Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Chapter 133 – Rapture (4)

My brow creased in frustration.

[You have slain a Cultist {Celestial} (Lv. 15).] [Experience points have been acquired.] [132,001 won has been added to the Absolute Dweller’s Wallet.]

Up until the very second his mind fractured, there was no doubt it was Jeong Hyun-su.

Yet, the moment the transaction was finalized, the remains had shifted into those of an unidentified female disciple.

Ha Dong-geon turned to ask me.

“Do we go after him?”

“No need.”

Eliminating him directly had never been the primary objective anyway.

The true prize lay in the nucleus of this micro-realm.

‘There it is.’

A miniature azure sphere was radiating light. Moving closer, I brushed my fingers against it, instantly detecting the agonized wails of captive spirits.

The bitter, aggrieved emotions of innocent souls robbed of their autonomy without warning flooded into my consciousness.

“Lilith.”

“Present!”

“Are you capable of handling this?”

“On my own, it is out of the question! I require my master’s strength!”

I had a clear sense of what Lilith meant by utilizing “my strength.”

I reached my hand out toward her.

‘Enhancement.’

I bestowed my energy upon her.

In an instant, pitch-black flames burst from Lilith’s entire frame, and her petite figure began ascending into the air.

[Dream Demon Lilith requests her true power to be unlocked.] [Do you grant permission?] [Yes / No]

‘Yes.’

Right at that moment.

[300,000,000 won will be deducted.]

Paaaaah—

The dark energy boiling inside Lilith erupted violently, and her formerly compact frame began to stretch and grow.

Her delicate limbs and shapely silhouette, draped in revealing attire, reshaped themselves into a fully realized Dream Demon.

This was the majestic form she possessed prior to being stripped of her divine status and reduced to a familiar.

A wave of tension washed over me, but it quickly faded as I realized there was no cause for concern.

“Master! I look absolutely spectacular!”

Seeing her eyes gleam with delight as she marveled at her restored physique, I knew that her core personality remained entirely unaltered.

“Can you manage it now?”

“Absolutely!”

Lilith glided toward the azure sphere positioned in the middle, throwing her arms around it without a shred of hesitation.

Immediately after.

Fwaaaah—

The azure sphere stained pitch-black.

Concurrently, the architectural blueprint of the utopian paradise created by Jeong Hyun-su began flooding into my mind.

This domain was fundamentally flawed from its inception, much like the miniature realm Lilith had once constructed.

Actually, it was far worse—a miserable construct that couldn’t even compare to the brutal dimension that had survived solely by siphoning off vital lifespans.

It existed more as an illusion than actual reality, which was precisely why Jeong Hyun-su could push his talents to their absolute limit within this flawed sanctuary.

This was a phantom territory, barely held together by utilizing the spiritual essence of 144,000 individuals.

‘This… would have fallen apart even without my intervention.’

A dimension completely devoid of holy essence was bound to naturally dissolve over time.

‘Once he finished devouring the spirits of those 144,000 victims, he would have undoubtedly turned his sights to consuming the life force of every follower residing here.’

The very disciples who worshiped the cult leader would have had their existences harvested just to keep this illusion afloat.

In fact, Jeong Hyun-su himself might have had to forfeit his own life to sustain this mirage.

Honestly.

‘What a ridiculous, brainless endeavor.’

Because this dimension was so fragile, it surrendered effortlessly to someone like me who possessed genuine divinity.

The domain constructed by Jeong Hyun-su yielded its entirety to me, treating me as though I had been its rightful ruler all along.

In that exact instant.

‘I can see.’

The Absolute Dweller’s Eye, which had previously been clouded by static, cleared up perfectly.

I could easily observe and perceive locations even if none of my disciples were present.

The entire realm had been fully converted into my personal territory.

Simultaneously.

‘Right there.’

I could now manifest the Absolute Dweller’s Eye anywhere I wished without restrictions.

I witnessed the delusional cult members praising Jeong Hyun-su, marveling at the angel-like wings sprouting from their backs.

“We are completely different! We are not like those pathetic insects; we are the chosen disciples of the lord!”

“Exactly! Look at these wings! Every single one of us has transformed into a genuine resident of the Celestial Realm!”

“The sacrifices made by those lower-class insects are something to be grateful for! They will remain a permanent part of this paradise forever!”

Listening to their chatter, the truth dawned on me.

Not a single person here was blameless.

‘Your ultimate crime was pledging allegiance to a false deity.’

Then.

[A target who fulfills the requirements to become a resident has been detected.] [Would you like to grant residency status?]

A highly familiar prompt popped up.

The prompt targeted every human being present in this space.

Yet, there was not a single soul among them whom I would ever permit to become a resident.

For Jeong Hyun-su and the entire cohort that assisted in establishing this horrific realm, I intended to bring down holy retribution.

The foundational perk of the Dignity Maintenance technique, at its first tier, allowed me to freely control power grids, gas lines, and water resources.

Over time, I discovered I could manifest and control these elements entirely at my own discretion.

As such, this kind of application was entirely feasible.

Kwarrrr—!

A bolt of lightning tore down from the cloudless heavens.

Having seized control of all of South Korea’s nuclear facilities, I possessed an overwhelming surplus of electricity on a daily basis.

The electrical discharge I summoned just now drew strictly from that excess energy.

“…!”

Despite the lightning strike obliterating one of their comrades, the crowd remained dead silent.

This occurred because the moment this region became my absolute territory, the physical forms of anyone lacking residency were entirely paralyzed.

They could do nothing but shiver in sheer terror, awaiting their inevitable demise.

There was still a massive amount of surplus power at my disposal.

Right then.

[An adversary hostile to the Absolute Dweller has been identified.] [Commencing neutralization.]

An individual harboring malicious intent toward me.

[An adversary hostile to the Absolute Dweller has been identified.] [Commencing neutralization.]

It was painfully obvious who it was.

[An adversary hostile to the Absolute Dweller has been identified.] [Commencing neutralization.]

The mastermind of this entire catastrophe—Jeong Hyun-su.

He was relentlessly launching self-destructive assaults.

After squandering the lives of more than a dozen of his followers, he seemed to have finally caught on to what was happening.

‘Teleport.’

I warped directly to his location.

Then, utilizing an invisible grip, I seized him by the neck, hoisting him off the ground to force him to look me in the eyes.

I addressed him coldly.

“If you perish this time, there will be no coming back.”

Simultaneously, I called down bolts of lightning onto the heads of the fanatical zealots serving as his backup lives.

Crash!

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

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

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

……

……

“Do you comprehend the gravity of what you have done?”

He shook uncontrollably, unable to utter a single word.

Suddenly, his pants grew wet, and urine began trickling down his legs.

Instead of granting him citizenship, I only allowed him the base privilege to exist within my domain.

It was a low-tier permission normally reserved for household pets, and only then was he physically capable of speaking.

“P-Please, have mercy… I beg of you, let me live…”

It was hard to reconcile this miserable, crying figure with the arrogant man who had constructed an entire realm and slaughtered 144,000 lives to do so.

There was no bravery left in him, only a pathetic wretch whimpering for survival.

‘This is the ugly truth of a cult.’

I actually felt a pang of pity for the blind zealots who had worshiped this spineless coward as a god.

“I-I will make amends! Give me a chance to atone…!”

“A parasite like you doesn’t deserve atonement.”

Determined not to listen to another word of his babble, I stripped away his basic permissions.

Even though he was completely paralyzed, he wasn’t eliminated yet.

Back when he had backup lives, he hadn’t hesitated to seethe with malice toward me, but now, even deep within his soul, his defiance had vanished.

He was desperately clinging to life, trying to buy himself a few more heartbeats.

The display was so miserably pathetic that words failed to capture it.

‘Summon Vassal, Ha Dong-geon.’

I summoned Ha Dong-geon, who had been stationed near the primary control terminal, and he silently executed his instructions.

Thwack!

The obsidian flame of Ha Dong-geon’s spear impaled Jeong Hyun-soo’s chest.

And then…

Fwoosh—!

The dark fire, obeying my command, inflicted the most agonizing pain imaginable, consuming his entire physical body.

Having verified his demise, I immediately utilized teleportation to return to the core area.

[You have slain a Cult Leader (Lv. 55).]

[You have earned a massive quantity of experience points.]

[457,045,006,293 won has been added to the Absolute Dweller’s Wallet.]

The reason I hadn’t stayed to watch him turn to ash was because of this.

[Your skill proficiency has increased.]

The moment the level-up occurred…

Zzzzzt—

A monstrous, searing pain tore through me.

[Tranquil Mind (明鏡止水) has been triggered.]

Detaching from my physical form as it writhed in agony, I centered my focus to proceed with the task.

“Master! Master!”

I sent a telepathic message to Lilith, who was panicking upon seeing me collapse.

[I am fine. Proceed with the plan.]

“Master? Are you truly alright?”

[I am fine, stay focused.]

“Understood!”

The subsequent step required perfect timing.

‘There is still time.’

I was only capable of executing this because this false world had been created so recently.

Before these souls could thoroughly fuse and become permanently bound, I needed to dismantle this pocket dimension with utmost speed.

Vroom—

The core of the world, now dyed completely black in Lilith’s grasp, began to vibrate intensely.

It instinctively sensed the impending destruction I was bringing and tried to fight back.

However, having already yielded all of its authority to me, it possessed no power to resist.

Crack—

A tiny fracture appeared on the surface of the darkened orb.

Crack—!

In short order, the fissure spread outwards like a massive spiderweb from the center.

Directly following that…

Crack!

Fractures began manifesting at the absolute boundaries of this dimension.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

A cataclysmic earthquake rippled through the space.

Boom!

The vibrations grew increasingly violent, causing towering skyscrapers to buckle and collapse, including the massive Lotte Tower we were occupying.

Crack!

Fissures raced across the walls of the tower, and tiny cracks patterned the floor.

Furthermore, a massive rift tore through the sky visible beyond the shattered windows.

The entire pocket dimension was tearing itself apart.

Like giant shards of glass shattering and falling, the sky itself began to cave in, and the rifts grew wider.

And as the devastation reached its absolute peak…

Fwoosh—!

The pitch-black orb cradled by Lilith shattered completely, throwing fragments in every direction.

And…

Swoosh—!

An ocean of souls, previously locked away inside, surged outward in every direction.

These freed spirits were no longer screaming in pain.

They understood precisely what needed to be done.

Fleeing their prison, they dispersed rapidly, eventually reaching the boundary lines of this world that had been hastily built at the cost of their own existences.

Then, putting all of their collective strength into it, they began pushing the fabric of this world away.

In that exact moment…

Clang!

The cracks shattered completely, bringing a definitive end to this flawed, artificial dimension.

And…

Wooooosh—!

A massive wave of 144,000 liberated souls spread out across the horizon.

They were finally returning to their rightful resting places.

The fraudulent reality engineered by the Cult Leader, Jeong Hyun-soo, fell to pieces, and everything was reverting to its natural state.

However…

‘Wait?’

As the anchoring force holding up this artificial realm vanished, the very ground they called their holy sanctuary slowly began to plummet.

‘This is bad…’

An immense catastrophe was about to unfold.