Chapter 130

Chapter 130

Chapter 130 – Rapture (1)

Jeong Hyun-soo felt a surge of pure ecstasy.

‘At long last…!’

One hundred and forty-four thousand mortal offerings were now assembled in a single location.

‘All the preparations are complete.’

Although he deeply regretted turning away the enigmatic traveler who had approached him days prior, Jung Hyun-soo held no doubt that their paths would cross once more.

‘Given the effort he expended to locate me up on the 70th floor, he definitely has some purpose in mind.’

When that individual returned, he would absolutely ensure he didn’t escape his grasp.

By that point…

‘My position in this world will be entirely different.’

Beyond the glass, the surface of Seokchon Lake glistened as the dawn’s earliest beams struck it. Looking out over the vista, Jung Hyun-soo began to speak in a measured voice.

“Spade, Diamond, Clover, Heart. Your efforts have been outstanding.”

He spoke directly to the dozen male and female figures bowed on a single knee in front of him.

They wore identical pristine white attire, sporting their specific squad emblems on their right shoulders and the letters K, Q, and J carefully stitched onto their left.

Casting his gaze upon them, Jung Hyun-soo went on.

“Give the word to the Celestial Subjects. Instruct every single one of them to wear their proper vestments and join the dawn service.”

“Understood, my Lord.”

After his warriors filed out, he proceeded with his ceremonial purification.

Lowering his body into the steaming bathwater prepared for him, he rested momentarily before calling out.

“Grace, are you outside?”

“I am here, my Lord,” Park Eun-hye responded from the other side of the door.

“Enter.”

“Right away.”

Stepping in carefully, she eased the door open. When she drew near, Jung Hyun-soo lightly rippled the water and commanded,

“Draw closer.”

Submissively, Park Eun-hye helped wash him. Once he had indulged his physical lusts, Jung Hyun-soo washed away the physical residue in the pool, restoring his state of sanctity.

As he got out, he found a freshly made cup of coffee waiting, lovingly brewed by Park Eun-hye.

Sip.

While he enjoyed this brief window of peace, a shape manifested directly out of his shadow—Joker.

“All setups are complete,” Joker announced.

“Excellent.”

Pulling on his ceremonial robes, Jung Hyun-soo made his way down to the worship chamber.

There, hundreds of devoted zealots garbed in spotless white garments were waiting for his arrival.

“Our Lord!”

“We adore you!”

“Ahhhh!”

Walking up to the platform amidst their ecstatic shouting, Jung Hyun-soo flashed an affectionate smile and started his address.

“My dearest brothers and sisters, are you aware of the significance of this day?”

“Amen!”

“And do you understand the purpose of our gathering here?”

“Amen!”

“Amen! The hour of the Rapture is upon us!”

Upon his words, wild, ecstatic cries broke out from the gathered crowd.

Their unrestrained voices brimmed with absolute fanaticism.

Looking over them with deep contentment, Jung Hyun-soo gradually lifted his right hand. Instantaneously, as if by magic, a sudden hush washed over the room.

He then let his voice echo through the temple.

“On this very day! We are going to rise to Heaven. Every one of you will be transformed into genuine Celestial Subjects, guaranteed eternal life. Amen!”

Right then, Jung Hyun-soo unleashed his ability.

“Uwaaaaah!”

A blinding brilliance shot out from his physical form, expanding in a flash until it covered the entire holy grounds.

And then—

Rumble—!

The earth beneath shook violently.

Crack—!

Unbeknownst to the congregation assembled in the middle, the vast temple complex was gradually lifting off the ground and ascending into the heavens.

Simultaneously, across a specific zone surrounding the holy site, every single person present blacked out instantly and fell to the ground.

All of these individuals shared a single common thread: they had ingested chocolate that contained Jung Hyun-soo’s blood.

A massive influx of spirits was being pulled directly toward the airborne temple.

The rapid unfolding of these events defied belief.

‘The earth… is ascending into the heavens?’

The massive plot of land designated as the JHS cult’s holy ground was floating upwards.

While that spectacle alone was stunning, the true crisis commenced the moment the floating land achieved a high enough altitude.

“Subin! Open your eyes!”

Over at Jamsil Hangang Park, Kim Da-jung, who was performing volunteer medical work using her skills, looked on in alarm as her patient went limp and passed out.

She was far from the only one witnessing this.

Throughout the area, spectators who had been staring up at the rising earth began to fall over like lines of falling dominoes.

Seeing people drop to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut, I carefully weighed my choices.

‘Should I call forth my subordinates?’

Since the exact trigger for this event remained unclear, I thought about bringing them out as a defensive measure.

Yet, even before I could make up my mind, the strange phenomenon ceased.

Not one of my summoned underlings had collapsed into unconsciousness.

While citizens fell unconscious all across the JHS cult’s sphere of influence, a few individuals inexplicably remained completely fine.

Their shared characteristic was immediately obvious.

‘These are the people who didn’t take the food handouts.’

The outcasts, vagrants, and thieves who lingered around the edges of the cult’s borders without actually joining them.

None of them showed any ill effects.

‘Every single person who fainted was a part of their group.’

Feeling a deep sense of unease, I jumped into action without delay.

‘North Gate, open.’

Finding a high spot that offered an unobstructed view of the ascending island, I summoned the North Gate.

Looking through the warping spatial rift, I could observe the holy grounds soaring into the atmosphere.

And then—

‘Absolute Dweller’s Eye.’

A shroud of dark energy instantly wrapped around my summoned Absolute Dweller’s Eye.

My reason for deploying the North Gate was simple: I was unable to boost my techniques with dark energy outside my personal territory.

By exploiting this workaround, I used the North Gate to bypass that restriction.

‘What on earth…’

Peerling through the darkness-shrouded Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I observed thousands—or rather, tens of thousands—of souls being dragged directly toward the flying island.

‘What is going on here?’

This whole affair was occurring so rapidly that I found it hard to comprehend the scale of the crisis.

Kim Da-jung, who was already checking their vitals, quickly answered.

“It looks like a basic loss of consciousness. Their respiration and pulse are steady. If it hadn’t happened so abruptly, you would swear they were merely taking a nap.”

“Exactly.”

At her response, a sudden feeling of familiarity struck me. Before long, I remembered precisely why.

‘Those who were pulled into Lilith’s territory also looked like they had simply fallen asleep.’

Why was this current event mirroring that previous incident so closely?

‘East Gate, open.’

Nearly the instant I formed the East Gate inside Lilith’s realm, she emerged from the portal and threw herself onto me.

“Aww! Master! I missed you so much!”

Once I fed her a decent portion of the World Tree’s life force, she giggled happily, licking her lips in satisfaction.

I let her finish her meal before inquiring,

“Lilith, what does that look like to your eyes?”

“Ohhh~ It’s so beautiful!”

She wasn’t merely observing the ground drifting in the clouds; she could clearly perceive the massive stream of spirits ascending toward it.

‘What exactly are you planning, Jung Hyun-soo?’

An ominous premonition weighed heavily on my mind.

Just then, it occurred.

A system alert declared that the outpost’s development had finished.

Yet, the individuals slated to become its fresh inhabitants were currently lying on the ground, completely unresponsive.

‘I need to rescue them.’

And not only them; this entire situation was deeply twisted.

I had already completed my background checks on the JHS cult’s leadership. None of those figures possessed the strength to orchestrate something on this scale.

Which meant Jung Hyun-soo had to be the mastermind behind this.

‘He had the power to bring illusions to life… and now he’s doing this?’

I didn’t know how he managed to warp his skills to achieve this result, but I couldn’t stand by and let it happen.

‘The likelihood of these unconscious victims ever waking up on their own is incredibly low.’

This meant they were all heading toward a pointless demise.

At this moment, that villain was about to sacrifice the very masses he had previously rescued—hundreds of thousands of innocent souls—without a second thought.

‘Perhaps keeping them alive was always for this very moment.’

There was no reason to hold back.

‘I am going to put an end to him.’

If only to protect the lives of those massive numbers of clueless people.

I transmitted a command to all my subordinates stationed around Jamsil.

I watched as my warriors climbed onto the Kellicans one after another, then sent out a mental order.

From every corner of the area, the Kellicans bearing my subordinates took flight, soaring up toward the rising land.

The second Kim Jae-hyun’s order arrived, Moon Byung-ho immediately moved.

He had been stationed near the cult’s grand worship area, tasked with sneaking in to gather intelligence using his cloaking skill.

While keeping himself perfectly concealed, Moon Byung-ho kept a close watch.

Vrrr—

A heavy sniper rifle materialized directly in his grip.

As soon as his hands wrapped around it, the firearm also vanished from sight, completely blending into the air.

Peering through his optical sight, he lined up his shot straight at his target’s chest.

Calibrating for the range with extreme care, he steadied his breathing and gently pressed down on the trigger.

Bang—!

Even equipped with a suppressor, the discharge made a distinct noise—but it was of no consequence.

The high-velocity round flew directly toward the mark.

However—

Ping—!

Just as the projectile was about to strike, it was deflected by a faint energy shield that popped up in its path.

And then—

Sssss—

A dark, dense shadow expanded rapidly right beneath Moon Byung-ho’s feet.

Crunch!

A colossal set of dark jaws surged upward, snapping shut to consume him.

Whoosh—

Moon Byung-ho teleported away at the last moment, escaping the jaws of death.

He pivoted to inspect his previous position.

A massive dark form had broken through the rooftop, looking like a giant whale that had just shut its jaws tight.

‘That annoying technique.’

It belonged to the Black Joker of the Trump Order—Kim Jun-ho. It was without a doubt his Black Whale.

Boom!

A sudden detonation shook the space right next to him.

The sheer force of the blast sent Moon Byung-ho flying straight toward the cult’s main stage.

Crash!

He slammed heavily onto the platform, fracturing the wooden stage underneath his weight.

Standing right before him was Jung Hyun-soo, wearing a wide smirk.

“I knew you’d return.”

“……”

“How did you manage to get out of that maze? Won’t you share the secret, brother?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Simply out of curiosity.”

Moon Byung-ho locked his gaze on him coldly and replied,

“You chatter quite a bit for someone who’s already dead.”

“…What?”

Jung Hyun-soo’s face turned blank.

Instantly, bedlam broke out all around them.

“Leader!”

“Our Lord!”

“Aaaah!”

Slowly, he tilted his head downward.

And then—

Whoosh!

A long spear, wrapped in dark fires, was driven deep into his chest.

It was Ha Dong-geon’s spear, infused with black energy, impaling him clean through.

“Ugh…!”

A stream of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as the dark fire spread to cover his whole frame.

“Ahhhh!”

“Our Leader has been killed!”

“It’s a demon! A monster is here!”

Terror rippled instantly through the entire sanctuary. However, the chaos was short-lived.

“Quiet! Everyone, settle down!”

This was because Jung Hyun-soo was walking back up onto the platform, entirely unscathed.

Beholding him perfectly fine, the followers were struck completely dumb.

Moon Byung-ho was equally astonished.

Jung Hyun-soo met his stunned look and spoke.

“From this point forward, you shall serve me faithfully. Do you understand?”

His deep red eyes flashed with a sinister light.