Episode 200

The King, Queen, Crown Prince, and Princesses went to their seats and sat down.

The high priests invited by the royal family were all old, yet they had straight backs and clear eyes. They had loose robes around them, and the sound of the fabric flapping couldn’t even be heard.

The monks walked in perfect order to the front of the King and Queen, and they all went to their positions.

A hundred lion seats ¹ were prepared under the five-colored ceiling. It was such a spectacle sight.

At that moment, everyone went silent in unison.

“Namu Amitabha…”

Amidst the resounding chant of the Queen, the monks at the higher seats also stepped forward and took their positions. And Monk Do Cheol stood firm among them.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Great Heavenly Pavilion were on the other side.

Everyone seemed nervous, as this wasn’t their usual way of attending a royal court, and it was clear that they should respond to any mistake right away.

Finally, the Hwarangs came in, dressed in gold and purple.

Today, the Hwarangs decided to surround the entire hall and keep it closed. Among them, the Golden Ring Troops and Black Tortoise Troops were in charge of this ritual.

“Let us head to our positions now.”

After greeting the King and Queen, Zaha took the rest of the Hwarangs except for Mu Won and Jin Rim.

As he passed Mu Won, Seol Young paused for a moment. He still didn’t thank the guy for bringing them out of the tomb.

It couldn’t be helped that they weren’t on speaking terms, but he couldn’t ignore the person who saved his life.

Then Seol Young looked at Mu Won to greet him.

“….”

But contrary to his intentions, he couldn’t speak. Maybe it was because he thought this might be the last time he would see the leader of the Black Tortoise Troops.

Or was it because of what Zaha said?

The small world in the three thousand worlds was small in its own way, and his emotions were even smaller.

When he thought so, it felt like a band around his chest had loosened, and Seol Young sighed.

“It hurts me that Mu Won-rang lost his leg because of me.”

“…?”

Mu Won frowned and looked straight at Seol Young. He wasn’t expecting any response.

He just felt the urge to say that, and Seol Young followed the group.

Zaha turned around and asked,

“What did you say to Mu Won-rang?”

“I said, let’s do well.”

Seol Young replied.

Baek Eon, Seo Geom, and Hwa Un were on their way. Together, they made their way through the hall and to the other side.

The Hwarangs from all four troops were guarding the place. When the High Governor and the leaders came, they all bowed their heads.

“Is everyone here?”

Normal Hwarangs didn’t know that they were calling the most ferocious spirit today.

However, they still noticed that it was something important, so everyone was on alert.

“….”

Song Ok, and Hyo Wol nodded slightly. Seol Young also secretly nodded.

Then they passed in front of the people and went up to the floors of the building. The door facing the site of the ritual was opened.

Since formality wasn’t important, nothing more was prepared. There was just this one huge sword dangling from the ceiling.

‘To subdue the evil spirit.’

Baek Eon, Seo Geom, and Hwa Un looked at it.

But in reality, it wasn’t like that. Before this ritual, Seol Young counted all the possible cases based on his experience.

And the most dangerous one was probably a possession.

And Seol Young had no intention of letting that happen now. However, contrary to his thoughts, he had to prepare it.

So he prepared this Air Sword technique. It would be difficult if Zaha couldn’t cut it down.

-If anything seems odd, you should behead me right away. You can use a spell even after my head is cut off, so you can definitely destroy the….

-I get it.

He remembered their conversation.

Zaha must have thought of it as well. His eyes lingered on the sword for a while.

“But how exactly does the ritual work?”

At Hwa Un’s question, Seol Young returned to reality.

Then a knocking sound came from the other side of the wall. He listened to the sound of drums and explained,

“The process itself is simple. Summon, suppress, weaken, and give peace. It happens in four steps.”

Then Seo Geom asked,

“What would we do if a dangerous situation arose along the way?”

“Cancel it.”

“Cancel?”

He felt like explaining would be hard to do, so Seol Young looked at Zaha.

“There is this spell that Seol Young-rang used to summon stone beasts in the past and also send them back. A reverse summon means the opposite of summoning. It is releasing the bond that had been tied at the start and sending it back.”

Zaha explained,

“This reverse summoning is strong, but we plan to prepare it by making it stronger. So if things get dangerous, we can send it back with force.”

“That is what it meant.”

Seol Young added.

“We have prepared for any variables to be handled in the right manner. However, if there is an abnormality that can be noticed from the outside, it means that the heavenly bond that we created has been shattered.”

It would mean that both of them would lose their breath.

Thinking so, Seol Young pulled a red pouch from his chest and handed it to Seo Geom.

“And burn this.”

“I get it.”

Seo Geom accepted it without a word.

As soon as the pouch he handed over burned, the spirit world could collapse, and the souls of Seol Young, Zaha, and the God of Cataclysm could never escape from it.

“Of course, only in the worst case….”

Seol Young turned to Baek Eon.

“Before it reaches that point, I will try to end it in one way or another.”

He said that, trying his best not to think about anything else.

“Right.”

Baek Eon nodded lightly.

“Then let’s move to the location.”

“Good.”

Each of the three leaders moved to where their Hwarangs stood. Seol Young turned around and entered the place.

Zaha followed, and without looking outside, they shut the door.

The time has really come.

Seol Young asked,

“Nothing to say before starting?”

“None. What about Seol Young?”

What should he say now?

As he tried to answer, he couldn’t think of anything. Seol Young took out the brush that he always carried and wrote words on the ground.

‘To Die Together Circle.’

Seeing that, Zaha frowned and tried to speak, but then Seol Young erased the letters and wrote again.

‘Do what you want.’

It meant to live if they wanted to and die if they wanted to.

That was what it meant.

“…”

Zaha smiled and turned his head.

At the site where the ritual was being held beyond the wall, the ceremony of knocking on the Buddhist items was over.

Listening to the sound of the prayer, Seol Young drew a huge summoning circle on the ground. After that, he put a green sword in the middle.

Zaha put his sword next to him.

The two types of aura didn’t collide but spread around in the shape of a talisman. The shaman’s circle was filled all over.

Seol Young made a seal for the flow of spiritual qi and chanted something.

‘… Heavenly Desire.’

The spiritual qi, which had been spreading everywhere, shone. Centered on the summoning side, the entire space began to rotate around.

Just like before, Zaha drew blood from his fingertips and dropped it on the letters.

The twelve signs of the zodiac appeared in each direction.

Unlike the time when it received Seol Young’s blood, it shone in black and gold.

Strong pressure was applied to the entire space. This was several times stronger than the circle that unfolded within Miss Dohwa’s space in the past.

Even at that time, they were able to capture the God of Cataclysm, so this would be perfect now.

“Our side is done…”

Finally, Zaha brought the necklace out, which was hidden behind his clothes. Its energy immediately spread everywhere. With this, the preparations to suppress the power of the God of Cataclysm was now completed.

“Then let us start summoning.”

Seol Young took a seat under the hanging sword.

First, he took out the bundle of tightly wrapped talismans from his bosom and untied the strings. The talismans on the outside were intact.

But with each layer removed, it turned blurrier. And there was a blank piece of paper at the end.

When that was undone, the remnant of the evil spirit revealed itself. It was a fragment of the ashes of Mita.

‘The remains of Mita’s head.’

Seol Young took a deep breath and looked down. Even though it was just a piece, he could feel how strong it was.

It prevented him from looking into her memories, but Seol Young already knew everything. That was why he was able to read all of them without trying.

The life of a princess, a priest, everything she experienced as a ruler….

The life of the dead was in front of his eyes.

“High Priestess Mita.”

Seol Young called her name.

“May the dead with such an extravagant history respond to the call of a summoner.”

The light flashed blindingly on the ground and hit the skeleton fragments.

Through this powerful medium, they began to draw out the spirits that wandered the nine heavens.

‘The dead, listen.’

Seol Young closed his eyes to focus.

He knew how to do it. He had to call with all his heart and attract her soul.

‘Respond to the call of the summoner…’

His consciousness was going dark, and suddenly, everything faded.

Seol Young felt her presence inside. Between this world and the next, her breathing felt like poison.

Fumbling for breath, he looked beyond the walls of time and space. And in the pitch-black darkness, he found a wooden man with his limbs tied in an odd shape.

She was close.

‘I see you.’

Seol Young whispered to her.

The situation was similar to when Mita showed him the visions. However, there is one major difference now.

This time, they had control over the situation.

‘I see you in that place.’

The sword hanging about his head was moving quickly. It looked like it would kill Seol Young right then, but Seol Young kept his eyes shut and watched her.

He could feel Zaha staring at him, ready to use his demonic qi. And at the same time, he was watching the God of Cataclysm.

‘I see you.’

The powerful waves it caused spread in the darkness.

Mandala of darkness.

Over there.

Seol Young commanded the darkness.

‘Respond to my call!’

He gave another wave of command for the summoning.

Then the sword above his head that had been swaying stopped, and Seol Young opened his eyes.

“She is here.”

At that moment, all of the twelve zodiacs opened their mouths and let out a terrifying scream.