Episode 202

“Wait. What are you trying….”

Seol Young tried to get up.

However, it felt like a huge rock was being pressed down on his body. His eyes were spinning, and everything inside his body was shaking.

‘I knew it would be like this.’

It was only then that he realized how far he was being pushed. But wasn’t that the burden that he should bear for being a sorcerer?

‘So why are you trying to intervene in this gap?’

Seol Young reached his hand out with those anxious thoughts. But after staggering, his body hit the ground.

And it was at that moment that Zaha was now in front of the God of Cataclysm.

The evil spirit reacted right then.

Its spiritual body, which had been strongly suppressed, stopped as if it went still.

A wild burst of energy spread like a whirlwind. Light and darkness tangled inside it, causing a collision. There was a blow that continued to hit the space. And the entire space looked agitated.

Zaha stood upright while accepting it. He couldn’t see her face, but he could feel her killing intent coming for him.

‘No.’

Seol Young felt suffocated. Were the circle and Zaha’s necklace unable to suppress this demonic qi?

‘But what do you plan to do with empty hands…’

As if trying to do something, he barely moved his arms and implemented the reverse summoning. He prepared it so that he could cast it at any time, and he looked over there again.

But…

‘…?’

A different scene unfolded than he had expected. The killing intent behind Zaha vanished.

He was the only one there.

Regardless of whether this world shook or not and if the impact spread or not, he just stood there and watched.

The subject of his hatred that he couldn’t kill at the cost of his life. He just looked at her quietly.

In the middle of the raging storm.

Seol Young followed him and looked at the God of Cataclysm. The broken mandala surrounded her as if she were the Buddha.

Come to think of it, the name Mita resembled Mita in Amitabha.

Buddha Amitabha was the Buddha of the Western lands. It was also the Buddha who guided people to paradise.

‘An existence that people believe in and follow.’

Seol Young thought,

The God of Cataclysm and Zaha. The two of them were similar in so many ways.

Both of them were priests at one time.

They were people who had to be held accountable. They lost precious people.

Shadows shone on either side of the space. They were Zaha’s memories.

The words he had heard since childhood.

The burdens he had to carry.

The choices he made.

Such things shone in Seol Young’s eyes.

‘Is he recalling those memories? While looking at the evil spirit in front of him?’

The evil spirit was silent. It held no emotions. It just exuded its powerful presence.

But what if even such a thing could see?

She might be looking at the person in front of her.

A man who gave his life to kill her. A human who stole her qi and used it.

‘… She might be watching.’

The storm that had been raging violently subsided little by little. The scream that echoed in the void also vanished.

Only silence filled the place, suppressing everything. Then a clear voice rang out from within.

[… Have mercy.]

The voices of the royal family praying beyond the wall were clear.

[Since ancient times, whenever there is a disaster, the ruler is the one held accountable, so hopefully, the blame is….]

The voices of everyone followed.

[Do not take any more innocent lives.]

The prayer was led by the Queen’s voice. It pierced through the spirit world and headed for the God of Cataclysm.

The voices of people of all genders and ages could be heard. The entire nation was begging for mercy.

They were all praying for innocent lives to be spared.

[Have mercy]

The prayer turned into another vibration and spread throughout the world.

At each spot, the fragments rose up and fell, shining brightly. Looking at that, Seol Young remembered the Buddhist chants he heard as a child.

‘According to the Lotus Sutra, when the Buddha gives a sermon, flowers, and great mandala flowers rain down from the sky…’

Amidst the dazzling, bright light, Seol Young slowly raised himself and walked to where Zaha was.

Together, they looked at the figure of the God of Cataclysm.

‘We just keep the things that are precious to us. Like you.’

Seol Young thought.

All souls were pitiful. Wandering in pain without knowing anything.

‘Now, let us end this here.’

He spoke to her.

In the pouring flower rain, a piece of the talisman fell. Then another, and another.

They were falling down like fallen leaves.

The two looked at each other without talking. He didn’t know what Zaha was thinking…

Seeing the talismans fall down and flutter, Seol Young thought about the life and death of Mita.

And then he realized.

It wasn’t a sacrifice. Everything he had done until now was a long process to soothe her hurt soul, and it was now coming to an end.

Seol Young spoke to the soul of the dead,

“I want you to leave now.”

No matter who said this, spiritual qi formed on his fingers.

“May you be reborn in the Pure Land of Paradise.”

Gold and black, blue and silver. Various colors got mixed into it, and it shone so brightly that he couldn’t open his eyes.

The space changed.

“Escape from the painful world and be reborn in a good place.”

The light from the talismans that held the prayers began to embrace her. At that time, part of her face was revealed from the fallen talismans.

Seol Young hesitated at that.

‘What is that?’

It was as if he had been splashed with cold water. In the blink of an eye, the scene in front of him was clear. The talisman wrapped its light around the God of Cataclysm.

However, as if it were crushed by a huge wheel, it crushed down and collapsed.

“What is happening?”

Zaha also asked.

“…”

Seol Young also just looked at it in shock. He had sent away so many ghosts and spirits, but this was happening for the first time.

What was the problem here?

[…!]

He heard the nature God struggling. The moment he looked in that direction, he felt something odd.

‘Even the Great Mother is acting odd. This isn’t…’

His mind felt so messed up by the change that he couldn’t even think of anything else. Zaha hurriedly pulled out his sword, which was stuck on the ground.

“Why are you doing this?”

There was shock and bewilderment in Zaha’s eyes.

“Why couldn’t we send that one away?”

“Something feels odd.”

Despite answering that, Seol Young hated it.

‘I should have done something.’

He thought about it, but he knew he couldn’t do anything.

‘It is too late.’

The form of the God of Cataclysm vanished, the talismans fell, and they exploded on the spot.

Everything was chaotic, with nothing happening the way it should have.

And…

Seol Young’s eyes couldn’t register what happened next.

It seemed like Zaha was covering for him and trying to receive ‘It.’ Just like how he saved Hyo Wol.

It was a quick judgment. Moreover, he acted faster than his judgment. Even in the midst of that, he admired the man so much.

That was why he was able to save so many people in crises. However, even if he were a god-like being, he couldn’t handle ‘it.’

It was like an arrow that flew with Seol Young’s name on it.

‘This cannot be avoided.’

He had been listening to such things since he was a child.

Appeasing evil spirits was like walking on a tight rope between the spirits and humans.

When the line breaks, the man on the rope falls.

If the ritual failed, the price had to be paid. He had never faced anything like this before.

‘I failed….’

The spirit world around them was breaking down. None of the things that had to be in place could be changed.

[ACKKKK!]

The zodiacs were screaming in pain as the circle failed and the sword on the ceiling shattered. The entangled qi flew to the person taking over the ritual.

No matter how much Zaha tried to protect him, it felt useless. As if there was nothing there, ‘it’ passed through Zaha and pierced Seol Young’s body.

“….!”

He couldn’t even scream. There was just the feeling of his body shattering like glass. Unable to withstand the pressure, blood flowed out.

“Sorry… Everyone did well… and I…”

Seol Young stuttered.

“I couldn’t do it right…”

Through his vision, which was turning white, he saw the door shatter.

‘Seo Geom-rang didn’t listen. I told him to burn down the talisman.’

Everyone’s faces were blurred. Baek Eon could be seen saying something.

‘I don’t hear it.’

Seol Young grabbed the hem of Zaha’s clothes with his bloody hands, but they just slipped.

“….”

He wanted to say something, but no words would come out. All his senses were burning up.

He had no choice but to let go of the life he was stubbornly holding onto.

And the darkness embraced him.