Chapter 157: China getting its skull smashed (4)

Seeing how they dropped me—no, threw me into this mess, I can’t help but think this was all planned from the start.

“Hee. I see. So, as it keeps repeating, it naturally accumulates?”

—That soul is getting drained so much it won’t even be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Isn’t that dangerous?

—I’m the only god of this world. If I say I’ll do it, what does it matter?

She really got greedy after becoming a demon god.

Now she’s acting all ambitious.

Fits her.

She’s completely absorbed in her role now, high on her own power.

In other words, if I offer up all these souls, she’ll give me her body.

Let me have her, make herself my slave.

—Why so extreme? A demon god wouldn’t become an angel’s slave.

Oh?

Now she’s got a lot to say while feeding off these souls thanks to me?

—With this much power, I could stomp on my lovely little angel’s head and play queen.

Stick to the deal.

Don’t think you can overpower me now.

“W-wait, something huge is rising up!”

Purple tendrils snaked up from the dungeon floor and got absorbed into my body.

This must be from another group of returnees catching Chinese soldiers elsewhere—feeding their souls to me.

Only the souls of enemies get absorbed.

And as they surged in, that tingling sensation climbed from my legs, to my hips, my belly, chest, and head.

I can’t believe I can feel something like this.

Yeah, after awakening, I really did shed my humanity.

It’s sad… but also kind of liberating.

I guess realizing this now makes me a bit stupid.

—What’s the difference? You’re still you no matter what you consume.

Fair point.

No matter what I devour, I’m still me.

The angel of Kanora Church.

And this place?

It’s where I can fully spread my wings.

Forget about getting the goddess’s body as a reward—I’m just here to do my job.

To devour my enemies.

To feed them to Kanora Church.

“Gaaahhh!”

Before I knew it, I’d fed enough souls through this respawn field to satisfy the goddess, even a little.

I’d eaten my fill of souls.

And now, this could be the perfect pretext to spread Kanora Church into northern China.

Of course, I can’t openly frame it as revenge and missionary work.

That’d make us no better than a cult or a terrorist group.

Better to spark some disappearances than become labeled an international terror cell.

Or maybe there are other options.

I like China.

Their food is great, and unlike the cramped Korean Peninsula, it’s this vast land.

So yeah—I want there to be more of it.

Because I love China, I wish it would grow.

And if this new China worshipped Kanora Church?

That’d be even better.

Yeah.

I just got a good idea.

Come to think of it, isn’t the Namgung Clan pretty much Kanora Church already?

A fun thought popped into my head.

There’s no need to pick just the North or South to convert—I can take both.

I’d originally planned to leave the Namgung Clan out of this, but now, I think I can use them.

I wonder how the returnee party and the Namgung Clan will react.

That’s what excites me.

The Chinese military, public security, and hunters—they were all absorbed by this dungeon.

So many souls consumed.

“Man, we really have gone beyond being human, huh.”

“And our saintess ate all those souls, huh? This is nuts.”

“If Earthlings found out what Kanora Church really is, we’d be screwed.”

The returnees toasted their victory as usual.

Everyone’s faces were bright, as expected of Kanora’s devoted believers.

The type who get genuine joy from exterminating their enemies.

“Look, whatever you’re thinking—that ain’t it, alright?”

“Oh. Could you hear me?”

“Don’t lump us in with psychos like you, okay? We took them out because they were enemies—not because we get off on killing like you do.”

Wow, Battle mage, that’s harsh!

You cut me off so bluntly now?

That hurts, you know.

“Anyway, before that, I have something to say to everyone.”

“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”

“Bet it’s gonna be another pointless rant.”

“First of all, I seriously wanna screw over that damn Zhang Guohe. Like, real bad.”

“Mm. I’m down with that. Got a plan?”

“And you know, I really like China. Like, I love it. So much.”

I spread my arms wide and hugged myself as I said it.

The returnees’ faces twisted into disgust, like what the hell is this lunatic even saying right now?

“Why are you suddenly declaring your love for China? Did you do drugs while we weren’t looking? What’s wrong with you?”

“So, I want there to be more China. That’s why—what if we build a new regime here in the west, centered on the Namgung Clan? With Kanora Church as the state religion.”

“…Wow. You’re even crazier than I thought.”

“Honestly, even for the Chinese, that might be better. Aside from Beijing, there’s no real control anywhere. Wouldn’t it be better if they just split off?”

Why didn’t I think of this before?

I’m definitely gonna make that damn Zhang Guohe pay.

Hell, he should be thankful I’m not devouring him outright.

I mean, I’ve done nothing wrong.

***

Blue House

President Han Sang-jae returned to his office looking extremely pleased.

“Phew. Finally done.”

“Never thought you’d actually pick the national name by public vote, Your Excellency.”

“C’mon, don’t call me that. Ugh. Anyway, with this, we can finally shake off the label of being some cult state. Let that idiot Prime Minister Saito spout crazy crap by himself—we’ve got no reason to get dragged into that mess. It’s the 21st century, for god’s sake. Who still believes that nonsense?”

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is utter nonsense.

Thanks to this crazy Kanora Church and its fanatical lunatic prime minister, even the Vatican called directly to complain.

“But isn’t handing over the joint development rights of North Korea’s mana stones with the U.S. Hunter Strategy Department a bad idea?”

“Either way, we don’t have the budget to develop North Korea ourselves right now. Throwing America the bait of ‘joint development’ while we get a share too—that’s the best we can do. If we can’t eat the whole cake, it’s only right to split it.”

If we hadn’t given them that, they would’ve gone absolutely nuts.

The fact that they backed off just with that shows even the U.S. isn’t what it used to be.

“Uh, excuse me.”

“What now? What is it this time?”

“The Saintess sent another email…”

“I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll read it myself.”

-Plan to establish a West China regime centered on the Namgung Clan with Kanora Church as the state religion.

“…What the actual…”

I just barely managed to scrape Kanora Church off our national flag and name, and now this.

At this rate, I might have to give up and officially declare a theocratic state.

Korea, where the Saintess and the Kanora Church are based, can’t afford to get overshadowed by this

“New China” where Kanora is the national religion.

“…So what should we do?”

“…We might need to design a new flag.”

Honestly, who would’ve thought our supposed ally, the Saintess, would turn out to be such a walking disaster?

She stirs up all this mess and then just dumps it on us to fix.

But well, I guess it’s still better than having someone like her run off to another country.

Imagine if she’d driven stakes into Japan—they’d probably start rethinking Imperial Japan at this rate.

President Han Sang-jae clung to his sanity and turned his head toward the wall.

There hung the Taegeukgi (the Korean flag). I never paid it much attention before, but now I realize—damn, it’s a well-designed flag.

So should I remove the trigrams?

Or take out the Taegeuk circle?

What should I replace with the Kanora Church emblem?

I just felt utterly stuck.

For once, I actually missed those useless Hunter guys.

***

Meanwhile, the dungeon situation was over.

The Chinese military, police, and Hunters were all dead.

The dungeon appeared so massive that Zhang Guohe would know about it even before it disappeared.

So, before that, should I start stirring things up with the Namgung Clan?

“But do you think the Namgung Clan will actually listen to us?”

Our Young girl is always so worried.

Really, for someone who used to be a middle-aged man, he sure frets a lot.

But that’s not a big problem.

“They’ve already received the blessing of our Goddess. And after seeing the mess out there, do you think they’ll just sit back and do nothing?”

They must have seen with their own eyes the lines of homeless people on the streets.

And seeing that, they’ll surely think they can’t just sit comfortably while others suffer.

When I came out of the dungeon, there stood Namgung Cheolsu and his family.

“Oh! Young ladies, you’ve all returned safely.”

“Just barely. And we received a revelation.”

It’s time to properly drag the Namgung Clan into this.

Right now, they’re the perfect card.

“What kind of revelation?”

“Well, as a returnee from a fantasy world, I don’t know much about this, so let me ask—are you familiar with the Shu Han dynasty?”

Really, there’s nothing more convenient to reference in times like this than Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Though technically, they’re from a later Qing era background, but still—Three Kingdoms is universally known.

It’s the most familiar historical touchstone.

And I intend to use it to run my con game.

“Why bring up Shu Han all of a sudden?”

“The Goddess said that the land once ruled by Liu Bei, the Shu Han of old, is fitting to become the new heartland of Kanora Church in Zhongyuan (Central China).”

Absurdly enough, Namgung Cheolsu’s eyes were sparkling.

Honestly, I bet even he doesn’t feel much love for today’s China.

Patriotism?

Yeah, shove that somewhere.

Returnees always feel more attached to the worlds they reincarnated in.

Even me—Korea’s just a place I use because of my old identity.

“So what exactly are you saying?”

“And that the Namgung Clan should lead this new movement.”

At my words, Cheolsu and his siblings’ eyes visibly trembled.

Anyway, in this era, the nations and governments that have existed since modern times don’t hold much meaning anymore.

Sure, the time period says near-future, but many countries have already regressed to medieval systems.

The Namgung Clan will handle this well enough.

Besides, the people they’ll rule over are already from the same roots.

“But still, that’s…”

“It’s just the Goddess’s revelation. Even if you, her own children, the Namgung Clan, refuse because it’s reckless, she won’t blame you. However, the Goddess did say she feels deep pity for the suffering people of Zhongyuan.”

“Hmm. I see…”

Ah, so they’re wavering now.

Namgung Clan, of course they are.

Typical of Cheolsu and Young-hee’s family.

“Besides Beijing, there’s nowhere else really rebuilt, is there?”

“If that’s the case…”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be right for the chivalrous Namgung Clan to lead these people to a new future? The Goddess is truly saddened by their plight.”

“…We shall make an effort.”

At those words, I smiled softly.

Seriously, they’re too easy.