Chapter 462: Divine Authority (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 462: Divine Authority (3)
I slowly, very slowly, withdrew the energy constricting his heart.
“Kuhk, haah, haah…!”
He gasped raggedly as the pain subsided, shaking his head violently.
As he did, the eyes that looked up at me were filled with deep fear.
He understood.
He understood that I could completely strip him of the very foundation upon which he'd built his life.
Death might not have frightened him this much.
But the terrifying prospect of living on after losing everything he had built—that was what truly horrified him.
…I know the feeling well, having experienced it myself.
“How does it feel, to have your life completely stolen from you?”
“…It feels like shit.”
An apt description.
It does feel like shit.
“The people you brainwashed and whose lives you stole must have felt the same.”
“……”
Yoon Myung-ho clamped his mouth shut and turned his head away.
Well… just because he knows how it feels doesn't mean this rotten bastard will turn over a new leaf.
If he were the kind of person who could be fixed this easily, he never would have become an S-rank villain in the first place.
But still, someone had to let him know.
He needed to live with the knowledge of just how much shit he's flung at other people.
That's the only way he'll spend what little life he has left in agony.
“Keep your promise. No, you will keep it. If you don't want to lose what little hope you have left.”
At my words, he gnawed on his lip before struggling to speak.
“…I have one request.”
“Let's hear it.”
I answered readily, as if doing him a great favor. He squeezed his eyes shut as he continued.
“C-could you just... keep me out of the Prison Belt?”
“Hmm.”
Look at this.
People really need to realize that where they're standing isn't the absolute bottom.
Keeping him out of the Prison Belt wasn't that difficult.
I'd already discussed using it as a bargaining chip with the higher-ups before coming here.
Then, a good idea suddenly came to mind.
“Alright. I can pull some strings for that.”
“…Th-thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Prisons, especially the special kind designed for the Awakened, are hardly pleasant places to live.
But compared to the Prison Belt, a Korean correctional facility is practically heaven.
Unlike that place, where they don't even treat you like a human, the prisons in this country at least afford criminals their human rights.
And that was my brilliant idea.
Just when he starts getting used to life in a relatively comfortable Korean prison…
What if he suddenly gets the news that he's being transferred to the Prison Belt?
I wonder what kind of expression he'll make then.
I hope it gives him a chance to regret, even just a little, the life he lived as a villain.
Hiding these inner thoughts, I put on a friendly smile, slung an arm around his shoulder, and spoke in a familiar tone.
“First, shall we go undo the brainwashing?”
“…Before that, I'd like to draw up a written pledge.”
“……”
Just like a villain. He doesn't trust people for shit.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The temporary detention center, where those brainwashed into being faithful followers of the Church of Light were gathered.
There, countless people were still crying out for their Cult Leader.
“Leader, our Leader… cough!”
“Release our Leader, you vicious…!”
They had screamed so much that all their voices were hoarse.
Yet seeing them refuse to stop shouting, I was once again reminded of how incredible his power was.
Hadn't he transformed complete strangers into followers who would willingly face death at his command?
If I had waited, thinking ‘just a little longer,’ that bastard would have surely become a great disaster and swallowed this country whole.
A wave of relief washed over me, thankful that I'd crushed him before it was too late.
At the same time, greed stirred within me.
“It's definitely a useful power to have…”
A desire for the Divine Authority of Sloth.
If I could, I'd love to steal it completely, but…
“As if that's possible.”
The truth is, it was all a lie.
In its current state, Gluttony cannot steal another's Divine Authority.
To be precise, I can absorb the aura the Divine Authority generates, but I can't take the source itself.
If that were possible, why would I have bothered threatening him with deals and whatnot?
I could have just taken it and undone the brainwashing myself.
In short, what I did to him was a gamble—a bluff.
I just made him feel like his power was disappearing by rapidly absorbing the aura and mana originating from the source. In reality, Gluttony never even got close to the source.
If the situation had dragged on a little longer, or if he had been a little calmer, he might have noticed.
“But making sure he didn't notice is a skill in itself.”
Still, it wasn't a bad outcome.
I only absorbed the aura, not the source, but I still gained a considerable benefit.
When I greedily devoured the aura of Sloth, a message that filled me with anticipation appeared.
[You are devouring the aura of Sloth.]
[The properties of the excessively absorbed aura are partially melting into your mana.]
[Time remaining until digestion: 22:11:10]
A portion of the properties from the absorbed aura of Sloth was melting into my mana.
This was a similar phenomenon to when I devoured the aura of Wrath while fighting Lu Bu's subordinates.
Now that I've absorbed even a part of that power, I'll achieve a different kind of growth from everyone else yet again.
I rubbed the stomach where Gluttony resided and smiled pleasantly.
“I'll have to be satisfied with this for now.”
Gluttony always makes me dream of the future.
No, it constantly shows me glimpses of possibilities, so that my future self can covet even more.
Seeing those possibilities gave me conviction.
That in the future, Gluttony will grow large enough to swallow even an opponent's source in a single bite.
That's why.
That's why I captured Yoon Myung-ho and left him relatively unharmed.
He is the prey my future self will devour.
Imagining that moment, I suppressed the greed boiling up inside me and gave Yoon Myung-ho a light push on the back.
“Come on, let's get this over with.”
Pushed forward by me, he started walking with an expression so heavy it was hard to describe.
Seeing Yoon Myung-ho, all the fanatics in the detention center rushed to the iron bars.
“L-Leader!”
“The Leader is here-!”
“He must have come to save us!”
“We believed in you, Leader!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Crazed shouts.
The deafening noise of them pounding on the iron bars with their hands and feet.
Standing in the center of it all, Yoon Myung-ho's Adam's apple bobbed.
I sneered at the back of his head, which clearly showed he was scared.
“What, scared to release them now? Afraid the followers who adored you so much will kill you?”
“……”
His face crumpled, but he kept his mouth tightly shut.
Looks like I hit a nerve.
Of course he's scared.
The very people who were just crying out his name would rush to tear his throat out.
“But don't worry. You won't die here.”
I won't allow that kind of death.
He's my prey, after all.
Amidst the crazed cheers, he slowly drew upon the power of his Divine Authority.
A gray aura began to spread.
The moment it touched the heads of the fanatics beyond the bars…
He murmured.
“It is time to return, my brothers.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the gray aura dissipated like a heat haze, and the people who had been chanting the Leader's name just seconds before began to fall one by one, their eyes rolling back in their heads.
Thud!
Thud!
Crash!
They lay sprawled about, piled on top of each other.
Yoon Myung-ho, who had been watching them with a complicated expression, turned to me.
“…It's all done.”
“These aren't the only people who need to be freed from the brainwashing.”
The Hunters who acted as his royal guard were just the tip of the iceberg.
The number of ordinary followers supporting them from below was in the thousands.
“…They've all been released too. If you don't believe me, you can check for yourself.”
Not long after he said that, an Association employee who had been standing by in full gear for emergencies approached and whispered in my ear.
“It seems to be true, sir. We're getting a flood of calls to 119 about people suddenly screaming and collapsing.”
It seemed the same scene unfolding before my eyes was happening all across the country.
“Okay. Situation's over. Restrain him again and let's head back.”
“Yes, sir.”
No sooner had I spoken than handcuffs and shackles were placed on the body of the man who had, for a brief moment, regained his freedom.
As he was being dragged away by the Hunters, limp and powerless once more, Yoon Myung-ho hurriedly spoke.
“Your promise… you must keep it.”
“Of course.”
To summarize the pledge we signed before coming here:
In exchange for releasing everyone under his brainwashing, he would be incarcerated in a domestic correctional facility.
“Your crimes are crystal clear, so the trial will be quick and you'll be imprisoned in a domestic facility. I've already cleared it with the higher-ups.”
“…I understand.”
Yoon Myung-ho was led away by the Hunters, his face visibly relieved.
Then, he tensed his legs, forcing his steps to a halt, and turned his head.
“One last piece of advice.”
A faint smile played on his lips as he began to speak.
“This peace, built on lies, will soon come to an end.”
It was a sneer.
One filled with a derision that seemed to mock the impossibly difficult future that lay ahead of me.
“A fierce storm of blood will begin to blow. A great storm of blood from which nowhere in this world will be safe.”
Kekekeke!
Laughing like a madman, he glared at me with crazed eyes.
“I'll be watching. To see just how long you can survive!”
Finally, he left me with a parting request.
“Please, I hope you survive for a long time. Preferably until the number I drew gets called…!”
With those words, he turned his back without any lingering attachment and walked away.
“Kekek… Kuhahahat!”
Listening to his mad laughter echo through the now-quiet detention center, I twisted my lips into a smirk.
“…Did he think that would scare me?”
Sorry, but I already knew.
That the current peace is nothing but an empty shell.
And that it would end soon.
“He should be worrying about himself instead of me, tsk tsk.”
I clicked my tongue, feigning concern for his future.
The number he drew?
Even if his turn comes, he won't even get a chance to take it.
As stated in the pledge, he'll avoid the Prison Belt and be incarcerated in a domestic prison.
But here's the thing.
“We never discussed the transfer process that would happen after that, did we…?”
Enjoy it while you can, however brief it may be.
Your happy prison life in a country that grants human rights even to criminals.
Because later, you'll be living a life worse than an insect's.
And you'll live it until the day you die.
Just as a deep smile formed on my lips…
Vrrrr-
The smartphone in my pocket buzzed loudly.
I took it out and checked. It was the message I had been eagerly waiting for the past few days.
It was none other than…
“Oh, it's here.”
The news that the Elixir had arrived in the country and was eagerly awaiting its owner.