Chapter 79

Chapter 79. Kin, Personality (1)

CRASH!

A stream of fresh blood slid down Jungon's cheek.

"Ghk!! Hoooh!!"

Feeling a sharp, burning pain in his head, Jungon held his breath for a moment before exhaling to calm himself.

"Get a hold of yourself!"

Jungon shouted at the priest who had struck him from behind with a broken holy water bottle. The priest's eyes had rolled back, leaving only the whites visible.

This one's unconscious too.

"Hehe. I told you. In the end, you're nothing more than an insignificant creature."

As Jungon gritted his teeth, Personality grinned unpleasantly from nearby.

Jungon wanted to punch that face again, but he couldn't afford to focus on Personality.

The priests surrounding him had already prepared to rush at him.

Did the other brothers manage to escape safely?

The priests who hadn't yet fallen under Personality's control had retreated toward the barrier team on Jungon's orders.

If they stayed to help Jungon, there was a strong possibility that Personality would turn them into enemies at any moment.

"Oh, dear. You shouldn't look away."

Noticing Jungon's concern for the priests who had escaped, Personality offered a short warning.

BANG!

At the same time, another controlled priest swung an incense burner at Jungon.

GRAB!

"Ghk! It'll hurt, but bear with it for a little while!"

Jungon caught the attacking arm and used his other arm to place the priest in a headlock.

Since the priest hadn't been possessed by a demon, exorcism would be meaningless. It would be better to render him unconscious so that the demon could no longer control him.

"Grrk! Grk! Ghk!"

The priest struggled to escape Jungon's thick arm as he began suffocating. Eventually, his face turned pale, and he lost consciousness.

After confirming that the priest had fainted, Jungon loosened his hold.

Thud.

Jungon laid the priest down and glared at Personality.

The demon, whose mouth had stitches at both corners, was still keeping his distance.

His ability is primarily used to manipulate people's minds. There's a good chance that close combat isn't his strength.

Ever since Jungon had landed a punch on him, Personality had avoided confronting him directly and instead controlled the priests.

That was why Jungon suspected Personality was trying to avoid close combat. However, one thing still bothered him.

I couldn't even leave a small scratch on him.

Jungon had covered his fist in aura when he struck Personality. Even so, the demon hadn't shown any of the signs of purification that other demons normally displayed.

Was this simply the difference in their levels of power? The situation was discouraging, but Jungon had to find a solution.

At that moment, Personality, who seemed to have grown bored, waved his hand.

"Have you shown me everything you can do? You held out for quite a while, so I thought you might have something interesting. But you're just like the other insignificant creatures after all. How dull. How boring. There's neither entertainment nor emotion here. Finish this already."

The priests who had been surrounding Jungon without attacking began rushing toward him at Personality's gesture.

"Unable to accept the reality before him, he chose to abandon his sight."

With Personality's command added to the attack, Jungon had to defend himself against the priests while also suppressing his own body's attempts to harm itself.

"HRAAAH!!"

With a fierce shout, Jungon barely managed to maintain control of his body.

However, his movements were too restricted for him to subdue the approaching priests easily.

If this continued, he might eventually be forced to choose to kill the fellow priests he called his brothers.

I will never, under any circumstances, kill my brothers!

Jungon shook his head violently.

With John absent, Jungon was currently responsible for leading the Exorcism Association. He couldn't kill the priests who had trusted him enough to follow him.

In the end, Jungon covered his face with his arms, curled his body into a defensive position like a turtle, and expanded his muscles to prepare for the coming attacks.

STAB! FWOOSH!

The sacred objects that were supposed to drive out demons were instead used against Jungon.

Broken holy water bottles became sharp weapons capable of piercing his powerful muscles, while the burning embers of incense burners scorched his skin.

PULL! BANG!

The stoles that were supposed to protect the faithful were used to bind Jungon and restrict his movements. Even the rosaries that symbolized unwavering faith were turned into weapons to strike him.

I have to endure this. I have to find a way out!

Even if he became permanently disabled, he had to do everything he could.

He had covered his entire body in aura, but since the attacks weren't made of demonic energy, it offered little protection.

He was struck, stabbed, and forced to endure. Whenever he spotted an opening, he pushed his attackers away. But as his blood loss increased, his ability to think clearly gradually weakened.

If I could use aura like everyone else, would I have been able to save them?

Had he already lost too much blood? Even to Jungon, the thought that had just crossed his mind sounded like pathetic nonsense.

If I make it back safely, I'm going to do ten thousand squats. No, maybe I should start a three-way workout routine right now.

However, once weakness began creeping into his mind, it continued eating away at his thoughts.

I've done well enough until now. Perhaps it's finally time for me to rest.

The pain was gradually becoming dull, and his eyes were beginning to close. It certainly seemed that he had lost too much blood.

He had always thought that, because of the many mistakes he had made throughout his life, he would find it difficult to die a peaceful and holy death like his fellow priests. But perhaps he could enter Heaven through the virtue of sacrifice.

Would things have turned out better if that bastard were here?

Why was Michael coming to mind at a time like this? Perhaps it was because the techniques Michael used were the very powers Jungon had dreamed of possessing since he was young.

Ah. I suppose I've reached my limit.

As his eyes slowly closed, Jungon's life began flashing before him in the briefest of moments, drawing him into the past.

Perhaps this is better than the foolish life of raising a daughter when I've never even been married...

When had it begun? When had he started building his muscles and training his body alone while everyone else recited prayers?

When had he started having to worry about the possessed victims' bodies while everyone else exorcised their demons?

When Jungon had first become capable of sensing aura, he had felt nothing but joy.

It was a power that ordinary people who hadn't undergone spiritual training could never hope to understand.

That was why he had studied the scriptures like the other priests, carefully examined their teachings, and demonstrated his faith in God.

However, the result had left Jungon deeply disappointed.

A constitution that cannot release aura.

That was the diagnosis given to Jungon by a man before whom even the previous bishop had bowed respectfully.

For some unknown reason, other priests could release aura to exorcise demons, but Jungon couldn't send his aura outward unless he made direct physical contact.

No matter how much he imitated the others, struggled, or worshipped God every day to demonstrate the sincerity of his faith, he remained trapped by his constitution.

It also affected his work.

He became slower at performing exorcisms than the other priests, and he had to pay attention to different things.

There had even been occasions when his concern for a possessed victim during an exorcism had nearly caused a serious accident.

One day, while exorcising a demon, Jungon came to a realization. There was no longer any need for him to worry about the possessed victims.

After all, most possessed people had made deals with demons because of their own desires.

From that point on, Jungon prioritized driving out the demons over the safety of their hosts.

That was how I lived until I met that child.

One day, news arrived that demons had attacked a hospital operated by the Exorcism Association, and Jungon was sent there as reinforcement.

Defeating the demons at the hospital wasn't particularly difficult. Just as he usually did, Jungon used physical force to subdue the demons possessing their victims before performing the exorcisms.

However, perhaps because there had been too few priests guarding the hospital, the number of victims was enormous.

Among them were a former colleague of his and the colleague's wife. Both lay dead, clutching something tightly in their arms.

It was a baby, a newborn with soft, fair skin.

"Waaah! Waaah!"

The baby, who had lost both parents, cried pitifully.

As Jungon stroked the crying baby's cheek, he made a decision.

According to the rules, orphaned children were supposed to be entrusted to facilities run by the Church. However, he remembered something his colleague had proudly told him.

"She's your niece, you bastard. She's adorable, just like my wife, so I'm counting on you to look after her."

His colleague had spent a great deal of time boasting about the child while she was still in her mother's womb, proudly declaring that he would become a father before everyone else.

Although things hadn't ended well, the words he had left behind continued troubling Jungon.

Who could have imagined that a casual request to look after her would turn out like this?

In the end, Jungon scratched his head, picked up the baby who had fallen asleep after crying herself to exhaustion, and left the hospital.

He decided to raise her himself instead of entrusting her to an institution.

He gave the baby the baptismal name Anastasia, shortened it to Sia, and added her father's surname, naming her Yoo Sia.

However, raising a baby was difficult for Jungon, who had never been married.

He had no basic childcare training, and there was no mother to help him. The only thing Jungon could do was change his own attitude and become a little gentler and more patient.

He sought childcare advice from people around him. When he began applying that gentler attitude to his work as an exorcist, the number of injured possessed victims also decreased.

That was the turning point of Jungon's life.

Although he was an unmarried man raising his colleague's child, he gradually developed genuine paternal love.

People began calling him a doting father. As he accumulated achievements within the Church, he eventually rose to a position where he assisted the bishop.

As the years passed, Jungon reached his forties. Perhaps because of all the hardships he had endured, gray hairs began appearing in his hair. Meanwhile, the baby Sia had grown into an adult and become a proper priest.

The only thing he still wished for was to see the grandchildren Sia might one day have after getting married.

I have to live.

Thud!

Jungon's knees bent, but his body, which had been gradually collapsing, suddenly steadied itself.

This was no longer the time to cling to the idealistic idea of saving every priest without killing anyone or dying himself.

Right now, he had to try anything that might work.

GRAB!

Jungon's enormous palm closed over the forehead of a priest who was bringing an incense burner down on him.

Was raising Sia really a regret?

When Jungon opened his eyes from what he had thought was his life flashing before him, the priests were still swinging their sacred objects.

It seemed he hadn't had his eyes closed for very long.

Of course not. If I'd regretted it, I wouldn't have taken her out of the hospital in the first place.

He couldn't go to God's side just yet. Having decided to raise that child, he had to take responsibility for her until the very end.

Little by little, Jungon's reason returned. At the same time, the pain that had been growing dull became painfully vivid once again.

BANG!

Even with his vision blocked, the priest continued swinging the incense burner at Jungon.

The incense burner struck Jungon's face, turning his head slightly, but he paid it no attention.

"Was this how he did it?"

Jungon gathered his aura into his palm.

Most people who witnessed Michael's power were captivated by his White Flame. Jungon, however, had tried to understand the foundation of that power.

Because he couldn't release aura like other priests, he naturally viewed things differently.

While the others watched the process of releasing White Flame, Jungon watched the flow of aura itself.

However, no matter how closely he observed, he couldn't easily imitate Michael's skill in freely moving, gathering, and releasing aura.

That was why he had decided to start by copying something simple.

First, reduce the aura covering my entire body little by little and concentrate it in one place.

Even though he was only concentrating his aura, the sensations throughout his body seemed to become sharper and smoother.

Somehow, it feels purer than usual.

Even to Jungon, the aura gathered in his palm seemed more sacred than the crude method he had always used.

It felt as though he had reached an entirely new level.

Before long, a small amount of pure aura had gathered in his palm.

A demon should have suffered from that aura alone. However, since Jungon hadn't recited a prayer, pouring aura into a human shouldn't have produced any particular effect.

At least, that was what he thought until...

HISSSSS.

Hissing?

A sound that should never have come from a human could be heard.

It was the kind of sound that normally occurred only when a demon was being exorcised.

Frowning, Jungon searched for the source of the sound.

Then he began seeing something he had never been able to see before.

"Threads?"

Thin lines, so narrow that they could easily be mistaken for threads, stretched from Personality to the priests.