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Then, black hands stretched out from there and forcibly lifted the fallen Seo Ji-an to her feet.
At this blatant act of hostility, I frowned and spoke up.
“Are you going to take her hostage?”
“There’s no need to waste time. You don’t want this woman to die anyway.”
He was right. It was not a good situation for me.
「. . .𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙬.」
Originally, the Defense Corps exorcists were not allowed to directly participate in this succession competition. Dae-jin Industries was that deeply rooted in the foundation of the Korean shamanic world.
However, Hektel’s presence here changed things. He was an international fugitive, and naturally, he was a matter that had to be dealt with as a top priority.
That’s why I had already contacted Cheong Ji-yeon in secret earlier.
As someone who had a certain position in this area, she would understand my intentions and take action quickly.
So I had to buy time by protecting Seo Ji-an from Hektel until then.
“There’s no negotiation. Is there any room for consideration?”
As Hektel snapped his fingers, the black hands tightened around Seo Ji-an’s neck, and she closed her eyes tightly with a pained expression.
At that, I had no choice but to answer Hektel’s question.
“Bi-hyeong is dead. During the incident on Yeongwol Island.”
“Yeongwol Island? Are you talking about the resurrection ritual? Who did it?”
This was the last answer Hektel wanted.
That meant that the moment I gave it to him, I would have no cards left to stop Hektel.
Knowing this, Seo Ji-an looked at me with her eyes, telling me not to say it.
But even so, I had to say it.
“The one who killed Bi-hyeong was Cheong So-ha, one of the elders of the Cheong family.”
“. . .Cheong So-ha, that makes sense.”
With that, the conversation ended, and an eerie aura filled the air.
Anticipating what would happen next, I kept my eyes on Hektel and tensed up.
And the moment he turned his gaze to Seo Ji-an and was about to summon his killing intent, I quickly opened my mouth again.
“Isn’t it strange?”
At those words, Hektel stopped and stopped moving.
“Bi-hyeong’s plan was carried out quietly and secretly. Even the Academy members who were sacrificed for the ritual didn’t notice it at all.”
“Oh, what are you trying to say?”
“Cheong So-ha was just a pawn, and someone else was moving her.”
Even Hektel seemed to be taken aback by those words.
That was understandable, because Cheong So-ha is a powerful figure in the current Cheong family and one of the world’s most promising exorcists.
The idea that someone could use her as a pawn was hard to believe.
“That’s a lot of speculation.”
“It’s not speculation. I already know who he is.”
“Kukuku. If that’s a lie, I’m going to be very upset.”
Once again, I succeeded in piquing Hektel’s interest. I continued speaking without missing a beat.
“I don’t know what you got in return, but this request itself can’t be that important to you.”
“Are you saying you’ll give me the information if I let you go?”
“If that’s not possible, I won’t open my mouth even if I die.”
At those words, Hektel nodded his head and, surprisingly, easily released Seo Ji-an, who had been restrained.
Seo Ji-an, who was now able to move her body freely, approached me with a half-suspicious, half-relieved expression and took a quick breath.
“Well, that takes care of that. Now tell me.”
At first glance, it might seem like he was accepting the deal, but I knew better. Hektel.
「. . .𝘼𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙.」
As I concentrated, I could see the seeds of a curse deeply embedded in Seo Ji-an’s body.
If Hektel were to move just one finger, it would become the hand of death and engulf its host, Seo Ji-an, and me, who was next to her.
「𝙃𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙨 𝙜𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙮.」
He was the one who was completely in control of the situation. It was just like the Hektel I had seen in the game.
「𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮.」
In the first place, it is not common to find an exorcist who has the knowledge to skillfully cast such a minor curse.
And since the user was Hektel, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there was no way to escape this situation at this point.
However, it was a very fortunate coincidence.
It didn’t apply to me.
“Tell me now.”
In this tense atmosphere where I felt like I would be killed if I took my eyes off him for even a moment, I tensed up my body.
“Who is he?”
At Hektel’s question, I smiled meaningfully and replied.
“Well.”
At this point, I had stalled for as much time as I could with just dialogue. From now on, it was time to start playing for real.
Creak.
“Evolution.”
Rustle.
Rustle.
I was the first to move.
As I formed a hand seal and chanted a spell, my shadow suddenly grew in size and quickly stretched out behind Hektel’s back.
And then.
Boom!
“. . .Burn it.”
Boom!
Whoosh!
From there, Ggong-sam-yi jumped out and started to breathe fire intensely from her mouth.
𝘢ẇ̇𝚎𝙗𝙨𝔱𝘰ṙ̇i̇̇𝕖𝕤.𝐜𝘰𝘮