episode_0164

52. Descent. (2)

Ho-ryeong, the daughter of the walnut family, thought of her father as her consciousness gradually became more and more hazy.

The father who worked hard for himself by frying chicken even on hot summer days, the father who bought a camper van and traveled to various places with him on his days off and laughed happily, and the father who reassured himself that everything would be okay when Top suddenly appeared.

As time passed, on the way to where Ara was, he was in a situation where his kind father was on the verge of death, so he used his powers to take his place… That day too.

Yes, of course… he should have died then. If he had… he wouldn’t have had to suffer like this now…

” Now… I don’t want to… No more… Sob… Dad… I miss you… ”

Sitting on the bed in a dark room with the pungent smell of blood in the air, I hated how I had become accustomed to it.

No, he hated himself for wanting to just get out of there, regardless of whether countless people died in front of him or not.

Every time I do that, the auditory hallucinations get louder and louder.

‘All humans are bad.’ . ‘Just hand over your body to me and everything will be fine.’ . ‘Your father will forget you anyway…’

” Oh, no! That’s not true! ”

I threw the pillows around me and threw them towards the place where the voice was coming from, but there was no movement except a black shape billowing like smoke.

The clothes soaked with blood were taken off and a pure white robe with a tower engraved on it was laid out.

It was repulsive because this was all that was left, but the moment she was about to put it on, she saw the black patterns carved into her body.

” What, what is this… Huh, since when…! Eek… Ooh, it’s moving…! ”

The pattern carved into his body was spreading out as he moved. His lower body was already covered in black patterns, and they were spreading to both arms as well.

At that sight, he put down the robe he was holding and scratched his body, but his flesh was torn and blood came out, and the pattern carved into his body did not change at all.

” Why… why… am I like this… like this… ”

He hugged his knees and burst into tears, lamenting why he had to be treated like this, but nothing was heard.

Soon, I lay down on the bed, wearing the robe I had dropped as if I was tired, and just stared blankly at the ceiling.

” Now… I’m tired. Just… following the voices I hear… ”

A moment to slowly close your eyes and let everything go!

I opened my eyes again to the small sound of knocking on the door, and when I looked at the door, three people suddenly appeared in front of me.

” What, what is it…! ”

” Calm down! It’s me, Ara. Remember? ”

” Ah, ah… sister…?! ”

At Ara’s sudden appearance, Horyeong began to shed tears.

Because there seemed to be a ray of hope to escape this hellish place.

” Thank goodness. You’re really alive… ”

” Ugh… Sister… Me… Me…! ”

” Yeah, it’s okay. Let’s get out of here together. That’s why I came. ”

” Yeah… Thank you… ”

As Yeong-i continued to shed tears, Ara held her in her arms and stroked her back to reassure her.

The spirit who was shedding tears in Ara’s arms looked up at Ara as if he remembered something and opened his mouth.

” Oh, sis… Is… my dad…? ”

” Oh, sir… ”

Seeing Ara unable to speak, Yeong grabbed Ara’s clothes tightly and shed tears again.

” Haha… I even used my powers to save Dad… and now… I thought I’d be able to see him again… but it was all… meaningless nonsense. ”

” No! The sister I know… your father. Uncle Doosik said he’s still alive. I just don’t know where he is now. ”

” Why? Why don’t you know? Why don’t you know where my dad is? ”

” Ling-ah…? ”

Suddenly, Yeong-i’s eyes glared at her. And Ara felt goosebumps as she felt a sticky and eerie black light spread out from those eyes to the surrounding area.

Because it was a look of murderous intent in the eyes that the spirit he knew would never do…

The black light extending from those eyes made the fear even stronger.

” Why! You don’t know! I asked you!!! ”

‘Thud!’ He laid Ara down on the floor and Yeong-i pressed Ara’s shoulders with both of her hands, then gradually moved her hands to her neck.

” It’s all… It’s all… because of you… you guys…! ”

” Ryeo, Ryeong-ah…! Ji, calm down…! Ugh… ”

” Sister! ”

At Pedro’s shout, the spirit who had been strangling Ara’s neck seemed to come to his senses when he saw himself reflected in Ara’s eyes, took off the hand that was wrapped around his neck, stood up, sat down, and crawled backwards.

” Ah, no… I, I… That’s… Ah, no… I… I… I wouldn’t… Si, be noisy…! Be quiet…! No…! ”

He covered his ears and began shaking his head violently.

” Sister, are you okay? ”

” I’m… okay. More than that… ”

The sight of Ara leaning against the wall, covering her ears, shaking her head violently and repeatedly shouting, “Be quiet. Be quiet!” was so… heartbreaking.

It’s so sad that I couldn’t save Lingyi sooner…

A hand was placed on her shoulder with a ‘thud’.

” Sister, wake up. You have to get out of here quickly with that sister over there. ”

” Oh, right… Yeah. Right. Thanks Pedro. ”

As he slowly got up from his seat and placed his hand on top of Yeong-i’s hand, which was covering her ears, Yeong-i, who had been mumbling, raised her head and looked at her.

” It’s okay. I, no, we will definitely find you. So… It’s okay. Okay? Let’s go together. ”

” Oh, sis… I, I’m sorry. I, I meant to… ”

” It’s okay. You just did that because you were tired. I understand. ”

He hugged Yeong-i again and patted her back to reassure her. Only then did Yeong-i, who had been sobbing in his arms, slowly stand up as if she had made up her mind.

” Yeah. Let’s go, sis. ”

*****

A sound comes from the device. It’s a call from Ara.

– Rescue complete. Now heading to the Children’s Museum. –

” Phew, now… then, it’s my turn to move. ”

The two twin swords in his hand. [Hauteclair] He gripped them tightly again and went down to the strangely twisted tower structure.

As I fell so low that I could hear a ‘kwang!’, all eyes turned towards me.

He released his strength and spread his wings as he shouted.

[ My name is the Goddess of Judgement. Manienu! I have come to pass judgment! ]

As I shouted that, people around me glared at me and said things like, “Fake goddess!” and “Our enemy…!”

And then… the person who appeared in front of me with black smoke gathering.

” This, this… You came all the way here. ”

Oh Hyuk-jin. He appeared in front of me.

[ I have no intention of hurting anyone here. Let me back off. ]

” Hoo… I guess they’ve become quite merciful since they attacked the Blue House settlement, even though they killed our sect members indiscriminately. ”

[Shut up. You… have… crossed the line that shouldn’t be crossed… by quite a bit.]

” Is that right? Well, anyway, we don’t need anyone here anymore. ”

As he said that, Oh Hyuk-jin swung his staff down sharply. Then, black thorns shot out from the ground and stabbed the hearts of those nearby, sucking out their life force and turning them into mummies before disappearing.

[ You… the hell…! How far did you have to fall…! ]

” Ahh… I can feel the strength coming in. Don’t you know that they’re lending me their strength to take you down? ”

[ Nonsense…! ]

I rushed at him and swung my sword, but he turned into a black smoke and dodged my attack. He was holding something in his hand.

” What, how about we calm down and talk more? ”

[ What… I want to say… ]

” Why did I save Choi Si-woo from collapsing to your older brother, Yoo Ji-seong? And why did I put Choi Young-wol under me? It was because I needed their strength. ”

I just stared at him quietly and tried to get him to talk more, thinking that this would buy Ara and her group time to escape.

” The power that Choi Si-woo possesses is the ability called ‘Looting’. And if Choi Young-wol’s ability, ‘Correction’, is combined, then they can create that object. ”

[ What…? No way…! ]

” Yes, the pills and candies that contain his power were created through that experiment. He takes away the abilities of those he captures through pillaging and compresses them into crystals.

That’s the recipe for ‘God’s Gift’. Of course, it was hard to dispose of the bodies because we had to take out their hearts, but it’s a good thing we used them as consumables to steal your time, like we saw at Seoul Station. Hahahaha! ”

[ I can’t believe you were really a devout believer…! How could you…! ]

” Shut up!!! All the people in this world are destined to disappear anyway!

What’s wrong with me using them like that?

Those guys are going to die anyway!

When my wife and my daughter were dying!

Those who ignore and don’t help should just disappear from this world! Isn’t that right?! ”

Oh Hyuk-jin slowly waved something he was holding in his hand at me.

” Hehehe, do you know what this is? ”

What he was holding in his hand was… the ‘black crystal’ that Choi Si-woo used.

[ That’s… what Choi Siwoo used…! ]

” Yeah, that’s what he used. But now… it’s mine. ”

[ what…? ]

As he said that, Oh Hyuk-jin stuck the crystal into the spot where his heart was, and black smoke spread out, darkening the surrounding area.

The sound of bones breaking, ‘Ppuduk’, ‘Ppuduk’, the sound of flesh being torn, ‘Pusuk’, ‘Crunch’.

and…

A shape appears as the black smoke disappears with a ‘snap’ sound.

” I am now His apostle. For His sake, I will stop you here. ”

Oh Hyuk-jin, who had turned into a giant demon, was there.

Six legs covered in black crystal like a spider, a pair extending from his waist and shoulders, making six arms made of long black bones, and a black hand that was nothing but bones, holding a sword made of black crystal.

His body was a grotesque sight of twisted muscles and bones, and only the hood of the snow-white robe he was wearing remained, covering his face.

His face was covered with large and small black crystal horns, and from his back spread three pairs of black wings like those of a butterfly.

And where the heart was inlaid with black crystal, there was a black crystal carved in the shape of an upside-down torch, emitting black light. As if sparks were flying.

[ You… are really crazy. ]

” Hahaha! It’s all over now. Soon… our god will descend! ”

I lightly swung the swords I held in both hands and aimed at him, burning away the black smoke coming towards me.

[ Absolutely… that won’t happen. I’ll stop you here. ]

” Let’s try… but in the end, our god, Thanatos, will descend…! ”