Bang! Bang! Bang! The roar made by the red spiritual bodies colliding with the ground was quite loud.
[Haha, for the dog’s reputation, it’s quite pathetic.]
The Hyeong Akgui dodged the attacks with leisurely movements. As if out for a stroll, even clasping its hands behind its back, it shook its head saying the Jaegui’s attacks were completely readable, then suddenly staggered. It failed to notice the Jaegui that had lowered its body and approached the ground, and its ankle was bitten.
Though a small Jaegui, it strongly chomped the Hyeong Akgui’s ankle and tore it off as it was.
The Hyeong Akgui’s mouth twisted as it realized the reason for attacking only in simple patterns until now had been a ploy to create an opening. With a shake to throw off its leg, the Hyeong Akgui retreated far back and ground its teeth.
[How can you bare your teeth so hastily like this? And in ‘this place’ of all places?]
As the Hyeong Akgui extended its hand toward the Dangmok, fwoosh— black energy rose like flames from the talismans on the ground. As if strengthening the curse contaminating the tree, the spirit in Sim Seowoo’s arms screamed.
[Kyaaaaaaah!]
At the appearance of writhing in pain all over its body, Sim Seowoo was startled and hugged the spirit deeper. While holding it tight and patting its back, he tried pouring out purification power, wondering if it might have even a little effect. Since purification was said to be pure power that washes away impurity.
Hoping the spirit’s pain would lessen, as he drew up purification energy into his hands, surprisingly the spirit’s struggle subsided. However, since the fundamental problem of the Dangmok being cursed didn’t disappear, the spirit’s eyes just grew cloudy as if anesthetized.
Blinking, looking up at Sim Seowoo with eyes whose light was fading from exhaustion, the spirit pleaded.
[Please, put me… on the tree….]
With that extremely difficult request as the last, the spirit drooped limply. While Sim Seowoo lamented at its completely unconscious state, the Hyeong Akgui’s gaze turned toward him.
Just then, in the process of the spirit struggling, it had grabbed the veil attached to Sim Seowoo’s hat, fully revealing his face. The Hyeong Akgui staring intently at that place exclaimed in admiration— hooh.
[Don’t tell me you’re the survivor from that day?]
“…?”
Sim Seowoo looked up bewilderedly. The evil spirit he’d met at the movie theater in the past had only realized after churning through his memories that he was the survivor from that day—that is, the only human who survived on the day Hyungsin was resurrected. But that Hyeong Akgui had recognized him as a survivor as soon as it saw him.
How on earth? Don’t tell me his face was even known among the executives of that cult group?
The reason he first came to stay at Heun had been the worry that the Hyeong Akgui might recognize him first and try to kill him, saying it would make Hyungsin’s resurrection perfect, so he needed to be careful. But actually, he’d thought that concern was quite excessive and also vague, so was it really a real threat?
[Hmm. Though I did find it peculiar that you survived back then, I didn’t know you’d become a Purifier with your spiritual sight opened like this. So you weren’t just a worthless ant who survived by luck.]
However, there was something oddly peculiar about the Hyeong Akgui’s muttering. As Sim Seowoo grew even more bewildered at how it seemed to have known about him all along but deliberately hadn’t paid attention, bang! A Jaegui flew.
Shot with a fiercer momentum than before, and other sorcerers’ attacks also swiftly followed. Spiritual power flew from Do Seonhwa’s gun and the sword tips of Team 5 members toward the Hyeong Akgui.
“Don’t show pointless interest.”
“That’s right, how dare you look at our Guiin with such impure eyes!”
“There are people in this world you absolutely must not touch! That’s Seowoo-nim, and me!”
Following Cheon Yijae’s warning-like bleak murmur, Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin’s shouts also followed in turn. Though Do Seonhwa sent an absurd look at Jin Gwangmin’s last words, she soon shook her head and just re-gripped her gun.
All five members of Team 5 also seriously prepared their offensive. Usually in the field, Purifiers were beings who needed to be protected, and right now Sim Seowoo was the only one here. Though Team 5 also had a Purifier assigned, since today’s mission was just investigation, they hadn’t accompanied them.
So everyone stepped forward in front of Sim Seowoo, and Jin Gwangmin, though not a combat officer, joined that formation with sprays in both hands with quite a solemn face. He planned to spray water steeped richly with salt and red beans to block if the Hyeong Akgui approached.
“Don’t worry, Seowoo-nim! This has a concentration of 4 times!”
“Mm, yes…”
Sim Seowoo couldn’t quite say he felt reassured and just nodded. Anyway, while all the other members protected him, it seemed he needed to approach the Dangmok to remove the talismans and put the spirit up. Just earlier, Cheon Yijae had attacked the Hyeong Akgui and separated it from the tree, so now was the right time.
However, just as Sim Seowoo was about to move, the Hyeong Akgui giggled—
[How amusing. Do you think I’ll just watch as you approach the Dangmok?]
‘Of course you’ll interfere…’
Sim Seowoo answered inwardly while speeding up his steps. He’d heard that in genres like magical girls or superhero stories, there was usually an implicit rule that the opponent shouldn’t move and had to wait when the protagonist transformed. Conversely, they also had to listen quietly when the villain introduced themselves.
But Sim Seowoo had no intention of following that at all, so he ran toward the Dangmok. The members also attacked the Hyeong Akgui with their respective weapons as if to buy time until he arrived safely.
But unexpectedly, the Hyeong Akgui didn’t counterattack. It just moved leisurely while avoiding the members’ attacks without approaching the Dangmok, then soon burst out with an exclamation— aha— and said.
[Ah, now I understand. I wondered why you were doing such a stupid thing, but that foolish spirit must not have talked in detail about the ‘key’?]
“…Huh?”
[This key isn’t a sacred object that simply contains the spirit’s memories. This is….]
Jin Gwangmin made a dumbfounded sound while looking at the Hyeong Akgui. He could tell that the small branch the Hyeong Akgui pulled out from inside its jeogori was precisely the ‘key’ the Dangmok Spirit had been desperately searching for. The clear energy sparkling around the green leaves attached to the branch like a key’s teeth proved it was a sacred object.
Swoosh! A Jaegui swiftly flew toward it, but—
[A key that can open everyone’s memories.]
The Ghost Energy flowing from the Hyeong Akgui’s hand was faster. The branch trembled— as if resisting being used by impure hands, but ultimately was forcibly opened and yellowish-green light spread in all directions.
The exploding light was certainly clear, but mixed with the Hyeong Akgui’s evil Ghost Energy, it looked exactly like an earthquake occurring on a lawn, the ground splitting apart.
[In other words, I can plunge you all into despair in an instant.]
Sim Seowoo saw the Hyeong Akgui smile as if tearing its mouth up to its cheekbones as the last thing, then squeezed his eyes shut. Fwaaash! A warning instinct surged that he should distance himself from the light, but there was nowhere to flee to avoid the light spreading across the area.
Moreover, even a strong wind swept through, and Sim Seowoo stepped back a couple of steps and crouched down. Like response guidelines when encountering a flare, minimizing movement, bowing his body, and first confirming safe ground with his fingertips.
The sensation of the ground touching his hands felt distant, as if it would soon disappear. While he endured, tightly embracing the spirit with his other hand—
“…?”
Soon nothing happened, and he opened his eyes bewilderedly.
Considering the evil spirit’s meaningful words and the light and strong wind that spread around, some trouble should have already occurred, but Sim Seowoo was quite intact. Puzzledly feeling his body while confirming his senses were whole, he soon turned his head at a sound heard from over there.
“N-no. I don’t want confinement…!”
Jin Gwangmin was shouting while crouched on the ground. But he was trapped inside some translucent black egg. The Ghost Energy that had soaked into the light that spread across the area seemed to have imprisoned him, and all the members of Team 5 were similarly sitting inside similar eggs, groaning.
What on earth is that?
Sim Seowoo looked around confusedly and discovered Do Seonhwa also collapsed on the ground. But for some reason, the egg encasing her was a bit darker than the others, and inside it she clutched her chest and panted.
“Mom, Dad… don’t die, sob, don’t leave me behind…!”
At Do Seonhwa’s sobbing like screams, Sim Seowoo lamented. Together with the information that she’d lost her parents in a traffic accident at a young age, the words the Hyeong Akgui had spat while holding the key overlapped and came to mind, and he could immediately infer what those trapped in the eggs were seeing.
[In other words, I can plunge you all into despair in an instant.]
Right now, all the members seemed to be seeing their past traumas.
‘Don’t tell me I’m fine thanks to the spirit…?’
Sim Seowoo looked down at the spirit in his arms and speculated. Since there was no exhausted feeling at all as if purification power had been used, the hypothesis that he was safe because he was in contact with the spirit seemed correct. Since the true owner of the key the Hyeong Akgui used was the spirit.
He turned his head a bit more. Looking around searching for the one person still not visible, he soon sighed quietly.
An ominously pitch-black egg existed over there.
The eggs imprisoning the others were translucently black so the figures crouched inside were visible, but that one was so dark the interior couldn’t be seen at all. It was so pitch-black that it even looked like only that spot in the world had a hole punched through it.
Though Sim Seowoo couldn’t confirm its interior, he was certain.
Cheon Yijae must be inside that.
