Published at 26th of January 2026 9:38 am

Chapter 360

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Kwaang-!!

A fire burst forth.

Kiaaah-!!

A scream echoed right after. It was enough to make your body shrink instinctively.

It was like a body made of ash. The struck form quivered and fragments scattered.

Contaminated fire scattered through the air, and I narrowed my eyes at the sight.

'It's been a while since I've done this.'

Cleaning up someone's karma.

Or perhaps, removing an evil spirit someone left behind.

It was regretful to call it the exorcism of an evil spirit, and shamans focused on performing rituals, but...

'I feel more comfortable with this.'

Since I never grew up performing rituals, physical eradication like this was more comfortable for me.

Kkiiaaaaaaa!!!!

The thing struck in the head screamed and shouted.

Should I call it a sound? Since it was striking the spirit itself, it was ambiguous to call it a sound.

Either way, it didn't matter.

'No matter how you describe it, it's not that profound.'

Grandmother used to call those cries 'anguish'.

'But to use such refined words seems... off.'

What anguish?

To me, it was just a scream. Annoying noise like nails scraping metal, at best.

'Just lingering attachment.'

Assigning meaning to that was foolish.

If you lived that way, it would never end.

Kyaaa!!

It lunged again. I swung my sword anew.

Kang-!!

Striking its side, a clearer ring sounded than before. Its body rebounded and bounced away.

Kuaaah-!!

Every time it rolled along the wet ground, it left behind black traces.

That was it.

That was the stain of evil spirit.

"Hoo."

I gripped my sword. The blade felt heavy.

'Maybe because I'm not using my ki.'

If it were normal, I would've used my ki and been vigorous.

But I couldn't now.

It was because of the talismans affixed to my sword.

'... If I want to use these here, I can't use my ki.'

There was no energy left to focus on something like that. This was someone else's mind realm. Materializing these talismans in such a place required considerable concentration.

A medium that let me physically strike evil spirits.

It took the form of a talisman, but the form wasn't important. It just appeared like this because that's what I was most familiar with.

'Did Grandmother use a fan?'

I never saw it myself, but that's what I heard.

Chief Baek used a baseball bat.

... A terrifying person.

"Alright. Let's go."

There was no time for hesitation, so I stepped toward the evil spirit.

Kiaaah!!

It dashed at me, sharpening its claws and charging.

I rolled along the ground to dodge. Rainwater seeped into my body.

For a martial artist, rolling on the ground might seem disgraceful, but I didn't care about such things.

Dodging, this time it was the thigh.

Kang-!

Kiak!!

The evil spirit staggered. Simultaneously, the talisman ignited. I quickly applied another talisman to my sword.

How many left?

'Three.'

It's small. That's the maximum I could use here and also my limit.

'Divine Spear's mental strength is quite something.'

There's only ever been one case where I couldn't fully materialize talismans like this.

That's when the owner of the mind realm had enormous willpower.

In such cases, fighting like this was difficult.

"But I still have to do it."

Still had to. Three left? It's enough.

'If it were in the past...'

Not even two, I'd have managed with just one. I've weakened a lot.

'That's why I tried not to get involved with ghosts.'

I struggled so hard to escape that kind of life, but here I was again.

"I'm an idiot."

No one else to blame.

Dodging the evil spirit, I muttered quietly.

Kkaang-!!

The evil spirit attacked, and I kept dodging and striking. A cycle of repetition.

... What the hell kind of dogfight is this?

Yu Chun-gil commented in disbelief. Rightit's a dogfight. There's no martial arts conviction or anything of that sort here.

'Who'd care about that?'

Noble, refined martial duels? Get real. Against a force like that, such things are meaningless.

It was a beast guided by pure instinct, there was no place for formality.

"So just disappear nicely, will you."

Kkaaaang-!!!

An arm burst. The evil spirit's arm flew off. Another talisman flared up.

Kkiiieeek!!!

The evil spirit recoiled in pain, curling up.

Now? I approached swiftly and swung the Divine Sword.

I should take off its head. Or so I thought.

Kiaaaaaaah!!!!

The evil spirit screamed. At that, my body froze up.

Wooooom!!!

My spirit resonated.

"This."

I scrunched my face. The resonance of its spirit was no joke.

'It's not just any random one.'

If I called it a ghost, it was stronger than most evil spirits.

Of course.

'That's why Divine Spear ended up like this.'

It was still surprising, though. What on earth did he let into his body?

'Two talismans left.'

I pressed another one to my sword.

Kiaaaaah!!!

The noise grew, echoing through the forest. It rippled through the static space.

In that moment.

Swiieeeek!!

"...!"

A strange sensation made me turn.

Looking back, Divine Spear appeared and tried to attack me.

"Shit."

To think it would use that side. Unbelievable.

Divine Spear lunged at me, as if being controlled. I had to quickly put some distance between us.

'The skill level isn't high.'

It was different from the fights shown in my memories. The spirit form of Divine Spear manipulated by the evil spirit was just fastnothing else.

But the speed was damn fast.

Swiieeeek!!!

Kwaduduk!!!

The spear pierced a tree. That was hair-raising. If I got hit by that, I'd be a goner.

I narrowed my eyes, glancing at the talisman on my sword, and drew out another energy.

'Damn it.'

It was hard enough to concentrate, but in the end I used my ki.

My gaze sharpened and the Virtuous Moon Sword Path opened.

At the same time.

'I see it.'

I looked at the lines arrayed before me and swung my sword along them.

Kkagak-! Kang-!

I was soon matched against the flying spear. It was heavy. So heavy i made my hands ache.

Should I help you...?

Yu Chun-gil asked if he should possess me.

"No."

I refused. Whether or not possession was possible here, I didn't know.

'But then my focus would break.'

Everything I had set up, the talismansall would vanish.

That made it meaningless.

Kkirik-!!

I parried the spear again and again, barely managing to keep up.

In the midst of it, I spoke to Divine Spear.

"By any chance, do you have any awareness left?"

Kwagak!

Predictably, a spear came flying instead of an answer. Not likely he had any awareness.

"Alliance Leader, please come to your senses. I know you can."

I needed to awaken the spirit form inside. The evil spirit had taken enough damage that there should be some effect.

Then.

"... Gil..."

"Oh."

Divine Spear spoke.

"Yu Chun-gil...!!!"

Damn.

... Well, figures.

Guess that hope was in vain. Divine Spear rushed at me, madness alight in his eyes.

'The evil spirit?'

I looked around, but couldn't see where it had gone.

'If I lose it...'

That can't happen.

But how do I deal with this?

'Ah, this is nuts.'

In the past, I'd have crushed them both easily.

'... But if I release more power now, there's no turning back.'

My chest felt tight. I'd already loosened and lessened my hold earlier, but if I opened up more here...

'Every ghost in the world could come for me.'

Anything that sensed the anomaly would pounce. Then my life would go to hell, that's for sure.

'What now?'

What do I do...

Hey, kid.

Yu Chun-gil called me.

He seemed to be asking about possession again.

'That's not happening.'

No matter how I looked at it, it just wasn't an option.

'Tsk.'

Lost in thought, I tried to hold back a sigh.

Hey, kid.

Yu Chun-gil spoke again.

"Ah, I said no, didn't I?"

Why keep bringing up possession? I said no, irritated.

That's not it. Look over there?

"Hm?"

I turned to where Yu Chun-gil indicated.

Over there.

"Oh?"

Someone stood there. A person radiating a bright light.

I widened my eyes at the sight.

Whoooosh!!!

A spear flew at me again. For a split second, my focus wavered and there was a real chance I'd get hit.

Thinking it was dangerous, I bit hard on my lip.

Jeok.

I froze.

At the voice from the light, Divine Spear's spirit stiffened in place.

The spear stopped right before my nose. That was close.

Divine Spear turned his head toward the light.

-... Jeok.

Was it that word?

"... Ah..."

Divine Spear let out a brief exclamation.

As I steadied my breath, this time the light spoke to me.

Go now.

As soon as I heard that, I pushed strength into my legs.

"Thank you."

I didn't ask who it was.

There wasn't any need.

I had already known since the first time I met Divine Spear.

***

I raced down the forest path. The black traces on the ground guided the way.

Thanks to that, I quickly found where it had fled.

"There you are."

I found it soon enough.

Kkii... Kkiiieeek!!!

The evil spirit stood in the middle of the field.

"Let's end this. You're tired too, aren't you?"

I gripped my sword. There was only one talisman left. Seeing the remaining ones starting to fall off, I attached the last one.

Kyaaaah-!!!

A base, wretched cry.

I didn't know whose energy it once was, but it must have been a particularly nasty one.

And then.

"Let me ask you one thing."

I asked a question about that foul energy.

"Are you the cult leader?"

Kiiiiiiii.

No response. It was pointless asking an evil spirit.

Still, I wanted to ask.

"If you're the cult leader... I'm sure you can feel it."

Maybe it couldn't hear, but it should feel something.

"I don't know what you did..."

Sword in hand, I sped up to strike it down.

"Give up. Unfortunately for you, I'm still here."

The leader of the fanatics.

A maniac who called himself the cult leader and claimed he had to cleanse the world of humanity.

That was who I recalled as I asked.

Kyaaaaaaaaa-!!!!

The evil spirit rushed me. Realizing there was nowhere to run, it lunged.

Kiiik-!!

A claw came flying.

This time, I didn't dodge.

Puk-!!!

"Urgh."

It pierced through my chest. I felt pain. Ignoring it, I thrust my sword in.

Paduduk.

I heard the sound of breaking fragments. The sword crushed evil spirit's ashen remains.

Passsssk!!!

The talisman on the blade burned and was absorbed into its body.

Only then

Kyaaa... Aaaaah...

Saaaah.

The evil spirit dispersed, its energy scattering into nothing.

"Cough."

I spilled blood and dropped to my knees. No actual blood came out.

Only a gaping hole was left in my chest.

"Ha..."

I let out a heavy sigh, contorting my face.

... Is it over?

Yu Chun-gil asked.

"... I cleaned up the filth, anyway."

Are you alright?

Was that a worried face?

"... No, I'm not alright, but I don't think I'll die."

Clutching my pierced chest, I pushed myself up. I really wanted to rest now, but it wasn't time yet.

"... Let's go finish things up."

Having taken care of what kept Divine Spear asleep,

Now, it was time to wake him.

TL's Corner:

That was more intense than expected.

Who was that in the light???

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