Chapter 296

Several ravens flew ominously across the sky inside an abandoned village with dozens of shacks. The people walking between the shacks felt uneasy.

The people had dark faces and pale, lifeless lips. Their eyes were devoid of emotion. They were gathered around in a circle on the dirt floor, rolling dice and gambling. Or, they aimlessly struck the ground with farming tools like hoes and sickles to pass the time.

Some people had slingshots, which they used to shoot pellets at the ravens flying in the sky.

One man in particular silently watched the mercenaries hunt the ravens with their slingshots. He looked more filthy, cunning, and creepier than anyone else in the village.

One of the mercenaries approached the man.

"Leader."

The man addressed as the leader turned his gaze toward the approaching mercenary.

"Speak."

"A squad engaged in battle with Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps. One of the squad members just returned. The other members of the squad are reported to have been wiped out, and he barely managed to escape with his life. What should we do?"

"You’re saying the other squad members were wiped out, and only he returned alive?" the leader asked, trying to determine whether what he had heard was correct.

The mercenary nodded.

The leader fell into thought. The other mercenaries had been wiped out, and only one of them managed to barely escape and return to the main base. Such an event could occur, but something made the mercenary leader feel uneasy.

He found it hard to believe that the squad he had sent had been wiped out. Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps had suffered a significant decrease in strength after the Romanican Church’s Crusader Order attacked them.

Yuk Eun-Hyung stood out as the only force to be reckoned with. They weren’t dealing with Romanican Church clergymen but Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps. Yet, his forces wiped out an entire squad equipped with firearms.

"..."

That was definitely strange.

"Were there any injuries on his body? Did you conduct a search?" the leader asked.

After hesitating, the mercenary said, "We searched his body, but we didn’t find any weapons. There were no injuries, but there were dark red spots all over his body."

"He has spots but no injuries."

"Oh, he also stated that he hurt his leg, and so he’s holding a staff. It seems like he picked up a random branch that was lying around on his way here.”

After contemplating, the leader said, "Bring him in for now. But before that, assemble two squads and make sure they are armed. It doesn’t matter whether it’s guns or agricultural tools—just get them ready for combat because there might be a battle."

"Understood."

Following the leader's orders, the mercenaries gathered some idle troops and armed them to form squads.

The leader pondered over the grim news that a squad armed with firearms had been completely wiped out after fighting against Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps. Why and how were they completely wiped out? How did Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps ambush an armed platoon without the proper weapons?

Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps was affiliated with the Voodoo Cult. So, was it possible that the leader of the Voodoo Cult...

At that moment, the mercenary returned and said, "Leader?"

The leader suddenly snapped out of his train of thought and raised his head. The armed troops and the mercenary who had survived alone against Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps had also arrived.

The mercenary was hunched over, gripping a staff in hand. He was trembling, and there were tear stains on his cheeks. Extreme fear filled his face.

The mercenary leader approached him. In response, the mercenary trembled and bowed his head.

"What are you so afraid of?" the leader asked.

The mercenary didn't answer. He just shifted his eyes from side to side and revealed a deeply anxious expression.

The leader carefully scanned his appearance up and down. It looked like his leg felt slightly uncomfortable, but it didn’t seem like he had suffered a serious injury that would prevent him from walking. He looked small with his body hunched over, and he crookedly held onto a staff.

‘A staff?’

The mercenary leader took a step back upon seeing the staff. With a trembling voice, he said, "Shoot him."

The armed mercenaries did not understand the leader’s command. They aimed their guns at the man holding the staff and hesitated as they exchanged glances with each other to decide whether to shoot or not.

The veins in the leader’s neck bulged as he shouted, "Shoot that guy immediately—!!"

Crack, crack—!

A strange noise resounded before the sound of gunfire could erupt. It was the sound of the staff tearing apart and distorting. Scales appeared on the surface of the staff in the man's hand, and it soon took on the shape of a small snake.

The snake rapidly shed its skin several times and grew in size. Eventually, a giant snake appeared before their eyes. It was so large that the thickness of its skin was comparable to a person’s waist. Its wide, open mouth indicated that the snake would not be satiated even if it swallowed dozens of people, and its massive body seemed closer to that of a dragon than a snake.

Yellow light radiated out of the snake’s gaze, and it scanned the faces of the members of the Ravens Mercenary Corps.

Fear appeared on the faces of the mercenaries.

"Ah, argh!"

"Shoot! Shoot, quickly!"

Bang, bang, bang—-!

The sounds of gunfire rang out. However, the bullets they fired couldn't even scratch the snake's scales. Instead, the bullets ended up compressed like crushed cans and rolled aimlessly on the ground.

The snake flicked its tail, and the mercenaries were tossed to the ground like ragdolls with their guns.

The mercenaries hit by the snake's tail either screamed in pain or were in so much pain that they were unable to scream. They just groaned as they silently spewed out blood.

"Cult Leader!" the mercenary leader exclaimed as he staggered back and distanced himself from the snake.

The ominous premonition he sensed when he saw the staff had come true.

What they were experiencing was the Cult Leader’s power. The leader of the Voodoo Cult had eerie, bizarre, and violent powers that only they could use. The leader knew all too well about the destructiveness and danger of the Cult Leader’s power, as he too was once a member of the Voodoo Cult.

The mercenary leader flicked his hand, and Voodoo magic power spewed out. The Voodoo magic power instantly transformed into a spell array. What emerged from the spell array was not purple mist, but a tiny dagger that let out a purple shimmer.

The Cult Leader’s power had manifested the snake in front of them. Bullets or projectiles designed to kill humans or demons could not harm the snake. Only weapons created through Voodoo spells or contained Voodoo magic power could inflict meaningful damage.

The mercenary leader grasped the dagger conjured using the spell in his hand. Then, he glared viciously at the snake, which eyed him menacingly in return.

The mercenary leader slowly stepped back and created distance. And then he waited for the opportunity to attack the snake.

Crack.

The dagger he held in his hand suddenly broke apart. The broken dagger turned into ashes and disappeared. The mercenary leader failed to comprehend the situation as he stared blankly at the dagger dissipating into ashes.

The mercenary leader raised his head. Someone approached step by step through the mercenaries who lay scattered on the ground after suffering from the snake’s attacks.

"As I thought."

He wore a mask and a poncho. The mercenary leader recognized him at a glance.

The mercenary leader shook with a familiar fear. His body trembled as memories of past terrors resurfaced.

A familiar aura emanated from the man wearing the mask and poncho. It was the aura of the man whom the mercenary leader had respected and served when he was a member of the Voodoo Cult. The aura of the man whom he had been unable to resist and had only been able to obey and revere.

“Do Myung-Jun."

"That's my father." The man with the mask chuckled and said, "So you were one of the ones who ran away."

Thud—!

The snake, which had subdued the mercenaries instantly, turned into a staff in Sun-Woo's hand.

Sun-Woo struck the ground with his staff. On the barren land, devoid of a single shrub, tree roots and plant stems magically grew out and tightly wrapped around the leader's body.

***

During the Holy War that occurred seven, no, eight years ago, many people betrayed my father and ran away. Some betrayed my father and clung to the Romanican Church, while others died after becoming vagrants.

I heard some had formed a mercenary corps to make a living. It was around that time that the Ravens Mercenary Corps was established. Although they gained notoriety long after the Holy War ended, I still suspected that the leader of the mercenary corps was potentially one of the many Voodoo Cult deserters.

Seeing the mercenary leader use Voodoo magic only strengthened that suspicion into certainty.

"What's your name?" I asked the leader.

If I referred to him as a mercenary leader, it would be difficult to tell whether I was referring to Yuk Eun-Hyung or him, so I needed a name to refer to him.

The mercenary leader looked at me with a sharp gaze.

Then he smiled and said, "I don’t have one. I’ve never had a name before."

"Really? Then I'll call you Chorong." [1]

"Why Chorong?"

"Because you have bright eyes. Don't look at me with that sharp gaze. It makes me want to pluck your eyes out."

The leader did not respond. Seeing the lack of response, it seemed that he quite liked his new name.

I summoned Ogun in front of Chorong. The iron nails around us turned red and floated in the air. The iron nails pointed sharply at Chorong.

"Chorong, if you don't want to die, answer my questions."

"..."

"Who commissioned this mission?"

Chorong did not answer my question. I felt a little angry. It would be best to start after hitting him a few times, so I hit him in the head with my staff.

I didn't hit him hard, but a groan escaped from Chorong's mouth when I hit him.

"Answer me. Who ordered you to do this mission?"

"I can't say. Protecting the client is the duty of a mercenary corps—"

"Oh, is that so? Bossou,” I said.

[Go easy on him,] Bossou said.

“That depends on how he responds.”

I clenched my fist and punched Chorong’s face.

Smack, smack!

Since one blow didn't seem to bring him to his senses, I hit him with another four or five punches. Still seething with anger, I continued to rain down punches upon him.

Blood trickled from Chorong's mouth. His lips seem to have split. At first, Chorong tried to dodge my attacks by frantically moving his head, but soon, his body slumped, and he just took my punches.

"You're spouting a load of nonsense. Betraying the Voodoo Cult is easy, but betraying your client is hard? Aren’t you supposed to be good at betrayal, you bastard? Do you know how many people died because of you?"

"Ugh, ugh... Cough! Argh, stop. Wait...!"

"Is protecting the client important at the moment? If you don't tell me who your client is, your mercenary corps will be disbanded. Why do bastards like you only listen after I raise my fist—?!”

I was about to strike Chorong's face again when someone grabbed my arm. I stopped the punch and turned my head. Yuk Eun-Hyung was holding onto my wrist.

I glared at him. Yuk Eun-Hyung shook his head slightly and said, "I feel like that's enough. Isn’t it best to give him a chance to speak while torturing him?”

I looked at Chorong, who was covered in blood. Chorong spat out the blood in his mouth and breathed heavily a few times. Then, with swollen eyes, he looked at me pitifully.

"I'll talk! I'll speak!" he said in desperation.

"Well, you should have said that earlier. Why do you have to get hit before opening your mouth? Or if you were going to choose to be silent, then you should have at least stuck to it until the end. I don’t understand.”

"P-please spare me. I'm sorry...!"

He acted all tough in the beginning, but after receiving a few hits, he groveled in submission.

He was a deserter. The Voodoo Cult members who fought against the Romanican Church during the Holy War were all brave individuals, and those who fled in fear of death were all cowards.

This guy was also just a coward. Despite his title as the leader of the Ravens Mercenary Corps, he was ultimately just a pitiful and impatient man who would croak as long as I hit him until he reached the brink of death.

The members who remained loyal to the Voodoo Cult suffered severe consequences as a result of those who abandoned the group. As a result, many people died.

Some became orphans after losing their families, while others succumbed to madness due to losing too many loved ones. Perhaps I was directing all my wrath toward the deserters onto the man in front of me.

But was that a bad thing? Was it bad to pour all my wrath toward the deserters onto a deserter? If it was wrong for me to do so, then to whom was I supposed to pour out my wrath toward the deserters? Was I supposed to swallow it up, suppress it, and wait for it to rot away and disappear?

I clenched my fist. Perhaps I had clenched it too tightly, as blood started dripping from my hand. Due to clenching my jaw the whole time, my jaw joint cracked.

I glared at Chorong, and the name of his client finally came out of his mouth. It was a very familiar name to me.

He curled up in fear and said, "It was Ma-Ma Yu-Hyun! It was a young boy named Ma Yu-Hyun!"

“...”

1. Chorong chorong (????) is often used to refer to wide eyes that are pure and innocent. Kind of like the eyes of a child. ☜