23. Anomaly (3)
Demon Worshipers.
They were utterly unpredictable.
Unknown origin.
Demon Worshipers were beings who corrupted everything in the world, offering themselves to the darkness to accelerate the planet's doom.
Even in Raise a Sword, rooting them out in advance had been nearly impossible.
For starters, unless you were right next to them, you couldn't sense their presence at all.
But...
The Korean government pulled off what even my swords couldn't?
He'd figured there might be some way to detect them using Mystery on Earth, but the reality far exceeded his expectations.
"Noona, how on earth did you find them?"
Kang Seol-ah led him to the spot where they'd captured the Demon Worshipers.
She tilted her head slightly and replied.
"They said you need to kill at least a hundred people to become a Demon Worshiper, right?"
"Yeah."
"The government dug through every Hunter's records and narrowed it down to those who'd lost companions in the same Gate clears."
"Ah..."
It was something only the Korean government could pull off.
Korea's strongest Transcendent—the Patriot—enforced strict discipline on all Hunters, making it possible.
As a result, Gate raid logs and Tower data were all stored on the World Net.
"We found people who'd lost an unusually high number of companions in Gates."
"And you interrogated the ones you narrowed down?"
"SS-class Hunter Im Chang-sik insisted on doing it himself and tried shoving them into a public Gate—"
That's when he heard something shocking.
"Suddenly, a few of them corrupted and attacked Im Chang-sik."
SS-class Hunter Im Chang-sik.
A man who'd awakened as a Sword Mage after enduring trials to become the disciple of a quirky mage and a quirky swordsman.
He wasn't quite SSS-class material, but he outshone most S-class, earning his SS rank.
To the public, he was like a reliable bowl of country-style soup—comforting and dependable.
"So what happened?"
S-class and above could achieve temporary Transcendence.
Even so, against a swarm of corrupted Demon Worshipers, it might be tough...
"They wore the Patriot's Mock Gate Suits just in case."
Mock Gates let Awakeners maintain their powers constantly, like Transcendents.
Turning that into clothing was like amplifying the effect through heavy processing on the bracelet he wore.
Of course, a SS-class going full Transcendent would guzzle Mystery like crazy...
The Patriot's 'just in case' is on another level.
In the end, that's what happened.
Four or five C- and B-class Hunters corrupted, and the SS-class mopped them up.
Hunter ranks were absolute.
That was why even with his potential, no one was pushing for EX rank.
You had to take down multiple world-ending threats like Jesus to earn EX.
As he nodded in understanding—
"Times like this, I almost think the Patriot does some good..."
Seol-ah suddenly praised him.
Shin Si-woo grinned mischievously.
"If you like him that much, should I stop keeping him in check?"
Her eyes went wide as she stared at him.
Then she dropped a bombshell.
"Si-woo, you're definitely going to end up checking—no, outright opposing—the Patriot."
"I wasn't planning on outright hostility..."
"No, you've normalized Gwacheon, and now land prices in Seocho-gu are skyrocketing."
Out of nowhere, Seoul real estate was booming.
He hadn't seen that coming at all.
"The Patriot wants Seoul prices under 1 billion won on average, but they're rising the opposite way. Averages are jumping into the billions."
Seocho-gu was one of Gangnam's priciest elite areas.
Even with the Ghost Cry anomaly cursing the city right below in Gwacheon, prices held in the billions.
"Apartments are surging by hundreds of millions."
Back to pre-Gate levels, apparently.
"Dad and the President think you're gearing up to really stick it to the Patriot."
On top of that, the government thought he was trying to undermine him.
He had no such intentions, of course.
He'd just headed to Ghost Cry with Iris for some nutrient-rich stuff.
But with everything he'd done, excuses wouldn't fly—
"Anyway, shall we meet the Demon Worshipers first?"
He smiled awkwardly and pointed ahead.
[Special Criminal Detention Facility]
They'd arrived.
A prison forged from solid Mystery to hold powerful Transcendents.
A Demon Worshiper was inside.
Now he'd learn how Earth's Demon Worshipers differed from those in Raise a Sword.
"C-class Hunter Yoo Sang-jun. He's a Mage-type Awakener, for now."
Seol-ah pointed at the man bound in the cell and handed him a document.
It detailed Yoo Sang-jun — C-class Hunter.
Personality: Spent 10 years exploited as a lowly apprentice mage in the magic tower during his trial, closing off his mind and developing mutism.
Sociality:F
Communication:F
Violence:F
Utterly ordinary.
"Records like this are meaningless."
He stared intently at the man.
"May the Evil God protect us, for we are eternal and immortal—."
The Demon Worshiper—and fully corrupted—Hunter Yoo Sang-jun chanted eerie incantations.
His whites and pupils had inverted from the corruption, and faint demonic energy seeped from his body.
"O Evil God—bring forth the Gate and liberate the oppressed Awakeners."
His parched lips spewed mad praises to the Evil God—
Just like in Raise a Sword.
The highest seal etched into Demon Worshipers.
No interrogation would work in this state.
Torture only got screams, no info.
"Does interrogation even work?"
"Of course not! That's why we called you."
Seol-ah had guts, staying calm in front of this Demon Worshiper.
She even seemed energized.
"Si-woo, think you can do it?"
After 12 years in Raise a Sword, in-game time had spanned eons.
His first major foes there? Demon Worshipers.
He'd tried everything to kill them, but learned little.
Countermeasures were easier than tracing roots.
Like preemptively removing fatal corruption triggers.
Eliminate the World Tree before it corrupts, assassinate a certain king before he turns...
But by the ending with Sword 2, Yuria Lanestia, he could interrogate them.
The saintly power of 'Yuria Lanestia' under the Pledge of the Pure One has surpassed its limits, reaching the extreme.
Trapped alone in an outer god's timeless chamber for eons of battle, Yuria had an epiphany on her own.
And so—
The sword transcends the spiritual world in response to its user.
It can now influence the spiritual realm, breaching the barrier between Evil Gods and outer gods.
The seal on Demon Worshipers.
Pierced by the sword's amplified spiritual power—its saintliness.
Too late for much use by endgame, but now?
The issue is...
"Noona, you might see something gruesome. That okay?"
Sword 2, Yuria's Interrogation was terrifying.
Not the process itself, but the aftermath—pure horror.
He didn't know exactly what happened, but...
Victims begged for death, spilling everything.
"Me? Pfft, as if!"
Seol-ah sidled closer, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Well, then..."
She was trustworthy.
Iris might be an issue, but Yuria was a holy sword—no qualms drawing her in public.
He approached the bound Demon Worshiper.
"—The Evil God and outer gods shall..."
Mumbling nonstop.
Any longer, and the Evil God would claim his soul.
Before that, he'd break the seal and get the truth from this C-class Hunter Yoo Sang-jun.
He drew Agasword.
And called Yuria in his mind.
Flash!
You have equipped the Last Holy Emperor of the World, Yuria Lanestia.
The Pledge of the Pure One stacks.
Saintliness increases further.
Whoosh—
Golden holy greatsword enveloped in radiant wings materialized.
Yuria greeted him.
【Ahh... My lord who always leads by example. At last, I understand your noble will!!!】
Out-of-nowhere praise.
Then—
【Shall I purify that wicked thing?】
Madness seeped from the golden light at the blade's tip.
But...
"Wrong direction, though."
The gold seemed aimed at Seol-ah.
【A strange power emanates from her, indeed.】
Strange power from Seol-ah?
Maybe...
Like him, perhaps she was undergoing some 'trial'.
Seemed that way.
If Noona awakens, something huge is gonna happen.
Yuria's reaction confirmed something was up with her.
Anyway, he told Yuria to interrogate the Demon Worshiper, not Seol-ah, and adjusted the blade.
The thrashing man writhed.
His target.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!!!"
Transcendent spiritual power.
Having attained all enlightenment, he wielded it naturally.
Flash!
Heretic Interrogation activated.
Yuria handled the actual interrogation, though.
【This fallen Demon Worshipper... By my lord's will, I shall uncover the truth!】
Vmmm—
He laid the blade over the Demon Worshiper.
Brilliant gold flooded the cell, forming a massive pillar.
[Chamber of Truth]
Yuria's spiritual interrogation room.
Apparently forced eons in a desireless realm—
Gruesome, but the effect was purely holy.
"Whoa..."
Seol-ah watched in awe.
Yuria's duration: 10 seconds.
With transcendent cognition, he dissected time, observing the interrogation.
He felt the man's psyche shatter.
Even omnipotent him couldn't invade the spiritual realm—just sense it.
【A vile man who'd met three women! My lord, I've cleansed his soul!!!】
Seeing the restored Demon Worshiper, he could only praise her power.
"P-Please kill me. I'll tell you everything!!!"
Inverted eyes remained.
Haggard appearance unchanged.
But his mind was back.
Shin Si-woo asked his burning question.
"Gye Man-hwi, the Cheonji cult leader who unleashed the Red Sea. He's a Demon Worshiper too, right?"
The Demon Worshipers might already form a massive force.
Eliminated Gate-less erosion?
The Prime Minister of the Great British Empire.
Howard watched Shin Si-woo's footage.
Greed filled his eyes.
Could the invincible fleet's path open?
Revival of the British Empire.
Britain dreamed of it.
And had the power.
Britain's SSS-class Hunters and Transcendents specialized in imperialism.
Invasion Admiral, Jack Wilson.
Dream Pharmacist, Janet Smith.
Plunder Pioneer, Columbus.
And many more.
"Hey, Doctor. Think he really ended Gate-less erosion?"
British PM Howard asked the man across from him.
Britain's asymmetric powerhouse, the unofficially EX-class Hunter hiding his strength: the British Doctor.
"Hmm, Jesus spared those red devils, so he must pack that kind of punch."
The British Doctor spoke in refined aristocratic tones.
In his pristine white coat, round glasses amplifying his intellectual aura, he analyzed Shin Si-woo's footage like a patient.
"Swordsman-like, yet mage-like. Peculiar ability."
"Can you take him?"
For PvP, the British Doctor was unbeatable—even in Gate raids.
"—Of course. I ruined Korea's SS-class Sword Emperor, after all..."
The British Doctor smirked.
He recalled the surgery duel with Korea's SS-class Sword Emperor.
Shattering a swordsman with surgical scalpels—smile-inducing.
Humiliated, the Sword Emperor obsessed over training and vanished in the Tower.
"I'd love to operate on this Shin Si-woo."
"Odds against him?"
"If he's human, I never lose."
"Then... go to Korea as Britain's rep and learn how he cleared the Gate-less erosion?"
"Ho— I can leave Britain?"
"The Queen wills it."
"Oh, my Queen!!!"
The British Doctor jumped up, decorum forgotten.
He hefted something massive.
Rumble—!!!
A sword.
Absurdly huge and heavy-looking greatsword.
Yet its edge was razor-sharp, seeming to cleave anything.
And indeed, the British Doctor could slice anything.
"With this Mass, defeat is impossible for me."
The British Doctor gazed at the PM's window.
The palace built of gleaming Mystery.
Flash!
[Buckingham Palace]
The building named by the world itself.
Britain's justification, heart of power.
Abode of their supreme Queen.
The British Doctor bowed politely toward it.
"Your Majesty."