Subdued Soul Chronicle - Chapter 8: Evil Moon (8)

Chapter 8: Evil Moon (8)

At times like this, one needs to be calm.

Seol Young quickly assessed the situation.

This man seemed to be thinking of getting rid of the spirits in here first. Then there was no need to fight.

‘Let’s just use him then.’

The madman who broke down the inn.

It was not the most desirable move, but it still felt like a good choice.

He had to drive this man into killing as many as he could. The spirits will also be at a disadvantage if they team up by timing their attacks and taking turns.

If they wanted a fighting chance, the inn was narrow, so they needed space. Seol Young slashed the evil spirits around and lured them outside.

A place to lure them…

At that time, ‘that’ place stood out, and he quickly headed there.

“You are insane.”

The noble frowned, as this was an old tomb.

“Is it time to cover things up now?”

Seol Young replied.

Just at that moment, the ring on the Ring-Headed Blade broke, unable to handle how it was used.

As he thought so.

Seol Young glanced inside this old tomb. This tomb looked to be an abandoned one. One side collapsed, which created this black hole in it.

An old, long blade was enshrined in it. Seol Young quickly threw the sword at the noble madman.

Actually, such acts were considered taboo. This was like disturbing the dead. To take the goods of the grave and use them was a huge NO.

Those who practice peace and righteousness should always avoid such things.

But Seol Young was fine. Explaining things to people was bothersome for him. And there was no time, either.

“Kiik!”

The screams of hundreds of evil spirits were enough to deafen their ears. If it were a normal person, they could feel their internal organs tremble, cough up blood, or die.

Seol Young responded coldly.

“If you don’t like it, fight them with your bare hands.”

The noble snorted as he picked up the blade.

He was more familiar with blades than swords.

“Kieeik! Kiiik!”

The evil spirits began to turn more and more desperate now. Yet the number of those attacking was lessening.

Seol Young calmly continued to cut down the spirits by staying near the tomb.

And a desperate scream rang out.

Eventually, the last ones fell, too.

“Kuak!”

A few managed to escape, and Seol Young threw his sword.

Puak!

The flying sword had gone round and round as it finished off the last of the evil spirits.

Sigh…

Seol Young sighed.

No matter how abnormal things were, there wouldn’t be any more spirits coming up here.

But, of course, this wasn’t the end. The unknown man was still here, and was not hiding his killing intent.

‘Well, there is something I need to do too.’

Seol Young raised his sword and drew a line on the ground.

“A charm?”

The noble looked at him.

Seol Young continued to do what he was doing without responding. And soon, he finished drawing the charm.

Numerous pieces of rocks and stones began to float.

These were originally the pieces of the grave guardians who were destroyed in the fight. They rose to the air. Normally, the life of the guardian ends when it gets destroyed, and the relationship it holds with the shaman also ends there.

However, Seol Young had written a summoning technique, and even in death, the bond didn’t break.

Such a horrid sight.

“To use other people’s grave keepers as your barrier and distribute the burial items as you please and even use their graves…”

The noble seemed a bit amazed.

“I am asking you because I am really curious, but what will the owner of the tomb say? Won’t they tear you apart?”

“Not at all.”

Didn’t that man destroy the inn too? If he couldn’t see the similarities in their actions, then he must have something missing in his head.

There was no need to talk with this man who was trying to kill him, but he had to finish the job.

Seol Young answered.

“When I was young, I robbed the graves every day, and it was never a problem for me. Because I always make a promise before I touch anything.”

“Promise?”

“I promise to pray for rebirth and paradise. Then the ghosts will let you sleep, give you food, and even lend you burial items from the bottom of their hearts. My talismans are quite valuable even for the ghosts…”

He moved his hand as he spoke.

Seol Young was in the process of adjusting the summons and changing it into a spell with reverse power. Only then could the summoned beasts be freed from bondage.

It wasn’t about using the spiritual power, but the effort put into it.

Eventually, he managed to change it, and the wriggling stones in the air lost their strength and fell to the ground.

“Aha, what did you do now?”

The madman asked again.

“But it doesn’t matter to you even if the summoned beasts roam in shattered form, right? Then why bother letting it go?”

“Because I feel for them!”

Seol Young responded as if the question was stupid. He knelt down and collected the stone fragments one after another and cleaned the dust that fell on them. There were several piles of it.

Seol Young bowed to each of them.

“I wish you rebirth in paradise.”

After bowing to them, he got up.

‘Now, he must be running out of patience.’

And he was right.

“Right. Why was I even watching all this?”

The sword of the opponent flew right in front of him. It was natural. It moved without making any sound, like a beast used to hunting its prey down. It was clean, with no excessive movements aimed at taking life.

If Seol Young had not been prepared, he would have died right then.

So he managed to evade it.

Srrng!

The two swords collided. The Blue Rainbow Sword was lighter and sharper, so it was able to get the upper hand.

On the other hand, the noble’s sword was pushed back. He made no defending movements and only rushed in.

Even if it seemed like nothing, all the changes in his movement felt useless. This noble seemed to be a person with amazing talent that was honed on a very stable foundation.

‘A technique of a famous family…’

Seol Young tried to figure out who this person was. But even when he could feel something familiar, it quickly turned unfamiliar.

He couldn’t understand it.

‘Do not be nervous. He needs to have some weakness.’

Seol Young decided to take advantage of the opponent’s gap in movement and moved in to attack. At the same time, his other hand moved.

Shh….

Spirits rose from the earth, casting dark shadows and hitting the opponent.

But this man handled all of them without even a frown or shock.

As soon as the second group of bad spirits emerged, random explosions occurred. They were the stones of spiritual power that Seol Young had stored up.

“This is a bit interesting.”

The man was grinning as he broke them.

“Fine. Do your best.”

Seol Young didn’t respond and continued to attack.

The Five Thunder Talisman’s dazzling lightning rose. The lightning bounced off the opponent’s sword and broke down a tree next to a tomb.

In the darkness, the shadows of the two blended together and then moved. The talisman’s light and the Yin of the spirits felt entangled.

The light around them began to dim, and the sky turned dark. It felt like this was a long night, with his body turning heavy.

Didn’t he just confront the evil spirits from the temple area the day before?

He was tired and didn’t have enough spiritual power either.

‘The group of spirits, the prayers of Dharma, and the techniques are out.’

All that was left to do was to summon.

Seol Young took the sword from the madman and sealed it with one hand.

‘… answer the call!’

A weird aura flowed through the sword like it was exploding into something, and a figure emerged.

A warrior with an angry face, wearing dazzling armor and wielding a long sword that glowed in blue light.

This was Emperor Xuanwu¹, the strongest being he could summon through this method.

Summoning meant a battle with the summoner and the summoned. If a shaman tried to enslave a being that wasn’t within their power range, they would die.

Seol Young also didn’t overdo it. This was an existence that he could summon once or twice in a lifetime.

This felt like a life-or-death situation, and his first attempt looked successful.

‘But I don’t have much time.’

Emperor Xuanwu launched a powerful attack on the opponent. With just one step forward, it felt as if the ground split and trees fell. And with a single swing of the long sword, violent blades of wind rose.

For an instant, it felt like the madman was finally being pushed back.

However, after the two sides clashed with roaring sounds, the summoned spirit began to fade out.

The spiritual power of the summoner was too lacking for him to wait any longer. He was summoned as a last resort, so this was a pity.

In the end, the spirit was cut down by the sword of the madman and destroyed.

Seol Young felt dizzy for a moment. The damage suffered by summoning the spirit and getting pushed back was huge. He coughed up blood.

“As I thought, keeping you alive is a problem.”

The noble finally spoke in a cold voice.

Was this the end?

He remembered his three brothers and the other children one by one.

At that moment, something flashed in the dark.

‘No. There is still one left.’

Seol Young put his hand into his sleeve and ripped out what was hidden inside. It was a small piece of wood with something written on it.

It was a wooden tablet.

Normally, Taoists held it, but it wasn’t something they always carried around.

And this wasn’t something that was related to him or Buddhism or anything. It didn’t even hold the qi of heaven.

But he could tell that there was something that evil things hated.

And so he put it on him.

After he had tried everything, this was the last resort left.

Seol Young broke the wooden tablet and infused his remaining spiritual energy into it.

At that moment, something strange appeared.

It hit the opponent in the blink of an eye. It was fast and odd.

“…?”

The man couldn’t even react.

This unidentified summon of Seol Young went through all of the opponent’s defenses and hit his chest.

‘I did it!’

The first attack worked, and the man staggered back.

At that moment, a black haze began to rise from his body.

‘What is this now?’

Seol Young was surprised too.

There was a weird sound hitting his ears. It wasn’t a ghost’s scream or cry, but it kept going around, giving him a headache.

‘A mad voice…’

The sound could make people go insane, and he was seeing this dark energy spread everywhere.

From one end to another. It constantly spread, like it was devouring everything, like a dark Mandala.

The Mandala was a circle that was said to encompass the universe.

It was known to be so profound, deep, and characterized to be ever-expanding depending on nature.

Seol Young noticed one thing about these strange changes.

‘Eclipse…’

Pain and despair came in as if they had pushed their way to the surface. The souls buried in the underground seemed to scream.

[Run away!]

Seol Young was startled as he came to his senses. The strange energy he felt everywhere wasn’t murderous qi or Yokai qi.

This was Demonic qi!

He always touched everything he was told not to, but this was his first time witnessing this.

The madman was shocked too.

His eyes widened in disbelief, and his laid-back demeanor vanished.

He had a look of disbelief at the situation, which looked dangerous.

“What did you do?!”

The man asked Seol Young as if he wanted to come and grab him by the collar.

1. TL/N: Strong Chinese diety ️