Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 208

Weapon-Devouring Bastard – Episode 208

Jang Han sat on an overgrown tree, his eyes gleaming.

His gaze was fixed on Lee Cheol.

And before Lee Cheol stood a monster exuding an inexplicable power.

“Oho. So that was here in this land. Those masked bastards are always quick in strange places.”

“…Do you know what that is?”

Jang Han glanced sideways and asked.

“That thing is called ****. It’s also known as ○○○.”

Jang Han frowned.

He couldn’t hear what was said.

There was definitely a lot of noise, but not enough that he couldn’t hear a voice from this close.

“What does the name matter? Don’t try to understand it. You’ll forget it even if you hear it. To explain it accurately… it’s like a living incarnation of this planet, even worshipped as a god. A veritable evil god, that’s what it is.”

“…”

Jang Han didn’t answer.

He simply closed his mouth and stared at the monster.

‘Repulsive.’

He felt a terrible stench.

Just looking at it made his eyes feel like they were burning, and his stomach churned.

“But this has become awkwardly troublesome. This is going to be a pain to deal with.”

The man shook his head.

It was at that moment.

A tidal wave of magical power surged through the air.

Jang Han and the man both raised their eyebrows and looked towards the ruins.

Lee Cheol, with countless weapons floating in the air, chanted as if casting a spell, unfolding his magical power.

The spectacle of black aura and weapons filling the sky was like looking at a heavenly net [a metaphor for an inescapable trap].

“…”

Jang Han’s eyes twitched.

Could that really be a human skill?

No, that’s not it.

‘Is that your path?’

It was a technique unseen anywhere else.

It was also a skill that no one but Lee Cheol could unleash.

That’s why Jang Han recognized that it was something located at the end of the martial path (武道) that Lee Cheol had walked.

Jang Han’s expression was subtle.

He wasn’t surprised, flustered, or overwhelmed.

Rather, he looked satisfied.

‘Impressive. But.’

Jang Han fiddled with the handle of his weapon, his eyes gleaming.

‘Now I’m sure I can kill you.’

Meanwhile, the man sitting on a thin branch next to Jang Han watched Lee Cheol, who was fighting the monster from a distance, his eyes shining.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

And the words he uttered.

“…What do you mean?”

“Do as planned, but I’ll move towards that side.”

The man, with a crescent moon-like smile, rested his chin and looked at Lee Cheol.

* * *

Kwaaaang!

A rough explosion echoed across the ground.

The amorphous monster, bathed in the flickering light of black night’s annihilation, burst apart and scattered across the ground.

“Hah, hah, hah…”

I breathed roughly.

At that moment, one knee buckled and my body tilted.

‘I won.’

I felt that all the presence residing in the Bulgasari’s fragments had vanished.

I looked around, my eyes shining.

‘It’s gone.’

The black particles, the monsters stained black.

All were fading into a blurry gray and disappearing.

No, to be precise, they weren’t disappearing.

Wagjak! Wajak!

The black energy that had escaped from within me spread out like a fog, devouring the monster’s remains scattered around.

Wuoong!

At the same time, the magical power I had absorbed from Nana, my aunt, and Valerie entered my body, replenishing my depleted magic.

No, it wasn’t just that magical power.

‘Mujin…’

Finally, the remaining half of Mujin was completely absorbed.

I felt the magic power, along with Mujin’s many memories, filling me like a spring.

‘It was quite a long time we spent together.’

Whether I should say finally or eventually.

I had finally absorbed Mujin.

Throb!

I felt a tingling pain in my palm and looked down at the hand holding Black Night.

My fingers and knuckles were swollen, and my grip was torn, bleeding.

‘I’m not even a beginner… I need to relearn how to hold a sword.’

A hollow laugh escaped me.

My hand was numb from how hard I had been gripping it.

“Baby!”

Hudak!

Then, from far away, my aunt came running and hugged me tightly.

‘Cough!’

Kwang! Throb!

I rolled several times on the ground from the tackle-like hug.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you really okay? Hiiiing!”

My aunt looked all over my body with tearful eyes.

“A, Auntie… my ribs… internal injuries… Ugh! Please get off…!”

I appreciated her concern, but I felt like the unexpected blow had deepened my internal injuries a little more.

“Don’t push yourself, my baby.”

My aunt stroked my hair, which was covered in blood and sweat, and sobbed.

The tension in my body, which had been stiff with tension, relaxed and I smiled lightly.

“…That’s beside the point, why does Valerie have that expression?”

“No, just… wondering if I should be nicer to you from now on.”

“Pardon?”

“Ahem, ahem!”

Valerie looked around at the many weapons scattered around.

With this much equipment, it would be difficult to handle them just by connecting the magical power in a series, but Lee Cheol had created and utilized separate paths for each one.

‘What kind of monster is he? What is that?’

If humans were computers, Lee Cheol was almost a supercomputer.

He was handling the operation of magical power that dozens or hundreds of other ordinary computers would have to gather to process alone.

Moreover, Lee Cheol was still in his early twenties.

Young, even young.

Ossaak!

Valerie shuddered without realizing it.

“I don’t know, but… anyway, Valerie. Please cast some recovery magic.”

“Huh? Oh, oh! I understand!”

Valerie was startled and nodded fiercely.

I turned my head to my aunt next.

“Auntie, please fix my bones. The 3rd and 4th ribs on the left, and the 5th and 6th ribs on the right. I think my femur is also cracked… Ah, and it looks like my forearm is torn, so please check it. My whole body hurts right now, so I’m not sure.”

“Okay! That should be easy! I’ll take a look right away!”

“Please make it not hurt…”

Valerie made an absurd expression at the conversation between me and my aunt.

“…If it’s that bad, isn’t your whole body just shattered? Are you even alive? Are you an undead right now?”

“It’s a serious injury, but I’m fine. Valerie, you’re being too dramatic.”

“I know, right? This woman is a little weird.”

“No, am I the weird one?! Am I the weird oneee!”

My aunt accurately pointed out the broken bones, muscles, and cracked areas, and proceeded with the bone setting, and Valerie poured recovery magic on the areas where the bone setting was finished.

Several bottles of potions brought from the family as supplies were poured, and the torn and burst wounds subsided.

‘…The internal injuries are a bit severe.’

It was because I had poured too much magical power.

In fact, looking at the injuries alone, I wasn’t in a good enough condition to have a conversation with Valerie.

‘Is it the influence of the black energy?’

As the magical power recovered, Eunhan’s recovery ability was manifested along with the recovery magic.

But just as quickly, the black energy was seeping into the wounded area, healing the body.

‘It’s definitely darker and more abundant.’

The concentration was also darker, and the amount was greater.

It felt even darker than the fragments of the Bulgasari I had just annihilated.

If that guy was like a mucus, I was just closer to a solid.

It’s a bit strange to express it because it’s the same black color anyway, but that’s how it felt.

I took the black energy out of my body and looked around, humming.

But it was then.

I felt my aunt’s touch and Valerie’s magic stop.

“…?”

And when I turned my head to look at them, both my aunt and Valerie had strange auras.

“You, you…”

“A, A, Baby, baby…!”

Both my aunt and Valerie trembled and took a step back from me.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You, that!”

“You’ve been contaminated! Step back! I’ll put up a barrier with magic!”

“Babyaaaaa!”

Valerie immediately deployed lethal magic in the air, and my aunt screamed as if she was about to burst into tears.

“No, why are you both doing this? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“You! That! That thing coming out of your hand! You’re not Lee Cheol! You’ve taken over Lee Cheol’s body!”

“Babya. Heuheongheong…”

“Pardon?”

I blinked and looked alternately at my aunt, Valerie, and the black energy coming out of my fingertips.

And with shock, I shouted.

“Right now, can you both see this?”

* * *

Until now, my black energy had not been visible to anyone else.

Even my father couldn’t feel anything, so no one in the world would be able to feel it.

At best, mystical beings, including goblins, felt a ‘smell’ from me, but they couldn’t directly identify the black energy.

But.

‘These two saw it.’

When I absorbed all the monsters and even Mujin, my aunt and Valerie were able to see the black energy with their eyes.

That’s beside the point.

‘How do I convince them of this…’

I had to persuade the two of them for a long time.

Well, even I thought it was easy to misunderstand.

“S, so you’re really Lee Cheol, right? You’re not contaminated or anything, or some strange, like, that kind of thing, right?”

This side, who started to understand the logical explanation, was Valerie.

“I saw it in a movie! I saw it! This is all a lie! You’re an alien! Right!”

I don’t know where my aunt saw it, but she seemed to think of me as a parasitic life form from outer space.

Well, even I think it’s a bit hard to believe.

“I, is that so?”

“That’s right!”

No, Valerie. What am I going to do if you’re convinced too.

“Auntie, Valerie. You both saw my body and magic system while treating me. Was there anything strange about it?”

“Ah, no, but…”

“Then shall we have a Q&A? I’ll prove that I’m me.”

Valerie pondered for a moment, then her eyes sparkled and she asked.

“What is the name of the Evil Eye you made with me!”

“…That is.”

“Wait! Multiple choice! Four Eyes, Four Kings Evil Eye, Ultra-Absolute Evil Eye Jin Sa…”

“I didn’t name it that. Next question.”

“Tsk.”

Valerie clicked her tongue.

My aunt popped out.

“Then baby! The name of the drama I watched recently!”

“How would I know that.”

“Heol~. How do you not know that? Jin-yoon and Jae-seung’s son is Seon-min, but Seon-mi is actually adopted…”

“Stop, stop it.”

Ah, was it stupid to expect something logical from these two?

For about 30 minutes.

After spending a lot of sweat proving that I was Lee Cheol, the two of them began to have faith.

After finishing the explanation, I delved into the sudden change in the black energy while recovering my body.

‘Why did the black energy suddenly become visible?’

I openly took out the black energy.

“Auntie.”

And I called my aunt slyly.

“Huh?”

“Um… never mind.”

“What is it. Really, what’s wrong! What is it! Don’t make me curious!”

Unlike before, my aunt didn’t seem to see the black energy.

Valerie, who was using the Evil Eye, was the same.

‘It’s not completely visible. It feels like a property has been added?’

I roughly got a sense of it.

The physical power that was created after absorbing the fragments sealed in the Church.

It seemed that the ability had been strengthened.

‘Is it because I acquired the sealed fragments?’

It feels a little different.

That’s also there, but something is different.

Soon I opened my eyes wide.

‘…It’s Mujin’s power.’

The ability that was created after absorbing Mujin.

I closed my eyes for a moment and focused the black energy on my hand.

And I quietly recalled the ability that the monster had shown during the battle.

‘Could it be?’

Just as I had manifested the power I had absorbed through the black energy so far, could I create the weapons I had absorbed, just like the monster did?

Hwaak!

The moment I thought so and emitted black energy, a black sword appeared in my hand.

“Wak!”

My aunt was startled and fell on her butt.

“Hmm…”

That wasn’t the end.

Another sword.

Again, another sword.

The weapons I had absorbed in the past began to be created through the black energy.

And I repeated the operation of changing the shape or changing the properties, similar to when I handled Mujin.

As a result.

Everything was possible.

Unlike when I consumed magical power, I didn’t even consume magical power after being absorbed into the black energy.

“Wh, what is that?”

I smiled at my flustered aunt.

“…It seems I’ve gained an interesting power.”

I looked at the many weapons floating in the air, my eyes shining.

* * *

There was quite a terrible battle, but we needed to carry out the mission we came here for.

“Can’t you rest a little?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

We resumed exploring the ruins.

My aunt and Valerie kept paying attention to me, but I was really okay.

‘The external wounds haven’t fully healed yet, but there’s no problem moving.’

I was deliberately pretending to be a little sore so that the two of them wouldn’t look at me strangely, but in fact, my body had recovered to the point where I could even fight light battles.

‘The black energy’s recovery ability. At this point, it’s even a little scary.’

I shook my head and used the Evil Eye to explore the ruins.

The strange sense of discomfort that I felt when I first set foot in the Choi clan’s ruins had disappeared.

Only the traces of ordinary old ruins remained.

Of course…….

“Heueong! It’s all broken! What do I do! This is ridiculous!”

“…”

The floor of the ruins was completely shattered due to the aftermath of the battle.

Fortunately, the surrounding area was a wide open space, so the outer ruins remained a bit, but some of the buildings had only pillars left without a trace.

‘What was the Third Brother trying to do here…’

In my past life, the Third Brother was the owner of Mujin.

And when I faced death, he even came here.

I could have been killed in an unexplored zone, but he bothered to bring me here to kill me.

‘There must have been something.’

I frowned a little at the fact that I might not be able to find out.

But it was then.

“Huh? Wait a minute. This magic circuit is new? Huh?”

Valerie’s eyes sparkled.

“Did you find something?”

“No, it’s all broken, so I don’t know either… Take a look at this with your Evil Eye.”

Following Valerie’s instructions, I used the Evil Eye to look at the wall.