The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 135

The crossroads is the kingdom of souls, and the two Loa, Legba and Kalfu, are the masters of the crossroads.

Legba leads the Loa at the crossroads to the material kingdom, that is, the secular world, to converse with humans. Kalfu leads humans from the secular world to the crossroads to converse with the Loa.

For this reason, Kalfu is sometimes described as Legba’s other half or alter ego.

Kalfu led me, who stood at the threshold of death, to the crossroads.

No, it would be more accurate to say that due to the contract of the dead I made with Baron Samedi, an entrance opened, and I entered the crossroads through that entrance.

Baron Samedi sat floating in the air with his legs crossed, smoking a cigar with his left hand, then soon frowned as if uncomfortable.

"Being right-handed is difficult."

Hissssss...

Baron Samedi rubbed the fire out on the ground, then irritably shoved the half-remaining cigar into his pocket.

His voice didn’t echo in my head as usual, but flowed normally into my ears. I looked at Baron Samedi’s missing right hand and asked.

"Where did you put your hand?"

"I left it in the secular world. Didn’t I tell you yesterday?"

Baron Samedi giggled and laughed.

Yesterday when Baron Samedi’s hand came to give me a prophecy, when I asked where he left his body, he said he left it at the crossroads. I thought it was just another trivial joke as usual, but it seems it was real.

"Let’s walk for now. Let’s talk a bit too. Oh, can you walk?"

"I couldn’t walk earlier, but I can walk now."

"That would be the case. If you want to walk, you should be able to walk sufficiently."

Baron Samedi and I walked. The crossroads appeared close, as if right in front of us, but no matter how much we walked, we didn’t get closer.

When I came to the crossroads, my legs that hadn’t moved began to move, but my left hand that hadn’t moved still didn’t move. My left hand was still crushed.

The hand I offered to Kalfu.

"The hand isn’t healing?"

"Of course not. It’s a hand you offered through contract. Your lung is probably the same. Isn’t breathing a bit uncomfortable?"

"..."

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel somewhat breathless. It would have been better not to know.

Baron Samedi laughed in a low voice seeing me like that.

"One hand and one lung won’t interfere much with living. They’ll heal someday."

"The lung will heal too?"

"It’ll be slower than the hand, but it’ll heal someday. Well..."

Baron Samedi frowned and laughed exaggeratedly.

"It’s not my lung, so it’s not really my concern, is it? Haha. It’s a joke."

"..."

"It’s a joke, a joke. The part about healing someday is true. Kalfu’s sorcery is radical, but it’s not cruel enough to completely destroy and take away the caster’s body."

Baron Samedi said this while looking at the sky. I also looked at the sky. The round moon was waning thinly. It was Kalfu’s smile.

The crossroads was filled only with darkness, and Kalfu’s red moonlight was the only light source. When the moon waned, the crossroads became dark, and when it waxed, it became bright.

"...Oh, there’s an old man who lost his walking stick."

The crossroads seemed infinitely far away but was suddenly right in front of us in the blink of an eye. At the center of the crossroads, an old man stood like a signpost. The old man was lame, wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, and held a pipe in his right hand.

It was Legba’s manifestation.

"Sir, you seem to have difficulty moving around? Is it because you don’t have a walking stick?"

Baron Samedi took off his silk hat and pretended to be formal. Legba frowned and glared at Baron Samedi with displeasure.

"Samedi, you should go now. I have urgent matters to discuss with the prophet."

"Ah, so the master of the crossroads is telling others to leave?"

"You can listen if you want, but I plan to discuss things you won’t want to hear."

"Oh, is that so."

Baron Samedi pretended to ponder while stroking his chin. Then he approached me and lightly placed his hand on my shoulder.

The eyes looking down at me were unusually red and glowing.

"I’ll wait beyond the path. Fè yon chwa ou pap regrèt!"

Baron Samedi left those words and disappeared. He didn’t become smoke and disappear. In the blink of an eye, he vanished as if he had never been there in the first place.

It wasn’t very surprising. At this crossroads, nothing would be strange no matter what happened. It was a world where everything was natural.

Legba limped on one leg as he approached me.

"Why, is this the first time seeing me in this form, so you’re confused?"

His left foot was in the material kingdom, the secular world, and his right foot was in the spiritual kingdom, the crossroads. With each foot planted in different worlds, he limped both in the secular world and at the crossroads.

Since I already knew this fact, I wasn’t confused.

"It’s a bit uncomfortable to treat you the same as before."

However, after newly realizing that Legba was an old man, it felt somewhat awkward to treat him as before. Legba laughed heartily as if it was absurd.

"Treat me comfortably. Whether in voice form or physical form, I am me."

"Comfortably... Should I drop the honorifics while we’re at it?"

"Say something that makes sense."

Legba received my joke with laughter.

Although this was definitely my first time coming to the crossroads, it felt familiar and comfortable as if it wasn’t my first time.

The air I breathed was cozy and warm, as if this was originally where I should be. It had been truly a long time since I felt such sincere comfort.

"...You shed more blood than necessary."

Legba said this while putting the pipe he was holding in his mouth. Round smoke from the pipe overlapped with the round moon. Whether Baron Samedi or Legba, I don’t know why they’re all desperate to smoke. I coughed and barely managed to speak.

"Smoking in front of a student like that..."

"Endure it. You’re fine with a sword stuck in your stomach, but smoke entering your lung bothers you?"

"Now that I only have one lung, it hurts a bit."

"Right, that’s true. Then I’ll only smoke half."

Legba laughed and exhaled smoke. The smoke was forming a semicircle. Legba limped and stood at the center of the crossroads, then suddenly became serious and looked at me.

"There was no need to clash so recklessly like that."

"What do you mean?"

It was difficult to understand immediately, so I asked back.

"I spoke too much from the conclusion. Going back a bit, you had a vague idea that the Satan worshipper was Gu Jun-hyeok. Right?"

"Vaguely... yes."

I did know. It was literally ’vague,’ so I just couldn’t be certain. The evidence to confirm Gu Jun-hyeok as a Satan worshipper was insufficient. Even my gut feeling was unclear, and there was almost no concrete proof.

"No, you could have been certain."

Legba continued while puffing his pipe. The smoke was semicircular, and the moon also waned to a half-moon accordingly.

"In the chase with the Satan worshipper, you saw his physique and the tattoo carved on the back of his neck. The Satan worshipper was quick to flee, and so was Gu Jun-hyeok. Wasn’t that enough?"

"It wasn’t... enough."

"Right before the Holy Name of Charity re-selection test, Gu Jun-hyeok even mentioned the word ’exorcism.’ That was a word that Romanica Church members wouldn’t know or shouldn’t speak of even if they knew. Even with this, isn’t it enough?"

"Isn’t that thinking too much in hindsight? How can you suspect someone based on just that?"

Legba listened to my words quietly while deeply inhaling smoke. His words seemed to be interrogating me, but his expression and tone were kindly peaceful.

Looking at the smoke that shattered when it hit the red moonlight, Legba spoke.

"Then, today. The taxidermy modeled after the child named Jeong In-ah hugged you. When the taxidermy died, it left hair behind."

"Yes."

"You have some idea where that hair came from, don’t you?"

Gu Jun-hyeok often played pranks by pulling out Jeong In-ah’s hair.

Kim Jin-seo’s hair could have been obtained on the day new magical beasts appeared in Eden Garden. Or he could have easily obtained it while sparring in the gymnasium.

Seong Ha-yeon’s hair was from the group project. The taxidermy of Ma Yu-hyeon or Kang Dae-man, with whom there was almost no contact, didn’t appear.

However, this is deduction based on hindsight. Now that I know Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper, this kind of thinking is possible.

"Hair can be obtained by anyone with a little effort. To be certain based on just this kind of thing..."

"Events that always occurred near you. Words he accidentally let slip. Unnatural behavior. The hideout under the gymnasium. A person who knew those close to you. That’s not all."

My remaining lung seemed to be slowly tightening.

"Each individual clue is shabby and crude. But when you put them together, you can see that all those clues point to one person. Even with this, is it insufficient?"

"It’s insufficient. I needed concrete evidence, not circumstantial evidence."

"Based on that circumstantial evidence, you suspected that Gu Jun-hyeok might be a Satan worshipper. But you didn’t actively pursue him. That’s because you doubted yourself, and you secretly hoped that Gu Jun-hyeok wasn’t a Satan worshipper."

"That’s, Legba! Just because you said my reasoning was speculative..."

"Your first reasoning was indeed speculative and invalid. Then you should have pursued him to make that reasoning valid, or created situations to psychologically corner him and obtain solid evidence. Not wait until an incident finally erupted."

Legba’s voice was calmly settled.

I took a moment to catch my breath. There was no need to get excited. Legba was just showing me the way. Thinking that way, I calmed my agitated mind.

"...Pursuit. If by any chance I had pursued him and Gu Jun-hyeok wasn’t a Satan worshipper, my relationship with a friend I got along well with would have been ruined."

"If he truly wasn’t a Satan worshipper as you say, he would have been a faithful Romanica Church member attending Florence. Either way, he couldn’t have been your friend."

"..."

"You assimilated with the enemy in the enemy’s embrace, and as a result, you were passive. There’s no room to deny this, is there?"

I had many things I wanted to say, but my mouth felt bitter, so I didn’t open it.

Since I was an outsider, I couldn’t be friends with the chosen people, and I couldn’t be friends with other outsiders either.

As a heretic, I appeared similar to them on the surface but was fundamentally different.

I had forgotten this for a moment. While thinking Gu Jun-hyeok might be a Satan worshipper, I also hoped he wasn’t.

From the feelings of considering Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah as friends, I doubted myself. Looking back, that’s how it was.

I sighed quietly.

"I might be mistaken, but you’re speaking as if you knew from the beginning that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper."

"I didn’t know from the beginning."

Legba said this matter-of-factly.

I slowly chewed over Legba’s words. ’I didn’t know from the beginning.’

So that means he knew later. I felt anger surge for a moment.

"If you knew in the middle, you should have told me then. How I... how much I...!"

The feelings I had barely calmed began to surge again. I couldn’t even speak properly. As if something was stuck in my throat.

If Legba had told me that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper, even if it was later, the situation wouldn’t have become like this.

"...I shouldn’t have trusted a lame person from the beginning. Usually in times like this, the lame person is the culprit."

"Is that discrimination?"

"Yes. I want to hit you but I’m holding back."

"I appreciate that."

It wasn’t meant to be funny, but Legba laughed at my words. He continued.

"At that time, you were doubting yourself. Since the cult leader who should be the pillar of faith was doubting himself, I waited for you to escape from doubt on your own. But you never let go of your self-doubt until the end."

"You could have just said you were testing me without going around in circles like that."

"That’s right, I tested you. Whether you were suitable as a cult leader, as a prophet."

"Is that so? Have you finished grading? Obviously I was unsuitable."

I was in a bad mood and felt betrayed, so I just said whatever came to mind.

Legba stood at the center of the crossroads, endlessly puffing his pipe. The smoke he exhaled was still semicircular.

He maintained silence for a long time while watching the crumbling smoke. The red moon was half-closing its eyes as if tired.

"Today, you could have just confirmed that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper and run away."

"Yes, that would have been the case."

"There was no need to sacrifice your own flesh and still insist on fighting. It would have been better to run away and ask the Vatican or Holy Knight Order for help. It was a way to safely accumulate merit."

"Is that something a Loa should say?"

"...Even so, you fought, and as a result, you’re standing at the crossroads. Why didn’t you run away?"

Legba showed his displeasure at my words but stubbornly continued.

I found words to answer Legba’s question.

I could have run away as much as I wanted, but I ultimately fought Gu Jun-hyeok. As a result, I came to stand at the threshold of death like this.

There were various reasons why I fought without running away. There were emotional reasons like betrayal and anger. Since Gu Jun-hyeok had launched a preemptive attack on me, I could also say I had no choice but to fight in resistance.

"I just... felt like I wouldn’t lose even if I fought."

However, if I had to pick just one, it was confidence in myself.

I was confident that I wouldn’t lose in a fight against Gu Jun-hyeok. Judging by results alone, I couldn’t say I won, but I definitely couldn’t say I lost.

Legba heard my answer and let out a hollow laugh while temporarily tucking the pipe he was smoking into his vest.

"At least in the last moment, you had no doubt."

"At least?"

"Seeing you talk back, you have quite a strong pride too. As a cult leader, you seem somewhat suitable."

Legba said with a laugh.

I was a bit flustered because it was a different answer than what I had expected.

"Then, am I unsuitable as a prophet?"

"Well, let’s say I haven’t graded that yet. I’ll reconsider when you bring me a walking stick. It’s not easy to grade when moving around is difficult."

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or being serious.

In the darkness, the moonlight blinked. Legba looked at the sky and saw the moon. It looked like Legba and Kalfu were having some kind of conversation.

Before long, Legba pointed to beyond the infinitely distant crossroads and continued.

"It’s about time to go. Now, here are two paths, so choose one and walk."

"Why so suddenly... Can I just take any path?"

"Take the path your heart is drawn to. The path you take is the correct answer."

Legba said this and gradually moved away with his limping gait. Legba disappeared into the darkness, and I was left alone at the crossroads. Only the red moon floating in the sky was watching over me.

I chose one of the two paths and walked. I don’t know if it was the left path or the right path. I just went the way my heart was drawn to.

The path sometimes widened and sometimes narrowed. Sometimes it was flat and sometimes rough. It felt like walking a very long and distant path, and also like walking a short and close path. At the crossroads, everything didn’t have great meaning. It just flowed as it flowed.

Rattle, rattle...

Far away, I could see the end of the path. Baron Samedi was waiting for me there. He was sitting in place, playing with two stones using his long, slender fingers.

Looking closer, Baron Samedi wasn’t playing with stones but rolling two dice on his fingertips. His hand movements were quite dazzling.

"Ah! You came. Looking at your expression, it seems you got thoroughly scolded by Legba?"

Baron Samedi, who had been focusing on the dice, looked at me and smiled.

"...What are you doing?"

"I was practicing a bit. Don’t worry about it."

He jumped up from his seat. Then he handed me the two dice he had been holding. The dice had no dots on them.

Snap!

When Baron Samedi snapped his fingers, dots finally appeared on the dice. They were ominously dark red dots like blood.

"Let’s start with a dice game!"

Baron Samedi’s cheerful shout filled and echoed through the empty crossroads.

* * *

Thud.

Yeo Min-seo placed Gabriel in front of So Do-jin and sat down right there. Then she leaned against a tree and caught her breath.

"Ah..."

So Do-jin let out a sigh seeing Gabriel whose body was burning from ’Erosion’. Two people affected by Erosion. One medicine, and only one person could be saved. The responsibility for the choice had doubled.

So Do-jin unconsciously pulled the medicine bottle he had been giving to Do Seon-woo away from his mouth.

Thud.

Kim Jin-seo, who had been watching, grabbed his wrist. Her eyes looking at him trembled pitifully. Her lips trembled.

"What, what are you doing?"

"..."

"What are you doing? The, the fire keeps growing, huh?"

"...Wait. I’m thinking."

"At, at this rate he’ll die. That, give me that. I’ll do it instead...!"

Smack!

So Do-jin swatted away Kim Jin-seo’s outstretched hand. His eyes were looking at Gabriel. His lower body was almost rotted away by Erosion, but there were no other injuries.

In contrast, Do Seon-woo’s body was nearly half rotted, and external injuries not caused by Erosion were also serious.

Even if Do Seon-woo took the medicine, there was a possibility he would die. If Gabriel took the medicine, he could definitely be saved. Giving it to Gabriel was the safer way to use the medicine.

Yeo Min-seo, who had been breathing heavily, opened her eyes wide after hearing the conversation between So Do-jin and Kim Jin-seo.

"Huff, huff... That, medicine. That’s it. The one that stops black magic, this time. Stolen... Ah, shit..."

Yeo Min-seo pointed at the medicine bottle with trembling fingertips and continued.

"So Do-jin, teacher. I, I... don’t really like you, teacher? That, honestly... I even cursed behind your back a little. Called you an idiot..."

"..."

"But... even an idiot should have this much common sense...?"

Yeo Min-seo coughed. Blood spurted from her mouth in chunks.

"Emergency rescue target priority... It’s by church hierarchy... You know that, right? I can die, but this, Gabriel... Elder! The elder must be saved..."

"...I know."

So Do-jin squeezed his eyes shut.

The emergency rescue target priority is first civilians. Next are clergy, and when it comes to clergy only, the rescue target priority is determined based on church hierarchy. Naturally, the higher the hierarchy, the higher the priority.

Do Seon-woo was a subdeacon. Elder Gabriel was a former archbishop, current Monsignor. Whether archbishop or Monsignor, they were higher in hierarchy than a subdeacon. So according to principle, it would be right to give the medicine to Gabriel.

So Do-jin carefully covered the medicine bottle’s opening to keep rain from getting in, then slowly walked toward Gabriel.

His steps were slow because he had injured his leg during battle. No, it wasn’t because of injury. His steps just wouldn’t move easily. Perhaps because his heart wasn’t in it.

So Do-jin didn’t want to give up on Do Seon-woo either. He just gripped the innocent medicine bottle tightly, consumed by self-hatred and guilt.

"Teacher...?"

Kim Jin-seo muttered in disbelief. Her eyes alternated between the medicine bottle in So Do-jin’s hand and the injured, dying Do Seon-woo.

"Earlier, you... you decided to give it to Do Seon-woo. Teacher...?"

"...According to principle, it’s right to give it to the elder."

"That, that doesn’t make sense..."

Kim Jin-seo walked toward So Do-jin while stammering. Her steps lacked strength. Not just her steps, but her entire body wasn’t getting proper strength. She was short of breath and had a headache. Her mouth was dry and she couldn’t swallow saliva properly.

Splash.

The liquid in the medicine bottle shook violently. Kim Jin-seo was gripping So Do-jin’s wrist and wouldn’t let go.

"...Don’t do this."

So Do-jin’s captured hand trembled. He couldn’t bring himself to shake off her hand.

Unexpectedly, Kim Jin-seo’s strength was too strong. It was also because So Do-jin’s strength had become too weak due to injury.

"It, it was Do Seon-woo who caught the Satan worshipper."

"..."

"If you save him, his, his hierarchy will rise too. Then as a result... it’s right to save Do Seon-woo. Or, or! Give half to each. If you give half to each, you can save both..."

"Stop, talking nonsense. Does she think she’s Solomon or what... Huff, hehe..."

Yeo Min-seo, who had been listening, let out a mocking laugh. Kim Jin-seo looked at Yeo Min-seo with empty eyes.

"You just shut up..."

"Half, you... Shit..."

"Enough."

So Do-jin intervened to stop the fight between the two. Then he slowly shook his head and continued.

"...First, giving half to each won’t work. The possibility that both won’t survive increases. The dosage isn’t set for nothing."

"But...!"

"Kim Jin-seo, let go. If you block me any more, I’ll have no choice but to use force on you."

"Yes, we have to save him. Gabriel... we have to save Gabriel. So don’t block me, you damn bastard...!"

Yeo Min-seo screamed. Kim Jin-seo looked at her with eyes blazing with murderous intent as if she would kill her right away. Yeo Min-seo also didn’t back down and stared at Kim Jin-seo with eyes gleaming with madness.

The two people’s gazes crossed. The air was chilly. Thin raindrops lightly touched both their heads.

"Huh? Everyone’s here. Good. Hey!"

What unintentionally mediated the fight between the two was Ma Yu-hyeon, who had belatedly followed Yeo Min-seo. Seong Ha-yeon was chasing behind him with quick steps.

Both looked mentally exhausted. Seong Ha-yeon had handed over her friend Kim Ra-hee, who had almost been beaten to death by taxidermy, to the Holy Knight Order rescue team and was on her way back when she met Ma Yu-hyeon and suddenly came here. It wasn’t a situation where she could collect herself.

Ma Yu-hyeon hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing Yeo Min-seo, covered in blood all over her body, calmly cursing, so their situations were similar.

"Hey, there’s no priest nearby. There are only Holy Knights... So I brought Seong Ha-yeon for now. Uh..."

"...What’s this situation?"

Ma Yu-hyeon and Seong Ha-yeon, who belatedly grasped the situation, asked with awkward faces.

So Do-jin was holding medicine, and Kim Jin-seo was gripping teacher So Do-jin’s wrist with the force to break it. Yeo Min-seo was also dying, and Gabriel and Do Seon-woo were burning and rotting in black flames.

They could guess what the situation was. But they didn’t want to accept it. Seong Ha-yeon pointed at the burning Do Seon-woo with trembling fingertips and spoke.

"That, that... so that’s, I mean... taxidermy? It’s taxidermy, right?"

"...What?"

"No, just earlier that person was fine. He’s not someone who would suddenly become like that...?"

Seong Ha-yeon first thought it was taxidermy. She had previously seen Do Seon-woo reproduce miracles.

The real Do Seon-woo wasn’t weak enough to die so easily. Red, vivid blood was flowing from his body instead of sawdust and cotton, but anyway, it was taxidermy. It had to be taxidermy if it wasn’t.

Ma Yu-hyeon just in case drew a circle around his eyes with divine power. Then he looked at the dying Do Seon-woo through the circle.

Carefully, very carefully, he looked at the ’flow’ running through his body. Ma Yu-hyeon lowered his head with a face showing clear complexity.

"He doesn’t seem to be taxidermy..."

"Taxidermy... that’s right. This is taxidermy..."

It was Kim Jin-seo who cut off Ma Yu-hyeon’s words as he muttered in despair. She looked down at Do Seon-woo with vacant eyes and laughed.

What was dying now was taxidermy. Just taxidermy that took Do Seon-woo’s form.

Something felt a bit strange somehow. Then where is the real Do Seon-woo? Was the one I met while walking the real Do Seon-woo? That’s right. That was the real Do Seon-woo...

"Huh...?"

Kim Jin-seo’s thoughts stopped as she was thinking that way.

That Do Seon-woo died.

No, I killed him. With my own hands.

Taxidermy didn’t bleed. The Do Seon-woo dying before her eyes was bleeding. He was bleeding a lot.

Then the Do Seon-woo I met earlier was taxidermy.

The Do Seon-woo before my eyes now is, huh? The one I met earlier was real, no, then who did I kill earlier...

"Ma Yu-hyeon... stop that bastard..."

Kim Jin-seo’s body lost strength as she fell into confusion. Yeo Min-seo didn’t miss that opportunity and shouted at Ma Yu-hyeon.

Ma Yu-hyeon, who roughly understood Yeo Min-seo’s intention, rushed in to stop Kim Jin-seo.

"Hey, this... why is she so strong...!"

But Ma Yu-hyeon’s strength was far too weak to stop Kim Jin-seo. Kim Jin-seo looked at Ma Yu-hyeon with murderous eyes and muttered quietly.

"Let go. Before I kill you..."

"Oh, okay..."

At Kim Jin-seo’s threat, Ma Yu-hyeon stepped back with a terrified face. Yeo Min-seo looked at such Ma Yu-hyeon as if he was pathetic.

"No, you idiot... If you’re going to stop her, stop her properly...!"

"No, what do you want me to do? I need to know the situation to stop her or not!"

"Fuck, just stop her. Please...!"

It was too pitiful not to stop her given Yeo Min-seo’s desperate cry. But Kim Jin-seo’s eyes were too scary and cold to stop her.

Between Yeo Min-seo and Kim Jin-seo, Ma Yu-hyeon could neither do this nor that.

He hadn’t even been at school for a few days and was already getting caught up in this kind of incident. Coming to school was a mistake...

Crunch.

Seong Ha-yeon, who had been watching the commotion, bit her finger to draw blood after grasping the situation. She emitted divine power. Regeneration blessing circle, and all the healing circles she could use. Finally, she drew a purification blessing circle and bled into it.

"Everyone doesn’t need to be so serious. Black magic like that, you just need to eliminate it..."

Whoosh!

"Kyaa...!"

Black flames shot up. Seong Ha-yeon was startled and stepped backward.

This purification blessing circle was perfect even by Seong Ha-yeon’s own assessment. Even so, the fire attached to Do Seon-woo’s body didn’t go out.

Rather, it burned even more fiercely, devouring his body.

"Huh? Why, why won’t this disappear? Is there not enough blood? But, that’s not it?"

’Erosion’ was black magic manifested through contracts with demons rather than black magic circles, and was the most notorious among black magic.

There were rumors that even the Purification Clan would inevitably face death if directly hit by Erosion. It was impossible to completely purify Erosion even with purification blessing circles.

This was also why clergy feared and were wary of Erosion among the many black magics.

"...Kim Jin-seo."

So Do-jin looked at Kim Jin-seo with eyes filled with resignation. He didn’t have the strength to shake off her hand right now.

No, honestly, he didn’t want to shake it off either. So Do-jin didn’t want Do Seon-woo’s death. What’s that damn elder for anyway.

Hierarchy, principles - what use are such things? A principle where, as an adult and teacher, you have to calculate hierarchy instead of immediately saving a dying student right in front of you. That principle itself was wrong, So Do-jin thought.

"Giving the medicine to Gabriel is the one sure way to save at least one person."

"..."

"There’s no guarantee Do Seon-woo can live even if he takes the medicine. No, he’ll die even if he takes the medicine. So let go now. Please..."

But even excluding hierarchy and principles, giving the medicine to Gabriel was the rational choice.

Do Seon-woo had sufficient possibility of dying from reasons other than black magic. But if they gave the medicine to Gabriel, they could definitely save at least that one person.

"Why are you saying he’s dead?"

"..."

"He’s still alive. Why are you already treating him like he’s dead..."

While she was speaking, So Do-jin was mournfully staring at Do Seon-woo with eyes sunken in despair.

Kim Jin-seo stopped talking and looked at Do Seon-woo. Then she reconfirmed his condition. While they were fighting over the medicine, Do Seon-woo’s breathing had become so thin it seemed it would stop at any moment.

The black magic flames didn’t fall away even with Seong Ha-yeon’s purification, and the hole in his body didn’t close even with healing.

"..."

She slowly let go of So Do-jin’s wrist she had been gripping. That was truly a state no different from being dead. She had hoped he was alive, so she had been mistaken that he was alive.

If I had come a little earlier, would the result have been different? No, if I had gone to the principal’s office together from the beginning...

In front of Do Seon-woo burning and rotting, she knelt and collapsed.

She was familiar and composed about everything, but she could never get used to this pain. It was pain she didn’t want to get used to in the first place.

She gasped and scratched the skin of her arm with her nails. Her head hurt but tears didn’t flow, and her arm didn’t hurt but blood flowed well.

"Going crazy..."

Ma Yu-hyeon, who was watching, scratched his head and muttered.

So Do-jin tilted the medicine bottle and gave the medicine to Gabriel. He couldn’t delay any longer.

Kim Jin-seo watched this scene with vacant eyes filled with despair.

On one side, light flowing from the purification blessing circle enveloped Do Seon-woo’s body, and Seong Ha-yeon’s blood dripped onto his rotting skin. Yeo Min-seo was breathing faintly while laughing as if insane.

Ma Yu-hyeon looked up at the sky. The moon was large and red. The pouring moonlight was ominous.

Hiss.

At that moment, the fire attached to Do Seon-woo’s body went out.

* * *

"A dice game?"

I asked back because I didn’t understand. Even at the crossroads where anything could happen, suddenly being told to play a dice game was bewildering.

Since it was Baron Samedi saying it, I thought it could be possible, but I was dumbfounded.

Baron Samedi smiled and pointed to the two dice on my palm.

"That’s right, a dice game. You just need to roll those dice."

"Usually don’t you bet something on things like this? Aren’t there rules?"

"The stakes are already placed. There are no rules. You just need to roll the dice."

Snap.

Baron Samedi clapped. An iron table and chairs suddenly appeared.

As if they had originally been there. Baron Samedi nonchalantly pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing his legs.

"Sit. Aren’t your legs sore? You must have walked quite a while."

I didn’t refuse and sat across from him.

Rattle.

I placed the dice on the iron table and rolled them around to check the dots.

Unlike ordinary dice, instead of 1 to 6, they were marked 0 to 5. The other one had letters instead of dots. They were characters I had never seen before.

"...What kind of dice are these?"

"Very special dice for the contract of the dead. Very expensive dice sold only at the crossroads."

"How much?"

"The price is whatever you call it."

"Oh..."

I didn’t know if it was true or not, but I at least pretended to be surprised. Baron Samedi giggled.

"You’re good at pretending to be surprised. It’s not even your first time coming here."

"It is my first time though?"

"Ah, wasn’t that you back then? Well, anyway. That’s not what’s important."

Baron Samedi said something incomprehensible. He laughed awkwardly and continued.

"Now, it’s time to throw the dice. Should I throw, or would you like to throw?"

Baron Samedi tapped the iron desk with his fingertips. The table was glinting in the red moonlight. I picked up the dice I had placed on the table.

"I’ll throw them. You might cheat."

"Haha! With my hand in this state, how could I cheat?"

Baron Samedi raised his severed right arm.

But Baron Samedi seemed capable of cheating even with one hand. It’s not that I don’t trust Baron Samedi.

But ’Baron Samedi holding dice’ was worth being suspicious of. Without going far, just looking at Ogun’s case showed that.

"Still, you never know."

"Alright, you throw them. Who throws doesn’t matter."

"...With these dice, do you determine the price of the contract of the dead?"

"Similar."

He no longer laughed.

Baron Samedi looked at the red moon floating in the sky, and looked at something beyond it. I followed Baron Samedi’s gaze and looked up at the sky, but I couldn’t tell exactly what he was looking at.

The red moon was blinking.

"Now, there’s no time! It’s time to roll the dice."

"Ah, yes."

I rolled the dice without understanding why.

Roll roll roll.

The dice spun noisily like tops, spinning and rolling on the table, then soon stopped.

Two dots. It was ’2’. I couldn’t read the letters on the dice with the characters.

Baron Samedi looked at the dice with an indescribable expression.

It seemed surprised, happy, and sad at the same time. It was a strange face.

"Is this how it’s supposed to be?"

"...Yes. This is how it’s done. Now you just need to follow me."

Baron Samedi got up from his seat. When I got up, the table and chairs disappeared. As if they had never existed.

I followed Baron Samedi.

The crossroads had nothing that could be called scenery. Everything was darkness. Where Baron Samedi went became the path, and where the red moonlight shone became the path.

Baron Samedi walked silently, then suddenly stopped at a certain point. The red moonlight no longer illuminated ahead.

It meant the path had ended. Baron Samedi gestured toward beyond the path with his chin and spoke.

"If you go forward from here, you’ll return to the material kingdom."

"Is it okay for it to be this simple? It’s supposed to be a contract of the dead."

"Death isn’t as complicated as you think. Revival is the same."

Baron Samedi laughed and continued.

"Well, it’s called revival, but the wounds on your body won’t heal instantly. You’ll probably just lie in a hospital bed for several weeks."

"..."

"It would be strange if someone who was dying just now suddenly became fine, right? I’m being considerate in my own way."

That was true. It would be suspicious if I suddenly became too fine.

Of course, half my body was rotted by demon flames, and there was a hole in my stomach. The fact that I survived without dying from such injuries was already suspicious enough, but I couldn’t just die like this.

"Now then. According to the contract of the dead, prophet Do Seon-woo offered a price and twisted death. With this, Do Seon-woo has brushed past the fate of death twice."

Baron Samedi said. Twice?

"...Wait. Why twice?"

"Didn’t you think your body healed too quickly until now? Did you really think it was because your body was tough?"

"Yes? What do you mean...!"

Whoosh.

Baron Samedi gently pushed my back. Despite the weak force, my body flew toward the end of the crossroads as if bounced.

Far away, Baron Samedi’s red eyes were staring at me. Legba approached him with limping steps. Baron Samedi and Legba, the two Loa were watching me.

"I’ll let you know next time you come to visit."

Baron Samedi said with a laugh. His voice gradually grew distant.

As Baron Samedi grew distant, Legba grew distant, and as I moved away from the crossroads, my heart became empty and lonely.

My steps were heavy and my chest was stuffy, like departing for a foreign land where no one knew me.

I opened my eyes. My blurred vision gradually returned to normal.

Eden Garden. At the place where Gu Jun-hyeok and I had fought, Holy Knights were busily moving about. Kim Jin-seo and Seong Ha-yeon, Yeo Min-seo, Ma Yu-hyeon, So Do-jin... And many other chosen people were looking at me.

"...Ah."

I opened my mouth and barely made a sound. The voice scattered without becoming words.

Kim Jin-seo, who had been looking at me with unfocused eyes, showed a glimmer in her pupils. She looked at me with teary eyes and touched my face.

As if she couldn’t quite believe the fact that I had opened my eyes.

I couldn’t feel any sensation on the cheek her touch reached.

"..."

She silently rested her head on my chest. And cried without sound.

Seong Ha-yeon looking down at that scene had a hardened expression, and Ma Yu-hyeon and So Do-jin’s faces showed clear surprise. Holy Knights were busily moving around.

But I felt nothing. All the sensations touching my skin were faint.

I had blood in my mouth, but the blood had no taste. Only the fishy scent lingered at my nose.

"Ah..."

There was too much lost to be simply happy. The children were shouting something at me. Their voices and footsteps tangled complexly and circled in my ears. I was sleepy, tired, and it was noisy, so I closed my eyes.

In the darkness, a large red moon was looking at me. Only the moonlight was warm and cozy.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the first to visit me were clergy. Three Romanica Church clergy.

One person had a very fierce impression, and two people had eyes sharply slit like snakes, looking like they would be good at lying.

They were all wearing strange clothes I had never seen before. Though it’s not my place to say, no matter how you looked at them, they were hard to believe as clergy - they looked like pseudo-religious people.

"Student, you must still be out of it, but sorry for coming suddenly. We have something to ask, so we’ll just do this quickly and leave..."

"..."

The fierce-looking clergyman spoke.

Only the fierce clergyman talked, while the other two were busy taking notes of what he said.

I roughly guessed who they were. The fierce clergyman continued.

"Were you acquainted with a student named Gu Jun-hyeok?"

’A student named Gu Jun-hyeok’? There was something strange about that phrasing.

I cleared my throat to loosen my blocked throat and spoke.

"We were in the same class."

"Really? Then were you close?"

I observed the clergymen’s expressions. Though they were pretending otherwise, I could see tension in their eyes.

That sight was so amusing that I couldn’t help but smile. The clergymen looked at me strangely.

I looked at the tree branches swaying gently beyond the window and nodded slightly.

"Of course. Since we were in the same class."

"...Really? Then you must be very heartbroken."

The clergyman asked. Despite the seemingly concerned words, his expression was clearly interrogating tone. Despite the seemingly concerned words, his expression was clearly interrogating.

"Heartbroken?"

I asked back calmly, trying to gauge their intentions for visiting me.

"Well, with such an incident happening at school... anyone would be very heartbroken, wouldn’t they? I was just making conversation, so don’t mind it."

"Ah, I see."

"Then, there’s just one more thing I’d like to ask..."

The clergy asked me several more questions. Earlier they said they had one thing to ask, but lying seemed to be a basic skill for these clergy members.

All the questions were about the Satan worshipper and Gu Jun-hyeok’s usual behavior. They were somewhat awkward and ambiguous questions, so I gave equally awkward and ambiguous answers.

"Well, you must be tired, but thank you for answering so sincerely. Take good care of your health and..."

The clergyman glanced at my arm. It was my right arm, half-rotted from demon flames.

"...Your arm, they say it’s healing?"

"Yes, they say it’s gradually healing. Miraculously."

"Really? That’s quite miraculous indeed. Well, this whole incident itself was... no, never mind. Give thanks to Adonai."

The clergyman started to say something but quickly shook his head and dismissed the conversation with words about thanking Adonai.

I smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yes, very grateful indeed."

"Yes, it’s very much something to be grateful for..."

The clergyman looked over my face with downcast eyes. Suspicion was still clearly visible in his gaze.

"Sorry for coming so suddenly. Next time we’ll contact you in advance, so could you give us your contact information?"

"...Yes, of course."

I nonchalantly recited my phone number to them. The sly-looking clergy behind him wrote it down.

"May Adonai’s blessings be with you. Well then..."

With those final words, the clergy hastily left the hospital room.

The next day I watched the news. The TV mounted in the corner of the hospital room was broadcasting news continuously.

Even though two weeks had passed since the incident occurred, the news was still covering that incident.

Through the news, I saw the incident. No, I saw how the incident had been ’decided.’

A Satan worshipper had appeared at Florence, and simultaneously demons had appeared throughout Seoul, killing dozens of Holy Knights.

Two Florence students and one teacher went missing, but compared to the scale of the incident, the damage was small, so it wasn’t heavily reported.

The fact that no additional casualties occurred at Florence, the center of the incident, was truly miraculous. Such reports continued.

Knock knock.

Just then, a knock interrupted my concentration.

The person who opened the door and entered was Kang Ji-ah. Uncle wasn’t with her. She glared at me with a stiffly hardened face, then sighed deeply and sat down.

"Cult... Um. What were you doing? What were you doing that got you so injured? How is your condition?"

"Please ask one question at a time."

"...How is your condition?"

"More or less okay."

I smiled slightly and continued watching the news.

The testimonies about the deaths of the demons that appeared throughout Seoul were all different.

Some said red hands descended from the sky and tore the demons’ bodies to shreds, while others said divine light came down from heaven and crushed the demons.

Most of the survivors at the scene were suffering from mental breakdown symptoms, so there wasn’t a single credible testimony.

The speculation that it was a ’miracle’ was strong, but questions arose about who was the prophet that became the vessel for the ’miracle.’

Since it was Kalfu’s sorcery that killed the demons, it was understandable that the Romanica Church would be confused.

I wiggled the left fingers I had offered for Kalfu’s sorcery. My rotted body was gradually healing, but my fingers showed no signs of recovery. My lung was probably the same.

"Have you been watching the news this whole time?"

"Yes."

"It would be better if you rested."

"I’m lying down anyway."

Kang Ji-ah didn’t speak to me further and watched the news with me in silence.

Florence was under a long school closure order. Originally it was one month, but it had been extended to two months now. There was a possibility it might be extended to three or four months.

They seemed to plan to keep extending the closure period until the injured students’ physical and mental treatment was complete.

"Do you think it’s really a miracle?"

Kang Ji-ah, who had been watching the news with me, said.

At Florence and various places where demons appeared, several people who had suffered injuries severe enough to be fatal miraculously survived.

I was one of them. Due to the succession of horrific incidents and miraculous events that were difficult to understand with human reasoning, there were even doomsday cultists occupying the streets in protest.

"Who knows."

My survival was thanks to the contract of the dead.

However, there were others besides me who had miraculously survived. There were people whose black magic was purified on its own, or who became disabled from injuries but were soon able to walk again.

Was it truly a ’miracle,’ or was it fabrication by the Romanica Church? I couldn’t distinguish between them.

While I was watching the news with complicated feelings, Kang Ji-ah took out a tumbler from her bag and handed it to me.

When I opened the lid, a terrible smell wafted out. It seemed like water brewed from medicinal herbs like last time.

"Is this real poison this time?"

"Yes. It’s a healing poison that’s good for recovery. Please drink it quickly."

"Oh... Sounds delicious."

I slowly sipped and savored the medicinal brew. Kang Ji-ah watched me from the side.

"Isn’t it very bitter? I used slightly stronger medicinal herbs than last time..."

"It’s quite bitter. Did you give this to me to drink?"

"...Medicine that’s good for the body is naturally bitter to the mouth."

When I spoke teasingly, Kang Ji-ah responded with a grumble. She seemed a bit upset.

I just smiled and sipped the black medicinal liquid she had given me. The medicine had a strong aroma but almost no taste, and although steam was rising from it, it was lukewarm.

What I had offered as payment for twisting death through the ’contract of the dead’ was my sense of taste and touch. Not completely, but not intact either.

When I rolled the dice, I got the number 2, which resulted in this much. If I had gotten 5, would I have lost all five senses? It’s unknowable.

The news was still in full swing on TV. This time it was a report about the Satan worshipper’s identity.

"The Satan worshipper arrested at Florence was identified through investigation as a middle-aged vagrant who harbored much resentment toward society..."

The Satan worshipper was a street vagrant of unclear identity.

They said he was possessed by Satan one day and decided to attack Florence. Gu Jun-hyeok was processed as one of the missing students. This was decided by the Romanica Church.

They probably didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that a Satan worshipper had infiltrated the prestigious Florence Academy in disguise.

The clergy who visited yesterday asked me if I was close with Gu Jun-hyeok, if I knew where Gu Jun-hyeok had gone, and if I knew who the Satan worshipper was.

These were questions to test whether I knew the truth.

They left yesterday because they judged that I probably didn’t know that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper, and they took my contact information because they weren’t confident in that judgment.

I was under unnecessary suspicion for pointless reasons. It wasn’t good news.

And the Satan worshipper was executed that day. The execution was held in private.

"..."

I knew this would happen, but my heart was still heavy.

The ancient sorcery was a gamble, and even that was mutual destruction. Even then, I couldn’t completely cut off Gu Jun-hyeok’s lifeline.

This was due to my lack of qualifications as a prophet and as a cult leader. At this rate, I couldn’t save my mother or rebuild Voodoo.

Before that, there was also the possibility of being killed by the Romanica Church and Satan worship.

I had to become stronger somehow. As a cult leader, as a prophet.

Just then, I heard laughter from somewhere.

There were only two people in the hospital room: me and Kang Ji-ah. But she was focused on the news and not laughing. Her face showed no expression, let alone laughter.

I belatedly realized who was laughing.

["Don’t trust what the head says"... Didn’t I tell you that?]

Below the TV, Baron Samedi was sitting cross-legged, looking at me and laughing.

* * *

The Vatican’s underground prison has no windows, so you cannot see the sky. Without seeing the sky, you cannot tell time. Surrounded by darkness, it’s difficult to find spatial awareness.

Prisoners who spent decades here would often lose their minds. In a space where time and space were blurred, even consciousness became blurred.

"Ahhh, ah, ahhhhhhh!"

The only stimulus in that place was the screams flowing from the torture chamber installed at the center of the underground prison.

Prisoners would wake up to those screams. And they would tremble with fear. All of them had experience screaming such pitiful screams in the torture chamber.

"Ah, ahhh. Ah, uahhh..."

Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been screaming in the torture chamber, closed his eyes as if fainting.

The inquisitor interrogating him splashed water on Gu Jun-hyeok’s face. The water glowed alone in the darkness. It was holy water.

"Hissssss..."

"Ah, ahhh! Hey, let me sleep a bit! Don’t you have any human rights here?"

From the pain that felt like his skin was melting and being torn off, Gu Jun-hyeok opened his eyes. The inquisitor looked down at him expressionlessly and clicked his tongue.

"We only give human rights to human-like bastards."

"I’m human too."

"How can something that’s still alive with only a head be human? You’re demons. Don’t think about pretending to be human."

"Demons? That’s a big compliment in our industry."

"Slurrrrrr..."

"Ah, ahhhhh! I was wrong, I was wrong! You bastard!"

Holy water poured over Gu Jun-hyeok’s head as he laughed and acted leisurely.

The inquisitor threw the empty holy water bottle to the floor and stabbed his tongue with an electric needle. Needles were stuck in his ears, tongue, and eyelids.

Immediately after, the inquisitor placed his hand on the switch and spoke.

"I’ll ask again. Who is the cult leader of Voodoo?"

"..."

"Don’t think about keeping your mouth shut. We found traces of Voodoo in your hideout. You must know who the cult leader is."

Gu Jun-hyeok just kept his mouth shut. The inquisitor irritably flipped the switch.

Click, with a sound, sparks flew along the wires.

"Zzzzt!"

Gu Jun-hyeok’s head convulsed and shook. His hair stood on end. Thick smoke filled the torture chamber.

The torture here didn’t consider the tortured person’s life. If they lived, they lived; if they died, they died. All prisoners who came here had already been declared dead to the outside world.

Click.

The inquisitor raised the switch to stop the torture. Gu Jun-hyeok’s entire head was charred black. Tentacles flowing from his eyes repaired the damaged parts.

With a body that couldn’t die even if he wanted to, Gu Jun-hyeok eventually opened his eyes.

"Now, again. Answer two questions. One, where are the other Satan worshippers besides ’Envy’ and ’Wrath’ and what are they doing? Two, who is the cult leader of Voodoo?"

"...I don’t know about other Satan worshippers either. We’re not that close like family."

"Really? Then that means you know who the cult leader of Voodoo is."

"I don’t know. Why are you asking me that? Pray to your omnipotent god and ask him. It’s not my fault that Adonai is keeping his mouth shut..."

"Zzzzt!"

"Agagag, ah, ag...!"

"Since you won’t die, I don’t need to control the intensity. That’s convenient."

The inquisitor laughed.

When the torture ended, tentacles crawled out again to repair the damaged parts of Gu Jun-hyeok’s head. However, the mind broken by pain was not repaired.

Fear was being injected into Gu Jun-hyeok’s head. The inquisitor placed his finger on the switch threateningly and spoke.

"Now, I’ll ask. If you don’t answer this time either, I’ll leave the switch down while I go eat."

The inquisitor smiled eerily. Gu Jun-hyeok’s lips trembled.

"I’ll, I’ll tell you. Voo, Voodoo. That thing, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you. Ha, haa..."

"Good. Who is it?"

"The, the 3rd cult leader of Voodoo, the cult leader is..."

Gu Jun-hyeok trailed off and caught his breath. The inquisitor waited for him to continue.

"Your mother! Hahaha, then you’ll become the 4th cult leader of Voodoo. Wow, what a bright future!"

"You demon bastard!"

"Zzzzt!"

"Ahhhhh, ahh...!"

In the pain of having his entire brain roasted, Gu Jun-hyeok let out weak screams. The torture continued for a long time.

"Ahh..."

The inquisitor watched his trembling form in pain with satisfaction. Thinking of Adonai who would be watching him punish heretics, he was immersed in sublimity.

Gu Jun-hyeok’s head, which had been convulsing endlessly with his eyes completely rolled back, fell from the electric chair.

Thud.

Rolling on the floor and cleaning the torture chamber floor, Gu Jun-hyeok’s head was touched by someone’s foot.

A foot covered in wounds... Gu Jun-hyeok forcibly turned his head with his tongue to look at her face hanging on the torture chamber wall. It was too dark to see clearly. Only her shoulders rising and falling slightly with each breath were barely visible.

Click, click.

Toward Gu Jun-hyeok, who was staring at her in a daze, the inquisitor approached with ominous footsteps.

"With only a head, it’s not easy to secure. There aren’t many places to torture either..."

Saying this, the inquisitor grabbed Gu Jun-hyeok’s hair and seated him in the chair. Then he stuck the electric needles connected to wires in the same places.

Gu Jun-hyeok pointed to the wall where the woman was hanging with his tongue tip and spoke.

"Who is that woman? Your wife?"

"Zzzzt!"

"Ahhhhh!"

The inquisitor didn’t even answer properly and immediately flipped the switch. Screams and thick smoke rose.

The interrogator raised the switch and waited for Gu Jun-hyeok’s head to recover. The inquisitor looked alternately at Gu Jun-hyeok and the woman with black eyes full of laughter and spoke.

"She’s the former prophet of Voodoo. She’s seven years your senior, so treat her with respect."

The inquisitor said this and laughed. His white teeth gleamed in the darkness.

Slither...

While he was distracted by laughing, tentacles sprouting from Gu Jun-hyeok’s eyes picked up a strand of hair that had fallen to the floor and swallowed it.