Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 379

낭선기환담 – 2부 88화

KWA-AAAAANG!!

“So noisy, it’s driving me crazy.”

Palyeoldo, known as the largest and most remote island of exile.

It is to Palyeoldo that the most heinous criminals with the gravest charges are exiled.

As such, Palyeoldo is also where powerful enchantments and strong seals were installed during its design.

“There’s no problem with the formation itself.”

He could confirm that multiple seals were layered together amidst the thick fog.

Misefa asked one of the guards:

“Has there ever been such a loud noise from Palyeoldo before?”

“Never. The prisoners of Palyeoldo are originally subjected to full-body confinement, so they’ve lost the ability to do such things.”

Misefa clicked his tongue.

He had sent many criminals to Palyeoldo at his own discretion.

Since their crimes weren’t confirmed in the Water Palace [a major governing body], they didn’t receive full-body confinement shackles, which is why this kind of thing happened.

“Open it. I’ll have to go in for a bit.”

“But it’s Palyeoldo. Who knows what the prisoners might be up to!”

However, Misefa didn’t agree.

“How long do you think I’ve been in charge of this exile? It’s been over a hundred thousand years! In all that time, no one has ever escaped from my, Misefa’s, exile!!”

Gulp.

The guards swallowed hard at Misefa’s imposing presence.

As he said, though it’s forgotten now, he was once a man who became a Hyangseon [a high-ranking celestial official] with outstanding talent and served as the Hyeoncheon Mujang [a celestial warrior], defending the north among the Five Heavenly Generals of the Water Palace.

No matter how powerful the criminal, they could not escape Misefa’s grasp, nor could they overcome him.

Soon, a key with a mysterious shape was handed to him by his confidant.

It was the only treasure that could open the seals of Palyeoldo.

When he brought it to the seal, a ripple occurred with a click, and a door with mysterious patterns appeared.

As Misefa and the guards entered, what they saw was:

All sorts of criminal immortals of Palyeoldo gathered together, striking a giant bell in unison.

“Alright, one more time!”

“One, two, three!!”

KWA-AAAAANG!!

It was an enormous roar that resonated throughout their entire bodies.

The criminal immortals were striking the giant bell in the center of Palyeoldo, even as their hands were torn and blood dripped from their ears.

At that moment, Misefa stepped forward and shouted loudly.

“What is the meaning of this!!”

But something was strange.

The faces of the criminals didn’t look good at all.

It was as if they had been beaten, all of them battered and bruised.

“Are you the exile warden here?”

At the man’s voice from somewhere, he raised his head and saw a man with a halberd on his shoulder standing on top of the giant bell.

His emotionless eyes were golden.

“Who are you?”

“Just an insignificant merchant with the surname Cheon.”

Thud.

Beom, who had descended to the ground, pointed his spear at Misefa and said.

“Let’s make a bet.”

“Ha, I was wondering what you were going to say, and you’re suddenly suggesting a bet?”

Misefa thought.

‘If he’s in Palyeoldo, he must be a criminal.’

‘If he’s not in full-body confinement, he must be someone I sent myself, but….’

‘But I don’t remember this man.’

He’s a man I’ve never seen before.

He looked at the guards with suspicion, but they shook their heads as if they didn’t know either.

“Yes, a bet. You’ve won against many people with bets and sent them to Palyeoldo, haven’t you? Let’s do it with me too.”

His confident attitude was absurd.

‘Just a merchant….’

He was unbearably arrogant.

“Why should I? With someone who’s already in Palyeoldo? No way. There’s no benefit I can gain.”

“The benefit is right here.”

Beom gestured to the halberd.

‘Twin Annihilation!!’

One of the guards noticed it and was horrified.

“How do you have the Twin Annihilation….”

From the start, it was strange that a criminal was carrying a weapon.

He only felt puzzled, but what he possessed was the Twin Annihilation.

It was the Yeonjabo Twin Annihilation [a legendary weapon], no less.

Even Misefa, who was like the king of the exile, naturally coveted it.

“You’re betting this?”

“Yes. Not a bad offer, is it?”

That was true.

It wasn’t bad.

No, it was perfect!

He could obtain the Twin Annihilation with a simple bet!

‘The opponent is a merchant.’

There’s no reason he can’t win.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing in particular. I just happened to drift into Palyeoldo and wanted to get out of here a bit. And also, I wanted to see the archery skills of the talkative exile warden.”

“Indeed… It’s true that I don’t have any memory of a cultivator like you. But this is clearly an exile, and you are in Palyeoldo. It’s a place where no one has ever come out once they’ve entered. I don’t know how you got in there, but once you’re in, you can’t come out again.”

At the exile warden’s stern words, Cheon Beom raised the corner of his lips.

“So, let’s settle it with a bet.”

Exile Warden Misefa chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“Exile Warden!!”

“If a criminal possesses the Twin Annihilation, we should take it away and imprison him again!”

The guards objected, but Misefa was already excited.

“Isn’t it fine if I win? Either way, it’s a matter of course that he’ll be imprisoned again. Since we’ve come all the way here, we can’t just go back without doing anything.”

Besides, if he did that, the guy might make the criminals cause a loud noise again.

Strike while the iron is hot.

Misefa immediately prepared for the bet.

“The bet is simple. I’ll send a boat to the middle of Geonwon Sea, and the one who shoots an arrow and hits the target first wins.”

It was a very simple bet.

Something that anyone who has reached the ranks of the gods could do.

But there was one more fatal rule in this bet.

“I can interfere, right?”

Cheon Beom, who had touched the bow and arrow, asked.

Then, the corners of Misefa’s lips hooked satisfactorily.

“It wouldn’t be fun if you just shot, would it? Use all kinds of divine powers, whether it’s rain, wind, thunder, or lightning, to interfere with the opponent’s arrow and hit my arrow. That’s the point of this bet.”

In the end, this is also.

A battle of divine powers.

“That sounds fun.”

“It is fun.”

It’s very fun.

Even those who initially thought it was nothing special, when they are defeated in an absurd way, show a desperate expression as if they are falling into the abyss.

Misefa soon expected Beom’s expression to change like that as well.

“Now, launch the boat!!”

A sailboat with a red target hung on its sail is launched into the Geonwon Sea.

As the distance of the sailboat drifting further and further away became a small dot, Misefa drew his bow.

Soon, Cheon Beom also drew his bow.

And at the same time.

Swoosh!

The arrow flew through the air.

It was then.

Suddenly, black storm clouds gathered in the sky, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and a storm began to rage.

Then, Beom’s arrow staggered and its trajectory twisted.

“Oh dear, it won’t be easy to hit the target.”

Misefa said with a regretful tone, and Beom shrugged.

“You never know until you try.”

But unlike those words, Beom did nothing.

Nothing happened until Misefa’s arrow was about to hit the target.

‘I won.’

The moment Misefa, who had sensed victory, raised the corners of his lips.

“What!”

An anomaly occurred.

Misefa’s arrow, which was about to be stuck in the target, suddenly bounced up in the air as if it had been pulled by something.

Misefa, startled, enhanced his eyesight and saw a faint, thin spider web on the tip of the arrow.

Perhaps that was what interfered.

“Damn it!”

Misefa hurriedly used the wind to lift the arrow back up and tried to make it hit the target, but it was already too late.

In that brief gap, Beom had changed the trajectory of the arrow, and his arrow was already stuck in the red target.

“H, hit….”

The guard’s last words mentioned the hit, and soon the cheers of the criminals of Palyeoldo echoed.

“That bastard really won!”

“Don’t forget your promise to us, Cheon Beom!!”

“Don’t forget the promise to let us pay for our original sins!!”

The guards were dumbfounded but did not forget their duties.

“Ch, cheating!”

“That’s right! This is clearly cheating!”

“In a sacred match, such….”

It’s an absurd statement.

What is a sacred match, and what is cheating?

“Manipulating nature is clearly part of the bet, but there was definitely no such shallow trick!”

“That’s right! He manipulated the match with unfair means, so it’s a disqualification!!”

But Misefa seemed not to hear the guards’ words and muttered to himself.

Cheon Beom.

Misefa’s complexion, which had turned pale at the sound of Cheon Beom, changed rapidly.

“Fifty, no, was it seventy years ago? I heard that there was a merchant who rose to the position of a Jong 4 Pum Munmugwanjang [a mid-level civil official]. Yes, I remember now. There was a rumor that the Munmugwanjang held the Twin Annihilation in place of Hu’s will. You… no, you are the Munmugwanjang Cheon Beom!”

Even in the easternmost part of the Water Palace, far away, the story of the merchant who rose to Jong 4 Pum reached the exile of the Water Realm.

And the Twin Annihilation of the Hu family that the merchant possessed was also a delicious chew for gossip.

“Why didn’t you say so sooner? If you had shown the Munmugwanjang’s spirit tablet….”

I would have recognized it at once.

But Beom didn’t do that.

“If I had shown it, you, a descendant of the Mi family, would have brought the head of the family right away. Since I was in Palyeoldo, you wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me and seize the Twin Annihilation.”

That’s right.

The value of a powerful Yeonjabo Twin Annihilation left by the Hu family would have been higher than that of a single merchant and the Twin Annihilation.

Besides, he wouldn’t have let him out of Palyeoldo.

“The reason you suggested a bet with me was?”

“Since you liked bets, I was able to create a hole in the seals of Palyeoldo, even if only for a moment.”

That’s why he was barely able to get out.

The enchantments and seals of Palyeoldo were difficult to break even for Cheon Beom.

But with this one bet, the enchantments and seals were opened, so everything went according to Cheon Beom’s plan.

“…Are you saying you can escape from my sight now?”

Misefa is a Hyangseon.

Cheon Beom is just a merchant, no matter how talkative he is.

If you think about it normally, he can’t escape.

“Are you not going to keep the bet?”

“I won’t be pointed at for not keeping a bet with a criminal.”

Misefa declared as if he had made a decision.

“Criminal Cheon Beom. You are guilty of neglecting the duties of the Munmugwanjang! Guilty of disrupting the laws of the palace! Guilty of entering the exile of the Water Realm at will and inciting the criminals! In the name of the Jeong 4 Pum Geumbunajang [a high-ranking military official], I will judge your crimes!!”

The charge is dereliction of duty.

“The verdict is death.”

At Misefa’s words, which he asserted, Cheon Beom twitched the corners of his lips as if sneering.

“Is that verdict certain?”

“I will not accept any objections.”

Beom nodded as if he understood and walked closer to the seals of Palyeoldo.

Misefa’s face was dyed with astonishment as he watched what he was doing.

Because Cheon Beom was holding the key-shaped treasure that had opened the seals of Palyeoldo in his hand.

“When did you!!”

When he looked at his confidant, he had already lost consciousness and collapsed.

“S, seize that bastard right now!!”

But it was already too late.

“It’s prey. Tamlang.”

As he opened the seal, a Chungseon [a type of celestial being] in the form of a mantis appeared, crossing its forelimbs as if it had been waiting for this moment.

“Very good prey!”