Chapter 81
Ritual of Succession.
It referred to the ceremony where one inherited the power left by the previous Cult Leader. By offering the remains of my grandfather, the first-generation Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult, Do Jun-Gil, I would receive his power.
[Just one question. Do you have any regrets about your choice?] Baron Samedi asked.
He was crossing his legs and looking down at me with a condescending posture as if he were scrutinizing me.
"No, I don't."
[Really?]
I nodded without hesitation. I had absolute confidence that I wouldn't regret my decision. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I wouldn’t even have a future where I could regret anything if I didn’t undergo the Ritual of Succession.
Sitting in his chair, Baron Samedi looked down at me and smirked.
[However... there is a problem.]
"A problem?"
[As you may know, your father, Do Myung-Jun, did not undergo the Ritual of Succession. This is a very serious issue. Do you understand what that means?]
Baron Samedi stood up abruptly and approached me with determined steps. With a gesture from him, a glass filled with rum appeared out of thin air. Baron Samedi drank it in one gulp.
Crash!
The glass of rum that he threw toward the temple's pillar shattered into pieces. The glass fragments rolled on the floor and reflected the violet light of the temple. Baron Samedi nonchalantly stepped on the glass shards and approached me. His red gaze was soon right in front of me. An indescribably deep gaze of death coldly scanned through me.
[In only two generations, the Tradition of Succession was broken because of your father's negligence.]
"...Is that my fault?"
[Of course, it's not your fault. That said, it's not my fault either. No, perhaps it’s no one's fault. It’s not your father's fault, nor your mother's fault. However...]
Baron Samedi took out a cigar from his pocket. He flicked his finger and ignited the cigar.
With a seemingly satisfied expression, Baron Samedi took a sip of the cigar and emitted thick and heavy purple smoke. The sticky smoke stuck to my face.
[The problem is that the trust has been broken. The trust between the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult and me, the Loa of Death.]
"What’s your point?"
[The point is that I have no reason to conduct the Ritual of Succession for you. In the future, you might end up dying without even leaving a speck of dust like Do Myung-Jun.]
Baron Samedi rubbed the cigar against the temple pillar, extinguishing it. A black mark remained on the purple wall. Then he casually threw away the cigar that was over half unused. While executing this series of actions, Baron Samedi was glancing at me with narrowed eyes as if he was expecting something from me.
What he wanted from me was clear.
“Alright. It should be fine if you include me in the ‘loop.’ If I do that, then I can restore the broken trust as well, right?”
At my response, Baron Samedi laughed. It sounded like he was laughing his head off, but it also sounded like he was sneering at me. It was a peculiar laughter that couldn't be interpreted in any particular way as if he were mocking me.
[That was the answer I wanted.]
Shhhhhh–!
As soon as Baron Samedi finished speaking, a dark and murky violet glow enveloped me. The magnificent scenery of the temple disappeared behind the violet glow. Beyond the glow, Baron Samedi's red gaze shone vividly.
[In exchange for the remains of the previous Cult Leader, Do Jun-Gil, I appoint Sun-Woo, who is present here, as the successor,] Baron Samedi said.
[And in exchange, Sun-Woo must pass on his remains onto his descendants. The descendants must dedicate Sun-Woo's remains to me, the Loa of Death, through the Ritual of Succession. This is a contract of death.]
A breeze blew from an unknown place. The violet mist and light swayed and fluttered in the wind. Baron Samedi continued speaking within the storm.
[With this, the third-generation Cult Leader, Sun-Woo, is now included in the loop of death and circulation.]
I nodded. Gradually, the mist dissipated, and the temple disappeared. Then the chilling reality once again appeared before me.
The taxidermied humans surrounding me and the pervert watching the situation nonchalantly from a distance were still there. The pain that I had forgotten about also returned. The pain was so immense that I couldn't even twitch my fingertips.
"I think this is enough. It's fortunate that it's not too late. By any chance, if that person comes, it'll be a big problem..."
Thud, thud.
A headless taxidermied human with three arms and three legs approached me and aggressively grabbed me. They lifted me and placed me on the back of a taxidermied human that resembled a spider. The taxidermied human carried me on their back, and then their eight legs crawled like a spider and transported me toward the pervert.
Thud!
The spider-like taxidermied human dropped me roughly on the ground. Due to the impact, the pain that was already severe became even more intense.
"Are you still alive? Hello?" the pervert teased while sitting down in front of me and chuckling. He tapped my forehead with his finger.
His finger was so exceedingly long and dry that it was more like a twig rather than a finger. The pervert rolled my head around, playfully lifted my limp arms, and toyed with my body.
"Well, it seems like you’re still alive. Then—"
Puff...
The pervert grabbed me by the hair to take me somewhere when his words came to a halt. Mist was flowing out. The source was the spell array I had just drawn. The mist that flowed out was thicker and more pungent than usual. The pervert looked at the spell array that was emitting the mist and let out a hollow laugh.
"It doesn't work. About half of my body isn't human."
"I know."
I stood up from my seat. The spell I used was 'intoxication.' The target of the spell was neither the taxidermized humans nor the pervert, but myself. My body, which was deeply infused with the Voodoo mist, no longer felt pain. It was just a dizzying pleasure that tingled my mind. The pain that tormented my body had disappeared.
It worked. The spell worked on my body.
"Now, I feel... a little better. Argh..."
Nothing could hinder me anymore. My injuries were healed with the restoration spell, and the pain was driven away with the intoxication spell. The truth was, it was only temporary relief and not complete removal of the pain, but that didn't matter. The important thing was that I no longer felt the pain right now.
My body was trembling, but it wasn't trembling from the pain. It was a tremor born from pleasure and exhilaration.
[Do not indulge in it.]
"It's alright."
Legba's warning echoed in my mind. I smiled and nodded. I hadn't done this mindlessly.
I felt that the output of my Voodoo magic had risen through the Ritual of Succession. My spells had become one level sharper, and the strength of the spells surpassed my resistance. In other words, I could now cast spells on myself. Therefore, it was now possible to drive away the pain with the intoxication spell. The problem was the risk of becoming addicted or becoming too intoxicated and losing my motor skills.
"It's alright. It's better... than I thought... "
The problem was solved by reducing the output of the spell. The pleasure was just sufficient enough to forget the pain. The pleasure was so electrifying and persistent that it didn’t really feel right to say that it was just sufficient enough to forget the pain, but at the very least, it wasn't strong enough to get me addicted or intoxicated.
"...You, how did you stand up?" the pervert said in surprise while taking a step back.
It was understandable that he was taken aback by my sudden recovery. After all, a spasming, half-dead person had suddenly stood up with a smile on his face. The pervert urgently gestured and gave instructions to the taxidermied humans. Then, the taxidermied humans waiting behind me began to move closer. Their steps made a squelching sound.
I drew a spell array.
Clank!
The Voodoo magic flowing from the spell array made a sharp sound and took the form of a sword. It was the Executioner's Sword. The blade was sharp, and the handle was adorned with decorations. It was a replication spell much more precise and intricate than when I defeated Jun-Min, who had previously turned into a demon. After the Ritual of Succession, the skill of my replication spells had noticeably improved more than anything else.
Slice.
I cut off the legs of the spider-like taxidermied humans rushing toward me.
Faint screams echoed from the Executioner's Sword. The screams of those who had their throats cut off by the Executioner's Sword a long time ago were replicated. When replication spells reached a certain level of mastery, they could replicate not just the form of the replicated object but also the sounds that were made at that time.
"Ah, ah! taxidermied humans! The taxidermied humans! Those are, those are that person’s creations!" the pervert exclaimed.
Beneath the human skin mask, his expression seemed to be filled with horror. Following his urgent gesture, the taxidermied humans increased their speed and approached me. Perhaps the pervert had somewhat used their brain because the taxidermied humans were aiming for the gap on the left side of my body instead of the right side where I was holding the sword.
Clank!
I grabbed the head of a taxidermied human and crushed it. The cotton and sawdust that filled the head fell down along with blood. The decapitated taxidermied human lost its strength and collapsed on the ground like a deflated balloon.
The pervert gestured again with even more urgency, and the taxidermied humans approached me with erratic movements.
Whack, crunch, slice...
The taxidermied humans that approached from the left would either get their heads pulverized or their necks twisted. The ones that were approaching from the right would get slashed with the Executioner’s Sword. The number of taxidermied humans rapidly decreased from dozens down to around ten, and then decreased to a few.
Each time a taxidermied human fell, a thrilling pleasure that seemed to overflow from my spine tantalized me.
"Ah, ah, ah, the creations, the creations...! Damn it, damned timing!"
The pervert muttered incomprehensible nonsense and stomped on the ground in anger. Before I knew it, only one taxidermied human remained. However, that taxidermied human had no hands or feet. It crawled toward me with severed elbows and knees.
Stab.
I pierced the heart of the taxidermied human with the Executioner's Sword. The taxidermied human writhed for a moment, then completely lost its vitality and collapsed.
"Ah..."
A sigh escaped from the pervert's mouth. I strode towards him. With each step, a sticky sound resounded, but I no longer felt haunted by that sound.
Thud.
The pervert looked at me in despair, and after seeing that I had approached right in front of him, he knelt down in front of me. The dried-up expression on his human skin mask was looking up at me.
“Please save me. I did all this because I was ordered to. Everything... Everything I did was because of that person’s orders. I am a good person. I did all this because I had no choice but to follow that person’s commands. If you save me, I will become a follower of the Voodoo Cult. I truly mean it. Just give me one chance...”
The pervert grabbed onto my leg and lay stretched out on the ground like a wet noodle. Sticky tears flowed out through the holes in the human skin mask. I had initially considered slitting his throat right away, but upon seeing this sight, I hesitated for some reason. My right hand, which was holding the Executioner’s Sword, was trembling.
The pervert continued to sob while groping my leg and then suddenly raised his head.
“Thank you for giving me a chance.”
Snap!
There was a snapping sound. My body trembled and collapsed. The pervert had cut my Achilles tendon with a knife that he had hidden in his wrist. A sharp pain surged from my ankle up through my leg and all the way up through my spine.
The pervert chuckled as he looked at the grimace on my face and then stood up from the ground and began to flee.
“That person will soon arrive. At a wave of that person’s hand, you shall become a taxidermied human, and you will become a creature that isn’t alive nor dead—”
Stab.
The pervert, who was threatening me while fleeing, collapsed onto the ground. The Executioner's Sword was impaled in his chest. I had thrown it.
I strode toward him. My severed Achilles tendon had already healed, and the pain had long since been covered by pleasure. The pervert coughed out blood as he looked up at me. Inside his eyes, I could see fear. No, it transcended fear, and it had reached disbelief at this point.
"I gave you a chance."
"...How on earth are you able to walk? I can still vividly feel the sensation of severing your tendons in my hands."
"I wonder."
The reason I could walk so comfortably was because I restored my severed Achilles tendon, and I covered the pain with the curse of intoxication. However, there was no need for me to mention this.
"What are you going to do after you find out?"
Bam!
I kicked the pervert’s head. The pervert’s head snapped, and his body slumped down. Something flowed out from his cracked skull. Half of it was a mixture of blood and brain fluid, while the other half was sawdust and cotton.
Half of the pervert's head was filled with sawdust and cotton, like the taxidermied humans.
"As expected."
The reason why the spell had no effect on him was because the pervert wasn't completely human. He was half-human, but the other half was a taxidermied human, so the spell only had half the intended effect.
It was meaningless to dwell on it now.
The air here was filled with a pungent, sour smell mixed with blood and chemicals, along with the smell of rotting flesh. It smelled like spoiled food that had been left untouched for months. I quickly left the room.
I walked through a corridor that contained strange-shaped taxidermied humans that stood like statues and eventually reached the underground fourth floor. The dim light of the parking lot felt exceptionally bright. My clothes were soaked in blood. It was my blood that had dripped from the back of my head and my mouth. It didn't seem like it could be wiped away easily.
Boom, boom, boom...
At that moment, an explosion resounded from behind. The sound was faint and distant as if it was being heard through multiple layers of soundproof walls, but the sounds were undoubtedly getting closer.
I suppressed the sudden surge of anxiety that welled up in me and headed toward the elevator. Even though I pressed the button, the elevator didn't come down. It remained on the first floor.
[Don't just stand there. Take the stairs!]
Boom, boom, boom─!
The sound of explosions and collapsing structures gradually approached, and before I knew it, the sounds resounded from right in front of me. The pillars supporting the parking lot were shaking from the impact. Soon, my anxiety grew into a feeling of certainty.
This building was collapsing.
Leaving the non-functioning elevator behind, I ran toward the stairs. I quickly climbed the stairs, skipping two or three steps at a time. Dust fell from the ceiling with a precarious noise.
My legs, which felt fine just moments ago, were now trembling. It meant that the effects of the intoxication spell were wearing off. The pain that I had forgotten began to slowly return. It was clear that I would collapse under the pain if this continued.
Flash─!
I unleashed Voodoo magic. It was much stronger and purer than before I had received the Ritual of Succession. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the vivid purple color was brilliant.
The spell array I drew with the unleashed Voodoo magic was, of course, the intoxication spell.
[Don’t do it. You won't die, but your body and mind will crumble.]
At Legba's warning, my hand that was drawing the spell halted.
"If I don't use it right now, I'll die for sure."
[If you think of the long term, it’s much better if you don’t use it. If you just go up one more floor, you’ll reach the ground floor. Persevere.]
The spell array was already over half done. I just had to draw one more stroke, and then the spell would be complete. Without stopping my legs, which were climbing up the staircase, I sank into thought.
Legba's words that it was better not to use it were true from a long-term standpoint. There was a high possibility of becoming addicted to the intoxication spell if I abused it.
No, but if I didn’t use it now, I would die.
Starting from the center of my abdomen, the pain was gradually spreading throughout my body, reaching every corner. It was a certainty, not speculation, that I would collapse soon if I didn't rely on the power of the intoxication spell.
Puff...
In the end, I drew the final stroke and activated the spell. As soon as I sniffed the mist, the pain washed away immediately. Perhaps because I had used the intoxication spell consecutively, an electrifying pleasure that was so great that it felt as if I could lose consciousness at any moment coursed through my body.
[You crazy bastard! You really don't listen to a damn word I say!]
"Heh, heh... Ah, I'm sorry. Really."
Legba scolded me while I stifled my laughter and just barely managed to apologize. Even in this urgent situation, laughter was inexplicably coming out.
I hurriedly left the building. The pungent smell unique to the underground disappeared, and the refreshing air of the surface greeted me. Several fire trucks were parked in front of the building, and paladins were gathered together while looking at the building. Apart from the fact that the fire trucks were here, the situation seemed peaceful at first glance.
Booooom─!!
Not long after, the peace was shattered by the explosion that occurred from the building. The paladins quickly took out their equipment and prepared to enter while citizens chatting idly in the midst of the chaos began screaming.
I turned my head and looked at the building.
"Ah..."
The building was tilting. It seemed like the explosion that occurred underground had caused the building’s foundation to collapse. All the visible windows were shattered, and the countless signs that had been attached to the building fell down. The explosion sparked a fire, and the fire caused smoke to billow up into the sky, creating a hazy cloud. Screams echoed out everywhere.
In the face of such a tragedy, the paladins simply stood there, gawking at the swaying building. Only one paladin quickly analyzed the situation and attempted to enter the building. The rest of the paladins were still in a daze.
As I exited the building, I tightly closed my eyes. The screams haunted my ears. Someone was screaming due to the explosion that was caused by me. Yet, only one paladin was determined to enter the building and save people. Just one person couldn't possibly rescue all the trapped individuals in that massive building.
[Don't even think about going in and saving people. You'll definitely suffocate from the smoke and die.]
"..."
[You don't have the appropriate equipment, and your body is already battered. If you go in, you'll die.]
Legba's words were true. At this moment, I was barely holding on to my consciousness thanks to the combination of the restoration spell, intoxication spell, and Bossou's power. Jumping into the flames with my bare body in this situation would be sheer madness. Instead of rescuing people, it would be fortunate if I didn't pass out from inhaling the smoke.
That would be the case if I went in without any protective gear.
"Hey! Get into your firefighting gear quickly! The director has already gone in!"
"Did you guys even receive training? Why aren't you putting on the gear?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
I noticed that the paladins were hurriedly putting on their equipment in front of the fire trucks lined up in front of the burning building. There was a full array of firefighting gear beside them.
As I silently stared at the gear, Legba's flustered voice reached me.
[...Wait, now that I think about it, even with the gear, it seems like death is inevitable. I misspoke.]
"Legba wouldn't make such a mistake. You're not Legba, are you?"
[Right now, you're intoxicated by the spell and unable to make rational decisions. Come to your senses... Where are you going, yo-you crazy bastard! Sun-Woo! Stop! Do-Sun... Hey!] Legba shouted.
My steps were headed toward the scattered equipment arranged beside the fire truck.
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