I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 173

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕𝟑

“Excuse me, what’s your rank?”

“I’m a 3rd-grade exorcist, Han Kang-yoon. I’ve escorted the civilians who were nearby.”

“Han Kang-yoon. . . Yes, I see. It must have been quite chaotic. Thank you for your hard work.”

An evacuation shelter near Sadang Station. Upon arriving, I saw civilians who had already gathered and Defense Corps exorcists protecting them.

I handed over all the people I had brought to one of the exorcists and asked a question.

“What’s the current situation?”

“. . .We don’t have anything confirmed yet, but the situation doesn’t seem to be normal. It seems like similar incidents are happening all over the country.”

The man paused for a moment and then continued, with a somewhat cautious tone.

“W-Well, it’s just a possibility, but headquarters has told us to consider the possibility that this might be the return of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. . .”

The man let out a sigh and scratched his head after saying that.

Of course, he wouldn’t want to think about it. Any exorcist who has experienced actual combat would be deeply aware of the dangers of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.

“Have you received any orders?”

“Our priority is to evacuate the civilians to safety, then patrol the surrounding area as much as possible to identify and subdue the yokai.”

“That sounds simple. I’ll help.”

Since I had already shown him my license, the man nodded without saying anything and spoke to his superior, who was standing a little further away.

That’s how I ended up joining the Sadang 3rd Defense Corps temporarily and patrolling the area around the evacuation shelter.

“What do you mean you passed the early exam but haven’t graduated yet?”

“Yes. I’m currently in my third year.”

The man’s name was Yoon Jin-seop. As we continued to talk, he became more open, since we were both 3rd-grade Defense Corps exorcists.

“You’re definitely on the elite track. Are you going to end up taking over the entire Defense Corps like our captain?”

“Senior! Stop talking nonsense and focus. Seriously, not when the situation is like this. I won’t help you if you get caught off guard.”

Jin-seop, who had been scolded by a female member of the Defense Corps, approached me with a somewhat dejected expression and whispered.

“I guess everyone’s on edge these days because of all the overtime.”

That must also be because the number of yokai appearances has increased due to the warning signs of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons phenomenon.

Even though he seemed relaxed on the outside, I could sense a slight tremor in him.

Yoon Jin-seop was also trying to relieve everyone’s tension in his own way.

On the other hand, his junior, Lee Min-hye, seemed fearless and spoke to me in a rather curt tone.

“I know this is an emergency, so I’m asking for your help, but please follow my instructions carefully. There are countless exorcists who died screaming in the field right after getting their license.”

Certainly, in a normal situation, it would be better to act confidently like Lee Min-hye rather than being scared.

However, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons is different. I knew that, and Yoon Jin-seop was also aware of it, which is why he was nervous.

And that difference soon became apparent in the results.

“. . .Huh?”

A huge head suddenly appeared before Lee Min-hye’s eyes, who had a look of complete incomprehension on her face.

Sharp teeth adorned its center, and its eyes stared at its prey.

Before the creature could devour Min-hye’s head, the spell I cast a split second faster stopped it.

Slash!

Boom!

“. . .Gasp, huff!”

Realizing that she could have died just now, Min-hye froze and exhaled quickly.

She probably couldn’t even react to the attack just now.

【Madu-yuksa】

▶Level 52

After all, our opponent was a yokai equivalent to an A-rank.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨.」

Yokai that normally rarely appear are now walking the streets like fallen leaves on the side of the road.

Of course, even then, A-ranks and above are not that common, but if you have bad luck and encounter one like Min-hye did just now, even several exorcists could be killed in an instant.

If that’s the case for exorcists with official licenses, how much worse would it be for ordinary people without any power?

That’s exactly why the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons is considered the worst possible scenario in modern times.

“It’s a high-ranking yokai! Form a circle!”

Since the 1st-grade exorcist who was the captain of the Defense Corps was assigned to a different area, no reinforcements would be coming.

The exorcists who were part of the patrol were startled by its ferocious aura but quickly formed a formation.

And as if they had agreed on it beforehand, they each began to cast binding spells and attack spells with perfect coordination.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙.」

At this level, they’re definitely a well-trained Defense Corps.

If their opponent had been a B+ rank yokai, they would have probably succeeded.

「. . .𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝.」

Rumble!

Crackle!

“Grrrr!”

Madu-yuksa broke through the spell with its three arms, which looked like they were made of woven logs, and one of those arms grabbed an exorcist who was in the back.

“Ugh, gasp!”

But once again, I was one step ahead.

Eve, who had sprung up from the shadows, swung her weapon and cut off the arm, and Ggong-sam-yi’s fierce flames shot out through the gap.

Whoosh!

Roar!

“Grrr!”

Apparently, the creature had a weakness to fire, because it stopped moving for a moment, looking even more pained than I had expected.

And that small opening was enough to decide the match.

“Gwangsa, Yuk-eon, U-ryuk-tae. . .”

A versatile yet powerful advanced attack spell, Sevenfold Strike.

The creature couldn’t even put up much of a fight against my attack, which I had recited the incantation for in advance, and met its end.

After the battle was over, the first thing that greeted me was the stunned expressions of the other patrol members.

One of the members, after checking with the others, asked me a question as their representative.

“. . .Didn’t you say you were a 3rd-grade?”

“I am a 3rd-grade. It’s only been a few months since I got my license.”

To be honest, I had expected something like this. To be frank, even I think that my current skills are far beyond those of a newbie who just got their license.

Considering the number of obstacles I’ve overcome so far, it’s only natural in a way.

“No, but how can a 3rd-grade cast such a perfect advanced spell. . .”

“Oh, right. It’s hard to believe.”

And among those people, Yoon Jin-seop, who seemed to have noticed something, approached me and asked.

“Wait, don’t tell me you’re. . .”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you’re that Han Kang-yoon? The one who passed the early exam with the highest score? The one that Shin No-eul from the Red Unit begged to get on her knees?”

I didn’t know that the rumors had already spread that much. There were some parts that were a bit distorted, but most of it was accurate when I heard it.

Jin-seop, who finally confirmed the truth from my reaction, scratched his head in disbelief.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting a celebrity in a place like this.”

“. . .I don’t think I’m that famous. Let’s get back to the patrol for now.”

As we continued along our planned route, we subdued 4 more low-level yokai and one B-rank yokai.

Lee Min-hye, who was already exhausted even without all the repeated battles, expressed her doubts.

“Something’s not right. There are too many yokai. And most of them are stronger than usual.”

“I agree. It’s too much for us to handle with this many people.”

Soon, the expressions on the faces of the patrol members all turned serious.

They had finally realized what the current situation meant.

“. . .I suspect that the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons has returned. We should hurry back to the shelter and share this information.”

And so, we had no choice but to turn back, without having achieved anything significant.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“. . .This is the news we were worried about.”

Exactly 6 hours after the strange events began, the Exorcism Headquarters officially acknowledged that the current phenomenon was the return of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.

At the same time, they declared a top-level national emergency and formed an emergency response team.

In the shelter, exorcists were sitting at tables with complicated expressions on their faces. Yoon Jin-seop came up to me and gave me some additional information that the civilians couldn’t hear.

“. . .I heard that S-rank yokai have already appeared.”

“That’s serious.”

“No kidding.”

But for me, it was like news I had been waiting for.

The only way to survive this Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was to take them all down and stop the relentless onslaught of yokai.

「𝙄 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙎-𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮.」

The rock yokai Yusu-bi, who controls fire and earth, and the half-human, half-yokai Jin-myeong, who must have come out into the world by now and is waiting for his chance.

However, there has been no information yet about any yokai that match either of them.

“When can we go home?”

“I can’t contact my family! Let me go find them!”

The civilians’ voices of protest could be heard here and there, but there was nothing that could be done. Right now, no one can clearly guarantee what will happen in the future.

“. . .Please be calm and tell me your requests one at a time. I will help you with whatever I can.”

Hwang Gwang-sun, the head of the Sadang 3rd Defense Corps and the current representative of this shelter, calmly made plans even in this situation.

In this regard, I’m also just an outsider, so I was quite impressed by his demeanor.

After talking to the civilians one by one, Hwang Gwang-sun let out a sigh and called everyone together to speak.

“We, the 3rd Defense Corps, will do what we can for now. And our immediate tasks are to secure food and search for the missing people.”

He meant to form two teams: one to gather food and water from nearby convenience stores or marts, and one to search for the families of the evacuees.

“However, given the situation, we will need at least one high-ranking exorcist on each team in order to proceed.”

Even if Hwang Gwang-sun takes charge of one team himself, there are no other 1st-grade exorcists present.

And Hwang Gwang-sun asked me to take on that role right after.

“It’s a bit sudden, but can you lead the search team?”

“. . .Are you sure it’s okay for someone like me?”

“Don’t joke around. If you’re that Han Kang-yoon, you must be even more skilled than I am right now.”

Honestly, I thought it was a bit of an exaggeration, but Hwang Gwang-sun didn’t seem to think so at all.

「𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨?」

Well, if he’s in charge of the Defense Corps, he must have built up that level of an information network. 

If he had heard about my match at the Hwang estate, the conflict between Cheong So-ha’s faction and Cheong Do-yool’s faction, and the incident at Baekrimjeong, it would make sense for him to have that kind of perception of me.

「. . .𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞.」

Having made my decision, I nodded and accepted Hwang Gwang-sun’s request.

And so, we headed to our first destination, Bongcheon-dong, to search for the families of the missing civilians.

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