The Orb of the Yellow Dragon (2)
Jegal Hyemi returned to where the others were waiting.
“Unni! Are you all right? You look really tired.”
Namgung Soran was the first to approach her, speaking carefully as she examined her face.
Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, and her skin had grown somewhat rough.
She had not even been gone that long, yet as she had said, the healthy complexion she had possessed until just moments ago had turned so haggard that she looked as though she might collapse at any moment.
“Mm-hm, I’m fine. I just overdid it a little. I’ll be all right after resting for a bit.”
Even though she had employed every means at her disposal to lessen the burden, a miracle of that magnitude could not have been brought about without any price at all.
Indeed, it was fortunate that she had gotten off with nothing worse than fatigue.
Ha Seung-hun, who knew that fact better than anyone as one of those directly involved, approached her with a gentle smile.
Since the matter had been concluded smoothly thanks to her, he wanted to take care of her in whatever way he could.
“You’ve worked hard, Miss Jegal. Fortunately, it seems there weren’t any particular problems.”
“Ah, Young Master. Yes, that’s right. I only went to help with a ritual.”
“You seem to have overexerted yourself. Come over here and rest. I’ll ask the goblins attending us if they have anything that might help restore your strength.”
“Hehe, thank you for your concern.”
His consideration, born of genuine worry for her, brought a bashful smile to her lips.
Just as a gentle atmosphere began to settle between the two of them—
“Ah! I know about that! Unni, come this way! I found something good while I was wandering around earlier.”
Namgung Soran suddenly poked her face between them, then hooked her arm around Jegal Hyemi’s and pulled her toward herself.
“There are so many amazing places here, you know? It’s a hot spring that’s excellent not only for relieving fatigue but also for healing wounds. Apparently, it’s also fantastic for beautifying your skin. I’ve been waiting to go with you, so it worked out perfectly.”
She winked with one eye and began walking away in high spirits.
“S-Soran?”
“When are we ever going to get another chance to visit a place like this? We have to do everything we can while the opportunity’s here. Besides, we’re guests who were invited, so apparently everything is free!”
“You’re from a wealthy family, though…”
“It’s always good to save money when you can, right? Besides, the currency used among the monsters is different from ours. And I heard from that fox lady employee earlier that over there…”
Lowering her voice all of a sudden, she brought her lips to Jegal Hyemi’s ear and began whispering something.
She had not yet reached a level at which she could use a technique like sound transmission, but by doing that, she was apparently able to imitate it well enough that not even the slightest sound escaped outside.
“…Really?”
“For real.”
“…Let’s go.”
“Mm-hm.”
The two of them quickly reached an understanding, bid Ha Seung-hun farewell, and hurriedly left.
Horus had spent most of his time in the dragons’ dwelling, so he did not know all the facilities on Geum’o Island. Apparently, though, he had heard something that had caught his ear.
He let out a small laugh as he watched the two of them disappear side by side, looking as close as ever.
He had been a little worried since Jegal Hyemi had just completed such a massive ritual, but seeing her like that reassured him that she had not completely exhausted her strength.
‘Well, Soran’s right. From a human’s perspective, there really are a lot of fantastical things here.’
A hot spring that improved one’s skin, as Namgung Soran had mentioned, was only the beginning.
Bamboo shoots that made you taller when eaten, pungent incense said to raise even the dead, flower buds that turned you invisible when rubbed over the body, and so on.
‘Wait. Come to think of it, this isn’t something I should just laugh off.’
As his thoughts suddenly reached a certain point, the corners of his eyes narrowed.
His instincts as a “Dimensional Merchant” were telling him something.
That the strong scent of money had been wafting through the air since earlier.
Until now, he had inwardly given up because of the various restrictions in place. But was he not now capable of overcoming that problem as well?
‘I’ll have to give this some serious thought. This might be…’
Just as Ha Seung-hun was lost in thought, devising a new source of income—
“Hmm. A fox.”
A familiar voice suddenly came from beside him.
It was Mok Ingwang, who had been loitering around the group ever since they arrived on Geum’o Island, perhaps because he had been bored.
He claimed that he was not bored at all and was merely looking after them on his master’s orders, but no matter how one looked at it, he was the very picture of an uncle needlessly poking his nose into everything.
“A fox? Ah, do you mean the hot spring the young ladies just went to?”
“Well, that place is run by fox demons too, but that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about that little girl from earlier.”
“Miss Namgung?”
Ha Seung-hun tilted his head at the man’s words. The other was dressed in a fashion oddly suited to Taoist priests.
Surely he had not meant that she was literally a fox demon. It must have been a simple metaphor.
If anything, she seemed closer to a puppy than a fox…
‘No, they’re both canines, so is there really much difference?’
Mok Ingwang glanced at Ha Seung-hun, who continued blinking in confusion, then smirked and slowly closed his eyes.
The cultivation he had sensed from Namgung Soran was at the first-rate level.
For a girl who had only just entered her late teens to already be a first-rate expert was impossible unless she were a genius.
Leaving aside a few masters of the Mystical realm who were effectively in a league of their own, the Transformation realm was essentially the highest level attainable.
‘That dazed monster is an exception.’
Considering that the elders of great sects were generally at the supreme peak level and the commanders of their martial forces at the peak level, a first-rate expert was considered an elite martial artist in any sect.
In remote regions, it was not uncommon for such people to establish sects of their own, raise disciples, and act as their heads.
It was surely possible because she was a direct descendant of one of the great prestigious families, possessing not only talent and diligence but abundant support as well.
The reason a daughter of such a renowned family, blessed with outstanding ability and remarkable beauty, had left the safety of her family’s embrace to go so far as to do that was—
“Hey, Heavenly Dragon Sword. I’m irritated, so let’s have a match.”
“What? Out of nowhere? And ‘Heavenly Dragon Sword’ is…”
“Bullshit. Even the word ‘chivalry’ is wasted on you. Heh heh. Don’t tell me a man like you is chickening out?”
“Hah. Very well. I was just thinking I wanted to stretch my legs.”
Mok Ingwang ground his teeth as he looked at the young master beside him—a handsome, amiable, and thoroughly attractive expert by anyone’s standards.
Wasn’t this going a little too far?
How was that man supposed to be a powerhouse on the same level as him?
Mok Ingwang knew perfectly well that he had an unpleasant disposition, so he had never paid it much mind. But with such an obvious contrast standing blankly right beside him, it was impossible not to feel his temper flare.
‘And he’s called the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero? What kind of ridiculously cool title is that?! While I’m still being called the Nine Radiant Mad Demon, that stupid nickname!’
What irritated him even more was the fact that the robber who had stolen the title “Mad Demon” from him had suddenly vanished without a trace and ceased all activity.
Ever since the day the world had been restored through the use of the Dragon Child.
‘Why the hell did he steal it if he wasn’t even going to use it?! If you’re not going to use it, give it back, you bastard!’
Of course, by now, it was nothing more than a meaningless outburst.
Ha Seung-hun gazed at Mok Ingwang, who was fuming and snorting to himself, then shook his head.
He was certain that the madness that had subsided in the absence of Harley’s physical therapy had relapsed.
He had not the slightest awareness that he was responsible for most of the stress plaguing the other man.
‘Well, if he’s that eager, it should help him increase his proficiency in “The Infinite.”’
For all his faults, Mok Ingwang was also a master standing at the end of the Transformation realm and gazing toward the Mystical realm.
There would surely be insights to gain from exchanging martial arts with someone at the same level.
‘Besides, the others will be busy for a while too.’
He glanced in the direction of the Dragon God Palace and shrugged.
Not only Horus and the other five dragons, but the rest of the dragons as well would have difficulty paying attention to this side for some time.
And naturally so.
The bloodline of the Yellow Dragon, whose line had been severed entirely during the great war when the entire race of monsters suffered devastating losses.
It had finally been revived in its entirety.
***
“Here, try eating this.”
[Kyaung!]
“Eek! It ate it! How cute! How adorable! Do you want more? More?”
The Black Dragon, a girl in her mid-teens with long black hair braided down her back, jumped up and down in place, making an enormous fuss.
Then she carefully took something resembling a faintly glowing will-o’-the-wisp from her pocket and held it out again.
Toward the small, round-muzzled snout of the tiny dragon.
Lick—
The little Yellow Dragon blinked its round eyes, then accepted the object without the slightest hesitation and gobbled it down.
As it smacked its lips and shook its head repeatedly, the Black Dragon’s lips melted into a gooey smile.
“Heehee! It ate another one! All right, then, next is…”
“That’s enough, Black Dragon. Hwi’a has only just been born. No matter how beneficial it may be, overeating will only do harm.”
“…White Dragon, if you’re going to say that, why don’t you put down the immortal fruit in your hand? You’re not very convincing.”
“Ahem.”
At the Black Dragon’s sharp retort, the White Dragon cleared her throat and turned away.
Even so, she had no intention of putting down the peach-like fruit in her hand.
“Um…”
Horus let out a small sigh at the farce unfolding right in front of him and cautiously opened his mouth.
However, he was not given a chance to voice his complaints about the situation.
The moment he opened his mouth, a sweet fruit slipped inside, and he missed his timing as he began chewing involuntarily.
“Cute things beside cute things. How precious.”
“Ahem, hm-hm. Well, not bad.”
“Red Dragon? Is that a picture-recording orb? Since when did you…?”
“Hmph! This is the moment when an heir to the Yellow Dragon’s line, which had been severed entirely, has finally been born again. We have a duty to record this moment and pass it down to future generations, Azure Dragon.”
“Indeed. As expected of the Red Dragon. Those are the right words. …You’ll share it with me later, won’t you?”
A dragon’s wish-fulfilling orb could freely change its size.
It could be anything from a bead small enough to carry around conveniently in human form to a rock large enough to hold in its mouth when transformed into a gigantic dragon.
The wish-fulfilling orb used in this ritual had been stored at roughly the size of two adult fists placed together. Naturally, the Yellow Dragon born from it could only be small as well, but…
“Smack, smack. You really grow quickly, don’t you?”
[Kya?]
Horus swallowed the fruit in his mouth and looked at the little dragon poking its head out over his shoulder.
The yellowish body coiling around the upper torso of a boy of six or seven had already grown from the size of a loach when it first emerged from the wish-fulfilling orb to the size of a proper snake.
‘Well, it isn’t a normal living creature to begin with. I suppose it’s only natural.’
Even if the wish-fulfilling orb from which it hatched had been enlarged to the size of a house from the beginning, the result would have been the same.
What mattered was the energy supplied during its early stages and the energy it consumed as it grew afterward.
Horus smiled broadly and carefully stroked the head of the young Yellow Dragon, Hwiryung, with one hand.
‘Grow big and strong without ever getting sick.’
At the touch filled with his sincere affection, the little dragon closed its eyes and twisted its body, rubbing its head against his hand.
“Aah—”
“Huh? Azure Dragon? Are you all right? Come to your senses!”
“…Red Dragon, it is standard practice to store records that might be lost in multiple locations. You know that, don’t you?”
“Hmph, who knows?”
Ignoring the noisy voices coming from the outskirts, Horus quietly focused on the sense of unity he could feel from Hwiryung.
It was not merely his attachment to a child that had been born thanks to him.
‘This is the true power of the “Orb of the Yellow Dragon.”’
He could feel it.
The invisible bond connecting him and Hwiryung, formed through the ritual he had presided over.
Vwoom—
A faint energy flowed from the tips of Horus’s fingers.
It was a power originating from the newborn Hwiryung, but it was not something he had borrowed from the child.
‘It was granted to me additionally, in exact proportion to it. And this power resembles the wish-fulfilling orb.’
In other words, the child’s very existence was no different from another wish-fulfilling orb for him.
The wish-fulfilling orb, which amplified a dragon’s abilities to their utmost limits, was an artifact that could only be used one at a time unless one violated the laws of Heaven.
As he stroked its head with a satisfied smile, Hwiryung’s head swayed from side to side.
‘It’s basically a totem.’
For now, it was merely a newborn dragon, but perhaps because of its extraordinary nature, it was growing at an abnormal speed.
The more the child grew, the greater the power Horus would be able to wield.
It was an ability granted to no one else—not the other dragons who had served as the pillars of the ritual, nor Jegal Hyemi, who had acted as an intermediary with the Dragon God as a shaman. It was a power only he could use.
‘And that’s not all. There’s only Hwiryung for now, but if I can create more Yellow Dragons from here and raise those children safely…’
Just how powerful could Horus become?
A breath attack passed through a single wish-fulfilling orb had blown away all of Beijing.
He could not even begin to imagine the power it would possess if a second and third amplification were added on top of that, multiplying its force several times over.
But he could not put his plan into practice immediately.
The Azure Dragon, who had gone to inspect the situation in the Repentance Hall at his request, had expressed concern.
“We consumed most of the energy we had accumulated in the ritual just now. To be honest, operating the Illusion Realm is already going to be difficult for the time being. Of course, now that the monsters who lived in the Illusion Realm can freely go outside, we’ll recover if we have enough time, but…”
Even taking that into account, it would be impossible in the near future.
Faced with that unavoidable situation, Horus was supposed to give up—
‘So all I have to do is solve the energy problem?’
—but he did not.
If it cannot be done, make it possible.
Recalling the words of a great sage of old, Horus returned to his room and quietly fell into thought as he stroked Hwiryung’s head.
His mind returned to the memory of looting the entire treasury of the Heavenly Demon God Cult, that heinous organization of evil that had repeatedly destroyed and pillaged the world, driving it to the brink of ruin.
***
My comfortable, private haven on the outskirts of Seoul.
“…That’s what happened.”
I let out a small sigh as I sat in the chair before my computer.
Then I looked down at my feet and muttered softly.
“Why are you here?”
[Kkyu?]
Hwiryung blinked its round eyes and tilted its head as it met my dubious gaze.
It was still wrapped tightly around one of my legs.