CH 324

Elohim… will pay the price, not me?

I looked up at Elohim in a dazed state and barely came to my senses.

“No, don’t. I’ll do it. El is now…”

Both Elohim and Elahah weren’t feeling well because they continued to pay the price for us.

I couldn’t put more burdensome on them in this situation. He even said the price was high.

“I’m fine. And the price is too great, so I’d better bear it.”

Elohim answered softly and looked around at the other people standing behind me.

“If you pay the price, we can open up a passage to that place where Kim Woo-jin has moved. But it will take some time.”

“How long will it take?”

At Cheon Sa-yeon’s question, Elohim’s golden eyes filled with light.

“Even if we pay the price, we won’t know where they are right away. I have to go through the heads of all those involved. So you will have to wait about five hours.”

“Five hours…”

Did it mean that Kim Woo-jin had to endure five hours even if he paid the price? Ha Tae-heon grabbed my shoulder as I was biting my lip with a sad heart.

“He will be able to stand it.”

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

Park Geon-ho sighed and nodded his head.

“Yeah. Given that they dragged Kim Woo-jin, they won’t kill him easily. The only thing I’m worried about is…”

Park Geon-ho couldn’t finish his speech. I also knew very well what he was concerned about.

In the previous time period, Kim Woo-jin eventually died. Kim Woo-jin’s body, which returned to Cheon Sa-yeon, wasn’t in good condition. It meant that he was tortured enough to take his life. (천사연에게 돌아온 김우진의 시체는성한 구석이 없었다)

“Nevertheless… if you’ve made up your mind, I’ll pay the price and find him.”

Elohim, who came to me for one last check, still looked as pale and troubled as when I met him in his dream.

I didn’t want to put more burdensome on him anymore. I hoped that Elohim and Elahah would no longer suffer.

However…

“…please I’m begging you.”

The reality was just grim. Elohim didn’t delay in answering the vomit-like answer, raising his energy.

A ray of dazzling golden light flowed from Elohim’s body. At the same time, a strong energy that couldn’t be compared with Kwon Se-hyun’s energy spread out.

The moment I covered my face with my hands in the intense light that hurt my eyes, I felt a chilling power that made my whole body goosebumps.

Kwarurung! Kugung!

“……!”

A golden lightning bolt struck Elohim. The energy was so great that I couldn’t even scream. No, could I describe it as energy?

It was such a strange and frightening power that it couldn’t even be explained. Instinctively, I realized that this was what Elohim called “the master of the world.” The world paid the price for Elohim who tried to interfere and ignore the restrictions placed on the world.

Elohim, who was hit by the lightning bolt, staggered without even screaming. Suddenly, his body was drenched in bright red blood. When I realized this, I couldn’t take it any longer and ran to Elohim.

When I hugged Elohim’s body leaning down, a thick smell of blood wafted out. Elohim leaned against me while panting with his forehead wrinkled and said in a harsh voice.

“The price, is… paid. Now Elahah… will find the place and give it to you.”

The hand holding Elohim was wet with blood. It was a terrible feeling.

Treatment… I need to get him treatment. I couldn’t figure out what to do. Elohim smiled slightly at me, holding him and not knowing what to do, even though he was in pain.

“It’s okay, ah. Now…”

“El?”

Elohim, who had barely moved his lips, couldn’t stand it and passed out. Then a new white passage appeared behind Elohim.

The person who appeared in the oval-shaped passageway was the first boy I had ever seen. The boy with his white hair and white skin that wasn’t too complex for a human was somehow resembling Elahah.

The boy who walked toward me with light steps, blinking his big black eyes, reached out to the fainted Elohim. Frustrated, I clenched my hand and furrowed my brow.

“Don’t touch…”

“The kid is fine.”

A familiar voice was heard. Elahah, walking out of the passageway, waved his hand with his weary look. Then Elohim in my arms rose into the air and carried to the boy standing in front of me.

In the end, I brought Elahah here. It was difficult to look straight into Elahah’s face because I was ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Elahah.”

“You’re sorry for everything.”

Elahah, who took my apology, scratched his forehead.

Sarak, Elahah’s hands, which were exposed as his sleeves came down, were tightly bandaged. Perhaps it wasn’t just his hands, but most of his body that was covered by his clothes.

“It’s Elohim’s decision, so you don’t have to apologize. He’ll wake up after taking a rest. It will take some time because the price is high.”

The boy holding Elohim, instead of me, walked back to Elahah’s side. Watching him anxiously, Elahah placed his hand on the boy’s head and opened his mouth.

“You can trust him. You know him well. Although he looks very different.”

“Pardon?”

“How many times did you meet him while staying at our temple? The cat.”

“Ah…”

At those words, I remembered a white cat that came up to me and cried with its black eyes shining. The cat that helped Fox when he was in danger.

“Is that cat that kid?”

“Yeah. It’s very easy for these kids to change their appearance.”

Come to think of it, cat and rabbit, including Fox, were all descended from Ghost Monsters. So could Fox change like that?

“Fox was picked up by the rabbit. The sensitive guy has been lying in the veil for several days, so he needs to recover. I’ll take it with me and send it back as soon as he wakes up, just let you know.”

After calmly explaining, Elahah glanced around the living room. Elahah sighed as he looked at me and the team members, who were silently watching the situation, as they sat down soaked in the blood that Elohim had shed.

“It will take some time to find him like what Elohim said. So it will be helpful if you take a break until I come back to open the passage again for the future fights.”

“I understand.”

“Then I’ll come back later.”

Elahah, with his back neatly turned, took the cat and disappeared along with the passageway. In the quiet living room, I clenched my fists with blood-soaked hands.

‘Kim Woo-jin…’

* * *

A cool breeze came up. The stench and fishy smell peculiar to the basement passed through the tip of his nose.

Kim Woo-jin, who twitched his eyelashes, slowly raised his eyelids. His mind, which he didn’t know when it was cut off, gradually became clearer.

“Hmm, it’s too bad. If Samael-nim comes, it will be resolved soon.”

[It doesn’t matter if you don’t get anything. I’m making something more important than that.]

“Yes. We’ll do our best though. It might be of some help, right?”

[Okay.]

An unfamiliar voice was talking to someone on the phone. Kim Woo-jin calmly pretended to have lost his mind and checked his body without raising his head.

His arms and legs were tied to the chair. The thick iron handcuffs couldn’t be broken no matter how hard he tried.

‘Is it a shutter item?’

If so, the choker that cramped his neck was obviously a shutter item. Kim Woo-jin slowly recalled what had happened before he lost his mind.

A woman who appeared with Praus Cult members swung her whip at Han Yi-gyeol as they ran away. Kim Woo-jin, whose arms were tied to the whip on behalf of Han Yi-gyeol, tried to escape immediately, but his energy was blocked and he couldn’t use his strength as usual.

Now that he thought about it, the whip must have been a shutter item. Han Yi-gyeol would have been dragged here if he hadn’t stopped him. The last thing he saw just before he lost his mind was that he had disappeared safely over the passageway.

[Cheon Sa-yeon will pay the price and go there.]

“Is he going to pay the price for just one person like this?”

[If it’s Cheon Sa-yeon, that’s enough. He’s been a fool since a long time ago.]

“I understand. If they really come all the way here, I’ll be out right away. And I will join Samael-nim to the place where you are.”

After finishing the call, the woman turned to Kim Woo-jin. Her lips, covered with her red lipstick, drew soft arcs.

“Did you hear it? Your colleagues will come all the way here.”

It was the attitude that she knew Kim Woo-jin already woke up.

The woman, who had lightly tossed her cell phone on the table next to her, grinned as she ruffled her pale purple hair over her shoulder. The upper part of her face was covered with a mask, so he couldn’t tell from her eyes that she was smiling.

“You guys, are amazing. To pay the price to save just one insect-like life.”

“……”

Despite the sarcastic ridicule, Kim Woo-jin kept his mouth shut. Rather than reacting to such useless provocations one by one, it was better to understand the situation even a little more.

‘The other party she just talked to… was Samael.’

If it was Samael, Kim Woo-jin was familiar with him. A key figure in the cult with SS-rank mental control ability that directly kidnapped Han Yi-gyeol.

Then the woman in front of him must be one of Samael’s followers. She brought him this far for a purpose, so she wouldn’t kill him easily.

‘I have to hold on.’

He didn’t think Han Yi-gyeol and the team members would abandon him. However, it wouldn’t be easy to find out where the kidnapped person was, so it would take some time.

All he could do was hold on somehow until Han Yi-gyeol and the team members arrived.

“I can see clearly what you are thinking.”

When the woman pressed the call button, the door to the cellar opened and only one member of the cult entered. Various tools and unidentified things were lying on the iron mobile trolley brought by the cult member.

The woman, who picked up a pair of pliers among them, said while lifting it up in front of Kim Woo-jin as if to let him see.

“Actually, I’m curious, too. How long can you hold out?”

Bloody pliers exposed under the white basement lights shook menacingly.

“Don’t worry about my ability. It’s my duty to take care of the sacrifices.”