A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 183
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 183: Truth (2)
“Are you trying to claim it’s the Awakened Ones’ fault? How despicable.”
When their homes were under attack, they had no choice but to roll up their sleeves and step forward.
Did the Awakened Ones want this? To abandon their ordinary lives and go fight monsters they’d never seen before.
The Bishop’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
“You were like side effects. An unexpected side effect that appeared during our process of scattering ‘mana,’ Karbati’s legacy and blessing, across this land.”
The Bishop’s claim was this. Karbati had ‘mana’ that served a role similar to what we would call ‘electricity.’
Mana leaked during the process of creating gates, and Awakened Ones appeared in response to that mana.
“Ha! I really didn’t expect it. They say the universe is connected, but who would have thought Karbati’s blood would flow here, even if faintly…”
“….”
“So be grateful. Without Karbati, the Awakened Ones wouldn’t even exist…”
“Shut up.”
I moved my fist. I could feel the Bishop’s body unconsciously shrinking back.
“Tell me something else.”
“What?”
“Tell me the ‘real’ reason you couldn’t take control of this place.”
“…Do you think there’s another reason?”
I nodded indifferently.
It didn’t make sense that they couldn’t achieve their goal for 20 years just because of the Awakened Ones.
The number of Awakened Ones among humanity wasn’t that many to begin with.
‘If they really wanted to, they could create multiple S-rank Gates and sweep everything away.’
There must be a reason they couldn’t do that.
Hahahahahaha…
The Bishop began laughing eerily. Then he asked me back.
“…What would a new god need to do to set foot on land that already has an owner?”
“….”
“The answer is simple. Drive out the existing god. Coexistence isn’t necessary. The Deity will become the one true god.”
The Bishop bowed his head deeply. Soon he continued his sentences as if muttering.
“The gods of this place no longer interfere with the present world. No matter what happens. Whether they’ve already lost interest, or judged that humanity has entered some kind of trajectory… What do I care? What’s important is that thanks to them, our plan was almost at its final stage.”
I leaned my back against the prison wall.
‘There are many observers among the gods.’
Earth has various gods. And their numbers are also tremendously large.
Perhaps it’s natural. Gods are created when earnest desires gather, and humans are the beings with the greatest wishes among all creatures.
However, most of those gods were observers who didn’t interfere with the present world.
The Bishop said.
“But your gods are different. They’re troublesome. Really persistent and tenacious.”
My gods.
‘He’s talking about the Divine Spirits.’
The difference between Korea’s shamanism and other faiths is… one thing.
“…The Divine Spirits of the Korean Peninsula frequently interfere with the present world.”
Korea’s Local Folk Deities communicate with humans through shamans who are human. Also, shamans first seek to solve the suffering of human life by borrowing the power of gods.
In other words, Korea’s gods are closest to humans and… naturally, they weren’t observers.
“You know how tenacious they are? What you call ‘dungeons’ should have appeared at least 300 years ago from now.”
“…?”
“Such a pity. If it had been before the technology called science developed dramatically, the plan would have been executed quickly.”
300 years ago? That’s the Joseon Dynasty.
‘If gates had opened and monsters had appeared then…’
Even if the number of Awakened Ones had been dozens of times what it is now, most of humanity would have died.
There were no proper communication devices, nor proper weapon manufacturing technology. A different kind of hellscape from modern times would have unfolded.
“Why on earth were we so late?”
But if gates only appeared now, 300 years later than the Joseon Dynasty. That means there was something that prevented gates from forming for those 300 years.
Based on the conversation so far, there was one reason I could guess.
“…That’s enough. The explanation is sufficient.”
“Huh? Why? You’re not going to listen to more?”
I stood up from the prison floor. I naturally came to look down at the Bishop.
‘Now I understand… everything.’
Korea’s Divine Spirits had been standing firm. For a full 300 years…
‘In place of other gods who no longer interfere with the present world, the Divine Spirits of the peninsula.’
They had been protecting this land so that evil gods couldn’t invade it.
[Main Quest]
Expand the energy of the ancient beings.
Perhaps you might be able to meet your beloved soul.
Achievement Rate | 57.4%
(Upon failure: Death)
Expand the energy of the ancient beings.
Was that the reason they gave me this Quest?
To summarize, the divine spirits had used their power for a full 300 years to prevent the Goemin Sect’s landing.
Then 20 years ago, due to some failure, the world eventually faced the gates. However, the divine spirits still didn’t give up and sought to protect this land.
As a last resort, by awakening me and giving me this Quest.
‘The latter part isn’t certain yet. But given the circumstances, it’s probably not far off.’
“…Phew.”
I rubbed my face with dry hands.
Honestly, it’s shocking. It’s already surprising that someone artificially created the gates, but to think the purpose was merely for the advent of some unknown god.
Moreover, the gods I had served all this time were struggling desperately to prevent it.
‘If this were revealed, the entire world would be turned upside down.’
Learning the world’s secrets alone wasn’t particularly pleasant. However, postponing judgment for now, I spoke to the bishop.
“…By the way. Why don’t you stop what you’re doing. You’ve been scheming behind there since earlier.”
I shifted my gaze to behind the bishop. He had been trying to break his seal, taking advantage of the moment I was lost in thought. His bound hands kept moving around.
“…How did you know?”
“Didn’t you say you had no will to live? Your words flow like a clear stream. But I’ve never seen a case where a fanatic tries to die before their own god.”
“…”
“Until your god dies, you’ll desperately struggle to survive somehow. Even if it means leaking important information to the enemy. Unfortunately, I knew from the beginning.”
Hmm…
“I just got permission too. To kill you if you act foolishly.”
“W-wait!”
The bishop broke out in cold sweat.
“Why? Are you trying to eliminate me now? I know a lot of information, don’t you want to hear more?”
“There are two other bishops besides you. There’s no reason to keep alive someone who’s scheming to escape from here.”
I rummaged through the inner pocket of my shaman robes with a calm expression. A small vial containing chicken blood came out.
“And no matter how much information you have, would you give it to us? Sorry, but I don’t know how to torture ghosts.”
Click.
I opened the vial and smeared chicken blood on my hand.
“Besides, there’s something I want to test. Rather than keeping alive someone who might or might not be beneficial, it’s better to satisfy my curiosity.”
While listening to the bishop’s explanation, I made some deductions.
Expand the energy of the ancient beings.
—The content of this Quest is fulfilled when I kill monsters using the power of divine spirits.
But is simply ‘killing monsters’ the achievement condition? No. The reason for killing monsters is to ‘drive out the Goemin Sect.’
Then conversely, killing a bishop could be treated the same way.
“Let’s see if my thinking is really correct.”
Shing—
I drew the Golden Blade. As my blood-stained hand gripped the dagger, the handle was dyed red.
“The Supreme says.”
The bishop is in a sealed state. The difficulty of the annihilation ritual is several times simpler.
However, he’s still an evil spirit in the end. No matter how meticulously sealed, unexpected things could happen.
Therefore, I defended myself by reciting the Taeul Protection Scripture.
“…Heaven gave birth to me, the imperial earth sustains me.”
Heaven gave birth to me
And I exist on this earth
“The stars shine upon me, all immortals raise me.”
The stars illuminate me
And all the immortals nurture me
“…The jade god regards me as jade—”
God regards me as jade—
Click.
I brought the blade of the Golden Blade to the bishop’s neck. As I pressed down, blood flowed from his neck.
[Item]
Golden Blade (S)
— Reckless fate flies like a dagger.
When aiming for vital points, it flies and strikes at 200% improved speed. At this time, it delivers a critical hit with absolute probability.
“So the day finally comes when I eliminate you with this.”
All things in heaven and earth, each follows its own order
All things in heaven and earth
Live by following their own natural order
“So those who cannot follow the natural order.”
“Kugh…!”
Thunk.
My Golden Dagger pierced through the Bishop’s throat. Though it clearly cut through flesh, the sensation in my hand was different.
It was the feeling of cutting through a soul. A sensation all too familiar to me—the feeling of sending evil spirits to King Yama.
“Shall thus perish.”
This was divine punishment. The punishment I had so desperately wanted to deliver to him.
Crumble….
The soul disappears. It crumbles into pieces and transforms into pure white light. It was a scene far too beautiful compared to the deeds he had committed.
[You have defeated the Bishop, ‘Prodigal Son of Karbati’!]
[Main Quest]
Expand the influence of the ancient beings.
Perhaps you might be able to meet your beloved soul.
Achievement Rate | 67.4%(+10%)
(Upon failure: Death)
“…Haha.”
My prediction was correct.
‘10% achievement rate.’
The system, no, the Divine Spirits wanted this from me. To deal with the gods from the Other World who tried to invade this land and their believers.
“Ah….”
Clang.
I let the blood-stained Golden Dagger drop to the ground.
“I’ll have to catch the last Bishop too.”
Will the god who has lost all his limbs crawl around like a snake?
“I’m curious.”
* * *
Red Dog Headquarters.
An interrogation room where barely any light entered.
“So, those kids are mostly children whose parents are our believers or complete orphans. There’s absolutely no fact that we kidnapped them illegally or anything like that. Really!”
The Evangelist sitting across from the Red Wings man spoke passionately. Hong I-jo flipped through documents and answered listlessly.
Hong I-jo’s left eye was covered with an eyepatch.
“Yeah.”
The Evangelist bit her nails with an anxious expression.
“Y-you can’t even call it abuse. We raised the children with love.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s true…!”
“I see.”
When Hong I-jo only responded to her words without showing any particular reaction, the Evangelist bit her nails until they bled.
‘This is driving me crazy, really…!’
He should at least curse at her asking why she did such things, or shout and threaten her. Why is he just sitting there like this?
The Evangelist tried to gauge the punishment she would receive from Hong I-jo’s indifferent expression.
“I’ll ask you one thing.”
“Y-yes?”
“A question.”
Then Hong I-jo looked up from the documents and raised his head. The Evangelist brightened up.
“I’ll answer without a single lie. What is it?”
If this answer could reduce her punishment even a little, anything….
“Illegal gambling record from 3 years ago.”
“….”
“Criminal record?”
Contempt filled Hong I-jo’s eyes. He was someone who despised those who broke the law.
This meant that his contempt had always been directed at himself as well. Hong I-jo felt like he was looking in a mirror every time he looked at criminals.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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