Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Chapter 68: Rite of Calling (3)

A giant cave with light filtering in through stalactites on the ceiling…

Even though they were inside a cave, it didn't feel dark at all because it was filled with a mysterious light, it kind of felt dreamy.

Around 20 people were walking around within the cave, placing mana stones on top of a summoning circle drawn on the floor. Others were pouring some kind of dark-red liquid.

One man that was looking at them from the side took out a crystal ball from his pocket.

[How are preparations going?]

A dry voice came out through the crystal ball.

The man with tattoos all over his face answered.

"They're almost ready. But... Because we've hurried the preparations, I can't guarantee the success..."

[Hmm.]

You could feel that the person on the other side was annoyed.

[Make it a success. No matter what.]

"Understood."

The man with the tattoos answered in a low voice.

[This summon is the first step to the bigger plan. I won't accept failures.]

After saying that, the crystal lost its light.

The man with the tattoos put the crystal ball back into his pocket and then walked toward the magic circle.

"Did you scatter the blood of the offerings around?"

"Yes! All preparations are ready, Priest Yoo TaeShik!"

The blood of the offerings that had absorbed demonic energy through the ceremony was the most important ingredient for the demon summoning.

The man with the tattoos kneeled and placed his hands on the summoning circle where the blood of the offerings had been scattered.

'As expected, we're lacking offerings.'

As soon as they’d heard that the leader of the Mir Guild, Kim JaeHyun, had been trapped, they’d started to immediately prepare for the summoning.

That was because, if that person gave away information on them, there was a chance that the summoning itself would be canceled.

But because they’d hurried things up, they hadn’t been able to gather enough offerings.

If they hadn’t had the support of another big guild, they probably wouldn't have even been able to try to do the summoning.

'Tsk, what a useless bunch.'

He remembered them confidently saying that they'd get an S-rank Attribute offering.

They’d been so obsessed with obtaining results that the government had trapped them.

'Well, there's nothing we can do about it.'

Yoo TaeShik's eyes shone darkly.

They could try summoning, but the chances of succeeding weren't high.

For it to be a success, they needed a few more offerings.

Stab-!

"Cough!"

"P-priest?"

Yoo TaeShik stabbed one of his underlings.

His carotid was cut, and blood began flowing out of it.

"Blame yourselves for not being able to get more offerings in time."

Yoo TaeShik looked at his underlings with eyes full of madness.

Their faces paled.

"P-priest!"

"Please forgive us...!"

They began trembling while kneeling.

Yoo TaeShik smiled while looking at them.

"Don't worry. Your blood will become the demon's flesh, and you’ll enjoy eternal life through it."

What he was saying was nonsense.

They'd wanted to enjoy eternal life in the current world and life, not enjoy eternal life by becoming the offering for a demon.

The desperate desire to live made them obsessed.

The members of the Demon Cult began getting desperate to live.

"Hiic!"

The one who ran first was a woman with freckles.

When she realized something was going wrong, she turned her body around and tried to escape.

Yoo TaeShik frowned while looking at her.

"You're all thrash who lack loyalty. Did you all forget what the cardinal said?"

"KYAAA!!"

He pointed a shortsword toward the woman that was trying to escape.

Dark energy emerged and spread out from the shortsword’s blade.

The woman’s back was pierced, and she let out a scream.

"Being willing to sacrifice yourselves for the demon is one of the ten commandments of the cult. Tsk Tsk. To think that people who aren't willing to make such sacrifices were lusting after eternal life..."

The slaughter began.

Yoo TaeShik killed everyone. The ones who tried to escape, those who took out their weapons to try to resist, even those who became crazy and willingly offered their lives, everyone.

Dark blood started to scatter around the summoning circle.

"Hahaha, this much should be enough."

Yoo TaeShik put his hands on the summoning circle with a smile on his face.

A demon of the Hell of Nine Skies.

It was about time they summoned the immortals worthy of worshipping to the modern world.

'Although it took us a bit longer compared to other branches.'

The Demon Cult was spread throughout the entire world.

Compared to other branches, it took Korea's branch a bit longer with the preparations.

'From what I heard, the Japanese have already succeeded in summoning three demons.'

* * *

Although their situation was a bit different, it still didn't change the fact that they were behind them.

'We can't lose to them.'

He frowned while remembering the face of the Japanese cult member.

Losing to them was an insult to the cardinal.

Yoo TaeShik drew forth the demonic energy he had and activated the summoning circle.

"Ered'achor! Havik! Galar!"

Shine-!

The summoning circle that had absorbed blood began shining ominously.

* * *

"Oof! Oof! Oof!"

"I… I thought I was going to die."

YeonJoo breathed heavily after climbing down from Echidna.

If she hadn't tied herself with chains, she might have fallen from tens of kilometers up in the air.

"KangWoo, did I do okay?"

Echidna looked at KangWoo with her eyes shining.

—She was asking for headpats.

KangWoo patted her head while smiling awkwardly.

"Hehehe."

"The next time..."

"Hmm?"

"You can fly a bit slower."

Echidna's cheeks became red.

"So you want to fly with me for a bit longer."

'It's because I want to live.'

"Okay. I'll fly a bit slower the next time. I'd also like to be stuck with KangWoo for a longer time."

"Okay..."

KangWoo nodded with a troubled expression on his face. She seemed to have misunderstood something, but as long as she flew slower, it didn't matter.

'Even if she misunderstood, as long as she does things correctly...'

While changing the old saying a bit, he entered the S-rank gate while nodding.

Baek HwaYeon walked toward the Hwarang Squad members that were guarding the gate.

"How is the investigation going?"

"They haven't found them yet."

"Tsk... Okay. What about leader Goo HyunMo?"

"After hearing the news, he entered along with the squad members."

"I want to talk with the leader."

"Yes!"

Baek HwaYeon received the device that could communicate with those within the gate.

"Yes, yes... Understood. I'll go there immediately."

After a short conversation, Baek HwaYeon walked toward Chae YeonJoo and KangWoo.

"How are the investigations going on?"

"They hadn’t found anything yet, but they just heard a huge explosion from the insides of a cave. It seems like they also felt something unpleasant."

"Something unpleasant?"

"It seems... Like he felt demonic energy."

Chae YeonJoo's expression hardened.

KangWoo narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth.

"It seems like the summoning has already begun."

"I heard the location of the cave. I warned the Second Squad members not to approach there carelessly, so we should also hurry."

KangWoo nodded and followed Baek HwaYeon into the S-rank gate.

Inside, there were numerous holes in a hill—it resembled an ant's nest.

'Are those all entrances to caves?'

KangWoo remembered that the Second Squad had said they weren't sure if they would find them or not.

Finding them among all the countless entrances seemed to be almost impossible.

"Over there."

KangWoo followed Baek HwaYeon to one cave entrance.

There, he saw members of the Second Squad with their weapons out, prepared to fight.

"You came! Ah. Ms. HwaYeon, we're sorry for how long it took to investigate. There are just too many caves here..."

A blond man wearing glasses approached.

—He was the leader of the Hwarang Second Squad, Goo HyunMo.

"It's okay. But more than that, is it this way?"

"Yes! We clearly heard a loud sound from inside! You all also heard it. Right?"

"Yes!"

The members of the Squad answered him, who was making a fuss.

KangWoo looked at the entrance they were pointing to.

'Demonic energy…'

He could feel demonic energy from inside the cave.

"Let's go."

"Understood. Goo HyunMo leader, I asked for your support."

"Haha! If it's something you ask, of course we'll do it. Guys! Formation A!"

"Formation A!"

The members of the Hwarang Second Squad got into a formation while making a loud shout.

They moved fast as if they were just a single entity.

"..."

KangWoo looked silently at the Hwarang Squad members who were posing in cringe-worthy positions.

'Are these guys going to be helpful?'

Judging by their outer appearance, rather than agents from the government, they looked like a group of crazy people.

"Let's go!"

After shouting, Goo HyunMo took a glimpse at Baek HwaYeon.

It seemed like he thought that formation A looked cool or something.

After he shouted, the members of the Hwarang Squad entered the cave.

KangWoo followed them into the cave.

Surprisingly, the insides of the cave weren't dark.

The cave shone with a green light from the stalactites on the ceilings.

It looked beautiful.

"KangWoo, I smell blood."

KangWoo nodded at Echidna's words. There wasn't a need to use an Authority.

Unlike its dreamy atmosphere, there was a strong scent of blood coming out of the cave.

KangWoo followed that smell through the cave.

There, he saw a depression that was almost a hundred meters deep.

On the depression’s floor, a magic circle was drawn from which a strong scent of blood could be smelled.

'Is that the magic demon summoning circle?'

KangWoo extended his hands toward the summoning circle and looked at a man standing there.

—It was someone who had a lot of tattoos all over his face.

The man showed his white teeth to the people who had just arrived.

"Hahaha... You're too late."

Crack-

The air began to crack as if a glass pane was breaking, and a fissure was formed.