The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 337

Around the time when Sung Yu-Da's suicide became known to the public, Ha-Yeon stopped all ongoing research activities and businesses and took some time off at the villa prepared by the Purification Clan.

The members of the Purification Clan had many properties. Among the many properties, the villa where Ha-Yeon stayed was the most remote. She chose the villa instead of a publicly known residence because she did not want to meet anyone.

"..."

She just stayed there. She did nothing and just blankly stared at the sky.

It wasn't that she hadn’t accepted Sung Yu-Da's death. Ha-Yeon took care of Sung Yu-Da's funeral and handled everything that resulted from his death. Through that, Ha-Yeon naturally accepted it.

His sudden death made her feel empty, but not to the point of despair. She felt sad, but not to the extent of shedding tears. She was angry and resentful, but she couldn't figure out what to be angry about and who to blame.

Sung Yu-Da's life had been brilliant. However, his life ended with the dishonorable death of suicide. People talked about Sung Yu-Da's reasons for suicide as they pleased, but Ha-Yeon didn't care about what they said.

She knew why Sung Yu-Da chose to end his own life. It was because of the Voodoo Cult. More precisely, it was because of Sun-Woo. Was she supposed to blame Sun-Woo then? That seemed a bit strange.

Sung Yu-Da helped Sun-Woo because of the guilt for killing the Second Cult Leader, Do Myung-Jun.

Then was it reasonable to say that Sung Yu-Da's death was Sun-Woo’s fault? There would have been nothing to object to even if Sun-Woo had killed Sung Yu-Da. After all, Sung Yu-Da had killed Do Myung-Jun.

Why did Do Myung-Jun have to die? The more she delved into the reasons, the more lost Ha-Yeon became. In the end, only responsibility and causation remained.

"It's ridiculous," Ha-Yeon said as she chuckled while lost in thought.

She had come to the villa to rest, but her mind was restless. In the midst of all this, she was still thinking about that man, which felt so ridiculous to her.

At that moment, someone from behind said, "What is?"

Ha-Yeon abruptly stood up from her seat. She was so shocked that her heart beat irregularly as if it had malfunctioned. No one was supposed to be here. No, someone was supposed to be there, but that person couldn’t come and was not allowed to. Regardless, that person was right in front of her.

"What?"

"Did you decide not to use honorifics anymore?" Sun-Woo asked nonchalantly.

"No... What is this? How did you get here..."

Ha-Yeon still couldn't believe that he had come to the villa, which was the Purification Clan’s property. Non-members of the Purification Clan couldn’t even find the villa. How had Sun-Woo gotten in?

"How did you find this place?" Ha-Yeon asked straightforwardly.

Sun-Woo pulled out a chair as if it were his own home and sat down.

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"Sung Yu-Da gave me some information before he died."

"He didn't leave me a single letter."

"It was before he died... In fact, I received it before he resolved to end his own life," Sun-Woo said.

This meant that Sun-Woo received information when he and Sung Yu-Da were collaborating on something. Ha-Yeon nodded in understanding.

Although she felt a bit resentful toward Sung Yu-Da, she did not feel betrayed. She had known for a while that Sun-Woo and Sung Yu-Da were working together. She had even discovered that Sun-Woo was the leader of the Voodoo Cult before the public did. Thanks to that, there was no sense of betrayal. However, she felt everything else other than the sense of betrayal.

"Are you here to kill me?" Ha-Yeon asked.

Sun-Woo chuckled. "You say the same thing."

"What?"

"Never mind. Why would I kill you?"

"The members of the Purification Clan must be an eyesore for you."

"They are an eyesore, but it’s not to the point where I want to kill them. Anyway, there's nothing you guys can do now."

That was true. Ha-Yeon couldn’t do anything now. The Purification Clan had lost a lot of the public’s support due to Sung Yu-Da's death. They would no longer be able to spearhead the war like they did during the First Holy War. Even if they participated in the war, the members of the Purification Clan would just be used as disposable pawns to thwart the Voodoo Cult's spells.

"The Holy See will actively utilize the members of the Purification Clan in this Holy War. From their perspective, the most ideal outcome would be for the Voodoo Cult and the Purification Clan to fight and annihilate each other."

"..."

"Those are not my thoughts. It's what Sung Yu-Da... no, what your father said before he died."

That statement was also correct. At first glance, the Purification Clan seemed to be on the same side as the Holy See. However, the Holy See and the Purification Clan also acted as counterbalances to each other.

The Holy See and the Purification Clan were allies who understood each other, but at the same time, they were enemies who could threaten each other’s positions. Therefore, the Holy See would take advantage of the resulting fall in status due to Sung Yu-Da’s death to completely destroy the clan.

"Are you just going to be used and die like this?"

Only then did Ha-Yeon understand why he had come to see her.

"You want us to join the Voodoo Cult."

"I’m asking you to cooperate with us."

"Do you have a plan?" Ha-Yeon asked.

Sun-Woo revealed his plan to destroy the Romanican Church. His plan was filled with all sorts of calculations involving battles and politics.

However, it was still reckless. The plan was truly ambitious, something only the Voodoo Cult could do. No, it was something only Sun-Woo could do because only Sun-Woo would be able to think about destroying the Romanican Church.

"The Romanican Church won't crumble from this. Rather, it seems like it would be fortunate if it doesn’t become stronger from this," Ha-Yeon said.

That was her honest sentiment. From the beginning, there was no way that everything would go according to Sun-Woo's plan. Clearly, there would be variables.

Sun-Woo's plan was a precarious and reckless one that could completely collapse with just one wrong variable. Even if he was lucky and everything went according to plan, they wouldn’t be able to bring down the Romanican Church.

"But it might be possible to destroy the Holy See."

If the Purification Clan helped them, and if Ha-Yeon slightly modified Sun-Woo's plan, overturning the corrupt Holy See was possible.

"This is a losing battle. If the first step goes well, then there might be a chance, but...”

However, the fact that there ‘might be a chance’ meant that the probability of failure was higher than that of success. This was a losing battle. At least, that was how Ha-Yeon saw it.

However, as if it was no big deal, Sun-Woo said, "The Voodoo Cult always fights losing battles. If there's a chance, it’s worth trying."

"That’s not the case for the Purification Clan. We only fight battles we can win," Ha-Yeon replied coldly. "If you make a mistake, we will betray you and join the Holy See."

"Are you going to act like a turncoat?"

"I don't like the choice of words, but yes."

Sun-Woo nodded. "It's good that you're honest. Do as you please."

He stood up from his seat and added, "In case you’re not aware, I don't hold any grudges against you now."

"I don't have any personal feelings against you either," Ha-Yeon said.

The two shook hands. Sun-Woo's statement that there were no grudges against her might be true, but Ha-Yeon's statement that there were no personal feelings against him was clearly a lie. However, Ha-Yeon decided to deliberately ignore those personal feelings. Although she couldn't eliminate those feelings, at least she could ignore them.

***

"You’ve kidnapped the Pope's Proxy, which is a good start. With this, the Pope... Yu-Hyun can be lured," Ha-Yeon said.

She told Sun-Woo about everything, including the foundation of the Pope's authority, which lay in the Pope’s ability to control all divine power, and in the unique blessings that only the Pope could use.

She told him about the blessing of the 'Eye' that saw through lies, the blessing of the 'Spear' that delivered judgment to all cults, and most importantly, the power to ‘Bestow’ blessings. The source of the unique power bestowed upon the Head Guardian with the Seven Holy Names of Patience, Temperance, Charity, and others, all came from this power.

It was called Berakah, the most fundamental blessing, and the root of the Pope's authority. The Pope maintained the legitimacy and power of the papal authority through Berakah. Yu-Hyun eliminated or subjugated other Pope candidates who possessed Berakah to monopolize the blessing. Yu-Hyun had almost monopolized all the possessors of Berakat.

"The only Berakah that Yu-Hyun does not possess is the Blessing of Purification, which belongs to the members of the Purification Clan. Specifically, it belongs to me."

However, Yu-Hyun failed to obtain one Berakah: the blessing of purification, which only the members of the Purification Clan were allowed to possess.

If Yu-Hyun died, all the Berakat he possessed would disappear. Only the blessing of purification held by the members of the Purification Clan would remain. That way, only the members of the Purification Clan would remain as legitimate successors eligible to become the Pope.

"How did convincing the clan members go?"

“They must have been convinced due to the recent events since everything went according to what I had said. Now they will believe me, and they will believe you too.”

Sun-Woo had to kill Yu-Hyun, and the members of the Purification Clan had to fill the vacant seats of the Holy See.

The death of the Pope effectively meant that the Romanican Church would lose the Holy War. Furthermore, if the Pope suddenly changed, the Pope's authority would naturally weaken, and the overall status of the Romanican Church would decline. All of this was part of Ha-Yeon and Sun-Woo's plan.

The Voodoo Cult kidnapping Ha-Yeon, inciting terror, and targeting the Pope's Proxy were all part of the plan.

"But why did you kidnap Jin-Seo?"

The issue was Sun-Woo's unilateral actions. Kidnapping Jin-Seo was not part of Ha-Yeon's plan. Rather, it was an action that should never have been taken.

"There's more for me to say," Sun-Woo said.

Ha-Yeon was puzzled.

"Jin-Seo is symbolic. If we kidnap her, it will accelerate the deterioration of the public’s perception of the Voodoo Cult," he said.

"What's wrong with it accelerating the deterioration?"

"It will speed up the recruitment of the Holy Army. Then, we will have to deal with more enemies. There is literally nothing good about it."

"There’s nothing worse about it," Sun-Woo said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Despite hearing that he would have to deal with a larger number of enemies, he responded casually. Ha-Yeon found it difficult to understand where all his confidence was coming from.

Nevertheless, considering Sun-Woo's power, she could roughly guess where he had gained that confidence.

Ha-Yeon sighed and shook her head, thinking it would be better to just move on from the conversation.

"Anyway, whatever. In any case, the Holy See will go all out in the next battle to rescue the hostages, including me and the Pope's Proxy. A Head Guardian might participate in the next battle."

"In that case, killing the Head Guardian should be the top priority."

"That's right."

The Seven Head Guardians protecting the Pope were individuals who had received direct power from the Pope through Berakah. In terms of status, they were similar to the Pope's Proxy. However, they were more important than the typical Pope's Proxy. Defeating the Seven Head Guardians meant taking away the Pope’s Berakah and weakening Yu-Hyun.

"During this battle, the Head Guardian of Diligence will most likely appear. You must kill that person," she said.

"Yeah. Why did you repeat that?"

"Because Dae-Man will become the Head Guardian of Diligence," Ha-Yeon said.

Sun-Woo's expression hardened. Han Dae-Ho had died, causing the Eastern Paladin Order to fall apart. However, Dae-Man survived, filled with wrath toward the Voodoo Cult that killed Han Dae-Ho.

Dae-Man had originally been designated as the Head Guardian of Diligence. The Holy See would not miss this opportunity—they would officially appoint Dae-Man as the Head Guardian of Diligence and use him as a core combatant of the Holy Army. He would definitely participate in the next battle since hostages like Ha-Yeon were at stake.

“It means you have to kill Dae-Man with your own hands. And you probably already know...”

Ha-Yeon briefly glanced to check if anyone was around and then said, “If this plan succeeds, you will die.”