The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 79

[Basar-Somang-5]

On my way out of the chapel, I checked Kang Ji-ah’s text once more. That would be a code informing me of the Satan worshippers’ hideout address, and also a code about where Kang Ji-ah was located. I walked steadfastly with my gaze fixed on the text on the screen.

First, Basar.

What could Basar mean? Basar means ’flesh’ in Hebrew. Flesh? No, pondering the meaning of Basar was meaningless. I had to think about ’why’ Kang Ji-ah sent me the word Basar.

"...Basar Shopping Center."

There was no reason she would have twisted the meaning for no purpose. Intuitively, it was right to think she simply sent the text ’Basar’ because she was at Basar Shopping Center. Then next, Somang.

Basar Shopping Center is divided into two buildings. One is the Hope Building and one is the Somang Building. Then, where Kang Ji-ah is located is ’Basar’ Shopping Center ’Somang’ Building. Now I just need to solve the riddle of the final ’-5’.

I went to Basar Shopping Center Somang Building for now. Unlike the Hope Building which had many restaurants, the Somang Building had many academies. On the ground floor were gyms and divine power academies, the first basement had PC cafes and karaoke rooms, and from the second basement down were all parking lots.

"..."

At that moment, the meaning flashed through my mind like lightning.

The meaning of ’-5’ that Kang Ji-ah sent was floor number. That is, ’-5’ meant ’basement level 5’. However, I encountered a problem. Basar Shopping Center Somang Building only went down to the 4th basement level. The 5th basement level didn’t exist. At that moment, my rapidly spinning mind suddenly stopped.

[Go to the 4th basement level for now.]

Then, Legba’s voice was heard.

I followed Legba’s words and took the elevator to the 4th basement level. Without time to think or have doubts, it was purely instinctive movement.

The scenery of the parking lot I finally arrived at was quite empty.

[Think about the method we used to hide the chapel. Their methods probably won’t be much different from ours.]

I frantically ran around the parking lot while pondering Legba’s advice.

The Voodoo chapel is hidden using a rather complex method. A structure that goes from ground to basement level, from basement back to ground level, and from ground back down to basement level. Thanks to the three locking devices installed in that process, no one except me, Uncle, and Kang Ji-ah could ever infiltrate the chapel.

However, just one place. The passage that congregation members use during regular worship has lax security. A structure where you just need to find a hidden door on the building’s lowest level and enter. The Satan worshippers’ hideout surely also has a passage with lax security so congregation members can come and go.

"...Found it."

Thus, the door I found after running around for a while. It was thickly painted with white paint to look like a wall at first glance, but there was an ’X’ mark made with marker on the hinge part.

It was definitely a sign left by Satan worshippers or by Kang Ji-ah.

Click.

I barely found the invisible door handle and tried to pull it, but the door wouldn’t open. It seemed firmly locked from the inside with a padlock. I couldn’t see a keyhole. Either it didn’t exist originally, or it wasn’t catching my eye right now.

"Bosu."

Without hesitation, I used Bosu’s divine power. Strength surged up and at the same time slight anger arose. It was the emotional agitation that was one of the side effects of using Bosu’s divine power. The sound of my heart beating deep in my chest was loud.

Crash!

I tore the entire door apart. The hinges flew off with a loud sound. Beyond the door, pitch-black darkness spread out. I worried there might be traps, but right now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. If I got hurt, I could heal with restoration sorcery.

[You’ll get body aches. You might even faint. Like in the old days.]

The old days. That meant 6 years ago, not long after Father died.

If I used restoration sorcery on myself, I could move my body for now, but I would have to pay the price all at once later.

It was no different from tearing off my own flesh to satisfy hunger and sucking my own blood to quench thirst.

But it didn’t matter.

I walked through the darkness. At first I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, but as I walked more and more, the outline of the path began to catch my eye. My eyes had become accustomed to the darkness.

What I saw at the end of the darkness was another door. This time it had several layers of locks installed inside and out, and was very thick. It felt like it blatantly said not to enter at all costs.

Bang!

However, it was a door that collapsed helplessly with one kick. With Bosu’s monstrous strength, rusty chains and padlocks could be easily broken.

Beyond the tightly closed door were stairs. Red lighting was installed on the ceiling, making the entire staircase look as if it was dyed red with blood. The lighting was appropriately dim so as not to be blinding.

"C-Commander? I heard you were going to school today, how did you come so quickly...?"

When I went down the stairs, someone spoke as if terrified. There was almost no light, and his face was half-covered by a robe, so I couldn’t see what expression he was making. I could only tell from his voice that he was a man.

I looked around, surveying the surroundings. The dim underground room was full of people.

However, not many people were moving. Most stood still in the same posture, with the same expression, as if dead. There was a sour chemical smell.

[Taxidermy.]

Legba muttered.

Only then did I identify what those motionless people were. Those people, no, those things were all taxidermy. People stopped at the boundary between death and life.

Nausea washed over me. It felt like gastric acid was flowing back up from my empty stomach. My throat was hot and bitter.

"No, you’re not the Commander. Damn it!"

After standing like that for a while, the man cursed and charged at me. He seemed to have belatedly realized that I wasn’t the ’Commander’ but an uninvited guest. However, if the opponent was human, there was nothing to fear.

Splat.

Fainting sorcery. The man who inhaled the mist collapsed and buried his face in the floor. The same sticky, viscous sound I had heard in my dream occurred. I shuddered lightly and moved forward.

Kang Ji-ah was definitely somewhere in this place.

I was certain. The basis was Baron Samedi’s prophecy and intuition.

I walked endlessly in that place filled with red and ominous lighting, searching for Kang Ji-ah. Each step made a splashing sound. The image of Kang Ji-ah who had become a monster and chased me in my dream appeared before my eyes and disappeared. Baron Samedi had declared that dream to be ’a future that will definitely happen’.

This prophecy would become Baron Samedi’s first wrong prophecy.

I would make it so.

* * *

I found Kang Ji-ah about 3 minutes later. No, it wasn’t even clear whether it was 3 minutes or 30 minutes. To me, those 3 minutes felt longer than ever before.

"I, I said. Today, not to come today!"

"Be quiet."

Kang Ji-ah’s face contorted when she saw me. A cry close to a scream. I ignored her words and then mended her split arm with restoration sorcery. It was intermediate restoration.

"Who gave you permission to order the cult leader around?"

For a moment I felt as if strength was draining out of me. But it was an illusion. No, thinking of it as an illusion seemed more convenient for now.

"Oh! It’s been so long since I’ve seen Voodoo magic power. I never thought Voodoo practitioners would still remain."

The man standing before me said. He seemed to be the one who had cut Kang Ji-ah’s arm. He was wearing human skin over his face, so I couldn’t see what expression he was making.

His tone, wearing the cold smile of the dead, was very leisurely. It irritated me.

"The relationship between Voodoo and Satanism is very deep. If we trace back through history..."

"It might be a bit hot."

Whoosh!

I cut off his words and used Marinette’s divine power. Being careful not to burn the skin, I burned and cut the ropes binding Kang Ji-ah’s body.

"Cult Leader."

"You know the way out, right? Hurry and leave."

Kang Ji-ah showed hesitation without following the order.

"Today there’s an appointment ceremony..."

"...Leave."

"Ah, yes."

Kang Ji-ah stepped back with a seemingly surprised look. After hesitating briefly and reading the situation, she eventually began running quickly toward the door I had entered through.

Since I was absent from the appointment ceremony, there was no possibility of me becoming the Charity Holy Name.

I had given up the Charity Holy Name and come to save Kang Ji-ah. However, I had no regrets about my choice. Kang Ji-ah was several times more important than some Charity Holy Name. She was now an important person indispensable to Voodoo.

"...Hahaha. Do you think this is your own living room or something?"

Splat, splat, splat, splat.

When he gestured, one of the taxidermy that had been standing like a statue in the corner began to move. The taxidermy stretched both hands forward and ran madly toward Kang Ji-ah. Each step made a sticky sound. He chuckled and continued speaking.

"This isn’t a place you can leave just because you want to leave."

"Ah, hik...!"

Kang Ji-ah saw the taxidermy approaching her and let out a shrill scream, stopping mid-escape.

If she had just kept running, she would have escaped long ago, but she seemed to have frozen in surprise. I drew a spell circle.

Intermediate reproduction, Sword of Dawn.

Purple Voodoo magic power was shaped into the form of a short dagger. The Sword of Dawn, despite its grand name, is actually a ceremonial sword for skinning animals. It’s difficult to use for combat, but it had excellent efficacy at least for piercing skin.

I gripped it and threw it at the taxidermy running toward Kang Ji-ah. I aimed for between the eyes, the space between the eyebrows.

Thunk!

Since it was a throw using Bosu’s divine power, I didn’t even consider the possibility of missing. The dagger hit the taxidermy’s forehead precisely, and at the same time the taxidermy’s movement stopped briefly.

Kang Ji-ah didn’t miss that opportunity. She barely held onto her shaking legs and continued her escape.

"Kyah!"

Splat!

"S-sorry!"

Kang Ji-ah, who slipped and fell while running away, apologized to me and ran away again. I didn’t know what she was sorry about, but anyway, she had succeeded in escaping, so that was reassuring.

"...Phew."

Finally, Kang Ji-ah’s figure completely disappeared. A sigh of relief naturally escaped, but it wasn’t time to be relieved yet.

"Ah..."

The guy, the pervert wearing face skin, let out a groan. His voice was trembling as if in bewilderment.

"Ha, haha... One piece of material escaped. It’s, it’s fine. There’s still one left."

The pervert said with a reluctant smile. The statement that one remained seemed to refer to me. The pervert was treating me not as a person but as material for taxidermy.

"You’re quite skilled at using Voodoo magic power, ha, hahaha. Do, do you call sticking skin back together ’restoration’?"

Taxidermy were gathering around the pervert, making unpleasant splashing sounds with their footsteps.

The taxidermy all had different appearances. Some had arms instead of legs, and some had legs instead of arms. Some had three heads or only heads, and some were like centipedes with three or four bodies connected without heads.

It was disgusting. Not simply because the taxidermy forms were bizarre.

Thinking about how many lives they had taken to make those taxidermy made me naturally nauseous.

"That would be really convenient when making taxidermy, you wouldn’t need to suture or anything, you could just use sorcery, Voodoo practitioners could easily make taxidermy if they used sorcery, but why don’t they make taxidermy, maybe they can’t understand this profound artistic world, right?"

"..."

I quietly emitted Voodoo magic power. I would draw two spell circles. In less than a few seconds, the spell circles were completed.

"Come to think of it, it would be good to pull out the eyes and everything, leave only the fingers, so you can only use restoration sorcery, yes, then you become a restoration machine. Restoration machine, oh, that has quite a nice ring to it!"

Hissssss...

Mist poured out from the drawn spell circles. This time I used not restoration or reproduction, but illusion sorcery. It was a fusion sorcery combining ’nightmare’ and ’fainting’. The pervert inhaled the mist and soon began to lose his balance, swaying.

I found dealing with humans several times easier than dealing with magical beasts. If the opponent was a magical beast, I had to struggle using various things like Loa’s divine powers, but humans could be subdued with just one sorcery.

Thud.

Finally, the pervert collapsed. His shoulders trembling was movement trying to resist the sorcery. However, it was meaningless resistance. Unless one had innate resistance, escaping from sorcery was impossible.

The taxidermy that had gathered around the pervert just stood there without moving.

Since the commander who could give them orders had lost consciousness, the taxidermy could do nothing but stand there... I turned my steps in the direction Kang Ji-ah had gone.

"...Oh, ah, ha, very, the, head is spinning, like drugs, sorcery has that, charm, very, truly, I felt it before but, didn’t have a chance to feel it again, feeling very good"

Then, a voice heard from behind me. The leisure and composure that had been embedded in his tone had long since disappeared, but his characteristic mocking tone remained.

The guy who should have been unconscious and struggling with nightmares was slowly getting up from his position, holding onto his shaking legs.

An unexpected situation. It was time to make a cool-headed judgment, but bewilderment came first.

The sorcery didn’t work.

Hadn’t even executives with resistance far superior to ordinary people collapsed helplessly before my sorcery?

But strangely, sorcery didn’t work on that pervert. Did I draw the spell formation wrong? Or had the sorcery’s power weakened because I used up all my stamina?

Meaningless repetition. What was important was that my sorcery didn’t work on that guy.

"Arms and legs, can be cut off. Just bring the body, intact, children."

The pervert said while waving his hand limply. Something so black that its depth couldn’t be measured was flowing from his fingertips. He was commanding the taxidermy by drawing black magic circles.

Splat, splat, splat, splat.

The taxidermy that received orders approached me. Dozens of those sticky and ominous footstep sounds were slowly but surely getting closer to me.