Chapter 118
Chapter 118
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 118
"I'm losing my mind."
The moment she first realized she'd fallen into the Path of Sin: Wrath, Seong Ja-rim thought that.
"I expected it, but it's unfolding exactly as I feared..."
Towers piled high with ore, transport vehicles powered by magic stones, and the vibrant, multicolored gems embedded in the bodies of Baskar's inhabitants.
It was all identical to the scene she'd witnessed when she was first trapped here.
"This feels awful."
Thanks to the mana infused in the ore, the planet Baskar had developed a civilization far more advanced than Earth's. With no way back to Earth anyway, if she'd just accepted it and blended in, she could have lived quite comfortably here. In fact, two or three people, including herself, had hoped for exactly that.
But the administrator of this place had chosen to reject them.
Just like now.
"..."
A spray of red liquid burst right in front of the dazed Seong Ja-rim. Even though it was an illusion, the scorching heat soaked her.
The people trapped here with her were dying one by one. The administrator was massacring the Earthlings, plain and simple. He didn't hide his hatred toward them.
Why?
For 108 years, Seong Ja-rim had wondered endlessly.
Why did Baskar's administrator despise Earthlings so much? Why was his every action laced with rage toward them? What had they done to deserve it?
If only he'd given them a reason, their deaths wouldn't have felt so meaningless. But the administrator revealed nothing to the end, intent only on killing them all.
Unexplained anger eventually provokes anger in return.
"So this isn't my fault..."
A spire snapped and plummeted to the ground. Someone running away screaming got crushed by debris. Mana in a magic stone went berserk, exploding a transport vehicle, and the multicolored lights of the Baskar inhabitants winked out one by one.
And at the center of it all was herselflost in fury, destroying everything.
Herself, awakened to L-rank amid the ceaseless threats to her life.
With a skill that drained her enemies' stamina to boot, no one could stop her. The administrator's desperate attempts to kill her had turned out to be his worst mistake.
By the time Seong Ja-rim finally snapped out of it, the once-glorious civilization lay in ruins, and Elonathe only friend she'd made here, who had desperately tried to save herlay dead.
"Now I get why I fell into the sin of wrath."
The barren wasteland, the sky that no longer shone, the death of her sole friend in this place.
All of it was the price of her rage toward the administrator.
Seong Ja-rim gave a wry smile as she clutched a handful of sand from the ground. In the old days, guilt would have consumed her, twisting her in agony until her mind crumbled away.
"I've changed."
Not anymore. With Se-ra's help, she'd regained her sanity, remembered her homeland, and come to see Baskar's administrator as the true culprit. The guilt of killing innocents lingered, of course.
With hands stained in sin, she probably wouldn't die peacefullyor rest easy in death, tormented forever. But that wasn't now.
She still had things to do while she lived.
See? No time to wallow in guiltthe system's urging her to get out already.
Ja-rim beamed at the system message lighting up the darkened sky. Outside, Yoon Se-ra was yanking her out by the collar.
Right. Time to break free. No point letting some illusionnot even realityhold her back. Better to atone to the innocents she'd slain.
Seong Ja-rim seized the light and tore apart the illusion clutching at her.
* * *
"You okay?"
Se-ra scanned Seong Ja-rim from head to toe. Her complexion was far better than expected.
"I'm fine."
Her voice was calm too, easing Se-ra's worries. She'd been concerned since even Kang Se-jun had struggled, but Ja-rim's mental fortitude seemed stronger now.
"Poor regressor and returner."
Tsk tsk. Just like with Kang Se-jun, Se-ra pulled the rising Seong Ja-rim into a tight hug. She seemed startled at first by the sudden embrace but soon relaxed into Se-ra's arms.
Seong Ja-rim thought this embrace from someone so much smaller than her felt incredibly comforting.
"Ah."
Then the ground rumbled far off. Seong Ja-rim's jaw dropped at the sight of a six-headed dragon battling angels.
"Whoa. What the hell is that? Am I still hallucinating?"
"Like a masterpiece, right? But no time to admire itget up. One head's down, but six more to go."
Seong Ja-rim belatedly spotted a severed dragon head nearby. Its crown and horns shattered, charred black with its tongue lolling outobviously someone's handiwork.
"Thanks for pulling me out."
Se-ra grinned.
"Breaking the horns weakens the Path of Sin, and smashing the crown or severing the head breaks it completely. We still need to free the other four, so hurry and join the fight."
"Four? Besides you and Oliver Ross, who else got out?"
"Kang Se-jun. I couldn't cut the Greed head, but I smashed its horns."
"You really went all out, huh?"
"So go help. Oliver's running low on manahe won't last much longer."
Se-ra glanced at Oliver, who was starting to show signs of fatigue.
"Oh! Leave the green head alone. That's mine to kill."
Se-ra flashed a vicious smile. She didn't know the details, but that head had clearly pissed her off big time.
Okay, okay. Never touch Se-ra's prey. Nodding, Seong Ja-rim grabbed her scythe with its twin blades and charged into battle.
Confirming Seong Ja-rim and Kang Se-jun had linked up, Se-ra approached Oliver before following. His face was pale.
"You okay?"
"I should be asking you that. You freed two on your ownimpressive work."
"I couldn't have without your angel army. Here, mana potion first."
"Shouldn't you save those for yourself? I'll manage."
"I know you've used up all yours already. If you run out, we're the ones who suffer. Just take it."
"Wait... guh!"
Se-ra shoved the potion into Oliver's mouth. He gulped it down readily.
"You're more...
His complexion improved dramatically as he trailed off, and Se-ra beamed.
"Rough than I thought? But no time for polite chit-chat in a mess like this."
Se-ra scratched under the arriving kumiho's chin. It purred, folding its ears in delight.
"With two more awake, Oliver, you focus on maintaining the angel armyno jumping in. Elizabeth, you guard him. Bite him if he tries to slip away from the cube."
Kkiang!
"I'm a tank, though..."
"Garcia or Allie can handle that once they're free. Be goodat least until Monic's out."
Leaving those words with the kumiho, Se-ra dashed back to the battlefield.
With Kang Se-jun and Seong Ja-rim joining in, the battle heated up. Kang Se-jun dropped lightning to shave down the scales' defenses, then Seong Ja-rim gouged the wounds with her scythe. Perfect teamwork.
"I'll deliver the finishing blows."
One head wasn't enough. To claim top contributor, she needed at least two.
Se-ra eyed the remaining six heads. Greed was done with Kang Se-jun freed. Lust... pissed her off, but freeing more came firstput it off.
Left: Sloth's azure, Pride's red, Gluttony's yellow, Envy's teal.
Not close enough to the L-ranks to know positions, but one guess.
'Julian's probably in Pride.'
Plenty of damage dealers alreadysave Julian. She'd think that casually, even if a suffering Julian heard and roared in fury. Se-ra turned elsewhere.
Sloth, Gluttony, Envy. Which first? After a moment's thought, she decided.
"Kang Se-jun!"
She reached out, and he snapped his fingers mid-fight. A red magic circle appeared under her feet, lifting her into the air. She blocked the incoming tail swipe with a cube.
"Ngh!"
The impact rippled through the cube, but Se-ra swallowed the bloody taste and endured. Kang Se-jun swooped in from his aerial barrage to support her.
"Reckless! Leave the rest to us and rest. Your manas low."
"Got potions. And once Monic Liber is free, thisll heal right up."
"Problem is we dont know where Monic is."
"You saw it in the past, right?"
"Things changed. Originally, Garcia was in Wrath, not Ja-rim. I got stuck in Greed too, which never happened before. Everyone else mightve shifted."
Se-ra glanced at Seong Ja-rim maniacally peeling scales below. Hmm. Eyes glazing over again.
"Guess we hit em one by one. Take em out in order."
"First?"
"That one."
Se-ra pointed at the yellow crownGluttony's head.
"Have the angels buzz in front of the dragon's eyes. Even a dragonll hate flies. Meanwhile, Ja-rim and Ill smash horns or crowns."
"'Angels' when it suits you, 'flies' now?"
"Who cares? No one's listening."
Se-ra watched Michael clashing with the red head. His flaming sword hammered the crown repeatedly. Cracks echoedcrack, craaack. Juliand free himself soon enough.
"Michael at full power wouldve taken two heads already, but summoned via Oliver's skill, hes limited. Even in Armageddon, contract summons have caps."
"So while Michael baits, we cut the rest. Go."
Se-ra kicked Kang Se-jun's butt. Ignoring his baffled look, she yelled to Seong Ja-rim on the ground.
"Seong Ja-rim!"
Her voice boomed, drawing eyes from angels and dragon alike. Unfazed, Se-ra jabbed a finger at the yellow head.
The intent was obviousno genius required.
[You think I'll just watch?!]
The dragons gaped wide. Breath attack. Se-ra spawned a small cube in midair, kicked it to leap high. Kang Se-jun's flight magic whisked her beyond the blast.
[Kraaaagh!]
Kang Se-jun struck the gaping maw perfectly timed. Lightning tore its throat; the dragons writhed. Blood dripped between fangs as they clustered around the yellow head.
The tail slashed skyward again. Kang Se-jun dodged barely, but angels weren't so luckytorn and plummeting.
While allies distracted from above, Seong Ja-rim scaled the thrashing body. Her scale-climbing leaps outdid even Se-ra's.
[How dare you!]
Another head lunged at her atop the yellow one. Just as she'd swung her scythe at its mouth like Kang Se-jun...
"Huh?"
Something flashed in her vision. What was that? Why was that thereno, why was she there?
"...Se-ra?"
Aboard the incoming azure head, grinning wickedly, Se-ra gripped not Gluttony's but Sloth's crown.