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I followed the black-robed figures, noticing the difference in their miasma.
“The leader’s is pure, but the others’ is… diluted.” Like clear water compared to muddy sewage.
It was a strange sight. I wanted to kill them all, to rip them limb from limb, flay their skin, and burn them alive. The sight of miasma always ignited an uncontrollable rage within me. But I suppressed it. I had acted impulsively when I encountered the Corrupted Wolf King, and I regretted it. I valued rational judgment above all else. Emotions and impulses only led to mistakes. I needed a way to control my rage.
‘Adaptation won’t work.’ My Adaptation Trait, which allowed me to adapt to and overcome any phenomenon, couldn’t neutralize this instinctive rage. Adaptation only worked on threats, and my rage, while overwhelming, wasn’t perceived as harmful. It was, in a twisted way, beneficial.
I needed a different approach.
“Suppression.” I needed another emotion, equally powerful, to counteract the rage. Pain, or pleasure.
“Ugh…!” I plunged the Holy Sword into my abdomen and twisted.
Crack!
“Haha.” Golden blood, the color of my angelic blood, flowed from the wound. The pain was excruciating, almost bringing tears to my eyes. But it worked. The rage subsided, suppressed by the overwhelming agony.
“Good.” I smiled, blood dripping down my front. I was still in control. The pain sharpened my mind, keeping me focused.
“Let’s continue.” I healed the wound with magic and resumed following the group, periodically stabbing myself to keep the rage in check. My primal instincts, urging me to lash out, were no match for my conscious control, my true madness.
I observed them carefully.
“What are they doing?”
The robed figure at the front, the one with a single horn, defeated the Hobgoblin Commander with a single punch. Then, he took a strange, miasma-infused seed from one of his followers and embedded it in the commander’s head.
“So, they were responsible for the Corrupted Wolf King.” The commander convulsed, its body becoming engulfed in miasma.
‘More questions to ask.’ I prepared to confront them. I needed to know who they were and why they were corrupting the mana beasts.
I revealed myself, activating Divine Proclamation. The strongest among them seemed to be around C-rank, but they could be hiding their true power. I needed to be cautious.
[Activating Divine Proclamation (C)!]
[Creating a Divine Domain within a 50-meter radius!]
[…standard Divine Proclamation buffs…]
[Divine Domain detects miasma!]
[Divine Domain does not tolerate miasma!]
[…standard Divine Proclamation debuffs on miasma users…]
“An unexpected bonus.” The Divine Domain not only enhanced holy beings but also suppressed miasma.
“More experiments to conduct.” I had many questions, and now, even more experiments to perform.
“Let’s begin.” I erected a barrier, ensuring no one could interfere. My interrogation and experimentation session was about to begin.
“Hmm.” I looked down at the half-demon, wiping the blood off my Holy Sword.
“Your name is… Seo Jinwoon?”
“Y-yes! My name is Seo Jinwoon!” he stammered, trembling in fear. He remembered what had happened within the confines of my Divine Domain and barrier. It had been hell. His limbs torn, skin flayed, horn ripped out, body burned by holy fire and water, slashed, stabbed, pierced… an endless cycle of torture. His followers, with their weaker minds, had succumbed to madness. He, with his slightly stronger demonic resilience, had barely managed to retain his sanity.
“Who gave you your power?”
“H-he’s a Baron! A devil!”
“A devil, huh?” I closed my eyes, processing the information. I had suspected their involvement ever since encountering miasma and half-demons.
‘If angels exist, devils are a given.’
I mentally organized the information I extracted from Seo Jinwoon.
Devils were a race born from the Demon God, Mashin, in a dimension called the Demon Realm. Their innate potential and miasma reserves determined their rank from birth. A Baron was the lowest rank of devil nobility, roughly equivalent to a mid-to-high B-rank. Seo Jinwoon served a Baron.
“And why were you planting those seeds?”
“I-I don’t know! The Baron ordered me to! That’s all!”
“Really?”
“Yes! I swear!” He groveled at my feet, desperately offering information. I stared at him coldly.
‘He doesn’t know?’ Useless. He had revealed his identity and some basic information about devils, but nothing about the miasma seeds’ purpose.
‘He’s just a pawn.’ Seo Jinwoon wasn’t a high-ranking figure, just a slightly elevated grunt.
“One last question.”
Thud!
“Aaaaagh!” I plunged the Holy Sword into his back.
“Where is your Baron?”
Twist.
Crack!
“Gah! Aaaaagh!” I twisted and turned the blade, ignoring his screams. I wasn’t worried about killing him. I had discovered that my holy energy could heal even devils, despite their miasma.
‘It shouldn’t be possible, but…’ My experiments had revealed that holy energy held absolute dominance over miasma. Like positive cursed energy neutralizing negative cursed energy in Jujutsu Kaisen, my holy energy could dispel and even purify miasma. Direct application of holy energy, however, was incredibly painful for devils, causing their flesh and bones to melt, their blood to evaporate, and their skin to contort. Normal healing was out of the question. It would kill them.
This was problematic. I needed them alive for further questioning and experimentation. I had discovered a workaround: using Adaptation to attune my holy energy to their miasma, preventing it from purifying their corrupted mana. This allowed me to heal them, though it still caused excruciating pain that threatened to break their minds. But I didn’t care. As long as I could heal them, I could continue my experiments without restraint.
“So… you’re not going to talk?” I smiled sweetly, twisting the blade further. Seo Jinwoon’s screams intensified, his eyes widening in terror as he looked at my deceptively gentle smile. The fear momentarily eclipsed even the agonizing pain.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his voice trembling as he finally answered. “The Baron… is…”
His answer stunned me.
“A devil… there?” The location he revealed was the last place I expected to find a devil.
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