Seongcheon Yun Clan (3)
A colossal force wielding immense influence over the entire world known as Sabacheon—the Seongcheon Yun Clan.
As maintaining balance for world peace was their clan’s identity and external motto, the pride of its members was naturally beyond words.
But just as with any place where people lived, those who harbored lofty ideals were not entirely clean either.
To preserve the peace of the world, overwhelming martial power that no one could look down upon was essential, and maintaining such power intact across multiple generations was by no means an easy task.
“Huh? Captain, what brings you here at this hour?”
“What do you think? I came to see if you lot are working properly. If you doze off and get caught by the deputy again like last time, I’ll get chewed out too.”
“N-no… back then, I… I’m sorry.”
At a late hour when most of the household had fallen into sleep.
A subtle, unusual distortion began occurring throughout the Yun Clan.
A very minor anomaly that was too ambiguous to scold them over.
But it was merely a harbinger of the great event to come.
“I’ll check the other areas too, so stay sharp.”
“Yes, sir! Don’t worry!”
“Good at answering, at least.”
The captain of the Outer City Guard, having rebuked his subordinates, shuffled away.
Reaching a place where no sign of people could be felt, he gazed toward the Inner City with dark eyes.
“…….”
The Seongcheon Yun Clan, gathering talented children from across the continent regardless of bloodline or status to nurture them into talents who would become the clan’s pillars.
It was certainly a praiseworthy act.…If all those children were truly in situations with nowhere else to go.
Paying poor parents and taking over guardianship was not greatly problematic.
But if that extended to dealing with slave hunters to obtain children, threatening and plundering parents, or even indiscriminately kidnapping them to destroy perfectly intact families…
No matter how powerful a force they possessed, they could not avoid condemnation.
Of course, the Yun Clan, which valued its honor, had not directly committed such crimes.
They simply paid the one who brought the child a reward befitting that talent.
While fully aware of the circumstances, they turned a blind eye to everything.
No, rather, they subtly encouraged it from behind.
“Those dogs…”
The captain gazing at the Inner City ground his teeth low.
Unlike the Outer City, which boasted a vast scale with countless orphanages, convenience facilities, guest lodgings, and more, the Inner City was a space where only those recognized by the Yun Clan could enter.
A place that was no different from the final goal for children gathered in one spot against their will, striving day and night to be granted the surname ‘Yun.’
And for the captain, it was a forbidden zone he could never reach.
He rolled up his sleeve.
There, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt beginning from his shoulder was carved.
Evidence of his struggle to somehow climb higher, and a symbol of despair from having severed his own potential through excessive training.
To rise higher in the Yun Clan, one had to prove their worth somehow.
From the moment one displayed outstanding talent in any field, their treatment changed, so even the children were well aware of it.
And swept up in such an atmosphere, there were inevitably those who struggled desperately, failed to surpass their limits, and fell behind. ‘So enduring that torture-like training resulted in this.’ Captain of the Outer City Guard.
This position was now his limit.
If someone below climbed up even now, he would be pushed out quickly.
Those born with overwhelming talent like Ruset, who had reached the deep layer in their twenties, or Yun Sohoe, who had the middle layer within sight at the early age of ten, would never know.
From the moment they entered the Yun Clan, they had been under special management; they did not often mingle with children of mediocre talent struggling at the bottom. ‘If only I hadn’t been dragged here…’ In such a situation, the news about the ‘Yun Clan’s secret’ and ‘real family’ delivered by someone who approached him was none other than the whisper of a devil that shook his heart.
“No, this isn’t the time for this.”
Shaking his head, the captain took a deep breath and moved his steps again.
The demon of doubt that had taken root in his heart had devoured the delusions and finally brought its hideous fruit to full blossom, but already trapped by compulsion, he could not recognize it.
And now, within the Yun Clan, the number of those showing the same symptoms as him was not one or two.
That was exactly…
Kwaaaang—!
Rumble—!
The truth behind the explosions that rang out simultaneously as dawn approached.***A sudden raid.
“Ha! Foolish ones… How dare you do such a thing at the Yun Clan’s main base?”
“Move, move quickly! We must seal the west gate immediately! Anyone dawdling gets the special training course, twenty sets, later!”
However, the Yun Clan’s response was swift.
Immediately after explosions erupted throughout the Outer City, alarms rang out from all directions and practitioners sprang forth.
After all, this was their main base.
Though the main family hadn’t been directly raided in ages, since they had trained so thoroughly in advance, while they were momentarily startled, no one floundered about unsure of what to do.
“Khehehit—! The time has finally come!”
“The Yun Clan… A very good start. You shall make excellent offerings.”
“Eeyahoo! The festival of madness has finally begun!”
But if there was one problem.
It was that the fiends they had to face were by no means easy opponents.
“This ominous chakra…!”
“They’re demonic practitioners! Steel your minds, everyone!”
“If you think you can’t endure, withdraw on your own! You’ll only be in the way! Don’t act tough and evacuate the civilians first!”
Heretics who had delved into negative concepts different from others and fallen into corruption.
—Demonic practitioners.
Their terror lay not merely in their bizarre abilities and twisted ways of thinking.
“…Give up. If you give up, it will be comfortable. I’ll show you how tranquil resignation can be.”
“Let’s dance with me, friends! Our lives are short, after all! Shake like mad until your bones break and your muscles tear~!”
“Aaah
— how full of chaos. Truly a beautiful night.”
The negative chakra spreading from them dispersed in all directions, eagerly awaiting the chance to corrupt approaching practitioners.
The cleaner one was, the demon (魔)
spread more easily.
And once tainted, it was not easy to revert.
Just as stains easily soil white cloth, but traces remain even after washing.
For chakra practitioners who valued mental discipline, the negative aura emanating from demonic practitioners was a grave threat in itself.
Mental barriers could not block all intrusions forever.
If one’s mind wavered even briefly in intense battle, it was irreversible.
Therefore, it was common sense that to suppress a demonic practitioner for certain, a practitioner from a higher level had to step in, but…
“Kuk, when did so many demonic practitioners of this caliber…?”
“It’s not just here! The entire Outer City is in chaos!”
“Have all those scattered across the continent flocked here?”
Those radiating an atmosphere that was ominous at a glance were displaying their presence from every direction.
The fact that such numbers had moved all at once was hard to believe, but even more shocking was that no one had known until they stormed the Outer City.
That meant there was a gaping hole in the Yun Clan’s intelligence network, which they had believed to be ironclad.
“Hold out! If we just hold out, support will come from the Inner City!”
In the end, what they had to do was practically predetermined.
Though they had momentarily fallen into confusion from the unexpected raid, they were one of the continent’s greatest forces.
They possessed nearly ten deep-layer practitioners and dozens of upper-layer practitioners.
Not all of them were stationed at the main house, but even the remaining forces here should have been enough to annihilate them.
Kwaaang!
The roar of battle rang out throughout the Outer City.
Invaders committing acts of ruthless destruction as if they had been waiting for this moment, and practitioners holding them back while protecting as many civilians as possible.
And that roar did not spare the guest lodgings situated on one side of the Outer City either.***Hun reacted the moment the first explosion sounded.
In preparation for any contingency, he covered Lamyu with a sacred barrier, then exited through the window to identify the source.
Since the sound had erupted so close by, he couldn’t simply ignore it. ‘What is that?’ In the air beside the guest lodgings, a hole was torn open with cracks like shattered glass.
Kwarururung—
The deafening roar was leaking from there.
It seemed the sound of space collapsing, not a simple bomb detonating. ‘It’s not just here. It’s a raid conducted on a considerable scale.’ It was incomprehensible.
Hadn’t he checked multiple times while visiting the Yun Clan and learning chakra?
The existence of the powerful barrier enveloping the entire area. ‘Something went wrong with the barrier?’ There was only one cause that could explain the current situation. ‘A spy infiltrated internally and did something.’ It was probably related to the sinister energy he had felt before entering the lodgings.
But now was not the time to dwell on past matters.
Thud, thud—
From the hole in the air, a certain unidentified figure was walking out.
“H-hek! Wh-what is that?! What is that?!”
Mac Morris, who had come outside the lodgings at some point, barely opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
The Yun Clan practitioners who had come to defend this place upon hearing the commotion showed much the same reaction.
Their feelings were understandable.
A mummy wrapped entirely in black bandages slowly approached, taking one step at a time.
The bandages were wrapped so thickly and meticulously that it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman.
The crossed hands at the chest were nailed firmly into place near the shoulders, and large wooden stakes were driven one by one into the spots where eyes and ears should have been. ‘And that’s not all. Small needles are densely embedded all over the body too.’ An appearance that was painful and horrific just to behold.
It was a miserable sight so dreadful that one would find it a wonder the creature was alive. [You…]
Then, a buzzing voice leaked from the black mummy. [Have you ever faced true fear…?]
The moment those words ended.
A viscous wave swept in all directions.
“Kk-up! Kuk! Y-you mad…!”
Mac, exposed to it, stepped back with a pale face.
Though he was only a lower-layer practitioner, with his unique skill added, he was a talent who could display combat prowess rivaling upper-layer practitioners.
For such a man to lose his will to fight merely from being exposed to its aura.
“A deep-layer demonic practitioner.”
Hun muttered quietly, observing the opponent with narrowed eyes.
He could tell at a glance.
That this was a monster greater than the Ghost General he had slain not long ago. [What is fear… Where does its root begin? A terrible monster? Physical pain? Despair that gnaws at the heart?]
The opponent was already lost in a world of his own.
Indeed, a practitioner of that caliber must have already grasped that no one present could lay a single finger on him even if they all rushed in together.
For a powerhouse that even Ruset couldn’t guarantee victory against, such leisure was neither arrogance nor anything else. [To know that, a very long time was needed. …Still, I was able to find my own answer at the end.]
The black mummy’s body squirmed.
From beneath the mummy’s body, as if trying to break through inextensible plastic, human hands, feet, and even facial shapes bulged out lumpily. [It is precisely the Unknown (未知) that is the fear I have found.]
Immediately after.
His body expanded.
Larger than the splendid lodging building here.
So massive it could crush the entire city.
So vast it could cover the entire world.
…No, perhaps not. It might have been an illusion.
Hundreds of hands burst from that body.
Or was it? Thousands of tentacles? Or perhaps tens of thousands of sharp thorns.
Eyes, mouths, or else navels and tongues sprouted densely across that body. ‘I can’t perceive it.’ It wasn’t an illusion.
The very laws that composed the creature’s existence were twisting this way and that.
He knew it instinctively.
As long as he could not properly perceive his opponent, his attacks would never reach it. [Drown in fear.]
A message descended from the sky.
Everyone who had been in the lodging was already incapable of fighting.
They merely stared up at the sky in a daze, their faces vacant.
As if to finish them off for certain, the being extended its tentacles and pressed down on space.
“Hun-style Ninja Art Secret Technique, Clone Technique.”
But that touch.
Only clawed through empty air. [······.]
The being silently turned to look at Hun.
At the many identical faces that had retreated behind him, their arms full of defenseless people.
As if puzzled, it tilted its head. [···How did you do that?]
There were two meanings implied in that question.
Why he was still sane, and how he had known to avoid an attack he should not have been able to perceive.
Of course, Hun had no intention of kindly answering his opponent’s questions.
“Whew, what does this guy think he is, Cthulhu or something?”
Grumbling, he let out a sigh and furrowed his brow.
He still couldn’t properly recognize his opponent.
However, the fear that served as the foundation of the chakra it used likewise could not have much of an effect on him. [You···.]
Perhaps noticing that, the fake Cthulhu stopped moving as if in disbelief. [You have no fear.]
It was not simply a matter of that.
The fear wielded by one who had reached the depths was at a level that could make even a madman whose emotions had been completely excised suffer a seizure.
Even someone with anger-control disorder or a psychopath should, the moment they faced him, piss themselves and foam at the mouth. [How can that be···?]
“Who knows.”
Hun shrugged as if it were nothing.
It was a light attitude that did not suit the situation. ‘Still, this is a bit troublesome.’ To begin with, that was not an opponent the current him could fight and win against.
Not only fear that had reached the depths, but even the concept of the unknown derived from it.
As expected, the only trump card he could use at a time like this seemed to be his ultimate secret technique, “Runaway Thoughts”···. ‘Is this really okay? No matter how I look at that guy, he seems perfectly suited for that line of stuff.’ What if he only ended up injecting it with experience points for nothing?
Because of that worry, he could not help but hesitate.
But he had no time to sit around worrying like this. [Perhaps you might become the key to the Heavenly Gate···. As expected, it was a good thing I followed his words. Thanks to that, I have obtained a fine test subject···.]
Because right before his eyes, his opponent’s sinister hand was reaching out for him. ‘Ah, screw it! If it really comes down to it, I can just call in my friends!’ Since there was a way to clean up the mess somehow, he had no hesitation in causing it.
Staring at the still-indistinct form, Hun shouted loudly.
“Hun-style Ninja Art Ultimate Secret Technique! Runaway Thoughts!”
His attacks would not work on the opponent.
But strictly speaking, Runaway Thoughts was a kind of telepathy, not an attack.
On top of that, the conversation the two of them had just had was also a form of “communication.” [Hm···?]
Following that causality, there was nothing strange about “Telepathy” connecting. [What trick are you trying to··· What is this···?]
The thoughts flowed backward.
But the reaction was different from usual. [Oh··· Oooooh···!]
The fake Cthulhu exulted as if it had witnessed the truth it had yearned for.
As though it suited its tastes, the creature began greedily sucking in the torrent of thoughts.