Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Part 15

At times, it even created the illusion that electricity was still flowing.

There were places where electrical sparks flew as well, but most of them came from generators.

There were even cases where monsters used them as bait.

Of course, each time, Yugeon warned him in advance, so he managed to avoid any real harm.

“It isn’t a light like that. It’s an item. A lantern that will consume something.”

It was an item he would use later.

No, to be exact, it was an item he would hand over to someone.

“Oh... I’m curious.”

“And lastly...”

Swoosh.

Grab.

A leather apron hanging from a shelf.

More precisely, he pulled out something stuck into the apron.

“A needle?”

“This is something I absolutely need to obtain too.”

【Item: Needle that Stitches the Flow】

Rank: Heroic

Type: Enhancement Item

Repairs and modifies magical items.

“Now, we’ve gotten everything we need from here, so we’re heading to Odori Park.”

Without delay, Yugeon and Mincheol moved toward their next destination.

The city of death, Sapporo.

But to Yugeon, it was merely a massive treasure vault being looted without a hitch.

______________

Creeeeak.

The sound of the old shutter being lowered echoed especially loudly.

Yugeon stroked the heavy hammer hanging from his waist once, then left the blacksmith shop behind without hesitation.

The hammer and the eye.

The first half of the Sapporo expedition had been a success.

“Brother, where is Odori Park?”

Mincheol tilted his head.

Odori Park.

The name sounded somewhat unusual.

“If we go that way, we’ll reach it.”

Yugeon answered briefly and pointed south.

“We’ll collect the lantern there, then go straight to the botanical garden and pick the lotus. That’ll be the last one.”

“The lantern is the item you mentioned earlier, right, Brother? Do we need to kill a monster to get that one too?”

“Something similar. But this time, you’ll be seeing more ghosts than monsters.”

“G-Ghosts?”

Mincheol’s shoulders flinched.

He had become fairly accustomed to physical blows and monsters by now, but the fear inspired by the word ghost belonged to a completely different realm.

“Don’t be scared. They aren’t the kind that will harm you.”

Yugeon gave a faint smile and took the lead.

By the time the two crossed the city and arrived at Odori Park, the sun had completely set and deep darkness covered everything.

But the park was not dark.

Whooooosh.

Flicker. Flicker.

Thousands, no, tens of thousands of blue flames covered the entire park.

Blue lights floated through the air like fireflies, or perhaps will-o’-the-wisps.

If anyone passed through this place, they might have mistaken them for simple fireflies.

“Eek...!”

Mincheol raised his shield and stepped backward.

Seen up close, they were not mere flames.

Distorted shapes of human faces.

Translucent souls with their mouths open in expressions of agony.

[Cold... So cold...]

[Save me... I can’t breathe...]

[Mom... Where are you...]

Murmurs burrowed directly into his mind even when he covered his ears.

They were not the roars of monsters.

They were the final screams of dying people and lingering resentments that had been unable to disperse.

“Brother, are all those...?”

“People who died here.”

Yugeon answered calmly as he walked among the flames.

“When the poisonous gas covered the city during the second wave, the citizens evacuated to Odori Park. They believed the gas would be less concentrated in an open area.”

But that had been a horrifying misjudgment.

Instead, the park became a basin where the poisonous gas pooled, and hundreds of thousands of people froze to death and suffocated here while embracing one another.

Their injustice and suffering fused with the poison, turning them into earthbound spirits unable to pass on.

“They won’t attack, so relax. They’re simply huddling together because they’re cold.”

Just as Yugeon said, the blue flames did not attack them.

If anything, as though sensing the warmth of living beings, they merely circled around Mincheol and Yugeon, peering curiously at them.

As though they wanted to share even a little of the body heat of the living.

A sorrowful and grotesque procession.

“That’s awful... They probably didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mincheol lowered his shield with a bitter expression.

The fear he had felt at first disappeared, replaced by pity.

At that moment.

“Kieeeeeek!!”

A shrill scream shattered the silence of the park.

Whoosh!

The blue flames that had been peacefully drifting about scattered in terror in every direction.

Like a school of sardines encountering a shark.

“W-What is that?!”

“An unwelcome guest.”

Yugeon placed his hand on the Godslaying Sword, his gaze turning cold.

A gigantic shadow burst out of the darkness.

It looked almost like a torn piece of black cloth.

But it was actually a mass of shadow that constantly changed shape.

The creature stretched out a long arm and snatched up one of the blue flames that had failed to escape.

[No! No! Aaaagh!]

A desperate scream came from the flame, but the shadow ignored it and brought the flame toward its mouth.

Crunch.

Smack.

The sound of a soul being chewed.

With that chilling sound, the flame went out.

“That is...!”

“A Shadow Eater that grew larger by devouring vengeful spirits.”

It was an evil spirit.

More precisely, a ghost-type monster.

A parasite that grew by feeding on the sorrow of the dead.

After swallowing a soul, its body grew slightly larger and gave off an even more vicious aura.

“Kirik! Living human... smell...!”

The Shadow Eater turned its head and discovered Yugeon and Mincheol.

It had no eyes, but sticky, greedy killing intent poured from it.

A living soul, far tastier than a dead one.

Fresh life force.

Swoooosh!

The shadow raced along the ground in an instant.

It moved so quickly that it was difficult to follow with the eyes.

“It’s eaten so many souls that it’s beginning to develop intelligence.”

“It’s coming!”

Mincheol reflexively raised his shield and activated Steel Skin.

He was confident he could block any physical attack.

But his expectation was wrong.

Ssssst.

“Huh?”

There was no sound of impact.

The black shadow passed through Mincheol’s shield like smoke.

Immunity to physical attacks.

For a creature made of shadow, the shield posed no obstacle at all.

“Kihihihit!”

After passing through the shield, the creature drove its black claws toward Mincheol’s chest.

There was no physical wound.

No blood came out.

But Mincheol’s face instantly turned pale and his legs gave out.

“Ghk! I can’t... breathe... my strength...”

The sensation of his heart freezing.

It was an attack that directly drained life force and the soul itself.

“Mincheol, pull yourself together.”

“B-Brother... My attacks don’t work...”

“No. Your attacks can work on anyone.”

“But that thing is a ghost, so physical attacks...”

“I believe in you. And I believe in your potential.”

“...”

At Yugeon’s words, Mincheol clenched his teeth and rose again.

If Brother trusted him that much, he could not complain just because one attack had failed.

“Brother, what should I do?”

“Hit it. Abandon the idea that physical attacks don’t work, and believe that your weapon can strike anything.”

Clench.

At Yugeon’s quiet words, strength entered Mincheol’s hands.

Those words from Brother.

They had to be true.

He would not lie just to give Mincheol false hope.

‘Then that means I really can hit it.’

Clench.

Bzzzzzzzzzz!

As Mincheol’s conviction solidified, a faint light began flowing from his body.

The same appearance he had shown when fighting the Arachne Queen.

Shaaaaa.

“Kyakakyakakya!”

Whoosh.

“Hup!”

BANG!

“Ghk!”

When Mincheol swung his hammer toward the laughing Shadow Eater flying at him.

A tremendous impact rang out, followed by the Shadow Eater’s scream.

‘That’s right. Exactly like that.’

Heavenly Slaughter Star.

Mincheol’s trait, capable of killing even gods, was growing in exactly the right direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Aaaagh!”

“You... who prey on powerless vengeful spirits... I can’t forgive you.”

Mincheol’s eyes turned cold.

It had forcibly devoured souls that would have passed on naturally if left alone.

“Kiyaaaa!”

Feeling pain, the Shadow Eater thrashed and swelled its body.

It gathered the surrounding snow and poisonous energy, forming the shape of a gigantic giant.

“Graaaaah!”

A massive shadow fist came crashing down toward Mincheol.

BANG!

Screeech.

Mincheol raised his shield high and blocked the fist, then sneered.

For something that had grown stronger by devouring innocent souls, it was far too weak.

“You can’t even push back a single shield of mine.”

Clench!

“Disappear.”

Whoooooosh!

KRAAAANG!

Mincheol quickly moved the hammer in one hand and struck the Shadow Eater’s torso.

SHATTER!

At the same time, a sound like breaking glass rang out.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

The Shadow Eater screamed and twisted its body.

With a single hammer blow, its soul core had shattered.

“Kyaaaaaaa!!”

Soon, the creature’s body made of black smoke began to scatter.

And the countless blue flames trapped inside its belly were released and poured out.

Whooooosh!

The liberated vengeful spirits did not flee.

Instead, they circled around Mincheol and flickered as if expressing gratitude.

[Thank you...]

[Thanks to you... we can rest...]

Thousands of flames gathered above Mincheol’s head.

At their center, brilliant light began condensing.

A crystallization of gratitude created not by force, but voluntarily by the vengeful spirits themselves.

Grab.

Mincheol reached out and caught the item floating in the air.

An antique lantern that looked as though it were made from old bronze.

But inside it, instead of oil, a blue flame of souls was burning.

【Item: Lantern of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts】

Rank: Heroic

Type: Auxiliary Weapon

A sacred object created by vengeful spirits that despise evil energy.

Because they hate evil energy and wish to erase evil things from the world, it absorbs all of it.

However, because its power is insufficient.

It cannot annihilate the absorbed energy and instead stores it separately.