By Zephyria 
「It is true that there is Contamination, but I showed it to you to let you know it’s not at a level to be concerned about. If the Management Bureau had failed to control the Contamination, the phone used to record the video would have been destroyed, and before that, anyone who witnessed the sky wouldn’t be in their right mind.」
“Aha….”
His pounding heart calmed down a bit. Yoo Jiha drank a glass of cold water and then crouched down.
It felt so pathetic that while Jeil Heon was embarking on a dangerous operation for his sake, he himself was unable to be of any help. The most he could do was pray for his safety. Even the true eye he possessed was not originally his.
I have nothing left, except for the fact that I like him. A cold realization swept through a corner of his chest, leaving it aching. The fingertips wrapped around his forearm curled slightly.
Axes split heads and spearheads severed shoulders. When blades pierced chests, arrows flew and struck. The Special Guard Unit consisted mostly of cavalry. In the era of cold weapons, the destructive power of a cavalry unit was comparable to tanks in modern warfare. Even for Jeil Heon, it was no easy feat to withstand the impact of the ferocious attacks that crashed down as they charged with enough force to shake the axis of the earth.
If his body had been ordinary, he would have died dozens of times already, rolling across the battlefield only to be crushed by horse hooves. Just as the enemy soldiers who had blocked the Special Guard Unit met their end.
First, he had to resolve the disadvantageous gap in visibility in this battle. Jeil Heon took a step forward, wiping away the blood that flowed from his split forehead and stained his vision. The moment a spear lunged toward him, he kicked off the ground, twisting his body to evade it. Sliding to the right, Jeil Heon used his blood-soaked grip to twist and tear off the cavalryman’s leg.
「Kugh!」
As the cavalryman tumbled and crashed to the ground, he quickly hooked his foot into the empty stirrup and leaped into the saddle. He had never learned how to ride a horse, but as soon as he sat in the saddle, his body naturally awakened an old memory. The memory of a fox demon from a happy time, showered with love from a father and older brothers, often pestering his brothers to ride together or following them to hunting grounds.
Fixing his body to the saddle using only the strength of his knees and thighs, he grabbed the spear shaft dropped by the Vengeful Spirit with his free hand. Whenever his spear cleaved the air and the horse shifted direction, the cavalry formation, which had been as solid as a fortress, crumbled.
But it was only a momentary gap. Just as his own body was transcending humanity, these beings were not human either. Their collapsed bodies quickly sprouted back into their fixed original forms, attacking him with inexhaustible vitality. At this rate, there would be no end. A meaningless war of attrition was not what he desired.
Rotating the spear above his head to shake off the incoming attacks, Jeil Heon kicked the horse’s flanks to gain speed. He quickly maneuvered through the cavalry, secured a certain safety distance, and gripped the eogunggu on his back. He only had a few days to practice the traditional bow, but the results weren’t bad, and he tended to be strong in actual combat.
Only a few seconds had passed since he gripped the bow, but the cavalry were already charging toward him. As soon as Jeil Heen notched the arrow, he released it. The arrow shot out like a bolt, flying fiercely. It soared over the heads of the cavalry, toward the banner that stood tall and solitary, fluttering in the wind.
The arrow pierced the banner and disappeared into the void, leaving behind only the torn, fluttering flag. A chilling silence descended upon the battlefield.
The banner of the Special Guard Unit was torn.
A banner does not simply serve the role of commanding troops on a battlefield. It was also the symbol of the general who commanded the army, and proof that one was with the general in this battle.
To the Vengeful Spirits, that general was only Yi Seong-gye. Even in the absence of the banner’s true owner, the flag fluttering on the battlefield was an expression of unchanging integrity and loyalty.
The banner of the Special Guard Unit was torn. That banner, which had not been broken once in decades.
「You bastard!」
A desperate roar tore through the surroundings. The anomaly that had brought the Otherworld’s Contamination into reality was enraged. Blood burst and flowed from the pulsing arteries of the earth, and the flickering sun and moon shattered and scattered, tearing through the wide-open pupils.
Watching the scene of the contaminated world twisting, Jeil Heon thought. What did Jiha call this when he played games? Ah, Boss Mob Phase 3.
The Ten Thousand Waves Flute is a cluster of Vengeful Spirits representing a single concept. It is stained with longings spanning from 1,300 years ago to as recently as 600 years. All of this needed to be condensed into a single adversary: Jeil Heon.
〈So you’re saying you’ll tear Yi Seong-gye’s banner with Yi Seong-gye’s bow in front of the Special Guard Unit?〉
〈Yes.〉
〈I’d rather you just insult Yi Seong-gye’s parents in front of them.〉
〈Insulting people is your specialty, not mine.〉
Kang Suk-young, who would normally have let out a torrent of coarse curses, replied only with a heavy breath.
〈…Sunbae, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? Since the Ten Thousand Waves Flute doesn’t intend to cause harm on purpose, you’ve bought some time for now. Jiha will be safe at Pilgyeongdang too.〉
Jeil Heon only let out a faint smile at her reluctant dissuasion.
〈I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. After hearing the answer when I had an audience with Your Highness, I knew this was the only way. If there were another method, I would have thought of it already.〉
Yes. Watching the twisting world, Jeil Heon reminded himself once more. There is no other way to keep Yoo Jiha safe and stop the Contamination.
Neither Mae-gu nor the Management Bureau can stop the spread of Contamination here forever. Once the control over the Ten Thousand Waves Flute is released, the Contamination will rapidly erode reality. Humans with intellect will go mad, creatures will twist grotesquely, and nature will collapse.
So, truly, this was the only way. The sky crumpled and the earth rippled. The Contamination, which appeared as an intangible flow to human eyes and as tentacles writhing across the sky and earth to the eyes of anomalies, was rapidly withdrawn.
「Even death will not be enough to pay for this!」
The rage of the Vengeful Spirits, having withdrawn the power that had extended outward, collided with Jeil Heon. An energy far more dense than the Contamination of the Blind Eater he had been fused with for 17 years. In truth, he had already passed the Critical Point back then, but his humanity, which had been barely maintained by the child Seoljuk calling his name to define his existence, melted away in an instant.
Aaaaaah! The fox demon dwelling within him howled. His throat felt hot. Hunger surged. From the peripheral nerves to the cellular level, the body that had barely defined itself as human collapsed. His throat was hot. The skin touching the metal, glowing white with surging heat, necrotized. Extreme hunger gnawed at his entire body. An extreme hunger that would not feel satiety no matter what he ate. That heat. The mutation. His body.
K-boom!
In the middle of the clearing, which was shaking with vibrations as if the air were splitting from the collision of deep grudges, a sharp explosion rang out. A newly bloomed fire danced and wavered.
Ji-hwan exploded.
Huh.
Yoo Jiha, who had been anxiously searching for the Pyeongtaek US Army Base, suddenly looked up.
「What is the matter?」
Without even time to answer Gong Ran-sa’s questioning gaze, he rushed outside. Without even thinking to put on shoes, he stepped down from the stone porch and ran to the front yard.
〈Jiha.〉
Someone’s voice drifted softly. With a delayed sense of déjà vu, Yoo Jiha’s shoulders trembled. He had heard it before. He had definitely heard this voice. During the first entry.
Why hadn’t he realized it until now? Why had he forgotten it until now?
〈So it’s okay, Jiha. It’s okay. Don’t worry.〉
The voice he heard when the true eye opened.
Just like then, his eyes grew hot as if they would burst. He rubbed his damp eyes with the back of his hand. Perhaps a capillary had burst, as a bit of blood was mixed with his tears.
“…Mister?”
His face turned toward the direction the voice had come from. He blinked once and opened his eyes. The autumn sky, which usually shone clear and high, was being crumpled like paper, stained with an ominous green and purple hue.
And a familiar character appeared there.
[■]
The proof of an Aberration, which could not be identified even with the true eye.