The Goblin King, The Demigod Duergsini (3)

“…”

The cycle

will definitely turn.

Since I was reborn as a multi-tailed fox yokai from the start,

turning the cycle was inevitable.

Duergsini did not lie to me.

His words were all true.

I had the thought: ‘Don’t I need to manifest the ninth tail first to know for sure?’

‘Perhaps,’

‘I could control the power of the ninth tail’

‘To prevent any calamity from occurring.’

‘For that too is my freedom.’

However,

relying solely on confidence carried too great a risk.

Duergsini urged me:

[Either kill me and manifest your ninth tail,]

[Then directly turn the cycle amidst agonizing regret,]

[Or kill the yokai, manifest your ninth tail, and return to me.]

[Make your choice.]

[There are no other options.]

…I

cannot choose either of the two methods Duergsini presented to me.

How could I directly kill all humans with my own hands?

How could I directly kill all yokai with my own hands?

That is not

a matter of preference, but an act more wicked than even Dalgi the Evil Fox…

“…I will not choose either.”

[Not choosing]

[Is tantamount to disrupting my path of order.]

[If I stray from the path of order,]

[Everything will]

[Return to nothingness,]

[As I said before.]

“…Well, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad for everything to return to nothingness.”

[…]

[Are you making foolish human jokes]

[To me?]

“It’s not a joke.”

[…]

[I cannot understand.]

[Between humans]

[And yokai]

[Going extinct,]

[I thought from your perspective,]

[Saving at least one would be]

[The wise choice.]

[I cannot comprehend it.]

“Sure, you can’t understand. You are an existence without a heart from the start.”

“Perhaps,”

“You will never understand in your lifetime.”

Rather than killing one or the other,

it is better

for us to die together.

That is precisely the foolish choice that only existences with hearts can make.

[…]

Duergsini

stood silently for a moment.

It seems even from the perspective of a demigod

transcending mortals, my choice was incomprehensible.

…Heh.

Seeing that bastard Duergsini flustered too is

a fitting sight right before I die.

“Anyway, this is my choice. Did you perhaps predict even this?”

[…]

[No.]

[I could not predict it.]

“You were acting all-knowing, but you look pathetic.”

[However,]

[I have no intention]

[Of respecting your choice]

[Or leaving it be.]

“…What?”

[If you]

[Will not choose,]

[Then I have no choice]

[But to force the choice upon you.]

[From now on,]

[Every ten minutes,]

[I will kill one yokai.]

[And not just kill them,]

[…Yes.]

[I will tear out their livers while alive]

[And make them thrash in agony until death.]

[After killing all the yokai,]

[Every minute, I will kill two humans.]

[You have not forgotten yet]

[What a goblin’s abilities are, have you?]

[I will place commands on humans]

[And make them kill each other.]

[Sibling against sibling.]

[Parent against parent.]

[Teacher against student.]

[Right before your eyes,]

[Every minute, I will make two humans kill each other.]

“…That…”

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I

incinerated all my spiritual power to create tens of thousands of fox fires – a fusion of the golden light symbolizing spiritual power and the white light symbolizing the power of freedom.

“That…you think I’ll just watch quietly…?”

[You intend]

[To stop me?]

“Of course…”

[You cannot]

[Stop me]

[Unless you kill me.]

[If you kill me,]

[One more tail will sprout.]

“…”

As Duergsini said,

I could not recklessly kill him now, and

the power gap was too clear – I could not stop his actions unless I killed him.

Still,

rather than foolishly stand idle here, I had to do something…

“…!”

In an instant,

Duergsini’s form completely vanished from my sight.

Not just concealing his body, but

his very presence vanished.

No matter how much I concentrated, I could not sense Duergsini’s presence.

---

“Click click, we have to get to Miho quickly!”

“I know! But there’s a limit to this car’s speed, you know?”

On the road heading to Jirisan,

the car carried Ho-jun, Yi Haneul, and Dapoh.

A message came from Lord Beast:

‘Duergsini has appeared in Jirisan.’

Since Lord Beast and the other yokai went all the way to the peninsula’s edge to exterminate yokai and goblins, it would take them some time to regroup.

Perhaps

this too was Duergsini’s intention.

Currently, the ones closest to Jirisan were Yi Haneul’s group in the car.

Ho-jun

had expended all his Taoist power capturing the ‘Mi’ goblin, so he was recovering his power in the car.

Hence, taking the car was the fastest way to Jirisan.

Dapoh urged the driver, Principal Lee Han-ul:

“Click click, mister. Drive a bit faster…”

Thump!

Dapoh

collapsed.

Flustered, Yi Haneul carefully lifted Dapoh to check his condition, but:

“Eh… ehhhh?”

An indescribable sound, whether of amazement or despair,

escaped Yi Haneul’s lips.

---

About 10 seconds later,

Duergsini, who had revealed himself once more,

spoke to me:

[Just now,]

[I killed]

[The squirrel yokai you hold dear.]

“…”

…What?

This bastard.

Just now,

What did he just say…

[It was more tenacious than expected.]

[A squirrel yokai that commands lightning,]

[Its abilities too were products of this false world.]

“You, you…”

[The squirrel’s liver]

[Was smaller]

[And more insignificant]

[Than a pebble rolling on the street.]

[Have your thoughts]

[Changed somewhat now?]

[It is not too late yet.]

[Kill me,]

[Manifest your ninth tail,]

[And turn the cycle…]

“You bastard!!!!”

Dapoh was dead.

As much as I didn’t want to believe Duergsini’s words,

they were the truth.

Having completely lost my grip on sanity, I unleashed fox fires at Duergsini.

Kwagwagwagwagwagwang!

The power of each fox fire, a fusion of spiritual power and the power of freedom, was formidable.

Yet

it was not enough to stop Duergsini.

[…You should be aiming for the liver, not there.]

[That is not an attack to kill me,]

[But mere thrashing,]

[Closer to venting.]

[Let me say it again.]

[Attack with the resolve to kill me.]

[Then I will gladly take it.]

“Shut up…!”

I cannot kill him.

I won’t kill, but

I’ll leave him half-dead…!

Spiritual power in my left hand.

The power of freedom in my right.

Crossing both hands, I tear into Duergsini’s helix.

Chaaaaaaaaaak!

Duergsini’s helix

split into multiple strands following my claws.

Then,

[…]

Duergsini was visibly flustered.

Yes,

even if I couldn’t kill him, I could still stop him…!

To buy myself time to think, I pressured Duergsini.

Surely,

there must be a good solution.

There must be a way to kill Duergsini without manifesting my ninth tail.

I tore into Duergsini’s helix,

Tore into the helix,

The helix…

Thump!

The sound of something bursting.

…Ah.

My left arm.

My left arm flew off.

Perhaps due to my rage bordering on insanity, the pain was not as great as expected.

I just need to heal quickly and attack Duergsini…

Thunk!

Something pierced my right hand.

A spear?

A sword?

An arrow?

I don’t know what, but

my right hand became as heavy as a thousand pounds.

…It’s fine.

I just need to heal it with my spiritual power.

I used my spiritual power to heal my left arm and right hand, and attacked Duergsini again…

Thump!

…Ah.

This time, it was both legs.

Having lost my legs, I fell flat on the ground.

From below, I glared up at Duergsini.

Duergsini

opened his mouth:

[…Once again,]

[My prediction was off.]

[Your power]

[Can stop me.]

[So]

[I will incapacitate you first.]

[When you recover,]

[I will shatter your body.]

[This act]

[Will repeat endlessly,]

[Like a helix,]

[Until I kill all the yokai.]

“You… bas…!”

I used my spiritual power to regenerate my legs, but

as soon as I recovered, Duergsini shattered my legs again.

[You]

[Will watch here]

[With your legs destroyed,]

[As I kill the yokai.]

[If you wish to stop me,]

[Then kill me,]

[Manifest your ninth tail,]

[And turn the cycle.]

[Or,]

[Directly kill]

[The yokai]

[With your own hands.]

“You… damn… bastard…!”

[7 minutes 37 seconds remaining.]

[Next,]

[Yes.]

[I will kill one of the two old ones.]

“Absolutely… not allowed…!”

[Meaningless thrashing.]

“…!”

Meaningless?

…Yes.

My current actions

are meaningless.

At this rate, I can only watch helplessly

as Duergsini kills all the yokai.

But,

I wonder,

did Duergsini predict this?

“I know of one yokai who has a meaningless fetish.”

[…]

[I cannot understand]

[What you mean by that…]

Chaaaaaaak!

In an instant, a black tiger that appeared from nowhere

deeply tore into Duergsini’s helix.

Vengeance

is meaningless.

The ascension-qualified yokai who came all this way

to perform the meaningless act of vengeance was

Heukho.