Urban Vagabond: Reload

FWOOOOSH!

Flames surged fiercely up along Phantom Dream.

This was no ordinary fire, but fire energy raised through the Five Elements Divine Art. Unless its master willed it, those flames would not die out.

The fire blooming along Kim Muhyuk’s right arm began spreading out of control, feeding on the wood energy around it.

Kyaaaaaaak—!

As arson broke out in the middle of its own body, the Giant Tree Ghost let out its loudest and most agonized scream yet.

Ruuuumble......!

The mountain-sized tree shook in every direction as if it were about to be uprooted whole, its roots and branches thrashing wildly and lashing the ground at random.

An enormous amount of broken branches and charred debris poured down to the surface.

“Wh-what in the world suddenly happened to that......?”

“......Was that the sect leader?”

“Fall back first!”

“D-didn’t you feel anomaly energy when those flames exploded just now?”

“At least on the level of a Great Anomaly.......”

The martial artists of Transcendent Extremity Gate were busy halting the battle and retreating, and the spellcasters of Mystic Hall stared in horror at the Giant Tree Ghost, whose body had caught fire.

While everyone was thrown into confusion by the sudden turn of events, the Blue Wolves crew members alone immediately realized who had done it.

[Hey, you crazy bastard—!]

Shin Kangheon, who had neutralized most of the puppets on the ground, looked up and shouted.

[Don’t steal my concept—!]

FWOOOOOOOSH!

As if he were [N O V E L I G H T] competing with Kim Muhyuk, fiercer flames blazed up from Shin Kangheon’s body.

Pyaaaaak—!

Stimulated by the fire energy of the Five Elements Divine Art, Apricot also raised its flames with all its might. Its fur puffed up to the fullest, and its necklace glowed bright red.

Kim Bokja clutched her forehead as if her head hurt. At the same time, she looked at the flames Kim Muhyuk had created with eyes full of worry.

[He’s overdoing it again. I told him to only do as much as he can handle.......]

The exhausted current-and-former wandering duo, collapsed and unable to move, watched the Giant Tree Ghost burn as if they were watching someone else’s fire across the river.

[Hey, Jaechun....... We’ve done enough, right?]

[That’s right. Muhyuk will take care of the rest somehow.]

[What do you want to eat first when we get back?]

[I’m so tired I can’t think of anything...... maybe chicken and a cold beer first?]

Hwang Suksu and Han Jaechun were lying sprawled out, resting and talking nonsense, when—

CRACK, craaack—!

Cracks spread across the entire spell barrier sealing the Giant Tree Ghost, and soon it began to collapse.

The repeated fighting, the Giant Tree Ghost’s rampage, and the flames burning on the Great Anomaly had weakened the barrier faster than expected.

“Ha-ha. It was an incomplete spell barrier that would have vanished in a few hours anyway, but still.......”

Dr. Man clicked his tongue as he looked around.

Even for him, a Grand Spellcaster and renowned scholar, this was his first time seeing a mess like this.

His gaze finally turned toward the being on the Giant Tree Ghost’s midsection, the one carrying an enormous qi.

“......I do not know what I’m looking at right now.”

Still, there was one thing Dr. Man could state with certainty.

It would be impossible for the Giant Tree Ghost to survive that fight.

*****

BOOM!

With an explosion, the two pinnacle experts of Transcendent Extremity Gate were sent flying. Their entire bodies had turned black as charcoal.

“Cough......!”

“You...... monster.......”

They spat blood and stared at Kim Muhyuk in horror.

No matter how much of a genius he was, he was still only a young rising star barely past twenty.

To the elites of Transcendent Extremity Gate, masters in the late stage of the pinnacle realm, he should have been a brat who could not last ten exchanges.

And yet the result had been the opposite.

“......No wonder you were called elites.”

Kim Muhyuk emerged through the flames, and fire rippled every time he exhaled.

He was not unscathed either.

Cuts had opened all over his body, and the wolf mask Kim Bokja had made for him had been sharply sliced in half.

“Then again, I guess that’s why you thought you could kill the Strongest in Korea.”

The two trusted subordinates Moon Seokju had left behind were stronger than Kim Muhyuk had expected.

Had he not borrowed Phantom Dream’s power, he would have needed far more time and paid a much greater price to deal with them.

“You coward! If it weren’t for that sacred weapon.......”

“Do you call yourself a proper martial artist when you fight by borrowing the power of uncanny things?”

At the two martial artists’ provocations, spat out between mouthfuls of blood, Kim Muhyuk snorted.

“I don’t treat trash like you as martial artists. And if you feel wronged......”

SHRAAAK—!

The blade aura Kim Muhyuk launched cut off both martial artists’ heads at the same time.

It was a hollow end for traitors who had been promised wealth and power in exchange for joining a plot to murder their sect leader.

“Maybe you should’ve gotten yourselves a sacred weapon too.”

Kim Muhyuk glanced at the enemies’ heads as they rolled downward, then used fire energy to sear the wounds across his body shut.

Sssssss......

The blood that had been dripping down stopped, and his somewhat hazy mind snapped clear.

“I’m going to get scolded again when I go home.......”

Hoping the scars would remain as small as possible, Kim Muhyuk calmed the flames of the Five Elements Divine Art.

FWOOOOSH......

The flames that had been burning as if they would incinerate the whole world with the Great Anomaly’s energy as fuel began to die down.

Using the Five Elements Divine Art to explosively amplify a single energy was a temporary workaround.

It was a technique that placed a heavy burden on his body, so he had planned to save it if possible, but the situation had left him no choice.

Ughhh, I’m too full and tired......

Phantom Dream looked just as exhausted and drained as Kim Muhyuk.

Its spirit body, which had grown quite a bit, slowly faded and disappeared into its main body.

It was still carrying a bellyful of Great Anomaly energy it had yet to digest.

“Good work.”

After sheathing Phantom Dream, Kim Muhyuk briefly looked around at the scene he had created.

Once the flames that had seemed ready to burn the world down died away, the surroundings, blackened and melted by fire, were revealed.

And at that moment, the Giant Tree Ghost, having barely escaped the horrific pain of being burned in the middle of its body, unleashed its rage at Kim Muhyuk.

Kyaaaaaaak!

As soon as the flames vanished, black branches began growing back little by little and surrounding Kim Muhyuk.

Because it had seen its opponent absorb its energy and create flames with it, the cunning Giant Tree Ghost changed how it dealt with him.

It excluded wood energy as much as possible and strongly emitted a damp, sticky energy instead.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Qi waves surged violently as if to crush Kim Muhyuk flat.

The Great Anomaly’s energy, steeped in malice and hatred, churned and dyed itself black.

In other words, it was demonic qi.

Even for a supreme master, standing in the middle of a Great Anomaly and enduring demonic qi focused entirely on oneself would never be easy.

For Kim Muhyuk, however, it was a welcome situation.

“......Good timing.”

Because he had prepared two sacred weapons for today.

SHIIING—

“Namcheon. You’ve been waiting a long time, right?”

The white sword blade was dyed in pure white demon-subduing power the moment he drew it.

The demon-subduing power wrapped warmly around his body and restored his exhausted flesh.

At the same time, the mature-looking spirit of the Namcheon Sword appeared beside Kim Muhyuk.

That little one was rather impressive.

There was a subtle sense of rivalry in the glance he cast toward Phantom Dream.

Kim Muhyuk lightly prodded the Namcheon Sword’s competitive spirit.

“It’s your turn now. But...... can you show me something cooler than Phantom Dream?”

Hmph. Obviously.

FWOOOOSH!

At that moment, dazzling radiance wrapped around Kim Muhyuk’s entire body.

Startled by the brilliant demon-subduing power pouring from the Namcheon Sword, the Giant Tree Ghost shook violently.

It felt almost as if it were afraid of Kim Muhyuk, as though wondering what sort of being this was.

The sword of the azure sky shall subdue all evil and all demons.

At the Namcheon Sword’s declaration, its energy grew even deeper.

Feeling demon-subduing power fill his entire body, Kim Muhyuk swung his sword in every direction.

SHHK-SHHK-SHHHK—!

Although he did not put much force into the strikes, the Giant Tree Ghost’s branches broke apart like straw. The cut surfaces did not recover easily.

No matter how many twigs you cut, this won’t end. To kill a Great Anomaly, you have to destroy its inner core.

The spirit of the Namcheon Sword spoke while looking upward. Kim Muhyuk was thinking the same thing.

“Yeah. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Kim Muhyuk broke through the encirclement of branches closing in from every direction and leaped upward.

Tap!

As he raced along the trunk of the Giant Tree Ghost, Kim Muhyuk thought,

Has Sunwoo Jeha reached the top by now?

And had Moon Seokju, who had chased after her intending to kill the sect leader and steal her position, encountered her by now?

He had wasted quite a bit of time fighting Transcendent Extremity Gate’s elite martial artists. By the time he arrived, the result might already be decided.

However, his heart was neither impatient nor anxious.

“......There’s no need to worry. If I’ve caused this much chaos, she’ll be on guard enough.”

Kim Muhyuk did not know the exact circumstances of how Sunwoo Jeha had been betrayed and lost an arm in his past life.

But this time, he had helped her enough in the fight against the Giant Tree Ghost, and he had given her hints about the traitor in his own way.

If she was the Sunwoo Jeha he knew, the Strongest in Korea......

He believed she would never meet the same ending.

“Don’t let your guard down and get caught. I want to defeat the Strongest in Korea at full strength with my own hands someday.”

Right now, he simply wanted to see how this fight would end as one martial artist.

WHIIISH!

Kim Muhyuk stepped on an incoming branch of the Giant Tree Ghost and leaped high once more.

*****

Sunwoo Jeha arrived near the top of the Giant Tree Ghost, where its heart was located.

Thumpthumpthumpthump!

Thumpthumpthumpthump!

Thumpthumpthumpthump!

Before her eyes, the heart of the Great Anomaly pulsed as it trembled in fear. The heart, shaped like a massive eyeball, was several meters tall.

The surrounding area had been devastated. The insects guarding the heart and the anomalies that had lived as parasites on the Giant Tree Ghost had all charged at Sunwoo Jeha, only to be torn to pieces.

“.......”

Sunwoo Jeha, who stared blankly at the Giant Tree Ghost’s heart, was also covered in blood.

Her once-neat training clothes were stained with blood, and her internal energy was almost exhausted. Blood dripped down the saber and sword hanging at her sides.

It was the price of charging this far alone to destroy the heart of a Great Anomaly.

“......Don’t.”

Sunwoo Jeha, who had been standing as if frozen, spoke for the first time.

But no answer came back. Only the sound of the heart pounding as if mad with fear filled the space.

Sunwoo Jeha spoke once more. This time, she called the other person’s name clearly.

“Don’t do it. Moon Seokju.”

Moon Seokju, who had been hiding his presence and approaching Sunwoo Jeha from behind, spoke calmly.

“You’re badly hurt. I came to support you.”

Moon Seokju did not stop walking. He approached Sunwoo Jeha naturally. She had not even turned around yet.

“Taehyun and Kangwoo are dead. They were struck down while coming up with me to help you. The Giant Tree Ghost suddenly went berserk, and....... Woojin and Minjae were following behind. I’m not sure if they’re all right.”

He spoke to her calmly, as usual, while closing the distance.

“And those Blue Wolves, you know. Once this is over, we’ll have to reward them properly. Thanks to them, the hunt became easier than expected, so when we get back.......”

At that moment, Moon Seokju had no choice but to stop when he saw the saber pointed at him.

“I told you not to. I warned you.”

“What...... are you telling me not to do?”

Only then did Sunwoo Jeha slowly turn and face Moon Seokju.

“Don’t betray me. I don’t want to kill you.”

At that moment, Moon Seokju’s eyes turned bloodshot red.