<h4>Chapter 322</h4>


    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 dted like a goat''s. The wings on his back were undergoing molting, transforming into a more grotesque form. Long, ck ws 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 poweres great responsibility."


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


    “Stop pretending like you were ying nice earlier. Shut up ande at me."


    Jun-Hyuk pped 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.


    <i>Whoosh—! </i>


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


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


    I shook my head. "No."


    I aimed the staff at him.


    "Marte," I called out.


    Bade and Marte didn''t usually get along. Bade considered Marte a traitor and never wanted to join forces with her, but I still called out to Marte. 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.


    <i>Bang—! </i>


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


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


    "Ah!"


    After emerging from the mes, 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 Marte''s mes, intensified by Bade''s power, clung to his body. Those mes 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—!"


    <i>Snap.</i>


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


    "Coward. Are you suggesting we fight in your territory?"


    "What? No, you said earlier that it''s not cowardly, but wise, right?"


    I heard Jun-Hyuk''s voiceing from somewhere. He sounded truly dumbfounded.


    Remembering the direction where the voice wasing from, I unleashed Voodoo magic. I drew a spell array and pulled out the Executioner''s Sword. I aimed the Executioner''s Sword in the direction of Jun-Hyuk''s voice and prepared to throw the sword.


    <i>Thud! </i>


    Someone hit my head hard. It was such a strong attack that I would have fainted if they had hit me even a tiny bit harder.


    There was no pain, but I felt dizzy and my vision spun from being hit on the head. I barely regained my senses and lifted my head. Demonic beasts, demons, and grotesquely shaped taxidermied creatures surrounded me.


    "Ah, fu..." I muttered in annoyance. "What kind of dirty trick is this..."


    Jun-Hyuk''s voice echoed again. "It''s not a dirty trick, it''s just a clever trick! Haha!"


    I was annoyed by the frivolousughter. I firmly grasped the point where the voice wasing from and remembered it.


    I counted the number of demonic beasts and taxidermied creatures approaching me. It was not clear in the darkness, but there seemed to be at least thirty of them. If I counted the ones hiding in the darkness, there were possibly even more.


    But it didn''t matter. No matter how many there were, it was meaningless anyway. Jun-Hyuk didn’t summon me here to finish me off. He had summoned me here to buy some time and recover a little.


    What I had to do was quickly defeat all the demons and demonic beasts and deal the final blow to Jun-Hyuk. That was all I had to think about.


    <i>Slice!</i>


    I swung the Executioner''s Sword. The innards of demons spilled on the ground, and ck blood sttered on my face. I swung the sword again. The blood of a demonic beast, cut in half, poured over my head. I swung the sword. Sawdust and cotton spewed out from a taxidermied creature and stuck to my body.


    When I killed a demon, a demonic beast emerged behind it, and when I killed a demonic beast, a taxidermied creature would appear. When I killed the taxidermied creature, a demon woulde out once again.


    They were at apletely different levelpared to the demonic beasts, demons, and taxidermied creatures I had encountered so far. The ones I encountered in the past were weak enough to die with a rough swing of the Executioner''s Sword. However, Jun-Hyuk''s demons, demonic beasts, and taxidermied creatures were different.


    They did not die. No, even though they looked dead, they wriggled and somehow tried to continue to attack me. I had to fight against severed demon heads, headless demonic beasts, and pieces of taxidermied creatures.


    The Executioner''s Sword couldn''t cut through everything. I continued to cut and cut, and when the Executioner’s Sword became blunt, I would create a new Executioner''s Sword. The first few times were fine, but around the fifth time I created an Executioner''s Sword, blood dripped from my nose.


    How many had I in? I stepped on the bodies of demons, demonic beasts, and taxidermied creatures everywhere I walked. Then, I called out to Bossou.


    "Bossou, more!"


    I had been using Bossou''s power since facing Jun-Hyuk, but I had not been using it to the maximum due to concerns about the drawbacks. When I felt my strength waning during the fight, I used a little more of Bossou''s power. I endured the drawbacks and increased the power output.


    [But if we increase it any more... your body will break. Even if you win this battle, eventually...]


    I cut Bossou off. "It doesn''t matter."


    <i>Slice! </i>


    I knew what he was trying to say. I could already feel the burden of the drawbacks due to excessively using the power of the Loa and Voodoo spells. It was dangerous to conservatively use my powers and spells, let alone increase the output of my powers.


    Even if I won this battle and survived, I would have to pay the price. I would have to endure the aftermath of my reckless actions. Bossou probably wanted to tell me that, but it didn’t matter. I no longer needed to care about such things.


    "I don''t n to die here..."


    My mother had died, and my goal of rescuing her was also dead. The peaceful and happy future I had imagined and dreamed of was no longer within my reach. Such a future of peace and happiness was only possible with a fake identity and status.


    I had revealed my identity, and I had discarded my fake identity and status. I had given up on the path of a fake, happy future and chose the path of revealing the truth and suffering a miserable end.


    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.


    <i>Slice! </i>


    I shed the demons. I shed the demonic beasts and shed the taxidermied creatures. I couldn’t even count how many I shed 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 shing enemies. I unleashed Voodoo magic, summoned a new sword, and threw it at Jun-Hyuk.


    <i>Splurt!</i>


    "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. Marte''s mes still clung to his body, leaving gruesome marks on his skin. The pping of his wings seemed weaker than before. He probably would not be able to p 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 rxed 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 ck and white shes.


    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 thest 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 toe 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."


    <i>Crack! </i>


    The sound of my arm snapping echoed.


    The red moon seemed tough 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.