Chapter 236
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 236
For the record, Giovanni had seen sights quite similar to this a few times before.
“……”
Isn’t this what people possessed by demons look like?
Gio looked up at the ceiling. The marble that had once sparkled like cold, shining silver was nowhere to be seen. In its place were only dark red blood clots and writhing lumps of flesh.
And through a vast pit that had formed deep within, something massive was visible.
“…Hmm…”
“Do not look.”
The Bishop, who had accompanied him, stopped him with her eyes cast down.
“It could damage your mind.”
“Ah.”
So it really was Cthulhu.
The finer details are a bit different, but the general vibe is pretty similar.
Gio had an incredibly broad range of tastes, so the genres of media he enjoyed were highly diverse. Among them was a genre called ‘cosmic horror’—stories about humans being overwhelmed by something unimaginably massive and breaking down in bizarre ways.
Then again, to those without the proper aptitude, the very existence of divinity must feel that way…
As Seo Gio, he had never experienced such a thing. As Arjio, being an Evil God himself made it hard to look at the phenomenon objectively. And as Giovanni, his vessel had been so vast from the start that it hardly mattered what was poured into it, so the concept never really hit home.
At best, only Giovanni, who had witnessed various mysteries while still human, could faintly grasp the gravity of the situation.
So the Moon Cult was raising a little catastrophe that would eventually devour the world.
How cute.
“I’m fine.”
“…Are you sure?”
“You may wait outside.”
“I did not bring Hunter Seo Gio here expecting you to resolve this immediately,” the Bishop said, her tone implying he shouldn’t overdo it. “If something happens to you, I will not be able to face the Collector. Why don’t you just check her condition for now?”
“It’s fine, Bishop.”
It would be hard to find a more qualified expert than him on Earth.
“I believe I can be of help, so I’ll take a closer look.”
“…Then I will stay near the door.”
“You’re not going out?”
“I cannot leave an outsider alone.”
“Understood.”
She framed it as not being able to leave an outsider alone in the temple, but in reality, she was likely just worried about the safety of the Collector’s precious guest. Priests always had to say things the hard way.
It’s intriguing how this trait is common across multiple dimensions. Does it stem from the fact that the language of divinity sounds utterly ambiguous to humans? Like how parents and children share subtle resemblances…
After the brief distraction, Gio looked around again.
The space where the Saintess stayed was heavily distorted. Blood so dark it looked like ink drew a disturbingly plausible pattern on the floor, and that pattern would occasionally wriggle as if it were alive.
“……?”
Ah, come to think of it, was that the symbol of the Moon Cult?
It looked so grotesque that it only just now clicked.
Fingers resembling the Saintess’s sprouted along the edges of the pattern. Gio decided to stop the description there, to avoid inflicting mental damage on anyone who might one day appreciate this story.
Still, looking at the big picture…
If he looked at the room as a whole…
…Does it resemble space?
It felt like being inside a moon floating in the void. It reminded him of those interesting conspiracy theories about aliens living inside the moon, conducting all sorts of cruel experiments.
Or maybe the moon itself is a giant living organism.
It felt exactly like that.
That’s probably not far off.
Ultimately, all of this originated from the ‘Moon God’ they worshiped.
In what seemed to be her bedroom, muscles and veins stretched out from the bed like spiderwebs or arched bridges. The marble pillars that had once decorated the room now spiraled upward like DNA strands. Stained red as if soaked in blood, they had become translucent, emitting a beautiful, crystal-like glow. The paintings and candlesticks, which must have been ordinary decorations, were also writhing as if they had gained life.
A bleeding universe…
It felt like gazing upon a universe made of blood and flesh. It was as if an entity that didn’t understand humans had tried to decorate its child’s room.
It’s a bit much, though.
The intention didn’t seem malicious.
“……”
Mr. Ju-hyeon would have nitpicked even a thought like this. Gio unconsciously thought of his friend.
In a way, Mr. Ju-hyeon is right.
If divinities wanted to live on Earth, they needed to attend a speech academy or get some basic education. Of course, Gio was an exception. He was already doing just fine on his own.
“……”
“Heh, ha, haha. Hahahaha… ha…”
“She looks exhausted.”
Her bleached-white hair was not just disheveled but had grown so long it filled the entire room—a length impossible for a human to grow naturally. Since the Moon Cult’s Saintess couldn’t have gone her whole life without a haircut, this too was likely the influence of the ‘Moon God.’
Her fingernails were long as well. When he touched them gently, careful not to startle her, they crumbled away like plaster. Then, they immediately began to grow anew.
“She’s weak…”
The girl’s entire body was covered in blood.
It doesn’t look like self-harm.
Blood was leaking from every orifice. Even her pores seemed to ooze a viscous, bloody fluid, making the back of her hand sticky. At this point, one would worry about excessive blood loss, but there was no sign of it.
Hmm.
Where did the ‘All Ages’ rating tag go?
This is troublesome.
It seemed best to clean up the situation before his healing story attempted a full-blown genre shift. Gio called out to Honey, who was hiding inside his hood again today.
“Honey.”
“Kkururuk.”
“Let’s help.”
“Kkur.”
Mr. Ju-hyeon was always telling him:
Stop throwing miracles around all on your own.
He’d said to borrow the power of his ‘children’—his contracted beasts—and use dazzlingly magnificent tools. That way, no matter what Gio did, they could prepare at least a minimal excuse.
Today, Gio faithfully followed that advice, bringing along Honey, Dana, and the Golden Branch staff that Iser had returned. With a lineup like this, it would be hard for anyone to suspect Gio himself.
“Excuse me.”
Gio looked at the Bishop.
“May I begin the treatment?”
“…Is treatment possible?”
Wait, wasn’t that why they called him here?
“……”
He wanted to ask what on earth they had invited him for, but Gio soon realized. For things to have reached this point, the Moon Cult must have commissioned him, an outsider, as a last-ditch, desperate grasp at straws.
Even if they had expectations, they probably only hoped for some advice from a senior saint. Sometimes, a single word is all it takes to solve a problem of mystery…
In any case, reading the unspoken “Is that really possible? It should be impossible,” on her face, Gio subtly shifted his words.
“I think I can try a few things. As you know, Bishop, this isn’t a wicked mystery but something related to your teacher, the Moon God, so it cannot be purified.”
“Yes, that is why we have been left with no choice but to watch helplessly. It would have been better if it were related to an impure mystery…”
“However, thanks to my children and some good tools, I should be able to offer some help. It seems this problem occurred because she got awkwardly caught between humanity and mystery. I can bring her back to the human side.”
“Is that… truly possible?”
Oh?
Even this is considered impossible?
Gio read a ‘contradiction’ in her reaction. Just how much was he supposed to hold back?
While maintaining a calm face, Gio felt extremely perplexed. Ah, so they really did call me here hoping for a long-shot miracle. It seemed their expectations of him were far lower than he had imagined.
Then again, reversing a situation that had deteriorated to this extent wasn’t something that could normally be done in an instant.
But if I don’t do at least this much right now, this child’s life will really be in danger…
Which was more important: hiding his identity or the safety of the poor Saintess? Without a second thought, it was obviously the latter. Since it didn’t seem like something he couldn’t handle with his divinity and acting skills, Gio decided to just go for it.
He wore his usual, unchanging smile.
“I will help you.”
“……”
“Will you give me a chance?”
“…I do not know much about Hunter Seo Gio.”
“So you lack faith.”
“But right now, there is nothing else we can do.”
The Moon Cult, known for its highly insular culture, had gone so far as to make an exception and request help from the Collector. They had tried everything they could internally, and the best option they could bring in was Hunter Seo Gio.
The Bishop stared at the man who smiled as if he were a painting.
The one also called the Saint of the Black Cloak.
If he truly was a saint…
There is no one more reliable than him, at least in South Korea.
Time was of the essence. With the mystery so tangled that the Saintess’s entire body was twisting and the very space around her was eroding, they had to try something, or this catastrophic mystery would spread to the other priests.
After agonizing over it dozens, hundreds of times, the Bishop finally nodded.
“I will trust you. If a problem arises, I will take full responsibility. However, if you succeed, the Moon Cult will consider Hunter Seo Gio a benefactor and accept you as our brother.”
“Is that so?”
“If your heart is moved by such a future, then please, I beg of you.”
“Thank you for your considerate words.”
Hunter Seo Gio, looking around as if to show off, said, “Would you mind closing your eyes?”
“…Very well.”
“Thank you.”
This would be his cover-up.
Besides, there’s nothing good to see anyway.
Giovanni’s vessel was so large that it wouldn’t cause any issues, but for the Bishop, whose vessel wasn’t even as large as the fallen Saintess’s, it might be an unbearable sight. Gio lightly tapped the shadow of his cloak.
“Meow.”
“Good girl.”
Dana, who had spit out her soul and shrunk to the size of an adolescent cat, popped out.
“We have work to do.”
“Meow.”
“Looks like you understand.”
These two were just cover. Now to clean things up.
Gio met the girl’s eyes, which were stained dark red and held a crimson universe. Though her eyeballs had deteriorated to the point where pupils and irises were indistinguishable, he easily caught her gaze.
Looking at her, he smiled gently.
“Can you see me?”
“……”
“Then first…”
He slowly closed her eyes.
“Shall we practice sleeping?”
Lately, he seemed to be helping strangers with their rehabilitation quite often.
*
And just like that, Gio successfully reclaimed the genre.
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The Bishop’s voice still trembled, as if she were in a daze. And this was after he had only put the Saintess to sleep for now, fearing that resolving everything at once would arouse suspicion.
From here on, I’ll have to show them a gradual progression.
It was far easier than turning Ater back into a human after thousands of years as meat porridge, but an onlooker would never know that. Her body, which had been as grotesquely twisted as a cockroach crawling up from hell, had been restored to normal, but the Saintess was still fast asleep.
She would recover from her accumulated fatigue through sleep and gradually return to the path of humanity. It was all for the best.
“I think it would be best to move her to a different room. The space the Saintess was in has already been distorted by the mystery. If she remains here, she will likely step onto the path of mystery prematurely once again.”
“I will prepare a separate space for the Saintess. We wanted to do so originally but were worried the mystery might spread or cause other anomalies. Is there anything else we should be careful of?”
“You don’t need to worry about her meals. Until the mystery accumulated in her body is completely drained, eating anything will likely act as poison, so even IV drips won’t be necessary.”
“Ah, as for meals…” The Bishop hesitated before speaking. “She didn’t eat well before, either.”
“……”
After a brief silence, Gio asked, “…Is there a reason?”
“As you mentioned, it is because she drew closer to the mystery. Of course, eating wasn’t poisonous to her back then, but she didn’t feel any appetite or try to eat.”
“Ah.”
Skipping meals…?
Unforgivable.
Is this how another one joins the flock to be fattened? O Sun, please forgive this greedy priest.
He truly wanted to respect their lifestyle and beliefs. But if they kept showing such provocative and careless behavior, he would have no choice but to play the villain.
Feeling the bitter taste of an inescapable fate, Gio smiled.
“If she skips meals, she will walk the path of mystery again.”
“We would rather she walked that path completely, but does that seem difficult?”
“For now, yes.” She was a truly ambiguous talent. “As you said, her vessel is vast, but her mind remains human.”
But if they were going by that standard, Gio was her senior in that regard. He was no slouch himself when it came to having a human mind in a mysterious body. In that sense, he could probably help.
Gio smiled. “She probably won’t wake up for a while. It’s a process of tuning and stabilizing the wavelengths of her body and mind, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“And…”
“……”
“Ahem.”
Cough.
“Ack, cough…!”
“H-Hunter Seo Gio!”
“Cough!”
Gio coughed up blood.
Terrified by the sight of her guest coughing up blood, the Bishop dismissed most of the priests from the reception room. A few who remained seemed to be her trusted aides, but before they could approach to help, Gio stopped them.
“I-I’m fine.”
“But just now…”
“I think I just overexerted myself a bit.”
“…Ah…”
“It’s not as serious as it looks.”
Gio broke into a cold sweat and forced a smile. “If you don’t mind… could I find a place to rest for a moment?”
“Of course. You must need treatment. Straight to the infirmary…”
“I’m sorry, but I’d prefer to be alone.”
“……”
The Bishop, silent for a moment as if lost in thought, nodded.
“…Very well.”
“Thank you.”
Thus, under the utmost care of the Moon Cult priests, Gio was able to find a place to rest. The Bishop asked several times if he wanted treatment, but Gio repeatedly declined, and eventually, all the priests left the room.
“……”
Left alone, Gio thought:
The scam was a success.
With this, he had blocked off most of the reasons Ju-hyeon would have to nag him.
Indeed, one of the perks of having become a portrait was that he could ‘do anything.’