Chapter 232: Traitor (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 232: Traitor (7)
It was a shame, but Yohan was no match for us.
I swung my spear lightly, cleaving through the surging wave of black tentacles.
Krrrrrsh!
The moment they made contact, the purplish tentacles dissipated into nothing.
“Kraaaaaah…!” Yohan screamed in horror.
The reason was simple.
The power I wield is the Fragment of Harmony.
The power Cheon Yeo-wool wields is the Fragment of Desire.
They are powers that exist purely to annihilate Demonic Force.
When two who wield such powers fight together… we can stand against even an Apostle.
So against a mere infested being, chosen by an Apostle…
BOOOOM!
Cheon Yeo-wool dropped a massive blue meteor from the sky.
She had already finished recovering, having received an instantaneous supply of divine power from Gani.
The meteor split into hundreds of smaller shooting stars in mid-air, raining down on Yohan.
The instant those shooting stars touched his writhing tentacles…
Sssssizzle…!
“Kuaaaargh!”
The black tentacles were engulfed in the blue flames of divine power and began to burn.
They didn’t even give him a chance to regenerate.
“Uweck! Uweeghk!”
What’s more, Yohan was now collapsing on his own.
His desperate attempts to regenerate made him lose control of his own power.
He tried to regenerate his shoulder.
Boom!
His leg exploded.
He tried to regenerate his leg again.
Thud…
His arm fell off.
At this point, the fight itself was meaningless.
It might have been different if he had maintained his rationality and controlled his power.
But it was over the moment he fell for the provocation and went berserk.
Even if we left him alone, he would have disintegrated on his own.
I lowered the tip of my spear and watched Yohan’s final moments.
“……Where’s Seong Young-il?”
That bastard was behind Yohan.
He must be the one who created this mess.
“The residence… in the basement.”
Cheon Yeo-wool gestured with her chin toward the collapsed residence.
“Let’s hurry.”
I immediately started moving.
I had a strange feeling about this.
The Evil God I know is not a being that acts on emotion.
It always makes rational decisions.
This means that even if the result looks like a disastrous failure, there’s a reason behind the process.
Think about it. If it wanted to use the Hero, there were plenty of better opportunities.
After all, Yohan was a valuable asset to humanity.
It could have let the infestation progress slowly and made him betray us at a critical moment, or it could have had him infiltrate our ranks to extract information.
His potential uses were endless.
But instead, it revealed everything. It used him up completely, like a disposable card.
The only conclusion is that whatever it’s plotting right now is incomparably more significant and important to the Evil God than any gain from sacrificing a mere Hero.
This could be a diversion.
I immediately grabbed Cheon Yeo-wool’s wrist.
“Let’s go.”
Without a moment’s delay, I kicked off the ground and sprinted.
While I was at it, I imbued my spear with energy.
No Step.
And…
“Ghost Slash.”
Shnk!
A jade-green arc split the air.
Yohan’s neck and torso, which had been writhing in an attempt to regenerate… were severed in an instant.
Leaving him like that would only prolong his suffering.
I gave him a quick end.
“Kyah.”
Then I snatched Cheon Yeo-wool, who was running beside me, by the waist.
Wrapping one arm around her, I charged toward the entrance of the residence.
“Hold on tight.”
“Okay!”
With Cheon Yeo-wool’s arms wrapped tightly around my neck, I plunged into the basement.
*
Back in the basement.
The entrance to the Abyss, opened by the magic formula, still showed no reaction.
“……Is it not ready yet?” Seong Young-il urged, trembling uncontrollably, his insides burning with impatience.
“Look at this one. Are you mad?” Aria sneered at Seong Young-il.
“How dare you rush me? We’re in the middle of a sacred ritual.”
She hummed a little tune.
“Don’t you worry. That kid upstairs… he’s more of a handful than you’d think. His desire is so sticky, it’s not half bad.”
Aria glanced up at the ceiling and giggled.
“He’ll probably buy us a lot more time than you’re worried about. He’s in pretty good shape, so he should last quite a while…”
It was at that very moment.
KRAAAAAAASH!!
“Ack…?”
Before she could finish her sentence, the entire underground chamber shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.
Dust and stone fragments rained down from the ceiling.
Aria closed her eyes for a moment, gauging the energy that had just broken through from above.
“……Something strange has arrived, hasn’t it?”
The smile on her lips vanished.
Truthfully, it didn’t matter if a few humans showed up. To her, an Apostle, humans were… nothing more than insects.
The problem was… if the owner of the energy that had just smashed through the ground floor was ‘him,’ the one Aria suspected, then it was a different story.
She didn’t seem to have the luxury of fighting while protecting this lump of meat beside her.
Because it looked like she would have to give it… her all.
But then.
Gwoooooo…
The magic formula drawn in blood. The black hole at its center began to vibrate and react.
An overwhelming surge of mana erupted, flowing in reverse.
“Oh, my.”
Color returned to Aria’s stiff face.
Looks like I won’t have to suffer after all.
Thinking this, she gazed at the hole with a look of relief.
Step.
A footstep echoed from the darkness.
“How filthy.”
What emerged from within was… a man in a pristine suit, without a speck of dust on him, a figure completely out of place in the squalid underground hideout.
It was Alexei.
The moment he appeared, he frowned and covered his nose.
“Alexei?” Aria’s eyes widened. “Why did you come here yourself?”
This was different from what the Evil God had told her.
‘Retrieve the lump of meat.’ That was the entirety of the order she had received.
There was no reason for Alexei, the 2nd Seat, to grace this filthy sewer with his presence.
“You’re telling me. I’m quite unfortunate myself.”
Alexei took out a handkerchief to cover his nose and let out a deep sigh.
Then he gestured toward the ceiling and said, “Let’s just say it’s because of the person up there.”
“I knew it.” Aria giggled and nodded.
Jung Hae-in. The arrogant human who killed Barcus and annihilated Belial.
It was him.
Her red eyes glazed over with ecstasy.
As expected of the kind Evil God… Worried that I might get hurt, that I might fail. To think he would send another Apostle just for me…
Her misunderstanding spiraled in a positive direction.
“Well, since you’re here, you should earn your keep. I just need to kill them quickly, right?” Aria pointed at the ceiling, a murderous smile on her face.
“……Yes, well. I suppose so. If you can, that is.”
Alexei didn’t bother to correct her misunderstanding.
He answered vaguely as if annoyed, gestured into the air to create a chair of shadow, and plopped down onto it.
His gaze then shifted to the pitch-black lump of meat beside him.
“Is this… the vessel.”
Just as Alexei reached out his hand…
Kwoong…
The chamber shook violently once more.
“The door’s open.” Aria giggled, amplifying the black aura that enveloped her naked body.
Then, she confidently took her stance.
RUMBLE!
The sound grew closer.
And then.
CRASH!
The massive, closed door was blown away.
Two figures stepped into the chamber amidst the dust and debris. It was Jung Hae-in and Cheon Yeo-wool.
“……”
Jung Hae-in’s expression hardened in an instant.
The first things to enter his sight were two incongruous beings.
A woman wearing not a single thread, radiating mana. The Apostle… Aria.
And… a man sitting arrogantly in mid-air. He’d met him before. Alexei.
Not one Apostle, but two.
This was the worst-case scenario.
But the shock didn’t end there.
Jung Hae-in’s gaze slowly shifted to the center of the room.
A black lump of meat, bound in chains and suspended in the air, mangled beyond recognition.
And below it, a red magic formula that was boiling and melting the floor.
What is that…
Jung Hae-in’s eyes narrowed, then widened.
There was no conscious thought. His instincts screamed first.
Fwoosh!
Using his forward momentum, he didn’t stop but rapidly adjusted his stance.
His body twisted to the point that every muscle screamed.
The jet-black spear in Jung Hae-in’s hand.
SHWIIIIING!!
Catastrophe shot forward in a flash of light, heading straight for Seong Si-woo.
But.
Krrrk…
A bizarre sound, as if a giant, invisible hand had seized the spear in mid-air.
“Sigh…” Alexei casually extended a hand.
And twisted it in the air.
Catastrophe, which had been flying straight, was slowly pushed back as if blocked by something, before losing its power and rebounding back into Jung Hae-in’s hands.
“Cheon Yeo-wool!”
Unfazed, Jung Hae-in caught the spear and shouted immediately.
Cheon Yeo-wool, too, had already recognized what the lump of meat in the center was.
“That’s… How…!”
Though horrified, she reflexively stretched out both hands and cast a massive holy barrier.
A pure white light filled the chamber, attempting to pressure the Apostles.
But.
CRACK!
The moment Alexei rose from his chair, the barrier Cheon Yeo-wool had cast with all her might shattered.
“Honestly.” Alexei cracked his neck and adjusted his suit.
He took a stance, as if preparing for battle.
“Lady Aria! Let’s go! Let’s get rid of these annoyances!”
At his cry, Aria’s face lit up.
To think he’d be so proactive.
Convinced of her victory, she turned her back to Jung Hae-in and Cheon Yeo-wool.
“Yes! You insects… today is your…”
It was the moment Aria shouted in a voice filled with ecstasy.
Shunk.
At the dull sound, Aria’s words stopped.
“……?”
Her eyes widened. She was speechless.
Her chest felt hot.
She slowly lowered her head.
She saw a hand protruding from the center of her chest.
In its grasp… was Aria’s own beating heart.
“Huh…?”
She blankly tried to turn around.
Behind her stood Alexei, his arm extended, his face expressionless.
He was the one who had pierced her back.
“Rest well.”
He muttered.
Rip!
And tore out Aria’s heart.
“Ah…?”
Aria stared back and forth between the hole in her chest and her own heart in Alexei’s hand.
She collapsed, just like that.
The heart is the vessel that contains the Evil God’s power and Authority.
To have it torn out meant the annihilation of one’s existence.
Aria’s beautiful body instantly turned to ash as it fell to the floor.
“Hoo…”
Alexei stared impassively at the heart in his hand for a moment.
The red mass still pulsed viscously in his palm, as if unaware of its owner’s death.
The crystallization of corruption and desire.
Thump.
He tossed it onto Seong Si-woo’s corpse behind him.
Alexei watched the scene, wiping his hand with a blood-stained handkerchief.
The reason Aria was needed.
The reason the pieces on the chessboard would only be complete once she was gone.
It was because she was not the master of this ritual.
KRAAAAAAASH!!!
From the very beginning, she was meant to be the sacrifice.