The Holy Lunatic
Choi Ju-bong had been in a foul mood since morning.
Through the mana intranet set up worldwide for mutual safety after the gates exploded, unwelcome news kept pouring in.
"What the hell! That holy lunatic!"
He hurled the remote at the screen and spat curses, but Choi Ju-bong's rage wouldn't subside.
The Illusionist and Crimson Wolf King he'd sent to capture his family had been defeated by the hero instead. And now the Seoul branch of the Black Sheep Salvation Church had been reduced to a blazing inferno by that demon.
He couldn't fathom why everything lately was pissing him off so much.
'Why the hell did that demon torch our branch?'
But the questions didn't end there.
The skill the hero was using was unmistakably dark energy, no matter how you sliced it.
It looked flashy with all that holy power on the surface, but when the lava got sucked in, what emerged was clearly the dark energy bestowed by Him.
Why had the Second Legion Commander of the demon world ordered them to send the hero back?
'Could that bastard be one of our Black Sheep guys?'
In the end, Choi Ju-bong reached the same conclusion as the Crimson Wolf King.
The hero was a traitor who'd betrayed the Black Sheep Salvation Church and latched onto those Gaon of Light bastards.
But...
Did they even have someone with that level of power in the church?
If they did, why hadn't he stood out until now?
This was a place packed with people hungry for fame, power, and luxury.
If you had the strength, there was no reason or need to hide it.
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, the doubts lingered.
But what truly unnerved Choi Ju-bong was something else entirely.
Lately, his Precognition Hearing had stopped working altogether.
Since the hero appeared, the prophecies he should've heard should have multiplied, but they'd dwindled instead—and now they'd vanished completely.
This was the first time since awakening that he'd heard absolutely nothing.
His anxiety only amplified as a result.
'It's all that hero bastard's fault.'
Unable to contain his fury, Choi Ju-bong smashed the monitor showing the hero grinning in his golden armor and stomped it to pieces.
Crackle! Crunch!
That was when it happened.
BOOM! KABOOM!
Suddenly, massive impacts rained down like a bombardment from all directions.
The ground quaked, toppling furniture and objects in the room.
"What kind of thunderbolt is this?!"
He rushed to the window and looked up at the sky. There he was.
"Y-You...! That holy lunatic!"
Thud! Kaboom!
I unleashed skills relentlessly, fueled by my overflowing holy power.
"Meteor of Evil Slaying."
Meteor of Evil Slaying (Active)
The hero Kwon Mu-hyuk summons meteors using holy power, dealing 700% ranged damage to enemies within 1km. If an enemy dies from this attack, 120% of the damage is additionally applied to nearby surviving enemies. - Consumes 9000 Holy Power
Meteors 5~7 meters in diameter were being summoned from the far reaches of space, hammering the Black Sheep cultists below and shattering their ironclad fortress.
"Argh!"
"Block them! Dodge!"
Looking down at the chaotic fortress, the tangled threads in my mind began to unravel bit by bit.
'Smashing them with holy power instead of dark energy... it has a fresh taste to it.'
Somewhere in the vast Pacific, smack between Japan and America.
Choi Ju-bong's lair—the global headquarters of the Black Sheep Salvation Church—was a natural fortress on a remote ocean island.
No planes or ships could approach freely, and once captured, escape was impossible amid the endless sea. A perfect prison.
It had been the ideal spot to hide and cultivate the Demon King's seeds, driven mad by mental corruption.
In every regression, I'd hidden, fled, and suffered here until the madman inside me rampaged—and that end always led right back here. Killopoti.
The place where I'd been dragged, broken things, and gone berserk in every loop...
Now, I returned as the hero.
My justification now wasn't revenge or madness, but the "hero's" journey.
How poetic.
Intoxicated by my own holiness, I spammed skills freely.
Everyone here was filth uglier than demons.
No family held hostage like in past loops.
Kaboom! Boom!
"Argh!"
"Save me!"
Grinning smugly down at the fleeing cultists, Baldr approached with a comment.
"Magnificent! So brutal and violent—unleashing the Demon King's path with holy power!"
"!"
"Indiscriminate slaughter without regard for friend or foe—that's the true manifestation of the Demon King! This old Baldr is overjoyed, deeply moved to witness Your Majesty committing mass slaughter."
"......"
Time to cool off.
Otherwise, it was just the same old conclusion, different energy source.
"Baldr, go capture Choi Ju-bong right now and bring him here."
"Yes! As the Great Evil wills."
I watched Baldr fly toward the fortress center, then headed straight for the underground prison.
A semicircular underground prison 2km from the 190-meter inner castle at its core.
It looked like a single wall from outside, but it was a triple-layered structure with three levels.
Built to serve as both fortress defense and prison in case of external attacks.
Surrounded by towering ocean waves, escape was a pipe dream—an impregnable penitentiary.
I decided to rescue any innocent survivors who might be locked up here.
That way, the world's hidden villain cultists couldn't complain when I razed the place.
The fortress defenses were already obliterated, so freeing prisoners should be easy.
'But are there really any innocents in a dump like this?'
Most dragged here had significant political clout or power but refused to join the cult. Not full villains, but hardly blameless.
That's why I'd blasted away without a second thought...
Better to check, just in case.
With that in mind, I slipped under the crumbled buildings.
Weee-ooh! Weee-ooh!
Emergency alarms blared nonstop. Black Sheep guards from the prison rushed into the central hallway, battle-ready.
"Who the hell dares attack Killopoti?!"
Black Knight Captain Cha Jun-hwan bellowed as he smashed through a collapsing outer wall.
"Captain! It's the hero! The hero's attacking!"
"What?! How does the hero even know about this place?!"
He'd heard the guy awakened recently—a total newbie—yet here he was with insane power. It made no sense.
Above all, this was a natural fortress unknown to the outside world.
How did he find it and start wrecking shop?
"Captain! The hero's infiltrated the fortress!"
"Hah! Then he's out of holy power and buying time. No doubt."
Whatever. Rookie hero invades? Time to teach him a Black Sheep lesson.
Cha Jun-hwan rallied his knights.
"Spread out and hunt the hero! He's hiding in the buildings—find and kill him before his holy power recharges!"
"Yes, sir!"
As his subordinates scattered, I deliberately made footsteps to draw Cha Jun-hwan's attention.
"?!"
"Death Terraforming."
Splat—
I asked the risen zombie.
"Prisoners in the underground?"
"Yes. About 20 locked up."
"Take me to the underground prisoners."
"As the Great Evil wills."
I draped myself in a fallen cultist's cloak and followed the Black Knight Captain to the prisoners.
No subordinates we passed suspected me trailing their captain.
The prison walls had partially collapsed, exposing cells, yet the prisoners hesitated to escape, milling about uncertainly.
"Free them all and escort them out."
"Yes! As the Great Evil commands."
On the way, I'd terraformed every subordinate in sight.
Now numbering 15, they could handle their own escape.
The prisoners emerging were covered in brutal torture scars—no unmarred skin.
Their only crime? Refusing to join the Black Sheep Church.
High officials or power players who endured this without breaking their will—worth saving, right?
"Hm? That woman..."
Among the countless figures in the Gaon of Light World Alliance, she stood out with her global influence: the unprecedented prophetess.
Lea Shed, who early on warned the world of the Black Sheep danger with her Future Sight skill, becoming their prime target.
She was imprisoned here!
If I'd mindlessly obliterated everything like past loops...
'Whew! Horrifying just thinking about it.'
Thanks to Baldr's annoying praise, I'd calmed enough to save the truly innocent.
The irritation from my luck drain eased a bit.
Couldn't rush over and act like I knew her—ruins the hero image—so I quietly followed the knights.
But she suddenly scanned around, then turned straight to me.
And beckoned me over.
"Me? Come there?"
She nodded vigorously at my surprised question.
I cleared my throat theatrically and approached.
Like Shin Yu-ra, she was probably sensitive to dark energy.
Of course, first time seeing me, and I looked like a cultist, so no way she'd peg me as the hero.
"Hero?"
"!"
What? How'd she know right away?
"You're the hero, right?"
"......Yeah."
I hesitated, then nodded.
"I knew it! So that's how it is. I have something I must tell you."
"What...?"
Her face was a mess from ordeals, but her eyes sparkled like stars as she stared into mine.
"Of the three keyholes, one is fake."
"??"