Chapter 658: Black snow (11)

The teeth of the rake penetrated Uma and he collapsed, the power of Gugalanna disappearing soon after.

The famine, which Hwang Jiho contained with his boundary, and the pressure from Uma all disappeared.

Tuk.

The blue-gold stone horn fell from the head of the fallen Uma.

It was evidence that Gulaganna, whom Uma tied to his body, had lost power.

‘We’re almost there. Now I just have to do one last thing.’

I felt a stinging gaze on me when I looked up and saw Hwang Jiho staring.

He was smiling just like when he saw me behind Uma.

Though his smile might disappear after I do what the unnamed Silver Hero asked me to do.

I was a little poked at the thought, but Hwang Jiho’s face suddenly hardened.

“Jo Euishin. Is your ear injured? Let’s get rid of this dirty cow and get you treated quickly.”

Hwang Jiho saw the blood stain on my ear.

I thought he predicted what I was about to do, but fortunately, he didn’t.

Then, an ominous sound was heard from Uma.

Duk. Wooook.

Flesh and bones sprouted and the parts penetrated by the weapon were being filled.

It was Uma’s regeneration in action.

Hwang Jiho clicked his tongue and threw his tail.

Uma already lost Gugalanna’s power, so it was useless to keep grabbing onto his tail.

Running this way, Joo Soohyuk and Maeng Hyodon faltered at the sight.

“He’s regenerating!”

“Jo Euishin knocked down Gugalanna just now, not Uma. Uma’s power is still there.”

Joo Soohyuk said nervously as he gripped his dual swords.

Like the title hero that he is, Joo Soohyuk has accurately grasped the situation.

Of course, there was no way that his body would completely regenerate and regain strength as long as Hwang Jiho was here.

Fwiijijiiik!

Hwang Jiho developed a boundary on the sole of his shoes and trampled on Uma’s neck.

Sparks constantly flew, the blows interfering with Uma’s regeneration.

Uma looked at Hwang Jiho and then the Sangbosimgeumpa that I held.

Looking at his red eyes, he must think that all this is because of the weapon that I held which did the last hit.

“I-if only that pig hadn’t managed the scourge in vain, all this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Even without the Sangbosimgeumpa, you’d never have won.”

Hwang Jiho laughed and added strength to his kick.

Uma wriggled, breathing out as if he was suffocating.

The evil Uma continued to speak even as he spat out blood from his mouth.

“I don’t lose.”

“I heard that crazy cows should not be slaughtered carelessly. Looks like we have a problem then.”

Then, Uma unleashed his energy waves.

Hwang Jiho wasn’t surprised, gathering the surrounding boundaries and preparing to arrest Uma.

It was expected that Uma would flood energy waves around him to make one last provocation, but what happened was different.

Uma’s energy waves were flowing into his arms.

Gukukuku…

“What else are you going to do? Whatever that is, how can you think that it will work in front of…”

Hwang Jiho turned speechless in the middle of his sentence.

There was ominous energy flowing through something in Uma’s arms.

The ominous energy ignored Hwang Jiho’s golden boundary and tried to spread around him.

Hwang Jiho hurriedly retreated, and Uma began to rise slowly.

I took out the item card to make the last move that I prepared.

“Step back, Hwang Jiho. Your power doesn’t work on him.”

“Jo Euishin…?”

The thing that Uma tried to gain by infiltrating the center of the Tiger Clan’s territory alone — the treasure of the Tiger Clan.

The power of the Tiger Clan’s treasure cannot be countered by the tigers.

This is what the unnamed Silver Hero told me;

— Other than Gugalanna, Uma has another secret weapon. That is why you must go.

— A secret weapon?

— Uma will get his hands on the Tiger Clan’s treasure on that day. Its power is difficult for the Tiger Clan to counter.

If it’s a treasure of the Tiger Clan hidden in their territory, then is it a rare item?

According to Hwang Jiho, the treasure hasn’t appeared in the last 2,000 years, so how could Uma have gotten it?

I had a lot of questions, but I asked the most important one first.

— Can’t the Tiger Clan get their hands on it first?

— If they could, the clan wouldn’t have wasted 2,000 years.

— What if I get it?

— You won’t be able to either.

The Silver Hero answered firmly.

She said that it’s something that neither I nor the Tiger Clan can do.

The Silver Hero explained the reason.

— As the number of people living on this land increased, a number of unfathomable emotions also appeared. The treasure that swallows emotions was tainted, and its nature changed. And…

The Silver Hero was reticent.

Is there anything else that contaminated the Tiger Clan’s treasure?

After a moment of silence, the Silver Hero concluded her explanation.

— The only ones who can get to the treasure of the Tiger Clan are the degenerates. It’s something you or the tigers can’t do.

Hearing that, I had no choice but to wait until Uma got his hands on the Tiger Clan’s treasure.

“What are you going to do, Jo Euishin!”

Grrrr!

The scent of poppies permeated when I actualized the item card that I obtained from the Fomorian demons’ auction.

The treasure of the Tuatha Dé Danann, The Spear of Lugh.

I put the blood-hungry spear to sleep for a long time with the poppies, but its thirst for blood manifested as it screamed for slaughter.

I couldn’t let go of the spear just yet.

“You have to use a heavenly treasure against a heavenly treasure.”

Uma shouted with bloodshot eyes when I raised the spear.

He seemed to recognize that this was another treasure.

“You dare to wield Lugh’s spear after you use the Sangbosimgeumpa? What an arrogant human!”

Uma took out a tiger-carved incense burner from his arms.

My grip on the spear trembled a little.

My plan is in place by lifting the spear and releasing energy waves, but as Uma said, perhaps I was arrogant and the power did not follow.

‘This is the last thing though!’

Will I be able to suppress Uma’s energy even if I swing the spear?

As if he had seen my hesitation, Uma tried to spread evil by putting energy waves on the incense burner.

The power, which Hwang Jiho himself can’t block, might spread to Eungwang High.

At that moment…

Fwish…

“What the…?”

Something broke and scattered from Uma’s hand which lifted the incense burner high.

It was Uma’s ring.

The pulverized ring was attached to Uma’s left hand, melting down with his hand.

Drip…

Uma looked incredulous when he saw his melting hands.

He tried to regenerate, but Uma shouted as if he’d gone mad.

“Why, why! Why did you betray me, Nabiryeong!”

Nabiryeong>

Instead of asking, I decided to move first.

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

I picked up the spear and stabbed Uma’s remaining hand.

Fwaaat! Tuk…

Uma lost both arms and the incense burner rolled down.

When it fell from his hand, Hwang Jiho immediately subdued Uma with a boundary.

Trapped in the confines of gold, Uma looked a his missing left arm with a haunted face.

While Hwang Jiho was facing Uma, I picked up two objects that fell on the floor.

One was the incense burner, the Tiger Clan’s treasure.

The other was Gugalanna’s blue-gold stone horn.

I spoke at a distance from Hwang Jiho, Joo Soohyuk, Maeng Hyodon, and Yoo Sanghoon.

“I’m going somewhere on my own for a moment.”

“What?”

“I was thinking of going in return for liberating Gugalanna.”

Gugalanna was the first husband of Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld.

She was one of the many superior beings who spoke to the Silver Hero when the otherworld collisions brought a huge crisis to this world.

Ereshkigal asked the Silver Hero to liberate Gugalanna.

And now I’m accepting that request.

Hwang Jiho sensed that I wasn’t kidding.

“What are you saying, Jo Euishin. Do you think I’ll let you go to the realm ruled by the goddess of death?”

I knew Hwang Jiho would stop me.

That’s why I couldn’t tell him in advance.

“This land will get caught up when the door to the demon world opens. Open a boundary and protect them.”

“Jo Euishin!”

Gukukuku…

Kwakwakwa!

A roar shook the earth’s axis the moment the horn and the incense burner were blown, dark energy creeping up through the cracked ground.

As promised, Ereshkigal intervened.

I almost smirked at the sound of the system notification amid the roar.

I guess it waited all this time before activating.

The entrance to the demon world opened through the split land, a torrent swirling through its entrance.

Fwaaaa!

Hwang Jiho was already making a solid gold boundary.

I saw the people behind.

Yoo Sanghoon was being restrained by Joo Soohyuk and Maeng Hyodon from lifting his shield as if he wanted to absorb all this power.

And Hwang Jiho shouting something.

It should’ve been exhausting enough to create this powerful of a boundary out of nowhere, but he’s not the Guardian of this territory for nothing.

With that guy here, I was confident that I could leave this place safely.

I gave a greeting and jumped to the entrance, but the moment I threw my body…

Hwik!

Something clasped my hand.

I looked up and saw someone firmly holding me, and my eyes opened wide without realizing.

‘Why is he here?’

It was Baekho-gun.

“Good job, Baekho. Don’t let go of Jo Euishin. Hold onto him until the entrance to the demon world is closed!”

I heard Hwang Jhio’s voice in the distance.

Baekho-gun must’ve heard him too as he tightened his grip on my hand.

Hwiii…

The entrance to the demon world was closing.

The destiny skill is supporting the time for superior beings to intervene in this world, but I became nervous.

“Please let me go.”

“…”

Even so, Baekho-gun held me silently.

It was impossible to shake him off with my physical ability.

I can’t use my light skill now, and I can’t even imagine attacking Baekho-gun with the Sangbosimgeumpa or Lugh’s Spear.

I couldn’t think of anything and my mind was spinning.

“I’ll be back.”

In the end, all I could do was promise to return.

The silence felt long and I couldn’t tell what Baekho-gun was thinking.

“Come back safely.”

With that, Baekho-gun let me go.

The voices that called me receded, and I felt like I was being vacuumed down.

Perhaps due to the use of the Tiger Clan’s treasure as a medium for calling the demon world, the essence of the Tiger Clan was gurgling at the entrance.

Fwooodump!

After falling into the entrance, I sank to the bottom.

I held my breath for a long time, the floor leading to the demon world far deeper than I thought.

I could see the sky far beyond the surface of the spring water.

Before long, the black snow stopped.