Chapter 210

‘Appraisal.’

Ding!

【Yeon Jaki】

▶Level 61

▶Stats

【Stamina: B-】

【Spiritual Power: A】

【Art Formula: B-】

【Mental Strength: A-】

▶Traits (5/10)

【Recluse (A+)】

【Vitality Absorption (A)】

【Observer (B+)】

【Toxic Aura (B-)】

【Emergency Evasion (B-)】

A woman calmly observing our situation while keeping Luke Pensalot and her other companions in front of her.

She possesses a considerably high Level, but her stats and traits are nothing particularly special.

However, as someone who knows the original work inside and out, I am well aware that all of it is a deception.

‘I’d like to have a separate meeting with her, but…’

That’s probably impossible for now.

She wouldn’t let her guard down around me, a complete stranger, and we’ve just met as enemies.

So, I set the thought aside and first scanned the figures standing before me.

‘…By the way, the numbers don’t match.’

With Bihyeong, Hectail, and Xiao Chen gone, the remaining Night School members should total only four.

Yet, through the Art Formula, two more people besides them had appeared.

I had somewhat prepared myself, but the situation unfolding differently from the original made my thoughts grow complicated on their own.

‘Neither of them is a mediocre opponent.’

After hurriedly using the Appraisal function to check their identities, I honestly couldn’t help but be utterly bewildered.

【Dwight Gale】

▶Level 61

【Allen Kruger】

▶Level 69

‘…Why is he here?’

Allen Kruger.

The main villain of the sequel series, commonly called the Body Snatcher, and also the sworn enemy being pursued by the Kruger family, Yohan’s family.

As mentioned before, he was a character who appeared much later in the future, so meeting him here was incredibly abrupt.

‘The other one isn’t a major character, I guess.’

Still, Dwight was also a genuine powerhouse with a Level exceeding 60.

And by the time I thought that far, I could understand why this had happened.

‘It’s because of the loss in combat strength.’

By quickly eliminating three of Night School’s members, I had created a significant gap in their combat strength.

So, before proceeding with their grand plan, they had naturally sought to fill that gap by bringing in new forces.

‘I didn’t think I’d have this kind of influence.’

Thinking about it logically, it was a perfectly plausible possibility. It was largely my fault for judging the situation with simple addition and subtraction.

‘This is dangerous.’

We did have Exorcists from Headquarters on our side, but we were still at a disadvantage in terms of combat strength.

I myself had only intended to buy time and hadn’t for a moment thought we could defeat the Night School members with our current lineup.

But now, two more had been added to their side, and one of them is an immensely powerful opponent whose strength is hard to gauge.

If we clash head-on like this, we will definitely lose. I had to think of some method.

So, I immediately leaned close to Yoon Haecheol and subtly threw out a remark.

“We must abandon Headquarters.”

“What? What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden?”

“If we abandon the facilities and materials and evacuate all personnel, we can avoid the worst-case scenario.”

Frankly speaking, it’s nonsense.

From its symbolism onwards, the Exorcism Headquarters was not just a simple structure.

Losing the equipment, countless data, and the familiar space inside would clearly cause major setbacks for future operations.

“But we must. Otherwise, Mr. Yoon Haecheol, are you confident you can stop them all?”

“…….”

Even if Yoon Haecheol didn’t know the details, he must have sensed it intuitively.

In this current situation, we absolutely cannot win.

“Then, shall we just buy time until the people escape?”

“To be honest, I can’t guarantee that either. We can only try our best.”

Yoon Haecheol scratched his head irritably and immediately operated his equipment to send a radio message to Headquarters.

So now, all that remained was, as Yoon Haecheol said, to buy time until everyone at Headquarters evacuated.

Right at that moment, the Night School members began to move.

“I’ll go to Headquarters first. Finish up here and follow.”

“Tsk, you always take the fun part for yourself.”

After speaking, Luke Pensalot immediately used an Art Formula to fly up onto the building, followed by the giant old man Baek Woongkyoo.

What formed was an extremely unfavorable match of 5 versus 4.

Everyone knew that fact, so the Night School members adopted a very relaxed attitude.

“So then, what shall we do with the rest?”

“…I’ll take that man over there. Deal with the rest as you please.”

“Suit yourself.”

Drax, who stepped forward first, exchanged a meaningful look with Yoon Haecheol, and Imeris stared at our faces with a thoroughly delighted smile.

True to her nickname, Soul Collector, she was gauging which side would be the most delectable prey.

“You, you give off a rather peculiar scent.”

“…….”

Her target was none other than Han Seoa. At that, I recalled a debate that had been noisy for a while in the previous community.

‘They said Imeris might be a distant descendant of a witch.’

While there was no such mention in the first installment, there were observations that the Cursed Techniques she used bore considerable traces of witches.

If so, she would naturally be drawn to Seoa, who inherited a witch’s knowledge.

‘And, that means…’

There was a high possibility that I, possessing the Witch’s Resonance trait, was also included in that target.

Sure enough, she soon raised a finger, pointed at me, and continued.

“…And what’s this? A form of soul I’ve never seen before in my life. Whatever. I can just acquire it and study it slowly.”

As she stepped forward, a woman followed behind Imeris, as if to assist. It was precisely the person I had been watching closely: Yeon Jaki.

‘Looks like the matchups are roughly set.’

Honestly, neither side here is a fight we can win.

However, it was a small mercy that we could face the two people about whom I had relatively more information.

“Soyae, will you be okay?”

“…If it’s just tying them down, no problem.”

Once the matchups were roughly set, Yoon Haecheol threw a worried question towards Ban Soyae, who was left alone.

Of course, since Ban Soyae was currently the strongest among us, it was reasonable for her to take on two.

However, among the remaining two opponents, Allen Kruger was by no means ordinary.

Even if it’s Ban Soyae, she likely wouldn’t last long before falling, potentially causing the entire battle situation to collapse.

So, I considered various possibilities, let out a sigh, and summoned Keuseundae and the Shadow Thief to attach them to Ban Soyae’s side.

“This is…?”

“They’ll be of help.”

To be honest, I was in a hurry myself, but if she were to be defeated, the rest would just fall one by one to coordinated attacks.

And so, we finally faced our respective enemies and moved to advantageous positions for our individual battles.

“Shall I take the woman in front?”

“No, she’s not an opponent we can beat in a direct confrontation.”

Han Seoa, possessing both the Growth Acceleration and Late Bloomer traits, had grown remarkably during the second Night Parade of One Hundred Specters Crisis.

But even so, her current strength isn’t yet at the level of top-tier powerhouses.

Therefore, it was important for us to fight a battle we wouldn’t lose by making full use of our information about the opponent.

“You look impressive for your age… but is there really anything special?”

Imeris, who had kindly waited for our conversation, soon chuckled and threw a single straw doll forward.

Swish!

Thud.

“I guess I’ll have to think a bit about how to process your souls.”

The straw doll, which had fallen and rolled on the dirt ground, soon propped itself up with its hands, slowly rose, and began approaching us.

At that bizarre and ominous sight, I could feel Seoa beside me tensing up.

But that was due to not knowing its true nature; conversely, if one knew in advance, there was no need to be particularly nervous.

‘Two, three, four.’

Having precisely timed it in my mind, the moment the straw doll reached a certain distance, I immediately threw a talisman and deployed a Cursed Technique.

“Void Boundary Erosion Gluttony.”

Whoosh!

Crreeeak!

Then, the doll’s body, which had suddenly sped up and leaped forward, and my Cursed Technique collided.

The result was a perfect neutralization.

The net-like Ritual Array that was about to shoot out from the straw doll’s mouth was shattered without a trace.

‘If it’s a Barrier doll, I’ve seen it many times before.’

But what was obvious to me isn’t necessarily so to others.

At my perfect counter, Imeris’s expression hardened for the first time, and she began tilting her head.

“What are you… Have you seen my fights before?”

“Who knows. It just seemed that way.”

And Seoa wasn’t one to miss that opening.

Three strands of Spiritual Power, fired by the deployed Advanced Art, each aimed in their own direction, targeted Imeris.

“Crimson Grass.”

Swish.

Fwoosh—!

It was truly exquisite timing, but the opponent’s reaction speed was even faster.

With just a light deflection of the Cursed Technique by Yeon Jaki, who was behind her, Seoa’s attack was completely blocked.

“…Oppa. That woman is also quite strong.”

“No need to overexert yourself. Our goal is solely to buy time, after all.”

Although I had the Companion trait in mind, I honestly wondered if I was pushing her too hard, but fortunately, Seoa was keeping up with the pace of the battle fairly well, as if showing the caliber of a main character.

But I couldn’t relax.

We had merely exchanged the first moves; the opponent hadn’t even thrown a proper decisive move yet.

“Interesting. It seems you’ve gained more experience than I thought?”

The emotion contained in Imeris’s expression was a slight surprise at our being better than expected, nothing more, nothing less.

And soon, she took out as many as eight straw dolls, identical to the previous one, and lined them up in the air.

“If you can block it, try blocking this too. Ah, and the sightseeing is over now.”

Along with the dolls that immediately rose up, her figure vanished like the wind, hiding from sight.

For a moment, I almost completely lost track of her movement. I extended my shadow right then, summoned Kongsami and Eve, and checked Imeris, who was already targeting Seoa from behind.

And with my remaining hand, I once again composed the Void Boundary Erosion Gluttony Cursed Technique, slowly reading the timing.

“Your reactions are good, but that alone won’t be enough, will it?”

“I think it will be.”

The dolls leaped forward with staggered timing, but having anticipated it, I deployed the Cursed Technique without a hint of panic.

However, this time, I twisted its structure slightly.

“Void Boundary Erosion Gluttony.”

The curse that breaks Barriers hit the doll at the very front, and as it swallowed the Barrier the doll shot out, it immediately began seeking the next target.

And when that repeated exactly seven times, the straw dolls had already lost their power and were all lying scattered on the ground.

“See that.”

“…….”

At my response, the consistently relaxed expression on Imeris’s face finally began to color with hostility.