I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝟓

“Gwang-am.”

Upon completing the spell formation and calling out its name, the bodies of White Yang and Black Yin blurred and were enveloped by the shadow that extended from me.

Thus, what appeared was a quadrupedal shikigami in the form of a giant Sori-soe.

『Boom!』

Its entire body was covered in white and black mist, and its appearance was somewhat similar to that of a haetae.

One thing was for sure: it exuded an even more powerful aura than before.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Jingle!

【Gwang-am】

▶ Level: 49

A level that easily surpassed the mid-40s White Yang and Black Yin.

As a shikigami derived from the divine beast haetae that condemns evil, its trait was also specialized for that purpose. It was a perfect match to deal with Shin Do-hoon.

“. . .Keeeooo.”

Shin Do-hoon, who had now completely lost his self, glared at the Gwang-am with murderous eyes.

Finally, the last battle began.

“. . .Burn.”

Poof!

Whoosh!

Ggong-sam-yi once again unleashed her flames with all her might, but Shin Do-hoon’s body was now enduring even that.

Sori-soe, who had been waiting for an opportunity, dashed towards Shin Do-hoon, who had broken through the flames.

『Hey, don’t mess with me!』

Bam.

Screech!

He briefly halted his charging body, feinted, and then instantly changed direction, aiming his claws at Shin Do-hoon’s nape.

It was an acrobatic move.

However.

Bam.

『Keuk!』

Swoosh!

Kwaaang─!

Shin Do-hoon, without even turning his head, grabbed Sori-soe’s foot and swung him around before throwing him away.

Sori-soe, whose body was embedded in the stone wall in the corner of the academy, let out an agonizing scream.

Whoosh.

Crash!

『Kek!』

Elder Water Ghost wittily cast a curse, but Shin Do-hoon dodged even that with his monstrous reaction speed.

Arietta and Ggong-sam-yi confronted Shin Do-hoon, who was closing the distance again.

“. . .Burn!”

Still, Ggong-sam-yi’s flames were currently the most effective.

As they flew in between the melee, Shin Do-hoon also had a hard time shaking off the two of them.

Seizing the opportunity, the Gwang-am, which had been gathering power beside me, roared, imbuing its voice with the power of incantation.

『Keeeeeoo─!』

Thud.

The target, Shin Do-hoon’s body, froze in place like a statue for a moment.

“Now.”

“. . .Yeah!”

Arietta, who had hastily drawn her own blood with her nails, tried to feed it to Shin Do-hoon, but Shin Do-hoon was faster to break free from his restraints and regain his senses.

Swish!

Clang!

“Keeeee!”

Thus, the first attempt ended in failure.

“. . .Junior, sorry. I was a bit short on time.”

“Yes. It seems like we need to find a way to seal his movements even further.”

However, no good method came to mind. I couldn’t use the Advanced Binding Spell yet, and Arietta was too busy fighting Shin Do-hoon to spare any attention.

Just then, Myung-yul, who was behind me, approached and spoke to me.

“Would the Great Mountain Seal be enough?”

“Can you use it?”

“I think I can manage something like that.”

The Great Mountain Seal, a high-level binding spell that is considered an advanced spell. Surely, that would be enough to bind Shin Do-hoon for some time.

It seemed like the outline of victory was gradually coming into view. I signaled to Arietta, who was engaged in close combat with Shin Do-hoon, and initiated the same strategy once again.

“Sori-soe, charge in when I give the signal.”

『. . .You’re really using me to your advantage, aren’t you?』

However, there was no choice but to attack Sori-soe, whose large body made his movements more predictable and revealed his weak points.

Ggong-sam-yi, who was confronting Shin Do-hoon, shot out flames at the right moment, and at the same time, Sori-soe started running.

Whoosh!

Clatter!

This time, Shin Do-hoon also changed his approach.

He took some damage and dodged Sori-soe’s attack, then charged straight towards me, exploiting Arietta’s opening.

He had already lost his sanity, but it seemed like he was instinctively targeting the Darkness, which had the ability to restrain him, and me, its master.

However, it would be a shame to be called a veteran if I didn’t have any countermeasures for that.

I channeled my spiritual power, formed a spell, and unleashed it at the right moment.

It was one of the unique spells of Shadowless, the original owner of my Shadow Assimilation trait.

Whoosh.

Swish.

“Shadowless Kick.”

Poof!

I, who had seemingly disappeared into the shadows, emerged from the shadow of the Gwang-am, which was a short distance away.

It was the Shadowless Kick, a short-range movement spell that allowed me to cross over the shadows that were connected to each other.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠. . . . . . .」

After countless trial and error, I was finally able to succeed.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨’ 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙆𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩.」

Evolution, which extended my own shadow and allowed me to move it, and Shadowless Kick, which allowed me to cross over the shadows connected by the power of the Shadow Assimilation trait.

If I could use these two, the possibilities in battle would be endless.

『Keeeeeoo─!』

Shin Do-hoon, whose judgment was momentarily delayed by the incomprehensible phenomenon, was once again restricted in his movements as he was exposed to the Darkness’ roar.

And this time, Myung-yul’s Advanced Binding Spell was cast on top of that.

“. . .Great Mountain Seal!”

Woooosh!

Zzzzeeeek!

Even if Shin Do-hoon had become a blood ghost and gained immense power, he wouldn’t be able to escape this situation easily.

In the end, Arietta, who had approached him, forcibly opened Shin Do-hoon’s mouth and forced her own blood into it.

Click.

Gulp.

Click.

Gulp.

“Keeeee. . . . . . !”

Arietta, who had succeeded in her plan, distanced herself with Ggong-sam-yi, and soon after, Shin Do-hoon, who had broken free from his restraints, began to convulse with his face grotesquely distorted.

“. . .Junior, the enemy’s condition.”

Arietta asked with a worried expression as she watched the energy increase in real time, but I, who had already seen a similar sight several times, could be sure.

Shin Do-hoon’s body had definitely reached its limit.

“It’s over.”

Crack!

Along with those words, cracks appeared on Shin Do-hoon’s body, and the surroundings began to crumble slowly.

Shin Do-hoon let out a continuous stream of agonizing screams, and the cracks grew larger and spread throughout Shin Do-hoon’s entire body.

Crack!

Craaaaaack─!

And when it reached its end.

Crash!

Shin Do-hoon’s body turned to dust and disappeared without leaving even a trace.

Arietta, who saw the sight, let out a gasp and collapsed on the spot.

She must have felt more burdened than she thought, having to fight a formidable enemy with a power she wasn’t familiar with.

Myung-yul, who realized that the battle was over, also approached me with his trembling body and spoke.

“. . .It’s like that day is coming back to me.”

Perhaps Myung-yul, who had been directly involved with the forbidden elixir, had seen the same scene several times.

Leaving Myung-yul’s bitter expression behind, the long night finally came to an end.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

After entering his school and cleaning ourselves up, we heard the details of what had happened directly from Myung-yul, who had not been able to fully explain it before.

“By the time I realized what was going on, it was already a situation that was beyond my control.”

Despite that, Myung-yul was furious at the upper echelons who had not provided him with any information, but he had no choice but to eliminate the exorcists who had been consumed by the forbidden elixir in order to prevent further casualties.

“I really didn’t expect that those who created it would be unable to let go of their desires and would continue to research the Elixir of Immortality.”

He said that taking Shin Do-hoon’s finger during the battle was an impulsive decision mixed with a tiny bit of suspicion.

The incident, which had been buried in a corner of his mind after all those years, had now become a reality.

However, there was still the most important story that we hadn’t heard. Myung-yul, perhaps reading the look in our eyes, continued to speak.

“. . .In fact, there was one more reason why I took Shin Do-hoon’s finger that was at the scene. And to cut to the chase, it’s true that I took the forbidden elixir.”

He said that the true form of the forbidden elixir was a grimoire.

However, at the time when it first appeared in the shrine, the entire area was permeated with the forbidden elixir due to the spell that had been cast in the space.

And Myung-yul’s reason for coveting it was simple.

“I had a wife. Although we didn’t have any children, she was a very precious person to me.”

And his wife’s life was also in danger.

That was why Myung-yul, even in a situation where several of his teammates had died, reported to his superiors that he had disposed of the forbidden elixir himself and got his hands on it.

His subsequent retirement and life in hiding seemed to have been a decision mixed with disappointment in his superiors, research on the forbidden elixir, and self-loathing for making impulsive decisions that went against his principles.

“I was able to achieve some success because I had samples to analyze and because I had experienced the situation firsthand. However, my wife refused to accept my help in the end.”

He said that in the process, Myung-yul, who had fallen into self-destruction and obsession, was awakened by his wife’s spirit and humbly accepted her death.

“After that, I truly destroyed the forbidden elixir and lived my life helping others according to my wife’s wishes.”

However, the same thing happened to Arietta, who had filled the void in his heart at that time.

In the end, Myung-yul revived the memories of his research that he had tried to forget and attempted to use the forbidden elixir to heal her.

“To be honest, I didn’t think it would be a complete success. I don’t know how you’ll feel about this, but it must have been because the forbidden elixir and this child had good compatibility. I don’t think it would be possible to do the same thing again.”

“. . .Is that so?”

“I’m sorry, Arietta. Besides, it was simply impossible for me to let you go, who hasn’t even bloomed yet.”

“. . .It’s okay. I have mixed feelings about it, but I’m definitely happy to be alive right now.”

Now that I knew the circumstances, I could understand Myung-yul’s feelings of guilt and Shin Do-hoon’s anger.

“I don’t intend to deny my sins. A true exorcist shouldn’t have done that. The world calls me a hero, but I’m not worthy of such a title.”

“. . . . . . .”

However, if we were to delve deeper and discuss right and wrong, there was another real culprit who had manipulated everyone in the incident.

As I turned my gaze, Myung-yul hesitated for a moment before starting to talk about him as well.

“I’m worried that talking about this might cause harm, but it should be fine with you.”

What Myung-yul uttered afterwards was the name of the 「higher-up」 who had influence over the entire society, just as Shin Do-hoon and Heo Woong-jeong had mentioned.

“One of the current pillars of the Exorcism Headquarters and a special-grade exorcist, Jo Gae-hak. If you ever encounter him, be careful of him.”

He was the mastermind who had coveted the Elixir of Immortality in the past, driven exorcists to their deaths, and caused this incident through Shin Do-hoon.

Although it was just a guess, it was clear that the true wraith that Arietta had mentioned existing above in the original story was referring to him.

「𝙃𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮.」

This might also be an effect of the Hell difficulty. I sighed at the increasing number of dangerous people and firmly engraved Jo Gae-hak’s name in my mind.

“Anyway, thank you for now. It was almost dangerous, with the knowledge of the forbidden elixir falling into the hands of someone with such a dangerous ideology.”

Indeed, if Jo Gae-hak had gotten his hands on it, it might have planted the seeds of another misfortune. In many ways, we had avoided the worst-case scenario.

After a long conversation, we left Myung-yul, who said he would take care of the aftermath, and returned to the academy.

And that night.

I had to welcome an unexpected guest.

It was none other than Arietta, who was looking at me with a hazy expression and wavering eyes for some reason.