A madman.
Lee Sungmin had an inkling of an idea as to who the second person might be. It was just right to say that his tendency when Lee Sungmin had encountered him, was nothing short of “crazy”.
The Spear King.
He couldn’t think of anyone else. Ten years ago, the Spear King, who blocked Musin with Jehu to help Lee Sungmin escape.
The whereabouts of the two were unknown for the following ten years, and he certainly didn’t expect them to be together on the Mountain of Mush.
“How long have they been on the mountain?”
“It’s been 10 years since they first came here.”
Mush’s eyebrows furrowed from in between the bandages that wrapped around her face.
Ten years.
Lee Sungmin and Baek Sogo’s mouth dropped simultaneously. Since they both had trained on the Mountain of Mush, they knew how hard it was to endure a long period of 10 years.
If you choose the bans wisely in order, you would be able to endure for a long time, but on the Mountain of Mush, after 5 years, you would practically lose all of your 5 senses and more.
“They’re crazy.”
Mush murmured.
“Even if you start with a strong body, that’s been through a lot…… It’s phenomenal to last ten years on this mountain. It’s been good for me to have company, but I honestly hope they’ll get the hell out of here soon.”
“Where are they?”
Would Lee Sungmin be able to convince them to join him? Lee Sung-min thought about it for a moment.
Regardless of whether it was possible or not, it was not possible to stay on the Mountain of Mush without knowing how many bans he had placed on himself the last time he had come.
“As long as I’m on this mountain, I’ll have to deal with the bans…….”
Mush smiled at Lee Sungmin and Baek Sogo. She shrugged her shoulders when she saw Yana standing behind them in silence.
“I can tell you didn’t come here to train so there’s no reason for me to apply the bans to you.”
[Can she really do that?]
Heoju seemed curious about it. In fact, Lee Sungmin was also curious about whether Mush had the jurisdiction to do that since it seemed like a power that would only be granted to a creator of the world.
Mush was Goddess, and the mountain was her domain. What was certain was that Mush could exhibit her powers as a Goddess on this mountain, but would the bans also be able to be applied to a person in the Realm of Transcendence? Although Lee Sungmin was not a True Transcendent and neither were Baek Sogo or Jehu, it was still a realm of mastery that was beyond human limits.
[Anyway… This mountain is a strange place. In this old man’s opinion…… Yes, it’s similar to the feeling of the dungeon that you went into to save your friend over there.]
Up to that point, Lee Sungmin couldn’t feel the same feeling he had felt whenever he walked into a dungeon. Lee Sungmin glanced at Mush’s back, who was walking ahead of him.
Wearing nothing but ragged bandages around her body, she was gliding through the trees and heading up the mountain without any trouble.
As he followed Mush up the mountain, some of the surrounding scenery felt familiar to Lee Sungmin’s eyes. He looked at the edge of the cliff where Dokgo, who had taken the ban of eyesight used to stand around at.
There was also a spacious, flat rock that Scarlett had used as her place of meditation. The grotto where Baek Sogo and he had first met passed by them as well.
[Mush]
Before allowing himself to be lost in his memories, Lee Sungmin sent a telepathic message to Mush. Mush did not look back.
She also did not show any response in gesture so Lee Sungmin continued and asked his question.
[Is your wish to prevent the end of this world?]
[What do you know?]
[Probably everything.]
Mush laughed softly at the answer.
[I guess so. The sinister fate that used to surround you is gone. Seeing that, it seems you no longer present a threat to the end of the world]
It was as Lee Sung-min thought. Mush had known everything.
[Since when did you know about my existence?]
[From the beginning, you were surrounded by such a sinister aura and fate that it would be impossible as a Goddess of this world not to notice.]
Mush continued to climb the mountain as she spoke. She was heading to the top of the mountain.
Lee Sungmin and Baek Sogo, who had trained on the mountain for a prolonged period of time in the pasr, had never been to the very top of the mountain.
This was because they didn’t feel the need to climb up the mountain since the bans were the same no matter where one went.
[Are you also trying to prevent it? If so, doesn’t it make my stance obvious? If I didn’t want to stop the End of this world, there would have been no reason for me to issue a warning in the first place. I’ve already veered from my assigned role, and it seems that it paid off since you no longer have the fate that would bring the end of the world.]
Lee Sungmin acknowledged Mush’s words. What Mush had told him about having to make a choice, had helped him many times just by having it in the back of his mind.
But there was still a question.
[Why… did you make Baek Sogo your incarnation?]
[I thought it was necessary, You were imperfect, and you didn’t know what would happen. I put my own personal insurance in your friend to make sure that my power might help even in the slightest for what was to come.]
[And that insurance was to make Baek Sogo your incarnation?]
[Having a belief is a good thing. It’s always sharp as long as it doesn’t break. Once… …even if it broke. A dagger is still sharp even when it is broken.]
Mush giggled. Meanwhile, the party reached the top of the mountain. Mush turned around and looked at Lee Sungmin.
“What I want is the same. If the world is set to end no matter what, I’d rather try and stop it knowing I failed instead of just letting the same cycle repeat over and over even after I’m dead.”
In this world, what were the gods like? The Spirit Queen and the Fairy Queen said that the world changed and would repeat the same process after every single time it got its slate wiped and so would their memories as Transcendents.
Were the Gods and Goddesses the same? Lee Sungmin asked Mush as he voiced his thoughts. Hearing Lee Sungmin speak like that, Mush burst out into laughter
[The Queen of Fairies has told you a lot of things. She must have taken quite a risk by doing so. If you don’t avoid the prevent the end of this world, she will be erased from existence as well most likely…….]
[What about you?]
[We’re aren’t any different. When this world ends, despite being a goddess of trial and tribulation, I too will die in the end. In a way, it’s a change. After all, in this world, Gods and Goddesses are no exception to the rule of everything being wiped out. It’s just… we know it is coming but can’t do anything about it.]
There was an indelible bitterness in Mush’s voice as she said this.
Certainly, it had to be painful to live with the awareness that even you would die despite being a goddess, Lee Sungmin thought. Lee Sungmin looked over Mush’s shoulder as she stopped her movements and slowed down.
‘That…?’
Could he even call the thing in front of him… a person?
There were clumps of flesh wriggling about. Losing its form as a human being, the pieces of flesh were no different from a worm scurrying around
Even Yana, a monster, had her jaw drop when she saw the weird sight in front of them, and Baek Sogo looked extremely puzzled and looked at Mush.
“The last thing they banned was their own human bodies.”
Mush giggled.
“At first, they started with the smaller things. After that, they closed off their five senses one by one. It was quite worth the sight to see them when they took the ban on pain. The prohibition of pain does not mean they don’t feel any pain. I’m sure you guys know that since it is quite the opposite.”
Lee Sungmin nodded his head. When he had his sense of taste banned, Lee Sungmin thought he would simply not be able to taste anything.
The reality was quite the opposite. The ban of taste made his sense of taste incredibly sensitive. He was certain that Mush did the same for the ban of pain.
“They felt all sorts of types of pain without even harming themselves and were going crazy. I thought they would give up and descend from the mountain by that time…… But they held up even through that as well. The bans continued to be added on top of one another until there was nothing left till the body being the only ban left. That’s how they got to this state.”
“Dead… are they not dead?”
“Even in that state, their minds are alive. They have to be able to feeling all the other bans they had placed earlier like pain, itching, hunger, thirst, etc. But they have to live, so I allowed their bodies to be able to eat and drink. Look, it just so happens that it’s time for dinner.”
The chunks of meat started to wriggle in earnest. What the chunks of meat “ate” were the ants crawling on the floor.
“They eat bugs and drink morning dew for their bodys’ sustenance. Isn’t that amazing? I always feel this way, but these two men are no different from maniacs.”
Mush raised her hand as she spoke.
“They didn’t want to even have this ban put on them, but it was already impossible to talk to them because of the ban of speech. They didn’t really have a choice unless they wanted to leave.”
Squelch~
When Mush pointed her finger towards the lumps of flesh, the flesh wiggled and started to mesh together until eventually the forms of two people could be seen.
Although they were reverting their bodies back to their human form… the Spear King and the Black Dragon had appearances that could barely be called human.
Yana scrunched her nose at the horrednous stench that was spreading everywhere. The Black Dragon and the Spear King, who were sitting around a bonfire, turned their heads. Only Jehu seemed to have a somewhat relaxed expression between the two of them, but even then, it seemed impossible to make out their facial features because their faces were covered in dirt and grime.
“What… Hey?”
It was Kang Seok who spat out suddenly realizing that something had changed. The Spear King, uttered in a cracked voice that sounded like iron being scraped, looked around. He groaned and shouted as he quickly clutched his eyes with his hands to block out the sudden sunlight that invaded them.
“What the hell is wrong with my body…… ACK!”
BLAGGHHHHH~
The Spear King couldn’t even finish his words as his stomach started to churn. Vomiting everywhere, Kang Seok’s vomit was mixed with black and yellow pus from stomach acid and the remains of hundreds of ants he had eaten. The Black Dragon, Jehu, rubbed his hair with his long nails.
He had gained his body back, but it was impossible for him to talk right away since he had been going so long without any of his senses. After some time, the Spear King and the Black Dragon came to their senses.
The Black Dragon glared at the Spear King, who was busy flicking the boogers around his eyes that had accumulated over the years.
“It must be the Goddess’ grace to end this damn pain.”
“But I haven’t seen the end of my trials yet!”
“What a dog! If you want to see the end of this shit, then do it alone. I can’t do this anymore.”
The Black Dragon did not intend to miss this sudden opportunity to end the annoying tribulations and had no inclination of participating in Kang Seok’s masochism. When the Black Dragon came out strong with his words, the Spear King’s face contorted with confusion and frustration.
“Hey! Are you really going to let all your hard work go to waste like that?”
“I should have quit this crazy shit way earlier. How many years have I even had to do this to put up with your bastard-like torture methods of becoming ‘stronger’?!”
Watching the Spear King and the Black Dragon bickering at each other like children, Lee Sungmin let cleared his throat forcibly. It was just loud enough to barely catch their attention and the two of them turned around at the sudden noise.
“Did I interfere with your training?”Lee Sungmin asked politely.
“Not at all. Thank you for interrupting.”
The Spear King fumbled with his mouth not knowing what to say, and the Black Dragon reached out to Lee Sungmin as if he were a messiah. Lee Sungmin gently asked while holding the dirty hands of the Black Dragon.
“I mean… that…… What happened to you guys?”
“I was saved by that crazy asshole and I got stuck in this mountain due to him.”
“Bullshit! Wasn’t it the same for you that you felt ashamed that you couldn’t do anything about Musin even though both of us worked together to fight him?”
“Oh please. I didn’t lock myself in this mountain because I felt ashamed of myself. I was so impressed by the martial arts of the dead Demonic Emperor that I wanted to make it mine, so I followed your whimsical decisions!”
“You’re going to just quit your training now, aren’t you?
“I just got my freedom, how could a swan want to chase after an ugly duck?”
“You don’t have any pride……”
“Pride, damn it! What a load of bullshit! Anyway, I can’t do it. Keep doing it by yourself if you want to.”
“Hey!”
Kang Seok screamed his throat out. Lee Sungmin sighed and intervened between the two.
“Stop, stop. Aren’t you curious about what happened while you were stuck in this mountain? Aren’t you curious why I’m here?”
“Curious… wait aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
The Spear King suddenly gained a glint in his eye as if he had found a new dog toy to chew on.
“The rumors I had heard just before I entered this mountain was that you were killed fighting against some kind of Devil in the South. At that time, I felt like a dog. I sent you off so you could run away from Musin, but I didn’t think you’d be so eager to die.…!”
“He’s clearly not dead idiot.”Jehu groaned and smacked his own forehead.
“Why are you alive?”
“I’m alive because I never died in the first place.”
“You are definitely are one tough bastard to kill.”
The Spear King grumbled. Lee Sungmin overlooked the words, explaining to Spear King and the Black Dragon why he had come to find them.
The first thing Lee Sungmin did was make sure he clearly explained what the Apocalypse was and what his stance was on it. As they continued talked about it, the Spear King grabbed his belly and began to laugh.
“You’re telling me what Musin had beeing doing is all a lie.”
The Spear King giggled and laughed as if he found it incredibly amusing, and the Black Dragon looked bitter.
“So, the world is in danger of being ruined, and the Heavenly Spirit was lying to us to prevent us from stopping it…… and the Vampire Queen in the north and the monsters under her control in Predator she has are acting for the destruction of the world?”
“More or less.”
“Do you want to borrow our strength to prevent the Apocalypse?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a good idea.”
The Spear King nodded vigorously. He jumped to his seat and pointed at Lee Sungmin with his hand and said,
“First, let’s play a game and I’ll think about it.”
Lee Sungmin realized it then, but the Spear King’s breath stank.