Chapter 460: Divine Authority (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 460: Divine Authority (1)
Brain Washer Yoon Myung-ho, who lost the foundation he had painstakingly built overnight, was now in custody.
His wounds were healed just enough to keep him alive, and he was immediately detained in an Association interrogation room.
Sitting in the chair, he was utterly immobile.
Not only was he in handcuffs and shackles, but he was also forced into a straitjacket, completely restricting his movement.
As if that weren't enough, a specially made blindfold covered his eyes, blocking his vision entirely.
The reason for such measures was a fear that had taken root deep in their hearts.
“Be careful, and then be careful again. We don't know when that bastard might try something.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If anything feels off, take action immediately.”
Of all the criminals the Association had ever captured, he possessed the most heinous ability.
Brainwashing.
The power to mold the minds of others to his will.
The hundreds of Hunters detained in the temporary holding facility were still crying out for him.
-“Release our Cult Leader!”
-“You will face divine punishment, you filthy seeds of evil!”
-“Our Cult Leader, the almighty Son of Light, will punish you-!”
They sang clumsy hymns until their throats were hoarse and recited his doctrines.
Their bloodshot eyes held nothing but madness.
This was the terror of brainwashing.
It turned people of all different looks and personalities into a single, blindly devoted mass.
The Association employees who witnessed this felt a profound sense of dread.
I don't want to end up like that.
Before being brainwashed, they had all been upstanding Hunters.
They were people who had contributed to the nation's peace by conquering dungeons and fighting villains.
These people, who had lived lives far from crime, were now chanting a criminal's name.
They even ignored the families they were seeing for the first time in years.
The tragic sight transformed into one of horror and fear.
That was why they had placed such excessive restraints on Yoon Myung-ho.
They had even fitted him with a collar that had a built-in electric shock function, preparing for any contingency.
The investigator who entered the room, his colleagues' stern warnings fresh in his mind, spoke with a tense expression.
“Mr. Yoon Myung-ho, do you know how many days it’s been since you were detained here?”
A faint smile played on Yoon Myung-ho’s lips as he shook his head.
“Well, I wonder. With my eyes covered, I can’t even tell if it’s day or night.”
His tone was incredibly relaxed.
Unthinkably so for a criminal facing nothing but the worst possible end.
“Because of you, hundreds of Hunters can’t return to their families. Do criminals like you feel no remorse whatsoever?”
At the investigator's righteous declaration, Yoon Myung-ho's lips twisted.
It was an unmistakable sneer.
One meant to mock and deceive.
“Investigator.”
“…”
“Their pasts, their families… none of that matters to me. The believers by their side now are their brothers and sisters, and I am their mother and father.”
It was pure sophistry.
But he wasn't finished.
“If anything, aren’t you the cruel ones for locking me up in here? You’re the ones who tore the children from their father, and the father from his children.”
SLAM!
The sound of impact echoed the moment he finished speaking.
Unable to tolerate a statement so shameless it defied description, the investigator shot up from his seat and slammed his hand on the desk.
“How can you even say that…!”
Just as he, having fallen for Yoon Myung-ho's provocation, was about to erupt in fury.
Click.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
The tightly shut door to the interrogation room opened, and a man stepped inside, cutting the investigator off.
“Wh-who…”
The flustered investigator turned toward the door, and his eyes fell on none other than Kim Do-jin.
“H-Hunter Kim Do-jin…?”
Barging into the room in the middle of the interrogation, he grinned.
“I’ll take it from here. Why don’t you step outside and cool off for a bit, Investigator?”
* * *
I’d heard the stories.
Apparently, our dear Cult Leader had been spouting nothing but bullshit ever since he was detained.
Thanks to him, more than five investigators had nearly collapsed from the sheer frustration.
“Heh, you don't say.”
It actually stoked my competitive spirit.
I was curious just how good he was at spouting nonsense to have taken out all those skilled investigators.
So, as a bit of preliminary research, I’d watched him handle the investigator who went in first.
-“If anything, aren’t you the cruel ones for locking me up in here? You’re the ones who tore the children from their father, and the father from his children.”
I understood after hearing just a couple of exchanges.
“What, that’s it? Nothing special.”
He was good, sure, but not exceptionally so.
Guys who nonchalantly commit heinous crimes others can’t even fathom are usually like that.
They know full well that their own ideology and perspective aren’t normal.
There’s only one reason they talk that way.
Because they enjoy the reaction it gets.
Before he could get the reaction he wanted, I barged into the room and pulled the investigator out.
Then I sat down in the now-warm seat and faced him.
“Been doing okay? Anything you need?”
“…I’m doing just fine, thanks to you. Ah, but there is one thing I need.”
“What’s that?”
“Your life, Brother.”
His tone was murderous.
I waved a hand dismissively in response.
“Ah, that’s a bit of a problem. There are a lot of people who want me dead.”
“Oh? It seems you’ve earned your fair share of grudges.”
“All criminals, just like you.”
“…”
“Anyway, if you really want to kill me, you’ll have to take a number and get in line. Who knows? Maybe your turn will come.”
Not that it ever will, I thought, swallowing the rest of my words.
He was silent, as if at a loss for what to say. I reached out and removed the blindfold from his face.
He grimaced as the light suddenly flooded his vision.
“Nice, isn’t it? Seeing the light for the first time in a while.”
“…The fact that I have to see your ugly mug along with it doesn’t make it so great.”
His tone was starting to get rough.
He must have realized by now.
That unlike the investigators he’d been toying with, his sophistry wouldn’t work on me.
“I know your type.”
With guys like this, if you just demand they confess or give you what you want, they’ll never cooperate.
And why would they?
They’re doomed to fall into an abyss the moment they were caught.
Their default mindset is, If I’m going down, I’m going to cause as much trouble as I can on the way.
So, to make someone like him cooperate, you have to give him an out.
“Let’s make a deal.”
“A deal.”
For the first time, a flicker of curiosity appeared in his eyes.
“That’s right, a deal. If you promise to undo the brainwashing, I’ll grant you whatever you want, within reason. Of course, that excludes ridiculous demands like being set free.”
He laughed the moment I finished.
“Besides being set free, do you really think there’s any other offer that could possibly tempt me right now?”
“I’m sure we can find something.”
People in bad situations often make one common mistake.
They think they’ve hit rock bottom, that there’s nowhere lower to fall.
But they’re wrong.
Just when you think you’ve hit the bottom, you find there’s another floor beneath it.
An abyss where you fall and fall, with no end in sight.
Once you see that, you realize something.
You realize that you have to struggle, even now, just to take a single step away from true rock bottom.
And I was about to make him understand that.
“First of all, it goes without saying, but you’re headed to Prison Belt.”
“…”
The worst prison in history.
A graveyard for criminals.
“As for your sentence… well, you know that sentences are meaningless there.”
Three years, thirty years—it was all meaningless when it came to Prison Belt.
No one had ever served their time there and returned to society.
“If you promise to undo the brainwashing, you might not have to go to Prison Belt. How about it?”
“…”
Yoon Myung-ho fell into thought for a moment.
But it seemed that wasn’t enough to instill true fear in him.
“To be honest, it is frightening… but I’ll accept it. After all, even if I’m locked up somewhere else, I’ll never see the outside world again either way.”
“Oh, is that right.”
He had a point.
Considering everything he’d done, he was looking at a death sentence, no question.
Of course, the death penalty hadn’t been carried out in ages, so he’d just rot in prison until he died.
“Tsk, what a shame.”
It really was. I thought sparing him from Prison Belt was a pretty good deal.
I had a few other offers, but it looked like I’d have to skip them.
Since it was clear he wouldn’t be swayed by anything less, I had no choice but to play my worst card.
“Then how about this.”
I stood up, walked over to him, and reached out my hand.
I placed it over his heart.
A black energy gathered in my palm.
Soon, a vile mouth with sharp teeth and a long tongue materialized.
This was Gluttony.
As my body’s stats had risen, the Divine Authority had become more concrete, more ravenous.
Having taken the form of a mouth, it could now devour anything.
Not just another’s mana.
“What if the deal is that I’ll protect the Divine Authority you received from the God of Sloth?”
It could even devour a Divine Authority granted by another god.
Slurp!
With a sound like licking lips, his power began to flow through my hand and into me.