Chapter 66: Completing All Preparations (1)

"Great Master, if it's not too presumptuous... could I know what kind of enemy is coming?"

Jegal Hong, who was preparing to devise a formation while looking at the map, suddenly seemed curious and tapped my shoulder as she asked.

"It's a huge god made of goat horns and hooves, with numerous tentacles. You could call it a god from a different world, another dimension."

I told Jegal Hong the truth. One of the important things in devising a formation was knowing who and for what purpose you were trying to contain.

"Bing Yeon, is what you just said true?"

"If your words are true, aren't we in danger too?"

"Things seem to be getting interesting."

The other martial artists who heard my statement couldn't hide their astonishment.

They must have already realized it wasn't a lie, since I was going so far as to modify my sect into such a fortress to fight.

"I'll make sure you all don't participate in the fight."

I began to speak to the others as if to say not to worry. They would go mad or try to commit suicide just by seeing the Outer God reveal its true nature.

"Why? Wouldn't it be more advantageous if we were there? That's why you gathered us now..."

"You won't be able to withstand the Outer God's mental attacks. You'd either fall into madness and try to kill your comrades, or beg for your life to be ended."

"......"

The others were left speechless at my serious statement.

They seemed to have realized why I, who usually lived a life with a time limit and rarely showed myself in the Central Plains, had asked for help in this way.

"Great Master, roughly how big is this enemy...?"

"Big enough to cover the sky and sun, turning it into a dark night."

"T-Then we should make the pillars I mentioned earlier bigger and sharper...!"

Only Jegal Hong's eyes sparkled as she grinned as if finding it interesting. She was setting the scale and type of formation appropriately, knowing it was an Outer God.

Jegal Hong was a genius in formations and strategies. The Jegal Family was originally proficient in these areas, so I had used the same setting I had seen in other martial arts novels.

"It would be good if the pillars became the core that blocks the Outer God's descent, as if supporting a giant sun...!"

"Is there no other countermeasure? It seems like it will be dwelling in a young girl's body before revealing its true form."

"T-There is...!"

I told Jegal Hong about how it was possessing Seolhwa's body, and she immediately began drawing a large spiral on the map, creating a maze-like shape.

"If we do this... when it's in human form, we can make it lose its sense of direction and wander!"

"You mean setting up a separate formation outside the sect to make it lose its location... That's quite a good method."

"Hehehe, r-right...?"

Jegal Hong was nodding her head vigorously like a broken doll. She seemed to be thirsting for praise.

"What if the opponent sends black goat offspring made of tentacle masses?"

To prepare for even the slightest possibility, I began to explain to Jegal Hong about the Dark Young, called the children of Shub-Niggurath.

"How big would those be...?"

"Probably bigger than a house. It would be easier to understand if you imagine monsters the size of small mountains moving around trying to devour people."

"T-Then... it would be good to prepare separate traps. Using the natural terrain as much as possible..."

Even with this explanation, Jegal Hong didn't lose her characteristic sharpness and showed signs of racking her brain to find countermeasures.

Although she stuttered a lot and seemed to lack confidence, her formations were so excellent that few in this martial world could surpass her.

"Thank you very much. Is there anything you want in return?"

I thanked Jegal Hong with clasped hands. She smiled broadly and scratched the back of her head.

"I-If so... could you tell my father that I'm someone who can do things if I try?"

Unlike in the original work, where events for her to shine had disappeared, Jegal Hong, who couldn't escape being treated coldly in her family, seemed to value recognition from her clan above all else.

With her here, it wouldn't be much of a problem even if another being invaded this martial world.

"Alright. Is there anything else you want? I was originally going to give you a few silver pieces..."

"T-There's no need for that...! It's been so long since I've talked this much with someone about formations...! If I receive money, it feels like some kind of financial relationship...!"

Jegal Hong waved her hands frantically, refusing the silver I was trying to give her. If she needed neither money nor fame, what did she need?

I started to ponder, resting my chin on my hand.

In the case of Bi Wol and other disciples, they liked it when I patted their heads, but there were too many eyes watching here.

"...Friend!"

"Hm? What did you just say?"

"If you become my friend, I think that would be enough...!"

The proposal that came from Jegal Hong's mouth was unexpected.

Simply asking to become close friends. Although there was an age difference, it wasn't something people cared about in this Central Plains martial world.

Even in real history, it was common for great figures with age differences to be friends.

"I-I'm not very sociable, so I can't even remember when I last had such a pleasant conversation...!"

Looking at Jegal Hong, who was trembling with fear of rejection, I gazed at her with sympathetic eyes.

"I-Is it not possible...?"

"Why wouldn't it be possible? If you want a friend, I'll be one."

Since I needed the help of the Jegal Family to create formations, it was better to have an intimate relationship like this with her rather than being hostile.

"T-Thank you...! Uehehehe..."

I nodded readily, expressing my agreement, and Jegal Hong showed joy while making strange laughing sounds.

"Then, it might be a good idea to spread my poison on the path where the enemy wanders. Types of poison like paralysis or bleeding would be good. They're big creatures, after all."

As we looked at the formation that was roughly completed thanks to Jegal Hong's help, the first to speak was Tang Munhyeok, who had the alias Poison Dragon.

As the head of the Sacheon Party, he was well-versed in all kinds of poisons and hidden weapons that existed in this world.

Generally, there's a preconception that it's difficult to deal with large-bodied opponents using poison, but even elephants can be killed with a very small amount of poison.

"There are rugged mountains nearby, so it might be a good idea to use this to fight. We could lure those monster Dark Young here and cause an avalanche to wipe them all out at once."

The next to speak was Hyeonhwa, the sect leader of the Flower Mountain Sect. Recalling his own sect located in high and rugged mountains, he tapped his finger on the mountains next to the Ice Dragon Flower Banquet.

"...It's a good method, but I'm not sure if the opponent will fall for such an obvious lure!"

"Didn't you say you'd use formations to make them lose their sense of direction? Let's expand it a bit more and lay formations outside the sect as well."

Jegal Hong and Hyeonhwa exchanged opinions. He was drawing the spiral even larger than she had originally set.

"Like this."

"That could be a bit dangerous... I-It will take a lot of time to prepare...!"

Jegal Hong let out a sigh as if anxious watching this. Because I had said the Outer God would invade soon, she was worried about not being able to meet the deadline.

"...We can reduce manpower consumption by creating many traps using swords."

At that moment, the one who suggested another solution was Nam Gung Do-hyeon, the Infinite Sword Emperor of the Namgung Family. He was so strong in swordsmanship that it was said no one could beat him.

If Nam Gung Do-hyeon created sword traps, we might actually be able to inflict damage on Shub-Niggurath.

"Bing Yeon, if we can't defeat the Outer God, won't the entire Central Plains martial world be in danger?"

He spoke to me about the information he had noticed. If such a powerful enemy was coming as I said, he seemed to think their sects wouldn't be entirely safe either.

"I don't think so. That being is only aiming for me and my disciples."

However, judging from Shub-Niggurath's actions so far, that possibility was significantly low.

If the Outer God, who was also an avid reader of this novel, was going to kill everyone, it would have done so already, there was no reason to hold back until now.

'Guiding things as much as possible to produce the ending it wants... That's what Shub-Niggurath desires.'

That's how I understood the Outer God's intentions.

In fact, even though it failed to kill my disciples at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, it showed signs of acquiescing to the result and withdrawing.

If that wasn't the case, it could have devoured people right there on the spot.

Outer Gods are scary because they're incomprehensible, and frightening because they're unknowable. I seemed to understand why Shub-Niggurath had deliberately revived Seolhwa.

"Well then, it seems we've roughly sorted out our ideas, so let's propose a compromise."

I gathered the opinions of the martial artists that had come out so far and devised a plan to fortify the Ice Dragon Flower Banquet.

While Bing Yeon was making plans with the martial artists, there was someone among the disciples who were diligently training who sensed something strange.

"Why are you suddenly like this! Senior Bi Wol!"

Bi Wol suddenly turned around. She instinctively felt that something ominous was happening where her master Bing Yeon was talking.

"...It seems there's a woman trying to be a thieving cat."

Bi Wol bit her nails, showing jealousy towards Jegal Hong, who had become friends with her master.