Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 114

“Uwaaaaaa! S, Save me!! Aaaaaaaack!! Blegh!”

Manho was in a panic, creating a commotion due to the Gyoryong’s violent movements.

San-gun narrowed his brows, assessing the situation. Black-clad figures had suddenly appeared.

They all possessed energy at the Hwanseon level [a high level of martial arts mastery]. Thirteen in total.

However, San-gun quickly dismissed them with a roll of his eyes.

‘Doesn’t matter.’

Whoever they are.

Whatever their purpose.

It has nothing to do with me.

‘They’re all my enemies anyway.’

Thud! Kwaaaang!

Deafening noises erupted, and currents of mysterious divine power clashed, creating flashes of light.

“Who are you!”

The Hwanseon facing the black-clad figures demanded their identities, but they remained silent.

Realizing they wouldn’t get an answer, one of the Taoists [practitioners of Taoism, a Chinese philosophy and religion] gestured towards the Gyoryong.

“Let’s stop that thing first! Their goal is the Twin-Horned Buho! If we catch the Gyoryong, they’ll be like rats in a trap!”

At that, the Taoists’ eyes widened.

The Gyoryong’s body, which had been breaking the Geumje [a magical barrier], suddenly stopped. Its entire body swelled, and a bizarre groan echoed.

Just as the Taoists flinched.

Boom!

The Gyoryong’s body exploded.

Dark, eerie mist spread throughout the area, and a small figure soared through it.

It was a sharp-eyed girl holding a great sword!

The Taoists, dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, shuddered.

[Kill.]

Startled by the murderous voice, they turned their heads and saw the Twin-Horned Buho floating in the air, looking down arrogantly.

As his command echoed, the girl raised the Guhwan Sword [likely a powerful, cursed sword] high and gave a chilling smile.

The eerie mist instantly enveloped the arena, plunging it into pitch-black darkness.

“Kuaaaaack!!”

It was then.

Suddenly, bizarre ghosts emerged from the eerie mist and began to mercilessly slaughter the Taoists.

Half of the ghosts were in the form of giant sea creatures.

A collection of various Gyoryongs, whales, shrimp, and other grotesque sea creatures.

The sea creatures, transformed into ghosts, swam through the eerie mist and charged, causing the Taoists to die without even being able to draw their treasures.

“How can this be….”

Elder Hong of the Haenun Sect lamented.

This was a gathering of all the Taoists from the Harisan Mountain Range. How could he not feel despair as they were all slaughtered by ghosts?

“T, The Geumje, release the Geumje!!”

It was Elder Seol of the Hugopa.

His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were torn.

Behind him, the young Moonju [sect leader] of the Hugopa was trembling, his face pale.

“Elder Hong! We must release the Geumje! Only then can we live!”

However, Elder Hong shook his head.

Puzzled, Elder Seol frowned and was about to speak when.

Elder Hong quietly raised his hand.

His finger pointed to a spot.

He turned his head to follow the gesture.

Something with a huge body was moving like a snake within the eerie mist.

“What!”

Kwacha Chang!!

The round Geumje was easily shattered.

The fragmented Geumje fell.

Elder Seol hugged Hugobo and soared up in a streak of blue light.

However, he was forced to stop as black threads spread like spiderwebs everywhere.

“What is this…!”

Elder Seol halted, wary of the black threads.

Behind him, a Taoist screamed and charged into the black threads.

“Uwaaaaack!!”

Sasa삭.

With a chilling noise, the Taoist who touched the black threads disintegrated into pieces.

Thump.

Elder Seol’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

Only then did Elder Seol’s face turn pale as he stared down.

A giant centipede spirit worm, reaching a hundred Jang [a unit of length, approximately 3 meters] in length, was enveloping the arena.

The surrounding terrain was melting from the centipede’s breath.

There was no Geumje, but they couldn’t escape.

The black threads formed a spiderweb in all directions.

And what about the inside?

The ghosts within the eerie mist were wreaking havoc, killing the Taoists as if playing with them in the form of giant demons.

As if mocking the saying, “United we stand, divided we fall,” the giant demon crushed the gathered Taoists with its fist.

Elder Seol blankly looked up at the sky with a detached expression.

There, the Twin-Horned Buho was looking down with an indifferent face.

“We’ve been played all along.”

It was planned from the beginning.

The martial arts competition was a nonsensical event from the start.

The Taoists were all aiming for the Twin-Horned Buho.

But none of them considered.

That the Twin-Horned Buho was also aiming for them.

* * *

San-gun sneered as he looked down at the dying people.

Each of them, just before death, looked up at him in the sky.

It was a different look than before.

Eyes filled with fear and anger, quite different from eyes filled with greed.

It was truly ridiculous.

[Looking as if they were staring at an elixir, how amusing.]

After gaining spirituality, Guigyul became a zombie that San-gun didn’t need to control.

For some reason, Tamhwa was full of goodwill towards him.

Therefore, there was no need to expend spiritual power to use them.

Even if San-gun himself was injured internally and couldn’t exert his power, he had nothing to fear as long as he had these two.

‘Guigyul and the Guhwan Sword are a good match.’

Perhaps he wielded the Guhwan Sword better than San-gun.

Was it because he handled evil energy?

It wouldn’t be bad to hand over the Guhwan Sword to Guigyul as it is.

‘Now, what about those guys?’

The group of black-clad figures.

Rumors must have spread far and wide.

Why is everyone so anxious about the Twin-Horned Buho?

San-gun’s eyes gleamed as he watched the black-clad figures struggling to fend off the ghosts.

“Haaap!!”

One of the black-clad figures formed a hand seal and shouted, and the others simultaneously began to chant spells.

Suddenly, the space rippled, and the surrounding scenery began to change.

‘Hwangye [a type of illusion or magical space]!’

But something was strange.

Even though they hadn’t used a Hwanjinpae [an artifact used to create a Hwangye], the Hwangye was being activated.

However, San-gun didn’t care.

Even if they unfolded the Hwangye, they wouldn’t be able to overcome the eerie mist that dominated the area.

Just then, Guigyul appeared and raised the Guhwan Sword towards the black-clad figure.

‘They’re going to die.’

The Hwanseon of Mokshintong [a specific martial arts technique or school] has been secured.

No one here will survive.

It was then.

Suddenly, Guigyul’s movements stopped.

No, his head moved strangely, his limbs moved independently, and he began to plummet to the ground.

The other ghosts were the same.

As if their limbs had been switched, their movements became unnatural.

Just as San-gun was about to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Huh?’

He moved his eyebrows, but suddenly his tail moved involuntarily. Wondering what was happening, he tried to move his body.

When he moved his front paw, his ear twitched, and when he tried to lift his leg, his front leg buckled.

‘What is this….’

It was a truly bizarre Hwanjin.

Guigyul tried to get up from the ground, but he seemed flustered and wriggled like a larva with strange, uncoordinated movements.

The surviving Taoists were no different.

An ordinary Taoist would be helpless against that Hwangye.

‘If it were an ordinary Taoist, that is.’

San-gun immediately called Tamhwa.

Kugugung!

Tamhwa didn’t seem much different, but it was a spirit worm over three hundred Jang in size.

Just rolling around a little would destroy the Hwangye.

Kwaang!!

As expected, Tamhwa began to twist its body and thrash around. The huge body created a mess, as if the world was turning upside down. The massive arena constructed by the Taoists cracked and collapsed.

Papapapat!

Hundreds of black threads were fired.

Hundreds of black threads soared in all directions, piercing the bodies of not only the Taoists but also several of the black-clad figures.

Kwadadang!!

The rock walls that had been built for the competition began to crumble.

Then, black smoke exploded from Tamhwa’s body.

It was Hahumihong’s bile [likely a corrosive substance].

“Kyaaak!”

Then the scenery returned to normal.

The pillars made of huge rock walls were half-destroyed by Tamhwa’s rampage.

The straight pillars fell to the ground and collapsed.

Kwagagagagang!!

A sand cloud formed, thickly obscuring the surroundings.

San-gun leisurely descended to the ground.

In the dust, a figure was sitting, emitting a fierce killing intent.

The hem of the black-clad figure’s clothes had melted from the bile, and their bamboo hat was gone.

As the dust cleared, the figure gradually became visible.

Although covered in dust, the shimmering golden hair and golden eyes were unmistakable.

[Could it be….]

San-gun’s brow furrowed.

Blonde hair and golden eyes.

It was a rare appearance.

And San-gun knew one woman with such features.

Slightly surprised, San-gun transformed into a human and stopped Guigyul and Tamhwa.

Kugugung!

The roar of the falling rock walls.

He took one step at a time through it.

As he walked leisurely through the screaming ghosts, a woman sitting on the ground came into view.

She glared at San-gun with clenched teeth, then widened her eyes.

“G, Gongja-nim [a respectful title, similar to ‘young master’]?”

“You… aren’t you Geummae?”

She was the Hona Blood of the Manbyeongakgwi [a group or organization].

Of the Geumeun sisters, Geummae.

* * *

Leaving behind the collapsing martial arts arena, San-gun faced Geummae with a welcoming expression.

“How are you here?”

“How about you, Gongja-nim? H, How did you end up here… and that form….”

Come to think of it, Geummae didn’t know that San-gun was a spirit beast.

As San-gun realized this and stopped talking, Geummae gave him a confused look.

“Gongja-nim, were you the Twin-Horned Buho?”

San-gun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He didn’t particularly want to reveal it, but what could he do now?

“H, How did this… A, no… Gongja-nim is the Twin-Horned Buho….”

Her expression was agitated.

Her golden eyes couldn’t bear to look at San-gun and blinked incessantly.

Her hands clenched and unclenched, as if she was contemplating something.

She looked troubled.

San-gun silently grabbed her hand and helped her up, then spoke.

“It’s a shame. I thought you would also be greedy for my horns.”

“N, No! If I had known that Gongja-nim was the Twin-Horned Buho….”

Seeing her aghast expression, San-gun gave a faint smile.

“You’re being mischievous.”

She puffed out one cheek, making a sulky expression, as if she knew he was joking.

As if it was the reaction he wanted, San-gun burst into laughter and replied.

“Haha, I’m just happy to see you after a long time, so don’t be angry. Anyway….”

San-gun looked around and frowned slightly.

“It doesn’t seem like a place to continue our conversation. I need to clean up this place, so would Geum Samae [a respectful title for a younger woman] please step back?”

“Geum Samae? Haha, it brings back old memories…. It’s been 50 years since then….”

Geummae gave a meaningful smile, recalling the title he had used when he tricked Hansu in the Suwol Mountain Range.

After a moment of silence, she nodded her head and replied.

“I understand! I owe Gongja-nim a lot, so I’ll step back. If you take this, you won’t have any trouble finding me.”

“This is….”

“It’s one of my puppets. It will show you the way, so please visit me when you’re done!”

It was a paper doll covered in densely written spell letters. It must be her puppet.

“Then I’ll be waiting!”

She soared into the sky, scattering golden light, and soon disappeared.

San-gun, who had been watching the direction she disappeared, looked at the horrific scene.

“I need to clean up now.”

There were still some Taoists who had survived, but they could not escape from the clutches of Tamhwa and Guigyul.

San-gun, having effectively eliminated most of the Taoists from the seven sects, disappeared.

A moment later.

The arena where he had disappeared.

Suddenly, a disheveled old man and a young woman appeared from thin air, gasping for breath.

“Are you alright?”

“I, I’m alright….”

It was Elder Seol of the Hugopa and Hugobo.

“If it weren’t for the treasure left by the former Moonju, we wouldn’t have survived…. Ha, how could this happen….”

The young Moonju seemed unable to recover from the shock and stammered.

Elder Seol looked at him with pity, then helped Hugobo up.

“That guy must still be nearby. He must have had a reason for gathering all seven sects of the Harisan Mountain Range. Unfortunately, we don’t have the power to resist him. Now is the time to run away….”

“H, But…! If that guy gets the scriptures that the seven sects divided and managed, won’t we lose the legacy of our ancestors that has been passed down since the Manbo era!”

However, Elder Seol silently shook his head.

Even so, there was nothing he could do.

Should he attack him now?

He couldn’t do that.

He could die, but he couldn’t let the young Moonju, who hadn’t even reached the age of twenty, die.

Now is the time to endure and persevere.

He must sharpen his claws while holding his breath.

“Even if he obtains all seven divided scriptures, we won’t be able to solve the secrets of our ancestors that we couldn’t solve. Although they said that they left a great treasure for future generations, we haven’t been able to open it until this day. Because of that, the sects of the Harisan Mountain Range have been on the path of decline.”

“Even so…!”

“No matter how important the legacy of our ancestors and the scriptures are, what good would it do to stop him now other than to die? We must use our anger as motivation to grow stronger and plan for the future.”

Hugobo clenched his fist tightly, trembled, and took a deep breath.

“Haa…. It can’t be helped. That guy won’t be able to solve the secret of the scriptures either, so as Elder Seol said, I will grow stronger and take back what I rightfully deserve.”

“The Humidongcheonro (喉微洞穿路) [likely a secret technique or path] has never been united and opened for several generations, so we must increase our strength and revive the sect again during that time!”

After that.

Elder Seol and Hugobo quietly hid, and two other figures rose from the collapsed rock walls.

It was Elder Hong and Habeak of the Haenun Sect.

They were also angry, no different from the Hugopa, and then quietly disappeared.