The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 141

What Do Seon-woo drew on the ground with his own blood was some kind of picture.

It wasn’t a sorcery circle, but seemed to be a symbol representing something. What it symbolized was unknowable. The picture drawn in blood was emitting a dark and eerie atmosphere by itself.

After finishing the drawing, Do Seon-woo used sorcery to heal the wound on his palm.

Healing his own wound with restoration sorcery would obviously have side effects, and even after the wound healed, the pain would remain.

Nevertheless, Do Seon-woo’s face was as calm as could be. As if he was someone who couldn’t feel pain.

"...What is this supposed to do?"

Ha Su-yeong asked in a trembling voice. Her hands and feet, which had turned cold from seeing blood, still hadn’t regained their warmth.

Do Seon-woo didn’t answer and simply sat in front of the picture he had drawn, beginning to mutter something.

It wasn’t Korean. It wasn’t English either. It was impossible to tell what language it was.

However, from the fact that Do Seon-woo had his hands folded politely with his eyes closed, it was vaguely possible to tell that it was a prayer.

Eventually the prayer ended. But nothing happened.

Had he made such a fuss, taking off his shirt and self-harming, just to do something like this? Just as she was about to say something because it was so absurd, wind blew.

It wasn’t a sharp wind, nor a gentle breeze, but a strange wind carrying an eerie resonance. The wind’s resonance was blocking her mouth.

Flap.

The wind rustled her clothes and made her bangs flutter. The next moment, her vision went dark.

Dozens of stars rose in the darkness. Brilliantly shining lines connected the randomly scattered stars into one. Light flowing from the stars and lines crossed through the darkness and split it. The light swallowed the darkness, and her vision became brightly illuminated.

The light that had seemed like it would shine eternally gradually faded, and when she could finally look at the world properly again, the dead tree that had been dying in a corner of the wasteland had disappeared.

Only a blackened mark remained, timidly asserting that life had once existed in that spot.

"You saw it, right?"

The moment she belatedly realized that the shining line that had connected the stars into one was a single bolt of lightning, Do Seon-woo spoke to her.

Ha Su-yeong alternately looked at the tree that had turned to ash and Do Seon-woo’s utterly calm face.

"Sobo...?"

"That’s right. You’re smarter than I thought."

Sobo, the Loa of thunder and lightning.

Capricious and noisy, but occasionally kind and with cute aspects - that’s what she knew about this Loa. Therefore, Ha Su-yeong found it difficult to think of the lightning that had just fallen as Sobo’s power.

This was because that lightning was too calm to be called Sobo’s power.

That lightning was as intense as if dozens or hundreds of bolts had been concentrated into one point, but it was never flashy. It came down without a sound and quietly disappeared, leaving only a slight breeze.

It was calm and elegant, and therefore lightning that couldn’t be Sobo’s power.

"I heard Sobo is extremely capricious and noisy."

"That’s also correct. But it’s different when you use ’vèvè.’"

’Vèvè’ are symbols representing each Loa. The picture Do Seon-woo had drawn with his blood seemed to be that vèvè. Do Seon-woo continued his explanation.

If you draw vèvè and then pray, the power becomes much stronger than normally borrowing and using the power, and it’s also possible to manipulate the strength or form of the power as needed.

"You don’t necessarily have to draw it with blood like I did. You can make it with animal bone powder or tree leaves, things like that."

"I see... But do you absolutely have to take off your clothes?"

"You don’t have to take them off. But..."

Drip.

Before Do Seon-woo could finish speaking, blood began flowing from his nose. The nosebleed poured out like a waterfall and eventually flowed down to his chest.

Ha Su-yeong’s hands and feet, which had just regained their warmth, turned cold again. Do Seon-woo wiped the flowing blood with the back of his hand and opened his mouth.

"...I took mine off because of side effects. I thought blood might get on my clothes."

"Si-side effects are this dramatic!"

"I didn’t know it would be this bad either. My stamina weakened from being in the hospital... Ugh. My head smells like batteries."

Do Seon-woo grimaced while pressing his temples. She didn’t quite understand what it meant for his head to smell like batteries, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

Ha Su-yeong hurriedly took off the outer garment she was wearing and handed it to Do Seon-woo.

"Use this to wipe the blood. What kind of nerve do you have to do such a thing..."

"I can wipe it with my own clothes, so why bother?"

"Ah, if you go back with clothes covered in blood, they’ll think I hit you! Dad and Uncle Yeom Man-geun!"

Ha Su-yeong shouted while insistently offering the clothes. Do Seon-woo had no choice but to accept the clothes, but he didn’t use them to wipe the blood. He looked reluctant.

"Wouldn’t it also be strange if there’s blood on your clothes?"

"I’ll just throw it away here and go. It’s not expensive clothes, and since it’s summer I don’t really need the outer garment. You don’t have anything else to wear if you throw away those clothes."

"That’s true... Oh, come to think of it, I can wash it off with rain."

"Rain? It’s not raining right now."

"I can call it with the Loa’s power."

Do Seon-woo said as if it was nothing. Ha Su-yeong was horrified and raised her voice.

"...You crazy bastard! That’s why you say things like dying, dying. What if you collapse doing such things? I don’t want to carry someone like you."

"It’s okay. I won’t collapse from something like this."

"Ah, whatever. Just wipe it with my clothes."

Ha Su-yeong sighed deeply as if fed up and said. Do Seon-woo stared at the outer garment she had given him and opened his mouth.

"Are you really sure I should just wipe it with this?"

"I said it’s fine. Why do you keep asking? I said it’s okay."

"Well, people from Chungcheong Province say you have to ask about three times before the real intention comes out."

Ha Su-yeong narrowed her eyes and glared at Do Seon-woo.

"...That’s a regional discriminatory comment."

"Sorry. Anyway, I’ll use it well."

Do Seon-woo smiled slightly and wiped the blood. It seemed like he had bled tremendously, but when he actually wiped it, there wasn’t much blood on the clothes.

Since this much wouldn’t need to be thrown away, she just rolled it up and held it in her arms. She could smell a faint scent of blood from the clothes.

"What, didn’t you say you’d throw it away earlier?" Do Seon-woo, who had finally put on clothes, asked as if puzzled. Ha Su-yeong walked with Do Seon-woo while holding the bundle of clothes tightly in her arms, speaking curtly.

"Whether I throw it away or not is up to me. It’s my clothes."

"Your dad might misunderstand."

"If I bundle it up like this, it won’t show so it’s fine."

Ha Su-yeong hung her head low and continued speaking.

"...Dad doesn’t care about me anyway."

It was her true feelings that came out without her realizing it. Ha Su-yeong hurriedly raised her head to look at Do Seon-woo, feeling flustered.

He just kept his mouth shut and was only looking ahead. She couldn’t guess whether he was acting this way because he knew about their family situation, or whether he just wasn’t interested.

A brief silence flowed. Do Seon-woo opened his mouth when Yeom Man-geun’s container could be seen in the distance.

"But why did you follow me?"

Ha Su-yeong hesitated briefly as if choosing words to answer.

"...I had something to ask about sorcery. You know the homework you assigned last time, I finished all of it."

"Really? That’s very fast. What do you want to ask?"

"Will you answer if I ask?"

"Of course. I have to complete all the handover to the next cult leader before I die."

Do Seon-woo said with a playful laugh. Ha Su-yeong felt inexplicably annoyed and subtly glared at Do Seon-woo. That wasn’t something to joke about even as a joke.

Two years ago, when she first saw Do Seon-woo, he was short, had a small build, and most of all, his eyes lacked strength. No matter how you looked at him, he didn’t seem like someone you could believe was a cult leader. At that time, Ha Su-yeong resolved to become the cult leader herself.

When she saw Do Seon-woo at the recent executive meeting, he had changed beyond recognition. As he grew taller, his body also became much sturdier, and his personality had also changed to be cult leader-like. At that time, Ha Su-yeong gave up on becoming the cult leader.

And today, Do Seon-woo seemed to have changed again. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly how he had changed, but she could intuitively tell that he had changed greatly.

She couldn’t tell if it was a good change or a bad change. Watching him change day by day, Ha Su-yeong felt an inexplicable anxiety.

"I’ll just ask next time."

"Just ask now. I’ll teach you sincerely."

"I don’t want to. I’ll ask at the next executive meeting."

All of Voodoo’s cult leaders had changed at some turning point. And they died not long after.

As if following a predetermined fate, both the first cult leader and the second cult leader suddenly left the world in such a manner.

She felt like Do Seon-woo would be the same. The one who spoke of death so casually seemed like he would really die just as casually.

"So don’t die until then. Complete the handover before you go."

So she decided to leave room for their next meeting. Do Seon-woo smiled slightly as if he understood her meaning.

"To complete all the handover, I’d have to live another 100 years. Judging by how you’re doing."

"Yes, yes. That’s right. Then you should live a long time."

Ha Su-yeong deliberately spoke sarcastically because she felt hurt. She wondered why she worried about such a person. She had other things to worry about.

When they arrived, Yeom Man-geun and Ha Pan-seok were leaning against the container smoking cigarettes. Do Seon-woo went straight to wake up Lee Jin-seong, and Ha Su-yeong went to her father while holding her nose at the cigarette smell.

Ha Pan-seok saw the bundle of clothes in Ha Su-yeong’s arms and made a big fuss as he opened his mouth.

"Wait, isn’t this the clothes you cherish? Where did you get such stains on it?"

"Just, it happened somehow."

Ha Su-yeong forcibly suppressed her reluctance to answer and barely managed to respond. Ha Pan-seok clicked his tongue.

"I knew this would happen. Even when I told you not to wear it because it’s hot, you wouldn’t listen and insisted on wearing it."

"Ah, what am I supposed to do about it? Whether it gets stained or not, it’s my clothes, so I’ll handle it myself!"

"...What kind of way of speaking is that? Don’t tell me you talk to the Cult Leader like that too? I’m saying this for your own good, but the way you speak has more influence on a person’s impression than you think..."

Ha Pan-seok’s nagging continued. Ha Su-yeong listened with one ear and let it flow out the other while turning her head. She could see Do Seon-woo getting into Executive Lee Jin-seong’s car.

* * *

While at the crossroads, I thought about many things, and naturally I also thought about Jeong Yun-ah, who was Jeong In-ah’s younger sister.

Han Su-yeop had created an absurd pseudo-religion called ’Voodoo Revival Church,’ expanded his power through the altar that had been in the chapel, and as a result, Jeong Yun-ah became a zombie.

It was something that happened due to my mistake, and something I had to take responsibility for.

To turn Jeong Yun-ah back into a human, reverse sorcery was needed, and to use reverse sorcery, the Staff of Reversal was needed.

And to obtain the Staff of Reversal, I had to go to Saudi Arabia’s history museum.

Through the letter Yoon Chang-su gave me, I could receive cooperation from the history museum staff, but anyway, I had to commit theft.

I had to take risks of a completely different dimension from stealing junk food from a stationery store.

To prepare for any possible danger, I needed to find a way to use the Loa’s powers more calmly and precisely.

For this purpose, I conducted a simple experiment with ’vèvè’ and prayer, and the result was successful.

What I learned through this experiment was that through ’vèvè’ and prayer, I could process the Loa’s powers into the form I wanted to a certain extent.

The side effects were stronger than expected, but this was because I hadn’t been out of the hospital for long. If I eat well, exercise diligently, and take care of my health, the side effects will naturally decrease.

I also had some insights about the ’level of mastery’ that Legba had once spoken of. I discovered it during the battle with Gu Jun-hyeok, and I’m thinking of going to the chapel right away to experiment.

[You’re a monster!]

Just then, I heard the voice of a different Loa in my head, not Legba. It was Granbwa.

"Why?"

[To kill a tree that was living well just for the sake of an experiment... I’m really disappointed in you, Prophet!]

"It was a tree that was going to die soon anyway. I just ended its suffering."

"My goodness...!"

Granbwa made a sound as if gasping in shock. I continued speaking without concern.

"And strictly speaking, that was done by Sobo."

[You were the one who prayed!]

"The prayer was also done by my hands and mouth, not me."

[Do you think that’s a reasonable excuse? You monster, trash!]

"Legba, please cut off Granbwa’s voice."

[Plants all over the world won’t leave you alone...]

[Yes, I cut it off.]

Finally it’s quiet... My uncle, who was driving beside me, looked at me curiously.

He had looked very tired earlier, but now that he had slept and woken up, his face had a fresh vitality.

When the car left the unpaved road and entered the highway, my uncle opened his mouth.

"Just now, what was that, were you talking with them? The Loas?"

I nodded. My uncle continued.

"What did you talk about? It’s not like before where the car breaks down and stuff, right?"

"There’s one strange person, so I fought a bit."

"Strange person?"

"There is. Someone who really hates vegetarians..."

"Oh my. Then is that person a carnivore?"

"I wonder. I’m not sure about that."

It was a problem I had never thought about. Is Granbwa a carnivore? Definitely not a vegetarian...

[Granbwa says he’ll curse you. What are you going to do about it?]

Then he’s probably a fasting advocate, I concluded when Legba spoke to me.

"I think I can appease him well somehow."

[I don’t know if that will work. He seems very angry.]

"Please tell him I’ll prepare something very good for the next offering."

[He says it’s not necessary.]

"One less mouth to feed. That worked out well."

[Oh... Granbwa is screaming? This is quite a rare sight.]

Legba laughed heartily as if delighted.

I should apologize properly to Granbwa next time, and while I’m at it, offer apples as tribute. It would be quite symbolic and meaningful apology.

[Oh my, has he lost his mind?]

I ignored Legba’s following words. I checked my phone.

There were several greeting messages from Kang Ji-ah, and a message from Florence announcing an extension of school closure. Other than that, no other contacts came. Not from Jeong In-ah, Kim Jin-seo, or Gu Jun-hyeok.

Ah, I killed Gu Jun-hyeok.

Anyway, everyone seemed busy. Just as I was about to send a reply to Kang Ji-ah saying I might return earlier than planned, the phone vibrated.

[Please call after checking.]

It was an unknown number, but I think I knew who it was. The intention in the message was too obvious.

"It’s voice phishing."

"What? Do they still have voice phishing these days?"

"It seems like it."

After finishing sending a message to Kang Ji-ah, I put my phone in my pocket.