𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝟓
Whooooosh!
Clatter-clack-clack—!
A blindingly bright light formed a sphere, which soon split into hundreds of beams and struck the bound Bi-gang.
It was an attack of immense power, and the elders who had succeeded in landing it clenched their fists and nodded.
At the very least, this should have dealt the monster a blow.
Indeed, when Bi-gang reappeared, his skin was torn and lacerated, giving him a gruesome appearance.
Hwang Cheol-ho, convinced of his victory, was about to charge in.
“Cheol-ho! Stop!”
Baek Ji-bong shouted, his voice filled with a sudden sense of unease.
The monster’s skin was torn and lacerated, but there was no blood or flesh to be seen. Instead, it felt strange, as if he had been wearing clothes that didn’t fit him.
And then, Bi-gang, who had been staring blankly at the sky, opened his blood-red eyes wide and glared at the elders.
Unlike before, there was no mistaking it. This was no longer the gaze of a human.
“. . . You all saw it.”
Like a snake shedding its skin, or a creature breaking free from its egg, it slowly revealed its true form.
The handsome young man’s appearance was nowhere to be found, replaced by the hideous form of a monster.
This was the true great yokai, Bi-gang.
“Heh, heh. . .”
Baek Ji-bong gasped in disbelief that even his previous appearance had not been his full power.
As the elders watched in silence, Bi-gang made the first move.
“I will not spare a single one of you!”
“Cheong Gil-yeong! Why are you acting up on your own? This is a mess!”
Cheong Gil-yeong’s reaction was quick.
Almost simultaneously with Bi-gang’s movement, he reconfigured the ritual that had bound the monster and once again blocked his path.
Having lived among the monsters known as the Cheong So-ha in his youth, he was less hesitant than others in a situation where he might be intimidated.
“What are you all doing? Help him!”
But before the elders could move at his words, Bi-gang had already made his next move.
With a single footfall, Bi-gang overturned the entire ground, and taking advantage of the elders’ broken balance, he immediately reached out to grab Cheong Gil-yeong’s neck.
Screech!
“W-What. . .?”
Cheong Gil-yeong was horrified by the claws that stretched like rubber and split into several branches.
Fortunately, Hwang Cheol-ho’s reaction was not slow.
“Nonsense!”
Clang!
Ka-ang!
Ka-chack!
Hwang Cheol-ho’s amulets, invisible to the naked eye, collided with Bi-gang’s claws.
He also followed up by holding back Bi-gang’s own body, which had lunged forward, with a spear.
Kaka-chack!
“You’re out of your mind, you evil spirit.”
Hwang Cheol-ho held in his hand one of the treasures in the family’s treasury, the Hwanggeuk Jichang.
It was not the family’s representative treasure, but it was a treasure among treasures, with a level of completion that was not inferior to it.
Whoooosh!
The power contained in the treasure enhanced physical ability and cognitive function.
Hwang Cheol-ho, who had raised it to its maximum, continued to press Bi-gang, but Bi-gang did not flinch.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Screech!
Creak!
Kaka-chack!
“Ugh, ugh!”
As if struck by a storm, Hwang Cheol-ho was pushed back and began to lose his balance.
In the midst of this life-or-death crisis, a ray of light shone through.
Ka-aang—!
“Do you owe me a favor?”
“What!”
Confused by the unexpected interruption, Baek Eun-seo stepped forward with her mind empty, behind Hwang Cheol-ho.
「𝙀𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙.」
Clang!
Ka-ang!
Kaka-chack!
Baek Eun-seo now knew her own talent well. And through the adversity she had faced, she had made the trait of selflessness completely her own.
As if the spear were alive, its movements were so strange that even Bi-gang frowned and chose to take a step back.
Hwang Cheol-ho couldn’t help but admire the sight.
“Heh. . . That’s the divine spear!”
“Let’s trade weapons. I think I can help you a little.”
It was a very presumptuous request, but this was not the time to be picky. Hwang Cheol-ho nodded gladly and handed the Hwanggeuk Jichang to Baek Eun-seo.
Also, at that point, several new figures appeared from behind Cheong Gil-yeong, who had been standing back.
「𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚. . . 」
Hwang Cheol-ho remembers them too.
They were the ones who had stood out among the exorcists of the main force.
“Hold out as long as you can up front. Do whatever you want.”
It was embarrassing to admit, but this was a time when even a little help was needed.
Yoo Ha-on and her party nodded and calmly drew on their spiritual power.
It was a moment when the battle situation changed once again.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡? 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚?」
Choi Myeong-seok, the fourth captain of the support team, exhaled heavily as he finally managed to complete the powerful ritual and send it into the sky.
The basic formation of the support team is for all eight members to form a circle and gather their strength.
The main task is to complete the ritual in this way and send it out appropriately to restrain the enemy.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚.」
But there was something strange about his unit.
Especially the four youngest members of the unit. Those four were definitely not normal.
「𝘼𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. . . 」
Or perhaps it was because Choi Myeong-seok himself had grown considerably through his experiences.
But now he saw that it was not the case at all.
It was just that the skills of those four had reached a very high level.
Would you believe that the amount of spiritual power they were releasing so casually far exceeded that of the other four?
Even the other units were looking at them with puzzled eyes, wondering about the terrifying power of the ritual that had been fired at them since earlier.
In the end, Choi Myeong-seok couldn’t hold back his shame and spoke to Han Kang-yoon, who seemed to be their representative.
“H-Hey. Use your spiritual power a little more sparingly.”
“Yes?”
“It’s getting hard to control. There’s no need to use your power so much. . .”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
With that answer, the amount of energy flowing in suddenly decreased.
As Han Kang-yoon did so, the other three began to control the spiritual power they were releasing, each adjusting their own pace.
That was perfect control.
Even though they had been emitting so much spiritual power, none of them showed any signs of fatigue.
Choi Myeong-seok couldn’t understand the people in front of him.
“You guys, your skills should have been in the support team in the first place. . .”
“Be careful, front line.”
“What?”
He wondered what had happened, but it was certainly Han Kang-yoon’s voice, and something was falling from the sky with great force.
It was Cheong Gil-yeong, the fifth elder of the Blue House, who had been fighting the enemy at the forefront.
Screech!
Kaaa-aang—!
“Damn it! This ignorant. . .”
The exorcists who were surprised rushed to support him, but fortunately, Cheong Gil-yeong seemed to have escaped the damage.
However, his face clearly showed signs of fatigue.
“Whew, that bastard. I feel like he’s getting stronger and stronger.”
Cheong Gi-beom’s conclusion, drawn from his fight with Mahvabata not long ago.
Those guys get stronger and stronger as time goes on.
Cheong Gil-yeong was slowly beginning to feel it in his skin as well.
Cheong Gil-yeong, who had been brushing off the dust, was about to head back to the battlefield when he looked at Han Kang-yoon with a strange look in his eyes.
“What? Why are you here. . .?”
Before he could even choose the words to answer, another loud noise echoed and something began to fall towards them.
It was the figure of Bi-gang, who had been chasing after Cheong Gil-yeong in order to finish him off.
“What are you doing? Get out of the way, you idiots!”
Cheong Gil-yeong waved his hand in frustration, and the exorcists of the support team began to sit down in their places, terrified.
And in that situation, Han Kang-yoon spoke up quietly.
“I guess it’s time.”
Han Kang-yoon’s eyes were looking at Bi-gang without hesitation.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“We’re going to move now. Everyone, get ready.”
At my decisive words, Arietta and Seo Ji-an nodded and quickly disappeared.
In fact, the plan of action had already been decided through Cheong Gi-beom’s advice.
If he gets stronger as time goes on, then no matter what, we have to finish him off as soon as he shows up.
「𝘼𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙.」
As I glanced at him, I saw that he was shedding his self-imposed human skin and revealing his true form.
By the standards of the original story, this was the second phase. In other words, it also meant that the elders had been steadily attacking him without being pushed back.
「𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚.」
However, it was clear that he was also accumulating damage and becoming exhausted.
In fact, this was the perfect moment for me to step in.
“Old man! You’re struggling so pathetically!”
“Heh, you’ve lived long enough to talk big.”
He responded spiritedly, but Cheong Gil-yeong certainly didn’t have much strength left.
And Bi-gang instinctively realized it.
That gave him a moment of carelessness.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩.」
He is intelligent and clever.
He has already absorbed the memories of several exorcists and knows what kind of plan we came here with, and what each of our roles is.
And in that guy’s mind, this support team is already a bunch of annoying flies that are not worth his time.
It was obvious from the way he didn’t even care about the support team members who were running around in panic.
That’s why my plan was simple.
When Bi-gang, who had been fighting the elders and Yoo Ha-on’s party, entered the rear of the formation, I would take advantage of the gap and unleash a full-power attack.
「𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚.」
Swish.
Poof!
Poof-whoosh!
Since I had given them the signal in advance, my shikigami also jumped out of the shadows and made their promised moves as soon as they did.
Ggong-sam-yi held a flame in her mouth, and Hwa Baek sent out plant stems to bind Bi-gang’s feet.
On her right, Geusdae held a specially made throwing spear, and on her left, Elder Water Ghost was sucking out the maximum amount of curses.
Bi-gang’s gaze was drawn to the aura that he couldn’t ignore, and Seo Ji-an and Arietta, who had been waiting for this moment, rushed in.
“Explosive Water Flow.”
“Blood Thread.”
Roar!
Wheeeeeng—!
Bi-gang’s eyes widened in surprise at the attack that came at him so unexpectedly.
And I, too, looked at Bi-gang and quietly uttered the name of the completed grand spell.
“Death Transmigration.”
Screech!
Rustle-rustle!
The grand spell of the warlock Hektel, whose power I had seen firsthand, dug into Bi-gang’s entire body.
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