Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 279 – Holy Fire Priestess (2)

“The doctrine of our order is to revere the sacred fire, practice good, and eliminate evil.”

“And?”

“But no matter how I look at you, you are evil itself.”

Along with those words, the Holy Fire Priestess inside the prison cell looked at him coldly.

To the old woman, Mok Gyeong-un smirked and said,

“I can be evil, I guess.”

“You guess? For the followers of our sect, constantly practicing good and staying away from evil is a trial and something that sustains oneself……”

“Put aside those old-fashioned words and tell me who determines the standards of good and evil.”

“What?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Holy Fire Priestess’s eyes narrowed.

Who determines the standards of good and evil?

It was an absurd question.

“Why are you asking a question that is moral and taken for granted? Can’t you even distinguish between right and wrong?”

“Who defines what is right and wrong?”

“Hah…… Are you trying to have a word battle with me now?”

“It’s more that I find it amusing how you take things for granted.”

“Finding it amusing to take things for granted?”

“Yes.”

“After all, aren’t the standards of right and wrong, good and evil, set by someone?”

“What?”

“In the end, it’s people who set those so-called standards, isn’t it?”

“……”

The Holy Fire Priestess couldn’t deny this.

In the first place, the standards were ultimately set by the people of the past, and they were passed down and became customs and morality.

The same goes for the doctrine of the Fire Faith Order.

They follow what was passed down from the Parsa Kingdom.

However, if one argues about the fundamentals like this, there will be no end to it.

“What are you trying to say? Are you denying that someone set the standards? But do you think you can deny them?”

“Why do you say that?”

“There are things that the majority considers right and things that the minority considers right.”

“And?”

“The world ultimately moves towards what the majority considers right, and even what is considered wrong in terms of morality will eventually lean towards the will of the majority.”

“So you’re saying that good and evil, right and wrong, are opinions set by the majority, and those belonging to the minority should follow them?”

“……”

“That answer cannot be given by me. In the end, it’s a matter that you have to accept for yourself. However, until the majority makes that decision, there must have been a lot of contemplation, conflicts, and trial and error.”

“Ah, I see.”

The Holy Fire Priestess believed that even in teachings, enlightenment ultimately comes from accepting it for oneself.

There was no point in discussing fundamentals all day long and trying to instill this and that if one didn’t accept it for oneself.

To her, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,

“Then, the Fire Faith Order is an absolute evil and an absolutely wrong thing that shouldn’t exist in the world.”

“What? What are you……”

“You said it yourself. The reason why the minority should follow the opinion of the majority.”

“That’s……”

“The Fire Faith Order and its doctrine, which are rejected by the majority of the people in the Central Plains, belong to the minority, so they should naturally be denied, shouldn’t they?”

“……”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Holy Fire Priestess couldn’t give any answer.

Rather, she had been countered.

She had tried to educate him by teaching him the doctrine due to the evil she felt from him, but instead, she had only exposed the weakness in her own words.

‘…… A cunning fellow.’

If she raised a counter argument for the sake of her order here, it would only lead to a repetitive debate where she would have to contradict her own words.

The Holy Fire Priestess clicked her tongue and said,

“It’s been a while since I’ve been entangled in words like this.”

“Is that so?”

“But thanks to that, it has become clearer.”

“Clearer? What is it?”

“I can no longer be certain that you, who have doubts about the teachings of our sect, are truly one of us.”

The Holy Fire Priestess’s eyes were filled with suspicion.

Seeing her like that, Mok Gyeong-un thought he should stimulate her appropriately.

He had many things he wanted to find out from her, but there wasn’t enough time now, and if he made her more suspicious, it might become troublesome to help her escape.

“Ah. It seems I haven’t been able to gain your trust, Holy Fire Priestess. Then how about this?”

Mok Gyeong-un took something out from his bosom.

It was none other than,

“That is?”

What Mok Gyeong-un took out was the ring given to him by Shadow Clan Master Hwan Ya-seon.

He had said that this was a token that proved one’s identity as a follower of the sect.

After showing the token, Mok Gyeong-un clasped his hands together in a respectful manner, bowed his waist, and paid his respects.

“A follower of the Fire Faith Order pays his respects to the Holy Fire Priestess.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s greeting, the Holy Fire Priestess, whose mind had been filled with suspicion just a moment ago, became confused.

‘How did he get this?’

That was because the ring Mok Gyeong-un showed was a token that only the high-ranking position of bishops in the Fire Faith Order could possess.

Even within the Fire Faith Order, there weren’t many bishops.

So she asked,

“Who did you receive this from?”

Judging by his appearance, he couldn’t be older than his prime, so it couldn’t be his own.

Therefore, she was convinced that Mok Gyeong-un must have received this token from someone.

“I received it from my master.”

“Your master? Tell me his esteemed name or sect name.”

Shadow Clan Master Hwan Ya-seon had told him to omit his surname when introducing himself to a fellow sect member.

He said that this surname was inherited from the previous generation’s Shadow Clan Master.

So Mok Gyeong-un said,

“It’s Ya-seon.”

“Bishop Ya-seon!”

At those words, the Holy Fire Priestess’s voice became excited for the first time.

Mok Gyeong-un observed this intently.

He had predicted that Shadow Clan Master Hwan Ya-seon would be a quite high-ranking figure in the Fire Faith Order, but seeing the Holy Fire Priestess, who was second only to the Society Leader, show this reaction, it seemed he was indeed a very important person.

“Sent by Bishop Ya-seon? Where is he now?”

“Do you know an organization called the Heaven and Earth Society?”

“The Heaven and Earth Society? Isn’t it one of the largest organizations in the martial arts world? How could I not know about it? Then, are you saying that Bishop Ya-seon was still there?”

Thanks to her reaction, Mok Gyeong-un learned that Shadow Clan Master Hwan Ya-seon had been in the Heaven and Earth Society for much longer than he had expected.

Then, she said,

“I can’t believe Bishop Ya-seon is still alive and using his power to help us like this. It’s truly a blessing for our order.”

‘……’

At these words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes became strange.

Was it really true that the Holy Fire Priestess could foresee the future?

If she had such an ability, she would have predicted the information she was curious about, such as the life and death of the Shadow Clan Master, but it was incomprehensible.

Just as this doubt was about to intensify,

-Rumble rumble rumble!

Suddenly, a tremor was felt from the ground, and the entire cave suddenly shook.

The scale of the shaking was incomparable to when Mok Gyeong-un and the Nine Blood Cult’s Blood Saint Dam Baek-ha were fighting.

“Whoa?”

It was so severe that the Holy Fire Priestess staggered and grasped the iron bars.

‘What is this?’

Mok Gyeong-un placed his hand on the ground, puzzled.

Then, the intense shaking of the entire cave quickly subsided.

He couldn’t understand what this phenomenon was.

As he was puzzled, the Holy Fire Priestess said,

“For now, let’s get out of here. If we don’t leave quickly, we’ll be in trouble.”

“Do you know why?”

“Not exactly. It’s just that this is the first time the entire cave has shaken so violently.”

“You said it’s the first time, but does that mean it has shaken before, even if not severely?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the Holy Fire Priestess recalled something.

“Although not to this extent, whenever it shook even a little as if an earthquake had occurred, the Embroidered Uniform Guards who came here would hurry out…… Ah! Not all of them. Come to think of it, among those who interrogated me, only the one who said he was the overall head of the underground prison didn’t leave and closed the door inside the cell.”

“Even when this place shook?”

“That’s right.”

“Pointing to this tremor, that person told me to remember. He said it was absolutely impossible for me to escape the Eternal Hell Prison alive.”

“Impossible?”

Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin at those words.

From his experience, escaping Eternal Hell Prison didn’t seem impossible to that extent.

Well, it felt meaningless to say that anyone who entered here couldn’t escape.

Then, could there be something else hidden?

Mok Gyeong-un removed his hand from the ground and said,

“For now, let’s go out. Let’s see if it’s really impossible or not, as you said.”

“…… Bishop Ya-seon is always cautious, but you seem to have more confidence than you appear.”

“I prefer to face things head-on rather than worry. More importantly, would you mind stepping back a little?”

“Step back?”

“It’s hard to cut the iron bars if you’re leaning against them.”

“Ah!”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Holy Fire Priestess took about five steps back.

Then, Mok Gyeong-un grasped his sword fingers and lightly slashed at the iron bars.

-Swish!

The Holy Fire Priestess couldn’t hide her puzzlement when he slashed the iron bars with his bare hands instead of using that dead man’s sword.

Could the iron bars really be cut just by slashing with fingers……

-Clang!

At that moment, the iron bars that Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers had brushed past were cut and fell over.

Seeing this, the Holy Fire Priestess swallowed dry saliva and licked her lips.

Although he seemed to be not even in his prime, she was inwardly amazed that he was a master skilled enough to cut iron bars with his bare hands.

‘Bishop Ya-seon’s disciple is indeed outstanding in martial prowess.’

She wondered if Bishop Ya-seon was also this skilled.

After removing all the restraints on her arms and legs, the Holy Fire Priestess was able to come out of the prison cell.

“…… I’m not completely out yet, but thank you.”

She expressed her gratitude to Mok Gyeong-un.

In response, Mok Gyeong-un lightly shrugged his shoulders.

Right at that moment,

-Rumble rumble rumble!

Once again, the entire cave shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred in the underground prison.

But this time, it was even more severe than before.

To what extent? The cave walls cracked, and a strange pressure was felt along with the shaking.

With this, Mok Gyeong-un, who had his hand on the ground, frowned.

‘Is this why?’

-Rumble rumble rumble!

The Holy Fire Priestess staggered and grasped the cave wall, asking,

“Wh-what is happening?”

In response to her question, Mok Gyeong-un answered in a dumbfounded tone,

“It seems the ground below has completely collapsed, and the ground we are on is also falling.”

‘!?’

This shaking and pressure, which made it difficult to stand properly, were caused by that.

Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue at the situation he was experiencing for the first time.

Although it was called Eternal Hell Prison, he never expected that it would make the ground of one floor collapse and fall.

***

-Rumble rumble rumble!

“Oh no……”

At the passage leading from Eternal Hell Prison to the 3rd floor of the underground prison.

Six Offices Commander Im Gyu-wol, the head of the Fourth Office, couldn’t hide his despair as he looked at the collapsed area.

He didn’t expect that the final mechanism trap would actually be triggered.

“Damn it!”

Six Offices Commander Im Gyu-wol couldn’t hold back and shouted loudly in anger.

So many prisoners had escaped from their cells that he had hurried here in case the final mechanism trap would be triggered, but it was already over.

-Rumble rumble rumble!

The pressure that made it difficult to even stand up was a phenomenon where the ground below had collapsed, and the entire level of Eternal Hell Prison was falling.

As far as he knew, it would fall for about 1 ri (approx. 0.5 km).

As this place fell, the collapsed and emptied ground would be immediately filled, making it absolutely impossible to go back up.

-Crunch!

He should have just not come down at all.

If it weren’t for the pressure from Defender-in-Chief Muk Seom, this situation wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Im Gyu-wol finally came to his senses.

‘There’s no time for this.’

If he stayed still, he would eventually die.

Now that the final mechanism trap had been triggered, the only way to survive, even a little, was for everyone to join forces.

Prisoners, Embroidered Uniform Guards, it didn’t matter who, as long as one person lent a hand to dig upwards, that was the only answer.

Moreover, the final mechanism trap wasn’t the end of it.

According to the information he had received about the underground prison, once they fell to the bottom, hidden prison cells would open, and 36 bronze humanoid entities inside would be released to indiscriminately attack those who had escaped.

-Tap tap tap tap!

With this, Im Gyu-wol hurriedly ran towards the inner part of Eternal Hell Prison.

‘If they want to live, they’ll cooperate obediently.’

***

Mok Gyeong-un said to the Nine Blood Cult’s Sixth Blood Saint Dam Baek-ha with a surprised tone,

“Oh ho. You’re able to subdue him alive?”

Mok Gyeong-un had inwardly expected that Joo Woonhyang, who was entranced by the demonic sword Plundering-killing Sword, would lose his life while fighting against Dam Baek-ha.

But perhaps he had heavenly luck?

Although his complexion was somewhat haggard, Joo Woonhyang was lying in front of Dam Baek-ha, who was leaning against the wall, peacefully asleep after fainting.

And on the floor beside him, the Plundering-killing Sword was half-buried.

True to its nature as a demonic sword, even though it was stuck in the ground, it faintly trembled and exuded a demonic aura.

“Aside from saving this brat or not, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t tell me you’re asking because you don’t know. If we had just left with only you and me earlier, this wouldn’t have happened, right?”

The reason Dam Baek-ha was angry was simple.

It was because she had also sensed that the ground had fallen below.

“We’re trapped here and about to dig our graves just to save that young old woman.”

“Young old woman?”

At Dam Baek-ha’s words, the Holy Fire Priestess frowned.

Who was this woman to call her a young old woman?

In the first place, attaching the word “young” to “old woman” was an oxymoron.

However, since the situation was so dire, she thought the words had slipped out in anger.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un approached the Plundering-killing Sword that was stuck in the ground.

Dam Baek-ha tried to stop him.

“Hey. Stop right there.”

“Yes?”

“I finally got that thing off this brat, and now you’re going to grab it and do what?”

It was quite annoying to subdue even a relatively weak fellow.

If a guy who had exceeded the limits were to be captured by the demonic nature of the sword, even if only by chance, something terrible would happen.

Out of this concern, she was warning him not to grab it.

Then, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged his shoulders and said,

“It’s a waste to just leave it behind.”

“A waste to leave it behind? Are you saying that now? In a situation where we don’t even know if we can dig our way up, even if our nails break…… What are you doing now?”

Dam Baek-ha looked at Mok Gyeong-un with an incomprehensible gaze.

That was because Mok Gyeong-un suddenly took something out of his bosom, placed it between his index and middle fingers, and abruptly rotated his hand in a circular motion.

She wondered what he was doing in this situation,

-Swish swish swish swish swish!

At that moment, smoke flowed out from the air, and space rippled, creating an entrance.

Seeing this, everyone couldn’t hide their astonishment.

What kind of sorcery was this?

‘!!!!!’