Master of All Sins

Chapter 2 : First Entry into Phantom world - 2

My first impression of Phantom world was that of a vast, rural meadow.

A lush forest was visible in the distance, but there was nothing immediately around me.

Should I consider it a relief that at least no enemies were in sight.

The time of day, unlike in the Human world, was evening, with the sunset glowing.

It is said that at this time, when the boundary between day and night is blurred, the boundary between the Human world and Phantom world also becomes the faintest, so I could understand why they had chosen this moment to open the Shin Blood Great Gate.

Conversely, they could have opened the gate during the evening in the Human world, but doing so would likely result in a gate from which monsters emerge, not one for people to enter.

‘Mo-a…… was she caught in the end.’

After coming to my senses and briefly looking around to assess the situation, I quickly realized Geum Mo-a was not there and furrowed my brow.

She shouldn't have done something so strange.

If she disliked Shin U-in or my stepmother so much, it would have been better for her to quietly run away by herself around yesterday.

Geum Mo-a, who possessed the ability to infiltrate the Shin clan's annex since childhood, had reached a state of mastery in the art of concealment.

If she had decided to flee, no one would have been able to find her.

No…… even now, she should be able to shake off the Shin clan's elite and hide herself.

It might have been a different story if my father and the elite group of sorcerers he leads were there, but they were not.

‘……Father.’

I wondered if my father knew about the events that had transpired leading up to my Gatekeeper Ritual today.

If he didn't know, how could he be so indifferent to his own child?

If he did know, how could he let his child suffer such humiliation?

Is it not the way of a sorcerer to rather kill with one's own hands than to let another disgrace them?

Clenching my fist in a surge of anger, I feared my delicate skin would be crushed and opened my hand, letting out another sigh.

‘Let's stop.’

It was a bond already severed by the Indulgence.

If my father's will was mixed in with it.

There was no point in me trying to reconnect it now.

It would be more helpful to ponder how to survive even a little longer in this unfamiliar environment.

‘Survive? That's laughable too.’

To have acted so detached from life and now to throw a tantrum about not wanting to die.

Pushing away the weak-heartedness that still lingered with a snort, I used the cane stuck in the ground to pull myself up.

I may be shabby, but I will not be wretched.

Yes, since I have received a task, should I not die in the process of carrying it out until the very end.

My biological mother, who had guided me in my childhood, and Geum Mo-a, who had filled her void, were not by my side.

It was the moment I was truly alone, yet I felt a sense of relief.

Even the demonic qi of Phantom world, which was known to harm or turn ordinary people without spiritual power into monsters just by inhaling a little, felt welcoming right now.

“Shall we get moving.”

I decided to leave the empty meadow and enter the forest first, and took a step.

Despite it being the most active I've ever been, my physical condition has been at its best since earlier.

The periodically blurring thoughts and vision, the throbbing joints and aching leg, the tingling numbness in my abdomen and the pain in my heart were still there, but at least the tickling in my lungs had lessened.

The world is this beautiful just by not coughing.

“A 7th-grade monster…… haa, a 7th-grade monster.”

The Phantom world is a very vast and strange space, so of course, there are countless types of monsters and even sorcerers who have been in contact with the Phantom world for a long time do not understand all of them.

Thus, the grade indicating the dangerousness of a monster is determined by measuring the size of the power they possess—their demonic power, but of course, I didn't even have an enchanted tool that could measure demonic power.

Being born with outstanding spiritual power, I should be able to grasp the power of most monsters without an enchanted tool, but the problem was my critical lack of experience, so I couldn't tell what level was equivalent to 7th-grade.

‘What famous 7th-grade monsters are there? According to the Aeshin's Record of Monsters and Ghosts, the Fire dog starts from 7th-grade and the Tiger-Striped Bird is also famous for its size and strength. An ogre with intelligence would be the best, but……. Among those not listed in our literature, a cat monster over a hundred years old, a land shark, or a Yamachichi would be good, but the Shin clan values tradition, so…….’

I let out a soft laugh, cutting off my thoughts.

It was because I found myself amusing for thinking about which one to choose when I didn't even have the ability to subjugate a 7th-grade monster.

The only thing I could handle right now was a flame of unknown origin.

What could I do with this…… yes, since my body was feeling chilly, I could at least start a fire.

“Ugh…… there.”

In the end, I stopped again after taking only a few steps.

I clumsily swung my cane to crush and gather the surrounding grass into a bundle and built a circle of soil around it to prevent the fire from spreading.

I squatted down with difficulty and stretched out one hand, raising my spiritual power.

The reddish-tinged spiritual power received my will and turned into a flame.

When I lightly shook my hand, the spark flew through the air and touched the bundle of grass, starting to produce a pungent smoke.

“Cough, cough! ……It had a lot of moisture. Of course.”

It was unlikely that my first attempt at starting a fire would go well, but perhaps because it was a fire born from spiritual power, its life force was strong.

After producing a little smoke, it burned surprisingly well, forming a decent-sized flame.

This was the first sorcery I had ever performed.

I had only wielded a power I had come by chance without a proper ritual, but as I gazed at the flame warming my body, I even felt a small sense of emotion.

–Meow

“Hm?”

At the cat's cry that came from behind me, I turned my head and a small kitten was poking its head out from between the bushes, having appeared from who knows where.

How long had it been since I thought of it and the cat monster had really shown itself?

Unfortunately, however, cat monsters, like most monsters, were a type whose age and ability were proportional, and the one I had just met seemed to be nothing more than a newborn kitten.

The only positive fact was that I felt no malice from it.

“Are you cold too? Will you come out and sit with me for a moment to warm yourself by the fire?”

–Myaa…….

The kitten still looked at me with a wary expression, its face just peeking out from the grass.

However, it didn't move away and the sight of it staying at the borderline where the flame just barely warmed its body, basking in the heat, was quite cute.

It was a shame I couldn't raise a dog or a cat because just getting close to them would trigger a coughing fit as an abnormal reaction, but it was a happy miscalculation that this didn't happen with a monster.

–Nya.

Was it a mistake to think that I would feel reassured if even this little one joined me, regardless of its grade?

The kitten, having warmed itself enough, gave a short cry and disappeared back into the grass.

I had memorized the demonic qi wafting from it, so it seemed I could track it somehow even without knowing the precise sorcery, but I quickly dismissed the thought.

If it was fate, we would meet again and if not, this would be the end of it.

If I, who could die at any moment, were to seek out a new connection, only harm would come.

……Perhaps thinking that was the mistake.

–There it is!

–Hehe, I'm going to cut off its tail and roast it.

–Such a noble body, roaming around alone without any fear!

–Shaaaaak!

I was already getting tense as I began to feel the presence of lesser demons nearby, but then I heard a faint sound of fighting from afar, followed by the cry of a very tense cat.

It was clear that the lesser demons were targeting that kitten from before, which had not yet attained the stature of a full-fledged monster.

Just as humans kill other humans for their desires, so do monsters.

In fact, fratricide occurred more frequently among them because they could kill other monsters and absorb a portion of their demonic power to grow.

To them, a baby monster with no special abilities would look like a set table.

‘Is this, fate?’

I was in a weak body that could not even guarantee victory against lesser demons, but now there was no time for long deliberation.

I stood up from my spot, leaning on my cane, and murmured.

“Hwe-in, descendant of the Shin clan, calls. Oriole Tongue , Old Oriole's Tongue, find the kitten monster I met.”

At the same time, I sent a slight stream of spiritual power into the cane touching the ground, took out a small pouch from my pocket, and scattered a few grains of millet from it.

It was a sorcery… or rather, a divination, belonging to the basics of the unique sorcery passed down in the Shin clan, used to find lost things.

As I was inwardly anxious, not knowing if it would work properly since it was my first time using it, the millet grains thrown into the air soon formed a line and pointed me in a direction.

At the same time, the voice of a girl as clear as an oriole's song sounded in my ear.

—That is not a kitten. It is dangerous, so you must hurry. Light a fire and walk.

Oriole Tongue , more precisely Old Oriole's Tongue, is a monster with the talent to find out people's secrets or find lost things.

The Shin clan was a renowned family famous for its Shikigami arts, so they had commanded many types of monsters for generations.

Among those many monsters, there were many who had contracted to lend a part of their abilities to all those with Shin clan blood and using the power of such monsters was the basics of the unique sorcery.

‘It really works. But I was told that the success rate is higher if you describe what you're looking for in detail, but Old Oriole's Tongue is a much kinder monster than I'd heard.’

But if it wasn't a kitten monster, what on earth was it?

Wondering, as I began to move in the direction the millet pointed, the millet floating in the air was offered to Old Oriole's Tongue and disappeared on the spot.

–Then I'm off. Next time, macarons or cake would be better than grain.

“……Alright, I'll keep that in mind.”

No matter how much the times have changed, for even a monster that receives offerings to covet Western sweets.

I remembered telling Geum Mo-a once that it was a bit much for a servant of a prestigious family that upholds tradition to excessively covet Western culture, as she too often bought and ate cakes and cookies in the city.

I recalled nodding in satisfaction after she obediently changed her preferences to things like yakgwa, candied Fruit and other snacks with green tea in them after that.

‘Mo-a is probably right now…… oh, this is no time to be thinking about her.’

I let out a faint sigh and stepped forward with my cane again.

Then, recalling the words Old Oriole's Tongue had added, I created a small flame at my fingertips.

At that moment, the surrounding scenery, which had been a meadow, melted away, revealing a brown earth with withered trees, where demonic qi had materialized and overflowed, settling on the ground as a thick fog.

“……!!”

For a moment, I couldn't believe my eyes and turned my head. Behind me, the green meadow still stretched out.

This was my first time entering Phantom world, yet I had foolishly trusted only my own two eyes.

It was a relief that I realized it before something worse happened.

–Meoww!

The next moment, the monster making the sound of a kitten's cry leaped into my arms.

Only after barely catching it did I realize that Old Oriole's Tongue's words were correct.

“So you were a Myodusa.”

–-Nyaa.

Myodusa, a snake monster with the head of a kitten.

It possessed an outstanding ability to heal people, and long ago, it was quite common for folk temples and the like to worship the Myodusa and make offerings.

But as time passed and civilization developed, the Myodusa, which had no ability to protect itself and only excelled in healing, became easy prey for ungrateful humans.

After suffering much damage, they, like other good monsters, eventually hid deep within Phantom world.

Being a representative of monsters hard to find even in Phantom world and possessing the rare power of healing, there were countless people who wanted a Myodusa.

A sorcerer who was lucky enough to contract with this monster, recognized as Special 6th-grade, would not have to worry about their livelihood for the rest of their life.

–If we boil and eat that thing, we'll be fine for the next thousand years.

–A human? It's a living human! One more prey!

–That human overflowing with spiritual power is mine, all mine!

……But now it seemed that monsters also wanted the Myodusa.

There were scratches and gouges all over Myodusa's body, so it seemed the creature, with no combat ability, had gone through quite a lot to escape the monsters.

“I will face them, so run away.”

–Myak!

When I said so, having no confidence of winning even against lesser demons, the creature let out a grumpy cry as if to say it refused and burrowed into my clothes.

Feeling the Myodusa's healing ability was real, as a little vitality returned to my body, which had been exhausted from moving around for a long time, I eventually sighed and planted my cane on the ground.

“Alright, then let's try to survive together.”

If I were alone, I could at least die in peace, but now I couldn't even do that.

Indeed, fate is a fearsome thing.

Muttering so, I once again created a flame on my palm and threw it recklessly at the lesser demons.

My first battle in Phantom world had begun.