It was over.
Lee Sungmin was tired.
He sat down right there because his legs were incredibly weak. Wijihoyeon approached him. Unable to move properly, Wijihoyeon came up with a slow pace and plopped down near Lee Sungmin. She looked up and down at Lee Sungmin, who was covered with wounds. The spear, which had been beaten and cracked from the overuse of internal energy and clashing with Amzone as well as the armor, was full of holes, and the metal shrapnel was deeply embedded in his flesh. Blood was flowing like a slow river in a puddle around him.
“…dumbass…”
Wijihoyeon barely uttered such words while pouting with her cheeks, and when she saw Lee Sungmin finally stopped and exhausted beyond words, she smiled pitifully.
“You talk too much.”, he replied.
“Why… don’t you see that it’s like this because…”
“I didn’t want to let you go.”
“Did I ask you to do this?”, she asked.
“Doesn’t matter. You were sleeping. …Did you sleep well?”
“You stupid son of a bitch…!”
Hearing Lee Sungmin’s answer, Wijihoyeon jerked out her hand to grab him by the collar and grumbled, but she couldn’t speak out loud from her condition, so she put down her seized hand.
“…what if you died?”
“I’m not dead though.”
“You could’ve died…!”
“I’m not dead, so it’s fine.”, he said again.
Wijihoyeon’s voice was ringing in Lee Sungmin’s head. He felt his consciousness thinning, and his eyelids grew heavy. He wanted everyone to just wait and pause time but he couldn’t do anything. From afar, the figures of Sima and Rubia approaching was blurry.
“I’ll just have a little sleep.”
That was the last word he said before falling asleep on the spot.
—
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in what seemed to be a dark cave. He heard the sound of rain in the distance. Lee Sungmin glanced at the black dragon cape Wijihoyeon always wore, covering his body. Right next to him, Wijihoyeon was asleep with a chirping breath.
“Don’t wake her up. Because it hasn’t been long since she fell asleep.”
He heard a voice while he was looking at the face of Wijihoyeon. It was the Crazy Heavenly Demon. He sat leaning against the entrance of the cave, and by his side Rubia crouched and asleep.
“What is this place?”
“It’s the cave where an old bear used to live. Lord Sima got his own magic to nullify the smell because of the old musty smell that would have been invading your nose if not.”, Byuk Won-Pae, the Crazy Heavenly Demon, said with a grin.
“You’ve been asleep all day. Aren’t you hungry?”
“…I am.”, Lee Sungmin replied.
“I only have bread. …We were thinking of taking the southbound route but we needed to rest. So we took a detour over to this place to stop in the cave. There may be some kind of forest trail to take back, but… everyone needed a break.”
Lee Sungmin picked up the black dragon cape that was covering his body. There were no scars left on the body.
“I pulled out the shrapnel of the hidden weapons and poured some potions on your body. You were lucky. You were hit head-on by a thousand firearms, but you’ve been recovering in good shape.”
If he hadn’t worn the orchicalcum armor, his body would have been crushed to bits the moment he was hit by the thousand firearms. Thanks to this, the orchicalcum coating was completely peeled off, but no matter how valuable the orchicalcum is, his life was certainly more important.
“I’ve heard about the situation from the others. I think I’m going back to how I used to be, ravaging and attacking things in a crazed manner. I haven’t forgotten the spell and the slap method you told me to follow…”.
“It’s not out of control yet, I don’t believe that.”
“That’s a relief that Amzone didn’t act any further… Lord Sima stepped in and made Amzone fall back. I didn’t know we’d get the help from that mysterious, old man.”,the Crazy Heavenly Demon murmured.
Sima Ryunju. The Lord of the Sama Order or otherwise known as the Samaryunju. He was considered to be the strongest master of Heretical Factions, and was the pinnacle of order among the Samaryunju. His identity was well known, but it had been decades since he was last seen publicly, so the public speculated wild rumors about him, wondering if he was even alive or possibly dead.
But Sima Ryunju was alive. Lee Sungmin didn’t know why but, it was clear to him that Sima Ryunju wanted his favor. Not Wijihoyeon’s, not the Crazy Heavenly Demon’s, but his. He seriously questioned why he would try to gain his favor when he wasn’t that well known compared to his companions and whether his intentions were pure or not.
“Is Lord Sima protecting us for now?”, asked Lee Sungmin.
“I don’t think it’s a bad situation. It would be better to be under the protection of Sima Ryunju, than to be taken away by the Orthodox or to be fighting to death against Beyond the Heavens.”
“I don’t know if I should trust him.”
“I don’t even know what kind of person he is. I’ve never met him, but…”
The Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was looking at Lee Sung-min’s face, tilted his head.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Huh?”
Lee Sungmin blanked at the words of the Crazy Heavenly Demon. The Crazy Heavenly Demon rummaged through his subspace pocket and took out a mirror for Lee Sungmin. The face reflected in the mirror was unfamiliar.
‘Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I saw my face in the mirror like this.’
Lee Sungmin looked at his face in the mirror and froze.
His left pupil was strange. The right eye had the usual black colored pupil, but the left eye pupil was dyed in light gold. Lee Sungmin was startled and covered his left eye with his palm.
[It’s Yo-an]
Heoju said, clicking his tongue.
‘Yo-an?’
[This is evidence that your body has begun to change to one of the non-human path, making you a freak of nature. It’s only changed your eye color for now, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but… If you keep using your powers, the mutation will start developing in earnest.]
Lee Sungmin tried to diagnose himself and inspected his dantian. The raw internal energy amount was greater and stronger than before. It was evidence of the side effects of using Heoju’s strength to protect Wijihoyeon. Lee Sungmin bit his lower lip.
[The power of monsters are dangerous to humans. Be glad it’s only this much.]
Heoju warned.
[Although I’ve lost my body, I was one of the greatest monsters in all of Eria. It’s not a common level of strength you’ve obtained, but one of a major monster that struck fear to all of Eria. If it had not been for your body’s mysterious black heart, you would have died the moment it used my force. Let alone losing your reason and going crazy. In your case, you avoided the dangerous side effects, but you couldn’t avoid the body mutations.]
Listening to Heoju’s words, Lee Sungmin was feeling a sense of vague loss because of his body mutating. He was ready for this to happen. When he made the decision to make the change, he was prepared for the outcome. Lee Sungmin wanted to protect Wijihoyeon, and for that he would take the same decision a thousand times over.
[Still, it’s fine. If you don’t use the power that’s deep within your dantian, it will stay stagnant and won’t affect you in the future. But… I don’t know too well if the circumstances will stay the same. Your case is unprecedented even to someone as old as me. It’s rare for humans to become monsters, but it’s not unprecedented. It’s just your case itself.]
Lee Sungmin put down the mirror. Although he had a golden hue in his left pupil, he felt relieved that it was the only change. Lee Sungmin closed his left eye, biting on his lower lip.
“…Who exactly is the Predator of Massacre?”
(T/N: Lee Sungmin had asked in the past about this person as to wondering who would be the leader of Predator. In the original translation it refers to the King of Beasts which can also be called the Predator of complete massacre but, didn’t mention the 5th real power of Predator which was the Yokai (figured it was self explanatory being with heoju and all))
When stopping Amzone, Sima Ryunju had said there were only three people in the world whom he felt uncomfortable with. And one of those Predator of Massacre whose identity he hadn’t completely grasped. Among the 5 powers leading Predator, he knew each of their identities. But he didn’t know who the Predator of Massacre was.
[It’s one of the deities those old farts wish to appear. It’s more or less a completely unknown existence. Vampires, Liches, Monsters, Lycanthropes, the Yokai. It wasn’t the 5 known identities to the world, it’s a name they give to the King of all the non-human existences, who will appear one day and be at the apex of Predator.]
Heoju smiled bitterly.
[At least 400 years ago, there was no such thing as the Predator of Massacre.]
Lee Sungmin thought back to when Sima had arrived when he was worn out against Amzone. Amzone was much stronger than Lee Sungmin initially thought. Even though he pulled out his strength, he did not have the upper hand in the fight against Amzone. If Amzone had wanted to kill Lee Sungmin from the beginning, he would not have even had a chance to resist.
He used every means of power he could use while fighting his best. The Nine Heavenly Spears Techniques, the Yokai power, the Blood Rings. It was shocking that he didn’t have the upper hand even though he fought with the auxiliary magic he learned from Scarlett. If Amzone hadn’t stayed so composed towards the end, he could have did more than just fatally wounding Amzone.
‘I could have even killed him.’
Even if the result against Amzone wasn’t the most ideal. Without the emergence of Sima Ryunju, Lee Sungmin could have killed Amzone or so he thought. But if that happened, all sorts of retaliation would have come their way, and Lee Sungmin wouldn’t be ready for it.
‘What will we be doing in the future?’
Sima Ryunju said he would protect Wijihoyeon for Lee Sungmin. But, after that… Lee Sungmin did not know what to do next. Choosing the next path wouldn’t be for himself, but rather for Wijihoyeon.
‘We’re still weak.’
If he had been stronger, he would not have had to go through such a crisis. He wouldn’t have been in such a mess with the Orthodox, Beyond the Heavens or the Samaryunju.
‘I need more.’
He needed strength.
—
For a day, Amzone looked after his wounds. He felt strange as he had been reduced to such a state by someone he initially only showed mild interest in. This kind of result wasn’t supposed to happen even in his wildest dreams.
‘Lee Sungmin… You aren’t as we initially thought. We underestimated you…’
Amazon bit his lower lip. Even if Lee Sungmin used the power of the Yokai, he couldn’t ignore his initial strength as baseless. Rather, he should be considered more dangerous because of the added power of the yokai. Lee Sungmin was still a human being. But the power and energy he used weren’t…
‘No, what am I even thinking? He was never in the same league as Beyond the Heavens and he never will be.’
Amazon raised himself. He had been healed with the use of potions. Even though the group he was chasing was most likely still weak, The Lord of Samaryunju was protecting them now. Things were different. He couldn’t make the same decisions.
First of all, he had to let the organization know of the circumstances. Amzone pulled out the crystal ball.
[Come back.]
That was the answer and command he had received, after he informed of Lee Sungmin’s unexpected prowess and the Lord of the Samaryunju’s intervention. It was so unexpected that Amzone was silent for a moment with his mouth gaped open.
“Why?”
He couldn’t understand, it wasn’t that hard to get rid of them nor would it take that much effort if just one more person from Beyond the Heavens came.
So he asked again, completely dumbstruck.