Chapter 222: The Knight Broods Over His Defeat (1)

On a platform, a man stood. He had an ordinary appearance that one could find anywhere. Even so, there was something about him that made it hard to tear one’s gaze away from him. No, it wasn’t because of his bare arms. Neither was it because of the countless burn marks on his face. Instead, it was the intense sinister aura that his eyes exuded.

As that aura got even more intense, he opened his mouth.

“I was a head of a household, a husband of a woman, a father of two children, and an accountant for an ordinary business.

“To be exact, I’m an unworthy head of a household who couldn’t protect my family. A bad husband who couldn’t protect my wife. And a foolish father who couldn’t protect my two children.

“I was a sinner, a foolish man who believed in the goodness of the world!”

It was anything but an uplifting speech. His voice was dull and he didn’t have any quality that would draw people’s attention to him. Still, there was ‘sincerity’ in his voice. That, mixed with his own sorrow was the appeal of his speech.

His voice, which was also filled with resentment, surprisingly had the power to draw people’s attention.

“I am a sinner. This is an undeniable truth! How could a father who failed protect his family not be a sinner? So I neither hide nor deny it! I acknowledge my sins! However!!

“Why are those who committed greater sins than me!! Those who sell the name of God and neglecting their own duties…!”

“How can they laugh so shamelessly?! Why aren’t they considered sinners as well?!”

He vented his anger.

Even though more than a dozen years had passed at this point, the resentment he held for the temple had not faded away. Rather, it had become more concentrated as if maturing.

At this point, it was no longer a simple resentment. Instead, it had turned into hatred and thirst for revenge, just like a furnace that wouldn’t go out until it died.

Then, he continued.

“I! I have no reason to live anymore! I’ve lost everything, so why should I bother to continue to live?! Living itself is painful! Living itself is driving me crazy, so how-!!!”

His cry was filled with hatred. The sight was so cold that it almost felt terrifying.

The man was alive, but at the same time, he was dead. He had no more reason to live, but he still had a goal to achieve. In a way, he was no different from a vengeful spirit that could only disappear from this world after taking its revenge.

Someone once said that one person might not be able to change the world, but one person’s anger could ruin many things.

That one person’s desire for revenge could also ignite the hearts of others. The kindling that was ready to burn in one’s heart, even though one didn’t know it, could be ignited by others.

“Let’s go. Let’s give them as much sorrow as they gave us.”

Thanks to Irene Windler’s efforts, they managed to snuff out the fire that had engulfed the Great Temple. However, even though the fire was out, the people holding the torches were still burning their anger, as if declaring that the magical rain wouldn’t be able to put out their anger.

Thump-!

Thump-!

Thump-!

The cross was burning while the priests were tied to the stake.

One of the priests tied to the stake was someone familiar to many.

Cardinal Michael, the leader of the Moderates who had burned the Extremists the other day. His head was hanging low while his face was soaked in blood. All the other priests belonging to the Moderates were also tied to stakes.

Some people might have thought that this was a cruel scene, but…

“O-Our daughter died because of you! You degraded her! You made her lose her virginity and left her to die! You dirty bastard!!”

In reality, he should’ve been glad that his appearance wasn’t any more gruesome than this.

An old woman with a frail body threw a stone at him. Even though just lifting a stone would have been difficult for her, she kept throwing one stone after another, as if she was injected by doses of strength from God knows where.

“Do you remember me?! Do you remember who I am?! I am the mother you’ve deceived 50 years ago, you bastard who’s worse than a beast! Bring my daughter back, you bastard!”

Along with the stones, she hurled a curse at Michael.

This was the moment when the corruption of a man known as a candidate for sainthood was revealed to the world.

However…

“You! Do you remember when you came to our village?! You bastard ordered us to burn the villagers who could die of the plague at any moment!”

“Just why?! Why did you do that, why?! I gave you my money! All of my money…!! But why did you pretend not to know us!”

“Ahhhh! Die, die! Die!!”

As if the corruption he committed, or rather the evil deeds, which was revealed before were just the beginning, people kept throwing stones at him.

Seeing him like this, some people probably wondered, what were the guards of the Great Temple doing, letting such a scene unfold like this?

Clang-!

“Don’t move. If you move, I’ll cut you down.”

Well, they all had been subdued by the templars, or rather, the Half-Demonic Humans that posed as templars. This was also the reason why those civilians could barge into this place.

The place was filled with resentment and anger.

It made one think, was there any more hellish place than this?

And the answer was no. Because this place had turned into hell itself.

“859,800 people.”

“?”

“That’s the number of people who died without even receiving treatment from the priests just because they couldn’t pay for the annual donation.”

“…”

“Isn’t it funny? They monopolized, even suppressed all medical techniques like healing and pharmacy just so that they could hold on to their authority. And yet they refused to treat those in need just because they didn’t donate enough money to the temple. It’s ridiculous. This is why comedies don’t sell in this world. What’s going on in reality is just way funnier, after all.”

“Then those people…”

“Yes. They are families, acquaintances, and lovers of those 850,000 people that the temple refused to treat or wronged.”

“…”

“As you can see, they’re all commoners. There are merchants and soldiers amongst them as well, but even so, they’re still among the weak—far weaker than the nobles or knights.”

Then, Dyna quietly recited the cruel facts.

“That was when the organization—no, the Prophet approached them, suggesting things such as ,‘Don’t you want revenge?’ or ‘Do you need a place to die?’ to them. Surprisingly, they accepted the opportunity and power they were given. They decided to burn their own bodies.”

“…”

Crunch-!

Lee Han’s fists gradually tightened the more he listened to Dyna’s story. It was the story of people who had nothing to do with him, the more he listened, the more his anger grew.

Since he didn’t make any effort to hide it, Dyna surely had noticed it, but she continued to talk.

“Said ‘opportunity’ the Prophet gave them was ‘Flame Scroll’ and ‘Explosive.’ A huge amount of them, to be exact. I don’t know where he got his hands on those strictly guarded, precious military supplies, but I don’t need to tell you what those who got the opportunity and power did with it, right?”

“…”

Hearing that, Lee Han turned to take in the tragedy happening around him with his eyes. Unlike a moment ago when he was desperately trying to escape this place, he could now see the outline of the tragedy clearly. Since his sense of smell was particularly sensitive, he also ended up smelling something he didn’t want to.

The smell of burning corpses.

“…Damn it.”

It was a terrible smell that he once smelled on the battlefield. A hateful smell that he didn’t want to smell anymore.

His whole body trembled.

Yet, something inside him trembled even greater than that.

“Can you still call yourselves humans after doing all this?!”

Bang-!

His scream echoed like thunder. It was so loud that one might think he stopped caring if he got caught or not. At that, everyone stared at him with surprised eyes.

They wondered why he was acting like that.

Except for Dyna and Yan, who still kept their composure. After all, they knew well why he was so angry.

Thud-!

In the next moment, Lee Han grabbed Dyna by the collar.

“Ugh!”

Her body was lifted up so easily, and she cried out in pain as her face distorted due to her having difficulties breathing.

But Lee Han didn’t care. Maximus and Lake stepped forward to stop him, but…

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Stop it, calm down…”

“Those people are [Human Bomb]!”

“…What?”

They stopped in their tracks, dumbfounded by his remarks.

But, he didn’t stop there.

“The smell of burning corpses is strong, but the smell of oil isn’t any less strong! And among them, there’s another peculiar scent. The damn scent of [‘Britain’ suicide squad fuckers]! The smell of the fuckers who covered their bodies with flame scrolls, explosives, oil, and special drugs before slamming themselves into the gates!!”

“…”

It was a smell as well as a nightmare that only those who once participated in the Britain War knew. In Lee Han’s case, he particularly remembered the scent because his sense of smell was keener than even most animals.

The man who remembered the nightmare of that war glared at the two executives of the Black Moon in anger. It was as if he was about to kill them.

“You used those people’s desire for revenge to turn them into a bomb! Just to burn down the Great Temple! You sick fucks…!”

Lee Han gradually relaxed his hands as he screamed at them. He wanted to kill them right away, but even with the last semblance of reason he had, he still knew.

“…If I may make an excuse on Dyna’s behalf, we found out about this operation today.”

Just like him, the two executives were just one of the chess pieces that the fucker used.

“This suicide operation wasn’t carried out by coercion or threats. Those people were willing to do it.”

“How dare you say that…”

Lake refuted Yan’s words.

Perhaps he was trying to tell Yan off that he could only say stuff like this because he wasn’t the one who did the dirty work.

However…

“Mad Wolf, you have no right to say anything on the matter. You are a knight. A very strong one at that. Can you even understand the feelings of those helpless people? Those who have lost their parents and children due to their powerlessness.”

“…”

Dyna’s rebuttal cut off Lake’s words.

Rubbing her neck, she let out a sneer at Lake.

“Arrogant man. Well, if anything, it’d be strange if you can understand the feelings of those people. You, who lived as a knight of Galahad and was born with the talent to become a champion, can you really understand the feelings of those powerless people?”

“…”

“Yes, what the Prophet and we did was bad. But we reached out to those who were wronged and gave them a chance to take revenge. A chance to punish those who were above the law, those who hid behind authority and God. Is that wrong in your eyes? Think about it. If your child, friend, or your woman died, what would you do? Take revenge, that’s what you’d do. So, why can’t those people do that?”

“That…”

“Yes, I know it’s selfish, and I know that we are dirty. But let me say this. We’re both a cut from the same clothes—evil. You have no right to curse us. In some people’s eyes we’re both evil.”

“…”

“Oh, by the way, I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just explaining how we have different points of view and that you can’t understand them. In fact, the only one who can understand them are those who had gone through painful times due to them being too powerless to uphold their own justice.”

Thud-!

“In other words, that guy over there is the only one who can.”

Dyna pointed at Lee Han and everyone directed their gazes at his face.

“…”

However, Lee Han didn’t pay attention to them.

Instead, he just…

“…Fuck. I lost again.”

Let out a curse, since it was a situation where he couldn’t even pick a side.

When the morning came…

[Temples in various parts of the South, including the Great Temple, collapse simultaneously.]

The world was turned upside down.