An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 89

A student dragged itself toward her. It took a few steps, collapsed, and then stood up, sobbing like an inflatable doll at an event.

 

A ghost had taken over the disembodied student’s body.

 

“Ugh, ugh, ugh…”

 

It let out a sound she couldn’t tell if it was laughing or groaning, and gradually picked up its pace.

 

Like the tangled grain of a gourd, when a body is inhabited by another spirit, a “link” is created.

 

With a quick swing of her dagger, Seo Jun severed the link, picked up the student’s trembling body, and carefully laid it on the ground.

 

All the while, the hand holding the dagger never stopped, stabbing at the ghost’s core as it left the body, destroying it.

 

There was no telling how many more of these things would appear.

 

“I think I can at least help catch a falling student.”

 

Mr. Jang Jin-cheol said.

 

Boom!

 

A loud bang came from the other side of the playground.

 

“Wha-what do you think you’re doing, Baek Iri?!”

 

The Head Collector, who had grown five times larger, tore off the window frame of the music room and appeared on the playground.

 

***

 

 

I looked down from the music room and there was Seo Jun, her face a mask of panic.

 

In a rare moment of panic, I whispered in her ear.

 

“Don’t worry. I’ve got an idea.”

 

Seo Jun looked at me in surprise. “You, since when are you here…?”

 

“I just got kicked out. You told me to put my safety first.”

 

“…Yes. I did. Then answer what I’m about to ask you honestly.” Seo Jun spoke urgently. “Baek Iri, do you think you can handle this thing on your own? Do you really think you can fight it with your own hands? If you don’t think you can handle it, then just give up.”

 

Fear dripped from her voice.

 

“I told you, I have an idea. I can do this on my own. Just trust me again.”

 

It wasn’t a bluff.

 

I wouldn’t do anything stupid with Seo Jun, not with an ego I couldn’t defend.

 

She’d been trying to close the door to this dimension ever since her friend died trapped in it, even going so far as to destroy my reputation.

 

I can’t afford the same kind of bravado when people’s lives are at stake.

 

“Ew, ew, ew…”

 

Three zombie-like students burst out from the other end of the corridor.

 

One trotted along on magpie feet, another approached at a shuffling pace with her head tilted so that only her chin was visible from the front, and the third crawled along at the speed of a quadruped.

 

“Can I leave them to you, Seo Jun?”

 

“…Of course.”

 

Seo Jun pointed her dagger at the nearest student.

 

It was Seo Jun’s way of saying that she would leave the head collectors to me alone.

 

I soared vertically to the roof.

 

The music room and the classrooms overlooking the playground were filled with ghosts.

 

They sang maliciously to the Head Collector outside the window.

 

The Head Collector, who had secured the vast expanse of the playground, waved its arms in excitement.

 

 

***

 

The head collector on the rooftop slowly stopped leading.

 

Red breath spewed from its mouth, which had grown to match its size.

 

❰Skill: ‘Creator of Something Out of Nothing’ activated❱

 

Nailed prisms instantly materialized in both my hands.

 

As if sensing the creation of a weapon, the red breath blew in with the force of a desert sandstorm.

 

I didn’t retreat, but jumped into the storm of breath.

 

My vision was so red that I could barely make out what was directly in front of me, but I knew the direction I had to go.

 

I charged straight ahead, scattering the breath in all directions as it gathered around my body.

 

Toward where the breath had begun.

 

It took me a while to crack the fist-sized core before it grew larger.

 

So it’s impossible for me to destroy a huge core with my power now.

 

Not with “my power”.

 

When its jagged teeth were close enough to my nose, I stabbed the spikes of my right hand into its mouth.

 

The Head Collector chuckled and pushed the corkscrew out with its giant tongue.

 

With the extra space in its mouth, it couldn’t even reach the uvula.

 

That’s right. Funny how it’d try to fight with something as small as a fish’s backbone.

 

“But what if the fish grows thorns?”

 

Poof!

 

The nails that adorned the end of each neck grew long and dug into the tender flesh of its mouth.

 

“Hey, have you ever heard of a red mask?”

 

I’ll rip its gills out.

 

The sharp nails grew endlessly longer, finally piercing the skin on the outside.

 

“Off!”

 

I deliberately didn’t dodge the Head Collector’s fist as it swung at me.

 

Instead, I tightened my grip on the prickly pear. Never to let it slip from my grasp.

 

Bam!

 

My side stung from the blow, but it was just what I needed.

 

I flew in a large semicircle, the claws piercing the transparent skin and spinning together, tearing through all the flesh.

 

Its upper body, including its upper lip, was completely separated from its lower body, including its lower lip.

 

Black energy flowed out and wrapped tightly around the side of my left hand.

 

It became roughly the shape of a baseball bat, although it was still bumpy as if it had been soaked by a few people.

 

❰Congratulations on acquiring the second weapon of the Creator of Something Out of Nothing skill, the baseball bat!❱

 

Bam!!!

 

I swung the bat, sending the transparent torso containing the core flying.

 

Toward the wall of Mukgyeong High School.

 

The Head Collector flailed its long arms as if to do something about it, but its struggles were futile as it had become as dull as its expanded body.

 

The top half of the Head Collector’s body flew through the wind and melted away before it could get out of the school.

 

All but the core at the top of its neck.

 

The exorcism was successful.

 

***

 

 

In all, Seo Jun dealt with ten ghosts that had taken over the students’ bodies.

 

Soon after the Head Collector was destroyed, the souls of the students were able to safely return to their respective bodies.

 

“Do you think any of them were injured?”

 

“Probably not, just bruised limbs at most.” Seo Jun replied.

 

The mass disembodiment in the fourth period was caused by a single force pulling multiple souls at once.

 

Since the Head Collector’s power was dispersed to several places at once, Seo Jun explained, the pull of each soul was weakened.

 

“It’s not like when you disembodied. This time, the pull from the outside is weaker, so your soul is slowly coming out of your body.”

 

They didn’t suddenly collapse in a heap, instead they said, “Uh…? I’m getting weak…” or slowly lying down.

 

“That’s good.”

 

“Thank God.”

 

Once all the ghosts were back in place, it was time for the usual memory manipulation under the guise of memory recovery.

 

No one remembered the events of fourth period except for the two exorcists, Mr. Jang Jin-cheol, Kim Hae-yoon, who was the one who rescued Lee Da-min in third period, and Cha Han-byul from our class.

 

No one remembered the events of the fourth period except the two exorcists, Mr. Jang Jin-cheol, Kim Hae-yoon who saved Lee Da-min in the third period, and Cha Hanbyul from our class.

 

Why Cha Hanbyul?

 

Among the non-exorcists, only those who witnessed the Head Collector first hand seemed to remember that day.

 

Kim Hae-yoon was able to briefly see the ghost in the music room while calling to Lee Da-min, and Mr. Jang Jin-cheol caught a glimpse of a large white figure in the playground while helping Seo Jun on the first floor veranda.

 

Cha Hanbyul was the only one of the four sophomores who wasn’t completely addicted, because she was secretly listening to her X-Pod and said she saw a thin, elongated giant flying out of the window.

 

Maybe she was one of the few students who stayed sober and hid in the classroom during the height of the out-of-body experience and saw the head collector in the playground, but I’m sure they all thought she was dreaming.

 

Even Hanbyul said she would have thought it was a dream to the end if I hadn’t told her it really happened.

 

Anyway, all but a few people lost their memories, so this incident, which was many times more serious than last Friday’s palm incident, ended without a hitch.

 

Oh, and disappearing from school didn’t help our defense.

 

Neither did leaving with a doll in a shopping bag.

 

I wasn’t specifically asked to do an exorcism for that one anyway, so it’s probably only a .05% increase.

 

After all the craziness of the morning, lunchtime was deceptively peaceful.

 

As Seo Jun and I went to return the vest to Mr. Jang, I muttered a question.

 

“But how did he remember Kim Hae-yoon?”

 

“Because he saw the Head Collector himself.” Seo Jun replied dryly.

 

“No, not that one. Da-min was possessed in the first period, and Kim Hae-yoon was the only one who remembered her until the break in the second period.”

 

While I was talking, I realized that it was strange to suddenly be able to see ghosts, even if it was just for a moment in front of the music room.

 

It’s not just about being desperate and loving.

 

When I asked her later, she replied, “Oh, I had a talent for exorcism when I was very young, but I left it unattended and it got hidden in the status bar, so I forgot about it.”.

 

That made sense to me.

 

We cautiously entered the faculty office and Mr. Jang Jin-cheol, who was sitting alone, tried to hide his tiredness and greeted us.

 

“You’re here.”

 

I handed him my neatly pressed orange vest and he spoke first.

 

“I said I had something to talk to you about.”

 

“Oh, yes.”

 

“Seo Jun, do you want to hear the story?”

 

Mr. Jang looked at Seo Jun and asked. He didn’t seem to expect a positive answer.

 

“…Is this the same proposal you made to me last year?” Seo Jun asked as if she had a hunch.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

“If that’s what you mean, I’m out.”

 

“I thought so. Anyway, I just asked, just in case.”

 

“Okay. I’ll go then.”

 

With a quick wave, Seo Jun left the office.

 

The conversation between the teacher and Seo Jun was very relaxed, with no signs of discomfort, but I, listening from the sidelines, was shaking with fear.

 

I’m still afraid of Mr. Jang. I’m so afraid. I’m sorry.

 

“Sit there.”

 

“Okay.”

 

***

 

 

As soon as I slide sulkily into the chair, he asks me why I’m so restless on a hot day and pulls a piece of candy out of a drawer and offers it to me.

 

“How’s the exorcism business going?”

 

“…Yes?!”

 

“Why are you freaking out like you’ve been caught shoplifting. There is no one in this school who doesn’t know about your exorcism business. Not even the students, not even the teachers.”

 

“Ahaha, yes. It’s because I made such a fuss about opening my business… I apologize for the disturbance I caused…”

 

“I’m not trying to scold you. I called you here today to pay you a fair price for the work you’ve done.”

 

“A fair price…?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Mr. Jang paused for a moment and then spoke.

 

“It’s not just the teachers who are cowardly adapting to the current situation at Mukgyeong Girls’ High School.”