I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 293

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟗𝟑

Over three hundred exorcists had gathered in one place.

Even each of them was strong enough to defeat a mediocre yokai on their own. It was literally a last-ditch effort toward the final battle.

“There is a plain in the north called Man-gyeong. According to various rumors, Polar Night is probably there.”

It would take sixteen hours even on a fast horse, but with so many excellent exorcists gathered, they could devise a way to shorten the time.

The five Taoists of Yonggol summoned their divine beast and soared into the sky, while others used special spells or summoned shikigami to set out at a fast pace.

We rode on clouds with the help of Shin Pyo-eul and arrived in the north in less than seven hours. It wouldn’t take long to reach Polar Night’s hideout.

“. . .Creepy. It’s still quite a distance away, but the eerie energy is already this strong.”

It wasn’t just Polar Night.

The energy of formidable yokai who had set up camp nearby prickled the skin of the gathered exorcists.

“. . .They’re starting to appear one by one, and there are countless of them.”

Ha Sa-dam of the Hawon Clan, who had joined us to help, let out an exclamation with a look of bewilderment.

But anyway, we had to overcome this mountain of yokai and face Polar Night from now on.

“We can’t defeat all of the yokai here anyway. We’ll break through the entrance, and while the majority of us hold them off, we’ll aim for it.”

Of course, it would be nearly impossible to defeat Polar Night, even with so many of us gathered here.

But we had no choice. Polar Night was already growing stronger day by day, and if we didn’t face it now, when its location was confirmed, we wouldn’t even have a chance to confront it.

The exorcists gathered here had all come with that much determination.

So adding any more to it would be an insult to them.

“Then, let’s charge in.”

Daehwa-rym’s leader Yeong-hwan, Seo Cheon-ye, and I took the lead as Taoists and charged in three separate directions, and we were soon able to face the yokai that were densely packed in the vast plain.

“Huh, this is. . . . . . .”

The atmosphere was different.

It didn’t seem like their individual wills were taken away, but they were like an army of one country now.

The yokai of various forms turning their gazes toward us all at once was a creepy feeling like I had never experienced before.

『You’ve come, you little rats.』

A huge yokai, with earth and tree trunks tangled together, spoke to us, and that was the signal.

“Everyone, don’t show mercy to the evil yokai!”

“Let’s honor the souls of our fallen comrades!”

“Song of Heavenly Reason!”

The Taoists who had been grouped together scattered in all directions and shot out spells, and the enormous firepower wiped out the yokai in the forefront without mercy.

There were 300 exorcists of first-class or higher.

Even if it was an army of yokai, there weren’t many of them who could face these guys for sure.

“. . .Junior, while we’re at it.”

“Yes. Let’s break through and make a path.”

Ho-chung, Seo Cheon-ye, and most of the main forces of the suicide squad gathered and began to break through the enemy lines.

Liquid-form yokai covered in mucus or two-legged monsters with more than ten arms blocked our way, but we had no intention of backing down either.

The illusionary fog created by Seo Cheon-ye put several yokai to sleep, and Seo Ji-an shot out water spears wrapped in wind, piercing their bodies.

Only the overwhelming masters were gathered inside the suicide squad, but even so, the yokai blocking the way didn’t show any sign of agitation or fear.

Eventually, feeling that our stamina was gradually being depleted, Ho-chung took his position and pulled out his stone staff.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to get through if we drag this out. I’ll make a way.”

“. . .I understand. Please be careful.”

Ho-chung, who had completed all of his incantations while we were protecting him, unfolded a barrier that extended in a straight line, and the yokai in the path screamed and backed away or burned up.

A clear path was created in an instant, and we didn’t miss it and rode on the clouds summoned by Shin Pyo-eul to break through the swarm of yokai in an instant.

“I feel a strong energy. Everyone, be careful!”

As we broke through the wall-like formation of the yokai and moved beyond it, we could see a vast plain filled with pitch-black fog in the middle.

“I guess it’s telling us to go into that fog if we want to meet it. It’s so obviously suspicious.”

“. . .I don’t know what it has prepared. To be honest, I don’t want to go in.”

But we had no choice.

Since we were confident that we could respond to any trick with this number of people, I led the way and slowly entered the black fog.

And what we encountered inside was none other than Pyeong-eun-ha.

“You’ve come. I’ve prepared something special, so how is it?”

Polar Night, who had taken over the body of Pyeong-eun-ha, spoke to us in a surprisingly calm manner.

If I didn’t know its true identity, I would have felt like it was just a human. However, that made it even more artificial and evoked an unknown sense of discomfort and fear.

“Are you. . . . . .Polar Night?”

The atmosphere was much different from Polar Night I had met in the hard difficulty of the original.

At that time, Polar Night didn’t even take on a human form and didn’t come up to talk to us calmly like this.

But whether it knew that or not, Polar Night simply smiled and answered my question.

“Yes. That’s right. The being you call Polar Night is me.”

“Why have you been doing this for centuries? What is your purpose?”

To be honest, I didn’t think it would answer me, but I wanted to ask it once if I met it.

And to that, Polar Night looked at me with an empty gaze for some reason and answered.

“I’m just fulfilling my wish.”

At the same time, as Polar Night raised its pale and slender hand, Arietta and Seo Ji-an suddenly hardened their expressions and began to sharply gather their energy.

“You are. . . . . .a little, mixed.”

“What the hell is this. . . . . . !”

“You cannot refuse. It is the natural order of things, so just accept it.”

As their expressions became blank and their arms hung down, Cheong Juhwa used the Ride of the Blue Soul spell that I had prepared in advance and barely awakened their spirits.

“I never thought they would really become a target of domination. . . . . . .”

Fortunately, I had anticipated that possibility in advance, or we would have come all this way and turned the two of them into enemies.

Seo Ji-an and Arietta shook their heads as if they couldn’t believe what had just happened and glared at Polar Night with intense gazes.

“What the hell. . . . . .did you do? This is like a simple ability of domination. . . . . . .”

“It seems that the information Xue Laifu gave me was true. There was no way we could resist.”

Even though the domination toward the two of them had failed, Polar Night smiled and continued to speak in a relaxed manner.

“As expected, it’s a bit too much to be just mixed. But that’s okay. It won’t change anything in the end.”

“. . . . . . .”

Everyone waited nervously in the suffocating standoff, waiting for the moment to act, but I didn’t give any rash orders and watched the situation.

【Pyeong-eun-ha】

▶Level 39

「. . .𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙?」

I’ve been using the sentiment function all this time, but no matter how many times I repeat it, Polar Night’s information doesn’t appear.

It was different from the case of Guimei. She had two souls, So-yul and Guimei, as one, and when she existed as So-yul, she couldn’t use any of the powers that Guimei had.

But isn’t Polar Night still dominating countless yokai and using all sorts of tricks?

It meant that there was some fundamental difference, but no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t grasp its true nature.

There have been quite a few existences in the series whose levels I couldn’t fully measure with the status window, but this is the first time I’ve seen a case like this.

Polar Night smiled at me, who was just silently watching, and spoke again.

“It seems that you’ve been put in an unusual situation, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll just do what I have to do, no matter where I am.”

“. . .Can I take that to mean that you have no intention of going outside?”

“Well, what do you think?”

Despite the fact that we had come here with the determination to fight a decisive battle, Polar Night showed no sign of actively trying to do so.

I couldn’t figure out its intentions at all. The more I looked at it, the more I felt like I was getting lost in a maze, and I sighed inwardly.

「. . .𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤?」

Should I just cut to the chase and fight Polar Night?

There must be something I can gain from it, but for some reason, standing here, it wasn’t a choice that I was drawn to.

However, continuing this kind of conversation wouldn’t change anything, and even at this moment, the exorcists outside would be burning their lives in a bloody battle.

As they had left everything to us, we also had to gain something here.

Seo Cheon-ye, who had been watching me struggling, stepped forward as if to give me time and opened her mouth.

“. . .Last time, I was treated badly without knowing anything. I have to repay that debt today.”

“Oh, is that you? I didn’t get a chance to tell you this, but thank you for taking care of this child.”

“Don’t say useless things.”

As Seo Cheon-ye gathered her spiritual power and took a stance, Polar Night also smiled and began to glow ominously with its eyes.

A chill ran down my spine. I had thought about it before, but the nature of the energy that Polar Night possessed was so different from that of other yokai.

It was as if they were completely different species, like humans and yokai.

And the moment I thought of that, I opened my mouth without realizing it, as a flash of inspiration crossed my mind.

“You’re not a yokai.”

“. . . . . . .”

“You are called the king of all yokai, but that doesn’t mean that you are a yokai yourself.”

At the same time, I remembered the answer that Xue Laifu had given me to my question before.

Someone called Polar Night the king of yokai, but Xue Laifu said that it didn’t express its true nature at all.

And I felt the same way now.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠. 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.」

What does that mean?

In fact, if I just thought about it, there was the most obvious answer that came to mind first.

“You were never a living being in the first place.”

Not a human nor a yokai. Polar Night had no information to represent itself. That was my guess about Polar Night’s true identity.

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