The Conjurer of the Academy

Chapter 89

A barrier descended over the entire construction site.

‘Preparations are complete.’

Even though it was dangerous, I had Do-il lure Park Jung-seok here because I didn’t want anyone else to get involved.

Capturing him would be easy, but that wouldn’t be fitting for a murderer of his caliber, so I prepared a stage suited to his crimes.

“Who are you? A cop?”

Park Jung-seok frowned from beyond the dense fog. He couldn’t see me, but thanks to my night vision, I could see him clearly.

‘No need to confirm his identity.’

His toad-like face, brownish, bumpy skin, and hefty body matched the details released in the wanted notice perfectly.

“It doesn’t matter who I am.”

I jumped down from my perch.

“What matters is whether you feel any guilt. Surrender now, and I’ll give you one last chance to turn yourself in to the Hunter Police in one piece.”

“What a load of crap! Where’s that brat?!”

“So, that’s your answer.”

As I drew the Sain-gum, blue flames engulfed it.

“Thanks for giving me a reason to beat you to a pulp.”

“You think you can catch me?”

“No, I’m going to beat you.”

I charged at Park Jung-seok. Sensing the danger, he crouched down.

“You arrogant…!”

Crack!

At that moment, a large crack formed in the ground. Park Jung-seok’s ability allowed him to break any object into uniform cubic pieces upon contact. Though it had a limited range, the ground was no exception.

Crash-!

The ground shattered into uniform cubic pieces, collapsing rapidly.

“How do you like that?”

Park Jung-seok smirked. The ground is omnipresent.

No matter how trained a Hunter Police officer is, if the ground collapses, they lose balance and get buried. Park Jung-seok had eluded the Hunter Police multiple times using this ability.

“Huh? What?”

But that was only against trained Hunter Police officers.

Fwoosh.

Flames erupted from my body.

It meant nothing to me, assimilated with Yomi. Moving on all fours, I gripped the Sain-gum in my mouth and sprung off the falling pieces of the ground.

Fear.

The weak point was his side.

Slash!

The blade in my mouth grazed Park Jung-seok’s side.

“Aagh! Aaaaagh!”

His flesh tore open, and foxfire ignited on his body. Naturally, without any protection, Park Jung-seok felt the full pain of his body burning.

Thump.

Thus, the infamous criminal Park Jung-seok fell in a single strike. Even while his body burned, he lay motionless. I wondered if he might die, but there was no need to worry.

Releasing the assimilation with Yomi, I stood on two legs, shifting the Sain-gum from my mouth to my hand.

“What are you doing? Get up.”

I knew it.

Even if Park Jung-seok fell as a ‘human,’ his ‘grudge’ hadn’t been vanquished yet.

Twitch.

Within the flames, Park Jung-seok’s body twitched. His joints bent unnaturally, and his skin began to bubble and turn a purplish hue.

‘As expected.’

Ever since I first heard Do-il’s account, I had an inkling.

“I felt a strange energy.”

No matter how evil, he was just a regular human. Yet Do-il distinctly felt a ‘strange energy’ from Park Jung-seok.

When Park Jung-seok set foot on the construction site, my suspicions were confirmed. His presence exuded a repulsive and filthy energy.

It’s impressive that Do-il could just call it strange.

‘C-Virus infected.’

On the outside, Park Jung-seok appeared normal, but he was infected with the C-Virus. I merely broke his shell; if left unchecked for a few days, he might have gone berserk in the heart of the city.

“Uaargh!”

Park Jeong-seok’s skin turned a shade of purple and continued to swell. The sagging double chin stretched down until it touched the ground, and webbed flaps began to sprout from his chunky arms and legs.

‘A toad?’

The C-Virus had transformed Park Jung-seok into something completely inhuman. His eyes rolled wildly, examining his entirely transformed body.

“What… is this?”

A gruff voice emanated from his swollen vocal cords. If he were an ordinary human, he might have fainted at the sight of his monstrous form, but the C-Virus is a curse and a madness-inducing disease.

“I’m overflowing with power…! I feel like I can do anything right now!!”

Park Jung-seok was already completely deranged.

“I’ll kill you!”

As he opened his mouth, his rough, bumpy tongue shot out. It grabbed a nearby steel beam and hurled it at me with all its might.

Park Jung-seok’s ability enhanced the attack, breaking the beam into dozens of cubic fragments.

“Damn…!”

The fragmented beam broke apart like a grenade. I didn’t have any protection either, so getting hit by even one shard would be fatal. Quickly, I clasped my hands together and pressed them to the ground.

Crash!

The earth erupted, and a golem’s hand shot up. It blocked the steel fragments, but I immediately realized it was the worst move I could’ve made.

Whip!

Park Jung-seok’s tongue darted out from beside the golem’s hand. He intended to attack while my view was obscured.

Instinctively, I ducked, and his tongue wrapped around the golem’s arm instead. Moments later, the golem’s arm was shattered into numerous cubic pieces.

‘If I had been a bit slower, I’d be in pieces too.’

Sweat trickled down my forehead.

“Are you okay, Hyung?!”

“I told you not to come out!”

Do-il peeked his head out from his hiding spot.

“There you are, you little brat!”

In his monster-transformed state, Park Jung-seok’s eyes locked onto Do-il through the fog.

“Aaah, Hyung!”

His tongue shot out, grabbing Do-il and lifting him into the air.

“Tell me where you hid the gold nugget, or I’ll break you into pieces down to the molecules!”

Until he could figure out the location of the gold nugget, Park Jung-seok couldn’t hurt Do-il. Right then, Yomi, who had been lingering as a spirit, reappeared on my shoulder.

[What are you doing? Are you going to let Do-il die like this? Can’t you just kill that crude guy with one sword strike?]

According to Yomi, I had more than enough chances to take down Park Jung-seok.

“No, it’s too wasteful to do that.”

But death was too good for Park Jung-seok.

“I suppose it’s enough now.”

I sheathed the Sain-gum and yelled at Park Jung-seok.

“Hey, toad! I’ll give you one more chance.”

“What?”

“Let that kid go right now.”

“Ha! Do you think I’d do that? If you don’t tell me where the gold nugget is, I’ll chop this kid into pieces right away.”

“Is that so?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, there’s no choice then. It’s time for atonement.”

“What-”

As I clasped my hands together,

“Khhhh…!”

Park Jung-seok’s body began to convulse violently. His eyes spun around like they might pop out.

“Save me, please…!”

And then a voice whispered in Park Jung-seok’s ear.

“Wh, who is it?!”

“Ugh!”

Startled, Park Jung-seok loosened his grip, and Do-il fell to the ground on his bottom.

“I have a daughter, please spare me!”

“I’m taking care of my elderly mother, I beg you!”

“I’ll give you as much money as you want!”

“I won’t report it, I swear…!”

The fog began to take on distinct colors and shapes. Pieces of flesh broken off into rectangular chunks and disfigured faces climbed onto Park Jung-seok’s body.

“We begged for our lives like that…”

“Why did you kill us?”

These were the remnants of the countless people he had killed, unaware of why they had died.

“Aaaahhh!!!”

Park Jeong-seok let out a piercing scream. Even a heartless murderer could not endure such terror, as it was beyond what a human could bear.

“It’s over.”

Of course, I couldn’t see what he was seeing.

But that was fine. From his open-mouth screams and the way he clutched his stomach, I could roughly guess what he was witnessing.

[So you’ve been waiting for this moment.]

“That’s right.”

Park Jung-seok was a hulking figure infected with the C-Virus. To show him more precise hallucinations, it was necessary to make him inhale more of the fog than usual.

As planned, his breathing had become labored in the earlier fight, allowing him to succumb to the fog faster than anticipated.

[What exactly is he seeing?]

I didn’t respond directly, instead turning my gaze to the tormented Park Jung-seok.

“Please, forgive me just this once!”

Park Jung-seok cried, tears streaming down his face, as he vomited blood. He alternated between screaming, rolling on the ground, and vomiting.

“I gave that bastard a chance to atone for his sins.”

[Atonement, huh…]

Yomi clicked her tongue bitterly. I turned around and kneeled down, looking at Do-il.

“Do-il, what do you want to do?”

“M-me?”

I nodded towards Do-il.

“When we first met, you said you came for revenge for your mother.”

I wasn’t going to spout nonsense that humans should be punished by human laws. Park Jung-seok was already a paroled serial killer.

Since he was beyond redemption, I wanted to leave the final decision to Do-il.

[But are you sure about this? Imugis are sacred creatures. If he harms a human, he may not ascend and could fall into being a mere yokai.]

“Really? That’s a problem…”

If that’s the case, he was never in a position to seek revenge from the start. What an unfair world this is.

“Hyung, you said this man is currently reflecting on his past deeds, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I have a good idea!”

Then, with a pop, Do-il’s appearance transformed dramatically.

A thick, coiled body emerged, towering twice the height of a human.

‘Unbelievable.’

Perhaps because I had only seen him disguised as a human, the moment our eyes met, my body froze instinctively.

Splurt.

When Do-il opened his mouth, the Yeouiju was revealed inside. The fog, illuminated by its brilliant light, began to dissipate.

[Oh, insignificant creature, I command you before my deceased mother and the Yeouiju.]

The low voice was not that of a frightened child but of a true ‘dragon.’

“Hic, h-hic…”

Park Jung-seok, who had been writhing in agony, suddenly stopped moving at Do-il’s incantation. His bulging eyes appeared as if he were under hypnosis.

[You will live your entire life feeling the guilt of your actions. You will eternally regret your wicked deeds.]

“Kuk, kuuh…”

Tears streamed from his fist-sized eyes. As Do-il finished his spell, a bright light emanated from the Yeouiju.

[The Yeouiju contains immense spiritual power, but only an Imugi can fully harness its strength.]

Yomi, who had been watching with me, nodded her head.

If the power of the Yeouiju is real, Park Jung-seok will continue to suffer from hallucinations even after the effects of the fog wear off.

‘He brought it upon himself.’

As punishment for being a murderer, it seemed quite fitting.

[By the way, I mentioned the Imugi legend before, didn’t I?]

“What about it?”

[There was one detail I left out from the Imugi legend.]

Yomi sniffled.

[It is said that those who call a soaring imugi a serpent will be cursed for their entire life.]

I watched Park Jung-seok’s miserable end and responded.

“It really turned out just like the legend.”