Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: New Millennium Truth Church (4)
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Karen fled with all her might.
'Crazy!'
She had no choice.
'What kind of monster is that?!'
She couldn't match up in raw power.
The attacks she'd just unleashed were everything she had. She'd poured her heart into those spells, dead set on killing her opponent.
Yet the woman brushed them off like they were nothing. No, it wasn't even breaking them down—it was closer to just smashing them flat with brute force. Karen's magic hadn't even tickled her; the gap in strength was that vast.
An overwhelming difference that could make her faint dead away.
It was clear.
That woman was an enemy Karen could never hope to face with her current power.
Karen bit her lip.
'Damn it, no wonder my luck's been so good lately!'
Everything had been going her way recently, for some inexplicable reason.
And it turned out it was all just setup for today.
'I've got to escape.'
If she didn't, she'd die.
All the sacrifices she'd gathered, the effort and energy she'd invested—it hurt like hell to let it go, bringing tears of blood to her eyes. But there was no helping it.
She had to survive first before anything else mattered.
At that moment.
"Hey, where do you think you're going!"
A chilling voice rang out from behind.
"You can't just run away like that!"
Cold sweat trickled down Karen's spine.
That horrific voice was drawing closer by the second.
"[Don't follow me!]"
Karen unleashed a barrage of spells backward.
It probably wouldn't faze the monster at all, but it might buy her even a single second.
But.
"Aish, damn it."
No matter how much magic she threw, the voice didn't recede at all.
If anything, it kept getting closer.
"Get over here!"
Karen screamed, throwing all semblance of dignity to the wind.
"Hiiiik!"
She burst out of the palace and bolted straight for the factory.
'I can't shake her like this.'
She couldn't create any distance. At this rate, she'd be caught for sure.
In that case...!
'I need to pull the plan forward and summon it right now!'
Karen kicked open the factory door and scanned the room.
"Chief Secretary?"
"Wh-what's going on?"
The believers flinched at the sight of her bursting in with her hair a mess, but Karen didn't spare them a glance.
'Not you worthless lot!'
Her face lit up as she spotted the sacrifice tank below. She leaped straight down, landing atop it.
At the same time.
Kaboom!
Kim Hyun smashed through the factory wall and charged in.
"Where's that bitch?"
Kim Hyun swept her piercing gaze across the factory interior.
"...!"
Karen ground her teeth at the sight.
She immediately began the ritual.
She had more than enough sacrifices already, so activating it was no problem.
But since she wasn't following the normal procedure, there would be a price to pay.
Karen offered her own lifespan as that price. When it was die now or live, who cared about a little lifespan?
"Urgh!"
The ritual took shape through the lifespan she sacrificed.
Rumble...!
A massive pattern materialized around the sacrifice tank. The red-glowing sigils began to slowly rotate.
"Hmm?"
Kim Hyun crossed her arms as she watched.
'No idea what she's up to, but...'
She decided to let it play out, curious to see what would happen.
Meanwhile.
The ritual continued.
Rumble...!
In an instant, a colossal pattern appeared in midair. It spun rapidly, bathing the entire factory in red light.
Activated with her lifespan as payment, the ritual progressed swiftly. Red liquid boiled up from the sacrifice tank, swirling into a vortex that shot into the air.
And then.
Crackle!
A massive fissure tore open in the air.
As if space itself was ripping apart, a crack formed in reality.
Unspeakable darkness seeped through the gap.
Karen trembled in ecstasy at the sight.
"Finally...!"
Meanwhile, the fissure grew larger.
The ever-expanding rift yawned wide.
Soon, Kim Hyun realized what it was.
It was a closed eye.
An eye massive enough to blanket the factory ceiling.
Its alien, ominous shape was utterly inhuman. Countless symbols and runes were etched into the eyelid, surrounded by rising black smoke.
Rumble...!
With a low vibrational hum, the colossal eye began to slowly open.
What peeked between the lids was no pupil. Instead, an endlessly rotating vortex. The profound depths of that whirlpool emanated thought waves powerful enough to shred the mind of any ordinary person who dared gaze into it.
"Urk!"
Karen squeezed her eyes shut.
Even she, a mere human, couldn't stare directly into it. Gazing upon an outer god required payment.
But Karen was prepared.
"Hup!"
"Pffft! Splatter! Bang!"
The believers locked throughout the building burst into puddles of blood and shattered to pieces.
It was the price for Karen to gaze upon the outer god. She'd shoved the cost onto her followers.
Their screams filled the factory.
But not a trace of guilt crossed Karen's face.
They'd been gathered for exactly this purpose, after all.
That wasn't what mattered now.
'I can hold out for about ten minutes.'
Any longer, and she'd run out of believers to offload the price onto—it just wasn't possible. Once time was up, she'd have to pay it herself.
So she had to complete the contract before then.
Karen cried out toward the massive eye in the air.
"Great existence! This lowly one desires a contract with you!"
⟨ Contract Invocation ⟩
Her voice echoed through the factory.
"Feast upon the offerings I've prepared, and in exchange, lend me your power!"
Rumble...!
The massive eye rotated slowly, looking down at Karen.
And then.
Thud!
A beam of red light shot from the eye, enveloping Karen.
The contract had begun.
Karen's body was bathed in red light. The outer god's power began flowing into her flesh.
"Urgh...! Aaaah!"
With a scream of agony, changes wracked her body. Her skin split open, red light leaking from the cracks. Her eyes turned pitch black, and her hair writhed like living snakes.
And when that pain reached its peak.
"...Haa, haa."
It was over.
Karen panted raggedly, dropping to one knee on the floor.
The contract was complete.
Only then did the somewhat recovered Karen lift her head to glare at Kim Hyun.
And burst into maniacal laughter.
"Kekeke...! Kuhahaha!"
Her laughter filled the factory.
"You crazy bitch!"
Karen jabbed a finger at Kim Hyun.
"Fun chasing me down earlier, huh? Did you enjoy hunting me like that?!"
Madness gleamed in her eyes.
"You dared toy with me? You're finished now! No amount of crying or begging will save you!"
Red energy exploded from Karen's body.
"With my outer god contract, I'm invincible! Nothing in this world can stop me!"
She swung her arm, and red tentacles lashed out in all directions, pulverizing the factory's pillars.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"You damn bitch!"
Karen thrust her hand toward Kim Hyun.
"I'll tear you apart and feed you to the dogs right now!"
Red tentacles hurtled toward Kim Hyun.
But.
"An outer god?"
Kim Hyun scoffed.
"That's supposed to be a god?"
She curled her lip and muttered.
"What kind of god is weaker than me?"
"...What?"
Karen's face froze.
She couldn't make sense of it. Weaker than her? She, who had contracted with an outer god?
At that moment.
Boom!
Kim Hyun stomped the ground.
Instantly.
The surrounding air began to boil.
The stench of rotten eggs filled the factory. The sky—no, the world itself—began to red.
No, red wasn't quite right.
It was as if the world was drenched in blood. The air grew oppressively heavy. Even breathing became torture. Karen clutched her throat and groaned without thinking.
"Guhk...!"
Something was terribly wrong. Her chest tightened. Her instincts screamed at her to run right now.
But she ignored them.
'No way!'
She'd contracted with an outer god—she couldn't lose.
She was invincible!
"I...!"
Karen shouted.
"I'm invincible!"
At that moment.
Kim Hyun slowly drew her right fist back.
And punched straight into empty air.
Kaboom!
Her fist cleaved through the air.
And then.
The massive eyeball exploded.
Screeeeeeeee!
A beast-like wail reverberated deafeningly.
It was a scream of agony. The outer god—the being called a god—was shrieking in pain.
"...Huh?"
Karen's face drained of color at the sudden turn.
At the same time, the outer god's power enveloping her rapidly faded.
The outer god had fled in terror.
Abandoning the contract and everything else.
"N-no...!"
Karen couldn't comprehend it.
An outer god?
The pinnacle of this world's power?
How, with one punch?
"...I-impossible."
Strength fled Karen's legs.
Thud.
She collapsed to the floor. Her face was filled with utter incomprehension. Everything had crumbled—her plans, her dreams, her hopes. All of it.
Karen looked up at Kim Hyun slowly approaching.
"You... what are you?"
she asked in a trembling voice.
Kim Hyun stopped right in front of her.
And answered with a bright smile.
"A demon."