Chapter 54: The Seven Prophets (3)
Chae Jin-young, Jacob, and Zhu Meiling emerged from the secret hideout in Qingdao.
They climbed into a black sedan and began driving out of the city.
Jacob was behind the wheel, with Zhu Meiling in the passenger seat.
“This is the car I use to evade public security eyes, so it should be safe.”
She spoke in a half-resigned tone.
If they didn’t go to Taiwan, she would die for sure. But if they got caught by public security en route, whether she lived or died was uncertain.
Liu Qinglong probably wouldn’t kill her immediately—he needed her to find Zhu Yinchang.
But the endless torture that would follow might be far worse than death.
The conclusion was clear: going to Taiwan together was the only path to survival.
At least until she met the prophet there, she could stay alive.
What happened after meeting the prophet could be figured out later.
“What’s the big deal if public security catches us? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Chae Jin-young said indifferently.
Whether Zhu Meiling’s words were true or not, they managed to leave the city without incident.
By the time they approached a small airport on the outskirts—
“There seem to be hunters at the airport.”
“I know.”
Jacob spoke from the driver’s seat, and Chae Jin-young nodded from the back.
Zhu Meiling couldn’t hide her anxiety at the mana she sensed from the airport.
The moment the group parked and stepped out of the car—
“Freeze!”
“You’re surrounded!”
Hunters who had been lying in wait swarmed out.
There were easily over 300 of them.
Not ordinary hunters—public security police hunters.
Since Zhu Meiling wasn’t just any hunter but a 1st-grade villain, they had deployed such a large force.
“Zhu Meiling! Surrender immedia— Aaaargh!”
Suddenly, the limbs of the public security officers twisted grotesquely.
Hundreds of them were neutralized simultaneously and collapsed on the spot.
“I’m not GODS, so why are you coming at me?”
“……”
Zhu Meiling was rendered speechless by Chae Jin-young’s overwhelming display of power.
Even if high-grade hunters were scarce, subduing hundreds at once without killing them wasn’t easy.
What’s more, he hadn’t even lifted a finger or used mana—making it all the more mysterious.
After a brief mental lapse, Zhu Meiling’s survival instinct kicked back in.
The fact that public security had set up an ambush here meant they had predicted she was hiding in Qingdao.
If this news reached the higher-ups, Minister Liu Qinglong might appear in person.
In that case, even Chae Jin-young wouldn’t be able to protect her.
She frantically searched the office, hangar, and everywhere else for the pilot.
But the pilot was nowhere to be found.
“Looks like the pilot either fled or was chased off because of public security…”
She lowered her gaze and muttered.
She braced herself for another round of broken fingers.
“Is that so? Jacob, you know how to fly, right?”
“I know how, but I’m not confident in landing. I’ve never had formal training.”
At Jacob’s reply, Chae Jin-young shrugged casually.
“Landing? Just do it with your feet.”
***
“Why the hell isn’t that bastard answering?”
A man with faint wrinkles on his forehead and snow-white hair muttered under his breath.
He lay comfortably on the Creep as if it were a blanket.
Yoshida Satoru—the former yakuza boss and 1st-grade villain from Japan.
One of the Seven Prophets who had received the Godfather’s grace.
In the depths of the contaminated zone covering Taiwan’s Taroko National Park, a massive magic circle-like pattern was drawn on the ground.
GODS fanatics stood in a circle around the circular formation.
Beside Satoru stood something indescribable.
It had the shape of a human, but its entire body was pitch black—facial features completely obscured.
Yet it couldn’t be called a demon.
It wasn’t blackened by Creep; it had been made of darkness from the beginning.
Like a shadow given physical form.
A deep, masculine voice emanated from it.
“The signal isn’t reaching at all. It’s as if he no longer exists on this Earth.”
“He’s not dead, though?”
“Yes. If he were dead, I would sense the aura of death—but there’s nothing.”
The shadow released faint black mana and attempted contact once more.
Still no signal.
“The last one he contacted was Sandesh Singh, right?”
“Yes. The signal was lost starting from the North Korean demonic realm.”
The shadow’s voice remained calm, but a subtle tension lingered beneath it.
Yoshida Satoru knew that Zhu Yinchang and the others had prepared the Monster Wave in the North Korean contaminated zone—and that it had failed.
He had already ordered his subordinates to investigate the site and track down Zhu Yinchang’s group, so word should arrive soon.
“This won’t do. I’ll have to start with what this body can do first.”
Satoru, who had been lying down, sat upright in a meditative posture.
As he began releasing black mana from his body, the magic circle drawn on the Creep started glowing red.
“Aaah… Godfather!”
At the same time, the bodies of the fanatics standing around the magic circle were also dyed crimson.
The circle looked as though it were draining the life force from the fanatics.
Ssssh…
The shadow standing beside him moved behind Satoru’s back and released mana in unison.
The fully blood-red magic circle began to rotate slowly on its own.
Pu-kwak!
The desiccated bodies of the fanatics exploded, their flesh, bones, and every last fragment seeping into the magic circle.
Tzzzt-zzzz—
Soon the Creep within the circle began to swirl, spiraling around Satoru at its center.
Kugugugugu—
The Creep that surged upward gradually took shape, forming a massive flower bud.
Satoru was trapped inside the bud.
Shwaaa—
The petals slowly unfurled, and Satoru walked out calmly from within.
And at the very center of the petals—
Blink.
A single eye with a vertical crimson pupil opened.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa—
Like a stem bursting from the earth, the eye-bearing flower shot upward.
Satoru watched with satisfaction and nodded.
“Now all that’s left is for that damn variant to show up. Still nothing?”
“Still nothing.”
The shadow detached from behind Satoru and spoke as it floated forward.
Satoru’s body began to tremble more and more violently.
It looked as though he were desperately holding something back.
“Huuu… No, this won’t do. I’ve been pouring power into this place all day—now I’m about to burst.”
At Satoru’s words, the shadow trailed off.
“Surely not…”
“As you know, this body has finished all preparations. The only reason things aren’t progressing is because of that damned variant.”
“But with the Great Purification imminent, now is the time for restraint. The Godfather’s mood has already soured due to the repeated failures of GODS’s plans recently.”
The shadow spoke calmly, but Satoru—face flushed red—abruptly opened a portal in front of him.
Tzzzt—
“Have you ever seen this body fail? When the signal reaches the variant, tell him to come find me. I’ll be at the usual place.”
With that, he stepped into the portal.
Shuu—
The place he emerged was a dark underground space.
Dim red lighting illuminated the area, where dozens of men and women lay tangled together asleep on beds and sofas.
“Sssuuup… Haaa…”
Satoru savored the damp underground air and the lewd scent wafting from the bodies.
Having received the Godfather’s grace and gained power, he had also acquired a fatal side effect.
An insatiable, boiling lust.
If he didn’t relieve it regularly, it felt as though his mind would be slowly devoured by black mana until he became a living corpse.
He didn’t discriminate between men and women.
Shwaaaa—
He released a burst of black mana, his voice booming through the space.
“Wake up, slaves! Serve this body with all your devotion!”
***
『I sense extremely vicious mana.』
‘It doesn’t feel like ordinary black mana, does it?’
The tentacle spoke upon sensing the black mana, and Jin-young agreed.
『Hmm… it’s deep. But unlike ours, it’s twisted.』
‘Probably one of the prophets.’
Now flying over Taiwan in the light aircraft.
Even from the island below, an ominous black mana was spreading outward.
Of course, by the time it reached their high altitude it had diluted considerably, but even the faint trace carried considerable power.
“Let’s drop.”
“Huh?”
At Jin-young’s words—translated to her—Zhu Meiling’s already large eyes widened even further.
Ignoring her, Jin-young tore the aircraft door off with psychokinesis.
Kwa-jijik— Shwaaaa—
He pushed back the wind rushing into the cabin with psychokinesis.
Then, taking Jacob and Zhu Meiling with him, he jumped out.
“……!”
For Zhu Meiling—a 1st-grade hunter—this was the first time she had ever jumped from an aircraft without a parachute.
Even with her physical abilities, falling from thousands of meters would result in serious injury.
Yet Jin-young descended as calmly as if stepping off a bus.
Right before they plunged straight into the ground, piercing through air resistance—
Shwoooong—
Jin-young’s psychokinesis momentarily levitated them, allowing a safe landing.
“Looks like it’s somewhere around there.”
Having touched down midway up the mountain, Jin-young muttered while looking down at the small rural village below.
When he spread his psionic energy wide, it seemed no one was living in the houses.
Which only made the situation more suspicious.
Jin-young began walking toward the village.
Jacob and Zhu Meiling naturally followed behind.
At one point, Jin-young suddenly turned around.
Jacob was useful for interpretation thanks to his exceptional language skills, but Zhu Meiling’s usefulness had run out.
“W-What? Is there… something else I can help with…?”
Zhu Meiling felt a sudden chill at the gaze Jin-young directed toward her.
“Time to send you off.”
“Huh? Wait, no way—”
A flicker of hope lit up in Zhu Meiling’s eyes. Maybe following this far had been worth it after all.
Tzzzt—
A portal opened abruptly. Tentacles shot out and wrapped around her body.
“W-Wait!”
Shwaaa—
In an instant, the tentacles drained all of her black mana.
Then—
Crack—
Zhu Meiling’s cervical vertebrae snapped, killing her instantly. Her body was reduced to powder and stored in subspace.
She had guided them to Taiwan, but there was no reason to keep the Red Flower Society alive.
For now, the Dark Horse’s collapse had halted Black Rose distribution, but the Red Flower Society could stir up trouble again at any time.
Eliminating the Dragon Head, Zhu Meiling, drastically reduced that risk.
“You go in too for now.”
Jin-young sent Jacob back into subspace.
He planned to bring him out again later when it came time to talk with the prophet.
As he resumed heading toward the village, Jin-young suddenly stopped at the wave of black mana he sensed.
This time it wasn’t just coming from the village.
A vicious energy was rapidly approaching from behind.
Jin-young, wrapped in psionic energy, took no damage.
‘This… isn’t it Creep poison?’
『It’s a bit faint, but yes.』
This was the first time he had sensed Creep toxin outside a contaminated zone.
There was no way the poison could leak out naturally.
Unless GODS bastards were up to something.
Jin-young briefly debated whether to head to the village where the black mana originated or turn toward the contaminated zone.
Just then—
Shwooooo—
A sound like a fighter jet roared from the sky.
Shwaaaaak— Kwaaaang!
Something descended at tremendous speed and slammed into the ground right in front of Jin-young.
Tzzzt-zzzz…
Thick dust and blue smoke spread in all directions.
The smoke lingered stubbornly, having burned through a considerable amount of mana.
From within it, a figure emerged.
A muscular man with blue-dyed hair.
The man, radiating an extraordinary aura, spoke.
“You’re the one from GODS. Where did you hide Zhu Meiling?”
Jin-young took one look at the blue hair and immediately recognized him.
China’s Zero-grade hunter, Liu Qinglong.
He had tracked the light aircraft Jin-young had taken all the way to Taiwan.
“Wow, you’re seriously insane. You actually chased us here?”
Neither could understand the other’s language, so they simply said whatever they wanted.
Liu Qinglong seemed to decide conversation was pointless.
He began gathering mana, preparing to charge at Jin-young.
But at that moment—
Beeeeeeee—
A deafening siren-like roar erupted from the contaminated zone, shaking their eardrums.
In the next instant—
“What the hell is that…”
Liu Qinglong forgot all about attacking Jin-young and stared up at the colossal eye that had appeared in the distance.
It was at least 100 kilometers away, yet it looked as though it were right in front of them—so massive and grotesque.
Jin-young turned to look at the eye as well.
Shwaaa—
The tentacle reacted instinctively and shot out.
_____________________________________________
TL Note:
Want 28 extra chapters ahead + 9 chapters/week? Join My Patreon for early access:
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls?utm_source=search
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Transcendent Psychic Regressor (TPR)”
Also all my other translated novels additional chapters are available on Premium Tier.
Appreciate all the support! ❤️
_____________________________________________