The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 37

’Zombification.’

This was a punishment imposed on those who committed serious crimes such as serial murder or child rape in ancient Voodoo.

When ’zombie poison’ made by mixing tetrodotoxin with crushed datura is applied to the skin, the criminal falls into a state of suspended animation. At that time, illusion sorcery is cast to alternately inject pleasure and pain. This is repeated five times.

The brain, marinated in drugs and illusion sorcery, loses its ability to think and soon shrinks. Thus the criminal becomes a ’zombie.’

Because the brain has degenerated from all kinds of pain and pleasure, zombies have no intelligence, and therefore cannot use language. They become livestock or beasts in human form.

In ancient Voodoo, zombies created this way were used as slaves. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

[It was truly a barbaric punishment. It would have been better not to exist.]

As Legba said, ’zombification’ was an excessively barbaric punishment. Therefore, modern Voodoo also designated ’zombification’ as taboo.

There was the reason that it was barbaric and violent, but the biggest reason was that there was room for abuse.

"Haaak! Haaaaaaak!"

I stared blankly at Jeong Yun-ah, who had become a zombie. The tragedy created by Han Su-yeop breaking the taboo was before my eyes.

My chest was so stuffy that I couldn’t even sigh. Even when I bit my lips until they bled, strangely it didn’t hurt. Only the fishy taste of blood lingered in my mouth.

"Cult Leader."

When I was lost in despair for a while, Kang Ji-ah called me. Only then did I belatedly come to my senses and barely stand up, brushing off the dust.

I tried to smile but the corners of my mouth wouldn’t go up. My legs were trembling so much that even standing was difficult. It felt like my heart had completely sunk.

"I’ll help support you."

"I’m fine. I can walk."

I declined Kang Ji-ah who tried to support me unnecessarily. My steps were heavy as if weighted with lead, but I could still manage to walk somehow. It wasn’t to the level where I needed support.

Moreover, Kang Ji-ah was too short, so even if I received support, it wouldn’t seem to help much.

"Could you also pick the lock on the iron bars?"

I pointed to the iron bars where Jeong Yun-ah was trapped with the candle.

"Yes. I can pick it."

"Then please do."

"But isn’t there a zombie inside the iron bars?"

"Yes. That’s why I’m asking you to pick it. I’m going to take her with me."

"You mean you’re taking the zombie?"

"Yes."

Kang Ji-ah stared at me blankly with a puzzled frown.

That was understandable. There was no particular reason to take a zombie.

"But there’s no particular need to do that..."

"She’s someone I know."

"Ah, yes."

When I explained the situation, Kang Ji-ah hurriedly took out her bundle of keys and began picking the lock on the iron bars. In less than a few seconds, the door opened with a click.

"Kyahaaaak!"

At that moment, Jeong Yun-ah rushed toward Kang Ji-ah. Kang Ji-ah was so surprised she couldn’t even scream and froze stiffly in place. I immediately emitted Voodoo magic power and drew a unconsciousness spell circle.

Thud.

Mist struck Jeong Yun-ah, and she collapsed unconscious.

Kang Ji-ah looked at the fallen Jeong Yun-ah with a pale face and caught her breath. I took out Baal’s Maw, opened the entrance wide, and put Jeong Yun-ah inside.

I had thought it was big enough for people to enter, but I never dreamed I would actually put a person inside.

"Let’s go back."

I helped up Kang Ji-ah who had sat down. I put Baal’s Maw in my arms and left the room, walking back the way we came through. Kang Ji-ah followed behind me with small steps.

* * *

"Oh, you’re back?"

After passing through the long corridor, we finally returned to the chapel. Uncle waved his hand to greet us.

Han Su-yeop was still bound by tree roots. His face was swollen all over, and blood was flowing from his nose and mouth.

It seemed he had been beaten quite a lot by Uncle while we were gone, but I didn’t feel sorry for him. He was someone who deserved more beatings.

I approached Han Su-yeop and grabbed his hair to lift his head.

"Keuk, khup! Ha. Haa... Haha, ha. Nice to see you, Cult Leader. Such a precious person has come to this humble place."

Han Su-yeop spoke in a sarcastic tone. Blood-mixed saliva dripped from his mouth.

I stared directly into his pupils. Shameless pupils that showed not a trace of remorse.

I wanted to gouge out those eyeballs right away, but now wasn’t the time. There was still much to ask.

"I’ll ask questions, so just answer."

"Well, what could our Cult Leader be so curious about?"

Han Su-yeop sneered smugly. Even facing death, he showed no sign of fear. It was either resignation or bravado.

I forced myself to calm my anger-churning stomach and opened my mouth.

"There was something strange in the room."

"In the room, what? Don’t tell me."

Han Su-yeop’s leisurely expression hardened. He looked up at me with surprised eyes. His whites were streaked with bloodshot veins.

"You opened that door? How?"

"I picked it."

Kang Ji-ah took out her bundle of keys and shook them. Dozens of keys clinked against each other.

Han Su-yeop hung his head in apparent despair. That sight was unpleasant to see, so I gripped Han Su-yeop’s hair even tighter and lifted it up. Han Su-yeop’s face contorted in pain.

"Grrrrr...! Right. If you opened the door, you must have taken all the money too. What else is the problem..."

Snap snap. Pop.

Han Su-yeop’s sparse hair broke one by one.

"Aaaak! Let, let go! All my hair is being pulled out!"

"What are you yelling about like you did something good?"

"Ugh, damn! Then what did I do wrong!"

"Zombification."

Han Su-yeop’s face hardened stiffly.

"There was a zombie in the room. That means you used the forbidden ’zombification.’"

"No, I..."

"Why did you make zombies? What were you going to use them for?"

Han Su-yeop didn’t answer and just closed his eyes tightly. His will to absolutely not answer was evident.

Then I had no choice but to make him answer.

I emitted Voodoo magic power and drew a spell circle. I was thinking of torturing him with sorcery. Just like Han Su-yeop had done to Jeong Yun-ah.

"...Sacrifice. I used them as sacrifice." Before the sorcery could activate, Han Su-yeop belatedly opened his mouth. I withdrew the spell circle. Indeed, nothing was better for negotiation.

"Keep talking."

"Believers who tried to escape or wouldn’t listen, I turned them all into zombies and offered them as sacrifices."

"Where are all those zombies?"

"They all burned to death. I already offered them as sacrifices. That bitch you saw was scheduled to be offered as sacrifice today."

Han Su-yeop spoke shamelessly even while blood dripped from his mouth. I grabbed Han Su-yeop’s hair and shook it.

With a ripping sound, a whole clump of hair was torn out. It wasn’t a particularly meaningful action. It was just venting anger.

"Jeong Yun-ah."

"Aaaak! What, what?"

"Not ’that bitch,’ but Jeong Yun-ah."

I corrected Han Su-yeop’s words. He looked blank for a moment, then seemed to understand the intent of my words and snickered.

"So that bitch’s name was Jeong Yun-ah. I didn’t know. Don’t need to know either."

"I’ve noticed since earlier, why are you so confident?"

"You’re going to kill me anyway, right?"

Han Su-yeop said with one corner of his mouth raised, giggling mockingly. He had been strangely shameless and confident from earlier.

It wasn’t that he had something to rely on. He had simply accepted death and resigned himself. However, I had no intention of letting Han Su-yeop die so comfortably.

"I’ll kill you someday. But not now."

"What a great saint you are. Don’t you know that Voodoo fell because of that soft personality?"

"It fell because of you guys who ran away."

"Ran away? No. We didn’t run away. We made a choice."

"Choice?"

I laughed in disbelief. Han Su-yeop continued.

"You don’t know the situation back then, that’s why you’re saying that. The sacrifice of a few was inevitable. For the survival of Voodoo."

"There were too many to call it ’a few,’ weren’t there?"

Thanks to the ’choice’ made by the executives, tens of thousands of innocent Voodoo believers died. It was by no means a few.

"Whether it’s a few or many, that’s not what’s important. The point is that sacrifice was inevitable. The countless zombies I offered as sacrifices were the same, they were just unavoidably sacrificed for the greater cause."

"Oh, I see."

Han Su-yeop held the ideology that whether few or many, people should be sacrificed for the greater cause. I couldn’t tell what that great cause was.

Not that I was curious. Whatever grand goal he had, he had no right to arbitrarily sacrifice others.

"Sacrifice for the greater cause. I understand what you mean."

"Right. Now you seem to understand a bit..."

"You mean it’s okay for you to be sacrificed for the greater cause too?"

I brought out Voodoo magic power. It was an amount equal to half of the Voodoo magic power I could operate. With it, I drew a spell circle. A massive spell circle created by combining and connecting a total of 19 spell circles.

[Fusion sorcery? Your skills have improved a lot since I last saw you.]

Legba expressed admiration.

Fusion sorcery.

Literally, sorcery created by fusing multiple sorceries.

While ordinary believers find it difficult to use even one sorcery, and executives find it challenging to use even supreme-level sorcery, I, as the cult leader, could combine and fuse all those sorceries to create new sorcery.

Simply put, it was sorcery that only I, the cult leader, could use.

Of course, I can’t use it often either. Fusion sorcery consumes as much Voodoo magic power as its power.

Eventually, mist flowed from the completed spell circle. Purple mist. The mist was so thick that it looked black rather than purple at first glance.

The mist eventually struck Han Su-yeop.

"What are you doing. This is fusion sor...!"

Han Su-yeop screamed from within the mist. However, the sound soon cut off. It was because the activated sorcery had devoured Han Su-yeop’s mind.

"Please sacrifice yourself for the greater cause. I’m not without a greater cause either."

It wasn’t like I enrolled in Florence without any thought. Becoming a high-ranking cleric to meet my mother is just a stepping stone for a bigger and grander goal.

I too have the ’greater cause’ that Han Su-yeop likes so much.

And Han Su-yeop will be the first sacrifice for that greater cause.

"Gyaaaak! Guwaaaak!!"

Han Su-yeop screamed and vomited. Over ten illusion sorceries including pain, unconsciousness, memory fragmentation, and transference were gnawing at his brain.

He who had said sacrifice for the greater cause was natural, when he actually became the sacrifice, let out ugly screams and begged for his life.

I handed Baal’s Maw to Uncle who was watching the scene from behind.

"In about 5 minutes it’ll get quiet. Put Han Su-yeop in here then too."

"Isn’t he dead?"

Han Su-yeop vomited the remaining contents of his stomach, then when there was nothing left to vomit, he vomited gastric juice, and finally vomited blood. His limbs hung limply and his eyes had no focus. At first glance, he might look dead. But he wasn’t dead.

"He’s alive. He’s just barely alive though."

"’Just barely alive.’ Wow, that’s quite philosophical."

Uncle said that and laughed for a moment, then soon watched Han Su-yeop’s end with a blank face. Kang Ji-ah was watching the scene with a pale face.

When I approached her, she flinched and trembled, taking a couple steps back. Her face was full of fear.

"What time is it?"

Kang Ji-ah took out her wristwatch to check. It was a cute-designed black digital watch.

"10:04," she said in a trembling voice. 10:04. I should go back and get some sleep. Though I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep.