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chapter 75
“…It seems Pungdo Daeje has moved, Guildmaster.”
White Burn—renowned as a force standing shoulder to shoulder with giants like the Central Heroes Committee, the City Cartel, and the Sons of Zeus.
Its symbol was the Dungeon Conquest Headquarters, composed of 26 raid teams.
And the one who led them was none other than the “Gatekeeper,” Geum Ji-gang.
Though his presence was often overshadowed by Im Won-yeong or Executive Director Jeong, to the team leaders who truly knew the workings of things, he wielded absolute influence.
Just like his nickname, the Gatekeeper, his role was often to stand as a Keeper who blocked those challenging the Mountain God, Mo Jeong-gyeon.
And at times…
He also handled those who showed too much zeal toward their lord.
This was one such time.
“Pungdo, huh… Hooh? I thought at best Udu or Mamyun would come down. But the king himself descended? So they’re serious after all.”
Mo Jeong-gyeon exhaled a puff of white smoke, chuckling.
“What should we do? Shouldn’t we step in now and stop them?”
“Stop them? They’ve already made up their minds in earnest—how? Why? You’re saying you’ll go yourself?”
“If necessary…”
“It’s a playground for the youngsters. If you go, that’s cheating.”
Geum Ji-gang had served at Mo Jeong-gyeon’s side for over 30 years, yet he still often thought: I really don’t understand this person.
‘Even King Sarasoo seemed curious about the Guildmaster’s thoughts…’
[King Sarasoo sits in his flower garden, lost in deep thought.]
King Sarasoo was Ji-gang’s inheritance.
A mystical king who could observe both the world of the living and the dead from the flower garden he tended.
[King Sarasoo]
The Flower Overseer of Seocheon Flower Garden, said to stand on the border between life and death. Also the king of Seocheon Kingdom.
The flowers he raised in the Gwangcheon Pond stirred human emotions and symbolized rebirth and life itself.
– Source: Myth “The Tale of the Hall of Ease.”
Through King Sarasoo, Geum Ji-gang had long taken the role of surveilling the entire heavenly realm, including the underworld.
He had always known that one day Cheongyo would move the Central Heroes Committee, and that the Committee would provoke Executive Director Jeong.
Thus Ji-gang had often urged Mo Jeong-gyeon to cast Jeong aside.
But each time, Mo Jeong-gyeon brushed it off, saying everything would resolve according to the natural order.
And now—
This very disaster had come to pass.
Ji-gang couldn’t help but feel stifled.
“Why? Do I look like one of those bastards up in the clouds—spouting cryptic nonsense, just sitting back and watching whether the world collapses or not? Are you worried I’ll end up like that?”
“…So you do know.”
“Ha! You’re supposed to say no at times like that.”
Mo Jeong-gyeon grumbled, tapping Ji-gang’s head playfully with her long pipe.
“Ji-gang.”
“Yes, Guildmaster.”
“People say I’ve grown sly with age. But hearing even you look at me that way… That’s truly saddening.”
Ji-gang stepped back slightly and bowed his head.
“That wasn’t my intent. If you took it that way, I apologize.”
“Then at least you, trust me. I don’t want to become like them.”
Mo Jeong-gyeon bit down on the pipe bitterly.
Hoo—
“I’ve simply been waiting for that wretch, Gyuhan.”
“…”
“Waiting for him to find a way back.”
Ji-gang pressed his lips tightly together.
“But in the end, he’s chosen to go all the way. Insolent brat.”
“…Executive Director Jeong—no, Gyuhan—must have thought it was his way of showing loyalty to you, Guildmaster.”
“That’s not loyalty. That’s blind faith and obsession, ignoring my will entirely.”
“…”
“Pouring affection someone never asked for—that’s not love. That’s delusion. Arrogance.”
Beneath the veil of white smoke, her eyes sank deeply, heavy with resolve.
“That’s why I decided not to keep him by my side anymore. Destroy the world? And I’ll step in as its savior? Nonsense. What’s the point of sitting atop ashes?”
Then Ji-gang realized:
If Im Won-yeong hadn’t acted, Mo Jeong-gyeon herself would have eventually claimed Jeong’s life.
“Even though I am bound to this land, waiting for a moment unseen, I still love this world dearly. Far more than those so-called heavens of theirs.”
Understanding the weight of her words, Ji-gang bowed again.
Silence lingered.
Mo Jeong-gyeon smoked quietly for a while, then twisted her lips.
“Enough heavy talk.”
“Do you have an order, Guildmaster?”
“Those damned Tang dogs dared to make such a mess on my land… How could I sit idle?”
Ji-gang’s eyes sharpened—like the grim eyes of a death envoy judging souls bound for the underworld.
“Eight of our dispatched raid teams abroad have already reached their sites and await orders. X-Team and Y-Team especially—they’re pestering me, asking when they can begin.”
“Ha, those rascals. Always itching to upend someone else’s table. Whose bad habits did they inherit, I wonder?”
Mo Jeong-gyeon burst into hearty laughter, calling them well-raised disciples.
Unbeknownst to many intelligence agencies, White Burn had already been in motion since the day the Dragon and Pingxin secretly entered the country.
Elite teams, including X and Y, were lying in wait near Central Heroes Committee safehouses and foreign branches worldwide.
All ready to move at a single command.
“Don’t you want to see Chairman Feng’s face when all his limbs are hacked off in a single night?”
They had drawn a sword—
So White Burn would swing an axe straight at their skulls.
That was White Burn.
That was the Mountain God, Mo Jeong-gyeon.
“It’s a pity I won’t get to watch up close.”
“Hohoho. See? You’re not meant to just sit here either, Ji-gang.”
Hoooo—
Smoke billowed.
Mo Jeong-gyeon nodded.
“Tell them. Begin.”
“Order confirmed.”
That day, following the raid on secret facilities in Korea, 21 Central Heroes Committee buildings worldwide were attacked.
[You invoke the trust of the Duokshini, accelerating both weapons!]
Lee Hyun burst forward like a lightning bolt.
He hurled all three axes with their jagged teeth.
Vrooooom—
Whooosh—
The axes split the air, cloaked in thunderlight—
Flash!
[The Wrath of the Duokshini erupts!]
Rrrraaaakkkk-BOOM!!
Three colossal lightning bolts struck down before Executive Director Jeong.
The Wrath of the Duokshini was a devastating strike, fueled by immense mana.
Its destructive power was akin to a finishing move—Lee Hyun rarely triggered more than two at once.
But right now was no time for restraint.
The mountain of corpses was about to explode.
[The Myth ‘Lord of the Gloomy Winds’ attempts to activate the Great Curse: Corpse Explosion Nest!]
All those corpses, laden with toxic resentment strong enough to corrode stone itself—detonated?
This whole place was a trap. A snare for the raid teams sent after him…!
The massive underground lab was already filled with corpses.
If they all chain-reacted, the devastation would be catastrophic.
Lee Hyun resolved to stop as much of it as he could.
KRAAA-BOOM!
The mass corpse explosion collided with the three Wraths of the Duokshini.
For an instant, the hemispherical blast faltered, held back—
Whooosh!
[You draw the Flame Demon of Inferno, summoning hellfire!]
[You imbue Brutus’ Dagger with Cursed Script, amplifying firepower!]
He pulled from inventory: in his right hand, the hellfire sword; in his left, the handle-only dagger. Crossing them in a harsh X.
Though Brutus’ Dagger had lost its blade, now it shone as though wreathed in a translucent edge.
Remembering its curse-amplification trait, he wielded it like a talisman.
The curse-fueled hellfire swelled instantly, carving through the blast’s front.
Like setting a counterfire against a wildfire.
[You unleash Fire Rain!]
CRAAAK-BOOM!
Then a new lightning bolt fell from the heavens.
The hemispherical blast shattered.
The corpse explosions collapsed inward, spiraling skyward—
A towering firestorm tore through the lab, bursting up to the surface like a volcanic eruption.
SCREEEEECH!
GRROOOAAARR!
“Save… me…”
“You’ve lived enough… So die in our place…!”
Lee Hyun stood at the very center of the storm.
This is hellish…!
The hellfire was bad enough, but the curses and venom of clinging wraiths were relentless.
[Curse Immunity (SS) activates, nullifying all curses.]
[Heat Resistance (C) surges to A-rank.]
[Poison Resistance (B) surges to S-rank.]
His long-stalled resistances suddenly spiked explosively.
But Hyun pressed on, forcing his way deeper into the flames.
Ssszzzt!
The searing heat scorched him.
His clothes burned to ash; exposed skin blistered with burns.
[Warning! The area ahead is saturated with lethal toxins and heat. Evacuate immediately.]
[Warning! The laws of the underworld are active here. The living are at extreme risk.]
[Warning!]
…
[Crisis level critical. Sacred Relic: Ruyi Staff upgrades its self-healing to Hyper-Recovery!]
[Divine power surges, forcibly shielding you from the flames.]
…
The world was nothing but red.
And there—he caught something.
There!
Through the crimson haze, Jeong stood above, his eyes emptied of emotion.
As though he were a god gazing down.
[Sacred Relic: Fire-Eye Golden Pupil locates the target!]
With such spells, the key was always the caster at the center.
Too much firepower to close the distance… Then—
Hyun’s lips curled.
I’ll drag him to me instead.
Just then, a perfect skill came to mind.
[Summoning locked 4th skill data.]
[Ranker status acquired. Unlock ‘Momentum Pull’?]
Momentum Pull—
It forced targets within range to be dragged toward one point.
Inspired by goblins yanking foes onto the wrestling mat, it was ideal for pinning down fleeing enemies.
[Momentum Pull (D) unlocked!]
[Combined with ‘Frozen Human’ trait, skill evolves.]
…
[Congratulations! ‘Oni Pressure’ has been born.]
[Oni Pressure (A)]
With the overwhelming momentum and brute force of a goblin demanding a nightly wrestling match, you drag enemies beneath your feet.
Works through unseen Pressure and Momentum, pulling harder the more they resist.
– Type: Skill, Area Control
– Source: Folktale “Goblin Wrestling”
Hyun drove the Flame Demon into the ground, stretched his right hand toward Jeong.
“Let’s see how long you can keep that smug face.”
[Activating Oni Pressure (A): Target forcibly pulled!]
As Hyun clenched his outstretched hand—
CRRRRKKKK!
“…!?”
An invisible grip crushed down on Jeong’s back.
He turned toward Hyun, startled, realizing too late that Hyun had drawn near while he was preoccupied maintaining the explosions.
[<Queen of Ice> watches you keenly.]
[<Queen of Ice> laughs at your hybrid imitation of her power.]
It was reminiscent of her own Ice Hand, which once grasped lightning like a giant’s palm during their battle.
The effect was undeniable.
Jeong tried to redirect his firepower, but—
“Too late.”
Hyun yanked hard.
“…!!”
Jeong was dragged forward before he could react.
The firestorm lost its center, flames blasting outward uncontrollably.
And in that chaos, Jeong’s collar was seized in Hyun’s grip.
“You…!!”
“Already died once. What’s another death?”
Snarling, Hyun bared his fangs, driving the reclaimed Fang of Docheol straight into Jeong’s right neck.
KRRAA-BOOM!
[The Wrath of the Duokshini erupts!]
Azure-white lightning crashed down, thunder roaring.
FWOOSH!
