The Absolute Being Lives
Thud. Thud.
Squelch!
"For the Demon God."
"For the Demon God."
As the masked Cardinal strode into the Egyptian branch of the cult, the gathered cultists chanted the phrase in perfect unison. Not a single one stammered or lagged; their voices blended into one, as if pouring from a single speaker. Had their voices not differed slightly, one might have mistaken it for a single person speaking.
"Mustafa Bareya."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
The figure standing before the Cardinal—Mustafa Bareya, bishop of the Egyptian branch—bowed his head.
"I had high expectations of you."
"……."
Bareya bit his lip at the Cardinal's words.
"The other countries were never reliable to begin with, so I wasn't particularly disappointed."
"……."
"But I thought you would be different. Yet you, too, failed the Wave."
Boom!
Bareya slammed his forehead against the floor. Blood flowed, but he paid it no mind.
"I am sorry, Your Eminence. I have no excuse."
"You have disappointed me. And beyond that, the cult. And the Demon God."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each of the Cardinal's words, Bareya bashed his head more violently. He knew this would never quench the Cardinal's rage. Yet he did so out of pure self-reproach—his loyalty to the Cardinal, his faith in the Demon God, and further still, his sense of responsibility toward the cult. All of it mixed together, turning the head-bashing into a reprimand against himself.
"You, more than anyone, knew how important Egypt was……."
The Waves that had erupted in other countries could be regarded as mere smokescreens to conceal the one in Egypt—that was how crucial Egypt had been. After all, they had needed to sacrifice Egypt's population of over one hundred million to summon Anubis. Of course, they knew a monster Wave alone could never kill a hundred million people. But the Wave had not contained only monsters. The cult itself had been hidden within it. They had made extensive preparations to make everything look as though the monsters were responsible, and once the Wave began, the cultists would move to slaughter the people one by one. Yet with the Wave itself failing from the start, every subsequent operation had been canceled in chain reaction.
"The period of our contract with Anubis is nearly at an end. We should have completed the summoning within that time……."
Kuuung!
In the end Bareya bashed his head until he fainted. The floor was already soaked in blood, and Bareya's skull was visible through the wound.
Tszzzzzz.
"Rise."
"Hup!"
As energy flowed from the Cardinal, Bareya's eyes snapped open and he immediately tried to smash his head again. This idiot! To faint so stupidly just from bashing his head a little.
Tszzzz.
Halt.
But the Cardinal stopped Bareya as he tried to move.
"Why did you fail?"
"……Because a Cheon-oe-cheon appeared……."
Bareya spoke in a low voice. He did not wish to make excuses, but if one were to pinpoint the cause of failure, it was the appearance of an unplanned Cheon-oe-cheon.
"You mean Al Hashir?"
Al Hashir, ranked second and the Saudi Cheon-oe-cheon. At the time of the Wave he would have been too busy dealing with the monsters that appeared in Saudi Arabia alone. They had even summoned additional demons from the Demon Realm specifically to keep Al Hashir marked.
"No. A different Cheon-oe-cheon."
"A different Cheon-oe-cheon?"
"Yes. South Korea's Cheon-oe-cheon, A, appeared suddenly. He is also the reason the Waves in other countries failed."
He had selectively appeared only in countries with few Awakened or large populations and interfered. At first they had considered dealing with A, but doing so would have advertised that the cult was behind the incidents, so they could only watch helplessly without intervening.
"A, is it…… That bastard again."
The one who had gotten the cult involved with New Age. The one who had exposed the cult to the world. That bastard had interfered with the cult's affairs once more—and with a critical plan that absolutely could not be allowed to fail, no less.
"With the Wave's failure, matters have grown urgent. Take the cultists and kill every last person in Egypt."
"What?"
Bareya was flustered by the Cardinal's words. It was not that he was unwilling or suddenly felt guilt. Though there were many cultists currently in Egypt, they could not kill a hundred million people. Egypt had Awakened as well, and Saudi Arabia even had Al Hashir, did it not? During the Wave he might have been unable to come because he was defending Saudi Arabia, but now he could cross over immediately. In such a situation it was physically impossible for the cultists alone to kill a hundred million people. It would only expose the cult's location for nothing and completely collapse the important operation.
What is His Eminence thinking? Does he have some deeper intention I do not know?
"Why the surprise? Do you intend to defy my order?"
"……No. I shall do as you command."
Swoosh.
Thud.
The Cardinal placed a hand on Bareya's shoulder.
"Do not worry. I am not telling you to move empty-handed."
"?"
When the Cardinal held something out, Bareya carefully received it with both hands. What he handed over was a small, round lump that looked like chewed gum.
"Rolquia."
"Wha—?! Ro…… Rolquia……?"
Bareya stared at the lump with a startled expression. This thing smaller than a ping-pong ball was the famous demon Rolquia?! Rolquia was a demon that inhabited the Demon Realm and parasitized living beings. Just as horsehair worms entered animals, Rolquia used the human body as a host, and its infectiousness was enormous. Once a single human was infected, it took less than an hour for a hundred people to become infected. Moreover, once Rolquia entered the body, murderous impulses surged wildly, and if anyone was nearby the host would kill them on the spot.
"Feed this to anyone at all. By the time a day has passed, Egypt will be a living hell."
With citizens killing one another, the Association and even Al Hashir would be unable to do anything and forced to stand by. And in that gap the cultists could join in killing people as well. That way they could succeed in the plan that had failed during the Wave.
"Understood. I shall go out at once and……."
As he spoke, Bareya suddenly thought of something and looked at the Cardinal.
Wait…… If I spread this highly infectious demon…….
The cultists who went out to deal with the citizens. And he himself—would all be infected as well.
"They are ones for the Demon God. Sacrifice yourselves with joy."
Swoosh.
Thud!
Thud. Thud. Thud!
As the Cardinal's words ended, every believer in the cult, including Bareya, dropped to their knees.
"For the Demon God."
"For the Demon God."
At the order to sacrifice themselves, Bareya and everyone else wore joyful expressions. If they could be forgiven for their mistake even in this way, they could do it with glad hearts.
At that moment, in the situation where everyone was kneeling, one believer casually walked out toward the Cardinal.
"……What?"
"As expected, fanatics are different."
Sssrrk.
The believer who had pulled his hood down over his nose. No—Do-ha, who had infiltrated disguised as a believer, looked at the Cardinal with a bitter smile.
"You are no believer of the Demon God."
"Of course not. No way I'd worship a fucked-up god like that."
"……."
"You bastard!"
When he insulted the Demon God, Bareya shouted. How could anyone be so blasphemous? To insult his god in such a manner.
"I will definitely cut off your arms and legs……."
Swoosh.
As Bareya radiated killing intent, the Cardinal stepped forward and blocked him.
"Who are you? How can a being like you even exist in this world?"
The Cardinal's strangely glittering eyes pierced through Do-ha. A universe was contained within his body. The expression "vast" was insufficient; an endless universe was contained within. Could this truly be called human? Just what was the existence before his eyes?
"Oh? You've opened the Penetrating Eyes?"
Do-ha's expression turned to one of surprise as he looked at the Cardinal. As one's realm rose, a person's eye techniques grew through a total of seven stages. First stage: the Correct Eyes that see rightly. Second stage: the Broad Eyes that see widely. Third stage: the Deep Eyes that see deeply. Fourth stage: the Penetrating Eyes that see through. Fifth stage: the Space-Transcending Eyes that leap across space. Sixth stage: the Time-Transcending Eyes that leap across time. And finally the Divine Eyes that combine the Space-Transcending and Time-Transcending Eyes. A total of seven stages. And the Cardinal before him had opened the Penetrating Eyes. Even with a high realm, many failed to open these eye techniques. This was not a domain of martial prowess but of the mind. In fact, even Cheon Seol-gyeong, who had been the Heavenly Demon, had not opened eye techniques, nor had Jegal Myeong whom he had met not long ago. It was only possible after long years of cultivation like a monk, yet the Cardinal had risen all the way to the Penetrating Eyes.
"Quite surprising. So in the end, fanaticism is also a form of faith, is it?"
It was the first time he had seen a cultist who had opened eye techniques. Even after fighting for decades in the world of Belhart, he had never seen one.
"Shall I test just how far eye techniques opened through fanaticism can go?"
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
First Step: Cheon-roe — Heavenly Thunder
Swoosh.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!
As Do-ha's Cheon-roe crashed down, the Cardinal lightly raised a hand and blocked the lightning.
"Oh."
Seeing that, Do-ha marveled. Originally he had condensed the lightning that fell in all directions so that it struck only above the Cardinal's head. Yet he had blocked it with a mere wave of his hand.
"Car…… Cardinal!"
When the Cardinal was attacked, Bareya examined him with a startled expression. Did he know who this person was, to dare commit such rudeness?
"How dare you!"
Tadatat.
In the end Bareya drew his sword and charged at Do-ha. Even if he could not win, he would at least take one of the man's arms.
"What are you? Get lost."
Whoosh!
Thud!
As if annoyed, Do-ha blew Bareya's head off. With just a single punch, the bishop's head flew far away like a toy.
Thud.
The bishop's headless body collapsed.
"You're not sad that this guy died, are you?"
"A waste. He still had many uses left."
"Heh, of course. You lot never change."
Kuo oooooooo!
With a bitter laugh, Do-ha immediately released his power. That attitude of treating a loyal subordinate as an object even after he died—it was a characteristic of the Demon God Cult. The problem was that the believers in the cult were aware of it as well. They themselves thought of themselves as the Demon God's property, accessories, firewood that could be sacrificed at any time. True fanatics.
"At first I fought the Demon God to return home, but now just seeing anything related to the Demon God makes me nauseous."
"Fought the Demon God……? Could it be……."
Hearing Do-ha's words, the Cardinal's pupils trembled. Something had been strange ever since a universe was contained in his body.
"The Absolute Being, Baek Do-ha…… So you were alive!"
Kuo ooo.
Upon learning the opponent's identity, the Cardinal also began to draw up his energy.
"You know me? But you seem to hate me."
As rage swirled across the face of the Cardinal who had maintained a blank expression the whole time, Do-ha burst out laughing. So even that wooden bastard had emotions.
"Because of you…… Because of you, the Demon God……."
"Khh, as expected of a fanatic. Even knowing I'm the Absolute Being, your worry is still for the Demon God to the end. Amazing, truly."
Tszzzzzzt!
Crackle-crackle.
Do-ha and the Cardinal's powers collided.