CHAPTER 285: BOW DOWN

The power to control all ghosts.

The evil spirit in the underground mine was clearly no ordinary evil spirit.

‘Among evil spirits, these are called great evil spirits.’

They were similar to monsters, but they were not monsters.

‘Taming skills won’t work on them.’

If that was the case, there was a high possibility that Bihyeongrang’s power to control ghosts would work.

Ethan focused on watching the video.

-But even if I wanted to pass on this power, it’s not something that can be passed on. It’s a power that has naturally resided in my body since the beginning of time.

As Bihyeongrang exhaled deeply, thousands of ghosts disappeared in an instant.

-In short, you need innate power. This is what innate power is like.

As he exhaled forcefully, freezing cold air flowed out, instantly freezing the river under the bridge.

-Yin energy. To control ghosts, you basically need to be born with this power.

“Oh.”

Inside Ethan’s body was currently a giant fox bead. This fox bead had grown considerably under the influence of Ethan’s yin energy and Extinction, and had enabled him to use Gumi Magic learned from Gumiho smoothly.

‘Certainly, when it comes to yin energy, Extinction is incredibly powerful. With this, I think I could use Bihyeongrang’s power too?’

Bihyeongrang probably thought there was no one born with yin energy as powerful as his own. So it seemed he was only trying to reveal what kind of power he possessed.

Even if he revealed it, without that much yin energy, one wouldn’t be able to replicate it at all.

He immediately passed on his power.

-You have learned Ghost Power.

-Skill added: Ghost Power (S)

-If you have enough yin energy, you should be able to use this Ghost Power. With this power, you gain eyes that can see ghosts, and you become able to interfere with them.

With those words, as Bihyeongrang activated Ghost Power, a purple energy enveloped his entire body. Then, a ghost appeared behind Bihyeongrang, but when Bihyeongrang snapped his fingers to exert Ghost Power, the ghost’s body scattered like mist.

-This is interference. It doesn’t matter how strong the power of the ghost in front of you is. You can make all ghosts kneel before you.

‘Impressive. The power to completely subdue a ghost with just a snap of the fingers.’

He began to clearly understand that reputation Gumiho and the goblin had spoken of.

-But this doesn’t work on very high-level ghosts. Ones with powerful abilities can simply deflect the interference. Usually, those guys have the modifier ‘great’ in front of their names. Great yokai, great demons, and such.

Bihyeongrang grinned as he said this.

‘Truly eerie.’

Although Ethan had seen many people with bad impressions, this was the first time he’d seen someone as eerie as Bihyeongrang. While he clearly looked normal on the outside, his overall atmosphere and gaze were particularly chilling.

‘No wonder even ghosts are afraid of him.’

It felt like he had discovered the source of his power.

Shaaaaaaah-!

-But even those guys can’t stand before me. I am the king of all ghosts, the ghost of ghosts.

The power gathered in Bihyeongrang’s hand began to take shape.

Eventually, what he held in his hand was a sword.

-The Ghost-Slaying Sword. With this sword created by my power, you can make any ghost kneel. Of course, that’s if you have enough yin energy to use this power.

You have learned Ghost-Slaying Sword.

Skill added: Ghost-Slaying Sword (S)

Through Bihyeongrang’s fusion video, Ethan learned Ghost Power and Ghost-Slaying Sword. Both were S-rank techniques, with grades as high as the techniques of most gods.

“The preparations are complete.”

***

At the entrance of the underground mine.

People dressed in pure white garments were gathered in front of the entrance.

It was the Archbishop of the Holylight Order and several bishops who had followed him.

“Goddess, bestow your power upon us.”

The Archbishop’s blessing was on a different level from the bishops’ blessings.

Powerful and holy energy imbued the bodies and maces of the bishops.

“The situation is urgent, bishops. We don’t know what hardships our brethren inside might be enduring. The Goddess is watching over us, so they shouldn’t have lost their lives. Therefore, we must go as quickly as possible.”

“Is it alright not to inform the lord?”

“He will understand given the urgency of the situation. Let’s go in. I’ll take the lead, so bishops, please cover the rear.”

“Yes, Archbishop!”

The Archbishop’s group from the Holylight Order entered the underground mine.

The mine was filled with dark red miasma from the inside, so they swung their maces imbued with holy power to dispel the miasma.

The miasma that had clung to the floor, walls, and ceiling of the underground mine was being purified by the holy power imbued in the maces.

“As expected of the Archbishop.”

“Don’t let your guard down, everyone. I sense a powerful force inside. A wicked and evil force.”

However, the Archbishop was quite tense.

As soon as they entered the underground mine, they could feel it. That immense energy coming from inside.

The Archbishop suddenly looked at his hand.

Drenched in sweat. Along with a constant, stinging headache.

In contrast, the bishops felt less discomfort at the moment. As they say, one sees as much as they know, and they didn’t have enough holy power to sense the powerful being inside.

As they continued their purification work and went deeper inside, the miasma became even stronger.

“There’s something inside.”

At the Archbishop’s words, the bishops gulped.

“More holy light.”

“Holy light!”

“Holy light!”

At the Archbishop’s signal, the bishops raised their maces and emitted holy energy.

A holy barrier formed around the Archbishop’s group.

“…Those who came in before were much stronger. Especially you… excellent, you have excellent power. It would be good to make your body mine.”

“Bishop Rahim…”

What walked out from inside was a bishop of the Holylight Order.

His skin had completely changed to a dark red, stained by the miasma, and his eyes were bloodshot. He kept spewing dark red miasma from his mouth, the same as what filled the mine.

Swaaaak-!

As the evil spirit that had taken over Bishop Rahim’s body raised its hand, the miasma in the mine turned into a spear and was fired.

Babababak-!

However, it couldn’t penetrate the barrier made of holy power.

“Bishop Rahim has completely lost control of his body. We need to pull him into this holy barrier. That’s the only way to save him.”

“Yes, Archbishop.”

They were tense, but confident. They had just seen the power of this holy barrier that neutralized the miasma.

And above all, they had the reliable Archbishop right in front of them.

“The god you believe in… seems to be… giving you quite a lot of power.”

The evil spirit that had taken over Bishop Rahim’s body shot miasma at the Archbishop once again. It was a powerful mass of miasma.

“!”

For a moment, the startled Archbishop urgently exploded all the holy power in his body. If he had hesitated even a little, all the bishops behind him could have died.

But even with the quick response, he couldn’t avoid the damage. The Archbishop was merely not dead, but had been stained by the miasma.

Groaning as he was covered in miasma, the Archbishop spoke.

“You… you are…!”

This overwhelmingly powerful force.

The Archbishop could roughly guess his identity.

“Great evil spirit… the mad spirit Cesare…! You should have been sealed… how are you…”

“It was… quite a strong seal. But… I overcame it. Now there’s nothing that can stop me anymore. Along with the bishops… I’ll take your power and be reborn anew…!”

Kwaaang-!

The miasma spread.

***

At the entrance of the underground mine.

The mine entrance should have been full of miasma, but when they actually arrived, there wasn’t much miasma left.

“It seems like someone went through first? There’s a lot of holy power remaining.”

“It seems so. They said the Archbishop would come, did he go ahead first? If that’s the case, we need to hurry.”

“The Archbishop of the Holylight Order shouldn’t be easily defeated by an evil spirit, right?”

“That would be true for an ordinary evil spirit.”

Ethan replied to Yerica’s words.

“If Lord Ethan is saying that… how strong is the evil spirit inside?”

“Strong enough that I can’t guarantee the Archbishop’s life if we don’t go quickly.”

Ethan took the lead.

The inside of the underground mine, like the entrance, had quite a bit of miasma removed. But it was being stained again by the miasma flowing out from deeper inside.

“We’ll take the lead!”

“No, it’s more efficient if I’m in front. This miasma, the moment you’re infected, its effect activates.”

Ethan shook his head at Schudlen’s words. The Eye of Horus, and the fox bead inside his body, were revealing the nature of this miasma.

‘Magic has been added to it. Confusion and madness. It’s miasma that instills a destructive instinct to lose reason and destroy everything around when touched.’

Thump- Thump-.

The fox bead obtained from Gumiho beat like a heart.

“Someone’s inside.”

“Argh-!”

As soon as Ethan spoke, a scream was heard.

Rushing in, they saw the bishops of the Holylight Order lying collapsed, infected by miasma, and the Archbishop on the verge of infection, hanging with both hands tied to the ceiling by miasma.

The groaning Archbishop turned his head. And for a moment, his eyes met Ethan’s.

“E-Ethan… sir! Honorary bishop! Run away immediately! This is not an opponent you can face with a small number of people…!”

At the Archbishop’s words, Ethan’s group turned their gaze to the front of the Archbishop.

A dark red miasma human borrowing the body of a Holylight Order bishop.

His gaze met with Ethan’s group.

“You need to request support from the Holy See… the Cardinal and other Archbishops… we also need the power of the Inquisitors…! I’m fine, so hurry, hurry and run away!”

The Archbishop cried out, saying he was fine and they should quickly escape.

“Self-sacrifice… truly noble… haha… hahahaha…”

The miasma human jerked his head to look at the Archbishop, then jerked it back to look at Ethan’s group.

“But it’s already too late… Do you think… you can escape?”

Shaaaaaaah-!

Suddenly, an enormous amount of miasma spread in all directions.

Schudlen and Yerica instinctively emitted mana to their fullest. If their reaction had been even a little slower, their minds might have collapsed right there.

“…!”

Only then did Schudlen and Yerica realize how powerful that miasma human was.

“He hasn’t fully revived yet… Hurry before he fully revives!”

To think this wasn’t even 100% of his power.

For a moment, the same thought as the Archbishop’s crossed the minds of the two escorts.

“We’ll hold him back.”

“Ethan sir!”

The two escorts jumped forward immediately.

Ethan looked at the two escorts with a puzzled expression.

“What are you two doing?”

Saying that, he pushed past Schudlen and Yerica’s shoulders and moved forward.

“I told you earlier. That there’s a strong one inside.”

Ethan wasn’t surprised at all because he already knew everything when he came in.

“Ah, no! You must, you must run away.”

The Archbishop said urgently.

Ethan kept walking forward.

The miasma human, the mad spirit Cesare, looked at the approaching Ethan with an interested expression.

But as Ethan approached step by step, he soon felt an inexplicable power.

“You must run away! You must… run…?”

The Archbishop, who had been crying out, also felt something strange.

“You, you… you are!”

Feeling an unprecedented power choking his throat, Cesare shouted urgently.

The powerful Ghost Power emitted from Ethan’s body directly pressed down on the great evil spirit Cesare.

“Bow down.”

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