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Chapter 197: Star, Baek Gyeo-Ul (7)

He tried to talk about his memory with Xerxes, but he couldn’t think about anything in particular because…

‘Xerxes was always by my side.’?

A shadow never wandered too far from its owner, so Xerxes had always followed where Chang-Sun had headed to. It was hard to consider their time together as just an ‘old memory’ after spending hundreds of years like that.

“You’re a bad friend.”

“Would you please stop acting lovey-dovey in front of me? Gosh, it’s embarrassing!”

“Are you really okay, my friend?”

Always together, they laughed, talked, and cried. They even had deep conversations.

“Hahaha, my dream? I always thought you were cold, but you’re now asking quite a sentimental question. Maybe it’s because of the moon, but I never knew you had such a side.” Xerxes burst into laughter.?

“… You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Chang-Sun looked away.?

“Are you sulking?” Xerxes asked mischievously.

“Forget it, if you don’t need—”

“Haha, you’re sulking.”?

“No, I’m not.”

“It’s not wrong to sulk.” Xerxes grinned.?

“I’m not sulking!”?

“Yeah, yeah, let’s say you’re not.”?

“… Shit,” Chang-Sun cursed.?

“Anyway, let’s get back to the topic. My dream? Well, I’m not sure. I just live with the flow, so I never really gave much thought to my future. If I had to pick one… Hmm.” Xerxes tilted his head.

After pondering for a moment, Xerxes answered, “I just want all of us to stop wandering around, settle down somewhere, and live in peace. Yeah, that’ll be enough… Huh? Why are you suddenly laughing? You’re the one who asked me…!”

Chang-Sun, who was reminiscing, chuckled when he noticed Baek Gyeo-Ul staring at him. His innocent eyes were exactly the same as his father’s.

“He was a good friend,” Chang-Sun said.

“Good… friend…” Gyeo-Ul repeated it several times, then nodded. His eyes showed calmness, almost as if that was all he needed to hear.

The fact that his father, whom Gyeo-Ul resented very much during his childhood, wasn’t a bad person seemed to have consoled him quite effectively. If his father was a good person just like Chang-Sun had said, then he didn’t just abandon Gyeo-Ul and his mother on purpose. Rather, he had to have had a reason. Although Gyeo-Ul was a head taller than Chang-Sun, he patted Gyeo-Ul’s head as he stood up. Right now, Gyeo-Ul was the son of his dear friend, not his brother whom he should protect.

“Let’s get out of here first,” Chang-Sun suggested.

While Gyeo-Ul was trying to regain control of his power, the fight between Jin and the Hellserpent had likely intensified.

‘I have to get the Hidden Piece related to <J?tunheimr> and close the Dungeon,’?Chang-Sun thought, but there was now one more thing he should do.

‘So you dared mess with me, huh, Illuminati?’

Chang-Sun would never forgive anyone who would try to harm him or anyone around him. That was why he had fought the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials despite knowing how dangerous it would be in the first place. Likewise, Chang-Sun was going to show the Illuminati whom they had messed with.

* * *

“My merciful goddess, please stroke this pathetic little lamb with your merciful and benevolent touch. Please show the light of guidance so this lamb will no longer get lost and finally reach you,” Louis, the Illuminati inquisitor, solemnly prayed.

While reciting the prayer, what appeared to be sacred light gradually spread from Louis, making him look divine. Contrary to his appearance, his surroundings were far from divine—it was horrifying.

He was in what seemed to be a sacellum, but it was smeared with blood, and lumps of flesh, which ‘used to be’ humans, were crawling around the floor along with all kinds of bizarre torture devices.

One of the lumps was Ludovico, the leader of the Orlando Clan’s volunteer Players. When the Hellserpent appeared, he and his men chose to run away, but he was captured and turned into a hideous lump of flesh. The other volunteer Players were also either killed or tortured relentlessly until they were barely breathing and would soon bleed out to death.

Only demonic beings who had begun to lose their mind could stay in this horrible place, but Louis didn’t seem to mind at all. Since he considered anyone who didn’t serve the ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ a heretic, he didn’t care if the people from other religious orders were suffering. Rather, he was saddened for not being able to send more disbelievers to the goddess.

Pzzz―!

[A soul has been stored in the ‘Martyr’s Mobile Fortress.’]

[A soul has been stored in the ‘Martyr’s Mobile Fortress.’]

…

“The goddess hasn’t said anything to me yet, which must mean my faith isn’t deep enough. I should devote myself to her more.” Louis pulled out a short whip covered in sharp thorns from his cassock’s sleeve and whipped his own back hard.

Whenever he hit himself, the whip would tear through his clothes and open up new lacerations. However, he remained so calm that it was as if he had gotten used to this—no, he actually enjoyed this moment of repentance. He felt at peace whenever he physically tormented himself in silence, allowing him to organize his thoughts.

‘Failing to capture the heretic’s colleagues was my biggest mistake,’ Louis thought.

If things had gone according to the plan, Louis would have captured and interrogated the Team L members instead of the Orlando Clan Players. His plan was to make the Hellserpent appear in the first station with Elspe’s help and create chaos, then use that moment to kidnap all the Team L members. However, his plan had gone awry. The Player named Baek Gyeo-Ul had put up hard resistance, and someone whom Louis hadn’t expected interfered.

‘He said he was from the White Tiger Clan.’

Louis also knew that aside from the Team L members, first-generation Players known as elders were among the Korean Players. However, they rarely made an appearance in public and hadn’t made any noteworthy achievements according to the Illuminati database. Nevertheless, the Asian wearing an old-style suit proved too strong.

“I’m sorry, but I might also get kicked out if these children get hurt. I can’t lose the only entertainment I found in a long while,” the old man said.

Louis wasn’t sure if he could win against the old man if the latter tried his best.

‘He was like a monkey with his really sporadic movements, and his skills… I’m not sure if they were magic spells or something else, but they were surely unique… What was with his cloning technique? I can’t believe such a man is in Korea. Why isn’t he popular?’

The old man introduced himself as Jaegal Hyeon-Ryong. Whenever Louis thought about him, the wound on his left shoulder seemed to ache.

Fortunately, unless I tried to harm the Team L members myself, the old heretic didn’t try to help them.’

For some reason, Hyeon-Ryong had seemed reluctant to interfere beyond that—no, he had looked as if he was wondering how Chang-Sun would react once he had returned and found out that the Team L members were in danger. Since Louis’ target was Chang-Sun, not Hyeon-Ryong, he eventually retreated from the fight against Hyeon-Ryong.

‘I left a message about this place… I’ll have to wait and see how Lee Chang-Sun would react.’

Louis was confident that he wouldn’t lose against Chang-Sun. Although Chang-Sun was quickly becoming stronger, he was still just a rookie Player, which meant he wasn’t skilled enough to fight equally against Louis, who was called the Illuminati’s hidden sword. Above all, Louis’ goddess had given him an infinite amount of power. For as long as he had that power as his weapon, he would never lose.

“That impious heretic has been twisting the goddess’ words. I’ll make an example out of him to make sure the goddess’ words are properly spread.” Louis prayed once more.

Choo, choo!

[The desert train ‘ANG’ is entering the platform. Passengers are advised to stand behind the safety line.]

“He’s here.” Louis put down his whip and slowly stood up.

Perhaps because he had been praying in a dark, sealed room for quite some time, his muscles had stiffened too much to move and the wounds from his whip stung. Nevertheless, he smiled contentedly. To him, they evidenced how deep his faith was.

He picked up the coffin that he had leaned against the wall somewhere and put it on his shoulder.

“… It’s still hot outside.”

The hot wind of the desert blew against his face as soon as he climbed up a stone staircase to the surface. The desert train was still entering the station in the distance, cutting through the heat haze.

Thud…!

Thinking Lee Chang-Sun was on the train, Louis put down his coffin, forming a small cloud of dust. Despite how it looked, it was quite heavy.

Cluck―! Cluck!

The coffin lid moved up and down as if it was about to open. Whatever was locked inside it, was throwing a tantrum, wanting to come outside.

Pzzzz―

The coffin ominously exuded corpse and monster energies, serving as enough proof that something extraordinary was locked inside. The energies didn’t fit the noble Illuminati, which pursued honor and justice, but the coffin itself was at least a classy relic.

“Savages.” Louis frowned, feeling discontented, but he quickly regained his composure like a saint in a religious drawing. “However, you may sacrifice yourselves to execute the goddess’ will and reduce the sins you were born with. Accept the goddess’ blessing and be born as one of the blessed in your next life.”

With a merciful look, Louis opened the sturdy lock of the coffin. “Come out.”

Boom!

The lid opened wide, and a black cloud of smoke rose up from the coffin.

Pzzz!

[The seal of the ‘Martyr\'s Mobile Fortress’ has been unlocked.]

Among the believers who had devoted themselves to obeying their Guardians’ doctrines, the saints influenced the world especially greatly. However, a martyr was considered more special. A sanctuarium left by a martyr was as powerful as a relic—no, some had abilities even more powerful than relics.

[Martyr\'s Mobile Fortress] was one such sactuarium. After the Illuminati was founded, one of the founding Players died protecting a city put in danger by a Dungeon Break. Louis’ artifact used to belong to that Player. His blood was still smeared inside the coffin, so [Martyr\'s Mobile Fortress] still held the goddess’ strong divine power.

After killing the heretics, Louis would collect their souls and store them in the coffin. Since they had died with deep resentment, storing them all in one place turned them into something extremely horrifying. The assembly of those begrudged ghosts had just appeared.

[A ‘Brocken Monster’ has shown up!]

It was hard to see amid the cloud of black smoke, but dozens of saw-toothed mouths had appeared, repeatedly opening and closing their jaws.

Click, click!

The sight was bizarre. It was as if hundreds of ants were simultaneously opening and closing their pincers, but instead of ants, there were hundreds of ghosts. Louis collectively called them the [Brocken Monster], a being strong enough to bite most monsters’ heads off.

Having been fed with an elixir Louise had bought from Elspe, the ghosts were now filled with spite. They growled as if they would devour Louis any minute, but they couldn’t oppose him for as long as he was the owner of the [Martyr’s Mobile Fortress], their prison.

“If you truly regret your sins and wish to repent, then rip apart Lee Chang-Sun to shreds once he gets off that train,” Louis instructed.

Click, click, click!

Hundreds of fangs opened and closed their mouths as if to say they understood his instruction.

Chooo―!

As the desert train entered the platform, the [Brocken Monster] dissipated and spread, covering the entire locomotive in hopes of attacking Chang-Sun as soon as he got off the train. With bloodshot eyes, Louis looked at the desert train and smiled crookedly. ‘Now, where are you, Lee Chang-Sun? What’s your next move?’

Since Chang-Sun would want to save his colleagues, Louis thought Chang-Sun would carefully approach him. However, Louis naturally had no intention of negotiating with him. Rather, he planned to strike Chang-Sun as soon as he let his guard down. That was why he released the [Brocken Monster] in the first place. No matter what kind of tricks Chang-Sun used, Louis was certain that he wouldn’t lose for as long as he held the upper hand.

‘I can just bring the?Hellserpent?here, too.’?

The [Brocken Monster] wasn’t the only beast Louis relied on. For as long as he had the [Martyr’s Mobile Fortress] and Elspe’s infinite amount of support, losing in this battle was impossible.

Pzzz!

The desert train soon came to a halt, and, after releasing smoke for quite some time, its doors opened up. However, just as the [Brocken Monster] was about to move in, Louis’ eyes widened. The train’s interior was covered in red, almost as if someone had written a note all over it using blood. Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand any of the letters.

‘Wait, are those runes?’ Louis thought.

[The Player ‘Louis Braille‘ has entered a trap!]

[The Explosion Runes have been activated.]

While Louis was preparing to attack and dragging his fortress around, Chang-Sun had already rigged the desert train to self-detonate. The desert train heated up and was soon swallowed by a powerful explosion.

Boom! Rumble―!

Louis, the [Brocken Monster], and the whole station were blown away.

1. It’s usually used to refer to a place related to supernatural events, but in this novel, it’s used as a case for Celestial objects and artifacts.