Chapter 58: Prophet (1)
“······.”
Yoshida Satoru, whose head had burst open, leaving only his torso behind.
Normally, Creep’s power should have regenerated him, but his body hardened like stone and then shattered into pieces, scattering everywhere.
All because someone had simply asked about the “Demon King.”
‘Strange.’
Jacob, who had translated and conveyed the question about the Demon King, remained perfectly fine. Why was only Satoru affected?
And it was odd that merely hearing the word “Demon King” would connect to that incomprehensible entity Jin-young had encountered in that other world.
If Satoru had known something about the Demon King, he should have shown a much more intense reaction the moment he saw the tentacles, but it wasn’t to that degree.
‘It’s probably because of that Godfather bastard…’
Jin-young thought it was a similar phenomenon to how Satoru had been unable to carelessly speak about Godfather.
‘A servant of the Demon King? Or perhaps a being with a fragment of the Demon King’s split ego dwelling inside him.’
It could be someone with no connection at all, or it could even be the Demon King himself.
If it were the latter, the true body of the Demon King might descend upon Earth.
‘Compared to when I was in Renard, I’ve definitely become stronger…’
The amount of black mana Jin-young had absorbed through his tentacles alone was now at a level that could rival Zero-grade.
On top of that, he had absorbed various abilities from villains.
In particular, thanks to the super-regeneration ability he took from the Mine, he was practically invincible.
Of course, when he recalled the transcendent power of the Demon King he had directly faced in Renard, this level was still insufficient.
There were limits to black mana, after all.
‘In the end, the answer is psionic energy. I need to accumulate far more of it than I have now.’
During his final year in Renard, Jin-young’s growth in psionic energy had plateaued.
Part of it was because he had already become so strong that further growth was difficult, but mostly because he had been completely focused on finding a way back to Earth.
After returning to Earth, there were so many things to take care of and no real need to expend power, so he hadn’t seriously devoted himself to training.
‘But the system is coming together faster than expected, so it’s about time I started allocating time for proper training.’
On his last day in Renard, Jin-young had speculated that the collision between his extreme psychokinesis and the power contained in the Demon King’s hand had torn through space-time, sending him along with it.
If he could one day handle that level of power casually, he might actually be able to stop the Demon King.
‘Or maybe I could grow the tentacles even further and devour the Demon King instead.’
Either way, Jin-young still had time to prepare.
He recalled what his master had once told him.
Though he hadn’t specifically named the Demon King, he had spoken of beings called “divinities” or “godlike entities.”
‘They cannot descend upon a world at will.’
Certain conditions had to be met. If those were ignored and a forced descent occurred, the entity would be greatly weakened—to the point that even a dragon could potentially drive it away.
The Demon King Jin-young had encountered in Renard must have been one such divinity that had fulfilled the descent conditions.
‘The fact that the Demon King’s army once conquered half the continent might be related.’
The mana-pollution work that Godfather was carrying out through GODS could very well be part of fulfilling those conditions.
While thinking about this, Jin-young pulled a person out from his subspace.
Shwaaa—
The man who fell through the portal onto the Creep was instantly covered by Creep and turned into a Mine.
It was the Mine he had kidnapped from the North Korean contaminated zone.
“Hey, Mine. You know what that is, right?”
“······!”
The Mine alternated glances between Jin-young and the Devil’s Flower, his face filled with panic as his mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
“W-what… what the hell is this…?”
“Jacob, do you know this guy?”
“Of course. Any GODS member who’s ever operated in the contaminated zone would know him. Though in subspace we never had the chance to talk.”
Jacob nodded as he spoke.
The Mine who had been trapped in subspace had refused to converse with the hunters there and had chosen to isolate himself.
“Name unknown. In GODS he’s only referred to with derogatory terms like mutant, Mine, variant, and so on. Level equivalent to a 1st-grade hunter. Characteristic: turns into a Mine inside the contaminated zone, but reverts to a normal hunter outside it.”
Jin-young nodded at Jacob’s continued explanation.
“Last time I saw him, he had the ability to expand the contaminated zone. They probably needed him for this mana-pollution project, right?”
“Most likely. The Prophet seems to have waited for the variant and ended up ruining the plan.”
The variant watched the two men conversing in Korean, clearly at a loss about what to do.
He considered running, but worried about how he could possibly escape capture.
Yet if he just stood still, he’d surely be thrown back into that hellish subspace.
“Got anything to say?”
“······!”
At Jin-young’s question, the variant flinched violently.
He still had his black mana intact, and he hadn’t been subjected to mental brainwashing by the tentacles.
But precisely because of that, Jin-young felt the guy still had some use.
“If not, back you go.”
“Wait… just a—”
Ssssh—
The variant was sucked back into subspace.
As long as this guy was in Jin-young’s custody, GODS’s mana-pollution project would inevitably stall.
He could go to the place Satoru had mentioned beforehand and purify the contaminated zone in advance, but that might actually cause more trouble.
All GODS had to do was switch the relay point to somewhere else.
It was better to simply know where it would happen.
‘Since Taiwan was stopped, it might appear somewhere else.’
Whether it would be another island or a continent remained unknown.
It could even be Korea.
One option was to leisurely wait until GODS resumed activity.
“Still, Qinglong still doesn’t look good at all.”
Liu Qinglong, whose consciousness was being dominated by Satoru and the Devil’s Flower.
Even though Satoru was dead and the flower was now under the tentacles’ control, Liu Qinglong still wore a dazed expression.
『While we were dominating the flower’s consciousness, Liu Qinglong’s consciousness came along with it.』
Since the tentacles hadn’t given any specific orders, he had simply stayed still.
Jin-young paid him no mind and looked up at the Devil’s Flower.
‘Did you manage to get any information?’
『This cannot be considered a physical part of the entity called the Demon King. However, it does appear to have been created by that being.』
The tentacles, still wrapped around the Devil’s Flower, spoke while collecting information.
‘But can even the Prophet create something made by the Demon King? No matter how much he’s transcended humanity…’
『The Prophet did not create it. He summoned it here by offering humans as sacrifices.』
‘From another dimension?’
『Correct. I will show you where this originally existed.』
As soon as the tentacles finished speaking, Jin-young closed his eyes.
Instantly, it felt as though a video began playing inside his mind.
The ground was covered in black Creep just like here, and beings that resembled the Demon King’s army wandered about.
There was nothing else alive in sight.
『That is all the information regarding that other dimension.』
Jin-young suddenly thought of Renard.
There had to be some connection between the Great Plan led by GODS and the Renard transfer incident that occurred in the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone.
He wondered if connecting to another dimension might be one of the conditions required for the Demon King’s descent.
He didn’t know why it had to be Renard specifically.
‘I’ll find out eventually with time.’
Jin-young was convinced that one day Godfather would have no choice but to reveal himself personally.
Because GODS’s grand plan would continue to be thwarted just like today.
‘Let’s devour it now.’
『As you wish.』
As the massive tentacle moved, the Devil’s Flower embedded in the Creep trembled violently.
Pukwakwakwak—!
It was ripped out roots and all from the Creep.
Crackcrackcrack—
The tentacles wriggled grotesquely, crushing the flower and sucking out its mana.
Pssssss…
The empty husk, drained of all energy, turned to powder and scattered into the air.
At the same time, the Creep covering the ground began to disappear as well.
Ssssssh—
Once the black tentacles in the sky vanished, just as Jin-young was about to put Jacob back into subspace and move—
Shwaaaaak— That!
Four hunters appeared right in front of him.
A blonde beauty, a black-skinned man, and two Asians.
One of them was someone Jin-young knew very well.
Yoon Soo-ho, the Association President.
While he was wondering what on earth they were doing here—
The blonde hunter opened her mouth.
“You’re a hunter I’ve never seen before. Am I correct in assuming you’re with GODS?”
Hannah Adams, Chairwoman of the International Awakener Federation.
She was also the world’s number one ranked hunter.
The most crucial figure needed in dealing with global threats like GODS moving forward.
It seemed a simple conversation would be necessary to clear up the misunderstanding.
Just as Jin-young was about to say something—
“That person is not with GODS.”
Suddenly, Liu Qinglong stepped forward and spoke.
Hannah turned to him and tilted her head.
“What do you mean, Liu Qinglong?”
“Exactly what I said. On the contrary, how dare you speak so rudely to this great person who eliminated GODS’s Prophet and purified the contaminated zone?”
“······.”
Not only Hannah, but all the hunters gathered here alternated glances between Jin-young and Liu Qinglong.
Eyes full of suspicion.
Even Jin-young had to admit that Liu Qinglong’s behavior was extremely suspicious.
‘Why is he acting like that? Shouldn’t he regain his senses now that the flower is gone?’
『I expected as much, but his consciousness is still under my control.』
‘Then the words Liu Qinglong just said—were those from you?’
『Half and half.』
The tentacles gave an ambiguous answer.
In any case, it was true that Liu Qinglong had become an obedient dog.
‘So you did interfere after all. Couldn’t you have made it less obvious?’
『There’s no way it would be noticeable. Mere insignificant humans could never detect my presence.』
Hannah stared straight into Liu Qinglong’s eyes.
But she couldn’t move past the level of suspicion.
If Liu Qinglong were being mind-controlled, there should be some flow of mana between the two, or some contaminant staining his mind or brain should be detectable.
Sssss…
Blue mana flowed from her eyes.
She concentrated and carefully examined both Liu Qinglong and Jin-young, but nothing came up.
“In that case, it seems I’ve committed a discourtesy. I apologize.”
She bowed her head in apology.
Jin-young scratched the back of his head and turned to Yoon Soo-ho.
“Soo-ho, but why did the Federation come all the way here?”
“To investigate and eliminate the anomalous phenomenon that appeared in this contaminated zone. But it looks like it’s already over.”
Yoon Soo-ho shrugged as he answered.
Watching the conversation between the two, Hannah asked—
“You’re Korean. Do you know each other?”
“Hmm… I can’t exactly say I know him, but I can’t say I don’t either.”
“I roughly get what you mean. Would it be possible to hear what happened here?”
Yoon Soo-ho translated Hannah’s request and conveyed it to Jin-young.
“I actually had something to discuss with the Federation Chair anyway, so this works out perfectly. I’m starving though—let’s eat first. That old man’s loaded, so somewhere expensive.”
At Jin-young’s words, Yoon Soo-ho hesitated over whether he should translate that part.
***
Whoooooo—
A fierce blizzard raged so violently that visibility was reduced to zero.
Even the white snow that fell on the Creep covering the ground was quickly absorbed.
Sssss—
Then a black figure appeared atop the Creep.
Not a person, but literally a shadow-like existence.
The coldest continent on Earth—Antarctica.
The shadow walked across the Creep, completely unperturbed by the freezing cold and snowstorm.
Splash. Splash.
It stopped in front of a hill, raised its arm,
Crackcrackcrack—
A portion of the Creep covering the hill split open, revealing the entrance to a cave.
The shadow stepped inside, descended a set of stairs, and arrived at what resembled an underground bunker.
In the dark basement, six people were already gathered, seated around a round table, waiting.
The seven Prophets summoned by Godfather.
All except the Prophet of Lust, Yoshida Satoru.
“Why isn’t that pervert coming? If I’d known, I would’ve shown up late too.”
A woman spoke as she watched the shadow appear in the basement.
The Prophet, Liliana Belanov.
A body with alluring curves, violet hair, and emerald eyes.
She looked as though the very concept of beauty had taken physical form.
The one who answered her wasn’t the shadow, but another Prophet.
“He’s probably off throwing another vulgar, filthy party and will show up fashionably late. A guy like that could drop dead any day— just leave him be.”
A man with red hair down to his shoulders said.
The Prophet Edgar Malone.
After finishing his sentence, he seemed to get belatedly angry and slammed his fist on the table.
BOOM!
The iron table instantly cracked and turned to powder.
The other Prophets, having seen this many times before, just looked bored.
“Damn old geezer. How dare he make me wait? When he shows up, I’ll twist his dick off.”
As the red-haired man growled, the shadow approached and spoke.
“Please calm down, everyone. Yoshida Satoru is dead.”
At that, the Prophets either scowled or snorted derisively.
“This is insane.”
“Ha. Now he’s making up bullshit like that because he has no more excuses?”
For a being of Prophet caliber to die was simply impossible.
Unless the opponent was Zero-grade, defeat was virtually unthinkable, and in a contaminated zone they were practically invincible—something they knew better than anyone.
“······.”
But when the shadow said nothing more, the Prophets finally realized this wasn’t nonsense.
“That old bastard really died? To who?”
Edgar asked.
“Since no corpse remained and even the Devil’s Flower was completely extinguished, identifying the culprit was impossible.”
“The Devil’s Flower was extinguished?”
“Was it even possible to destroy that thing?”
The Prophets spoke in disbelief.
Liliana, legs crossed, opened her mouth.
“Taiwan, was it? May I go there myself?”
“No. Godfather will issue direct instructions personally.”
At the shadow’s words, the Prophets’ expressions tensed.
For the past year, everything had proceeded smoothly, and he had never shown himself.
If he were to appear in person, it meant a truly critical setback had occurred.
Yet Godfather still did not appear.
As the Prophets began to look puzzled—
Shhh—
A silver crown materialized in front of the shadow.
He placed the crown upon his head.
Sssssss—
Dark crimson mana flowed from the crown, enveloping the shadow.
“······!”
The Prophets shot to their feet and bowed deeply toward the shadow.
“We greet Father.”
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