The Fervent Follower - 1
Inside this anomaly, known as the Fervent Follower's Sanctum, a man had wandered in. Judging by Lee Jia's reaction, this man appeared to be the person named Park Donghyun.
Yoo Iseul was left speechless by this absurd situation. How on earth had this man, who should have been under the protection of the Awakened Association, managed to enter this villa? Was it truly because Lee Jia had offered up prayers to the Great One known as the Shining Stars? Even though Yoo Iseul was an atheist, the timing was far too exquisite to be a mere coincidence.
Regardless of how it happened, wasn't it for the best? She had practically exhausted every option within this Sanctum, and they had been in a situation where there was no clear path forward. If the Grace of the Shining Stars—or whatever it was—had brought the most crucial individual, Park Donghyun, to them like this, it was a stroke of luck.
Now, if she could just hand over his heart and soul to this man, she could resolve the collateral debt. Wouldn't that also negate his role as a Sacrifice?
Yoo Iseul began to descend the stairs with Lee Jia. Or rather, she was just about to.
Following the man named Park Donghyun, someone else had entered the villa. That person—no, the moment she saw that something, Yoo Iseul was instantly certain. It was not human. It was the Fervent Follower known as the [College Student].
No matter how powerful the [College Student]'s mental attacks were—to the point where they operated on a different plane than standard anomalies—they would not work on Yoo Iseul. She was an Awakened with immunity to all mental attacks. Not just immunity to the mental attacks of anomalies. All of them.
The Wiki does not lie. Since the information was in the Wiki, it was absolute. Theoretically, whether the opponent was a Fervent Follower or even the cosmic entity known as a Great One, Yoo Iseul was immune to mental attacks.
Therefore, the [College Student]'s cognitive manipulation ability had no effect on her. The [College Student] used her authority—or ability—to make others perceive her as a "college student." But to Yoo Iseul's eyes, she was no college student. She was a hideous, repulsive monster, so grotesque that even Yoo Iseul, who was seasoned in resolving anomalies, felt a chill run down her spine.
Its massive eyeball met Yoo Iseul's gaze. For a split second, Yoo Iseul's body stiffened. It wasn't because of a mental attack; it was simply that its overwhelming presence alone was enough to make the indomitable Yoo Iseul tense up.
In the center of its inverted-triangle head, where bones protruded, sat a single, enormous eyeball. Yoo Iseul felt it instinctively: she must not meet its gaze. It was different from the eyes of a human or a beast. If she kept staring into that eye, she felt as if she were drifting into the distant, vast center of the universe. It was not a pleasant sensation.
Dozens of tentacles writhed around the massive eyeball, each one moving with infinite freedom, as if every tentacle were an independent living organism. Its body was covered in irregularly shaped, bulging veins, and every time those veins pulsed, it felt as if the entire body were heaving.
It had no feet. She didn't know the principle behind it, but it hovered a few meters above the ground, writhing with those dozens of tentacles.
It was certain. There was no need to use Lee Jia's ability to verify the information. That was, without a doubt, a Fervent Follower. For the first time in her life, encountering a Fervent Follower other than Lee Jia, Yoo Iseul's heart began to pound rapidly.
Tension. It was a word that didn't suit Yoo Iseul at all, yet, surprisingly, she was feeling tense.
Her last ten years of experience told her so. Her inner instincts were ringing alarm bells incessantly. That thing was dangerously, lethally lethal.
How many seconds had passed since she faced it? After finishing her complex thoughts in a very short time, Yoo Iseul began to move her trembling hand toward the hilt of her sword. That was when it happened.
"God...?"
Lee Jia spat out the word "God" while looking at that hideous thing.
...God? That thing?
If it were an Evil God, maybe, but it didn't look like anything that deserved the title of "God." Ah. Damn it. Now that she thought about it, Lee Jia didn't have the "complete immunity to mental attacks" ability that she had. She only possessed mental strength that transcended a human's, not immunity.
Lee Jia had been exposed to the mental attacks of the Portrait of a Madwoman and the Haunted House without protection. In Lee Jia's eyes, that disgusting tentacle monster must have looked beautiful enough to warrant the word "God."
Just as Yoo Iseul was about to rush to cover Lee Jia's mouth:
Lee Jia slammed her head directly into the stairs.
"Guaaaaaaah!"
She had slammed it so hard that the stairs were actually breaking. Just before she lost her balance and tumbled down, Yoo Iseul frantically grabbed Lee Jia by her pink hair.
"Jiaaaaaaah! My hair, my hair! Sister, you're going to pull all my hair out!"
But Lee Jia's self-harming tantrum didn't end there.
Thud! "Ugh." Thud! "Kyaaaak!" Thud! "Ugh..." Thud! "Tsk." Thud! "Guh..."
Lee Jia kept slamming her head and began to roll down the stairs. The price of blasphemy was something even Yoo Iseul couldn't stop.
Thud! "Guaaaaaaah..."
Eventually, Lee Jia, who had been forced down the stairs, lifted her head while lying prone on the floor and ended up making eye contact with "that thing."
This is bad. If she makes eye contact with that, something unpleasant is bound to happen. Having finished her thought, Yoo Iseul immediately drew Iron Sword No. 3 and threw herself from the top of the stairs, soaring into the air. Her target was the monster's eyeball. She had to split it in one strike.
But the one-eyed monster was faster than Yoo Iseul's sword swing. In an instant, its dozens of tentacles began to writhe, and its pupil moved up, down, left, and right. That was the end of it.
Slash!
"W-Waaaaaaaah!"
Yoo Iseul's sword cut through empty air. Startled by the sudden blade-work, the man named Park Donghyun, who had been clinging to the side of "that thing," fell on his backside in terror. The entity vanished. Lee Jia also vanished. Yoo Iseul scanned the surroundings quickly, but no matter how hard she looked, neither Lee Jia nor the entity was visible.
"..."
Click.
Yoo Iseul sheathed her sword again. She walked straight up to Park Donghyun, grabbed him by the collar, and spoke.
"Hey."
"Y-Yes, yes?"
"Spill everything you know. How you got here, how that bastard looks to your eyes, and where those two disappeared to. If you don't tell me properly..."
Yoo Iseul then gripped the heart she was holding in her left hand a little tighter and said,
"I'll pop this."
Yoo Iseul's threat was, in a way, crossing the line—implying she would kill him if he didn't listen—but with Lee Jia completely gone, she had lost all sense of restraint. Park Donghyun, hearing her threat, opened his mouth with a look of genuine confusion.
"I-I'll tell you! B-but what on earth is that thing...?"
"..."
There were probably very few humans on Earth who knew what their own heart looked like.
* * *
"Ugh..."
Damn you, Shining Stars. You're trying to kill someone just for a minor slip of the tongue? Of course, I'm not human, and I don't have a single injury. To think I slammed my head hard enough to break the stairs and yet I'm completely fine—I'm so durable it's absurd even to me.
Thankfully, Park Donghyun's soul, which I'd tucked deep inside my chest, hadn't shattered. It seemed my natural airbag had absorbed the shock. If I'd put it in my pocket, it definitely would have broken. I'm glad I shoved it inside my chest.
So. Where am I?
When I came to my senses, the location had changed entirely. It was a place that felt quite familiar. An infinite horizon with no end in sight. An ominous feeling. I thought it was similar to the place where I had encountered the Fervent Follower, "Nameless." I touched the floor and tried to use my ability, but it was still the Fervent Follower's Sanctum.
Looking around, I saw her standing there.
...I must have lost my mind for a moment. I don't even know how I dared to utter the word "God" to someone other than the Shining Stars.
Dust, dust.
I brushed off the floor, stood up, and approached her to speak.
"It's you, right?"
[...]
"You are. College Student. Fervent Follower."
[...]
The universe resided within her body. Not as a metaphor, but literally, a universe. Looking at her body made me feel like my mind was drifting away. Soon, she opened her mouth toward me.
[Of the Shining Stars.]
[Fervent Follower.]
[Lee Jia.]
As expected, this bastard already knew my identity. ...Well, it would have been stranger if she didn't. Unlike other Fervent Followers, she seemed deeply rooted in human culture, so she must have watched my broadcast at least once. Plus, since the believers of the religion she created knew me, naturally, the leader of that religion would know my identity too.
I didn't think I needed to talk to her any further. I was a little curious about what her true purpose was, but there was no need to risk my life to approach her and check the Wiki. Because it was already over.
"You just said Shining Stars, didn't you?"
[...]
"Don't you add an honorific? I don't know if you're aware, but if you don't add an honorific, that's blasphemy."
[...]
"And creating a religion to build a following for yourself, as a mere Fervent Follower, is also blasphemy."
[...]
"I thought you were smart, but I guess not. Goodbye, you bitch."
[...]
She. As a mere Fervent Follower, had dared to commit blasphemy several times. This was an unforgivable high treason, and it wouldn't be strange if her very existence were erased right now. I put my hands on my waist and said in a confident voice,
"Finish her, Shining Stars!"
[...]
"..."
[...]
However. Nothing happened.
Uh... Um. Oh, Shining Stars. By any chance, are you angry because I uttered the word "God" earlier?
Leaving me dumbfounded, she opened her mouth once again.
[A Fervent Follower.]
[Should be able to recognize a Fervent Follower.]
[Yet you... for some reason, are under a very great misunderstanding.]
"...?"
At her following words, I realized something had gone wrong.
[In your eyes.]
[Do I.]
[Look like a Fervent Follower to you?]