Vol 2 Chapter 43
The footsteps were slow. However, everyone felt a divinity from each step that seemed as if they would be crushed at any moment. In that tense moment, the one who walked out with an expression so calm it almost seemed dazed was...
Clearly in the form of the Holy Knight.
But it was a different being.
Everyone felt that fact. Even Kion could feel it. After staring blankly at the sky for a moment, the being slowly turned its gaze to the monsters on the ground and one human.
The moment they received that gaze, the monsters began to tremble uncontrollably, but in contrast, the Bloody Knight, who was in tatters from the shock of the explosion, widened his eyes.
"Are you the goddess?"
The being wearing the Holy Knight's body smiled gently. Although it looked exactly like the Holy Knight's face from every angle, it was a sacred smile that felt inhuman.
[I am the goddess of battle who blesses warriors and glory.]
It was a very softly whispered statement, but the power of those words caused dozens more monsters to fall dead as if crushed by wind pressure. The Bloody Knight also momentarily turned pale as he resisted being pushed back, then managed a difficult smile while blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"...So he succeeded in the divine possession."
And soon, wiping the smile off his face, he turned his gaze to the murderous black sky.
"Well then, Goddess. Have you come to defeat that rampaging Demon God up there?"
At that, the Goddess looked at the sky where he pointed and gazed at it with eyes filled with hostility beyond hatred. Once again, a large number of surrounding monsters fell dead from the explosive energy emanating from the goddess's entire body.
"Kuh... ack..."
This time, even the Bloody Knight seemed unable to withstand it and sat down, planting his sword in the ground.
'The divine energy shows no mercy to monsters or humans.'
While Kion was quietly thinking, the goddess's mouth opened again.
[Extermination of that which should not exist. Even if it was not what my first servant wished for by offering his soul, he will disappear from this world.]
At those words, nearly being blown away again, the Bloody Knight spat out blood that was gushing forth. The goddess was now walking towards the target. Although clearly walking slowly, each step was as majestic as a giant's stride. The monsters surrounding the path of the goddess, who was advancing at an astonishing speed as the ground caved in, were all burning to death but unable to move. The Bloody Knight began to follow desperately, limping behind.
How long they walked like that, suddenly the goddess turned around.
[Why do you follow?]
The Bloody Knight frowned, shaking off the droplets of blood that had formed on his eyebrows, and grinned.
"I must protect the owner of that body. It would be troublesome if he gets angry that I didn't protect him properly when he returns."
However, after listening to those words, the goddess quietly replied.
[The one who owns this body will not return now.]
The Bloody Knight's eyes suddenly widened fiercely.
"What?"
[A human body is too small a vessel to contain a god. To accommodate it, he accomplished the task of burning his soul to make room.]
"What..."
The moment he heard these unbelievable words, red blood vessels burst in the Bloody Knight's eyes as he was engulfed in confusion. The goddess silently watched this. After a long while of seeming about to speak with a trembling voice, the man suddenly fell to his knees as if all strength had left him. Dry dust rose around him as he collapsed like a pool of blood.
"Cannot... return?"
The blood from his eyebrows that he had shaken off earlier left a long mark on his cheek like tears. The Bloody Knight muttered again.
"I don't understand what you mean by burning his soul. Are you saying he died?"
His whispering voice had become terribly hoarse in just a moment.
"Wasn't he supposed to return once that Demon God was defeated?"
[This body is now just a shell, merely a flesh that will soon be shed.]
The goddess answered calmly in a voice that sounded almost cruel. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, the Bloody Knight sprang up and ran forward, roaring like a wounded lion. The goddess's eyes flashed for a moment, but she was not trying to attack.
[.....]
A sizzling smell of burning flesh began to emanate from the Bloody Knight's arms as he embraced the body emitting sacred light so tightly it seemed it might break. Disregarding this, he embraced that body again, desperately, longingly. Each time, his body burned more.
"No."
The wounded lion growled.
"It can't be. You didn't say a word about this. You said tomorrow's divine possession wasn't like this... you said it wasn't... Come out right now and curse at me, calling me crazy, unpleasant, and heartless. Say it like you just did...!"
The last part was almost a roar. The goddess, while being embraced, must have smelled the pungent odor of burning flesh but said nothing. Nevertheless, the Bloody Knight, with an increasingly distorted face, tremblingly caressed the cheeks, nape, blood-stained priestly robes, and waist of the body as if it might shatter like a bead if touched. His fingers, nearly melting and crumbling, trembled with those desperately seeking gestures.
"This is you. It's you. ...It's you, isn't it?"
There was no answer.
"I told you that only you should call me that, but you couldn't even understand that."
Finally, tears flowed from the lion's eyes.
"How can this be!"
As if responding to that cry, white flames finally caught on his hands and feet that had been crumbling from burns. And at last, Kion was able to escape from this disgusting vision.
Flash!
"Huff... huff... shit."
"...Why are you cursing as soon as we come out?"
Seeing Palton's puzzled expression at Kion cursing immediately upon being freed from the vision, Kion continued to mutter profanities.
"Whoever made this damn video, I'll really kill them..."
[Now, therefore, the proof to the goddess that you must perform is...]
"What! Do you want me to burn to death too?"
[To defeat 1000 monsters.]
"...What?"
Palton was surprised, but Kion gritted his teeth and glared at the altar.
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Jin Soram, the top-ranked hunter representing South Korea's Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters, is stronger than anyone else and lazier than anyone else. As soon as he arrives at the office, he buries himself under a blanket and falls asleep. When he goes out on a mission, he causes accidents and returns to the office, often shirking his duties.
"Do you know how it feels to play a game that's already messed up? ...Anyway, the next round will come, so this time, I'm just going to play it recklessly."
In fact, his true identity is someone who has regressed through three lives, trying to save the world from the Great Rift but failing each time. After repeating a life where he couldn't sleep peacefully even for a day, he became completely exhausted before this life even began.
"I know. You worked hard, Jin Soram."
And then there's Han Tae-un, the man who saved Soram and died in all three previous lives. As he did in every life, he comes to Soram's side once again. The Great Rift is approaching soon. It's impossible to resolve it in this life without any preparation. Soram vows to save Tae-un in this life and die himself. At least, he won't let Tae-un save a failure like himself again.
"For now, until then, let's sleep..."
As Soram sluggishly lives his life waiting for that moment, a gradual change occurs in his heart.
'I thought this was a messed-up round... but I want to live a little longer here.'
Leonardo Blaine, the true war hero of the Raina Logia Empire and the commander of the Armsilver 11th Squad, is dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders during the final battle that could have led the Empire to victory in the territorial war. People criticize and point fingers at him, and after being released on parole from prison, he disappears without a trace.
Three years later, his name has been forgotten by the world. The Council has been persistently pursuing him, but he has proven difficult to capture. Frustrated by this, Hugo Agrizendro, the commander of the Council's army, decides to personally apprehend him.
"Since when have you been watching me?"
Leonardo was calculative and astute, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had been observing Hugo for some time now. However, Leonardo's answer was something that even Hugo had not anticipated.
"From the very beginning."
Graduate student Yi-han finds himself reborn in another world as the youngest child of a mage family.
– I’m never attending school, ever again!
‘What do you wish to achieve in life?’
‘I wish to play around and live comforta-‘
‘You must be aware of your talent. Now go attend Einroguard!’
‘Patriarch!’
My future would be guaranteed once I graduate. For my future!
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