Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: The Goddess Appears
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It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
Splash!
The demons clashing against the holy forces were torn to shreds in an instant, reduced to mere puddles of blood splattering across the ground.
The four-horned demon that had pushed the holy forces to their limits and drenched them in blood had been diced into pieces in a flash.
“……!”
Everyone froze at the sight, as if time itself had stopped. Only then did they notice Go Yohan.
Grip.
He could feel the strangeness too.
That four-horned demon must have been the demons' hidden ace up their sleeve.
It was a solid card to exploit in the moment of crisis when Go Yohan was in peril.
Even more urgent than when he'd summoned the tower.
They'd timed it perfectly for the instant all the apostles were neutralized, drawing their blade then.
“Hey! Go Yohan…!”
But that blade neither pierced the wall of holiness nor reached Go Yohan.
The holy forces were the power he'd nurtured with the utmost care.
What was astonishing was that he himself was more impressive than they were.
“You… are you oka….”
A four-horned demon shouldn't have been something he could shred so easily.
His senses, his mana—they felt sharper, more immense.
That was when it happened.
Go Minji, approaching him, suddenly staggered.
He reached out and caught her.
“Who's worrying about who here?”
“…You look fine, so that's good.”
Along with that.
Whoosh!
Holy power radiated from Go Yohan, instantly healing his siblings and the holy forces' troops.
“……!”
Go Minji and his brothers widened their eyes in shock once more.
They'd experienced Go Yohan's healing miracles before.
But it had never been this instantaneous, this complete.
And above all.
Rustle.
A haze rose from their bodies.
“This is…?”
Their depleted mana was restored, and vitality surged through every inch of them.
‘Now, then….’
The thought crossed his mind, but his siblings didn't lose sight of the gravity of the situation.
“Yohan, this isn't the time to stick around.”
Go Woojin said urgently to Go Yohan.
“The sanctuary—they're in danger.”
The holy forces and sanctuary had stood guard far from Go Yohan, volunteering to protect him.
They'd been on highest alert when he'd summoned the tower, yet enemies who hadn't appeared then now showed themselves right after.
The enemies.
“Angels.”
Not just demons had ambushed Go Yohan—angels had too.
“Shin Mingyu. It was definitely him.”
The legend of Korea, the one who'd been routed by Go Yohan once before, had reappeared.
The holy forces and sanctuary were groups Go Yohan had personally overseen.
Now, the holy forces alone could hold off a four-horned demon.
But the sanctuary's overall strength fell far short of the holy forces, so Go Woojin's worry wasn't unfounded.
“We're fine thanks to you, so hurry over there.”
“This isn't the time to slack off?”
Go Yunsu and Go Minji tried to push Go Yohan along too.
“No need to worry about them.”
Go Yohan remained calm.
Shin Mingyu—he remembered him as an enemy with at least triangular power.
If he'd learned from that past failure, he was surely even stronger now.
However.
“Look.”
Boom!
A pillar of radiant light shot up from the direction of the sanctuary.
“……Angels?”
Was it the angels' power?
No, something was different.
“There's someone reliable there.”
The light didn't feel coldly angelic—it was warm.
Moreover, it was tinged with a subtle green hue.
Soon, the soaring pillar of light spread out, transforming its shape.
Like a flower blooming.
“That… that's one of yours?”
Go Minji asked, stunned by the new power and its overwhelming might.
She thought she'd learned most of what Go Yohan was hiding by now, but something even greater remained?
“Yeah.”
“Who?”
He'd moved the apostles to the magic tower and saved the holy forces.
And now, someone on par with the apostles—or stronger—had arrived there.
Heh.
Go Yohan finally smiled.
“There is one.”
“So who….”
“Jeong Honja.”
“What?”
“Yeah?”
“Huh?”
His words made them all freeze again, time grinding to a halt.
And the first to speak was.
“He's finally got a mom, Inkyung!?”
Go Minji.
*
*
*
The sanctuary alliance's situation was indeed far worse than the holy forces'.
Unlike the demons that had appeared in an empty clearing.
“Kyaaah!”
“Save me!”
The angels had emerged right at the controlled perimeter.
“You filthy bastards!”
Kim Cheon-seok couldn't hold back his rage and yelled.
A blade of light flew at him.
“……!”
Seeing it, Yu Baek desperately threw himself forward, unleashing sin.
Sizzle!
A black blade and a white one.
They clashed and exploded.
Boom!
Damage was inevitable across the area.
And because of those colors, the scene almost looked like…
“Cowardly….”
The sanctuary alliance attacking civilians, while the white-light enemies protected them.
That was the impression it gave.
And understandably so.
“It's Shin Mingyu!”
“Shin Mingyu!”
The greatest legend of Korea, the hero who'd saved countless lives, was calling out.
The man who'd hidden himself had returned.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Just evade for now!”
Such misunderstandings weren't entirely unreasonable.
Cunning.
Unlike the demons trying to crush with brute force, the angels seemed to understand human psychology and crowds better than anyone.
Boom!
They were clearly staging this spectacle on purpose, creating openings.
“Run away!”
Yu Baek shouted.
“If you leave this spot, they'll kill you all.”
Shin Mingyu replied as if in answer.
The weight of the name "legend."
Flinch, hesitate.
It utterly disregarded all the sanctuary's efforts thus far.
“Hold your ground here. I'll save you.”
Shin Mingyu's voice.
At that sly smile.
“Fallen scum.”
That was when Kim Cheon-seok spat the words, teeth gritted in fury.
Sizzle!
A white blade streaked past Kim Cheon-seok's body, spraying blood.
“Fallen? This is ascension.”
Shin Mingyu said.
“And yet here I am, tied down fighting vermin like you. Shows just how vile you are.”
Kim Cheon-seok clicked his tongue at Shin Mingyu's words, while Yu Baek pursed his lips.
No point talking to him.
Moreover.
Fwoosh!
The fury in those eyes.
It seemed to stem from the fact that they'd been there when he'd been torn apart and killed by Go Yohan before.
Slash!
White blades of light swept in.
Their movements subtly threatened civilians too.
Boom!
Yu Baek fully unleashed his sin, Kim Cheon-seok dodged to find an opening in Shin Mingyu.
“Vermin.”
It was a trap.
Rumble!
Wings-like shapes unfurled behind, and blades of light rained from the sky.
Pierce! Pierce! Pierce!
They impaled Yu Baek and Kim Cheon-seok.
*
*
*
“Gah!”
“Urk.”
Holes pierced through their bodies, Yu Baek and Kim Cheon-seok letting out sharp groans of agony.
Fortunately, the bleeding wounds had narrowly missed vital spots.
If they hadn't twisted at the last second.
“Hah, hah….”
It would have pierced their hearts—a meticulously laid trap.
A strike they wouldn't have even reacted to in the past.
Even after all their growth and shedding of old limits, it was only now that they barely evaded it.
“…….”
Shin Mingyu's face twisted in rage.
He'd prepared that move carefully.
Boom!
Furious that it hadn't landed, his energy rippled out, affecting the whole area.
“Damn it….”
Yu Baek swore, uncharacteristically.
Despite all their effort and growth, surviving was all they could manage.
In this state, they couldn't even protect the surrounding civilians.
‘For that lord.’
To avoid letting Go Yohan take any damage, she resolved to make a decision right here.
Nod.
Kim Cheon-seok nodded too, clearly thinking the same.
“I'll kill you all.”
As if he'd endured enough, Shin Mingyu converted his surging energy into blades.
That was when.
Boom!
A pillar of light erupted, swallowing everything.
“Huh…?”
“What is it?”
Yu Baek and Kim Cheon-seok stared in confusion.
It felt familiar, like a power they'd sensed before, yet alien.
Swish.
At the same time, the holes in their bodies began to heal.
‘Healing.’
Go Yohan's power.
But warmer, seeping deeper.
“……?”
And amid it all, a figure appeared.
“What….”
The shocked voice came from Shin Mingyu.
“Impossible!”
Shin Mingyu's face contorted comically in an instant.
Step.
The figure lightly stepped through the air toward him.
And then.
Slash!
With a sweep of the figure's hand, massive tree trunks burst from the ground, wrapping around Shin Mingyu.
Chop! Chop!
He thrashed to cut them, but it was futile.
The trunks were impossibly tough, resisting even his blades.
Slash!
Even if severed, they regenerated as if mocking him.
Rustle.
They bound Shin Mingyu tight.
And in that moment.
Bloom!
Like a flower opening, the pillar's tip transformed, pouring down even brighter light.
Rumble!
The revealed sight was shocking.
Shin Mingyu, whom Yu Baek and Kim Cheon-seok couldn't land a proper hit on even with all their strength—like last time.
“Let go! Release me, you vermin!”
—was throwing a tantrum, bound by the wooden pillars.
“This….”
Even the power bursting from him.
“Fake!”
—was devoured entirely by the wood binding him.
Only then, with the light, did the figure's appearance become clear.
“Ah.”
Yu Baek.
“Heh.”
Kim Cheon-seok too were in awe.
“…….”
Even the civilians, who'd been dithering whether Shin Mingyu was really getting hit, now gaped.
The figure could be summed up in one word.
“Goddess.”