Ch.140140. The Butterfly Comes Too Early

That day, Amon’s party concluded their battle on the floor where the baby angel was located.

– ‘Dungeon Rule #1: Don’t overextend.’

Going deeper was possible.

Their condition was optimal and resources were abundant.

They even had sufficient information up to the mid-boss.

But they strictly adhered to the principle because it had been a while since they’d entered a dungeon.

Since nearly two years had passed since they last ventured into a dungeon, there was a possibility their reactions might be slow if an unexpected situation arose.

Therefore, they decided to maintain their principle of one floor per day, just as they had when they first entered the dungeon.

“Kathy. Let’s go to the hotel. Set the navigation.”

The shrine was located on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and it didn’t take long to reach the hotel in the center of the city.

On the way to the hotel, Amon explained the history of the Church of Goddess to the siblings, trying to create a tourist-like atmosphere.

“This area is the center of the Church of Goddess and a holy site managed by the three denominations.”

“Huh? Three denominations? What about the other nine?”

“You’re referring to the 12 sects, right? Those are sects, not denominations.”

Sunhwa tilted her head at Amon’s explanation.

Amon, feeling like a tour guide, began explaining the difference to her.

“Denominations are classified based on how they worship the Holy Mother, Holy Lady, or Holy Spirit within the Church of Goddess.”

The Church of Salvation, which places the Holy Lady, Holy Mother, and Holy Spirit on equal standing.

The Holy Trinity Church, which treats the Holy Mother, Holy Lady, and Holy Spirit as separate and completely different domains.

The Holy Mother Church, which places the Holy Mother at the top, with the Holy Lady and Holy Spirit serving as her assistants.

These are the three main denominations.

‘In my previous life, it was Judaism, Islam, Christianity? I think they were classified into these three.’

This world’s Church of Salvation was strong in Europe, the Holy Trinity among Jewish people, and the Holy Mother Church in the Middle East—showing many similarities in various aspects.

According to his memory, these denominations in his previous life exchanged gunfire almost daily.

But in this world, the denominations don’t have such bad relationships with each other.

While the political powers handling these denominations aren’t on particularly good terms, there’s no reason for them to be hostile according to doctrine.

Sunhwa raised a question about Amon’s explanation.

“How is that possible? From one denomination’s perspective, the others are distorting the same revelation. Isn’t that what you always call heresy?”

“No. That’s not heresy.”

Amon opened the scripture and pointed to a section.

His finger rested on a sentence that could clarify the situation at once.

– I love you and give you freedom, and the freedom of faith is also yours.

Considering she might not fully understand the sentence, Amon also explained using a family analogy.

“You can think of the Holy Mother as a mother, the Holy Lady as an older sister, and the Holy Spirit as an aunt.”

While the analogy might not be perfect, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Whether you place all three as equals, prioritize the mother, or love them in different ways—ultimately, loving all three is the same, isn’t it?”

If one denies even one of the three, that’s heresy.

If one lowers the status of the Holy Mother even slightly, that’s heresy.

But otherwise, any interpretation is free.

“And the sects you mentioned earlier are subcategories based on how much of each denomination’s ideology is mixed.”

Amon’s Saamon sect was like 2 spoonfuls of Salvation, 3 spoonfuls of Trinity, and 5 spoonfuls of Mother Church.

“Do you understand now?”

After Amon’s explanation, the siblings nodded in understanding.

“As an extension of this story, the Vatican is strictly an administrative capital, not a religious capital.”

Amon continued his explanation.

While deepening her understanding of the Church of Goddess through his explanation, Sunhwa asked something she had been curious about.

“I understand now. But from what I know, historically, the Holy Mother Church attacked other denominations, right? Isn’t that heresy?”

Contrary to her expectation, Amon’s answer was a firm denial.

“No. That’s not heresy.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a common misunderstanding. That organization didn’t just attack the two denominations; they attacked all denominations and sects indiscriminately.”

That organization was famous in many ways.

Assassination if you deviate from doctrine.

Assassination if you stray from the fundamentals.

Assassination if you don’t act.

Assassination, assassination, assassination at the drop of a hat.

“Many people misunderstand that the organization started from the Holy Mother Church, but that’s not the case. The upper echelons of the Holy Mother Church were so corrupt at the time that they assassinated them and temporarily took control, which led to this misunderstanding.”

The organization took on the role of punishing those who deviated from doctrine and insulted the Goddess.

The problem was that in the process, they became intoxicated with blood and turned into monsters themselves.

About 200 years ago from now, when their corruption reached its peak, they carried out a terrorist attack in the United States and gloriously perished, making them infamous in many ways.

The Hashashin.

“After that incident, they blamed themselves for their corruption and completely laid down their weapons.”

The terrorist attack on the United States at that time was carried out by extremists within the Hashashin who couldn’t forget past glory.

In contrast, the moderates have now moved to India and focus solely on refining their scholarship and doctrine.

Of course, outsiders might not distinguish between moderates and extremists, but those who know better don’t particularly fear the Hashashin.

After finishing his explanation about the history of the Hashashin, Amon clapped his hands.

“Come to think of it, you asked a good question. Did you know that the Hashashin organization is the predecessor of our organization?”

“???”

“The origin of the Papal Special Bureau is the Hashashin. Especially the 11th Division of the Saamon sect inherited their tendencies most strongly. Perhaps it’s a revival of the Hashashin.”

Sunhwa and Sunwoo’s expressions darkened.

They couldn’t easily accept the fact that they had been employed by what was essentially a terrorist organization.

Amon noticed their expressions and corrected their misunderstanding.

“Don’t worry, we don’t do internal purges or terrorism. We’ve only inherited the demon-hunting mission from the Hashashin.”

“Phew…”

After reassuring them, Amon finished his guide role and leaned back in his chair.

*clap clap clap*

“Great explanation, Mr. Guide.”

Amon moistened his throat with water offered by Sonia sitting next to him and didn’t open his mouth again until they reached their accommodation.

‘There’s no need to mention this.’

Instead, he looked out the window, pressing deep into his heart what he had wanted to say.

‘That the shrine belongs to the first leader of the Hashashin.’

***

After Amon’s exciting religious guide ended, the group finally arrived at their lodging.

Inside, they each took their rooms and prepared for tomorrow as they went to sleep.

“Can’t we sleep together~?”

“No. Go to your room and sleep.”

Sending Sonia, who was making a sad face like a newlywed wife told to sleep in separate rooms, to her room, Amon laid down on his bed.

‘It can’t be helped for tomorrow’s sake.’

Although he wanted to share a blanket with his lover, whispering sweet nothings before battle seemed like raising a death flag.

So Amon rejected her with the mindset of a commander.

“Good night.”

Kathy also returned to her room with disappointment.

Thus, the party closed their eyes in their respective rooms, preparing for tomorrow.

As soon as Amon closed his eyes, he engaged in conversation and training with Gil-Dong at the boundary of the world, as usual.

During this, something caught Amon’s senses.

He immediately realized that the source of this strange feeling was in reality.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I’ll be back to reality for a moment.”

Leaving a puzzled Gil-Dong behind, Amon escaped the black sea.

When he opened his eyes again, he discovered Sunhwa straddling him, aiming a red arrowhead at his chest.

“What are you doing?”

She silently aimed the arrowhead at Amon’s chest.

But Amon grabbed her wrist and pushed her stomach with his leg, flipping her behind him.

She flew in a beautiful arc due to Amon’s artistic counter-throw.

Amon took the arrowhead from her fallen hand and helped her up.

“I’ll ask again. What are you doing?”

“…Don’t abandon me.”

“What?”

“As you know, I’m a disaster god. My family and organization disappeared because of me.”

“So?”

“You know what I’m saying. You accepted someone like me. I can’t live without you now.”

*rustle*

She loosened the jeogori of her hanbok pajamas.

As her clothes slid down, her ample cleavage was revealed.

Under the moonlight, she sobbed and said:

“I need you… I wanted to get a definite answer from you, even like this.”

Her gaze turned to the red arrowhead in Amon’s hand.

Amon sighed deeply as he met her teary eyes.

“Haah…”

Approaching her as if he had no choice, Amon.

When his hand caressed her chin, she looked at him with surprised eyes, and

*crack*

Her vision rotated 180 degrees.

“Huh?”

By the time she realized her neck had been twisted, it was already too late.

*thud*

Sunhwa’s corpse collapsed in the bedroom.

Amon looked down at her fallen body with cold eyes.

“What a pathetic trick.”

As if responding to his words, Sunhwa’s appearance began to change.

More precisely, it wasn’t changing.

It was returning to its original state.

The being that had been Sunhwa transformed into another woman with blonde hair.

She was an unknown woman with the emblem of Goetia on her shoulder.

Amon poked at the woman’s corpse and then, as if remembering something, headed to the rooms of the others.

‘If…’

If by any chance his lover and comrades had been harmed…

“Tsk.”

Amon clicked his tongue and gathered five each of the red and blue arrowheads he had obtained today.

He gathered them just in case, not knowing what kind of arrowheads they might have been hit with.

Fortunately, Amon’s worry was unfounded.

“What’s going on?”

Sonia, rubbing her sleepy eyes and getting up from bed.

He was relieved to see that she was neither unusually fond of him nor disliked him, as always.

Kathy was the same afterward.

“Nnngh…”

When he found Kathy while carrying Sonia, who was still drowsy and hanging on his back like a sloth, she didn’t show any unusual symptoms either.

“My, do you want to do it that badly today?”

Seeing her whisper in his ear and open her chest area secretly from Sonia, she was definitely the normal Kathy.

After slapping her bottom and sending her back to bed, Amon checked on the siblings’ condition.

The siblings also showed no signs of anything unusual.

“So what’s happening in the middle of the night?”

Kathy demanded an explanation.

Amon gathered his comrades in the living room and threw the corpse in the center.

Then he explained what had happened in the middle of the night.

After the explanation, Sonia and Kathy nodded.

“The security isn’t very good here, being a hotel.”

“Hmm… Could they have followed us?”

*clap*

Amon clapped his hands to draw attention.

“Let’s look into the accommodation issue tomorrow. Let’s skip the dungeon tomorrow and find a safe place to stay first.”

No matter how skilled they were, as humans, they needed rest.

Therefore, the party prioritized finding safe accommodation over dungeon exploration.

“Then let’s all sleep in the living room for now.”

It was a bit uncomfortable, but they judged it to be much safer than being picked off individually.

So the group started laying out blankets on the floor, bringing them from their rooms.

The siblings, who were used to sleeping on the floor, didn’t find it uncomfortable, and Amon and Sonia, who could sleep outdoors as long as there was a roof to shelter from rain, didn’t have much of a problem either.

Kathy, who was least accustomed to sleeping on the floor, decided to sleep on the sofa.

As everyone was preparing their bedding, Sunhwa approached Amon and tapped his shoulder.

“What is it?”

“How did you distinguish between that person and me?”

“Oh, that?”

Amon smiled and said:

“The mole under your right eye.”

“?”

“You have a mole under your eye, though it’s hard to observe with the burn scar and hair covering it.”

“…You knew about that?”

“There’s no reason not to know about such a charming mole.”

Amon shrugged and returned to his spot.

She absentmindedly stroked her eye area while watching Amon’s back as he walked away.

‘He doesn’t think it’s hideous?’

Her face was marked with burn scars, and her body under her clothes was covered with numerous knife scars.

Because of this, she had given up on life as a woman, but…

‘He… has been looking at me.’

The words Amon had said to her on the first day weren’t just empty talk.

– “You’re plenty charming.”

Amon was confident that ten out of ten people would find her charming.

Of course, she somewhat agreed.

That she was in demand among men as a species.

But would he know?

The moment burn scars were etched on her face and knife scars on her body, she had only one option in Joseon.

That the “charm” Amon spoke of to her and the “love” other men whispered to her were of different textures.

Would he know?

‘Even love directed at a gisaeng is still love.’

Because of this, she had resolved to abandon her life as a woman and walk the path of the sword, but…

‘Can I… can I be a little greedy?’

Her heart, once ignited, was already beyond control.

She tightened her jeogori more firmly to hide her embarrassment.

Sunwoo watched his sister.

‘Heeh…’

He looked at her with crescent moon-shaped eyes, his philtrum drooping with contentment, and whispered:

“Spring is still far away~ but the butterfly has already arrived~”

*thwack*

“Urgh!!”

Sunwoo rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach.

“I’ve never been hit by even my father…”

Perhaps he was going through a late puberty.

Discovering himself gradually changing into the realistic sibling relationship he had only heard about from others, Sunwoo smiled.

“Kugh… kik.”

Though it hurt, he thought this kind of daily life wasn’t so bad.

“What’s wrong with him? Is he possessed?”

And Amon’s serious suspicion that Sunwoo, who was rolling on the floor laughing through his pain, might be possessed was not an important part of the story.