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Chapter 98

Pshhh...

Mist spewed forth from her spell array. The mist hastily made its way toward Sun-Woo, dancing in the wind.

“See, I told you it wouldn’t work.”

However, it had no apparent effect. The mist only circled around Sun-Woo and did not reach him. It was as if there was a thin barrier around him.

“You, what...!"

It seemed that he had used the power of the Loa to use the wind to block the mist. Although Soo-Yeong wanted to protest, she realized that he wasn\'t necessarily cheating. If one spell weren’t enough, then two spells would be to get the job done. If she attacked from two sides at the same time, he wouldn’t even have a chance to block the mist with the wind. With her plan in mind, Ha Soo-Yeong drew the next spell array.

Psshh....

In an instant, mist spread from both spell arrays simultaneously.

The wind he had created blocked the mist shot directly at him. However, the mist shot from Sun-Woo’s blind spot at the side remained untouched. At that moment, Ha Soo-Yeong could smell her victory.

"I wo─!"

"Twenty seconds is up." Sun-Woo\'s ever-so-cold voice interrupted Ha Soo-Yeong\'s gleeful shout.

Krrk!

Simultaneously, both of the spell arrays she had drawn collapsed on themselves in a distorted manner. As Sun-Woo pretended to clench his fist in the air, the spell array crumpled completely. It looked like a lump of bunched-up tissue paper.

Shhhh....

The shapeless spell array lost its color, turned into ashes, and disappeared. Ha Soo-Yeong watched the ashes flying in the wind with a desolate expression.

"It’s my turn, right? Twenty seconds?" Without giving her a moment to calm her nerves, Sun-Woo began drawing a spell array.

"What? I haven\'t finished y—"

Shhhhhh.

A strand of mist extended from his spell array and quickly wrapped around her neck.

"I have, haven’t finishe...." Ha Soo-Yeong couldn\'t even finish her sentence and lost consciousness.

***

"I haven\'t... finished..." The knocked-out Ha Soo-Yeong tossed and turned, murmuring in her sleep.

When people with strong spell resistance were under the influence of a curse of fainting spell, they often mumbled in their sleep because they could not completely lose consciousness. Ha Soo-Yeong seemed to be one of these people, as she had strong spell resistance.

I took off my black cardigan and covered her with it. Then, I stared blankly at her with many thoughts running through my mind.

[Do you plan to let her live?] Suddenly, Legba\'s voice echoed in my ears.

I let out a bitter laugh. "Or what, should I kill her instead?"

[No, that’s not what I meant.] Legba sighed and continued, [If you\'re considering letting her live, I just wanted to know if it was a calculated decision or one driven by guilt.]

"...Do I have to choose between the two?"

[If you had to choose one, which one would it be?]

If I had to choose only one?

"Calculation," I answered without hesitation.

[I see.] Legba seemed to accept it—his tone was gentle, and he seemed satisfied.

Ha Soo-Yeong was great at utilizing spells. Although the rumor that she was on par with the Second Cult Leader in terms of skill alone was proven to be untrue, it was true that she was skilled in spell casting. I was interested in her because her spells could work on animals, and because of this unique characteristic, her skills were even more valuable.

In conclusion, she had considerable talent in spellcasting, and her spell was special. She still had a lot to improve on, but if she met a good teacher and received proper guidance, Ha Soo-Yeong\'s spellcasting skills would improve noticeably. If taught well, I could see her becoming an important force in the Voodoo Cult.

"Ah, my head, urgh..." Eventually, the spell cast on Ha Soo-Yeong took effect. She grimaced, pressed her temples, and slowly stood up.

Then, as if something had suddenly occurred, her eyes widened.

"...It\'s not over yet!" She glared at me with her still drowsy eyes and unleashed Voodoo magic.

Fwoosh!

However, the Voodoo magic failed to form a spell array and turned into ashes and disappeared.

"What, what did you do?" Ha Soo-Yeong asked, looking at the ashes blowing in the wind with a bewildered expression.

“I disassembled it. And the bet’s already over."

"It\'s over?"

"Yeah. I won, and you lost."

Ha Soo-Yeong tilted her head in confusion.

"I lost...?" Ha Soo-Yeong\'s expression quickly darkened.

Her memory had taken some time to come back. The confident and energetic appearance she had taken when unleashing the spell array disappeared. I had suspected it, but she held great pride in her talent with spells. However, pride tended to turn into despair once broken. The bigger the pride, the bigger the despair that chased it.

"You’re right. I lost..." Ha Soo-Yeong hung her head down as she muttered to herself.

From the looks of it, she was overwhelmed with despair and couldn’t even think.

"Winning or losing isn\'t important." I offered her some empty words of encouragement.

Ha Soo-Yeong raised her head abruptly and looked at me with slightly relaxed eyes.

"Did you learn the spell by yourself?" I asked.

"I learned a bit from my dad. But I’m mostly self-taught..."

That made sense since Ha Pan-Seok wasn’t skilled enough to teach spells to others.

"To learn by yourself and get this far..." I trailed off.

Ha Soo-Yeong looked at me with trembling eyes. It appeared as if she was eagerly awaiting my next words.

"You have incredible talent."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. The executives weren\'t just calling you a genius for no reason," I said quietly as if talking to myself.

Even so, Ha Soo-Yeong must have clearly heard my words. I arranged it so that she had no choice but to listen to what I said.

"If you had proper training, I could have lost the bet.”

"Really?”

“Really. With that level of talent, you would learn at an incredibly fast pace..." I nodded my head gently as if to make it sound like it was an impressive feat.

Ha Soo-Yeong\'s face, which had been shrouded in darkness, finally lit up. After experiencing despair, humans couldn’t help but be psychologically weak. Despair brought about emptiness, and emptiness would leave a huge void in the heart. I filled the void that had formed in Ha Soo-Yeong\'s heart with a new yearning.

I had talent, but I couldn’t live out my potential. I had talent, but my surroundings were not good enough. I had talent, oh, I have talent...

Whenever one heard the words "I have talent," one would think that maybe their failures were not their fault but because of the environment. Those thoughts would eventually turn into resentment—resentment toward the environment that didn\'t support my talent. Resentment would eventually turn into a strong yearning.

"I learned spells from the former Cult Leader. I know a few things that could help you."

‘I can satisfy your cravings. If you believe in me, you will be able to nurture and blossom your talent. So believe in me. You will achieve what you want...’ This was what I implied within my words.

"You need to highlight the cravings and allude to fulfillment. But remember, you have to give the other person the power to choose. When one thinks they have the initiative, they let their guard down. We just need to utilize that moment."

This method was used to captivate the minds of people inherently or weakened psychologically by their situation. I had learned this from my father.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

She looked up at me, her gaze trembling slightly.

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"The former Cult Leader taught me a few spell tips. Do you want to hear them?"

"That sounds like an intriguing suggestion."

"Make up your mind and tell me what you want. Do you want tips or not?"

Ha Soo-Yeong pretended to ponder. It was just an act. She had already made her mind up.

"...Tell me. What is it?" she replied curtly.

I needed Ha Soo-Yeong. More precisely, I needed her spells that could be used on animals. However, the quality of her spells was lacking at the moment. She would only be useful to me if she could use a spell I needed at the exact time. For that, I had the intention of becoming her mentor. I would help Ha Soo-Yeong with her spell proficiency to a level that I was satisfied with. I would subtly imply that she could not further her spell skills without me, making it impossible to escape from my clutch.

[A truly villainous idea,] Legba said, tsking.

After casually dismissing it, I looked at Ha Soo-Yeong.

"To address your first issue, your spell array is too simple."

"I can make it more complex." Ha Soo-Yeong quickly responded, seemingly offended.

"Oh, yeah? Show me."

She drew the spell array. It seemed like she put more effort into it since the strokes were much more intricately connected than before. However, simply making the strokes more complex did not make the spell array more complex.

Fwoosh!

Showing no mercy, I swiftly dismantled and destroyed her spell array.

"Hey! What are you doing...!"

"Drawing more strokes into the array doesn\'t make it more intricate."

"Well, what are you supposed to do then? Can you even do it? I bet you can’t. You\'re just a big-mouthed puppet Cult Leader." Ha Soo-Yeong poured out her anger in a torrent of words.

Puppet Cult Leader... I let everything else slide, but somehow, that term really disturbed me. Maybe it was because it was somewhat true. It seemed like I needed to address her attitude before teaching her spells.

"Do you even want to learn?" I asked sharply, causing Ha Soo-Yeong to flinch and nervously roll her eyes.

“Of course, I want to learn...”

“Then why do you say these things?”

“No, what I meant was...” Ha Soo-Yeong’s eyes darted around frantically. The look of confusion was evident in her expression.

"What did we agree on if you lost the bet?"

"...To listen to you without complaining."

"Then you should quietly listen to what I have to say. If you keep up with this attitude, I won\'t have the heart to teach you." I smiled and spoke with a tone that was calm and soothing but also firm.

Even if Ha Soo-Yeong could finally fulfill her role after learning spells, it would be meaningless if she didn\'t listen to me and kept acting up in defiance. What I needed was a loyal follower, not a disobedient dog who constantly bared its fangs to its master.

"...Alright, I\'m sorry." Ha Soo-Yeong finally apologized.

I nodded and slowly drew a spell array. I drew it slowly in order to show Ha Soo-Yeong how it was done.

"See? It becomes much more complicated if you draw it like this, right?"

"What\'s the difference between mine and yours?"

"If you didn\'t understand, would you like me to draw it again for you?"

Just as I was about to dismantle the drawn spell array, Ha Soo-Yeong grabbed my wrist tightly. Then, while keeping her gaze fixed on the spell array, she slowly lowered her head.

"Wait, just, wait a moment." Ha Soo-Yeong spoke stiffly, as if her pride was hurt, and stared at the spell array for a long time.

"Alright."

Judging from her expression, she still didn\'t quite understand the spell array. After a few minutes of staring motionlessly at the spell array, Ha Soo-Yeong finally nodded as if she understood something.

"It is a little different."

"Yes. And where exactly is it different?"

"Here and here." She pointed with her finger at the two circles on either side of the core of the spell array. I had added extra strokes to those parts.

“Nice. Why did I only change these regions specifically?”

“Because they are important?”

“Good. You\'re clever."

Even though it was a passing compliment, Ha Soo-Yeong\'s eyes sparkled with delight. I removed the strokes of the two parts she pointed out. The spell array that had originally taken a dark purple hue turned slightly lighter.

"What would change if I changed it like this?"

"I\'m not sure."

"Should I give you a hint?"

"A hint? Are you looking down on me now?"

"If you don\'t need it, then forget it."

Soo-Yeong withdrew her fierce gaze from me and focused it on the spell array. Her gaze was intense, and it remained fixated on the spell array without even the slightest deviation. She had impressive concentration.

"Give me a... hint." Ha Soo-Yeong reluctantly asked for a hint with a desolate look in her eyes, and it seemed like she was still lost even after all that.

I suddenly felt mischievous seeing her looking up at me with a pitiful expression.

"Try saying please."

"Ha, you think I’m crazy?"

“Yeah? Then I’ll destroy the array."

"W-Wait. You didn\'t say you would destroy it, hey!" Ha Soo-Yeong shouted and stopped my hand from approaching the spell array. Her body language showed she was extremely urgent.

"Addressing your Cult Leader as \'hey\'..."

"...ease. Now give me a hint."

"Ease? What are we easing into?"

"...Please. Give me a hint. Give it now!"

I was satisfied with her response. I nodded and said, "The curse of fainting spell is a spell that temporarily makes the target faint."

"I know that too. Are you calling this a hint?"

"How long exactly does \'temporarily\' mean?”

Ha Soo-Yeong stared at my face as if trying to understand the meaning of the hint I had given her. She had been trying hard to grasp the meaning behind my hint with a focused expression, and her face gradually brightened up. The expression on their face indicated that they had just realized something.

“You can control the amount of time someone is unconscious.”

“Exactly. The essence of the curse of fainting spells is to rattle the opponent\'s consciousness. We use this principle to make the opponent faint."

I pointed my finger at the two circles next to the spell array’s core.

"By adding strokes to these two circles, you can manipulate the intensity and duration of the confusion. That way, it is also possible to control how long one faints."

"Wouldn\'t it be best to maximize both the intensity and duration?"

"No. Intensity and duration have a negative correlation. If you increase the intensity, the duration weakens, and if you increase the duration, the intensity weakens. Balance is key to this spell."

If the intensity were increased too much, then the duration would be shorter, so the target would up from fainting more quickly. On the other hand, if the duration was increased too much, the intensity would be lowered, so there would be a risk that the target would not faint in the first place. Adjusting the intensity and duration appropriately according to one\'s own skill level was the bread and butter to the curse of fainting spell.

After finishing the explanation, I asked Ha Soo-Yeong, "Do you understand?"

She had a puzzled expression as if she hadn’t understood a thing from top to bottom.

"Yeah, I kind of get it, but..."

"But?"

"...What does a negative correlation mean?" Ha Soo-Yeong asked, looking confused. She seemed to understand the content itself but didn\'t know the word.

"It means it has an inverse relationship. When one goes up, the other goes down."

"Ah, I see. Why didn\'t you say that from the beginning?" Ha Soo-Yeong nodded as if satisfied.

Anyway, it was good that she understood. I continued explaining.

"And if you utilize this part well, fusion... Ah, do you know what a fusion Voodoo spell is?"

"You keep ignoring me. I can draw one myself, you know."

“Yeah? Can you show me what you know?”

Soo-Yeong drew two spell arrays into the air. They were both enthrallment spells, one curse of fainting and the other a curse of nightmares. The two spell arrays ran down her hands and merged. From the merged spell array, an eerie and sinister mist rose up.

Fwoosh, woosh...

I immediately reached out and destroyed both spell arrays she had created.

"Huh?" Ha Soo-Yeong questioned, staring blankly at her disappearing spell array.

"...Ah!" She belatedly realized the situation and opened her mouth, shooting me a sharp gaze.

"Hey! If you were going to dismantle it anyway, why did you tell me to show you?"

"Calling me \'hey\' again?"

"...Why did you tell me to draw it?" Ha Soo-Yeong quickly changed her tone when I showed that I was slightly agitated.

"First of all, what you drew wasn\'t a fusion Voodoo spell. It was just two spells lumped together."

"Then what is a fusion Voodoo spell?" she asked bluntly.

After drawing two spell arrays in the air, I fused them together.

"This is a fusion Voodoo spell."

"M’kay, so what\'s the difference between this and what I drew?"

“Uh, what did we say about that tone of voice?"

"Well, what is the difference... sir?"

Combining spell arrays and fusing them were different concepts. However, it was a bit difficult to explain in words.

"...Let me give you a metaphor. Think of snow.”

"Snow?"

"What you did was similar to combining two snowballs to make one big snowball. It only gets bigger. Nothing changes.”

“Then what is fusion?”

“Fusion is like stacking two snowballs to make a snowman."

Although I tried to slowly explain to her using a metaphor, the concept seemed to just fly over her head. It’d be better to show her how instead. I drew two spell arrays each for the curse of fainting and the curse of intoxication, which was a total of four spell arrays, and suspended them in the air. Then, I combined one curse of fainting and one curse of intoxication spell array.

"This is not fusion, just a combination of the two. What will happen to someone who inhales the mist that comes out of here?"

"They would be intoxicated by the curse of intoxication while in a state of fainting, sir."

"Right, great job."

Next, I \'fused\' the curse of fainting and intoxication spell arrays, creating a fusion spell array.

"This is a fusion spell array. What do you think will happen to someone who inhales the mist that comes out of here?"

“They’re different? Wouldn’t they both cause the opponent to faint and become intoxicated?"

"They are different. As I mentioned earlier, the essence of the curse of fainting is confusion. The essence of the curse of intoxication is addiction and pleasure."

Ha Soo-Yeong looked at me with a face that said she didn\'t understand what to do. She had yet to grasp the concept.

"...If you fuse the \'confusion\' of the curse of fainting and the \'addiction\' of the curse of intoxication, the other person becomes ‘addicted’ to the ‘confusion.’ That\'s what fusion is about."

"Ah."

"When you combine spells, the effects of both spells happen simultaneously. When you fuse the two, the two different characteristics of each spell come together and transform into a whole new spell.”

The same concept could be used in tandem with ‘memory annihilation.’ Fusing the essence of memory annihilation, \'forgetfulness,’ with the \'addiction\' from the curse of intoxication, the opponent would go from being \'addicted\' to being \'forgetful.\'

When the \'fear\' of the curse of nightmares was fused with the \'pleasure\' of the curse of intoxication, the opponent would experience \'pleasure\' in \'fear.\' When memory annihilation, the curse of nightmares, and intoxication were properly fused, they formed the base for the \'zombification\' spell.

If Ha Soo-Yeong learned the zombification spell, it would also be possible to turn the Satanists’ demonic beasts into zombies to neutralize them.

"Do you follow?"

She nodded.

"Then give it a try."

Ha Soo-Yeong drew two spell arrays in the air without saying a word and merged them together. As I had expected, she just combined the two spell arrays and did not fuse them. I dismantled her spell array.

"That wasn’t fusion."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Ha Soo-Yeong protested.

I looked into her eyes. "I\'m a little disappointed. So you didn\'t get it?"

Her expression darkened. Ha Soo-Yeong must have studied spells in order to make her father proud, since he had been pushing her to become the next Cult Leader. That\'s why she had a particularly sensitive reaction to the word \'disappointment.\'

Knowing this, I deliberately used the word \'disappointed’ in order to stimulate her competitiveness and to clearly establish a sense of hierarchy.

"I understand it. I can definitely get it right on the next try."

"Okay. Then, let\'s try again. I’m sure you’ll get it next time.”

As expected, Soo-Yeong’s next attempt was still a combination of the two spells. I dismantled it and destroyed it. She didn\'t give up and tried again.

"See?" she said confidently.

I dismantled it and destroyed it. She moved on to the next spell.

"How about this time?"

I dismantled and destroyed it.

"I have a really good feeling about this─"

Crunch.

Destroyed.

I repeated the process of dismantling her spell array several times. The dust that resulted from all the broken spell arrays floated around the dark forest.

***

Ha Soo-Yeong had no idea how much time had passed. She had exhausted all the energy she had in her body. Struggling to support her flimsy body, she drew the next spell array and tried to fuse them. No, she wasn’t sure if she had fused them or combined them. She couldn’t tell. It was up to Sun-Woo to judge, not her.

"...Hmm." Sun-Woo made an indiscernible sound as he looked at the spell array.

Ha Soo-Yeong scrutinized Sun-Woo\'s expression but didn’t manage to read it at all, which made her more nervous.

Sun-Woo had been silently gazing at the spell array with his head tilted when he finally said something with a meaningful smile on his face.

"What attempt was this?"

"...Number twenty-eight."

"Number twenty-eight." Sun-Woo nodded, repeating her words.

Anxiety suddenly washed over her. Somehow, it seemed like she had failed again, meaning she had failed twenty-eight consecutive times.

Sun-Woo would nonchalantly dismantle the spell array, and she would helplessly look at the ash remains of her array, only to do it again for the twenty-ninth time. Then she would have to face her twenty-ninth mistake and prepare for her thirtieth attempt... A dark future was unfolding in her mind.

"What do you think the problem is?" Sun-Woo asked, pointing to the spell array that had been set up.

Ha Soo-Yeong felt her heart sink. She glancnced at Sun-Woo and cautiously answered, "....Well, sir, It seems like I’ve combined them again rather than fusing them."

"Then what should we do next time?"

"Maybe... maybe we should try again...?"

"Yeah?"

Fwoosh!

Sun-Woo ruthlessly dismantled the spell array. Ha Soo-Yeong stared at her disappearing spell array, feeling lost, and prepared for her next attempt.

Why are you asking if you\'re going to dismantle it anyway? Crazy psychopathic bitch... Ha Soo-Yeong cussed Sun-Woo out in her mind.

"Ha Soo-Yeong." At that moment, Sun-Woo called her name.

Ha Soo-Yeong looked up at him nervously, breaking out into a cold sweat.

“Wh-what is it, sir?”

Her heart raced like crazy.

‘Did I accidentally curse out loud when I thought I was cursing him in my mind earlier? Or did he use some kind of mind-reading trick? No, that can\'t be. He\'s just trying to scare me for no reason because he enjoys seeing others afraid...’ Ha Soo-Yeong continued to badmouth him in her mind, trying to suppress the growing feeling of anxiety.

"Oh, by the way, that was a proper fusion Voodoo spell array." Sun-Woo smiled and looked down at her, making Ha Soo-Yeong to look at him with a puzzled expression.

"...Huh? Doesn’t that mean I was successful?"

“Yes, it does mean you were successful."

“Then why did you dismantle it...?"

"Because you said it yourself that you would do it again," Sun-Woo said as if it didn\'t matter.

‘I really want to kill him...’ Ha Soo-Yeong felt the urge to kill rising. However, she had no method to kill him. Spells did not work on the Cult Leader. No, actually, she didn\'t know if it didn\'t work on him or not because he dismantled all the spell arrays before they were activated. It wasn\'t that the spell didn\'t work, but it was impossible to cast a spell in front of Sun-Woo.

‘Should I take advantage of a moment of distraction and knock him unconscious with a curse of fainting spell...?’

She gave up on the idea. There would be no greater disaster than doing something unnecessary and failing. She was afraid of facing the consequences of her actions.

"...So I got it right this time?" Ha Soo-Yeong calmed her mind and attempted her thirtieth try. This time, the fusion Voodoo spell seemed quite good to her as well. Sun-Woo tilted his head again and looked at Ha Soo-Yeong\'s spell array with a stoic face.

"What do you think?"

"Looks good to me," Ha Soo-Yeong confidently said, thinking there was no harm in trying.

"Yeah. You’re good. Well done." Finally, Sun-Woo nodded and smiled faintly.

Ha Soo-Yeong tried very hard to hide her overwhelming joy but failed. The ends of her mouth kept curling up on their own.

"You learn fast."

"Of course. Who do you think I am?"

"Yeah, you definitely have talent. You are a genius.”

‘You have talent!’ She had heard the same compliment countless times from her dad, Ha Pan-Seok, as well as other executives. However, it was much more pleasant to hear it from Sun-Woo than any executive.

“You just need to touch it up a bit more... It\'s rewarding to teach you because you learn so quickly," Sun-Woo praised.

His voice, which had been cold until now, had changed to a gentle and warm tone as if to ask, “When did that happen?”

However, there was no time to revel in joy because of a thought that suddenly crossed her mind.

‘What if I activate the spell now?’

The spell array she had unfolded was a fusion Voodoo spell that combined the curse of fainting and the curse of nightmares. Sun-Woo also happened to be distracted at the moment.

‘If I activate the spell now, Sun-Woo will faint without even having a chance to react.’

She didn\'t have to think for a long time before making her move.

Shaaaa...

She immediately activated the spell. A thick purple mist, imbued with the spell array, rose toward Sun-Woo. He inhaled that mist with a direct whiff.

"..."

Sun-Woo\'s eyes glossed over.

Success! She had successfully used the spell to knock that arrogant Sun-Woo, who had dismantled her spell array countless times whilst wearing a smug expression, unconscious.

‘Now what should I do? Should I hit him with a stone from the ground and kill him? No, I don\'t have the courage to do that. I\'ll tie his hands and feet tightly and throw him into the mountains. That would be better.’

Ha Soo-Yeong reveled in joy and imagined pleasant things. It was only shortly thereafter that the expression on Ha Soo-Yeong\'s face hardened like stone.

"Sometimes..."

She thought Sun-Woo had fainted, but he was standing perfectly fine in front of her. The warm gaze and tone of voice he had used to praise her turned cold.

"Some people strive to test me even when they are treated well. I can’t imagine why..."

Ha Soo-Yeong\'s legs gave out.