Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Angels Leading Monsters
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The boy who arrived in a wheelchair to meet the angel walked out on his own two feet. The fervor of the angel devotees who witnessed it firsthand only grew hotter without end.
"Nayoung, isn't that just a heal?"
"If it restored nerves damaged long ago, it'd have to be at least a Great Heal. There are healers who can use it, but none can keep casting it nonstop like those angels without rest."
Even in the Gate era, you couldn't get a heal from the local pharmacy like buying cold medicine. The cost had to match what healers earned inside Gates, so it wasn't cheap. In the end, without money or connections, timely treatment was hard to come by.
There were donations to Regen and volunteers like Nayoung or Yeseul who were kind-hearted, but there were always too few people to go around.
It was no wonder people went wild for these beings called angels who provided such rare healing endlessly and for free.
"Oppa, they don't seem to be doing anything bad?"
Nayoung didn't feel the aversion I did toward the angels. She actually felt fondness for how they helped the needy.
"Yeah. All they do is heal and gather crowds to talk."
"Are they doing that kind of activity all over the world?"
"Yep."
"So, are we coexisting with angels from now on?"
"Who knows. That ominous feeling hasn't gone away."
Since Nayoung knew how spot-on my hunches were, she took my words seriously.
Each of those angels didn't seem to have much individual power. But there were just so many of them, and the unlimited support from their devotees was another不安 factor.
The crowds gathered to see the angels sang hymns, and famous pastors here and there rallied people to hear their sermons.
"Many doubted the existence of God!"
Seo Hyeon-tae, the pastor who'd appeared on the news multiple times for bad reasons, began his speech from the podium.
"They mocked your faith as meaningless!"
Before him sat thousands of followers nodding along, listening intently. Who knew what part moved them, but some wiped away tears.
"But behold the angels! The word 'devotion' was made for them!"
"That's right!"
"You who've suffered from monsters, Gates, and all the world's ills! Suffer no more. A new era has dawned! Believe in God! Only the faithful shall be saved!"
"We believe!"
The angel devotees echoed Pastor Seo Hyeon-tae's words.
I couldn't stand watching the madness swell like a malignant tumor any longer, so Nayoung and I slipped away.
* * *
"Jiseok, can I just go there?"
My mom, watching the angels on TV from beside me, asked.
"You're going too, Mom?"
"Yeah. I'm curious. You saw it, right? What was it like?"
"Just glowing people. Mom, it's dangerous, so don't go. Why would someone who doesn't even do religion bother?"
"I've been too busy for religion until now. But don't I need to believe to get into heaven later?"
I talked her out of it for now. But people like my mom were converting to Christianity, Catholicism, or the new Angelism from the angel devotees, swelling their ranks.
And then the problem I'd been worried about exploded overseas.
Rat-tat-tat! Boom!
The news showed flames of war raging in the Middle East.
One Middle Eastern nation had gathered angels to their holy site. Neighboring sects and other religious groups dissatisfied with that tried to move the angels to their desired lands, while some aimed to seize the holy site outright. The clashes spiraled out of control into full-scale war.
The Middle East was chaotic enough already, but with war breaking out, Hunters were sent to the front lines instead of Gates. Short on Hunters, Gates weren't cleared in time, leading to breaks. War casualties piled up alongside monster damages.
If only they'd snapped out of it then, but the Middle Eastern nations even drove monsters from Gates at their enemies as their worst tactic yet.
"Noona... I don't know much, but people who believe in God aren't like that, right?"
Sanghun, who'd heard the news, asked Nayoung.
"Right."
"But why are they like that?"
"Who knows... Maybe their faith is so strong they can't think rationally?"
The war looked set to continue until one side was wiped out.
* * *
"Firing weapons of mass destruction into residential areas? Are you insane?!"
"Watch your mouth! This is a holy war!"
"If you don't want to spark World War III, stop fighting right now!"
"Those filthy heretics hand over the angels, and we will!"
"Over my dead body!"
"Fine! Let's end this today!"
The delegates leaped across desks like stepping stones, swinging fists at each other. Those trying to intervene tangled with those jumping in, turning the assembly into chaos.
It was the first physical brawl in an assembly usually limited to verbal jabs.
Even in this mess, the angels didn't stop the fighting.
"We shall go where God's help is most needed."
Instead, their ambiguous words only fanned the flames further.
Normally, neighboring countries would intervene, but this time they lacked the capacity.
Outside the Middle East, religious leaders big and small incited followers into massive rallies.
"Ye who doubted God! Ye shall fall to hell! Salvation is at hand—repent, ye unbelievers!"
A pastor in America gathered crowds to grow his flock, and the scale was no joke. Attendees attacked non-believers to score points with the angels.
With hundreds such pastors in America, not one, they had no bandwidth for overseas issues.
Korea was no exception.
Pastor Seo Hyeon-tae became the focal point for Korean angel devotees, endlessly drawing crowds.
"Disperse! It's dangerous!"
The government made every effort to break up the angel devotees occupying roads and holding unauthorized gatherings.
"Stop oppressing the angels!"
"It's not oppression! You're in danger gathered like this—disperse!"
"Go to hell!"
"You bastard?!"
Fights broke out between pissed-off police and devotees everywhere, so Pastor Seo Hyeon-tae started selling land as "holy ground."
"Buy a piece of heaven!"
At absurd prices, he sold barren fields as holy ground or heavenly land, and buyers lined up endlessly. Even after purchase, rights to the land stayed with Pastor Seo Hyeon-tae.
The site where angels had hastily relocated was already overcrowded, so the government pondered new venues. Whether Pastor Seo Hyeon-tae lobbied them or not, the angels moved to his "holy ground."
"Everyone who wishes to receive the angels is welcome."
And it accommodated them all. Devotees kept multiplying across the millions of square feet of holy ground.
* * *
"People skipping work to meet angels has tanked productivity. Overseas is the same, so already high prices are skyrocketing."
"Hunters are being overdeployed to control angel devotees. If we miss even one Gate, it'll be a catastrophe."
Ministers from each department reported the situation to the president.
"Isn't Hunter Lee Jiseok handling the Gates well?"
"Are you saying we stake the nation's fate on one Hunter? We need countermeasures."
"What do you propose?"
President Son Yun-tae pressed his temples hard. Before his term, he had just a few grays; in two years, his hair was nearly all white.
"We force them to disperse, even if it means cracking down."
"You want me to strong-arm devotees gone mad on private land? Leave me in history as a mass murderer?"
"Ahem..."
"They're collecting money—how about we slap them with heavy taxes?"
The Minister of Strategy and Finance proposed.
"Angel devotees donate like they have no tomorrow. I doubt that'll make them disperse."
Another minister was pessimistic about taxation.
"True. But we can use that money elsewhere, so let's start there. All departments, unconditionally support whatever the Awakener Management Bureau needs. Monitoring angels is key, but we can't let monster damage happen because everyone's obsessed with angels."
In the current situation, with so few options, the president felt his powerlessness keenly.
Korea was doing relatively well, with fewer religious believers and milder temperaments.
In conspiracy central America, devotees claiming government oppression of angels launched big and small terror attacks on officials.
China locked up angels and mobilized Hunters to root out believers. Civilian casualties piled up endlessly, but none made the news.
As nations resorted to extremes against angels, another pillar of light descended from the sky.
This time, the angels from heaven differed from the initial Angelus. They had wings like before, but slightly different faces, clad in armor with swords and shields.
They called themselves Archangelus, their faces sterner than the gentle Angelus. But they showed no hostility toward humans either.
With angel numbers swelling, governments worldwide were at a loss.
Criticism arose that they should've been deemed enemies and attacked outright from the start.
Calls to ignore civilian casualties and suppress by force had sounded insane at first, but now world leaders wondered if it was time to consider it.
* * *
On my way back from clearing a Gate, I spotted a group of angels moving with monsters. The monsters weren't attacking the angels; they followed like ducklings after their mother.
I immediately turned and blocked the angels and monster horde.
"So you've finally shown your true colors."
No need for courtesy with enemies.
"Hunter Lee Jiseok. Hello."
One Angelus turned to me.
"Where are you taking these monsters?"
"We're gathering them all in one place to prevent attacks on Earth's people."
An Archangelus had somehow tamed a line of slack-jawed, varied monsters standing obediently behind him.
"...How do you command monsters?"
"It's the authority granted by Lord Metatron."
"Does that mean you can command humans too?"
It didn't look like mind control.
"Impossible. These lost their reason to the Destruction Gods, making it possible. Why would we do that to Earth's people?"
The angel Angelus smiled softly.
"How can I trust you? With you herding monsters like this?"
"We already have permission from Earth's authorities."
"What?"
"The government approved it."
I stepped away from the angels for a moment and called Bureau Chief Baek Youngshin.