The Great Peace Sect (7)

Episode 52

Squirm—

When my consciousness flew into the darkness, I sensed death.

But Park Se-eun's shoulders trembled faintly.

『Reality is subtly 「warped」 to restore physical condition.』

"Haa... haa..."

My vision flickered between darkness and light, unstable and uncertain.

'Am I... alive?'

As I tried to push myself up, my eyelids fluttering—

"Ugh."

My strength gave out, and I collapsed forward again. My massive chest hit the floor instead, absorbing the impact.

『Reality is subtly 「warped」 to restore physical condition.』

Fortunately, my condition gradually improved, allowing me to barely stand.

As I rose, dizziness spun through my head.

I clutched my forehead, where blood was trickling.

"Haaaugh...!"

Staggering, my shoes scraped against the floor, but thankfully, I didn't fall.

With unfocused eyes, I scanned my surroundings.

Whoooosh—

Dust swirled through the ruins where my friends lay collapsed. Covered in debris, they bled onto the ground.

『「Acute Senses (Rare)」 is active.』

The only relief was that they had suffered nothing worse than scrapes.

Truthfully, my head was so dazed I couldn't comprehend what was happening.

But when I instinctively turned around, a hollow laugh escaped me.

"Ha...?"

The school, which had been five stories tall, had been shattered—reduced to just two floors.

Confusion hit me like a wave, and dizziness surged violently.

'...What the hell? Did a missile hit us?'

Unconsciously, I recalled the cause. A terrifyingly dark and massive explosion. The moment I remembered being swept up in it, my heart twisted painfully.

Then—

"KYAAAAAAAH!"

A scream made me turn my head.

There—

"!"

A fountain of blood sprayed.

"Save me, save me, ple—GURK!!"

"KYAAAAAAH!!"

Students were scrambling out of the collapsed hallway.

Their faces were filled with terror, as if something was chasing them.

"Fuck, I can't die here!"

A male student, fleeing desperately, lost his rationality. He shoved a girl running beside him, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Agh!"

The fallen girl clutched her scraped knee and burst into tears.

"P-please... save...!"

She tried to get up, but her words were cut short. Something brushed past her—and her head toppled off.

"................"

My mind froze. Park Se-eun couldn't utter a word.

"UWAAAAAAH!"

But the male student who had used her as bait also collapsed as his legs gave out—his neck severed.

"..."

There was no way to make sense of this.

When I raised my trembling gaze upward, I finally saw what the students were running from.

Darkness.

Shadows slithered out of the hallway like liquid.

Black rose petals scattered through the air as it darkened.

Thorns sprouted from the shadows, swaying ominously.

A vine-like tendril lashed out—slicing a student in half at the waist.

"Ah... ahh..."

The color drained from Park Se-eun's face as she stood frozen in horror.

Even so, her survival instincts drove her to search for the source of this madness.

At the center of the fleeing students, a faint darkness was spreading.

"Ha, hahaha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

A woman stepped out from within it.

Tirpe—the Great Peace Sect's Executioner.

"Ha, haha, hahahahahahahaha!!"

The shadows flowed from beneath her feet. This woman was the root of all this tragedy.

Someone approached the vice principal, who had lost all sense of reality.

"Ah, dear, dear. What a mess. Did someone mess with our Executioner's head? If that's the case, even I can't stop her."

Son Yeong-hu dug at his ear, flicking away earwax before blowing on his finger. The vice principal, gritting his teeth, grabbed Son Yeong-hu by the collar.

"Stop her! Hurry, stop her! The students—the students are...!"

Even as he spoke, a rose vine whipped through the air—sending a student's lower half flying.

Son Yeong-hu clicked his tongue sympathetically as he watched.

"Ah, I feel bad for those caught up in it, but I can't stop her."

He tapped his temple with a finger.

"Our Executioner here is a bit... special. She has these little episodes sometimes. Normally, she suppresses them, but if something sets her off, it's entirely your fault. Because, you see, our followers never get close to her."

"What?!"

The vice principal turned his head dumbly.

—Ehee, ehehehehahahahahahaha!

Translucent vines, as if on the verge of fading, rose from all directions, thrashing wildly.

The faint silhouette of roses lingered in the air like a nightmare.

It was a magical phenomenon—something unbelievable even when seen with one's own eyes.

But the spectacle this madwoman unleashed was the polar opposite of fantastical magic.

It was just blood spraying, flesh tearing—a grotesque and filthy sight.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"...My sins, my sins are many...!"

The woman muttered with her gaze lowered—just as the walking woman spread her hands, and a cross materialized in her grasp.

The moment the frenzied woman gripped the cross and shattered it with her bare hands—

Splat!

The necks of the fleeing children were severed without warning.

There was no way to comprehend how such a thing was even possible.

No—there was no need to understand.

"Ahahaha—HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It was simply... despair that rendered resistance meaningless.

"Huu..."

Son Yeong-hu sighed and picked up his smartphone.

"Ah, hello? Vice Archbishop? Our Inquisitor has lost it again."

"...Cause?"

"No idea. Probably some brats tried to piss ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her off—maybe even knock her out? Saw blood dripping from her head."

"...Insolent heathens. I'll release the zombie restraints. Negotiations with Seongmun General High are terminated."

"Wha—what?!"

The vice principal paled—just as Son Yeong-hu smiled.

"You heard him, right? We restrained the zombies to protect you, and you took our goodwill for granted? Well, it's over now. Try surviving the zombies."

His cackling figure vanished.

The vice principal, knees buckling in despair, could only watch as the madwoman rampaged.

"I... I'm sorry... kids..."

His hollow face burst apart as vines tore through it.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

The woman threw her head back, laughing wildly as she unleashed a deeper darkness.

Vines erupted from the remaining building.

#

The severed hallway was swallowed by shadows.

Within, thorned tendrils—black and gleaming—twisted like living things.

Withered roses scattered in the air.

Concrete crushed by vines collapsed.

Tirpe licked the thorns coiling around her hand and giggled.

"Not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough...!"

Her unfocused eyes, her face drenched in madness, her exaggerated gestures—she was clearly unhinged.

Her priestly robes were immaculate, spotless white—yet the roses coiled around her reeked of rotting poison.

That dissonance unsettled Park Se-eun.

'...Monster. That thing is a monster.'

A kind of monster she had never seen before. In terms of sheer destructive power, it felt even more dangerous than her sister.

"Judgment... more sins..."

The woman, her mind lost somewhere, curled her lips. The air warped crimson-black. Crosses burst forth from the ominous haze. Her blank eyes scanned them—and the crosses resisted, crackling violently.

But in the end—

CRACK!

A cross, burning black, shattered.

That instant—

"GGRRKK—?!"

"KAAAGH—?!"

Students died in varying, gruesome ways.

"Ahah! This is sin! This was sin all along! You all lived steeped in sin! Hahaha—HAHAHAHAHA!"

Standing atop a mountain of corpses, the woman burst into laughter.

...A horror far more alien than the orc. A terror that couldn't be overcome by brute strength.

"We... we have to run..."

Oh Han-yeong, gripping Se-eun's bloodied arm, turned pale.

She knew Se-eun's ability.

『Oh Han-yeong 「foresees」 the future.』

And yet, she was saying this.

"I... I didn't know. I didn't know ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she was this dangerous..."

Lee Ji-hyeon, supporting the dazed Ga Da-hui, swallowed her tears.

"...Run. Now. We... can't win against that..."

The more corpses piled up, the louder the woman cackled.

Instinct refused to let them approach her.

Survival screamed at them to flee—now.

But.

"P-please, save me! Save me!"

"Park Se-eun! Park Se-eun!!"

Se-eun stared blankly at the remaining survivors.

People were being torn apart by thorned vines, dying in agony.

Her teeth sank into her lip.

Her ribs ached with each ragged breath.

Her heels lifted from the ground.

Oh Han-yeong desperately reached out.

"Park Se-eun, no—! Don't go!!"

But she couldn't grab Se-eun's back. She had already leaped into the shadows.

『Title acquired: 「Guardian of Good Intent」.』

"STOP IT!"

She roared at the fanatic, drunk on joy as she slaughtered students. Her hand shot forward. Her blue eyes, locked onto Tirpe, blazed with azure light.

『Twists』

Tirpe's eyes twitched as she stared at Se-eun.

But space itself warped.

"—!"

The woman's upper body was sucked in. Flesh was gruesomely shredded within.

Se-eun shuddered involuntarily. Yet, in that moment—she felt relief.

But then—

'Is it... over?'

Kiiiiing—!

"Huh...?"

An incomprehensible phenomenon unfolded before her eyes.

The twisted space reversed its rotation and unraveled. The warped space was returning to its original, undisturbed form.

The woman's upper body had undoubtedly been torn apart within that distortion.

And yet.

"Aha...haha...?"

Her shredded flesh was regenerating as if time itself were flowing backward.

The woman who should have been unmistakably dead turned her head with perfect composure. Her eerie eyes glittered with dark light.

Park Se-eun couldn't believe what she was seeing.

But her response was swift.

『I "Twist" the target.』

『I "Twist" the target.』

"Hyuaaap!"

She leaped sideways to evade the shadow surging from beneath her feet, simultaneously generating another twist directed at Tirpe.

Not stopping there, she layered multiple twists, warping the entire space around them.

Kwagagagak!

The woman's body was ceaselessly pulverized.

And yet...

"Ehee, heeheehee?"

The twists lost their power and dissipated. Again and again, she emerged unscathed from what should have been fatal wounds.

"......................"

As if she were some divine emissary, her cells reversed time to reconstruct themselves.

"Ehehehehehe...!"

The deranged fanatic remained standing in the same spot, utterly unfazed. Park Se-eun's eyebrows twitched in disbelief.

'W-what kind of ability is this...? N-no one told me there was something this absurd...!'

Her brother had briefed her extensively about the key figures to watch out for.

But he had never mentioned an ability this dangerous.

'An ability that revives her even after death...'

Something this lethal would have been unforgettable—yet she had never heard of it.

'What the hell...? Who the hell is this woman?!'

The terror of facing an unknown enemy weighed heavily on her.

Just then.

"Hee?"

The woman's pale, bloodshot eyes rolled unnaturally.

Her dark pupils narrowed as they locked onto Park Se-eun.

"You... are steeped in sin. So much reckless sin..."

Just that gaze alone sent shivers down her spine, her body trembling uncontrollably.

But then.

"Could it be... someone of the same bloodline...?"

Those words struck a nerve.

"...Shut up!"

Driven by the urgency of keeping her secret, she let out a scream-like roar and charged forward.

At that very moment.

"Park Se-eun, move aside!"

Kim Yeong-han lunged from the side.

『"Supportive Resistance" activates.』

"?! Hey, you...!? Don't!"

She shrieked in warning, but it was too late.

Kim Yeong-han dodged the black vines and leaped into the air.

"Die!"

He swung the steel pipe in his hand, aiming to smash Tirpe's skull.

But Tirpe didn't even flinch. Not a single trace of disturbance. Her narrowed eyes merely regarded him with indifference—until, in an instant, madness flickered across them.

"Aah, how bother... some...? Ah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no. This won't do. We came here to peacefully spread our faith... Grrr...!"

Her pale lips gnashed violently. She even bit down on her own thumb, wrapped in thorny vines, grinding her teeth.

But then, unnoticed until now—

"Ah, how could you resort to such barbarity...?"

She was suddenly smiling serenely.

Kim Yeong-han belatedly sensed the dissonance in her demeanor.

"...So much sin, so very much sin...! Our handsome little unbeliever here...!"

Tirpe shrieked in fury.

In that instant—

A black flame erupted between them.

Whoosh!

A cross forged of black fire.

It materialized in Tirpe's palm, warping violently before shattering in her grip with a deafening crack.

"The wages of sin—!"

Flickering embers illuminated her blurred, ecstatic face.

『Punish.』

Unmistakable rapture flashed in the fanatic's eyes.

『"The bramble delves into the weight of sin." activates.』

A rose woven from shadows descended.

Then, even the remnants of the cross dissolved into the air.

At that moment, darkness coiled around Kim Yeong-han's limbs.

"Ghk—!"

His breath hitched. Panicked, he whirled around, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Huh?"

His ability-enhanced, unstoppable charge had been halted mid-motion.

No—what shocked him more was...

Slowly, he looked down at his feet.

Black rose vines had emerged from his own shadow, coiling around his ankles.

"...Oh my, oh my. You've... piled up quite the mountain of sin, haven't you?"

A trembling, gleeful voice rang out.

The writhing rose vines tightened around him, spreading rapidly.

Krrrck.

"The weight of your sins has driven them deep."

Too late—

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

The watching female students screamed.

Krrrrrrrrck!

"...!"

Only now did he realize—his entire body had already been lacerated.

"Aah... aaah..."

Three gaping wounds had been carved into his chest.

Ghk—!

He gagged, coughing up blood as he struggled to exhale.

"Fufufu, ehehehehe. Fuhahahahahahahaha!"

Tirpe's maddened laughter rose higher as she twisted her body like a deranged creature. Whatever delighted her so much, she covered her face with her hands and giggled uncontrollably.

She was truly a lunatic.

Splat!

Blood splattered across the floor.

The body, torn apart by thorny vines, collapsed.

His pupils dilated, and his breath faded.

'Am... am I dying...?'

Was this the price of recklessness?

He had only wanted to look good in Park Se-eun's eyes. He thought his abilities were enough to be chosen.

But how...

How could such an absurd power even exist?

"Why... did you rush in like that?"

A boot stained with blood entered his fading vision.

Park Se-eun was looking down at him with pity.

But that gaze wasn't just for him. It was the same look she gave all the students who had been sacrificed to that fanatic.

'Park Se-eun... what was I to you...?'

He felt devastation, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

He had just wanted to make the girl he liked fall for him, to have a future together.

But that recklessness ended in a lonely demise.

"Next time, figure out your opponent's abilities before charging in. You idiot."

Park Se-eun's eyelashes trembled as she looked down at her mutilated friend.

The fact that she could only save someone already on the verge of death—that was what pained her.

"Later... don't forget to pay me back with an item. You damn bastard."

『Park Se-eun 「Twists」 Kim Yeong-han's past back by 10 seconds.』

A blue light spread through the wind.

Kugugugung!

Space distorted.

From the warped fissures, light poured out.

The light from the cracks seeped into Kim Yeong-han's optic nerves.

* * *

"Huh...?"

It was an unfamiliar sensation. His lungs, as if brand new, comfortably took in oxygen without restraint.

Just moments ago, they had been pierced and filled with blood. Surviving had been beyond his wildest dreams.

But now—

His blurred vision cleared, and the body in his sight was unharmed.

The self that had been moments from death was standing perfectly fine.

'...What?'

Even after experiencing it firsthand, he couldn't comprehend the phenomenon.

Kim Yeong-han blankly turned his head.

At that moment—

"Ghhhaaah!"

Blood splattered where he looked.

The silver-haired beauty was kneeling, clutching at empty air.

『Pouring out all her mana to twist the very concept of the world.』

A swirling vortex of blue light was shredding Tirpe along with the space itself.

Yet, as the intense rotational force reversed, her silhouette flickered back into existence.

"Ha... ha..."

A hollow laugh escaped first. Park Ha-rin finally coughed up blood and collapsed.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?! Hey! Park Se-eun?!"

He hurriedly reached out to support the convulsing Park Se-eun.

Thud!

But she roughly shoved him away. Wiping the blood from her lips, she glared at Tirpe.

"Eh? What?"

Tirpe, standing far off, looked genuinely startled—then amused, her lips twitching.

"Huh, huhuhu...? My, my, what an excellent ability you have. This is truly..."

Her unnervingly curved eyes narrowed.

"Worth keeping alive."

She stepped forward, crushing the corpses beneath her feet one by one. Her swaying gait almost looked like dancing.

But when Kim Yeong-han met Tirpe's dead eyes, he froze, unable to move.

"How fascinating...!"

Crouching down, Tirpe stared at Park Se-eun from point-blank range, her gaze unsettling.

Her eyes darted around, scrutinizing Park Se-eun's own.

Under that horrifying stare, Park Se-eun couldn't hold back—tears spilled out.

"P-please... spare me."

Tirpe smirked ambiguously.

She pressed a finger against Park Se-eun's cheek and swayed her head side to side.

Then her eyes widened, and she let out a stifled laugh.

"Hmm... should I? Thanks to you, my head feels a little clearer now. That's fine, right? Ha, of course it is. Kikiki. Pfft—hahaha."

There was nothing funny about the situation, yet Tirpe burst into laughter out of nowhere. The monster who had destroyed the school contorted her face like a crow cackling.

"Ahh...! I, I saved them again. Everyone, everyone is at peace now. They don't have to endure hell anymore. Envy me, envy me! Haha, ahahahahaha!"

Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes and fell. A bizarre laughter that seemed both gleeful and weeping.

Park Se-eun, witnessing it, could only tremble, her breath caught in her throat.

—KIIIIEEEEEEEEEK!

In the distance, countless zombies came charging.

Park Se-eun stared at Tirpe with fading vision.

Yet, even then, one person surfaced in her mind.

'...Oppa. You can't come here.'

—KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The madwoman, impossible to understand, kept laughing as she threw her head back.

'The Great Peace Sect... has a monster...'

Seongmun General High School had fallen without even putting up resistance—crushed by a single person.

Son Yeong-hu, standing far away, spotted the surviving schoolgirls and patted his chest in relief.

"Uhyo! Jackpot—so many beauties in one place!"

—Ihihihi, ihihihihi, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That woman was an existence they could never defeat.

The survivors, having completely lost the will to resist, were escorted away by the Great Peace Sect.