The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 85

"This is eerie."

Han Dae-ho was descending the stairs. It was the path leading down to the basement of Basar Shopping Center where the fire had occurred. Beside him was his subordinate Holy Knight Oh Hee-jin, a religious otaku.

Oh Hee-jin was carrying a clipboard under her arm. It contained organized doctrines and characteristics of Satan worship, Voodoo, Semitic religions, and various other religions.

"Commander."

Oh Hee-jin, who had been following behind Han Dae-ho, suddenly asked.

"What? Speak quickly, you bastard. Don’t beat around the bush."

"About that incident from before. Is it really okay?"

It was a vague question. Han Dae-ho belatedly grasped Oh Hee-jin’s intention and nodded.

After suppressing the fire, Han Dae-ho had immediately identified the imposter trainee Holy Knight. He found out that his name was Do Seon-woo and that he was a first-year at Florence, but there were no other particular notable details. Since he had only intended to find out the name and school in the first place, he didn’t dig any deeper.

Immediately after, Han Dae-ho contacted Kim Bok-dong, a Florence teacher he was acquainted with, and told him that Do Seon-woo had been of great help in fire suppression and had rescued as many as 12 citizens.

It was thanks to Han Dae-ho that Do Seon-woo’s actions became known among the teachers. However, Han Dae-ho hadn’t heard the news that Do Seon-woo was hospitalized and hovering between life and death.

"It’s fine. It’s not like I lied."

Han Dae-ho answered as if it was no big deal.

"But Commander, he wasn’t even a real trainee Holy Knight, he was a student impersonating a trainee Holy Knight. Not only did we give equipment to such a person, but we also received great help from him, which greatly damages the reputation of our Holy Knight Order..."

"This bastard worries about everything. I have my own thoughts about it, so just stay quiet."

Han Dae-ho said this and smiled lightly. If he spread word of Do Seon-woo’s achievements everywhere, as Oh Hee-jin said, there was a possibility that the Holy Knight Order’s reputation would greatly deteriorate.

However, Han Dae-ho thought there was no image left to fall further. While public criticism could be accepted, losing talent like Do Seon-woo would be a great loss.

Han Dae-ho was planning to recruit Do Seon-woo to the Seoul Eastern Holy Knight Order during future commission practicum and dispatch practicum. Willingly informing Florence about Do Seon-woo’s actions was also groundwork for this purpose.

"Since it’s the Commander’s words..."

Oh Hee-jin nodded reluctantly. He lifted the clipboard that had been tucked under his arm and meaninglessly skimmed through it. He had a habit of skimming through it whenever he had time.

Splash...

At that moment, an ominous sound echoed from somewhere. Han Dae-ho and Oh Hee-jin’s gazes turned toward one place.

There was a man whose lower body had been severed, crawling on the floor with his arms. His appearance was no different from a half-corpse. Intestines were stretched out like string along the path he had crawled.

"Gh-ghost...!"

Oh Hee-jin’s face turned deathly pale.

"Hey, get it together!"

Han Dae-ho hit the back of Oh Hee-jin’s head and quickly approached the man. As Oh Hee-jin said, it might be a ghost, but it could also be an innocent citizen whose lower body had been blown away by the explosion.

Though it was impossible for a citizen to still be alive now, four days after the explosion occurred.

"This is Seoul Eastern Holy Knight Order Commander Han Dae-ho. Are you alri- ugh!"

Han Dae-ho, who had approached the man, suddenly stepped back due to a sudden stench. The stench was coming from the man’s body. It was truly a terrible smell.

"Com-commander... Commander... Save me, please... Commander..."

The man was calling for the commander while crawling forward endlessly. From far away, it looked like only his lower body was missing, but looking closely, even his head was cut in half. The cross-section smelled of rotting corpses and strong chemicals.

"Formalin..."

Behind Han Dae-ho, who was stunned by shock, Oh Hee-jin spoke quietly. Formalin was a drug mainly used as a preservative for taxidermy.

Taxidermy?

Han Dae-ho suddenly felt ominousness and unpleasantness.

"Commander... Save me, please..."

Bulge.

While Oh Hee-jin was covering her mouth to suppress vomit and Han Dae-ho was looking at the man with a disgusted face.

The cross-section of the man’s severed head bulged up. The bulged part changed shape irregularly, then began to expand as if it would burst at any moment.

Han Dae-ho felt an instinctive sense of crisis seeing this.

"...Get down!"

Boom!

Han Dae-ho lunged toward Oh Hee-jin.

Along with the explosion, the man’s flesh, tooth fragments, sawdust, and cotton scattered everywhere. The explosion wasn’t large, but the flying sawdust and tooth fragments embedded themselves in various parts of Han Dae-ho’s body.

Han Dae-ho grimaced in pain but never made a sound.

"C-Commander! Are you alright?"

Oh Hee-jin, who belatedly came to her senses, jumped up from her position. Her hands were drawing a healing circle. The healing circle was drawn halfway then collapsed repeatedly. It was because her startled heart hadn’t calmed down yet.

Han Dae-ho smiled and got up, then stopped Oh Hee-jin’s arm as she was drawing the healing circle.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. What are you doing something that won’t work anyway?"

"No, your wounds..."

"It’s nothing. It’s not even a burn, it’ll heal if I sleep for a day."

Speaking as if it was no big deal, Han Dae-ho brushed off the fragments embedded in his body. Blood spurted from where the fragments had been embedded, staining his clothes. The blood didn’t stop and kept flowing. Later, Han Dae-ho’s clothes were completely dyed red.

The exploded man had left countless traces while crawling. Sawdust, cotton, blood, hair, and slimy liquids marked the path the man had crawled. Han Dae-ho and Oh Hee-jin walked following those traces.

They passed through a dark corridor filled with the smell of burning and descended slippery stairs. The room they arrived at was filled with the same chemical smell that had come from the man.

"...What a strong smell."

Han Dae-ho held his nose and walked ahead, looking around.

Pale flesh pieces were scattered everywhere, and unidentified liquid filled the floor. There were places where the walls had been blackened by explosions or where the ceiling had collapsed.

Oh Hee-jin, following behind, was reading through her clipboard. Han Dae-ho tapped Oh Hee-jin’s shoulder as she entered a focused state.

"It smells like Satan worship. What do you think?"

"I think it’s Satan worship too. It’s that guy from 2 years ago."

"Yeah, I know it’s that guy from 2 years ago, but..."

Han Dae-ho looked around. There were no taxidermy, only flesh pieces that ’had been’ taxidermy scattered around.

During the taxidermy incident 2 years ago, the perpetrator had cherished his taxidermy creations very much. Like an artist treasuring their work more than life itself.

Why had such a perpetrator blown up all the taxidermy he had cherished so much? No, what reason had forced him to blow them up? This was a question that suddenly arose in Han Dae-ho’s mind.

"Commander! You need to come see this!"

Oh Hee-jin’s urgent voice pulled Han Dae-ho from his thoughts. Han Dae-ho walked almost running toward where Oh Hee-jin was. His steps made splashing sounds and the floor was so slippery he almost fell several times. When he arrived at the place, there was nothing there.

"What? Why did you tell me to come look?"

"There, there. Can you see it?"

Oh Hee-jin pointed at the floor. Some kind of glowing powder was floating on top of the liquid on the floor. The light had a faint purple tint. Han Dae-ho tilted his head.

"What is that?"

"It’s bone powder. The glowing bone powder we saw back then."

"So when was ’back then’? ...Don’t tell me you’re talking about the Holy War?"

During the Holy War, Voodoo’s prophet had suddenly started scattering bone powder in the air during battle. Purple mist flowed from the scattered bone powder.

The papal forces who inhaled the mist all lost consciousness without exception and collapsed on the spot.

Han Dae-ho had been one of the conscripted papal forces at the time, so he clearly remembered that scene.

The prophet swaying and scattering bone powder as if dancing, and the papal forces collapsing limply in response. Even Han Dae-ho had helplessly lost consciousness to that mist.

"Yes, that bone powder from the Holy War. It seems Voodoo’s cult leader came here."

"...Are you sure about that? Isn’t it just, what, sawdust powder from taxidermy or something?"

"Commander, you know too. The bone powder used in Voodoo feels different. Besides, the fact that bone powder that should have disappeared in the explosion is still here..."

Oh Hee-jin’s lips trembled as she trailed off.

As she said, Voodoo bone powder felt different from ordinary bone powder. It wouldn’t burn even when set on fire, and no matter how scattered it was, it would somehow be gathered together when you looked. The flowing purple light was extremely eerie.

It felt like what death itself would be like if ground into powder.

"So Satan worship and Voodoo..."

"..."

Han Dae-ho trailed off. An ominous but all too certain deduction was arising in his mind.

A battle between Satan worship and Voodoo had taken place here. Why Satan worship and Voodoo came to fight was unknown. Anyway, during the battle, Satan worship, driven into a corner, had blown up all the taxidermy here as a last resistance. Thinking this way seemed to make sense.

"Does this mean the 3rd cult leader has moved?"

That is, it meant that Voodoo’s cult leader, who had been quiet for 7 years since the Holy War, had begun activity.

The fact that he, who had been sharpening his blade for revenge for his parents, had finally drawn his sword was by no means positive news. It meant that Satan worship, Romanica religion, and Voodoo - these three religions had begun a three-way war.

Was the 2nd Holy War about to begin? Han Dae-ho felt a cold and eerie ominousness looking at the bone powder scattered on the floor.

* * *

’The fire is okay now. The fire...’

’If I go now, I won’t be late. I can go.’

[Still sleeping? It’s about time to wake up.]

’Just about once more, it should be okay to use it a bit more...’

Thud.

I opened my eyes along with a sound like something collapsing.

The emotions I felt in the dream and the scenery I saw remained vividly in my mind. In the dream, I had rushed into flames. My body was trembling with fear.

I wasn’t afraid of fire, but I was afraid of something else instead.

In the burning smoke and scattering consciousness, there were scenes that came to mind. One was the scene of Father burning in flames while hanging on a stake. One was the scene of a cat dying with its intestines flowing from its burst belly.

Chased by fear, I rescued people, and chased by time, I headed to the main auditorium. When pain came, I used intoxication sorcery to forget the pain.

Reaching the main auditorium, darkness came, and I rushed into flames again to rescue people. Even during this, the images of Father and the cat kept flickering before my eyes.

Such repetition continued in the dream. When I opened my eyes, my whole body was damp with cold sweat. My heart made dry, hard sounds. The sound circulated throughout my body.

"Huh...?"

At that moment, I heard someone’s voice. It was a surprised tone, but the sound was clear and bright.

When I forced my stiffly frozen neck up, I saw Kim Jin-seo. She was looking me up and down for quite a while as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

I looked around, leaving her behind. This seemed to be a hospital. Judging by Kim Jin-seo wearing hospital clothes, it seemed she and I were hospitalized in the same hospital. I couldn’t tell how many days had passed since the day the shopping center exploded.

"What day is... today?"

Seeing her face, indescribably complex emotions flooded in like a tide, but I asked about the date while trying to act as calm as possible. Kim Jin-seo didn’t answer and just stared at me for a while, then buried her face in the hospital bed.

"The 19th."

She said. Her clear voice was echoing in the bed sheets.

It surely wouldn’t be May 19th, so it must be April 19th. That meant about a week had passed since the appointment ceremony.

I was newly amazed that I had been sleeping for such a long time.

Kim Jin-seo lifted her head and glared at me with narrow eyes.

"I thought you were dead."

"Fortunately, I didn’t die."

"...I said I thought you were dead."

I couldn’t tell what kind of answer she wanted. I looked at her face.

She seemed to turn her head slightly to avoid my gaze, then turned her head again to stare at me intently.

Her hair hanging below her shoulders was unkempt and disheveled, and her eyes were a bit red. Her pupils were teary as if she would cry at any moment.

"Did you cry?"

"What are you talking about? Why would I cry?"

"No, even now..."

Tears were beaded like dew in her eyes. Kim Jin-seo belatedly noticed this and buried her face in the hospital bed again as if to hide her tears. When the tears stopped, she lifted her head. Her moist eyes had become dry, but her eyelids were still red.

"I didn’t cry."

I didn’t even ask.

"Right... But if it’s the 19th."

I estimated the date and day of the week in my mind. If it’s the 19th, it’s probably Monday. The clock hanging on the hospital room wall pointed to 10 o’clock. School was until 8:15... I was late. I forced my stiff body up.

Even when lying down, I had guessed, but getting up showed that my body was in a more terrible state than I thought.

Bandages were wrapped around various parts of my body, and several needles were stuck in my left arm. But considering all that, there weren’t as many painful places as I expected. This was enough that I could be discharged immediately without any problem.

Grab.

As I was trying to get up from the hospital bed, Kim Jin-seo grabbed my wrist. She used tremendous force to lay me back down on the hospital bed.

"Why are you getting up? Where are you trying to go?"

"I’m going to school."

"Don’t be stubborn. Rest if you’re hurt."

"I’m not in pain now. So let me be discharged..."

I said this and tried to get up again, but Kim Jin-seo immediately stopped me.

She looked at me blankly with sleepy, drowsy eyes. Those eyes were a bit empty and vacant.

Chomp.

At that moment, she suddenly bit my wrist.

"What, what are you doing? Hey, really, it really hurts!" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Yeah. It hurts."

She looked at me and smiled brightly. It was a clear and transparent smile. Her voice was no different from usual, but somehow the tone was mystical. It was the kind of speech you might hear in a dream, completely detached from daily life.

"If it hurts, just lie down. Don’t think about going anywhere."

"..."

Her teeth marks were clearly left on my wrist. Kim Jin-seo was stroking those marks and smiling innocently.

However, her shoulders, which held such a clear smile, were trembling finely. It meant she was feeling fear about something.

"Alright..."

I reluctantly threw my body onto the hospital bed as if lying down and closed my eyes.

Kim Jin-seo wanted me not to leave, to lie quietly in the hospital bed, complete treatment fully, and then be discharged. She was genuinely worried about me now, and perhaps during the week I was unconscious, she had devotedly nursed me.

Realizing this, unbearable self-reproach suddenly flooded in. I pulled the blanket up to cover my head and squeezed my eyes shut. The memories of that day when smoke and flames rose from the explosion came vividly to mind in the darkness.

"What are you doing?"

Kim Jin-seo poked my body with her finger from beyond the blanket and asked. It felt like she was checking whether I was alive or dead.

"...It’s nothing."

I answered without lowering the blanket I had pulled up. Right now, I didn’t have the confidence to face her face calmly.

Precisely, I didn’t have the confidence to endure the guilt that flooded in every time I saw her face.

Because the reason I saved her was too dirty.