Moon Byeong-ho stared directly into Jeong Hyeon-su’s crimson eyes and sneered.
“Spouting nonsense, are we?”
At that moment, Jeong Hyeon-su’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What...?”
Before he could finish, Moon Byeong-ho drew a pistol from his coat and fired directly at Jeong Hyeon-su’s head.
Bang!
The sound of the gunshot echoed as Jeong Hyeon-su’s head snapped backward.
But—
“...How troubling,” Jeong Hyeon-su muttered, slowly straightening his head.
The area where the bullet struck was slightly red and swollen, but otherwise, he appeared unharmed.
“Just what are you?”
Watching the scene unfold through the Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I exhaled in relief.
“That red glow... he was trying to use mind control.”
The crimson gleam in his eyes made it clear that something sinister was afoot. Thankfully, Moon Byeong-ho was unaffected.
“Are retainers immune to mind control?”
I had anticipated the possibility that Jeong Hyeon-su might have mind-controlling abilities, especially given the reports of awakened individuals being used as puppets within the cult.
However, I hadn’t expected that he could wield such power himself.
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According to the Absolute Dweller’s Eye, his ability was labeled “Manifestation of Illusions,” granting him the power to make illusions real.
This meant...
“His mind-control ability is a derivative of his main power.”
Jeong Hyeon-su had somehow created an entirely new ability using his existing one.
“He can create awakened abilities... unbelievable.”
Fortunately, his new ability seemed far from perfect.
“There are clearly limits and restrictions.”
If there weren’t, every single person under the cult’s influence would have been mind-controlled by now.
From my investigations, I knew that the number of people he controlled was relatively small, and they were all individuals with notable abilities.
This suggested that there was a cap on the number of people he could control.
“Did he also create his resurrection ability?”
If so...
“That ability must have limits too.”
As Jeong Hyeon-su stood dazed, staring at Moon Byeong-ho, I launched my next attack.
“Open the arsenal. Summon Ha Dong-geon’s spear.”
The spear materialized behind Jeong Hyeon-su and pierced straight through his heart.
“Cough!”
Though he had shrugged off bullets at close range, the black-aura-infused spear left him defenseless.
It was a miracle that his body wasn’t completely obliterated by the spear. He likely had an ability that enhanced his physical durability.
“He’s been preparing for this.”
Whoosh!
The black aura engulfed Jeong Hyeon-su’s body, cutting off his life force completely.
Moments later—
“Kill him immediately,” Jeong Hyeon-su’s voice rang out as he appeared unscathed.
At his command, several figures sprang into action, rushing toward Moon Byeong-ho.
They were dressed in white uniforms, each adorned with unique insignias on one shoulder and numbers or letters on the other.
“The Trump Knights.”
Some wielded weapons, while others prepared to activate their abilities. However, Moon Byeong-ho neutralized their attacks with a single teleport.
Swish!
He had already memorized the abilities of every Trump Knight. I had made sure of that.
As a result, he knew exactly what to avoid and how to counter their attacks.
A beam of light shot toward him as he teleported into the sky. Just before it reached him, he teleported again, this time appearing behind Jeong Hyeon-su.
“You—!”
Before ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Jeong Hyeon-su could react,
Shk!
A black-flaming spear pierced his heart for the third time.
“Guh!”
If Jeong Hyeon-su’s resurrection ability stemmed from his power to manifest illusions, the solution was simple.
With limits and restrictions in place, he couldn’t resurrect indefinitely.
So—
“I’ll kill you as many times as it takes.”
Jang Sung-joon arrived on the floating land aboard a Calican, feeling an overwhelming sense of unease.
“Help me!”
“Where are we going?”
“Someone’s here! Save me!!”
All kinds of voices echoed through his telekinetic field.
The closer they got to the floating land, the more voices he heard, their numbers multiplying exponentially.
“What... are these things?”
The voices reached a crescendo as they neared the prayer hall, where a battle was raging.
“Is anyone there?!”
“I can’t move!”
“I’m scared, scared, scared... so scared.”
“It hurts!”
The mental anguish conveyed through his telekinetic field was so intense that even someone with Jang Sung-joon’s extraordinary mental strength found it difficult to bear.
“Ugh.”
Perhaps due to the density of the souls and their overwhelming emotions, faint images of people began to register within his telekinetic field.
“...This is horrifying.”
The sight of souls being pulled toward the sky above the prayer hall was like watching people being dragged into hell.
Their extreme fear, anxiety, and confusion were etched on their faces, far removed from any sense of peace.
It was no wonder that the rising souls seemed like they were descending into hell.
“Screaming... crying... despair...”
The closer they got to the center, the fewer human voices remained, replaced by agonized screams.
The screams sounded like cries of torment and regret, as if the souls were consumed by the fear of death.
Listening to them stirred a profound sense of sorrow and pity.
Jang Sung-joon was certain.
None of these people had ever wanted this fate.
“That damn cult leader...”
The anguish of the captured souls resonated deeply within him.
As he glared down at the prayer hall with fury,
Flash!
A blinding light emanated from the prayer hall.
***
When Jeong Hyeon-su’s heart was shattered for the sixth time, four corpses were left scattered across the prayer hall, each burning with black flames from Ha Dong-geon’s spear.
My expression hardened as the system notifications kept ringing in my ears.
[You have hunted a False Believer {Heavenly} (Lv. 15).]
[Experience points have been gained.]
[1,099,133 KRW has been deposited into the Absolute Dweller’s wallet.]
Another body vanished, signaling the completion of its "transaction."
“Killing Jeong Hyeon-su is costing innocent lives.”
It finally hit me.
Each of the corpses lying on the ground had a different face. None of them belonged to Jeong Hyeon-su.
Though they died in the exact spot where Jeong Hyeon-su had been impaled, the bodies belonged to entirely different people.
And every time he reappeared, it was always amidst the crowd of believers.
“Killing him means his followers die in his place.”
Now that I understood this, I couldn’t bring myself to kill him so easily.
“What do I do?”
If I killed him, another innocent person would die in his stead.
The prayer hall was packed with hundreds of believers.
To truly kill Jeong Hyeon-su, I would have to slaughter all of them first.
“I can’t do that.”
Even Moon Byeong-ho, amidst the attacks of the Trump Knights, wasn’t retaliating.
Frankly, the Trump Knights weren’t particularly strong.
Those with numbers instead of letters were in their mid-to-high 30s in level, and those bearing letters barely surpassed level 40.
If Moon Byeong-ho wanted, he could massacre the entire Trump Knights brigade in mere moments.
Yet, he refrained because most of them were under mind control.
Dodging their attacks effortlessly, Moon Byeong-ho asked me,
“Jae-hyun-nim, where is he hiding?”
Since the third time I killed him, Jeong Hyeon-su hadn’t revealed himself openly.
But he couldn’t escape the Absolute Dweller’s Eye. Finding a lone level-52 among the crowd was trivial.
Of course, I already knew his location.
He was hiding at the center of the believers, observing the situation.
[Please wait a moment.]
By now, other retainers riding Calicans were beginning to arrive at the sanctuary.
“Nullifying his resurrection isn’t hard.”
With the strength of my retainers, wiping out the hundreds gathered here would be effortless.
Even without direct combat, a single Babel Meteor could end it all.
But should I do it?
Would it be justified to sacrifice the lives of hundreds here to save the tens of thousands lying unconscious outside the sanctuary?
“Damn it...”
I couldn’t make the decision so easily.
Then,
Flash!
A brilliant light emanated from the center of the believers—right where Jeong Hyeon-su had been hiding.
And then—
“Hahahahaha!”
He burst into maniacal laughter.
At the same time,
Whoosh!
A massive ring formed in the sky above the prayer hall.
The glowing blue ring resembled a halo, like those seen above angels’ heads, but it was far from divine.
“Absolute Dweller’s Eye.”
Thanks to the retainers who had arrived overhead on Calicans, I could easily summon the Absolute Dweller’s Eye to observe it.
“...!”
The blue ring wasn’t just a glowing object.
It was made of tens of thousands of souls, spiraling into it and being absorbed.
And from within the ring—
“Ahhhhh!”
“Nooooo!”
“Eeeeek!”
Desperate screams echoed endlessly.
“This... monster.”
Just seeing it, hearing it, filled me with sorrow and rage.
All hesitation vanished.
“He must die.”
I felt sorry for the hundreds of believers who blindly followed their cult leader, but they could no longer claim innocence.
Even if they hadn’t known, they were complicit in building their happiness on the suffering and blood of tens of thousands.
At the very least—
“I’ll make sure they don’t suffer.”
I issued a command to the Calicans carrying my retainers.
[Retreat immediately.]
After summoning Moon Byeong-ho to my side using Retainer Summon, I opened the West Gate.
It was time to prepare for Meteor.
The storage capacity of the arsenal had grown to hold up to one ton.
There was no longer a need for Babel.
I had already prepared an item in the store specifically for this.
“Purchase a one-ton iron sphere.”
The one-ton iron sphere appeared in the West Gate.
As I prepared to accelerate it to its limits using gravity, I called out to Kim Geon.
[Get ready to launch Meteor. Await my signal.]
Kim Geon, circling low over the prayer hall, waited for the perfect moment.
“Open the North Gate.”
I instructed Kim Geon,
[I’ll leave the gate open. Enter the moment I give the signal.]
However—
Zzzz—
Just before Meteor could strike, a light began descending from the ring of wailing souls.