Chapter 113
The person standing in the center of the gang was Bae Sung-Hyun. Even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, nothing changed. Sung-Hyun was clearly in front of me. There was even a scar on his left ear. There was no doubt about it.
Why had he come to Florence Academy? No, how did he get in? He had been expelled, so in principle, he shouldn't have been able to enter Florence Academy. Did he pretend to be a student by wearing a uniform and sneaking in? No, that was not possible. The Satanist Identification Project was currently in full swing.
It was said that even if someone suspected of being an outsider loitered around the school gates, the security guards would rush over and chase them away. Sung-Hyun had been charged with being associated with Satanists, so there was no way the security guards would let him enter the school.
I briefly suspected that Sung-Hyun might have paid a bribe to the Florence Foundation and re-enrolled, but that also didn't make sense. Jin-Seo had also been associated with the incident that Sung-Hyun caused. Since Chang-Won greatly cherished Jin-Seo, he wouldn't have just blindly granted Sung-Hyun permission to re-enroll for the sake of money.
"Oh, hey~ isn’t it my old friend Sun-Woo? Good to see you!"
While I was briefly lost in thought, Sung-Hyun casually extended his hand for a handshake. I ended up shaking his hand in confusion. The grip was so strong that it felt threatening. After the handshake, there were red marks on my palm. I raised my head and glared at Sung-Hyun's face. He was smirking.
"So, is it worth being the Holy Name of Charity? It's damn tiring, isn't it? So much work to do."
"I'm a bit tired today. But were we this close?"
Sung-Hyun stared at me as he laughed.
"Hahaha, do we have to be close to greet each other? Is that the only thing you have to say after not seeing each other for a long time?"
His gaze pierced into mine with obvious hostility. I met his gaze without looking away. Sung-Hyun let out a mocking laugh and turned toward the gang members.
"Seems like he’s become more feisty. Don't you think so?"
"Uh, well... I, um..."
"Haha, haha..."
As if seeking their agreement, Sung-Hyun glanced at the gang members, but each member avoided eye contact and mumbled incoherently.
Sung-Hyun had been expelled after it was revealed that he had orchestrated a severe incident, and as a result, Sung-Hyun's old friends quietly went about their school lives and focused on their studies in order to avoid the negative looks of those around them.
Seeing that he was not getting the desired reaction from the gang members, Sung-Hyun frowned. Then, his facial expression quickly changed as if nothing had happened, and he smiled.
"Looks like the atmosphere here has changed while I was gone," Sung-Hyun said while looking around with an awkward expression on his face. He seemed exceedingly nonchalant.
Sometimes he would shake hands with me without even batting an eyelash, and other times he would venomously glare at me with narrowed eyes. Something was off. In the past, I had cast spells on Sung-Hyun. I had cast various spells, such as the Curse of Nightmares and Memory Annihilation. These spells should have applied a ‘hypnotic suggestion’ to Sung-Hyun.
Just recalling memories related to the Voodoo Cult should have filled Sung-Hyun with fear, and then, due to Memory Annihilation, he would forget about the Voodoo Cult. As a result, his memories would disappear, but his fear would remain. It didn’t make sense that he could remain so calm even after seeing me, the leader of the Voodoo Cult.
Either the spell's power must have worn off, or he must have overcome it with his mental strength. My spell was definitely not frail enough to be overwhelmed by Sung-Hyun's mental strength.
Then... What in the world was that thing?
"Oh, In-Ah is here too. It looks like you’ve gotten prettier. Did you lose weight—"
"Hey."
It was Jun-Hyuk who interrupted Sung-Hyun. He was staring at Sung-Hyun with hazy eyes. No, it seemed like he was staring at something beyond Sung-Hyun. That was how hazy Jun-Hyuk's eyes were.
"Why’d you crawl all the way back here?" Jun-Hyuk said.
His cold voice froze the atmosphere. Sung-Hyun stepped backward in surprise. It was an atmosphere where a fight could break out at any moment. Sung-Hyun’s lackeys tried to intervene between the two, but Jun-Hyuk forcefully pushed them aside and approached Sung-Hyun.
Grab.
Jun-Hyuk grabbed Sung-Hyun by the collar. Despite being grabbed by the collar, Sung-Hyun looked at Jun-Hyuk calmly.
"Grabbing my collar out of nowhere... Is this Florence Academy’s standard these days?"
"You got expelled, and now you're back only to run your mouth. Why did you come back?"
"Hahaha... I don't know why you're so angry. How about letting go first?"
Sung-Hyun forcefully pulled Jun-Hyuk's hand off and straightened his shirt collar and tie. Jun-Hyuk's eyes remained fixed on Sung-Hyun. In-Ah looked between the two men, and she was so bewildered that it looked like she was on the verge of crying. Tears were already welling up in the corners of her eyes.
"Wait a moment."
There were more than one or two things that were off. I left the scene while taking out my phone and started calling someone. Or at least, that's what I tried to do.
"Ah, where? Where are you going...?"
In-Ah grabbed my wrist and hung on. There was no need to shake her off. Her grip was so weak that it was difficult to tell whether she was grabbing onto me in the first place. I exerted a slight amount of strength, and In-Ah released her grip. Then, she looked at me with confusion and despair.
I smiled at her.
"I'll be back soon."
I only intended to return quickly after checking something. I kept my distance and waited for the other person to answer the call. Soon, the other person answered the phone. I lowered my voice and asked, "Sir, is your son doing well?"
***
"I feel a little better after having coffee. If I didn't have coffee, I would have killed myself a long time ago."
Do-Jin already had a shot of Americano and was grabbing a second cup when Ye-Jin asked as if scolding him, "Did you not sleep well yesterday, either?"
"It can’t possibly be good for you to not get sleep all the time like this. I've told you so many times to retire."
"I want to retire... but when I see the money coming in, it's a bit difficult to retire."
"Chasing too much money is a sin. And you call yourself a clergyman," Ye-Jin playfully said while chuckling.
Do-Jin smiled by forcefully cringing his eyes which had thick, dark circles underneath them.
"Well, I have a mountain of kids that I had to feed and take care of. Isn't it a bigger sin to not make money and let the kids starve?"
"...Well, that’s true."
"I got a day off today, so I should sleep well tomorrow and come back. It feels like the quality of life is deteriorating because of lack of sleep..."
Do-Jin’s words trailed off, and he came to a halt. Ye-Jin tilted her head and looked at him as if she was puzzled.
His gaze was focused on the center of the sports field. In the midst of the crowd surrounding the field, two male students were confronting each other. Do-Jin shifted the light of blessing flowing through his body to his eyes.
"...Those bastards."
The ones confronting each other were Jun-Hyuk and Sung-Hyun. Jun-Hyuk was infamous among the faculty members for causing a lot of trouble, so it wasn’t unusual to see him there, but why was Sung-Hyun here? Wasn’t he expelled?
Not only did Florence Academy's reputation take a big hit because of him, but Ye-Jin, the homeroom teacher of the Class of Charity, almost faced disciplinary action. For that reason, Do-Jin deeply resented Sung-Hyun.
Do-Jin crossed the field and approached them. He was planning to yell at them, and if they didn’t listen to him, he was going to beat them up.
"What's going on? My eyesight is bad, so I can’t tell what’s happening..." Ye-Jin asked while following Do-Jin.
"It looks like there’s a fight, and Sung-Hyun seems to be one of the people involved."
"What? Why is he here?" Ye-Jin said as if she couldn’t believe what she just heard.
Without responding to Ye-Jin’s question, Do-Jin stared at Jun-Hyuk and Sung-Hyun with a stern expression on his face. He was not only angry at Sung-Hyun, who shamelessly entered Florence Academy after being expelled, but also at Jun-Hyuk. He planned to give him a warning as well.
"Hey! You guys, get out of the way!" Do-Jin shouted at the people standing around the fight.
The troublemakers hesitated but didn't scatter. It was because the fight between Jun-Hyuk and Sung-Hyun was intensifying.
Their foreheads were pressed together, glaring at each other with venomous eyes. It was a tense atmosphere that felt like it could immediately devolve into a fistfight if either of them extended their fist.
While stepping forward with increased urgency, Do-Jin shouted, "You guys...!"
The reason why his words trailed off was that Sun-Woo was pushing through the crowd and entering. With an angry expression on his face and a fierce yet icy gaze, he slowly inserted himself between the two while staring at Sung-Hyun.
Thump.
Firstly, he pushed Jun-Hyuk aside, separating the distance between them. It seemed like he was trying to stop the fight. Only then did Do-Jin relax and slightly slow down his steps. Sun-Woo's skills were far superior compared to Jun-Hyuk and Sung-Hyun. If he wanted to stop the fight, he could easily do so.
At that moment, Sun-Woo's arm began to shine. It was the light emitted by the Blessing of Superhuman Strength, which was bestowed upon him during the Holy Name of Charity ceremony. Following that, Sun-Woo drew a blessing array.
Ye-Jin, observing the situation behind Do-Jin, muttered to herself, "Oh? That’s a blessing of strength..."
Sun-Woo used the blessing of strength. Was it an intermediate, or was it a lesser blessing? It was impossible to grasp accurately from a distance. Was he planning to use the blessing to suppress the fight with his strength? Before Do-Jin had a chance to wonder what was happening, Sun-Woo concentrated the entire power of the blessing onto his right arm.
Then Sun-Woo extended his arm, and his hand pierced Sung-Hyun's chest.
Splurt.
There was something inside Sun-Woo’s hand that he pulled out from Sung-Hyun's chest. It was a heart. It was Sung-Hyun's heart, to be precise. With just his right arm, Sun-Woo pierced Sung-Hyun's skin, smashed through his ribcage, and pulled out his heart. The heart, which still had blood vessels attached all over it, was still beating inside Sun-Woo's hand.
"...Ah, ah..." Ye-Jin made strange sounds as if she didn't want to believe it was real.
Eventually, she started to vomit with a pale, horrified expression on her face. With a hole in his chest, Sung-Hyun died just like that. His body lay sprawled out in the middle of the field.
Do-Jin unconsciously clenched his fists. It was murder. Sung-Hyun had been suspected of having ties to Satanists, but at the very least, he was human. No matter how wicked his actions may have been, he was still a person. Unlike demons or demonic beasts, you couldn’t just murder people like that.
Do-Jin moved the light of blessing to his legs.
Thump!
With his hand resting on his sword, he leaped toward Sun-Woo. He arrived in front of Sun-Woo with such speed that it would be difficult for most people to follow with the eyes as he drew his sword.
And then he swung his sword.
Swish!
It was a strike that carried the momentum and weight from his leap.
However, the blade was not aimed at Sun-Woo. Do-Jin intended to strike Sun-Woo's neck with the back of the blade to knock him unconscious. As for the responsibility and reasons for killing Sung-Hyun... he planned to ask about those things later.
Thud.
However, Sun-Woo did not lose consciousness. He effortlessly caught Do-Jin's blade and stared at him with a cold gaze. Was that an expression a person could have right after killing someone...? Feeling a sense of dread, Do-Jin tried to pull his sword out of Sun-Woo's hand.
"..."
However, the sword wouldn't budge. It was because Sun-Woo's grip on the blade was too strong. It wasn't the power obtained through the Blessing of Superhuman Strength. Do-Jin knew Sun-Woo was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this powerful.
Do-Jin concealed his surprise and said, "Let go. Before I cut off all your fingers."
"Listen to my story first."
"I'll listen to your story after I subdue you."
Slice!
Do-Jin forcefully pulled out his sword. Blood from Sun-Woo's palm splattered onto the field. Do-Jin launched another attack.
Slice...
This time, it wasn't the back of the blade. In an instant, Do-Jin's attack arrived at Sun-Woo's neck, and immediately after, Do-Jin stopped moving.
Dark red blood dripped down from Sun-Woo's neck where the blade had touched. Do-Jin stared at Sun-Woo with eyes filled with madness and said, "You... What on earth were you thinking, doing something like this..."
"..."
Tears welled up in Do-Jin's eyes as he croaked, "Clergymen shouldn't kill people. No, people shouldn't kill people. That's obvious, but..."
Do-Jin's words were directed at Sun-Woo, but simultaneously, they were directed at himself. His hand trembled uncontrollably as he held the blade. Blood that had stained the blade dripped onto the ground one drop at a time.
"...Teacher."
At that moment, Sun-Woo showed the heart held in his hand. The heart had stopped beating and had turned cold.
Burst.
Sun-Woo clenched his fist and mercilessly crushed the heart. Do-Jin tightly closed his eyes. It was a sound he didn't want to hear. Sun-Woo was completely insane. He started to think that instead of suppressing him, perhaps it might be better to kill him immediately... As he was thinking that, he opened his eyes.
Then, an unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
Crumble.
From the burst heart, instead of blood, chunks of sawdust flowed out. No, there was some blood, but most of it was sawdust and cotton. Sung-Hyun's heart was filled with sawdust and cotton. Do-Jin stared at him with a dazed expression and lowered his sword.
"What I killed just now was not a person, but a taxidermied creature," Sun-Woo calmly said as he flicked the blood off his palm.
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