Duergsini’s Avatar – (2)

Goblins are the enemies of humanity.

They disturb the world order and unleash powerful yokai, so how can one say they are not the enemies of humanity?

Goblins are also the archnemesis of lings.

Lings are life forms possessing wondrous energy – the guardians of order.

Ironically, lings and goblins shared some similarities.

Just as lings guarded order, goblins presided over order as well.

However, the order goblins pursued differed from the order lings pursued.

Could the order goblins sought truly be called the proper order?

At a glance, their aim to ‘turn the shackle in the right direction’ might seem like pursuing the true order, but sometimes the unnatural and false might be preferable.

---

The ruler of the Inner Realm, Lord of the Mountain, was an existence confined within, endlessly awaiting the times.

In contrast, the dark ruler of the Inner Realm, Lord Beast, could freely observe all darkness in the world as he wished.

Perhaps Lord Beast had informed Lord of the Mountain about the appearance of these ‘yaksha’.

So:

“What exactly are these yaksha? Aren’t they just goblins?”

[…They are not mere goblins.]

[They differ from]

[The goblins you have encountered thus far,]

[And those you will meet henceforth.]

[The yaksha are]

[Duergsini’s avatar bodies.]

“Avatar bodies…?”

It sounded vaguely familiar yet not.

Seeing my puzzled expression, Lord of the Mountain continued explaining:

[An avatar body refers to]

[The manifestation of a deity possessing divine power.]

[In other words,]

[The yaksha is Duergsini, and Duergsini is the yaksha.]

“…Pardon?”

Insane.

Wasn’t it too soon for the final boss to appear?

I had barely managed to unleash my eight tails, let alone nine.

“…I see.”

“So to summarize your words, Lord of the Mountain:”

“Since Duergsini’s avatar body, the yaksha, has appeared in this world,”

“You want me to subjugate it in your stead.”

[…]

Lord of the Mountain did not respond to my words.

Silence was tantamount to affirmation.

I could sense Lord of the Mountain’s emotion – he felt apologetic towards me.

How unusual.

A ruler should not readily reveal his emotions.

I gave Lord of the Mountain a bright smile and said:

“It’s no big deal.”

[Ahehya.]

“Whether it’s Duergsini’s avatar body or some weirdo, they’re still just goblins in the end.”

A multi-tailed fox yokai was the natural enemy of goblins.

I had no reason to fear.

In fact, rather than fearing this so-called ‘yaksha’ avatar body, I felt the urge to immediately rush over and smash its clay body.

It was the absolute confidence a predator should possess.

[Do not be hasty.]

[Let me tell you a tale first.]

[The yaksha does not seek others out,]

[But comes to them instead.]

[It will not be too late to act after hearing my story.]

“No, we’re already too late. We have no time for idle chatter when that lunatic could cause mayhem anywhere, anytime…”

[You need not worry about that.]

“On what grounds?”

[It seems the yaksha’s purpose is you.]

“…”

[An avatar body’s power is limited, so it has no reason to needlessly target humans and accept losses.]

“Well… I don’t agree with that.”

I recalled the words Duergsini had left me:

He had declared he would destroy everything I loved.

If I were Duergsini, rather than directly targeting me, I would take humans hostage to force my compliance.

So time was of the essence.

I urged Lord of the Mountain, but he remained adamant:

[Hear my tale first.]

[It will undoubtedly aid you.]

---

Lord of the Mountain.

The wisest and most valiant of lings.

During the age of chaos, alongside the king of Raldoguk – the first Martial Force artist and humanity’s sole hope – Lord of the Mountain punished goblins.

The circumstances under which Lord of the Mountain and Raldoguk’s king joined forces were unknown.

One could surmise that perhaps they shared ‘goblins’ as a common enemy.

The demigod Duergsini, though only half a deity, possessed divine power (shinwi) – a might mortals could never contend with.

Controlling water.

Governing karmic forces.

Stirring storms.

Causing earthquakes.

That was divine power – an omnipotent force from a human perspective.

However, possessing divine power did not mean one could wield it without any restrictions.

This world operated via shackles that bound all existences.

Duergsini was no exception – even as a demigod, he could not break free from those shackles.

No being could escape the world’s shackles.

---

“But I transcended them, right?”

[Ahehya. It was not I who said time was of the essence, but you.]

“…”

Without realizing it, I had inadvertently rebutted his incorrect statement – I simply couldn’t let it slide.

“Please continue.”

---

As a shackled being, Duergsini could not easily manifest in the human world, for the shackles rejected his divine power.

Had Duergsini been able to freely wield divine power in the human world, the shackle’s direction would have changed hundreds of years ago.

To exert influence in the human world, instead of directly using divine power, Duergsini employed indirect methods:

One was compiling the Taejangshingi and distributing it to yokai.

The other was creating his avatar body, the [yaksha].

In fact, with just the ascension-qualified yokai and goblins, Duergsini could already sufficiently influence the human world.

The king of Raldoguk?

The airborne ritualists?

They were mere mortals doomed to submit before overwhelming violence.

However, one day, a variable even Duergsini could not have predicted occurred:

Duergsini’s other self, Adukshini, had awakened.

…

…

…

Duergsini’s plan spanning nearly a century – ‘Guide false ascension to turn the shackle in the right direction’ – was reduced to foam by the rampage of his other self, Adukshini.

The tide had greatly turned.

The ritualists.

The king of Raldoguk.

The Martial Force artists.

And the lings led by Lord of the Mountain steadily whittled down the remaining goblins and ascension-qualified yokai to uproot Duergsini’s plan entirely.

Their might was truly formidable.

No yokai could withstand Raldoguk’s king’s Martial Force arts.

Every goblin knelt before the ritualist Uchi’s brilliant techniques.

Lord of the Mountain’s roar was the most feared by yokai and goblins alike.

The world order seemed poised to finally achieve peace – until Duergsini’s avatar body, the [yaksha], appeared.

---

[Every being that encountered the yaksha instinctively realized]

[This was Duergsini’s avatar body.]

“Wait… wait a moment.”

[What is it?]

“Every being…? Did this yaksha goblin appear when everyone was gathered together?”

[Indeed.]

“When Lord of the Mountain, Uchi, and Lord Beast were present?”

[Indeed.]

A multi-tailed fox yokai was the natural enemy of goblins.

No matter how powerful, I was confident I could defeat any goblin that appeared before me.

But I was no self-aggrandizing fox incapable of objective self-assessment.

Objectively speaking, the gap between Lord of the Mountain and myself was as vast as heaven and earth.

Yet the yaksha appeared before not just Lord of the Mountain, but Uchi and Lord Beast as well, and has now re-emerged in modern times.

In other words:

“…Not even those three monsters together could kill it.”

[Indeed.]

“Insane, how am I supposed to defeat that!”

Now I understood why Lord of the Mountain felt apologetic.

This was no longer a matter of predator and prey – the gap in prowess was simply too immense.

Even if I could unleash nine tails, only then could I confidently say: “I’ll defeat it and return.”

Let alone nine tails, I could barely unleash eight – how could I win?

It was akin to telling a novice warrior who had just taken up the legendary sword to go slay the Demon Lord.

[Which is why I said to hear my tale first.]

“How would listening to a tale change anything?”

[It will change everything.]

[Duergsini is not a perfect deity, but an incomplete demigod.]

[The avatar body created by such an incomplete deity is bound to be incomplete as well.]

[The yaksha is]

[A being born with all sorts of flaws and defects.]

[Weaknesses undoubtedly exist.]

---

When the yaksha appeared, everyone present froze.

Such was the yaksha’s overwhelming presence.

Soon, as the yaksha began moving, everyone realized its flaws and defects.

The yaksha lacked intelligence.

The yaksha only targeted the opponent’s head.

The yaksha was an unintelligent killing puppet.

It was born with such flaws due to Duergsini’s incomplete nature as a demigod and the shackles restricting divine power.

While an unintelligent being’s ignorant attacks, its sheer physical might could not be underestimated.

Next, Lord of the Mountain, Uchi, and Lord Beast joined forces and…

---

“To summarize, it’s a dumb killing puppet that only aims for the skull, right?”

[Indeed.]

“Well, isn’t that just great information.”

[It is fortunate you have realized this.]

“I was being sarcastic!”

One careless mistake, and I could still meet a wretched demise.

Well.

At least I felt more confident than before.

What kind of animal was the fox?

Foxes had long been famed for their agility and cunning, after all.

“So where is that bastard right now?”