Chapter 322

Chapter 322

I came out of the Crossroads. I could no longer see the crimson moonlight, and the path was covered by shadows.

When I opened my eyes, Jun-Hyuk was standing on a pile of flesh floating above the sea, and so was I.

Jun-Hyuk scanned the area. Upon spotting me, his eyes widened. His pupils were dilated like a goat's. The wings on his back were undergoing molting, transforming into a more grotesque form. Long, black claws sprouted out from his hands, and thick, beast-like fur grew on his limbs.

His appearance was unmistakably that of Satan, as depicted in numerous paintings and religious artworks. I chuckled upon seeing such a sight and said, "Wow, you really are ugly."

Jun-Hyuk spread his wings and replied, "With great power comes great responsibility."

"Now it's phase two. Starting from phase two, there’s no more playing nice."

“Stop pretending like you were playing nice earlier. Shut up and come at me."

Jun-Hyuk flapped his wings and rushed toward me. I lifted the staff.

"Bade!"

[Ah, there’s a lot of work today! But this isn’t so bad either!] Bade said in a cheerful voice.

Whoosh—!

Wind blew. The wind blowing around me was gentle, but the wind blowing toward Jun-Hyuk was fierce. My body gradually rose into the air with the help of the wind, while the wind pushed Jun-Hyuk away.

The flapping of Jun-Hyuk's wings was meaningless at this point. They were too weak to resist Bade's wind.

"Scared? Planning to use the wind as a shield and run away?"

I shook my head. "No."

I aimed the staff at him.

"Marinette," I called out.

Bade and Marinette didn't usually get along. Bade considered Marinette a traitor and never wanted to join forces with her, but I still called out to Marinette. I wasn’t borrowing power from the Loa as a Prophet, but forcibly utilizing them. This was the technique that my mother, a greatly skilled Prophet, had used.

Bang—!

Flames shot out from the end of the staff toward Jun-Hyuk. The flames rode the wind that had wrapped around Jun-Hyuk and swelled massively.

With a deafening explosion, Jun-Hyuk was engulfed by bright red flames. I could control the temperature of the flames summoned by Marinette's power, and what I had shot toward Jun-Hyuk were the hottest flames that I could conjure.

"Ah!"

After emerging from the flames, Jun-Hyuk looked like he would melt at any moment. Tentacles licked his body, but he did not heal easily.

The result was obvious, because Marinette's flames, intensified by Bade's power, clung to his body. Those flames would not go out and would continue to burn and melt Jun-Hyuk's body. With this, his recovery ability was essentially sealed off. The battle was almost over. Only the final blow remained now. I looked up at the darkening sky and saw the rising red moon. I reached out my arm toward the moon.

"Kal—!"

Snap.

Before I could finish my sentence, Jun-Hyuk flicked his finger. The moon disappeared, and a deep, impenetrable darkness remained.

Above, below, left, or right, no matter where I looked, it was all darkness. For some reason, I felt like this space was familiar. When I had fought against the Satanist Executive Lust, I had entered a similar space before. In other words, this was the Satanists' domain.

If the Crossroads were the Voodoo Cult's and my domain, then this was the Satanists' and Jun-Hyuk's domain. Just as I had invited him to the Crossroads, Jun-Hyuk had also brought me into his own domain.

That was my choice. I chose to resist. All the choices I had made so far had been fundamentally about resisting, and I would continue to do so in the future. I would have to do so in the future because I was the Cult Leader of the Voodoo Cult.

It was in line with the reason why I was currently fighting Jun-Hyuk.

Slice!

I slashed the demons. I slashed the demonic beasts and slashed the taxidermied creatures. I couldn’t even count how many I slashed at this point. I just mechanically moved my arms, and they also mechanically died. At some point in time, I was swinging the Executioner's Sword in the air. All the demons, demonic beasts, and taxidermied creatures had died and disappeared.

"Jun-Hyuk."

I saw him watching over me from beyond the endless darkness as he recovered.

I threw away the Executioner's Sword, which was worn out from slashing enemies. I unleashed Voodoo magic, summoned a new sword, and threw it at Jun-Hyuk.

Splurt!

"Ugh!" Jun-Hyuk grunted as the spear pierced him.

The darkness surrounding him was dispelled, and soon, we returned to the sea that would be the beginning and the end of our battle.

Jun-Hyuk floated high in the sky. His sinister wings fluttered as he looked down at me. "You came out faster than I thought."

I looked up at him. The Executioner’s Sword I had thrown earlier was stuck in his wings. Marinette's flames still clung to his body, leaving gruesome marks on his skin. The flapping of his wings seemed weaker than before. He probably would not be able to flap his wings and charge fiercely at me like before. In addition, Jun-Hyuk's face and body showed signs of exhaustion.

I raised my eyebrows and said, "Oh, I'm a bit on the faster side."

Although I said it in a relaxed manner, I wasn't in great shape either. I felt so dizzy that I would faint if I let go of my consciousness for even a moment, and my vision alternated between black and white flashes.

Standing on the surface of the sea using Bade’s wind was only possible because I had the staff.

However, I still had a bit of strength left for the last card that I could use to kill Jun-Hyuk—the final trick that I had saved and hidden until the end even as I fought with all my might.

It was probably the same for Jun-Hyuk too. We stared at each other without saying a word. In the silence, I raised my staff and pointed to the red moon in the sky. Jun-Hyuk looked toward something that was deeper than below the sea where I stood, somewhere deep within the abyss, and he raised his hand.

"Kalfu."

"Satan."

The loser of this battle would inevitably be doomed. However, the winner would not be whole either. We both had to sacrifice everything. Even if one of us emerged victorious, we would gain nothing. It was an irrational and illogical chicken game that we wouldn’t be able to give up on or avoid until one of us died, and that game was about to come to an end.

"The Loa of the Moon and the Crossroads."

"The Emperor of Hell, the Evil Spirit of the Skies."

I looked up at the sky and Jun-Hyuk looked at the sea. Our gazes crossed but never touched.

"I offer my right arm."

"Take half of everything I have."

Crack!

The sound of my arm snapping echoed.

The red moon seemed to laugh at me as it slowly faded, and the sea turned a deep red as it bubbled furiously. A giant hand made of red light descended from the sky and enveloped Jun-Hyuk's body.

From the sea, something unknown opened its mouth and rushed toward me.