Those who have something to lose are bound to be weak. Because they are afraid of losing what they have. Jaegyeom threw away what he had to protect. Yoon Taehee was left speechless in front of Jaegyeom’s reckless choice that was beyond his imagination.
Right now, there was only Yoon Taehee, but in the future, more exorcists would approach and try to use him. More people knowing who he was, and the secrets surrounding him, meant more enemies to deal with. Jaegyeom was well aware of that fact.
From the moment Mesani was taken away, he had to go all in. ‘Only I know you’, Yoon Taehee had said. With that exclusive information alone, Yoon Taehee easily gained the upper hand. If so, he should take him down from there; destroy the value of the card in his hand so that everyone would know him. Jaegyeom decided to throw the secret Yoon Taehee was holding on to and throw it out of his hands.
It was also true that he was tempted by Yoon Taehee’s suggestion to use him. Yoon Taehee, who was on the inside, would surely be able to help. But that wasn’t the case. If he hadn’t known that he was trying to steal Mesani, he might have believed Yoon Taehee’s proposal and joined hands with him.
If there’s anything scurrying about in Jeongju’s path, he would get rid of it. If he couldn’t shake off the swarm of rats, he would just have to kill them one by one. It was not in his temper to fret over something that hadn’t even happened yet. If he couldn’t keep it, he would throw it away. He could just bring it back after abandoning it.
Like now.
Yoon Taehee laughed and opened his mouth.
“You don’t want to be on my side, even if you have to turn all of Naryecheong into enemies… ?”
Yoon Taehee hit the nail on the head. In other words, this was a declaration of war. The boy was saying that he would never become an exorcist. At the same time, the shackles that were restricting the boy disappeared.
“I wanted you to make a wise decision.”
It’s like burning all of the thatch to catch a bed bug. Jaegyeom knew that this was a foolish judgement. Of course, the process would be difficult. But he decided not to think about it. This was his answer while coming this far.
Yoon Taehee said in a low voice.
“You have no idea what Naryecheong is like.”
Jaegyeom replied.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t know.”
Yoon Taehee shook his head and insisted.
“In the end, it will be like pouring water into a bottomless pot.”
Jaegyeom replied dryly.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t think it would be bad to have a hobby in a boring and unfortunate life.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
‘Think carefully, there should be at least a suitable pastime in a boring and obscure life.’
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“Qts vb P…”
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Inaudible, trivial mutter flowed out.
“Would it have been less bitter if we had at least one meal together?”
After those words, there was silence in the mountains.
The atmosphere was unusual. The exorcists, including Lee Youngshin, could not understand what the two of them were talking about even after hearing it. While they were exchanging glances with each other, Yoon Taehee quietly spoke.
“It’s not me.”
“Shut up.”
The calm before the storm was over.
“I will finish all of you off.”
Spiritual energy flowed around the quiet boy. It was thick and heavy enough to be seen with the naked eye. A strong wind began to blow around the boy as the exorcists’ face hardened.
“Wh- what is that? That spiritual energy…”
“Uh, wh- what is that…”
The gusting wind whipped the grass and swayed the branches. Leaves and dust drifted in disarray in the field of vision. The exorcists were pushed backwards as they fought against the gale. The wind created by the spiritual energy was mixed with obvious murderous energy.
Lee Youngshin looked at Yoon Taehee with a terribly bewildered face, questioning what was happening. However, Yoon Taehee did not reply and quietly put his mask back on his face. As if he had a premonition of something to come.
“Mesani, don’t move, stay there.”
Mesani, who had been sniffling, suddenly raised his head at the words that came like a whisper. Until just a moment ago, his lord who was standing over there had disappeared somewhere.
“M- My lord! Where…”
Mesani, who was surprised, looked around with a startled gaze.
An intangible whip-like energy hit the air without warning.
“Ugh!”
The three exorcists of the Ceremonial Instruments Department, including Manager Shin, fell to the ground yelping. It was a huge shock, like being hit by an oncoming car. A few trees in close proximity were snapped in an instant. Lee Youngshin reflexively ducked.
Jaegyeom swooped down and grabbed the lower part of Manager Shin’s head with one hand and lifted him up. Manager Shin, who had a good physique, struggled frantically and grabbed Jaegyeom’s wrists.
“Uh, ugh…”
A suppressed moan escaped from his closed lips. He put out spiritual energy to shake off his grip, but the boy’s hand didn’t budge. Jaegyeom slammed Manager Shin as if he was driving him to the floor, and then began punching him without mercy. Manager Shin saw the bloody eyes shimmering with madness. His fists flew as each syllable was cut short. Each punch was accompanied by a grisly sound of popping and cracking.
“M- My lord…”
Mesani trembled like an aspen tree and covered his mouth.
“… Ma- Manager Shin!”
“That crazy— Manager Shin!”
Lee Youngshin and the exorcists, who had been distracted by the raging wind, rushed to the two belatedly. Jaegyeom waved his hand in the air without even looking at the attacking exorcists. The terrifying energy kicked the exorcists at once to the dirt floor.
“No… way…”
Lee Youngshin’s face turned white.
This was truly unbelievable. He had never heard of a gwijae who was not even an exorcist handling spiritual energy to such an extent. The lack of energy before must have been that he was deliberately trying to keep his energy in order to catch a chance for them to be careless. First of all, they had to do something with that spiritual energy. Lee Youngshin hurriedly shouted.
“Manager Park, quickly!”
Manager Park instantly took out a rope from his luggage. He quickly uttered a spell and dropped the rope to the ground, and the rope moved as if it were alive and burrowed into the ground, disappearing under the dirt floor and then finally popped out from under the boy’s feet. In the blink of an eye, the rope bound the boy’s feet like solid tree roots.
As soon as the spiritual energy was blocked with a rope that neutralized it, the raging wind dissipated at once. Jaegyeom, who was punching Manager Shin, stopped moving. At that time, something flew around his feet.
The boy slowly raised his head. Facing his eerie eyes, Lee Youngshin’s eyes shook for an instant. In the meantime, Manager Park snatched up the helpess Manager Shin.
Yoon Taehee did not try to save Manager Shin, nor did he try to stop Jaegyeom. He stepped back from a distance, hiding his expression behind his mask, but for some reason he looked strangely heartbroken.
At that time, Lee Youngshin closed his eyes tightly and clapped his hands.
“Wuxu, first day of fifth month of Yiwei, seventh day of Gengwu.”
“Youngshin, wait…”
Yoon Taehee hesitated and took a step closer.
“Lee Youngshin ends the time limit of the one sunk.”
As soon as he finished his words quickly, the spiritual energy exploded with a booming sound from under the boy’s feet. As soon as the cloud of dust cleared, Jaegyeom was seen standing motionless in the midst of it. The school uniform became rags, and blood flowed from the torn flesh.
“M- My lord—!”
Seeing Jaegyeom dripping blood, Mesani cried out. The boy muttered something in a mocking voice. The fishy smell of blood lingered in the air. He didn’t seem to feel any pain even though he was covered in blood. On the contrary, he had opened his eyes even brighter and stared at the exorcists.
“Wh- what the hell is this…”
Manager Park checked Jaegyeom’s feet without even realizing it. He couldn’t believe that it was the same person who looked like an ordinary high school student just a moment ago. It was surprising that he was still standing on his feet like that even though he had been hit directly by the battery of the chief of the Ceremonial Instruments Department.
Lee Youngshin looked at the boy with astonishment. Although Manager Shin was seriously injured, it was the other side that took an enormous hit. His feet were bound and his spiritual energy sealed, so he wouldn’t be able to move any more from that spot. However, a sense of crisis did not go away.
“Hey, what are you guys doing? First of all, take out the medicinal water and heal Manager Shin. Yoon Taehee, why the hell are you standing like that!”
Lee Youngshin stared at Yoon Taehee with frustration.
The Ceremonial Instruments Department was a crafting and researching department, so it was far from engaging in combat. Fortunately, there was Yoon Taehee, who was a member of the Exorcism Department and a chief at that, so even if there was a clash, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
But for some reason, Chief Yoon had been idly taking his hands off as if it were someone else’s job. Occasionally, he raised his hand to swipe away the dust, or flick away the occasional flying stone or piece of wood.
“… I was thinking about something else for a while.”
When Yoon Taehee shrugged and replied briefly, Lee Youngshin’s face twisted. It was an excuse that made no sense and didn’t even feel sincere. His face stiffened and he asked seriously.
“Are you sure you still want to bring him in as your successor? Him?”
Yoon Taehee didn’t say anything.
YT: Yes, it must be him 😁
Poor Jaegyeom… he didn’t die but that must hurt
YT is your conscience pricking you rn??
Yeah beat them up Jaegyeom! Though hope you don’t hurt yourself too much, think only Mesani can bring him back to his senses now
man…jaegyeom sure is strong.
😰
Not Taehee being heartbroken omg🙊 I feel kinda bad, but I’m happy he decided to step aside for this one