Joo Joohye (4)
Joo Joohye (4) — Hanmaum Guwon Cult, First Floor
At Seo Taesan's swift command, the male believers assembled in front of the first-floor residential quarters.
Meanwhile, utterly unaware of any of this, Joo Joohye's family kept up their circular conversation, each of them talking past the other in a hopeless game of telephone.
"Oh dear, oh dear, our Joohye, what are we going to do with her now? Has a demon really taken hold of her? Aigoo…."
"You show up out of nowhere and start saying what, exactly?!"
Every word rang crystal clear to my awakened ears, but the believers who actually mattered heard nothing at all, thanks to the airtight soundproofing of the Believer's Room.
Kiiiik—
My telekinesis gently swung open the door to Joo Joohye's room, still thick with confusion.
"The Cult Leader told us everything! Aigoo… it's our fault, it's all our fault. Because of us, being stuck with that wretched Sergeant Kim…."
"Please, just calm down and tell me from the beginning! Sergeant Kim died because a cult leader killed him—why is he suddenly coming up?"
"You just called the Cult Leader a cult leader?!"
Joo Yoseph's roar carried through the open doorway and reached every single believer outside.
"A fraud? Him, the kindest soul in the whole world? Joohye, child, has a demon truly possessed you…."
"…A demon? You mean that man, to me?"
"Aigoo, aigoo, Joohye…."
"…And the two of you came all this way because you actually believed that?"
Joo Joohye's voice began to tremble violently.
The climax was slowly creeping into view, and I couldn't hold back my grin.
"Look at what you're wearing right now. Joohye, why do you keep wearing those filthy rags when you've got clean new clothes?"
"You call that a reason?! The moment I put those on, it means I've submitted to that fraud's words! Then why are the two of you still wearing yours?!"
"A fraud—him, the man who went out of his way to bring gifts because he worried two old people would be lonely! Why have you gotten so coarse while I wasn't looking?"
"Grandma! Are you seriously saying you trust that fraud you've known for a single day more than your own family of decades?!"
"It's not about trust, child—it's about the way you're behaving!"
"PLEEEEEEASE GET A GRIIIIIP!"
A scream overflowing with fury and injustice shook the Sanctuary to its core.
To her, it was the scattered fragments of emotions long held back until they finally detonated. To the believers, it was a chilling howl of malice.
"The evil has revealed its true nature. Protect the believers, quickly."
"Yes, Cult Leader!"
The instant my permission fell, the male believers stormed into Joo Joohye's room.
"So the demon bitch finally shows her true colors!"
Along with Seo Taesan's bellow, a crashing racket rang out in succession.
"Wha—what the helllll!"
"Aigoo, aigoo, brothers!"
Joo Joohye's startled scream mingled with the resigned sighs of Joo Yoseph and Kwon Misook, who looked like they'd seen this coming all along.
Dragged out while thrashing wildly, Joo Joohye caught sight of me and began to froth at the mouth.
"Y-you son of a biiitch! Why are you dragging my family into this! Whyyyyy!"
Reason and composure had both abandoned her, leaving nothing but raw rage and revulsion.
She was making it painfully clear that she had reached her limit.
She struggled furiously against Seo Taesan and Jeong Shinwoo, but as a support-type Awakened, shaking off two grown men was clearly beyond her.
Not that it mattered—even if she'd broken free, telekinesis was waiting on the other side.
"Aigoo, Cult Leader! We're so sorry! We're so sorry!"
Joo Joohye's family, hauled out alongside her, threw themselves at my feet and apologized over and over.
"That could have gone very badly indeed."
"We're sorry, we're so sorry, Cult Leader."
"There is nothing to forgive. How could I not understand the love you bear for our believer Joo Joohye?"
When I raised them from the ground with my own hands, their eyes brimmed with emotion.
I smiled benevolently and clasped their hands in mine.
"Thank you, oh thank you."
I moved past their murmured gratitude until I stood directly before Joo Joohye.
She had given up her pointless struggling and now glared at me with venomous eyes.
"I see a demon before us. The devil's herald, spreading disbelief among the faithful."
Hiiiik—
Soothing the thoroughly startled believers, I continued.
"That creature is gnawing away at our young believer Joo Joohye. Time is short."
The insolent girl, dressed not in the blessed Awakened vestments I had gifted her, but in her dirty, tattered rags.
Just how far would she go, I wondered, enduring for the sake of her so-called noble convictions?
"I hereby convene a religious tribunal."
I declared it to the believers in a cold, merciless voice.
The first-floor lobby of the Hanmaum Guwon Cult.
On any ordinary day, dining tables would have stretched in rows beneath the statue. Today was different.
In the center of the lobby, Joo Joohye knelt, bound tightly in thick, heavy rope.
Encircling her stood every believer of the Salvation Cult, along with her restless, wringing-hands family.
The statue loomed above her like a judge passing sentence on the condemned, and directly below it stood three enormous chairs, prepared and waiting.
With all the executives taking their seats, every last preparation for the tribunal was complete.
I caught Seong Gaeul's eye with a glance to my right, signaling the beginning of the trial.
"A certain believer has caused disturbances on numerous occasions."
Seong Gaeul rose from her seat and addressed the congregation.
"This young prospective believer disrupted a sacred prayer, and worse, blasphemed against our Cult Leader, who watches over us with grace. Furthermore, she threatened her own grandfather and grandmother with vile coercion, demanding they abandon their faith in him."
The moment Seong Gaeul finished, the believers, steeped in shock, began to murmur among themselves.
The sworn testimony of the male believers who had been present rippled outward through the crowd.
"The Cult Leader has spoken! He has said that a demon, passed to her from another, dwells within her body!"
The first evil ever proclaimed by the Cult Leader within the peaceful Sanctuary.
Fear took root in the believers' eyes as they looked upon Joo Joohye.
"For the sake of the believers' peaceful lives, the Cult Leader intended to handle the matter in complete secrecy—but love, in the name of family, could not be stopped."
Aaaaah—
As a small lament drifted through the hall, Joo Yoseph and Kwon Misook bowed their heads like criminals.
"Sensing that it had been discovered, the demon attempted to defile the Sanctuary itself—but the Cult Leader saw through it, could not be overcome, and so she waits here now for his judgment."
Joo Joohye offered no rebuttal.
She simply kept glaring at me alone, defiance still burning in her eyes.
"Do you acknowledge your sins, my daughter?"
"Ptoo—!"
Instead of an answer, she spat at me.
The long-arched glob of saliva never reached me, scattering across the floor instead.
"Oh—oh my!"
Watching the killing intent creeping into the believers' eyes, I gave Yoon Ayoung a small nod.
Seated at my left, Yoon Ayoung rose slowly from her chair.
Bathed in the white radiance of her Awakened vestments, she walked toward Joo Joohye with an expression of serene purity.
Tok— tok—
With the soft click of her clean shoes, the saintess of the Salvation Cult laid her hand upon Joo Joohye's head.
A warm voice seeped into the bewildered girl.
"Can you hear me, spirit of the pure Joo Joohye, pushed aside by evil?"
The believers melted into the pristine, innocent voice—something the usual Yoon Ayoung could never have produced.
"It must be cold and frightening, but please endure just a little longer. The Cult Leader will gladly bear all of your sorrow and pain."
"Aaaaah—"
Unlike the believers swept up in emotion, Joo Joohye tried to say something.
But an unseen force had clamped her mouth firmly shut, and her eyes wavered wildly.
'No, no. It's not your time to lose it yet.'
While my telekinesis held her mouth sealed, the saintess shook her head with an expression of profound sorrow.
"My own power is still too lacking—I cannot hear her voice. The corruption she carried in from outside is far too strong."
The moment the saintess returned to her seat, the believers began slowly drawing away from the Star Light Church people.
They spread apart with desperate urgency, as if fleeing a plague.
Clap—!
At the sound of my applause, everyone—the believers who had been edging away, the Star Light Church people who had stood with heads silently bowed—turned their eyes to me at once.
"Do not doubt our newly arrived family! Not all of them have fallen to evil! As proof, one of our new believers shall now bear witness to her faith before this demon!"
At my gesture, a woman stepped one pace forward.
Her telekinesis released, Joo Joohye's mouth called out to her in a daze.
"…Hyewon?"
Seo Hyewon did not answer Joo Joohye's question. She looked only at me.
As if answering that unshakable faith, I smiled warmly and spoke.
"My daughter, tell me your name."
"Seo Hyewon, Cult Leader."
"Yes. You knew that demon for a long time, did you not?"
"I did. Before she was corrupted, she was my dearest older sister in all but name."
At this exchange between Seo Hyewon and me, Joo Joohye's mouth—no longer sealed by telekinesis—would not open.
It kept opening and closing dumbly, as though searching for words it could not find.
"You told me you held compelling proof that Joo Joohye is the demon's servant. Is that true?"
"Yes, it is true, Cult Leader."
"Then speak. Before everyone here—every last word."
At my command, Seo Hyewon opened her mouth without a flicker of hesitation.
The faith shimmering beneath her words did not waver in the slightest.
"It was last night. Unable to overcome the insomnia that torments me, I sought out the prayer room on the second floor. And the Cult Leader happened to be there—he healed me, and I was in the midst of reclaiming my true light."
Seo Hyewon pointed her finger at Joo Joohye, who stared back at her hollowly.
"But Joo Joohye, who I confirmed was sound asleep, burst into that prayer room at that very moment. She called out my name and shattered the peace of mind I was seeking! How could that woman possibly have found me!"
As Seo Hyewon's voice rose, Joo Joohye's eyes shook in proportion.
"There is no doubt—it was the demon controlling her! The demon whispered to her, commanding her to obstruct my salvation! Where in this world could there be proof greater than this!"
That's right—!
Sister Hyewon speaks the truth—!
The believers, having heard her story in full, clenched their fists and rallied to Seo Hyewon's voice.
Like a broken machine repeating itself—Hyewon, Hyewon—Joo Joohye's eyes were slowly dying.
In this moment, she was utterly, completely alone.
"You showed great courage. Well done, my daughter."
"Aaah—Cult Leader."
"That is enough. Return to your seat and leave everything to me. As I always have."
"Yes—yes, I understand, Cult Leader."
After watching Seo Hyewon make her slow way back, I rose from my chair and met the eyes of every believer in the hall.
"My beloved children! This tribunal is the first judgment to be held in our new world!"
This was no trial conducted through a prosecutor's formal indictment.
No court attended by a proxy of God, either.
This was a trial presided over directly by the god of the religion—his word itself the law.
No—this was a judgment.
"Look upon that woman's face! The evil that will torment us endlessly comes wrapped in a face as beautiful as that, to sow confusion among us!"
Evil is never extraordinary.
Evil stands right beside us, deceiving us with a beautiful face just like that one.
"What do you desire, my children! What do you wish done to that evil disguised in such a lovely face and voice!"
Kill her—!
Tear her apart—!
Throw her into the boiling cauldron—!
Words representing every manner of death mixed and melded together until the believers chanted a single word in unison.
"Salvation! Salvation! Salvation!"
Abandoned at the center of that roar, Joo Joohye searched for her family.
In her trembling eyes, Joo Yoseph and Kwon Misook dared not resist in any way—they could only weep.
"…D-don't. Please, please…."
Joo Joohye begged in a voice scraped completely raw.
But it never reached me.
"Torture her! Purify her! Must we not make the Sanctuary clean again!"
"Salvation! Salvation! Salvation!"
Everyone wanted Joo Joohye dead.
But she was to become my faithful servant—not a scapegoat for my judgment.
"That is not salvation! My children!"
The overheated atmosphere collapsed in an instant.
In the cold silence that settled over the hall, one very small voice stirred them awake.
"Purification is still only purification, and deliverance is only deliverance!"
"Don't… don't, p-please…. Stop it!"
In that moment when everyone else had fallen quiet, Joo Joohye—catching on to something—called out to me desperately.
"Even if you kill the demon, those black drops of blood will stain every one of you!"
"Just kill me! Go on, kill me, you cult bastard!"
Heedless of her pleading, I clenched my fist and raised it high.
Light streaming from my fist began to glow brilliantly, traveling along the links that bound me to the believers.
"Not a speck of evil shall remain in your hearts! This I swear as your father in heaven!"
"AAAAH! You satanic devil! Please, just stoooooop!"
She understood, with aching clarity.
Understood that stubbornness and obsession could change nothing.
Understood that no amount of screaming could seal the Cult Leader's mouth.
"Though evil calls me Satan, I shall deliver you!"
"Aaaaaah—!"
"Though evil calls me a devil, I shall deliver you!"
"Aaaaaaah—!"
She had no choice but to admit it.
The man before her was not the sort of thing one could dismiss as a mere fraud.
At a single gesture of his hand, a single word from his lips, every last one of them shook from head to toe.
Eyes rolled upward, heads swaying without pause.
Tears that would not stop, drool running in strings from open mouths.
Leaving the believers helpless in their faith, he spread his hands wide and roared:
"The trial is concluded! The punishment to be handed down to the demon's vessel, the harlot who defiled the Sanctuary… is—!"
"Aaah— Aaahah—"
Joo Joohye's idiotic babbling met Han Guwon's eyes.
He smiled at her, cruelly, and spoke.
The god of the Sanctuary spoke.
"…Mercy."
"Salvation! Salvation! Salvation! Salvation!"
Because that, of all things, was the salvation that would torment her most.
"Aaah— AAAAAAHH! AAAAAAHH!"
The lone black stone among all the white ones shrieked in anguish.
A scream brimming with agony, trapped inside the believers' rapture, unable to escape.