"Aaaah! Let Go, You Bastard!"
"Aaaah! Let go! You fucking bastard!"
"You already picked up one earlier! I haven't gotten a single one!"
"Not picking any up is your own damn fault, you retard!"
Those who hadn't gathered any gold beat up those who had. The ones clutching gold fled or hid it away. In the muddy field pooled with filthy water, they tangled together in fights. Black tears spread across the playground.
Thanks to the demon-repelling mask she'd brought, Kim Jin-seo avoided inhaling the demonic energy. But everyone else was drunk on it. The children clawed at each other's skin with their nails and bit into necks with their teeth. Before the gold, they fought like beasts, not humans. In the midst of this mad feast, her sanity was steadily wearing thin.
"Stop it, stop!"
Kim Jin-seo finally snapped out of it and tried to intervene. But it had no effect. Even pulling them apart by force did nothing. The kids, intoxicated by demonic energy, moved with feral savagery and unnatural strength—like actual beasts.
She couldn't draw her sword. They weren't magic beasts, demons, or taxidermy dolls.
"Kids, please, just...!"
Plop.
A gold trinket fell from the pocket of a girl Kim Jin-seo was trying to separate. The mud-soaked children froze mid-fight and stared in the direction of the fallen gold.
Then they turned to Kim Jin-seo. Some faces she recognized, others she didn't—but every single one glared at her with raw hostility.
"A witch..."
One child muttered it while eyeing the sword in her hand. The kid stared blankly up at the rainy sky, then clutched their head and started screaming.
"It's a witch! The witch is here!"
"The witch came to kill us!"
"There's a witch here!"
"Wiiiitch!!"
Starting with the first child, who screamed in terror, the others joined in like an echo. They pointed at Kim Jin-seo with the same hands they'd used to claw each other, shrieking in horror. No longer chasing gold, they pursued her instead.
"Witch my ass...!"
It was absurd seeing black magic victims rant about witches. Kim Jin-seo backed away, swinging her sword at the pursuing children in warning. It wasn't meant to hit—the blade didn't even come close.
Splat!
Yet the lead child collapsed as if truly slashed. If it had been an accident, she'd have felt it in her grip. But her hand registered nothing.
"A-ahhh...!"
"The witch... killed someone!"
"Adonai...!"
The child hadn't been cut but acted like they were, crumpling dramatically. To Kim Jin-seo, it was obvious playacting, but not to the others. They retreated in terror, invoking God's name, their eyes darting wildly side to side.
"We have to... kill her first, before she kills us..."
One kid raised a sword, pointing it at her. As they swung madly while muttering, the others snatched up fallen blades one by one.
Training swords. Why were ones from the holy training ground here?
Clang!
No time to think—the swords flew at her. The untrained kids' swings were slow and clumsy. Blocking them wasn't hard, but the weight made her hands tingle.
Dull training blades were heavy.
"The witch is panicking!"
A latecomer shouted after grabbing a sword. Half-true. Kim Jin-seo was startled by the kids calling her a witch in their frenzy—and by how heavy their swings landed.
"..."
She pushed back the approaching children with her blade, thinking. She could easily subdue them by cutting. But her heart rebelled. These weren't demons or taxidermy—they were real people. Real blood would spill.
That hesitation slowed her.
Clang!
More blades came flying—not swung, but thrown like spears when they saw no openings.
"Die! Die!"
"The witch is casting spells...!"
"..."
Clang, clang, clang...
Kim Jin-seo deflected the incoming swords effortlessly. Blocking randomly thrown blades without proper weight behind them was easy for her. Her body was unscratched.
But her mind was fraying. She knew all too well how mob violence against the few drove people insane—she'd endured it herself.
"Enough already...!"
A mix of apathy and rage surged. Caught in it, she raised her sword. Reason gone, its edge gleamed ominously in the rain.
Slash!
"...Huh?"
The blade swung toward the demonic kids' necks. But it wasn't her will. The sword slipped her grasp, moving on its own.
The children collapsed, struck on the nape by the flat of the blade. The sword meticulously thwacked each one's neck before shooting skyward.
Freed from her hand, it blazed hot and swift. The red-hot blade boiled and vaporized every raindrop it touched. Pale steam from it mingled with the black smoke from the kids' tears.
Rumble!
Thunder crashed, lightning striking Eden Hill. The hovering swords chased the bolt toward the flash.
With the kids unconscious and swords fled, silence blanketed the playground. Rain filled the void. Kim Jin-seo stood alone at its center.
"What the...?"
Prophet, you have finally confessed your honesty. I, Ogoun, Loa of iron, gladly lend my power to you.
All metal is in your grasp. The heat of the metal is not mine—it is the fury burning within you.
"..."
Ogoun's voice trembled with agitation. I pressed on toward Gu Jun-hyeok without breaking stride.
Squelch, squelch.
The taxidermy dolls approached with wet sounds. But they didn't faze me. I knew their limbs couldn't reach.
Sobo.
Rumble!
I ignored Ogoun and called lightning. A thin bolt split the sky. It charred and shattered the approaching dolls into ash.
Some kept moving even after strikes. I raised my hand. Swords in the sky spun toward the ground.
Skreeee!
Sword rain fell. Blades nailed the dolls' heads to the earth. Impaled ones flailed uselessly. Their bellies split, limbs twitching like insects. The blades' heat incinerated the sawdust and cotton stuffing, leaving them limp.
Rain fell; dolls melted. Eden Hill, once floral-scented, reeked of taxidermy corpses, the air thick with demonic energy.
Swords from heads rocketed up, then dove again—now at Gu Jun-hyeok.
Skreeee!
Blades pierced his wrists, pinning arms to a tree. A volley assailed him. Some stabbed ground; dozens impaled his body. Two arced midair, severing ankles. Calves, thighs, forearms, shoulders—swords plunged in sequence.
Thud.
The final one pierced his heart. The red blade melted flesh and blood.
Thud, thud, thud.
It withdrew and stabbed again. The sword thrashed wildly on its own. Blood poured from his chest—real blood, red as mine. Rain washed it into the soil.
Squelch.
I trudged through sodden mud toward him. Bloodied, Gu Jun-hyeok watched me exhale faintly.
"It was you... cough, Cult Leader..."
His laughing mouth spilled dark red blood. Undeniably real. Shredded by sword rain, he wasn't a doll. We'd finally faced each other's truths—but the reunion was bitter.
"If I tell the Papal Court... what then? Your identity..."
"..."
Recreation, Decapitation Sword.
Grind, grrind!
A blade emerged from the spell circle, wailing and sobbing—the cries of countless sinners slain by it. I gripped it, aiming at his throat. Light as a feather.
"It's fine. I'm killing you anyway."
Aaah, aaaah. Aaaaah...
The blade's mournful keen blended with rain. Soon, Gu Jun-hyeok's voice would join the sinners' screams. He'd die here; my secret was safe.
"Ha, ha... You bastard... let's talk... first..."
Gu Jun-hyeok laughed. I swung.
Slash!
His head severed so anticlimactically. No sensation in my palm. The big sword was light; his small head heavy. Half-open mouth filled with Eden's rotten soil.
Yet it lived. Black tentacles erupted from the stump, reconnecting head and body.
As I raised the sword again, a headache hit. An inhuman voice issued from his mouth.
"AUM SHRIM MAHA LAKSHMIYEI SWAHA AH-UU-MM—"
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart raced. Body froze. Muscles spasmed. Blood vomited from my mouth.
"—SH-REE-M MAH-HAH LAHK-SHMEE-YAY-EE SVAH-AH."
Crack!
Explosion—from inside me. My approaching steps reversed. Tentacles reattached his severed wrists and head. Black energy enveloped him like a giant hand. Impaling swords corroded and melted.
"Cough!"
Blood poured endlessly. Ears rang. Vision blurred. Far off, Gu Jun-hyeok raised a sword—one red-hot. He severed his own wrist with it.
Splat, splat.
Clotted blood chunks hit ground.
"אני מבקש את עזרתכם בהחזרת הקללות הללו, מועצם לשולחים שתקפו אותנו על שעשינו את עבודתכם!"
Gu Jun-hyeok shouted skyward. Demonic energy formed—a massive hand. Six clawed fingers, each with an eye at center. Long, sharp claws.
I tried to face it.
"Ah, ex...!"
But my eyes swiveled away. Turn head, eyes followed; turn eyes, head followed. Both, body twisted. Instinct refused direct gaze.
Slash.
The hand moved. Black wave grazed past. Vomiting stopped; hand vanished. Two hands gone: the demonic one, and mine.
My severed hand still clutched the Decapitation Sword.
"Ah...!"
No scream came. Delayed pain soaked me. Blood flowed from stump. I blasted Voodoo magic at it. Flames erupted.
Hot. Palm blackened in fire.
"Ha, haa, haaah...!"
Panting screams as I drew a spell circle. Top-grade restoration—a technique even I couldn't use over five times.
But lesser wouldn't douse the embers. Devil's flame, unquenched by rain.
Hiss...
Mist flowed from circle, reattaching wrist. Embers persisted, creeping up arm to shoulder.
I gripped Decapitation Sword with burning arm.
Grind.
Scorching agony made steps hellish. I gnashed teeth, bit lips, tongue. Blood from mouth washed to ground by rain.
Approaching steps heavy. Gu Jun-hyeok cauterized his stump, then fiddled nape with remaining hand.
"Ah..."
A sigh escaped. Goat tattoo on his nape.
I'd thought he scratched it when embarrassed. No—when using black magic.
Screech, screeech...
Energy from nape formed black magic circle behind him—like jammed gears grinding.
Taxidermy oozed out. No—raw meat mass.
"You bastard... said you wanted to talk..."
"Liar."
Gu Jun-hyeok gestured.
Kyaargh! Aaaah! Uwaaagh!
Meat screamed, lunging like giant serpent. Hundreds of mouths on writhing flesh wailed hellish cries. Hell's spirits possessed it. Thousands of arms reached to drag me down.
Bosu, I need your power. Granbwa. I call you from the wilderness.
Pain-broken voice. Half-severed tongue mumbling, I raised Decapitation Sword. A thrust wouldn't fell that mass—but it'd buy time.
Stance set. Thrust at approaching meat.
Aaaargh! Aagh! Kyaaaaah!
Screams tangled.
Clang!
Bosu's mighty strength empowered the thrust. Not enough to cleave hell-possessed meat, but time bought.
"Se pou forè a sou bò pa m, nan non Bondye."
Forest, be on my side. In Bondye's name.
Prayer finished.
Rumble!
Eden Hill burst with trees, grass, flowers—all awakening. Mountain shook. Thunder roared. Loa cries filled earth.
Roots, blooms, leaves pierced soil, rain-slick. They grew, merged into massive ridge.
Ridge-waved fist smashed meat mass. Its thousand arms shook against ridge's floral grasp.
Craaack!
Life clashed death.
(Continued next chapter)
