I Am Not a Good Man
“Guhhk!”
Thud.
Dvalin, who had blocked the lightning, spat blood and dropped to his knees. Even with the power of a demon, all he could manage was to stop it. His organs twisted, and even his heart had taken the blow.
“Oh? You actually tanked that. Not bad.”
Do-ha smirked as he looked down at Dvalin. He had hit every one of them with the same force, yet a few—including Dvalin—were still alive.
“Did you make a contract with a high-ranking demon or something?”
“Baek… Do-ha…”
Dvalin ground his teeth as he glared at Baek Do-ha. He had finally been given a chance to catch the Pope’s eye, and that damn Baek Do-ha had ruined everything in an instant.
“You think you can pull a stunt like this and walk away unscathed?! The world will hold you accountable for your sins!”
He knew full well that Baek Do-ha was an enemy of the cult. But there was no evidence that the dead believers had belonged to the cult. That Guide of Light from Heaven just a moment ago? In the end, only Baek Do-ha himself could even recognize it.
“You made a mistake. Some of those believers lived lives of good deeds. The condemnation aimed at you will definitely—”
“So what?”
“……What?”
When Do-ha dug a finger in his ear and answered bluntly, Dvalin froze. The information the cult had given him said the man cared about his reputation. Of course he would—he had a family. If it were only himself being cursed, that would be the end of it, but he supposedly feared his family being pointed at and whispered about. And yet… “So what?”
“Why the hell should I care whether your believers live good lives or not? The cult is my enemy. Am I supposed to check their moral report cards before I attack them?”
“Aren’t you afraid of the backlash?! You’re the only one who knows those dead believers were cult members! Sure, given enough time we could prove they belonged to the cult. But until then, you—and your family—will keep getting cursed!”
“Ah…?!”
“Keh-heh-heh. Looking at that flustered face, you never even considered that far, did you?”
When Do-ha looked startled, Dvalin burst into mocking laughter. Stupid bastard. What good was raw power alone? A true powerhouse needed both strength and intellect. Did he think kings lived easy lives? No. A king needed overwhelming force, silver-tongued speech, brilliant strategy—and the ability to play politics. That was the true quality of a king. Baek Do-ha only had strength. Did he really think that just because the cult was his enemy, slaughtering every last believer would solve everything?
“You even came here officially as support. That means a record of your actions exists.”
“Th-they were definitely cult members!”
“That’s right. You’re correct. You carefully picked out only the believers and killed them. But as I just said, you have no way to prove—”
“Ah, that’s enough.”
“?”
Dvalin tilted his head at Do-ha’s expression. What was this? A second ago the man had looked flustered, and now he suddenly wore a triumphant look?
“You just confessed that with your own mouth, didn’t you?”
“……What?”
Sizzle.
When Do-ha raised his hand, something began to take shape behind his back.
Plop.
“Mm. Got a clean recording.”
“Huh…?”
A smartphone appeared out of thin air, and Dvalin’s face went blank. There had been nothing there a moment ago…?
Click.
Ding.
“You spilled everything just because I led you a little… Tsk tsk. You’ll never amount to anything big.”
In truth, Do-ha had cast an invisibility spell on the phone from the very beginning and recorded the entire exchange. Did Dvalin really think he would start something without considering the aftermath?
“Once this video spreads across the world, the Pope will come looking for you first so he can kill you himself. You fucking moron.”
Do-ha looked down at Dvalin with a cold, twisted smile. The man had gotten so excited after just a tiny bit of acting that he had blabbed everything.
“Of course, I’ll kill you before that happens.”
Shiiing.
When Do-ha moved his hand, a sword lying on the ground floated up into the air.
Press.
“Hey, Dvalin. You said it earlier, didn’t you? That some of the believers lived good lives. Well… I don’t give a damn about that. A cult member is a cult member. Period.”
Crunch.
The tip of the sword slowly began to dig into Dvalin’s heart.
“Do I look like an angel to you?”
“…….”
Clack-clack-clack.
Meeting Do-ha’s eyes, Dvalin’s teeth chattered with pure terror. He tried to force it down, but fear surged up from the deepest part of his heart.
“Me? I’m going to kill every single person who stands on the cult’s side. Your family members are cult people? Then I’ll kill them all without a second thought. Relatives. Children… every last one of them.”
Crrrunch.
The sword sank even deeper into Dvalin’s heart. Yet he felt no pain. The terror radiating from Do-ha had already swallowed his entire body.
“I’m not a good person, you see.”
Grin.
Do-ha wore a demon’s smile as he drove the sword all the way through Dvalin’s heart. His terrifying words, spoken in a low voice, still drilled themselves into the ears of every surviving believer.
Shunk.
“Ghk…”
Thud.
In the end Dvalin toppled forward and died.
Whoosh.
Slash.
Do-ha flicked the blood from the blade and swept his gaze over the remaining believers. Whether it was because they had watched Dvalin die, or because they had heard his words, every one of them was drowning in terror, heads bowed.
Plop.
“Anyone who gives me interesting information… I’ll consider them not a cult member.”
“?!!!”
When Do-ha casually tossed the words out while resting the sword on his shoulder, the survivors’ eyes flew wide. What had he said just a moment ago? That he would wipe out every cult member? And now he would consider them not cult members??
Scramble!
The cultists who had been standing on shaky legs all rushed forward in a frenzy. This was a chance to live.
“I-I can tell you!”
“I have truly important information!”
“Everyone else is lying! I have something truly precious—”
“Ahh~ One at a time. Speak in order.”
As the believers crowded close and chattered desperately, Do-ha smiled and listened. Having just watched Dvalin die, every one of them was thrashing for survival.
Thirty minutes passed that way.
After extracting every scrap of information from the survivors, Do-ha crossed his arms and nodded.
Just as I expected. The Pope ordered them to recover the Book of the Dead.
But as he listened, something felt slightly off. It didn’t seem like they were simply trying to return the Book of the Dead to Anubis. Could the Pope also have wanted divine magic?
No way.
The Pope desired and used only the Demon God’s power. Even if Do-ha went to him and offered to teach him the Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong, the man would tell him to get lost. Yet looking at the orders given to the believers, greed was dripping from every word. Why, exactly?
“Anyone who knows why the Pope is so obsessed with the Book of the Dead.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
At Do-ha’s question the believers glanced at one another and rolled their eyes. The highest rank among those present was only bishop. To know the Pope’s true intentions you needed at least a cardinal—or an archbishop. Unfortunately they were all only bishop-level.
“No guesses either?”
“Uh… There’s a rumor that the Book of the Dead contains divine magic… so maybe he coveted that?”
“Tsk.”
Slash!
Thud.
“Eek!!”
Do-ha clicked his tongue lightly and sliced the believer’s head clean off. That kind of idiot was a cult member? How was it that not a single one of them understood the Pope’s heart?
“Anyone else want to talk?”
“…….”
Having just watched someone die for a wrong answer, the believers clamped their mouths shut again.
“If you don’t talk, you all die anyway.”
“Um…”
“?”
One believer in the corner carefully raised his hand. His name was Austin. While everyone else had poured out information for thirty minutes, he had been the quietest of them all.
“I-I’m not completely certain, but…”
“If you’re not certain, you die.”
“…….”
“You’ll die even if you keep quiet, you know?”
At Do-ha’s words Austin’s face crumpled. What the hell was he supposed to do?
“Before the Pope sent search teams to Iceland… I once overheard a cardinal and an archbishop talking…”
They had said the real reason His Holiness wanted the Book of the Dead was not because of Anubis. The contract with Anubis was merely a means; the true goal was something else entirely.
“That’s what I heard them say.”
“And the goal is?”
“I-I don’t know that far either…”
“Haa…”
Do-ha let out a sigh. What good was knowing the conversation if he didn’t know the actual purpose?
“B-but I do have a guess.”
Seeing Do-ha’s sigh, Austin hurriedly opened his mouth. He might have been imagining it, but the hand holding the sword seemed to twitch.
“I-it seems like he wants to absorb the death energy surrounding the Demon God.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
At the completely unexpected nonsense, Do-ha’s brow furrowed. The man was just spouting whatever came to mind to stay alive.
“A-Absolute One! Please ignore that guy’s words—I have real, proper information!”
“You. Didn’t you say you’d already told me everything earlier?”
“Pardon?”
“You spent thirty minutes talking your head off and said that was all of it. And now you suddenly have proper information?”
“Ah… th-that’s…”
Slash!
Thud.
In the end Do-ha cut the cultist’s throat.
“Ugh, forget it. You lot all just need to die.”
He had planned to spare anyone who actually gave useful information—even if it was only one person. But after talking with them, these people were worthless.
Swoosh.
Do-ha shook his head and raised the sword.
At that moment—
“A god who aids the Demon God is imprisoned deep in the Underworld!”
Austin practically screamed the words.
Halt.
“How do you know that?”
“M-my specialty is mythology-related…”
Myeol-hwang Sword Technique — First Form: Blood Cloud
Shhhhhhk!
BOOM!
Do-ha shredded the remaining believers into pieces, leaving only Austin alive.
“Egyptian mythology doesn’t have any god who aids the Demon God, does it?”
The Demon God himself did not even exist in Earth’s mythology. Belhart’s mythology was full of records of the Heavenly God and the Demon God, but Earth’s was not.
“It is content that was never officially recorded in Egyptian mythology.”
“Then how do you know it?”
“There is hidden content the cult obtained in the past.”
“Speak.”
“Do you know of Apep?”
“Apep?”
At Austin’s words Do-ha tilted his head. He was certain he had heard the name somewhere before.
“He is an evil god who appears in mythology in the form of a serpent. He was the being who opposed the sun god Ra.”
“Ah, I remember now.”
The name had often appeared in movies and comics.
“And that guy is helping the Demon God?”
“According to the hidden content, yes.”
“Then what about what you said earlier? About absorbing the death energy surrounding the Demon God.”
“The Demon God who fought the Absolute One eventually fell into a deep sleep to recover. But there was a separate problem.”
It was the death energy rising from the Demon God himself. He had won the battle against Absolute One Baek Do-ha, yet the Demon God had also been driven to the brink of death. Because of that, the Demon God had stepped onto the boundary of death itself.
“Apep can absorb that death energy. And with that power he grows steadily stronger.”
“Then the reason Apep is helping the Demon God is…”
“Probably to take revenge on the sun god Ra. Apep is sealed deep in the Underworld, after all.”
“…….”
Only then did Do-ha understand why the Pope was so obsessed with Anubis and the Book of the Dead. For the Demon God. For the Demon God’s recovery. That was why he clung to them so desperately.
“Is this certain?”
“Th-that… I don’t really…”
Austin bit his lip in panic. He himself had only inferred it based on the mythology he had studied so far.
“Well… it was interesting enough, so I’ll spare you as promised.”
At Do-ha’s words Austin’s face brightened.
“So get lost. Never get involved with the cult again. If I ever see you still belonging to the cult, I’ll make sure you die in agony.”
“Yes!”
In truth, Austin had joined the cult in the first place to study mythology further. Then the mysterious power had been so fascinating that he had become even more active in cult activities.