The Price of Doing What You Shouldn't (2)
Could that really be?
Wasn't that supposed to be impossible?
What kind of world was this?
It was an entirely different world.
It couldn't be called completely identical.
Something was mixed in.
But still, shouldn't there not even be anything similar...?
At least, that was true according to his common sense.
"Excuse me!"
Despite the voice calling out from behind him, Noel released a stream of black smoke, letting it seep through the gap in the door to unlock it from the inside.
Click.
The moment he grabbed the handle, red blood dripped onto the talisman, and a sudden chill rushed up from behind him.
Clang!
Asin slashed through the sharp, claw-like force that was aiming for Noel.
"How utterly crude."
Asin immediately spun around and drew her sword in a long arc toward the door.
The talismans plastered on the door fluttered down in heaps.
"Bad thing! So bad!"
Kkamangi pounced, unsheathing its claws to strike. The crucifix on its forehead flared with light, and the writing on the talisman vanished.
Noel was slightly surprised.
Is that the power of a holy relic?
To think it possessed the power of purification.
Noel approached and scooped Kkamangi into his arms.
"That's dirty."
The talisman had a crude threat written on it: "Touch this door and you're in deep trouble!"
Touch this door and you are dead!
What a vicious talisman.
"...N-No way."
At the employee's voice, Noel looked back.
As she hesitated to approach, Noel seized the opportunity and spoke in an incredibly ominous tone.
"Stay back! I think there's something in here! Run...!"
Whether it was Noel's dramatic warning or the sight of the cleanly sliced talismans falling to the floor, the employee scrambled backward and bolted back the way she came, even though he hadn't actually done anything to her.
It's scary enough when talismans suddenly fall off, but seeing them sliced in half is definitely worse.
One nuisance dealt with.
Just as he reached for the doorknob again, he heard footsteps.
Noel turned his head, and a dry chuckle escaped his lips.
"...Ha."
The woman rushing out of the room was not a necromancer.
How could he not recognize his own kind?
She was a shaman.
Which meant she wasn't the one who had created the power inside.
How on earth did she obtain it?
And from whom?
Questions began to swirl in his mind.
"Who are you to be standing in front of someone else's room?"
The shaman glared at Noel, her voice sharp and hostile.
Noel smirked inwardly.
Her eyes were completely crazed.
She was undoubtedly out of her mind.
Well, how else could anyone harm their own deity unless they were completely insane?
Regardless of his thoughts, Noel offered her a gentle smile.
He wanted to look as innocent and harmless as possible.
"I came for a consultation?"
"...Get out. Get out this instant before the Grandfather Deity grows angry!"
The shaman shrieked fiercely, but Noel was no longer looking at her.
His gaze was fixed on Jinhon, who was emerging from the room she had just exited.
"...Seriously, there is a deity bound in there. He is incredibly angry. But strangely, I can't hear a word he's saying."
"I wanna see too!"
Kkamangi scurried forward.
That little bean!
As Noel tried to step forward, the shaman suddenly whipped around.
Had she sensed Jinhon's presence?
"What on earth did you bring in here...?"
Goosebumps erupted all over her skin.
It felt as if she could see a faint, dark shadow.
The shaman grimaced in deep discomfort.
"You can see it. Why don't you guess?"
The shaman went pale at Noel's casual remark.
It seemed she had only just realized he was in the same line of work.
As the startled shaman tried to retreat back into the room, Noel seized the moment and pushed the door open with his black smoke.
Creak.
The door swung open.
Hey, I didn't touch it.
Noel raised his hands slightly in mock innocence and peered inside.
He wondered what he would find, but the room was plastered with all kinds of talismans, and right in the center sat a round object.
That was it.
It was so old and cracked that it looked ready to crumble at any second, held together only by the sheer force of the talismans wrapped around it.
"What is that?"
Asin tilted her head at the strange energy radiating from it, then turned her gaze to Noel.
Strangely, she felt a sensation similar to the power Noel wielded.
Noel shrugged, but his eyes remained fixed on the round object.
Let's go in and check it out first.
Just as Noel took a step forward, a light began to glow on the back of his hand.
?
Noel's eyes widened.
The plum blossom pattern was appearing.
Wait a minute!
Before Noel could even approach the round object, the countless talismans inside the room reacted to the Mountain God's power and began to whip around in a frenzy.
They swirled so aggressively that he could barely keep his eyes open.
Only when the spinning talismans flew straight out of the room did Noel finally open one eye.
The sweet fragrance of flowers filled the room.
"Fishy!"
Behind the excited cries of Kkamangi, urgent footsteps approached.
"...No, no! No!"
Despite the shaman's desperate cries, the talismans swept past her, striking her as they rushed back into the room.
She collapsed to the floor, unable to move.
"It seems the Mountain God foresaw this situation when he met you. He did say it was a power you would surely need."
Asin spoke, assessing the situation.
The future the Mountain God had glimpsed was today.
"He must have foreseen this thing breaking, too."
Noel stared at the round object, which had now crumbled into fine powder.
Whether it was due to the Mountain God's power, both its physical form and its energy had completely vanished.
"Perhaps it was something you were not meant to touch. The Mountain God has aided you."
"Maybe, maybe not."
Noel let out a short sigh.
He would have needed to hold it in his hand to know for sure.
It was a shame.
Even without the Mountain God's intervention, the sphere had already been covered in countless cracks.
The cracks were likely the desperate struggles of the suppressed deity, and the Mountain God had simply delivered the final blow.
"In any case, did this truly suppress a deity? This alone seems far from enough."
"Way too lacking. There has to be something else."
Noel touched the powder.
He rubbed it between his fingers and sniffed. It smelled of blood.
"It's blood. It seems this blood was the offering."
Did they use it because blood is the best material in shamanism?
To boost the power of necromancy, the best material was money, though.
"It smells like animal blood."
"Since they couldn't use human blood. Human blood would have been more valuable, wouldn't it?"
"You insolent wretch...!"
Noel flinched slightly at the rage-filled voice.
It sounded like a clap of thunder.
Jinhon scooped up Kkamangi and scrambled out of the room.
"H-He's mad!"
"Yes! He is extremely angry!"
Kkamangi and Jinhon stood trembling behind Noel.
"...Wait, why are you both hiding behind me?"
"Safe here!"
"Yes, indeed. As expected of one destined to become a divine beast, your judgment is impeccable."
Kkamangi was one thing, but was a Grim Reaper allowed to act like this?
Noel was about to point out the absurdity of it all, but stopped himself.
A hand reached out from the room.
...Whoa, that's a bit big, isn't it?
The hand was practically the size of the door itself.
As a pair of eyes smoldering with literal fire peered through the gap, Noel tensed slightly.
He understood in an instant why Jinhon had been so terrified.
Asin was also a deity-class spirit, but seeing this one made Noel realize that Asin's anger was actually incredibly polite and restrained.
"Asin...?"
"It is fine. He has merely grown larger due to his wrath, so do not worry."
"...You didn't do that, though?"
At Noel's words, Asin laughed heartily.
Every deity was different, after all.
"Who dares laugh in my presence!"
As the deity-class spirit roared in fury, flames erupted, causing the shaman to shriek in terror.
"Silence!"
When the deity-class spirit glared at her, the shaman, unable to withstand the crushing pressure, shut her mouth.
Her lips pressed tightly together, not daring to make a sound.
"F-Fire! Fire!"
As Kkamangi hopped around in circles in surprise, Asin stepped forward, gently stroking Kkamangi as she faced the deity.
"It is I."
Along with Asin's chilling words, a massive blade sharp enough to cleave even that deity materialized out of nowhere, pointing directly at his eyes.
"Extinguish those flames at once. You might harm the children. Swallow the rage burning within you as well."
Whoa...
Noel's jaw dropped.
Was this a clash of deity-class spirits?
Though these two forces were invisible to ordinary humans, their effects were very real.
Simply put, one could burn anything, and the other could cut anything.
The deity glared at Asin, breathing heavily in his surging fury.
"...Ah, right! I almost forgot the present."
Noel moved, carrying the curse he had been holding.
"Is that aimed at me!"
The deity-class spirit roared in anger, but to Noel, it was merely loud and annoying.
"Why would it be? Look closely. This was made by your precious child who serves you."
Noel approached the bound, motionless shaman and released the black smoke wrapping the curse.
A dark red liquid poured over the shaman's face like rain.
"...Pfft."
The shaman thrashed wildly as the curse flooded into her mouth and nose.
She probably hadn't expected this.
That's what happens when you use such outdated curses.
Using hair and whatnot—what era did she think she was in?
As the shaman asked with her eyes what he was doing, Noel kindly answered.
"I came to return the curse you made by suppressing that deity. Since you didn't seem to understand the situation."
Noel finished speaking and looked up at the deity-class spirit.
"You feel a bit better now, right?"
"How dare you presume!"
The deity-class spirit bellowed.
Noel felt a bit annoyed by the ungrateful response.
Hadn't he just freed him and even helped him get revenge?
How arrogant.
"She is mine to deal with now! Neither you nor anyone else shall interfere! I am the sole deity of this place, and no other wretch has the right to play god here!"
As the deity-class spirit unleashed his fury and prepared to spew fire, Noel took a long, deep breath.
Tsk.
Noel reached his hand out toward the deity-class spirit.
In an instant, Noel's eyes flushed with a deep purple hue.
Whoosh.
Black smoke, far denser than usual, materialized into the shape of a massive hand and choked the deity-class spirit by the throat.
"...Ack!"
"I do not appreciate this rudeness toward my deity. No right to play god? Who are you to decide that?"
Noel glared at him, all traces of amusement completely gone from his face.
The flames the deity-class spirit had been spewing sputtered out.
"You... damned bastard...!"
When the spirit tried to reach out, still clinging to his pride as a deity, the smoke billowing from Noel's body formed a thick spear and pinned him down.
Thud.
Indeed, save for a select few, there were far too many spirits who didn't even know the basics of manners.
He had forgotten because things had been so peaceful lately, but this was exactly why he detested spirits.
Worthless bastards.
They always try to stab you in the back.
"If someone saves you, you should start with a thank you. Where did you throw your basic manners?"
As Noel clenched his fist, the smoke gripping the spirit's neck surged violently.
At the same time, the deity-class spirit shrieked in agony.
He had never experienced such pain before.
Not only was his neck seized by that bizarre power, but the searing heat boiling up from deep within him was driving him mad.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Spirits seem to forget what pain feels like just because they're dead. You always have to learn the hard way."
The light around Noel was fading, as if darkness itself were swallowing the room.
"If you want to be treated with respect, you should learn to show some first. Running wild just because you have a bit of power, flapping your mouth off..."
If he squeezed just a bit tighter, he could force this pathetic excuse of a deity to grovel at his feet.
If he put a leash on him like a dog, how beautifully would that arrogant face contort?
"If you're dead, you should have gone quietly to the afterlife. Just because you accumulated a tiny bit of virtue, you think you can play god? If a piece of trash like you is a deity..."
"That is enough."
As a gentle warmth seeped into his shoulder, Noel took a long, deep breath.
He turned his head to see Asin smiling softly at him.
"They are merely the thoughtless words of one consumed by rage. There is no reason to dirty your hands over them. You are far more precious."
Asin spoke gently.
In the words Noel had just spat out, she had glimpsed his wounds.
They were deep and dark.
Filled with a profound sense of despair and hatred.
It was a pain that had certainly not been built in a single day.
"...Well, if my deity says so, a precious person like me should hold back."
Noel released his power.
The released deity-class spirit stared at Noel as if looking at an incomprehensible entity.
"Thank you. You are my blessing."
"Aw, come on, don't say it like that."
Noel playfully brushed off Asin's words, then looked up at Kkamangi.
He thought it would be terrified, but it was staring at him with sparkling eyes.
"Noel is strong!"
It immediately dashed over and rubbed its head against him.
I'm glad it's not scared.
Noel stroked Kkamangi and turned his gaze to Jinhon.
Jinhon stood with wide, startled eyes, his lips pressed tightly together.
When Noel smiled, Jinhon offered a goofy, nervous grin.
"Come over here."
When Noel gestured, Jinhon scurried over and bowed deeply.
What on earth had he just witnessed?
He had suppressed a deity with his own power alone.
Jinhon stole a glance at Asin.
Just how... incredibly ancient and powerful is she?
A shaman's power was, after all, the power of their deity.
He had already known she was extraordinary, but this was simply on another level.
I've crossed paths with someone truly monumental...!
How wonderful would it be if he could get someone like him to work for the Underworld?
Suppressing the grin that threatened to break across his face, he looked at Noel.
"This person here is... Wait a second. Hey. What are you going to do about it if you glare at me?"
Noel excused himself to Jinhon, then turned his gaze back to the deity-class spirit.
Since he wasn't a shaman to begin with, he wouldn't suffer any divine punishment or backlash.
Since it wasn't even a real god, but merely a spirit, there was absolutely no harm in trampling it a few times.
As long as he didn't outright destroy it, it was fine.
After all, how had he managed to survive the dogs of the Empire?
"I shall handle this."
Asin gently covered Noel's eyes.
Thud.
As Asin struck the floor with her scabbard, a resonant, clear ring vibrated through the air.
At the same time, countless blades erupted from the floor, surrounding the deity-class spirit.
At the sharp scent of cold iron, the deity-class spirit's eyes went wide.
He could clearly feel the staggering difference in their power.
"To my child..."
Asin stepped closer to the deity-class spirit.
The resonance carried in her voice was so powerful that a deep chill ran down the spirit's spine.
"Do not dare act insolently."
Though her tone was gentle, her very existence was a blade.
Just her gaze and her voice alone instilled a terrifying dread, making him feel as if he were about to be sliced to pieces.
"I have not yet drawn my sword."
It was a clear and final warning.