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Chapter 80

However, Marinette\'s condition was not very good. It was because I hadn’t offered any sacrifices to Marinette recently. I had starved her as punishment for betraying me and siding with Han Su-Yeop. However, the punishment backfired. Back when I used Marinette’s power during the Ark Checkpoints, her power was already showing signs of running dry.

[I, Bossou, am in peak condition.]

On the other hand, Bossou was in good shape. So, it was necessary to make the most of Bossou\'s power. However, there were a few problems. First, the darkness was bothersome, and second, the unidentified liquid covering the floor was also bothering me.

The spluttering sound that resounded with every step of the taxidermied humans was due to that liquid. There was a risk of slipping and falling if there were any sudden movements, just like how Ji-Ah tripped and fell while running away.

Thud, thud, thud.

In the meantime, the taxidermied humans were slowly approaching me. Their steps weren\'t fast, but how they advanced toward me in formation was extremely threatening.

Besides, I wasn’t here to fight in the first place. The reason I came here was to save Ji-Ah, so there was no need to fight a disadvantageous battle. It was best to escape for now and leave the fight for another day.

As I made up my mind and carefully tried to leave the room without slipping—

Smack!

Something struck the back of my head. I had never been hit by a car before, but the force of the blow was so strong that I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was what it felt like to get hit by one. A ringing sound echoed in my head, and my vision spun. Beyond my hazy vision, I could see the perverted figure laughing his head off while clapping his hands, and I saw a strange taxidermied creature flying in the air like a bird. It seemed like the thing that had struck my head was the taxidermied bird-like creature.

“Did you think I would just let you run away? If I let you escape, then my head will get chopped off, you see. You can’t escape. Just be a good boy and become an ingredient. That’ll make things much simpler, don’t you think?”

"...Arghh."

I tried to respond, but the words didn\'t come out. I couldn\'t tell if it was because my head hurt or simply because I had run out of stamina. The taxidermied humans continued to approach me with their sloppy steps.

"Urgh..."

I tried to get up from my position. A feeble groan escaped my lips.

Slip!

However, I failed. Getting up itself was a Herculean task. While lying there, I lightly brushed the back of my head and found that it was wet. My hand was painted with blood, and I could feel blood seeping out from my head. By the time I felt the blood trickling down to the back of my neck, my strength had drained away, and my hands and feet began to feel cold.

I was dying.

It was more like an intuition rather than a realization. My whole body throbbed with pain. Every fiber of my being screamed in agony. The taxidermied humans were already right in front of me. A taxidermied human with six legs but no head was winding up three of their fists simultaneously.

Bam!

I rolled my body to avoid it. Concrete dust scattered from the punch that struck the ground. If I hadn\'t managed to dodge it by forcefully moving my body with Bossou\'s power, I would have died right there. The thought sent shivers down my spine.

[My power is surpassing your limits. If you push any further, you\'ll die.]

"It’s al... Argh..."

[This is not an illusion. This time, you\'ll really die.]

It was Bossou\'s advice. But before I could even make a decision, the next attack came crashing down.

Smack!

"Ugh...!"

A spider-like taxidermied human with eight legs but no head kicked me. After getting hit in my solar plexus, it started to feel hot and chilling pain accompanied it—making it feel as if I were being pierced by a blade. I momentarily lost my breath.

"Don\'t die just yet. It\'s more fun to make taxidermied humans while they’re still alive—"

[Your body is not strong enough to handle everything that I have. If you exercised a little more, maybe if you exercised a little more—]

"If you think you\'re going to die, raise your hands. Then I\'ll stop—"

[But if you really want to—]

The pervert and Bossou’s voices echoed in my head. Their voices were not passing through my ear and entering my brain. Instead, the voices were simply passing through one ear and out the other.

I just barely managed to stand up and unleash Voodoo magic. I used a restoration spell on the bleeding wound on the back of my head and my intestines, which seemed to have burst. Although my injuries were healed, the pain remained. I struggled to maintain my balance as my legs wobbled.

"Indeed, this is what I like about Voodoo cultists. They have strong vitality. They’re just like friendly cockroaches that can survive eternally by bunkering down underground. Hahaha.”

The pervert laughed joyously while watching me stand up. I raised my hand, and the pervert looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, do you think you\'re going to die? Should I stop? Ah, but if you surrender this quickly—"

Wham!

I twisted the neck of the taxidermied human with the hand that I had raised. The neck of the taxidermied human with six arms stretched like a rubber band.

Thud.

Soon, with a squelching sound, the body of the taxidermied human collapsed on the floor.

"Shut up, you noisy bast...ard..."

The pervert was too talkative. His mocking tone lingered in my head, intensifying my headache.

Suddenly, Min-Seo came to mind.

During training, Min-Seo also often distracted me with unnecessary talk. The similarity between the Satanist and Min-Seo was that they were both irritating presences to me. But, of course, the Satanist was much more annoying than Min-Seo.

I approached the pervert with determined steps. Targeting the taxidermied humans was a foolish move. It seemed wiser to target the pervert commanding the taxidermied humans.

"Oh!" the pervert exclaimed in admiration as he looked at me.

I ignored him and continued walking. No matter how much I walked, it seemed like the distance was not closing but only getting farther.

Thwack!

As I was walking toward the pervert, something suddenly hit my side. It was an attack from the spider-like taxidermied human.

"Oh~ my, that must hurt," the pervert mocked.

I groaned and rolled on the floor. It felt like my ribs had been dislocated this time. Blood gushed out of my mouth. It was difficult to breathe. I could distinctly feel that my lungs were getting filled with blood.

Would using a restoration spell help me recover? It might provide immediate relief, but I was concerned about the consequences. This time, it wasn\'t a matter of losing consciousness or fainting. I could really die.

No, was there any point in worrying about the future right now?

Death loomed right in front of me. It was foolish to think about the future in this life-or-death situation.

Thud.

At that moment, the box I had carried with me fell to the ground. It was a simple and rough wooden box devoid of any decorations—a keepsake left by my father. I raised my left hand with all my strength. Thankfully, the ring on my pinky finger was still there.

[Now.]

I could hear a voice. Was it Marinette\'s voice, Bossou\'s voice, or perhaps Legba\'s or Baron Samedi\'s voice?

After enduring multiple shocks to my body, the overwhelming pain made it difficult to distinguish the owner of the voice.

But it didn\'t matter. If I didn\'t open the box now right now, I would never have another chance to do so. It would be too late if I activated the Contract of the Dead and just barely scraped by with my life. It was because I had no idea what Baron Samedi would take as the price for the contract.

Clank.

I placed the box on the ring.

Creak...

With an ominous sound, the lid of the box opened, and voodoo mist flowed out.

It was a faint and thin mist, just like when the gem shattered, and the mist emerged when I first put on the ring. The mist entered my nose and soon overwhelmed my consciousness.

***

What I saw was a mirror and my father. I combed my hair, and my father did the same. I was peering into my father\'s memories. I looked at the mirror through my father\'s eyes, and by doing so, I could see my father’s appearance.

The memories I had forgotten suddenly returned. I had opened the box, and as a result, the flowing mist made me see illusions. Now that I thought about it, it was quite an obvious realization.

"Ah, this feels a bit... stranger than I expected. Oh dear, oh dear,” I said. As if mimicking me, my father, reflected in the mirror, said the same thing.

Both my father and I seemed perplexed by this situation. My father tilted his head from side to side with a slightly flushed face before he finally looked straight at the mirror and opened his firmly closed mouth.

"Well, Sun-Woo, when you see this, I\'ll be dead and gone!"

Contrary to his words, my father\'s tone was surprisingly cheerful.

"I’m just stating the obvious. After all, it\'s a box I made to leave as a keepsake... Anyway, what has Jin-Sung been up to these days? If he goes around looking to invest in stocks, make sure to stop him. He’s not someone who should be investing in stocks. He has no luck with wealth."

Jin-sung lost money from stock trading last time.

I couldn\'t respond to my father\'s question, and the thought simply remained in my mind without getting conveyed. It was because I wasn\'t inside my father\'s memories but merely glimpsing at the memories he had left behind.

"Oh, by the way, I told Jin-Sung to lend you a hand in enrolling in school. How was school? You didn\'t drop out, did you?"

I hesitated to answer my father\'s question. It was because I hadn\'t attended school long enough to say anything. Contrary to my father\'s expectations, I opened this box before becoming an adult.

"In my experience, high school memories last a lifetime. Your friends... Well, they may not last a lifetime, but they will last a long time. I hope you had a pleasant school life. Oh, that\'s not what I wanted to talk about."

My father rubbed his face, and his neatly styled hair became disheveled.

"Sigh..."

A sigh. A mixture of frustration and uneasiness was clearly visible on his face. It was my first time seeing father sigh like this.

"Right. My father... So, your grandfather was skilled in replication spells. The output of the spell wasn\'t overwhelmingly powerful, but he knew how to control it. It\'ll be helpful if you know," my father said.

I had no idea why he was suddenly explaining my grandfather’s abilities out of the blue, but since he said it would be helpful to know, I decided to remember what he said.

"Yes, this should be enough. And..."

My father hesitated, and his lips quivered. His gaze faintly trembled. Whether it was fear or anxiety, there were complex emotions on my father\'s face, but I was unable to determine the exact emotion. I couldn’t read my father\'s emotions.

"I\'m sorry for departing so soon. I’ll be waiting, so you should live a long and comfortable life... Just live comfortably, and come to me as late as possible," my father said after contemplating. His tone was forcibly cheerful.

I felt a tingling pain in my chest, as if my heart had stopped for a moment. The thought of meeting my father at such an early age crossed my mind. I felt like I would be able to meet my father right now, this instant. My father ran his palm over his lips as if trying to suppress his feelings. He looked like he was struggling to hold back tears, but his eyes remained dry.

"Oh, it’s not like I’m going to die right now, so why am I doing this kind of thing already...?"

"Excuse me, mister!"

At that moment, my father turned his head at a sharp voice that resounded from behind him. Through the mirror, I saw my mother approaching my father with angry steps.

The term ‘mister’ was what she used to refer to my father.

"What are you doing, wasting time like this? Let\'s go quickly!"

"Ah, man. I was just trying to sort out my emotions after such a long time, but you interrupted me."

"What emotions? Hurry up and get dressed..."

"Dad."

The one who interrupted my mother\'s words was me. It was me from a distant, long-forgotten past.I felt sad when I looked at the innocence that was clearly evident on that face and in those eyes. My father also felt sadness. Tears finally appeared in my father\'s eyes as he looked at the young me.

"Dad, why are you crying?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I\'m not crying, boy. Have you ever seen Dad cry? I\'m not crying."

"Dad sticks out his tongue when he tells lies."

"...I’ve raised a little tiger. Anyway, I\'m not crying. Something just went in my eyes,” my father said while laughing lightly as if it was not a big deal.

My young eyes gazed at my father with a hint of confusion in them, but it soon disappeared. Soon, a profound emptiness filled my eyes that were looking at my father. I gazed at my father with blank eyes. My eyes were so deep and dark that I felt like I was getting sucked in.

"You\'re crying. Right now," my younger self said.

My father looked in the mirror.

"Huh?"

Inside the mirror was me. Not my father, but the present me. Through the mirror, I could see my present self and my childhood self together.

My young self and my present self were both looking in the mirror. The young me was looking at my present self, and my present self was looking at my young self. I could see myself from a different point in time reflected beyond the mirror.

My young self had had a smile full of innocence on his lips, and his eyes shone brightly. His skin was flawless without a blemish, and his hair was neat, untouched by even a speck of dust.

My present self had lips that had forgotten how to smile and weary eyes. My skin was so dry, and the hair was so disheveled that it was incomparable to my younger self. A single tear ran down my eyes which were filled with doubt and emptiness.

"Ah."

The vivid contrast between my young and present self filled me with indescribable sadness. Only a single tear that ran down my face. I resented that single tear. The emotions that I bottled up inside of me were too intense and heavy to be released with just a single tear.

"...Sun-Woo," I called out to myself while wiping away my tear.

The young me looked at me with wide-eyed curiosity.

From my mouth, instead of my voice, my father’s voice came out.

"Make choices that you won’t regret. Always."

Crack.

It was advice from my father, and it was my own advice. The mirror shattered. The rift in the mirror spread out onto the wall and then into the air and eventually shattered the world. From the gaps of the rift, a familiar darkness greeted me.

Whoosh–!

The world collapsed. My mother, who was more beautiful and graceful than anyone else. My father, who hid his sorrow through jokes, and myself from the past, who still hadn’t lost his innocence. Everything collapsed.

They all collapsed and disappeared along with the crumbling world. All the light vanished, and darkness engulfed everything before my eyes.

"Huh, what’s that? Is that a box? Inside the box is the ultimate weapon... Is it that kind of story?"

I heard someone’s voice. It was not my mother, not my father, and not my young self, but the distorted voice of the Satanist that was wearing human skin on his face.

The sweet illusion crumbled, and a chilling reality emerged. The pain that had disappeared once again returned and engulfed my body. My fingertips trembled at the onslaught of pain, and my mouth opened involuntarily.

"...Arghh..."

From my open mouth, drool and strange moans that didn’t resemble that of a human flowed out. Pain radiated throughout my entire body. From my arms to my legs, every fiber of muscle in my body felt torn and ragged.

Pain.

The problem was the pain. Even with Bossou\'s power and restoration spells healing my injuries, the pain still remained. My body refused to move under the overwhelming pain. I tried to raise my head to assess the situation, but even that was impossible. Rolling my eyes was the best I could do.

"Ah..."

The taxidermied humans stared at me with unfocused eyes. Beyond the taxidermied humans, a perverted bastard was chuckling and laughing at me. Mysterious liquid covered the floor. The room was filled with thick and viscous darkness and dim red lighting.

Beneath all that, white powder was pouring out of an open box. Its original whiteness had taken on a slightly duller hue over time.

"Make choices that you won’t regret."

It was the advice my father gave me, and it was also the advice I had given to myself when I was young. It flashed through my mind.

Choices that I won’t regret.

Sigh.

With every last ounce of my energy, I gathered all my power. With that power, I blew wind toward the scattered powder in front of me. The powder scattered in the air.

"Is it drugs? The last trick that you pull out while dying is this kind of—"

Puff!

The perverted man\'s words disappeared. Mist spewed out from the powder. The mist quickly turned into Voodoo magic power, and the Voodoo magic power gradually turned into a temple.

Eventually, in front of me, a temple exuding a gloomy aura of death appeared. In the middle of the temple, someone was sitting in a chair that was luxuriously decorated with bones and gold.

[Looks like we’re meeting very often these days. I can read your intentions clearly, but I’ll ask you as a formality.]

Baron Samedi.

The Loa of Death.

In the darkness emanating from the brim of his worn silk hat, his red eyes flickered like flames.

I was kneeling and sitting before him. There was no pain. The white and slightly dull powder was piled gently on my palm.

[Why did you summon me this time?] Baron Samedi said.

Puff!

I did not need to respond.

I simply scattered the ashes piled on top of my hand.

Then, a smile appeared on Baron Samedi’s face. The smile was cold and sickening, as if it contained the chilliness of death. It wasn’t just his smile. Every aspect of the temple surrounding Baron Samedi emanated the aura of death.

However, I didn’t feel frightened. Instead, it was comforting, familiar, and cozy.

"I offer the vessel of our ancestor to the Loa of Death."

The true identity of the powder I scattered was the ashes of the first Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult, my grandfather, Do Jun-Gil.

"I request to perform the Ritual of Succession and distort death."

It was the ingredient for the Ritual of Succession and the unique offering that could be given to Baron Samedi.