Chapter 116
Chapter 116
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 116
Th-thank you. It's my first time seeing an angel descend.
The angel with wings spread softly alighted on the ground. Se-ra, stepping down from his arms, had a face radiating such brilliance that for a moment I thought I'd go blind. As expected of an angel, his beauty was no joke.
As expected of an angel, so warm-hearted. After Se-ra expressed her thanks and stepped back, the angel flew toward the dragon.
I never imagined you'd summon an army of angels.
In the sky, light and darkness were slaughtering each other. Swords pierced dragons, and dragons' fangs tore into wings.
The relentless clash of hope and ruin was mythology incarnate. The battle between angels and dragonsno, devilswas staggeringly magnificent, breathtaking in its scale.
This is the stigmata bestowed by Lord Michael. But even I never dreamed Lord Michael himself would descend.
Gasp, M-Michael? Where? Where is he?
The one who just caught the falling Yoon Se-ra-ssi is Archangel Michael himself.
Oh my god. No wonder. That radiance was exceptionally divine.
I've never seen a seraph descend in person before.
Me neither. Seraphs aren't supposed to come down to earth... But maybe it's possible here because this is Armageddon.
Armageddonthe land where angels once dwelled, their stage, their battlefield.
I see. So that's the difference.
But real myths and reality are different, right?
Exactly. That army was summoned with my mana, so once the power fades, they'll all return to heaven regardless of who wins the war. Plus, it guzzles mana, so they can't hold out long. That's why I held off using this until the Revelation Dragon showed up.
Angels soaring through the sky hurled spears, while dragons belched fire. Michael's sword, wreathed in flames, cleaved through the dragons' inferno. Light and darkness collided endlessly, birthing explosions great and small.
A chill raced through me at this living war unfolding before my eyes, vivid as any masterpiecebut I couldn't just spectate. If it ended in defeat, Earth would crumble into ruins just like this land.
Oliver-ssi, stay here since it drains so much mana.
Yoon Se-ra-ssi? You're not planning to jump into that battlefield, are you?
The angels won't kill me. Ah, though with my massive sin of lust, they might skewer me thinking I'm some sinner.
As Oliver flushed in embarrassment, Se-ra flashed a sly grin. She patted his shoulder and strode forward.
A hunter's life is a battlefield from the get-go. And if one more person awakens, it'll massively boost our forces.
Monic or Kang Se-jun would be ideal if possible, but with no clue who racked up which sin, she'd smash the obvious targets first.
Speaking of which, what sin does purple symbolize?
Greed.
Greed. Doesn't fit Monic, and sure as hell not Kang Se-jun.
Then maybe I should bash something else? I'll head out.
Se-ra stepped back into the fray.
Strike when the dragons tired from battling angels? Nah, not her style.
Her goal was total domination. She'd claim top contributor spot, no question. She had to show those fools still clinging to delusions of toppling Song Han-na.
As long as she was around, the Korean Association would never fall.
At this rate, I'll never get to resign.
Despite her words, the lone human plunging into the warzone wore the brightest of smiles.
* * *
Splish... splash...
Kang Se-jun trudged onward, every step a struggle. Uncharacteristically, exhaustion etched his face. It wasn't this endless illusion, nor the squelching ground sapping his stamina.
Okay, maybe the ground a little...
Grimacing, he pinched his nose shut. The metallic stench saturating the air was revolting beyond endurance. Some viscous fluidbest not to dwell on whatsloshed against his thighs.
Never seen an illusion like this before...
No spot to sit and rest, so he simply stood there, catching his breath.
In the past, on the 'Path of Sins,' he'd faced illusions of wrath and pride. Wrath from failing the 11th-floor monster had consumed him; pride that this time he'd win had stabbed him deep.
But nothing from before matched this nightmare's horror.
Ha, fuck.
As he stood motionless, something buoyant drifted over and nudged his thigh. The hefty thud yanked a rare curse from his lips. Too grotesque to behold, yet his eyes dropped inevitably.
There floated Yoon Se-ramangled, lifeless.
Pure bullshit.
Yeah, this isn't wrath or pride.
Kang Se-jun reached out, gently closing the unblinking eyes of her corpse. Illusion or not, his hand trembled uncontrollably. The dead's unnatural chill seeped into his palm.
Grip!
The moment she yanked back as if scorched, a splish accompanied something clamping her arm. Yoon Se-ra's eyes snapped open, gleaming, glaring daggers at her.
This is your fault.
...Yoon Se-ra.
Youyou! If you hadn't gotten greedy! If you hadn't insisted on finishing it this time, I never would've died! Sending me against that goddamn 11th-floor monster!
Her agonized sobs choked the air from his lungs.
You killed me. You killed me! Your greed! Your avarice snuffed me out!
Nausea surged; Kang Se-jun clapped a hand over his mouth. His skin reeked of thick, fishy blood.
Greed. The sin he'd craved most in this life. When had his vow to bring world peace twisted into base desire?
I don't want to die. I want to live...! I don't want to die. Five times alreadywhy again? You promised we'd survive this time!
...
If I die, my auntie dies, my brother dies. I can't let that happen. I can't die! Kang Se-juuuun!
Words so perfectly her it drove him insane. His solar plexus knotted, breath refusing to come.
Panting raggedly, tears streamed down his cheeks. This eclipsed every prior illusion in sheer atrocity.
Damn Satan. Master of mind-shattering torment.
This is an illusion. Se-ra's fine.
Kang Se-jun wrenched free of the dragon's illusory grasp and pressed forward. Ah, now he knewthis thigh-deep sludge was her outpourings. The stench was heartbreakingly acrid.
You sure? That I'll escape the dragon's clutches unscathed?
A heavy weight slumped onto his shoulder. The leg-like fluid snaked up his torso, halting him cold.
Not like a rank-1 beast. This is a labyrinth monster. Truly convinced I'll be okay?
...
Haha, Kang Se-jun-ssi. Arrogant to the core, aren't you?
His psyche wavered.
Se-ra had banked on her mental barriers holding in the labyrinth too, but she'd never actually entered oneit was mere theory. Trapped like him, she could be suffering somewhere right now.
Cunning devil, silver-tongued Satan.
Pain dragged him toward the depths; Kang Se-jun clenched his jaw. From his eyes flowed blood or tearshe couldn't tell.
No. Can't stop here. Keep moving. Only way to banish the dead Se-ra haunting him.
...But can I truly forsake this greed? Escape this place? Her plea to live has set my body and soul ablaze with desperate desire.
How the hell...
How...
Gasp!
In that instant, a terse message snapped his airway open. His cream-smeared mind cleared like mist burned off a peak.
Ah, rightthe broken horn. Someone outside was hammering the greed dragon.
Dummy.
A smile ghosted across his blood- and tear-streaked face. He seized the bloody arm pinning his shoulder.
Almost bought itthought those were lines straight out of her playbook, so unlike Se-ra. Guess my mind cracked; can't even tell fantasy from fake anymore.
He jerked her close; their gazes locked. Pitiful, bloodied formbut not Se-ra.
Even dragon-corrupted, real Se-ra would've slain it and busted out. No time wasted on blame.
He was no different. Teeth grinding, he shoved the Se-ra facsimile into the muck and tore his eyes away.
Someone out there fighting to save them. Oliver with her angelic host, maybeor Yoon Se-ra. No, definitely her.
First encounter this life, yet why trust her more than anyone?
A faint smile tugging his lips, Kang Se-jun forcibly summoned mana that had refused to stir moments before.
He was the world's sole 'Omniscient Mage.'
If he couldn't shatter even this fractured space, his title and hard-won years wept.