𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟎
Forbidden Law.
Literally, it refers to the fundamental truth the world possesses.
Cheong Juhwa had also heard of such a concept to some extent.
“. . .So, does that mean he turned back time?”
『It might be.』
It was certainly a ridiculous joke, but Azure Dragon’s attitude was serious. At that, Cheong Juhwa scratched her head in bewilderment.
“That can’t be possible. No matter how you look at it, he doesn’t seem to possess that level of power.”
『Didn’t I tell you before? The growth of that guy didn’t seem like progress, but rather like a process of regaining something he had temporarily lost.』
Azure Dragon, who had spoken resolutely, soon twisted its body and licked its lips.
『Furthermore, it might be an unfamiliar concept for you, an exorcist of this era, but originally, sorcery was not a system with a clear structure like it is now.』
“. . .What was it like then?”
『It was closer to a wish or a primitive desire.』
In a word, he meant that the current sorcery system had evolved from the desires of humans.
Azure Dragon said that such miraculous power had no limits and that anything was possible.
『Of course, I don’t think it would be anything grandiose like turning back time. I’ve never seen or heard of such a feat.』
That was why Azure Dragon suspected something else.
『There’s a high probability that he’s not a human of this era. Personally, I believe he must have completed an immense forbidden spell beyond human comprehension and activated the spell of Illusionary Life.』
“. . . . . . .”
『If that’s the case, it would explain his extraordinary knowledge, skills, and experience that doesn’t match his age.』
“Now that you mention it, certainly. . . . . . .”
It made sense. If that was the case, it wasn’t just a wild goose chase. It was a hypothesis with a high probability.
At that, Cheong Juhwa gulped and asked Azure Dragon.
“Then, in reality, he must be incredibly old?”
『It might be.』
“Should I call him an elder from now on?”
『. . .Sometimes, you really do have useless concerns.』
However, with that, Cheong Juhwa had made her stance on Han Kang-yoon clear.
『It seems you’ve taken quite a liking to him.』
“Azure Dragon-nim, you don’t seem to be much different.”
『There’s nothing I can do about it since I’m indebted to him.』
Han Kang-yoon had kept his promise to Azure Dragon and regained Yeouiju, and he had always shown a respectful attitude.
Honestly, Azure Dragon found it difficult to think badly of him.
『However, there’s a stark difference between knowing and following without knowing.』
“Yes. Thank you for telling me.”
With that, Azure Dragon, who had said everything it had to say, nodded slightly and entered the Blue Heart Jade hanging from Cheong Juhwa’s neck.
Afterward, Cheong Juhwa, who was left alone in the room, covered herself with a blanket and lay down, lost in thought.
「𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩. . . . . .」
Han Kang-yoon might have more secrets hidden than Cheong Juhwa thought.
However, it didn’t matter.
Cheong Juhwa had never been with Han Kang-yoon all this time because she cared about such things.
In the past, when she had lived quietly at the bottom of the social ladder, despised by the Cheong family, Han Kang-yoon had been the only one to pull her up and treat her sincerely.
That fact would not change, even if there was some ulterior motive involved.
There was no room for hesitation.
Cheong Juhwa finished her thoughts and closed her eyes, feeling sleepy.
It was a peace she had not felt in a long time.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The end of the second Night Parade of a Hundred Demons had arrived.
With the combined efforts of the Cheong family and other prestigious families, the Korean exorcists had begun a large-scale purification, and as the number of yokai occurrences had decreased, the people finally regained their original lives.
However, that did not mean complete peace.
“That’s why! We can’t just relax now, can we?”
“This is not an issue to ignore. The National Assembly needs to take action right away.”
“The cumulative damage is enormous. It’s impossible to say how long it will take just to recover.”
To be sure, the exorcists had shown results beyond expectations.
Perhaps the time since the first Night Parade of a Hundred Demons had not been in vain, as they had protected the citizens and brilliantly defeated the yokai, even in difficult situations.
However, despite that, the damage was severe, and this incident had instilled one anxiety in the hearts of people all over the world.
The possibility that this might not be the end.
「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚.」
Although it had been a hushed-up hypothesis, the second Night Parade of a Hundred Demons had occurred in the end.
In that case, where was it written that there wouldn’t be a third?
They say that once is a coincidence, but twice is a pattern.
Now, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons had become an event that people around the world recognized as something that could happen again at any time.
People could no longer be unconditionally reassured, and it had become a reality that they had to live with, along with a series of fears.
However, even so, they had to return to society.
And so, the world began to turn again, at least on the surface.
「. . . . . . .」
A week had already passed since the decisive battle with Cheong So-ha.
And I was still staying at her mansion, with only two days left until the start of the new semester.
The reason for this was very simple.
「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
Ting!
【Han Kang-yoon’s Shadow】
▶Level 53
▶Ability Scores
【Stamina: -】
【Spiritual Power: -】
【Spellcraft: -】
【Mental Strength: -】
▶Traits (8/10)
【Shadow Assimilation(-)】
【Witch’s Echo(-)】
【Spirit Absorption(-)】
【Spiritual Power Amplification(-)】
【Growth Acceleration(-)】
【Challenger(-)】
【Mental Spellbook(-)】
【Revived Person(-)】
My shadow, which had been the starting point of this whole incident, had yet to be dealt with.
「. . .𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚, 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩.」
As I had initially expected, it turned out that the shadow’s true identity was the shadow that had been created during the voodoo seed incident.
A considerable amount of time had passed since then, so it had become an entirely different being from the me of now, even though it looked the same on the outside.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡?」
It had grown incredibly powerful, and now it was a higher level than me, its original body.
Furthermore, for some reason, it had even acquired the Growth Acceleration trait that I didn’t have.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙗𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩?」
Perhaps there were some conditions in this place that I didn’t know about. Just knowing that was a great achievement.
「𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝’𝙨 𝙀𝙘𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩.」
This part also bothered me quite a bit.
I had definitely obtained it quite some time after the voodoo seed incident.
In fact, I didn’t see the Dragon’s Body, Steel Bones, or Emergency Evasion traits, which I hadn’t had at the time of the incident, in it.
However, strangely enough, it had the Witch’s Echo trait, the acquisition route of which was unclear.
It certainly hadn’t entered the Eternal Labyrinth either.
I had thought a lot about it, but I hadn’t come to a definite conclusion.
If I had to come up with a plausible hypothesis, it would be the possibility that this Witch’s Echo trait had been given to me under someone’s influence.
「𝙄𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
At the time I was sucked into the Eternal Labyrinth, it had also existed somewhere in Korea.
In other words, it was possible that the process of branding me had been simultaneously applied to it through some kind of path.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙭𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
So, to be honest, I would be more at ease if I just annihilated it.
Then I wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
However, after considering the pros and cons from various perspectives, I decided to try making it my shikigami.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
Whether it was because Jin-myeong had tried to use it as his internal organ or because it was empty like a doll when I encountered it, it had remained that way even after Jin-myeong’s death.
I didn’t know what the consequences of this would be.
However, despite that, my decision was firm.
“. . . . . . .”
Hoo-woong.
Flash.
After successfully making a contract with the shikigami, I gave it a name.
After all, I couldn’t just call it a clone or a shadow.
“From now on, your name is Do-young.”
It was a shadow born in imitation of me and that had stolen my traits, so there was probably no better name for it.
Swish.
Poof!
I put Do-young back into the shadow and returned to the mansion to start packing.
There had been many incidents, but it was time to return to where I should be.
The final semester at Cheonghwa Academy was finally about to begin.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“. . .It seems like everyone’s okay. Phew. I’m relieved.”
Sophia and my other classmates welcomed me back to the academy.
They had also gone through a lot during this incident, so their faces now had a certain maturity to them.
In fact, their levels and ability scores had increased accordingly.
「. . .𝙒𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧.」
As with all nurturing games, the ending story usually begins after the companions have reached a certain level.
Although they might not be the main characters, their growth, which had its own significance, was like a sign that the train was slowly approaching its destination.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.」
Quite some time had passed since I had fallen into this place.
They were now seniors, and Yoo Ha-on and her party were also growing into a full-fledged exorcists.
No, maybe they had already become that.
「𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙣, 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
The point where players of Exorcism 1st Installment experienced the most failures was right after this.
From here on, we had to face the situation even more resolutely and perfectly than before.
「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙.」
I tried not to show it, but my thoughts began to grow complicated on their own.
The variables that had occurred up to this point and the new possibilities that had arisen because of them.
And the unexpected obstacles that would block my path from now on.
I had always kept many possibilities in mind, but that didn’t mean I was omniscient.
Especially from here on out, only adversities that would not be easy to overcome awaited us.
I wondered if I would be able to overcome them all and safely reach my destination.
「𝘽𝙪𝙩. . . . . . .」
That didn’t mean I would run away.
I would continue to think, continue to respond to variables, and continue to act.
It might just be a blind determination based on inertia, but I had nothing else to aim for anyway.
I glanced at the academy’s bench, which looked somewhat older than before, and sat down on it, looking up at the sky.
Thinking, just a little bit, about what awaited me at the end of this.
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