Chapter 1019: The Divine Tree and the Master.

My body, which had been flying for a long time, crashed onto the ground.

Landing on a rock, I shook myself off briefly.

I forcefully struck the nape of my neck where I was being held, tearing myself free, and shouted with a frown.

“What the hell are you doing!”

I pushed his arm away and spoke to Cheonma. I had everything ready to fight, and he drags me away like this?

“You didn’t butt in when we were fighting. Why are you making such a fuss now.”

Why did you interfere? To his question, Cheonma told me.

“There was someone there.”

“What…?”

At those words, I narrowed my eyes. Someone was there?

“Where?”

“Nearby.”

“…Are you talking about that cow bastard?”

“Yeah. Something else. A bird.”

“A bird?”

“Yeah. A bird.”

Not a cow, but a bird? Hearing Cheonma’s words, I wracked my brain.

‘Was there something…?’

No matter how much I thought about it, I hadn’t sensed anything. Besides, except for the Leader, I hadn’t felt any presence at all.

‘He felt something…?’

Cheonma claimed he felt the presence of something other than the Leader amidst all that. Was it because of that he dragged me away and ran?

‘…Is it true?’

I couldn’t quite believe it. Especially since I hadn’t sensed anything.

“……”

Looking at Cheonma, who was quietly staring at me, I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Perhaps it was because we had stuck together until now? The thought that he wouldn’t have done it for no reason subtly crossed my mind.

‘…Damn it.’

This isn’t good. It’s not a good sign that I’m developing useless trust in Cheonma, but…

It was actually true.

‘He hasn’t done anything that’s actually harmful to me.’

Recalling Cheonma’s actions up until now, he hadn’t done anything problematic for me.

If anything, he helped me; he certainly never acted harmfully.

That’s why it’s even more so.

The reason why trust in Cheonma has gradually begun to form.

‘…Snap out of it.’

I shook my head desperately, trying to clear my thoughts. I had to break free from this, just in case.

‘You never know.’

He might do something later after giving me this trust. I couldn’t let my guard down.

However.

‘…This time.’

I figured Cheonma wouldn’t have done it without reason.

And I had heard the reason.

‘There’s something else. Something that I couldn’t even notice.’

What could it have been?

‘He said it was a bird.’

Not a cow, but a bird. I attached significance to the fact that Cheonma expressed it that way.

‘A bird…’

What is it? While pondering that for a moment, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Although it was somewhat unrelated to the current situation.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You know, you were fast, weren’t you?”

“……”

As I brought up the topic, Cheonma flinched for a moment.

I had felt it when he snatched me up and flew away just now.

“It felt about the same as me, right?”

It was completely different from when I tested my speed before departing for Maryeongsan from Hwasanpa. Back then, I thought he was significantly slower than me.

“Looking at it now, that’s not true. Isn’t it?”

Just now, he seemed twice as fast. The difference compared to me was marginal.

He seemed a little slower, but that aside, if we moved together, it wouldn’t be a disadvantage at all.

“……”

Hearing my words, Cheonma slowly averted his gaze.

“What are you? You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“……No.”

“No, my ass. Look me in the eye.”

“……”

He didn’t turn his head but slyly glanced at me with his eyeballs. This bastard?

“Ah… I’m hungry. I need to eat.”

Then, he suddenly moved away from me, trying to evade.

“Don’t give me that food nonsense. Hurry up and talk straight!”

Who is he kidding? I was carried by him for days and nights, and now he’s saying he was actually fast?

“Hey! Come here!”

I shouted and moved towards him, but Cheonma quickly walked away.

* * *

After a lengthy argument, some time passed.

The night sky receded, and daylight arrived.

In the meantime, I stayed within the bounds of Maryeongsan, carefully observing my surroundings.

Simultaneously, I was reviewing the battle with the Leader, recalling the situation.

‘He’s a troublesome guy.’

That was my judgment.

Although both were called generals, the Leader was different from Yusa, despite seeming similar.

‘His movements are still wild and lack formal techniques, but…’

His methods are different.

First, as I had expected, he relentlessly charged forward, leveraging his immortality, but…

‘Within that, his situational judgment is fast.’

He wasn’t just recklessly throwing himself forward; I could feel him moving in the most efficient way possible.

Meaning, contrary to his appearance, he wasn’t completely stupid.

‘He’s an annoying guy.’

If he were just a mindless brute, he would have been easier to handle. Unfortunately, the Leader wasn’t like that.

What about his strength, too?

‘…It’s excessively strong.’

The power he possessed was immense. Just one wrong hit could kill me instantly.

‘If that’s the case…’

It meant I had to dodge this charging brute and land effective hits amidst the chaos.

‘The good thing is that my ‘Tam’ works.’

If I use that, dealing with him shouldn’t be too difficult, though.

‘I wish I could have examined him more closely.’

It was quite regrettable that I couldn’t thoroughly assess the other aspects.

‘Tam should work, though.’

I had witnessed his immortal power firsthand, so I could feel its effects. Although Yusa’s severed arm regenerated and his wounds healed instantly,

‘The speed and quality are different.’

It was incomparable to the Leader’s recovery.

The image of my abdomen, which had vanished in the blink of an eye, recovering was still vivid in my mind.

‘Will Tam be able to stop that?’

I wasn’t sure since I hadn’t tried it, but I believed it would.

‘And then.’

That appearance he showed at the end.

‘The part where he turned completely red.’

I recalled his black skin and fur turning red, as if heat was being transferred.

‘When he became like that, his presence actually disappeared.’

What kind of effect was that? I had escaped right before the fight, so I couldn’t know.

The problem here is…

‘His senses.’

His gaze, which tracked my location even when I minimized my presence and erased my aura.

That bothered me.

‘It can’t just be attributed to good intuition.’

This felt different too.

It was strange in more ways than one to think he simply noticed me because his intuition was good.

‘There’s something.’

His senses held some kind of secret.

Whether that actually helped him in combat, I didn’t know.

‘Even his reaction was like that.’

He didn’t come looking for me after sensing my Ki-gam. At first, I thought so, but seeing what the Leader said, I realized that wasn’t the case.

‘He just knew.’

From the moment I arrived at Maryeongsan. The Leader had been aware all along.

‘How is that possible?’

Is his Ki-gam that vast and clear? It couldn’t be just that.

‘Yusa also had good intuition, but this is vastly different.’

It’s not something that can be explained away as just good intuition.

It’s something beyond Ki-gam.

‘Perhaps, even if I had escaped, he would know my location?’

In the worst-case scenario, he might be tracking my presence simply because I am in Maryeongsan.

If that’s the case…

‘It means escaping is meaningless.’

My objective lies within Maryeongsan, but if he can know everything I do here…

‘Things get complicated.’

The point was that I had to aim to kill the Leader somehow.

“Tsk…”

I clicked my tongue. I had gained a lot of information, but the situation was somewhat complicated.

‘This land itself is strange to begin with.’

How could there be no sign of any life on such a vast and high mountain? Does that even make sense?

‘Even dead trees harbor life.’

In dead, ancient trees, insects lived; in ruined, collapsed places, beasts made their homes.

No matter the situation, there are no cases where life disappears.

And yet.

‘Why is it like this here?’

Why is there nothing felt in Maryeongsan?

The unpleasant sense of foreignness emanating from it kept poking the back of my neck.

Probe deeper.

There’s something you need to find out in this situation.

My instincts kept poking me like that.

Poke, poke.

Poke, poke.

The sensation was so clear, it felt like it was actually poking me-

Poke, poke.

Poke, poke.

…Wait, it actually was poking me?

“……What are you doing?”

I turned around and glared at Cheonma. It was Cheonma who had been poking me.

“I already have a lot on my mind, why are you causing trouble?”

“Over there.”

“What.”

Ignoring my annoyance, Cheonma pointed somewhere with his hand.

It was still a mountain range with only rocks. The background looked no different from the surroundings.

Why is he pointing at nothing? I squinted and asked Cheonma.

“What is that?”

“There’s someone.”

“No, there’s… Huh? What did you say?”

Someone’s there? At Cheonma’s words, my eyes widened. Then, I immediately focused strength in my heart.

It was to use my Ki-gam, but I didn’t expand it as widely as last time.

The Leader might react again.

Carefully, oh so carefully. I expanded my Ki-gam in the direction Cheonma was pointing. The energy, creeping forward, gradually widened its range and flew far away.

And at the end of that flying energy.

“…Huh?”

Something was indeed caught. Feeling this, I let out a gasp.

“What is this now?”

Even though I hadn’t felt anything until last night, this time it was different.

I felt a presence.

The presence of a living being.

And not just one.

“There’s a lot?”

I was sensing a great many presences, not just one or two.