Possessing Nothing

There were many types of legends surrounding the Yuzukia mountain range.

After passing the South, which was filled with monsters from traditional beliefs, and moving North-West, past the Ancient Forest where the elves lived, and past a couple more jungles, one would reach the Yuzukia mountain range, a rough area with peaks so high that one could not see the top.

[The Yuzukia Mountain range and Huejael Mountain are the tallest and the most mystical mountains in the South. I have not been here before, though.] (note: It doesn’t say who spoke these words, but by the tone, I think it’s Yana, the Gumiho)

If one were to climb the mountain, it would take forever, but there was no need to suffer, thanks to Yana, who could freely run across the sky.

In an instant, Yana jumped up, into the sky, past the clouds, and ran towards the tallest peak.

It was the first time that Lee Sungmin had reached this height. Lee Sungmin, along with Baek Sogo and Scarlett, looked past Yana’s golden fur, which they were holding on to, and looked down.

Scarlett clicked her tongue as she looked at the clouds below.

“We’ll die if we fall, right?”

“I don’t think we’ll die, but it would hurt like hell.”

Lee Sungmin replied, shivering. Of course, there was no chance that they would fall. In the case of Lee Sungmin and Baek Sogo, their martial arts had far surpassed the level needed to walk on air, and Scarlett could use magic to slow her fall.

After reaching the top of the peak, the trio dropped down from Yana’s back onto the ground.

She turned back into her human form, rubbing her back like it was sore. Seeing this, Lee Sungmin felt sorry and bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

Yana replied while looking around the area, which was filled with fog.

It was hard seeing through the fog for an average person, but no one in the group felt uncomfortable.

Not far away, they heard the sound of water flowing and a waterfall. Yana pointed in a specific direction.

“It seems to be that way.”

The clothes became wet from the cold moisture in the air. Scarlett waved her hand, reversing the process. The wet clothes quickly dried and did not get wet again.

Soon after, the group arrived in front of a lake. The waterfall lay at the edge of the massive lake.

Lee Sungmin looked at the sky, where the moon did not rise yet. It was said that the Moon Palace only appeared past the clouds when the full moon was at the highest point in the sky.

Although the legend stated that, Lee Sungmin did not believe in myths without proof.

“It’s my turn now.”

Scarlett walked forward with a smirk. She, like Lee Sungmin, did not believe in baseless legends.

She double-checked her gloves while lifting her hands in front of her. Countless golden runes started appearing midair as Scarlett lightly drummed her fingers while moving her hands.

Scarlett hummed, combining existing runes and creating new letters with slight movements of her fingers.

“I get why it’s a mystical mountain; incredible magical power exists here. This amount… it seems to be on par with the Forest of the Fairies.”

“It’s that much?”

“Mhm. You aren’t able to feel it, but the presence of spirits is very strong. I think the mountain has so much magical power because of this.”

Lee Sungmin nodded at Scarlett’s words. While looking for information on Yuzukia Mountain, he heard stories about spirits.

Due to the presence of spirits, this place was like a holy land. Some who wanted to make contracts with spirits were said to have looked for the Yuzukia mountain range.

Other places around the world had a strong presence of spirits.

“It doesn’t make sense to say that the Moon Palace appears from the moon. It looks like someone just played around with the space here… hmm…hmm.”

Scarlett’s fingers, tapping the air, started to move faster. The runes that she combined began to float around her.

“… As I thought, there is a space made by someone in between… They created a magic barrier surrounding it, but fortunately, I think I can figure it out.”

The magic that Scarlett was using wasn’t pure magic; her magic was based around Yin Yang and transformation magic, and technically speaking, it had the foundation of witchcraft mixed with magic.

Soon after, Scarlett giggled bashfully. Her right hand pointed towards the middle of the lake.

Kiiinng!

The runes surrounding Scarlett simultaneously lit up.

Kurrrrrr…..

The space around them shook. A small ripple appeared on the lake’s surface, which grew until the entire lake started to shudder.

The vibrations on the lake grew, while cracks started appearing on the surface. Scarlett, who was laughing while watching this, closed her opened right hand.

RRRIP!

The spatial cracks split more. And shattered. The hidden area revealed itself between the cracks and the broken space.

The Moon Palace, a traditional East Asian mansion made of pure white wood, slowly floated down and hovered over the lake’s surface.

“Let’s go.”

Scarlett said coolly. Lee Sungmin, impressed by her show of magic, stared at her.

She, who had bragged about her skills, had figured out the hidden location of the Moon Palace immediately after the group arrived.

“…That was incredible….”

“You might be stronger than me at fighting, but I have other skills that I am good at.”

Without Scarlett, Lee Sungmin would probably have had to run around the mountain for a few days like a headless chicken.

“So, that’s it? No other compliments?”

“Scarlett-nim is definitely a magician among magicians.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”

Scarlett complained, but she looked happy.

Due to the unknown dangers that might lurk in the Moon Palace, Lee Sungmin took the lead. He looked at the lake and stepped towards the mansion.

Do Zun had said that Wolhu had not died, but since Lee Sungmin had personally seen him die, he did not believe Do Zun.

Even if Do Zun had made an oath, to tell the truth, he had not met Wolhu in person, and he had only heard that he was alive; Do Zun might have misunderstood that information.

Lee Sungmin looked at the Moon Palace. It was way too big for just one person – Wolhu – to live alone. No disciples or…

“…the fuck is this?”

When the group opened the front doors, they met a pungent stench that covered them. Lee Sungmin scrunched his nose and squinted his eyes.

He knew what this smell was. It smelled of rotting corpses that weren’t taken care of or cleaned.

The party headed towards the source of the smell, which came from down the stairs and into the basement. The scent seemed to originate from behind an iron door that was ajar.

After opening the door, Scarlett lit up the area with magic. However, everyone knew what they would see before Scarlett lit up the place.

The area was filled with rotting corpses. They seemed to have died just a week ago.

[Seems like they killed each other.]

‘It seems so.’

The wounds on the bodies were different but had one thing in common; they had a trace of martial arts.

Lee Sungmin looked at the iron door, where a trace of dried, bloodied footprints led up the stairs.

It meant that just one person had left from these piles of dead bodies.

“Only one person.”

“Who do you think it was?”

“I think identifying these corpses comes before finding out who the survivor is.”

Yana mumbled. It would be easy to ask the corpses, but Scarlett was not proficient in necromancy.

That meant that the group needed another magician’s help. Lee Sungmin called Neville.

“A Black Magician (Warlock, if that works)…?”

“Yes. Preferably one that is not under the Blood Alliance.”

“Does a lich work?”

“Definitely not.”

After the case with Kim Jonghyun, Black Magicians were ostracized by Eria. They, who were rejected and even openly hunted, sought out the Blood Alliance; the Blood Demon, the lord of the Blood Alliance, was Geniella’s second bloodline.

Coming into contact with a Black Magician in the Blood Alliance might give away information to Geniella.

The information from this place couldn’t be that important, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.

“Hmm… a Black Magician that isn’t a part of the Blood Alliance…that isn’t a lich… this might be easier than expected.”

“Really?”

“Yes. After Kim Jonghyun’s plot, the Black Tower in the Magician’s Guild was destroyed, and most Black Magicians migrated to the Blood Alliance. However, it’s not like every single one of them went over. The strong enough Black Magicians refused to be put under surveillance and lived in their domains. Some of these magicians are a part of Erebrisa.”

Neville stopped, telling Lee Sungmin that he would be back in a bit. Soon after, Neville reappeared in front of him.

As Neville split the space to get to Lee Sungmin, a hooded figure in a black robe walked out from behind him.

“There’s no need for introductions, right?”

Maybe it was due to a particular type of magic, but Lee Sungmin could not see anything in the hood. All that was there was a deep shadow.

“However, I know who you guys are. That magic and gloves… Should I say it’s an honor to meet the Red Tower Master? (적색현자, or the Red Sage, is what the author uses, which isn’t technically the Red Tower Master. However, I’ll stick to it because it is Scarlett’s official title)

“Eat shit.”

Hearing the Black Magician laugh, Scarlett raised her middle finger.

“Hmm… I don’t know you. But I know who you are. Incredible strength and nine tails? Isn’t that a bit too obvious? That means you are the Ghost Spear who killed Kim Jonghyun. The fact that you two are traveling together is famous, you know. So, that woman is the Silent Flare?

Should I have put on a disguise? Lee Sungmin thought that, but it was too late to change anything.

“You know Kim Jonghyun?”

“He was the glory and the end of Black Magicians. He did something that no other magician had ever done but was too clumsy. To be honest, I think it was good that he died.”

The Black Magician laughed while interlacing his dried fingers.

“Do you need anything? Tell me.”

“I need to find out what happened in this place from these corpses.”

“It’s not anything too difficult. There are a few lingering spirits that aren’t going where they are supposed to.”

Before the Black Magician started, Lee Sungmin glanced sideways at Neville.

“Can you make it so that the magician cannot hear what these corpses talk about?”

“Understood.”

“I’m not curious, you know. I just want my pay.”

The Black Magician complained but signed the seal. Neville closed the space that connected them as soon as he cast the spell.

A chilly breeze traveled around the room where the corpses lay. Above a few bodies, smoky shapes arose. These smokes soon condensed into resentful spirits (망령).

“Ask anything that you want. They are restrained by my magic.”

The Black Magician’s voice traveled from the enclosed space. Lee Sungmin looked at Neville.

“No sound should travel from here to there.”

“The fuck is that? I’ve never heard of any spatial magic that does that.”

Scarlett clicked her tongue while talking.

Lee Sungmin walked towards the spirits.

“Who’s the person that escaped from this place?”

“Lebias is gone.”

“Lebias killed me.”

“She’s still alive. She got Master’s inheritance.”

“Who’s Lebias? And Master…Wolhu? Why did you guys kill each other?”

The spirits nodded and continued.

“Lebias is our junior sister.”

“She came to the Moon Palace 10 years ago. She wanted to avenge her father, so she came here. She was an elf… she was strong. Master said she was Qian Zun’s daughter.”

“Master looked at us and said to fight and kill each other. The last one standing would receive everything that he had.”

Lee Sungmin’s eyes widened. Lebias was the hunting captain he had spared. Did she leave the forest and become a disciple of Wolhu?

“Wolhu told you guys to kill each other? He died 10 years ago, though?”

“Master didn’t die.”

“We didn’t see his physical form for 10 years, but his voice led us.”

“The ones that are dead are us.”

Lee Sungmin quickly stepped outside the room. He followed the bloodied footsteps up the stairs leading to the front of an old-fashioned door.

There was no sound from behind the door. Lee Sungmin opened the door and stepped inside. On the floor lay piles of the flesh of unknown origin.

“…This….”

Among the flesh, there were fragments of a crushed head.

The flesh had decayed similarly to the corpses from earlier.

What had happened here?

Do Zun was right; Wolhu was alive, and the hunting captain, or Lebias, the daughter of Guan Zun, had inherited everything from Wolhu.

There was no way to tell what this meant. Lee Sungmin grabbed a couple of items that belonged to Wolhu. He wanted to ask Frau to use these items to determine his location.

Krrrrrrrrrr

As soon as Lee Sungmin left the room, the Moon Palace started to shake.

“What the…”

Scarlett flinched and quickly drew a rune in the air.

“What’s going on? Spatial…NO, NO, NO! Why now! How is this possible?”

Scarlett shouted, flustered. What was happening right now was impossible with regular magic. The surrounding area started to warp and shake.

“The space is closing! If we don’t escape, we will be stuck here forever!”

Lee Sungmin quickly tried to summon the pegasus. However, it did not respond to his call.

This space had turned into a place the pegasus could not travel to.

‘It can’t be… right?’

Lee Sungmin remembered the words of the Predator of Massacre, which had said that the Queen of Spirits would awaken soon.