The Cult of the Evil God (3)

World War III and the chaotic aftermath that followed were a time of absolute despair for all of humanity. Air raid sirens wailed almost daily. Even deep inside the shelters, the vibrations of falling bombs rattled the bones. Tears flowed endlessly within the bunkers, where people drew knives just to protect a single handful of food in their grasp.

Of course, those who could even hide in such bunkers were incredibly lucky. It meant they had survived the nuclear strikes that shattered the world, and had somehow avoided being dragged into the meaningless war of attrition that followed. He would later learn that seventy percent of the Korean population never enjoyed such luck. Fifty percent perished on the very first day of the war, and another twenty percent were forcibly conscripted to serve as mere meat shields.

The parents of a young Lee Junho vanished in exactly that manner. His father, who had been at work, was reduced to nuclear ash. His mother, who had huddled in the shelter with him, was dragged away by force. Though it was a memory from a lifetime ago, it remained vividly clear. The sheer, jarring absurdity of it kept it fresh. At the sudden moment of parting thrust upon a fifteen-year-old boy, his mother had actually smiled with joy. She told him that he, too, was supposed to be conscripted, but she had offered her own body ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the officer in charge to spare him. She had begged him to survive, to live a good life, even if he had to do it alone.

Bang!

'…I think it was around then. That was when I resolved to succeed.'

At that moment of parting, he had sworn an oath. He would live well. He would succeed, no matter what. One day, he would find his lost mother. And he would smile for her again—a bright, pure smile—and tell her that it was all thanks to her that he had risen so high.

The boy grew into a young man with an iron will. He threw himself into any dirty, grueling job he could find, gathering experience. Opportunity knocked sooner than expected. It happened back when he was working as a low-level errand boy for a pathetic street gang. During a routine scavenging run, his partner stumbled upon a massive generator. It was a state-of-the-art hybrid diesel generator, powerful enough to supply an entire building. It was completely intact, and it came with a massive stockpile of fuel.

Staring at his golden ticket, Lee Junho did not hesitate. He swung his baseball bat and brought it down hard on the back of his partner's head. The blood spraying like a fountain served as his celebratory fireworks. Lee Junho vanished that very day. The petty gang he belonged to didn't even bother looking for him. Blending in among the countless people who went missing every single day, he hid away and studied the generator.

He failed several times, but he never gave up. He racked his brain, recalling the stories his father—a mechanic for the national railway—used to share over dinner. Once he got the generator running, he headed down into the subway tunnels. Over several years, he painstakingly repaired a Line 5 train car hidden away in the depot. Sometimes he recruited the brains of others; other times, he bashed those brains in. Eventually, he successfully wired the generator to the train.

The moment that subway train first rolled along the tracks, his success was practically guaranteed. Lee Junho launched the business he had planned for years. The only functioning mode of transportation in a ruined world. A secret facility that no one could ever track down. And to that, he added the most primal of human desires. Sex. Lust. Carnal pleasure. The ultimate instinct of the animals called humans. A force so powerful it had driven his own mother to sacrifice herself to save him.

He rounded up women wandering the streets. He kidnapped the haughty bitches who paraded around as gang bosses' mistresses. Once he dragged them down into the subway, escaping was a breeze. Back then, the mutated beasts weren't as vicious as they were now. No one could escape his grasp. But he wasn't satisfied with running a run-of-the-mill brothel. Capitalizing on his subterranean advantage, he turned his business into a premium service.

Bang! Bang!

'Even looking back now, it was a brilliant move.'

The underground was relatively safe from the fallout of the war. The toxicity and the lingering effects of biochemical weapons weren't as severe as they were on the surface. Of course, "relative" was the key word. No matter how deep underground they went, ordinary people still had to wear gas masks. Otherwise, their faces would literally melt off. But as the world went mad, humanity mutated along with it. Rumors of strange gates appearing began to circulate, and soon, a new breed of humans called "Awakened" emerged.

They possessed various bizarre abilities. Their baseline physical capabilities far exceeded those of normal humans, and most importantly, they possessed a natural resistance to chemical, biological, and radiological hazards. The stronger the Awakened, the higher their resistance. While most still had to wear gas masks on the surface, even a weak Awakened could safely take theirs off underground. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠This was a massive selling point for a brothel. In a world where taking off a gas mask for even a day would leave one covered in hives, even the prostitutes had to wear them.

In an era where gas masks had become the new face of humanity, while other red-light districts desperately tried to beautify their masks with ribbons, Lee Junho forged a different path. He hunted down weak female Awakened. Not every Awakened ability was suited for combat. Some could tame small animals; others merely had enhanced memory. Physically, they were no different from ordinary women. He kidnapped them and locked them away. Thus, his premium brothel was born. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sanctuary where a man could actually look at a woman's bare face while thrusting his hips. The Subway of Desire became famous overnight.

Yes. This was, by all accounts, a resounding success. Lee Junho had achieved his goal. Once his business stabilized, he investigated his mother's whereabouts. As expected, she was dead. Yet, he did not despair. Had he not lived well? Had he not succeeded? Even if he met his mother in the afterlife, he could proudly hold his head high. He could tell her that her son had made it. That her sacrifice had not been in vain. Therefore—

Bang!

'...Wait. Why am I thinking about this right now?'

Lee Junho's drifting mind snapped back to reality. The sprawling memories of his past compressed in an instant, and his focus locked onto the present. Right now. He recalled what had just transpired. It had been a business day like any other. He had returned to his headquarters only to be greeted by a blonde girl. The fact that she was holding a gun without wearing a gas mask was unsettling, but he figured they could easily overpower a single girl. So, he and his men had charged forward...

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

'Ah, right. Yes. Bullets rained down from thin air.'

Out of nowhere, bullets had erupted from an empty wall. The deafening gunfire roared as if to burst his eardrums. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. They had all been charging blindly, intent on seizing her gun in an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instant. Where on earth had those bullets come from? If they had taken cover and fought a defensive battle, could they have escaped? The questions swirled, but he no longer had the strength to answer them. His life's flash ended. The successful businessman closed his eyes as his consciousness faded into the dark.

A God watching from the high heavens calmly recorded his end.

The brief battle was over.

"...It seems to be over."

The thunder that had filled the air and the deafening roars that threatened to burst their eardrums finally subsided. Seraphina muttered to herself as she looked down at the scattered Iron Masks. Their corpses, riddled with gruesome holes, were slowly staining the floor crimson. There was no peace in their deaths. It was only natural. A single Thunder Staff was powerful enough to mow down dozens of enemies, and they possessed fifty of these divine gifts bestowed by the Evil God. Even though they had fired only in semi-automatic mode to avoid any accidental friendly fire, not a single patch of flesh on the dozen or so Iron Masks remained intact.

Seraphina caught her breath as she gazed upon the scene of overwhelming destruction. A moment later, Merlin completely deactivated his illusion magic and stepped up beside her.

"Saintess, are you unharmed?"

It was a mere formality. Even in the dim light of the underground, it was obvious that Seraphina did not have a single scratch on her. The battle had been that one-sided. Merlin chuckled and continued.

"Hehehe, it was indeed wise to conceal ourselves. Thanks to that, we managed to catch that beast before it could escape. This, too, must be the will of the God."

"...It is not over yet. We do not know what lies inside."

Seraphina looked toward the spot where the God's gaze was guiding her. The massive steel beast that had run while carrying the Iron Masks in its belly. Its hatch remained open, casting a faint, warm glow from within. Clutching her Thunder Staff tightly, Seraphina stepped inside the beast's body.

The interior of the beast was strangely spacious. The outer shell showed almost no difference in thickness between its inside and outside, making her wonder if such a thing could even exist as a living creature.

"Is it really safe to go in there? We won't get swallowed and digested, will we?"

"H-Heh, haha... I-I think even the legendary Demon King Jormungandr would be smaller than this...?"

"Wait, is this thing even alive? There are no organs at all."

"Idiot. If it's not alive, then what is it? Did someone build this? A two-hundred-and-twenty-yard monster with glowing eyes that moves on its own?"

Even the beastmen, who had bravely slain the monsters roaming the underground dungeons, could not easily hide their tension before the steel beast. Although they had been hidden behind illusion magic, they had clearly seen the monster charging toward them. With their heightened beastman senses, they had felt its movement, witnessed the ground-shaking vibrations, and seen its incredible speed with their own eyes. And now they had to step inside such a monster. The beastmen's unease persisted until Merlin stepped forward to restore order.

"Silence, all of you. Do you doubt the God's plan?"

Only then did the beastmen shut their mouths, fearing their faith points might be docked. Of course, their forced silence wouldn't last long, but at least they reached their destination faster this time. Near the head of the beast, not far from the entrance they had used...

Hummmmm—

A low vibration thrummed as the beast's heart beat.

*

Guided by the God's gaze, Seraphina began to dismantle the beast's heart. She tore away the vessels that ran throughout its body. Given its bizarre structure, even compared to other monsters of the other world, the parts connected to the heart separated with surprising ease.

'The connection wasn't even that strong to begin with. It looks as if someone artificially patched it together.'

Once the dismantling was complete, the rest was up to the cultists. Since the monster's size defied common sense, its heart was naturally massive—far too heavy for Seraphina to lift alone. Furthermore, for some reason, the God had gestured for them to also gather the liquid piled up next to the heart, which they presumed to be the beast's blood. After explaining the tasks requiring physical labor to the cultists, Seraphina stepped back.

"...Saintess, do you hear it? No, do you feel it?"

As she stepped away, Merlin, who had been staring toward the tail of the beast ever since they entered the heart chamber, whispered to her.

"Down there. There is still something. I can... smell a strange scent."

Merlin tilted his head as he spoke. Seraphina looked in the same direction and replied.

"Yes. There does seem to be something. I cannot hear anything, but... the God's gaze is directed there."

Seraphina gazed at the silver light shimmering in the distance. It was a gaze so faint it could hardly be called a pillar of light. Rather than a signal to guide her, it felt like a small, curious glance from the Evil God, born of personal interest. Normally, she would have noted it and moved on. However, the unique spatial setting of being inside a giant beast, combined with the temporary lull in their schedule, piqued her curiosity.

'If the Evil God is looking over there out of personal interest...'

If she could figure out what it was, wouldn't it make it easier to satisfy the Evil God's desires in the future?

"Hector. Bodwin. Would you come with me for a moment?"

"Of course, Saintess!"

Seraphina brought the two cultists along just in case. The four of them slowly made their way through the interior of the beast. They passed through the now-vacant quarters where the Iron Masks had resided, and then through a reception area that seemed prepared to welcome guests. Finally, they opened the door to a section where the dim lighting flickered even more precariously—

"Ah?!"

"...Humans?"

"Hmm, there seems to be something mixed in the air."

—and inside, there were unmistakably people. They did not have the bizarre, hidden faces of the Iron Masks, nor the melted features of the beast. They possessed normal human faces and traces of mana. They were the first "humans" she had encountered in this other world. Surely, they were the masters of the past world who had built that great civilization. Most of them lay unconscious and scattered about in a wretched state, barely clothed.

As Seraphina and the cultists stood frozen in shock, a young girl huddled in the corner slowly reached out. She grabbed the hem of Seraphina's black priestess robe and sobbed.

"Save me. Please. Help me..."

The mumbling was faint, but it was unmistakably the language of the Iron Masks. Reflexively, Seraphina raised her Thunder Staff and aimed it at the girl.