#175
What Kim Tae-jun was holding was similar in size to Dan Joo-hyuk’s greatsword. It was a dark, sinister object that exuded an ominous aura, yet Kim Tae-jun gripped it firmly with both hands as if it were nothing.
“W-what should we do now?”
The hunters were startled when a person they recognized emerged from inside. They naturally looked toward Dan Joo-hyuk and Yoon Pa-ran, awaiting orders.
Watching their disciplined response, Kim Tae-jun gritted his teeth. He couldn’t believe his situation had been exposed like this.
“You foolish non-believers, deluded by a false world. I came to bestow grace upon you, and this is how you interfere?”
As he spoke, Kim Tae-jun’s face twisted hideously with rising anger.
He had been so close to fulfilling the mission given by the Lord! Those damned sacrifices had ruined everything.
The first pillar that Dan Joo-hyuk had destroyed was crucial for proper power. Kim Tae-jun had worked tirelessly to create a temporary pillar.
But during that time, Lee Tae-jung had acted impulsively. It would only be a matter of time before Dan Joo-hyuk figured out exactly what their scheme was.
Because of this, Kim Tae-jun had been forced to hastily complete the grand design today instead of on New Year’s Day, which would have been auspicious.
Lee Tae-jung’s unexpected betrayal was particularly painful. Whatever his reasoning, he had removed Heo Sang-yeon and controlled him with the Lord’s power. Heo Sang-yeon was supposed to be the tool to control Kim Min-ji until the very end, but he had been taken and wasted.
If at least Lee Tae-jung’s rash action had killed Dan Joo-hyuk, it might have been worth it. But instead, he’d been captured along with Heo Sang-yeon, and Kim Tae-jun had even lost the stealth item [Shadow of God S] that he’d been saving for this grand plan.
That’s why Kim Tae-jun was now consuming this precious divine energy—to protect the pillar from those ignorant non-believers while he was still a mere mortal.
“We should capture him. He looks suspicious.”
“Kugh…!”
At that moment, Dan Joo-hyuk stepped forward and gave orders to the hunters.
Seeing that face, Kim Tae-jun’s anger intensified. It was all that bastard’s fault that two pillars had been destroyed and the grand gate had been reduced.
If all the pillars had remained intact, the grand gate would have covered all of Seoul and more.
“You fools…! You worthless ignorant scum who turn away from the truth…!”
Just before the grand plan was complete, another pillar had disappeared. The plan was in danger of complete failure. That’s why Kim Tae-jun had to make a decision.
He boldly sacrificed all the hunters he had been using as his pawns.
Fortunately, the unstable grand gate was successfully initiated. However, in the process, even the temporary pillar broke.
Despite his tremendous efforts, it had turned gray and broken as if there were impurities in the sacrifice.
Although only two of the pillars had been destroyed, the power of the grand gate had been pathetically reduced. Neither its range nor its power was even a quarter of what it should have been.
In this situation, losing Kim Min-ji, his last card against Dan Joo-hyuk, was truly a painful loss.
He had lured her with the lie that Heo Sang-yeon was dead, but she had somehow completely broken free from her shackles. Kim Tae-jun lamented, unable to guess how she had avoided the penalty.
Kim Sang-deok had fled long ago. He hadn’t expected much from that half-baked S-class from the beginning, but he never imagined he would disappear before the grand plan even started.
Perhaps the problem was that there was an orphanage on the land essential to the grand plan. Initially, he had been pleased that it provided suitable sacrifices, but somehow things had become terribly complicated.
Anyway, after barely opening the grand gate, Kim Tae-jun once again felt the greatness of the divine. The two pillars he had buried in different lands appeared before him, cutting through space.
Along with this status window:
[Divine Wrath]
The two pillars bestowed by the Lord have been damaged by the “False Disciple of the Sacred God’s” treacherous plot.
As the grand gate has been reduced, if you wish to continue receiving grace, protect the remaining two pillars.
Clutching one of them tightly, Kim Tae-jun resolutely recalled his anger.
My Lord, why place such trials upon me?
“Since we don’t know what kind of attack he might use, defensive types move forward.”
“Yes!”
Surely the “False Disciple of the Sacred God” referred to Dan Joo-hyuk. So he was the greatest trial the Lord had placed before Kim Tae-jun.
“You foolish non-believers! Destined to be nothing but pawns of the Lord, how dare you!”
“You’ve been spouting cult-like nonsense for a while now.”
“Eek!”
Feeling indignant at being condemned by the most ignorant Dan Joo-hyuk when only the Lord was truth and reality, Kim Tae-jun felt a sense of grievance.
He wondered why Dan Joo-hyuk hadn’t killed Heo Sang-yeon in the first place. Considering his usual pattern, he would have chosen the simple method of killing him outright, ignoring Heo Sang-yeon’s circumstances.
If Dan Joo-hyuk had killed Heo Sang-yeon, it would have been easier to control Kim Min-ji. Then he would have sustained deeper injuries fighting her, and Kim Tae-jun could have finished him earlier.
The dimension’s unique false god’s domain is opening.
Of all times, a safe zone in reality was opening now.
As if the reduced power of the grand gate wasn’t bad enough, a bigger problem arose when the false god’s domain appeared. The Lord’s power embedded in the red earth that was to be the new foundation began to rapidly fade.
How had he learned to open the false god’s domain?
“Dan Joo-hyuk.”
While the hunters were swiftly forming their formation, Yoon Pa-ran called out to Dan Joo-hyuk. He immediately turned his head to meet Yoon Pa-ran’s gaze.
“Speak.”
“…”
Since earlier, Dan Joo-hyuk’s pupils had been flickering with a red energy like spreading flames. Staring blankly at it, Yoon Pa-ran forced himself to regain focus.
Kim Tae-jun had been surveying the surroundings with a flushing face, though what he was thinking was unclear. Unlike Dan Joo-hyuk, his eyes glistened with strange energy, which Yoon Pa-ran found quite disturbing.
Though Kim Tae-jun’s intentions were unclear, it was certain that something wasn’t going according to his plan. Particularly, the monster barrier had been constantly writhing. It was impossible to tell whether he was trying to repair the barrier or attack.
“That space gives me a bad feeling. I don’t think we should enter carelessly.”
“Hmm.”
As Yoon Pa-ran quickly shared his impression, Dan Joo-hyuk nodded.
Deep in thought, he stepped forward before the hunters could charge. From his sword, which he swung with a whoosh, a long flame streaked toward Kim Tae-jun.
“Ah, that’s…!”
But as Yoon Pa-ran had advised, some bizarre power seemed to swirl inside the monster barrier.
“Dodge!”
The flame that had entered returned outward, now crimson red.
The returning flame was much more powerful than the light one Dan Joo-hyuk had shot. It struck the ground where the hunters had quickly dodged, making a loud noise and creating a depression in the floor.
“You ignorant non-believing bastards!”
Afterward, even when Yoon Pa-ran deliberately shot a water stream without [Sacred Energy], the result was the same. When hunters with different attributes fired ranged abilities, they only received enhanced attacks in return.
“This is becoming troublesome.”
“Hmm.”
“We’ll have to break that shell first.”
“Yes. Let’s attack from all sides.”
Quickly assessing the situation, Dan Joo-hyuk gestured backward. Seeing this, the hunters spread out to completely surround the monster wall.
“Get ready.”
At that moment, Dan Joo-hyuk released the fire barrier that had been surrounding Kim Tae-jun.
“Attack!”
“Stab at the connection points! Quickly!”
As suspected, the space itself seemed important. Instead of releasing the monsters to attack, Kim Tae-jun was trying to maintain the wall more firmly.
The monster wall, which had been writhing and resisting the hunters’ attacks, began targeting the weaker side at some point.
“Aagh!”
Suddenly, one of the monster’s arms shot out and dragged a nearby hunter inside. He was the lowest-ranked person in that formation.
“Damn it! Pull him out!”
The hunter, who was half-buried in the monster barrier, could only be extracted when all the other hunters rushed in.
However, the hunter with a twisted leg was already unconscious.
“Pull back!”
“…”
Fighting on another side, Yoon Pa-ran noticed a strange flow from the monster barrier at that exact moment. A dark energy seemed to flow toward where the hunter had been grabbed.
So Yoon Pa-ran immediately moved to observe the unconscious hunter.
Sure enough, the urgently laid down hunter began to stagger to his feet.
Then he immediately attacked his comrades from behind.
“You, why, why…!”
The hunters, who had been focusing on the enemy in front, were startled and tried to defend, but the monster barrier took advantage of the gap and raged even more.
However, Yoon Pa-ran had already launched himself when the unconscious hunter suspiciously rose.
“I’ll handle this.”
“Wait, d-don’t kill him…!”
One of the attacked hunters, perhaps a close friend, cried out in confusion. Yoon Pa-ran calmly replied while kicking away the controlled hunter.
“I won’t kill him.”
He could feel the [Sacred Energy] at the tip of his foot seeping into the controlled person. Just to be safe, he followed the fallen hunter and secretly infused him with energy before retreating.
“Huh? He seems to have lost consciousness again.”
“Tie him up! Apply potions too!”
The hunters rushed to fill the space he left and cleaned up the aftermath.
Meanwhile, a small exclamation erupted from Dan Joo-hyuk’s side.
“Wow, that monster-like…”
Another large section of the stubbornly resisting monster barrier collapsed.
“You… non… believer… bastards…!”
“Don’t enter the inside yet.”
“Yes!”
With this, half of the monsters were gone. Although the area in front of Kim Tae-jun was much clearer now, Dan Joo-hyuk proceeded cautiously.
Having just noticed that Kim Tae-jun could control hunters after seeing Yoon Pa-ran’s actions, he intended to completely destroy everything from the outside and then capture the man, unsure of what other tricks he might have.
Seeming to have realized this strategy, Kim Tae-jun soon began to scream.
“Uaaah…!”
Graaaah…
Starting as a normal human voice, it gradually began to resemble a monster’s. The hunters all stiffened their expressions as a metallic sound rang out that sounded alarm bells of crisis just by listening.
Suddenly, all the remaining monsters lurched at once. A major change occurred in the monsters that, although clumped together in a strange appearance, had clearly maintained their individual forms.
Gruuuuh…
Kyaaaah!
They all screamed in unison. With chilling sounds of cracking and crunching, their forms gradually collapsed.
Like a river made of fabric, they melted and flowed toward Kim Tae-jun. Then they crawled up his body with sticky, slapping sounds.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
