Chapter 290

“She has been suffering from the ongoing Specter Transformation ever since she was forced into a contract with you. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”

“I know nothing of the sort. I have no idea why you’re asking me such things.”

Faced with its uncooperative attitude, I sighed and continued to press Docheol, but as time passed, a sense that something was wrong began to gnaw at my mind.

“Didn’t you see it earlier? Pyeong Eunha was already halfway through her Specter Transformation, and her appearance was becoming closer to that of a Specter.”

“What on earth are you… talking about? That woman clearly had a human form.”

Our conversation wasn’t aligning properly.

It seemed unlikely that Docheol would mistake such a trivial matter, making this utterly inexplicable.

Frustrated by the deadlock, the others also grew angry. Unable to bear it any longer, Docheol lost its temper and shouted, its emotions unfiltered.

“The contract I made with that woman in the first place wasn’t of that nature. There shouldn’t have been any possibility for Specter Transformation as you all claim, so stop spouting nonsense and just finish this.”

That was truly a strange statement. After all, I first learned of Docheol’s existence due to a request from the Pyeong Clan, and the content was precisely to cure Pyeong Eunha’s Specter Transformation.

Something is wrong.

Something feels off.

I don’t know exactly what, but we were clearly missing something.

“If you can confirm it for us, we won’t trouble you further. Did Pyeong Eunha appear human to you?”

“I’ve been saying so from the start. I sensed no Spectral Energy, saw no foundation of a Specter in her. I don’t know how you could make such a foolish judgment.”

It wasn’t lying.

For some reason, Docheol genuinely knew nothing about Pyeong Eunha’s situation.

However, Shin Pyoeul and I distinctly sensed signs of Specter Transformation from her, so it made no sense that Docheol, who faced her directly, failed to notice it.

‘Did someone… deceive Docheol’s eyes?’

But I wasn’t sure if such a thing was possible. To completely distort the perception of a Great Specter like Docheol—it was something beyond the scope of my knowledge.

“Was there anything unusual when you performed the contract with Pyeong Eunha?”

Irritated by the persistent questions, Docheol was about to lunge forward with its last ounce of strength but suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. With a more serious expression, it asked me,

“…Your attitude is strange. Are you saying I was tricked by that woman?”

“She entrusted me with a request to resolve the Specter Transformation caused by her contract with you. Since our perceptions differ, it’s clear that at least someone else is involved in this matter.”

Whatever the case, I needed to gather information. I tried to coax and placate Docheol, hoping to learn everything it knew.

However, immediately after, Docheol seemed to realize something. Its eyes widened, and it let out a voice filled with shock.

“Don’t tell me… that can’t be!”

“Have you thought of something?”

“Damn it! Release this Restraint now! I need to find that woman immediately… Kghheeeek!”

In an instant, Docheol let out a pained scream and fell to its knees on the ground.

And from its entire body, I felt a flood of Spectral Energy rushing out.

“Kghheeeek! How dare you, how dare you deceive me!”

In a single moment, Docheol lost its vitality, withering into the desiccated form of a mummy and dying.

Staring at its corpse, Cheong Joohwa muttered in a bewildered voice,

“What just happened?”

“I don’t know. It seems there’s an intervention we weren’t aware of…”

A rising sense of foreboding. Hochoong and Kwimae seemed to feel it too, speaking with grave expressions.

“Docheol was a genuine Great Specter. To reduce such a being to this state in an instant…”

“This is ominous, Oppa. My intuition has never felt this bad before.”

I didn’t know the details, but one thing was certain: we needed to quickly find Shin Pyoeul and Pyeong Eunha to check their condition.

“They might be in danger.”

Thus, we hurried toward the Pyeong Clan’s mansion, where we encountered a shocking scene.

“Junior, what in the world…”

The mansion was in ruins. In the center lay Shin Pyoeul, collapsed, and Seo Cheonye, slumped and bleeding.

Rushing toward them, I asked for an explanation.

“What happened?”

“…Damn it all. I never imagined, never imagined it would come to this.”

Seo Cheonye muttered as if unable to believe the reality before her, her expression completely dazed.

“I kept her by my side the whole time and didn’t notice a thing. How is this possible? This doesn’t make sense.”

Though she kept speaking incessantly, Seo Cheonye was in complete disarray.

As I helped her up and supported her, she didn’t resist, leaning into me and muttering in a trembling voice.

“That being is fundamentally different… something beyond perception. If this continues, the chaos of the past will…”

“You need to pull yourself together! What exactly happened?”

Grabbing her shoulders and shouting, Seo Cheonye looked up with vacant eyes, then spoke in a flat, emotionless voice, delivering a single truth.

“…Polar Night has returned.”

It was the moment that signified our journey in this World of Forbidden Techniques had reached its final stage.

Perhaps thanks to Seo Cheonye’s desperate protection, fortunately, Shin Pyoeul’s condition, though collapsed, was generally stable.

After tending to both their wounds, we were able to hear a more detailed account.

“…It happened suddenly. Judging from the situation, you all must have just finished dealing with Docheol.”

Pyeong Eunha, who had moved away from the battlefield with Shin Pyoeul to rest. A sudden anomaly had occurred with her.

“How should I put it… It felt as if her very existence transformed in an instant. I’ve never heard or seen anything like it in my life, so my reaction was delayed.”

Sensing something wrong, she tried to quickly subdue Pyeong Eunha, but Seo Cheonye was instead counterattacked and defeated in an instant.

“That being kept muttering incomprehensible things… but I could understand some of it. And I couldn’t help but realize its identity.”

Polar Night.

The being that had taken over Pyeong Eunha’s body was undoubtedly the infamous ancient monster, Seo Cheonye said.

“It kept saying things like ‘this time I will achieve my long-cherished wish’ and such. By now, it’s probably gathering countless Specters into its grasp and absorbing their power, just as recorded in the old secret histories.”

It was simple and clear, but that alone made the situation feel utterly hopeless.

Above all, the statement that Polar Night had revived through Pyeong Eunha’s body threw us into further confusion.

“Were we all deceived?”

Seo Jian muttered, lost in thought, but no one could give a definitive answer to that.

The situation had been too sudden from the start, and as such, information was severely lacking.

‘What’s certain is that the contract supposedly made between Docheol and Pyeong Eunha must have acted as some kind of trigger…’

However, I heard that contract was unilaterally established by Docheol’s side.

Docheol itself said so, so that part shouldn’t be wrong.

‘No, perhaps we shouldn’t assume that…?’

One of Polar Night’s known abilities from the start is to dominate all Specters.

Moreover, according to information previously shared by Bloodrot, Specters dominated by Polar Night described the experience like this:

It wasn’t a sensation that could be expressed with words like simple obedience or subordination. They just naturally followed Polar Night as if it were the only right thing to do.

To put it another way, it wasn’t about having one’s will controlled, but a sense of conforming to an absolute principle.

So, if it’s Polar Night’s ability, wouldn’t it be possible to arbitrarily twist the thoughts and perceptions of a dominated Specter as well?

“Docheol may have believed it was acting of its own will, but perhaps it was being manipulated by Polar Night from the very beginning.”

“I think so too, Patron. Perhaps even the initial encounter and the contract were all part of a meticulous arrangement… Polar Night seems to possess abilities more terrifying than we imagined.”

If we assume that, then it would be correct to say Polar Night had been expressing its will within Pyeong Eunha for at least several years.

It might have deliberately deceived and drawn us in, or perhaps the personality we knew as her was false from the start.

“What in the world is going on… There’s no way to know now.”

So, the immediate priority was deciding our next course of action.

And at this point, I felt a major crossroads approaching.

“What should we do?”

By now, everyone present, including Hochoong and Seo Cheonye, understood what my words implied.

Polar Night likely already knows of our existence, so it might be better to return to the outside world before unnecessary danger befalls us.

No, rationally speaking, that’s what we should do.

At those words, Seo Cheonye frowned as if to say something, but Hochoong firmly cut her off.

“I understand, Patron. Perhaps those of us here, myself and Taoist Master Seo Cheonye, are already failures… Remaining here might only lead to the same end. I have no intention of blaming you if you choose to leave now.”

Hochoong’s words were logical, but I instead felt a hint of bitterness in them.

That’s right. No matter what, the people of this place are already beings of a bygone era to us.

I asked the others for their opinions, but this time, everyone could only cautiously ponder the matter repeatedly.

“Indeed… Polar Night is dangerous. Just like the Five Great Specters, but if it’s that being, it might truly find a way to use us to reach the outside world.”

“I think so too, Junior. There’s a chance we could be wiped out here before we even get a chance to do anything.”

We had just finished a fierce battle with the monstrous Great Specter, Docheol.

And the fact that Docheol, whom we all struggled to defeat, was killed in an instant seemed to have shocked everyone.

“That’s right. This time… it’s truly dangerous.”

I agreed with that opinion as well.

However, no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t shake off a nagging, uneasy feeling.

At its core was a truly simple question:

‘If we return like this, will anything ultimately change?’

We had uncovered more information than before, but the fundamental secrets of Polar Night remained shrouded in mystery.

Leaving aside the other Great Specters that might remain in the Upper Casket, if we leave like this, I doubt we could handle the unknown entity that is Polar Night in the outside world.

Furthermore, we still haven’t uncovered the clue that Hochoong from the outside world wanted to convey.

It felt like if we could gather just a little more information, we might gain something. The thought of giving up now left a discomfort in a corner of my heart, making me frown.

And so, after deep contemplation, I finally conveyed my opinion to the group.

“I want to stay.”

For some reason, a pure intuition from deep within my heart told me that’s what I must do.