Chapter 132

Chapter 132

Chapter 132 – Rapture (3) The barrier of radiance emanating from the band instantly expanded into a gargantuan globe.

[Now.]

Kim Geon issued the command.

Right before he advanced toward the North Gate—

‘Summon steel marbles.’

He materialized them directly over the prayer hall.

A scarlet streak painted itself from the heavens down to the prayer hall where the assembled cultists stood.

Screeeech—!

The crimson beam sliced straight through the floating mass of land, penetrating to the absolute bottom.

Kwaaaaaang!

A titanic blast erupted from the yawning pit left by the shattered holy ground, sending violent shockwaves through the earth.

“Sss… haah.”

Brushing away the cold perspiration on his forehead, he forced his eyes wide open.

[You have hunted a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).] [You have hunted a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).] [You have hunted a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).]

…… ……

With a massive gap torn into their sacred ground, the prayer hall lay half-demolished, and dozens of cultists caught in the blast radius perished instantly.

Lotte Tower along with the neighboring skyscrapers had either collapsed entirely or been reduced to rubble.

This was a disaster wrought by my own hands.

The vision of blood and scattered bodies briefly turned my stomach, but I clenched my jaw and forced the sensation down.

‘I didn’t wipe them all out.’

Because the steel marble had cut directly through their landmass, the overall shockwave was less devastating than anticipated.

And then—

Flash!

The barrier of light sealed the sphere flawlessly.

In that very instant—

“Hah, hah.”

“Hahahaha!”

“Ahahahaha!”

A wild, hysterical laughter erupted from the surviving members of the cult.

It was not limited to Jeong Hyun-soo.

Every single one of them was laughing like madmen.

Crunch—

Their backs expanded violently, and pristine white wings tore through their priestly vestments.

Like their blood-drenched robes, these wings were stained with a deep scarlet tint.

Dozens of winged cultists took flight simultaneously, ascending into the air.

And then—

Flash—!

Once more, a blinding light flared, and in a heartbeat, the laughing cultists soaring through the air, along with their entire holy territory, dissolved into nothingness.

Almost in unison, the North Gate reached its time limit and shut tight.

I shifted my gaze to Lilith, who had been observing the spectacle by my side.

“What do you make of it?”

“It feels a lot like where Lilith comes from!”

“I figured.”

The realm Jeong Hyun-soo had constructed by offering up over a hundred thousand spiritual entities shared many traits with the domain Lilith had fashioned.

“If that’s the case, is this achievable as well?”

“Is what achievable?”

“Well…”

Lilith pondered my inquiry, then gave a firm nod.

“If we can take over the control tower, it just might work!”

“Is that so?”

“Yup!”

Right now, five of my vassals were confined inside the enemy’s holy territory.

Ha Dong-geon, Kang Deok-soo, Oh Eon-ju, Lee Jun-hyuk, and Jang Seong-jun.

Each was a powerhouse, counting among the very strongest in terms of raw physical might.

The sole issue was—

‘Absolute Dweller’s Eye.’

Bzzzt—

When I attempted to cast Absolute Dweller’s Eye to locate them, the projection was obscured by heavy static.

The single saving grace was—

[Can everyone hear my voice?]

“Yes.”

“I hear you loud and clear.”

—the Communication Ring remained fully functional.

Furthermore, these vassals possessed more than enough power to survive without my immediate intervention.

I had no choice but to place my faith in their capabilities.

[From this point on, advance toward the center.]

And—

[I am canceling the previous command to restrict lethal force. Go all out against the enemy.]

“Hm.”

Kang Deok-soo scanned his surroundings.

“This is a bit of a mess.”

He intended to head toward the center as Kim Jae-hyun had instructed.

However, he had no concept of which path actually led to the center.

Because—

“Where on earth is this place?”

Nothing lay before him but a labyrinth of tangled tracks and a heavy, suffocating fog.

Rumble—

“Hm?”

As he stood analyzing his options, a low vibration echoed from afar.

Rumble— Rumble!

Though initially faint, the shaking rapidly intensified. Moments later, a locomotive burst through the thick mist.

“So that’s the game.”

Vwooom—

As Kang Deok-soo unleashed his ability, a heavy set of steel armor enveloped his entire form.

With a perfectly composed look, he stared down the high-speed locomotive hurtling directly toward him.

An instant before impact—

“Hmph!”

With a sharp grunt, he threw his entire weight forward in a brutal body check.

Crunch!

The speeding locomotive slammed into Kang Deok-soo and buckled instantly.

And then—

“Cough!”

The train reverted into a human being.

Upon one of his shoulders was a yellow diamond insignia, while the other bore a capital letter ‘A.’

Returned to his human state, his neck was snapped at an impossible angle, leaving no hope of survival.

Ssss—

Shortly after, his body dissolved, and a system alert confirmed the kill.

“Huh?”

Kang Deok-soo blinked, caught off guard by the swift resolution.

Meanwhile, hidden within the shroud of mist, a gathering of winged humans held a tense council.

Every individual bore diamond insignias on their shoulders.

A woman carrying a ‘Q’ emblem addressed a man marked with a ‘K.’

“How can this be? That individual is an unauthorized entity. Why is he completely unharmed?”

“……Astonishingly, this appears to be his weakened state.”

“……?”

The woman’s face contorted in sheer disbelief as she stared at Kang Deok-soo.

The nearby knights began whispering frantically.

“He is a fiend.”

“A demon has infiltrated the holy ground….”

“We must purge him immediately.”

Kang Deok-soo casually rolled his shoulders and muttered under his breath.

“Right, right. Understood. So to get to the middle, I just have to break all of you? Easy enough.”

The knight with the ‘K’ emblem cocked his head, baffled by Kang Deok-soo’s bizarre self-talk.

“What is he planning…?”

At that moment, Kang Deok-soo declared.

“Rise.”

At his utterance, the Steel Knights answered the call.

Seven armored warriors materialized atop the roller coaster tracks.

“…Impossible!”

The man with the K symbol was struck with sheer dread.

The tally of warriors conjured by Kang Deok-su, adding Kang Deok-su himself, perfectly matched the number of diamond knights encircling the zone.

This was because, just prior to their transition into the holy ground, Kang Deok-su had lost four of his summoned warriors to a sudden projectile from the heavens, leaving him with only eight.

And in the very next breath…

Click!

The seven steel knights of the order plunged into the fog, scattering in all directions.

“All of you, retreat…!”

Diamond K, who was about to bark an order, realized too late that a polearm had already impaled his chest.

Suppressing the blood welling up in his throat, he gasped.

“H-How…?”

“I heard every word you said.”

“!!”

They had not compromised their position through loud talking.

The dense mist blanketing the area was designed to muffle the senses, leading them to believe they could converse safely.

Unfortunately for them, Kang Deok-su’s perception existed far beyond ordinary human boundaries, allowing him to pinpoint their coordinates despite the dampening effects of the fog.

Swoosh—

With the Diamond Knights wiped out, the heavy mist began to disperse.

As his vision cleared, the towering silhouette of Lotte Tower in the center came into view.

“That… didn’t we see that fall?”

They had watched it crumble during the meteor strike, yet here it remained completely undamaged as if the catastrophe had never occurred.

Because of this, finding his heading was simple.

“Right there.”

“Keep back!”

Lee Young-jae of the Clover Knights, bearing the K emblem, retreated step by step while begging.

“Stop! Please stop!”

The figure standing before him was a living nightmare.

With nothing but a simple reach of his hand, this man possessed the strength to crush a human skull.

“You… you monster!”

It was absolute chaos.

In this sanctified domain, their attributes should have been multiplied several times over.

And conversely, the strength of these intruders should have been heavily suppressed.

Yet despite these advantages, they were utterly helpless.

Even with their powers elevated to a higher tier and the intruders’ powers supposedly dampened, the disparity was simply too vast to bridge.

The most terrifying aspect was that their abilities had no effect on him whatsoever.

Swoosh—

Lee Young-jae activated his power once more, this time focusing entirely on escaping.

Just as his intangible form was about to pass through the solid wall…

Grab!

“Cough!”

A vice-like grip clamped around his throat.

Under normal circumstances, nothing should have been capable of touching him.

Yet the intruder’s power effortlessly grasped his non-physical form.

Pulled backward toward the man with terrifying force, Lee Young-jae thrashed in sheer terror.

The man, his eyes burning a deep crimson, questioned.

“Do you not hear the agonizing cries of this place?”

Gasp, cough!

“You are the true monsters.”

The man, Jang Seong-jun, with his eyes glowing red, was filled with genuine fury.

He could hear the tormented wails of countless spirits bound inside this so-called holy ground.

In the soil, within the walls, hanging in the trees, floating in the air…

This place, saturated with lamentation, was no paradise—it was a living hell.

“And for that reason, I will show no mercy.”

Jang Seong-jun’s telekinetic power surged violently, and Lee Young-jae’s life was instantly extinguished.

Huff, huff.

Having single-handedly wiped out the Clover Knights, Jang Seong-jun set off toward the center, guided by the whispers of the trapped souls.

Jeong Hyun-su was gripped by pure panic.

“What in the world are those things?!”

They were abnormal monsters.

When the holy ground was established, he believed the battle was won.

Within this territory, everything was supposed to bend to his absolute will.

Yet the reality was completely inverted.

“Why is this happening?!”

His knights, who were supposed to be invincible here, were being slaughtered one by one.

Even the five uninvited intruders could not be halted by any means.

“Incompetent fools!”

This was sheer insanity.

From Jeong Hyun-su’s view, the power these intruders wielded was far beyond anything reasonable.

Not even the elite superhumans of Seoul displayed such overwhelming might.

‘And on top of that…’

The massive detonation that had occurred just before the sanctuary was finalized.

That nightmare had instantly incinerated hundreds of his backup lives.

‘What kind of power was that?’

Had the holy ground taken even a moment longer to form, everything would have been ruined.

Furthermore, a vast portion of his accumulated energy had been expended just to rebuild the structures demolished by that blast.

If he only had access to his full pool of energy, he could have easily crushed those troublemakers running rampant in his domain.

‘If I just had a little more time…!’

Right then.

Crack!

The ground burst apart, and a man wielding a spear materialized.

Jeong Hyun-su recognized the weapon instantly—it was the exact same spear that had run him through multiple times before.

“You…!!”

The man aimed the tip of his weapon at Jeong Hyun-su, murmuring quietly.

“I’ve made it.”

Whoosh—

At that exact moment, dark, abyssal flames began to dance along the tip of the spear.

The moment Jeong Hyun-su witnessed this, his eyes flared with madness.

“You idiot…!”

The current circumstances were entirely different from their previous encounters when his heart had been pierced.

Now, Jeong Hyun-su commanded the power of 144,000 bound spirits.

Crack—

His frame began to expand rapidly.

His swelling muscles shredded his white priestly robes, while his teeth and nails transformed into lethal, razor-sharp points.

“Grrahh. I will tear you apart.”

Boom!

Just as he lunged to sink his claws directly into the spearman’s chest…

Whoosh—

A blinding, majestic radiance erupted from the spearman, Ha Dong-geon, flooding the entire chamber.

And an entity materialized directly before Jeong Hyun-su.

“!”

The primary sensation that washed over him was absolute reverence.

He collapsed to his knees before this entity, whose sheer scale and identity he could not even begin to comprehend.

The second sensation was pure, unadulterated terror.

It felt as though he were staring directly into an infinite, unknowable void, and he instinctively lowered his head in submission.

And in that briefest of pauses…

‘This bastard…!’

A tiny but rapidly swelling seed of malice.

That single emotion…

Bang!

It detonated violently, obliterating Jeong Hyun-su’s head.