By Zephyria “……”
Who am I?
‘That’s a strange question.’
Feeling uneasy, Shin Yoon watched Ki Jae-eon with a wary gaze. As he faced him, an unknown stimulus washed over his entire body. How should he put it…? A chill that made his hairs stand on end? No, it was more intense than that. Yes, to put it simply, it felt like having a sharp blade pointed at his throat. What’s more, the opponent was a skilled swordsman. Even the slightest movement would cause his head to fly off. That meant death.
Therefore, timing was crucial.
He had to watch carefully to find a way out.
But no matter how much he tensed every muscle in his body and sharpened his senses, it was difficult to find an opening.
Shin Yoon swallowed hard and barely blinked.
Boo- boo- The sound of an owl hooting was heard from afar.
‘Shit…’
He tried to force a smile to regain his composure, but his instincts, sensing the threat, stopped him from doing anything unnecessary. Instead, a warning light flashed in his head. Wing-wing- A loud siren blared relentlessly.
It was a signal to run away immediately.
‘I’m going crazy… Why?’
Why was he so scared!
Shin Yoon’s breathing gradually became rougher. His body, heightened with tension, was protesting from fatigue. Heok-. Hah. His dilated pupils showed amazing concentration, as if trying not to lose sight of his opponent.
‘Don’t waver. Stay calm.’
It was an obsession bordering on compulsion.
In other words, it meant that it was that dangerous.
‘……Is that Ki Jae-eon?’
The man reflected under the red moon was clearly different in some way.
His appearance and energy were all the same, but it felt like the foundation that made him up had been reversed.
‘He’s the same person, but not the same person.’
The moment an incomprehensible judgment dominated his mind, he moved.
Swaaaa-. With the sound of trees weeping as background music, he began to grope at his bruised neck. His time, focused with his gaze lowered, was very quiet.
“……”
Uduk-. His hand stopped.
Ki Jae-eon lowered the hand that had been touching his wound, then raised his head towards the dark sky.
Shin Yoon quietly watched Ki Jae-eon’s profile.
Before long, a hazy sea fog slowly filled the area around them. It was the thick breath of the Sea God blowing from afar.
‘My vision!’
As the fog thickened over time, his focus wandered.
All he could tell was that the air felt damp.
That’s how a strange silence continued.
In the swaying fog, a shadow, and from within that shadow, a blood-red eye that seemed to contain the red moon as it was, was momentarily visible. There was no mistaking it. A gaze that was shot out without wavering through the gaps where the fog briefly cleared. Only the eyes turned smoothly without the head moving, like a goblin.
That sticky gaze was truly creepy and disgusting.
It was, yes.
Another ghost who had come to catch the ghosts who had not been able to find peace.
“You’re bound.”
Pasak, the sound of stepping on grass was heard.
It was around that time that Shin Yoon’s steps faltered backward.
“You couldn’t untie the knot.”
The low voice that clearly pierced his ears.
“How did it come to this.”
A child, a child.
Ki Jae-eon took step by step towards Shin Yoon, talking to someone. Shin Yoon suddenly felt anxious at his relentless advance. Like a child about to be caught doing something wrong, his heart pounded wildly. Don’t come! He wanted to shout, but his lips only trembled. Heok, he gasped and twitched his legs.
“……Oh, no.”
Sweat began to form on his palms.
He had instinctively realized what was about to happen.
“No…”
But if he couldn’t fight back, he would only lose what was precious.
‘That can’t happen…!’
Shin Yoon quickly turned around.
A pine tree came into his terrified vision.
“Yun-i… Yun… No!”
Pasak, pat! He ran close to the pine tree, stepping on the long grass.
This can’t happen. No one can touch it. Get out of here, don’t come!
“Heok… Hah.”
Shin Yoon spread his arms wide and guarded his surroundings. Even with the strong spiritual power weighing heavily on his shoulders, he endured, trembling in every limb.
“This child, Yun-i, is not. Yun-i can be saved. I promise, so don’t come, don’t come! He’s not dead yet…”
I can save him! I can save him, I tell you?
It was at that moment that a desperate plea, like a scream of rage, echoed loudly.
“–You?”
Something seemed to cut through the air, and a pale hand appeared through the fog like a sharp spear.
“How.”
The hand that had been spread out in front of Shin Yoon’s nose snatched his face as if hunting prey and slammed it into the tree.
“Eu, keuk!”
It was a strong momentum.
There was no hesitation in his actions.
Kuddeuk!
It was Ki Jae-eon, an oppressive force that was unimaginable from the gloomy and weak man. It was fierce and ruthless.
“Ugh!”
Shin Yoon was crushed by the strong grip and let out a painful groan. He tried to pull it off, but it didn’t budge.
“Lord.”
Ki Jae-eon twisted his head and sniffed between Shin Yoon’s neck. Soon, a snorting sound was heard close to his skin.
“You reek of rot so strongly.”
“Keuk!”
“Who are you trying to deceive.”
After saying that, Ki Jae-eon grabbed the center of Shin Yoon’s top with the hand that had been playing around and tore it off. The old fabric lost its original shape due to the strong force.
Then, a firm upper body was revealed.
No, a sketchbook inscribed with all sorts of ‘Divine Punishment’.
That’s right.
The price for harming countless lives.
It was a Divine Retribution that would have caused an ordinary Exorcist to foam at the mouth and collapse.
It was a level that made one wonder how he had managed to endure it.
“The world pushed you to die, but you desperately lived on.”
“This…!”
At the struggle to escape, Ki Jae-eon twitched his eyebrows and threw away the cloth he had been holding. Then, he immediately bit his own index finger and tore the flesh. The finger dripping with blood slowly slid over the body that had incurred the wrath of God. He inscribed blood letters, stroke by stroke, as if teasing him. Starting from the navel to the solar plexus, the abs repeatedly tightened and loosened each time Ki Jae-eon’s finger brushed past.
“Does it hurt?”
“Hah, keuk!”
“Just this much?”
However, unlike the light movements, the Art of Magic that imposed the restraint suppressed the very energy of the opponent so that they could not move, so the pain must have been considerable. As expected, Shin Yoon stiffened his limbs and let out a shallow groan.
“I don’t know where this is or why I’m standing here, but.”
Ki Jae-eon looked at the suffering Shin Yoon and put more strength into the hand holding his face.
“If there is someone suffering from an evil presence, then that is the path I must take.”
“……Ugh!”
“If there are wandering spirits who have not been honored, I will find them and help them reincarnate-.”
Heok! Hah-! Shin Yoon’s chest heaved greatly. The black wheel marks that were engraved all over his body trembled. The spirit who had inflicted the brutal punishment on him was listening to Ki Jae-eon’s words and agreeing.
“That’s, what we should be doing.”
Shin Yoon’s breath temporarily stopped.
It was because the eyes that could be seen through the hand that was tightly gripping his face were as fierce as a tiger.
Even the small voice echoed throughout his body like thunder and lightning.
Yes, it was a scolding for why he had taken the wrong path.
“It’s time to go back to the way it was.”
“I don’t want to…!”
“No.”
Ki Jae-eon’s eyes, who spoke resolutely, rolled up.
To the pine tree.
No, to the bound young soul.
“[The one who governs the end of life.]”
There was something he wanted to show him one last time.
He didn’t know why, but it was the existence that the child had so desperately yearned for.
“[The general who protects all things and subdues the corrupted Yin Energy.]”
As Ki Jae-eon greeted, new dark clouds rumbled into existence.
The sky was dyed gray.
It was as black as the world Shin Yoon had created, but the energy of the two was clearly different.
It was darkness that gave stability, not anxiety.
Soon after, tuduk… small raindrops seemed to fall, then swaaaa! Thick raindrops covered them.
At the same time, the tightly closed northern gate opened, and the master of Yin descended.
[Sea God, Hyeon-mu]
Swaaaaa-.
As the water-soaked leaves sparkled, the bright laughter of a child was faintly heard from somewhere.
‘–Ah. Look at this. It’s the Sea God.’
A young soul, who looked to be about ten years old, appeared, circling around the tree.
That young soul was clearly visible in Ki Jae-eon’s eyes.
An existence that should have already been reincarnated.
The soul was damaged in many places because it had been forcibly held back.
But even so, the child looked cheerful.
Ki Jae-eon released the face he had been holding and took a step back, watching the two of them.
The child called out someone’s name that was hard to hear, –ah, –ah. and continued to laugh. Then, he approached the man who had collapsed and reached out his hand.
‘Don’t cry.’
“Yoon-ah…”
‘I’ve been watching you all along.’
“No, not this easily… He’s a child. If it’s like this, what are we, what are we going to be.”
‘I’m sorry for making you do something so painful.’
He might not be easily forgiven, but if he was allowed to in the distant future…
The child withdrew his hand, which was about to touch, and said with a relieved face.
‘See you again.’
Before long, the red moon regained its original light. The clear rainwater that poured down without ceasing purified the corrupted souls and soon gave them perfect death.
No, it was guidance.
“……Ah, Yoon-ah. Yoon-ah, Yoon-ah.”
Shin Yoon collapsed as he was.
The blood letters engraved on his body were washed away by the rainwater.
“That child almost became an Evil Spirit.”
Ki Jae-eon said in a tone that showed no sympathy.
It was true. It was time enough to become corrupted.
It was just that the young soul had endured and endured.
Knowing that someone would be sad if he became an Evil Spirit.
“Yoon…”
“You’re not going to be of any help.”
Ki Jae-eon stared at the man with cold eyes, then struck him in the head and knocked him unconscious. Well, it was a restraint for now.
‘What kind of affiliation is this mess.’
He sighed and massaged his stiff shoulders.
‘Anyway, since there was a lost spirit, I did my job as an Exorcist…
Reason took precedence over emotion as his mind raced to grasp the situation.
‘Where am I?’
Clearly, the day before yesterday, after receiving a request, he had left the main office to exorcise a water ghost—.
“Ugh-.”
A terrible headache washed over him as he tried to recall his memories.
Ki Jae-eon writhed and gritted his teeth.
It was then.
“Jae-eon, hyung-!”
“Are you there?!”
“Are you okay?”
From afar, several loud shouts echoed.
But…….
There was one subtly grating honorific.
Jae-eon, hyung?
Could that possibly be, me?