Divine Seat

I kept pumping Kang Jiwoo for information.

Locations of Gwangwon Sect branches. Politicians connected to the Gwangwon Sect. Their kidnapping methods. Every scrap of intel I could squeeze out of her.

"…Are you sure it's okay to spill Gwangwon Sect secrets like that?"

"It's fine. You're the Noble One, after all, Yujin."

Noble One.

Even knowing I wanted to kill their cult leader, she still treated me like some chosen savior.

"Is there really no way to kill the cult leader?"

"The current cult leader cannot die. But the future might be a different story. There is one method available to you, Noble One."

"Spit it out."

"Ask the Light God. He takes a great interest in you, so he would probably grant the request."

My eyebrow twitched. The Light God was my enemy. Han Harin's death was ultimately his fault. And now that I thought about it, the Light God's world couldn't possibly be normal. Even beauties would turn into monsters there. If I became an apostle, I'd end up a tentacle monster just like the cult leader. I had zero interest in becoming a tentacle freak.

"…Any other methods?"

"None. As the Divine Seat ritual draws closer, the cult leader's immortality has become absolute. Proof that the Light God is drawing nearer to Earth."

Kang Jiwoo stated it flatly. I hesitated a moment, then spoke.

"…What if. What if it wasn't now, but the past? Say, the cult leader from about a month ago… would there be a way to kill him then?"

"Hmm. Does that kind of hypothetical even matter?"

"It does to me."

"Since you wish it, Yujin, I'll tell you. One month ago…. Yes. There would be a way. The cult leader's power is linked to the Light God—and to this temple. Simply put, destroy this temple and the cult leader's power weakens. Right now, even if you wrecked the temple, he wouldn't bat an eye."

I'd found a way to kill the cult leader. It had been almost disappointingly easy.

"The entrance to the temple. It's not only in Japan, right?"

"Correct. There are temple entrances all over the world. I heard a new one appeared recently."

"Where are the other entrances?"

"I only know the one in Japan. The other Guides know the rest."

"Got it."

I gripped my sword. Kang Jiwoo neither fled nor flinched; she just stared straight at me.

"Yujin. Are you going to kill me?"

I had decided the moment I saw Han Harin's corpse.

"I've decided to kill every last member of the Gwangwon Sect. You're no exception."

"I see. Then I'll gladly accept my death."

"Why? Don't you want to live?"

"I do want to live. But this is your will, Yujin. Which means it is the Light God's will. So I'll die with joy."

"Crazy bitch."

"Ahh. O Light God. Please take me unto yourself…."

Shhk.

Kang Jiwoo's head fell.

I stared down at it with mixed feelings. Crazy as she was, she was still a woman I'd slept with several times. The satisfaction I felt wasn't pure.

Leaving her body behind, I stepped outside. True to my word, I slaughtered every Gwangwon Sect follower I laid eyes on. Even so, the rage refused to settle.

I've got a rough grasp of the temple layout. Aside from the ritual chamber, nothing special.

I headed for the ritual chamber. But that wasn't my real goal. According to the cult leader, there was a sacrifice management room inside the temple.

Sacrifices are used in the ritual, so the management room should be near the ritual chamber.

The ritual ran nonstop, twenty-four hours a day. Every two hours they offered a sacrifice. That meant the management room had to be close by. Anything farther would be a hassle.

An auto-camera buzzed alongside me as I raced through the temple corridors.

Here?

A short distance from the ritual chamber, a heavy iron door stood sealed shut in a corner of the hallway. Everywhere else was burned or smashed to hell, yet this door alone looked pristine—as if some other power protected it.

I opened the iron door.

The ritual chamber had reeked of blood the second the door opened. Here, a faint antiseptic smell hung in the air.

"……!!"

Naked humans floated inside tanks. Clear liquid filled each one.

No consciousness, but they're alive. That's no ordinary water.

By rough count there were over a thousand of them. Children and adult men and women. After a quick scan I saw no elderly. They'd deliberately excluded the old for sacrifice material.

Some humans stood outside the tanks as well, lined up as if waiting their turn. I realized the order was the sacrifice sequence. The person at the front would be the next offering.

I reached toward one of the unconscious sacrifices. A blonde woman. D-cup breasts, decent size. Skin pale and flawlessly clean, not a speck of dust on her.

Alive.

She seemed anesthetized and out cold. An obvious precaution. If the sacrifices woke up and caused a scene, it would be a pain. One or two might be manageable, but hundreds of them were stacked here like merchandise.

"Tssssss. Tssssss…."

A presence from the ceiling. I froze in surprise, then looked up.

A spider monster clung to the ceiling.

Its form was grotesque. Three women's faces with long, trailing hair sprouted from the head section. Six eyeballs locked onto me. Across the spider's back, six women's breasts hung like fruit on a tree.

"So you're the sacrifice manager?"

The cult leader was a tentacle monster. A spider monster for sacrifice management wasn't strange. Managing the sacrifices was critical work. Of course they'd put a more trustworthy being in charge.

The spider monster lunged at me. Its razor-sharp legs stabbed toward my body. Trusting my armor, I met it head-on.

Clang! Kang!

The Stormbreaker armor shielded me from the spider legs. But it wasn't perfect. Parts of the armor were pierced or dented. Stormbreaker's durability scaled with my skill. Meaning the spider monster was stronger than me.

But surviving one exchange is enough!

I spotted an opening and drove my sword into the spider's torso. Crackle-zzzt. Red electricity surged through the creature.

"Kieeeeeek!"

The spider monster shrieked. Clear liquid sprayed from the six breasts on its back. I was standing in front of it, so none of the fluid touched me.

"Die!!"

I poured power into the blade. The sword started to cut downward—then stopped. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was hard to slice through.

My strength is draining…. Shit. My body won't move the way I want.

Drowsiness crashed over me. I realized the liquid the spider had sprayed was some kind of anesthetic. I never imagined it would work this well without even touching me.

Heavenly Mind!

The drowsiness vanished and my physical capabilities surged. I brought the sword down and split the spider's body open.

"Keeeeeek…."

Guts spilled from the bisected spider onto ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the floor. I kicked the torso as it toppled toward me. The spider crashed onto its back. I'd worried it might be immortal like the cult leader, but thankfully the spider monster stayed dead.

Whatever else, that anesthetic is ridiculous. Without Heavenly Mind I would've been in real trouble.

I hurried out of the sacrifice management room. I couldn't risk passing out the second Heavenly Mind ended.

Outside, pain finally registered in my left arm and shoulder; I frowned. The armor was pierced and dented. If I'd been even a little slower killing the monster, I might have been the one who died.

I've got a rough map of the temple interior. But I can't settle for just this. I need to scrape together as much intel as possible.

Next I needed the entrances leading into the space where the temple existed.

I slipped quietly out of the temple. Combat sounds still echoed inside. I caught a glimpse of Park Su-ho fighting the cult leader.

…Was Park Su-ho always this strong?

Probably thanks to the Goddess's power.

Either way, it was a perfect opportunity for me. Park Su-ho buying time against the cult leader let me move freely.

I sprinted out of the temple at random. This wasn't the path Kang Jiwoo had guided me along. I needed information on other routes.

Then I found a dungeon gate. More than ten followers stood guard at the entrance. They looked like former hunters.

"Ohh! It's the Noble One!"

"The temple is burning. What the hell are you doing here?"

"We are guarding this gate. It appeared about two weeks ago. Unauthorized people keep showing up through it. Normally the cult leader ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠erases the entrance… but this time, strangely, he left it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alone."

"Why didn't the cult leader erase the gate?"

"He said the time is near, so remaining connected to the outside is better. We don't know the details either."

"Is that so. Just now the Light God spoke to me. He wants your lives."

"Aaaah! The Light God desires us! How ecstatic! O Light God! Accept our humble lives!"

They raised their daggers and slit their own throats.

I stepped out through the gate.

The air changed completely.

A gloomy sky and ground that squelched like raw meat greeted me. A dark forest reeking of rot. Black woods welcomed me, and a skeletal wyvern circled the overcast sky. Undead monsters.

There are traces of a village. This used to be a settlement, not forest. The buildings are way too modern for a regular dungeon. This is… a corrosion dungeon.

This was almost certainly the corrosion dungeon in Hokkaido. Connecting the gate behind me to Han Harin made it certain.

The cult leader… no, the sacrifice manager. If that spider monster showed up, it could wipe out an entire raid team with ease.

The sacrifice manager's anesthetic was strong enough that even I couldn't last more than ten seconds. Without Heavenly Mind's status-ailment immunity, I never would have killed that thing.

I started to tear a prepared spatial-transfer scroll, then stopped. Information on this corrosion dungeon might still be useful.

I've got time. Let's look around. With the Illusiter, hiding from monsters won't be hard.

Besides, they were undead. Undead had weaker tracking and detection than other monsters.

After wandering for about three hours, I found people.

Japanese Hunter Association hunters standing guard around the corrosion dungeon.

"A survivor!!"

They made a fuss and rushed over.

Judging by the looks of things, Suwol Guild's second raid team had also been wiped out.

Suwol Guild… those incompetent bastards. If you'd done your jobs properly, none of this would have happened. If you hadn't been so proud and just asked the Association for help, Harin might have been rescued alive.

I ground my teeth and spoke to the Japanese Association hunters.

"Where are the others?!"

"Don't tell me…. Another total wipeout? Just what kind of terrifying monsters are inside that dungeon gate? Is it not an A-rank dungeon but an S-rank?"

I raised my voice and shouted at them.

"I'm Ryu Hansol of Suwol Guild! The second raid team was wiped out except for me! That gate is an S-rank dungeon! A dungeon break is imminent! We need support! Support! Hokkaido is in danger!"

Every face turned deadly serious in an instant. This was the Japanese Association, not Korea where Suwol Guild was based. They wouldn't have detailed info on individual Suwol members. Checking would take time. And they couldn't casually ignore word of an S-rank dungeon break.

Lead the Japanese Association's support forces back into the temple and wipe everything out. Then regress.

Even if it meant nothing in the end, I wanted to watch the Gwangwon Sect bastards die with my own eyes.

"Details! Give us details! What was inside the dungeon gate?!"

"There was a tentacle monster and a spider monster. The tentacle monster won't die no matter how many times you kill it, and the spider monster sprays a powerful anesthetic…."

I mixed truth and lies. I deliberately left out anything about the Gwangwon Sect. Even if I mentioned them now, no one would believe it. I needed to hammer home that powerful monsters were inside and a dungeon break was about to hit. From the Japanese Association's perspective, that was the more urgent, serious crisis.

"Even Suwol Guild's second raid team wiped out…. This is no ordinary matter! Contact the Association and request support from every guild in Hokkaido! We'll clean up the mess Suwol Guild failed to handle!"

They almost seemed pleased that Suwol Guild had failed. Maybe because it would chip away at Suwol's reputation. Or maybe something else I didn't know was on the line. Or they just liked the chance to put Korea in its place.

About four hours passed. I stayed busy pretending to contact Suwol Guild. Along the way I used Baek Jieun's help to verify my identity. That would come out later, but….

There is no later. I'm going to regress.

I decided to go all out.

Roughly five hundred A-rank hunters gathered. Over two thousand B-rank and below. A massive force assembled. Helicopters even floated in the sky. Broadcast station choppers. Things had gotten bigger than I expected. I didn't care.

"We'll finish the briefing and assault the dungeon immediately. Measurements on the gate show A-rank, but Korea's second-ranked guild, Suwol Guild, has failed the raid twice. High probability of a mutated gate. Difficulty estimated at S-rank or higher."

Just as the Japanese Association staff began the briefing—

Kuuuuuuung.

The world trembled.

"Earthquake?"

"What the hell! Of all times?"

"No. This isn't… an earthquake! Something! Something's appearing!"

The Japanese hunters fretted.

I felt an overwhelming presence and swallowed hard.

"What the hell is that…!"

"The gate's getting bigger?"

"The gate's black! What's happening?!"

The gate tore open and a colossal being revealed itself.

Tentacles.

A massive cluster of tentacles the size of pillars slowly pushed out of the gate. Beyond the pitch-black gate, a red eye was visible. Under that enormous presence, the Japanese hunters fell silent and felt pure terror.

It had appeared faster than expected. Park Su-ho had clearly been offered as a sacrifice, and every Gwangwon Sect follower with him. Maybe the cult leader himself had been sacrificed.

The Light God, Bramasen, scattered madness. Madness filled Bramasen's gaze.

The hunters went insane. Some screamed and fled in every direction, some collapsed on the spot and took their own lives, others started fighting each other.

Fewer than thirty hunters remained sane, myself included. But as more time passed, even they eventually went mad.

"Shut up. I'll save Han Harin without your help. And someday I'll kill you with my own hands."

A tentacle came flying. Its length easily exceeded one kilometer; its thickness surpassed fifty meters. I summoned a drone from the Vampire Detective world and soared into the sky.

Even if I'm leaving, I'm landing one hit first.

I summoned a tactical nuke from my inventory and dropped it.

A tactical nuke from the Vampire Detective world—one that could casually erase an entire city.

Right after, I tore a spatial-transfer scroll and appeared in a high-class inn. I trusted the Stormbreaker armor and endured the massive heatwave that slammed into the inn. The building was swept away by the blast, but I held on.

"……Is it dead?"

I muttered without confidence.

The thing was fine. It had grown large enough to be visible even from here. Two red pupils stared this way. A third eye appeared.

That's just another part of its body.

Tentacles stretched out. They kept growing until they exceeded fifty kilometers.

There was still time before a tentacle reached me.

"……How long have you been preparing this?"

"That so? Too bad. In the end, you're the one who's going to fail."

Just before the massive tentacle crashed down on my head, I used the 30-Day Regression Ticket.

I watched the world—everything except me—regress.

Clouds in the sky reversed course. Bramasen's tentacle, swollen to kill me, shrank. The inn shattered by the nuclear blast restored itself to its original form, returning to the moment before the explosion.

I felt my consciousness fading.

I opened my eyes on a familiar bed.