Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 115

Weapon-Eating Bastard 115

Seop was lost in old memories.

Even knowing they were mere illusions, impossible to manifest before his eyes, he couldn’t help but watch.

Though old, it wasn’t a distant past for a goblin who lived a long life.

There had been a war.

A massive firestorm engulfed the world, sparing neither race nor nation.

The power of humans grew stronger daily, and monsters stirred in the darkness beyond human reach.

When the monsters first began their invasion, Seop didn’t foresee it leading to a world-consuming war.

But as humans began slaughtering each other, strange factions emerged, and the world descended into chaos.

Even Seop, who read the celestial omens, was so confused he couldn’t foresee what lay ahead.

The definitions of good and evil collapsed, and the boundaries between yin and yang [the balance of opposing forces] blurred.

Such chaos didn’t pass by Seop and the goblins, who quietly lived in nature.

A great evil was about to descend on Jeju Island.

The magical energy, enough to darken the entire sky, made even Seop feel fear.

And then…

“Please help us.”

The illusion shifted, and a human appeared before Seop.

With black hair and light brown eyes, the human spoke those words to the goblins.

“The situation on the mainland is urgent. We will send troops here as soon as we reorganize our ranks, so please hold on.”

Halla Mountain was one of the most important spiritual veins of the Korean Peninsula.

If this place were to collapse, the entire Korean Peninsula’s spiritual veins would be affected.

The humans knew this, and so did the goblins.

Seop could not refuse the request of one of the human leaders.

He could not abandon the oath made long ago regarding the Black Night, and he believed the humans would surely return.

The compatibility between the demons who twisted nature and the goblins was nearly the worst, but he thought they could at least hold out until the humans’ support arrived.

Thus, the three oldest goblins—Seop, Mu (Mist), and To (Earth)—sought to protect Jeju Island.

To protect this land.

To protect the young goblins.

To protect the humans.

Seop, Mu, and To, who had lived the longest, faced the great evil with the determination to give up their lives.

The demon had no name.

Or rather, it probably did, but no one could pronounce it correctly.

Therefore, the people of the world called the demon this:

The Serpent of the Red Valley.

The Nine-Headed Nemesis.

The Boiling Temptation.

The serpent, clad in dark red magical energy, deceived the goblins with cunning illusions, like a demon evoking original sin from ancient myths.

Seop and the two goblins struggled through difficult times, entangled with the demons.

They wanted to escape, too.

Even for them, who had lived so long, it was a painful time.

But there was a promise.

Seop and the two goblins waited for the humans.

Like that.

* * *

Thwack-!

Seop stabbed his thigh with a piece of scrap metal lying on the ground.

The terrible pain jolted him awake.

All the scenes until now had been illusions.

He had known all along that the impure being would attack in this way.

The moment the magical energy tore through the seal, Seop grabbed the scrap metal and swung it at his own body.

“Hoo, hoo…….”

He had to control the surging emotions.

Only after shaking his head did Seop come to his senses and widen his eyes.

“Ryeo, Ryeo! No!”

Then, he looked at Ryeo, who was reaching out with both hands in the air and crying.

“Don’t go there! No!”

Ryeo was still wandering in a daze, seeing illusions that Seop couldn’t understand.

Seop gritted his teeth and likewise stabbed Ryeo’s thigh with the scrap metal.

Thwack!

“Aaaaaaack!”

Ryeo screamed as if being torn apart and collapsed to the ground.

Ryeo regained consciousness with a pained expression.

Then, he belatedly realized that he, too, had been trapped in an illusion.

“O-Old One.”

“I tried not to kill the demonkin and monsters as much as possible to avoid stimulating this… but this time has come after all.”

Seop continued calmly.

Kwang!

Even in the midst of all this, lava was erupting in the wide chamber.

“You must leave this place at once. Time flows differently here than outside. So, before it’s too late, go out and wake the people of the village and tell them to run away.”

“H-How will you manage, Old One!”

Ryeo was instinctively feeling it.

That was dangerous.

A being that the goblins could not face.

If a goblin was a being of nature, that was a being that denied nature.

“I am a goblin of a bygone era. I must finish the end of that thing, an old grudge. Go now!”

Ryeo was about to say something urgently at Seop’s shout.

But without resisting, Ryeo was moved to the entrance of Mireinae Village.

“Old One!”

Ryeo cried out urgently, as if wailing.

But he received no answer.

Just…

Krrrrrrrr!

A heavy vibration was spreading throughout Halla Mountain.

* * *

Seop lowered his eyes and calmed his surging heart.

Below, red, blood-like lava continued to erupt.

And between the erupting lava, an amorphous demon, whose form could not be distinguished, was beginning to gestate.

-You have to hold on! The humans will be here soon!

Suddenly, such a voice echoed in his ears.

It was the voice of a brother he hadn’t heard in too long.

A brother with a heart as wide and fertile as the earth.

“Humans are not coming.”

Seop unknowingly replied to the hallucination.

Then, he slowly reached out to the side.

Crack!

In an instant, the huge hammer he was holding warped and began to change its shape into another form.

-But it’s a promise. We have to wait for the humans. They will definitely keep their promise. Even if they are a little late, they will come someday.

It was Nu-i, as faint and serene as mist.

She wanted to wait for the humans even as her goblin body was scattering, invaded by magical energy.

“They didn’t come after all. You fools. You… no, we were deceived. They just used us as scapegoats.”

The goblin held a club in his right hand.

Woooosh!

Fire, earth, and mist.

The club, imbued with three intertwined energies, possessed a tremendous power that made the air tremble.

-I’ll drag that demon’s body away.

-Then I’ll become the mist that obscures this mountain.

“There’s no need. It can’t be killed even if we kill it. We should have just run away. Let this damned land be ruined.”

Seop continued to answer in an angry voice.

-Seop. Stay and keep our oath for us.

-Protect the seal with your fire.

-We’ll entrust our remaining power to you.

-Until the humans come someday…….

Even after waiting and waiting, the humans did not come.

He could understand.

It was a time of chaos, so there must have been circumstances.

Thus, the three goblins, once called the Three Divine Beings, were reduced to one, and the power of the remaining two goblins resided in Seop’s body.

-But…… humans were different from you. That human just used you. Knowing that the goblins would protect it.

Such a voice echoed like a temptation.

He couldn’t possibly not know whose voice it was.

“Shut up. Demon.”

Soon, the countless demonic energies surging from the lava began to gather and scatter repeatedly.

It looked like a nine-headed dragon, a red beast, or even the lava itself.

The remnants of the Great Demon.

A collection of the spirit and power of the Great Demon that the three ancient goblins could not handle, even after combining their strength and two of them sacrificing themselves.

Its resurrection was inevitable.

It was an unkillable being, and if it were released into the world, it would quickly regain its body and plunge the world into misery.

No, before that, this island would be crushed, and the village would be destroyed.

Seop did not wait for humans.

Yes, as the demon said, humans would not come.

So.

‘I’ll follow soon.’

According to the laws of nature, the old must be dealt with by the old.

The only regret, the oath with Lee Hyul-hyun from the distant past, was also fulfilled today.

Now, he had no reason to linger in this world.

The two brothers had sacrificed themselves to continue the future, so it was his turn to step in.

With this, the terribly old emotions and the existence he wanted to tear apart and kill would fall into a long sleep again.

Kwarururururung!

Seop swung his club.

Lava erupted.

* * *

Miri-nae Village was experiencing an unexpected commotion.

Numerous mystical species were screaming in the face of the approaching monster horde.

“W, what is this!”

A goblin screamed, swinging his club.

Kwarung!

A storm of fire raged, but an even greater number of monsters filled the space again.

“C, crazy. Crazy!”

“Protect the Mother Tree!”

Elves and dwarves were also helping the goblins without running away.

However, not all goblins or mystical species possessed great power.

The monsters, left alone for fear of provoking the Great Demon, were instead becoming a poison, attacking Miri-nae Village.

Kwarurururung!

At that moment, a bolt of lightning struck the ground.

“Halmang [Grandma]!”

A goblin urgently called out to Ryo.

“…….”

Ryo bit her lip and said nothing.

Her eyes seemed to express her frustration at not being able to go somewhere else immediately, as she watched the situation in the village.

“Quickly move the injured to the treatment center, and the goblins who can fight, hurry and clean up here!”

Ryo and all the goblins raised their clubs.

Numerous powers, each with different appearances and abilities, were grasped in their hands.

If only the village were safe, Ryo would have wanted to help the Elder right away.

“Where have you been!”

“Halmang! It’s dangerous here!”

Ryo felt something like an unknown fate.

Was it a trick of the heavens that even she, a goblin, could not read?

Or was it destined from the beginning?

On the day a hundred goblins gathered, the old oath was fulfilled, and the village Elder was prepared for eternal rest.

“Is this what they call destiny?”

Ryo let out a long sigh.

Those who left the village to live in the world each had at least one skill, and thanks to that, they were able to fight well against the demon species, with whom they had poor compatibility.

But none of this mattered.

If the demon that had begun to gestate beneath that crater were to awaken completely, no one would be able to handle it easily.

Kuuuuuung-.

At that moment.

A heavy reverberation echoed through the mountain.

Pure white smoke began to spew from the crater of Mount Halla like a giant pillar.

The temperature of Miri-nae Village, which was always pleasantly maintained, instantly soared.

-Kieeeeeeeek!

And with that, the movements of the monsters began to change bizarrely.

The moisture on the ground evaporated in the increasingly hot heat, steam rose, and the vegetation turned black and began to wither and fall.

“Uwaaaaagh!”

Some goblins suddenly thrashed in the air, unable to come to their senses.

Ryo slapped the back of that goblin’s head with her pot lid-like palm and fried all the approaching demon species with lightning.

“Get a grip! You little rascal!”

“Ugh, ugh. I’m gonna die because of you, Halmang…….”

“Stop talking and fight!”

Ryo swung her club again and looked towards the summit of the mountain.

With the power of the mystical species gathered here, they would eventually protect the village.

If they fought with their clubs, this battle would also end.

But in the end, all of this could not be said to be over unless they dealt with the Great Demon hiding on that mountain peak.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

It was the moment she continued to think so.

The volcano began to erupt.

The Great Demon had revealed itself.

-Kieeeeeeeek!

The demonic energy covered the village like a tsunami.

Among the other mystical species and goblins who had no resistance, some even collapsed and fainted.

At that moment.

“I’ve come to help.”

A familiar voice was heard from behind Ryo, who was swinging her club mindlessly.

“Y, you……!”

Ryo’s eyes widened.