Chapter 1051 – 1051. Divine Authority
The cult leader was kneeling on the floor, praying to a painting of a mad god.
The painting was different from the ones the Light Followers usually saw. It was a picture of a monster with tentacles. It was the true form of the mad god of the Light Followers.
I swung my sword at the cult leader. A blue sword aura, imbued with red lightning, flew towards him.
Woo-oong.
The air seemed to vibrate, and a translucent barrier appeared around the cult leader, blocking the sword aura.
The cult leader slowly rose to his feet. He turned to face me. He was neither flustered nor angry.
“It seems you are quite enraged, esteemed guest. Was our hospitality so lacking? If any of our followers have wronged you, you are welcome to punish them.”
The cult leader spoke calmly.
I pointed my sword at him. Crackle. Red lightning pierced the air and flew towards him. This attack was also blocked by the barrier. However, I saw the barrier shake. It wasn’t invincible.
“Esteemed guest, I do not know what has angered you so, but now is a crucial time. Tomorrow, we will finally have an audience with the mad god.”
“Cult leader, you said you were watching me.”
“Did that displease you? It was an unavoidable task, as it was a divine revelation from the mad god. Please understand.”
“Since when?”
“The revelation came about three months ago. As I said before, it’s a matter of the past that doesn’t matter now. We were only watching, we didn’t do anything.”
“Since you were watching me, you must know about my relationships.”
“Of course, we know. However, we only know, we have not done anything.”
“Do you know about Han Harin?”
“Isn’t she the younger sister of Han Ayoung, who recently became an S-class hunter? And a close female friend of yours. But what is the problem? Ah, do you want to bring Han Harin to the Light Followers? Since she is someone you have chosen, I would, of course, welcome her. I might even give her the position of an instructor.”
“Han Harin is dead.”
“Oh, my… You must be very heartbroken. If you wish, we, the Light Followers, will hold a requiem for her.”
“Han Harin died at your hands.”
Only then did the cult leader’s face slightly harden.
“…Huh? That’s unexpected. I understand why you are angry. We will find all those involved and punish them, so please calm down.”
“She was sacrificed as an offering.”
“Ah… I see. She must have ended up in the underground corpse storage. It’s a place with a terrible smell.”
“Disgusting. Isn’t that what you did?”
“While I am the cult leader, I do not oversee everything. Murat, the first instructor, is in charge of conducting and managing the rituals in the temple, and there is a separate person who manages the offerings.”
“…Manages the offerings? Wasn’t it just a random killing?”
“These are offerings to the mad god. We cannot just kill them randomly. Imagine offering dirty, low-quality offerings. Would the mad god be pleased? He would be furious. In that sense, the Divine Authority ritual is special. The offerings are followers full of faith in the mad god. The mad god will be moved by the sacrifice of the followers.”
“I killed the instructor, Murat. I will kill the offering manager, and I will kill you too.”
“It seems you are more enraged than I thought. I understand. But please calm your anger. If Han Harin’s death is the problem, wouldn’t it be better to revive her?”
I, who was approaching the cult leader with my sword, paused.
“Revive her?”
“Yes. You may think it’s absurd… but it is possible if the mad god uses his power. You can meet the mad god yourself tomorrow and ask him. It’s just one human life. The mad god will grant your wish.”
“Forget it. I’ll take care of it myself. You die here.”
I swung my sword, enveloped in sword aura. The barrier seemed to resist, but then it shattered. The cult leader’s shoulder was cut.
‘Flash.’
Before the cult leader could do anything, I swung my sword again and beheaded him. The cult leader’s head stopped falling and remained suspended in the air.
“Esteemed guest, has your anger subsided? I will only allow your attacks on me up to this point. I believe I am also somewhat responsible for this. So, please stop here.”
The cult leader’s head was floating in the air. Blood was dripping from the severed neck, yet he was still alive. It was bizarre. I stabbed the cult leader’s forehead with my sword. The sword pierced through the cult leader’s head as if skewering it.
“…Esteemed guest. I clearly gave you a chance. It was your choice to make this decision.”
Tentacles suddenly emerged from the cult leader’s head and body. Looking at the dozens of wriggling tentacles, I lowered my gaze. The cult leader was not human. Or he was originally human, but he was no longer human.
‘Either way, it doesn’t matter. I will kill the cult leader.’
Crackling!
Red lightning surged, electrocuting the cult leader’s head. The tentacles protruding from his head twitched, and a smoky smell rose. It smelled like burning flesh.
“Kueeeeeeek!”
The cult leader screamed in pain. I continued to send electricity. I wouldn’t stop until the cult leader was dead.
Bang!
Suddenly, a shockwave occurred, and my body was thrown backward, slamming into the wall. I gritted my teeth at the pain in my back and quickly got up.
The cult leader had recovered in that short time.
“Do you see this proof of immortality? It is the power the mad god has granted me. Ah… I will live forever thanks to the grace of the mad god.”
“So you don’t die even if I kill you… That’s perfect for venting my anger.”
I forcibly squeezed out mana. To be honest, my body was already at its limit. I had lost control of my power for a moment because of my anger after seeing Han Harin’s corpse in the underground ritual chamber. No, I hadn’t. But I didn’t regret it. It was already irrelevant.
‘If I die from mana backlash like this… I can use full recovery.’
Rumble!
The mana I forcibly squeezed out surged through my body with the sound of thunder. It was hot. No, it was tingling. It felt like a bolt of lightning was rampaging inside my body.
‘Stormbreaker!!’
Stormbreaker fused with the Fire Lotus Flying Blades and enveloped my body. A sword appeared in the air. Red lightning crackled around my body.
‘Acceleration, Flash!’
I rushed towards the cult leader. The cult leader didn’t react. No, he couldn’t react. The cult leader was not a hunter. He had power, but it was power he received from the mad god.
I swung my sword. I slashed the cult leader’s body more than three times per second. The cult leader’s body regenerated as soon as it was cut. I gritted my teeth and continued to swing my sword. The momentum of my sword strikes increased. And at the same time, I felt a pain as if my muscles were about to burst. The mana I had forcibly squeezed out was also running out. I coughed up blood, but I didn’t stop swinging my sword.
I stopped when my sword fell to the floor. I didn’t have the strength to swing it anymore. My internal organs were already burned and not functioning properly. I knew because I had experienced death several times. I was about to die.
“Has your anger subsided a little?”
The cult leader had recovered without any problem. A faint smile was on his lips. It seemed like he was mocking me, which made me even angrier. The problem was that my body, which had fallen to the floor, wouldn’t move.
“You died 75 times in that short time. But you couldn’t kill me. This is the great power of the mad god.”
“You must be happy with the power you got from sucking the mad god’s ass.”
“I would gladly suck the mad god’s ass!”
“……”
I had briefly forgotten that the cult leader was also a mad god follower.
“You, the Light Followers, and the mad god. I will kill you all.”
“Killing the mad god… That’s a very blasphemous thing to say. If anyone other than you had said such a thing, I would have torn them limb from limb and killed them. But, since it’s you, I understand. The mad god will soon descend. Your fate will be decided by the mad god, not me.”
Five tentacles appeared in the air.
The tentacles wrapped around my armored body and held me tightly.
“So, please stay still until then, esteemed guest.”
“…You already ruined the ritual chamber. It will take some time for the mad god to descend.”
“Huh? Ah. That’s right. But it’s okay. We can make up for the deficiencies with offerings. The followers will gladly sacrifice themselves for the mad god. Above all, there’s Park Suho. Park Suho, who has received the power of Selbretina, is an excellent offering.”
The cult leader said with a relaxed face. There was no sign of impatience.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Explosions were heard from outside the cult leader’s room. Actually, I had been hearing the sounds since earlier. It was probably Park Suho rampaging. Thanks to that, it seemed like I could move around more easily.
“In that sense, I need to catch Park Suho. Please stay here quietly.”
The cult leader went outside.
“……”
I looked up at the air.
I saw a notification window from the Leisure Life app.
My ability, the Leisure Life app, was linked to my smartphone. Therefore, it was convenient to operate the Leisure Life app with my smartphone. But the basis of that ability was me. Even if I didn’t have my smartphone in my hand, some operations were possible.
[30-Day Regression Ticket
Regresses 30 days into the past.
Price: 1,000,000 points
※Caution
The Leisure Life app is not affected by regression.
Only the world where the ticket was used will regress.]
[Would you like to use the 30-Day Regression Ticket?]
Knowing that there was no way to kill the cult leader, I was about to use the 30-day regression ticket instead of full recovery. If the cult leader hadn’t gone outside to catch Park Suho, I would have definitely used it.
‘Since I’ve decided to regress, it’s a waste to use it right now.’
[Using Full Recovery.]
My body recovered. My mana also filled up.
I burned the tentacles that were binding my body with red lightning and got up.
‘I’m going to regress. That’s the only way to save Han Harin.’
Regression was a one-time opportunity. I needed information to use it more efficiently.
‘I have time.’
It was the 29th now.
The day Han Harin left for Japan with the Suwol Guild’s raid team was the 11th. Even if I went back 30 days, I would still have more than 10 days left. I could save Han Harin. No, I could protect her.
‘Information! I need information that can definitely kill that cult leader bastard.’
I also needed more information about the Light Followers. The difference between what I knew and what I didn’t was significant.
I rushed out of the cult leader’s room.
The temple was more of a mess than I had thought. Pillars of fire were rising everywhere, and explosions were constantly occurring. I realized that Park Suho was rampaging more than I had expected. Thanks to that, it seemed like I could move around more easily.
‘First, the guys who might know about the cult leader… the instructors.’
I wandered around. It was hard to find an instructor, but I found Kang Jiwoo. Kang Jiwoo was calmly praying even in the midst of this chaos.
“Kang Jiwoo.”
“It’s you, Yoo Jin. You’re wearing armor. What’s going on?”
“Shut up and answer my question. Did you know that the cult leader wasn’t human?”
“You must be misunderstanding something. The cult leader is human.”
“You don’t know? I wonder if you can still call him human after seeing his state.”
“Ah. Are you talking about the cult leader’s appearance? That’s the appearance he has after receiving the mad god’s blessing. I will also receive the mad god’s blessing and become like that someday.”
“……So you knew. Then do you also know how to kill the cult leader?”
“The current cult leader cannot die. The blessing the mad god has given him is immortality.”
“Kang Jiwoo. Tell me the locations of all the Light Follower branches around the world.”
“In Korea, it’s Busan, in Japan, it’s Hokkaido, in the United States, it’s Florida…”
Kang Jiwoo spat out the information without hesitation. It was so easy that it was suspicious.
