Faith vs. Conviction (6)
Jeong Myeong-su clutched his groin and rolled across the ground.
“Eek!”
He let out a ridiculous screech and dropped the stuffed doll from his hand.
The doll, now at the end of its life, crumbled apart like sand and scattered into the air.
As soon as the spell binding me was broken, I collapsed to the floor.
“Ugh.”
I tried to get back up, but it was no use.
My body was in tatters from the savage abuse inflicted on the doll linked to me.
A ringing sound filled my ears, and my broken limbs refused to move properly.
My teeth were chattering, and my vision had gone hazy and blurred.
If I let my guard down for even a second, I felt like I’d lose consciousness.
I can’t fight like this.
What I needed to do now was obvious.
Regeneration activated.
Every minor and major wound carved into my body began healing at once.
Unless my head was severed or my heart was blown apart, Regeneration could patch me up in a hurry.
Awakener's Balance: ₩857,117,045
Awakener's Balance: ₩856,503,331
Awakener's Balance: ₩856,014,006
…
As my body recovered, the money kept getting deducted.
I clenched and unclenched my fists.
Broken bones found their places again and began to knit together.
Good. At this rate…
I wasn’t fully healed, but I forced myself back onto my feet.
By then, Jeong Myeong-su had also staggered upright.
Blood from his crotch ran down his thighs.
So he can’t heal himself.
Jeong Myeong-su was a master of black magic, but he was weak when it came to healing.
Then again, I’m not exactly different.
If I hadn’t used the talent Purchase, defeat would have been certain for me.
There had been a crisis.
But now I had the upper hand.
“Damn it, you piece of shit…”
Jeong Myeong-su ground his teeth.
He looked almost hollowed out by the loss of the body part he had cherished so much.
With tears gathering in his eyes, he asked me, “...Who the hell are you? How? How the hell can a swordsman use magic, and even heal?”
His suspicion was reasonable.
Abilities powered by mana came in every shape and form.
If you counted type and combination, the possibilities were nearly endless.
But human ability was still limited.
Just as a national-level soccer player could never just stroll onto an NBA court and play at that level, it was impossible for me, a man who had devoted himself to swordsmanship, to suddenly outclass Jeong Myeong-su in magic over such a short span of time.
Not without a hero’s power.
“Who knows? Maybe I was chosen by God.”
“Ghh…”
Jeong Myeong-su’s legs were shaking so hard they looked ready to give out.
Whether he’d pissed himself or not, the floor was already soaked with a yellow puddle.
The mask torn during the fight exposed the edge of my mouth.
I bared my teeth in a grin.
“Looks like you won’t be doing any manly business ever again.”
Jeong Myeong-su was so crazed by lust that he fixated on young women.
He built a group for his own pleasure and treated the women there like slaves.
That tiny, grotesque little thing was the source of all that evil.
“Live the rest of your life as a eunuch.”
Jeong Myeong-su’s face went from red to a sickly shade of blue-green.
“Aaaagh!”
Black mana whipped around him like a storm.
He still has that much power left?
Jeong Myeong-su’s skin darkened until it was nearly black all over.
The few strands of hair he had left fell out in clumps.
His appearance had become less human than some other species entirely.
He threw his mouth open toward the air.
“Blech!”
Sticky black spirits burst out of his mouth.
Shrieking like maniacs, they swept across the stadium seats.
The believers who had been trying to flee froze in place the moment the spirits touched them.
Their eyes turned glassy, and their shoulders slumped.
Mind Control!
The swarm of spirits rushed me.
I quickly activated Divine Aura.
“Kieeek!”
The spirits were flung back, but the force behind them was so vicious that the barrier itself tore apart.
One brush of those things would be dangerous.
It was one of the strongest black magic techniques Jeong Myeong-su had used so far.
The once-noisy stadium fell silent in an instant.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Not a single person opened their mouth.
A full hundred thousand people.
He had brainwashed every one of them.
“Kekeke.”
Jeong Myeong-su sneered, and one of his front teeth popped free.
His body had already been pushed to its limit.
“Purple-head. You sure have a talent for making people want to rip your head off.”
He raised his index finger.
“Then how about this?”
His finger pointed at me.
I expected some sort of physical attack, but nothing happened.
Instead—
“...Die.”
Someone in the stands shouted it.
And then, like a signal had been given, the Cheonyang-ji believers all cried out at once.
“Die!”
“Kill yourself!”
“Go rot!”
Small stones and all kinds of trash came flying at me.
They all bared their teeth and condemned me with spittle flying from their mouths.
“How’s that? Ever been hated by this many people before?”
It was because of Jeong Myeong-su’s mind-control magic.
They themselves didn’t even know what they were shouting.
And none of it’s their real feelings.
Even so, when everyone turned against me in unison, it began to feel as if that was the truth.
“Judas? Choi Yongki? Purple Devil? Don’t make me laugh. You’re nothing but a man who deserves to die. No—someone who never should have been born in the first place.”
The spirits circled me like they meant to devour me alive.
My stomach turned.
Over and over, I told myself it wasn’t real, but the voices kept driving straight into my heart.
“Because you’re worthless trash.”
Jeong Myeong-su kept chanting without end.
“Kill yourself!”
“Kill yourself!”
“Kill yourself!”
The crowd of one hundred thousand sang the same refrain.
I had been put on trial, and the masses were waiting for me to die.
It was the first nightmare of my life.
Then, suddenly, memories from my previous life flickered through my mind.
My father abandoned me. My grandmother got cancer. My younger brother died.
Maybe…
Maybe I was the one at the center of all this.
Was I really someone who should never have come into this world?
Maybe reincarnation wasn’t a blessing at all…
Maybe it was a curse.
While I was drowning in that chaos, Jeong Myeong-su recited his spell and opened a massive subspace portal.
From the pitch-black void, a gigantic horn thrust out.
“This is the strongest summon I can call forth. Let’s finish this.”
A demon of power.
A hellish spirit whose karmic score had reached its peak.
A Balrog.
“Grrroooaaaar!”
The earth trembled as the Balrog roared.
Jeong Myeong-su’s physical abilities were nothing special.
Without a barrier, he couldn’t even defend against a simple attack.
But every spell he used belonged to the highest tiers.
“Boo!”
The crowd’s mocking jeers crashed over me.
“Purple Devil? What a joke!”
“Cut the hero act!”
“You psycho! You sick bastard!”
Nobody acknowledged me.
Nobody needed me.
And in that sea of voices, I felt…
alone.
I lowered my gaze and stayed silent for a while.
“Well, now you’ve finally turned obedient. That’s what compliance is. It’s only natural to adapt to the system and orders created by the strong, and follow them!”
Jeong Myeong-su preached his cult’s doctrine like the sect leader he was.
My resolve to kill him had started with Nike’s revenge.
When I saw the little girl Ji-ye at Eunchong Orphanage, cursed and trembling like a lamb, I’d been furious enough to see red.
“Judas. Better yet, become my servant. I’ll show you how peaceful it is to erase your thoughts and follow obediently!”
I wrestled with myself.
Was I really opposing Jeong Myeong-su for Nike and Ji-ye?
What did I truly want?
What was I even fighting for?
Who was I fighting for?
“Why aren’t you answering? Do I have to show you my omnipotence again?”
Jeong Myeong-su lifted his hand.
The Balrog raised its sharp claws as well.
“My familiar. Free that foolish man.”
The crowd spat and hurled curses.
The Balrog moved with murderous intent.
Everything slowed to a crawl.
“Purple Devil!”
Then someone called out to me.
It was Simon, fighting mercenaries below the stage.
Corpses were strewn around her.
More than a hundred swordsmen.
Simon had won a war against the many all by herself.
Her blade flashed with mana.
Once, Simon had told me something.
“Do you know what the secret technique of absolute defense in Ganro-ryu is?”
She had brushed back her long golden hair as she spoke.
“It’s not just about protecting other people with your sword. It’s about protecting yourself too.”
Yohan had created a perfect sword style.
And yet, the one who had truly reached its pinnacle was not Yohan himself.
It was Simon, the second-in-command who had inherited Ganro-ryu.
When our eyes met, my mind snapped clear.
Right.
There was no need to overcomplicate this.
I had already decided that Jeong Myeong-su was an evil man.
I didn’t want a world where men like that ran wild.
For my family.
For my grandmother and my brother.
And for myself.
Against evil…
“I don’t compromise.”
Mirror Turn activated.
Cost: ₩50 million per use.
This was the second time.
I’d already spent ₩100 million.
I didn’t care.
If anything stood in my way, I would crush it.
I’d gladly spend this much.
I’ll burn it all!
A thick fog rose, and a blizzard swept through on the winter wind.
When the whirlwind finally cleared, a new summon stood behind me.
Jeong Myeong-su rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
The Balrog he had summoned was equivalent to thirty Ruins-grade monsters combined.
It was a catastrophe that even an S-class hunter would struggle to handle alone.
What the hell is that…?
Judas? Choi Yongki? Purple Devil?
No, whatever it is—
He already knew that his opponent could reflect magic back at him whole.
Even so, he had summoned the Balrog.
It had been, in a way, a demonstration of confidence.
Sure, low-tier spells like Fire Ball could be amplified however much he wanted.
But he had believed that even a trump card wouldn’t be able to generate a weapon stronger than that.
That was true only until a moment ago.
Behind the purple-masked man, a pair of enormous white wings spread wide.
A golden crown rested over his head, and a white cloth covered his eyes.
Between those wings, a golden circle shimmered.
Jeong Myeong-su swallowed hard.
That is…
A seraph, one of the highest ranks among angels.
Seraphim.
It was a summon overflowing with spiritual force and divine power at nearly maximum capacity.
Color drained from Jeong Myeong-su’s face.
However twisted his lust might be, he was still a professional who had devoted his entire life to magic.
He had always prided himself on knowing summoning creatures well enough.
And yet this man had called forth one of the highest-tier angels.
I’ve never heard of, never seen, a mage like that…
What should have remained a legend in ancient books, some absurd tale fit only for comics, had become vivid reality before his eyes.
If this goes on, I’m finished.
Instinctively sensing the threat, the Balrog struck first.
Its sharp claws flashed as it charged at its enemy.
Whoosh!
But it never even made it close enough to touch Seraphim.
The Balrog’s hand was cleanly severed at the wrist, and it tumbled to the floor.
The purple-masked man lifted his head.
“Let’s settle this.”
Jeong Myeong-su felt a chill run down the back of his neck.
From his reckless youth, when he’d made countless women cry with his handsome face and lived like a rotten libertine, all the way to his prime, when he had built wealth and fame through black magic and lived as the leader of Cheonyang-ji…
For reasons he couldn’t explain, fragments of his past swept through his mind.
Once he recognized this strange sensation as his life flashing before his eyes, Jeong Myeong-su lost his reason.
“Shut—shut your mouth!!!”
There was no road left for him to retreat.
He gathered up every last shred of life energy he had and converted it into mana.
A mass of slick, red spots appeared all over the Balrog’s body.
It was the highest-grade black magic Jeong Myeong-su could cast, one that forced the cursed target’s potential to its absolute limit.
Red Point.
“Kraaah!”
The Balrog opened its maw.
The mana lump compressed and fused into a single point.
On the other side, the final blow was also being prepared.
Choi Yongki brought both hands together respectfully at his chest.
Seraphim’s wings wrapped around his body.
Light gathered above the golden crown.
Choi Yongki… Purple Devil…
A man who called himself a demon was controlling an angel.
There wasn’t even time to marvel at the irony.
The shock waves of Balrog and Seraphim collided.
“Aaaagh!”
Jeong Myeong-su’s face wrinkled in real time.
Black blood poured from every hole in his head—his eyes, his nose, his ears.
Jeong Myeong-su realized it instantly.
The one who survives this attack will be the final victor.
And so he clung on with even more desperation.
The shock waves slammed into each other with ferocity.
The air tore into a frenzy, and the stage itself shattered.
At first, their momentum looked nearly even.
But gradually, one side began to give way.
“Ghk!!!”
Unlike the weakening Balrog, Seraphim didn’t budge an inch.
In fact, its face remained serenely calm, eyes still closed.
Jeong Myeong-su, now panicking, shouted, “You hypocritical bastard! I only guided the believers who trusted and followed me. Is faith a sin? Is religion evil? By what authority—by what right—do you think you can kill me?!”
Maybe he was trying to argue the moral grounds of the fight only because he wanted even a mental victory.
Or maybe it was the last howl of a dying man.
“The reason I fight…”
The voice of Purple Devil reached him.
“Is because I think trash like you deserves to die.”
Amid the confusion, Choi Yongki’s clear voice rang out.
“It’s conviction.”
The force of light slammed into Jeong Myeong-su.
Balrog’s flesh and bone split apart as blood erupted into the air.
With a deafening roar, the stadium exploded.
Dust scattered everywhere, then slowly settled to the ground together with the falling snow.
In the wake of the storm, Jeong Myeong-su looked like a man on the verge of death.
“...Uh. Ah…”
He reached out a hand.
His fingers, dry as dead branches, groped at empty air.
Something shimmered in Jeong Myeong-su’s eyes.
There was a blue-green field, the Twelve Apostles who served him, and countless followers.
Especially the beautiful women who had always trailed behind him.
All of them were smiling brightly at him.
“Oh. My children.”
Jeong Myeong-su called out happily, and their expressions turned cold in an instant.
Only then did he realize it.
It was all an illusion.
Jeong Myeong-su dropped to both knees and collapsed face-first to the ground.
One last line reached his ears.
“Go to hell.”