn’t matter to me.
This is something I must accomplish regardless of whether it’s a quest. Those two are the surest cards to stop the plans of the Southern Demon Empress and Baek Sang.
‘Based on the information I got, Beast Miao King is missing, and the allied factions in the Southern Barbarian Palace have practically lost all power. In this urgent situation, rescuing the two great chiefs and heading to the inner palace is the best move.’
Did anyone think I spent the whole ride staring at scenery while Muyaho ran himself to death? I already sorted all this out on the way.
Since the Southern Barbarian Palace now sees me as the bastard who caused the incident in the Western Yao Tribe, charging in alone will only get me skewered.
But if the kidnapped ones—Heukung and Yohee—return alive with me?
‘The entire board flips. Completely.’
Words carry different weights depending on who speaks them.
And if the great chiefs of the four tribes step forward to prove my innocence and reveal the truth behind the disaster, everything happening in the Southern Barbarian Region will enter a new phase.
That was why I had to succeed in this quest. It was the one brilliant move that could overturn everything.
Of course…
“To play a brilliant move, you need your stones first. And this shit is hard from the start.”
I muttered like a sigh, sensing the presences closing in from all directions.
“So instead of playing Go, maybe I’ll start by thinning out a few pieces. Who wants to die first?”
As expected, there was no answer. I launched forward without hesitation.
Flare. BOOM.
Flame Trail.
The flames rising with each step split the darkness like a comet’s tail.
Since I began pursuing the trail, the number of enemies was higher than ever.
Just the ones visible numbered around three hundred.
And there were probably more in the thick undergrowth.
But…
‘Only this much?’
In the massive food chain called the martial world, I was a predator towering over everything here. The enemies surrounding me were nothing more than sheep.
I didn’t need to sink my teeth into their throats to take them down.
Flare, BOOOOM!
The flames devoured the darkness as my body shot forward. Screams erupted half a beat later.
“D-Detected!”
“Stop him! He’s co—!”
BOOOOM!
Their shout was buried in the explosion.
The earth flipped, trees were uprooted, and dozens of enemies were flung in every direction.
“Urk!”
“Gaaah!”
Their formation collapsed instantly, leaving only screams behind.
Brushing dirt off my shoulder, I stepped out as someone yelled:
“Use the beasts! Attack from the rear!”
“Oh, look at this animal-abusing bastard.”
Still, it was a decent choice.
Beast-based combat was respected in the Southern Barbarian Region, and it was the very reason their warriors could perform so well during the Great War of Justice and Evil despite being individually weaker than martial artists of the Central Plains.
Of course, that only works when the situation is right.
ROOOOAR!
A massive bear, far larger than a normal one, charged forward—
SWOOSH!
A pale blur shot past me and slammed into the beast’s jaw.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
Blood scattered in the air as the giant bear collapsed.
Muyaho, who had subdued one of the strongest beasts here with a single kitty punch, flashed his eyes.
‘Soft whimper!’
I couldn’t see it, but I felt it. A cold aura spreading outward.
‘This is…’
Fear.
The white tiger’s overwhelming pressure crushed everything nearby. Beast cries vanished instantly, their raised tails drooping to the ground.
Then, when the moonlit blue-white eyes gleamed again—
—ROOOOAAAAR!
The air shook violently.
Grass bent flat from the gust, and beasts stumbled away in terror.
And this phenomenon wasn’t limited to them.
“Ghk!”
“M-My body…”
Muyaho’s aura wasn’t as strong as Water Spirit Dragon or some monsters I’ve met, but it was more than enough to freeze weaker opponents.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“You fools! What are you doing?!”
A shout filled with panic and rage.
I spotted a middle-aged man wearing leopard skin further back, and shot forward like a spear.
SWISH—CRACK!
“Guaaah!”
“M-Monster!”
Yes. At least right now, in this place, I was the only monster.
A foe no one here could stop. A foe no one expected to face.
Even if everyone here stood against me, I had the strength to push through.
“Protect the chief!”
“Do whatever it takes! Stop—ghk!”
A gentle tap to the chest with one palm.
My fiery energy scrambled his internal flow, and he collapsed with a fountain of blood.
“You bastard! How dare—!”
SWISH. Thud.
So that guy was a friend of the one I just dropped?
Plenty of spirit, but lacking in skill.
I pinched the trembling blade between two fingers, using [Empty-Handed White Blade Capture], and shrugged at the face behind it.
“He’s not dead. He’ll just shit blood in bed for a month.”
“And you—join him.”
BOOM!
His body shot backward, bowling through more than a dozen men.
I walked along the open path, raising both hands. The fire dragon coiled in my lower abdomen surged upward and filled my palms.
Flare. SSSSS—
Heat radiated in horrifying waves.
Moisture evaporated before my feet even touched the muddy ground, and the elite warriors charging at me saw blue-white flames reflected in my hands.
“W-Wait—!”
I answered with both palms.
Like the former master of Blazing Fire Sect, who once wiped out the Wudu Clan, I unleashed flame palms in all directions.
BOOOOOM!
RUMBLE!
The flames tore through the air, scorching the forest and burning down the dense trees.
Under the massive inferno consuming the darkness, hundreds of enemies screamed and fled.
Including one middle-aged man in flashy leopard skin—easy to spot even from afar.
“M-Move! Out of my way!”
Judging from his panicked escape, he wanted to live.
But no matter how hard he and his guards tried to flee, some things are impossible.
“Yeah, I don’t think you’re getting past me.”
“J-Jin Taekyung!”
“So you’re the tribe chief, huh? I thought your face looked familiar. I saw you once during the gathering. Been well?”
SWISH!
This is why people say guys with swords have no manners. I greet them but they swing their weapons.
SWISH—CRACK!
“Gaaaah!”
I easily dodged and snapped his wrist, drawing a scream.
I followed up with finger wind at the five guards rushing in, and Muyaho’s sudden appearance sent their beasts running.
Flare. RUMBLE!
Fire and ash fell like rain, and giant trees toppled like dominoes. The chief’s face turned ghostly pale.
“S-Save me…”
“You’re a tribe chief, so of course I’ll spare you. As long as you answer properly.”
“A-Ask anything!”
A captured chief was the best kind of captive. They valued their own life so much they’d spill everything—even things I didn’t ask.
And among that were some useful pieces of information.
“…A general mobilization order?”
The chief nodded frantically.
“C-Chief Baek Sang has become acting palace lord, and ten thousand troops are already stationed in the inner palace.”
“Continue.”
“The Miao Tribe is under strict surveillance and couldn’t respond, but the rest of the Southern Barbarian Region is moving under Baek Sang’s lead with the three major tribes.”
Damn it.
I swallowed a curse.
Beast Miao King escaping meant Baek Sang becoming acting palace lord was expected.
But a general mobilization order instead of Heaven’s Net?
‘No way.’
A creeping sense of dread.
Maybe Dark Heaven’s plan was far bigger and much closer to completion than anyone thought.
‘If I waste even a moment here…’
Flare. BOOOOM.
Watching the flames spread rapidly across Mount Aino, I shot forward. Into the darkness nestled in the mountain. Into the fire.