Episode 71.
There was once a fox.
A baby fox that had lost its mother to poachers was slowly dying from the rain and cold.
But an unexpected miracle befell this fox.
The very humans who had killed its mother—this cruel race—extended a helping hand to the dying fox.
At first, it seemed absurd.
Weren't they the enemies who had slain its mother?
Yet they provided the young fox with warm shelter and food, caring for it with utmost devotion.
Beasts may seem simple, but they are surprisingly cunning.
They can tell the difference between those who treat them well and those who do not.
Foxes, in particular, are exceptionally clever creatures.
The young fox read the humans' sincerity and forgot its past resentment.
After all, they were of the same race called human, and these were not the ones who had killed its mother.
The fox grew up under their care, living a life slightly different from the wild, yet it was profoundly happy.
The simple villagers all cherished it dearly, and the fox grew up basking in abundant love.
It believed this happiness would last forever.
But all things that begin must end.
The fox's happiness came to a close due to a sudden misfortune.
The calamity that struck the village was a plague.
The highly contagious disease led the people of the remote mountain village, who had no access to healers, to their deaths.
But the fox did not know this.
Why won't they move?
Why are they sleeping for so long?
It cried and nipped at them, but the people simply would not wake.
If they slept this long, they would surely be hungry.
Worried, the fox trudged through the snow in the dead of winter, hunting rabbits and mice.
Of course, what the fox brought back could not have sated even a single person's hunger.
But the fox hunted relentlessly, merely to express the love and gratitude it felt, and because it was worried for the people.
Though excessive hunting left it starving and covered in wounds, not once did it eat the prey it brought back.
Even as the food rotted and swarmed with maggots, the fox simply kept hunting, hoping the people would wake and eat.
Thus days turned into weeks.
But still, the people did not rise, and the fox was exhausted.
It could have eased its hunger by eating the food right before its eyes, but it did not.
Instead, it went to the side of those it loved, curled its tail, and lay down among them.
Hoping that when it awoke, the people would have awoken as well.
*
'The fox died.'
Having not eaten for weeks, dying was only natural.
But the fox that had died then was now right before my eyes.
How?
'It's the power of the Ancient Fragment.'
The meteor shower that had fallen from the heavens—those Ancient Fragments had happened to seep into the fox's corpse.
In the past, the fox whose life had been saved by humans was resurrected by the mysterious power known as the Ancient Fragment.
Becoming a being called an Imiho, with two tails.
"I keep saying this, but I wasn't the one who made you unhappy."
It probably knew, too.
It simply wanted to deny it.
Because only then could its happiness remain intact.
"You."
I pointed my finger at the fox.
"You're the one making those people unhappy."
"Don't make me laugh!"
Kwakwakwakwakwa!
The spiritual pressure erupting from it became nearly a storm.
That force, enough to sting one's skin, was certainly formidable, but...
'So this is the level of an Imiho.'
I had information, but I didn't know exactly what level it was at.
It wasn't comparable to the Gumiho I had faced in the past, but I was different now, too.
Sreung.
I gripped the sword with the strange belt tightly.
Nervous?
It would be a lie to say I wasn't.
After all, the Imiho was the only monster on Korean soil to have absorbed two Fragments.
"Please..."
Seuuu—
The spiritual pressure radiating from the creature vanished as if washed away.
But that was merely the calm before the storm.
"...Disappear before us!"
Ung-ung!
What spewed from its mouth along with its fury was a bead emitting a brilliant light.
『Fox Bead』
The power wielded by a Gumiho, the symbol of spiritual power.
Though not the perfect, seven-colored form, it radiated its own brilliant light.
That it had achieved even this much was commendable.
Thus.
Pat!
I shot forward.
I leaped explosively, closing the distance in an instant.
At that moment.
Pajijik!
An enormous volume of sparks burst around the creature.
'Lightning!'
The Fox Bead is a mysterious orb containing various attributes.
What had just manifested was the Lightning Curtain—a barrier of flowing current that defended against enemy attacks.
This is what makes Gumiho-types so troublesome.
They use all sorts of techniques with various attributes, making their patterns difficult to read.
'First, one thing.'
I quickly pulled back.
Touching that lightning curtain would induce paralysis, causing me to suffer a backlash.
"You can't escape!"
But the thoroughly enraged creature had no intention of letting me go.
Flash!
A burst of light.
A chilling sensation coiled around my entire body.
That eerie feeling came from behind, to the right.
Turning would be too late.
Flash!
Sword of Swiftness—without a thought, I unleashed a slash.
Ka-ang!
My hand stung from the impact.
The creature, the Imiho, had extended its claws long, wielding them like talons.
'Of all things, it had to be lightning.'
Lightning is among the highest-tier natural attributes.
Speed, destructive power, and the special effect of inducing paralysis...
The fact that lightning was the attribute dwelling within the Fox Bead was inevitably unexpected.
Flash!
Lightning flashed once more, targeting my back—my blind spot.
I didn't take it head-on.
I rolled forward, evading the cold sensation.
"You rat-like bastard!"
I regained my stance, widening the distance.
It didn't show the same movement as before.
It couldn't.
'It can't use it consecutively despite its power.'
Using the Fox Bead demands enormous spiritual power.
Of course, a monster like an Imiho could recover its strength quickly, but it still needed some time.
'Two consecutive uses.'
The rough probing was done.
Seuuk.
From inside my coat, I took out one of the things I had prepared.
An orange insulating glove.
It was equipment designed for professions working with high-voltage current, meant to prevent electricity from flowing.
My combat style pursues perfection.
It was tied to my class as well.
Being a mere Strengthener, using all manner of auxiliary tools to aid in combat had become a habit.
It was the same now.
I had known I would face the Fox Bead and prepared means to counter each attribute.
If it wielded lightning, I simply had to block it with rubber.
I immediately donned the gloves on both hands.
"Human, die!"
The Imiho, having recovered its power, targeted my side with a flash.
Ka-ang!
Defending with my sixth sense.
Pat!
Paying no heed to the numbing impact, I swung my sword.
Pajijik!
The Lightning Curtain manifested instantaneously.
Touching that current wrapped around it would cause the sword to conduct lightning energy, triggering paralysis, but...
Seogeok!
I slashed straight through its chest.
"Keuk!"
It twisted its body and barely evaded, but...
Drip.
Bright red blood seeped from the gash in its chest.
At that moment.
Ung-ung!
The Fox Bead began to change color.
The moment I confirmed that color...
It intended to change the Fox Bead's attribute.
『Berserk』
『Absolute Victory』
Mordred's Berserk.
King Arthur's Absolute Victory.
I manifested the power of the two gems simultaneously.
Sseu-sseu, cheu-cheu-cheu!
Dark crimson energy seeped out, contrasting with a golden light.
Kwa-ang!
The moment my foot struck the ground, my flesh was reaching the fox across space.
"Haap!"
It was a bit late.
Hwareuk!
Blue flames manifested from the Fox Bead.
Dozens of them formed in an instant, scattering in all directions as they surged forth.
But I did not panic.
Seuuk!
I calmly swung my sword.
Sseu-sseu-seuk!
Chaotic trajectories drawn through the air.
Though not sword strikes in a set form like William or the warriors of the martial world, they were fast and powerful.
Thanks to trajectories drawn with minimal movement.
Pat!
The fox fire manifested by the Imiho was extinguished.
But there was more than one thing I had to deal with.
Hwareureuk!
The flame that touched near my left chest blazed fiercely.
No—to be precise, it tried to blaze.
Pssh.
It went out immediately.
That was inevitable, for the coat I was wearing was heat-resistant.
The heat-resistant coat, completed with Reason Strengthening, protected me from the intense heat of the fox fire.
The pants were the same.
What looked like ordinary jeans had also been heat-treated.
But that was limited to my upper and lower body.
If fox fire hit my head, it wouldn't end with burns—it would melt right through.
Seuk, sseu-sseu-seuk!
I cut down all the fox fire heading for my head.
With my current swordsmanship, I couldn't block all of them, but...
Hwik!
One wisp of fox fire grazed past me.
A fortune of absolute victory.
A coincidental victory brought about by the power completed through the meeting of the two Walls.
If I blocked the minimum, this Wall would help with the rest.
That was why I didn't retreat.
Maintaining my speed, I closed in on the Imiho at high velocity.
That speed was tremendous, and it was before the fox fire from the Fox Bead could fully manifest.
"Checkmate."
My sword touched the creature—or rather, the Fox Bead.
Kwajik!
The sword with the strange belt shattered the Fox Bead that emitted brilliant light.
"Aaaack!"
A scream burst forth.
Along with it.
Saaaah...
The spiritual power gathered in the Fox Bead began to leak out.
At first, it was like white mist.
But shortly after, it became particles of light, rising toward the heavens.
"No, why, why only me..."
Tears dripped from the eyes of the creature that slumped to the ground.
And then, a change occurred.
Suuuk.
The creature's flesh, which had been that of a twelve-year-old girl, began to rapidly age, as if struck head-on by the passage of time itself.
As the spiritual power accumulated in the Fox Bead vanished, the creature was returning to its original form—to where it originally belonged.
"...Why must only I be unhappy."
It lost its mother, and then lost the humans who had cared for it so dearly.
It probably thought it was the most unfortunate being in the world.
That was why it had sealed the souls of the dead within the Fox Bead, creating a village of happiness.
But that was a twisted notion.
The souls of the dead must find rest.
What it forcibly clung to was, inevitably, tormenting them—a kind of curse.
"Why do you think you're unhappy?"
"..."
The creature raised its head at my words.
In that brief moment, the twelve-year-old girl vanished, and in her place sat an old being with wrinkled skin.
"I lost my mother, and I lost all the people I loved."
"You did lose your mother, but it doesn't seem like you lost the people you loved."
"What...?"
The moment it voiced its doubt.
The powder of light leaking from the Fox Bead fell beside the creature.
And then.
"Miho."
A faint form—a human soul.
"Even though you tied us down, that was not your fault."
"We're sorry. We should have taken better care so you could return to the wild."
One by one, the souls of the villagers appeared.
"Mom, Dad, and my precious siblings..."
As a fox that lived in a pack, all the villagers it had lived with were none other than its siblings.
"You worked hard."
"And we're sorry."
"For leaving you lonely."
The villagers' souls embraced Miho.
At that moment.
Ssuuk.
The soul that escaped from the flesh.
It was not a human, but a small native fox.
"Kieek—"
It hopped about, licking the villagers.
That was the creature—Miho's true form.
"Now, let's go together."
The villagers, finally able to rest, did not blame Miho.
Rather, they apologized for leaving it alone, and found rest together with the creature that hopped about excitedly.
Swish—
In the blowing wind.
Seu-seu-seu-seu.
Miho's flesh scattered into dust.
Thud.
And what fell.
『Gwak』
『Mok』
They were the two Ancient Fragments known as Gwalmok.
The reason it could use power strong enough to imprison souls was because it had absorbed two Fragments.
'That makes two secured.'
The remaining two—if William and Yale succeed in their mission, I should be able to complete that Wall.