𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟎𝟓
『It’s dangerous. We still haven’t secured an effective way to attack it.』
“But we can’t keep retreating. We’re already close to the headquarters, which is our last line of defense.”
Whether it was sooner or later, if they couldn’t fight the creature here, the result would be the same.
Seeing her firm resolve, the Azure Dragon nodded and emerged from the Blue Heart Jade in its true form.
Whoooosh!
“W-What. . . . . . !”
“You’re the Azure Dragon?”
At the appearance of the Azure Dragon, which had already regained its original power, the exorcists behind them trembled and looked at it with expressions of fear.
The immense difference in power naturally overwhelmed their bodies and souls.
Cheong Juhwa found their appearance somewhat amusing and smiled wryly.
When she was young, they had seemed like demons, but now they were such insignificant beings.
Swish!
Fwhoooooooooooooooooooooosh─!
The black fog, which had captured several humans, surged towards them without hesitation, and the exorcists, feeling an instinctive terror, collapsed on the ground and groaned in despair.
The Azure Dragon, blocking Cheong Juhwa’s path, summoned dark clouds and struck with thunder, but it didn’t have much effect.
The black fog continued to boast its overwhelming size, gradually tightening its grip on the exorcists’ throats.
『Ugh! This thing is different from other monsters. . . . . . !』
“Step back. Even the Azure Dragon won’t be safe if it touches that fog.”
Despite spending a considerable amount of time thinking about it, Cheong Juhwa was unable to logically explain the nature of the black fog.
However, her ability score, which had reached EX rank, and her genius instinct gave her a clear answer.
It was a mass of extremely primitive thought, incredibly powerful but not untouchable.
「𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜?」
Advanced spells, grand spells, they didn’t work. Not to mention special types of spells like binding or sealing spells.
Cheong Juhwa briefly reviewed all the knowledge she had accumulated in her head and constantly explored the possibilities within it.
And, as if possessed by something, she was able to recall a spell that had been left in a corner of her memory.
「𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨. . . . . .𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠?」
She hesitated.
However, Cheong Juhwa had never hesitated to act.
Clang!
She took out a talisman from her arms and infused it with refined spiritual power, quickly constructing and completing a spell.
However, she didn’t shoot it at the black fog in front of her. Her instincts told her that something was missing.
「. . .𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨.」
Why had she recalled this insignificant spell at this last moment?
It wasn’t a systematic grand spell or a mysterious spell from the world of shamanism, just an insignificant spell that anyone could use.
Following the flow of her thoughts back to the past, Cheong Juhwa eventually arrived at the memory of the day she had first learned and used a spell.
And somehow, she realized that all the nightmares that had tormented her as a child and the black fog in front of her were somehow quite similar.
When she realized it, Cheong Juhwa was already speaking to her past enemies, who were cowering behind her.
“Those days were dark. I couldn’t think positively or imagine anything good, and it was hard to even get through the night safely.”
“W-What. More importantly, look ahead!”
Every night, she was visited by intense nightmares.
And for Cheong Juhwa at the time, the reality of the situation wasn’t much different.
“After I lost both of my parents, my grandmother taught me a spell every night while she suffered from cold sweats and pain. I still remember that day vividly.”
“. . . . . . .”
The exorcists of the Cheong family, who had no idea what she was talking about, looked at each other with distorted expressions as they trembled in front of the approaching fog.
But it didn’t matter. She hadn’t expected them to answer her in the first place.
“Nightmare Avoidance, have you heard of it?”
“O-Of course. . . . . . .”
“Then how many times have you used it?”
No one answered that question. They probably wouldn’t be able to remember even if they tried.
It was such a pitiful and basic spell that people naturally forgot about it over time.
However, for Cheong Juhwa as a child, it was an incredibly useful and reliable spell.
“I’ve used it over a thousand times. There’s probably no one in the world who has used this spell more than me.”
As she recalled the process and the earnest feelings behind it, Cheong Juhwa felt the spiritual power in her talisman change color for a moment.
Whoooosh!
Cheong Juhwa thought of her parents, who were no longer with her, and her grandmother, who must be praying for her, and finally thought of all the people in the world who must be suffering from nightmares even at this moment.
Their feelings must be the same as hers when she was young.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah─!
Finally, as the black fog closed in on them, ready to devour its prey, Cheong Juhwa calmly threw the talisman in her right hand.
Paaat!
“Nightmare Avoidance.”
In that instant, a clear light rose up, cutting through the darkness.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Flash!
I flew through the Black Yin towards its center, feeling that I had found the right path through the billowing black fog and the clear light that had risen up.
The black fog shrank drastically, as if undergoing a chemical reaction, shrinking by more than 10 meters, revealing a group of exorcists enveloped in a brilliant halo.
“I’m sure you go in the other direction. . . . . . ?”
“I guess I did while running away. Rather, what’s the situation?
“Nightmare Avoidance. The reason is uncertain in many ways, but perhaps. . . . . . .”
Nightmare Avoidance, I hadn’t thought of that.
Perhaps Darkness Eater, a mass of primitive power, was born from such negative thoughts.
However, regardless of such speculation, I was convinced that Cheong Juhwa had succeeded in manifesting primitive shamanism by borrowing the power of her wishes.
「𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚, 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝. 𝘼𝙡𝙨𝙤, 𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢.」
Cheong Juhwa’s instinct, which had an ability score of EX rank, must have led her to the most effective result against her enemy at this moment.
Although I hadn’t expected this form, I thought that if anyone could do it, it would be Cheong Juhwa.
And my prediction was right.
“I’m going to change the plan. I’ve already sent a shikigami to the headquarters.”
“What? What are you going to do?”
“I need your help.”
No detailed explanation was needed. Cheong Juhwa nodded immediately and climbed onto the Azure Dragon’s neck, which had landed on the ground.
“Can you all move now?”
“. . .Y-Yes. Somehow.”
“Take shelter inside the barrier formation. I’ll take care of this fog somehow.”
Even as the situation was sorted out, Darkness Eater only wriggled its massive body and didn’t charge at us like before.
It might have been a big blow, or it might have been in the process of recovering from the damage.
However, one thing was for sure. Cheong Juhwa could definitely threaten it now.
“So where are we going?”
“Somewhere high. I need to get a good look at its territory.”
With the help of the Black Yin and the Azure Dragon, we flew up into the sky, taking in the view of the city.
And we couldn’t help but gasp at the sight that met our eyes.
“I-Is it really that big?”
“It might be getting bigger as it devours the living beings even now.”
Several exorcists, including the Black and White Twin Ghosts, had already been sacrificed, and similar things must have happened in places we couldn’t see.
It wasn’t surprising that the creature had grown so powerful.
“How can we. . . . . .deal with something like this?”
It wasn’t unreasonable for her to mumble. Cheong Juhwa’s Nightmare Avoidance was definitely effective, but the creature was just too big and massive.
I wasn’t even sure if we could defeat it even if we repeated the same process hundreds of times.
“The creature doesn’t seem to have any real wisdom or intelligence. Its behavior is simple, and it’s not even clear if it has a soul or a will. It probably doesn’t have anything that could be called a core.”
“. . .Doesn’t that mean there’s no way to defeat it?”
“It’s difficult, but anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”
The creature was a very strange but simple and clear life form.
And the most obvious characteristic of all was that it took the form of a black fog.
“If we could just gather all the fog we see down there into one place, we could deal a fatal blow with your Nightmare Avoidance spell.”
“The fog. . . . . .How do we gather it?”
“We have a bait that the creature will definitely react to right here.”
In order to attract the creature’s attention and concentrate all of its bodies in one place, we had no choice but to become bait ourselves.
At that unilateral conclusion, Cheong Juhwa made a fed-up expression but smiled slightly.
“Let’s do it, I guess. The worst that can happen is that we die.”
As soon as the plan was set, the others, who had also received the message, began to gather in the sky using the method of the production angle.
However, there was no clear reaction from the black fog.
It must be because we were so far away and because their attention was drawn to the aura coming from the barrier formation.
“Oops, it seems like things aren’t going as expected. . . . . . .”
“Junior, do you have a plan?”
I didn’t have time to explain in detail, but I had already thought of this possibility.
And it didn’t matter.
There was a simple way to get a clear reaction from the creature.
“We have to go inside, into the fog.”
“. . .Are you kidding me?”
Sophia asked in disbelief, but there was no other way.
It was the best way to fulfill the precondition of gathering the creature in one place.
“I’ll explain the method. It’s definitely dangerous, but it’s not impossible.”
At my serious appearance, the others listened attentively and made up their minds.
And as soon as all the plans were set, we all got on the Azure Dragon’s back, emitted our spiritual power to the maximum, and descended towards the center of the black fog that covered the city.
Swish!
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah─!
As we entered the creature’s detection range, the black fog surged up and attacked us, and we sent the Azure Dragon back into the Blue Heart Jade and floated in the air, gathering at one point and activating our strongest defensive spells.
Cawww─!
The place we landed was in complete darkness, where we couldn’t see an inch in front of us.
Now, the final battle with Darkness Eater was about to begin.
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