Master of All Sins

Chapter 5 : A Monster That Wields Fire - 1

“Kkeu-eung…….”

“─Noble one, Noble one! Are you awake?”

– Myaong!

When I regained consciousness, my vision was half-filled with the face of a young woman and half with the face of a kitten.

Feeling a deeper sense of impression from the fact that Myodusa had followed along with the sorcery rather than relief from having truly succeeded in escaping the Fire Dog, I gently pushed the two faces away.

“You're too close.”

“I, I'm sorry! You weren't waking up, Noble one, so I was worried…….”

– Myak!

While Hoa, looking apologetic at my gesture, obediently stepped back, Myodusa threw a fit, slapping my forearm with its tail as if asking why I was being pushed away.

I thought it was just ill-tempered, but every time I was struck by its snake tail, I could feel vitality spreading through the battered parts of my body that had been injured from rolling roughly on the ground, and my condition gradually improving.

Of course, I felt a sense of gratitude, but I also thought it would have been better if it had healed me while I was unconscious, so as I stared at it quietly, it spat on my face with a "Ptooey," as if asking what I was looking at.

Absurdly, the moment the saliva that directly hit my face evaporated and emitted a blue light, my severely nearsighted vision improved slightly.

A high-level healing ability that even Curse-sealing Masters specializing in healing arts could not easily imitate.

Indeed, I could understand why it was recognized as a 6th-grade monster based on its special abilities alone, despite having no combat power.

However.

“I am very grateful for the treatment, but your attitude is utterly displeasing…….”

“Huhu, you're just not being honest. Both I and you, Noble one, are indebted to this Myodusa.”

Hoa said so and stroked her abdomen.

A large hole was torn in the center of her originally clean clothes and the area around it was stained red, suggesting how grievous the wound had been, but thankfully, the bare skin visible through the hole was smooth without a single scar.

It was likely a gesture to emphasize Myodusa's healing ability, but upon seeing it, I squeezed my eyes shut and clumsily took off my overcoat with one hand, offering it to Hoa.

“A lady should not expose her bare skin. There's also a saying that it's not good for a woman's stomach to get cold, so if you don't mind that it was worn by a sick person, please wrap this around yourself.”

“Yeees? But this lowly one is merely a miscellaneous monster…….”

“So, because you're a miscellaneous monster, you have no gender? Then turn into the form of a man right now.”

“I shall wear this clothing cherishingly, as if it were you, Noble one.”

Without retorting further to my added words, Hoa immediately took the overcoat, put it on to cover her abdomen completely and then smiled sheepishly.

“This humble one is wearing the clothes of a noble person, so I am afraid of soiling them and cannot move a muscle.”

“It's a coat I'll be casting off soon anyway, so you can have it if you like. For now, let's discuss our future plans instead.”

“Future…….”

At those words, Hoa's eyes widened slightly.

“Are you not going to ask about this lowly one? Or about that last sorcery…….”

“There is no need to hear it. I've known since you called yourself a miscellaneous monster that you were no ordinary one.”

Hoa pouted, lamenting that she had not earned the Noble one's trust, but I scoffed.

What kind of miscellaneous monster would belittle itself by calling itself a miscellaneous monster?

Typically, the more shabby and insignificant a monster is, the more it exaggerates its own name and fame.

“I owe you for saving my life, so I will overlook trivial matters. I will find out on my own for what reason you approached me.”

“I didn't approach you, Noble one, with any particular ulterior motive.”

“Enough. How can a suspicion that has taken root be easily pulled out by probing with shallow conversation? I am merely suggesting we leave it buried for now.”

I was still, no, even more wary of Hoa than when I first saw her, but I was not foolish enough to antagonize her right away.

Even if she were raising 100 serpents in her heart, it was also a fact that she had saved me from the death I faced right before my eyes.

Uncovering her true intentions could wait until after I had dealt with the Fire Dog.

“The Fire Dog doesn't seem like it will give up on me. I don't know how far we've gotten from it with your sorcery, but──.”

“The Art of Self-Severing a Path to Life bewilders the target. No matter how high the Fire Dog's rank is, it was caught properly in the sorcery, so it won't be able to find you, Noble one, for at least half a day.”

“Right, then within that time, a way to escape the Phantom World…….”

As soon as I brought it up, Hoa shook her head back and forth and I sighed, grasping her intention.

“Are you thinking that it will follow us even to the Human World?”

“You also know, Noble one, that such a thing is entirely possible for a high-ranking Monster. Unless we plan to live in hiding for the rest of our lives, we must settle this here.”

“Settle this? Are you suggesting that you and I take care of it? After you yourself said it's a high-ranking Monster?”

“But there is a variable. You, Noble one, wield a power that shares the same origin as it, do you not?”

At those words, I, who was about to conjure flames again, stopped at the thought that hastily using them might attract the creature once more, but Hoa, reading my mind, reassured me.

“As long as the sorcery's effect lasts, you won't be read, so do not worry.”

“……Alright, let's say I wield the same flames as the Fire Dog. How are we to defeat it with that? If you're asking me to throw my flames at you like when we fought the Eul……”

“I also wish I could brave the danger in your stead, Noble one, but I cannot do so against the Fire Dog. It can only be defeated by pure flames, unmixed with anything else.”

In other words, she was saying that this time, I had to face the Fire Dog with my power alone, but that was impossible.

After two battles, I had become quite adept at handling the flames, but that was a matter of proficiency; the power of the flames themselves had not increased.

“Do not worry too much. It is said that just as it is easy for something small to become smaller, it is easy for something large to become larger. Since the spiritual power you were born with is vast, Noble one, you should be able to gain enough power to face the Fire Dog by just increasing it a little. This lowly one will help, though my power is meager.”

“In half a day, you say.”

“Not only that…… I know this may be rude to you, Noble one, but I dare to ask.”

As I silently urged her to continue, Hoa blushed and spoke.

“It is a humble skill, but how about learning a few techniques for wielding flames from this lowly one?”

“Let's do that.”

“Are you alright with that!”

Contrary to how Hoa had hesitated and delayed her proposal, I readily accepted it, which made her exclaim in even greater surprise.

However, for me, who had never had the opportunity to learn proper offensive sorcery due to my lack of controllable spiritual power, it was a gratefully accepted offer.

Of course, there were various types of sorcery and some were dangerous, affecting the body, mind, and even the soul just by learning them, so I couldn't learn just anything.

But the sorcery Hoa had used earlier was so cleanly formed for a monster's technique and yet it contained a unique mystique, so as long as the training method wasn't wicked, there was no reason to refuse, was there?

“This is truly wonderful! Then I will tell you the incantations, so please learn them quickly, and let's master them through practical application.”

“Practical application?”

“Yeees.”

Hoa, who had been beaming as if she were overjoyed that I had agreed to learn her sorcery, raised a finger to emphasize her point.

“There are many ways to increase spiritual power, but as a sorcerer, the priority is to accumulate karma. Whether it's good karma or evil karma, accumulating a lot of karma increases the size of the soul and naturally, the amount of spiritual power one can wield also increases. Eliminating the evil spirits that overflow in this Phantom World is the easiest way to accumulate karma and if we use the secret arts I've learned, we should be able to increase your spiritual power instantly……”

“Absolutely not.”

“Ah.”

Without hearing any more, I stated it plainly.

“Especially the latter. What you spoke of is the method monsters use to devour other monsters and accumulate demonic power, is it not? I am well aware of the fate of a sorcerer who dabbles in demonic power.”

“That's because they dabbled in it clumsily, the method I know has no side effects……”

“Silence and the former isn't entirely wrong, but time is the issue. At my current level, the amount of karma I could gain from eliminating evil spirits that I can subdue for half a day is not that great.”

Furthermore, karma is not something that is accumulated by trying to accumulate it; it is the result of acting as one's heart moves.

One can eliminate an evil spirit to train in sorcery or out of hatred for the evil spirit, but one cannot eliminate an evil spirit simply to accumulate good karma.

The result of killing something can be good, but there is no such thing as a good murder from the start.

“As expected of you, Noble one.”

“It is merely a natural way of thinking as a human being before being a sorcerer. To begin with, trying to control karma according to human will is…… hmm?”

I stopped mid-sentence, suddenly feeling a warmth in my chest.

Thinking back, I remembered putting the Indulgence in there before leaving the house for the gatekeeper ritual.

But I certainly hadn't felt anything since it first exerted its power……?

“Ugh, it's a sacred aura, even more so than your flames, Noble one. This lowly one will step back for a moment.”

When the light leaking from the Indulgence finally became strong enough to pierce through my clothes, the terrified Hoa backed away to put distance between us and eventually even disappeared among the nearby trees.

I watched her shadow with a strange expression, then, huu, let out a sigh and put a hand into my coat.

The moment my hand touched the Indulgence inside my coat, what I had fully expected came upon me.

My consciousness grew distant and it felt as if strings were stretching out in all directions with me at the center, and then, one of them shone with a strong light.

Just like before, it was that of the burning bird.

– Do you think you can escape me by doing this? Do you think you can escape!

– It's painful, it hurts so much! You're the one who wounded me, so why do I have to be in so much pain?

– I will find you. I will definitely find you. I will never let you go! And this time, for sure─!

A voice thick with deep resentment hammered at my mind, causing a headache even more terrible than before, forcing me to roll on the ground, clutching my head in agony.

But after enduring it for a short while, the light from the Indulgence thankfully grew stronger and eventually, the voice and the headache subsided together.

The change was immediately noticeable.

The string connecting me and the burning bird was still there, but the string that had only been unilaterally connecting the bird's curse to me was now also performing the role of siphoning a little of the bird's power away from it.

The role of the string and the balance of power between the two were gradually changing.

Naturally, as the Indulgence was activated again, my inflammation lessened even more, my lungs felt clearer…… the amount of spiritual power I could freely wield increased and the intensity of the flames I could produce with the same amount of spiritual power grew a tier stronger.

‘It wasn't a one-time thing. ……Seeing that the talisman hadn't disappeared, I thought there must be some meaning left to it.’

It was a pleasant miscalculation.

Not only had my power increased, raising my chances of survival for now, but I had also secured a means to unravel the curses that were layered upon me one by one.

Of course, the bird's resentment had deepened and it was worrying to think what other formidable monsters might reveal their presence each time I touched the string in the future, but it would be even more ridiculous to leave the curses as they are out of fear of getting on their nerves when I was already being cursed by them.

‘But why now? Does it activate again after a certain amount of time? No, the price is too cheap for the activation of an object that purifies a powerful curse. If so, the change that occurred in me in the meantime is…….’

Karma.

Realizing that fact, I felt as if someone had struck me hard on the head.

The karma accumulated by defeating the miscellaneous monsters and saving Myodusa.

The karma accumulated by confronting the Eul to save Hoa and though I received her help, ultimately defeating the Eul.

Especially since the Eul was an ominous monster that heralded the country's turmoil, the karma gained from subduing it must not be small.

Those things must have become the condition for activating the Indulgence.

“Haa…….”

After finding the answer, a sigh escaped me on its own.

Not long after telling Hoa that it wasn't right to deliberately hunt down evil spirits to accumulate good karma, I myself was now about to go searching for good karma, so how could I not be embarrassed?

– Myaong?

“It's alright now, you can stop. Thank you.”

I stopped Myodusa, which had been patting the back of my head with its tail, perhaps misunderstanding that my head still hurt from when I had clutched it and rolled on the ground when the Indulgence activated.

However, as I held the creature in my arms and tried to get up, I realized that I had lost the staff that was like a part of my body for that very reason.

Even though the curse had lessened and the spiritual power I could use had increased, I was still a cripple who had trouble even standing up properly without a staff.

In fact, my slightly excited mood sank into gloom.

“Noble one! I found a tree branch in the forest that looked good for you to use as a staff! But……!”

Just then, as if on cue, Hoa came running towards me, holding a long tree branch.

But following behind her, making thump, thump, sounds were trees…… that is, I could see tree monsters, which had pulled up their roots and were moving whole, chasing after her.

– Give him back!

– Catch that thing and kill it!

Seeing that scene, my heart sank even further.

I could only hope that I wouldn't end up accumulating more evil karma than good karma.