The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 61

My current record was 2 wins and 0 losses. Even if I lost to Min-Seo, I would have a 2-1 win-to-lose ratio. It would be great if I won, but I would still get a mid-to-upper rank even if I lost. In fact, I didn't think I would win until Jin-Seo forfeited and left early. To be more precise, I had no intention of taking the fight seriously.

[I'm hungry. This is exploitation. How much are you exploiting me with a single sacrifice? I think we need to sign a contract. This is not fair.]

It was because Bossou was slowly having a mental breakdown at the moment. The sacrifice I offered to Bossou was just a single Horn of Bullfighting. It was a mass-produced sacrifice that was widely available on the market, so it would have been far from enough to fill Bossou's stomach as he had been starving for half a year.

Even though I knew this, I still decided to abuse Bossou’s power when I killed the bird-type demonic beast by throwing a stone, when I moved In-Ah, who had fainted, to the front of my house, and when I fought with Jun-Hyuk just now. I had used Bossou’s power in situations where it wasn't strictly necessary. Indeed, just like Bossou said, I had ‘exploited’ his power.

[The method of dealing with exploitation is to go on a strike! I learned it from Legba. Bossou goes on strike if he gets upset. I will try to resist the evil cult leader.]

"Hmm."

Legba seemed to have taught him a very bad thing. Looking at his condition, it seemed that there was a possibility that Bossou's power would be cut off while fighting with Min-Seo.

This was something that I’d always felt, but the Loa really were fussy beings. If they didn’t receive sacrifices, they whined about being hungry; if they received sacrifices, they ran wild. If I thought about it, my mother really was an amazing woman. She was able to freely control these fickle and fussy Loa. Even Sobo and Baron Samedi couldn't do anything in front of my mother.

This probably goes without saying, but I still have a lot to learn as a cult leader and prophet. In order to catch up to my father and mother, I still have a long way to go.

"Hey. Sun-Woo."

While I was lost in thought, Min-Seo leaned against the cage and looked at me with a crooked gaze. For some reason, that gaze felt very unpleasant.

"What."

"Wanna bet? What do you think?"

"Why would I?"

It was the same cheap provocation she had used on Jin-Seo. I laughed back with a smile. Whether I had something to rely on or whether I didn’t, it was best to act relaxed when I could. It was to gain psychological superiority.

Min-Seo laughed and stared at me with her characteristic empty eyes.

"It's more fun this way."

"It’s not very fun. You don’t think you're a fun person by any chance, do you?"

"...What?"

The shape of the blessing array that Min-Seo was drawing was slightly distorted. She was either surprised or angry. In any case, it meant that she was agitated. I didn't miss that opportunity.

Bossou.

I immediately used my power, and I tightly held the weapon I chose before going up onto the ring. The weapon I chose was a mace. It had a metal ball at the end and an overall shape that was similar to a club.

I chose a mace for two reasons.

Firstly, the performance of a mace was quite good, even if someone didn’t have the skills to wield it. Just swinging it was enough to unlock a lot of the mace’s potential. I didn't know how to use any weapons, so a mace was perfect for me. I didn't use a weapon when I fought Jun-Hyuk, but I was absolutely determined to win against Min-Seo, so I decided to use a weapon.

Secondly, clergymen seemed to fit well with maces. Perhaps it was a bit of a preconception of mine, but it just... It seemed like a mace went well with a clergyman. That's what it felt like to me.

I shook off my stray thoughts and rushed toward Min-Seo. I then swung the mace I was holding right at Min-Seo's face.

Smack!

A refreshing sound resounded. However, I didn’t feel any impact. Min-Seo blocked my attack by crossing her arms together. Even from my perspective, it seemed like a crude attack that didn’t even have a speck of technique, so this was the natural result. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have properly learned some weapon techniques.

"...You, blessing, no. What is this?” Min-Seo said. Her voice was trembling a little.

I peeked at her face, which was covered by both her arms. Her face, which was normally filled with relaxation and arrogance, had a hint of surprise.

The blessings that Min-Seo had cast were all high-level blessings that were between the intermediate and advanced tiers. It was clear that the title of Holy Name of Kindness was not for show, as her ability to manipulate blessings was excellent.

However, if we compared Bossou’s power with the power of blessings, it was obvious that Bossou’s power was stronger. The difference was so vast that I felt sorry to even compare blessings with Bossou’s power.

[Bossou is about to go on a strike. Bossou says no to exploitation!]

But I had no intention of letting my guard down. I had to settle this quickly before Bossou went on a strike. I swung my mace at Min-Seo’s surprised face once again. Min-Seo just barely managed to fend off the attack. I continued my onslaught of attacks.

Smack! Bash!

The exchange of blows continued for a while. To be more precise, it was more like a one-sided beatdown where I would continuously attack, and Min-Seo would continuously defend. At first glance, it looked like I was backing Min-Seo into a corner, but the one who was getting impatient was me. Min-Seo’s defenses were ironclad, and my crude swings were insufficient to penetrate.

If time continued to flow by and Bossou started his strike, then I would be helplessly defeated by Min-Seo. Similarly, Min-Seo was also getting impatient, but she didn’t know that I was getting impatient. I was planning to take advantage of that psychological advantage. By doing so, I would manipulate Min-Seo into making a ‘certain maneuver.’

If things went according to plan, then I would be able to win.

No, I would definitely be able to win.

*

"One minute has passed. Two minutes are left."

Cold sweat that flowed down from her forehead accumulated at her chin. Her mouth was completely dry. Currently, Min-Seo was feeling surprised to see Sun-Woo fiercely attacking her.

No, it was past the point of surprise, and now she felt fear.

‘When did he use a blessing? Did he even use a blessing in the first place?’

Sun-Woo's power was strong. He had overwhelming power to the point where the word ‘strong’ was an understatement. Furthermore, the light of a blessing wasn’t flowing through his body. This wasn’t ‘temporary strength’ obtained through the help of blessing, but rather, it was ‘natural strength’ derived from pure physical ability. Ever since she saw him shoot down the bird-type demonic beast with a mere stone throw, she had somewhat expected this, but this was still too much.

Unfairness.

Min-Seo recalled a word that she had been turning a blind eye to all her life.

Smack, bash!

The exchange of blows continued. The rough and dull sound of impacts was the only sound that resounded on top of the ring. There was no sound of speech. The spectators who were observing the battle were all silent.

Min-Seo glared at Sun-Woo with her guard up. He didn’t look tired at all. On the contrary, his face looked rather relaxed. Meanwhile, Sun-Woo’s onslaught had no signs of stopping.

'My arms...'

Compared to Jin-Seo’s attacks, Sun-Woo's attacks were so monotonous that they felt childish. Thus, Min-Seo was able to block all the attacks without difficulty.

In the first place, the weapon that he chose was a mace. Even amongst clergymen, it was a weapon chosen by those who lacked talent in weapon techniques. However, she was approaching her limit in blocking the attacks. She was losing strength in her arms.

Those who lacked talent in weapon techniques would use a mace, but it was a different story if people with great strength, such as Sun-Woo, wielded it. In fact, if someone had strength that was as great as Sun-Woo’s, any weapon would become threatening.

Swish!

Min-Seo quickly sidestepped and escaped from the corner. Sun-Woo’s onslaught paused for a brief moment.

When Sun-Woo approached, Min-Seo once again went sideways and widened the distance. Just like that, the confrontation continued for a long time.

“Ha.” Min-Seo let out a dry laugh and caught her breath.

When she took a step back, Sun-Woo took two steps forward. Usually, if one was strong, one would typically be slow, but Sun-Woo was strong and fast at the same time. His physical ability was overwhelming to the extent that it flabbergasted her. She could help but let out cold sweat.

"Two minutes have passed."

Meanwhile, time passed. Only one minute remained. Within one minute, no, within thirty seconds, she had to settle this. If she could not win within that timeframe, her stamina would run out, and she would eventually lose. And Min-Seo did not want to lose.

“...It is a bit of a gamble,” Min-Seo said to herself while helplessly laughing out loud.

Soon after, the divine power she unleashed formed two blessings arrays in the air. Then, she forcefully fused the two blessing arrays together. She was intending to cause an explosion by utilizing the collision phenomenon.

If she wasn’t careful, she might also get hit by the explosion. However, if she just idly sat by and continued to defend while letting Sun-Woo beat her down, then she would ‘absolutely’ lose. Now was the time to gamble. Even if it ended up as a draw or as a loss due to the explosion, she believed that now was the time to roll the dice.

Min-Seo's two blessing arrays intertwined and fused together and then soon began to distort. It was the prelude to a collision phenomenon. Within that short span of time, Min-Seo calculated the time left until the explosion.

'Explosion in one second. The amount of damage that I take... is none.'

Looking at the form of the distorted blessing array, it was clear that the explosion would occur on Sun-Woo’s side. She would take no harm.

Min-Seo was confident of victory. Her gamble was a success. Lady Fortune was smiling down on her, and even the heavens were on her side. Min-Seo smiled brightly at Sun-Woo. It was a smile of triumph.

"...Huh?"

However, the smile soon became distorted. There was no explosion.

One more blessing array had been drawn between the two blessing arrays that she had drawn. As a result, the blessing arrays that should not have fused had fused together. Obviously, as a result, the collision phenomenon did not occur.

The explosion was blocked?

Min-seo's eyes were wide open at the sight. When she glanced at Sun-Woo, she saw that he was smiling in triumph. Sun-Woo was returning the exact same smile that she had made.

"That was close."

Sun-Woo muttered words that she didn’t understand to himself and charged toward Min-Seo. There was no time for resistance.

Smack—!

"Urgh..!"

Sun-Woo's mace smashed into Min-Seo's side. She let out a grotesque scream and tumbled down onto the floor. With the painful ache as if she had broken a rib, Min-Seo’s consciousness slowly dimmed.

*

There were two tactics that I employed in order to beat Min-Seo.

The first tactic was to never use blessings and to use only Bossou's power to back Min-Seo into a corner. By doing so, I made Min-Seo feel psychological pressure. That was also the reason why I had gone out of my way to select a weapon. It wasn’t just a weapon, but a mace at that. It was because I believed that a mace would apply more psychological pressure than my fists.

The second tactic was to drive Min-Seo into a corner and to create a situation where she had no choice but to ‘gamble.’ I manipulated Min-Seo so that she would gamble and forcefully fuse blessing arrays together to invoke the collision phenomenon when she was backed into a corner.

I already knew how to prevent the collision phenomenon from occurring. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was an idea that I got after watching Sung Ha-Yeon’s presentation during the practical training session the other day.

The idea was to draw a blessing array that acted as a ‘bridge’ between two blessing arrays that were fusing together. By doing so, the probability of the collision phenomenon occurring would be greatly reduced. Through this, I would be able to thwart Min-Seo’s gamble and win. That was my plan. However, there was a variable that I forgot to account for in my calculations.

"...Hey, not yet. It's not over.”

I turned my head to the chilly voice that came from behind me. Min-Seo was forcefully maintaining her faint consciousness and was just barely able to stand back up. Her eyes were blank and unfocused.

"The shock detection device. It didn't sound."

The last variable.

I hadn’t accounted for the possibility that Min-Seo's shock detection device would not make a sound even with the last blow. I had assumed that after landing a critical hit, I would be able to win. In other words, I had been arrogant.

[Bossou is on strike now! I’m rebelling against the abusive Cult Leader! Give me a sacrifice!]

To make matters worse, Bossou started a strike. My blood, which had been boiling hot, had now cooled down. Bossou’s power disappeared, and all that remained in my body was a deep sense of helplessness. As if I had become a deflated balloon, my body slumped down. I had no strength left. I hesitantly widened the gap between Min-Seo and me by slowly shifting backward. There was no way to win now. Bossou's power was gone, but that didn’t mean I could use blessings either.

It was impossible to use blessings in front of Min-Seo in the first place. I wouldn’t be able to use blessings in front of her unless I mastered the method of using blessings without unleashing divine power. That was the technique that Legba called ‘Acquirement.’

I raised my hand toward Do-Jin. He raised his eyebrows as if was confused.

"Why?"

I had used up all the cards I could use. There were no more cards available.

It was clear that I would lose if the fight continued. I wouldn’t just lose, I would wind up in a wretched state that would be worse than Jin-Seo’s, and I would suffer a miserable defeat. Rather than end up becoming Min-Seo’s toy after struggling to win, I thought it would be a better idea to just quickly abstain.

It wasn't that I didn't want to win. There was just no way to win.

“...”

But I couldn't open my mouth. It was so difficult to say, ‘I abstain.’ It was because of a sudden thought. Now that Bossou's power was unavailable, there was no chance of winning against Min-Seo. It was obviously an 'unwinnable fight.' Then, in the countless fights I would encounter in the future, did that mean I would have to give up whenever I faced an ‘unwinnable fight?’

How much would I give up, and what would I give up?

The reunion with my mother, revenge for my father, and a peaceful life. Would I be able to give up on all those things just because I was faced with an ‘unwinnable fight?’

"What... are you doing? I told you... It's not over yet," Min-Seo scowled. She grimaced as if trying to relieve the pain while slowly shifting toward me.

Sometimes, there were times when one had to fight an unwinnable fight. Ever since I decided to become enemies with the Romanican Church, every instant of time was an unwinnable fight. If I gave up every time I faced an unwinnable fight, I would have to give up on too many things. However, dragging out a fight that could not be won was foolish. With only the desire to not give up, there was nothing that could be changed.

"Am I allowed to give up?" I asked Do-Jin. He frowned in surprise and disapproval.

It was an unwinnable battle.

However, I would turn it into a winning battle.

If there was no chance of victory, then I would find a way to overcome the situation, even if it meant that I had to carve out a path to victory myself. There were fights that could not be won and fights that could be won, and there were fights that had to be won, regardless of whether they could or could not be won.

"...What are you doing? You bastard?” Min-Seo said while she glared at me. There were no interruptions in her voice.

Either Sung Yu-Da's blessing array had cured all the pain, or perhaps she forgot her pain due to her temper. It was one of the two cases. It didn't matter either way. Min-Seo's way of speaking was rough, but she had never been genuinely angry. However, currently, her eyes were clearly filled with anger.

Beyond that anger, I was able to just barely glimpse into her hidden psychology. I threw the bait, and Min-Seo thankfully fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

I created a chance of winning.