Chapter 131
"Argh, aargh! Let go! You bastard!"
"You picked up one earlier! I couldn't pick up any!"
"It's your fault that you weren’t able to pick up any, you idiot!"
Those unable to pick up the gold attacked those who did. And those who had picked up the gold either ran away or hid it. They scrambled in the sports field that was filled with mud as they fought each other. Black tears flowed down and stained the field.
Thanks to the anti-demon mask she was wearing, Jin-Seo was able to avoid breathing in the demonic energy. However, everyone else besides her was intoxicated by the demonic energy. The children scratched each other with their nails and bit each other's’ necks with their teeth. In front of the gold, they were reduced to mere beasts. Within the banquet of madness, Jin-Seo felt her sanity slowly fading away.
"Stop, stop!"
Jin-Seo belatedly regained her senses and tried to stop them, but it was to no avail. Even when she tried to separate them forcibly, it was hopeless. The students who breathed in the demonic energy had tremendous strength, as if they had truly become savage beasts. However, she couldn’t lift her sword either. After all, the students weren’t demonic beasts, demons, or taxidermied creatures.
"Everyone, please, just...!"
Thud.
A piece of gold fell from the arms of a girl that she was forcibly trying to pull away. The students covered in mud stopped fighting and looked in the direction where the gold had fallen.
Then, they looked at Jin-Seo. She recognized some of their faces, and there were some that she didn’t recognize, but regardless, they all showed strong hostility toward her.
After seeing the sword in Jin-Seo’s hand, one of the students muttered, "She's a witch..."
The student looked up at the rainy sky with vacant eyes before clutching their head and screaming, "It's a witch! A witch has come!"
Starting with the screaming kid, the others began to scream along as if they had been infected by screams.
"A witch has come to kill us!"
"A witch is here!"
"Wiiiiitch!!"
They screamed in terror as they attacked Jin-Seo with the hands that they had been using to scratch each other. They no longer chased after gold. Instead, they were chasing after Jin-Seo.
"What do you mean by witch...?!"
To Jin-Seo, it felt absurd to see those under the influence of black magic accusing her of being a witch. Jin-Seo took a step back and swung her sword at the students who were chasing her. She had swung her sword to warn them, and the sword did not touch the students.
Thud!
However, one of the students at the front fell down as if the sword had truly struck them. If Jin-Seo accidentally cut someone, she would have felt some sort of sensation in her hand, but she felt no resistance?.
"Ah, ahhh...!"
"The witch... killed someone!"
"Oh, my Adonai...!"
Although the student had never been cut, the student collapsed onto the ground as if the blade had cut them. In Jin-Seo’s eyes, it was as clear as day that the student was acting, but to the other students’ eyes, this was not the case. With faces filled with fear, they shouted the name of God and retreated backward. The students’ pupils trembled as they looked down at the fallen student.
One of the students raised their sword and pointed it at Jin-Seo.
"We... we have to attack her first before she kills us all..." he mumbled and started swinging the sword like a madman. The other kids also picked up practice swords that were lying on the ground. Why were the practice swords here instead of at the sacred training ground?
Clash!
A sword flew toward Jin-Seo without giving her an opportunity to think things through. The sword was blunt, the student had poor swordsmanship, and their moves were slow. Because of this, their attack wasn’t difficult to block, but her hand that was clenching the sword tingled. Although the blade was dull, it was heavy.
One student who belatedly picked up a sword shouted, "The witch is surprised!"
It was half true. Jin-Seo was surprised that the students had labeled her a witch, and the weightiness of the swords they swung also surprised her.
"...."
She drove back the approaching students as she thought about her situation. She could easily overpower the kids by cutting them down with her sword, but she didn’t have the heart to do so. After all, she wasn’t cutting down demons or taxidermied creatures. She would be cutting down real people, and she would be spilling real blood. Such thoughts dulled Jin-Seo’s movements.
Clatter!
All of a sudden, a black sword flew toward her. Quite literally, it had not been shot at her but thrown. As there were no gaps in Jin-Seo's defensive posture, the students began to throw their swords like spears.
"Die! Die!"
"The witch is casting a spell...!"
"..."
Clatter, clang, clatter...
Jin-Seo easily blocked the swords flying toward her. Blocking the swords that had been thrown at her with little to no force was not a difficult task, and she barely broke a sweat. However, her heart was wearing down and getting tired.
Jin-Seo knew very well from her own experience how the violence of a large number of people aimed toward a small number of people could drive people mad.
"That’s enough...!"
A mix of helplessness and wrath flooded out from within her. Jin-Seo lifted her sword as if being swayed by those emotions. The sword that she held up irrationally gleamed eerily in the rain.
Swish!
"...Huh?"
The sword was swung. The blade flew toward the necks of the students intoxicated with the demonic energy. However, the blade had not been swung due to Jin-Seo’s will.
The sword had left Jin-Seo’s hand and was swinging by itself. The students struck in their necks by the flat side of the blade, collapsed onto the ground.
After striking the necks of each of the students intoxicated by the demonic energy one by one, the sword soared into the sky.
The sword that had been freed from Jin-Seo's hand was fast and sharp, and it appeared hot. The blade glowed crimson as if it was boiling hot, evaporating every drop of rain that it came into contact with. The faint mist flowing out from the blade mixed with the black smoke that was flowing out from the students’ tears.
Rumble!
Thunder roared, and lightning struck in the direction of Eiden Hill. The swords aimlessly floating in the sky moved toward the flash of lightning as if chasing it. The students fainted, and the sword disappeared into the horizon, leaving only silence on the sports field. The sound of rain was the only thing that disturbed the silence. Jin-Seo stood alone in the center of it all.
“What the...?"
***
Meanwhile, after hearing emergency requests for support from the rescue team, Han Dae-Ho, Oh Hee-Jin, and the assault team arrived at the hospital that had been established within Florence Academy. The members of the rescue team and two students were carrying patients to the school gate. Han Dae-Ho approached a rescuer guiding the evacuation of the able-bodied patients.
"What, what's going on?!" Han Dae-Ho asked.
"A Satanist has threatened to blow up the hospital! Regardless of whether this is the truth, we need to evacuate the patients!" the rescuer said in a tense voice.
He was right. Regardless of the truth, the patients had to be evacuated. It was because there truly was a risk of the hospital exploding, and even if the hospital didn’t blow up, there was also the risk of panic spreading among the patients.
Han Dae-Ho ordered some of his agile subordinates from the assault team to assist with the evacuation. He then saw the two students who were voluntarily helping the patients evacuate.
"What are the names of those students?"
"I don't know because they don't respond when I ask them! However, they are quite helpful at the moment!"
The girl's face was ordinary and unremarkable, and the boy had a very large physique. Although he didn't know who they were, he was grateful for their considerable help. Han Dae-Ho assigned rescue missions to some of the assault team members and was just about to leave the hospital.
It was at that moment that dozens of swords shot up into the sky from the center of the sports field.
However, they weren’t just soaring up into the sky. The red-hot swords wandered about and circled around in the air, and then, as lightning struck in the direction of Eiden Hill, the swords flew toward Eiden Hill in unison. Every raindrop that came into contact with the swords completely evaporated and disappeared.
They drew a parabolic path as they flew toward the east side of Eiden Hill. The swords flying in the sky suddenly crashed down to the ground. The speed at which they fell was comparable to that of lightning bolts. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that divine retribution was raining down from the skies.
All the paladins who witnessed the scene considered it to be a miracle. They believed it was not a half-hearted miracle caused by a miracle replication spell, but a complete miracle that had descended upon the land through the hands of Adonai.
Oh Hee-Jin looked up at the sky with widened eyes and murmured, "It’s a flaming sword...."
Rumble rumble...
The mountains cried out. The rumbles of the mountains echoed out into the distance.
***
[Prophet, now that you have shown honesty, I, Ogun, the Loa of Iron, will happily lend my power to you, the Prophet.]
"..."
Ogun's voice trembled with excitement.
[All the iron in the world is within the palm of your hands. The heat that is coming out from the iron is not from me. The heat is coming from the anger that you possess.]
I continued walking toward Jun-Hyuk without stopping.
Thud, thud.
The taxidermied creatures made squelching sounds as they approached me, but I wasn't concerned. It was because I knew that their fingertips couldn't reach me.
[Fight! Make the soil fertile with their corpses!]
"Sobo."
Rumble—!
Ignoring Ogun's words, I summoned lightning. A thin flash of lightning split the sky in half. The lightning burned and destroyed the approaching taxidermied creatures, causing them to crumble apart and turn into ashes.
However, some taxidermied creatures continued to move even after being struck by lightning. I raised my hand. The swords that were floating in the sky rotated and pointed toward the ground.
Stab, stab, stab—!
A rain of swords descended. The swords pierced the heads of taxidermied creatures and nailed them to the ground.
The taxidermied creatures that had their heads pierced by the swords frantically waved their limbs in the air, unable to reach me. The way they flailed around was analogous to that of insects. As the heat from the swords burned and melted away the sawdust and cotton that filled their bodies, the taxidermied creatures lost their strength and collapsed.
The rain fell, and the taxidermied creatures melted away. Eiden Hill, which was once filled with the scent of flowers, was soaked with the corpses of taxidermied creatures, and the air was tainted with demonic energy. The swords that had struck the heads of the taxidermied creatures shot up into the sky and rushed toward the ground once again.
The rain of swords that was descending once again was now aimed at Jun-Hyuk.
Stab, stab, stab—!
The sword pierced through both of Jun-Hyuk's wrists and pinned his arms to the tree. The rain of swords charged towards him. Several swords struck the ground, while dozens of swords pierced through Jun-Hyuk's body.
Two swords abruptly changed their trajectory as if bouncing off the air and sliced through his ankles. Swords pierced through his calves, thighs, forearms, and shoulders one after another.
Stab.
The final sword pierced through his heart. The blood-stained sword melted away his flesh and blood.
Splurt, splurt, splurt.
The final sword was repeatedly pulled out and stabbed into Jun-Hyuk's heart.
The sword seemed to be going on a rampage alone. Blood flowed from the hole in his chest. The blood was red, just like mine. The blood that was washed away by the rain stained the soil.
Thud.
Stepping on the damp mud soaked with moisture, I approached him. Each step made a squelching sound. I looked down at Jun-Hyuk, who was covered in blood. His heart was beating calmly and steadily. Jun-Hyuk exhaled a weak breath and looked up at me.
Dark red blood flowed out from Jun-Hyuk's mouth as he smiled and said, "So it was you... Cough, the Cult Leader..."
It was undoubtedly real blood. Jun-Hyuk, who had been torn to shreds by the rain of swords, was not a taxidermied creature.
We finally confronted each other’s true selves that we had been chasing all this time, but the reunion was bitter.
"Why are you revealing your true identity...? What are you going to do if I tell the Holy See...?
"..."
Replication spell, Executioner's Sword.
Crack, crackle!
A sword emerged from a spell array that I drew. The sword screamed and cried out. It was the cries of countless sinners who had died by the sword. I raised the sword and aimed it at Jun-Hyuk's neck. The sword felt light.
"It's okay. You’re going to die anyway."
Aaaaaaaah, aaaaaaah...
The mournful wailings of the sword blended with the sound of rain. The screams of the countless sinners that came out from the Executioner's Sword would soon include Jun-Hyuk's voice as well. Since he would die in this place, it didn't matter whether he knew that I was the leader of the Voodoo Cult or not.
"Ha, ha.... Hey, you bastard... Let's talk it out..." Jun-Hyuk said while smiling.
I swung the Executioner's Sword.
Slice!
Just like that, in such a futile manner, Jun-Hyuk's neck was cleanly severed. I felt no sensation in my palm. The blade was large but light, while Jun-Hyuk's head was small but heavy. Jun-Hyuk's half-opened mouth was filled with the lifeless soil of Eiden Hill.
However, he was still not dead. Black, elongated tentacles poured out from the severed section of his neck. The tentacles reconnected his body and head.
At that moment, I tried to swing the Executioner's Sword again, but I felt a headache. Words flowed out from Jun-Hyuk’s mouth that were inhuman.
"AUM SHRIM MAHA LAKSHMIYEI SWAHA AH-UU-MM──"
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
My heartbeat quickened. My body did not move—
“SH-REE-M MAH-HAH LAHK-SHMEE-YAY-EE...”
—like I wanted it to. My muscles convulsed and trembled. I vomited blood out of my mouth.
“...SVAH-AH.”
Boom—!
An explosion occurred. The explosion originated from within my body. The distance between him and me once again became distant. Jun-Hyuk's severed wrists and head were reattached to his body by the tentacles. The pitch-black demonic energy turned into a giant hand and enveloped Jun-Hyuk's body. The swords that were embedded in his body corroded and melted away due to the demonic energy.
"Cough...!"
I continued to vomit blood. My ears began to ring. My vision blurred. In the distance, Jun-Hyuk held a sword. He lifted up one of the swords that was heated up red hot and cut his own wrist.
Plop, plop.
The thick blood clumped together and... fell to the ground.
?? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????
”????, ????? ??????? ?????
????? ?? ?
“!????? ?? ???????
Jun-Hyuk looked up at the sky and screamed. The demonic energy took the shape of a giant hand. The nails hanging off each of the fingertips were long and sharp, and there were eyes in the center of each of the nails. There were six fingers, and there were also six nails and six eyes.
I tried to look at the hand with my own two eyes.
"Arghh...!”
However, my pupils kept shifting to the side. When I turned my head, my pupils turned, and when I turned my pupils, my head turned. If I turned both, my body would turn. My instincts refused to meet that hand with my naked eyes.
Swish.
The hand moved. A long, black wave brushed by the side of my body. I stopped vomiting blood, and my hand disappeared. Two hands had disappeared. It was the giant hand that was made up of demonic energy and my hand. The hand, even after leaving my body, was tightly gripping the Executioner's Sword.
"Ah...!"
No scream came out. Pain belatedly flooded into my body. Blood was flowing out from my severed wrist.
I held up my severed wrist and unleashed Voodoo magic. My hand was burning in flames. It was hot. The palm that touched the fire turned black and burned.
"Ha, haa, haaah...!"
While screaming and gasping for breath, I drew a spell array. It was a superior restoration spell. Not even I could use it more than five times, but it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to put out the fire unless it was a superior restoration spell. Because it was a devil’s fire, it didn't go out even when it rained.
Puff...
Mist flowed out from the spell array. The mist that spewed out stuck to my wrist. Yet, the flames remained unextinguished. As the flames traveled up my right arm, I grasped the Executioner's Sword with my burning arm.
It was not an easy task to move forward while bearing the searing pain.
Clench.
I gritted my teeth, chewed my lips, and bit my tongue. The blood that flowed out from my mouth was washed away by the rain and flowed to the ground.
Each step forward felt heavy. Jun-Hyuk lit a fire on his severed wrist to stop the bleeding, and with his remaining hand, he gently touched the back of his neck.
"Ah..." I unconsciously muttered.
A goat tattoo was drawn on the back of his neck. I thought that Jun-Hyuk had a habit of scratching his neck when he was uneasy. But he hadn’t been scratching his neck when he was uneasy. He had been touching his neck whenever he used black magic.
Demonic energy flowed out from the back of his neck and formed a Pentagram on his back. The Pentagram rotated while squeaking like a broken gear. Taxidermied creatures slowly poured out from the Pentagram. No, they weren't taxidermied creatures. They were just giant chunks of meat.
"You bastard... didn't... you say that you wanted to talk..." I said.
"That was all bullshit," Jun-Hyuk said before gesturing with his hand.
Kyaaahhh! Aaarghhh! Urghhh, Kaaaaghhh─!
The chunks of meat rushed toward me while screaming. They looked like giant snakes. On the wriggling body were dozens, no hundreds, of screaming mouths. It sounded like screams straight out of hell. The spirits from hell were clinging to the pieces of meat. The thousands of arms attached to the meat reached out to grab me and pull me into hell.
"Bossou, your power... is needed. Gran... bwa. I summon you... in the wilderness."
My voice intermittently cut off due to the pain. I muttered with my tongue that was basically half-cut off as I raised the Executioner's Sword. I didn't believe that I would be able to pierce through that pile of meat with the stabbing technique I learned today. But it would be enough to buy me some time.
I took a stance and stabbed the approaching flesh with the Executioner's Sword.
Aaaargh! Aaargh! Kyaaaaa! Aaah, aaah, aaah!
Screams intertwined with screams.
Kaang!
The force of the stabs backed by Bossou's might was strong. It was not enough to cut through the flesh containing the spirits of hell, but it bought me enough time. Thanks to that, I was able to finish the prayer.
"Se pou forè a sou bò pa m, nan non Bondye."
Oh forest, be on my side, in the name of Bongdiye.
Rumble, rumble—!
Eiden Hill was surrounded by trees, grass, and flowers. All those plants came to life. The mountains cried, and thunder struck. The rivers were filled with the cries of the Loa. The tree roots, flowers, and leaves that emerged from the ground were drenched in rain. They swayed and grew, and as they grew, they gathered together.
The plants that emerged from the mountains became one giant mountain range. The mountain range surged and swung its fist towards the massive flesh of meat. The thousands of arms attached to the body of the pile of meat shook, just like how the thousands of flowers and grass attached to the mountain range shook.
Roar—!!
With that, life and death collided.
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