novelburst-info
Chapter 28
Chapter 28
From this chapter onwards, the book is being translated by our team! Enjoy reading!
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1. Evolution
Life evolves.
Creatures adapt to their environment, modifying their traits to gain a survival advantage.
In evolutionary terms, yokai are a privileged race.
Harnessing spiritual power or natural energy,
they convert it into their unique yokai energy,
propelling their transformations forward.
Some individuals desire invincible bodies,
others crave forms capable of absorbing women.
Their wishes, their desires,
they pursue them with longing,
and make them real.
This is the essence of yokai.
The Yokai Sage Mihura—
he, too, had a desired path for his evolution.
A colossal body capable of challenging great yokai.
A longing to possess such a form for himself.
But evolution requires energy,
and the greater the change, the farther the destination,
the more energy—yokai energy—is consumed exponentially.
"I’ve prepared for 20 years."
From across this vast forest.
By sacrificing the whole of nature itself.
He reaped an astronomical amount of yokai energy,
transcending a mere size increase or an elevated state.
He achieved an evolution worthy of the term "colossal."
"I can feel it—this overwhelming power."
Just as an elephant doesn’t need to exert effort to crush a mouse underfoot,
to the Yokai Sage Mihura, humans were akin to such insignificant beings.
To commemorate his achievement of this massive evolution,
even a casual step could crush
those small,
insignificant,
utterly non-threatening,
crawling insects beneath him.
This was how he saw them.
Until he met the Silent Swordswoman.
Before his massive body could even graze the ground,
her speed carried her far beyond his reach.
"That human… could she be a half-yokai?"
No, that was impossible.
As a yokai, he would have sensed even the faintest yokai energy from a half-breed.
She was human.
A pure human untainted by any yokai blood.
And yet, her speed,
her swift reactions,
like an insect buzzing around his body,
instilled in him an instinctual repulsion.
Boom!
Dodging an attack that crushed the earth,
she weaved around as his centipede-like tail lashed repeatedly,
sweeping the ground like a flyswatter.
A cataclysmic thrashing that shook the entirety of the forest field.
And amidst this chaos,
a sharp pain shot into his back.
"How dare this insect!"
Even among bugs,
there are those referred to as pests—
harmful creatures that infect forests with disease,
like the cursed spirits and the sacrificed tribespeople he used as raw materials.
But the human with a sword,
piercing his colossal body and causing him pain,
was undeniably a pest.
"A pest I can tolerate. But I must not allow her to become a venomous insect."
Evolution does not only bring advantages.
Increased muscle and size mean higher metabolic demands,
requiring more energy intake just to sustain the body.
Hunting becomes more difficult,
and more time must be spent finding prey.
For massive creatures, their true predators are not larger monsters,
but parasites that drain their energy or small predators
that deplete their food supply.
And then,
there are venomous insects—
too small to deal with,
yet capable of inflicting one-sided harm.
"No matter how sharp that tiny toothpick of yours is,"
"it cannot compare to the power I’ve cultivated over 20 years!"
His massive tail spread wide,
sweeping the entire forest in an apocalyptic field-wide attack.
Though his yokai body could endure,
any fragile human caught even in the debris
would be reduced to nothing but flesh pulp.
"I’ll end this!!"
"Not a chance. Friend, hang onto me!"
The half-yokai Inmyeon Jiju leaped,
carrying the human on his back.
Once a weak and naive half-demon,
his venomous eyes now gleamed with determination as he dashed forward.
Over uprooted trees,
shattered boulders,
and rivers of flowing mud,
even as one leg sank into the debris,
and his soft body was crushed by the wreckage,
he endured the pain,
bit back his screams,
and held on.
Standing at 2.5 meters tall and 4 meters long,
his figure seemed ant-like compared to the massive 20-meter-tall,
100-meter-long form of the Yokai Sage Mihura.
Yet, he withstood the overwhelming field-wide assault.
2. [Story Mode]
"How pitiful. Is this what becomes of a puppet that has outlived its usefulness?"
"What meaning is there in such desperate struggling?"
"Even if your doom has been delayed, what could you possibly accomplish in just one minute?"
The Yokai Sage sneered at their efforts.
Yet, in the face of his mockery,
the half-yokai Inmyeon Jiju neither despaired nor lamented.
With blazing eyes, he shouted resolutely:
"Do you think wielding power beyond your means makes it eternal?"
"You’re too scared."
"Too cautious."
"That’s why, even against small creatures, you don’t hold back. When you should crush them, you pour everything into it, trying desperately to press them down."
A gaze without the slightest trace of fear,
imbued with a sense of resolution.
A warning bell rang in Mihura’s mind.
"Human! Where is that wretched creature?!"
"Sage! How long can you keep up your chase for my friend? How long can you move that massive body? Aren’t you already weary?"
The Silent Swordswoman had chosen a battle of attrition.
Yokai Sage Mihura was undeniably strong.
Even a precise strike to his bones caused only a faint sting,
his absurd durability and immense form rendering him a near-invincible foe.
"To clash head-on with such a beast is the folly of fools."
When the opponent specializes in strength,
respond with fluidity to deflect it.
When they rely on overwhelming weight,
counter with speed.
An interplay of martial art attributes,
much like the elemental interactions of the Five Phases.
Strength (?), Fluidity (?), Speed (?), and Weight (?) formed the core four attributes,
giving rise to specialized forms like Transformation (?), Explosion (?), Absorption (?), Impact (?), Elasticity (?), Curve (?), and Harmony (?).
With mastery over the Four Wheels, Eight Paths, and Sixteen Gates,
she had grasped the essence of martial arts,
and no matter how large the opponent,
despair was not an option.
"You want me to buy time, right?"
Though the pressure on Inmyeon Jiju would double with her retreat,
the half-yokai understood her intentions and accepted.
"Leave it to me. I’ll find an opening somehow."
With the first phase, Cataclysm, now over.
The Yokai Sage Mihura's massive body expanded further, releasing a thick venomous breath.
"Fwoosh!!"
"When I use my strength, I use it fully. That much is true, but also false."
"This power was originally meant to rival great yokai."
"It wasn’t intended for dealing with insignificant creatures like you… but now that I’ve used it, I won’t let you off easily."
"The plague I spread over this forest for 20 years—"
"No matter where you hide, no matter where you run,"
"When the entire forest is engulfed, there will be no escape!"
"Let’s see your small body endure this!!"
[Player Mode]
The second phase, Plague Breath, began.
The Yokai Sage Mihura now unleashed a level of power beyond a simple boss fight—
this was boss raid material, a force that felt insurmountable.
The speed of his breath’s charge,
the breadth of its reach,
and the devastating effect it had on the ground, which melted wherever it touched,
were nothing short of extraordinary.
The toxic miasma produced by vengeful spirits might be endured by holding one’s breath,
but Plague Breath was different.
Simply entering its range spelled death,
with the inevitable vision of one’s bones melting away.
- "No way, is this a literal instant-death attack?"
- "What even is this game? The genre just flipped!"
- "The range is insane, how are you supposed to dodge that?"
- "Is jumping even an option here?"
- "By the way, where’s the Silent Swordswoman?"
- "LMAO fr, I switched out of first-person view, and she’s gone from my screen."
- "Why do we have to play Where’s Waldo during a live stream??"
The viewers, engrossed as if watching an action movie, commented furiously while witnessing the sheer spectacle of the Plague Breath phase.
- "Found her! She’s clinging to his back."
- "Wait, when did she get all the way up there??"
- "She’s scaling his vertical body like it’s nothing."
- "Straight-up rock climbing skills."
- "Is this one of those martial arts techniques, like… 'Wall Climbing Art' or something?"
- "Whoa, you know about 'Wall Climbing Art'? Respect. It’s super useful!"
- "Okay, but what is 'Wall Climbing Art,' boomer?"
- "It’s literally just a martial art for scaling walls. If you want to be Spider-Man, you need to learn it."
- "Did Peter Parker master Wall Climbing Art?"
- "Obviously, dude."
- "So, if Inmyeon Jiju’s a male, is he Spider-Man now?"
- "Yup, makes sense."
- "Yup, great logic. Just keep throwing random stuff out there."
- "Next Spider-Man, confirmed."
While the viewers were enthralled by the spectacle,
the Yokai Sage Mihura was gradually consumed by growing unease.
"So… they’re not just some mere pest?"
Even if it couldn’t be caught by swinging limbs,
one would assume it would fall lifelessly when hit with a powerful pesticide.
That’s what he thought this insignificant creature was.
But if it survived the pesticide,
if it clung on with the resilience of a massive centipede,
a venomous creature with endless vitality—
it wasn’t something he could accept.
It must not be true.
Over decades, he had amassed yokai energy,
power he wielded now with his Plague Breath attack.
It rivaled the breath of a dragon in scale,
a field-wide attack meant to ensure nothing could survive.
If this human escaped unscathed,
the energy cost would escalate drastically,
to the point that Mihura wouldn’t even be able to maintain his current form.
What would a yokai be without its inhuman strength?
Nothing but a pitiful shadow.
Thus, if he expended power, it had to count.
With absolute resolve,
he prepared the most massive intake of energy yet.
The second phase, Plague Breath, escalated into its final pattern:
Plague Eruption.
Like a volcano about to erupt,
his enormous body swelled,
packed with molten energy and toxic gas.
Clinging to his neck, the Silent Swordswoman once again drew her blade.
[Plague Eruption]
The culmination of both the Explosion and Fire attributes,
a wide-area annihilation technique.
Anything caught within its radius would be utterly obliterated,
leaving only ruin in its wake.
It was a technique reminiscent of Ganun Hyeolhae (Piercing the Clouds, Summoning the Blood Sea),
a supreme secret art of the Blood Sect’s leader, Hyeolmoklin.
A wide-range annihilation technique fueled by a profound reservoir of energy,
capable of devastating entire battlefields.
She had fallen to this technique once before,
unable to counter it during her first encounter with Hyeolmoklin.
But after years of arduous training,
when she faced him again,
she had uncovered its weakness.
"The only vulnerability lies in the moment before the energy disperses,
when it is still gathering."
If the move were unleashed,
survival required deploying an equivalent wide-area technique,
or engaging in a direct energy clash,
both of which demanded immense inner strength.
But if one severed the flow before it could be released—
"!!!"
The energy would implode,
devastating the user’s own meridians, internal organs, and energy core.
"Kraaaaaaah!!!"
The massive body convulsed,
vomiting out the reversed energy,
tearing Mihura apart from the inside.
The overwhelming force that had once dominated the forest,
reminiscent of the fearsome Ganun Hyeolhae,
now consumed the Yokai Sage himself,
leaving him utterly drained of yokai energy.
"This cannot be! My plan, two decades in the making! The strength to rival great yokai!!"
Mihura’s colossal form crumpled,
folding inward,
shrinking,
until all that remained was the bare, vulnerable body of a human.