CHAPTER 149
149 - The Ominous Wind

A black wave surged forward. Beings whose souls were covered in Black Flame. The minions of a Lord, taking the forms of various creatures, were rushing towards him.
Were they the culprits behind this massacre? He thought so for a moment, but no. Their expressions were desperate, and their hearts were pounding as if they would shatter from fear. They, too, were fleeing from something.
'A wind?'
It was a wind. An ominous wind. A shimmering heat haze looked like a parasite that had burrowed into the atmosphere. Such a ghastly wind was chasing the minions. And then.
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh!
Starting from the rearmost ranks, it began to slice them to pieces. Now he saw it: the culprit was that unidentified wind, and the minions of Black Flame were no different from the corpses that covered the area.
'Crap.'
If he just stood here, he'd be swept away. Jinwoo quickly pocketed the Seed and left the area. He put a good distance between them and took a high position on a hill. Climbing the tallest tree nearby, he got a clear view of the minions and the wind.
'It's killing the minions and sucking up their flames.'
It discarded the dead bodies like trash and used the wind to suck up only the Black Flame within them, sending it somewhere. It was like opening a clam, taking only the meat, and throwing away the shell.
The faintly flickering flames vanished far beyond the horizon.
'That wind... it doesn't feel like the power of Erosion. Does that mean it's not a Lord's ability?'
It was certainly a ghastly and ominous wind, but it was far from the power of Erosion, the power of the Lords. Having already absorbed three Seeds and now holding a fourth, Jinwoo was even more sensitive to the power of Erosion.
That wind was based on something entirely different from Erosion. It was probably the power of a spirit he didn't know.
'Then again, Lords are spirits too, so I shouldn't jump to conclusions.'
It could be the power of a Lord acting as a spirit. Or maybe not. It was hard to judge right now.
'It's over.'
The horde of minions, so numerous it resembled a wave, was dealt with in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. The Black Flame within their bodies was also completely collected.
Even though its enemies—or rather, its prey—were all gone, the wind circled the area once more. Was it checking for any corpses playing dead?
Although there was quite a distance, Jinwoo held his breath and observed it. If it were the power of Erosion, it would be easier to grasp, but since it was a completely different power, he needed to observe it.
After surveying the area once and then checking one more time, the wind finally disappeared over the horizon. It went in the same direction the Black Flame had vanished.
"Hoo."
Jinwoo let out a small sigh. The unidentified power was gone, and now there were truly no living beings around.
Just then, a lukewarm and unpleasant breeze rustled by his ear.
"!"
Jinwoo quickly leaped down, drawing his sword and slashing. CRACK! The tree branch he had been standing on broke, and the trunk and roots that followed were completely dismantled. Even then, the wind didn't stop, chasing Jinwoo like a viper.
"Damn it!"
Did it just pretend to leave? Was I spotted? Was this even the same wind as before? Could they be different entities?
It was ridiculous to treat a simple blowing wind, which wasn't a living creature and had no visible soul, as an individual entity.
But in the Spirit Realm, nothing was surprising. Whether this was the power of some spirit or an unknown spirit itself, the fact that he had been discovered remained unchanged.
Vwoosh—!
As his sword cut through the wind, the entity's movement faltered. It didn't seem to be wounded, but it was enough to halt its movement. Just because it was wind didn't mean it could do anything.
'Even so...'
A sharply focused gust of wind grazed his cheek, leaving a scratch. Feeling a slight sting, Jinwoo's expression turned grim.
It wasn't a monster he couldn't deal with at all. But that didn't change the fact that it was a tricky opponent.
Slashing it only split the air for a moment before it immediately reformed and blew again. It took no damage and consumed no stamina or mana. Yet its movements were so free that neither a snake nor a bird could compare, making it a difficult opponent to face with just one sword.
However, despite all that, he was holding his own. No, "holding his own" wasn't the right expression. He was blocking it perfectly, without a single opening.
Fwoooosh!
The wind blew even more fiercely. It felt as if it were angry. Even though it wasn't a living being, he could feel its emotions.
It blew from behind his unseen back, fell from above onto the crown of his head, and didn't hesitate to aim for his crotch. But he foresaw every move two steps ahead and blocked them in advance. Jinwoo's sword cut through the wind, slowing its assault.
At this point, it had moved past the stage of anger. The emotions now emanating from the wind were bewilderment and anxiety. It had been pressing its attack for quite some time, but Jinwoo showed no openings. His defense was perfect and unwavering.
'But...'
Jinwoo wasn't anxious. However, he felt the need for a solution.
The wind's attacks were simple and one-dimensional, so they weren't difficult to see through. If he could see them coming, he could easily block them, no matter how fierce.
The problem was that he had no way of attacking. No matter how many times he cut the wind, it took no damage, so there was no way to defeat it. How was he supposed to shake off this wind that clung to him like a leech?
'There is one method that's particularly effective against guys like this.'
He didn't really want to use it. The wind wasn't his own ability, nor was it the power of Erosion that he knew relatively well. He didn't want to put such an uncontrollable entity inside...
'Still, I have no choice.'
There was no other way. Jinwoo opened his palm. The power of a Seed was released from his hand, creating a world.
'The sky that imprisoned Jerakson.'
A world meticulously crafted by his past self. No, a birdcage.
He was a little anxious about shoving such an uncontrollable wind into this place, which was created to deceive Jerakson. But there was no other way, and if he could just trap it, it would be in the palm of his hand, which wasn't so bad.
The power of the Seed spread from Jinwoo's hand.
Fwooooosh
At first, the wind wasn't wary. But the moment the black energy of Erosion touched it, and as that Erosion began to swallow the wind itself, it panicked and tried to flee.
But by then, it was too late.
"If you wanted to run, you should have done it before the Erosion reached you."
It seemed it didn't have the intelligence to foresee the danger and escape... then again, without a brain, he wasn't sure if such a judgment was even possible.
The raging wind finally subsided, and all that remained was the birdcage covered by the sky, resting on Jinwoo's palm. As he collected that power as well, no trace of the battle remained.
"Hoo."
This time, for real, Jinwoo took a breath and rested. Now, there were truly no enemies and no living beings around. He could also block the stench of rotting corpses with mana, so he didn't have to smell it.
What should he do now? In fact, what he had to do next was already decided.
"First, the fourth Seed."
That was the top priority.

Absorbing a Seed required a certain amount of concentration. It also took some time. It wasn't something to be done in a dangerous place.
'I don't know when that wind might blow again.'
Deciding to leave this spot, Jinwoo went in search of a safe place. However, though he was leaving, he didn't forget this place. To be precise, he memorized the direction from which the wind had come and where the Black Flame had been collected.
'The spirit that caused this is in that direction. The one that controls that ominous wind.'
Should he go find it, or should he stay away? Whichever he chose, he needed to know the direction for sure. He committed the nearby geography to memory and looked for a safe place.
'It's a good thing I didn't bring Rona.'
He had actually considered bringing Rona to the Spirit Realm.
Permu couldn't come as she had to look after the damaged forest as its queen, and Ipril wasn't yet capable enough to pull her own weight in the Spirit Realm.
Rona, however, could more than handle herself, so if Jinwoo had wanted to, he could have brought her. The absence of one royal knight wouldn't hinder the forest's restoration.
But he hadn't brought her. Not only because Rona wanted to reach the Spirit Realm with her own strength, but more importantly, he thought it would be dangerous.
'That wind alone could take out a truckload of Kanoks.'
Rona's skill was enough to beat Kanok, but not to overwhelm him. But the power of that wind he had just faced, even a single gust of it, was enough to instantly kill someone like Kanok or Rona.
He could protect her, but doing so would restrict his own movements. It was a sorry thought for Rona, but for now, he was much freer and more comfortable on his own, with no one attached to him.
Moving alone like this, Jinwoo found a safe place. It probably wasn't completely safe, but it was relatively so.
"A path to the underground?"
There was something like an iron door on the ground. It looked as if it hadn't been opened in a long time and was covered in rust. But on closer inspection, there were traces that it had been opened and closed once recently.
'It'll be hard for the wind to penetrate underground.'
He didn't know the enemy's identity, but it was a being that wielded an unsettling wind. However, as long as living things breathe, it's impossible to completely avoid the wind.
To minimize its influence, the underground, where the wind was less likely to blow, would be advantageous. ...Probably.
"There's no perfectly safe place anywhere, anyway."
For now, he had to be satisfied with 'relatively safe.' He would thoroughly manage his mana and absorb the Seed in a short amount of time.
Jinwoo grabbed the iron door and lifted it.
Screeeech—
With the unpleasant sound of grinding metal, the door opened. Inside, as expected, it was pitch black.
He wanted to light a torch, but he remembered that the door had been opened once. The being inside might have come out, but if it was the other way around... there might still be someone, or something, in the underground.
'I'll just go in the dark.'
It wasn't as if this level of darkness would prevent Jinwoo from discerning objects. His senses had long since transcended those of a human, allowing him to grasp his surroundings without relying on sight.
When he closed the iron door, all light was truly cut off. With his senses wide open, Jinwoo descended.
'There's no particular smell.'
Compared to the surface, which was filled with the stench of rotting corpses, the underground was fine. Despite the iron door, the inside was a cave that seemed largely untouched by human hands.
The only things there were small insects, cave mice, and bats that typically live in caves.
As he moved forward, sensing their flames, he detected a much larger flame. Not that of a beast or an insect, but one as large as a human's. And it was black.
'This is?'
The shape of the flame was very familiar. It was an opponent he had met once before.
Rustle.
Having already identified the opponent, Jinwoo approached without hesitation, startling the other party. The being, who had been on high alert, tried to back away as Jinwoo approached.
Then, as if it had finally recognized him, its retreating feet stopped. A woman whose face was covered by a veil looked at Jinwoo and froze.
"Lord Jinwoo?"
It was Belkarim's maid. Looking quite haggard.