Silence fell at the shocking revelation.
Sinhyeok broke the brief silence.
“That is unfortunate.”
He had thought goodwill would pass between them, but it seemed a hasty assumption.
An uncomfortable air filled the interior.
Namgung Jincheon smirked at the resurgent wariness.
“Do you know how absurd it is to doubt me again now?”
At those words, Sinhyeok let out a short laugh.
“I suppose.”
“Why would I go through the trouble of bringing you here? It is already too late.”
Seeing the self-mocking smile on his face, Arin and Ichan finally lowered their guard.
“Even if not me, someone would report you. We are in the same boat regardless.”
At his words, the two finally felt relieved.
Sinhyeok looked at him and asked.
“You knew we were being pursued. Why did you help us?”
“Well, that is because we are being pursued as well.”
Namgung Jincheon stroked Sohye’s head.
“I had thought to give help and receive it, but with this, I suppose I have gained more companions?”
He smiled.
Namgung Sohye looked up at her older brothers and sisters and giggled.
“Let’s go together!”
Sinhyeok looked at the two.
“What do you want to do?”
Arin and Ichan glanced at each other briefly, then spoke to Sinhyeok.
“You decide, mister. We’ll always follow you anyway.”
Sinhyeok nodded at those words.
They decided to travel with him.
“If it is alright with you, sir, we would like to accompany you.”
Namgung Jincheon smiled happily at his growing number of companions.
“It is a joyous thing to gain more friends who will share life and death, joy and sorrow.”
He stood and packed his things, saying,
“It seems we must abandon this place.”
Sohye quickly got up and packed the things she considered precious.
Exiting the cave, Jincheon lifted Sohye into his arms.
“Take your time coming down.”
He immediately dropped straight down.
Kicking off the cliff face several times midair, he landed smoothly on the ground.
All three marveled at the sight.
“Arin, can you do that? You’re the most agile here, after all.”
Baek Arin pushed Hong Ichan forward and said,
“A Paladin doesn’t waste his life on something like this.”
“Don’t push me!”
Sinhyeok grabbed the two again and drew the Fly rune in the air.
“Again!”
Whoom.
They plunged downward and stopped dead right before impact.
Arin and Ichan exhaled ragged breaths, their hands trembling.
“For real.”
“Whoa.”
Namgung Jincheon smiled, amused by their expressions.
“Let us talk as we move. Leaving this place seems to be the most urgent matter.”
Sinhyeok followed behind him, moving slowly.
Namgung Jincheon surveyed the surroundings and spoke cautiously.
“Simply watch your steps. They will not awaken so long as you give off fewer vibrations. If possible, use a lightness skill, or else float your body slightly as you did before.”
Since he was speaking of such a demanding method, Sinhyeok used something else instead.
He plucked several leaves, engraved Fly upon them, and handed them to the two.
“Stick them to your feet and channel your energy. Control it well.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Ah, again.”
The two grumbled but immediately complied.
Their bodies immediately shot up into the air.
Seeing them rise endlessly, Sinhyeok immediately supplemented the rune.
‘Rise only slightly, appropriately.’
He immediately inscribed a new one and tossed it to them.
“Switch to that one.”
The two, who had been clinging to a tree, stuck the new leaves Sinhyeok had given them to the soles of their feet.
They slowly came back down.
They floated up just slightly above the ground.
“Alright?”
At Sinhyeok’s question, the two nodded.
“It feels kind of like walking on water.”
Namgung Sohye watched this scene with curiosity.
Sinhyeok smiled as he stuck two leaves to the soles of his own feet.
“Shall I give you some too?”
Namgung Sohye smiled brightly and nodded.
Sinhyeok immediately plucked several leaves, inscribed runes upon them, refined them, and gave them to her.
The excited child immediately stuck them to the soles of her feet. Then, she gently channeled a bit of energy to activate them.
“It works! Grandpa! I’m flying!”
Namgung Jincheon watched his granddaughter playing freely in the air and smiled benevolently.
“My, my, our little granddaughter has become a fairy.”
“Hee hee hee!”
Sinhyeok approached Namgung Jincheon and asked their destination.
“Where are you planning to go?”
“Well, the demons have taken over everywhere, so we must go somewhere with few people.”
At those words, Sinhyeok pointed to the Earth in the center.
“What about there?”
He smirked.
“If we could go there, it would be nice. The demons call it a paradise, I hear. Is it really?”
Sinhyeok pondered whether Korea was truly that much of a paradise.
“It is not to that extent.”
“Well, I suppose people live there too. But do you see? The innermost part of this band—those dark, gloomy regions stained black.”
He pointed there and said,
“That is the Demon Realm. It is territory ruled by demons, and they occupy the innermost area.”
“Ah.”
The greatest obstacle lay in wait.
“I do not know the demons’ exact intentions, but there is only one reason they would leave you be with such a lukewarm attitude.”
Namgung Jincheon pointed at the band and said,
“They are waiting because you will face them anyway. They are everywhere, so you cannot avoid them.”
Sinhyeok felt somewhat stifled at those words.
“Are they that strong?”
“They are strong. Even the Divine Saint of Shaolin and the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult had to flee. Only the shameless who collaborated with them remain in our martial world.”
“Is there no way to go around?”
He smirked.
“Even if you cross over, the barrier they have established awaits. The Unfathomable, which devours all, stands guard.”
“Ah.”
Namgung Jincheon patted Sinhyeok’s shoulder.
“I do not fail to understand your heart. But truly, there is no way right now. There are too many of them.”
Even at Namgung Jincheon’s words, Sinhyeok did not break his will.
‘So the Demon Realm is not tightly surrounded on all sides.’
“Understood.”
He watched the two playing with Sohye at a short distance.
Baek Arin noticed Sinhyeok’s gaze and quietly approached.
The two walked apart from the group for a moment.
“Did he say there is a way back?”
“There is a problem. It seems the Demon Realm surrounds the innermost passage leading to Earth.”
At those words, Baek Arin made an annoyed expression.
“Ugh, why are those bastards everywhere?”
“It seems the passage is not completely blocked, though.”
“Huh? Then—”
She had harbored hope, but Sinhyeok’s following words made her crush it herself.
“It seems something like a barrier they created is blocking it as a second line of defense.”
“So close, yet so far.”
Sinhyeok spoke quietly to Arin.
“I have to see it with my own eyes first.”
Arin agreed with those words.
“We have to check. We cannot stay here forever, after all.”
They had no intention of remaining here.
“For now, let’s follow that man. We need to gather information on how to move through this space.”
Namgung Jincheon watched the two walking apart for a moment, then called Sohye.
“Sohye. Stop pestering your brother and come here.”
“Okaaay~”
Namgung Sohye ran over, treading on empty air with light steps.
She nestled into Namgung Jincheon’s embrace and smiled.
“Is it fun?”
“Yeah! He’s so cute!”
In contrast, Hong Ichan looked completely deflated.
Jincheon stroked Sohye’s head and said,
“Do not grow too attached. I do not think we will be seeing each other for much longer.”
At those words, Sohye made a disappointed expression.
“I want to see them longer. Why?”
“Just as we long for home, they too long for home.”
At the talk of home, Sohye became downcast.
“I want to go... home.”
“You will go someday. Just not now.”
He held Sohye in his embrace and said,
“Someday, let us all gather again and hold a grand feast.”
Sohye smiled at those words and dreamed of hope.
“Mom too?”
“Yes. Hyea too.”
At those words, Sohye smiled gently and buried her face in Jincheon’s embrace.
“I miss Mom.”
“I miss her too. Where could our Hyea be?”
Sssk.
While the two wore forlorn expressions,
a monster with black eyeballs passed by in the sky.
Jincheon immediately hid beneath a tree and suppressed his presence.
‘Young friend! Hide yourself!’
Sinhyeok immediately moved at Jincheon’s voice echoing in his head.
“Hide.”
At the low, swift command, the three concealed themselves in the shade of a tree.
Sinhyeok touched the two and completely stilled the energy flowing out of them.
Sinhyeok quietly looked up at the sky.
‘Evil Eye!’
He immediately recognized what creature it was.
It was a creature of the Demon Realm he had encountered once before.
‘They are optimized for tracking.’
Sinhyeok immediately cast Mapping to check the surroundings.
The area around this rocky mountain was still filled with nothing but rocks.
However, there were quite a few of those Evil Eyes in the sky above.
Ichan watched with an anxious face.
“Brother?”
Sinhyeok immediately covered Ichan’s mouth.
He monitored their movements with Mapping and waited.
When the Evil Eyes’ search net covering the sky thinned out, he immediately got up.
“Sir. We must move now.”
Namgung Jincheon was slightly surprised to see Sinhyeok reacting faster than his own senses.
“Ah, yes. Let us do that.”
He naturally stuck close behind Sinhyeok.
As they moved again, Sinhyeok immediately signaled.
“They’re coming.”
They hid again immediately.
They leaned against the tree and watched the creatures swarm in.
‘Brother? Are we done for?’
Ichan mouthed to Sinhyeok.
‘Not yet.’
The Evil Eyes withdrew in a swarm in an instant.
After confirming the brief gap in their formation, they got up.
“We are moving.”
Sinhyeok hurried and asked Jincheon.
“Where are you planning to go? It seems we must hurry.”
He looked not toward the center, but toward the outer edges.
“The outer edges are safe. Their reach does not extend there.”
That was not the direction the three preferred.
But for now, they had no choice.
“That direction?”
Sinhyeok pointed with his hand.
It was the exact opposite direction from the center where Earth lay.
“That is correct.”
Sinhyeok changed direction to survive for the time being.
‘A book. If only I had a book, I could devise proper runes and magic.’
He slowly walked while surveying the surroundings with Mapping.
“They’re coming.”
He hid again and waited for the Evil Eyes to pass.
‘Slow.’
Their speed was too slow.
Arin looked at Sinhyeok, frustrated by the sluggish pace.
‘At this rate, we’ll be caught anyway.’
Sinhyeok nodded and looked around briefly.
‘Something suitable. Something I can reasonably craft.’
His gaze turned to the site of the earlier battle.
He saw the remains that had sloughed off.
The remains of those who normally disguised themselves as stone caught his eye.
Right then, a horde of Evil Eyes passed by.
Sinhyeok immediately got up and ran to the remains.
“Wait!”
He touched the sloughed remains and stared at them intently.
‘Insight, Insight!’
The omnipotent tool that had allowed everything to proceed so smoothly and conveniently was gone.
Feeling that void, he focused on something else instead.
With one hand, he read the vibrations; with the other, he resonated to grasp the material and its characteristics.
‘It is not just stone. It seems to be a special muscle that looks like stone.’
He intuitively grasped its use.
‘I think it can be wrapped around like clothes.’
He could already guess how it could be used.
He immediately removed his outer garment.
He slathered it on thickly atop his clothes and shouted,
“You guys come and apply it too!”
“Uh, okay!”
“Yes!”
They even took off their pants and slathered it on.
Then they coated several runes on thick.
‘Fusion, Life, Connection.’
The gargoyle’s stone muscle had to be activated by the wearer’s energy.
As soon as he finished the thought and moved his hands, it permeated smoothly into the clothes.
Ichan put it on first and channeled his energy.
As faint black demonic energy settled, it hardened with a crackle like stone.
His whole body looked like stone.
When he moved, his movements remained smooth.
The energy emanating from them was completely hidden.
“Sir! If you have a robe, please give it to me.”
Namgung Jincheon hastily took a robe from his bag and handed it over.
Sinhyeok sensed the Evil Eyes swarming in from all directions.
“Damn it!”
His hands moved frantically.
Moving quickly, he crafted a gargoyle stone-muscle disguise and handed it over.
Ten seconds after putting on the clothes,
a swarm of Evil Eyes arrived around them en masse.
They surrounded the five stone statues and circled round and round.
Sinhyeok gave everyone a sharp look.
‘Absolutely still!’