1218——————==

Soul of the Evil God

Life number 29 has begun.

I woke up in the barn and thought,

“Damn…. What the hell is this?”

If I had truly escaped that nightmare and was starting a new life, I should be feeling relieved and emotional. But instead, what filled my heart was a dreary sense of despair and defeat.

Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen!

The fact that my powerful rival changed their actions at the last moment, allowing me to start this life—it’s an indescribable feeling of defeat. I fought with all my might for the souls of my comrades until the very end, but the final result was determined by the rival’s mood swings, and that drives me absolutely crazy.

I don’t often feel this way.

It’s a bizarre feeling I never experienced when I was only preoccupied with survival—

It’s the stubborn feeling that when I someday stand before Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen again, I will keep the words I had said back then.

“Haah….”

I sighed and tried to calm my emotions. Then I stole a glance at Hwang-geum beside me.

Moo

Hwang-geum was sitting in a corner, casually making sounds and looking outside. I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the nonchalant demeanor of Hwang-geum, and I smiled as I scratched its forehead.

“Hwang-geum, do you really understand what I’m saying?”

It probably didn’t, but somehow I felt better after saying it. Though I wouldn’t hear Hwang-geum’s reply, my mood improved. I thought while scratching its forehead.

‘I have a lot to do, but… the first thing is already clear.’

No need to ask my advisors to know the preliminary step.

It’s to check the status of [Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen].

He had said at the last moment.

[As I said earlier, you are still lacking in everything…. For you, it will be an appropriate leisure.]

[The ultimate spell to seal Nyarlathotep. The price for casting this spell is sealing in the [next cycle]. The Demon Emperor also lost his advantage to Nyarlathotep because of this. How it will be for me remains uncertain.]

Even an emperor must pay such a price to seal Nyarlathotep, who has reached the height of chaos, and that price is sealing in the next cycle. Therefore, the conclusion I can draw is simple.

[In this life], Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen must be sealed!

I should gain the freedom to act as I please without the emperor’s restraint in this life. This must be the greatest gain from the long, long 28th iteration.

In a way, this aligns with Mangnyang’s wishes. Until the end, Mangnyang preferred I resist the emperor rather than commit suicide because he felt the need to restrain the emperor’s ability to calculate causality.

But I absolutely must reaffirm that the emperor has been sealed. If it turns out that he hasn’t, I could once again be toyed with by Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen and end up in an even worse situation than before. While contemplating what I needed to do to confirm this, something crossed my mind.

‘…Let’s quickly do the first thing first.’

The first thing is to gather the Heavenly Secret. After securing the Heavenly Secret, I planned to call upon my summoned beast.

“Come out!!”

Wooong

“……?!”

What the?!

The summoning circle that usually appeared had grown several times larger. At the same time, I felt a slight throb in my temple and a stinging sensation in my eyes. And the summoned beast that appeared with a squeak was three times larger than usual.

“What’s going on?!”

I was bewildered and suddenly recalled that there was a stream near the cave of the Heavenly Secret, so I went closer to look at my face.

I could see dark-colored paint spreading out from the corners of my eyes, enveloping them in blackness. It wasn’t a huge area, covering about 30% of my pupil, but it looked pretty eerie to a normal person.

“……!!”

Kreeek

The summoned beast tilted its head and glanced at me, but I couldn’t move due to my astonishment.

‘Why is my eye like this, and why has the summoned beast grown?’

I couldn’t understand. One thing is for sure: if I met a normal person in this condition, they would find me extremely dangerous.

Pa-at

I decided to use the summoned beast to head to Shandong and obtain the Golden Lamp, and while looking for something to cover my face among the supplies of the merchant ship, I rummaged around in a deserted warehouse and found a straw hat that seemed to be for exports to Goryeo.

‘I can use this to quickly cover my dark eyes.’

I put on the large straw hat that could completely cover my eyes, and I felt a bit relieved. Just to be sure, I took out a mirror from the merchant supplies and reflected my face. In that brief moment, I realized that the blackness had progressed to over half of my eye, and it looked like it would soon turn completely black.

‘…Damn….’

I dismissed the summoned beast and held the Golden Lamp in my hand. A sudden thought flashed through my mind.

‘I can’t meet Mangnyang first!’

I absolutely must meet Zhuge Sa first.

I made up my mind and headed to the Great Thunder Valley to obtain the Wooden Armor from General Hwang Yeon. Sneaking into the Great Thunder Valley and entering the core area with the giant toad monster, I felt something.

“Hmm….”

Thump! Thump!!

My heart was pounding. Specifically, something dark was swirling around near my heart, and a phantom scream echoed in my ears, accompanied by the sensation of being wrapped in an intense, indistinguishable flame.

And the giant toad monster standing in front of me shouted in fear.

[You… what the hell are you….]

“…….”

[Even if I fought, I wouldn’t be able to win against you…. Please show me mercy and either spare my life or… kill me cleanly.]

Just like the words I had heard before.

I stayed silent, nodded, and said to the giant toad monster.

“Okay. I’ll kill you as you wish.”

When I drew my sword, the giant toad monster panicked.

[Ugh…. Wait…. Are you really going to kill me just because I said that?]

“Empty words!”

Absolute Thunder Sword

Infinite Slash!!

[Kiiiaaaak.]

With one slash of the Infinite Slash, I cut down the giant toad monster and noticed its remains sprawled on the ground, putting my sword back in its sheath. I muttered to myself.

“Be grateful I killed you in one shot, you idiot.”

The identity of the toad was Hang-a, who had betrayed me. In my 28th life, that little rascal had almost caused me serious trouble using the [Knot] to bind my ankle. Given that grudge, even tormented, killing him wouldn’t feel satisfying, but my situation was more urgent, so one swift strike was all I could afford.

After obtaining the Wooden Armor and other treasures, I set off to rescue General Hwang Yeon and the prisoners. Just as I was putting each prisoner into the Wooden Armor, something unexpected happened.

Snap crackle

Coooorrrr

“……?”

I was taken aback as I saw the morphed humans, who looked like a mix of human and beast, making a loud commotion. This had never happened before. As I kept my guard up, one of the creatures opened its mouth wide, and something dark began to ooze out of it.

Cooouuuuu

The dark mass that the aberration spewed out shriveled up like a cicada’s shell, and after a bit of mucus fell to the ground, it slowly started to rise, taking on a human-like form. Soon, it had two legs but also grotesque tentacles hanging from its upper body, and it began to speak to me in an odd language.

[How are you… I am the Musician of Dreams.]

“…….”

I could tell without needing to speak. It looked weak at first glance, but there was no doubt this creature was either someone’s agent or an avatar. Despite its small size, I felt a powerful magical energy emanating from it.

The dark creature stared at me intently and continued speaking.

[In accordance with the wishes of the Great One…. I would like to present you… an invitation.]

“An invitation?”

[Please feel free to come at any time you desire….]

Bam!!

Upon finishing those words, the creature’s body burst apart like slime and soon absorbed into the ground, leaving no trace. The remains of the burst creature revealed a beautiful blue gemstone that looked like an eye.

‘…Such beautiful color.’

I couldn’t believe such a beautiful gem was left behind by that grotesque creature. The inner part of the gem seemed to wiggle like a living eye, giving off an eerie vibe, yet it was undeniable that the gem was of the highest quality.

This must be the [invitation].

I pocketed the blue gemstone and placed the remaining aberrations and prisoners into the Wooden Armor. After that, I headed towards Mount Huang.

Pa-at

Upon arriving at Mount Huang and entering the ruins of Xuyou, I encountered the Human Face Pillar. However, this time, unlike the giant toad monster, the Human Face Pillar seemed to react differently, not knowing how to differentiate between strong and weak.

[Kiiik!! Kiiik!! Ki-gig!!]

The Human Face Pillar twisted its giant spider body and, as if to prove it held no hostility, it collapsed in front of me, lowering all eight of its legs. When I stared at the bewildering sight with disbelief, I felt the Human Face Pillar’s words gradually interpretable in my mind.

[Great Being!! So cool!! Please make me your subordinate!!]

“…….”

[I’ll do anything!! Please!]

What the heck is going on here…

‘Why is it acting like this all of a sudden?’

I felt a throbbing in my head. Come to think of it, this headache had been with me since the start of my new life—it hadn’t left me. It wasn’t a severe headache, but it was strange for a headache to last so long. Usually, the illusions after intense pain would fade away after half a moment, but this headache lingered.

I pressed my temple and said to the Human Face Pillar.

“Hmm…. You seem a bit too big to fit into the Wooden Armor; it might be hard.”

Even if the Wooden Armor were wide enough, it might run short on space if I tried to fit such a gigantic monster inside. When I mentioned my difficulty, the Human Face Pillar said,

[Alright!! Then I will offer my name!! Accept me!!]

“……? Name?”

[Please!! I’m so tired of living here!]

I was puzzled by what it meant, but I felt a desperate emotion, so I reluctantly nodded.

“I’ll accept you.”

[Ahhh!! I’m becoming a servant to the Great Being!]

Swoosh!!

In the next moment, the Human Face Pillar’s body shimmered, and it began to completely vanish. The remnants of the Human Face Pillar, which turned into particles of light, suddenly clung to my arm and transformed into what looked like letters.

Wooong

A short while later, with a slight vibration, bizarre ancient characters were inscribed on my arm. For some reason, I could read the characters, realizing they meant [powerful and strong ancient spider].

…Somehow such a simple name.

Anyway, after experiencing this unfathomable situation, I tilted my head in confusion, gathered the remaining treasures from the ruins of Xuyou, and also placed Jeon Wook’s statue into the Wooden Armor. Once I finished this series of processes, I decided to go directly to Zhuge Sa.

It was then.

“Uugh.”

Suddenly, my headache intensified.

‘No way!’

I quickly took out the mirror I had brought from the merchant ship and looked at my face. As I saw what I had anticipated unfold, I gritted my teeth.

My eyes had turned completely black.