The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 293

Soon after Yuk Eun-Hyung hung up the phone, he arrived at the underground chapel. He was breathing heavily, and steam was rising from his sweat-drenched body.

This year's winter was particularly cold, so it would have been difficult for him to sweat. He must have run like crazy.

Before greeting him, I handed him a towel, signaling him to wipe off his sweat.

Embarrassed, Yuk Eun-Hyung said, "Thank you, Cult Leader. I’m sweating because I came here in a hurry..."

He then quickly wiped off his sweat with the towel I gave him.

Seeing all the commotion in the underground chapel, Soo-Yeong, and Anna, the executive of the Gyeonggi Branch, stopped what they were doing and came out.

"Ah, Executive Yuk Eun-Hyung!"

Anna greeted Yuk Eun-Hyung warmly, and Soo-Yeong just glanced at Yuk Eun-Hyung and went back into her room.

Yuk Eun-Hyung carefully folded the towel he had wiped his sweat with and placed it in a suitable spot. Then he bowed his head slightly toward Anna and greeted her.

"Ah, Ms. Anna. Hello."

“What? Didn’t we agree that we would speak to each other casually last time?”

"Well, that was something I said after drinking, so..."

"What? I thought we were getting along better. Alright then," Anna said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

After exchanging a few awkward greetings with Yuk Eun-Hyung, Anna also returned to her room.

"So, what urgent matter do you need to speak to me about?" I asked Yuk Eun-Hyung, who was still breathing heavily.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he turned his head around to check if anyone was listening.

Since there were only Voodoo Cult members in the underground chapel, it was a meaningless precaution.

He let out a small sigh and explained, "You’ve probably roughly heard about it, but there is some conflict between the Ravens Mercenary Corps and our mercenary corps. We didn't want to involve the Cult Leader in mercenary affairs, but the situation is too dire...”

Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps had relocated their base from the coast of the Gyeongsang Province to Noah's Ark after the Romanican Church’s Crusader Order had attacked them. As a result, the Ravens Mercenary Corps took over the area near the coast.

There were no problems up to this point. However, the issue arose when the Ravens Mercenary Corps began impersonating Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps and terrorizing the local residents. The terrorizing included activities such as extorting money from the residents, as well as committing serious crimes like murder and rape.

"To tell you the truth, it was fine for the Ravens Mercenary Corps to take over the area. That place has got nothing to do with us anymore after all. However, impersonating us and committing evil deeds is a bit of a different story."

"It's a problem directly related to the reputation of Voodoo Cult."

Yuk Eun-Hyung nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps was officially being hunted down, and the fact that his mercenary corps belonged to the Voodoo Cult was such common knowledge that not only Holy See clergymen but also random toddlers on the street knew this fact. In other words, if the Ravens Mercenary Corps pretended to be Yuk Eun-Hyung's mercenary corps and committed evil deeds, there was a high possibility that the Voodoo Cult’s reputation would also suffer.

The puzzling thing was why the Ravens Mercenary Corps would do such a thing. They were famous for doing anything for money, so they were unlikely to do such a thing without any reason.

"Someone must have bribed them. That someone might be the Holy See or an individual related to the Holy See," Yuk Eun-Hyung said.

I nodded. There was no way the Ravens Mercenary Corps would have done something like this independently without receiving any compensation, so they obviously were acting based on someone's orders.

I had a rough idea of who might be behind it. It was those who wished for the Voodoo Cult's reputation to be tarnished and those who wanted the Voodoo Cult to engage in war with the Romanican Church again in hopes of completely eradicating the Voodoo Cult. In other words, the orders had most likely come from the Holy See or someone associated with them. Perhaps it was related to the upcoming papal conclave that Yu-Hyun mentioned.

"Let's go for now," I said as I grabbed my poncho and mask.

"Huh?" Yuk Eun-Hyung said with a flustered expression.

I grabbed my staff and added, "Let's go and assess the situation first. If it’s something we can resolve immediately, then let's do it."

"Is that fine, though? We might have to engage in combat, so shouldn't we prepare a bit before going..."

"Is it really necessary to be that prepared?" I asked as I fiddled with my staff.

Yuk Eun-Hyung thought for a moment, then after looking at the staff in my hand, he nodded.

"Alright. Let's go."

We immediately packed our belongings.

*

I gathered the members of Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps and started heading toward the Gyeongsang coastal area where the issue had occurred. They were arming themselves and preparing themselves, but the state of their armaments was poor.

They wore what was called a 'makeshift bullet-proof vest,' which was simply layers of cloth piled together. Since that vest wouldn't be able to stop a bullet, I didn't understand why it was called a bulletproof vest.

The weapons they brought were mediocre at best. There were no guns, only primitive weapons like swords, spears, and bows, and even those weapons were in poor condition. The weapons were of lower quality than the training weapons scattered around Florence Academy.

"Do you have any guns?" I asked.

Yuk Eun-Hyung shook his head in response and said, "If a mere mercenary corps possessed guns, they would likely become targets of the Romanican Church..."

"But won’t the enemy also have firearms?"

"Most likely. The Ravens Mercenary Corps is really large, and this time, they might have received a mission from the Holy See after all," Yuk Eun-Hyung said.

According to Yuk Eun-Hyung, most mercenary corps did not own firearms. The ownership and use of firearms were only allowed for the crusaders within the Romanican Church. Therefore, Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps could not use firearms.

Currently, only a few mercenary corps utilized firearms, and all of those mercenary corps had either joined under the Romanican Church or were officially affiliated with them.

"That's why it's better to avoid fighting them if possible. The difference in power between us is too great."

In response to Yuk Eun-Hyung's concern, I shook my head and said, "No, it's okay. I'm here too."

My plan was simple. I would assess the strength of the Ravens Mercenary Corps, check the identity of the anonymous leader, and then subdue them all. If possible, I wanted to completely bring the Ravens Mercenary Corps under my control and absorb them into Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps.

"If necessary, we will just engage in battle. Make sure you are all mentally prepared."

"Understood."

Eventually, Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps arrived at their original base, which was located in a coastal area in Gyeongsang Province.

The vicinity was desolate. Although the buildings were rudimentary, Yuk Eun-Hyung’s mercenary corps previously had their own living quarters, but they had been reduced to ruins after the Romanican Church’s Crusader Order attacked them.

Not a single car was visible on the surrounding roads. Occasionally, sparks and buzzing sounds came from the severed power lines lying on the ground.

I scanned the desolate scene, searching for any Ravens Mercenary Corps members stationed nearby.

Yuk Eun-Hyung also scanned the area with a tense expression on his face.

Suddenly, a sound broke the silence.

Click.

Yuk Eun-Hyung's face turned pale.

"Watch out, it's the Ravens—!"

Bang, bang, bang—!

Gunshots rang out. Yuk Eun-Hyung, the members of his mercenary corps, and I ducked and ran toward the nearest cover.

The gunfire didn't stop. The sound of bullets tearing through the air echoed fiercely. Some fleeing members were hit by bullets on their legs.

Luckily, Yuk Eun-Hyung successfully managed to hide behind cover without sustaining any injuries. The members whispered amongst each other behind cover as they observed the members of the Ravens Mercenary Corps stationed in a distant, dilapidated building.

"Huff, huff!"

"What the—? Where are they hiding?"

"They're inside the building. Over there, that way..."

“They knew we were going to come."

Yuk Eun-Hyung's gaze turned toward my arm as I caught my breath. I rubbed my right forearm, and blood stuck to my hand.

While fleeing from the gunfire, I was unfortunately hit on the forearm.

"Cult Leader, are you okay?!" Yuk Eun-Hyung exclaimed.

"Oh, yes. I got hit by a bullet," I replied nonchalantly.

Thankfully, it didn't hurt, but the bullet seemed to be lodged quite deeply, making it difficult to use my strength properly.

Bang, bang!

The Ravens hiding inside the building were still shooting at us.

I briefly took off my poncho and examined my arm. Blood gushed out from the bullethole.

"The bullet is that deeply lodged. Aren’t you in pain?" Yuk Eun-Hyung asked.

I nodded and said, "I'm fine."

Yuk Eun-Hyung stared at my face with a bewildered expression. He found it strange that I didn’t feel any pain or even shed a single drop of cold sweat.

"Even after being shot, you are... As expected of the Cult Leader."

“What superhuman mental fortitude...”

The other members of the mercenary corps exclaimed in shock after seeing me act nonchalant despite my injuries.

I quickly applied pressure to the wounds and asked, "Do you have something like tweezers or pliers? I need to remove the bullet."

"Yes, I do," Yuk Eun-Hyung said as he rummaged through his belongings and soon pulled out a long, thin pair of tweezers.

With a face that seemed to be in more pain than mine, Yuk Eun-Hyung inserted the tweezers into my wound. He then closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.

"Please bear with it a little longer, Cult Leader."

Yuk Eun-Hyung skillfully extracted the bullet from the gunshot wound with the tweezers, and a bloody piece of flesh came out with it.

He tore his own clothes and tried to bandage my wounds. However, I stopped him from doing so.

"No, it's okay."

"What?"

"I will handle the bleeding myself later. For now..."

Swoosh!

I swung my bleeding arm wildly and splattered blood on the floor. By doing so, I drew a Loa’s symbol, or their vévé, on the ground.

I quickly drew the vévé. I had practiced Voodoo spells and the power of the Loa during winter break, and in the process, I became much more skilled at drawing vévés than before.

When the vévé was finally completed, I raised my staff and said, "Executive Yuk Eun-Hyung, do you remember the training session we had in Noah's Ark?"

"Of course."

"Back then, we also had a training session for cooperative operations, right?"

At Noah's Ark, Yuk Eun-Hyung and I engaged in battles and had training sessions for co-ops. I influenced the terrain or climate with the power of the Loa, and Yuk Eun-Hyung and his mercenary corps members practiced engaging in combat while taking advantage of the altered terrain and climate.

This was the moment when that training session would bear fruit.

"Let's do it just like we did in that training session. Do it appropriately and efficiently," I said.

Then, I struck the ground with my staff.

Bang—!