Immortals vs. Grim Reapers - chapter 38
Chapter 38. The Shaman King (3)
The Prince of Gangreung seemed unfazed by Ju Gangrim recognizing him, as if it wasn’t particularly surprising.
After all, he had openly appeared at the meeting place with Ttaekachi, so there was no reason to be surprised at encountering Ju Gangrim.
“What a pity. I was curious to see your face when you met Ttaekachi.”
“Did Ttaekachi tell you I was coming?”
“I didn’t even need to ask. I have many eyes and ears.”
Lee Hwi-myeong smirked and shrugged.
“Besides, I could tell you were coming from quite a distance. Plastering will-o’-wisps everywhere like that.”
This was Ju Gangrim’s mistake.
The drawback of will-o’-wisps is that they’re visible to those with spiritual sensitivity. Even Han Mina could see them, so he should have predicted that the Prince of Gangreung would certainly have spiritual sensitivity too.
Ju Gangrim quickly acknowledged his mistake but didn’t dwell on it.
He slowly walked around the Prince of Gangreung, gauging the distance. The Prince didn’t appear to be holding any visible weapons.
‘A pistol inside his jacket, and a dagger at his ankle. Is that all?’
It was modest armament for the leader of a nationwide criminal organization.
It was surprising enough that he held the title of museum director in the first place.
But those weren’t the Prince of Gangreung’s real weapons. Ju Gangrim took a deep breath as if about to speak.
In that instant, he lunged at Lee Hwi-myeong.
Tick, thud!
But at that moment, a hand shot out of thin air, grabbing Ju Gangrim’s hand axe and pushing it away. It was the same phenomenon as when he first attacked Lee Hwi-myeong.
A woman with a screaming visage grabbed his nape from behind, while a legless man clutched his ankles.
Simultaneously, gang members burst through the main entrance, swarming in.
It was indeed a trap.
The gang members drew their weapons and immediately opened fire on Ju Gangrim.
Ratatatatat, bang, ratatat.
Ju Gangrim quickly rolled to dodge while closing the distance with the Prince of Gangreung.
“You bastards!”
As Ju Gangrim’s voice thundered, the ghosts screamed and scattered. That brief moment was enough.
In the short, uninterrupted instant, Ju Gangrim swung his axe upwards in one swift motion.
The Prince of Gangreung, seemingly not expecting such a direct assault, tried to dodge backwards but dropped his glasses.
The hand axe split the glasses in two.
Before the broken glasses hit the floor, the Prince of Gangreung drew the pistol from his chest. Ju Gangrim, already aware of the gun’s presence, reacted quickly.
Bang, bang.
The bullet grazed Ju Gangrim’s cheek.
Along with the pain of his earlobe being torn off, he belatedly felt dull aches all over his body.
Though he had hurried to dodge, Ju Gangrim had already been shot multiple times by the gang members’ barrage.
Even if the death messenger’s robes provided some protection, it wasn’t enough. Nevertheless, Ju Gangrim had no choice but to keep charging at the Prince of Gangreung.
The Prince of Gangreung was the organization’s leader. Naturally, he had to be cautious about pulling the trigger.
But the Prince grinned, revealing his teeth, and rushed towards Ju Gangrim with arms wide open.
“You fool!”
As Ju Gangrim tried to close the distance, the Prince of Gangreung instead rushed to embrace him.
Ju Gangrim moved to avoid him, but he felt the scattered ghosts lunging at him again, clinging to his limbs.
The moment the Prince of Gangreung embraced Ju Gangrim, the gang members unleashed a hail of bullets at both of them without a moment’s hesitation.
They didn’t release the trigger until their magazines were empty.
Click, click.
Acrid gunpowder smoke filled the museum, and the sound of reloading echoed from all around.
The paintings exhibited in the museum were now in tatters.
But even more tattered were the Prince of Gangreung and Ju Gangrim.
A moment later, someone rose from the gunpowder smoke.
It was the Prince of Gangreung.
The Prince’s once-pristine suit and watch, as well as his entire body, were riddled with holes and bleeding profusely. Yet despite this, he calmly stood up and straightened his attire.
“Ugh, uh, ah…”
The Prince of Gangreung tried to say something to Ju Gangrim in front of him, but realizing his jaw had fallen off, he picked it up and reattached it.
He gestured to a ghost hovering nearby, allowing it to seep into his body. The ghost writhed in resistance but was quickly absorbed and vanished.
The Prince of Gangreung’s jaw and body began to heal rapidly.
“Hmm, I was hoping to have a chat, but you turned out to be an incredibly reckless fellow.”
The Prince of Gangreung muttered, looking down at Ju Gangrim slumped on the floor.
He still hadn’t figured out Ju Gangrim’s identity or who was behind him. Even through Ttaekachi, he had only learned the inexplicable nickname “death messenger.”
“You said you had a companion. Head to Deokheongjeon. If the companion is around this one’s level, Bulgom should be more than enough to handle them, but just in case.”
One ghoul handed him a wet towel, while another approached with a new suit and watch.
“I heard the Gangnam branch was on the brink of annihilation, so I wondered what kind of person it was, but it turns out it’s someone not even worth my effort. Throw his corpse in the pond.”
As the Prince of Gangreung wiped his blood-covered face with the wet towel, something suddenly struck him.
‘Was he wearing these clothes originally?’
Unlike when they first met, Ju Gangrim was now wrapped in a black robe with an antique feel.
He was sure it had been ordinary tactical gear until just before they turned him into a bullet-ridden mess.
The Prince of Gangreung felt an odd uneasiness, but seeing Ju Gangrim motionless, he turned away.
The ghouls approached Ju Gangrim.
Crack, thud.
But as the Prince of Gangreung was about to leave, he heard the sound of bone and flesh being torn.
He turned his head.
He saw the bisected corpses of the ghouls, along with Ju Gangrim raising his rag-like body.
“If this is all you’ve got,”
Ju Gangrim spoke, covering the hole in his cheek with his palm to make a sound.
“Then I might as well declare today your death anniversary, Prince of Gangreung.”
***
The Prince of Gangreung stared intently at Ju Gangrim as he stood up.
The composure he had maintained even when the axe grazed his face and bullets tore through him was gone, replaced by a cautious gaze fixed on Ju Gangrim.
The Prince, nervously touching his lips, muttered as if in realization.
“…Ah, I see. I wondered who it was, but it’s another immortal. Yes, that makes sense. That’s why you could act like a mad dog.”
The Prince of Gangreung sighed deeply and muttered.
“Who are you? I thought I’d eliminated almost everyone in Korea capable of challenging me. Is it America? I know there’s someone in America who opposes me. Or…”
“Shut up. You talk too much.”
The Prince of Gangreung fell silent.
Ju Gangrim ran his hand through his hair with a tired expression.
The Prince stared at Ju Gangrim quietly. He was bleeding profusely, and one eye remained closed, possibly injured.
Even for an immortal, eyes are complex organs difficult to regenerate.
The ghouls were all using small-caliber guns for mobility.
Whatever that hanbok-like clothing was, it seemed to have decent defensive properties, as there weren’t many visible punctures. Nevertheless, bullets would still cause bone-breaking impacts.
If so, Ju Gangrim’s body must already be in tatters.
‘How wretched.’
Most of the Prince of Gangreung’s predictions were correct.
Ju Gangrim’s body was already in a state where a normal person would have died instantly.
However, while being riddled with bullets, Ju Gangrim had stuffed all the flesh-growing and bone-growing pills he had into his mouth and endured.
And he remained motionless until his body could regenerate even a little.
He barely managed to hang on with the soul forcibly bound as a death messenger, the power of the pills, and the defense of his robes, but it meant that if Ju Gangrim had been human, he would have lost to the Prince of Gangreung.
‘I’ve grown weak.’
His physical abilities had improved, and he’d gained various skills and good weapons. Yet despite this, Ju Gangrim couldn’t help but feel he had become weaker.
If he were still human, he would have prepared more thorough and vicious methods.
Yu Wolryeong had said that spirit dominates flesh, so as long as he didn’t receive fatal wounds, it didn’t matter, but for Ju Gangrim, it was a different issue.
Ju Gangrim didn’t want to create a scenario where one immortal defeats another immortal.
Nor did he want to portray a weak human overcoming a powerful immortal.
He wanted to become a clear symbol of death, bringing death to immortals.
To do that, he couldn’t lose as either a human or a death messenger.
What Ju Gangrim hadn’t anticipated was how adept the Prince of Gangreung was at fighting as an immortal.
Lopez and Jang Han-taek, who had only recently become immortals, fought while trying to avoid injury.
This was natural for zombie hunters. Being wounded by a zombie was directly linked to death.
But the immortal Prince of Gangreung attacked without hesitation, even if it meant practically self-destructing. It meant Ju Gangrim’s approach needed to be different.
‘I was too complacent.’
But he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.
“You’ve gathered quite a collection of ghosts, rarely seen these days.”
At Ju Gangrim’s words, the museum director looked slightly surprised.
“Oh? Many don’t notice until their dying breath, but you recognized it at once. Are you an awakened one related to this, or do you just have good eyes?”
He didn’t bother explaining about his spirit vision. But Ju Gangrim felt countless ghosts swarming around him, giving him a headache.
This was different from someone like Jang Han-taek. While Jang Han-taek was equally bizarre, he stuffed ghosts into his body to enhance it physically.
The Prince of Gangreung was literally commanding ghosts.
The Prince sighed and muttered.
“Anyway, I suppose we’ll have to call the first round a draw.”
“A draw?”
“We’re both similarly injured but neither dead, right? We can both still move. The situation’s not good, so you’ll run away? That’s how fights between immortals go, isn’t it?”
Ju Gangrim looked at the Prince of Gangreung as if he couldn’t understand him.
Come to think of it, if immortals fought, it wouldn’t end so easily.
Since the opponent doesn’t die, there’s no reason to fight with the intention of finishing it, and when one side becomes disadvantaged, they’ll just run away.
The Prince of Gangreung seemed accustomed to such drawn-out fights.
“I don’t want to waste energy unnecessarily, so get lost. If you’re an immortal, you’ll be hard to catch anyway. But there won’t be a next time.”
“What nonsense.”
Ju Gangrim growled in a whisper.
The Prince looked at him quizzically.
“You want to keep fighting?”
“First round? Draw? Don’t talk nonsense. A hunt starts and lasts until one side dies. And I came to hunt you, not to compete.”
The Prince of Gangreung adjusted his tattered tie and said.
“Ah, right. If I chop you up finely and put you in cement, you’ll have a long time to reflect.”
Click, click.
Countless ghouls simultaneously aimed their guns at Ju Gangrim again. And even more ghosts had gathered inside the museum.
The situation had only gotten worse, if anything, not better.
But Ju Gangrim stared at the Prince of Gangreung with ghost-like eyes.
“Do you think you’ve trapped me now?”
“If not, then what’s your current state?”
“I set this up to finish off your organization and you as quickly as possible. You’ve fallen right into it.”
At that moment, Ju Gangrim pressed something hidden in the folds of his robe.
With an explosion that shook the entire museum, all the windows shattered simultaneously.
At the same time, the power in the area was instantly paralyzed.
***
As the museum’s lights went out all at once, plunging everything into darkness, the Prince of Gangreung caught a glimpse of pale, glowing green eyes in the dark.
“Shoot!”
Gunshots rang out in succession. But in the darkness, there was no way the ghouls could hit Ju Gangrim, whose location even the Prince didn’t know.
The Prince cursed at the ghouls. Ghouls are steadfast and tireless soldiers, but they can’t do anything beyond what they’re ordered.
Belatedly turning on flashlights, the ghouls illuminated where Ju Gangrim had been, but he was nowhere to be seen.
From somewhere in the silent museum came the rapid sound of rustling footsteps.
The Prince felt uneasy at how the opponent’s footsteps were barely audible despite being so fast.
‘Were his eyes unharmed?’
The Prince felt a chill.
From the start, the reason Ju Gangrim had his eyes closed wasn’t because they were injured. It was to adapt to the darkness faster than them without using will-o’-wisps when it got dark.
Suddenly, the area in front of the Prince brightened. He alone was shining in the darkness.
It wasn’t a particularly bright light.
However, in the blacked-out museum, emitting light alone meant being a precise target.
Click. Ratatatatat!
In an instant, dozens of bullets pierced the Prince of Gangreung’s entire body.
Ju Gangrim had attached a will-o’-wisp to the Prince, using him as a target.