Chapter 27 : Reality (9)

“Hmm…” I closed my eyes, listening to the screams of the half-demon and his followers, lost in thought. What to do? I knew the Baron’s location now. And I couldn’t just ignore it. Devils, to me, were like cockroaches—repulsive vermin that needed to be exterminated.

‘The Baron is a true B-rank.’ According to Seo Jinwoon, the Baron was a true B-rank, having overcome the Class restriction. His power far surpassed my own. The difference between a pseudo-B-rank and a true B-rank was astronomical.

But I was confident I could win. I had a way to bridge that gap. I wanted to kill the Baron immediately, but…

‘I need money.’ Reaching the Baron’s location required a significant amount of money, hundreds of millions of berries. My bank account held a paltry few thousand.

I opened my eyes, my decision made.

“I’m going to release you now.” I addressed the miasma-infused vermin, their limbs pierced by holy spears, their bodies and minds constantly healed by my magic, trapped in an endless cycle of torture. They looked at me, their eyes filled with a mixture of despair and a flicker of hope. They misunderstood my words. “Release” didn’t mean freedom.

“You’re going to die. And pay for your sins.”

I had learned how they obtained their miasma. They offered sacrifices to devils—souls steeped in despair and sorrow. To create these sacrifices, they committed unspeakable atrocities: forcing parents to watch their children being violated and cannibalized, torturing and humiliating parents in front of their children. I had extracted these confessions myself, using mind manipulation magic on their broken minds.

I wouldn’t grant them a quick death. They would suffer. They would pay for their crimes.

“I hear that burning alive is the most painful way to die.” I mused aloud, a cruel smile twisting my lips.

“I wonder… what if we amplified that pain?” I continued, my voice laced with a chilling amusement. “What if we enhanced their senses, making them hyper-sensitive to every sensation, including pain?”

“Intriguing, isn’t it?” I asked them, my smile widening. The flicker of hope in their eyes died, replaced by stark terror.

“Farewell.” I extracted the mana stone from the Corrupted Hobgoblin Commander and stepped out of the barrier, sealing it shut.

“May this bring you some solace.” I offered a silent prayer for the innocent victims of these monsters as they burned alive, their agony amplified tenfold by my magic.

I moved on to the next goblin settlement, resuming my hunt. Driven by my need for money, I spent the next three days relentlessly slaughtering mana beasts and collecting their mana stones.

“500 million berries. Easy money.” I smiled, looking at my updated bank account. The hunt itself wasn’t difficult, aside from the tedious mana stone extraction. With this much money, I could finally afford some of the luxuries I’d always dreamed of: a mana-powered supercar, a larger house, gourmet meals…

But this money had a different purpose.

“Time to go to the Hunter Zone.”

I left my apartment and headed towards the Incheon Hunter Zone. Hunter Zones were self-governing areas, lawless territories accessible only to Hunters. The Incheon Hunter Zone was unique. It was peaceful, almost eerily so. No incidents ever occurred there. Or rather, no one could cause incidents there. It was under the control of the Radiant Church’s Korean branch.

“The Radiant Church, huh?” The Radiant Church, a rapidly growing religion, had consumed most other faiths and now held significant global influence. After the Great Transformation, they had become practically untouchable, second only to S-rank Hunters. This was due to their leader, the Pope, Bless, a British S-rank Hunter.

Bless was a unique type of buffer. While most buffers were weak in direct combat, focusing on supporting their allies, Bless was different. She buffed herself, becoming a powerhouse capable of overwhelming any opponent with her enhanced physical abilities and mana control. No other religion could withstand her tyrannical rule.

The Radiant Church preached a simple doctrine: a god with eighteen pairs of pure white wings and a radiant halo would descend upon the world, bathing it in light and bringing salvation. Those who didn’t believe were crushed without mercy. Bless had single-handedly conquered Great Britain, establishing a theocratic nation with the Radiant Church as its state religion. She then spread her doctrine worldwide, establishing branches like the one in Korea.

And within this seemingly benevolent organization, preaching good deeds and faith in a benevolent god…

“…lurked a devil.”

The Baron. He was masquerading as the bishop of the Radiant Church’s Korean branch. The half-demon and his followers I had interrogated were, in fact, paladins and priests of the Radiant Church.

“A devil as a bishop…” It was ludicrous. Devils, inherently evil beings wielding miasma, were leading a religion that emphasized good deeds. And the Radiant Church was oblivious.

“Something tells me this church isn’t as holy as it claims to be.” Especially considering their Pope, Bless, was known for her volatile temper and penchant for violence.

“But I still need to go in.” I had to enter the Hunter Zone controlled by the Radiant Church. I had to kill the Baron.

‘It’ll be a disaster if I’m discovered.’ But I was confident I could remain undetected. The Radiant Church was a powerful organization, led by an S-rank Hunter and boasting numerous A-ranks and hundreds of B-ranks. Most S-rank Hunters operated alone, making the Radiant Church the only organization with an S-rank leader, effectively making them the most powerful faction in the world.

However, they wouldn’t station high-ranking individuals in a relatively insignificant branch like the one in Korea, a country with only one A-rank Hunter. It wasn’t worth the resources.

I was confident that the Baron, a true B-rank, was the only real threat. I paid the hefty 300 million berry “donation,” essentially an entrance fee, to enter the Radiant Church’s compound within the Hunter Zone. That’s why I needed the money.

I winced as my bank account plummeted from 500 million to 200 million.

‘I’ll make sure to recoup my losses from the Baron.’ I would kill him and take everything he had, including the funds he embezzled from the church.

I waited inside the church compound for nightfall.

In the Radiant Church’s headquarters in Great Britain, within the opulent Papal Palace, a woman knelt in prayer, bathed in the warm sunlight streaming through the window. She clutched a faded rosary and a worn bible, her eyes closed, her lips moving silently. She recalled the image of the god she had seen as a child, on the brink of death: golden hair and eyes, eighteen pairs of pure white wings, a radiant halo, and a warm, comforting aura. She finished her prayer and opened her sapphire-blue eyes, a faint smile gracing her lips.

“Despicable vermin… daring to infiltrate my God’s church.” She had received reports from her cardinals and conducted her own investigation, reaching a chilling conclusion.

“How shall I kill them?” She couldn’t forgive them. They had defiled her God’s church. They deserved to die a thousand deaths. And Bless, Elena Shiny, intended to deliver. She would make them suffer.

She clutched the faded rosary and the first bible, the one containing her account of encountering her god, and set off for Korea, determined to personally cleanse her church of the demonic taint.