The Cycle (2)

“Anyway, lay out the situation for me.”

“I can trust and leave it to you, right?”

How to prove to humans that the yokai of the other world are ‘allies’.

And how to distinguish between the ascension-qualified yokai

and the yokai of the other world.

Lord Beast will take care of it.

[Trust]

[And leave it to me.]

“…”

[Why that expression?]

“…No, it’s nothing.”

I thought it was an unreasonable request, but he’s really going to do it.

Right, well.

Since Lord Beast said he will lay out the situation,

I’ll trust

and leave it to him.

I will aim for the king’s head in one fell swoop.

---

The martial arts master,

Head of the Yokai Extermination Department,

Nam-hun Baek lowered his head to the being before him and said:

“…I did not expect to meet you like this.”

[…]

“The spiritual being who stood beside the King of Yuldo Kingdom, the originator of Martial Force.”

“Lord Beast.”

Baek’s body trembled.

He

is the strongest martial arts master in the world.

Of course, recently Yi Haneul has gained immense power from Miho, to an incomparable degree.

But even so,

Yi Haneul is still just a budding sprout.

Just as Ho-jun severed the yaksha’s arm without any skill,

Baek could also subdue a yaksha single-handedly without Miho’s power.

Yet Baek

is trembling.

Such was the presence of Lord Beast, who has transcended the rules of the Wheel.

This meeting between Baek and Lord Beast was initiated by Lord Beast.

He had asked Miho, ‘I wish to meet the human leader.’

Lord Beast opened his mouth towards Baek:

[Excellent.]

“…!”

[Though not comparable]

[To my friend and former lord, the ‘King of Yuldo Kingdom’,]

[You are excellent.]

[In this era of peace and prosperity,]

[I never imagined I would meet]

[Such an outstanding martial arts master like you.]

“Th…Thank you…!”

Baek was touched by Lord Beast’s words.

After all, to martial artists, Lord Beast was a legendary spiritual being that only appeared in tales.

But Baek’s joy was short-lived.

He looked at Lord Beast with a serious expression and spoke:

“You must already know.”

“Soon, a great war will break out.”

Baek directly requested Lord Beast:

“Please help us.”

[…]

“I am not asking who is right or wrong.”

“I am not discussing good and evil.”

“Simply, like in the past,”

“Please help humans one more time.”

At Baek’s words,

Lord Beast briefly looked up at the sky.

Then, after exhaling a hurricane-like wind from his nose, he spoke:

[You are mistaken.]

“…?”

[I have never helped humans before.]

[I was the one who received help.]

“What does that mean…”

[…]

It seemed Lord Beast had no intention of telling Baek about the past.

Lord Beast continued:

[Karmic debt]

[Must be repaid,]

[And debt]

[Must be returned – ]

[That is]

[The principle of this world.]

Roar!

As Lord Beast let out a roar,

all the yokai living in the other world appeared.

It felt strange.

Baek had spent his life exterminating yokai.

To Baek, yokai were existences to be beaten to death.

But strangely,

the yokai present here did not feel like the yokai he had encountered before.

They felt human.

Lord Beast continued:

[To repay past debts]

[And settle a great karmic evil -]

[That]

[Is the role assigned to me by the Wheel.]

---

“Click, click, click! Impressive, Lord Beast!”

“…Indeed.”

I agreed with Dapoh’s words.

Hm.

It is impressive.

How can one speak with such dignified words?

It must be the authority of a leader.

No matter how much I try to imitate it, I cannot.

Soon, Lord Beast dismissed all the yokai who appeared and began conversing with Baek.

If I focused my hearing, I could eavesdrop on their conversation.

But I did not bother with such actions.

As Lord Beast said,

I simply trusted him.

“Click click!”

…Come to think of it,

I may not know about other yokai,

but Dapoh is quite worrisome.

I know.

I know Dapoh is a 200-year-old squirrel yokai.

Dapoh must be quite strong.

If I had to compare,

he would not match me at six tails,

but he might be around my level when I had five tails.

…When I asked, Dapoh got irritated.

“Click click, no way! I could beat you even when you only had five tails just using my tail!”

“But you ran away shivering like a mouse when I first manifested six tails and unleashed my aura, didn’t you?”

“Th…That’s because Miho was blasting out her aura like a madwoman…”

“Shut up!”

“Click.”

After roughly shoving something into Dapoh’s mouth, I let out a sigh.

…I’m really worried though.

I’m not worried about Grandfather Mangtae.

That old man is an ancient yokai over 500 years old.

He’ll be fine, he could probably beat up goblins without dying.

Noeng is the same.

Dapoh is relatively young among the yokai of the other world.

…Should I just keep him by my side to protect him?

No, but

as I said, the moment Duergsini goes on the offensive, I plan to have a soul-to-soul showdown with Duergsini.

Even if I stuff Dapoh into my chest,

he could get torn to shreds in the fighting.

Not understanding my thoughts,

“It’ll be fun catching goblins! Click, click, click click!”

It seems the arrogance of the yokai race is present even in Dapoh.

For the first time in decades… no, centuries, Dapoh was thoroughly excited for battle.

Well,

unlike humans, yokai do not fear ‘death’.

Of course, the ascension-qualified yokai greatly feared death.

But thinking about it now,

were they not fearing ‘failing to ascend’ because of me,

rather than fearing death itself?

For the two years after I was reborn as a fox yokai, I had half given up on living.

As I did not want to acquire spiritual power, I had no choice but to forcibly accept death.

To third parties like Dapoh watching me,

it must have looked like I greatly feared death.

Just thinking about how much Dapoh mocked me back then…

To yokai who do not fear death, I must have seemed strange for fearing it so much.

Anyway, what I want to say is:

The yokai are not considering the concept of ‘death’ at all in this upcoming battle.

I asked Dapoh:

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Of what?”

“Of dying.”

“Why would I die? Is Miho going to die?”

“No, not me, you dummy squirrel. Aren’t you scared of possibly dying?”

“Why would I be scared?”

“Because life is precious…?”

“Click click. I don’t understand what you’re saying, Miho.”

Sheesh.

We’re not on the same wavelength…

“But,”

“I am a little scared”

“Of Miho dying.”

“Click click.”

“…”

“Not just Miho,”

“I’m also scared”

“Of the other yokai dying.”

…What?

I was the one who had the wrong idea.

Yokai

are existences that fear death too.

Originally,

one values the lives of those precious to them

more than their own life.

That is precisely

what humans are.

Perhaps,

if not for the obstruction called ‘spiritual power’,

yokai and humans could have coexisted.

“So what are you asking about that for?”

“Oh, just…”

“Why? What is it? Spit it out, foxgirl Miho!”

“Ah, shut up! Here, eat this instead!”

I shoved something into Dapoh’s mouth.

“Umph… click click, click… What did you just feed me!”

“A gift.”

“It tastes awful! Something awful isn’t a gift!”

“It is a gift.”

I’m also scared of you dying, you know.

So that’s

a kind of insurance.

---

Baek looked around at everyone and spoke:

“…Then, let us begin an emergency meeting to counter the goblin invasion.”

After Duergsini’s declaration of war,

Baek met with Lord Beast and heard the whole story.

About two hours later,

Baek called an emergency meeting with all martial artists, Taoists, and heads of each Yokai Extermination Office.

A state of national emergency had already been declared.

While the timing of when goblins and yokai would emerge was unknown,

simply waiting for goblins and yokai to appear would undoubtedly lead to mass casualties.

Countermeasures had to be prepared.

First, Baek shared all the facts he currently knew.

Yes,

without hiding anything, he told them everything.

That another spiritual being, Lord Beast, was still alive.

That Lord Beast commands numerous yokai subordinates.

And that those yokai

will help us.

“That’s ridiculous!”

“We cannot trust the words of mere yokai!”

“We would be better off not receiving their help…”

Naturally, most people strongly objected.

But Baek continued without any concern:

If Miho manifests her ninth tail, the situation will end.

Moreover,

in a positive direction for humans.

The moment Miho manifests her ninth tail, all the world’s goblins, yokai,

and spiritual beings

will permanently perish.

However, this

precisely aligns with the ultimate goal of the ‘goblins’ who have mocked humans for hundreds of years while hiding behind the veil of this world.

“Does anyone here”

“Agree with this goal of the goblins?”

“And if so,”

“Do not voice your opinion.”

“Keep it buried in your heart.”

“I,”

“The government,”

“The martial artists,”

“Will never negotiate with the goblins, under any circumstances.”