"......Do Seon-woo?"
"......Do Seon-woo?"
Seong Ha-yeon stared blankly at Do Seon-woo, who had suddenly appeared before her.
The demon species had let out a horrific screech, and the other priests had collapsed, faces twisted in agony. After that, her memory cut off. She must have lost consciousness for a moment.
When she came to, Do Seon-woo was standing right in front of her. It felt strangely familiar, like something she'd gone through before—not just once, but multiple times. Do Seon-woo always showed up whenever Seong Ha-yeon was backed into a corner, saving her just like that.
"How are you always... you again..."
"Sorry, no time for chit-chat. Draw a blessing circle."
Do Seon-woo spoke without taking his eyes off the demon species thrashing around, impaled on his spear. The ground shook with the sounds of its stomping feet echoing everywhere.
Seong Ha-yeon snapped out of it at the sight, nodding belatedly. But she had no idea what blessing to use on Do Seon-woo. She'd never learned any blessings actually useful in combat. She'd only ever buried herself in research on blessings and miracles. And thanks to her special bloodline as a member of the Purification Clan, she'd been handed all the cushy research gigs.
"What blessing should I use in a situation like this...?"
She tried to draw some random blessing circle, but she had no clue what would work, so she asked. Drawing a circle on her own judgment, without anyone's orders, terrified her. Especially now, in a real fight. If Seong Ha-yeon picked the wrong blessing, Do Seon-woo could lose his life.
Do Seon-woo glanced at her steadily, then spoke casually, like it was no big deal.
"The one you're most confident in. Something you can cast quick."
"......"
Even after hearing that, Seong Ha-yeon stayed frozen, not drawing a thing. She'd never gotten an instruction like that before. She'd always just used whatever blessings she was told to. She'd never once drawn a circle purely on her own will, unleashing her full skill.
Boom!
Right then, the demon species slammed its fist into the ground. It flapped its wings wildly at the same time—a desperate bid for defense. Kim Jin-seo and a few holy knights approaching with weapons couldn't withstand the wind from its wings and tumbled over.
The demon species, which had only been writhing in pain at first, was getting more violent by the second. A sign its recovery wasn't far off.
Do Seon-woo eyed the flapping demon species, then Kim Jin-seo sprawled on the ground from the gust, and gritted his teeth.
"Ah, shit... Just use any blessing. I trust you!"
With those words to Seong Ha-yeon, he charged toward the battlefield where the demon was flailing.
Seong Ha-yeon watched his back in a daze. I trust you—those words from Do Seon-woo lingered oddly in her ears.
"......Ha."
It was almost ridiculous. He probably said it without much thought, yet here she was, shaken by it, feeling pathetic. She'd once found him beneath her, annoyed even to exchange words. And now? She was the one itching to talk to him more.
But this wasn't the time for such nonsense. Seong Ha-yeon squeezed her eyes shut, then snapped them open. She deployed her blessing circle.
One, two, three... In an instant, over a dozen circles filled the air. A massive fusion blessing circle.
Seong Ha-yeon hadn't just been slacking off. She'd studied blessings even harder to avoid shaming her Purification Clan bloodline. The Central Priest Order just never gave her a chance to show it.
Whoosh!
The blessing circles she drew erupted in a brilliant light—whiter and purer than any priest in the Central Priest Order could manage. The light stretched out, wrapping around Do Seon-woo and the other holy knights. The whole area shone radiantly with Seong Ha-yeon's blessing.
"......"
Seong Ha-yeon stared blankly at the ecstatic, beautiful scene she'd created. A massive sense of liberation and euphoria welled up—nothing like tinkering with blessings and miracles in a lab.
* I walked toward the demon species. My heart was still pounding wildly from Preservation's power. No, my whole body throbbed and pulsed.
Then, an unfamiliar light enveloped me. It was Seong Ha-yeon's blessing, but far whiter and clearer than any normal one.
"Hngh...!"
The moment I took it in, my breath caught. Seong Ha-yeon's blessing was way stronger than others. My body felt like it wasn't even mine anymore.
As expected of the Purification Clan—the most terrifying foe imaginable.
"I'll make use of it."
I approached the demon species with lighter steps, snatching a spear from a fallen holy knight. Then I headed to Kim Jin-seo. She was keeping her distance, waiting for an opening, her focus solely on the demon. She hadn't even noticed me nearby.
Tap.
I tapped her shoulder. She jumped, whipping around, then narrowed her eyes at me.
"What the hell? You scared me."
"Team up, might be easier."
I pointed at the writhing demon species. It was five times bigger than a normal one, its armored hide looking insanely tough. Other Loa powers could've handled it easy, but with just Preservation, subduing it wouldn't be simple.
[Preservation doesn't need no teamwork!]
"......"
Even so, teaming up would definitely make killing it faster and smoother.
Kim Jin-seo stared at me, then nodded and spoke.
"......Yeah, maybe."
Bang!
Something exploded right then. In a blink, Kim Jin-seo beside me vanished.
I turned toward the demon. She was charging it, legs glowing with blessing light, sword gripped tight in both hands. She closed the distance in seconds.
The demon swung its arms to grab her. She dodged fluidly, every attack missing.
Then she slashed hard at its ankle.
Slice.
The thick ankle that no sword should've pierced sliced clean off under her blade.
Thud!
The demon lost balance and toppled. I looked at Kim Jin-seo. She gave me a glance. No words needed—I knew what she wanted.
I leaped onto the demon's body spear in hand. With Preservation and Seong Ha-yeon's blessing, my body felt lighter than ever.
"......"
I looked down at the fallen demon. Its weakness was the heart—the "core," as Romanica clergy called it.
Stab.
I thrust the spear without hesitation. It pierced the tough armor instantly, skewering the heart.
The demon's red eyes and the pale one on its forehead lost focus. Its limbs went limp.
Core destroyed—it was dead.
I headed to Kim Jin-seo to finally catch up. We hadn't talked much during Jeong Yun-ah's treatment, and after, dispatch training kept us too busy for contact.
Screeech!
"Ugh...!"
Another roar echoed. Kim Jin-seo halted mid-step toward me. Focus faded from her eyes as she stared at me.
I checked the "dead" demon. Eyes unfocused, limbs limp. Definitely dead. Mouth shut tight.
So where was this roar coming from?
Screeech! Screech!
"......"
Two more roars rang out. The holy knights and priests who'd just recovered spat blood and collapsed again.
Then I realized the source. Not the mouth—the belly.
Riiip.
The roar stopped, and the demon's belly tore open.
"Kik, kigigik—!"
"Kiiiik!"
"Kigigik...! Kik!"
From inside, human-sized mini demon species poured out, screeching.
*
- You're weak. And always so thirsty.
O Hui-jin, who'd blacked out briefly from the demon's screech, heard a woman's voice in pitch darkness. Sweet, seductive—like his brain was melting.
- You devour knowledge to quench it, but that's not what you truly crave, is it?
"Who—mmph...!"
- That's why I like you.
"......"
With the voice, a nude woman approached from the dark. Stunning, captivating—impossible to look away. O Hui-jin realized too late: this was a hallucination. A space conjured by black magic.
He tried to squeeze his eyes shut against the Satanist temptation. But they wouldn't close. His gaze was helplessly stolen by the beauty before him.
The woman wrapped her arms around his waist, whispering in his ear.
- I can quench your thirst. All those desires you crave...
"......O Hui-jin! O Hui-jin!"
"Ugh, grk... Y-yes...!"
Han Dae-ho's call snapped O Hui-jin from the hallucination. Through blood-red vision, he barely made out Han Dae-ho. Blood poured from his nose and mouth too, but his face showed no pain—only steely resolve in his eyes.
Han Dae-ho gripped O Hui-jin's shoulder and continued.
"Snap out of it. The pain from that screech? All illusion. Steel your mind, and it vanishes."
"......No, from what I know...!"
"No. Think it's an illusion."
Han Dae-ho cut him off. O Hui-jin gaped at him.
He knew the screech's pain wasn't illusion. It was black magic from a Satan Cult executive—"Lust." Prolonged exposure led to blackout, hallucinations, and worst case, madness.
O Hui-jin knew this, and it terrified him more. He'd just wandered that hallucination, nearly seduced by the woman inside.
But Han Dae-ho shook his head.
"That's how you endure."
"......"
"Everything you saw, every pain you felt—call it illusion. Like that guy over there."
Han Dae-ho pointed. O Hui-jin turned. Do Seon-woo was fighting the demon species, blood streaming from his mouth, nose, eyes like everyone else. But unlike the others writhing in agony, his face was blank. His right shoulder was dislocated too—from throwing the spear, probably. Yet he used that arm freely, like pain didn't exist.
"If you're already crazy, you can't go crazier."
Han Dae-ho muttered, watching Do Seon-woo. He drew a blessing circle, wrapped himself in its light, and strode toward him.
"I'm joining Do Seon-woo. Sitting back as captain's embarrassing."
"M-me too... I'll go, Captain."
"You'd just be dead weight. Go request backup."
Han Dae-ho headed to the fray, leaving O Hui-jin slumped alone. He stared at his mace. Made for demon-slaying, it was vicious-looking and heavy.
He tried to stand with it. Too heavy—his body weakened by the screech. Despair hit.
A mere apprentice holy knight like Do Seon-woo and Captain Han Dae-ho were fighting through it. But not him. Born frail, lacking the mental fortitude to overcome it.
"......"
All he could do was request backup, like the captain said. Nothing else—and that stung.
The seductive voice from the hallucination echoed in his ears.
Then someone snatched his mace.
"Huh? Wait, what're you—!"
O Hui-jin looked up at the man who'd taken it. The man fiddled with it, smirked down at him, and spoke.
"Judging by the uniform, holy knight. I'm way above you. Like... your superior's superior."
"......Inquisitor?"
"You know me?"
Mun Yo-seop frowned, staring long. Then tilted his head.
"Sorry, don't know you. We'll introduce after the fight."
"......"
Mun Yo-seop gripped the mace tight, grinning at the horde spilling from the demon's gut.
"That many? Five minutes tops."
(To be continued in the next chapter)