High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1172: Chapter 234 Locking Demon Door

When the black cat dragged a dead snake back from the depths of the woods, it almost thought it had gone to the wrong place.

The place that had once been overgrown with weeds had been cleared into a vast area several hundred meters in diameter, presenting a smooth, black foundation. Dark red Magic Power was slowly circulating among the lines poured with Graphite powder, emitting waves of obscure fluctuations.

Surrounding the Array, there were six stone pillars, round at the bottom and divided into three sections, with their surfaces covered in wrinkled Spell Formulas that looked like vertical fingers.

In the center of the Array stood a wall studded with sky blue, blue-purple, and white tiles forming a Mosaic pattern; right in the middle of the wall was an arch door with an onion-shaped dome, currently firmly shut. The door was covered with colorful and ornate bas-reliefs that seemed to depict scenes from mythological stories, but upon closer examination, they were ambiguously indistinct.

Along the edge of the magic circle, there was a row of yellow mud tablets inserted haphazardly into the ground. These mud tablets wrapped around the entire magic circle, as if they were the petals of a blooming flower. The tablets were about a foot wide, with the exposed parts about a foot and a half long, each one smeared with Dragon bone powder, painted with patterns resembling branches and stars that looked especially eerie.

The black cat looked up at the sky.

The pale sun and moon hung motionless in the sky, giving no indication of the exact time.

”How long have I been gone?” the black cat asked uncertainly.

The Red Chain Snake around its neck quietly lifted its head, and the tip of its tail moved slightly. The black cat didn’t even bat an eyelid, raised its paw, and stretched out its claws, scratching along the Red Chain Snake’s body.

Shrrrr.

Strands of snake blood slid down slowly, along with the broken scales. The feigning dead Red Chain Snake opened its mouth wide, silently let out a few pitiful cries, and then hung its head once more, pretending to have passed out.

Two witches were busy finishing up at the edge of the Array. Hearing the black cat’s question, Korma answered without looking up, ”About half an hour... give or take.”

The black cat arched its back, startled.

”Such a large magic circle, and you managed to finish it in half an hour?” It voiced its incredulity, ”Or are there other companions helping you out unseen?!”

The witch wearing the white mask couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing the black cat’s words.

”Most of the Array you see was already completed outside, we simply brought it in and assembled it,” the witch patiently explained.

Zheng Qing immediately thought of the job he and his companions had taken on during the winter vacation and felt a sense of fitting pieces together rightly, and couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

”Moreover, of the entire work, not even thirty percent is complete. This is merely the core part of the entire magic circle,” Korma took over, ”It looks fancy, but it’s really just a basic framework... details, you understand? The most important aspect of the Array lies in the details. There are a lot of details that we still need to fill in.”

At this point, the witch lifted her head, glanced at the Red Chain Snake hanging from the black cat’s neck, and instructed, ”Throw away your toy, and help us carve ’Old Seals’ on the yellow mud tablets... just follow the traces smeared with Dragon bone powder and use your claws to carve out grooves. Be careful not to use too much force, those tablets are fragile.”

The Red Chain Snake that had been feigning death immediately perked up at the witch’s words, blinked its small eyes expectantly, and looked at the black cat. The black cat slapped its head, knocking it out cold.

”I hate you sly reptiles the most,” grumbled the Black Cat, shuffling beside a yellow clay slab and leaning in to scrutinize the marks on it. ”So this is the ’Old Seal’... Looks pretty simple.”

The ’Old Seal’ was a type of Guardian Curse developed by the Babylonian Mage Group, which was often used to expel high-dimensional forces that invade reality. Positioned within this magic circle, it was presumably serving some sort of binding function, according to Zheng Qing’s judgment.

At this point, the Black Cat looked up again and glanced at the arched door at the center of the magic circle, yelping, ”Is that the ’Locking Luo Gate’? I always thought ’Solomon’ was a person’s name.”

The ancient Israelite King, renowned for his many treasure stories, he was a powerful mage rumored to have controlled seventy-two great devils. Zheng Qing remembered him distinctly because as a child, he had believed that King Solomon’s father and Michelangelo’s sculpture of the David with its shiny buttocks were one and the same person. Consequently, there was a time when he fervently argued with classmates, claiming that during King Solomon’s time, the Arabs didn’t wear clothes.

”It’s ’lock’ as in ’to seal,’ not ’all’ as in ’Solomon,’” murmured Korma, taking a small breath. ”I hadn’t realized that the common knowledge magic circle on the island had become so sensitive... able to play with puns across different languages.”

”It sounds flawless,” interjected the Black Cat.

The witch glanced at him, ”Actually, the name I mentioned before for the magic circle is a shortened version. The full name is ’Key to the Openable Rashomon Door’... You know about Rashomon, right?”

The Black Cat furrowed his brow, feeling that the name sounded familiar, like something from Fusang.

”The gate between the worlds of man and hell, lying between truth and falsehood. On this side of the door and on the other, everything is both real and fake. Just like those at the heart of a news story, where every party’s claim seems reasonable.”

As Korma got carried away with the topic, she ceased her work and turned to look at the Black Cat, asking eagerly, ”What do you think about Nicholas—was he really tricked by the Beta Town Post, or did he think that way all along?”

The topic shifted so quickly that Zheng Qing initially couldn’t catch up with what the witch was talking about.

”Who?” The Black Cat perked up his ears, tilting his head in confusion.

His expression was genuinely baffled. The two witches studied his face closely, then exchanged a look. Elena shook her head slightly.

Korma’s conversation enthusiasm suddenly waned.

”Nicholas is a veteran from our academy, who has been enrolled for three years but is still in the first year,” the witch briefly explained. ”He’s recently fallen into a Rashomon. A while ago, the Beta Town Post interviewed him and he made some ill-timed remarks, resulting in ostracism from the academy; then he claimed that wasn’t his intention... Anyway, it’s a very complicated situation.”

”It’s none of your business,” she concluded, ending her digression with four words.

The Black Cat hung his head, peering at the Red Chain Snake that hung limply around his neck, feeling as though a million alpacas were stampeding through his heart.

Why the hell are you telling me all this if it’s unrelated?

Do witches always have such erratic trains of thought?

I just can’t keep pace.