Chapter 41 - Internal Conflict

After some time has passed.

‘Why is jingjo not coming back?’ (*Jingjo is a type of monster with a relatively high level of intelligence)

Park Moo-hae was puzzled.

He shoved ordinary openers, who would get in his way, into the lair of the infected, preventing them from escaping.

And he even sent jingjo to check and kill those who might be alive.

But jingjo of greed, which should’ve returned by now from the mission, hasn’t arrived yet.

‘There’s no way that jingjo has been defeated by them.’

Jingjo of greed.

Unlike other jingjo that receive power from the dungeon masters, the jingjo of greed received their power directly from the demon king at the realm of greed. Above all, they were unmatched in their resilience.

‘Yes, there’s no way.’

Jo Yong-ho, who was talking next to me, asked.

“Mr. Park, is there any problem?”

“No, nothing. I just had something to think about for a second… So did we remove all those who are suspecting the director by sending the third group?”

“That’s right. We even sent the rest of them as a rescue team, so they must have been devoured by jingjo of greed. Now we just need to focus on Kang Min-ah and Lee Jin-seong.”

“Hmm….”

Park Moo-hae thought to himself that everything will be okay. He then asked Jo Yong-ho.

“But who’s Lee Jin-seong?”

“Ah, he’s the new professor who is helping Kang Min-ah with her escape…. Even though he hasn’t awakened his powers, his strength is as strong as the professors. We should keep an eye on him.”

“Huh…. There was someone as strong as that?”

Muhyuk was already giving him a headache, so the news that there is one more professor-level skilled person was not pleasant.

Suddenly, a vague light began to appear at the end of the track.

“The exit appeared!”

The sunlight from outside was shedding a light on the broken tunnel wall. Park Moo-hae and Jo Yong-ho approached the edge of the cliff and looked at the place in front of them.

“Woah… Is it the heart of corruption?”

“That’s right.”

Jo Yong-ho swallowed, observing the heart of the terrible heart of corruption.

‘It’s releasing such a bad energy.’

Doong…..Doong….Doong….Doong….

The red egg sac hanging in the air was pulsating and showing off its presence.

Park Moo-hae and his party stood in front of the heart of corruption.

Jo Yong-ho explained.

“It is the heart of the Lord of Corruption. I heard that it is currently sealed by the magic sword Tyrfing.”

Park Moo-hae was in doubt.

“…Um, but isn’t it a bit strange? I can’t see the sword….”

The great seal that no one had been able to break until now was gone.

Jo Yong-ho, who realized this belatedly, was greatly perplexed.

“What…? It was a seal that no one could unlock… Who did this and how….?”

Looking at Jo Yong-ho, who seemed to be in great confusion, Park Moo-hae asked.

“Isn’t it good news for us that the seal of the heart is now unlocked?”

“The thing about that is…. It’s actually not.”

“Why?”

“In the current situation, the heart of corruption will go wild, and sooner or later Seoul will be covered with mushroom forests. Unless you’re higher than a demon, it can only be fatal….”

In other words, the heart of corruption that lost its restraints would turn the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria into mushroom forests, and the dead would be wiped out in the process.

“What? Can’t we control that?”

“For now, we can’t…. But the Grand Duke of Lust might know the way…..”

Suddenly, the heart that was pulsating stopped.

Crack…!

And its bottom part began to diverge.

“What, what is that….?”

Park Moo-hae and Jo Yong-ho were in great shock. The heart let out a huge egg wrapped in mucus.

Kuung…!

As the egg fell to the ground, there was a loud crashing sound. It was a white egg the size of a human covered in slime.

What the heck is that?

I heard that it’s the heart, but how can it lay an egg?

His subordinates were also in a panic.

Park Moo-hae pointed out one of his subordinates.

“You.”

“Y, yes, sir!”

“Go and check it.”

“M, me?”

A dead bureaucrat behind him pushed his back.

“What are you doing?! He’s telling you to go!”

“Ah, yes…!”

Park Mu-hae’s subordinate couldn’t even protest once and approached the egg that had fallen out. Then he spoke, hesitating to go closer.

“…I can’t see well!”

Park Moo-hae, who was standing from the distance, was bruised.

“You dumbass! Can’t you see it when you get closer?”

“Y, yes, sir!”

Park Moo-hae’s subordinate had no choice but to go closer.

Surprisingly, he could see a hazy figure through the white, translucent eggshell. The human form had two black eyes, and the eyes were clustered with countless single hexagonal eyes, like that of the insects.

“….Human….? Wait no, I think it’s an insect?”

“Take a photo and bring it to me.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was when he hurriedly took out his phone to take a photo.

“…..Huh?”

The dead noticed something strange.

Behind the white egg that had fallen to the ground, there were other eggs piled up on the slightly sloping ground.

The number was not just one, but several tens of hundreds.

But each of the eggs was hollow and hardened in yellow.

“S, sir!”

The dead was about to report that to his boss.

What the fuck!

Damn it, what is that!

For some reason, everyone was staring at him and screaming.

Drip….drip….!

Then, hot saliva fell on the dead’s head.

“…..Huh?”

When he lifted his head, he could see a giant, bipedal fly with its jaw wide open.

Aaaaaaaah!

He screamed.

Kyaaeek!

Kwajik!

The giant, bipedal fly chomped his head off.

Splat.

The body without its head fell on the floor.

The fuck!

It’s not just one.

What the heck is that?!

There wasn’t just one man that looked like a fly.

Flies that were hiding in between the mushrooms came out all at once.

Park Moo-hae asked in great confusion.

“W, what is that?!”

“I think they are jingjo of corruption!”

“Jingjo of corruption?! Didn’t they all die already?”

Jo Yong-ho grinded his teeth.

“Looking at its small size, it seems to have weakened! They must have come out from the heart when it started working again!”

“Oh My God… .. there is no dungeon master, but jingjo was born… ..! Without a priest, they would be out of control!”

If confronted with jingjo of corruption, they could be led to greater danger, perhaps even to the point of destruction.

Jo Yong-ho screamed.

“Move quickly! We’ll get out of here!”

Under Jo Yong-ho’s command, the dead began to escape from the heart of corruption in chaos.

However.

“That, that’s….?!”

A man was standing at the only way out of the tunnel.

“……”

Srrrrng…!

A man wearing a black coat with a sword in his hand was blocking the dead from coming in.

“He, he is!!”

Park Moo-hae’s face turned pale.

Then, he started shouting.

“Muhyuk, it’s Muhyuk! He came here to kill me! I can’t escape!”

“Mr. Park! What are you worried about?! We can just skill that assassin right now!”

But Park Moo-hae didn’t think so.

“No! He is the one who killed Kim Oh-seong!

“He killed Kim, Kim Oh-seong?”

Jo Yong-ho was in shock after hearing from Park Moo-hae. Although he didn’t like him, Park Moo-hae never talked nonsense, and his assessment of his enemies has always been correct.

Suddenly, one question came to Park Moo-hae’s mind, who was lost in the panic.

‘….But why can’t I access the foreknowledge?’

The power that foretold his future whenever Park Moo-hae was in danger. But even after the appearance of Muhyuk, who obviously came to kill him, he had no foreknowledge of the future at all.

Park Moo-hae shouted, pushing his question aside.

“What are you guys doing?! Put him away from me!”

Bang! Bang….!

Along with Park Moo-hae’s shout, the dead of the Bureau of Management fired bows and guns at Muhyuk using a long-distance speculator’s weapon.

Sssssssk…..

As if laughing at the concentric fires from the dead, Muhyuk stepped back inside the tunnel and disappeared so that the angle of the hit won’t be accurate. He hid in the darkness inside the tunnel.

“Stop! Stop! Are you guys going to break the exit tunnel?!”

Eventually, Park Moo-hae and Jo Yong-ho had no choice but to stop the long-distance attack.

The tunnel was going to destruct with a strong attack, but if they just enter the tunnel, Muhyuk will take advantage of the darkness to attack the dead.

In a moment of dilemma, Jo Yong-ho shouted.

“Damn it! Fire! Kill each of them by concentric fire!”

They decided to attack the jingjo first.

Although the dead’s force made an intensive attack towards jingjo, the jingjo of corruption that managed to approach through the attack began to sweep Jo Yong-ho’s forces.

They swung their forearms that had turned like mantis scythes. They either stretched out their gigantic arms to stab and kill the dead, or they trampled them down with their feet.

Jo Yong-ho, who realized something was wrong, started looking for Park Moo-hae.

“Mr. Park! Mr.Park, where are you!”

But for some reason, he couldn’t find the trace of Park Moo-hae and his subordinates.

But instead,

“Park Moo-hae?! Where are you going?!”

Park Moo-hae was already heading to the tunnel.

“Park Moo-hae! You the mother fucker!!!”

Jo Yong-ho shouted in rage at Park Moo-hae, who was running away.

Muhyuk silently waited in the dark.

He pulled the cross necklace that he was wearing on his neck closer to his forehead.

‘This will be the last chance.’

Whew……

Muhyuk took a deep breath. This was something he always did before carrying out an important mission.

He put his necklace back to where it was and held out the sword he got from Jin-seong.

Srrrrng….!

It was a sealing sword made of black onyx gemstone.

+

Name: Black Onyx Blade

Division: Single-edged sword

Rating: B+

Description: A high-purity black onyx blade, created by a skilled swordsman in collaboration with several technicians. Although the durability is low, the sealing ability is very high.

Ability: It can absorb evil beings that are not currently fixed.

+

Not only the blade but also the gem embedded at the center of the guard and the entire sword was made up of the finest black onyx gemstone. It was a great weapon that could neutralize the monstrous recovery cycle used by the amorphous jingjo, and even seal it within the sword.

So if it’s one-on-one, there is a fair chance of winning the fight.

‘My teacher said that with my current ability, I’m capable of fighting against jingjo.’

Muhyuk now had to fight with jingjo at its front, not by making a surprise attack.

He thought that if I take advantage of the onyx blade and the landscape here, it seemed like it will be possible for him to sweep away all the jingjo of corruption and the dead.

Suddenly.

Kigigigk!

Kigigik!

Tentacles that climbed up from the cliff began to appear.

-Food….!

-I’m hungry….

Crack…!

One jingjo of corruption entered the tunnel.

Chiiing!

It was when Muhyuk was about to run towards jingjo with his sword.

“Hey, hound.”

“…..?!”

A voice came from behind, where no one should’ve been there. Suddenly, Muhyuk stopped moving and stood still.

“You….!”

It was Park Moo-hae.

“Muhyuk.”

Muhyuk started growling.

“….Wow. You have the guts to reveal yourself in front of me. Why are you here?”

Park Moo-hae shook his head.

“Because something kept getting on my mind… No matter how many times I think of it, Kim Oh-seong can’t be killed by a hound like you….”

“….You’ve been running from me until now. Did you come here to die?”

Muhyuk held out his sword at Park Moo-hae.

Seeing him, Park Moo-hae laughed.

Kkik Kkik Kkik….!

He let out a laugh that sounded like an insect’s shells being rubbed against each other.

Pwack!

Park Moo-hae’s bent back diverged into half.

Kuduk, kuduk, kudududuk….!

Then the massive body and legs of the insect began to protrude as if it were stripping off the flesh of that little old man.

Knnng…!

Park Moo-hae, who showed his true appearance, spoke with only his face unchanged.

“Because this time, I couldn’t have access to the foreknowledge at all!”

“…..”

Muhyuk calmly held out his sword. He had no other choice but to fight.

‘He caught me faster than I thought…. I lost point this time.’

Park Moo-hae was a difficult opponent to win if we were to fight with all our strength, but Muhyuk calmly accepted his situation.

Swoosh!

He wielded the sword.

“Come, you disgusting insects.”

With that said,

Kyaeekkk!

Park Moo-hae and jingjo of greed began to rush towards Muhyuk.