Chapter 105
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Selective Non-Killing Principle
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Fixers and Spirit Mediums rode Bungbung-i up to Yongsan Peak in Danyang, Chungbuk, where the New Country New Love Church stood.
The church and the prayer center were quite a distance apart. About a thirty-minute drive.
There was no choice but to split the team in two.
"I'll get off here at the church. The three of you keep going on Bungbung-i to the Yeocheon-ri quarry about thirty minutes away. There's a building nearby called the New Country Peace Prayer Center. That's where the church's General Assembly Leader is holding the congregants and the kidnapped people."
"So you're saying we should head to the prayer center alone and rescue the regular believers and the kidnapped folks. The church will have all their forces gathered there. Are you sure you don't need us?"
"Yes. I'll handle the church side myself. There are quite a few people locked up in the prayer center's basement, and the interior is pretty complex. I'm counting on you for that."
There was a reason the Fixer had specifically asked for the Spirit Mediums' help.
If he struck the church, no one would be left to head to the prayer center.
If the General Assembly Leader lost his mind and ordered a mass suicide among the people gathered at the prayer center, who knew what might happen inside.
He might even try to negotiate with the Fixer using their lives as leverage. That's why the Fixer wanted the Spirit Mediums to clear out the prayer center while he dealt with the New Country New Love Church.
He would have preferred to bring more forces, but with the Moss House incident fresh from the day before, this was an immediate raid on the enemy's main base—no one else could arrive right away.
"Just hold out a little longer, and others will come to help. So hang in there until then. And here, take one of these maps I've drawn for each of you."
"When did you even prepare all this?"
"I did it during the spare time in the early morning."
The Fixer had sketched the prayer center's interior map based on information from the Codex and printed copies to hand out to Kang Se-yeon, Jo Un-gyeol the Unusual, and Lee Do-gyeom.
With the Fixer's map, navigating the complex prayer center basement would be much easier.
"As you can see, the prayer center interior is like a maze. The areas marked in red have traps, so disable them however you can. The basement is divided into four zones: Zone A has women, Zone B has children, and Zone C has men and the elderly."
And Zone D was the warehouse and storage room.
From the memories read via the Codex, there were no people in Zone D, so the Fixer judged there was no need to rush in. As he thought, Zone D didn't require urgent attention.
"How many people are locked up in this prayer center?"
"Way more than you'd think. And most are believers who came voluntarily and got locked up. There aren't many regular civilians. But the kids in Zone B? Their parents basically half-offered them to the General Assembly Leader. We have to save them no matter what."
"...It always leaves a bitter taste whenever I see stuff like this."
Lee Do-gyeom frowned as he looked at the map.
If the parents were cultists, their kids got steeped in the cult from childhood under their hands.
The children in the prayer center's Zone B were mostly dragged in by their parents and offered to the church.
Regardless of their own will. They were kids who'd met the wrong parents and been denied a proper life.
"Here. I'll take Zone B."
Jo Un-gyeol the Unusual volunteered first for Zone B.
The reason was simple. He had spells specialized in protection, making it easiest for him to shield the kids and escape the prayer center.
Plus, rescuing the children was the highest difficulty, so Jo Un-gyeol stepped up for Zone B.
"Zone A is all women, so you take it, Se-yeon. Do-gyeom, you're on Zone C. Do-gyeom, just scout it out. I'll finish Zone B and come help."
"Got it, Master."
Kang Se-yeon and Lee Do-gyeom nodded in agreement with Jo Un-gyeol the Unusual.
He was the eldest, and his judgment made sense—he was frequently deployed on rescue ops.
"See you later, then."
"We'll clear the prayer center as fast as we can and come help you, Fixer."
"That'd be great. Let's all make it back safe."
Agents from the Anomaly Management Department were also en route to assist the Fixer.
Though getting to the New Country New Love Church might be tricky.
'Without Bungbung-i, they'd be blocked by the barrier and couldn't enter.'
Regular Anomaly Management Department agents were likely to get lost.
The Fixer didn't mind, though.
The spectacle about to unfold might be a bit awkward to show others.
'Quite a few presences up ahead.'
After getting out of the car, the Fixer focused on the presences emanating from the New Country New Love Church as he ascended the mountain path alone.
They must have anticipated his arrival. He could sense numerous presences from the church entrance onward.
Kiiiek.
[This is private property.]
[No entry for outsiders' vehicles]
Halfway up the path stood a sign declaring private property and no outsider entry, along with chain-link fencing to block vehicles.
The Fixer casually tore down the fence and stepped into the enemies' main stronghold. A waiting guard approached to intercept him.
"Hey! Didn't you see the sign? This is a restricted area. No outsiders. Turn back."
The Fixer stared blankly at the approaching guard.
Right from the start. Posing as a guard and approaching the Fixer was a Purity Evangelist from the radical faction.
He was the same type as Yi Mu-young, whom the Fixer had killed before.
A murderer who'd slain seven innocent mixed-bloods.
"As an outsider? I've got pretty deep ties to the New Country New Love Church."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Get out. Keep forcing your way in, and we'll call the cops."
Purity Evangelist Kim Min-gu pulled out his phone, threatening to call the police and yelling at the Fixer to leave.
The Fixer glanced at Kim Min-gu's trembling hand, tense with fear.
He also noted the deception and acting in Kim Min-gu's status.
Kim Min-gu was terrified at the sight of the Fixer. Frightened of the approaching death.
The Fixer closed the distance to the trembling Kim Min-gu in an instant and crushed his right wrist.
"Urk!? Uwaaaah!"
The phone in his hand clattered to the ground.
Kim Min-gu's right wrist dangled like a rotten tree root.
The Celestial Buddha Diamond Rosary showed no reaction to the Fixer's action.
Right now, he harbored no malicious intent or killing urge.
Just pity for this vermin-like man.
'How did you stray onto such a wrong path? So pitiful. I need to help you back to the righteous way.'
Violence born of pure kindness.
Yes. This was an assault infused with good intentions.
"Kim Min-gu, even if you call the police, they probably won't come."
"Kuh..."
"Hurts, right? But it's already regenerating. Funny, isn't it? You're with the Army of Purity too. As a Purity Evangelist, you know full well. That it's a curse."
"Wh-what are you..."
"You were blessed by the General Assembly Leader. Heard the angel's trumpet, drank that man's blood, didn't you?"
"You... how much do you know...?"
"Everything. His methods. The blessings you received. That's why it's so tragic. Your situation."
Kim Min-gu writhed on the ground in agony, looking up at the Fixer with eyes wide in shock.
His eyes still held unwavering faith and trust in the General Assembly Leader.
Does this man know what he's worshiping? Even if he did, he'd believe. That's what cults are.
To guide them back to the right path, he had no choice but to shock their minds awake. So thought the Fixer.
"Kim Min-gu, how many have you killed so far?"
"...The General Assembly Leader won't forgive you. You'll kneel before his power aaaargh!"
The Fixer stomped on Kim Min-gu's leg.
Slowly. And firmly.
His calf burst, severing his left leg from his body.
"Kim Min-gu, I just asked you a question. How many did you kill? Why dodge it?"
"W-wait... just a sec... please... wait... I'll talk! I'll t-talk!"
"Kim Min-gu, can't you answer with all your limbs intact? Think about my position here."
"I-I'll talk... how many... I killed..."
Tears streaming down his face, Kim Min-gu confessed to the people he'd killed.
"A total of seven... one family... lovers... and an orphaned mixed-blood..."
"What crimes did they commit? There must be a reason for killing. Don't say you did it for no reason."
"Th-that... he ordered it! The General Assembly Leader ordered it! Told me to kill!"
"So you killed because he ordered it?"
"...I-I had no choice aaaah!"
At Kim Min-gu's excuse, the Fixer crushed his right shoulder, dislocating it.
Fortunately or not, the angel's trumpet blessing was healing his body in real time.
No matter how much he smashed it, it restored quickly.
Now Kim Min-gu finally understood the Fixer's words.
This wasn't a blessing. It was a curse.
"Kim Min-gu, what I want today is for the radical faction members to repent their sins. You've strayed into the demonic path, so returning to righteousness will involve great pain and suffering."
"W-wait... don't... it hurts. It hurts so much... please... I'm begging... I know my sins! I feel guilt for those I killed... so please..."
"Your eyes are still filled with false beliefs and delusion."
To enlighten him, greater pain seemed necessary.
The Fixer shook his head, ignoring the pleas to stop.
"Above all, you shouldn't beg me. Why beg someone not wronged by you? Beg the victims you killed with your own hands."
"I-I'll beg! Like this, so please... spare me..."
"Spare you? I never planned to kill you."
Today's Fixer was in non-lethal mode.
He wouldn't kill.
But he could make them wish for death.
And there was no malice in it.
It was purely to enlighten the cultists so they could regain their sanity and live properly—an act of 'enlightenment'.
Thus, even the Celestial Buddha Diamond Rosary couldn't block this as part of 'saving sentient beings'.
Kim Min-gu shuddered at the Fixer's ruthless non-killing principle.
Death would be one thing. But keeping him alive and continuing the 'education' via beatings was hellish.
"Endure pain befitting your sins."
"Kaaaaah!"
Tear, smash, break—they wouldn't die, the Army of Purity.
The Fixer was impressed anew by the angel's trumpet's incredible effect.
Smashed and broken, the blessing forcibly revived them.
They were little more than human sandbags that auto-repaired no matter the damage.
The Fixer relentlessly pummeled Kim Min-gu.
Whenever he tried to resist, something was ripped out. When rage boiled over into hatred, it was shoved back in.
"Kim Min-gu, you okay... holy shit! It's a bloodbath!"
Soon, Purity Evangelists poured out of the New Country New Love Church.
So many insane cultists.
The Fixer shook off Kim Min-gu's blood from his hands and faced the approaching group.
His face was already thickly stained with blood.
If an outsider saw this, they'd mistake the Fixer for the aberration.
Yet the Celestial Buddha Diamond Rosary showed no reaction.
The Fixer hadn't crossed into true evil yet.
This was still within bounds. The rosary even vibrated faintly, as if quite satisfied.
"You're all coming down eagerly. Nice to be welcomed like this."
To make them repent on their own, the Fixer slightly loosened the force in his hands.
Mercy in his strikes was needed for enlightenment. As long as he didn't kill, he thought.
The Fixer checked the incoming radical faction believers.
"Your comrades are here, Kim Min-gu. Must be thrilled, right?"
"S-spare... me... please..."
"Now, do you even slightly understand the sins you've committed?"
"...S-sorry... I-I... I know what I've done now..."
"Good. Of course, no one will forgive you for apologizing like that. But never forget your sins to the end. If you do, I'll come back. Got it?"
"Kuh..."
Kim Min-gu nodded, tears pouring, gasping and babbling repentance like someone speaking in tongues.
With his mentality shattered, Kim Min-gu truly repented.
No deception or acting in his status—the Fixer nodded in satisfaction.
He could have killed him anytime and buried him, but guiding him to the right path(?) without killing felt rewarding.
"Best to stay lying down obediently. If you stand or try to run, we'll repeat this. Just stay down like a dead rat. Got it? Answer, Kim Min-gu."
"Y-yes... I'll do that..."
The Fixer smacked the back of Kim Min-gu's head hard.
His head slammed into the ground, and Kim Min-gu lost consciousness.
Beyond concussion and severe skull shake—his skull was slightly cracked. He wouldn't wake for a while.
Even if he did, he'd heed the warning and stay down.
"Haa... haa... that crazy monster... no matter how much we hit, he doesn't flinch..."
While the Fixer enlightened Kim Min-gu, the Purity Evangelists who'd approached from behind battered his back, head, and legs with all sorts of weapons and tools... but the Fixer wasn't scratched.
The enemies were the exhausted ones.
"Is everyone who's come out all of you? No more? I prefer grander welcome parties."
"...You... what the hell are you? Why doesn't a drop of blood spill?"
"Then do you bleed?"
"What? Of course, that's..."
"Humans who bleed committed such atrocities? Against fellow bleeders?"
The Fixer's sudden shift in aura made the charging Purity Evangelists swallow hard and step back.
Murderous intent poured out, legs trembling. His pressure froze them in place.
This time, even the Celestial Buddha Diamond Rosary shook, trying to restrain him.
Not so much a warning as a 'calm down for now'. Like 'not yet' for killing.
"I know, so stop shaking and stay put."
The Fixer warned the rosary.
Keep shaking, and he'd snap it.
The Celestial Buddha Diamond Rosary stilled instantly. The Fixer eyed the gathered humans with killing intent.
Their info windows showed numbers of mixed-bloods killed.
From 3 to nearly 40.
"Kids and adults alike, 40. You killed a lot."
Not yet. Killing these small fries now would summon the Four Heavenly Kings. The Fixer exhaled and held back.
Erasing his killing intent, he addressed the terrified foes.
"All of you will receive punishment fitting your sins."
The Fixer gripped the air, drawing the Four Signs Evil-Slaying Sword.
A shamanic tool, it couldn't cut people.
That's why he'd never used it on humans before.
Made solely to fight evil, it dulled against non-aberrations.
But against villains, it was different. It would slice easily. So he requested of the sword.
"Don't sharpen the blade. Got it."
At his request, the Four Signs Evil-Slaying Sword dulled its gleaming edge itself.
These villains shouldn't die easily.
Dull was better. To use as a blunt weapon.
"Capture the Fixer!"
Purity Evangelists charged at the sword-wielding Fixer.
Terror-maddened or despairing at no escape—who knew their expressions as over thirty evangelists rushed with fervent emotion.
"Uh, uhhh! Kraaaah!"
The Fixer indifferently smashed the shoulder of a hammer-wielding Purity Evangelist with the Four Signs Evil-Slaying Sword.
Crack!
Bone split in half; the evangelist collapsed, foaming at the mouth, half-buried in the dirt. He writhed in agony, gasping his last breaths.
The Fixer thought the handfeel was good. Less like hitting a person, more like tenderizing pork on a hook.
He gauged the exact force to inflict max pain without killing.
All for loving discipline to make them repent.
Sinners must gratefully accept the Fixer's kindness.
"What the...!"
"Deacon Kwon is down!"
"The blessing doesn't work! Surround him! We have to block him from entering no matter what!"
The Fixer bashed heads of incoming evangelists, tore ears of those grabbing at him, gouged eyes.
No need for mercy in strikes. They'd regenerate anyway. Key was max pain to shatter false beliefs.
Time to break those warped convictions.
"Get beaten to death and abandon your cult life."
"Aaaah!"
"Wait! I-I surrender! I'm repenting! Repenting!"
"A belief you abandon that easily? Killed innocents with such shallow faith? You need more, trash."
The Fixer shattered the surrendering evangelist's arms with the sword and booted his gut away.
He felt the innards twist viscerally.
In the Fixer's merciless assault, escapees had legs snapped, resistors had arms pulverized.
No escape for them.
"..."
"Already all down? Why so spineless? Protect your cult leader! Get up!"
Sprawled Purity Evangelists gaped up at the Fixer in horror.
He kicked those who'd given up in rage at their quick collapse.
Berating their weak wills.
"Faith crumbling before pain? No good. You haven't repented yet. I'll make you thoroughly atone."
"W-wait! I've repented... enough!"
"Please... stop... no sensation below the waist..."
"I see it healing, yet excuses. Still trying to deceive me."
The Fixer snapped the shinbone of a crawling evangelist.
It'd heal anyway. Wouldn't die from smashing. So it was fine, right?
"Uwaaaah! You satan devil! What's the difference between you and us?!"
"You might think none. But did you ever show mercy to screaming mixed-bloods? No. I'm showing you mercy now—same?"
Unable to endure, Pastor Choi Leo hurled his Bible at the blood-soaked Fixer.
To Choi Leo, he was no good or evil—just a monster tormenting them under 'enlightenment' pretext.
"Pastor throwing the Bible? Filthy hypocrite. Not worthy of the title."
"You're the one... what are you really?! Pretending to be good, righteous—just venting rage by shattering our faith! Am I wrong? No matter how you threaten, God will side with us! You satan devil...!"
At the pastor's shout, the Fixer released the evangelist's hair he held.
The half-unconscious evangelist thudded into the blood-mudded ground.
The Fixer kicked aside the fallen and approached the trembling pastor.
"Cult dog following the General Assembly Leader—spewing nonsense from your gaping mouth. Asking me now? Pretending to be righteous?"
"Th-that... well..."
"You see me pretending to be good?"
"..."
"You see well. You're right. But if I didn't pretend to be good or kind? What then? Be grateful while I still do. And you think you'll go to heaven if you die? Jesus forgiving all your sins, welcoming you?"
The cultist in pastor's robes had no reply to the Fixer's question.
"If the God you believe truly forgave you, He wouldn't have sent me here. Still don't get it? Wake up, you morons. You betrayed God first by falling for the General Assembly Leader's lies. Yet God still gives you a chance. Realize it now and change. Why can't you grasp His will despite believing? Too stupid? Yeah, that's why you fell for some human's words. Right?"
"Kuh..."
"Pastor Choi Leo. If that head on your neck still works, remember this: You're getting a one-in-a-lifetime chance. Never dare twist God's will with that filthy mouth again. And don't go around claiming you follow His will. Got it."
The Fixer slammed the cult pastor Choi Leo to the ground.
"Welcome party's over."
All who'd crawled out of the New Country New Love Church to block his entry now littered the ground.
Every time they tried to rise, he smashed regenerating parts identically, yanked fingers one by one—they stopped resisting.
Realizing standing meant excruciating pain, the Purity Evangelists awoke: the General Assembly Leader's blessing wasn't one.
"Stay flat on the ground till I return. Stay prone, reflect on your errors. Understand? If I come back and you're moved or posture's off, fitting pain awaits."
The Fixer warned all sprawled there.
Calling their names one by one.
He knew their identities—abandon escape plans.
His threat-heavy warning silenced even their breaths.
Having witnessed divine punishment, they fell mute.
"Now then..."
Finally, the Fixer reached the New Country New Love Church building, leaving the welcome team behind.
Sealed with shutters and security doors, barricaded. The Army of Purity aimed to block entry.
The Fixer sensed presences gathered at the entrance.
Ready to fight the moment he entered.
Bam-!
The Fixer punched through everything blocking the entrance, boring a hole.
As expected, the dim interior held Purity Evangelists of the Army of Purity, weapons ready for him.
Faces mixing fear and resolve.
Some trembling in tension.
The Fixer felt their emotions vividly, stroking the Breath of Silence.
"F-fire!"
"The fire won't go out! Help!"
Flames surged forward.
Hong-ran spewed fire to purify the impure, igniting those gathered to block the entrance.
True to the request—not enough to kill—no one burned to death, but severe burns spread, unhealable even by blessing.
Writhing in pain multiplied. The Army of Purity guarding the entrance panicked, retreating from the approaching Fixer.
"Aberration breached the interior!"
"Fixer's here! Call the White Council!"
The New Country New Love Church lobby was total chaos.
Smoke triggered sprinklers, water jets spraying everywhere.
The jets ensnared fleeing faces, choking them.
The Fixer stroked the Breath of Silence; Hae-yul manipulated the sprinkler water, freezing escapees.
Frozen bodies gripped, screams increased.
One side wailed from unquenchable fire, the other from half-frozen bodies.
Purity Evangelists trying to block the Fixer realized at the impossible sight.
Today was the day of the apocalypse.
True divine judgment descending here?
Events matching Revelation unfolded before them.
Bodies burning naturally, freezing without winter.
Tortured screams terrified the Purity Evangelists into collapse.
The Fixer steeled his will watching them.
This was time for repentance and education.
And the start of full-fledged recreation to enlighten the sinners.