Ch.101Chapter 101 – The Wilderness (2)

Having just finished reading a book, Belphegor took another from the bestseller section of the bookstore and sighed as he checked the title.

“The Bible, huh? That God fellow was up to his old tricks here too.”

After skimming through the Bible, Belphegor made a face as if disgusted by the propaganda. Then he summoned hellfire in his hand and burned the Bible to ashes.

“No wonder it’s a bestseller. Truly, it’s an excellent novel. He did a fine job piecing it together from the Book of Eden.”

Thinking he should read something else, he was browsing the philosophy section. He had just selected a book and started reading when he received a communication from Iscariot, who was recording the battle between the Sword Demon and Kyle.

-I apologize for interrupting your leisure time, my King. I’m contacting you with a report. While recording the battle between the two swordsmen as you ordered, a new figure has intervened. Their skill level is rather insignificant, but what would you like me to do?

Belphegor peered into the crystal ball for communication. A knight wearing armor-type artifacts that looked like something out of science fiction was helping the Sword Demon attack the Lion King. However, their skill was clearly inferior to both the Sword Demon and the Lion King, as they were struggling just to match blades.

“I thought I had sent them all away earlier. Did one remain hidden from my sight?”

Belphegor knew that such unpredictable situations often led to interesting developments. So he instructed Iscariot not to interfere.

“At that level, they won’t be much help anyway. Just leave them be. Reality is more important than some deus ex machina development.”

-As you command…

After ending the telepathic connection, Belphegor reclined his wheelchair and lay back comfortably. Reading a book while basking in the warm breath of the Bonddragon made him feel like he was on vacation.

“Hmm… Let’s see. This book is by Nietzsche. Hmm… hmm… oh… ‘God is dead’? Hehe, I quite like that. Not bad for a human philosopher.”

Pleased with the book, Belphegor went on to read all the other works by the same author. They were quite entertaining. Wanting to share his thoughts on the reading and check on the situation, Belphegor concentrated and shifted his gaze to his mental world.

In the middle of a vast plain of eternal night, there was a holy knight burning.

Belphegor addressed him.

“How are you feeling today? I’m quite satisfied. I found an author I like, Nietzsche. Have you heard of him? He seems quite famous.”

“…”

Shin Jaehyuk had no energy to respond. He simply moved his legs painfully and walked aimlessly. Belphegor chattered away beside him.

“God is dead! What a magnificent resonance! He also said this: ‘How could mere light ever comprehend the depth of darkness!'”

Belphegor burst into laughter with delight. He was like a child who had just been praised.

“A friend with awakened thoughts. Excellent. I should check if that philosopher’s soul is in hell.”

After rambling to himself, Belphegor disappeared as arbitrarily as he had appeared.

Left alone in the darkness again, Shin Jaehyuk flinched as he recognized a fleeting sense of regret and loneliness.

‘Even so, to welcome a demon’s visit… That’s not befitting of a holy knight at all, not at all.’

Shin Jaehyuk felt his soul becoming desolate. Perhaps it was the influence of this mental realm. The dark thoughts of Belphegor permeating the space, and the pessimistic notions eating away at and staining Jaehyuk’s mental form. That must be it.

‘Damn it, how long has it been since I’ve seen another person?’

It had been over a month since he was trapped in this accursed world. Forty-one days now. In a world without sunrise, he couldn’t know the exact time, but that was his estimate.

During those forty days, while resisting countless temptations, Shin Jaehyuk had walked continuously in one direction. He didn’t know how many horizons he had crossed. The ground, which was initially almost horizontal, gradually began to slope subtly, and now it had become as steep as a mountain path.

Shin Jaehyuk silently climbed the mountain. He didn’t know what was at the top. He just kept walking, hoping that the world would eventually end somewhere, clinging to the faint hope that an escape route would appear.

He dragged his legs, and when his legs had no strength, he crawled on all fours, continuing his ascetic journey. At first, he had begun to forget the pain, but now it had become a battle with himself. Perhaps a battle with this world.

‘Am I displaying some useless sense of adventure? Trying to see the end of the world while my body burns? How ridiculous…’

He felt his way of thinking had become pessimistic. As time passed, he became more convinced that this wasn’t just his imagination. Was this also due to being trapped in Belphegor’s mental world? It was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish which thoughts were truly his own. The fact that he was gradually losing the ability to differentiate between himself and Belphegor was truly agonizing.

“Putting yourself in another’s shoes, is this such magic? Staining the other with yourself. Making them a second Belphegor. Haha, impressive. To corner me, called the Master Paladin, so easily…”

Shin Jaehyuk laughed self-deprecatingly at his own half-boastful joke. Is the magic impressive? Or is my mind weak? Perhaps both? His breathing became irregularly disturbed. He tripped on a stone and fell forward.

Arghhhh-

Excruciating pain overwhelmed him. He writhed and screamed. He was about to spew a barrage of curses about his fucking life but stopped. That would be acknowledging Belphegor’s ideology. As his mind grew hazy, he moved his lips, trying to hold onto consciousness. He recited scriptures that couldn’t produce miracles, sang hymns that couldn’t reach heaven, and chanted the holy knight’s oath that had become an empty echo.

“A holy knight is the one who protects from the front, a holy knight is the one who sacrifices first, a holy knight is, a holy knight is…”

His mumbling voice echoed endlessly in his ears. His mind was foggy. He desperately clung to his sanity. If he lost consciousness, his control over holy power would cease. If regeneration stopped, he would die. In that moment, a choice flashed through his mind.

‘Should I… just give up?’

The pain was too great. Incomparable to the time with Belial. It was the greatest suffering he had ever experienced in his life.

He felt it was impossible to endure any longer. Forty-one days had already passed in this world, yet no help had arrived in reality. The fact that he didn’t know whether a week or just a minute had passed in the real world also drove Shin Jaehyuk to despair. If a week had passed, it meant no one had been able to rescue him from Belphegor in all that time; if only a minute had passed, it meant Shin Jaehyuk would have to wander in this wasteland for decades more.

“Now, here…”

He felt he had done enough. After all, he had defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings, hadn’t he? Unlike the first cycle that Kwak Taewoo mentioned, the S-ranks would have survived, Kim Jaemin would be there, the ‘Dark Knight’ would be gone forever… He thought that it would be fine even if he disappeared.

And, this would be quite an acceptable death. Heroically falling while stopping one of the Four Heavenly Kings from the invasion of hell… It wasn’t a shameful death that would make him hang his head before others in heaven.

His reason began to compromise. Each time reason persuaded his survival instinct, his consciousness grew hazier, like a camera losing focus. In his distorted vision, blurred by pain, he saw the form of a person.

‘…A person here?’

Of course, it couldn’t be a real person. Shin Jaehyuk soon realized that the being was an illusion. After all, it was someone he knew. A connection from his past life. A holy knight wearing the same platinum armor as his own. His mentor, who always kept his visor down to hide his fear from his comrades, maintaining a solemn and reliable appearance.

The most ideal form of a holy knight in Shin Jaehyuk’s mind.

He was a kind of role model. Shin Jaehyuk had always tried to emulate him, wanting to become a holy knight worthy of the name Master Paladin.

There was no way to tell if he was a trap set by Belphegor or an imagination created by a brain malfunctioning from excessive pain. But it helped distract his mind and reduce the pain. So he spoke to him.

No, before he could speak, the illusion of his mentor addressed him first.

“Are you in pain?”

It was a familiar voice. So, it is my illusion after all. He mumbled a response.

“…Yes. More than any other moment.”

“Do you want to give up?”

His answer came after a beat.

“…No.”

“Why?”

“…”

“Why?”

In response to Shin Jaehyuk’s silence, he asked again with an invisible expression. Shin Jaehyuk imagined what his expression might be now. Angry? Disappointed? Expressionless? He struggled to continue the dialogue.

“Because that’s what the teachings of light dictate.”

“And?”

“I am… the Master Paladin. I am the symbol of the holy knight who must not yield to darkness… I am the one who bears the name of hero…”

“And?”

“…Because this is my destiny, born from the Godhand Project.”

“Is that your duty?”

He sighed. A voice of deep disappointment.

“Still an immature fellow. You, you still haven’t realized.”

Suddenly, the scenery changed. An illusion enveloped Shin Jaehyuk.

***

‘…This scenery?’

Shin Jaehyuk, who thought he had lost consciousness, realized he was in a different space, not in darkness. It was a space buried in his memories.

‘The old Vatican?’

It was the original Vatican before it was relocated after ‘a certain incident.’ It was also where Longinus was born.

Watching the ghost-like form of ten-year-old Longinus playing in front of him, Shin Jaehyuk understood that this illusion was a memory from long ago. A memory from when Longinus wasn’t even a holy knight yet. A time when he repeated holy spell practice and arduous training every day to become a holy knight.

‘Is this a flashback? What is my mentor trying to show me?’

He couldn’t tell. When he waved his hand, it just passed through walls or floors; Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t interfere with this memory. So he just watched to see what would happen.

It was dusk, after the daily training had ended. In a corner of the temple, ten-year-old Longinus was playing alone, bouncing a ball on the marble floor. Of course, it wasn’t just simple play; it was a kind of training to improve reflexes and strength.

‘Yes… I remember. With no peers in the Vatican, I often played alone in secluded places like this. …With that ball Iscariot made for me.’

The ball that little Longinus kicked hard bounced off the wall and flew back to him. Longinus tried to catch it with both hands. But Longinus at that time was known for his weak physique. His movements were sluggish, and the ball hit his face before flying backward. Falling on his bottom, Longinus rubbed his stinging nose.

“Ah, the ball…”

He reached out to grab the rolling ball. But the ball was stopped by someone’s foot. Looking up to see who it was, it was someone he knew. A holy knight in gleaming platinum armor. Peter Godhand. A holy knight ten years older than Longinus.

At the same time, Peter was the eldest among the artificial heroes born from the Godhand Project, showing the most outstanding achievements.

“Brother Peter…”

Peter silently picked up the ball and frowned at its somewhat heavy weight. Longinus’s shoulders hunched. For some reason, Brother Peter didn’t seem to like him much. Neither his training nor his aspiration to become a holy knight.

“Longinus, Godhand.”

Godhand. The surname given to children born from the Godhand Project. Peter Godhand seemed visibly displeased at attaching that surname after the word Longinus. He spoke in an emotionless voice.

“You still want to become a holy knight?”

“…”

“You, the weakest among the Godhands?”

Peter applied pressure to the hand holding the ball. Crackle, the leather, unable to withstand the grip, made an unpleasant sound. Sensing an ominous future, Longinus’s eyes widened.

“Ah, no…!”

But Peter’s hand didn’t stop. Pop. The training leather ball personally made by Honorary Priest Iscariot burst. Longinus’s face crumpled.

“Ahh…! I waited a whole week for that…!”

“Did you think using something like this would make you any better?”

Peter threw the torn remains of the ball far away. Splash. The waterlogged leather sank deep into the pond. Not even glancing at the ball’s demise, Peter coldly said:

“You always roll on the ground in combat training, can’t even memorize a few arias for holy spells, always exempt from long-distance running… What can a failure like you do?”

“…”

Longinus was the youngest among the Godhands. And creating artificial heroes, Godhands, required divine blood. Which meant that Longinus was made using the last dregs of divine blood left after creating his preceding siblings.

A Godhand with the least amount of divine blood. Naturally, his physical strength wasn’t good, and his holy power reserves were low. He was a stark contrast to the first Godhand before him, who possessed the most divine blood.

The first Godhand pronounced judgment on the last Godhand.

“Immature one. Give up on becoming a holy knight. It’s not a path for you.”

While speaking so coldly, Peter turned his body sharply. A book entered his field of vision. Peter recognized it.

‘A holy knight textbook?’

Noticing that Peter’s gaze had fallen on the textbook, Longinus quickly hugged it to his chest. He couldn’t let this be taken away too!

“Not this! I will never give up!”

“…Do you think reading and studying the textbook alone will increase your holy power?”

“I will become the most excellent holy knight! Killing demons on the front lines!”

For the first time, there was a change in Peter’s stoic expression. His eyebrows twitched. With a strong hand, he snatched the textbook from Longinus’s arms. Longinus’s strength was no match to prevent this.

“My textbook! Give it back!”

A defiant gaze. Peter realized. He won’t give up with just words. Peter’s gaze sank. He began to apply force to the textbook held in both hands. Crackle-

“Wait! What are you doing there!”

An adult’s voice suddenly rang out. Recognizing the owner of the voice, Longinus’s face brightened.

“Iscariot!”

In the direction the voice came from stood an old man in priestly robes. The chief director of the Godhand Project.

“Longinus Godhand, and… Peter Godhand? What’s going on here? This should be in the opposite direction of your quarters, shouldn’t it?”

So he deliberately came all the way here to torment him! Feeling both bewilderment and hostility, Longinus confessed to Iscariot what had happened.

“Honorary Priest Iscariot, Peter Godhand tore my training ball and took my textbook!”

The old man looked at the holy knight textbook in Peter’s hand. He was about to scold him.

“Peter Godhand… Stop bullying young Longinus,”

“You stay out of this. Black magician.”

A voice laced with killing intent cut off the admonishment. Longinus flinched. Unlike the gruff voice that had been scolding him until now, this one carried clear hostility.

“Honorary Priest? As a fallen one, don’t instill strange ideas in the child and just do your assigned job.”

As if he didn’t want to exchange even a second of conversation with him, Peter brushed past Iscariot without waiting for his response. With hostility, he shoved his shoulder and forcefully thrust the holy knight textbook against the old man’s chest with a thud. The aged body staggered from the heavy impact.

“Isn’t that the reason His Holiness the Pope kept you alive?”

With that quiet rebuke, Peter Godhand turned his back on the two and disappeared far down the corridor.