Touch of the Evil God (10)
When Seraphina, Yeomyeong, and the other combatants of the church arrived at the Haninhae headquarters, the compound was dead silent. Not a single footstep could be heard. It was bizarre. Only a few hours ago, the place had been a hive of frantic activity as they prepared for the church's raid. Now, there was no sign of life. What could have happened in the brief time they were gone? Sensing an ominous shift, Yeomyeong spoke up.
"...Saintess. It seems Miraj or Lee Seokin has done something. I will take the lead and investigate."
In that moment, Yeomyeong recalled the "research" of the priest that the President had been fully backing. He had heard it was close to completion. Had they chosen this exact moment to unleash it?
Perhaps they noticed my hesitation and timed it perfectly.
When he had gone to confront the President about Nisyona, he hadn't even thought to hide his true feelings. Regardless, this was his responsibility. If so, he had to resolve it himself. Yeomyeong stepped forward to lead the way. He knew the layout of the Haninhae headquarters better than anyone here. He intended to search the buildings where something was most likely occurring.
But the Saintess stopped him. Raising a hand to halt his steps, she pointed toward a specific building.
"No, that won't be necessary. There is no need to search. I believe something is happening in that building over there."
"...Over there?"
Yeomyeong looked toward the building at the tip of her finger. At a glance, it looked like a mere pile of ruins. However, hidden within those debris lay the food warehouse managed by the Haninhae. It was a structure used to store goods reclaimed from the gangs' illegal plunder and redistribute them to the local residents. Given its nature, the warehouse had been meticulously camouflaged to prevent theft... yet the Saintess, who had barely visited the Haninhae, pointed to its exact location as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Yeomyeong was startled by this, but he chose not to question it. She was the apostle of a god, after all—a god who could grant any desire as long as the price was paid. Perhaps such omniscience was only natural. Instead, Yeomyeong walked in the direction she indicated.
Sure enough, as he drew closer, an unnatural noise reached his ears.
"Kh-khup, crunch, huff... munch... ehehehe...!"
A twisted laughter. A ragged, wheezing breath echoed hollowly, scraping past mutated vocal cords. It sounded far more like the cry of a monster than a human. The absence of the muffled filter of a gas mask made it even more pronounced. Yet, for some reason, Yeomyeong found the voice familiar.
"...No way."
Biting his lip, he threw open the warehouse door. Instantly, the grotesque silhouette of a monster crawling inside was revealed. A creature with bloated, swollen arms was greedily devouring the stockpiled food. Its upper body alone easily exceeded five meters in height, but its lower body remained pathetically human, creating a horrific asymmetry.
Sensing the door opening, it turned its head. Yeomyeong and the beast locked eyes. In an instant, Yeomyeong recognized the monster's identity.
"Lee Seokin. You actually ended up like this...!"
"Kh-khup, heh... Yes! Finally! You've finally come!!"
The two shouted, their voices laden with starkly contrasting emotions.
Yeomyeong instantly drew his sword, and the President lunged forward.
Crash!
Lee Seokin struck first, swinging his left hand. The warehouse wall crumpled along the trajectory of his fist. Though it wasn't a professionally built structure, it was still a wall constructed of stacked steel plates and bricks. Yet, swept up by that colossal fist, it buckled and collapsed instantly.
"...!"
Terrifying strength. Yeomyeong leaped back to dodge, but the sheer wind pressure generated by the massive blow was immense.
Thud!
Caught in the gust, Yeomyeong's body slammed against the warehouse wall. Seeing this, Lee Seokin burst into laughter.
"Kh-khup, huff...! Kuhahaha!! Look at this power!! I have finally obtained the strength to surpass you!!"
"Ptu."
Instead of answering, Yeomyeong spat out blood-tinged saliva. He spun his sword, flicking the blood from the blade.
"In the end, in this world, this is the most—argh, kuaaaak!!"
Lee Seokin, who had been laughing, belatedly noticed his wound. When the fist had swung, Yeomyeong had acted as well. He had thrust his straight sword along the trajectory of the strike. Even as he was blown back by the wind pressure, he had succeeded in slicing through the monster's flesh. Blood poured from a long gash on its arm. The beast shrieked in agony.
"Aaaaargh!!"
Watching the beast, Yeomyeong calmly analyzed his opponent. His strength was undeniably immense. Greater than anyone he had ever faced. But his speed didn't match it, and his accuracy was even worse. Furthermore, though his skin was thick, it wasn't particularly durable. His straight sword and moon blade should easily slice through his flesh. At this rate—
"Saintess. Could you give me ten minutes? I wish to fulfill my responsibility."
Having finished his calculations, Yeomyeong asked the Saintess. Seraphina hesitated before replying.
"I do not mind the time... but if it looks dangerous, I will intervene immediately."
Her answer was mindful of the Evil God's gaze. The entity in the sky seemed to possess a significant interest in Yeomyeong. She reasoned that if she clumsily interfered in his stage, it might displease their god. Moreover, the divine gaze was currently offering no specific instructions. Thanks to that, he was granted the time to settle his own affairs.
Receiving the Saintess's permission, Yeomyeong tightened his grip on his sword.
"...Mister. Good luck."
Seeing this, Nisyona offered a small word of encouragement. Yeomyeong gave the girl a brief smile, then instantly lunged forward, aiming his blade at the still-groaning Lee Seokin.
"Urgh, you little bastard!"
A simple downward strike. But the monster's sheer mass transformed even a basic swing into an area-of-effect attack. The ceiling collapsed along the path of his outstretched arm. An earthquake-like tremor shook the temporary building. The ceiling shattered. Temporary steel beams crashed to the floor, and rising dust obscured his vision, but such minor obstacles could not stop a seasoned warrior.
He already knew his enemy's position. Yeomyeong immediately threw his sword at Lee Seokin. The blade was already glowing with a silver light, powered by his Acquisition ability.
Thunk!
The sword embedded itself. It was a bit shallow, having struck bone. A simple throw apparently lacked the force to pierce completely. But even a shallow hit was enough. Now that he had set the nail, he only needed to hammer it in.
He grabbed a falling steel beam. Lifting and swinging a steel beam would be a waste of strength, but redirecting a beam that was already falling required only a fraction of the effort.
"Kuaaaak!"
With a heavy thud, the steel beam struck the hilt of the sword. By natural physics, the blade was driven much deeper. A scream pierced his ears, a voice as bloated as the monster's upper body. Yeomyeong stared at Lee Seokin with calm, steady eyes.
He doesn't even know the basics of combat.
This was a fundamental issue, separate from physical capability. Lee Seokin didn't even know how to move his own body properly. It was only natural for a man who spent most of his days lying down. He didn't even know how to throw a proper punch, flailing his arms as if swatting at flies. Once Yeomyeong got used to the rhythm, dodging was trivial.
Furthermore, the man lacked resolve. Every time he was stabbed, he writhed in agony, his movements grinding to a halt. Look at him now. Just because a sword was stuck in his arm, he was groaning like that, leaving himself completely wide open.
Yeomyeong had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by. Approaching Lee Seokin, who was desperately trying to pull the sword out with his other arm, he swung his moon blade. Unbuckling it from his back, he let the weapon fall naturally, adding his own strength to the momentum.
An upward slashing motion. The cold edge of the moon blade flashed with a silver gleam.
Squelch.
If the straight sword had made a heavy, butchering sound, the moon blade left behind only a clean, crisp echo. Cool and precise, like a winter wind. A crescent arc severed the monster's arm. The moon blade sliced through the flesh without the slightest resistance, thanks to the straight sword having already shattered the bone.
With a wet splat, the severed left arm hit the ground. The moment it separated from the body, it dissolved into slime. A human arm liquefying into a sticky fluid. The jelly-like substance—a fused, melted slurry of bone, flesh, muscle, and nerves—was a disgusting gray. Even Yeomyeong's sword, which had been embedded within it, dissolved along with the flesh.
Yeomyeong, who had remained silent until now, could not help but speak at the grotesque sight.
"...What did you do to yourself?"
Lee Seokin replied, even as he writhed in pain.
"Wh-what had to be done! I did what... what I always should have done...!!"
The monster swung his left arm once more. Splatters of melting flesh sprayed toward Yeomyeong like shotgun pellets. He used the warehouse shelves as cover to evade the attack. Lee Seokin retaliated by smashing the shelves with his right arm.
An outstretched arm. This was exactly the moment Yeomyeong had been waiting for. Tilting his body, he dodged the swinging right arm, keeping a careful calculation of the wind pressure. Simultaneously, he lunged into the monster's defenseless torso.
Compared to his massive upper body, his lower half was still human-sized. This asymmetrical physique made it difficult for him to even balance himself. His legs were a mass of weaknesses. Yeomyeong swung his moon blade.
"Kuaaaaak!!! You—you crazy lunatic!!!"
The skin of his lower body wasn't even tough. Under the silver-enhanced blade, both legs were cleanly severed. Lee Seokin's body collapsed with a heavy thud. His mobility, which had already been practically nonexistent, vanished entirely.
"Ugh, fuck, food... huff, I need more...!"
The monster's actions grew frantic. He grabbed the canned goods and preserved food that had spilled from the shelves he had destroyed, stuffing them into his maw. Instantly, steam rose from his severed left arm and legs. They began to squirm and regenerate like inflating balloons.
Naturally, Yeomyeong did not just stand by and watch. He swung his moon blade, severing the tendons in the monster's fingers. Wherever signs of regeneration appeared, he threw and embedded small iron rebars.
After a few more exchanges, the right arm also lost all function, its armpit tendons completely severed. There was no more food left on the floor to scavenge.
From then on, the confrontation became entirely one-sided. He pinned the monster down with iron rebars as if taxidermying an insect, sealing his movements and securing him to the wall. It took about five minutes of repeated agony before the beast finally gave up.
Thus ended the battle—or rather, the slaughter, as it could hardly be called a battle. Even if their raw power was comparable, the gap in combat experience was overwhelming.
Having subdued his target, Yeomyeong looked back at the Saintess. She nodded silently. A signal to end it. Yeomyeong rested the edge of his moon blade against Lee Seokin's thick neck.
The blade, warmed by the monster's own blood, began to bite into his throat. At that terrifying sensation, Lee Seokin screamed frantically.
"Hey, kh-khup, huff... Yeomyeong, you son of a bitch... Anyone else, but not you, cough, you can't do this to me...!!!"
He let out a shriek bordering on a sob.
"I was losing my fucking hair working under you...! Huff, I thought I finally had a chance to get some payback...!!!"
"..."
"Shit, President? President my ass. I was just... sob, a glorified slave to the paperwork. Of all the people, I had to get stuck with a freak like you...!!"
Drenched in pain and terror, facing his imminent demise, his deepest, long-buried truths spilled out.
"Hehehe, do you have any idea how much I walked on eggshells around you? Do you know, gasp, how terrified I was? Caught up in the meaningless puppet show of a monstrous lunatic, gasp, unable to even fucking escape..."
"..."
"Hey, if I only had power like yours, I wouldn't have had to resort to this kind of shit. I could have lived like a king—"
Lee Seokin's words were rambling and incoherent, but Yeomyeong could read the meaning behind them. He had secretly sensed it all along—that Lee Seokin held a deep inferiority complex toward him. Despite holding the title of President, the man spent most of his days buried under grueling labor. From Lee Seokin's perspective, he might have resented Yeomyeong. After all, though he was the President in name, the members of the Haninhae had always followed Yeomyeong.
Yet, even as he acknowledged those feelings, Yeomyeong asked coldly,
"Is that why you raped Nisyona?"
"...What?!"
Yeomyeong did not continue the conversation. He simply put more weight behind the moon blade. In an instant, the blade bit deep into the center of the neck.
Crack.
Soon, the sound of snapping vertebrae echoed, and blood began to gush. Yeomyeong lifted the weakly tilting head of Lee Seokin and whispered,
"I suppose I bear some responsibility for you ending up like this. If I hadn't killed the gang boss you used to flatter. If I hadn't accepted you when you begged to join the Haninhae. If I hadn't supported you when you came to me, promising to work yourself to the bone if only I backed you..."
Perhaps Lee Seokin's end wouldn't have been like this. Yet, Yeomyeong felt no guilt toward him. He knew exactly how the man behaved when given power. Even when he was walking on eggshells, he was secretly sponsoring a brothel. It was easy to guess what would happen if raw, primal power were handed to such a man.
Looking into Lee Seokin's fading eyes, Yeomyeong continued,
"I am not disappointed in you. That is simply how humans are. I was merely frustrated to realize that even the relic known as 'law' cannot stand above all humanity."
"..."
"But now, I have found another path. I have seen an existence that stands absolutely above mankind, capable of putting a leash on everyone. So..."
The moon blade moved. The blade, which had stopped at the center of the neck, sliced clean through to the other side. A perfect separation of head and torso. Lee Seokin's head fell to the floor and rolled away.
"...Die, offering your apologies to everyone you have wronged. I will make up for whatever apologies fall short."
With a quiet murmur, Yeomyeong turned away. At that moment, all life ceased within Lee Seokin's body. The monster's body turned into golden powder and scattered into the air.
Paying it no mind, Yeomyeong walked back to the church's forces. He approached the young girl who had been quietly watching the battle from behind the ranks of the believers.
"...I'm sorry. I should have done this sooner."
Dropping to one knee, Yeomyeong gently stroked Nisyona's hair. The girl, who had heard the entire conversation between Yeomyeong and Lee Seokin, greeted him with a smile.
"...It's okay. Thank you, Mister."