## Chapter 2163 – 2163. Eternal Eden
The ritual took place in the secret church of Seongjin Elementary School.
Those who observed the ritual were the proven ones. Fanatics with unwavering faith. Most were members of the Imperial Guard. A few were priests. Some of them were bishop-level priests.
“The Saint is entering!”
One of the Imperial Guards shouted and opened the door. The secret church was bright. Light poured in from all directions. Stained glass, how they got it, was decorated in various places on the windows. In the center of the church, the ceiling had transparent glass installed, allowing bright light to pour in.
Around the perimeter, the standing fanatics bowed their heads, clasped their hands together, and prayed. They even suppressed their breathing.
“I tell you. Open your eyes and watch closely.”
“Yes, Saint.”
I walked to the center of the church, stepping on the red carpet laid on the floor. At the end of the red carpet was Cardinal Son Tae-hyung. He was kneeling reverently in front of the freezer. As I approached, Son Tae-hyung bowed his head without saying a word. His forehead and nose touched the floor.
“Is your wife in this coffin?”
“Yes, it is.”
Of course, I knew Son Tae-hyung’s situation.
Son Tae-hyung’s wife, Park Sae-jung, was Son Tae-hyung’s elementary school classmate. She was his desk partner, and as children of that age often did, Son Tae-hyung used to tease his partner. It wasn’t like bullying. It was just drawing lines on the desk and teasing. In those days, it could be seen as an expression of interest from those children.
Later, after Son Tae-hyung was discharged from the military, he met Park Sae-jung by chance at a church and they got married. They had one daughter.
On the day the super-large meteorite fell and the D virus erupted, Park Sae-jung became a zombie. Her daughter was next to Park Sae-jung, and before Son Tae-hyung could do anything, she bit her daughter’s shoulder. To save his daughter, Son Tae-hyung killed Park Sae-jung. But the daughter was infected, and he had to kill her as well.
Son Tae-hyung placed his wife and daughter in a makeshift wooden coffin made by breaking furniture and buried them in the backyard, erecting a tombstone. Cremation was not an option. He couldn’t bear to see his wife and daughter’s corpses burning. Now, it was the best choice. Even I couldn’t revive a being without a body.
After that, Son Tae-hyung lived as he could until he drifted into Seongak Elementary School and met me.
Becoming the captain of the Imperial Guard and following me, he brought his buried wife and daughter to Seongak Elementary School and moved them to a freezer. This was to prevent the corpses from rotting. Na Chae-young made it. The principle was not much different from a refrigerator, so it wasn’t difficult to make.
“Open it.”
*Pshhh.*
As Son Tae-hyung pressed the button, the freezer lid opened, revealing the inside. Along with the cold air, the corpse of a woman was lying down. The half-rotted corpse was in fairly good condition.
‘She looks ordinary.’
If I told Son Tae-hyung to offer his wife and daughter to me, he would gladly do so. In fact, there were quite a few fanatics who offered their own families to me. They don’t shy away from it; they are rather pleased.
Everyone’s eyes turned to me.
I didn’t say anything to them. I just needed to prove myself to them.
“Grab your wife and stand her up.”
So that everyone here can witness a miracle.
I didn’t say the rest, but the meaning would have been conveyed. Without a word, Son Tae-hyung grabbed his wife’s shoulders and stood her up.
‘Hmm. It would be bland to just use recovery for this show.’
Recovery didn’t have any particular effect. So, I created lightning. *Fzzzt.* Sparks flew around my right hand, and blue lightning gathered and wriggled.
The fanatics looked at my hand with reverent eyes. They believed the lightning I wielded was divine punishment.
They had no doubt that someday my lightning would punish all the evil things in this world.
I sent the lightning into Park Sae-jung’s corpse. There was a slight acrid smell.
“Park Sae-jung, your sins are extinguished.”
I just said whatever came to mind. Son Tae-hyung and the other fanatics trembled with emotion.
“Now, I will save you from death.”
I placed my hand on Park Sae-jung’s head and used my recovery ability.
The rotten areas returned to their original state. Then, her stopped heart began to beat again, and her pale skin regained its color. Her cold body temperature gradually rose, and breath appeared from her nose and mouth. *Flutter.* Her trembling eyelids lifted.
“Ah, uh… Honey?”
Park Sae-jung, who had opened her eyes, was flustered as she looked around, but she was relieved when she saw Son Tae-hyung.
“Hic, sob… Thank you. Thank you, Saint…!”
Son Tae-hyung hugged his wife tightly and cried.
*Thud!*
The fanatics who had witnessed the miracle knelt on the spot.
“Oh, oh, oh…”
“The Saint has saved the Cardinal’s wife from death…!”
“Lord! Save us and lead us! We will offer everything to the Saint!”
The fanatics cheered enthusiastically. They were all crying and cheering. I can guarantee it. Their faith will never waver again. Even if someone calls them fanatics and denounces them as brainwashed, they will not waver.
The dead had come back to life.
They had witnessed the resurrection with their own eyes. How could their faith waver?
‘It feels a bit lacking to end it here.’
Park Sae-jung was already kneeling in front of me, bowing her head. Judging from her bewildered expression, she hadn’t fully grasped the situation. She was just bowing her head to me, led by Son Tae-hyung. But she too would soon become a fanatic.
Because she had experienced a miracle. And because she had a daughter to revive.
‘My recovery ability has grown, and I have plenty of stamina.’
It also helped that Park Sae-jung’s corpse was well preserved. If her whole body had been rotten, it would have been quite difficult.
‘Since I’m here, shall I advance one of my plans?’
“Priests, remove the coffin and bring the Holy Sword and the Holy Heart Box. Cardinal, wait quietly.”
The priests moved. The moment I mentioned the Holy Heart Box, they realized what I was about to do.
The other believers, realizing that a new ritual was about to begin, simply waited quietly. Park Sae-jung was led by the priests to their side. Park Sae-jung’s eyes trembled anxiously. But she was overwhelmed by the atmosphere and couldn’t do anything.
A priest slowly approached, holding a white sword and a small silver box on a tray. The white sword was a sword made of galchium. It was the size of a dagger, and the blade was hard. The small box was a small freezer decorated with silver and gold.
“From now on, I will conduct a divine ritual. I ask you. Who are you?”
“I am Son Tae-hyung. Just a human who wishes to serve the Saint.”
“What can you do for me?”
“I can do anything.”
“Can you prove your faith with death? Can you offer your heart to me?”
“I will gladly prove it. I will gladly offer it!”
I handed the Holy Sword to Son Tae-hyung. He held the sword in reverse and stabbed himself in the neck without hesitation. Blood flowed out and stained the floor.
“Kyaaak! Honey!!”
Park Sae-jung, horrified, made a commotion, but a nearby Imperial Guard immediately subdued her.
Son Tae-hyung carefully handed the sword to me with trembling hands. I received the sword and waited for Son Tae-hyung to die.
After Son Tae-hyung was completely dead, I cut open his chest and extracted his heart. I stored the heart in the Holy Heart Box.
Ignoring the wailing Park Sae-jung, I placed my hand on Son Tae-hyung’s head. When I used recovery, the wound disappeared and his heart regenerated.
Son Tae-hyung, regaining his senses, straightened his posture. Park Sae-jung, who had been wailing, was startled and froze like a stone.
“You have been reborn.”
“Yes, Saint. Death was nothing.”
“Son Tae-hyung. You have received immortality from me. You have become the first Holy Knight, so serve me for the rest of your life with that body.”
“Everything is according to the Saint’s will.”
“The Imperial Guard will change its name to the Holy Imperial Guard. The existing members of the Imperial Guard will be appointed as temporary Holy Imperial Guards. The true members of the Holy Imperial Guard are only the Holy Knights. The Holy Imperial Guard is the shield that protects me and the sword that kills my enemies.”
“Everything is for the Saint.”
I had been experimenting with my recovery ability.
As a result, I found out a few things. If a part of the body exists, I can revive a dead person with recovery. That part of the body could even be a fingernail. I could even recover them with a single strand of hair. However, in this case, it would be incredibly difficult for me. The burden would increase dozens of times.
Then, if a person is alive and well, can I cut off a part of their body and recover them?
The answer is no.
If the original person was alive, recovery did not work on a part of their body. In other words, it was impossible for me to copy a person with my ability.
Why was it impossible? It wasn’t exactly clear, but I guessed it had something to do with the soul. Na Chae-young agreed. She said that since this world was originally a world within a game, it wasn’t strange to have fantasy elements. The cause of superpowers itself had not yet been revealed. Na Chae-young’s ability was also a power that could not be explained by theory.
Anyway, I could create a limited immortality system through my recovery ability. As long as I kept Son Tae-hyung’s heart separately, I could revive Son Tae-hyung even if he died without leaving a single part of his body.
‘The Holy Imperial Guard will become an immortal force.’
I looked around.
No one doubted me. Even Park Sae-jung, who was seeing me for the first time, was looking at me with eyes full of awe.
• • •
“There’s a request for support from the mayor of Gwangju. It’s about dealing with a mutated type that has taken over a large hospital.”
Na Chae-young said. I scoffed and sneered.
“The mayor of Gwangju? Who does that bastard think he is, ordering me around?”
Even though I’m called a hero, I’m not someone who volunteers indiscriminately. The mayor of Gwangju, not even Seoul? There are plenty of excuses to refuse the request. Like I have to deal with the mutated types in Seoul.
“But this guy seems to be quite crazy. He’s asked for help from superpowered people all over the country, not just you. The media is already making a fuss about it.”
