LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 34
“Behold! You Shinto priests shall now abandon a faith that yields no rewards and undergo a transformation anew. Instead of hiding your pathetic bodies to escape crisis and blocking divine power, you can serve a more perfect and beneficial god. Is this not a stroke of good fortune? Rejoice, truly rejoice!”
Jinseong spoke thus while gazing at the lamenting Rise and the despairing Kenji. Rise suddenly lifted her head and cried out.
“The Mukuri Kokuri no Inugami has not forsaken us! It has not!”
Yet Jinseong looked upon that outcry with pity.
The expression was reminiscent of the one a doctor might wear in a dream-like haze, causing Rise to momentarily stop her wailing and stare blankly at Jinseong’s face.
“Pitiful, truly pitiful. Ignorance may bring happiness, but love that receives no reward inevitably leads to ruin.”
“Huh…?”
“Oh, Shamaness, no matter how much you defile the truth, it remains unchanged.”
Saying this, he produced several small sticks from within his robe. The rough, thin green forms were incense commonly seen in rituals. However, what was peculiar was that unlike ordinary incense, which is typically a solid color, the incense Jinseong held seemed to change its appearance as it caught light.
It transformed from a translucent green to opaque green, then to a texture resembling regular incense. From there, it shifted to a glossy green, evoking moss-like hues, and eventually assumed the vibrant color of fresh leaves. The constantly changing colors and textures made the incense seem more like a living being than an inanimate object, reminiscent of a bizarre creature not found in nature.
Jinseong approached Rise, holding the incense, and lightly blew on the unlit tip like scattering dandelion seeds.
“Eeek!”
The incense sprayed green powder forward, catching Rise off guard and causing the powder to hit her eyes. Naturally, she inhaled a good amount of it as well.
“What… what was that…?”
“You will have to convert when you wake up. For a moment, taste the realm of Turiya (तुरीय) and return with all your worries eased.”
“Will… it… happen… in… a… dream…?”
As Rise inhaled the powder, she instantly felt her eyes drooping and her muscles weakening. It wasn’t just her limbs; even the muscles used for breathing were losing strength, making it hard to breathe, and she felt her brain starving for oxygen.
Fighting against the urge to shut her eyes in fear of slipping back into the dream-like state, she struggled, but her eyelids felt heavy as if they were weighted down; the constriction in her throat and the wilting of her muscles naturally led her into slumber.
Thus, with a face etched in fear, Rise fell into a deep sleep.
“Again! What are you trying to do to my daughter!?”
Seeing this, Kenji twisted his body vigorously as if trying to break free from his restraints and shouted. His neck was strained as he yelled, and though he seemed to exude fatherly affection, Jinseong merely scoffed.
“Disgusting drug addict. How can you react to the scent of the drug over your daughter’s well-being?”
Indeed.
The seeming affection was not real.
As evidence, Kenji’s gaze was fixed not on his fallen daughter but on the incense held by Jinseong, and perhaps lost in thought about the pleasure obtained from the drug, Kenji’s arousal had become evident. His breathing grew ragged, and his face flushed from excitement.
What a truly repulsive sight.
“This child should thank me. Soon, she would have caused a grand mishap under the influence of the drug. Tsk.”
Jinseong muttered as he plucked one of his own hairs. Then, using his thumb and forefinger, he began to slowly rub it together and spoke.
“Things that resemble each other tend to emulate one another, and even if separated, they strive to become one again. Imitate what resides in my body and gain life to fulfill your form.”
As he spoke, the hair he held gradually turned white. It didn’t bleach in a dull way but radiated a clear and lustrous white. Then, what had once been limp now stood stiff and straight, as if to express joy, writhing in excitement.
“I will provide you with not just drugs but something far superior.”
With one hand, Jinseong grasped Kenji’s face tightly.
“Aagh!”
Unable to bear the pain, Kenji screamed as the writhing hair slipped into his open mouth.
“Ah? Ah! Evil! Ah, ah? Ah? Ah. Ah….”
As the insect-like hair writhed and burrowed into him, Kenji continuously screamed. However, affected by the drug, his nerves weren’t solely experiencing pain; they felt other sensations as well, twisting his body, alternating between heat, shock, and pleasure, showcasing bizarre reactions.
Jinseong quietly watched as Kenji’s eyes began to roll back, then pulled out the incense and blew it towards him.
Hoo—
“Ah… ah….”
Just like Rise before him, Kenji likewise tipped his head back and was swept away into the world of dreams.
“■■”
Observing the two sleeping figures, Seitani twisted her body grotesquely and tilted her head as if salivating, but was firmly held in place by a strong grip on her head.
“No, you shall not.”
At this, Seitani looked up in surprise, then rubbed her face with her broken fingers.
The shattered and rotting black nails scratched at her face, and her broken fingers morphed as if made of clay, continuously changing shape.
Finally, when Seitani removed her hand from her face, it bore the likeness of the nurse that Rise had seen in her dreams.
Speaking from that nurse’s visage, Seitani said,
“Doctor.”
At first, the voice seemed like a normal woman’s voice. But upon closer listening, it was clear that it was a jumbled mix of five different voices.
It was as if someone was mimicking the voices of others rather than using her own vocal cords. The dissonance of voices blended together was as chilling as creating a letter by cutting out words from the newspaper.
“Why. Can’t. I. Play?”
As Seitani’s head twisted more and more,
Her slightly tilted head became a completely sideways 90-degree tilt, then 120 degrees, and eventually, it twisted fully around to 180 degrees. The upside-down mouth at the top of her neck moved as if attempting to mimic human speech, repeating small, squirming movements.
“I want to play.”
“I want to play.”
“I want to play.”
“I. Want.”
“To.”
“Play.”
Jinseong stared blankly at that grotesque sight and spoke.
“Om Mani Padme Hum (ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ).”
Slaaap!
He struck Seitani with a peach tree rosary held in his hand.
“Eeek! Kyaaaaak!”
Upon receiving that light slap, Seitani writhed in pain and screamed.
“How dare you try to enchant me. Do you find me that amusing?”
“Hik! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Seitani pleaded for forgiveness with a crumpled face.
Jinseong quietly observed this predicament.
“If you do that again, I will tear your soul to shreds. Do you understand?”
“Yes! I’m sorry!”
With a crushed utterance, Seitani screamed repeatedly and then scurried off to hide in a corner, believing that she might escape his view. Perhaps thinking that she couldn’t be seen, she curled her arms and twisted her legs, burying her head in between, forming a sphere to avoid his gaze.
“Tsk. As expected, wild as a child. I should place restrictions on this one too.”
He threw both Rise and Kenji, who lay on the floor, in the opposite direction from Seitani.
Then he began his incantation.
“Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha (ॐ गम गणपतये नमः).”
Jinseong closed his eyes and shook the bell in his hand.
Jjaaaang—
The enormous sound that erupted could hardly be believed to have come from a small bell. Furthermore, the long, echoing sound resembling a pendant caught in a stretched-out tape reverberated throughout the entire main hall before vanishing into thin air.
Jinseong swung the bell once again.
Jjaaaang!
A clear, bright sound resounded once more.
Dudududud!
This time, instead of covering the entire main hall, the sound flew towards an empty corner, where it became trapped, amplifying and reflecting itself in that spot, concentrating its vibrations. The sound, caught behind an invisible wall, recalled images of a struggling evil spirit trying to escape from a fiery pit; anyone witnessing this sight would surely envision nightmares materializing in aural form.
“Om Amogha Vairocana Mahamudra Mani Padma Jvalapravartaya Hum (ओं अमोघ वैरोचन महामुद्रा मणि पद्म ज्वाल प्रवर्त्तय हूं).”
Following the ringing of the bell was a mantra spoken by Jinseong. The powerful incantation surged forth, distorting and striving to revert the warped space to its original state.
“Om Amogha Vairocana Mahamudra Mani Padma Jvalapravartaya Hum (ओं अमोघ वैरोचन महामुद्रा मणि पद्म ज्वाल प्रवर्त्तय हूं).”
Jjaaaang!
The distorted atmosphere struggled with all its might to conceal something, yet it could not withstand the ringing of the bell that echoed through the space and the power of the incantation that sought to restore the area to a ‘normal’ state.
“Om Amogha Vairocana Mahamudra Mani Padma Jvalapravartaya Hum (ओं अमोघ वैरोचन महामुद्रा मणि पद्म ज्वाल प्रवर्त्तय हूं)!”
At last, with Jinseong chanting the incantation for the third time, the concealed distortions were revealed accompanied by the sound of clanging.
Divine power shaped into a veil to hide itself.
A meticulously crafted altar.
And upon it, a stone resembling a dog.
Jinseong looked at this and spoke.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find you if you severed connections and hid?”