Chapter 50 Great Peace Sect (6)
The Great Peace Sect (6)
Episode 51
Seongmun General High School.
It was a prestigious institution where only the children of the ultra-wealthy could attend.
But now, such glory belonged solely to the past.
Three meteors had split the sky as they fell, and one of them had unleashed an orc that reduced the school to ruins.
Yet despite this, people had gathered in the current central lounge—one of the few undamaged areas of the school. On the left stood students and faculty, while on the right, members of the Great Peace Sect stared back at them.
At the center, lounging comfortably on a luxurious sofa, sat Son Yeong-hu.
"We heard you've come to rescue us," the vice principal said, adjusting his glasses.
But Son Yeong-hu merely crossed his legs and murmured with an excited expression,
"This chair is really comfortable. It makes me appreciate the value of money all over again."
The vice principal's brows furrowed slightly, and Son Yeong-hu offered a light smile.
"Ah, my apologies. As someone who serves the divine, I usually prioritize a modest lifestyle, so I suppose I got a bit carried away by such opulent furniture."
"...We appreciate you coming all this way to help, but we're managing just fine on our own. The students aren't exactly welcoming either, so you can take back the food supplies you brought."
The vice principal eyed the hundred or so crates of food stacked in the corner of the lounge with suspicion. Since they had been brought by what he considered a cult, their very origin was dubious. For all he knew, they might even contain narcotics.
"Hmm."
Son Yeong-hu stared at the vice principal expressionlessly, then curled the corner of his lips in a smirk.
The veins in the vice principal's temples bulged at that mocking smile.
Then, Son Yeong-hu spoke.
"Don't tell me... you still think the military or police are coming?"
"Yes. The Republic of Korea wouldn't collapse from a crisis of this scale. Moreover, this school is filled with children who will shape the nation's future—there's no way the government would abandon—"
Son Yeong-hu suddenly clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
It was such a bizarre, unsettling laugh that even the battle-hardened vice principal was left dumbfounded.
Son Yeong-hu laughed until he was gasping for breath, then wiped his eyes and chuckled.
"Wow, the world is regressing into an age of barbarism, and you still think the values pursued in modern times matter? Wealth? Prestige? No. Those things are utterly useless in the face of power, don't you think?"
Finishing his words, he flashed a face drunk with euphoria. Overwhelmed by his intensity, the vice principal broke into a cold sweat and barely managed to exhale.
"The military has firearms and weaponry. Other nations have nuclear arms. This disaster will be resolved soon—"
"Ah, my, it seems you haven't heard yet? Guns still work... but bombs, artillery, and other weapons of mass destruction? They're completely non-functional now."
"!"
The vice principal's eyes widened, and he immediately checked his smartphone. But no such information existed anywhere.
As the vice principal regarded him with suspicion, Son Yeong-hu answered arrogantly,
"You don't seem convinced, so take a good look. The most powerful firearm the Tower permits is—"
With a snap of Son Yeong-hu's fingers, the cultists raised black rods into the air. Then, without hesitation, they pulled the triggers.
At that moment—
BOOM!
Flames erupted from the barrels as the air itself seemed to explode. In the darkness, the muzzles gleamed viciously, revealing their true forms.
There were dozens of Great Peace Sect members—and every single one wielded an anti-materiel rifle.
"This is the maximum firepower the Tower allows. Nuclear bombs? Missiles? The Tower doesn't even consider such things. This is a stage meant to test the innate strength of humanity. And in the Tower's eyes, those nukes are nothing more than glorified water balloons. What truly matters is us—humans. The Tower wants to see what we're capable of."
"..."
The vice principal froze at the sect's display of power, a foreboding premonition creeping over him.
"Did you... foresee the Tower's arrival?"
Son Yeong-hu's pupils dilated slightly.
"Yes."
He smiled as he confessed.
"We foresaw the Tower's coming. Our sect leader possesses the ability to glimpse the future."
"...I see."
The vice principal's eyes alone betrayed his disbelief.
"So you can abandon any hope of the government or military surviving. Well, the American forces might hold out for a while. How long, I can't say—but even they'll struggle. They won't have the capacity to help Koreans stranded in the outskirts like us."
Though Son Yeong-hu spoke with near certainty, the vice principal refused to believe it.
"No, I couldn't immediately accept the idea that national institutions had been neutralized in a single day."
"Moreover, staying at this school isn't a particularly wise choice. The only reason this place remains safe from zombies right now is entirely due to the grace of our Great Peace Sect."
"......?"
As the vice principal stood dumbfounded, clearly unable to comprehend, Son Yeong-hu smirked coldly.
He rose from the sofa and slowly scanned the students with his gaze.
"Think about it carefully. Very carefully. Human lives are precious, aren't they?"
With a smile utterly unbefitting a servant of God—a vile, sneering grin—he left the room.
The expressionless cultists followed him, slinging their anti-materiel rifles over their shoulders.
Meanwhile, the students' faces grew increasingly grim.
'...Those damn bastards. They're just threatening us with guns.'
Park Se-eun's fists clenched tightly in fury.
#
Seven hours had passed since the Great Peace Sect seized control of Seongmun General High School.
Morning had come, and though the sun hadn't risen, the sky was gradually brightening.
The zombies that had retreated to the city center no longer lurked near the school.
'Is this really the power of the Great Peace Sect?'
Park Se-eun pushed that thought aside and focused on another pressing issue.
The cultists were prowling through the school as if it were their own territory. Their indifferent gazes carried an unsettling implication—that they could open fire at any moment.
'We have to be careful. One mistake, and everyone could be in danger.'
Even if it was just because of this ominous premonition, Park Se-eun couldn't relax.
"Se-eun... any signal?"
Standing by the fourth-floor window, Ga Da-hui peered at the cultists' encirclement and asked.
Park Se-eun checked her smartphone before answering slowly.
"No service."
"...So it's really jamming?"
Oh Han-yeong, who had been keeping watch beside them, muttered in confusion.
"Jamming? What's that?"
Lee Ji-hyeon, ever the innocent one, tilted her head in puzzlement.
"...Easy. I told you to play some FPS games."
"...An idol who doesn't even have time to go to the bathroom—where would I find time for that? I'm always busy."
"Then I guess you're not much of an idol."
"Huh? You wanna die, you little—"
Ga Da-hui gave them a look of utter exasperation before cutting in.
"Anyway, jamming or whatever, the point is we're cut off from the outside. Same with the internet?"
"Yeah. It's dead. Can't even hear Oppa's voice."
"Ugh, what kind of lockdown is this? Freaking cultists."
"Can't we just wipe them all out? Like, bam?"
At Ga Da-hui's decisive suggestion, the other girls exchanged glances, clasped hands, and fell into deep thought.
Park Se-eun answered.
"It won't be easy. People are too scattered. Zombies are still running wild, and I don't know how those guys made it here safely, but we can't take out that many at once. Unless they're all grouped together..."
Park Se-eun carefully studied the cultists' encirclement through the window.
Only one thought surfaced in her mind.
'...Ugh, this is so annoying. Why do we have to be stuck in this mess...'
She exhaled deeply, feeling utterly drained.
'Can we win? No... the Great Peace Sect's momentum isn't something to underestimate. Whether it's strange techniques or taking down zombies to get here, every one of them is stronger than a normal person.'
If Son Yeong-hu let his guard down, she might stand a chance against him.
'But...'
That haggard female cultist she'd seen earlier was absolutely out of the question. Her very presence screamed danger, setting off every instinctive alarm.
'I don't know why, but I don't feel like we can win at all...'
So Park Se-eun changed her approach.
'We have to get out of here. That's the best I can do in this situation.'
Escape with her friends and survive.
That was what Park Se-eun needed to do now.
"Easy. What about your ability?"
"Why do you keep calling me 'Easy'? You wanna die for real?"
Lee Ji-hyeon bristled, letting out an exasperated sigh. Then, in a hesitant voice, she admitted:
"Well... can I really use my ability to suppress them? A few dozen, maybe, but hundreds... that's a bit..."
At her words, everyone's faces darkened. Each was lost in thought, desperately trying to come up with a plan, when—
—Piiing!
Oh Han-yeong began trembling faintly.
"...No way..."
Ga Da-hui, who had been fixing her hair, noticed Oh Han-yeong's shaking.
"...Han-yeong?? You okay?"
Her voice laced with concern, Ga Da-hui reached out and touched Oh Han-yeong's shoulder. The moment she did, Oh Han-yeong whirled around in panic.
"This isn't the time... We have to get out of here, now!"
As everyone froze in shock, Oh Han-yeong raised her voice.
"H-hurry!!!"
She grabbed her friends' wrists and yanked them forward.
"Ah—"
But her eyes were already clouded with darkness.
Park Se-eun and the other girls didn't know exactly what was happening, but they could clearly sense the tension radiating from Oh Han-yeong.
At that moment—
『Oh Han-yeong's 「Foresee」 activates.』
"No...!"
Oh Han-yeong's whisper reached them first, and Park Se-eun realized—it was already too late.
KWA-BOOM!
A tremor rippled through the air, shaking the very space around them. Darkness swallowed everything. Within that abyss, they all felt as if they'd been struck by a truck, their bodies flung violently through the air.
BANG!
The darkness expanded from a section of the school's fifth floor, devouring everything in its path like a black hole.
"—!"
Park Se-eun's body was hurled into the air by the blast's force. The shockwave threatened to rip her consciousness away—she couldn't even scream.
As she tumbled through the void, she saw Ga Da-hui, Oh Han-yeong, Lee Ji-hyeon—and all the others—being swept away by the darkness.
'Ah...'
Her vision blurred as her friends grew distant. But she couldn't reach them, already ensnared by the encroaching dark. Her consciousness vanished in an instant.
* * *
"Fuck!"
The students' resentment had been simmering every time they saw the cultists strutting around their prestigious school like they owned the place.
'If things were normal, these filthy commoners wouldn't even be allowed to step foot in a place like this...'
It was obvious to anyone that their frustration would eventually explode.
"You—fucking bastard!"
The scene unfolded in the boys' bathroom.
THUD!
Lee Gyeong-o—the one who had leaked information to the Great Peace Sect—was kicked into the wall by an upperclassman.
"Ghk—! Ugh...! S-sorry, I—cough—!"
Lee Gyeong-o didn't have the courage to fight back against the delinquent seniors.
His choice—whether to survive the zombies or to play hero for others—had backfired spectacularly.
"Sorry? You think sorry fucking cuts it?! You motherless piece of shit!"
"Tch. You've got three seconds. Either go deal with those cult freaks yourself, or we deal with you."
Their aggression toward Lee Gyeong-o stemmed from cowardice—they didn't dare confront the Great Peace Sect directly, so they took it out on an easier target.
Lee Gyeong-o wasn't stupid. He knew that much. But he didn't have the guts to stand alone against the cult either.
In the end, he could only kneel and grovel. Tears streamed from his bruised eyes.
Luckily, the seniors didn't beat him with the steel pipes they were holding.
"Ptooey. Disgusting trash."
One of the boys spat on Lee Gyeong-o before turning away.
"Fucking idiot, acting all high and mighty."
"Hey, wanna grab one of those cult chicks and 'borrow' a gun?"
"You insane? They move in packs. No fucking way."
As the students stepped out of the bathroom, joking among themselves, they froze mid-step.
"Whoa..."
A female cultist was wandering the hallway.
Her sickly pallor made her look half-dead. Her sunken eyes darted around erratically, as if she couldn't focus.
Her haggard face betrayed an unstable, restless anxiety—like she couldn't stay still even if she wanted to.
And yet, despite the sharp, almost feral glint in her eyes, she was undeniably beautiful.
No—her face wasn't the only thing that would excite a man.
Though her limbs were gaunt, she was tall, and her tight cult robes clung to her curves in a way that bordered on obscene, emphasizing every voluptuous swell.
'Damn, look at that ass and those tits. Bet she's fucking delicious.'
Her shapely rear was perfectly outlined by the robes, and her toned thighs flexed with every step. That towering height paired with such an explosive figure—
The boys couldn't help but stare, utterly entranced by this sultry beauty.
"Yo. Her body's insane."
"She looks kinda creepy, but who cares? She's just a cultist."
"Bet she's been passed around already. You think their leader would leave a woman like that untouched? She looks like some drugged-up whore. Heh."
The woman staggered like she was high, wandering the hallway with a dazed expression. She seemed lost, glancing around in confusion as if she didn't recognize where she was.
Her vacant, unreadable face was unsettling, but the boys were too busy eyeing her seductive figure to care. They glanced around.
This was a secluded corner of Seongmun General High School's fifth floor.
No one was passing by. No witnesses.
And the Fifth Science Lab was empty.
What a fortunate coincidence.
They exchanged glances—and instantly reached a silent agreement.
The sensation of the pipe in his hand had never felt this thrilling before.
"Excuse me. Miss believer?"
"...?"
At the sound of his voice, she flinched and halted her steps. Hesitating for a moment, she slowly turned her head.
Oh, she really is pretty...?
The moment their eyes met, the boy's face twitched.
"......Yes? Wh-what is it......?"
Her eyes were unfocused, pupils so hazy they seemed unable to fix on anything—a classic sambaekan (three-white-eye). What was even stranger was that there was no light in her irises. It was as if they were filled with an endless sludge.
"..."
Her gaze was so disturbingly vacant, it was like staring into the eyes of a terminally ill patient on the brink of death. Her eyeballs looked hollow, like a dried-up sewer pit.
Is this what the eyes of a wrecked soul look like—someone who's been beaten down to the very bottom of life?
As he stared into her murky pupils, an inexplicable discomfort crawled up his spine, and he instinctively shuddered.
Yet, despite the unsettling emptiness, there was something perversely sensual about her face.
W-what the hell kind of eyes are those? She looks fucking dangerous.
The moment he averted his gaze downward to avoid her stare, her voluptuous, swaying chest filled his vision.
Fuck, no way I'm letting this slut just walk away. Not even the girls at the room salons looked like this.
The excitement he hadn't been able to unleash since the Apocalypse began was steadily rising. Though his lower half remained still, the boy quickly spoke up.
"One of the believers collapsed over there. Could you come with us? It looks serious, so we need to hurry..."
The haggard beauty stood still for a moment, her face blank, before nodding slowly.
"...Okay."
The more he looked at her, the more eerie she seemed, but the boy shook off his unease and guided her toward the Fifth Science Lab.
"It's here."
The curtains were drawn over the windows, leaving the room dark.
"...Where is the believer...?"
Without hesitation, she stepped inside. And in doing so, she failed to notice the figures hiding near the door.
Just as she turned her head, dazedly scanning the darkness in confusion—
CRACK!
A sharp impact struck the back of her skull, and she crumpled forward.
The pipe in the boy's hand was too bent to have just hit a human head. The others stifled their laughter.
"Phew, she seemed suspicious, but she followed us just fine."
"Seemed like a bit of a weirdo."
"Hey. You didn't hit her too hard, did you? What if she's dead?"
They nudged her with their feet, but the fallen woman showed no reaction.
"Who cares if she's dead or not? Get the camera ready for when she wakes up. Once we've got pictures, she won't be able to do shit. Ugh, she's gotta be filthy down there. Wonder how many guys she's been with. Let's start with the ass before we check."
A sly grin spread across the boy's face as he reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed against her plump, tempting backside—
?
An unnatural sound.
The woman's arm twisted backward with grotesque flexibility.
??
Before he knew it, his wrist was caught in a pale, vice-like grip.
And in the next instant—
CRUNCH.
His hand was torn clean off.
"GAAAAAAAAAH!!"
The boy collapsed, screaming as blood gushed from the stump of his wrist.
The others froze, unable to process what had just happened as they stared at the severed limb on the floor.
And then—
"...Ehehe, ehehehehehe... heheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!"
The woman staggered to her feet, her body trembling.
Her laughter echoed through the room as she stared at the ceiling, but the aura around her was nothing like before.
A terrifying, alien presence radiated from her.
From the moment she had been struck, her eyes had twisted unnaturally.
"Ahh, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Ehehehehehehehe!"
Blood streamed down her forehead, but she didn't seem to notice. Her bloodshot eyes locked onto her assailants.
Pupils darker and deeper than the surrounding void—eyes that showed them an abyss beyond imagination.
"Y-you... you all... have committed... so many sins......?"
The boys were frozen in horror, unable to even respond.
Their gazes, their faces, their bodies, their very souls—all locked in terror. Even their breathing stilled, as if afraid she might notice them.
"To sinners like you..."
With a nightmare-inducing grin, she slowly raised her hand.
A corrupt light surged from her palm, gradually forming the shape of an Inverted Cross.
"...I shall deliver—"
『Punish.』
Her laughter erupted again. The moment she clenched her fist and shattered the Inverted Cross, space itself tore apart, swallowing everything in an instant.
KWA-BOOOOOM!!
The explosion of darkness obliterated everything, plunging the surroundings into silence and shadow.