Chapter 37
Chapter 37
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 037
Chapter Title: Kim Yohan's Bizarre Vacation (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wanted mage. Necromancer.
The mastermind behind this entire mess.
Edward Coffin finally spotted it through his zombies and erupted into maniacal laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Lemegeton! You've finally come to me!"
It didn't matter that it was in someone else's hands.
This was a land with no proper school of magic.
Considering how long the Lemegeton had been in Korea, whoever held it couldn't possibly understand what magic even was.
It had to be some lucky average Joe who'd stumbled upon a grimoire, or a greenhorn mage at best.
They were probably trembling in fear right about now.
The real threats were the potential interlopers from outside.
...Still, even if only briefly, now that the Lemegeton had chosen an owner, some precautions were in order.
He pulled a blue-skinned corpse from the coffin—one preserved with embalming fluids, unrotted.
A decoy body, prepared to counter any spells or curses from his foe.
He transferred his consciousness into the fake body.
Leading not just a mere corpse, but an army of zombies he'd personally reinforced, Edward headed for the auditorium.
To him, the owner of that body was nothing more than a treasure chest holding his prize.
Yohan chewed his bread thoroughly, swallowing it down quickly as he pondered.
Now he knew a deranged mage was after the grimoire in his possession.
A new plan was needed.
First, Plan A: Ride Grizzly and bolt, survivors and psycho mage be damned.
'Up we go~ Fly away~!'
'Grrrraaawr~!'
Safety harness aside, the only real risk was tumbling off the galloping Grizzly.
It seemed like the fastest, most fun escape method.
And of course, it was pure nonsense.
He'd crossed paths with a lunatic who filled a campsite with zombies just to hunt a grimoire—someone whose thought process was an utter mystery.
This wasn't something you could brush off as "typical mage behavior..."
Logic and rational thought had collapsed entirely. The guy wasn't sane.
...The problem was, ridiculously enough...
He'd fallen right into that madman's trap.
It was like a cow backing up and accidentally squashing a rat.
Anyway, this psycho behind the zombie apocalypse wouldn't just give up if Yohan ran.
He recalled the zombies' cries.
'Found it...'
Their movements had clearly changed once they spotted the grimoire.
They'd probably sent a signal: target acquired.
Switching from auto-hunt to manual control.
"........."
Normally, whatever that crazy mage did—got caught by the Response Special Task Force, fled, whatever—wouldn't matter much to him.
As long as he survived and slipped away, that'd be the end of it.
Or so he'd thought. But things had changed.
The target was the grimoire he possessed.
His eyes sank low, narrowing into slits.
...The necromancer had clocked him.
If he'd seen through the zombies' eyes, he'd glimpsed Yohan's face too.
Even if Yohan escaped from here...
The guy would keep hunting him down relentlessly to claim the grimoire.
Constantly looking over his shoulder, shaking in fear of the next ambush? That was the last thing he wanted.
...So no running. He couldn't let the bastard live.
'For my own safety, I'll kill him right here, decisively.'
Decision made, no hesitation. Time was wasting.
Stepping forward to the center of the auditorium.
The other survivors shot him wary glances—probably because he'd flashed the gun earlier.
"That was to sort out the chaos, but I apologize for coming off a bit rough."
He spoke in a calm voice.
"It took a moment to get things under control. I have something to tell you all."
"I'm not just a Ghostbuster."
Ellie's blue eyes wavered at his words.
"Huh? N-not a Ghostbuster?"
"Sis, quiet down."
Sua stared at Ellie in disbelief, and... Yohan sighed inwardly at the sight.
Fine, whatever. Let's just do this.
"I'm Kim Yohan, from the Response Special Task Force—a government agency formed to counter supernatural phenomena, doubling as Ghostbusters."
He said it with an inner chuckle. Shin Sion's reassuring presence at the farm came to mind.
"...Think of me as an agent."
Perfect. Now impersonating a public official was on his rap sheet.
Not like this was building his resume or anything...
His list of crimes kept growing.
Why not go for it? Napoleon of the underworld?
Anyway, no backing down now.
"As a secret government outfit, I don't have ID. But how many jobs in Korea let you carry a gun legally?"
It was a stretch if you thought about it.
That's why he wouldn't give them time to question it.
They'd been mobbed by zombies—nobody was thinking straight anyway.
"This incident is a supernatural event caused by a criminal with malicious intent."
He skipped mentioning that the criminal was after him.
No point stirring up noise and panic.
Like he'd told Ellie: it was the psycho's fault for charging in with a knife.
Having something shiny didn't make you the bad guy, right?
"The zombies have paused their assault for now, but they'll swarm the auditorium soon."
"To survive, we all need to work together."
As his words ended, the survivors exchanged glances.
Thanks to the zombie-slaying demo, they didn't outright dismiss him.
Or maybe in an isolated spot like this, you didn't mock the guy with the gun.
Ellie and Sua approached cautiously, whispering.
"Yohan, what do you need help with?"
"Mister, what's this Task Force stuff? You're really a government guy?"
He replied quietly and quickly.
"You think? Go to the storage shed—grab paint, rope, and poles."
Yeah, that was why he'd stepped up with the long speech.
He needed help. Manpower.
Pulling the Grimoire from his bag, he told Ellie:
"We're drawing a big magic circle."
"Huh?"
Magic circle drawing, step one.
Draw a circle. Of course, not being an art major, he couldn't make it pretty.
So he stuck a pole in the auditorium's center, fixed it in place.
Tied rope from the pole to a paintbrush handle—improvised compass.
Circled the auditorium to complete the outer ring. Repeated for an inner one.
Then, between the circles, engraved magic runes and letters. The crucial part.
Hebrew script. The Tetragrammaton—
—in the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast.
Sacred names of the Lord in the cardinal directions.
That done, magic circle step two.
Etch in minor symbols and runes to refine it.
And he had people for that.
They crouched, copying the symbols and runes from his notes onto their assigned sections, completing the circle.
No wonder fantasy mages built guilds and took apprentices. Convenient.
Sure, the finish might be a bit sloppy, but it was fine.
The circle was just support. The real magic came from the pre-made pentacle and—
He checked the parchment engraved with the pentacle from his bag.
—planetary power.
He gazed at the magic circle drawn in red paint.
In a way, this was his first real mage duel.
He gripped the Lemegeton.
So both the Lemegeton and Grizzly stayed hidden—might as well keep the ace up his sleeve while the enemy was clueless.
You had to have your hidden cards when you didn't know theirs.
Inspecting the circle,
he approached Sua, frowning.
"This part's crooked."
"Ellie messed up too, why pick on me?!"
Ellie flinched beside her.
"S-sorry."
Even he wasn't heartless enough to berate someone whose life he'd saved and who'd shared half a red bean bun.
Maybe he got why romcom heroines fawned over dense good-guy protagonists?
'Hmph... It's not like I'm being nice just 'cause you helped or anything! ...Ugh.'
He fixed Ellie's mistake.
"There. Just correct it."
"Why not chew out Ellie?"
Sua blinked, and he shrugged lightly.
"She gave me half a red bean bun."
"...Should've given you half of half instead of a full half."
Sua grumbled, etching the magic symbol anew. Pretty good job.
"That's good enough. Nice work. I'll handle the rest."
Sua stood, looking down at the circle, then blurted:
"This looks just like that magic circle from SpongeBob that stops the sea bear."
"...What?"
Before he could respond, Ellie clapped, chiming in.
"Oh! I know that episode!"
...Yeah, he knew it too.
But his Solomon-inspired circle reduced to SpongeBob level? He wanted to argue,
"........."
Since the principle and effect were similar, he had nothing to say.
'Damn... Why do they know SpongeBob but not John Constantine?'
Couldn't be helped, though.
Sorry, John Constantine.
...SpongeBob was peak, after all.
Anyway, circle finished.
"Aaaah...!"
Zombie howls echoed from outside the auditorium.
Looked like they'd finished prepping too.
'...Cut it close, but made it.'
He could've drawn smaller, but with twenty people huddled, it'd taken time for the size.
Gathered everyone inside the circle, began the ritual.
Bam—Boom—KABOOM!
The door pounded viciously; cracks spiderwebbed the wall, shaking it.
Ellie tended to the kids on the verge of tears.
Sua eyed the door about to shatter, turning to him.
KABAM—!
"Mister, got a favorite band or singer?"
BOOM—!
"Huh? Outta nowhere? Like Green Day."
"Too bad. Kurt Cobain, and we could've watched."
He paused, one eyebrow twitching up.
"...Kurt Cobain's dead."
Sua laughed shakily.
"Exactly."
"Ha!"
KABOOM—!
He laughed in disbelief.
Still, it matched his taste.
Glanced at Sua's trembling shoulders. Her way of easing tension?
Fear was normal in this mess.
But was he scared? Nah.
Not because he was brave or special.
Like he'd said before: capability bred less fear.
The bizarre no longer terrified him.
"Stay back."
Gripped the Grimoire. Stepped forward.
Lemegeton in one hand, unfurled the parchment with the other.
Magic ready.
KABOOM—!
A massive crash; the door splintered, zombies pouring in.
"Aaaah—!"
A pale-skinned elder led a hulking modified zombie, smashing through.
"Ahahaha! Lemegeton! Great grimoire, I have—"
Before Edward could finish "arrived," Yohan's voice rang out.
"Lord, save me in Your name, and defend me by Your might." "Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth." "For God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life."
⟨ Psalmic Ward ⟩
At his words, the zombies froze.
"Aaaah...!"
Who gave you leave to walk?
Whose words do you heed? Mine alone.
Whoa—!
Heaven and earth linked through Yohan. Light erupted from the crude paint circle.
His calm voice shook the auditorium.
"He will repay my enemies with evil; in Your faithfulness, put an end to them."
⟨ Circle Complete ⟩
The circle was ready.
Standing in the glowing magic circle, he stared down the horde of vicious zombies.
A campsite he'd visited for a weekend gig.
The worst kind of camp—zombies and all—but not entirely.
Today was Saturday. Saturn's day.
Saturn symbolized production, labor, wealth.
And ruin. Death.
The necromancer had picked the wrong mark. Who ruins a guy's weekend getaway?
The parchment fluttered in the circle's rising power.
A black-inked Saturn circle emerged.
"King astride the dragon, crone leaning on her servant, pig, dragon, owl." "Soul of Saturn, heed my call."
⟨ Saturn's Second Pentacle ⟩
The pentacle's effects: destruction of any obstacle in its path.
Light poured from the parchment, cascading onto the zombies.
"Ah—."
Touched by the light, their bodies crumbled to dust.
Die, he commanded.
No chit-chat needed now that he knew the enemy was gunning for him.
Straight to the kill shot.
Before the necromancer could react, unimaginable agony tore through Edward's decoy body, collapsing it.
"Wha? Aaaah—"
A soul-rending scream echoed.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"