Rapture (2)
Moon Byung-ho stared directly into Jung Hyun-soo's red eyes and spoke.
"You're spewing nonsense.'
"
At that moment, Jung Hyun-soo's eyes widened.
"What...?"
Moon Byung-ho pulled a pistol from inside his coat and fired it at Jung Hyun-soo's head.
Bang-
With the gunshot, Jung Hyun-soo's head snapped backward.
But-
"...That's surprising."
Jung Hyun-soo slowly brought his tilted head back upright.
The spot where he had been shot was only slightly red and swollen-he looked completely unharmed.
"What exactly are you?"
Watching the scene unfold through the eyes of the Absolute, I let out a sigh of relief.
'That must've been an attempt at brainwashing just now.'
Even just seeing his eyes turn red, it was clear something was off.
Fortunately, Moon Byung-ho was unaffected.
'So the retainers can't be brainwashed?'
I had already suspected that he might have brainwashing abilities.
We had confirmed that some Awakened were being used as puppets by the cult, forced into production activities.
But I hadn't expected that he could perform brainwashing himself.
According to what I saw through the eyes of the Absolute, his ability was "illusion manifestation."
He had the power to make illusions real-nothing more.
'Which means...'
This brainwashing ability must be a new one he created using his own power.
'He can create new awakened abilities?'
Thankfully, it seemed his fabricated abilities weren't perfect.
'There must be limits and restrictions.'
If there weren't, then everyone under the cult's influence would already be brainwashed.
But according to our investigation, only a very small number of people had been brainwashed, and each of them had notable awakened abilities.
Based on that, we could guess that there's a limit to how many people he can control.
'Did he create the resurrection ability, too?'
If that's the case-
'That power must also have limits.'
I attacked the cult leader, who was blankly staring at Moon Byung-ho.
'Warehouse open. Summon Ha Dong-gun's spear.'
Ha Dong-gun's spear was summoned behind Jung Hyun-soo and pierced straight through the cult leader's heart.
"Guh!"
Despite taking a bullet at point-blank range without a scratch, he was helpless against Ha Dong-gun's spear, which was cloaked in dark energy.
Honestly, it was impressive that his body hadn't shattered completely after a direct hit from that weapon.
He probably had some ability that enhanced his physical durability.
'He came prepared, that's for sure.'
Whoosh
The black energy enveloped his entire body, completely snuffing out his life.
And a short while later-
"Kill that man immediately."
The cult leader, appearing unscathed, gave a command. At his words, several people who had been standing by all rushed at Moon Byung-ho.
They were all wearing white uniforms with strange symbols on one shoulder, and numbers or English letters on the other.
'Trump Knights.'
Some rushed in wielding a variety of weapons, while others began activating their powers-but Moon Byung-ho neutralized all of them with a single teleportation.
Swish-
I knew exactly what abilities they had, and Moon Byung-ho did too.
Because I had taught him everything.
Thanks to that, he knew exactly what to watch out for.
As Moon Byung-ho teleported into the sky, a beam of light shot toward him.
Just before the laser could reach him, he looked down and activated his power again.
Swish-
Moon Byung-ho teleported right behind the cult leader.
"You-!"
Before the cult leader could even turn around—
Thunk!
A black-flaming spear pierced through his heart for the third time.
"Gah!"
If his resurrection power was something he created using his illusion-manifestation ability, then the solution was simple.
There are limits and constraints-it's not like one can resurrect infinitely.
So then...
"I'll kill you over and over again."
Killing until death ends it, simple as that.
***
When Jang Sung-jun arrived at the land floating in the sky aboard the Kellican, he was overwhelmed with intense repulsion.
'I'm scared.'
'Where are we going?'
'There are people here!'
'Help me!!'
All sorts of voices were reaching him through his field of telepathy.
The closer he got to the floating land, the more voices he heard multiplying exponentially.
'What in the world...'
What were these things?
The screams of terror peaked when he neared the prayer hall where a fierce battle was raging.
'Hello?! Is anyone there?!'
'I can't move!'
'I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared. I'm scared.'
'It hurts!'
The thoughts being transmitted through the telepathic field were so intense
that even Jang Sung-jun, whose mental strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, found them overwhelming.
"Urgh..."
Perhaps because the density of souls was increasing and the thoughts
growing thicker, he began to faintly perceive the figures of people within his telepathic field.
'...It's horrifying.'
The souls surging toward the heavens near the prayer hall looked just like people being dragged into hell.
Extreme fear, anxiety, panic-
The emotions etched into their faces were far removed from peace.
That's why, instead of appearing to ascend to heaven, they looked like they were falling into hell.
'Aaaaaaaaagh!'
'Uaaaaah!'
The closer he got to the center, the more human voices disappeared, replaced by horrid screams.
The screams seemed like cries of pain-or perhaps regret.
They were all gripped by the terror of death.
Just listening filled him with sorrow and pity.
He was certain:
None of them had wanted this outcome.
"That goddamn cult leader..."
The grief of the dragged-away souls reached deep into Jang Sung-jun's heart.
As he glared down at the prayer hall with rage—
FLASH!
A flicker of light burst from the hall.
***
It happened after Jeong Hyun-soo, the leader of the JHS cult, had his heart destroyed for the sixth time.
There were four corpses in the prayer hall, all impaled through the heart by Ha Dong-gun's spear, burning with a black aura.
And my expression had frozen stiff.
It was because of the system messages that had been ringing non-stop.
[You have hunted a Cult Follower {Celestial} (Lv. 15).]
[You have gained experience points.]
[1,099,133 won has been deposited into the Absolute One's Home Wallet.]
Another body vanished.
The "settlement" was complete.
'Every time I kill Jeong Hyun-soo, someone else dies.'
That's when I realized it.
All the corpses lying on the ground had different faces.
They looked nothing like Jeong Hyun-soo.
Even though it had been his heart that was pierced, lying in that spot was always a completely different person.
And each time he reappeared, it was in the middle of the crowd.
'Each time he dies, one of the followers dies in his place.'
Once I realized that, I couldn't kill him so easily.
'What should I do?'
The moment I killed him, an innocent person would die in his place.
The people gathered in the prayer hall-
There were hundreds of them.
To truly kill Jeong Hyun-soo, I'd have to slaughter all of them first.
'I can't do that.'
Even Moon Byung-ho wasn't lifting a finger against the Trump Knights currently attacking him.
Honestly, the Trump Knights weren't that strong.
Those with number cards were in their mid-to-high level 30s, and the ones with letter cards barely reached into the low 40s.
If Moon Byung-ho put his mind to it, it wouldn't take him long to completely annihilate the Trump Order gathered here.
And yet, he didn't target them because most of them were people under mind control.
As he effortlessly dodged their attacks, Moon Byung-ho asked me,
"Jaehyun-nim. Where is the bastard hiding?"
Ever since his third death, the bastard had refused to reveal his identity.
But he couldn't escape the gaze of the Eye of the Absolute. Finding him-someone at level 52-wasn't particularly difficult.
Of course, I already knew his location.
The center of the cultists.
He was hiding there, watching everything unfold.
[...Please wait just a moment.]
Meanwhile, more of the retainers were arriving at the sanctuary aboard their Kelicans.
'Neutralizing that bastard's resurrection isn't difficult.'
Considering the power of the retainers, slaughtering the hundreds of people over there would be as easy as pie.
Even if not, dropping just one Babel Meteor on that spot would be enough to
end it all.
But... was that really the right thing to do?
Could I really take the lives of hundreds gathered here to save the hundreds of thousands lying outside the sanctuary?
'...Damn it.'
I couldn't decide easily.
That's when it happened.
FLASH-
A burst of light erupted from the center of the cultists-right where Jung Hyun-soo had been silently hiding.
And then-
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The bastard laughed like a lunatic.
At the same time-
Swoooosh-
A giant ring appeared in the sky above the prayer hall.
The blue, donut-shaped ring looked like a halo atop an angel's head.
But it wasn't a holy thing.
'The Eye of the Absolute.'
Fortunately, many retainers had arrived above the prayer hall on their Kelicans, so summoning the Eye of the Absolute there wasn't difficult.
f
"
The true form of the blue ring was revealed: the souls of hundreds of thousands.
Their spirits were being sucked in, whirling violently within.
And from that vortex-
"Aaaaahhh!"
"Nooooo!"
"Screeeeech!"
Terrible, agonizing screams echoed out.
"...Insane."
Just watching it... just hearing it was enough to evoke sorrow and fury. A sight so horrific it defied words.
In that moment, all hesitation vanished.
'That bastard must die.'
I felt sorry for the hundreds who blindly followed their cult leader. But they could no longer be considered innocent.
Even if they hadn't known... they were about to become happy at the cost of the blood and suffering of hundreds of thousands.
At the very least—
'I'll make sure they don't suffer.'
gave the order to the Kelicans carrying the retainers.
[All of you, retreat.]
Then, I summoned Moon Byung-ho, who wasn't riding a Kelican, using the Retainer Summon.
'Open the West Gate.'
I prepared the Meteor.
The storage could now handle up to 1 ton. There was no longer any need to rely on Babel.
I had an item registered in the store specifically for this.
'Purchase iron sphere. 1 ton.'
I bought a 1-ton iron sphere and placed it inside the West Gate.
As I watched it accelerate using gravity to its limit, I asked Kim Geon for help.
[I'm about to drop the Meteor. Please be ready.]
Kim Geon flew low over the prayer hall, waiting for the signal.
'Open the North Gate.'
I told him,
[I'll leave the gate open, so when I give the signal, come inside.]
But then-
Bzzzzzz-
Just before I could drop the Meteor, a light began to shine down from the ring filled with the souls' screams.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]