The Saint's Mercy and the Serpent's End
The hunter collapsed to his knees with a thud.
He clutched the hem of Kim Hwang-je's pants and burst into loud sobs.
“It’s fine… Just get up already.”
Why is this guy acting like this again? Have all the people from this other world collectively contracted some kind of emotional overload disorder?
Kim Hwang-je rummaged through every mage on the castle walls, searching for an air purification spell.
There was no air purification spell. Instead, he only found single-use cleansing spells.
Kim Hwang-je cast the cleansing spell on himself and the bulldog.
At the same time, he wiped his mouth with the hem of his emperor’s robes.
Because it was magical clothing, the vomit simply slid off and vanished.
Kim Hwang-je’s eyes darkened with irritation.
Just what the hell are these royal castle bastards eating and shitting out anyway!
Of course, Kim Hwang-je had no idea that this sewer golem was a being created over an extremely long period of time.
“···”
Manta lay on the ground with hollow, vacant eyes.
“When I was defeated by the intellect of a human who had obtained fire… I was honestly delighted… But this… this… is different from what I expected…”
Manta closed his eyes.
“Even though I had trained the flame protection spell to its utmost limit…”
“Who the hell are you calling safe while flapping that tongue around?”
Crack.
The hunter stepped forward and smacked Manta across the face with his longbow.
“Guh…!”
Manta rolled across the ground.
He felt wronged.
He had meticulously trained his flame defense spell in preparation for nuclear bombs, yet he had been attacked with shit.
If he had been brought down by the pinnacle of human intellect—a nuclear strike—he would have been furious, but not indignant. But having a shit bomb shoved down his throat and detonated left him feeling so wronged he thought he might go insane.
“Your Majesty, shall I slit his belly open?”
“No need. I still have questions. Do it later.”
Nearly all the wraiths had been [Deployed as Labor].
So many wraiths had been swallowed that most of the heavy machinery had now been upgraded into [Wraith Heavy Machinery].
The heavy equipment, burning with green and black flames, menacingly dug into the earth in front of the castle walls.
The forest had been planted with an extremely lush green hue, yet for some reason the trees where monsters had been embedded were turning pitch black and rotting away.
Even the distant forest was being dyed black.
The problem was that Kim Hwang-je would have to fill the bellies of those damn evil spirits himself.
I’ll have to use the snake-tree bastards with an eye-for-an-eye strategy and then throw them away.
They could be sent to fight the orcs.
Kim Hwang-je patted his lower back and stood up.
The hunter spoke.
“My lord, someone is approaching.”
“Is it the remaining wraiths?”
“No, it’s a person.”
A motorcycle came racing from far away.
It had been modified for stealth operations, so it was nearly silent.
Lee Min-ah, wearing a coat, was riding it.
When she removed her helmet, her messy brown hair spilled out.
In this filthy sewer, her appearance was excessively beautiful, and her slightly languid eyes were particularly captivating.
But that wasn’t the issue.
The moment Kim Hwang-je saw the air-purifying mask, he swallowed hard.
“Give me that.”
Instead of the mask he had been hoping for, Lee Min-ah abruptly tossed him an atropine syringe.
Unfortunately, Kim Hwang-je had no idea how to use it.
“What is this?”
“It’s a nerve suppressant. It will suppress the poisoning symptoms. Get proper treatment later.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
Kim Hwang-je pretended to inject the atropine, then immediately sent it into his trade window.
He didn’t know how to use the thing.
Instead, he clicked on the priests in the royal castle and purchased cleansing spells again.
The Castle Becomes Me
Periodic Purification
10 uses
Price: 34,000,000 won
He set it so the area would be cleaned at regular intervals ten times.
“Thanks for the help. But catching evil spirits isn’t illegal, right?”
Kim Hwang-je remained wary.
He was about to pull Grim out of that bastard’s belly. He hoped she wouldn’t try to stick her spoon in or demand taxes.
“The law? There are no laws regarding evil spirits.”
“What?”
“Finish cleaning up and collect your loot. Once you’ve finished the sealing, let’s talk about compensation.”
“···Khh khh··· So you were the one who sent this monster… Truly, you humans have created a truly horrifying monster… After the flames of intellect comes… the excrement of self-forgetfulness as a weapon… But it is useless… Your destruction has already been decided…”
Manta looked up at Lee Min-ah, who was a government employee.
His drooping eyelids trembled, and his tongue dragged along the ground.
Lee Min-ah drew her pistol and shot Manta in the eye.
“Huk!”
Kim Hwang-je was startled.
But it was pointless. Even though Manta had lost his strength, a mere pistol round couldn’t destroy his eyeball.
“Even in this state, conventional firearms are useless. Hurry up and finish him. If you talk too long, you’ll be bewitched. Collect whatever loot or spoils there are and seal him quickly.”
Why wasn’t there a law?
And why was she telling him to seal it?
Well, she said she would catch it, give him the loot, and even provide compensation, so there probably wouldn’t be any problems.
Kim Hwang-je walked over and looked down at Manta’s head.
Manta was muttering some kind of barely audible curse.
“Your Majesty, look here. There appears to be a human shape on this one’s head.”
“A human shape?”
When Kim Hwang-je leaned in closer to look, Manta struggled to raise his eyes and let out a metallic rasp.
“Heh heh… Greet my long-time prey… The one who stood against me for so long to protect you pitiful little creatures…”
“It seems the evil spirit has swallowed a victim.”
“A victim?”
Lee Min-ah nodded.
“Just as a snake digests something in its stomach for a long time, it captures strong enemies and slowly drains them over time.”
“Wait, you people. You know this much about evil spirits and yet you’ve just left them alone like this?!”
Kim Hwang-je exploded in anger.
How much suffering had the people here endured while the so-called government simply watched?
They hadn’t even made any laws about it.
Lee Min-ah’s face stiffened slightly as she nodded.
“That… I’m sorry.”
She had apologized quickly, but Kim Hwang-je’s anger did not subside.
“You think this is something that can just end with an apology?”
“But there’s nothing we can do. Simply putting this evil spirit’s name on any official document would strengthen its existence across the entire nation. Do you remember the Great Australian Bombing Incident?”
Ah, the one where they dropped so many bombs that Uluru in the Australian desert disappeared.
“Even now, they drop ten sets of thermobaric bombs every three hours. That happened because someone entered a single wrong character in the paperwork.”
Kim Hwang-je’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Klk klk klk…”
Manta laughed mockingly.
Sigh. Maybe it was better to deal with this kind of issue later.
Kim Hwang-je looked down at Manta and said,
“If you release the victim, I’ll kill you without pain.”
“Human, I commend your naivety… I am an ancient serpent who has witnessed sinking volcanoes and burning ice. Do you truly believe your pathetic human torture could cause me pain?”
“Well, I’ve seen stars exploding on the internet too.”
Kim Hwang-je replied.
“What does that mean?”
“Ask NASA.”
Soon, Kim Hwang-je resummoned the bandits.
‘Summoning magic!?’
Lee Min-ah was startled.
In that case, was the man with the eyepatch not a person either, but a summoned creature?
That would make sense.
She had never seen him even once during her surveillance.
“Hold him down.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The bandits pinned Manta firmly in place.
Having shrunk to the size of an anaconda, Manta could not resist the bandits’ strength.
Let’s see just how useful that thing the eunuch gave me really is.
◈ Do not drink. Apply only to wounds.
◈ Causes extreme pain. Extremely effective.
“Give me a fork.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Lee Min-ah watched with an expression that clearly asked what on earth this man was doing.
A bandit pulled a fork from his belt and handed it to Kim Hwang-je.
Kim Hwang-je opened the lid of the Arbocil and plunged the fork into the vivid red liquid.
Bubble bubble.
For some reason, goosebumps rose all along Lee Min-ah’s back.
She suddenly touched her damp, sweat-soaked back.
This was a sensation she only experienced during moments of extreme anxiety.
Just what was that red medicine?
What else? It was Arbocil.
Kim Hwang-je rubbed the fork directly onto Manta’s wounded face.
He didn’t stab it. He simply applied it gently.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh—!”
But Manta’s eyes rolled back as he screamed.
The scream lasted so long it would be impossible to record it all in text.
Kim Hwang-je frowned.
“That damn eunuch…”
He gave me something like this to apply?
“Pardon?”
“Never mind.”
Next time I find him, I won’t let him off easy.
When I find him…
I’ll reattach whatever I cut off and cut it again.
“S-stop… I’ll release him, I’ll release him!”
The moment the fork was dipped back into the Arbocil, Manta gasped for breath.
Soon, a small crystal-like object rolled out from Manta’s forehead, gradually growing larger until it became a single spiritual body.
It was a person with vacant eyes.
They had white hair and golden eyes, but their features were so blurred it was impossible to tell if they were male or female.
Yet regardless of gender, they were so beautiful it was hard to believe—one might think a metalwork sculpture made of crystal had come to life.
“Hoo…”
Both Kim Hwang-je and Lee Min-ah widened their eyes at the sight.
The figure wore pure white armor—armor with absolutely no decorations.
“S-Saint Knight Benedict!”
“What? Saint Knight?”
“Saint Knight?”
Lee Min-ah tilted her head in confusion.
Kim Hwang-je whipped his head around to look at the hunter.
“You said the last holy knight had gone missing!”
“He is right here!”
“Ah, so he was here?”
Kim Hwang-je said sarcastically.
But if he was here, what could he do about it?
The hunter looked at the halo shining behind the spirit’s back, crawled forward on his knees, and kissed the holy knight’s feet.
“Ahh, last holy knight! So it was you who blocked Manta and granted half a day of freedom to the souls here!”
[···That… is… correct…]
However, Benedict seemed far too weakened to speak properly.
He muttered something in a voice that was barely audible.
[A resting place…]
Kim Hwang-je urgently used [Deploy as Labor] (Lv.3). But it didn’t work.
[Those who have been banished cannot yet return.]
Your Majesty!
That gentleman was banished from our world by the enemy’s powerful magic.
Your Majesty, what about the talisman you received as a gift?
The space inside it is spacious enough to accommodate several souls.
Soon, Kim Hwang-je’s talisman floated up.
Golden, shimmering patterns unfolded in multiple layers, and a gentle radiance enveloped the surroundings.
Then a message appeared in the status window.
Will you accept and protect the ‘Damaged Soul of Benedict’ inside the Emperor’s Talisman? (Y/N)
They said that as intelligence increased, hidden abilities of gifted items would be unlocked. Was this that moment?
Whatever the case, he had to accept it.
Kim Hwang-je pressed Y.
A gentle breeze like a spring wind blew.
Caught in a wind whose origin was unknown, Benedict’s spiritual body flowed into the talisman.
Emperor’s Talisman
Grade: Legendary
※ Has accepted the soul of Holy Knight Benedict.
※ Has acquired the first seat among the Seven Holy Knights.
※ Can now use a portion of the [Power of Light].
※ “Blessed are those who repent their sins and praise the light!”
Swift. Accurate. Purification. Service.
Excellent.
What the hell is it saying?
While Kim Hwang-je stared at the status window, the necklace exploded with light.
Flash—!
Light burst in every direction from Kim Hwang-je’s necklace.
It was so powerful that it could be seen from several kilometers away.
Kim Hwang-je’s robes fluttered, and golden light dyed his entire body.
Lee Min-ah could not close her mouth at the sight.
“···”
Kim Hwang-je looked down at Manta.
After having his victim taken away, Manta looked as if he were dead.
But was he really dead?
It seemed like he was just pretending.
This Manta bastard was no ordinary evil being.
He hadn’t simply killed people—he had tortured and killed them in the exact same way every single day, every single hour.
Besides, he couldn’t put him inside his body.
The moment he entered the royal castle, he would spread his name everywhere, and dealing with the aftermath might become difficult.
Even if it worked, once he recovered his strength he would surely betray them. There was no need to invite trouble.
For bastards like this, killing them and eliminating any future threats was the best option.
“Alright. Let’s kill him.”
It was his first kill.
When he checked the priests’ skill window descriptions, the Hymn of Exorcism seemed to be the most useful attack.
Kim Hwang-je gathered a thousand people on top of the castle wall and lined them up in rows.
When several priests began the chant, the thousand-strong choir began singing together.
Since there were no longer any barriers, every attack should work now.
The Castle Becomes Me activated.
Hymn of Exorcism
120,000 won per person × 1,000 people = 120,000,000 won
Military funds paid in full.
Commencing the hymn.
Lee Min-ah stood behind Kim Hwang-je.
If she had been in front of him when the light erupted, she would have been blinded.
Because of the immense light, the world itself looked dark.
The thousand-strong hymn attack began pouring out from the compressed space.
A sound like something that would be heard in a cathedral rang out.
The sound started softly, then exploded.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
In that brief moment, Manta—who had been pretending to be dead—melted and evaporated in an instant.
A massive wave of light surged toward the city Manta had ruled, burning away every nightmare.
The city was liberated.
The evil spirit was annihilated.
Lee Min-ah’s misunderstanding grew tenfold!
‘I’ve only ever heard of one way to kill an evil spirit! This person’s class is [Saint]!’
His true identity had finally been revealed.
It was impossible for one person to master swords, magic, and archery to their utmost limits.
Absolutely impossible.
Even if it were possible, such a person could not become an existence capable of slaying evil spirits.
Besides, hadn’t the soul called a [Holy Knight] referred to him as a sanctuary?
There was only one way to explain the phenomenon.
It was a Saint’s miracle.
“So that’s how it was…! That’s why you’ve been fighting the evil spirits all by yourself!”
All the poker faces Lee Min-ah had shown until now completely shattered.
Her eyes were red, and her steps were urgent.
She rushed over and took Kim Hwang-je’s hands—ruined from manual labor—into both of hers.
“Your hands…”
How much hardship had he endured fighting alone all this time?
Look at these rough, horribly calloused hands.
They looked just like her late father’s hands.
Just like her father, this man must have protected the weak on a horrific battlefield that Lee Min-ah could not even imagine.
“All alone… all alone… You must have been fighting the darkness in a place we could never even imagine…”
A person who carried a heavy burden on his back his entire life, following the will of heaven and eradicating evil.
An existence who endured unimaginable agony and pain for the sake of all humanity, always stepping into danger.
She hated herself for having lived an easy life as a civil servant while resenting hunters.
Kim Hwang-je looked up at the sky again.
Did he suddenly have to comfort a crying woman?
Had she realized that he resembled her dead family member?
Kim Hwang-je didn’t know, but it was true.
However, since he didn’t know the truth, his mind spun in circles.
What should he do?
That’s right.
Kim Hwang-je suddenly recalled Manta’s evil deeds.
That’s right. When Gemini heard about Sinal Port, her eyes had turned red too.
Maybe this woman’s hometown was this place?
So she had been holding it in all this time, and the moment Manta died, her tears finally burst.
That could be it!
Only then did Kim Hwang-je understand her situation.
He had essentially avenged her!
Kim Hwang-je patted her on the back and said what he had seen others say.
“···You must have gone through a lot.”
“No, you are the one who has suffered greatly…”
It took quite a while to calm her down.
After wiping her eyes, she stood up straight in a formal posture.
“···From now on, if anything happens, please contact me without fail. I will support you by any means necessary. To avoid burdening your work, I will keep today’s events confidential. The compensation will be transferred to your account…”
Lee Min-ah recited a long string of words while tightly holding Kim Hwang-je’s hands.
“However, I must continue the surveillance. That’s what the law requires. But from now on, I will always be on your side. We will definitely fix this wicked world!”
“Ah…”
“And if possible, I would like to give you a ride!”
Kim Hwang-je glanced at the motorcycle.
The two of them riding it would require them to be pressed far too closely together.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll contact you next time. By the way, is this your hometown?”
Among the bulldozers, whose family could she be…
“No. Please contact me next time without fail!”
‘Ah, so she lost her family to another evil spirit!’
Kim Hwang-je understood cleanly.
However, Lee Min-ah kept looking back several times as she left.
The hunter watched her go and tilted his head.
“Your Majesty, it looks like that woman has completely fallen for you.”
“I avenged her grudge, so she’s just grateful. Don’t insult someone who’s grateful. If you think that way, you’ll never get a girlfriend.”
“I’m sorry. This humble one…”
“But Your Majesty, there are ten of that bastard.”
“Uh…”
The hunter bowed obsequiously and scratched his head.
He had looked young, but maybe it was because of the eyepatch.
Kim Hwang-je changed the subject.
“By the way, I ended up burning the snake in front of the government official to look cool. Can we still recover the Grim?”
“Of course, my lord.”
The hunter dug into the ground where Manta had died with his bare hands.
From beneath it, Grim orbs emerged. They were piled up in huge quantities.
When he saw the brilliant red orbs that looked like inner cores, Kim Hwang-je laughed in disbelief.
“So these come out too.”
“Your Majesty. Loot never disappears. It is an iron rule.”
Kim Hwang-je put the entire pile of Grim into his trade window.
He would figure out what to use them for later.
Kim Hwang-je climbed back onto the bulldog.
“Alright, let’s go!”
To bestow a blast furnace for the rear gate!