Chapter 209

With a powerful explosion, fragments of the materials that formed the building’s entrance scattered everywhere.

Since I had been cautious in advance, there were no casualties, but because of that, the Exorcism Headquarters was thrown into chaos and entered a state of emergency.

Soon, four exorcists began approaching us from the collapsed entrance, paired up to attack the building.

“…What on earth are you doing?”

The middle-aged man leading the group scanned our appearances and continued with a somewhat bewildered expression.

“Judging by your skills, you don’t seem unaware of what you’re doing. Don’t think you can just get away with this.”

Although there were no casualties, my Advanced Art contained enough power to seriously harm someone.

In response, the four exorcists raised their Spiritual Power and immediately entered a Combat Posture.

“…Oppa, what are you going to do?”

Seoa asked with a worried tone, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Is this all of you?”

It was woefully insufficient. Apart from the middle-aged man, everyone present before my eyes was at a 2nd-Rank level or below.

They weren’t the true main force of the Exorcism Headquarters I knew, and with just them, they couldn’t hold back the members of the Night School even for a moment.

Thus, I felt the need to play another strong card.

“I’ll handle it alone. Stand back.”

“…The kid’s quite confident.”

The middle-aged man looked at me as if it were ridiculous, but that was actually my line.

“It’s a matter of common sense before confidence.”

Whoosh!

With a gesture as a signal, Shikigami continuously surged forth from my shadow, which had expanded through an Art Formula.

The two at the very rear were immediately subdued by Sorisoe and Kongsami, and seeing this, the woman in the center who tried to fire a Cursed Technique had her Art Formula Dispelled by Eve’s hand and collapsed.

In the absurd situation, the middle-aged man charged with a desperate expression, but there was nothing he could do before Keuseundae, who appeared last.

Crunch!

“Ugh, just who are you…?”

This was my current strength.

Unlike the fights until now where I struggled through skill and strategy, against opponents of this level, I could simply crush them with pure power.

Perhaps the middle-aged man realized this too, as instead of showing any will to resist, he just rolled his eyes with an utterly flustered look.

I released the man and uttered a quiet remark.

“I plan to enter inside there in five minutes.”

“……”

“So, if you don’t want to see the headquarters collapse, you should immediately gather all the combat power you can muster.”

The man seemed unable to understand what I was saying, but he seemed to recognize he had been given a chance and quickly retreated to contact someone.

‘Is there some external event or something?’

No matter how dispersed the personnel usually are, this is still unexpected.

Unless they find and bring them all back, stopping the Night School members would be nearly impossible.

“…Will this be okay?”

“I don’t know. The main force should gather before the real attack begins.”

Even upon reconsidering, it’s a part I can’t understand.

What is the Exorcism Headquarters? To exaggerate a bit, it’s practically the core of Korea’s Cursed Arts World.

Even if the Three Great Noble Families stand firm, they have their own roles.

Therefore, if they lose the personnel currently busily active at the headquarters, the damage would be indescribable.

‘But during such a chaotic time, all the main forces are absent?’

To my knowledge, within the Exorcism Headquarters, there are three Special-Rank Exorcists just counting combat personnel.

That’s excluding those tied to other spheres like Shin Noeul or those in key positions overseeing other regions.

‘Can such a personnel gap occur so conveniently in timing?’

If I had been just a bit slower to notice, Korea’s Exorcism Headquarters would have almost collapsed into a lawless state.

Somehow, it feels like an artificial plot point.

‘Thinking about it now won’t help, I guess.’

In that case, acting boldly might turn misfortune into blessing.

As if at least minimal preparations were in place, after a short time, a powerful flow of Spiritual Power began to be felt from inside the massive headquarters building.

‘Is it the headquarters’ Great Barrier?’

In the original work, it was only lightly mentioned because they fell into complete chaos before having a chance to activate it.

But if it exists, they should be able to hold out against intruders to some extent.

“…Oppa, over there.”

With the activation of the Barrier, dozens of exorcists began gathering from inside and outside the building to form a Defensive Formation.

Among them were those with skills superior to the middle-aged man from before, but they didn’t recklessly try to touch us.

Since the main force would return soon anyway, it seemed they prioritized protecting the headquarters first.

‘…Did it work out somehow?’

Since it wasn’t a bad situation for me either, I didn’t take any particular action and just watched the scene.

And finally, the headquarters’ Special-Rank Exorcists, having received the call, began to appear one by one.

“Wow, what kind of mess is this?”

“Don’t let your guard down. It’s an emergency situation for now.”

A somewhat young-looking youth and a giant old man with a face full of wrinkles. And behind them, a woman wearing a long robe, pulling it down and surveying the surroundings.

‘Baek Woongkyoo, Yoon Haecheol, and Ban Soyae.’

They are figures I know well too. They were the Special-Rank Exorcists affiliated with the headquarters who appeared in the first volume of Exorcism Academy.

Among them, Baek Woongkyoo and Ban Soyae fought desperately against the Night School and died, but Yoon Haecheol barely survived and later helped Yoo Haon’s group.

And their gazes, which had been receiving transmissions from the headquarters, soon turned toward me and Seoa.

“What’s this? I thought they were just spectators, but are you the ones who did this to the headquarters?”

“Don’t take it lightly. It’s hard to read their energy.”

“…They’re skilled. At least the man is.”

An incredibly high-level Spiritual Power that couldn’t be easily gauged at a glance could be felt.

If I were to fight all of them, even with my current self, I’d clearly struggle to last even three minutes.

But it didn’t matter.

My goal was only to instill vigilance in the headquarters and draw them out, not to engage in a real battle.

“The headquarters is being targeted.”

“Of course it’s a target? Since you’re targeting it right now.”

“That’s not it. Attackers will arrive soon.”

At my words, they tilted their heads as if they didn’t understand.

However, they too must have found my attitude, which caused no damage after the initial attack, puzzling.

So, to some extent, they seemed to be listening and pondering the meaning of my statement.

“No need to think too hard. I obtained information through a certain route, but couldn’t convince others of it, so I resorted to drastic measures.”

“…I get what you’re trying to say. But, is there a reason we should care about such circumstances?”

Certainly, Baek Woongkyoo’s words are right.

Whatever the case, from their perspective, subduing me first and then thinking would be the convenient course.

But the situation wasn’t that simple.

“You should care. Otherwise, the headquarters will truly collapse helplessly today.”

“Nonsense. A force of that level doesn’t exist in Korea.”

“What if it’s not Korea?”

Come to think of it, they probably never imagined that Xiao Chen’s special Art Formula was laid somewhere around here even now.

Normally, if a force of that scale crossed the border, their whereabouts would be detected somehow.

But, precisely shattering that common sense was Xiao Chen’s Teleportation Art.

‘If I hadn’t dealt with her in advance, things would have been several times more troublesome.’

At my confident attitude, Baek Woongkyoo’s expression finally began to turn serious.

“You’re saying you have certain information that even the headquarters is unaware of?”

“Internationally wanted individuals called the Night School. I have a bit of a Fateful Connection with them, so I could obtain information in advance.”

“…Night School?”

The one who reacted to that word was, surprisingly, Ban Soyae, who had been listening to the conversation impassively.

“…It’s possible. One of them, Xiao Chen, can create invisible passages with strange Art Formulas.”

“Certainly, I’ve heard their names too. But why would they suddenly…?”

What firmly swayed their half-doubting hearts was none other than Yoon Haecheol.

“…Come to think of it, isn’t that the guy? The one who broke Cheong Soha’s record last time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Old man, don’t you watch the news? He’s practically the hottest rookie lately.”

As my somewhat ambiguous identity was proven, they seemed to judge that I wasn’t just spouting nonsense, relaxed their attack posture, and slowly closed the distance.

Naturally, Yoon Haecheol was at the forefront.

“Seeing you like this, it’s nice. Since I was her senior at the Academy, I wanted to meet the person who broke that terrifying girl’s record at least once.”

Come to think of it, there was such a setting. Yoon Haecheol shrugged as if he hadn’t expected to meet like this and extended his hand to me.

“You believe me?”

“No, we’ll know if we wait a bit longer.”

Well, when you think about it, that’s right.

I nodded at his easygoing attitude and shook Yoon Haecheol’s hand.

“I’d like to have a more detailed conversation, but unfortunately, there’s no time. The series of incidents happening on the West Coast right now are also likely a Deception by them.”

“Hearing that far, something starts to take shape… Well, alright. You mean we should fortify our defenses first, right?”

Just as I finished speaking, as if waiting for this moment, an intense wave of Spiritual Power was felt from between buildings about 100 meters away.

Including me and Seoa, everyone present intuitively felt it.

They were precisely the Uninvited Guests who had come here targeting the Exorcism Headquarters.

“I said there’s no time, but this is too soon.”

Feeling the ominous energy, Yoon Haecheol hardened his expression and immediately began to move.

Following him, all of us headed toward the source of the Spiritual Power wave.

And there, I could finally face them.

“What are these things?”

“…I’m not sure, but it seems as if they knew we were coming.”

“It doesn’t matter. Deal with them.”

The remaining members of the Night School, and their Leader, Luke Pensalot.

And, the one existence I most wanted to meet through this incident.

‘She came along too, as expected.’

My eyes, fists clenched tight, were fixed on one woman standing behind them.