I continued towards the location of Yoo Ha-on and her party, hunting down every shadow I encountered along the way.

When I arrived at another shelter like that, the power of the Shadow Assimilation trait had grown considerably compared to before.

“See. I told you a shikigami with an owner is different. You’re always so suspicious.”

“R-Really, someone came. . .. . .”

“Oppa, are you hurt anywhere?”

At the entrance of the 5th shelter, Ggong-sam-yi, Black Yin, and Yoo Ha-on and her party, who I had sent, were searching for enemies while guarding the surroundings.

Yoo Ha-on approached me as soon as she found me and asked a question.

“How’s the situation on the other side?”

“It’s not much different from here. By any chance, have you seen any exorcists from the Defense Corps or teachers?”

“I heard that some of them left to search for stragglers, and most of the main force headed to the center of the spell.”

It was as expected.

In that case, it was likely that Yoo Hye-yeon was confronting Yoo Hye-yeon at the place where the voodoo seed was planted, protecting it.

「𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙.」

It was clear that there was definitely something unexpected going on.

“Are these all the people here?”

“Yes. We were in a crisis because we were short-handed anyway.”

“You probably only need to watch the north side from now on. I took care of most of the ones in the south on my way here.”

Everyone who was there was surprised at my words. The man who had introduced himself as a graduating student also said in disbelief.

“You fought them alone? There were some entities that were clearly beyond the level of students. . .”

“They had good compatibility, so it was more doable than I thought.”

“. . .Was it a problem that could be solved with compatibility?”

We had only exchanged a few words, but I started to feel the presence of shadows again.

The location was right in front.

It was the opposite direction from where I had come, and it was the place where the voodoo seed, the main body of this spell, was planted.

“Jeez. How did they get here so quickly. . .”

“Everyone, get in formation! I’ll go ahead.”

Baek Eun-seo and the other two moved busily, but I raised my palm and stopped them.

“No need to waste your energy. I’ll take care of it right away.”

Swish.

Swish, swish.

Poof!

Poof!

As I formed seals with my fingers and called out their names, the shikigami that were dormant in my shadow appeared one after another.

The Fierce Wolf and Bone Bear that I had recently replenished. Phantom Nightmare and the counter-type shikigami Dudooree, which I had also been making whenever I had time.

When Elder Water Ghost and Ggong-sam-yi, Sori-soe, and Black Yin, who were already outside, joined them, it had completely transformed into an army.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Cling!

【Choi Seol-ah’s Shadow】

▶Level: 16

【Han Seung-chul’s Shadow】

▶Level: 22

【Henry Anderson’s Shadow】

▶Level: 34

【Baek Ji-eun’s Shadow】

▶Level: 47

Two of them seemed to be exorcists.

One of them was Baek Ji-eun, who was also the homeroom teacher of Class A, 2nd year.

I left the shadows of ordinary people to the standard shikigami, and I dealt with the other two with the rest of the shikigami.

Thud.

Thud, thud.

Thud!

Rumble!

“. . .Burn it.”

Poof!

Flames erupted!

I don’t know if it’s okay to say this in this situation, but it was truly spectacular to see the shikigami rush in and corner the enemies all at once.

「𝙉𝙤𝙬, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚.」

I curled the corners of my mouth in satisfaction and took advantage of the gap created by the shikigami to immediately cast a spell that was like a counter to the shadows.

“Erysichthon’s Teeth.”

Hoo-oong!

Crackle!

Originally, with Baek Ji-eun’s skills, she would have definitely dodged the attack somehow, but the shadow, which was a high-grade doppelganger, was unable to shake off the interference of the shikigami and allowed the attack to hit it, eventually disappearing.

Hoo-oong.

Rustle.

Along with that, I felt a familiar sensation. My Shadow Assimilation trait had absorbed the remnants of the shadow again.

「𝘼𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙔𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙬𝙤𝙡 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙.」

This was something that had been bothering me all along, but I never thought I would be able to recover it in this way.

The shadows all disappeared, and those who were looking at them all had their mouths agape in shock.

It was only natural since I had taken care of the enemies in an instant, just as I had boasted.

“It took us a long time to catch one. . .”

“. . .You don’t have to think of it strangely. Oppa was always like that.”

I personally don’t think it’s that surprising.

I just got lucky with compatibility, but there was a monster named Sophia on the other side who had achieved the same result with pure skill.

「𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙤 𝙃𝙮𝙚-𝙮𝙚𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢.」

The fact that the voodoo seed had not been removed yet hinted that the situation was unlikely to calm down easily.

That meant there was no point in sitting here and waiting for a miracle.

It was truly ironic that students like us had to move even though there were so many skilled exorcists gathered here.

I let out a sigh that no one noticed and approached Yoo Ha-on and spoke.

“Do you feel anything? Like the last time with Sori-soe.”

Yoo Ha-on was the one who had played a part in removing the voodoo seed in the original story with the protagonist’s unique correction.

If it was her Blue Beacon trait that showed her the way forward, it would definitely be able to move the current stagnant situation forward.

Yoo Ha-on closed her eyes for a moment and pondered, then she answered without hesitation as if she had a hunch about something.

“. . .I think we should go to the center of the spell.”

“The center of the spell?”

“Yes. I feel like that for some reason.”

As expected, that was the correct answer.

In that case, it was clear that my job now was to protect Yoo Ha-on and take her there.

“I’ll leave some shikigami behind. There probably aren’t many shadows left by now, and the door won’t break if you’re inside.”

“Oppa? Can’t we go too?”

At Han Seo-ah’s words, I fell into contemplation for a moment.

Well, in the original story, all of Yoo Ha-on’s party gathered and contributed to solving the incident. It wouldn’t be bad to take them with me.

“Sori-soe.”

『Why are you calling me again, human?』

“Transform a bit bigger. Enough for four people to ride.”

『. . .』

Like that, we headed to the place where the voodoo seed was planted in order to solve the incident.