The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 184

I sent Ji-Ah into my room. The reason was that I couldn’t let Yu-Hyun see her face. It was enough for me to be the only one with an exposed identity. I couldn’t let Uncle, Ji-Ah, or any other members of the Voodoo Cult show their faces to Yu-Hyun. I couldn’t even let him hear them.

I put Yu-Hyun to sleep with the curse of fainting and immediately put him in Baal's Maw. It was all thanks to bringing it secretly to the practical examination site. After sending Ji-Ah into my room, I went further underground.

"..."

I went one level further underground in the underground chapel. It was a place I wouldn’t usually have a reason to go to, nor would I even want to go there.

It was hot and humid. A dark and dense purple mist flowed out from somewhere, making it impossible to see what was ahead. The mist was undoubtedly Voodoo mist. However, for some reason, I didn't feel anything even after inhaling the mist.

My father would often research spells here, and I wondered whether traces of that time still remained. And since they were just traces, that would explain why the mist no longer had any efficacy.

I went down the stairs and entered the room where my father would always research spells. The mist became even thicker. I took out Yu-Hyun from Baal's Maw. He still hadn't regained consciousness.

I tied his hands and feet with the rope I obtained from the underground chapel and put a noose around his neck. Then I securely fastened the knot and the noose that bound his hands and feet. By doing this, not only would he be unable to move his hands and feet, but he would also be unable to move his head.

After restraining Yu-Hyun, I leaned against the wall. My breathing was regular. Earlier, I had felt lost in anxiety, restlessness, and anger. But now my mind felt strangely calm.

"Legba." I called out to Legba.

"Legba, please. I can't hear your voice. Are you not speaking?"

There was no answer.

"Please tell me, what should I do?"

Within the silence, I tore at my hair. I felt like I was going to go crazy because I couldn’t feel any pain.

"What's going to happen now? I..."

[It depends on your choice,] Legba said.

The various distractions that cluttered my mind disappeared, and in their place, a familiar landscape emerged. Legba stood at the Crossroads.

[To gain one thing, you must give up another. It is the same vice versa.]

I stood at the Crossroads.

***

"...Ah, shit..."

"...Insane... What, how..."

Voices.

I could hear Yu-Hyun's voice.

I quickly opened my eyes. Did I fall asleep while leaning against the wall? Crazy bastard! I didn’t know when I had fallen asleep.

The illusion of the Crossroads, Legba's voice... After that, I had no memory. No matter how tired I was, the fact that I actually fell asleep in this situation was absolutely absurd. But perhaps thanks to the short nap, my mind felt clear. I pushed through the thick fog and approached Yu-Hyun. He was struggling while unable to untie his restraints. That was a relief.

Smack!

"Oof...!"

I kicked him in the stomach. Thanks to his limbs being tightly bound, it was easy to kick the front of his body. Yu-Hyun groaned and looked up at me. I couldn't see what emotions were contained in his eyes. It was because the fog was obscuring our vision.

"...Isn't it a little too much for me if you start with kicking my stomach? This is too—"

Thud!

I kicked Yu-Hyun's stomach once again. This time, he didn't even let out a groan. It was because I struck him so hard that it wasn’t even possible for him to let out a groan. He rolled on the floor in pain while gasping for breath. I quietly watched him and then unleashed Voodoo magic.

Replication spell, Dawn's Blade.

I couldn't kill Yu-Hyun, at least for now. If I killed him, the situation would become irreversible. There would be no way to salvage the situation, and I would spend my entire life fleeing from the pursuit of the Holy See as a wanted criminal.

That's why I drew Dawn's Blade. Unlike the Executioner's Sword, which was used to decapitate a sinner, Dawn's Blade was used to strip the skin of beasts that were going to be used as sacrifices. Sometimes, it was used to strip off human skin.

"Since when did you figure it out?" I asked while placing Dawn's Blade on Yu-Hyun's legs.

He didn't answer. It didn’t look like he was hesitating to respond. He was deliberately choosing not to answer. I tightened my grip on the blade's handle.

Stab.

"Ah, aargh—!" Yu-Hyun screamed out in pain.

Blood flowed out of the wound. His pants became soaked with bright red blood. If I exerted more force and stabbed deeper, the blade would pierce through his muscles and eventually reach his bones. He would probably never be able to walk properly again for the rest of his life. There were an infinite number of ways to inflict pain.

"It'll hurt more if you move. So, when did you figure it out?" I asked again with my hand placed on the blade's hilt.

I was crouching in front of Yu-Hyun, who was writhing in pain. Even while screaming, Yu-Hyun didn't move. He just trembled uncontrollably. He was also aware that the moment he moved, the blade would tear through his muscles. Having grown accustomed to the pain, he finally opened his mouth while gasping for breath.

"Ha, ha...! Huff. Yeah, so you want to know when I figured it out?”

I nodded.

Yu-Hyun took a few seconds to catch his breath. "I didn't know for sure until today. Until then, I was just suspicious of you."

"Since when, and what made you suspicious?"

"Your eyes."

"Tell me properly, in an easy-to-understand way. Otherwise—"

"Ah, aargh! Hold on a fucking second. Just wait. I was going to explain anyway."

As I tried to grip the blade handle and exert force, Yu-Hyun urgently shouted to stop me. I released the tension in my hand and waited for him to continue.

Yu-Hyun collected his breath and said, "...I have a blessing that only I can use. More precisely, it’s a blessing that was given only to me. When I use it, I can see what others can't see."

"See what others can't see?"

"Yeah, so... I can see the flow of light that everyone has within them."

The flow of light?

"Go on."

"Ordinary people have something that resembles light flowing through their bodies. When unleashed, the light becomes divine power. It was thanks to this blessing that I was able to distinguish between taxidermied creatures and humans last time. Taxidermied creatures don't have light flowing through their bodies, you see."

"So was there no light flowing through my body either? And that's when you started to suspect me."

"No? There was light flowing through your body. It was the color that was different," Yu-Hyun said as if he were stating the obvious.

I wasn’t able to fully comprehend what he was saying. It was because I couldn't see the “light flowing through people's bodies” that he was referring to. I saw the world from my perspective, and he saw the world from his own.

He continued, "Usually, it's a light yellow color. People with a high density of innate divine power can even appear to have white light."

"..."

"But you... your color was closer to purple or red. There was a bit of white mixed in too."

"Tell me, besides you, is there anyone else who suspects me? Did you tell anyone what you saw back then?”

"Besides me, there probably isn't anyone else. I have never told anyone else either."

"...Why?"

No matter how much I thought about it, it was strange. No matter how much of a delinquent he was, Yu-Hyun was still a member of the Romanican Church. He was even a member of the Pope's family and was set to become the next Pope. For the sake of the Romanican Church, it would have been right to reveal my identity to the world. However, Yu-Hyun did not do so. After discovering my identity, he did not tell anyone about it. On the contrary, he had helped me at school.

Why?

"It was because there was no need to tell anyone. No, because I had no reason to tell anyone. It’d be better if I didn’t say anything."

"So, why on earth did you—"

"You keep asking stupid questions... At times like this, why I didn’t tell anyone is not important,” Yu-Hyun said in a condescending tone as if he were lecturing me. "Why didn't I tell anyone else, and why did I only tell you? That’s not important.”

"Why did you tell me? Were you planning to blackmail me?"

"Blackmail... No, it wasn't to blackmail you. I was just hoping that you wouldn't get caught."

"..."

At least from what I could see, Yu-Hyun wasn't lying. I glanced at Ogun, but there was no reaction. It meant that Yu-Hyun wasn't lying. If that were the case, Yu-Hyun's words about hoping that I wouldn't get caught were true.

"You were hoping that I wouldn’t get caught... Why?"

I grabbed Yu-Hyun by the hair, and I saw his expression that was hidden in the fog.

Yu-Hyun chewed his lips as if he were hesitating to answer, and then suddenly laughed. He grinned from ear to ear and let out a loud and sinister laugh.

Ptoo!

At that moment, something flew toward my eyes. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was Yu-Hyun’s spit. He looked at me with satisfaction and said, "Are you crazy? Did you expect me to tell you that?"

"...Yeah, I acted too friendly."

I shoved the blade deeper into Yu-Hyun's thigh and twisted it. Strange sounds came from his legs. It could have been the sound of muscles twisting and tearing, or perhaps the sound of bones breaking.

There was no scream. It must have hurt so much that it must have been impossible to scream. I had succeeded in inflicting pain, but he was bleeding more than I expected. If left untreated, he would surely die.

Yu-Hyun couldn't die yet. After pulling out the blade embedded in his legs, I unleashed Voodoo magic.

Swish─!

The Voodoo magic power instantly formed a spell array. The mist flowing from the spell array enveloped Yu-Hyun's shattered legs. His wounds quickly healed. It was a restoration spell. However, the restoration spell did not relieve any of the pain. The wounds were gone, but the pain remained.

I was intending to inflict enough pain on him to make him wish for death, but I had no intention of actually killing him.

Yu-Hyun opened his mouth and drooled saliva like an idiot as he rolled on the floor and made gasping sounds. And then he screamed, and eventually, even the screaming stopped.

"Ha, hahaha! Ha, ha..."

I began to hear laughter. I wasn't mishearing things. Yu-Hyun was genuinely laughing.

He laughed like crazy, and when even laughing became exhausting, he collected his breath and said, "Ha, ha... Phew. I guess you're familiar with stabbing people? Well, considering that you've killed people, this is nothing special, right?"

"Killed people? What nonsense are you spouting?" I asked.

Yu-Hyun tilted his head.

"Weren’t you the one who killed those Satanists in the basement of the Basar Market?"

"...They weren't people."

They kidnapped people, emptied them out, filled the empty space with cotton and sawdust, and turned them into taxidermied creatures. And then they proudly displayed their creations, mocking the victims by saying that it was all for the sake of art. They were creatures that were too lowly to be considered humans.

After hearing my words, Yu-Hyun started laughing like crazy again. It was not a fake laugh, but a genuine one that came from his heart. The fact that he was laughing out loud in a situation where it would normally be impossible to laugh was eerie.

"Ah, haha... You’re right, they're not human. We definitely see the world in a similar way. No, we see the world in exactly the same way."

"Nonsense..."

"Our ways of thinking are binary. We can't help it, because it's convenient that way."

"..."

"The Starless Night. I'm sorry about that time. But, back then, in my eyes, you all weren't human either. Just like how you said Satanists aren't humans. So, you can understand, right?"

I held back my anger and said, "...Back then when you went after the Voodoo Cultists. Did you differentiate them with those fancy eyes of yours?"

If I got angry here, I felt like I might unintentionally kill Yu-Hyun. The sound of my heartbeat grew louder. My breathing became rough, and my vision was becoming blurry.

Yu-Hyun smirked and responded, "Nope? I didn't even use a blessing back then. I just roughly guessed based on intuition. After all, once they die, they’re all just corpses anyway, right?”

"Ah..."

My stomach churned.

"Bossou... No, Marinette."