Chapter 228

Chapter 228

"Do-Jin, did you take a look at the upcoming mission?"

Thump!

A massive man tapped Do-Jin's back roughly. He had a thick beard, and his flushed skin was visible through his unbuttoned shirt.

He was John, a sniper from the Trinitas Crusader Order and a colleague of Do-Jin’s.

Do-Jin pushed away his thick arm and frowned. "...Of course I saw it."

"Really? Then, you must have read the last part of the briefing as well. What do you think?"

"What is there to think about? I’m just..."

Do-Jin recalled the details of the mission. The task was to suppress a mercenary corps. It wasn't a mission suitable for the Trinitas Crusader Order, which wasn’t even directly under the Holy See.

The Trinitas Crusader Order had always been assigned glamorous missions such as exterminating demons and demonic beasts and rescuing civilians. More precisely, they only took on missions that would allow them to gain public popularity. Just as its name suggested, the Trinitas Crusader Order was comprised of only three members. With a small number of members, they were inevitably limited in the missions they could take. Above all, the Trinitas Crusader Order usually wasn’t assigned radical missions like suppressing a mercenary corps since it had been established to change the image of the Crusader Order positively.

"...Disgusting. It's fucking dirty, really," Do-Jin muttered.

Unlike usual, the Mercenary Corps Suppression mission involved the Trinitas Crusader Order and the Crusader Order unit that fell directly under the Holy See. Furthermore, at the end of the message delivering the mission details, a passage stated: Killing is authorized due to a high possibility of the mercenary corps turning into insurgents. It was also the reason why Do-Jin felt conflicted about this mission.

"I’m bringing live ammunition just in case... but I hope I won't have to use it. We're all people, after all."

Do-Jin interrupted him. "John."

His expression was unnervingly stern. John hesitated, alternating his gaze between Do-Jin's stern face and the sword at his waist.

Do-Jin cleared his throat. "...I sympathize with your feelings, but it's best not to use the phrase, all people. We might draw unnecessary attention to ourselves."

"Aha... I'll keep that in mind. By the way, you seem really upset. Is it because you disagree with the authorization to kill?"

"More than that, I suddenly had this indecent thought that the Holy See might be using us."

"That really is an indecent thought. But I agree, too," John said, agreeing with Do-Jin's words.

Initially, the Trinitas Crusader Order was supposed to carry out the mission, but the Holy See's Crusader Order had suddenly been added to the plan along with the authorization to kill. No matter how one looked at it, the Holy See was trying to exploit the Trinitas Crusader Order’s image.

If the mercenary corps attempted to resist, they would be assassinated through the Holy See's Crusader Order, using the Trinitas Crusader Order as a shield to avoid public criticism for their brutal repression. If they made a mistake, all the criticism for assassinating the mercenary corps could be directed solely at the Trinitas Crusader Order.

"We can't even refuse the mission at this point."

"Yeah. In that case, there's only one thing we can do, Do-Jin. We have to capture the head of the mercenary corps before the Holy See's Crusader Order has a chance to kill them.”

Do-Jin nodded. The mission had been labeled as the Mercenary Corps Suppression. The ultimate goal of the suppression was obvious—to capture the leader of the mercenaries. If they could quickly capture the leader, there would be no bloodshed.

Do-Jin soon recalled the name of the boss of the mercenaries he would soon confront. Although Do-Jin was not good at remembering other people's names, he remembered the name of the mercenaries’ boss because he had a unique name.

"The director's name... was it Yuk Eun-Hyung?"

"Yes, I heard that the mercenaries are not that large in scale. Let’s try to negotiate. If that doesn't work, we'll bring them in by force. Peacefully," John said.

Do-Jin nodded.

*

"Ugh...!"

I blocked the blood that was flowing out of my mouth. The blood that I hadn’t been successful in stopping dripped through my fingers and dropped onto the floor. The color of the blood was now closer to black than red.

Was this the sixth or seventh occurrence? I didn't know.

[If you use the reverse spell technique one more time, you might collapse. So take a break. If you collapse now, you'll have to lie down for three days and three nights.]

"Sure, I was planning to rest anyway."

I grabbed the staff and started heading back to my room. I glanced back behind me as I came out of the room Yoon-Ah was in. Yoon-Ah was sitting quietly, looking at me.

As if under the influence of a spell, I stared blankly into her brown eyes. Yoon-Ah’s gaze looked similar to In-Ah's when she had warned me not to go on the mission trip.

I turned around, walking back toward her. And once again, I stood in front of Yoon-Ah.

"...One last time."

‘One last time, just once more.’ I might collapse, but I still wanted to give it one more try.

[...And in the end, you won’t listen to me.]

Without responding to Legba's words, I raised the staff and unleashed Voodoo magic. It emitted a purple glow as it was infused with the Voodoo magic. I moved the staff and drew a spell array.

Enthrallment and intoxication spells decorated the air. They were the most basic components of the zombification spell and the spells I had used the most. The spell array emitted a strong light and mist, which enveloped Yoon-Ah.

She accepted the mist without resistance. I carefully looked into Yoon-Ah's eyes beyond the fog. The light briefly flickered in her pupils and disappeared.

"..."

Contrary to my expectations, nothing happened. No, it was just as I had anticipated. I wasn't even disappointed at this point. Perhaps I had mistaken the flicker of light in her eyes. I sat down hesitantly in that spot and lowered my head. I didn't have the strength to lift it.

"Damn it."

Laughter escaped me.

"Be quiet."

"...Huh?"

At that moment, I heard an unfamiliar voice. I raised my head and looked at Yoon-Ah.

Just like before, Yoon-Ah was staring at me with her mouth tightly shut. It seemed like someone had said, "Be quiet."

Judging by her expression, it didn't seem like Yoon-Ah had said it. Then who was it? Was it an auditory hallucination? Was it the drawback of using the reverse spell technique too much?

Right, then Yoon-Ah moved her lips. "Be. Quiet."

She was speaking. Without a doubt, this was Yoon-Ah's voice. She looked at me with her eyes that had regained their twinkle and spoke again.

"Be quiet!"

"Okay, I got it. I'll be quiet. I'll be quiet," I said, tightly gripping the staff.

My hands were trembling. I felt an itchy sensation in my teeth. Strangely, my ears felt stuffy, and my chest felt hot as if it was boiling. An involuntary smile crept onto my lips.

I stared at Yoon-Ah for a while. She did the same.

I had succeeded.

It seemed like she could only say, ‘Be quiet,’ imitating the admonishment I had given her earlier. But that was good enough. I was moved.

Finally, a good result. It could be considered a small achievement compared to the hardships I had endured since she hadn’t completely regained her ability to speak, but that was fine with me. I was grateful just to have achieved something. I felt like I was going to cry. But in reality, tears didn't come out. I thought about how many days it had taken to hear that insignificant word, that short phrase, and that voice. Was today the third day? No, the fourth? Had it been a week? No. Today, so...

"What day is it today...?"

I couldn't remember. I needed to take a little break. No, it seemed like I needed to go outside and soak up some sunlight. I picked up my phone.