Master of All Sins

Chapter 6 : A Monster That Wields Fire - 2

Stories about tree monsters are passed down in various forms in each country, but in Aeshin, the wood god Duduri , who was worshipped in some regions since long ago when the country wasn't even called Aeshin, was famous.

There is also a theory that the famous son of the Monster King, Lord Bihyeong , commanded Duduri to build a bridge overnight.

However, Duduri's true form is a wood carving, not a whole tree and since the things running over there now are trees, there was a high possibility that they were the human-faced trees said to be in the neighboring Jin Country or other tree monsters referred to in the West.

That's what I thought.

“Noble one, this is a tree branch that contains quite a formidable demonic power! If you use this as a staff, won't there be progress in your sorcery as well?”

“Isn't that a Duduri!”

But what Hoa, who came running while being chased by the tree monsters, proudly presented to me was the very body of a monster, a long, well-trimmed wooden staff that, no matter how I looked at it, was imbued with quite a remarkable spirituality and demonic power.

However, perhaps because Hoa had already taken measures, its breath had ceased, meaning only a piece of wood of such good quality that it was a waste to use as a staff remained.

“Huhu, surely it couldn't be that famous Duduri. It must just be a tree ogre with origins similar to Duduri.”

Hoa let out a shy laugh, as if to say how could she have brought it so easily if it were a Duduri, but that modesty made her seem even more suspicious.

– There's a human too!

– Let's kill them and avenge our elder!

– We'll strangle them and tear them to death!

Moreover, the existence of the tree monsters charging desperately as if to avenge a parent's death fanned my suspicions, but as survival was the priority, I had no choice but to use the wooden staff as a cane to support myself.

– Th-that damned human is using our elder as a staff!

– I'll pull out his spine and stick it in his eyeball!

“My heart is heavy.”

“Please don't mind them, Noble one. I punished this monster because it tried to disgrace me. Those tree monsters are also fiends that suck the blood of people who enter the forest and kill them.”

“……Let's just leave it at that.”

Her words were probably true.

But considering the way she and I met, it was hard to tell whether the ogre tried to disgrace her first, or if she induced its crime.

Moreover, they were tree monsters.

Yes, it was excessively good luck that monsters weak to my flames had appeared at just the right time.

“Noble one, this is perfect. I'll teach you the incantation right away, so please try it on them!”

“But my mother told me that even if I learn one incantation, I should ponder its meaning, write it down at least a thousand times to engrave it in my heart and only then test it.”

“We don't have time for that now, so hurry and repeat after me! The master of the flame that extinguishes evil commands!”

“Huu……. The master of the flame that extinguishes evil commands.”

I had roughly expected this from the moment she dragged the group of tree monsters here, so despite Hoa's reckless practical instruction, I let out a single sigh and obediently repeated the incantation.

Although I never had the chance to wield sorcery until now, I was strictly educated by my mother in my childhood on basic theory and the mindset for handling sorcery, so my attitude as I chanted the incantation was endlessly polite and sincere.

At the time, I resented my mother in my heart, thinking that since I would die without ever handling sorcery or Shikigami, she should have played with me a little more instead of just trying to uphold the Shin Clan's dignity, but now that things had come to this, I truly couldn't face my mother.

“Become a bullet and pierce, Fire bomb!”

“Become a bullet and pierce, Fire bomb.”

– Kyaaaak!

With a slight delay, two fire bombs shot across the air, each striking down the tree monster at the head of the group.

Was it thanks to my mother's teachings?

The sorcery manifested by chanting the incantation for the first time was effective.

Until now, I had simply converted spiritual power into flames and thrown them, but now that I had given the flames a clear form and meaning with an incantation, strength and speed were added to the flames, allowing them to exhibit power incomparable to before.

A single Fire bomb I shot pierced a hole through the torso of the one at the front of the tree monster group and the flames spread throughout its body, burning it up in an instant, giving a clear idea of its power.

Of course, this was also because my flames had grown another level thanks to the Indulgence, in addition to learning Fire bomb.

“Noble one, how did your flames become even stronger in that short time……!”

“I had a fateful encounter. The master of the flame that extinguishes evil commands, becomes a bullet and pierce, Fire bomb!”

“Oh my, you're doing so well! Fire bomb!”

While she herself abbreviated the long incantation to the single word ‘Fire bomb’, Hoa blatantly flattered me, who had just been initiated into practical sorcery.

I was so annoyed that I wanted to throw a Fire bomb at her, but I couldn't because I was too busy dealing with the tree monsters.

– Kill that woman! She's treating us like toys!

– The man is no pushover either, he's wielding strange flames!

– Attack all at once!

The tree monsters, having finally gotten me in range, each extended their thick branches to attack.

I, who had stopped in the middle of creating a Fire bomb, asked Hoa who was about to step forward.

“There must be a defensive art that wields fire. Tell me.”

“Th-there is, but that's a sorcery that requires you to spill your blood, Noble one, so it's better if you just leave it to me.”

“Hurry.”

“Ugh…… The master of the flame that extinguishes evil commands, may my blood become a moat and my flesh a castle wall, Fire blood!”

Knowing that I wouldn't back down, Hoa made a very reluctant face but still chanted the incantation clearly, bit her index finger to draw blood, and scattered it into the air.

It was something I, in my past self that suffered from severe dermatitis, should never have done, but...... after unwrapping the bandage on my fingertip to check its condition, I gave a light laugh and followed her.

“The master of the flame that extinguishes evil commands, may my blood become a moat and my flesh a castle wall. Fire blood!”

As Hoa said, Fire blood was a sorcery that protected the body from an enemy's threat with a small sacrifice.

Earlier, she had used this sorcery to confuse the enemy and even teleport allies, but all I, who had just learned the basic art, could do was scatter the blood from my fingertip into the air and turn it into a defensive barrier of fire.

However, was it because the rank of the flames I wielded was so high?

Hoa's incantation only created a defensive barrier at the level of a simple ward, setting the incoming branches on fire and knocking them away, but the barrier I created not only incinerated all the branches it touched but also quickly spread to the monsters' main bodies and burned them up.

– Kuaaaaaaak! Purification, I'm being forcibly purified......!

– Forgive me, please forgive me!

The spiritual power consumption was similar to when I shot a single Fire bomb, but I finished off several of them at once, which meant that rather than the sorcery being great, the authority contained in my flames was excessively powerful.

The group of tree monsters, which had been cautiously closing the distance while wary of the Fire bomb, also realized that something was unusual, simultaneously stopped extending their branches, and began to exchange glances and slowly back away.

“What will you do now, Noble one?”

“Become a bullet and pierce, Fire bomb!”

Was it because we had just talked about how there is no good in murder?

To Hoa, who deliberately checked, perhaps wondering if I would let the monsters go, I answered with action instead of words.

Showing mercy to an opponent who has once harbored ill will towards you is the privilege of the strong.

The weak, if they do not stamp out even the embers for good, never know when or where a stray spark might fly and burn them.

“To think you're already omitting the first half of the incantation! As expected of you, Noble one, the time needed for the sorcery has been cut in half!”

“……Become a bullet and pierce, Fire bomb!”

By repeatedly using the same incantation and mastering it, one can produce the same result even by omitting part, or all, of it.

However, this is not something one can attempt just by using the sorcery a lot without thinking; it happens naturally when one truly understands the sorcery and becomes able to smoothly control the movement of energy that occurs when casting it, even without the incantation.

I had come to understand how to handle my fire and could now imbue it with will even without an incantation, so just for this, it was worthwhile to have learned sorcery from a monster.

– Kuak…….

Having finished off all the tree monsters with a barrage of Fire bombs, I let out a sigh and surveyed the battlefield.

I didn't let my guard down, as I had been ambushed right after the last battle ended.

Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Hoa kept exclaiming in admiration and praising me.

“You've become proficient with the incantation in less than an hour, so if you defeat a few more groups of miscellaneous monsters, you'll have completely mastered Fire bomb!”

“But I can never defeat the Fire Dog with a Fire bomb alone.”

“Ugh.”

Of course, if I were to learn an advanced spell for Fire bomb similar to what Hoa had used, I might be able to increase its power, but it would still be impossible to defeat the Fire Dog.

The same went for Fire blood.

The defensive barrier of flames, which boasted invincible might against miscellaneous monsters, would not be very useful against the Fire Dog, which wields the same flames.

“You don't intend to have me learn the remaining incantations through practical application as well, do you? I'll learn the rest here before we move.”

“There is…… one more.”

As Hoa made a troubled expression, I narrowed my eyes and said.

“Fire body, is that right?”

“That's right. It's a sorcery that raises one's own rank by taking fire into the body. Since the rank of the fire you wield is high, Noble one, its compatibility with this sorcery is very good, but…….”

“I have a rough idea of what you're trying to say. Either the consumption of spiritual power is severe, or it puts a great strain on the body, or if someone in poor health like me were to use that sorcery, the aftereffects would be serious.”

“All of that is true. That's why I was worried that teaching you this sorcery might put you in even greater danger, Noble one.”

It was ridiculous.

She herself thinks that she must teach me Fire body, yet she only spouts words to evade responsibility because she doesn't want me to hate her.

No, if she truly wanted to harm me with this sorcery, she wouldn't even have made such a gesture, so perhaps I can be more at ease?

“Stop the nonsense and teach me. Whatever happens, I will not blame you.”

“This girl is just worried about you, Noble one…….”

“It's better than being killed by the Fire Dog. Is it not?”

“Indeed, you are right. But Noble one, you must only memorize this for now and use it only when absolutely necessary against the Fire Dog.”

“I was planning to do just that.”

Only after earnestly warning me did Hoa teach me the incantation for fire body.

After I had memorized the entire incantation, I asked what the Art of the Flame Jaw Seal that she had used against the Eul was and the answer came back that it was her own unique sorcery, so I couldn't imitate it even if I learned it.

“Huhu, moreover, it wouldn't be very effective against the Fire Dog. Just by looking at it, isn't that fellow used to dogfights where they bite each other? You, Noble one, must fight like a human.”

“That is true.”

Does that mean that Hoa, who wields the Art of the Flame Jaw Seal, is used to fights where they bite each other?

It was a question that suddenly arose, but seeing Hoa look back at me and smile sweetly, I decided to quietly put that question aside.

The only women I had known in my entire life were my mother and Geum Mo-a─ and I had already learned that it was big trouble if you provoked either of them when they were making such an expression.

“Well then, shall we look for a monster related to iron this time? No matter how good the material is, it's a bit disappointing to carry around just a wooden staff, so shouldn't we add some metal decorations?”

“So it was you who provoked the ogres first.”

“Speaking of ogres, there's a proverb in the Fire Country that goes, ‘To an Oni, a metal club’. Doesn't that mean we can get a metal club if we kill them?”

“As far as I know, that proverb doesn't exist to kindly inform you what you can get when you catch an Oni……”

At the very least, you can't get wings by killing a tiger.

“Besides, this place called the Phantom World isn't a place where you can meet whatever you want to meet, is it?”

“…….”

“……Is it not?”

Feeling anxious at Hoa's silence, I pressed her again, but Hoa just smiled sweetly.

Fortunately, in the exploration of the Phantom World that followed, we did not encounter any Oni.

Instead, what we met were small-bodied, green-skinned humanoid monsters…….

In other words, what are called Goblins in the West.