Chapter 455: Ally or Enemy (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 455: Ally or Enemy (9)
I might have expressed my thoughts with a joke, but deep down, I was dismayed.
“…So there was one more.”
It wasn’t just Angela.
There was someone on the enemy’s side who could pose a threat to me now.
“I thought he was just some old guy who liked playing with dolls…”
It seemed that wasn’t all he was.
“The Boundary of Negation, huh.”
The name was fitting, I had to admit.
Not a wall or a shield, but a line that drew a boundary.
It was a type of domain in itself.
One that mercilessly negated and erased any existence or power its user refused to accept.
A Divine Authority, a power nearly impossible for a human to awaken on their own.
The monster who had single-handedly erased a large-scale spell turned his gaze toward me.
“You’re a familiar brother. Your name was… Kim Do-jin, was it?”
Hearing the name I’d grown accustomed to over time, he slowly descended and landed on the ground.
I stared straight at him and replied.
“Yeah, that’s right. And you were… Mr. Yoon Myung-ho, I believe.”
Yoon Myung-ho.
That was the Brain Washer’s real name.
But few remembered it now.
Everyone only remembered his villain name.
“Ahaha…! Well, I never. To think a young brother like you would remember my name.”
And one other thing.
“But it seems you didn’t know. That I despise being called by that name.”
As he himself revealed, he utterly loathed being called by his real name.
I had no idea what was wrong with a name that seemed perfectly fine, but not a single person who had called him by it had ever returned.
They either became his puppets, suffering endless torment, or they died.
Only those two outcomes awaited them.
In other words, this was a provocation.
Words spat out with the clear intention of getting on his nerves.
I wanted to test something.
“So what can you do about it?”
The Cult Leader of the Church of Light, who always hid behind his followers and plotted from the shadows.
Just how much power was this Apostle, chosen by Sloth, hiding?
“What can you do besides hide behind your weak-ass lackeys and call everyone ‘brother’? Huh?”
“…Haha.”
He let out a hollow laugh at my blatant taunt.
But his eyes weren’t laughing.
A thick layer of fury and killing intent shimmered in them, like oil floating on water.
“It seems, brother, that we’ll need to establish a special curriculum for you before you can become a believer of the Church of Light.”
I picked my ear and retorted.
“That’s a real roundabout way of saying you want to beat the shit out of me.”
“……”
I’ve learned something in my life.
In an argument, the younger person always has the upper hand.
And if there’s a significant age gap?
Then it’s game over.
Just dropping the honorifics is enough to piss them off.
“Just know this one thing, brother.”
His energy swelled rapidly as he continued, a grim smile on his face.
“That because of your insolent attitude, everyone will die.”
At the same moment, his hands clapped together with a light sound.
Clap!
And then, a change began.
Another wall formed inside the barrier we had set up beforehand.
A translucent gray wall, reminiscent of a gloomy sky thick with dark clouds.
“Sanctuary of Pigritia.”
Another sanctuary.
A domain-type skill, just like the Sanctuary of Patience used by the Apostle of Patience.
I looked up at the ceiling, now turned gray, and voiced the question in my mind.
“…Why don’t I have something like that?”
Fortunately, I had the Domain of the Ruler to substitute for it, but I still felt like I was getting a raw deal.
I’ll have to go see my goddess as soon as this operation is over. Yep.
Having summoned his domain, he spread his arms wide, a broad smile on his face as he spoke.
“Welcome to the hell of Sloth, brothers.”
The moment his words ended, another change was detected within the domain.
Something began to fall from the gray ceiling that had replaced the brightening dawn sky.
Seeing as no one else could see it, it seemed to be some kind of magic.
The flakes, fluttering down like snow, settled on the ground, on the buildings, and on people’s bodies.
And every time they did…
“Lay down your heavy burdens and rest. You all deserve it.”
My body grew heavy.
“You’ve all worked so hard to get here, haven’t you? And what of your injuries?”
My tightly wound focus began to slacken.
I want to sit.
No… I want to lie down.
“What will really change if you rest for just a little while?”
Yeah, he’s right.
Taking a short break won’t change much… will it?
With each word he spoke, my consciousness was helplessly pulled in, and I barely managed to hold on.
In that fleeting moment of clarity…
My mind raced, and I unleashed my mana to shake off the gray flakes clinging to my body.
Fsssh!
“……!”
My mind snapped back into focus.
My lethargic body and mind realigned themselves, ready to fight once more.
“…That was dangerous.”
So, the more that gray mana clings to you, the more your body and mind are overcome with sloth.
A power truly befitting the name Sanctuary of Pigritia.
I quickly turned to check on our allies.
“Ah… I’m definitely too injured.”
“It would be nice to have some time to rest…”
“I’ll have more energy after a break.”
The Paladins, renowned for their strong willpower, couldn’t hold out and began to lie down one by one.
“Everyone… snap out of it!” Angela shouted, forcing her half-buckled knee to straighten.
“…This is incredible.”
The Cult Leader of the Church of Light had brought that monster to her knees.
True to the woman who bore the name of Patience, she seemed to be adapting at a rapid pace and recovering, but this alone was enough to show how terrifying Sloth was.
But what was this?
“……?”
While everyone else was staggering, unable to endure, one person stood firm.
“What the hell is she…”
The person standing there, completely unfazed, was none other than Son Seo-yeon.
Her body was covered in the gray mana, yet she seemed perfectly fine.
If anything, she was looking at the people suddenly collapsing around her as if they were the strange ones.
Suddenly, I remembered the name of the god who had sponsored her.
“Temperance…”
Temperance is the act of setting limits on oneself.
That includes rest.
Could it be that the power she possessed was cutting away even the sloth this domain was forcing upon us?
If my guess was correct…
“So that old geezer’s natural enemy was right over there.”
That meant Seo-yeon was practically the Brain Washer’s nemesis.
“Hmm?”
A pretty good idea came to mind.
A way to effectively suppress the Brain Washer’s power while also giving Seo-yeon some much-needed combat experience.
“Seo-yeon Sunbae!”
“Ah, y-yes…?”
“Come fight with me.”
Seo-yeon, who had been looking bewildered, broke into a bright smile and nodded eagerly.
“Okay…!”
*
She was realizing it anew.
Where she was, and who she was with.
‘They’re truly amazing.’
Angela, who wasn’t being pushed back at all against hundreds of Hunters.
Kim Do-jin, who had dropped a massive meteor and scared the souls out of the enemies.
Faced with the wondrous abilities of those who stood on such dizzying heights, she could feel her own presence shrinking.
And it wasn’t just those two.
The skills of the Paladins, each fighting against seven or eight Hunters, were also tremendous.
Every single one of them was on par with her, or just slightly below.
‘I’m really nothing special.’
She already knew it, but the reality hit her to the bone once more.
She was nothing more than a weakling with nothing to her name.
She acknowledged her weakness but tried not to grow impatient.
‘…It’s okay. My growth hasn’t stopped.’
Hadn’t a god acknowledged her potential?
So, a day would come when she, too, could stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
She chose to believe that without a doubt.
‘I just have to faithfully do what I can right now.’
She admired these figures who seemed so far away, setting them as her goal as she gripped her sword and conjured her magic.
It was then.
When the Cult Leader of the Church of Light stepped forward, the situation began to change rapidly.
Everyone started to fall, one by one.
No, they were willingly dropping to their knees and lying down on the cold ground.
‘Why are they… doing that?’
Even the incredibly strong Angela was on one knee, gritting her teeth.
She was biting down so hard that blood trickled from between her pearly white teeth.
Something was definitely happening.
Which made it all the more puzzling.
Why was she the only one who was perfectly fine?
As she looked around with wide, surprised eyes, wondering what she should do…
“Seo-yeon Sunbae!”
“Ah, y-yes…?”
Kim Do-jin, who remained completely composed even while facing an S-rank villain.
He had called her name.
His face was bright, like someone who had just found a ray of light piercing through the darkness.
“Come fight with me.”
He held out his hand to her.
She didn’t know what was going on, but one thing was certain.
Right now, she could be of great help to him.
She was so happy about that.
So overjoyed she felt like she could fly.
“Okay…!”
With an energetic reply, she leaped to his side.
From here, she could see it.
His eyes and his expression, which she could never have seen from behind, were now so vivid.
And so, beside her ambition to improve, she now held another dream.
‘I want to always be here.’
She wanted to faithfully follow him as he seemed to grow more distant by the day, to always stay by his side.
Like those who had always stood by each other through countless trials and tribulations.
‘Like Mom and Dad.’
She wanted to become like that.