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“Once upon a time, a pilgrim crossed the wilderness and walked a treacherous path. As he barely placed his foot on the narrow road, he climbed through the crevices of cliffs until he finally met the hermit he sought, exclaiming, ‘It is an honor to finally meet you, dear Seonja!’ With a face full of anguish, he asked, ‘Seonja, I had a dream long ago where an angel descended upon me. The ominous fire surged above the black sky, transforming the world into light. From that intense fire sprung wings so vast they covered the entire west where the sun sets and the east where it rises, obscuring the sun’s ascent and decline. The being engulfed in fire was unlike a human, yet it gazed at me with eyes that pierced through me. Its gaze held not warmth but chilling severity, forcing me to tremble in fear. Seonja, you who pray and endure in solitude, please answer my question: Did I truly see an angel? Did it reprimand me as it left?'”

“Voduisant asked, ‘Is there a distinction between the world of humans and the world of Ra? Though it may be difficult to cross, if paths are connected, then they are not separate, are they? While a stagnant puddle is indeed distinct, if the waters rise and connect with another puddle, can we truly say they are separate? If a connected puddle grows and merges with another, does it not become a larger puddle, eventually turning into a lake? Is it not absurd to differentiate where everything has merged into one?'”

Words flowed endlessly from Jinseong and the mask.

Both spoke without connecting their thoughts, leaving only their own words which began to intertwine, making it increasingly difficult to comprehend. As if whispering that such is the nature of their words, the forms of Jinseong and the mask morphed continuously.

The mask came into sharp focus.

Unlike before, when it provoked unease, the mask now appeared as if it had been carved from flesh and dropped onto the ground. It even evoked the illusion of an elaborate Hollywood special effects mask that somehow landed here.

Gradually, Jinseong’s face twisted into a bizarre form.

From Jinseong’s face, insects continuously fell away.

The tightly bound insects that once shaped the face lost strength and dropped to the floor. Instead of returning to their original place, they moved towards the fallen mask, gradually sculpting the face in clearer and more detailed ways.

The remaining features, as they disappeared piece by piece, began resembling a face that had been consumed by insects—or perhaps akin to the grotesque visage of a human mask weathered by time.

“The penitent Seonja said, ‘Traveler, what you saw was not an angel. Just because something descends from the heavens doesn’t mean it is an angel. If having wings makes one an angel, then are all birds angels as well?’ The traveler grew even more bewildered by this response and inquired, ‘Then what is it?’ Seonja replied, ‘Traveler, you have been seduced by an evil being. It appeared to you in the guise of an angel to test humanity, ensnaring their hearts and challenging their faith. You have wandered without solidifying your faith, falling prey to its nefarious ploys.’”

A sound reminiscent of glossolalia reverberated.

It spread and spread, and when it finally crescendoed—

Both mouths abruptly halted, and they fixed their gaze upon Ghede, their eyeballs rolling.

One eye was attached to a skeletal form, while the other was simply a ball of flesh without a face, lying on the ground.

That bizarre appearance did not pale in comparison to the skeletal Ghede.

With a swish.

Jinseong moved his footsteps.

Those steps were no different from when he bore a human form.

Thus, the sound should have reverberated just as before.

However, now it seemed difficult to mimic human movement. With each step he took, instead of the typical noise, a sound akin to sweeping a rough floor emerged. The crunching noise from his feet contacting the ground was accompanied by cracking sounds as if stepping on something firm. At times, sounds like a popping noise erupted, as if walking barefoot through an insect-laden terrain.

And as Jinseong began to move, the mask started to shift as well.

What had been stuck to the ground like a mask began to rise slightly.

As if buoyed up.

Yet it did not soar like a bird, nor float idly like a ghost.

Beneath it protruded something slender, lifting it upwards, which resembled something thin and elongated yet robust, reminiscent of an insect. Between those slender forms, joints existed, bending and stretching according to their shapes, animating the mask.

It moved silently, akin to a swarm of ants transporting a massive prey, slow yet swift.

Thus, the two entities approached Ghede.

“[Hah—it’s not a horn; it’s an insect! Haha! Right, where there’s a corpse, there are also critters to feast upon. But what’s the deal? I’m devoid of flesh! What could they possibly munch on? In fact, there’s so much food here that they even have to throw some away—shouldn’t they be eating something else?]”

The swarm of insects.

Facing it, Ghede tossed out a jest.

Yet that joke carried no vulgarity and lacked lightness.

It sounded more like a joke hastily made to conceal his fear.

Naturally, Jinseong did not respond to that jest.

There was no reason to react.

He wasn’t one to respond to parting words spoken on the brink of death…

But the most pertinent point was that the being before him was not human.

How could one categorize something that spoke human words as human?

What stood before him now was a puppet, an artificial construct mimicking something, akin to livestock.

Thus, there was no hesitation regarding slaughter.

Slowly, Jinseong brought his hand to his face.

He forcefully inserted his fingers into the gaping holes of his face and pulled them apart with all his might, as if intending to tear his face into two pieces.

**Screech!**

As his fingers delved deep, they spread wide.

Along with that, his face shattered into countless fragments, scattering like dust into the air, as if a sand castle had collapsed from a mighty jolt, the face that had sat upon his neck disintegrated.

Having deteriorated, the remnants reverted to their smallest form.

The insects that constituted his reflection began fluttering and floating upwards.

And in that moment, the floating swarm rushed towards Ghede without restraint, covering his bones, enveloping the insects covering the bones, layering more insects atop those.

They piled on, covered, and piled again.

As if attempting to form a cocoon with their own bodies.

The insects began to solidify tightly around Ghede.

And thus, the combined swarm, having gathered energy from the ritual, hardened until they became akin to solid rock.

And so they hardened, and hardened, and once more hardened.

The hardened insects formed into the shape of a tall pillar.

Its form resembled that of a stake or a nail.

It stood upright, with its sharp tip piercing the ground, and, harnessing the energy accumulating above it, began digging deeper into the ground.

With increasing speed, the pillar sank lower and lower, as if caught in a quicksand or sinking into a muddy shore.

In the blink of an eye, the pillar vanished from sight.

Down below.

Upon confirming the disappearance of the pillar, Jinseong began moving his headless body.

Even without a head, his awareness of the surroundings remained intact. He extended an arm, picking up the mask that lay on the floor, placing it where his face should have been.

As soon as he did, insects emerged from the severed neck, starting to fill his empty head, shaping it around the mask, forming it into a semblance of a human.

Due to utilizing a substantial number of insects on Ghede beforehand, there was some space left unfilled in the head, but—

Well, at the moment, it wasn’t a significant concern.

**Whoosh—!**

From the spot where the pillar had anchored, a towering pillar of fire began to rise several meters into the air.

 

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