Immortals vs. Grim Reapers - chapter 41
Chapter 41. The Shaman King (6)
So if he just covers his ears and goes “nananana” no matter how much damage he takes, it won’t work? The Prince of Gangreung might actually be doing just that.
The Prince, who was relatively less injured, stumbled to his feet and started running as soon as he escaped the museum.
Ju Gangrim couldn’t accept that this intense chase would end so anticlimactically.
At that moment, Ju Gangrim realized he still had an unused gun inside his robe.
He quickly drew out the blunderbuss from inside his robe. But once he had it in hand, he hesitated.
There was a reason he hadn’t used it until now. He simply didn’t know how to use it.
But guns like these were meant to be used recklessly.
Ju Gangrim grabbed whatever was rolling around in his pocket and stuffed it into the muzzle. Then he aimed at the Prince of Gangreung and fired.
Kyaaaaaaah!
The moment a scream rang out instead of a gunshot, fragments erupting from the scattergun swept over the Prince of Gangreung’s body.
The Prince staggered but still didn’t fall. It was unclear how to end that tenacious life.
Just then, a car burst into the museum’s front steps.
“Boss! Get in!”
It was an organization member who had been waiting somewhere. An angel for the Prince of Gangreung, a devil for Ju Gangrim.
The Prince painfully pushed himself into the car. Ju Gangrim, who had just exited the museum, roared at the Prince of Gangreung.
But cruelly, more cars kept coming one after another.
This time, it was a rather large trailer truck.
Ju Gangrim thought the trailer looked quite familiar, while the Prince of Gangreung thought it was moving too fast.
And before they could realize the driver’s identity, the trailer crashed into the car carrying the Prince with a thunderous noise.
With a boom, the car, crumpled like paper, rolled all the way to the opposite side of the museum.
The car, colliding with the wall, exploded spectacularly, scattering metal fragments everywhere.
Ju Gangrim stared blankly at the roaring flames before turning to look at the driver who had brought the trailer.
“J-Ju Gangrim Hunter? Are you alright?”
Han Mina was stumbling out, her legs seemingly weak from driving. She looked like she didn’t understand what she had just done.
Ju Gangrim looked at her and said with a strained smile.
“Please treat me. Nurse.”
***
As the scar of tooth marks on Han Mina’s arm glowed, Ju Gangrim felt his body gradually becoming lighter.
Her ability doesn’t immediately heal wounds. However, it was treating the damage to Ju Gangrim’s soul inflicted by the Prince of Gangreung’s attacks.
Her ability was essential because soul wounds couldn’t be healed by flesh-growing or bone-growing pills.
Without it, he would have had to wait a long time for his soul to recover.
“Thank you.”
As soon as Ju Gangrim was in a state where he could move somewhat, he urgently tried to stand up.
Han Mina, with a surprised expression, grabbed Ju Gangrim’s shoulder and pressed down hard. Ju Gangrim sat down involuntarily, surprised by her unexpected strength.
“Where do you think you’re going, patient! Stay still!”
“Uh, Ms. Han Mina. I’m grateful, but this is really urgent.”
It seemed her nursing instincts had kicked in. But Ju Gangrim could receive treatment later.
Right now, he needed to confirm the Prince of Gangreung’s status.
An immortal can survive being struck by lightning, riddled with dozens of bullets, hit by a car hard enough to crumple it like paper, and even being trapped inside while it burns.
The probability of the Prince of Gangreung still being alive was high.
When Ju Gangrim forcefully stood up, Han Mina could no longer insist.
Ju Gangrim tightly gripped his hand axe and staggered towards the burning car.
Outside the car, a charred human shape was burning brightly. But it was impossible to tell if this was the Prince of Gangreung or not.
They didn’t even know how many people were in the car to begin with.
«Mission: Kill the Boss»
«Objective: Capture the Prince of Gangreung»
«Reward 1: Death-Summoning Sword Enhancement Ticket (1 use)»
«Reward 2: Guaranteed Minimum Luxury Grade ‘Today’s Fortune’»
But the fact that the mission was still not complete confirmed that the Prince of Gangreung was still alive.
‘It would be such a waste to lose him here after coming this far.’
As Ju Gangrim examined the area around the wrecked car, he discovered a long trail of blood and what looked like black ash marks leading out from the broken car window.
Ju Gangrim followed the trail.
“Damn it…”
However, the trail disappeared without a trace in front of a stone wall.
It was clear that the Prince of Gangreung was injured to the point where he couldn’t move on his own. There’s no way he could have flown over the stone wall.
Ju Gangrim quickly examined the surrounding traces and made a judgment.
‘He has an accomplice.’
He didn’t know who, but someone had helped the Prince of Gangreung. Moreover, it was someone with exceptional abilities, able to carry the injured Prince and leap over the wall.
It was unclear why such a person hadn’t intervened from the beginning, but Ju Gangrim thought it might be for the best.
‘That’s right. I didn’t think he’d done all this alone.’
Just as immortals oppose other immortals, alliances between immortals are also common.
Ju Gangrim decided to consider this as finding the next clue.
Whoever was behind the Prince of Gangreung, now that they’ve shown their tail, he just needs to pull and uproot them together.
Ju Gangrim sighed and was about to turn off his spirit phone when he suddenly noticed one of the options.
«Wolryeong: Is it over?»
Just then, a message came from Yu Wolryeong.
«Gangrim: Yes. How’s Ttaekachi?»
«Wolryeong: I’m not sure how to tell you this.»
«Wolryeong: Ttaekachi is dead.»
Ju Gangrim bit his lip hard. But Yu Wolryeong sent one more message.
«Wolryeong: No… it’s hard to say for certain. You’d better come and see for yourself.»
***
Ju Gangrim rushed to Deokheongjeon Hall with Han Mina.
However, in the meantime, Deoksugung Palace was already filling with zombies that had suddenly rushed in.
He wondered how zombies had entered when the place was surrounded by walls, but it was thanks to the main gate being destroyed by the trailer Han Mina had driven in.
But there seemed to be no need to worry about Han Mina.
Bang.
Han Mina pulled the trigger of the gun Yu Wolryeong had given her, aiming at a zombie charging towards her.
Bang.
The zombie’s head vaporized with a single shot. Despite the strong recoil that could break her wrist if fired incorrectly, she seemed unfazed.
“How did you know to come?”
“Well, you said you were going to ambush and kill someone called the Prince of Gangreung. But then there was a lot of loud banging for a long time. Even the zombies nearby were all heading that way… So I thought, ah, you might need help.”
“Why didn’t you listen when I told you to wait there?”
“If I wanted to be an obedient baby, I wouldn’t have tried to become a zombie hunter.”
That’s true.
Ju Gangrim had hoped Han Mina would follow instructions as much as possible, but she always exceeded his expectations.
If that’s the case, letting her do as she pleases might be the better way to help her grow.
Moreover, through Yeomna, Ju Gangrim gained another unexpected benefit from Han Mina.
«Yeomna: The attached ‘sal’ is weakening.»
«Gangrim: Is the ‘sal’ still attached?»
«Yeomna: Of course, since the Prince of Gangreung isn’t dead.»
«Yeomna: It seems the young lady’s healing has a purifying effect on curses.»
«Yeomna: You’d need a proper exorcism ritual to completely remove it, but at least you won’t die from choking on your own saliva.»
That was fortunate.
Ju Gangrim still nearly tripped over stones or almost twisted his ankle, but at least the risk of drowning by falling face-first into a puddle was gone.
‘Where and how do I perform an exorcism ritual? Should I find a shaman?’
“That looks like Deokheongjeon Hall.”
Han Mina spoke up then. Though they were slightly delayed, it wasn’t too far away.
As soon as Ju Gangrim arrived in front of Deokheongjeon Hall, he discovered something bizarre.
In front of the hall, on the stone floor amidst a sea of blood, the lower half of a man’s body was standing upside down in a Y-shape.
It seemed to have been an enormous figure originally, as even without the upper body, the soles of the feet reached up to Ju Gangrim’s chest level.
“Death Messenger Ju Gangrim.”
Yu Wolryeong emerged from Deokheongjeon Hall with a pale expression. Han Mina worriedly said,
“Judging by your complexion, the situation doesn’t look good.”
“Death Messenger Yu Wolryeong is always pale and expressionless.”
“Oh, is that so? Kidney problems?”
He wasn’t sure how to respond that it was because she was dead.
Ju Gangrim glanced at the corpse in front of Deokheongjeon Hall and asked.
“Who is this?”
“I think he called himself Water Bear or Half-moon Bear or something, I’m not sure. He claimed to be an immortal, so I planted him in the ground and performed a soul summoning to eliminate him. He’s no longer a threat.”
“Ah, you knew his name?”
“He introduced himself as ‘Kim In-pyo, the Water Bear of Mapo’.”
Not knowing that names are a weakness, they can meet such a ridiculous end.
As long as it’s not revealed that soul summoning is the only means to eliminate immortals, it might be easy to discover their weaknesses.
There are also some true names that Ju Gangrim already knows.
“Where’s Ttaekachi?”
Instead of explaining, Yu Wolryeong gestured with her chin and entered Deokheongjeon Hall. As soon as they entered, they saw Maenggu’s brutally killed body and Ttaekachi tied to a pillar with a knife in her chest.
“…”
“It seems Maenggu was eliminated by the Prince of Gangreung. Given how swiftly they responded, they might have had someone watching her from the start. No, perhaps they deliberately left her to use you.”
It was Ttaekachi’s decision to become the Prince of Gangreung’s subordinate, and it was Ju Gangrim’s decision to use Ttaekachi.
Each was responsible for their own decisions, so he shouldn’t feel guilty.
But he couldn’t help feeling bitter about losing an important asset.
As Ju Gangrim examined Ttaekachi’s body, he suddenly felt a strange presence.
Something was lingering around Ttaekachi.
Ju Gangrim’s eyes widened as he looked at the knife stuck in her chest.
“This is…”
“Yes. It’s the soul-binding talisman you gave her.”
The soul-binding talisman that keeps the soul from departing.
Ju Gangrim looked closely at Ttaekachi with wide eyes. Sure enough, what was lingering around her physical body was Ttaekachi’s soul.
Thanks to the soul-binding talisman holding her soul, Ttaekachi had neither become a zombie nor wandered off as a ghost.
“No, then we could save her…”
Yu Wolryeong shook her head.
“Ttaekachi’s physical body has already met its end from a sudden deadly fate. If you wish, I can personally guide her to the afterlife. If not taken, given her deep grudge, she’s likely to become a vengeful spirit.”
In the end, it meant they had to send Ttaekachi off.
Ju Gangrim found it hard to accept such a death.
Ttaekachi hadn’t betrayed them in the end.
That means giving her a choice wasn’t entirely wrong.
But if Ttaekachi dies like this, Ju Gangrim’s choice becomes a mistake.
“Her usefulness doesn’t end here.”
There are numerous situations ahead where Ttaekachi’s, no, Shrike’s abilities would be sorely missed.
Ju Gangrim opened the store window through his spirit phone. Soon, among the countless listings, he found the ‘S-Class Soul Contract’ he was looking for.
Ttaekachi is currently at most a B-class awakened one. But if he doesn’t contract her as S-class now, even if she awakens later, she’ll hit a limit like Han Min-sung’s ‘Blood Sucker’.
To fully preserve her self and abilities, only an S-Class Soul Contract would do.
However, Ju Gangrim soon hit a capitalist limit even in the afterlife.
«S-Class Soul Contract: 1,000,000 nyang soul fee»
“Nyang…”
“Why are you suddenly making cute noises?”
When Han Mina asked curiously, Ju Gangrim replied weakly.
“Please lend me 1 million nyang.”
“Nyang?”
Ju Gangrim rubbed his forehead.
The soul fee he currently had was just over 4,000 nyang. This wouldn’t even be enough to buy the ink used in an S-Class Soul Contract.
He doubted he could gather 1 million nyang even if he eradicated every zombie in this neighborhood.
“Death Messenger Yu Wolryeong, don’t you have any savings?”
“I have about 684 nyang to spare.”
“Good heavens. Please quit gambling!”
Ju Gangrim shouted without realizing it, then his eyes flashed.
Han Mina felt a chill seeing his eyes gleam with desire and greed.
“That’s right. Today’s fortune! I still have a chance for a comeback!”
Yu Wolryeong snapped her fingers.
“That’s the spirit.”