Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: New Millennium Truth Church (5)
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“Ah, a demon...?”
Karen muttered in a hollow voice.
Her pale face trembled as her lips quivered.
“What does that...?”
She didn't seem to grasp what Kim Hyun meant. She probably couldn't fathom how a demon could possess such overwhelming power.
Instead of observing her reaction further, Kim Hyun reached out and seized her forehead. There was no reason to waste more words. With that, she plunged into Karen's mind and scrambled it.
“Kyaaaaaaaak!”
Karen's throat tore apart in a scream from the agony, as if an iron rod were churning her brain. But Kim Hyun showed no mercy.
Instead, she probed even more relentlessly.
'The one who summoned the outer being.'
It was weak for an “outer thing,” but an external existence was still an external existence. Summoning one with mere sacrifices like these made no sense. At minimum, it would take the lives of over ten thousand to even hold a conversation.
'Something's off.'
Kim Hyun sensed it instinctively.
Unlike her usual approach, she doggedly extracted the information.
She kept at it until Karen's brain was utterly charred and shriveled. Blood streamed from the eyes of the woman whose mind had turned to pulp.
“Hmm.”
Kim Hyun let out a short groan.
She had obtained the information she wanted.
It was just deeply unsettling.
'An object that can summon outer beings?'
An abomination linked to external existences.
The problem was that dozens of them were scattered across the world—not just one or two.
As if outer beings had deliberately sown seeds worldwide.
“Tsk.”
Kim Hyun rummaged through the now-vegetative Karen's bosom.
Out came a bone necklace strung with what looked like black fangs. It emanated a sinister aura and was the abomination connected to the outer god Karen had summoned moments ago.
Of course, that entity had been pathetically weak for an outer god, but such things happened. Not every outer existence was transcendently powerful.
Kim Hyun's eyes chilled as she gripped the necklace tight. The faint residual scent of the outer god wafting from it was repulsive, as if the thing were glaring at her from some distant place beyond.
She clenched the bone necklace harder. It let out a ghostly wail as it crumbled to dust.
'Well, I left that one half-dead anyway.'
Kim Hyun furrowed her brow.
The real issue was that these abominations strewn across the world were artifacts, each linked to one or more outer gods.
Outer gods were strong.
That was inherent to beings from beyond.
Even the weakest outer existence, if summoned to Earth, could wreak apocalyptic havoc.
Destroying the planet would be child's play.
'That's a problem.'
The corner of Kim Hyun's mouth twisted.
Outer beings or not, Earth was hers.
It was the space that had to exist for her peace.
'After all my struggles over ten thousand years to return.'
This was Earth, reclaimed after ten millennia of toil.
Gates and hunters had already changed it from her memories, which irked her enough. Further ruin? That was unacceptable.
'I can't let them destroy what's mine.'
Kim Hyun flashed a dark smile.
And so.
A new goal emerged in the monotonous, dreary life that had followed her return.
Protect Earth.
It didn't matter if the foes were outer gods or otherworldly things.
What mattered was that they were targeting her possessions.
And as always.
Kim Hyun cherished her own fiercely.
Upon returning, Chae Seol-ah was unconscious.
Likely the aftermath of the outer god's descent.
'Well.'
It was nothing to Kim Hyun, but a normal person would die just from glimpsing such a being.
Karen had stayed fine only by offloading the burden onto her followers. Normally, one would end up half-crippled at best, or drop dead on the spot if unlucky. Chae Seol-ah getting off with a faint was thanks to the protection from the “Akashic Manual” created by a similar caliber existence.
“Knew I could count on you.”
Kim Hyun smiled at the Akashic Manual tucked in Chae Seol-ah's bosom.
Knowing of its existence, she hadn't worried for Chae Seol-ah during the descent.
'Actually, this might be for the best.'
Kim Hyun gazed at the energy swirling around Chae Seol-ah's body. The residual echoes from the outer god's arrival, now shaped into knowledge, slowly orbited her.
She saw no need to dispel it.
It was beneficial to Chae Seol-ah.
'So this is what they mean by gaining knowledge from facing the outer ones...'
Lowly creatures, upon confronting the unknowable, forcibly awaken to something. Usually at the cost of madness or idiocy, but if fully embraced, it becomes power.
That was Chae Seol-ah's case.
By facing the outer god squarely, she had fully absorbed its power's echoes. The Manual's protection was key, but she was its contractor from the start.
Handling the Manual inevitably familiarized her with outer knowledge.
Naturally, she could now turn the outer god's knowledge into her own strength. For now, unconscious, the echoes lingered as energy around her, but upon waking, she would assimilate it fully.
'She'll grow.'
The thought brought a strange feeling, and Kim Hyun frowned.
A single outer encounter yielding more growth than her rigorous training irked her.
'Makes my teachings seem inefficient.'
What if Chae Seol-ah thought that upon waking?
Maybe a white lie was in order. That was when.
“Ugh...”
Chae Seol-ah groaned and twitched.
Soon, she slowly lifted her eyelids.
Regaining her senses, she murmured blankly.
“Huh...? Why am I...?”
The next instant, the knowledge orbiting her body struck her forehead like lightning. In a flash, immense wisdom flooded her mind.
“H-Huh?”
Yet Chae Seol-ah's face showed utter cluelessness. Even as colossal information poured into her brain, she seemed oblivious to it.
The knowledge from the outer god apparently assimilated differently from normal learning.
'Perfect.'
Kim Hyun nodded in satisfaction.
“K-Kim Hyun-nim? Why am I lying down?”
“Must've fainted. Anemic or something?”
“Huh? What does that have to...?”
Still bewildered, Chae Seol-ah snapped to her senses.
“Wh-what about that woman?”
“Dead.”
Kim Hyun thumbed toward Karen collapsed behind her. Seeing it, Chae Seol-ah nodded—as if she'd known Kim Hyun would win.
“What about the brainwashed followers? We have to save them!”
“Uh...”
Kim Hyun scratched the back of her head.
Karen's spell for offloading the burden of facing the outer god was exquisitely crafted. And the outer god's power had been fairly potent too.
“Hmm.”
Kim Hyun smacked her lips and muttered.
“Maybe they're all dead?”
Fortunately.
Not all dead.
Of the 1,275 captives in the cult, 388 followers died from the backlash of the offloaded burden. The remaining 887 survived intact.
Though their minds were unstable from the intense brainwashing, their bodies weakened by grueling labor and malnutrition, they had at least kept their lives.
Chae Seol-ah promptly reported to the police and the Superhuman Management Bureau, leading to their rescue. Thankfully, the response was swift—rescue teams and personnel poured in to handle the situation.
“That's a relief.”
Chae Seol-ah murmured with a bittersweet expression.
“We saved more than half. It's all thanks to you, Kim Hyun-nim.”
“I did do something.”
“But... too many died.”
Chae Seol-ah pouted and kicked lightly at the ground.
Kim Hyun watched her sullenly before speaking.
“Don't dwell on it too much. You can't save the whole world. Even tending to those within reach is overwhelming.”
“I know, but...”
Chae Seol-ah gave a wry smile.
“If I'd been as strong as you, Kim Hyun-nim, maybe I could've saved more. I can't help thinking that.”
“That's a disease. A disease.”
Kim Hyun patted her back.
Just then, Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk approached from afar.
“Kim Hyun-nim.”
He bowed to her and said.
“Thanks to you, countless lives were saved. You have our gratitude for your hard work.”
Kim Hyun's head tilted slightly to the side.
“You're not here just to say thanks.”
“Hm.”
After glancing at Chae Seol-ah, Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk turned back to Kim Hyun.
“Correct. As sharp as ever.”
“What is it.”
Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk nodded and continued.
“Word from China. Liu Guoliang has notified us of his visit.”
“Liu Guoliang?”
As Kim Hyun cocked her head, Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk took a deep breath.
“Yes. China's National Power-level Hunter.”
“Why's he coming?”
“Well...”
Team Leader Lee Min-hyuk's face grew troubled.
“Multiple S-Rank Gates have opened simultaneously in China—three of them. Given the distances and conquest timelines, it seems even Liu Guoliang can't handle them alone. They're probably requesting your assistance with the gates.”