The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 350

Yuk Eun-Hyung and the special forces faced each other. Su-Ryeon held her gun and quickly distanced herself from Yuk Eun-Hyung as she felt a dangerous aura emanating from him.

Yuk Eun-Hyung looked at the special forces. His eyes were as cold and sharp as they were eerie.

"..."

The aura in Yuk Eun-Hyung's eyes was beyond hostile. There was a deep, indescribable, horrific hatred there. For some reason, Yuk Eun-Hyung unleashed his intense hatred toward the special forces. In his right hand was an ax. Although it was just an ordinary hand ax, it looked like a dangerous weapon in Yuk Eun-Hyung’s hands.

Su-Ryeon was not the only one who sensed danger. Simon, Jin-Seo, and Do-Jin instinctively felt it as well. They gripped their swords and looked at Yuk Eun-Hyung as he rotated his wrist.

Simon gulped hard and said, "It's Yuk Eun-Hyung.”

Do-Jin's eyes widened. "Are you talking about Yuk Eun-Hyung from the mercenary corps?"

"Yes, it’s that lunatic. We might have a chance because it’s four against one, but we need to be careful," Simon replied.

Do-Jin and Yuk Eun-Hyung made eye contact. Yuk Eun-Hyung's expression twisted. Do-Jin broke out in a cold sweat.

The two had met before. The Trinitas Crusader Order that Do-Jin belonged to had participated in Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps suppression operation. Although he hardly had any direct encounters with Yuk Eun-Hyung during the operation, Do-Jin had heard of Yuk Eun-Hyung's infamous reputation. He had heard stories of how Yuk Eun-Hyung resisted to the end, even though he had been covered in blood.

“Do-Jin of Trinitas," Yuk Eun-Hyung muttered upon seeing Do-Jin.

Do-Jin's sword trembled along with his hand.

Yuk Eun-Hyung rotated his wrist and approached Do-Jin. The snow fell harshly around them, and the sharp winds brushed against their skin.

With the tip of the sword aimed at Yuk Eun-Hyung, Do-Jin calmly said, "Yuk Eun-Hyung, if you tell me the location of the Cult Leader, I will let you go. We just need to know where he is."

Do-Jin decided to negotiate. In Do-Jin's mind, there was no need to fight Yuk Eun-Hyung. The goal of the special forces was to eliminate or suppress the Cult Leader. There was no reason to waste their stamina in battles with other Voodoo Cultists who weren’t with the Cult Leader. Above all, Yuk Eun-Hyung was alone, while four were in the special forces. They might be able to avoid a fight through negotiation.

"Who's going to let who go now?" Yuk Eun-Hyun replied.

However, Yuk Eun-Hyung had no intention of accepting the negotiation. Do-Jin clicked his tongue and nodded. Soon, his body began to glow from the light of blessing. It was a skill that only So Do-Jin could use, as he could use blessings without drawing blessing arrays.

With a thump, Do-Jin rushed toward Yuk Eun-Hyung. The piled-up snow fluttered at Do-Jin's charge. Do-Jin precisely swung the sword toward Yuk Eun-Hyung’s neck. He felt that his sword had hit its mark—Yuk Eun-Hyung’s head would surely be rolling on the snow-covered ground.

Thud!

However, what fell on the ground for some reason was not Yuk Eun-Hyung's head but Do-Jin's blade. When Do-Jin's sword approached Yuk Eun-Hyung's neck, Yuk-Eun-Hyung immediately grabbed the sword with his bare hands and shattered the blade.

"You've gotten old," Yuk Eun-Hyung muttered as he held the broken sword and looked at the bewildered Do-Jin.

Blood trickled from Yuk Eun-Hyung’s palm, where he had held the sword blade with his bare hands. Yuk Eun-Hyung didn't pay any attention to it as that level of pain was familiar to him.

But Yuk Eun-Hyung had no time to relax. Simon and Jin-Seo were still standing. Taking advantage of Yuk Eun-Hyung's focus on Do-Jin, the two drew blessing arrays and utilized them to leap toward Yuk Eun-Hyung.

Swish!

The two swung their swords almost simultaneously. Yuk Eun-Hyung leaned back to avoid their strikes. Simon and Jin-Seo's swords brushed past Yuk Eun-Hyung's hair, so they immediately prepared for the next attack. Jin-Seo immediately used a blessing, her body enveloped in its light. Simon also tried to use a blessing, but there was no time.

Thwack!

Yuk Eun-Hyung's ax sank into Simon's shoulder.

"Ugh, agh!" Simon cried out in pain and slumped down.

Simon’s grip on his sword loosened. Nevertheless, Simon did not drop the sword. With desperate determination, he somehow held onto it. However, he could not swing the sword again. His mind was clouded with pain.

Yuk Eun-Hyung then turned his gaze toward Jin-Seo, but he had no chance to swing his ax at her. Jin-Seo's sword was already in front of Yuk Eun-Hyung’s neck.

Swish!

Yuk Eun-Hyung could not avoid the sword. More accurately, he was only barely able to prevent his neck from being severed. He had reached out his hand to block Jin-Seo's sword, giving up his wrist to deflect the blow aimed at his neck.

Yuk Eun-Hyung's face twisted slightly. But he regained his composure, grasped his ax, and raised his weapon into the sky.

Bang-!

At that moment, a gunshot rang out. While Do-Jin, Jin-Seo, and Simon stood against Yuk Eun-Hyung with their swords drawn, Su-Ryeon took her position behind the trees. Seizing the opportunity when Yuk Eun-Hyung's movement paused momentarily due to his severed wrist, Su-Ryeon pulled the trigger. Her gun aimed true at his heart.

Plunge!

Just before the bullet hit him, Yuk Eun-Hyung quickly stepped back to dodge the shot. However, he wasn’t able to completely avoid it. Once again, he narrowly avoided the bullet to his heart, but it struck his knee instead. Yuk Eun-Hyung lost his balance and fell.

However, the battle was not over yet. Yuk Eun-Hyung's eyes were still alive. He glared at Su-Ryeon as she held onto the gun while perched on the tree with murderous intent. He gripped the ax tightly, planning to throw the ax to hit Su-Ryeon.

Crunch!

At that moment, Do-Jin stepped on Yuk Eun-Hyung's wrist. Thus, Yuk Eun-Hyung's last resistance was thwarted.

"Ugh!" Yuk Eun-Hyung groaned in pain.

He stared at Do-Jin, who was looking down at him. Despite losing his left hand and sustaining a gunshot wound to his knee, rendering further resistance impossible, Yuk Eun-Hyung’s eyes still glinted with venom.

Squish.

Do-Jin pressed Yuk Eun-Hyung’s wrist harder. "Tell me where the Cult Leader is."

The ax that Yuk Eun-Hyung had grasped tightly fell to the ground. Do-Jin pointed his broken sword at Yuk Eun-Hyung's neck. Even though it was broken, it would not have a problem taking away the breath of a completely subdued opponent.

"If you don't speak, I have no choice but to kill you. Choose."

***

The clergymen were bewildered.

The terrain had suddenly changed, causing the ranks to scatter. Moreover, the sky had darkened because of the thick clouds, and they could not tell where they were, with the white snow falling throughout the entire area.

The clergymen desperately reached for their Burning Bush Twigs, a holy artifact that allowed communication with other clergymen by infusing divine power. They unleashed the divine power and poured it into their Burning Bush Twigs.

Flare!

The Burning Bush Twigs caught fire, and the clergymen brought their mouths to the flames.

Kwak!

The Voodoo Cult seized the opportunity.

"Oof, ugh. kggh!"

A noose tightened around the neck of the clergymen who had unleashed divine power and infused it into their Burning Bush Twigs. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the clergymen could not resist. They writhed in pain before losing consciousness. Their limp bodies lay sprawled on the snowy ground.

"These fools are nothing when scattered," Soo-Hyun muttered as he looked at the fallen clergymen.

The clergymen, disoriented by the suddenly altered terrain, scrambled to draw their Burning Bush Twig or unleash their divine power. Thanks to the light emitted by the divine power, the Voodoo Cultists quickly pinpointed their location.

Soo-Hyun and the Ravens Mercenary Corps followed the light to locate the clergymen, then strangled them to death with nooses. Dozens of clergymen had already been dispatched in this manner.

"I hope everything is going smoothly," Soo-Hyun murmured, raising his head.

The snow-covered mountain was beautiful, but only from a distance. Fierce battles between life and death occurred in various parts of this white-painted mountain.

Things had been going in favor of the Voodoo Cult so far. Everything was going according to Cult Leader Sun-Woo’s plan. However, they did not know what variables might arise in the future. Despite the Voodoo Cult’s current advantage, there was always a chance that a certain event could shift the tide in favor of the Romanican Church.

"..."

Soo-Hyun shook his head. This wasn't the time to be having such thoughts. He needed to subdue clergymen. The only way to help the Voodoo Cult at the moment was to subdue clergymen instead of thinking about such things.

Right now, he needed to do what needed to be done.

This overwhelming belief controlled Soo-Hyun, and was the backbone of his behavioral patterns. He killed the Levi Order's director during The Starless Night for this reason. The same motivation led to his imprisonment in an underground cell. After Sun-Woo, the third Cult Leader, helped him escape, he pledged loyalty to the Voodoo Cult for this very cause. Now, this driving force compelled him to strangle clergymen with a rope. He had done everything following his beliefs.

"Executive Soo-Hyun. Please do what needs to be done, even if I die."

Soo-Hyun remembered Sun-Woo's words and cleared his mind of distractions. He walked again in the direction of another light.

***

Soo-Yeong raised the Executioner's Sword and swung.

Swish!

The head of the Head Guardian of Charity, who had been fighting Soo-Yeong until a moment ago, toppled onto the snowy ground. Bright red blood stained the white snow.

Soo-Yeong sat down in front of the dismembered head.

She roughly gasped for breath. "Hah, hah!"

The eerie sensation of cutting flesh was still vivid in her mind. Her palm tingled while holding the sword.

The Executioner's Sword was a weapon made of Voodoo magic. Compared to a real sword, the sensation of cutting was almost imperceptible. Behead someone’s head with the Executioner's Sword was easy—so easy. However, even so, that didn’t lighten the burden of murder.

"..."

Soo-Yeong thought she would never get used to this feeling of killing someone. Her stomach churned. A brilliant light emanated from the body of the beheaded Head Guardian. The flickering light wavered and eventually rose into the sky, disappearing out of sight. That was probably what Sun-Woo referred to as Berakah.

"I killed the Head Guardian of Charity. I also witnessed the Berakhah disappearing,” Soo-Yeong said to the tree roots wriggling through the ground.

By speaking to the tree roots anywhere in the mountains, her words would all be relayed to Sun-Woo.

A voice came from the tree roots. Although the voice was distorted and eerily split, it was Sun-Woo's.

-Well done.

"Right, where are the other Head Guardians?" Soo-Yeong asked without hesitation.

Her role was to locate and eliminate the Head Guardians isolated by Sun-Woo's power. It was obvious why no one else but Soo-Yeong was given this role. Apart from Sun-Woo, no one in the Voodoo Cult could use spells better than her. From enthrallment spells like the curse of fainting and intoxication to replication spells like Executioner's Sword and Dawn's Blade, she was the only follower of the Voodoo Cult who could use them perfectly.

Soo-Yeong was the only one who knew how to use powerful spells like Executioner's Sword to deal with the escort bosses who had been bestowed with the special power called Berakah by the Pope, Yu-Hyun.

-Wait a moment. It.. looks g... esca...

Soo-Yeong frowned. Sun-Woo’s voice had been clear and audible until seconds ago, but now it was hard to make out.

“What? I can't hear you well!”

-First... get ou... th..

“'What are you saying? Speak clearly!'

Flop.

The tree roots that were conveying Sun-Woo's voice rotted and withered away. This was the first time this had happened. What had happened to Sun-Woo? Sun-Woo had used the Loa's power several times before. It wouldn’t be strange if the drawbacks had slowly crept in.

A rough voice suddenly reached Soo-Yeong's ears.

“Damn, he's playing tricks. That bastard!”

“...”

She was certain that it was an enemy. No one in the Voodoo Cult had such an unpleasant voice. Soo-Yeong hid in the nearby bushes and listened carefully to the approaching sound.

Crunch, crunch.

She heard footsteps in the snow. Judging by the sound, there were at least three enemies. Soo-Yeong unleashed Voodoo magic and prepared to draw a spell array. After preparing to use her spells, Soo-Yeong raised her head above the bushes to confirm the faces of the enemies.

“Ah.”

Soo-Yeong made a sound without realizing it as soon as he saw that face. That person had blonde hair, mottled skin, and sharply raised eyes—not to mention the flashy attire that outshone the other clergymen and Head Guardians. It was Pope Yu-Hyun, the mastermind behind the death of Soo-Yeong’s mother during The Starless Night and the person responsible for throwing Soo-Hyun into the underground prison.

He was Soo-Yeong's nemesis, whom she wouldn't mind killing a few times. Her nemesis was right in front of her. Soo-Yeong gritted her teeth. Very carefully, so as not to catch Yu-Hyun's eye, she drew a spell array.