Sword House (1)
Such a shocking statement, right out of the blue.
"Gye Man-hwi, the cult leader, is an Apostle."
The madman who nurtures Gates until they burst.
I'd half-expected him to be a demon worshiper, but...
'He's already an Apostle?'
Even among demon worshipers, there's a ruling class.
They are the Apostles.
Summoning "Evil Gods or Outer Gods" is their goal, and these Evil Gods and Outer Gods come in as many varieties and numbers as the anomalies themselves.
"Is Gye Man-hwi preparing a descent?"
"H-how did you... Yes, that's right."
Descent means manifesting an Evil God that resonates with the Apostle's wavelength into the world.
"All those Gate breaks around the globe—are you the ones triggering them?"
"N-not all of them. Even we demon worshipers don't know much about each other..."
This changes everything about the state of the Earth.
'They're artificially bursting Gates to sow despair across the world.'
It was similar in Raise a Sword.
Bursting Black Gates to erode the world.
Or Apostles of Evil Gods sacrificing themselves to corrupt the world's strongest into fallen ones.
'Too much for me alone.'
The Earth is too vast for a single Transcendent to handle.
Not just the population—there are countless nations.
Countries like China, gone off the rails, aren't even worth talking to.
"S-Si-woo, is this for real?"
Kang Seol-ah's face was pale with horror, the weight of the world's truth hitting her hard.
"Don't worry too much, sis. Who are we?"
"The nation that holds Transcendent Shin Si-woo?"
"That's part of it, but... aren't we America's one and only ally?"
Plus, I'm the living brother of Jesus.
I murmured reassurances and pressed on with the interrogation.
"P-please... Grant me peace—from this void of endless torment—."
Having been thoroughly worked over by Yuria, the demon worshiper answered every question without resistance.
I had no intention of granting him peace just yet.
I calmly sorted through my thoughts.
'It's like Raise a Sword, but subtly different.'
In Raise a Sword, people are born as mages or knights.
When they fall, they become black mages or death knights.
Earth is different.
1. When demon worshipers fall, they wield power in reality like Transcendents.
In exchange, they can't enter Gates.
'Probably because awakening itself is their origin.'
2. Demon worshipers are nearly impossible to detect under normal circumstances.
Thanks to the authority of Evil Gods or Outer Gods.
Just like in Raise a Sword.
'A way to find them...'
But I have six swords that have seen the world's end, each in their own way.
With their help, I could probably devise a means to detect them.
To do that, raising my Agasword is the top priority.
For now, I continued the interrogation.
"What were you planning with the Red Sea?"
Gye Man-hwi had burst the Red Sea in Korea, then fled to Japan.
The erosion from that Red Sea was gone, but the Gate form lingered.
Since Gye Man-hwi, the leader of Gaecheonji Cult, had triggered it artificially, killing him is the only way to fully erase it.
"To make Gye Man-hwi descend as an Evil God... P-please, peace!!!"
The goal of all demon worshipers is the same.
To bring Evil Gods and Outer Gods down to this land.
The conditions: blood, despair, and death.
The Red Sea fulfilled those three.
And now, he's repeating the same in Japan's Mount Fuji, building power.
'Why is Japan letting it slide?'
A sudden doubt crept in.
Why hadn't the Japanese government asked Korea for help?
The lava Gate overflow from Mount Fuji had claimed far more than one or two lives.
'Even if Patriot's a lunatic, Japan has no reason to just take it lying down...'
Thwack—!
"Urk—."
I struck the demon worshiper with the flat of my blade, knocking him out.
Then I turned to sis.
"Sis, didn't you say about 140,000 died in Japan?"
"Yeah. The whole city melted at first..."
140,000 dead.
The culprit: Korea's cult leader Gye Man-hwi.
They should've called Patriot or held our government accountable.
Something's fishy.
"N-no way? Si-woo, you planning to go to Japan?"
"First, I'll meet your dad and the president, then head out."
Gye Man-hwi's atrocities: a problem to address.
The Japanese government's suspicious inaction: a problem to investigate.
Truth be told, those are side issues.
Above all, going to Japan means I can get that.
'A house for my Agasword.'
We all live in houses.
But my Agasword has no home.
How lamentable is that?
"...Demon worshipers? Evil Gods and Outer Gods?"
The president and Chief Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin tilted their heads.
Cognitive dissonance, no doubt.
The info I'd shared shattered their common sense.
Most things from Gates are monsters—goblins to krakens or giants.
"Are Outer Gods and Evil Gods like those anomalies?"
Sometimes, things like the Ghost Cry I'd cleared appear, called anomalies.
I explained the precise concepts of Evil Gods and Outer Gods to the two men.
"It's like the disasters we see in Gates, but manifesting at god-level strength."
Evil Gods and Outer Gods.
They could be massive monsters, or phenomena, or even concepts.
In Raise a Sword, the Outer God "Crawling Chaos" had come as a disaster.
"So that lunatic Gye Man-hwi was trying to summon one of those monsters?"
Kang Mu-jin asked, face full of disbelief.
"A-and you're saying these demon worshipers are already spread across the world?"
The president was just as stunned.
I nodded calmly.
"That's why I contacted America..."
Before this meeting, I'd made one request.
Contact the US.
About an hour since I sent word—response time.
Ziiing—.
The air split into a cross shape.
Jesus's power, as I'd seen before.
"Brother—! You got good intel, right?"
From the rift emerged a 2.5-meter-tall black giant, eyeing me.
'Looking that ridiculous...'
For some reason, he wore a pink headband.
Toy-like, yet radiating immense power.
I couldn't pinpoint his abilities, but it felt like he could crush the Red Sea effortlessly.
Then, I noticed something odd.
'What?'
Jesus's gaze was strange.
He stared at Kang Seol-ah, entranced!
"Oh, God! Who's this beauty?"
Jesus grinned brightly at her.
I tilted my head.
'He sees it too?'
Thinking back, it was weird.
Just recently, I'd sensed she was on the verge of awakening.
Jesus must have felt something similar.
His gaze seemed to say—
—Something's hidden here, huh?
I caught his meaning.
But to others, it just looked like Jesus smiling lovingly at all creation.
Jesus glanced at me and burst out laughing.
"Ah, what a beautiful soul."
I'd vaguely sensed it before—Jesus can read thoughts.
Or he's a genius at reading the room.
Given his EX-rank, such a superpower fits.
Anyway, I opted for direct confrontation, even if rude.
"What did you see?"
"Oh, just that there's another beauty like you. We must build a church in Korea soon!"
No sooner had Jesus finished than—
From the rift, Korean President Lee Seok-hyun locked eyes with US President Bill Johnson.
Bill's look screamed shared hardship.
Building Jesus's church ain't cheap.
But our president—
'A smirk?'
He flashed a sly grin my way.
Like, 'You don't have hunters like this, do ya?'
'Jesus must give him endless headaches.'
Even as I thought that, my eyes stayed on Jesus.
He was seriously plotting a church, projecting a holographic Korean map to scout prime spots.
"Factoring in tithes too—."
A church in Patriot's Korea?
Patriot's anti-Japan, anti-US, anti-China.
"Jesus, do that, and the carriers head for US soil."
I think I know why the US president's bald.
In response, Kang Mu-jin boldly drew "Yi Sun-sin's Axe," glaring at Jesus.
"The axe from Patriot hums in rage. Jesus, please restrain yourself."
"Hm, Korea's quite conservative."
Jesus muttered regretfully.
"To me, Jesus Christ, there are no limits. Even if it means piercing Patriot's carriers, I want a church here. Oh, that Gyeongbok Palace spot looks perfect—."
Thud!
A heavy sound from behind.
Kang Seol-ah's father, smacking his forehead with a sigh.
Turning Gyeongbok Palace—a Korean relic—into a church would spark apocalypse between Patriot and Jesus.
Keep this up, and Kang Mu-jin's axe flies at Jesus.
"Church later. First—."
I swiftly shifted to the main topic.
The purpose of this gathering.
"—This guy's a demon worshiper."
I showed Jesus the man I'd knocked out in the interrogation room.
"Ooh... murderous intent—no, something stickier—."
From wielding Ego Swords as a Transcendent, I knew: Jesus is strong enough to claim true godhood.
So he'd sense it.
Like spotting her awakening signs.
"These scum are defiling my brother Jesus Christ's land, America?"
Jesus's eyes turned serious.
Discussions followed.
Mostly exchanging demon worshiper intel, culminating in an alliance pact: full support between allied nations Korea and America in crises.
With China north of the 38th parallel, it's a huge win for us.
"You shared good info, so I'll tell you something."
As talks wrapped, Jesus spoke.
"The British Doctor's looking for you, brother. Queen's orders—he wants contact."
US President Bill's eye twitched.
Top secret, apparently?
"Hah... that mad doctor—."
"We can't let that bastard set foot on Korean soil again!"
Bad news follows good, as always?
The president and Kang shouted in shock.
I was stunned too.
"I wondered how those island prisoners roamed free... You let him out, Jesus?"
Britain's whole island is trapped in an anomaly.
The moment their "Queen" declared the British Empire, the unidentified anomaly struck.
Yet the British Doctor wanders the world.
Now I knew why—how could I not be shocked?
"The British Empire has its circumstances; I couldn't refuse outright. But if my brother Si-woo wishes—."
The British Doctor crippled Korea's SS-rank Sword Emperor, leading to his disappearance in the Tower.
"—In Jesus Christ's name, I can cancel this meeting."
The president and Kang sighed in relief at Jesus's words.
"That British Doctor... the SSS-rank Transcendent who bisected the Sword Emperor's sword."
"Si-woo, this might be for the best."
Both assumed I didn't want to meet him.
But...
'He wields that peculiar sword.'
I'm intrigued by the British Doctor.
Calls it a scalpel, but my eyes, mastered in Raise a Sword, aren't fooled.
It's a massive greatsword.
Inferior to my swords, but useful in its way.
'My fourth sword, Muratan.'
My fourth sword, Muratan.
The "Blacksmith" with titles like Weapon Destroyer and Skull Crusher.
Perhaps...
Muratan might react to that British Doctor's sword.
He sees people as iron, but he's not disinterested in weapons.
That crude scalpel would surely pique him.
"I want to meet the British Doctor. I'm heading to Japan soon—send him there."
"Ooh, my brother! Knew you'd say that."
Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The government body handling diplomacy, now at the stage of discussing abolition in this new world.
But today, that changed.
"Ooh! Official response from the Korean government!"
In Patriot's absence, Korea's Transcendent Shin Si-woo would visit Japan.
"No word after saying he'd drop by soon—worried sick."
Mount Fuji's Gate erosion was in the "Suppression" phase.
They needed to reduce it to "Stalemate," but years of mere suppression.
"Before our Transcendents go mad, he steps up—blessing."
Should've held Korea accountable sooner.
But...
—We can't let that Transcendent who publicly executed 50,000 for his anti-Japan, anti-China, anti-US ideology set foot here!
Japan chose self-reliance.
Frankly, Korea scares them.
Especially Patriot.
"With that lunatic away, this golden opportunity..."
"Still, keep the Heavenly King hidden, just in case."
Indeed.
Shin Si-woo is one of Patriot's people.
Thus, potentially steeped in anti-Japan, anti-China, anti-US views.
But unlike Patriot, he's a handsome twenty-something.
"Still just human-level."
SSS-rank hunter Yuki, a peerless beauty, smirked oddly.
Half-elf, half-East Asian.
Snow-white skin, long ears, jade-green eyes shimmering mysteriously.
That otherworldly beauty in a kimono amplified the mystique.
To this half-elf, humans were "inferior."
"Hmph, meet me, and Shin Si-woo naturalizes to Japan."
A man with a strange glint approached Yuki.
Not high-ranked at S-class, but a true Transcendent.
Like Korea's "Fate Saintess," low rank due to weak combat prowess.
But—
"Ugh, damn! Told you no more pranks."
A nation-toppling elven beauty tempted Yuki.
But the elf faded like a mirage.
Shh—.
Replaced by an unidentified iron mass.
Clad in crude mystical armor, face hidden by a helmet.
Japan's Transcendent, confined to a top-security zone by the government.
He'd emerged.
[Brainwasher]
Unofficial S-rank hunter Sato Masaki.
His goal: naturalize Shin Si-woo to Japan.
"If I briefly controlled even Jesus..."
Truth is, Japan plans massive compensation from Korea this time.
By stealing Shin Si-woo.