By Zephyria 
The next day.
“You’re not thinking of reconsidering?”
A voice filled with worry lingered in the air.
At the tremor reaching his ear, Ki Jae-eon, who was fastening his white robe, stopped and calmly turned around.
A season where white breath appears even when just breathing.
The sight of his son in his father, Ki Tae-ho’s eyes, was almost self-abuse.
At most, a single white robe.
Without anything worn underneath, his hands and nape were directly exposed to the biting wind. Even though he was still indoors, his delicate skin was already frozen red.
‘If he goes out in this state…….’
Ki Tae-ho squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them.
He instinctively knew how much cold his son would face.
He, too, had been thrown into the mountains in his youth wearing such white robes and trained. He had knelt alone on the ridge, offering prayers to the gods, and had to endure alone while facing Evil Spirits.
He had returned alive like that several times.
If he succeeded, he received looks as if it were natural, and if he failed, he repeated even more arduous training.
Yes, he had been like that too. He had experienced it as much as anyone else.
But this time it was different.
“Even if it was strict training…….”
Ki Tae-ho murmured lowly, as if to himself.
“I wasn’t made to wear just one robe in the middle of such a blizzard.”
That’s right. Doing this was no different than pushing someone to their death.
“Jae-eon, does it really have to be this…….”
The end of his words scattered like snow.
In fact, it was.
Ki Tae-ho himself knew better than anyone that there was no point in asking why he had to go this far.
[Fatal Spirit]
Evil that would devour the world.
This wasn’t a simple exorcism.
This was a fight that hinged on people’s today and tomorrow, and the distant future.
A disaster of such a form that the world could be torn apart by even a small mistake.
Knowing that fact too well, Ki Tae-ho’s face was utterly ruined. Biting his lip, distorting his eyes. Even so, he couldn’t bear it and had to open his mouth again. Even knowing that he was abandoning his conscience, even knowing that it was against his duty, he still had to speak.
Why? Because he was a father.
Even if it was a matter of the world’s survival, a parent’s heart couldn’t help but prioritize their own child. Especially if they were parents who had indirectly experienced the ‘death of their child’ even once, they couldn’t help but become even more sensitive.
Just as Ki Tae-ho was about to call Ki Jae-eon’s name once more, Father—a gentle bass voice flowed out from nearby.
In his view, he saw his son smiling. A clear and transparent face that suited the white robe.
The heart of Ki Tae-ho sank because the whole face was so peaceful. Because the last moment of his son suddenly came to mind.
“Jae, Jae-eon…….”
“Don’t worry.”
Ki Jae-eon smiled faintly as if he had read his mind. But it wasn’t very helpful. Rather, it became even more uneasy.
It felt like his son was giving his last greetings.
“Jae, Jae-eon, Jae-eon!”
Ki Tae-ho hurriedly grabbed Ki Jae-eon’s arms tightly with a pale face. His wrinkled hands were trembling faintly.
“I’d rather this father do it! Huh?”
His voice was filled with desperation.
“Father can, can do it well. You-!”
“Father.”
“Your mother too……! Seong-hee is also worried……!”
“Father.”
“This isn’t right. This isn’t something you should do. You’re too young, too young! Not this time…. I can’t lose you again, I can’t!”
“Dad!”
Burst! A firm, single cry awakened Ki Tae-ho’s mind.
“……!”
Ki Tae-ho took a deep breath. He couldn’t continue speaking as if his chest had stopped. Seeing him like that, Ki Jae-eon smiled as if to reassure him.
“It’s okay.”
“……Jae-eon.”
“It’s okay, trust me.”
It was the answer he had expected, but when that answer came back, Ki Tae-ho’s heart became even more anxious. He knew he had to believe, but the stronger his belief became, the more afraid he felt for some reason. An anxiety that made him doubt whether he himself was so weak.
He knew why.
Because he was his son, because he was his child.
“When did you become so fearful?”
“You should have a child too…….”
Ki Jae-eon chuckled briefly and then glanced around.
Then, he deliberately lowered his voice and opened his mouth.
“I made up all sorts of nice-sounding words in front of people.”
Ki Jae-eon came closer and whispered.
“Actually, I didn’t say the most important reason. Keep it a secret, only you should know, Father.”
“Yes……. Yes, tell this father. I won’t tell anyone.”
As Ki Tae-ho leaned in and listened, Ki Jae-eon took a small breath and exhaled.
“Because I’m the strongest.”
“……!”
Seemingly playful, but as if declaring an ordinary fact.
At that moment, all worries seemed to stop.
Ki Jae-eon chuckled briefly and stepped back two steps. The white snowfield was visible behind him. Such an absurd sight was unfolding in reality. Ki Jae-eon tilted his head slightly.
“Isn’t that right, Father?”
A child smiling brightly with a red nose.
But that smile clearly revealed confidence. It was neither arrogance nor conceit.
He was just saying that he could do what he could do.
Once he understood that meaning, Ki Tae-ho’s strength drained away. The feeling that something firmly knotted in his heart was loosening powerlessly. In that way, his determination to stop his son collapsed in vain.
Yes, an inevitable acknowledgment leaked out.
“……That’s right.”
It was a voice closer to trust than resignation.
Ki Tae-ho reached out and carefully stroked his son’s cheek. The skin that touched his hand was already cold. Ki Tae-ho made a face mixed with regret and pride, and then roughly stroked it as if trying not to be caught.
“But if it’s hard, tell me anytime. You don’t have to take it all on yourself. Even this incompetent father-.”
“You are not incompetent.”
Ki Jae-eon’s eyes, which quickly cut off his words, had no playfulness unlike before.
“The reason I can stand in this place is thanks to you, Father.”
He uttered each word carefully.
“Of course, there were many difficult times. There were dozens of times I wanted to run away. Honestly, I can’t call them all good memories. There were times when I resented……. because there were.”
Ki Tae-ho’s lips trembled.
“But even so.”
Ki Jae-eon let out a refreshing breath and continued.
“Because you were there, Father, I can survive today.”
“…….”
“Thank you. Master.”
At the same time as those words, Ki Jae-eon deeply bowed. It was a greeting that felt respect for his father, beyond just a father, but also as a master.
“…….”
Ki Tae-ho turned his head silently.
Hiding his distorted expression, he hesitated and only reached out his hand to pat his son’s back. It was instead of an answer.
The middle-aged man’s rough palm endlessly stroked the child’s back. The hand that had once driven him to the point of bruising his back was now caressing him more carefully than ever.
At the fingertips were regret, guilt, pride, love……. Everything was mixed together.
“Thank, thank you.”
Ki Tae-ho said in a slightly trembling voice, like someone whose throat was blocked from swallowing tears.
“Let’s go, Father.”
Ki Jae-eon grabbed his father’s hand tightly and pulled him. Footsteps stepping out into the outside where snowflakes were silently piling up. The sound of stepping on snow crunched underfoot.
“Haa-.”
A world where white breath spread out hazily.
As if trying to pass on all his warmth, Ki Tae-ho grabbed his son’s hand even more tightly.
Now, it was the beginning.
Crisp.
Ki Jae-eon stopped in the white center.
Haa, he took a cold breath once and slowly knelt down on the white snowfield. The ends of his sleeves were already getting wet and freezing. Cold and solitude. It was a share that Ki Jae-eon had to fully bear.
Ki Jae-eon took out a Rosary made of jade from his bosom. With just that one movement, the surrounding air sank heavily. Pressure pressing down on his shoulders. As if this entire snowfield was watching his next move.
“…….”
The Exorcists surrounding Ki Jae-eon swallowed their respective tensions and took out their Rosaries in the same way.