Not understanding the subsequent situation, Ilcheonggeom acted as if he had broken down.
The other Murim Alliance personnel beside him, and even Beomdong, looked as if an earthquake had struck their eyes.
How should I put it.
Connections are always good to see, no matter when.
It was something I realized anew.
‘…Haa.’
Was it because Cheonjon blocked the situation?
Thanks to that, my head cooled down a bit.
With this body, I wouldn't have been able to fight Ilcheonggeom right now.
Ah, I could have won if it came down to it. It's just that it would have ruined the plan.
“If the conversation is over, may we leave now?”
“...”
Ilcheonggeom’s brow stiffened.
He seemed like he wanted to say something to me, but perhaps because he was mindful of Cheonjon next to me, he couldn't spit it out directly. Soon, he just silently glared at me, and then.
“…I will guide you.”
He quickly backed down.
******************
After breaking through once, the path to the pavilion was smooth.
Partly because Ilcheonggeom was guiding us directly, and partly because the distance wasn't that far to begin with.
While moving calmly, I glanced around little by little.
‘There are a lot of personnel sticking around.’
The forty I counted initially.
More than that number were still deployed inside.
Compared to the military strength the Alliance originally would have had, it was noticeably small, but it was still a large number.
If there was a slight question about this.
‘Where did the remaining personnel slip off to?’
There were three Daeju-level figures beside me.
Ilcheonggeom, Seomgeom, and the other one was….
‘I'm not really sure. My guess is it's probably the Geumryong Daeju.’
Seeing as he had two swords strapped to his waist, it must be the Geumryong Daeju, who was said to use dual sword techniques.
I confirmed that the Ilryong Daeju was dead... the Jeokryong Daeju had switched sides. And since I know what the Pungryong Daeju is doing, where are the remaining personnel and what are they doing?
‘They weren't visible even when the demonic beasts were throwing a fit, so I thought they were all here.’
That didn't seem to be the case.
Then where on earth did they head off to?
“...”
Suddenly, there was one part I could guess at, but I desperately hoped that prediction would be wrong.
If even that turns out to be true, whatever little affinity remained might turn into resentment.
Walking a little more following the guide.
Advancing our steps like that, we finally arrived at the pavilion.
Around Mutuje, who had brawled with Dowang.
It was like that just a moment ago, but who would have thought he'd return here a wreck after so little time had passed.
‘It's not even funny.’
Feeling some crappy sentiment, I looked straight ahead.
The crimson barrier was still hanging there.
There were quite a lot of people surrounding it.
“…Damn it…!”
“How on earth are we supposed to deal with this!”
“Try to speed it up a bit…! Our Sect Master is inside!”
“We are doing our best as well!”
People restless, looking only at the barrier. Familiar sect uniforms could be seen. So could the emblems of prestigious noble families.
Or the crests of those counted among the richest in the Central Plains.
Whether it be power or money, it meant that those gathered here were the ones called the current pillars of the Central Plains.
I quietly watched their figures before raising my gaze slightly.
The high soaring pavilion, I could see the people gathered on top of it.
Among them, I stared at the face of the old man at the forefront.
‘Look at that old man's expression. He's going to slaughter someone at this rate.’
It was none other than the current Murim Alliance Lord. The Wudang Geomseon.
The Sword Immortal was contorting his face like an evil spirit who had thrown the characteristic benevolence of a Daoist to the dogs.
Seeing that the heavens had cleared up, he would know that the situation was coming to an end.
Yet, the fact that he was making such an expression meant.
‘He must know.’
Since he wasn't entirely a fool, he seemed to know what state the Murim Alliance was currently falling into.
Knowing that the Alliance's reputation and his own position were shaking, yet being unable to move himself—how furious must he be?
Because I knew that feeling all too well from my perspective.
‘How satisfying.’
Instead, my mood improved.
Feeling refreshed, I walked forward.
Looking at those surrounding and blocking the way, I lightly tapped and pushed them aside.
“I’ll be passing through.”
“Ugh…! What the-!”
“Yes, yes. Please step aside. I'm in a bit of a hurry.”
Somehow making a path, I went in.
Pushing in like that, I could finally see what was happening ahead.
Those standing close to the front of the barrier.
They were wearing clothes proving they belonged to the Murim Alliance, but around the clothes, the character for 'Wind' (風) was inscribed.
‘Pungryongdae.’
The personnel of the Pungryongdae, one of the Eight Sword Squads.
These personnel, known as specialists in formations, were attached to the front of the barrier.
And below them.
“…Daeju…! Please, stop… something terrible will happen if you keep going.”
“That's right. We will take care of the rest…. Please….”
Despite the surrounding dissuasion, the figure silently moved her hands to unravel the barrier, as if brainwashed.
The Pungryong Daeju, Bimapa, was sitting down, touching the barrier.
An aged body that was far from intact.
Even trembling violently, barely able to lift her hands, the old woman consistently fondled the barrier.
This was to somehow dismantle the barrier.
‘It's not particularly useful, though.’
It was also because she was moving according to my command.
“Heu… heueu….”
Looking like she would collapse at any moment, the Pungryong Daeju did not stop her hands.
Seeing that figure, I narrowed my eyes.
‘I had expectations just in case, but it's not different from my prediction.’
Did they say it would take half a day even if the Pungryong Daeju moved to unravel the barrier?
Half a day was the time calculated because it was the Pungryong Daeju, an expert among experts, and they said it would easily take days if someone else tried to fix it.
This also meant that the Pungryong Daeju was an outstanding figure.
Because it was her, it meant it could be reduced to half a day.
As if to prove this in reality.
‘The barrier has become a bit faint.’
The crimson barrier seemed to have a lighter color compared to the beginning.
However.
‘Even so, it's still going to take a long time.’
It had only become slightly faint. It looked like it would still take a long time to dismantle.
Seeing this, I pondered what to do.
Half a day is too late.
I had to dismantle the barrier before that somehow.
I was using the Pungryong Daeju for that very purpose.
‘This makes things a bit annoying.’
What should I do?
Thinking of this, I stared at the barrier.
A barrier that looked like nothing special.
Just as the Pilduma had been confident, that barrier possessed the power to bind three of the Ten Great Masters and several Hwagyeong martial artists.
However….
From my perspective, a question arose.
‘Is it really that hard to unravel?’
I opened my Mind's Eye and examined the barrier.
Because I had internal injuries, even turning on the Mind's Eye was a bit burdensome.
‘Oh.’
I can see it.
A feast of threads tangled beyond counting.
Threads where I couldn't tell where they started tangling or where their ends were.
What had gathered together like that to form was that barrier. Looking closely, the Pungryong Daeju seemed to be carefully grabbing and pulling out the threads, searching for the starting point.
Seeing that, I realized.
‘No wonder it takes more than half a day.’
When would one ever unravel all these threads to find the starting point?
‘There's no grunt work in the world quite like this grunt work.’
Scowling with disgust, I examined the barrier a bit more closely.
‘…Hmm.’
Narrowing my eyes like that and looking here and there.
‘I can't grasp the principle.’
I couldn't figure out how it operated or how it produced such effects.
It was only natural. How could I grasp the principle when I had never learned it?
‘It's a shame.’
If only I could understand it, it would have been a power I could have used well.
Since the Pilduma had disappeared, it was a meaningless worry.
But.
‘Hmmm.’
Right now, rather than grasping the principle, I needed to focus on something else.
The thickly piled up lines.
Looking at the form of the spellwork where it was hard to find a gap, I soon discovered something strange.
When seen with the Mind's Eye, there were lines that glowed distinctly.
‘What is that.’
Why is the light different for those lines?
With questioning eyes, I chased the lines.
The endlessly arrayed lines were tangled, but most were concentrated in one place.
That location was somewhere on the ground where the barrier was cast down.
The ground that looked like nothing special.
Leaving Bimapa behind, I headed there.
It was a position about five or six steps away from where the martial artists were gathered.
There were several glowing threads. But the place where those threads poured into a single line was right there.
A location no different from anywhere else.
Staring at that place, I suddenly reached out my hand.
Uuuung-!!
As my hand touched it, the barrier let out a vibration.
“D-Daeju-nim! The barrier seems to be reacting!”
“Could it be, is there progress…!”
Perhaps thinking this was something Bimapa had accomplished, the others spoke to her with cheers.
Without paying any attention to that side, my fingertips slowly began to move.
Uung.
Uuuuung.
All sorts of energies were felt from the hand touching the barrier.
When I looked at it, it was a complex spell, but touching it felt different.
‘This…. I've touched this somewhere before.’
It was a familiar sensation. Where had I felt it? I pondered for a moment before recalling.
‘Ah.’
The Pilduma's hideout.
It was similar to the formation I had touched there.
The detailed parts were different, but the overall framework was similar.
It felt much more refined than back then.
All sorts of threads triggered a reaction.
As if it hated my hand touching it, it moved like a spasm.
Uuuung-!!
“…T-This! The spell is suddenly causing a backlash.”
“If this happens…. We'll have to recalculate everything from the beginning…?”
“Damn it! Why is this…!!”
The others expressed despair at such a reaction.
If it fell into disarray like this, it seemed they would have to start the dismantling over again.
I couldn't understand that sight.
‘Why do they have to do it again?’
The reaction was rough, but the important roots weren't the threads throwing a fit.
The roots were none other than the thread I was holding.
‘The beginning and the end aren't what's important.’
When would you find the starting point or the end?
Rather than finding that.
‘Isn't it enough to just tear it off in the middle?’
If I found one proper thread, wouldn't it be enough to just grab and tear it?
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I put strength into it and tore the line.
At that moment.
Snap-!
The thread tore incredibly easily without even applying much force.
Seeing that, my eyes widened considerably.
Why is this tearing so easily...?
I panicked for a moment, wondering if I tore the wrong one, but.
Uuuuung----!!!!
The barrier with the torn thread suddenly emitted a violent vibration, and then.
Guuuung---!!!!
From the part where the thread was torn, the barrier was being dismantled.
“Heok--!! D-Daeju-nim!! You dismantled the barri…huh?”
“Huh?”
Just as the barrier began to collapse and everyone was about to cheer.
Realizing that the starting point wasn't Bimapa, everyone's eyes moved.
In an instant, all gazes poured onto me.
“...”
“…?”
It was faces that couldn't understand the situation.
Seeing that, I smiled awkwardly.
“…No, well, this is…. I just tried it thinking why can't they do it…. And it worked…? Hahaha. It turned out well. Right?”
Hahaha….
I tried speaking while forcing a laugh, but.
“...”
“...”
“...”
No one laughed along with me.