The Black-Furred Dog Yokai (5)

“Ugh…”

It seems I had briefly lost consciousness.

“Mi, Miho-ya! Are you awake?”

“…Ha-neul.”

“Thank goodness, thank goodness…! Hhuk, I thought you were dead…!”

Before I could express my gratitude to Lee Ha-neul, I inquired about the situation:

“Ha-neul, what is the situation?”

“…Look over there.”

The Spell Master Ho Joon was fending off the Martial Artists –

Not three, but

A staggering five opponents.

Two more had arrived while I was unconscious.

“Not good. I tried ambushing that strange spiral being… A goblin? Anyway, whenever I tried ambushing it, other Martial Artists would mysteriously appear to defend the goblin. I can’t attack fellow Martial Artists, and haah… If only my master were here, some mere goblin would be… No, if my master arrived and got brainwashed too… Ugh.”

“…Can you see the goblin too, Ha-neul?”

“Yes. Not sure why, but I can see it. Repulsive appearance… Makes me want to vomit.”

It seemed the goblin wand Ha-neul possessed allowed her to perceive the goblin.

“Kkhulkhulk… Ugh…”

“Don’t speak. Your injuries are severe.”

“Why the other… Martial Artists…”

“The protection spell isn’t working on them it seems.”

Once they fell under the eonryeong, the protection spell became ineffective.

The goblin glared at us with its revolving spiral, yet

Made no move to directly attack.

It was clear –

This goblin seemed incapable of directly assaulting targets unaffected by its eonryeong.

Otherwise, it surely would have finished me off already.

Ultimately, the winning plan was simple:

Prioritize separating those Martial Artists, then

Kill the goblin itself.

Without the Martial Artists, the goblin’s personal might appeared negligible.

Glance.

I turned my head to blankly observe Ho Joon’s fight.

…That Ho Joon was

More formidable than I gave him credit for.

Even in my spirit energy depleted state,

I had been pummeled senseless by just three Martial Artists –

Proof of their immense power.

Yet unlike my one-sided beating,

Ho Joon remained completely unscathed against not three, but five opponents.

However, as Ha-neul said, the situation could hardly be called favorable –

Ho Joon appeared visibly fatigued, and for good reason:

The eonryeong-brainwashed Martial Artists assailed him with lethal intent, yet

Ho Joon could not retaliate and could only defend using protective spells.

If rumors spread of a Spell Master slaying Martial Artists… That too would invite calamity.

Setting everything else aside for now,

I had to assist Ho Joon…

“Kkhulkhulk.”

“Mi, Miho-ya!”

A copious amount of crimson blood spewed forth with that single cough.

…My body seemed utterly ruined.

Fortunately, during my brief unconsciousness, I had naturally recovered enough spirit energy

To barely heal myself to a movable state.

I could not waste spirit energy excessively healing myself –

Prioritizing my shredded internal organs while leaving my grotesquely twisted right leg as-is.

Each step brought excruciating, hellish agony, yet

I endured it.

And endured.

And endured some more.

My precious spirit energy

Had to be reserved for shattering that goblin’s spiral.

“So then, in that battered state, you’ll be able to join the fray over there?”

“…”

“To be honest, I have my doubts. I expended all my energy wielding the wand.”

I too harbored doubts –

Even at full health, the clash between those five Martial Artists and Ho Joon was

A celestial upheaval demanding utmost resolve to intervene.

Each martial strike from them shook the very earth, which Ho Joon then deflected with defensive spells.

To thrust my wrecked body into that melee…

Would essentially be advertising ‘Please Kill Me’.

I would only become deadweight impeding Ho Joon’s fight.

Yet I could not simply wait idly for my spirit energy to recover either –

As Ha-neul warned,

If her master arrived and also fell under the goblin’s sway,

It would truly be the end.

What could I do?

The agonizing pain from my mangled leg prevented any coherent thought.

All I could manage were

Anguished groans…

“Ah, that’s it!”

Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, Ha-neul slapped her knee.

She then addressed me:

“Miho-ya, I feel bad asking this of you injured, but… Could you heal me?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I channeled what little spirit energy I had left to heal her –

Not even questioning her reasons.

This was a request from Ha-neul, after all.

With her energy restored, Ha-neul took up her wand, then

Thunk.

Thunk thunk.

[Spiritual beasts.]

[Are human allies.]

[The light of this world.]

She swung the wand to employ ‘eonryeong’ against the goblin, but

Immediately collapsed to the ground afterward.

Her eonryeong’s clear targets were the five Martial Artists.

Whether it worked or not, the Martial Artists momentarily faltered –

Allowing Ho Joon to bind their legs in that brief window.

Dragging my ruined leg, I charged at the goblin as its spiral wavered in seeming disarray.

It swung its wand once more, but

Too late.

Channeling my scant remaining spirit energy into my claws,

I raked the goblin diagonally.

Swish!

With that sound, the spiral began losing momentum.

Damn.

…Not deep enough.

Thunk thunk, thunk thunk.

[Spell Masters and spiritual beasts]

[Are the enemy of all.]

[The darkness of this world.]

The fleeting opportunity created by Ha-neul had slipped away.

No longer restrained for self-preservation, the eonryeong-brainwashed Martial Artists assailed Ho Joon with renewed ferocity.

Ha-neul was down, and

I lacked the strength to even twitch a finger.

Yet,

“Huhuhuh…”

I laughed.

Mocking the goblin’s wavering spiral,

Ha-neul’s actions had set my mind in motion:

If her eonryeong could take effect, then

Perhaps other mind-controlling techniques might work as well.

Of course, I could not be certain, but

I had no other recourse left.

What I had dismissed as a useless ability –

Could this be the gift bestowed upon me by the heavens for such a time?

Truly,

The divine wisdom far exceeded mortal – no, yokai – comprehension.

I released my suppressed ‘charm’ ability,

Bombarding those five Martial Artists with potent pheromones.

Let us see which was stronger:

Charm, or eonryeong.

---

The following is an excerpt from the lost records of ancient China’s Shang Dynasty, predating the Fifty-Six Gianza alphabets:

…

…

…

The Ri (魑) goblin, a being swathed in countless spirals,

Addressed the eight-tailed vixen reclining seductively upon the throne:

[I am the Ri of the Emenyoung (魑魅魍魎) goblins. Your trickery mocking the Shang Dynasty ends today, temptress.]

The half-nude woman regarded the goblin with a bored, haughty gaze –

As if looking down upon something beneath her.

At her feet, a man wearing a crown (王冠) gazed up adoringly in rapture –

The king himself.

The unnatural sight of a nation’s ruler kneeling before his concubine.

“Haaaaaaahm.”

The woman yawned, then spoke:

“Consider my good mood today a blessing from the heavens, and boast of it to your goblin kin. Now begone, nameless goblin.”

[…Did you not hear me? Your trickery ends today.]

The eight-tailed vixen chuckled alluringly at the goblin’s retort:

“Enough with the self-righteous act. Do you think I fail to see through a goblin’s hypocrisy?”

“I am destined to become a celestial deity.”

“Do you delude yourself that a mere goblin could dictate my fate?”

Enraged by the vixen’s arrogance towards an inferior, the goblin’s spirals spun rapidly.

[…How insolent.]

[Then I too shall grant you an insult.]

Tap.

The goblin raised its wand.

Yet the eight-tailed vixen merely looked on with amusement, making no move to counter.

The goblin swung its wand:

Thunk.

Thunk thunk.

[The King of Shang]

[Shall be freed from the wicked fox yokai’s bewitchment.]

Swish!

The eonryeong unleashed from the wand manifested in the physical realm, striking the king.

He lifted his head, then

After blankly regarding the goblin, asked his concubine Dalgi:

“Dalgi, what ailing cow is that?”

[Wh, what…!]

As the king finished speaking, Dalgi burst into hysterical laughter:

“Ahahahahahaha! So His Majesty sees that thing as a cow!”

“Indeed… Hahaha, yet watching you laugh brightens my mood.”

[Wh, what have you done, wicked fox yokai!]

The spiral wavered –

Not clockwise, not counterclockwise, but a third direction.

Dalgi, brazenly baring her bosom as she cackled, then

Glanced dismissively at the ‘ailing cow’ – no, the goblin – and continued:

“A goblin’s liver does not taste very good. Instead of the offering, I shall present your liver to the cow.”