Chapter 104: Independence Approaches (6)

The flames began to burn using the evil spirits as firewood.

As each evil spirit burned, the color became gradually more distinct, as if swallowing the color along with it, and the mixture of red and orange colors vividly imprinted a painted-like color in the present world.

However, unlike ordinary flames that grow using firewood as a medium, these flames only became more distinct in color without growing in size, and only deepened in color until they completely painted over the goat with their color.

This surreal coloration made it impossible for Lee Serin to look away.

"Now, go."

"Y-yes?"

Jinseong pointed at the burning flames and said.

"Jump over that."

"What? W-wait. Over the flames?"

"That's right."

Jinseong spoke to Lee Serin in an incredibly calm tone, as if saying there was a protruding rock there so jump over it. His tone was so calm that for a moment, the thought 'Isn't jumping over that no big deal?' flashed through Lee Serin's mind.

"Wait. I-I'm not a martial artist..."

Lee Serin hinted to Jinseong that she would get burned if she jumped over that fire.

"Don't worry. That only burns non-material things. Even if you sleep in those flames for a night, not a single hair on your body will be singed. Also."

Jinseong glanced at the shimmering heat haze next to Lee Serin.

"The demon you've contracted with wouldn't be harmed by flames of this level either. You can go with peace of mind."

At his words, Lee Serin hesitated for a moment. But when the demon whispered something in her ear, she seemed to make up her mind, clenched her mouth shut, grabbed her skirt hem, and ran towards the altar. Then, as if measuring for a long jump in PE class, she jumped with both feet together from one end of the altar to the other.

"Keep jumping until I tell you to stop."

"Huh!"

At Jinseong's words, Lee Serin jumped from end to end several times.

Then, as if her strength was failing, she staggered slightly and her skirt hem touched the flames, but the flames just stayed in place as if they were an illusion. Moreover, there was no trace of burning on her skirt hem, and she felt no heat.

Seeing that she was gradually losing strength, Jinseong placed the eagle owl he had caught earlier on a nearby streetlight.

"You can stop now. Now kneel in front of the altar and bow your head. Close your eyes and pray, thinking only of the flames and night, and be mindful even of making your breathing loud, for you must become one with the night."

Saying this, Jinseong ignited Samadhi fire in his hand.

This time, the Samadhi fire was one that burned material things.

It was a flame that burned using the oil on Jinseong's hand as a medium.

The flames greedily devoured the oil and blazed up to the size of a torch. He raised his arm high in the sky using it as a torch and circled around the altar. He circled the altar, jumped over it, and made gestures as if he was a mischievous child who didn't know what to do with his joy.

After repeating this several times, he shook his burning hand towards the inside of the altar.

Whoosh!

Then fire caught again on the altar where Samadhi fire was already burning.

Fire caught where fire was already burning, and real flames that burned using firewood as a medium moved here and there trying to devour the flames that were burning non-material things. The dull but common flames wrapped around the painted-like flames, creating a strange scenery, looking as if a painting of flames was burning in flames.

Al----eph----

The goat inside the altar was also engulfed in real flames.

But what the goat burning in the flames emitted was not the sound a normal goat would make, but a sound that seemed somewhere between beast and human.

Instead of howling, a sound filled with calmness, instead of pain, a sound filled with hatred, instead of a cry filled with emotion, a whisper filled with meaning.

Allllllllll-e-------p.

The sound continued.

Pap---a—i---papa—i-----Aleph!

However, there was an end to this continuation, and just as flames would die down over time, this sound also became smaller and blurred, losing its form. Instead, as if making a final struggle, it formed a shape of pitch-black ash in the flames and tried to escape outside, looking like a collective of evil spirits sticking their faces out of the burning flames to take a deep breath.

But when Lee Serin kept her eyes closed until the end, it disappeared back into the flames as if giving up, and then vanished as if being sucked into the ground.

With that, the flames disappeared and only the Samadhi fire flames remained.

"Like begets like."

Jinseong floated a piece of charcoal made from birch firewood towards the ash-filled altar and sent it flying towards the Ferris wheel.

"There is entanglement between objects."

The firewood made a clang sound as it hit the iron pillar of the Ferris wheel.

"This speaks of the interconnectedness of all things."

As Jinseong's incantation ended, fire caught on the iron pillar where the firewood had hit.

Just as the flames had blazed on the altar, they spread in all directions, wrapping around the Ferris wheel and becoming a form like a blazing sun. The enormous flames not only brightly illuminated the entire amusement park but also lit up every path Jinseong had come through, showing a majesty that made the moon in the sky seem no better than a mere light bulb.

Lee Arin, who was watching from behind, couldn't help but gape at the sight.

As fire caught on the Ferris wheel, Jinseong extinguished the Samadhi fire burning on the altar. Then he dipped his finger in the ashes of the goat that had completely turned to ash and drew a line on Lee Serin's collarbone. The ash disappeared as if being absorbed into Lee Serin's body.

Hot, so hot...

As the ash was absorbed, Lee Serin's body turned red as if it was hot, and she started sweating profusely. She sweated so much that her clothes were soaked as if she had fallen into water.

Sweat, so much sweat is coming out...?

But soon the sweat stopped abruptly as if it had never happened, and the heat that Lee Serin felt as if her body was burning disappeared without a trace, and Russia's cold chill wrapped around her body.

"The ritual is now over."

As Lee Serin shivered from the cold, Jinseong nodded and helped her up. Lee Serin startled when Jinseong's hand touched her, then looked at him as if embarrassed.

"Um... I must smell of sweat..."

"Don't worry about it."

"It's not that you're worried, it's that I... Huh?"

Lee Serin, who was about to protest at Jinseong's insensitive words, looked dazed at the flames brightly illuminating her sight. Then she raised her head with an expression of disbelief.

"Th-th-that. What is that?"

The Ferris wheel was burning.

The 140m high Ferris wheel.

Was blazing with fire.

Jinseong kindly answered Lee Serin's question.

"I burned it at the end to maximize the effect. It will have a positive effect on you as the contractor."

"N-no. That's not what I mean."

"Moreover, by jumping over the flames, you've gained resistance to fire, and your body has become healthier. Also, by maximizing the effects of purification and evil-breaking, your body has become cleaner and healthier."

"That's not what I mean!"

Lee Serin shouted, cutting off Jinseong who kept talking about sorcery.

"Is, is this okay?! Did you get permission? From the government, or the owner, did you get permission?!"

At that question, Jinseong smiled.

Then he said as if to reassure her.

"Of course not."

Lee Serin's jaw dropped.

She couldn't find words to say to Jinseong's face, which looked at her as if asking what the problem was.

Jinseong turned away from the shocked Lee Serin and headed towards the truck.

Various luggage was piled in the cargo area, and Jinseong floated these luggage items and pushed them aside, then took out a glass box from inside.

In the glass box that came up to Jinseong's waist was a cut oak branch with mistletoe tightly wrapped around it.

The mistletoe, despite being parasitic on the cut branch, hadn't lost its luster and was emitting vitality outside the glass box.

[ High-grade mistletoe. My cute contractor, it seems your brother is trying to perform a Celtic sorcery ritual. ]

High-grade mistletoe.

A top-grade material said to retain the life and greenness of the sacred oak tree and contain the power of the oak spirit intact.

Of course, being top-grade, both the collection method and storage method were extremely demanding.

It was an item that had to be collected by a renowned druid performing a ritual with a golden blade that had never been used before on the night before All Saints' Day–now called Halloween in modern times–and after collection, it must never touch the ground even once.

It was called a rare item that couldn't be bought even with money among sorcerers because it could only be collected on one day a year, and if it touched the ground even once, its quality would plummet.

[ Let's see. Hmm. An item extracted from the woman called the Grand Witch. Good quality too. It's been well preserved with the cut branch to prevent withering... Must have spent a considerable amount of money. ]

Starting with that, the materials loaded in the cargo area flew through the air.

Fish scales, feathers, blood packs, alcohol…

All these things piled up neatly in front of Lee Arin, who was watching from afar.

When all the items were piled up, Jinseong approached Lee Arin.

"It's your turn next, but I can't perform the ritual for you yet."

Lee Arin, who had been staring blankly at the burning Ferris wheel, tilted her head at Jinseong's words.

Then Jinseong pointed at the capybara and said.

"It's possible to perform the ritual with that, but the effect would be diminished."

"Huh?"

Lee Arin looked at him strangely at those words.

"Brother, then we should have bought it before we left."

"There's no need for that. We'll be able to get good materials soon."

At Jinseong's puzzling words, Lee Arin asked.

"Materials? Then, what. Are you not going to use that capybara in the ritual?"

"That's right."

"Then why did you make me carry it here! Do you know how much trouble it was?!"

Jinseong took out pepper and salt from the pile of luggage in front of her.

"Guests are coming, shouldn't we serve them a meal?"

*                     *                     *

Fire was burning.

A fire like a sun illuminating the dark night.

"SN-04-S02M confirmed! It's a flame of evil-breaking and purification!"

"Suka blyat (сука блять)."

Viktor twisted his lips as he looked at the sun blazing from the ground.

"Another sorcerer, huh."