Chapter 58: Sacrifice, Flames, Ritual (3)

Altar.

A tower made of stacked sandalwood.

On top of it, flames were blazing as if they were a beacon fire, and these flames were illuminating the shrine like a lighthouse in the thick smoke.

In the shrine filled with darkness where leaves of smoke hung, it was shining light, burning its body in the sky in place of the moon. The fire was moving its body, swaying on its own even without wind, and the shadows bound to its movement were dancing, changing their shapes and lengths while clinging to the shrine.

Festival.

A festival of fire and shadows was taking place here now.

Jinseong quietly watched the dance of the shadows.

The shadows were moving their bodies, bouncing their shoulders up and down as if they didn't know what to do with their excitement. Their legs never left where they came from as if stuck, but the way they came and went, constantly changing their length and width, looked like they were dancing shoulder dances out of joy. It looked like evil spirits who seemed unable to contain their excitement because they were too happy.

Jinseong turned his head to look at Rise.

Rise was trembling slightly, perhaps shocked by what had happened earlier, but she was clinging close to Jinseong as if using him as a pillar to overcome her fear while looking only at him. And as if feeling anxious, she kept touching her smartphone, with the ring attached to it fitted on her finger as if it were a real ring.

Jinseong looked at the mercenaries.

The mercenaries were appreciating the scene with their mouths slightly open as if this sight was fascinating.

In particular, the bartender was staring intently at the fire burning on the altar made of sandalwood as if it was something fascinating, and strangely, instead of looking obsessed with fire as usual, he had a serious face as if thinking about something from the past.

And the mercenary who had been acting as the leader was sitting astride the tightly bound and gagged Yoshiaki, grinning while quietly watching the dance of the shadows with a strange sense of exhaustion and madness in his appearance.

Jinseong took out a memo pad and pen from his bosom, wrote something, and threw it to the mercenary.

『 The Kishimoto family participated in the Pacific War as military chaplains. They participated with the purpose of protecting soldiers under the blessing of eight million gods and winning the war, and received many spoils of war. However, after being indicted as Class C war criminals following Japan's defeat, they hid the spoils somewhere, perhaps fearing they might be caught, and it was confirmed that they gradually took them out and converted them into assets without drawing attention.

Find out information about the undisposed spoils of war and their location, even if you have to use rough methods.

If you find out, 30% of the gold bars, currency, jewels, and government bonds obtained from there will go to you.

But do not kill them no matter what.

Can you do it? 』

The mercenary smirked after seeing the content written on the memo Jinseong had thrown.

The meaning of that smile was one of confidence, as if to say, "You’re worried about something like this?"

The mercenary dipped his tactical pen in the blood Kishimoto was shedding and wrote on the back of the memo, then threw it into the air. The memo thrown into the air was safely delivered before Jinseong according to his will–

『 As soon as the sound returns, he'll spill all the information there is. 』

–and Jinseong nodded at the delivered content as if he trusted it.

Then he sent memos to the other mercenaries as well, which contained instructions to thoroughly restrain the martial artists and keep them under surveillance.

Thus, the mercenaries dispersed, each having received their tasks.

The mercenary leader and two other mercenaries dragged Yoshiaki by his hair to a secluded place.

The rest of the mercenaries headed towards the subdued martial artists.

And Rise looked at Jinseong somewhat quizzically at this sight.

It wasn't strange to communicate via memos since no sound could be heard, but Jinseong, as the officiant of the sorcery ritual, was the only one who could make sound. So if he wanted to give orders, it would have been more convenient to just speak rather than use memos.

She couldn't help but wonder why Jinseong wasn't opening his mouth.

But did Jinseong know Rise's question?

He completely erased the question in her mind.

Not by answering it, but by erasing it.

He started to undress right in front of Rise.

Jinseong boldly took off his upper clothes as if he didn't care whether others were watching or not, and at this sight, Rise let out a silent scream and covered her face with her hands. But Jinseong only glanced at Rise's reaction once without stopping his actions, and eventually took off all his pants and underwear, becoming completely naked.

The naked Jinseong slowly walked barefoot towards the altar.

Behind Jinseong as he walked, objects floated through the air.

Jinseong walked towards the altar with a solemn heart, his mouth tightly closed.

Then he threw the things in the air into the fire one by one.

Coins went in.

A lump of clay went in.

A bundle of herbs went in.

And only after these objects had gone in did Jinseong open his mouth, which had been tightly closed since the altar was erected, and shouted. It was more accurate to say that he shouted rather than spoke as his voice resounded throughout the silent shrine.

"Fire of wisdom! Flower of purification! Illuminate me with light!"

He shouted this and bowed towards the fire.

And even as he was bowing, things were still going into the fire.

Clean water was poured into the fire.

High-quality milk was poured into the fire.

But despite the liquids being poured, the flames showed no signs of going out, and instead their light became clearer and burned even larger.

"What I should have thought about but didn't."

Jinseong, standing up again, took his place right in front of the fiercely burning flames.

Even though those flames could burn him.

"What I should have said but didn't."

There was no fear in Jinseong's eyes.

"What I should have done but didn't."

Instead, what occupied his eyes was purity.

"What I shouldn't have thought about but did."

It was an emotion so pure that it might be called madness.

"What I shouldn't have said but said, what I shouldn't have done but did!"

He looked at the burning flames with clear eyes and poured oil on his body.

Not oil for decoration like perfume, but oil for burning something.

"Forgive all of these!"

As Jinseong's prayer ended, the color of the flames changed.

If the previous flames had been of a clear color, now it was a color that felt unrealistic beyond clarity. It was a color that seemed as if the colors used in a painting had jumped out into reality, so vivid that it felt disconnected.

Especially since now there was no smoke at all despite the fierce burning using sandalwood as firewood, it felt even more unreal.

Fire of purification. Sacred. The sacred fire of Zoroastrianism.

But Jinseong, who had poured oil on his body and taken his place in front of it, thought of something else instead of disconnection.

What he recalled was his final moment before regression.

His last moment when he had oxidized with a mysterious sorcery, offering his body as a human sacrifice.

What did I regret? What did I want? What did I yearn for?

Jinseong had regretted then.

That he couldn't learn more sorcery, that he couldn't know more about sorcery, that he couldn't transcend through sorcery.

Even as his body was closer to death than life, even up to the moment when death was approaching right before him, he only thought of the sorcery that had fascinated him.

He wanted.

Sorcery.

He only wanted sorcery.

Therefore, he yearned and yearned again.

Even in a situation where he could barely make his own voice and even breathing was painful, he only yearned for sorcery, for the world of sorcery that would be reached at the end of transcendence through sorcery.

Like a brilliantly shining star.

He yearned so much to become such an existence.

Body, energy, mind.

He couldn't achieve it before regression.

The body damaged by sorcery damaged the soul.

The soul damaged by pain damaged the body.

What use was a sound mind?

Therefore, Jinseong after regression wanted to strengthen his body.

He wanted to strengthen his body to prevent his soul from being damaged like before regression.

For that reason, he didn't hesitate to seduce and fascinate Japan's power holders, and wanted to reach a place where he could wield their power and strengthen his body.

Even now, that thought hadn't changed.

Jinseong absolutely wanted to receive body strengthening, and had to receive it.

Only then would he not repeat the mistakes from before regression.

But would that problem be solved just by receiving body strengthening?

Although the body was the start of the problem, it wasn't only the body that had caused Jinseong's death.

Both body and soul had been damaged together.

Then both body and soul needed to be strengthened.

The body through strengthening.

The soul...

Through ritual.

Fortunately, luck was on his side.

Japan was overflowing with energy, and full of hon and baek without will.

He could obtain all the necessary expensive materials through the power holders.

He could easily dominate a place untainted by impurity.

There were sufficient conditions to light the 'sacred fire', which was both a sorcery and an object of worship in Zoroastrianism.

Now all that was needed was resolve.

"Only purity will illuminate wisdom!"

Jinseong leaped into the fire.

The last of the six sacred lights of Zoroastrianism, fire.

Jinseong became a candle symbolizing fire himself.