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?" The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.
"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!
"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.