The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 349

The Romanican Church clergymen of the Last Knight Order were confused before the battle even began. They couldn't bring themselves to strike down their zombified comrades. All they could do was retreat again in fear. The blessing array meticulously set up by Yu-Hyun was now meaningless.

"..."

Yu-Hyun racked his brain for ideas.

Blessings enhanced the clergmen’s physical abilities. However, no matter how strong their physical abilities became, it was meaningless if the clergymen lost their will to fight.

What the Last Knight Order needed now was resolve—resolve that could allow them to strike down even their zombified comrades. They needed overwhelming faith and belief that would paralyze their guilt toward their fallen comrades.

"They are already dead!" Yu-Hyun shouted at the hesitant clergymen shuffling backward. "They are neither alive nor dead but manipulated by the evil spell of the Voodoo Cult."

He then approached the clergymen sitting on the ground. He grabbed hold of one of their weapons, which was a mace. Yu-Hyun gripped it and approached the zombies shuffling toward them.

"Let's free our brothers and sisters from the clutches of this evil spell."

Thwack!

Yu-Hyun struck the zombie's head with the mace. The zombie died gruesomely, its head split wide open.

The retreating clergymen stopped moving back. They merely stood at the forefront, staring blankly at Yu-Hyun smashing the zombie's skull with the mace.

Yu-Hyun raised the mace and said, "We are the only ones who can save our brothers and sisters!"

The zombie’s blood and brain matter dripped from the club.

"Let us lead them to the side of Adonai!" Yu-Hyun shouted for the last time.

Suddenly, light flowed from the giant fusion blessing Yu-Hyun had activated earlier. The brilliant light of blessing enveloped the dead zombies. It looked as if they had been saved, granted with the blessing of death.

The clergymen saw Yu-Hyun and his mace held up high. Their fearful and blurry eyes regained focus again, and they each grasped their weapons.

Swish!

Facing the approaching zombies, the clergymen brandished their swords and swung their clubs. The zombies had been deprived of the freedom of death by the Voodoo Cult’s evil spell. They had been stripped of their sanity and even from the choice of death. This was not murder but salvation. Believing so, the clergymen could now kill their comrades without hesitation.

The clergymen suddenly regained their unity, and shouted the words like a chant as they killed the zombies.

"To the arms of Adonai!"

The zombies had no proper combat skills and only rushed forward. They stood no chance against the clergymen. One after the other, the zombies fell. Adorned with the light of blessing, the clergymen wielded their weapons and roared.

The zombies that suddenly appeared were all killed. They did not disappear, spewing black smoke like demons or demonic beasts. The zombies all remained in their place on the ground, but no clergymen paid any attention.

"To the arms of Adonai!"

"Let us save our brothers and sisters!"

Even after bringing down all the zombies, the clergymen continued to chant, their eyes shining brightly with the light of blessing that Yu-Hyun had bestowed on them earlier.

The blessing that adorned the eyes of the clergymen was not a blessing but a Berakah, also known as the Lamp of Adonai. It allowed the clergymen to not only see spells and the Voodoo magic that made up spells, but to visualize the flow of divine power within the members of the Romanican Church.

The Berakah was the very power that Yu-Hyun had used to draw a circle with divine power in his eyes. Yu-Hyun had shared such powers with all the clergymen present. As a result, the final Paladin Order could see Noah's Ark beyond the veil of spells.

"Onward. Let us reclaim our sanctuary―!" Yu-Hyun shouted.

The clergymen armed themselves and finally entered the mountain.

***

"I thought they would be shaken up a bit," Sun-Woo muttered.

He placed his hand on the ground, emitting a green light, and closed his eyes. He was using the perspective of plants to assess the situation.

Beside Sun-Woo was Soo-Yeong. Naturally, only Sun-Woo could use the power, so Soo-Yeong had yet to learn of their situation.

She tilted her head. "What happened? Are all the zombies dead?"

Sun-Woo nodded. "Yes. It's time to start shortly. Are you ready?"

"Probably," Soo-Yeong replied.

Sun-Woo raised his staff.

Thud.

He struck the ground with his staff, and a loud noise reverberated through the air. The sky was blanketed with dark clouds—not pitch black but light gray clouds close to a bluish hue. Soon, snow fell.

Sun-Woo was slightly taken aback. Soo-Yeong chuckled.

"What are you going to do with snow?"

"Damn, I forgot that it's winter right now."

"Of course, it's winter. It's so cold here.”

Sun-Woo didn't respond to her. He raised his head and looked up at the sky, where snow was falling heavily.

"It doesn’t make much of a difference as long as it gets darker," Sun-Woo said.

It would have been better if it had rained. Through rain, they could neutralize the enemies’ holy artifact, the Gown of the Shem Brothers, and there were plenty of methods to utilize the sound of rain in their operation. But the snow wasn't bad either. It was more than enough if they could darken the surroundings even a little.

Sun-Woo took a dagger out of his pocket and cut his palm. Soo-Yeong closed her eyes tightly as if she couldn't bear to see the sight.

Drip, drip.

Sun-Woo sprinkled the blood from his palm on the ground and drew a symbol. It was a vévé.

"I'll scatter the enemies. Once they are scattered enough, I'll let you know through the plants," Sun-Woo said as he raised his staff.

Soo-Yeong nodded. "The goal is to systematically eliminate the Head Guardians around that bastard of a Pope, right?”

"If the opportunity arises, you can take the Pope's life first. Although it seems unlikely that will happen. I’ll pinpoint the locations of the key enemy figures and inform you through the plants."

"Alright," Soo-Yeong replied.

Sun-Woo raised his staff high into the sky.

Bang―!!

And he struck the ground forcefully.

Kgggg.......

The ground began to tremble from Sun-Woo’s power. The intense vibration traveled from the soles of people’s feet to the top of their heads. The vibrations were strong enough to easily make people lose their balance, but Soo-Yeong stood firm without wavering. She had experienced this level of vibration countless times during training sessions in Noah's Ark.

"It’s time for the real battle to begin," Sun-Woo said.

Crraackk–!

Following Sun-Woo's gaze, the mountain swayed back and forth, changing its appearance.

Some areas opened up, while others collapsed. Valleys rose to become ridges, and ridges caved in to become valleys. Roots frozen from the winter chill broke through the ground and moved about, spewing Voodoo mist.

The spell Sun-Woo had been engraved by hand, and the power of the Loa was now activated. Sun-Woo had done his job. The enemies would soon lose their way due to the suddenly altered terrain and the Voodoo mist flowing from the tree roots. The orderly ranks of the Romanican Church would scatter and fall into chaos.

Now, everything was up to Soo-Yeong and the other Voodoo Cult members. They had to overcome the numerical disadvantage by defeating the scattered enemies one by one, especially focusing on eliminating the Head Guardians with Berakat to weaken Pope Yu-Hyun's power.

"Don't die!" Sun-Woo said as he watched Soo-Yeong put on her mask to enter the battle.

"Take care of yourself, you idiot!" Soo-Yeong said gruffly.

Sun-Woo’s nose was bleeding due to the power's drawbacks.

She then jumped into the mountain, turbulent from the power of Loa.

***

The Paladin Order advanced. Composed mainly of active clergymen, the Last Knight Order marched forward with high stability, their formations unwavering.

The Paladin Order divided its ranks according to its members’ specialties. Armed paladins and crusaders were at the forefront, preparing for a full-scale battle with the Voodoo Cult. In the rear were priesthoods that altered the situation with miracle replication or led members who strayed from the formation. Yu-Hyun, his six Head Guardians, and the subordinate guard unit were at the center of the formation.

Additionally, some crusaders acted independently from the formation. They were the special forces tasked with locating and assassinating the Cult Leader, who was giving orders to the Voodoo Cult from somewhere in the mountains. This unit consisted of four members: Jin-Seo, Simon, Su-Ryeon, and Do-Jin. They were few in number, but four skilled clergymen would be more effective in facing the Cult Leader than hundreds of inexperienced clergymen.

Do-Jin, the special unit leader searching for the Cult Leader, remarked, "I never expected to meet you all under these circumstances."

Do-Jin remembered Jin-Seo, Su-Ryeon, and, of course, Sun-Woo. He had a feeling they would all meet again someday, but he never imagined it would be under these conditions.

The special forces were organized to kill Sun-Woo. Everyone present moved to kill him. Perhaps it had been inevitable, as Sun-Woo was the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult. However, Do-Jin found it challenging to accept that as a matter of fact.

"..."

Neither Jin-Seo nor Su-Ryeon responded to Do-Jin. They seemed to be lost in their own thoughts.

Bang―!!

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed throughout the mountain. It was the sound of the Cult Leader striking the ground with his staff, a precursor to unleashing his power. There was no time to react.

Crraackk–!

Following the noise, the mountain began to move. The mountain changed shape frighteningly fast. Valleys collapsed, peaks rose, and the surrounding terrain changed rapidly. Even mist emanated from the tree roots that had pierced through the ground.

Thanks to wearing the anti-Voodoo mask, Do-Jin did not lose consciousness immediately. However, he could not completely block the Cult Leader's spell even with the mask.

His head was spinning, and his vision was blurred. Whether it was due to the power of the Loa changing the terrain or the Voodoo mist he inhaled, he could not tell.

"... "

Soon after, Do-Jin regained his senses. The problem was that he couldn't even tell where he was. Due to the power and spells of the Loa, Do-Jin found himself stranded somewhere in the middle of the mountain without even knowing it. Jin-Seo, Su-Ryeon, and Simon were nowhere to be seen.

"Jin-Seo, Su-Ryeon! Simon! Are you okay? If you can hear me, come this way!" Do-Jin shouted, turning his head around.

He assumed they could hear his voice and come closer if they were not far away.

At that moment, Do-Jin heard a voice above his head.

"We’re up here."

Jin-Seo, Su-Ryeon, and even Simon were all hanging on the trees, looking down at the battlefield. Do-Jin thought he and the other members were isolated on the mountain, but in reality, no one was stranded alone.

Do-Jin nodded at them. "Oh, okay."

Jin-Seo, Su-Ryeon, and Simon were all skilled crusaders. They were not the type to be isolated just from this event.

Do-Jin felt proud of his disciples who had grown into excellent crusaders but also ashamed of his loss of composure and shouting earlier.

Crunch, crunch.

However, there was no time to feel relieved that no one was isolated. Footsteps were gradually getting closer to the special unit. The unit members gripped their weapons, staring toward the sound on alert.

Do-Jin, Jin-Seo, and Yun Simon held swords, while only Su-Ryeon held her gun. Soon, the enemy revealed themselves.

"Damn it... Not this again," Simon muttered as soon as he saw the enemy.

Yuk Eun-Hyung stared at Simon with sharp eyes. "You again, Crusader."