NOVPUBBefore engaging with Hwang Ho, Do-cheol received a sensation through the Chaos Formation.
Chaos seemed to use its powers to survey the entire Garden.
Even within the Shaman’s clouds, Chaos precisely sensed the number of people and their locations throughout the Garden.
When Do-cheol confirmed the result, he clicked his tongue.
‘There are more of them than I expected.’
At that point, excluding Do-cheol, three groups were present in the Garden.
The first group consisted of Jo Ui-shin, disguised as Seong Guk-eon, Jeon Moo-young, and Hwang Ho, whom Do-cheol intended to hunt.
The second group included Joo Su-hyeok, Kim Cheol, Tak Geosan, Heukma, and Maeng Hyo-don’s master, who were moving to retrieve Seong Guk-eo’s body.
The third group was Maeng Hyo-don and Ham Geun-hyeong, who had separated from the others to rescue Maeng Hyo-don’s disciple.
The total number of people from these three groups far exceeded the number Do-cheol had anticipated.
‘Damn it, with this many people, I won’t be able to fight properly!’
There was a legend that Do-cheol had once fled after losing to overwhelming numbers.
As the enemy's numbers increased, it became disadvantageous for him, making him weaker.
Despite this weakness, Do-cheol was entrusted with a mission because of the Shaman’s power.
By using the Shaman’s power, he could deceive the enemy with clouds and mist and manipulate the Garden, making it easier to divide their forces.
However, this mission had not gone as Do-cheol had expected.
He speculated on why things had gone wrong.
‘My side succeeded. So, the failure must have come from the other side. The Ho Clan must have interfered when the transfer happened at Tanrae Jung.’
Do-cheol still believed that his capture of Seong Guk-eon and Jeon Moo-young had gone smoothly. 𝓃𝓸𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
He was patting himself on the back for outsmarting the enemy and bringing the real Seong Guk-eon to the Garden, successfully fooling the Ho Clan. He dismissed the small signs of abnormalities he had noticed during the mission.
He had convincing reasons to believe there were issues with the other transfer, which made his confidence even stronger.
In reality, both locations where the transfers occurred had problems, and only Jeon Moo-young and Hwang Ho had infiltrated the Garden, but Do-cheol remained unaware of this.
[The Shaman and your strength alone will not be enough to finish this task. We will intervene. You stay with the furnace. We...]
The Chaos Formation contained not only the Garden’s situation but also messages from the other Four Horrors.
The other Four Horrors were indicating their intent to actively intervene in the conclusion of this operation.
Though it was all likely the orders of the same entity, the more Do-cheol heard, the more he felt uneasy.
It felt like he had done the hard work only for someone else to come in and steal the credit.
‘...Still, since things have gone this way, I’ll have to accept the help.’
Reluctantly, Do-cheol decided to follow the instructions in the message.
He thought no more problems would arise.
However, Do-cheol’s assumption was quickly shattered.
He had planned to split their forces and take them down one by one, but Hwang Ho’s ability to create clones made his plan useless.
‘What’s going on? Did Chaos deceive me? No, could the author... could it be Hwang Ho...?!’
Only after seeing Hwang Ho in the room with the furnace did Do-cheol realize what was happening.
The head of the Ho Clan had personally entered and was using clones to disrupt Do-cheol’s plan.
It was hard to understand why Hwang Ho had come here, but seeing him speak to the Shaman brought clarity.
‘It was because of the Shaman! Hwang Ho wouldn’t have come just to protect a member of the Ho Clan.’
While it wasn’t only the Shaman that brought Hwang Ho here, Do-cheol couldn’t make sense of his actions.
Although the enemy had the advantage in numbers and Hwang Ho was a powerful opponent, Do-cheol felt bold.
Only Hwang Ho had taken the initiative to fight, and on this side, there were many hostages, including the Shaman and those about to become hostages.
If Do-cheol defeated Hwang Ho or inflicted significant damage, it would be a great achievement. Even if he lost, he could negotiate using the hostages, and Hwang Ho would have no choice but to let him go.
Having come to this devious calculation, Do-cheol bared his teeth at Hwang Ho.
However, there were countless errors in Do-cheol’s calculations, and he failed to achieve the result he wanted.
“You seem to have found the answer.”
Hwang Ho spoke as he looked at the one-eyed human.
That human, who should have seemed pathetic, stood with confidence.
Despite being attacked to the point of losing an eye, he appeared to feel no fear or pain.
Do-cheol had seen such people throughout history.
They were the strong, righteous humans Do-cheol despised the most.
“Am I wrong, Do-cheol?”
The moment the one-eyed human saw through his identity, Do-cheol felt a burning desire to kill him.
It wasn’t because he was ordered to kill Seong Guk-eon; it was because Do-cheol felt he had to kill this human right now.
He couldn’t explain it, but he felt that this human could shatter all the schemes built over long years filled with malice.
‘I’ll see if you can stay calm after losing your remaining eye!’
But Do-cheol’s attack failed.
Hwang Ho had stepped forward and protected the human.
Seeing the fang marks on the barrier, Do-cheol’s stomach turned cold.
He had been so fixated on killing the human that he had forgotten about Hwang Ho’s presence, and now he had come to his senses.
‘I can’t win...! But I can’t run away and leave the furnace. I have to hold out until the other Four Horrors arrive!’
However, even holding out seemed impossible against Hwang Ho’s power.
Do-cheol was soon cornered.
He hid deep within the clouds, but Hwang Ho’s magic forcefully dragged him out.
As his horn was revealed before the human, Do-cheol trembled with humiliation and rage but quickly spoke to survive.
‘I’ll give away information about how many have infiltrated here, and it should make negotiations easier.’
Do-cheol boasted that he knew about the three groups that had infiltrated the Garden and had already devised a perfect strategy for dealing with them.
Despite that, Do-cheol continued to show his cunning.
He said, “One of the Four Horrors is coming,” but he didn’t specify that it was only one.
‘Maybe Hwang Ho placed a clone in their ranks. If I make them think there’s only one of the Four Horrors, I can deceive them and create an opening.’
When Do-cheol bragged about capturing hostages, the response seemed strange.
Hwang Ho, the most powerful figure here, was looking at the human, as if waiting for confirmation.
It was puzzling that Hwang Ho was looking at the human, considering he held the highest power and authority in this place.
Hwang Ho surely didn’t place much significance on the title of “Congressman,” but the mystery continued to grow.
Whoosh!
At that moment, the remaining eye of the human radiated an ability that seemed different from the Life and Death Vision.
Though the energy was different from before, it was strong enough that it made the air in the space feel heavy for a moment.
The strength was so overwhelming that the human’s eye twitched as the power poured out.
“...”
Seeing this, Hwang Ho made an unhappy expression.
Some of the energy from the one-eyed human seemed to flow toward Hwang Ho.
Receiving this energy, Hwang Ho wiped the expression off his face and asked.
“Understood. Will this body be fine until I arrive?”
Looking at the sequence of events, it seemed as though the two shared sight.
In reality, Jo Ui-shin had used the Gwandongha Gwanglim, ‘Eyes That Hold Heaven and Earth,’ to see the entire Garden and locate Maeng Hyo-don and Ham Geun-hyeong, then shared their positions through the shared vision ability with Hwang Ho.
However, Do-cheol never imagined Seong Guk-eon could possess such abilities and continued to repeat futile thoughts.
Upon hearing Hwang Ho’s question, the one-eyed human nodded and smiled.
That smile resembled the one he had shown before being dragged into the Garden.
After Ham Geun-hyeong had defeated the Floor Master.
Ham Geun-hyeong and Maeng Hyo-don decided that prioritizing stamina and safety was more important than meeting up with Joo Su-hyeok.
Ham Geun-hyeong judged it would be more efficient to take care of themselves first.
“Joo Su-hyeok is the owner of the Heavenly Eyes. Since you saw them fall, you must know the direction. He’s probably figured out the situation here.”
“Is it possible to see after we’ve gotten so far? Joo Su-hyeok said that the Heavenly Eyes don’t work well in other worlds...”
“In theory, as long as they’re within the range of the Heavenly Eyes, everything in the other world can be seen. However, no matter how close, the boundary between the other world and reality will remain invisible.”
When Maeng Hyo-don asked, Ham Geun-hyeong answered dutifully as a teacher.
He explained that seeing inside the other world from the real world, or vice versa, was only possible with very special and rare abilities and that it was difficult with the Heavenly Eyes.
Additionally, Ham Geun-hyeong explained the ranges of the Bai Li Eyes and Heavenly Eyes and the role their possessors played in the conquest of other worlds.
Maeng Hyo-don ended up receiving an impromptu tutoring session, but he silently listened since he had asked the questions himself.
Though he tried to pay attention, soon, his limit was reached.
Perhaps because it was one-on-one, Ham Geun-hyeong immediately picked up on the parts Maeng Hyo-don didn’t understand and explained them again.
“Maeng Hyo-don, your eyes will open soon.”
“Eyes will open?”
“Good players always acquire new eyes in some form. Abilities awaken depending on the direction of a player’s training and growth. As physical abilities improve or through skills or Gwanglim, the eyes will open.”
When Maeng Hyo-don didn’t understand, Ham Geun-hyeong gave an example.
He used people around Maeng Hyo-don to make it easier for him to understand.
“For example, ‘Shooting Master’ Anda-In can raise the performance of his eyes beyond a scope when needed. Joo Su-hyeok has the Heavenly Eyes, and I can borrow the gaze of the famous marksman through Gwanglim.”
“Oh...”
When familiar names were brought up, Maeng Hyo-don nodded.
Having seen them fight in practice and real combat, he understood what Ham Geun-hyeong was talking about.
They all fought with excellent vision.
Thinking about it, Tak Geosan was the same.
Tak Geosan had detected Bae Yoon-seop, who had been distracted during training, and corrected Maeng Hyo-don’s sloppy posture.
‘It’s an angle that a practitioner wouldn’t be able to see, but he always pointed it out.’
Maeng Hyo-don thought of other excellent players in addition to those mentioned.
One of them was Jo Ui-shin.
‘Then Jo Ui-shin must have some kind of eyes too. Hwang Ji-ho must have some skills too...’
Just as Maeng Hyo-don thought, Hwang Ho had the Eye of Death.
Maeng Hyo-don continued to think of several other players.
‘Will my eyes open too?’
The unanswered thoughts quickly faded.
Seeing that Maeng Hyo-don had reached his limit, Ham Geun-hyeong quickly changed the subject.
“We will deal with the Garden conquest on the other side. No matter what happens, the Beast Tribes are involved in the attack, they said.”
Ham Geun-hyeong spoke to reassure Maeng Hyo-don.
According to Jo Ui-shin’s plan, no matter how the dark forces acted, one of Hwang Ho or the Black Tiger would definitely be transferred to the Garden.
While Ham Geun-hyeong was about to explain further, he suddenly stopped.
The bow that Ham Geun-hyeong had been holding started to glow.
Whoosh!
Maeng Hyo-don barely followed the arrow with his eyes as Ham Geun-hyeong quickly drew the bowstring.
The arrow didn’t hit anything.
Then, from the opposite direction of where Ham Geun-hyeong aimed, a voice rang out.
“If that’s the case, I’ll have to catch you before the conquest is finished.”
There was only one voice.
As Maeng Hyo-don was on alert for the new enemy, Ham Geun-hyeong warned.
“Maeng Hyo-don, there are two of them.”
