Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Infiltration, Gangbuk-gu Papal Palace Fierce Battle (8)
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13.
“Ahh…… What a truly beautiful place…….”
A knife-like wind whipped across the polar snowfield, and the stars cried out in rapture.
“How beautiful Your name is upon all the earth……!”
This place was.
Even in the lofty outer universe, it was infamous: the Bing-ok, the Ice Prison. Nine out of ten mortals went mad the moment they were confined here.
“The heavens, the earth, and the stars that You, Lord, have made, I behold……!”
Because this place.
Had originally been created not for humans, but to imprison the stars.
By one of the five Absolute Gods.
The Sovereign of Silent Chaos, Sherashul’Toryak.
A storm of overwhelming madness raged. That madness shattered and crumbled even divinity and humanity.
“What is man that You love and care for me so……?”
Thus, from the beginning, this Ice Prison had been called by countless languages of terror.
“Have no mercy on the enemies who know not Your grace.”
Called the First Brain Cage.
Called the Ancient Underground Lighthouse.
Called the Madness from the Poles.
And also called…… [Mountain Range of Madness].
“May Your wrath crush their bones and annihilate their souls……!”
This was not a place that destroyed the flesh. It was a place that destroyed the mind, which would live eternally even after the flesh died.
That was why it was so terrifying……
14.
Rising like bile in her throat.
The dreaded name burst from Gong Min-yeong’s mouth.
“Song Chan-un……!”
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
The sound of his cane striking the ice grew closer, and then he emerged from the blizzard.
“I always knew you’d turn back like this someday.”
“Shut…… up with that nonsense!”
She tried to shout, but her voice came out feeble, like a girl’s.
“Is it really nonsense? Miss Min-yeong, you haven’t truly met our Lord.”
Terror…… primal terror coiled around her body like a serpent……
“I didn’t expect it would draw in another Lead Hunter, though. I was surprised. No, moved by your brilliant foresight.”
Song Chan-un?
If it was Song Chan-un, then the Pope?
Ryu Hyun-ji dazedly tugged at Lee Ha-ram’s sleeve nearby.
“H-How…… how is he here……?”
Wasn’t Song Chan-un supposed to be fighting Kim Baek-jun right now?
“That’s a fake.”
A fake?
Lee Ha-ram gnashed her teeth in fury and hurled her [Dragon Blood Whip] at Song Chan-un.
“Come, let us return. He is full of mercy and lovingkindness──”
Song Chan-un’s body briefly scattered like a mirage, then reformed.
──“Even though Miss Min-yeong has sinned, He will forgive you again. You merely lost your way for a moment.”
“Get lost! Get the hell out!”
Gong Min-yeong gasped hysterically.
“Come now. No need to fear.”
“I’d rather put a bullet in my head than go back with you!”
“I’ll pray with you.”
“Cut that disgusting hypocrisy! Don’t pretend to care about me. You’ve never once cared for me!”
From the first time they met.
From the moment he tortured and dissected her mother before her eyes.
“You’re just obsessed because I’m a success, the only success of your pathetic research, you bastard!”
“My, you’ve grown bold since before. But that’s not──”
“──Not what? You’re the pathetic one. That pathetic research succeeded because of me, not you. Still don’t get it?”
A brief silence fell.
Song Chan-un let out a low sigh after a long moment and smiled.
“My…… This is really…… Miss Min-yeong, you’re really testing my patience today.”
A chill ran down her spine.
Ryu Hyun-ji shuddered at the sudden wave of killing intent.
Was that…… really a smile……?
If a snake could smile, wouldn’t it look like that……?
“This must be a trial from the Lord to teach me Your great lovingkindness. Very well.”
Song Chan-un tapped his cane against the ice three times: thump, thump, thump.
At that instant.
Ryu Hyun-ji gasped and collapsed to the ground.
Thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump.
The ground shook as if it would crumble.
And…… colossal silhouettes approached through the blizzard.
“The First Legion. The Third Legion, that is.”
Legions……?
Those monsters……?
How…… are there two more……?
“Miss Min-yeong and Miss Ha-ram, you know them, but both are heroes who survived the assault on the ‘Exalted Ones.’”
Ryu Hyun-ji’s eyes widened.
Seeing Lee Ha-ram unable even to breathe…… those words were true.
“Let’s end the childish games. I’d play if I had time, but I’m quite busy today.”
Pope Song Chan-un beckoned to Gong Min-yeong.
“Come here. Come this way, and I’ll let you live—Miss Min-yeong, and your precious friends too.”
“……!”
“My, that’s the face of someone who thinks I’m lying.”
“Of course……!”
“Then how about this? I’ll swear it to Ikilas’s father Aba.”
Gong Min-yeong doubted her ears for a moment.
That guy…… even made a sacred vow……? She turned trembling eyes backward.
“D-Don’t…… go…….”
The kid named Ryu Hyun-ji shook her head.
“It’s, it’s obviously a lie! Just stay here──”
“──If I stay, you all die.”
She barely squeezed the words out from her heart.
“And Song Chan-un…… that bastard’s a fanatic…… He never lies about religion.”
She’d already met Kim Baek-jun and achieved her goal anyway. Before brainwashing…… she could kill herself with 《Wolf Bridge》.
“I said I’d infiltrate, but I didn’t expect it to come to this. I have to fix it.”
Gong Min-yeong sighed in resignation and shouted across the bridge to Song Chan-un.
“You’ll really let us all go alive?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Then…… sorry, everyone.”
Gong Min-yeong flashed a grin, then started walking toward the bridge.
One step, one step.
Suddenly, Gong Min-yeong’s voice echoed in Ryu Hyun-ji’s mind.
- I don’t know how you’ve stayed sane this long.
Another step. Another.
- Maybe like Ha-ram said, I’m already crazy.
And just as she set foot on the bridge.
- But it doesn’t matter. I’ve reached my destination now.
“No!”
Ryu Hyun-ji lunged to grab her sleeve.
“It’s fine!”
At that moment.
The Lotus Flower Sword scattered into countless petals…… and coalesced in midair into lotus bud-shaped platforms.
“Everyone, get on quick! Hyun-ji, you first!”
Lee Seong-mi pulled Ryu Hyun-ji onto the 《Lotus Throne》.
“This will take us up!”
The 《Lotus Throne》 rose slowly like a hot air balloon. Song Chan-un’s lament drifted over.
“My…… You’re really testing me greatly.”
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.
At that moment.
Her heart lurched.
The legions were charging madly from the other side……
Then Lee Seong-mi climbed onto the 《Lotus Throne》.
Lee Ha-ram slung her [Dragon Blood Whip] on her back, amplified her leg strength, and leaped up onto it.
“Th-That…… over there……!”
The problem started there.
Gong Min-yeong was too far away.
“Come on, grab on!”
Gong Min-yeong belatedly turned and tried to jump here…… but it was too late.
She’s a shaman-type hunter……
She can’t amplify her leg strength as freely as a warrior- or gunner-type……
“H-Hurry! Hurry!”
Ryu Hyun-ji desperately reached out.
Almost…… not quite.
But her hand didn’t reach.
The moment Ryu Hyun-ji groaned “N-No,” Lee Ha-ram hurled her [Dragon Blood Whip] that way.
“Who’s telling who not to be a burden!”
Aiming at Gong Min-yeong…… to kill her? No time to stop it.
The boomerang tore through the air…… and engulfed Gong Min-yeong.
No, wait.
Ryu Hyun-ji blinked.
The [Dragon Blood Whip] crashed into the ground at Gong Min-yeong’s feet, unleashing a massive shockwave.
She saved her……?
The shockwave launched Gong Min-yeong’s body into the air. Close enough for Ryu Hyun-ji to grab her hand.
Kwaaaaaaaa─────!
A deafening roar that shook the eardrums.
The sound of a legion smashing into the tower. Where the group had just been.
───Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble.
The Papal Palace shook as if it would collapse. No one in the group could even breathe.
Meanwhile, the 《Lotus Throne》 kept rising, higher and higher.
Upward.
Even higher.
After about five seconds, Gong Min-yeong finally spoke.
“Song Chan-un…… you real psycho.”
“How many of those things are there?”
“How many? He can’t make that many…… needs at least fifty people for materials.”
“……Fifty people?”
“What the hell did he make them from?”
There were only about thirty captured hunters from Seodaemun-gu……
A horrifying realization flashed through her mind.
He used the hunters captured from Seodaemun-gu as prisoners……?
“Wh-What…… do you think he made them from?”
“Who knows. Ask Song Chan-un. Break the barrier first.”
Better not say it……
Gong Min-yeong skirted the words, then looked at Lee Ha-ram.
“Hey…….”
“……?”
“Just…… thanks. Why’d you do it? Don’t you hate me?”
Lee Ha-ram snorted and turned her head away.
“I meant to kill you, but missed. You got lucky.”
So dishonest……
Gong Min-yeong gave a hollow smile and glanced downward……
“But my [Dragon Blood Whip]…… it’s probably smashed.”
“It’s…… fine! There’s an amazing engineer sister in Seodaemun-gu.”
“I bought it from the <Forge> and modded it…… Can she make a new one?”
“W-Way better! I’ll talk her into it!”
As Ryu Hyun-ji nodded vigorously at Lee Ha-ram’s doubt…… Gong Min-yeong froze in horror.
Her eyes met the legions’.
The monsters…… wailing in agony-like moans…… uuuuuu…… were climbing the tower.
15.
Yes……!
It’s do or die. Let’s try it.
I spun the Dawn Sword into a reverse grip and plunged it into the ground.
Then…… there was light.
Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum…… A clear, resonant tone spread across the snowfield like an overwhelming dawn gold.
First, as a circle enveloping me.
That faint circle expanded massively in an instant…… dyeing the mountain range in fantastical hues.
This…… how can this be……?
I couldn’t contain my awe at this bizarre power.
First off.
The light circle’s expansion radius was about ten meters in diameter centered on me.
Whiiiiiinnn───
The ice guards caught in its expansion…… evaporated in a blinding flash without even a scream.
───Chiaaaaaaaa!
And second.
When the circle reached its peak expansion and burst, its afterglow stretched across the world……
“What……?”
……I could see.
Every enemy’s presence was visible.
Like the enemy detection function on a military Brainphone.
“What was that light just now……?”
Monsters that had been hard to see.
Now glowed like vivid red beacons.
“No, no……! It’s useless, as expected……!”
And…… Song Chan-un.
He too was detected by the Divine Dawn Sword.
“Ah, aha, ahaha, ahahaha, ahahahaha, ahahahahaha!”
Song Chan-un was marked the same way.
“As expected! Meaningless. As if such lowly light could dispel the [Mountain Range of Madness]!”
About fifty meters from me?
I could see him slowly walking the snowfield in complete transparency.
“Now…… shall we end it?”
And the next moment.
Even as he pointed his cane at me…… all crystal clear.
“Lead Hunter of the Creation God.”
I see. He doesn’t realize he’s visible.
Even better.
I can cut his throat at an unexpected moment. So this is a summoner’s weakness.
“Yeah…… Let’s end it.”