Failed Possession Chapter-40

## Ch-40.

—

Requests available in Lagos ranged from Rank 2 to Rank 4.

The higher the elevation, the closer one got to the Rift.
And being closer to the Rift meant the Evil God’s divine power pooled more densely there.

Naturally, the deeper into the mountain you went, the fiercer and stronger the monsters became. Even the plants grew wildly and unnaturally, making it difficult to find your way.

Camping in such a mountain was uncomfortable and full of things to watch out for. But when taking on multiple requests at once, returning to town each time was troublesome and a waste of time.

So they prepared thoroughly and headed straight into the mountain.

There weren’t any major problems.

With four people, keeping watch shifts was manageable, and thanks to Elena’s magic and Haryeong’s traps, defending against night attacks was easy.

If there was one issue, it was movement.

The terrain—already a mountain path and further warped by the Rift’s influence—was a complete mess. Even their sense of direction felt unreliable.

Fortunately, Jake was an experienced guide.

The map he had drawn himself kept them from getting lost in the identical-looking forest, and he didn’t take long to locate their target monsters.

Combat still revolved around Elena, but Yuri fought occasionally too.

Mostly because Haryeong shoved him forward.

Instead of goblins like before, he faced demi-human monsters—lizardmen and orcs.

They were far stronger than goblins.

The lizardmen were tall and lean, their bodies covered in scales. Slow, but strong. And their scales weren’t for show—they were tough.

Orcs, on the other hand, were bulky. About the same height as humans and not slow. Slightly stronger than lizardmen in pure strength, though they lacked scales.

Elsewhere, lizardmen and orcs often formed tribes and used armor and weapons.

But the ones born in Lagos were different.

Still, a few had swords or axes—likely looted from dead adventurers.

Whenever that happened, Haryeong stepped in first and disarmed them.

Yuri was secretly dissatisfied. He wanted to try fighting one with a weapon.

But he couldn’t say that out loud.

A Tier 2 martial artist fighting a Rank 3 demi-human one-on-one was already mismatched. Adding weapons only increased injury risk.

‘Still… I don’t feel like I’d get hurt.’

He kept that thought to himself.

The fights weren’t difficult, but in terms of **experience**, they helped a lot.

Even striking a lizardman’s scales didn’t scrape his fists or damage his bones.

Orc punches were easy to receive.

Using **Rantian Flowing Cloud Fist**, he could deflect attacks effortlessly.

Since he limited his internal energy, his blows lacked killing power.

So finishing them off became tedious.

He’d twist limbs, subdue them… then draw his dagger and stab their throats. Over and over.

“Honestly, you’re the best Tier 2 martial artist I’ve ever seen.”

On the second night after several fights like that, Jake muttered with a laugh.

Yuri modestly called it praise.
Elena nodded proudly, as if it were her own achievement.

The fourth night in Lagos—

“Let’s head down tomorrow.”

Elena said after checking the magic wards around their campsite.

They’d washed by the stream and changed robes several times, but four days in the mountains still left her feeling grimy. Wrapped in her sleeping bag, she combed her hair.

“Four days feels like enough. Let’s collect the rewards. If we want more, we can come back up.”

“Yeah.”

No need to continue.

Yuri reached that conclusion silently.

He’d gained all the experience he could here. Learned how adventurers lived.

“I’m going to sleep. If something happens… you don’t need to wake me. I’ll wake before you try anyway.”

During their nights in Lagos, Yuri always took first watch. A courtesy since he was lowest tier.

Mountain nights weren’t quiet.

Lagos nights were even louder.

Insects, monsters, strange cries everywhere.

But it wasn’t just noise.

If he focused, he could sense more than sound or smell.

The sixth sense awakened in Tier 2 martial artists.

It varied by person, but Yuri—talented and close to Tier 4—could **feel gazes**.

And the more hostility or killing intent they carried, the stronger they felt.

He sat cross-legged before the campfire.

He couldn’t close his eyes and meditate while on watch, so instead he stared at the fire, “kneading” the internal energy in his dantian, sharpening every sense.

Listening closely—

Crackling wood.
Sparks dying out.
Jake and Elena’s breathing.
And beyond that, Haryeong’s faint breathing—so faint she might as well be dead.

Insects. Birds. Monsters.
Distant clashes.

Sharper.

Then the gazes.

Clear hostility. Killing intent. Like needles pricking his skin.

Monsters watching, blocked by Elena’s barrier.

Sharper still—

At this point, his senses stopped expanding outward and turned inward.

He saw himself.

His pounding heart.
Blood through vessels.
Internal energy flowing from his dantian through meridians.

It felt like fire.

Even without formal breathing exercises, he focused on that burning flow.

The campfire burned before him.

In this pitch-black mountain night, it was the only light.

Crackle. Crackle.

To keep a fire alive, you needed fuel.

‘What do I need to fuel my fire?’

More internal energy?

No.

That wasn’t it.

Internal energy and mana helped with growth—but not the key.

He could tell instinctively.

To advance **Evil-Quelling Heavenly Principle Technique**, what he needed wasn’t more energy.

‘Then what…?’

He’d hoped real combat might give him insight.

Masters like Full-Moon Play and Fist Wolf had spoken about enlightenment through battle.

But Lagos hadn’t given him what he needed.

Because it wasn’t real enough?

‘Well… it was basically overprotection.’

He smiled bitterly and turned his head.

Elena slept peacefully.

Maybe a month left.

Return to Lutran. Stay a few days. Talk about the future. Eat. Pack.

“I’ll send letters.”

“See you next time.”

Something like that.

Funny.

When he first came to Lutran, he wanted to leave as fast as possible.

Now that the time to leave approached—

He hesitated.

He knew he shouldn’t be swayed by emotion.

But half a year of memories ran deep.

Lee Su-hyeok had lost his parents at fourteen.

An accident.

He hadn’t gone to an orphanage—just distant relatives. But it never felt like family.

He moved out as an adult.

There was insurance money. Thankfully, the relatives weren’t greedy enough to steal it.

From then on, he lived alone.

Looking back, he’d always been alone.

Closed off during adolescence.

Opened up later—but there was no one there.

Maybe that’s why the half year in Lutran felt so heavy in his heart.

—

—

 

They saw a corpse while descending the mountain after packing up camp.

Its limbs had been torn off.

This wasn’t the first time Yuri had seen a corpse in Lagos. Just yesterday, they had seen two bodies half-eaten by monsters. Adventurers dying in Lagos—swarming with monsters—was nothing unusual.

No matter how well prepared you were or how carefully you navigated, land touched by the Rift always carried chaos.

“Ugh…”

Elena frowned at the distant body.

Having lived in cities for a long time, she wasn’t very accustomed to human corpses. She stepped back instead of approaching, while Haryeong stood beside her and scanned the surroundings.

“There aren’t any monsters nearby, but let’s change routes.”

Even if a Rank 4 or higher monster appeared, Elena and Haryeong could handle it.
But Haryeong had no intention of choosing a path that might carry risk.

“I’ll check the body for a moment.”

Jake spoke up cautiously.

He had done the same yesterday—rushing to inspect corpses, retrieving adventurer tags and belongings.

He claimed it was for mourning colleagues and returning things to families, but the look in his eyes when he found money suggested otherwise.

“I’ll go with you.”

Haryeong said.

They would change paths anyway, but she wanted to identify what killed the body.

Jake didn’t want to, but he had no say.

So the two approached the corpse.

“It’s probably a wolf bear. A rare Rank 4 monster around here,” Jake explained, showing off his knowledge.
“It moves alone. To Rank 3 adventurers, it’s like the grim reaper.”

He gestured at the body.

“See how rough the tear marks are? Ripped apart by brute strength. Wolf bears don’t like entrails much—they prefer limbs.”

While rambling, he rummaged through the corpse’s belongings.

First, he checked the tag.

Rank 4 adventurer.

Jake’s eyes lit up.

“If they’re Rank 4, they shouldn’t be inexperienced… probably just careless. It happens someti—”

Before he finished—

Haryeong suddenly leapt backward.

She twisted midair, kicked off empty space, and shot back toward Yuri and Elena.

“Haryeong?”

Elena blinked in shock.

Haryeong didn’t answer.

She grabbed both Yuri and Elena under her arms and kicked off the ground again.

“Why suddenly—?!”

“He hasn’t been dead long. And this isn’t a monster kill.”

She answered quickly, still running.

“What…?”

“There were no monster tracks. And I felt a gaze.”

No humor. No levity.

Elena’s face stiffened.

She glanced back.

Jake stood there awkwardly, confused.

“W-What’s going on—?!”

Then—

**CRUNCH!**

Two feet dropped from above and crushed Jake flat from the head down.

**SPLASH!**

Blood sprayed like a crushed aluminum can.

“It’s true I don’t care for entrails.”

An old man with messy white hair lifted his head.

Blood-red eyes gleamed like a ghost’s.

“Organs taste bad. Troublesome to eat. I prefer chewing fresh flesh.”

Sticky strands of blood dripped from the foot that had crushed Jake.

The old man strolled forward, chuckling.

“Think you’re unlucky? No, that’s wrong. I’ve been watching you since yesterday.”

Though far away, his voice sounded right beside them.

“The unlucky one is that fellow. Worked all night cleaning the area, then you lot wandered in. Didn’t have time to tidy up properly. Heh… if you hadn’t come here, you wouldn’t have suffered.”

Yuri looked at Haryeong.

Sweat beaded on her forehead. Brows furrowed. Lips tight.

No expressionlessness now.

“Think you can run? I told you—I’ve watched you since yesterday. No one’s around to help you. Blond girl, your magic is noisy and flashy. But impressive. So this is fate. Your fault. Your loud magic caught my interest.”

The old man lowered his stance.

“I wanted you to come deeper first, but since you’re heading down… no choice. Still a bit hungry, but I’ll catch you now.”

**BAM!**

He launched forward like an arrow.

Much faster than Haryeong running with two people.

Grinding her teeth, Haryeong threw Yuri and Elena forward.

“Miss—run.”

“H-Haryeong, what about you—?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

A mistake.

He said he’d watched since yesterday. Yet she hadn’t sensed his gaze.

Not because she relaxed—his presence had simply been too subtle.

*Who is he…?*

Lagos wasn’t dangerous only because of monsters.

Haryeong herself had warned them.

Bandits. Murderers. Men who hid behind monsters.

They knew the risks when they came.

Lagos was supposed to be one of the safer Rifts.

*Didn’t think this escort job would really cost my life.*

Haryeong swallowed a sigh and flung both arms.

**Whip-whip-whip!**

Daggers shot toward the old man.

He grinned grotesquely.

He kicked off the ground and spun.

**Bang!**

A burst of crimson energy deflected the daggers.

Beyond it, he spread his hand—

**BOOM!**

A scarlet force blast slammed toward Haryeong.

*Aura…!*

At least Tier 5.

She didn’t block head-on and dove aside.

**KABOOM!**

The ground exploded.

Through the dust, she pulled up her mask and gripped new daggers.

**Crackle—!**

A bolt of lightning pierced the smoke.

“Run!”

Haryeong shouted like a scream.

“You can’t kill him alone!”

Elena screamed back, wand raised.

“Then he’ll kill you and chase me anyway! I can’t run like you! Better to fight together!”

“I can stall him! Maybe injure—”

She couldn’t finish.

He’d watched since yesterday.

He knew Elena’s tier. Probably estimated Haryeong’s too.

Yet he still attacked.

Meaning—

He was confident.

“Such noisy magic.”

**WHOOSH!**

A gust blew away all the dust.

The old man stood there.

Not a single scratch.

Grinning with yellowed teeth.