The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 356

Su-Ryeon caught her breath on top of a tree and aimed the gun at Sun-Woo's head.

Sun-Woo hardly moved. He stood in the same spot and only responded to incoming attacks. Thanks to that, it was easy to target him. She held her breath as she placed her finger on the trigger and pulled it.

Bang.

The bullet flew but did not hit Sun-Woo. Instead, it lost momentum and fell to the ground in front of him.

Sun-Woo spit out blood again. She wasn’t sure if what was pouring out of Sun-Woo's mouth was really blood anymore. Do-Jin swung his sword, and Sun-Woo dodged it. However, he seemed to have no strength to counterattack like before, so he just avoided it without clenching his fist.

Su-Ryeon aimed her gun at Sun-Woo's head again and pulled the trigger. The bullets still did not reach Sun-Woo and just stopped in front of him.

But Sun-Woo bled profusely, as if a bullet had struck him and a sword had slashed him. He was clearly dying, but he didn’t die. He looked like he was basically dead, but he did not collapse.

Su-Ryeon didn’t pull the trigger and murmured, "Just please die already..."

She hoped Sun-Woo's will would finally break. She wished he would stop resisting.

Su-Ryeon wanted Sun-Woo to die. Sun-Woo was the enemy who had killed Dae-Man. For Dae-Man to be avenged, Sun-Woo had to die.

"..."

However, Su-Ryeon could no longer pull the trigger. Her hatred and desire for revenge against Sun-Woo had not faded, but she couldn’t muster the strength after watching Sun-Woo bleeding to death. She couldn’t think of Sun-Woo as the leader of the Voodoo Cult. Instead, the image of Sun-Woo as a student from Florence Academy kept coming to mind.

Su-Ryeon shook her head, trying to forget the memories of that time. She had to forget the Sun-Woo she had seen at Florence Academy. The person bleeding in front of her now was the evil leader of the Voodoo Cult. Therefore, she had to think that he deserved to die.

However, that memory was not something she could easily forget. If she could easily forget, Su-Ryeon would have pulled the trigger by now, but she still couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Let's stop now," Do-Jin muttered.

He no longer swung the sword because there was no need for it. Sun-Woo no longer had the strength to resist. Even if he resisted, it would be meaningless.

If left alone, he would die on his own. To survive, he would eventually use the power of Loa, and he would end up vomiting all the blood in his body before dying. It would be a painful and gruesome death.

"If you receive healing... you can live. It's not too late, Sun-Woo," Do-Jin said.

He knew that it was a very irresponsible thing to say. Do-Jin tightly closed his eyes. Sun-Woo had to die. Otherwise, the Holy War would never end. Even if Sun-Woo didn’t die and somehow managed to survive, the Holy See would execute him. Even if he received healing, it would only delay his death, not save him.

If Sun-Woo died here and now, an execution ceremony would still take place. Sun-Woo's body would be hung in a square, and they would conduct a ritual where they would burn his body. Only then would the death of the Cult Leader be known to all, and the Holy War would finally end in the victory of the Romanican Church.

If he died now, at least he wouldn't have to feel the terrible pain of being burned alive. Therefore, dying now might be the most comfortable path for Sun-Woo. However, Do-Jin did not have the determination to end Sun-Woo's life. He did not have the resolve to swing his sword.

All Do-Jin could do was pretend to act in Sun-Woo's favor and irresponsibly act like it was all for the greater good.

Sun-Woo had been silent all along, but then he suddenly said, "Yes, it's not too late yet."

His voice was terribly hoarse. He opened his eyes wide and tears of blood streamed down. He scattered the blood from his eyes on the ground. Then, with a faint smile, he said, "Granbwa."

Rumble—!

Along with his words, the blood scattered on the ground shone. With a loud noise, the ground trembled and the tree roots buried in the ground cracked as they rose up. Leaves sprouted from the tree roots and enveloped Sun-Woo. Sections of the mountain twisted and began to change once again. Piled-up snow poured down, making the signs of an avalanche visible.

Do-Jin was shocked. "This crazy bastard!"

Meanwhile, Sun-Woo continued to use the Loa's power by squeezing out all his remaining life force as his final resistance. However, it was meaningless as it would only hasten his death.

Sun-Woo shed blood once again. More blood piled up where he stood than snow.

In the distance, they could hear the sound of tumbling snow. Do-Jin, Simon, and Su-Ryeon prepared to flee. There was no reason to fight the Cult Leader like this. Whether the Cult Leader got caught in the avalanche or died from excessive bleeding, he would die anyway. They would retreat for now and come back later to retrieve Sun-Woo's body. Avoiding the avalanche was the priority for now.

"..."

At that moment, Jin-Seo quietly approached Sun-Woo with a sword in hand.

"Deputy Director Jin-Seo?" Simon said.

"Hey! Jin-Seo, what are you doing?!" Su-Ryeon said.

The other members of the special forces unit had already predicted that an avalanche would happen and ran away. However, Jin-Seo alone approached Sun-Woo. The leaves, which had been hardened with Granbwa’s power, cut through her skin as she passed, but Jin-Seo didn't care.

Jin-Seo felt less pain now compared to her first encounter with Sun-Woo. More accurately, it was when she first became aware of Sun-Woo's existence. Back then, Jin-Seo had suffered in front of the hospital. Unwilling to show her distress, she swallowed the pain and cried alone.

Sun-Woo approached her in that state and he helped her so that she wouldn't be in pain anymore.

It was a coincidence that Sun-Woo found Jin-Seo in front of the hospital, and it might have been a coincidence that Sun-Woo helped Jin-Seo. The closeness between the two of them that followed might have been just a coincidence.

If it weren't for such a coincidence, Jin-Seo wouldn't be this sad right now. She wouldn't have felt any emotions even when she saw Sun-Woo dying. Braving the avalanche, Jin-Seo would not have been able to muster the courage to approach Sun-Woo. She would not have even felt a reason to do so.

"Thank you."

Therefore, Jin-Seo was grateful for the many coincidences.

Splurt.

Jin-Seo plunged a sword into Sun-Woo's chest, hoping he would no longer feel pain. Simon, Su-Ryeon, and Do-Jin witnessed the scene while fleeing. They saw the sword piercing Sun-Woo's heart clearly with their own eyes. Sun-Woo slumped in place only after the sword was embedded in his heart. Jin-Seo embraced the slumped Sun-Woo.

Rumble―!

Snow poured down. The two figures disappeared beneath the snow.

***

"Haa, ha! Damn, ha, haha. Hahaha!"

Yu-Hyun lay sprawled out on the snowy field as he laughed like a madman. He had survived, and Sun-Woo would die because the special forces would kill him. There was no need for Yu-Hyun to use the Fourth Form. So, Sun-Woo was just at that level.

Yu-Hyun couldn't contain his laughter and continued laughing. In the distance, he heard the sound of thunder. Gunshots rang out several times, likely from the battle between the special forces and the Cult Leader. However, before long, the gunshots stopped, and he could no longer hear the sound of lightning strikes. In the end, Sun-Woo died.

Yu-Hyun burst into laughter. "Haha, hahaha! Ha-Yeon!"

‘Your Prophecy was wrong. What did you say? That I would have my eyes gouged out, limbs torn apart, and die? It's a shame, but that's how Sun-Woo died. He shed tears of blood and mucus, vomited blood until all the blood in his body was gone, and then died.’

Although he lost one leg in the battle with Sun-Woo, it was a small price to pay compared to his achievements. Ha-Yeon’s end would not be any different. The Purification Clan would not be able to escape annihilation for their responsibility in this incident.

Some of the clan members that had the blood of purification, including Ha-Yeon, would live their lives as human blood tanks under the Holy See. It would have been better to die than to live like that. However, even if they demanded to be killed, he would have no intention of fulfilling that request.

Just as Yu-Hyun was thinking that...

Rumble—!

The mountain began to rumble.

"What the...!"

That was clearly the power of the Loa named Granbwa—she had an overpowered ability that allowed one to control all kinds of plants. Due to that power, the mountain rumbled and the terrain changed once again.

Yu-Hyun thought the Cult Leader was dead, but he was still alive. Furthermore, he still had enough strength left to use this level of power.

For a moment, Yu-Hyun felt dread. This was not the time to be like this. He had to get away from the Cult Leader, even just a little because he didn't know what that guy would do with the power of the Loa.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

Yu-Hyun tried to get up. However, it was not easy to stand up with only one leg. Every time he tried to get up, he kept falling over before rolling on the snowy ground. After falling and getting up about four times, the calm expression disappeared from Yu-Hyun's face.

Rumble—!

An avalanche rolled down from the distance. Yu-Hyun hastily decided to crawl away to escape. It was not a dignified escape method befitting the Pope, but in a situation where he could die at any moment, he couldn't afford to worry about dignity. Yu-Hyun crawled through the snow to escape from the avalanche. Snow mixed with dirt clung to his stomach and chin.

However, he couldn't avoid the avalanche by just crawling away.

"Ugh, urgh!"

The avalanche eventually engulfed Yu-Hyun. He couldn't open his eyes properly and he struggled to breathe. He crashed into various things, and his body hurt so much that it felt like he was going to pass out.

After the avalanche swept him away and trees repeatedly struck him, Yu-Hyun finally managed to open his eyes. He couldn’t tell where he was—he had seemingly ended up somewhere deep within the mountains without even realizing it.

“...”

However, he had managed to survive once again. The avalanche itself wasn't that massive. It was more like heavy snowfall rather than a full-blown avalanche. Although hitting his head on a rock during the avalanche could have been fatal, the scale of the avalanche was such that he could survive if luck was on his side.

And Yu-Hyun had beaten the odds and survived once again. It was a stroke of luck. Yu-Hyun believed that the heavens were helping him.

Indeed, the heavens were on his side. He was glad that he had been praying diligently. He resolved to continue to do so in the future with even more sincerity and gratitude.

"We’ve found you, Yu-Hyun."

Yu-Hyun quickly turned his head at the voice. Two people were looking down at him. Yu-Hyun knew the names of the two people. They were executives of the Voodoo Cult and skilled combatants—Soo-Yeong and Soo-Hyun.