Yeon-woo had never seen anything related to the Seven Demon Kings after leaving the Monkey King’s Palace, and so he was surprised.

“You?” Anastasia and Freesia must’ve felt something as well because they turned to look at Yeon-woo. Freesia’s gaze was especially piercing, as if she had discovered something unexpected about Yeon-woo.

However, Yeon-woo didn’t care. ‘Boo.’

「Yes…Master.」

[You are sharing the vision of Boo (Soul of the Witchdoctor).]

Visions from the past began to flood his mind.

“Blood Sword! This is enough.”

“Damned bastard. You ran all the way here?”

“Your time is up. I’m going to avenge my comrades.”

‘Kahn?’ The first thing Yeon-woo saw was Kahn, but he looked different from the Kahn that Yeon-woo was familiar with. The Kahn he remembered always had a relaxed smile on his face, but in the scenes from the past, Kahn’s eyes were ice-cold and a violent aura lashed around him.

There was so much blood on him that even his sword was dripping blood. The nickname “Blood Sword” seemed particularly apt for him at that moment.

Players circled him with hostile and wary expressions.

‘What happened?’ Yeon-woo’s eyes narrowed. From what he knew so far, Kahn had been moving in secret, and Yeon-woo thought it was because of the Devil Army’s orders. However, the players were looking at Kahn like he was their enemy. Their murderous aura didn’t seem to have happened at the spur of the moment.

As though he were making their enmity obvious, Kahn snorted at the other players. “How funny.”

“What?”

“What kind of…!”

“You guys are like me. So what? You want to avenge your comrades? How about being more honest with yourselves?” A corner of Kahn’s lips rose and he held out his hand. A shiny piece of gold was on his palm. “You guys just want this.”

The players’ chests began to vibrate as golden light shone through their clothes. Urrrng! Urrng! The golden pieces awakened as though they wanted to join together.

‘Pieces of the Ruyi Bang!’ Yeon-woo was shocked as he looked at the pieces of metal. ‘Has he been hunting down successors of the Monkey King all this time?’ Kahn’s Ruyi Bang piece was noticeably bigger than the pieces of the other players. It was impossible for him to find a piece that big, which meant that he’d been taking pieces from the other successors.

Yeon-woo also had a piece of the Ruyi Bang, but he hadn’t met any successors of the Monkey King yet. He thought this was because there weren’t that many successors or else they’d created a secret society. It seemed that both were true.

“Then let’s begin.” Kahn put away his Ruyi Bang piece and kicked off from the ground. Blue aura whirled around him like a tornado and created a giant storm. Boom! Boom!

‘And the Seventy-Two Bian.’ It seemed like Kahn had learned the Seventy-Two Bian in the Monkey King’s Palace and made it his.

The scene changed once again. Victoria appeared, holding the Adamantine Nova carefully in her arms. She looked around with sad eyes and disappeared through a portal again. The visions ended there.

Yeon-woo swept back his hair. His eyes were grim as thoughts ran through his head.

“Did you see something?” Anastasia asked with her pipe in her mouth.

Yeon-woo nodded, looking at the smoke that was spreading around them. “The Five Mountains of Penances.”

* * *

“Chase him!”

“He’s injured. He can’t have gone far! Don’t lose him!”

“We can’t let others get him! The Magic Tower wants him!”

Players chased after an individual through forests and mountains. The Five Mountains of Penances blocked everyone’s sense but the players didn’t seem too affected as they chased after…Kahn.

How much blood had he spilled? He left bloody footprints as he ran. ‘Just a little. Just a little more.’ Kahn clenched his teeth. ‘If I can hang on a little more, I can find Doyle.’

* * *

[This is the 20th floor, the gate of the ‘Five Mountains of Penances’.]

As soon as Yeon-woo arrived, he could feel that the air had changed. It was heavy and simmering, and goosebumps rose along his skin as he breathed it. He had the same feeling of foreboding as when he’d been in Africa, and he checked to make sure he was on the right floor.

There were multiple player bases all over the mountains and hills filled with thousands of skilled players. Yeon-woo never imagined he would see anything like this on the twentieth floor.

He looked at Freesia, wondering what was going on. Freesia was silent, her eyes calm. He couldn’t see her expression because of her mask, but her tranquil eyes told him that his suspicions were right and Freesia knew what was up.

“Bian studies.” She spoke suddenly.

Yeon-woo’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s that?”

“When it comes to magic, spells, alchemy, and charms, Bian is the greatest among them. It is a path to becoming a divine being. Because it’s also considered a mysterious field of study, some people call it the ‘strange studies’. In fact, many players want to learn Bian.”

Yeon-woo realized what Freesia was trying to say and his eyes widened.

“You’re correct. Bian studies has appeared, and it was discovered by Blood Sword Kahn. Since rumors of it have spread, many groups are fighting over it.”

Yeon-woo turned towards the mountain. There was no doubt that Bian studies was the Seventy-Two Bian. Yeon-woo knew that Kahn was already using the Seventy-Two Bian, but it seemed like he’d been found out and was now being pursued by other players. Something was wrong. ‘Why now?’

Did something go wrong while he was fighting the successors of the Monkey King? There was no way that everyone here was a successor of the Monkey King.

“The reason the clans are pursuing Blood Sword is the massacre he committed.”

“Massacre?”

“Yes. Recently, Blood Sword attacked a clan called the Krasien Family. He killed everyone, from the adults and the children to even their cattle. Many players were enraged by this atrocity.”

Yeon-woo knew the Krasien Clan well. They were an affluent family based on the forty-first floor. Their ancestor had been a player, and they were now locals who influenced other players. Kahn attacked them?

According to Freesia, the people pursuing Kahn had witnessed the destruction of the Krasien Family themselves. The allies of the Krasian Family were also chasing after him, and one lucky survivor of the massacre had put a hefty bounty on Kahn’s head, which encouraged even more players to take up the chase.

“So what? You want to avenge your comrades?”

Yeon-woo thought of the vision that he had seen at the temple of the Seven Demon Kings: Kahn had laughed coldly at the players pursuing him. “Of course, they’re not just motivated by revenge on behalf of the Krasien Family.” Kahn had been forced to show the skills he’d been hiding as he ran away, and Bian studies had stood out.

“Players who can’t grow anymore or want more strength have found their new goal. And they even have an excuse.” Freesia’s words trailed off. “Right now.” Her eyes pierced through Yeon-woo’s mask. “Blood Sword Kahn is a public enemy.” Her eyes seemed to ask Yeon-woo what he would do next.

Kahn was in danger, but Yeon-woo was in a hurry to complete his task in Tartarus. Freesia was asking whether he would choose to focus on Kynee or help Kahn. If he chose the latter, he might become a public enemy, as well, and he’d bump into even more obstacles as he tried to carry out his plans.

“Were you…already aware of this?” Yeon-woo couldn’t make a hasty decision, and so he glared at Freesia.

“Since I delivered the letter.” Freesia nodded.

Yeon-woo clenched his teeth. That meant Freesia had observed everything that occurred after even though she was aware of the whole situation. She probably even knew why Victoria had disappeared but hadn’t spoken up. Anastasia chewed on her pipe with an annoyed face, like she was familiar with Freesia’s personality.

“You bitch.” She was direct, as usual.

Yeon-woo didn’t say much and raised his hand. “Nike.” Blue Holy Fire flared up and Nike appeared, flapping his wings. ‘I’ll leave it to you.’

『OK! OK!』 Nike soared to the sky, flapping his wings. Yeon-woo could see what Nike saw through their connection. Nike’s senses were better for searching for someone than Yeon-woo’s Consciousness.

“Are you going to save Kahn and Victoria?” Freesia gave Yeon-woo a strange look.

“I’ve experienced a similar situation in the past. I made the same choice back then, too.” Yeon-woo thought of the time when Arangdan had captured Kahn and Doyle. Jeong-woo had said Yeon-woo was his hero, and he didn’t want to let him down.

If he left Kahn behind and chose to make Kynee to save his brother, would his brother be happy if he learned about it? He didn’t think so. He had to save both his friend and brother.

“I see. So that is your answer.” Freesia seemed to be smiling strangely for a moment, but Yeon-woo didn’t notice. He was looking down at the mountain through Nike’s eyes. A cliff on the second mountain was crumbling with a loud blast and creating a landslide.

“There!

『There!』

Anastasia sensed the same thing and turned into a Gumiho, rushing off in the direction of the explosion. Yeon-woo spread his Fire Wings and quickly followed.