LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 35
The stone, realizing that its identity had been exposed, ceased pretending to be an ordinary rock and began releasing divine power.
The overwhelming amount of this tangible divine energy resembled a bright light, gradually illuminating the main hall and gathering into a form.
And finally, it took the shape of a large dog made of light.
This being was none other than Mukuri Kokuri no Inugami.
It was the deity worshipped by the Saigo Clan for generations, and feeling the presence of Jinseong, it was an utterly cowardly creature that hesitated to reveal itself to save its own skin.
“Mukuri Kokuri no Inugami, Mukuri Kokuri no Inugami, Mukuri Kokuri no Inugami.”
Jinseong muttered the name of this divine object three times while observing it.
“It really is a lengthy name. I now understand how you managed to hide instead of properly fighting; it’s clear you fear me too much to even bite my neck.”
[ Gurrrr….]
“I thought I could gain a lot, but to be this lucky from the beginning!”
Jinseong burst into laughter as he spoke.
“The manifestation of Mukuri Kokuri. The loyal hound of Mukuri Kokuri. A pitiful beast that, having feasted on faith over a long time, has forgotten its duty as a hunting dog. A hunting dog that instinctively cannot harm its master’s bloodline.”
In the past.
To go back not just decades, but hundreds of years.
There existed Mongolia and Goryeo.
Mongolia, displeased with the raiding pirates that frequently invaded the coast, eventually assembled an expeditionary force. The Mongols, who had made a name for themselves by turning the continent into a wasteland, believed they could easily conquer Japan as there was nothing in the world they feared.
However, as their fame had spread, their power had also dispersed, which led them to exert pressure on Goryeo, forcing it to participate in the campaign, thereby creating the Alliance of Goryeo and Mongolia.
Through their fierce battles, they used their refined combat skills and developed weaponry absorbed from various countries to easily push back the Japanese forces. On top of that, the Mongols comprehensively organized the various spells they had collected from different nations, acquiring all sorts of byproducts, which they did not hesitate to share with their vassal state, Goryeo.
They literally turned Japan into a battlefield.
They killed anyone taller than a cartwheel.
When they holed up in a castle, they circled around, cleansing the surrounding area and spreading disease within.
They set fire to fertile fields and scattered salt; wherever there was water, they dumped filth and threw corpses cursed with decaying spells.
The combination of Mongolia and Goryeo was dreadful.
While the coordination among the warriors was commendable, the overwhelming strength came particularly from the shamans they brought along, which created an insurmountable power gap.
The Mongolian shamans crafted clothing from deer heads and raptor wings, empowering the warriors with spells. Those imbued with their magic moved with the agility of deer, gained the strength of an eagle, and could see everything as clearly in the night as during the day.
But that wasn’t all! The horses affected by their magic bit and drank the blood of other animals without hesitation, becoming beasts that hunted in packs.
Goryeo’s shamans excelled in room techniques and curses. They wore colorful clothing while lugging around spell materials, casting spells wherever they went. They provided protection spells to ensure that warriors and shamans remained unharmed, and when there was an enemy commander, they would use curses to assassinate them.
Moreover, they left behind divine objects to prevent another army from regrouping in the devastated areas, shaped like dolls with nails stuck in their heads.
Wherever these dolls resided, death would surely follow, and that death would come in forms that were fundamentally incomprehensible to common sense, so much so that the Japanese were too frightened of this terrible curse to dare linger in that land.
However, this rampage could not last long; it was the will of nature.
At that time, there was a colossal typhoon, later dubbed Kamikaze, which dealt massive damage to the Alliance of Goryeo and Mongolia. This typhoon forced the alliance to cease any further advance and go back, and upon their return to invade Japan, it reappeared, making them abandon their expedition once again.
Yet the terror they instilled remained, continuing to this day.
Mongolia, Goguryeo.
Mukuri Kokuri.
Mukuri Kokuri.
The fear instilled by the Alliance of Goryeo and Mongolia transformed into that of the yokai and ghost known as Mukuri Kokuri, becoming an intrinsic dread among the Japanese people to the extent they would say, “If you misbehave, Mukuri Kokuri will come and take you away!”
In a world haunted by spirits due to the mingling of souls and whites, the phenomenon of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons occurred, giving rise to an abundance of yokai, and while Mukuri Kokuri did not appear during these events, people continued to fear it nonetheless.
As Japan changed its name from Wa to Nippon, as it devoured Joseon, and as it emerged from defeat in World War II to build the modern Japan we know today, that fear remained unabated.
“It has become an incomprehensible fear, an inescapable one, because it has no substance. Is it not truly ironic?”
Perhaps it was precisely because it lacked substance.
The Japanese had to co-exist with terrifying entities, evil spirits, and malevolent beings as a byproduct of the energy domes.
While walking down the street, one could see malevolent spirits in the form of weasels, leaving invisible cuts on people’s bodies, and giant malevolent spirits with horns bludgeoning people into pulp. Evil spirits inhabited courtesans, causing bodily mutations, and items infested with curses appeared everywhere.
The evil spirits were brutal, and the evil entities were bizarre.
To escape from those unpredictable and harmful beings, the Japanese had to give them names, describing them comically to distance themselves. They mocked and belittled them to break free, using the independently developed spells to exorcise them, relegating them to mere tales.
This method proved somewhat effective since those terrifying entities devolved into mere features of modern creations.
However, Mukuri Kokuri was different; it had no tangible form, so they could not recklessly name it or trivialize it, leaving only an indescribable aura of fear that they could not even exorcise.
Even when forgotten, the imprint left upon their genes and the unconscious was impossible to erase…
And so, the Japanese devised another solution, which was worship.
Transforming the incomprehensible fear into an incomprehensible abstract entity—namely transcendent beings—was their way of attempting to break free from its constraints. Their determination to escape fear through worship was truly remarkable.
Thus, beliefs in Mukuri Kokuri began emerging throughout Japan.
In some places, songs were created to praise Mukuri Kokuri.
This became known as the Motko Lullaby, helping people overcome their fears and sleep peacefully.
In other places, they made dolls meant to take themselves instead of people, praying for bountiful catches in exchange.
This practice transformed into what we now call Mukuri Kokuri dolls, used as festival items.
In some areas, they created fortunetelling spells in hopes of relying on the omnipotence equal to that of their fears.
This was named Kokkuri-san. In the past, it incorporated Chinese characters meaning Goryeo, referred to as Kokkuri-san (高句麗さん), and during the Japanese colonial era, it was changed to Kokkuri-san (狐狗狸さん) after substituting in animal names for the concept of the ‘inside-out’ nature of the relationship.
This spell spread in Korea under the name of Shinbi Samba and morphed from divination into necromancy due to the shifting regulations.
[ Gurrrrrr! ]
And in some regions, they began venerating the curses brought by the Alliance of Goryeo and Mongolia as gods.
This was the divine object that bared its teeth and growled before Jinseong.
“I have amassed strength far beyond what is befitting mere animal spirits influenced by curses. However, I have not reached the realm of the youkai even after hundreds of years; should I be used, there will be no grudges on my part.”
Jinseong laughed as he saw the dog that dared not approach him.
“A complacent beast, a fool who hasn’t reached the transcendent. Accept my gift.”
Boom!
He stomped his foot powerfully. Though it was a simple stomp, it resonated with a massive vibration and sound that shook the main hall, as if an earthquake had occurred, distorting the door and bending the pillars.
[ Kwaaaang! ]
Bam bam bam!
As the shrine shook, the dog seemed to wait for this moment and threw itself into the air. The light of the lighthouse formed a figure, and like a soaring bird, the dog dashed out, colliding with the twisted door. The door shattered easily as if made of paper, and the dog should have gracefully escaped outside… but.
[ Woof? ]
There was nowhere for the dog to flee.
Before the dog’s eyes was a black sky.
A sky so dark that it was hard to believe it was daytime.
The blackened sky descended, enveloping the shrine in a dome-like effect, completely blocking out the sunlight and casting the entire area into darkness.
Even if it illuminated with the light that composed its form, it wouldn’t dispel the darkness.
Kwa—aaaaaa—
The black sky spoke to the pitiful god with a thunderous sound.
You have nowhere to escape.
Like the hunting dog you are, you shall meet the same fate.
“If you had gained spirituality, you would have shown interest in the outside world; should you have done that, you would have certainly sensed this. All of this is a result of your laziness.”
Jinseong remarked, flicking a little bell with his nail.
A—————–ng!
The sound of the bell.
But unlike the clear sound from earlier, it was thin and grating.
Like nails scraping a chalkboard and a hard stone resonating, causing hair to stand on end and chills to run down the spine. A sound that seemed to climb higher and higher, pushing the limits of human hearing to the brink, sending shivers just from being heard.
The ear-piercing sound spread outwards.
And as the black sky heard the sound, it began to move gradually.
As if the veil veiling the sky were decaying, small holes appeared here and there, allowing sunlight to penetrate, and it transformed into a cheese-like pattern with holes as it rippled. Gradually, it began to narrow the distance, advancing toward the dog.
To the light-emitting eyes of the dog, it appeared as if the sky were collapsing.
It seemed as though the sky were crashing down upon it, and the dark veil transformed into waves rushing towards it.
Memories flooded back, recalling that it had once traversed the undulating waves held in the hand of a shaman, and the memory of the nightmare that arose when it tried to grab it with hands made of seawater in a world shrouded in darkness flooded its mind.
[ Kwaaa—aaang! ]
Howling in anguish, the dog spread its divine power all around.
Kwaaa——aahhh!
The black sky.
No.
A swarm of mosquitoes, having so filled the horizon that it stained the shrine black, charged toward the dog.