The light veil spreading out from Kori swiftly formed into a massive spherical shape.
[Now.]
I signaled Kim Geon.
Just before he entered through the North Gate.
‘Summon steel marbles.’
I summoned them above the prayer hall.
From the sky to the prayer hall where the cultists were gathered, a red line stretched downward.
Screeeeeeech—!
The red line pierced through the floating ground and reached the very bottom.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted from the deep pit that had formed when the sanctuary was torn apart, shaking the surrounding land.
“Hah, ha...”
I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead and opened my eyes wide.
[You have hunted a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).]
[You have hunted a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).]
[You have hunted a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).]
......
......
As the sanctuary was pierced by a large hole and the prayer hall was half-destroyed, the aftermath of the explosion killed countless cultists instantly.
Every high-rise building in the vicinity, including Lotte Tower, had either collapsed or been shattered.
This was the carnage I had created with my own hands.
The sight of blood and corpses scattered everywhere made me feel nauseated for a moment, but I gritted my teeth and held it back.
‘I didn’t kill them all.’
The steel marbles had penetrated their land entirely, which reduced the intended impact.
And then, suddenly—
Flash!
The light veil completed the perfect sphere.
At that moment—
“Hah, hah...”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Ahahahahahaha!”
Laughter erupted among the surviving cultists.
It wasn’t just Jeong Hyeon-su’s laughter.
Everyone was laughing madly, as if they had lost their minds.
Crunch—
The skin on their backs bulged and tore through their robes, revealing pure white wings.
The wings, much like their bloodstained robes, were tinged with red.
Dozens of cultists with wings sprouted took to the skies in unison.
And then, at that moment—
Flash—
The light flickered again, and the cultists, flying madly and laughing in the sky, along with their sanctuary, vanished without a trace.
Almost simultaneously, the North Gate’s duration ended, and the gate closed.
I turned to Lilith, who had been silently observing everything by my side, and asked her, “What do you think?”
“It’s similar to the place Lilith lives in!”
“I figured as much.”
Jeong Hyeon-su’s domain, created by sacrificing over a hundred thousand spiritual beings, bore many resemblances to the place Lilith had created.
“In that case, do you think this might also be possible?”
“What do you mean?”
As she attentively listened to my question, Lilith nodded and answered, “If we can seize control of their central tower, it might be possible!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
Currently, five retainers were trapped in their sanctuary.
Ha Dong-geon, Kang Deok-soo, Oh Eun-joo, Lee Jun-hyuk, and Jang Seong-jun.
Each of them was a formidable force, known for their unmatched combat prowess.
The one problem was—
‘Absolute Dweller’s Eye.’
Crackle—
When I tried using the Absolute Dweller’s Eye on them, the screen displayed was riddled with noise.
The only solace was—
[Can everyone hear me?]
“Yes.”
“We hear you.”
The communication rings were working properly.
Moreover, these retainers were strong enough to manage without my assistance.
I had no choice but to trust in their strength.
[From now on, move toward the center of that place.]
And then—
[I am rescinding the order to minimize killings. Use every bit of your strength against the enemies.]
***
“Hmm.”
Kang Deok-soo looked around.
“This is troublesome.”
He wanted to move toward the center as per Kim Jae-hyun’s orders.
However, he had no idea which way led to the center.
Because—
“Where the hell am I?”
All he could see were tangled rails and dense fog surrounding him.
Rumble—
“Hm?”
While he was lost in thought, he felt a faint tremor coming from a distance.
Thud— Thud!
What began as a slight vibration quickly grew intense, and soon, a train emerged from the fog.
“So, it’s like that.”
Hum—
As Kang Deok-soo activated his power, his body became encased in steel armor.
With a calm expression, he watched the high-speed train barreling toward him.
Just before the train hit him—
“Hup!”
With a concise shout, he launched himself at the train, delivering a head-on collision.
Crash!
The speeding train crumpled upon impact with Kang Deok-soo.
Right after—
“Cough!”
The train reverted to human form.
It was a man with a yellow diamond insignia on one shoulder and a capital “A” on the other.
The man’s neck was twisted, leaving no chance of recovery.
Sssss—
Not long after, his corpse disappeared, and the system notification confirmed the kill.
“Well?”
As Kang Deok-soo blinked at the unexpected development, figures with wings emerged from the fog, looking grave.
Each bore a diamond insignia on one shoulder.
A woman with a “Q” insignia turned to a man with a “K” insignia and asked, “What’s going on? That person is an unapproved entity. How is he unharmed?”
“...Amazingly, it seems like that state is his weakened form.”
“...?”
The woman stared at Kang Deok-soo in shock.
Other knights began murmuring one by one.
“He’s a demon.”
“A demon has infiltrated the sanctuary...”
“We must eliminate him immediately.”
Unfazed, Kang Deok-soo stretched, muttering to himself.
“Okay, okay. I get it. So, to get to the center, I need to crush you all. Simple enough.”
The man with the “K” insignia tilted his head, puzzled by Kang Deok-soo’s odd behavior.
“What is he trying to do...?”
Then, Kang Deok-soo spoke.
“Arise.”
At his command, the Steel Knights responded.
Seven steel knights emerged atop the roller coaster tracks.
“...No way!”
The man with the “K” insignia was stunned.
The number of knights summoned by Kang Deok-soo, combined with himself, matched exactly the number of diamond knights surrounding the area.
This was because, just before they had moved to the sanctuary, four of their fellow knights had been lost to something falling from the sky, leaving only eight remaining.
And in the next moment—
Clang!
The seven steel knights each leapt into the fog.
"Everyone, retreat—!"
Diamond Knight K attempted to give an order, only to belatedly realize the halberd piercing through his chest.
He coughed up blood and forced himself to swallow the flood of it, asking, “H-how...?”
“I could hear everything.”
“!!”
It wasn’t stupidity on their part that led them to expose their positions while speaking.
The fog blanketing the area had the effect of dulling one’s senses, which had lulled them into thinking they could speak safely.
But their misfortune lay in the fact that Kang Deok-soo’s senses far exceeded human limits. Even with his dulled perception, he was able to identify all their positions.
Swish—
As the diamond knights were annihilated, the fog began to dissipate.
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With the visual barrier removed, the towering figure of Lotte Tower stood in the center.
“That thing... wasn’t it destroyed?”
After the meteor had fallen, he had witnessed its obliteration. Yet here it stood, intact, as if nothing had happened.
Thanks to that, it was easy to figure out where to head next.
“That’s the spot.”
***
“Don’t come any closer!”
Lee Young-jae, marked with the K insignia of the Clover Knights, stumbled backward, pleading.
“P-please stop!”
The man before him was a disaster.
With just a stretch of his hand, this man could make a person’s head explode.
“You demon bastard!”
It was baffling.
In this blessed land, their powers were supposed to be magnified many times over.
And the demon’s power should have been weakened.
But none of that mattered.
Despite their amplified powers and the demon’s supposed weakening, the gap between them was insurmountable.
The most terrifying part was that his own abilities were completely ineffective.
Swish—
Lee Young-jae once again attempted to use his power. Not for attack this time, but to escape.
As he tried to phase through the wall with his intangible body—
Grab!
“Gahk!”
He felt something clutch his neck.
No one should have been able to touch him in that state.
Yet the demon’s power effortlessly grasped his intangible form.
Dragged before the man by overwhelming force, Lee Young-jae struggled in terror.
The man, his eyes bloodshot, asked, “Can you not hear the screams of this place?”
“Guh... kuh...”
“You are the demons.”
The man, Jang Seong-jun, was genuinely enraged.
Because he could hear the wailing of countless souls trapped in what they called a sanctuary.
From the ground, the walls, the trees, and even the air.
This wasn’t a sanctuary—it was hell itself.
“That is why I cannot forgive you.”
As Jang Seong-jun’s telekinesis grew stronger, Lee Young-jae’s life was snuffed out.
“Hah... hah...”
Having singlehandedly destroyed the Clover Knights, Jang Seong-jun followed the guidance of the souls and moved toward the center.
***
Jeong Hyeon-su was in a state of panic.
“What the hell are they?!”
They were monsters.
He had thought everything would be over once the sanctuary was complete.
In this space, everything was supposed to work according to his will.
But the unfolding events were the exact opposite.
“Why!”
The knights who were supposed to stand firm were being crushed one after another.
Even the uninvited guests, numbering only five, were overwhelming them.
“Useless fools!”
This made no sense.
To Jeong Hyeon-su, their strength defied all logic.
Not even the so-called superhumans of Seoul had been this overwhelming.
‘And yet...’
There was also the explosion before the sanctuary’s completion.
The nightmare that had wiped out hundreds of his spare lives in an instant.
‘What the hell was that?’
Had the sanctuary’s completion been delayed even slightly, everything would have been ruined.
Moreover, the energy required to repair the facilities destroyed by that attack had drained him.
If only he had more energy, he could have dealt with the intruders properly.
‘If I just had a little more time...!’
At that moment—
Crash!
The ground shattered, and a man holding a spear appeared.
Jeong Hyeon-su recognized the spear as the very one that had pierced his heart multiple times already.
“You...!!”
The man pointed the spear at Jeong Hyeon-su and muttered to himself.
“I’ve arrived.”
Whoosh—
At the same time, black flames erupted from the tip of the spear.
The sight of it caused Jeong Hyeon-su’s eyes to widen in rage.
“You fool...!”
The situation now was different from earlier when his heart had been pierced repeatedly.
This time, Jeong Hyeon-su had the power of 144,000 souls at his disposal.
Crack—
His body began to swell.
His muscular form tore through his white robes as his teeth and claws grew sharper.
“Grrrr. I’ll kill you.”
Boom!
As he lunged to stab his claws into the man’s heart—
Flash—
A blinding light radiated outward from Ha ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Dong-geon, the man with the spear.
And someone appeared before Jeong Hyeon-su.
“!”
The first emotion he felt was awe.
He knelt instinctively before the unknown presence.
Then came fear.
As if staring into an unfathomable abyss, he felt compelled to lower his head.
And for a brief moment—
‘This bastard...!’
A faint flicker of hostility emerged.
That was the last thing he felt.
Squash!
Jeong Hyeon-su’s head exploded.