Chapter 106: Return to Home Pt. 6
“Looking at it like this, it really looks like just any other set of ruins.”
The residents had packed all of their belongings and were looking down toward Heaven Lake Village.
The village was left empty and bare as they had all decided to leave, so it looked no different from an abandoned ruin.
All that was left was a silence that set around the entire lake as if the beautiful Heaven Lake had embraced the ruins back to nature.
“How dead it looks!” a resident murmured.
However, even though they were all leaving their hometown, none of the residents cried. They comforted each other, encouraged each other, and shared the burden through their collective strength.
Although the journey itself may not be long, they still cheered themselves up as they thought about their new destination.
“Let’s all come back here,” a resident vowed.
They weren’t abandoning their hometown by choice, and so they swore to become stronger when they escaped to the outside, all so that they could return back to this place when everything had been stabilized.
Although their decision had been different from those in Beijing, who had formed a Chinese settlement, for better or worse, it was a choice that they had to have made out of their own free will.
"Let’s go, kids and old people. Please mount up first!" shouted Jeong In-Chang.
There were quite a few deer in front of them. They were the same mutated deer they had used to arrive on the mountain at first. Using Ungnyeo’s power, they had decided to bring all of the deer over to use them as transportation.
“It will be cold! Mt. Baekdu is the warmest place within the veil, so dress warmly! Please aid the children in mounting the deer! There should be one warrior per deer!”
Jeong In-Chang shouted out instructions like a part-time worker at an amusement park. He looked over at the residents all riding on the backs of the deer.
“I don’t get it. How come it was so difficult for me to ride them?” he wondered as if he was reminiscing over his struggles in riding the deer in the past.
However, as he grumbled, his face still had a smile, while the residents had their own in return.
“Village chief!” someone said as they waved.
Ungnyeo and Lee Jun-Kyeong had exited from the cave of Sangun.
“Come quickly!” they said.
Ungnyeo was in the form of a little girl with one hand firmly grasped by Lee Jun-Kyeong.
In her other hand, the one not in the grasp of the Hunter…
“Growl?”
…was a small little tiger.
***
The party crossed through North Korea’s landscape alongside the residents. Fenrir had been sent ahead to reap through the monsters, while Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa had been left to guard the rear.
The residents, led by Lee Jun-Kyeong proceeded quickly without any hesitation, and the deer continued to move forward with everyone on their backs, even though they had left the vicinity of Mt. Baekdu.
They continued to go forward, proceeding to their destination as they emigrated from their hometown.
“Sangun! Sangun!”
Sitting in front of Lee Jun-Kyeong on a deer, Ungnyeo hefted up a small tiger, calling it Sangun.
It was a small and round white tiger, but as Ungnyeo had said, it really resembled the great tiger on closer inspection.
“Sangun!!”
Ungnyeo continued to speak to the small white tiger, referring to it as Sangun and laughing.
–I’m dizzy.
Even more surprisingly, the little tiger responded to the girl through his soul, but the maturity in his voice starkly contrasted with its visible age.
“Sangun!”
Despite the tiger’s complaints, Ungnyeo continued to toss the tiger up and down excitedly. Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed at the sight of the child playing.
‘To think this was possible.’
It was a good ending.
Sangun had died but, at the same time, hadn’t.
While the entity they had known as the Ruler of the Mountain had died…
‘So he’s named <The Supreme Regent>...’
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked up at the sky as he thought.
Ungnyeo’s Sponsor, <The Supreme Regent>, had turned the deceased Sangun into Ungnyeo’s Familiar. Therefore, although most of the tiger’s enormous power had disappeared, it was still able to live in this form.
An outsider watching this scene could have thought that this was a case of a Hunter becoming a familiar, but Sangun had originally been an auspicious beast.
Therefore, although Lee Jun-Kyeong wanted to know who the tiger’s Sponsor had been and how this miracle had been possible, there was no way for him to verify anything.
“Sangun! Sangun, your favorite food is strawberries!” Ungnyeo excitedly said.
However, even with her absurd statement, Sangun was responding earnestly.
–Did I really like strawberries?
Sangun had been revived, but the process wasn’t without any side effects. The tiger had lost as much memory as he had lost strength.
‘Still.’
“Everything’s fine because he’s alive,” Lee Jun-Kyeong murmured as he stroked Ungnyeo’s head.
‘To think her Sponsor is <The Supreme Regent>.’
"Hmm."
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked up at the sky.
[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> is laughing at your confused appearance.]
He wondered if the notification meant that that bastard was looking down at them.
Lee Jun-Kyeong shook his head quickly, and soon, he changed focus.
“Do you remember anything about the man in black?” he asked. He wanted to hear the truth that he hadn’t been able to hear properly before.
–I’m sorry.
Unfortunately, this Sangun didn’t remember him either. Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded as there was nothing else he could do.
The man in black. The more he thought about him, the more uncomfortable he felt. Sangun had been injected with Madness, and the monsters around him had been exposed to Madness as well so that they would attack Heaven Lake Village.
Furthermore, that wasn’t the only thing on his mind.
For some reason, he remembered something that he had heard of before.
‘Oh yeah, there was that one man who had come to Utgard!’
The city of giants.
He remembered what he had been told while he was in Utgard. A man had supposedly approached Utgard but had simply returned without doing anything.
Also, there was something else.
‘The Black Shroud.’
The mysterious being who had created the insane giants alongside Utgard-Loki’s incomprehensible Galdr. For some reason, everything felt like it was connected somehow.
Lee Jun-Kyeong inferred that it was the case, but he couldn’t be completely sure of it. However, there was a dearth of clues to be sure.
"Let's take a break for now,” he said as he halted the deer.
Using Monarch of Fire, he warmed the air around the residents.
Today, they would be able to do it.
‘We’ll return to Korea.’
A smile formed around Lee Jun-Kyeong's lips.
***
“We’ll be returning soon,” Jeong In-Chang said. He had already become excited, and his expression was bright.
“So that’s Korea…”
Won-Hwa began to have a burst of excitement inside at the idea of seeing Korea and stepping on its soil for the first time while Fenrir attempted to go to sleep next to Lee Jun-Kyeong, seemingly uninterested in everyone else’s excitement.
“Yawn…”
Lee Jun-Kyeong thought it made sense.
‘He did eat a lot…’
The wolf had devoured everything in the path of Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party, which meant that not only was he probably full but also, it made sense why he was so drowsy.
Lee Jun-Kyeong patted Fenrir on the head.
"What are you going to do now?” Jeong In-Chang asked.
"What do you mean?" Lee Jun-Kyeong responded.
"When we return to Korea," Jeong In-Chang continued, "Don’t we have…anything else that we have to handle?”
"There's nothing particular that…” Lee Jun-Kyeong trailed off.
No, that definitely wouldn’t be the case.
In fact, there were so many things that they had to do that Lee Jun-Kyeong had to stop for a moment to think about what to do first.
He then proceeded to draw a sword from his inventory.
"What's that?” Jeong In-Chang asked.
Although it was an ornamental sword, it seemed to contain a magnificent type of mana within it.
Jeong In-Chang continued, "Is it a magic item? That's incredible."
Lee Jun-Kyeong mused for a moment. ‘Ungnyeo, she really did a good job.’
She had clearly carefully completed Lee Jun-Kyeong’s request and, rather than leaving the sword unattended within Heaven Lake, seemed to have diligently infused the sword with various types of mana as he had requested.
Even in the midst of that mess, the sword had stayed perfectly fine where he had left it, and that was why such a great object had been created.
"It's a gift,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said.
"A present?" Jeong In-Chang squinted. “I, Jeong In-Chang, have understood what you’re going to do when you return to Korea, Mr. Lee.”
“What is it? I would like to know as well,” Won-Hwa said from the side.
The physician spoke using Merlin’s necklace, having it translate for him.
Lee Jun-Kyeong was also curious about what Jeong In-Chang thought he knew. “What is it then? I’m also curious about what you’re thinking.”
He didn’t even know what he was going to do first, so it was funny that Jeong In-Chang seemed to have determined their next plans. He found himself drawn in by the curious sight.
“You’re going to go give presents to those women you have hidden around, aren’t you?!” Jeong In-Chang exclaimed.
“Hidden women?” Won-Hwa asked, surprised by Jeong In-Chang’s words.
“...even if the world has changed, there should still be some standards between men and women…”
Won-Hwa seemed quite shocked by the exposé.
But Lee Jun-Kyeong and Jeong In-Chang were shocked in return.
“I didn’t know that you were so conservative, Mr. Won-Hwa,” Jeong In-Chang commented.
“Cough, cough.” Won-Hwa coughed in embarrassment.
Although Jeong In-Chang’s words were pure nonsense, Lee Jun-Kyeong considered them for a moment and found a modicum of truth.
‘I should go bring her a present anyway.’
He did actually have to bring the sword to that girl anyway.
Although he had so many things that he had to do, at this moment, Lee Jun-Kyeong had made his decision.
"I've decided what to do,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said with an excited smile.
***
"So, this is the wall..."
Won-Hwa was amazed by the magical veil that he had never seen before.
He hadn’t been able to feel the magical veil from where he had been in Utgard as, from that point, the veil had been high up in the sky. In front of him was the wall that divided North Korea and China, which were undergoing gateization, from South Korea.
Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly approached the wall.
“…”
The Heaven Lake Village residents waited for Lee Jun-Kyeong with bated breath. Beyond the wall in front of them would be a world that they hadn’t seen for an incredible amount of time.
‘He said something about once a month or…’
Lee Jun-Kyeong thought about what Heimdall, Yeo Seong-Gu, had said.
The Hunter had said that he would come every month, so Lee Jun-Kyeong should come at that time. He had said that he would use the Bifrost at that point to pierce through the wall and open a pathway.
However, right now, it was too late.
‘It’s been well over a month,’ Lee Jun-Kyeong mused.
Furthermore, as it hadn’t yet reached the next time for him to come yet, Yeo Seong-Gu most likely wouldn’t be able to help him either.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t wait for him to show up. While it was possible for them to wait if they really had to, that would waste too much time.
That was why Lee Jun-Kyeong thought about how he had responded to Heimdall’s statement.
‘If things go well…’
That he'll be able to get out on his own.
Furthermore, things in China had progressed far beyond what he would have classified as going well and had exceeded his expectations.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had grown even more than he could have expected. Therefore, he would be able to pierce the wall.
Thrum.
He didn’t need Bifrost’s help.
"Go back,” he said, putting his hand on the veil.
He put both hands on the veil just like Yeo Seong-Gu had done when the Hunter had pierced through the veil and raised his aura.
Thrum.
The first step was just to collect his mana. He was preparing the method of mana injection that most skilled Hunters could use to strengthen their weapons.
Thruuum.
The second was to infuse the mana. It was the method that he had learned by watching over Park Jae-Hyun’s shoulder, and it had aided him tremendously in China. It was a much more precise and detailed way to inject the mana than the average Hunter used.
Flicker.
The veil began to change colors. Its shade, which had been bluish, was turning red before their very eyes.
However.
Thrum.
The veil was only resonating. It hadn’t opened up just yet.
Lee Jun-Kyeong wasn’t surprised.
The veil had required the Bifrost to be pierced open, so there was no way that it would open up this easily.
‘A little more.’
Still, Lee Jun-Kyeong had no intention of giving up at this point.
Next was internal qigong.
Using finer control, it was possible to create an incredible effect with a small amount of mana using internal qigong.
The curtain was turning a little redder.
Rumble!
Next was Galdr.
It was a power that could explode forth in a single moment using an enormous amount of compressed mana and create an incredible amount of power.
A blood-colored aura burst forth from Lee Jun-Kyeong, the aura absorbing into the veil.
Rippp!
The sound of the curtains' reverberation changed, as a small ringing sound began to shake and vibrate, almost tearing.
‘It’s almost done.’
Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel the veil thinning. However, that effect only lasted up to a certain point, and the veil stabilized right before its breaking point.
He didn’t stop there though.
‘That wasn’t everything.’
He had one last card, and it was the best method that incorporated all of these abilities into one.
The mana stream.
Lee Jun-Kyeong's heart began to pound.
The dragon heart.
This was a dragon heart that had bloated itself to the brim by devouring not only the energy of the divide of heaven and earth but also the ruler of the mountain.
Still, that didn’t mean that Lee Jun-Kyeong was able to control all of these various powers.
‘This is the best sort of situation.’
This kind of uncontrollable mana was the best solution in a situation where all he had to do was brute force his way through and destroy everything in his path. His mana stream gathered up all of the different types of energy at the same time.
Lee Jun-Kyeong’s face became flushed, betraying the pain he was undergoing to move such a huge force.
Then, at that moment.
“It’s open.”
The veil had been lifted.
1. The title here is what the literal meaning of the individual characters of Hwanung translates to in Korean (the more accepted translation of Hwanung is The Supreme Divine Regent or the Supreme Regent from the Heavens) and is a reference to the Ancestor of Korea that we mentioned earlier in Ungnyeo’s myth. Her Sponsor is a homage to her creation myth, as Hwanung is the god who gave her, the bear (Ungnyeo, Bear Woman), her humanity.
2. The veil is more like a dome.
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