Moon God's Disciples (1)
In the moment of crisis, the man who saved Yeonhui was Seong Hyun-jin.
“Junior...!”
Though his hair had somehow turned completely white for some reason, there was no way Yeonhui could mistake his face—it was definitely him.
Seeing Seong Hyun-jin's hardened expression soften the moment he spotted her, Yeonhui felt a faint, peculiar thrill.
He was worried about me too, she thought, her heart easing a little.
She felt relieved knowing he didn't completely hate her.
Seong Hyun-jin, who had appeared at the perfect moment to save her, let out a small sigh and muttered to himself—or so it seemed, though it carried a resentful edge directed at someone.
“...This shit is brutally tough.”
Of course it is—great power always comes with a price, Master. Did you think it'd be easy to wield my power?
In truth, Seong Hyun-jin's hair turning white was a side effect of fully tapping into Astaroth's power.
Astaroth wasn't manifesting physically but was advising him on how to adapt to wielding her strength.
Still, you've definitely gotten tougher. If it were your old body, you'd have collapsed on the spot by now.
“...Couldn't agree more.”
Seong Hyun-jin steadied his breathing with a light exhale and turned his gaze to the Destruction Evil Spirit, whose body was crumbling apart.
The Destruction Evil Spirit, struck by Seong Hyun-jin's sword qi, grimaced as the body it had finally possessed fell apart so futilely.
Even though possessing a body should block pain, and now the flesh was disintegrating to the point where it couldn't maintain its original form, the evil spirit spoke nonchalantly.
“That power... How are you wielding her strength?”
Its vocal cords and such were already gone, but the voice persisted—it seemed to be the spirit's own voice.
Given that Astaroth could appear and speak on her own whim, Seong Hyun-jin figured all evil spirits were like that and replied.
“If you're talking about Astaroth, then because I'm her contractor. Just like you with the body you're possessing now.”
“Her contractor? No way...”
The Destruction Evil Spirit seemed utterly baffled by the situation.
It was as if it found Seong Hyun-jin wielding Astaroth's power more abnormal than its own defeat.
“Has the Queen's seal been broken?”
As the evil spirit voiced its doubt, Seong Hyun-jin's hair returned to its original color, the power of collapse faded, and Astaroth manifested on her own.
“You've got a lot of questions, Ravolas. Or should I call you the Destruction Evil Spirit?”
“Hah, so the seal really...”
The Destruction Evil Spirit, Ravolas, seemed deeply shocked upon seeing Astaroth.
“More importantly, why not come out already? You're not planning to vanish with that body, are you?”
At Astaroth's words, the jailer's body that Ravolas had possessed fully disintegrated, leaving not a scrap of flesh behind.
In its place stood a small-statured man with dark red, short hair.
Like Astaroth with her black thorny crown, he wore a small crown on his head—but it was peculiarly half-shattered, not intact.
Seong Hyun-jin and Yeonhui realized this was Ravolas, the Destruction Evil Spirit, known in history as the worst of them all.
Ravolas glanced up at Astaroth.
Then, letting out a hollow chuckle, he spoke.
“Impressive. Never thought I'd see the Queen up and about like this.”
“Cut the sarcasm. Unless you want to cease existing.”
At Astaroth's chilling warning, Ravolas clamped his mouth shut.
Can she actually make it cease to exist?
Seong Hyun-jin felt puzzled seeing Astaroth—who had once claimed spirits were eternal beings that couldn't be destroyed—say such a thing.
But Astaroth had never been wrong.
Spirits were eternal as long as their origin of birth existed, but before Astaroth's power of collapse, even that origin could be obliterated.
Astaroth's “collapse” and the Destruction Evil Spirit's “destruction” shared the trait of breaking down targets, but there were subtle differences.
The power of collapse unraveled and erased its target, while the power of destruction smashed it to pieces.
The end result was the same—destroying the target's flesh and killing it—but spirits derived from such minute differences, so the two forces had distinct qualities.
Especially against tangible targets, the Destruction Evil Spirit's power required direct contact to activate.
That's why, when trying to subdue Yeonhui, it kept reaching for her body.
Astaroth's power, however, could affect a recognized target without physical touch.
Of course, it didn't apply to equals or superiors, but against lesser beings, she could collapse even non-physical entities.
In that sense, Astaroth's collapse might be considered superior to Ravolas's destruction.
Regardless, this difference allowed Astaroth to wield her power against physical beings and even intangible ones—like dismantling a spirit's very origin, rendering it unable to exist in this world.
“...The Destruction Evil Spirit is actually listening to her.”
Thus, Astaroth's threat of obliteration was hitting home for Ravolas, clear enough for even Yeonhui to recognize.
Seong Hyun-jin approached Astaroth and whispered to her.
“Astaroth, we need to find out why it killed Lord Abraham.”
“I know, Master.”
Astaroth, already planning to do so, glanced at Ravolas.
Then, independently of Seong Hyun-jin's request, she opened her mouth with a puzzled expression, as if something odd had caught her attention.
“Ravolas, one question. Your answer will decide your fate.”
“...What do you want to know?”
“Why sneak around killing a human? I thought you'd act more fittingly. If you're going to secretly off one puny human, wouldn't it suit you better to just destroy everything here? Even without your full power.”
The Destruction Spirit, Ravolas, was inherently destructive by nature, just like its power source.
It wasn't the type to meekly target one person, kill them quietly, and hide away so passively.
“...That was the contract's condition.”
“Contract condition? So the owner of that body you possessed contracted with you in exchange for killing Ab... whatever, Master?”
Seong Hyun-jin replied with a touch of exasperation, seeing Astaroth—who clearly had zero interest in human names—already forgetting the one he'd just told her.
“...Lord Abraham.”
“Right, Abraham. That old man made killing him the condition? Why?”
“It didn't tell me.”
“But you know, don't you? You possessed the body—you must've peeked at its memories.”
At Astaroth's point, Ravolas nodded slightly, realizing there was no escape.
“From the memories that surfaced after I took over... the contractor had received orders to kill that human, Abraham.”
Seong Hyun-jin and Yeonhui's expressions turned grave at the mention of orders.
Abraham's murder wasn't the jailer's solo act or the Destruction Spirit running wild on its own...
“...Someone commissioned Abraham's death?”
“Brother Dunkel, it seems they've succeeded in eliminating Wise Star Abraham at Nastrod Prison.”
“Our brothers have done splendidly.”
In some shadowy, quiet abandoned building in the Holy Kingdom, two men exchanged news of Abraham's elimination.
“Now, the only Palstar Hero left in this country is the Divine Star.”
“Can the Destruction Evil Spirit make a comeback?”
“Dragon Star himself has taken charge of the investigation. Probably not.”
“A shame. But it's fine.”
The man called Dunkel replied curtly.
“We already have plenty of pawns to topple the Sun.”
Their conversation was unmistakably one of plotting national overthrow.
“Topple the Sun” could only mean bringing down the Holy Kingdom, devoted to the Sun God.
Their robes were pitch black, concealing their forms to avoid detection, but something glinted within: pendants shaped like the moon.
Odd pendants where all but the left sliver was painted black, mimicking lunar phases.
They symbolized the Moon God, polar opposite to the Sun God worshipped by the Holy Kingdom.
If the Sun God represented the sun, sky, day, stars, life, and eternity...
...the Moon God stood for the moon, earth, night, death, and cycles.
As opposing deities, their symbols differed vastly, reflected in how their followers interpreted them.
The life-affirming Sun God had built a nation of devout worshippers, its faith widespread and deep.
The death-embodying Moon God had not—death was feared by all, naturally shunned.
In this world rife with such sentiments, there were those dissatisfied, who followed the Moon God.
They especially despised the Holy Kingdom—not just for worshipping the Sun God, but because it had actively persecuted and eradicated Moon God followers to spread its own faith.
Though from the distant past when the Holy Kingdom was newly founded, the Moon God's disciples never forgot.
“Still, obtaining that was true fortune. Thanks to it, the day we topple the Sun falls in our lifetime.”
“The Moon's grace, no doubt.”
Dunkel said this as he drew a book from his bosom.
It resembled a church scripture, but its cover wasn't paper.
Human skin.
Human Skin Bible
This horrific book, bound in human skin, was none other than...
“The Moon God has bestowed upon us the sacred mission: use the evil spirits to topple the hated Sun.”
...a cursed object that awakened dormant evil spirits.