The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 279

“Director...” Oh Hee-Jin muttered as he saw Han Dae-Ho approaching.

His eyes had been gradually turning red and transforming into those of a demon, but they once again regained the clarity they had back when he was a human.The tentacles that had sprouted on his body stopped attacking and floated in the air. Han Dae-Ho took a step toward Oh Hee-Jin.

He was already injured. If Oh Hee-Jin attacked him, he would suffer an injury that might immediately threaten his life. Nevertheless, he did not stop moving toward Oh Hee-Jin.

At that moment, a woman whispered into Oh Hee-Jin’s ear.

—Kill him.

The woman’s face, which had a leisurely smile all along, now showed a clear look of confusion. It was because Oh Hee-Jin was not listening to the woman’s words at all. Despite the woman's command to kill Han Dae-Ho, Oh Hee-Jin remained still. The tentacles and his arms remained unmoving as he waited for Han Dae-Ho to approach.

—If you don't kill him, you will die. Kill him immediately.

The woman commanded him again.

—Immediately.

Splat!

Oh Hee-Jin's tentacles wrapped around Han Dae-Ho's arm and tore it off. Blood spurted from his arm in all directions.

Despair crept onto Oh Hee-Jin's face. Oh Hee-Jin had not willfully moved the tentacles and attacked Han Dae-Ho. He had been forced to follow the woman's command.

"Di-director. I'm sorry. Di-director... director..." Oh Hee-Jin desperately called out to the director with a monstrous voice.

Despite his face contorted in pain, Han Dae-Ho steadfastly smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm okay."

He approached Oh Hee-Jin again. Han Dae-Ho's steps, which were always confident and strong, were weak. His trembling legs revealed how severe his injuries were. He stumbled and tripped over a couple of times, and his consciousness faded in and out, but he continued to approach Oh Hee-Jin.

And when he arrived right in front of Oh Hee-Jin’s face, Han Dae-Ho’s lips trembled as he said, "Are you okay?"

Han Dae-Ho placed his hand on Oh Hee-Jin's shoulder.

His shoulder had malformed into a grotesque abomination through repeated battles. Sharp scales were sticking out of his skin, so just touching his shoulder caused wounds to appear on Han-Dae Ho’s hand.

However, Han Dae-Ho paid no attention to this and he continued to pat Oh Hee-Jin's shoulder with his remaining arm. More wounds appeared on Han Dae-Ho's palm.

"Is that the power you truly desired?" Han Dae-Ho asked.

He knew the inferiority that Oh Hee-Jin harbored in his heart. No matter how much training he underwent, his body could not become stronger. He was born with a small frame and lacked muscles, so no matter how hard he tried, he could not overcome those with talent.

Because of that, he admired strength and despised his weakness. That was why he accumulated knowledge instead of physical strength, and that became his power. Han Dae-Ho considered Oh Hee-Jin to be a reliable and capable subordinate.

Although Han Dae-Ho had a strong physique, he did not have the desire to pursue knowledge. He had resolved various problems that could not be solved by strength alone thanks to Oh Hee-Jin's knowledge.

"You were much stronger than me. I have always thought of you that way," Han Dae-Ho said.

Oh Hee-Jin's eyes shook. The woman's face contorted grotesquely.

—Kill that bastard right now! Right now!

"Stop. Before you become even weaker," Han Dae-Ho said.

Blood continued to flow from his right arm, which had been cut off by the tentacles. However, Han Dae-Ho did not even try to stop the bleeding. He just let the blood flow. Oh Hee-Jin trembled and shed tears. The tears were not black. They were pure and clear—they were human tears.

Splurt!

A piece of wood flew over Han Dae-Ho's shoulder and pierced Oh Hee-Jin's chest. The piece of wood which flew over while spinning fiercely, created a huge hole in Oh Hee-Jin’s chest.

Blood poured out from the hole. Oh Hee-Jin covered the hole in his chest using his tentacles. Despite his ability to quickly recover from any injury or wound, Oh Hee-Jin could not fill the hole in his chest.

"Ah..."

Thud.

Oh Hee-Jin kneeled down and looked beyond Han Dae-Ho's shoulder, toward the culprit who had thrown the piece of wood. It was Sun-Woo.

Oh Hee-Jin lost his desire to fight due to Han Dae-Ho's words and he lost his life due to Sun-Woo's attack.

"...What a relief."

Oh Hee-Jin thought it was fortunate that he met his end at the hands of the Eastern Paladin Order, where he had started his career. He had succumbed to Lust’s temptation and had transformed into a being that was neither demon nor human, but he was relieved that he died without killing anyone.

"Thank, yo..."

Oh Hee-Jin's words were cut off.

The eyes which had once boiled with desire and lust as a Satanist executive’s minion and the faith and determination of a Romanican clergyman were now empty.

He met death while kneeling down. His cause of death was not due to the piece of wood that had pierced his chest. If he wanted to, he could have healed the hole, but he did not recover from that injury because he had wished for his own death. He clung on to the last vestiges of his conviction as a clergyman, not wanting to hurt people. He died because he wished for it himself. Although he had pursued strength all his life, he finally became strong in his final moments.

The woman standing behind Oh Hee-Jin let out a chilling scream. She stared at the deceased Oh Hee-Jin and screamed madly.

"Ah, ah, aaaaah—!"

The clergymen, including Joseph, Sung Yu-Da, and Han Dae-Ho, desperately covered their ears as blood flowed out from them.

"The problem was using such scum as a servant!" the woman shouted loudly as she thrashed around.

Her lips, which were smiling previously, twisted grotesquely and spewed out vile curses. Sinister wrinkles appeared in her gentle eyes. Her neat, white teeth transformed into sharp and pointed teeth like those of a beast. It was not an appearance that she used to seduce people, but it was Satanist Executive Lust’s original form.

“I should have just dealt with everything from the beginning!”

The woman raised her hand. There was a large and sharp claw on her fingertip.

Black smoke emanated from the claw. It was impossible to tell whether demonic energy was flowing out from the claw or if the claw was originally made out of demonic energy.

The woman tried to wave her hand toward everyone in the cathedral.

She intended to kill everyone in the cathedral by cutting them with Satan’s Claw.

Originally, she had planned to gather superior individuals to use as her followers, but now she didn't even want to do that. She was so angry that she wouldn’t be relieved unless she killed everyone.

However, a chilling sound echoed through the cathedral before she could wave her hand. And then the woman's head fell to the ground.

Black blood gushed out like a fountain from her decapitated body. Jin-Seo casually wiped the black blood off the sword and her face then looked down at the woman's head rolling on the ground.

Splurt.

Then she stabbed the woman's skull again with her sword. A look of confusion vividly appeared in the woman's eyes as she looked up at Jin-Seo. The woman's face, which had once been beautiful and charming to seduce people, was now covered in black blood.

"..."

Jin-Seo's face was expressionless. However, her gaze while looking down at the woman was mixed with disgust, contempt, and wrath.

The cathedral fell silent as if it had been drenched in cold water.

"Ha, hahaha. Kyahaha!"

The woman's laughter broke the silence. Even though her body and head were separated, she laughed like a madwoman.

When the laughter finally stopped, the woman rolled her eyes and scanned the faces of everyone in the cathedral, including Jin-Seo. "I will return, for sure! And I will present a dreadful nightmare once again!"

Black smoke began to flow from the separated body and the woman’s head. Her body turned into smoke and smoothly escaped outside the cathedral.

Jin-Seo tried to slice the smoke with her sword, but she was unable to cut it.

As the black smoke completely escaped outside the cathedral and disappeared, the woman's eerie laughter continued to echo throughout the cathedral.

***

The black smoke that had escaped from the cathedral rose into the sky. The smoke headed toward somewhere as it continued to move along with the wind.

The place where the smoke stopped moving and began to condense was in a valley of a deserted mountain where no one was present. The smoke slowly condensed and took shape in the center of the valley which was filled with the chill of winter.

Once again, the woman’s figure appeared. The naked woman, seemingly unaffected by the winter wind, casually looked around as she turned her head. Then, she walked toward the valley.

"Ha, ha. Ah, aah. Aaah—!"

The woman plunged into the frozen valley and made eerie sounds as she scratched her body frantically with her sharp nails. Black blood flowed from the deep wounds. The clear valley was quickly tainted black with the woman's blood. The few minnows in the valley died and floated to the surface.

"Aah... This one, that one. All of them..." the woman murmured endlessly as she scratched and peeled her own flesh with her nails.

She reviewed the previous battle. Her minion, whom Jun-Hyuk called ‘Chang-Shik,’ had died so ridiculously easily that it was absurd.

She hurriedly turned Oh Hee-Jin into her second minion, but he also died. His mind was swayed by a single word from the man named Han Dae-Ho, whom he had served as a subordinate when he was a human, and he died in such an underwhelming way.

Where did it all go wrong? Choosing Chang-Shik as her first minion? Choosing Oh Hee-Jin as her second minion? Or attempting the battle without sufficiently securing enough demonic beasts and demons?

No, none of those were the issue. Her preparation was not bad. The problem was that black-haired boy. He easily killed Chang-Shik, her first minion, and finished off all the demonic beasts and demons in the Sheepfold. He even dealt with Oh Hee-Jin, her second minion.

“The Cult Leader...”

The Voodoo Cult Leader was the problem. If it hadn't been for him, there would have been no issues. The inferior members of the clergy gathered at the cathedral would have all been killed off, leaving only the superior ones to be chosen as minions.

Thus, she would have become the strongest Container of Satan among the Satanist executives, and she would have finally been able to enjoy the honor of becoming the Lord of Hell.

However, the Voodoo Cult's leader had ruined everything. If only she could kill that bastard somehow—no, if he could even be turned into a minion instead...

Splatter, splatter.

Suddenly, someone walking on top of the valley water approached the woman. She was startled and turned her head as she had not sensed any presence earlier.

The woman was taken aback by the man's figure and said, "Jun-Hyuk?"

It was Jun-Hyuk, the Satanist executive of Envy and one of the containers of Satan. The woman blinked her eyes as if she couldn't understand at all.

"Did you escape? From the underground prison? How?"

"No, this is a taxidermied creature. The original is still in prison," Jun-Hyuk said casually.

The woman examined Jun-Hyuk's appearance a little more closely. However, no matter how much she looked, it still looked exactly like Jun-Hyuk. It was too elaborate and perfect to be called a taxidermied creature resembling Jun-Hyuk.

The woman stared at Jun-Hyuk with an astonished expression for a while.

Then, she angrily said, "You! Because you said to aim for a promotion ceremony! I listened to your words and tried to help you, and this is what happened to me. I lost my minions, my demonic beast, my demons, everything! I lost all of them!"

"Oh, really?" Jun-Hyuk replied casually.

Jun-Hyuk had advised the woman’s subordinate, Chang-Shik, to attack during the promotion ceremony. Jun-Hyuk provided all the groundwork for the attack during the ceremony, as well as all the information. The woman had unwaveringly believed Jun-Hyuk's words and aimed to cause a commotion.

At first, the woman couldn't understand why Jun-Hyuk was helping her. As a Container of Satan, he was her competitor.

However, upon hearing Jun-Hyuk say, "I can’t do anything while trapped inside this prison, so if you cause a commotion during the promotion ceremony, I will escape from the underground prison during that chaos," the woman naively set aside her doubts.

As a result of trusting Jun-Hyuk, the woman lost all the minions, demonic creatures, and demons she had trained so far.

The woman glared at Jun-Hyuk with intense eyes.

"If only you hadn't said such things—!"

"Well, you should have believed a person that was worth believing in."

With a smirk, Jun-Hyuk opened his mouth, and at that moment, a giant finger appeared behind Jun-Hyuk, accompanied by a dark flame. Before the woman could resist, the finger drew a line across the woman’s throat.

Creeeak—!

With a chilling sound as if metal was clashing, the woman's throat was cut, and it did not grow back. She couldn't turn into smoke and escape. The woman died without being able to utter any last words or pleas.

She died, just like that.

After picking up a fingernail that fell from the woman's body, Jun-Hyuk put it into his mouth and said, "Now, there’s only one left."

A fingernail, as large and as sharp as the woman's, slowly grew from his finger while emanating demonic energy.