Ch.150150. The Final Day

# Mount Sinai

The mountain where Moses ascended thousands of years ago to create the Ten Commandments,

‘And the mountain where the first protagonist climbed to break the head of the Saint of Sin.’

Great sword, hammer, spear, and more.

Though the results varied depending on player preference, only weapons crafted from fragments of the Ten Commandments at the mountain’s peak could bring death to the Saint of Sin.

(For reference, the canonical weapon is the great sword.)

And the only way to reach the top of this mountain was through the sarcophagus Amon had ridden.

‘Physically climbing would be meaningless.’

One must lie in the sarcophagus and drink the liquid of melted black stone to reach this secret temple at the mountain’s peak.

‘Am I dead?’

Amon stared curiously at his now semi-transparent body.

Even in the game’s description it was portrayed as death, but experiencing it himself was strange.

‘Pulse… indeed, I can’t feel it.’

If this was a soul state, it was peculiar that he was still affected by physical laws.

His feet remained on the ground due to gravity, and his body leaned backward from the wind blowing at the peak.

He could feel the cold and pick up stones.

In other words, though Amon had become semi-transparent, he wasn’t in a soul state.

‘I don’t really understand.’

He didn’t know how to describe this condition.

It wasn’t quite being a ghost since he felt no different than when he was human, yet he couldn’t be human with his semi-transparent body and lack of pulse.

Eventually, Amon gave up trying to figure it out.

It wasn’t particularly important or interesting to him.

What mattered was that he could find the great sword he so desperately wanted in the semi-transparent temple before him.

‘Azrael’s Beheading Sword.’

The cheat item exclusive to the second playthrough of the Punk City series.

He had prepared for 20 years for this one item, and today was the day to reap the rewards.

Without hesitation, Amon flung open the temple doors.

On the other side of the door, a large man was offering prayers.

Amon recognized him as the first protagonist.

‘Why is a dead person here?’

At first he suspected an undead, but there was no malevolent energy emanating from him.

Though chilling, it was far from evil.

Amon had countless questions but quietly waited at the entrance until the man finished his prayers.

After what felt like nearly an hour, the man raised his head.

[You are not a scoundrel.]

“Prayer is communication with Mother, a ritual more sacred than anything else. I wouldn’t dare interrupt it, regardless of my circumstances.”

[Excellent, Prophet.]

Clank.

The man rose to his feet. The plate armor he wore collided, creating a cold metallic sound.

Amon questioned the man whose back was still turned to him.

“What should I call you?”

[Having dedicated everything to atonement and judgment, I no longer have a name to call myself, but it would be rude not to introduce myself to a guest who wishes to converse. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the deceased once called Azrael.]

“… May I call you Sadin?”

[A nostalgic name. Have you met him?]

There was no need to confirm whom he had met.

“You were seeking forgiveness.”

[Even the repentance of one who has not sinned is a sin…]

Sadin looked up at the ceiling with regret.

Amon spoke to the man whose face he still couldn’t see.

“I dared to forgive on your behalf.”

[Is that so… You made such a choice. Then may I ask your name?]

“I am Amon. With the meaning of love.”

[Amon…]

Sadin repeated Amon’s name.

[Amon. Let me ask you. Why have you come here?]

Unable to simply say he came for the great sword, he answered with the most eloquent phrasing he could muster.

“I came to continue your story and conclude my own.”

[Amon. Then do you believe in fate?]

“I believe in it, but I don’t blindly follow it.”

[Then do you seek wisdom?]

“No matter what wisdom, it can never compare to truth.”

It was a strange feeling.

Just looking at Sadin’s back, he couldn’t think of saying anything but the truth.

As the third question was about to follow, Sadin finally turned around.

[Are you—one who defies divine will?]

Amon gasped as their eyes met.

A withered mummy was emitting blue light from its eyes.

Suppressing the first true fear he’d felt in his life, Amon barely managed to answer.

“I don’t know what that divine will is, but I can only do my best.”

[Then prove it.]

“What…”

[In death!]

Slash.

With a flash of silver light, Amon’s vision split in half.

***

The day Amon entered the sarcophagus.

His companions pitched a tent near the sleeping sarcophagus and began camping.

“He’ll be back in about three days.”

Sonia believed without doubt that he would return.

Kathy, Sunhwa, and Sunwoo felt the same.

Though they didn’t know what the spirit tomb was like, they knew it wasn’t a place one could easily return from.

So while they were worried, they didn’t act on it.

They were curious whether he was simply sleeping under the sarcophagus or had vanished somewhere, but they didn’t try to confirm it.

After a day passed, Sunhwa, who was guarding the sarcophagus, spoke to her companions.

“Do you know the tale of Utori?”

“Hmm? Is it a Joseon legend?”

“Yes. It’s basically about opening a cave a day early when you’re supposed to wait three years…”

Sunhwa told the story of the baby general Utori to the two.

“In these situations, there’s always someone who doesn’t keep their word.”

“You’re telling us not to do that?”

“That’s right.”

Sunhwa vowed not to open it even if three years passed.

Next to her solemn oath, Sunwoo grimaced.

“Are you planning to hold a three-year funeral?”

“Trusting your husband is a virtue of a good wife, Sunwoo.”

“I didn’t know you were this far gone, sis. They say late-blooming passion is scary…”

Crack!

A chop as swift as Sunhwa’s sword technique struck Sunwoo’s crown.

“Aaack!”

“You have no filter with your sister.”

“Give me half the love you give your husband!”

“I’m now a married woman, no longer part of my birth family.”

“Aish! If even my sister says that, I’m truly an orphan!”

Sonia and Kathy burst into laughter watching the siblings’ fight escalate naturally.

Thanks to those two, one day passed quickly.

*

The third day since Amon entered the sarcophagus.

“Ta-da.”

Kathy was making an Eiffel Tower with red thread.

With phones unused to avoid potential tracking by demons, time seemed to pass slowly.

“This is boring…”

Kathy keenly felt the problem of modern humans unintentionally addicted to dopamine.

Eventually, even string figures became tedious, and she had nothing to do.

As Kathy twisted her body from boredom, Sunhwa called to her.

“Let’s eat first.”

Sunhwa, the meal duty person for Amon’s party without Amon, served lunch.

“What’s on the menu today?”

“Budae-jjigae.”

“That was dinner yesterday too.”

“Well. Would you and Sonia like to cook instead?”

Kathy was left speechless at that.

Despite the drawback of repeated menus, Sunhwa’s cooking was delicious.

Finally, Kathy grumbled as she filled her bowl with budae-jjigae—ham, cheese, gochujang, and various other soup ingredients.

“Thank you for the meal.”

After confirming Kathy had taken her portion, Sunwoo began serving himself.

Unfortunately, there was no kimchi in Sunhwa’s budae-jjigae.

Sunhwa, seemingly regretful about this, explained apologetically.

“They don’t sell kimchi in Jerusalem.”

Though an obvious fact, it was still disappointing for the two Koreans.

So the group made do with budae-jjigae again today.

During their meal, a visitor approached the tent set up in the open space.

A middle-aged man wearing what looked like rags for a robe, extending a metal bowl with his skinny hand.

“I smell something delicious… could I trouble you for just one meal…”

The middle-aged man requested sympathy in a timid voice.

As Sunwoo, eating his budae-jjigae, looked quizzically at the vagrant, Sunhwa smiled with her eyes and ladled soup into a new bowl.

“We have plenty, please come and eat.”

At her uninhibited invitation, the middle-aged man hesitantly approached them.

However, the moment he tried to step into the tent within the canopy,

Zap!

“?!”

With a white spark, he was thrown backward.

The vagrant looked at the tent in confusion.

At that moment, Kathy’s spear appeared, pointed at the vagrant.

The vagrant kept his eyes on the spear tip and evaded her sudden attack.

The vagrant who had just been starving easily avoided Kathy’s consecutive attacks and created distance.

Only after driving the vagrant far from the tent did Kathy speak.

“I thought it was too quiet to just let it go.”

“Is it a tabernacle…”

The vagrant examined the canopy and tent.

“That man must be inside the tabernacle.”

The voice that had seemed on the verge of death transformed into an unpleasant sound mixed with something like scraping metal.

The vagrant removed his robe’s hood along with his pretense.

Seeing the face revealed beneath the robe, each member of the group expressed their impressions.

“Ugh. Appetite killer.”

“They say even dogs aren’t disturbed during meals. Ah, I guess flies don’t count.”

“I don’t think we need to ask who this is.”

Sunwoo, Sunhwa, and Kathy shared their impressions of the vagrant in order.

Despite the harsh reviews, the vagrant—Bael—showed no sign of being offended as he looked toward the inside of the tent.

“Sarcophagus. Huh. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Bael expressed frustration at discovering the entrance to the spirit tomb he had been searching for.

Meanwhile, the group neither confirmed nor denied anything.

Bael slightly vibrated the proboscis of his fly head and spoke.

“I commend you for setting up the tabernacle. But…”

Buzz—

As he spread his fly wings to create air pressure, the canopy surrounding the open space collapsed with just that.

In the brief moment the canopy fell, Bael’s attire changed from vagrant’s clothes to a formal suit on the opposite side.

Along with changing his fly head to a middle-aged man’s face, Bael adjusted his black tie.

“The more complex the divine magic, the more powerful but also easier to break. Isn’t that right?”

No answer came.

The three maintained their vigilance toward Bael.

Bael sent a sneer as if finding the three contemptible.

“Now then. Shall we take out the saint you all cherish so much from his coffin?”

At those words, Kathy, weaving red thread with her left hand not holding the crimson spear, snapped back.

“Sorry, but that future won’t come to pass.”

“Hmm? Thread that weaves the future? Unfortunately, I don’t blindly follow the future like the others.”

“I know. But that makes some things possible.”

Thwack!

A silent impact struck the back of Bael’s head.

Green fluid dripped to the ground.

Bael touched his pierced throat in shock.

“What…”

“Three days. Exactly from the third day, I couldn’t see the future. I don’t know what you did, but the fact that I can’t see is information in itself.”

In other words, she knew Bael would come, and,

“Sonia, nice shot.”

Sonia had already positioned herself in a building far from the canopy.

Chomp.

After waiting 11 hours while filling her stomach with disgustingly tasteless energy bars.

Finally, the reward for her long wait had arrived, and Sonia wore a subtle smile.

Bael quietly looked in the direction the bullet had come from.

“4 against 1. How unfair.”

“You should have stayed away if you knew. Want to leave now while you still can?”

After all, the group’s goal was to buy time until Amon woke up.

There was no need to confront Bael, a first-rank demon.

Naturally, since Bael was the one at a disadvantage, his answer was a refusal.

“I decline.”

“I figured. But are you really going to fight 4 against 1? We pride ourselves on being quite adept at demon hunting, though not as much as Amon.”

“Yes… at this rate, I would be at a disadvantage.”

Bael’s face vibrated.

The middle-aged man’s face changed to a fly’s face, then to a decrepit old man’s face.

And when it changed to a dog’s head, Kathy was startled.

“What? A dog?”

Bael continued changing his appearance, unconcerned.

Eventually, his head split into 4 parts, sequentially dividing into 4 entities.

Kathy radioed Sonia in confusion.

“Was this written in the Lemegeton!?”

Lemegeton.

The reference book by Solomon they had been using to fight demons until now.

Sonia answered Kathy’s urgent radio call.

[Bael’s abilities are swordsmanship, invisibility, and foresight.]

“Then what am I looking at??”

As Kathy was confused, the 4 Baels(?) explained as if offering a service.

“Lemegeton. A nostalgic name. It seems you know nothing.”

“Are you going to explain?”

“Hmm. Considering that Amon fellow sleeping in that coffin, I don’t mind.”

The 4 Baels began explaining, as if passing the conversation between them.

“I too was once human. A human who worshipped the Goddess before being recorded in history.”

“Tsk tsk. Just because I crossed a line set by the Goddess, tsk, I ended up like this, like other demons.”

The old man and the fly.

“Those who blasphemed the divine became demons like us. But after the Saint came and went from this land, blasphemers became dungeon monsters instead of demons.”

“Hmm.”

The middle-aged man and the dog.

The four beings explained the past fluently, as if connected by a single consciousness.

“The Lemegeton is not a dictionary but a book of prophecy.”

“And a curse, tsk.”

“He sealed our names in brass vessels and threw them into a pit.”

“Hmm.”

“Because of him, our names were cursed for eternity.”

“We now cannot truly die even if we die. Even if we reincarnate as humans, the curse on that name makes us become demons.”

“Just for committing a single sin, we lost the chance to find peace!”

“What went wrong! I merely sought truth!”

While the excited fly was being calmed by the old man, the dog head finally spoke.

“The brilliant past has faded, and I am trapped in a fate to be a demon forever. Bael. This hateful name has become a prison from which I can never escape.”

“No matter what body I reincarnate into, the name binds me.”

“So I divided my name.”

Bael, Baal, Beelzebub, Set.

Bael who had tried changing his name to many past names.

But,

“Such tricks could not free me from fate.”

In the end, he had no choice but to return to being Bael.

But there was some gain.

“The Lemegeton is a book of curses. It automatically updates the abilities of demons so demon hunters can hunt them.”

“But it couldn’t discover my abilities not tied to the name Bael.”

“Well. Is that explanation sufficient?”

Kathy nodded in understanding.

“Yes. But why are you explaining this?”

She glanced at the sarcophagus and said.

“What, are you trying to say Amon is destined to become a demon too?”

“Yes. No matter how much you resist, the man you love will be abandoned by the Goddess.”

Old man Bael’s words were continued by Set with the dog’s head.

“When that time comes, you will regret stopping me.”

Beelzebub, who had calmed his excitement, rejoined the conversation.

“Tsk. I am trying to save Amon. From his pitiful fate.”

Finally, the middle-aged man Baal adjusted the fit of his elegant suit and said.

“It’s not too late. Poor children. If you love him, you must decide for his sake.”

Kathy contemplated as she watched the man extend his hand.

Time passed.

After five minutes, Bael, unable to wait any longer, spoke.

“If you’re going to refuse, refuse quickly. Don’t drag this out disgracefully!”

“Heh. Now you get it?”

Kathy raised her head and twirled her spear.

“We’ve seen too many times that fate isn’t something I can control. You’ve come to the wrong place to talk about fate.”

As if responding to her words, Sonia’s sniping began again.

Thwack!

Once more, the fly head’s throat was pierced.

“Cowards! Tsk!”

“Since when does good and evil matter in a fight?”

Sunwoo appeared behind the fly and executed a spinning slash.

Soon after, Sunhwa also began the battle, targeting Bael’s neck with her sword technique.

After checking on her companions, Kathy pointed her spear at dog-headed Set and smiled aggressively.

“I’ll take care of you before Amon wakes up. I don’t want to make him work right after he gets up.”