Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 84

Weapon-Eating Heir 84

Mount Toham is a sacred mountain, like Mount Cheonwi and Mount Sungmu.

It has been revered as a guardian mountain since the Silla Dynasty [a Korean kingdom that lasted from 57 BC to 935 AD] in the distant past.

Moreover, Gyeongju suffered little damage during the Great War, even as many other sacred sites were destroyed.

It was even used as a refuge for the Gyeongsang Province area.

Although its spiritual energy has been greatly damaged by the hands of sorcerers in modern times, it was still a land with a dragon vein flowing with tremendous energy.

I finished preparing to go to the mountain and said goodbye to Valerie.

“You’re leaving?”

Valerie had a cigarette in her mouth as usual.

I adjusted the large backpack on my back and nodded.

“This is what I came here for in the first place. Thank you, Valerie.”

“Before you go, can you tell me the trick you used when I asked you those three questions?”

“Didn’t you say you’d find out for yourself?”

Valerie clicked her tongue.

“I’m really too good for this…”

After grumbling, Valerie hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening her mouth.

“Be careful. Mount Toham is a dangerous place in many ways.”

“I know. It’s a sacred mountain, but it’s special in many ways.”

Mount Toham is a sacred mountain.

However, like Mount Cheonwi and Mount Sungmu, not all sacred mountains are full of spiritual energy.

Valerie nodded at my words.

“This land is complicated in many ways. Rather, more energy is concentrated in the areas where people live than in the mountains. And to balance the energy of such a land, there must be a place where bad energy gathers.”

Nature always seeks balance.

If the energy in the place where humans live is full of yang [positive energy], then there must also be a land full of yin [negative energy].

“Don’t go to the ruins if you can help it. You might get involved with spirits, and if you get cursed, it won’t be easy to break.”

As befits the historical city of Gyeongju, Mount Toham has many abandoned ruins.

All were important ruins, but they were mostly abandoned due to the mountain’s dangers and the ruins’ own magical significance.

“I know that Bulguksa Temple [a famous Buddhist temple in Gyeongju] is periodically purifying them.”

“I’ve heard rumors that a disciple of Bulguksa Temple recently went missing. They say monsters are appearing. Anyway, be careful because it’s chaotic in many ways.”

There are no gates or dungeons in Gyeongju.

Such things, which are products of imbalance, cannot appear in a place where magical and spiritual balance is artificially maintained.

Moreover, it is far from dangerous or undeveloped areas.

It was highly likely that civilians were spreading rumors out of fear due to the uniqueness of Mount Toham.

Valerie’s nagging didn’t stop even after that.

Anyway.

“Valerie, are you worried about me right now?”

“W-what? W-worried? Who would worry about a cocky brat like you? Ah, I heard the weather is nice today, maybe I should go out. Ahem!”

Valerie turned her head away and whistled.

Despite her incredible genius in many fields, her sense of pitch and rhythm was truly terrible.

“I understand. Then I’ll be back.”

“Huh? You’ll be back?”

Valerie tilted her head.

I smiled faintly.

“I’ll stop by when I’m done. It’s right nearby, there’s no way I’d just leave after finishing my business. I’ll buy you chicken again when I get back.”

I chuckled and left the workshop.

Behind me, I could see Valerie waving her hand.

* * *

I climbed the mountain, clearly feeling the deepened magical energy.

If Mount Cheonwi had a sacred and abundant atmosphere, Mount Toham was filled with a bleak and dark atmosphere.

For some reason, it felt like the sun wasn’t shining well.

It was the first time I had encountered a sacred mountain with such a gloomy atmosphere. It felt more like a dungeon.

“Hoo.”

It had been an hour since I entered Mount Toham.

I was still wandering around the mountain, unable to find the entrance to the tomb.

‘This wasn’t it either.’

I examined the ground with my Mystic Eyes and stood up.

‘Perhaps the terrain has changed more than Valerie said.’

When the interpretation of the stone tablet was finished, Valerie said that I shouldn’t blindly trust the contents of the interpreted map.

When I asked why, Valerie answered arrogantly as usual.

-It’s a map made over a thousand years ago. No matter how much magical energy flows through the path, it’s bound to change over that much time.

I knew the location of the ancestral head’s tomb through the stone tablet, but unfortunately, there was nothing at the location written on the stone tablet.

So, I had no choice but to wander around and examine the ground with my Mystic Eyes.

-At least you have a map, so you know the approximate location. Use your Mystic Eyes.

I was now skilled at using my Mystic Eyes.

I looked back and forth between the map and the flow of magical energy visible through my Mystic Eyes, searching every nook and cranny.

‘It was definitely brutal training, but…’

I realized that I had become proficient with my Mystic Eyes.

If I had used my Mystic Eyes this much when I was on Mount Cheonwi, I would have been exhausted already.

Thanks to my improved control over my Mystic Eyes, I didn’t even feel a headache or soreness in my eyes.

Another hour passed.

I sensed a strange flow.

I followed the flow.

The place I arrived at looked like an ordinary place on the surface.

Protruding rocks jutted out here and there, and the ground was covered with fallen leaves.

However, a slightly different sight was unfolding in my eyes, which were activated with Mystic Eyes.

Swoosh!

The mountain’s energy, which had been flowing naturally, stagnated here for a moment before flowing again.

It was a very subtle flow that could not be detected even by the innate intuition of the Sungmu Yi family.

‘I found it.’

I put down the heavy backpack near me and began to search the area.

I saw unidentified characters written on the surfaces of the protruding rocks.

I slowly drew up my magical energy.

Auror Skill, Wave.

In an instant, a wave of Auror emanated from me in concentric circles, pushing away the leaves and branches around me.

Then, stones that stretched around like an altar appeared.

It was a bit unusual, but it was a shape that could exist.

However, in my Mystic Eyes, I could see that the surfaces of the stones were engraved with unidentified patterns.

To anyone else, it would look like meaningless patterns with just lines and dots connected, but not to me.

“I found it.”

I took out the stone tablet and compared it to the patterns.

Connecting the dots and lines carved on the stones led to the constellations drawn on the stone tablet.

‘This is the sealed gate.’

Each of these twelve stones was a cornerstone of the seal.

Now was the time for the stone tablet to exert its utility as a key.

The astronomy drawn on the stone tablet signified the dragon blood and dragon veins of the entire country, but at the same time, it could be matched with the human magic system.

Now, I just needed to operate and inject magical energy according to the order of the constellations engraved on the rocks in the mountain.

‘Starting with the one in the north, clockwise.’

I placed my hand on the rock at the 12 o’clock position and poured magical energy into it.

Woong-.

The rock absorbed my magical energy like a sponge.

‘This is, a bit…’

It’s burdensome.

I had only injected magical energy into one rock, but a tremendous amount of magical energy was consumed.

I was only able to take my hand off after injecting magical energy for over 10 minutes.

Woooong!

The stone into which magical energy had been injected began to emit a bright light.

I wiped the sweat flowing down my forehead and glanced around.

Magical energy was depleted several times.

It was long after the sun, which had been floating in the mid-sky, disappeared beyond the horizon that I finally succeeded in injecting all the magical energy into the twelve stones.

“With this… the last one.”

I squeezed out every last drop of magical energy.

Kooong!

It was that moment.

A huge vibration reverberated from the twelve rocks that were emitting light.

Kwaaaaaaa!

And a tidal wave of magical energy poured out like a storm.

‘What is this all of a sudden…!’

I hurriedly reached out, put on the backpack that was nearby, and lowered my body to avoid being swept away by the fierce flow.

It was a tidal wave of magical energy that far exceeded the amount of magical energy I had injected.

It didn’t feel like I was facing the wind, but like I was being swept away by the waves.

‘How can this much magical energy be emitted?’

I was momentarily puzzled, but I was soon able to realize it.

The strange flow of magical energy I saw when I first discovered this place.

For a long time, I don’t even know when, the seal had been accumulating the magical energy of Mount Toham.

The magical energy I injected was merely a lubricant to activate that magical energy.

Whoosh!

I was eventually swept away by the pouring flow of magical energy.

In an instant, everything around me was plunged into darkness.

The distinction between the world and me felt ambiguous, and all sounds and sensations became distant.

And.

Thud!

As if being pulled by something, I was thrown to the ground.

“Cough! Huff! Huff!”

I gasped for breath at the impact.

After repeatedly breathing in and out roughly for a long time, I was barely able to come to my senses.

“I thought I was going to die…”

After staggering to my feet, I was able to look around.

The world was silent and plunged into deep darkness.

The air was pleasant, but it didn’t feel like it was because the air was flowing.

‘I can’t see anything.’

I couldn’t even open my Mystic Eyes because I had squeezed out my magical energy to the limit.

Moreover, I didn’t feel any special presence.

‘I should have brought a portable lantern.’

I opened the messy backpack, found the lantern, and turned it on.

Then, the appearance of a pure white stone structure that looked like it was built with bricks was revealed before my eyes.

That was the entrance to the tomb.

On both sides of the door, elaborately cast bronze statues of guardian deities stood in dynamic poses, as if they were gatekeepers.

‘I can’t believe this is an ancient tomb.’

If this tomb were to be known to academia, it seemed like there would be chaos.

I shone the lantern and examined the door.

And I found an epitaph written in old Chinese characters.

It was a land purchase document stating that they had purchased land to use as a tomb from the god of the land.

It was an old text, but the interpretation was not difficult because they were simple words.

‘Sorcerers would have foamed at the mouth if they saw this.’

This itself was a relic with a magical value.

Moreover, it was a story of communicating with the god of the land, not minor gods or spirits.

For a sorcerer who uses earth-related magic or performs spirit possession, this epitaph would have tremendous value in itself than any magical tool.

“I found it properly.”

I found another epitaph written next to the land purchase document.

Yi Hyang-seon, the Martial King of the Yi family.

He fell asleep here at the age of 122.

Accordingly…

“Hmm…”

The middle part was not easy to interpret.

It was Chinese characters from before the Northern and Southern Dynasties period of China.

I studied ancient texts in case something like this happened, but I didn’t know all the ancient texts of all eras.

‘Huh?’

And I frowned as I read the text.

What was written there was not something that should be on an epitaph that should have the life of the deceased written on it.

All living and dead who try to enter this place, turn back.

There is only darkness beyond this.

I even read it again to see if the interpretation was wrong.

It was closer to a warning than an inscription to be used on an epitaph.

‘Why did they leave a stone tablet if they were going to write a warning like this?’

I also didn’t understand why they hid the tomb in such a troublesome way in the first place.

‘Is there something inside?’

I focused the slowly recovering magical energy and opened my Mystic Eyes.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

My eyes were sore.

It wasn’t sore because I saw too much.

I couldn’t see anything in the first place.

I only felt pain as if I had hit a huge barrier, and I couldn’t sense any energy.

‘……I’ve never had this before.’

I recalled what I had heard about this tomb in my previous life.

In my previous life, I was already an outsider to the family when the tomb was discovered, so I didn’t know all the information.

All I knew was the process of excavating this tomb and that records related to the Black Night and the Progenitor were found inside.

‘Come to think of it, even after the excavation was over, my eldest brother went to great lengths to hide the location of this place. He kept all the records he brought back secret except for those related to the Black Night.’

Was it because of guilt for disturbing the rest of his ancestors?

No. If that were the case, he would have hidden the fact that he had excavated it in the first place.

If he had excavated it anyway, why didn’t he reveal the related contents and location on a large scale?

Records related to the Sungmu Yi family of the distant past, and even the tomb of the 2nd head of the family, where you could learn about the family’s early days.

It would have been good to reveal it on a large scale even for the head family competition.

‘But unlike my eldest brother, he released the information too ambiguously.’

This kind of work is… a method mainly used when deliberately digging a trap.

If he dug a trap, why?

‘Is there something here after all?’

Questions followed questions.

Everything will be resolved once I go inside.

I slowly moved towards the entrance.

And at that moment.

Creak!

A chilling sound like scraping metal echoed at the entrance of the tomb.

Thud!