Chapter 62
I could feel killing intent.
Ever since we mentioned Yamyeonggwe (the Nightlight Monster), the atmosphere among the people had shifted.
It was as if they were looking at us like sinners who had plucked a forbidden fruit.
“Kill the ones who insulted the priest!”
“Uwaaah!”
I wondered for a moment if there might be true heretics hiding their powers among them, but it was a needless worry.
Every single one of them was just ordinary civilians without any special abilities.
It wasn’t hard to subdue them all.
[The Eye of Horus uses magic.]
[Tier-2 Non-Elemental Magic: Wide-Area Sleep. Those with low resistance fall into a deep sleep.]
Most of the believers fell asleep under the spell cast by the Eye of Horus.
The few who resisted were dealt a sharp beating.
“Ghhhk….”
“Speak. Where is the priest?”
“Can’t… Priest must be protected…”
“Got it.”
I knocked out the man who refused to talk to the very end.
None of them would open their mouths. Their faith in the heretics was so strong that not one was willing to betray them.
“No one will talk, huh.”
I dropped the last of the resisting villagers to the ground.
Then, Lee Suyeon asked me,
“So… there’s no one left to interrogate. Is that okay?”
“It’s fine. We made enough noise that they’ll come to us on their own.”
“You… made a commotion on purpose?”
Her blinking eyes and puzzled tone made me nod.
“Charging straight into their base with our current power would be dangerous. We need to choose the battlefield ourselves.”
It was true that both I and Jormungandr were strong.
Between the two of us, we could probably handle most mid-tier gods, just like we fought Horus.
If Jormungandr revealed his full power, he might even stand against a high-tier god.
But if our enemy was an entire cult, that changed things.
No matter how strong we were, just two people had their limits.
Storming into the heart of Yamyeonggwe’s forces without knowing their true size would be suicide.
So instead, I’d flush the cowards out of their rabbit hole.
Force them to come to me.
‘The only variable is her.’
Kim Yeong-a. The third Apostle who escaped with Radames.
She was taken as a sacrifice alongside Horus.
Yamyeonggwe absorbed Horus and Kim Yeong-a only.
The other two were left alive, as if they were of no importance.
Unlike Radames and Igor, I had no memories of her from the past.
I didn’t know why she was chosen as a sacrifice.
‘We need to finish this before Yamyeonggwe finds Kim Yeong-a, the Third Apostle.’
Lee Suyeon’s worried voice broke my thoughts.
“But isn’t this enemy territory too?”
“Yes. But the difference is that now they’ll have to come here to face us.”
Once we found these so-called priests, we’d face Yamyeonggwe’s followers right here.
“With all this racket, their worshippers are bound to come.”
And if they didn’t?
That, too, would be valuable.
Judging from the atmosphere, this village was already heavily infiltrated by heretics.
‘If I gather evidence that they’ve taken over, I can report it to the Guild. They’ll handle the purge themselves.’
Then I sensed movement not far away.
Not civilians.
– Dojin. Enemies.
“I know.”
Out of the ruins came a group of men and women.
All dressed in identical white robes covering their bodies, adorned with luminous stones—the symbol of Yamyeonggwe.
“So this is what you’ve done!”
These must be the “priests” the villagers spoke of.
“You’ll suffer divine punishment!”
“Divine punishment, my ass. The ones who deserve punishment are you—tricking innocent people and leading them astray.”
“Followers of false gods… I don’t know how you discovered our sanctuary, but…”
“You flaunt your presence so openly. How could we not?”
I pointed to the tattoos carved into the villagers’ bodies.
The priests’ eyes hardened.
“This is a trial sent by our god. Let us punish this arrogant heathen and save the faithful from suffering!”
“Save them? Don’t make me laugh.”
From the priests’ bodies, a sinister light began to radiate.
It was the twisted power of those who worshipped an otherworldly god.
Some called it a “miracle,” but the reality was that bending the world always came with a terrible cost.
Why were all otherworldly worshippers like this?
“Jormungandr. Support fire from beside Suyeon.”
– Got it.
“Everyone except one—kill them.”
– Understood.
The five priests glowed with power as I advanced.
Yamyeonggwe—the monster that shone in the night.
Its followers mostly used spells tied to sun and light.
As I closed in, I felt the heat radiating from them.
I readied the Trident of Poseidon.
[Blessing of the Sea Currents]
Water rose and wrapped around my body.
I hurled the trident at the leading priest.
Thud!
“Ghhhk!”
The fools weren’t even trying to defend. They were obsessed with completing their spell.
Heat rained down from the sky.
A magic that showed no regard for the lives of villagers nearby.
Not even for themselves.
I expected nothing less.
“These rotten bastards.”
“Jormungandr! Stop the heat—delay it from reaching those people!”
– I’ll need to grow bigger. Is that okay?
“Just don’t get taller than those trees.”
I pointed to the roadside maples.
– Understood.
Jormungandr expanded, opened his maw, and blasted jets of water at the forming fireball in the sky.
Meanwhile, I closed in on the priests.
“You shall not approach!”
One of them cast a binding spell.
The Eye of Horus in my left socket analyzed it instantly.
[Analysis complete.]
[Tier-2 Binding Magic – Bind.]
[This spell can be dispelled.]
[Would you like to dispel?]
‘Dispel it.’
A wave of fatigue passed through me as the magic crumbled effortlessly.
“H-huh?”
The shocked priest tried to chant another spell.
Once was fine. Twice was not.
I closed the distance and hurled Hephaestus’ Hammer at his skull.
A human body could never withstand that blow.
“Ghhhk!”
“Don’t stop! The spell is almost complete!”
Then, the tattoos on two fallen corpses lit up, pouring their energy into the remaining three.
“Your glorious sacrifice will be remembered forever….”
“These lunatics.”
Gods or men—madness was the same either way.
Had there ever been a sane worshipper of an otherworldly god?
I swung my sword.
Heat seared at my skin, but it was bearable.
Horus had burned me with worse.
Sizzle.
Even with the sea’s blessing, my flesh cooked painfully.
[Tier-5 Fire Magic – Hellfire.]
[A spell fueled by the caster’s life force. Its power far exceeds the caster’s level. Nearing total runaway.]
[Cannot be dispelled.]
Damn it.
That meant I had to kill them all before it finished.
[The Eye of Horus recommends a spell.]
[Insufficient mana.]
[Tier-3 maximum recommended.]
[Tier-3 Ice Magic: Ice Skin. Lowers heat, strong against fire magic.]
[Cast?]
‘Cast it.’
Mana drained from me in a rush. Dizziness swept over me.
“Urgh!”
But cold mist wrapped my body, shielding me.
Hisssss!
The barrier melted quickly under the heat, but my body was spared.
‘The heretics aren’t harmed?’
They remained fixated on their chant, unaffected.
I cut down the nearest one.
Slice!
“Ghhk!”
Then another.
The third fell with his head severed, and the fourth was impaled through the chest with the Dragon Slayer.
“Urghh… I… am saved….”
The last one remained—the central priest.
He stopped looking at the flames and turned toward me.
His body was swollen grotesquely, life force pushed far beyond its limits.
Above, a massive blazing sphere drew their very lives into itself, burning like a miniature sun.
“…We shall slay the heretic and be saved. Our god watches over us.”
Blood poured from his lips, but he smiled.
The satisfaction of fulfilling his role twisted his mouth upward.
“The god… is watching… us.”
As he collapsed, the fireball fell from the heavens.
He was smiling still—content to have given his life for what he believed was a great work.
“I… shall live… forever….”
His last words.
Idiot.
I pitied him.
What meaning does eternal life have in death?
And to those who give their soul to an otherworldly god, there is no peace.
Only erasure.
Or assimilation into that god.
– A soul tainted by an otherworldly god cannot even be taken by the god of death. It won’t even drift in the afterlife.
If even Hades could not guarantee their fate, who could promise them eternal life?
I looked down at the extinguished priest and muttered:
“Fools.”
To abandon humanity’s gods for alien ones in hope of salvation…
They were worse than idiots.
The Hellfire descended slowly.
I clutched the Trident of Poseidon.
‘Horus’ eye. If I can’t dispel it, then tell me how to destroy that fireball.’
[The Eye of Horus recommends a spell.]
[Insufficient mana.]
[Tier-3 maximum recommended.]
[Tier-3 Water Magic: Water Bomb. Explosive spell, strong against fire.]
[Effect amplified by Trident of Poseidon.]
[Cast?]
‘Do it.’
The moment I decided, my blood was drained again.
“Hhhuuuhh!”
I gasped, unable to hold it back, and a massive orb of water formed midair.
It was smaller than the fireball, but together with Jormungandr’s stream, it would be enough.
“Jormungandr!”
– Understood.
I hurled the water orb, and Jormungandr unleashed his torrent.
BOOOOM!
The falling fireball collided with both streams, detonating in the sky.
Instead of crashing to earth, it scattered like a meteor, burning out before it landed.
The final remains of the priests’ suicidal spell.
“Haa… haa…”
– Are you alright? You look exhausted.
“I’m… fine.”
– With a spell that loud, more heretics will swarm soon. That couldn’t have been all of them.
“I know.”
I looked at my body.
Even moving a finger was hard.
Wounds from my fight with Horus still lingered.
And I had just burned away what mana remained to stop the heretics’ fire.
Enemies remained, but my body screamed in protest.
– If you fight like this, you won’t win.
“No. I’ll be fine.”
I reached into the Kibisis.
The item I had kept ready for this moment.
– That’s…
“Yeah. An Elixir.”
[Elixir – SS Rank]
[Description: A potion made with the purest essence from the Fountain of Life. Heals any wound, as long as the drinker isn’t already dead.]
I had taken it from Hephaestus’ vault.
Part of me thought I should save it for later.
But I remembered how Hephaestus hoarded his own elixir—only to die with it unused.
Better to drink now than let it rot.
‘Using it now is best.’
To face Yamyeonggwe’s priests and their cult leader, I needed to be at my peak.
And besides…
‘I don’t need to drink it all.’
I uncorked the elixir and put it to my lips.
Gulp.
