Chapter 41

Chapter 41. War Preparations (1)

"You're saying that in all this time, you've killed ten people, and one of them was a demon worshipper?"

A bizarre man carrying both a sword that gleamed with divine power and the revolting scent of a demon.

The name of the demon worshipper who had come to find me was Kim Chang-sik.

His first impression…

He seemed like a lunatic.

"Th-that's correct."

What else would you call a man who'd killed a fellow demon worshipper and nine ordinary people and then declared himself a demon worshipper, if not a lunatic?

He begged me for salvation, asking for a chance.

"The other nine as well… were criminals whom the deity I originally served had ordered to be severely punished."

Before the Patriot Transcended, South Korea had, astonishingly, harbored drug cartels.

It was a chaotic era from the Gate crisis.

With weakened public order, all manner of crime had run rampant, and the Republic of Korea back then was vastly different from now.

Kim Chang-sik claimed he had become a demon worshipper by killing such serious criminals, and that he hadn't committed any notable crimes since.

"I only offered up the sinners that Lord Patriot would have executed anyway. A-and…"

To my eyes — which held the experience of my swords — the chances this was the truth were high.

A being at the highest tier could deceive me, but Kim Chang-sik's caliber was nowhere near that level.

"I-I was originally… an honest taxpayer and a model Hunter!"

He claimed he had originally been a patriotic citizen who loved this country.

As proof, during the early Gate crisis, America had been offering enormous benefits and encouraging immigration for Awakened with healing abilities—

'Citizenship, conditional tax exemptions, and plenty more.'

Kim Chang-sik had stayed in Korea at that time.

Since flights were still running in that period, this claim was probably not a lie.

Back then, every truly promising talent had defected to the United States.

Having been a civil servant at the Awakened Management Agency, I knew well.

"Please have pity on this patriotic citizen and grant me a chance…"

"Why did you come to me instead of going to Lord Patriot?"

If he wanted to invoke patriotism, shouldn't he have sought a different person?

I asked with that intent, and received a surprisingly reasonable answer.

"L-Lord Patriot executes even those who merely attempt a crime…"

Whether the word 'attempt' was appropriate for a man who'd already converted to demon worship was debatable.

At any rate, the Patriot would have executed him without discussion.

But here's the thing.

'It is possible to reverse it.'

A cruel matter, truly.

As far as I knew, there was exactly one method for a demon worshipper to return to being an ordinary human.

Using the power of my sword.

It was a bit, how should I put it…

⦗Oh? An interesting phenomenon.⦘

All the currently unlocked swords used formal speech with me — save one.

The abruptly intruding banmal and the weighty voice naturally belonged to [4th Sword, Muratan].

And Muratan could 'separate' the demon worshipper from their taint.

'Melt down the human's body and soul and detach only the part stained by evil.'

This was quite the hassle, so it wasn't something Muratan did for fun.

Yet Muratan showed interest.

⦗Sword Master, it's the first time I've seen iron mixed with Dark-God iron inside a Hunter.⦘

It was curiosity born of his unfamiliarity with Awakened — Hunters.

The good news: Kim Chang-sik's demon-worshipper taint could be separated.

The bad news…

"Can you endure it?"

It was agonizing beyond imagination.

"I'll en… I'll endure it. Just give me the chance!"

Everyone said this — but once Muratan actually began forging them, the vast majority died or were left ruined.

I gave this warning.

"Even if I die or become a cripple, I don't want to go on living like this. The truth is…"

Kim Chang-sik even delivered the directive he had received from the Dark God as he demanded his chance.

Since it was an act of betraying the Dark God, Kim Chang-sik vomited blood and his entire face turned a blackish hue.

In about an hour, Kim Chang-sik might die.

"That was sincere."

I nodded at his resolve and posed the next question.

"A directive to Fall and commit terror. Who else received what kinds of directives?"

"W-we each receive the Dark God's revelations individually, so I don't know what the others got."

Demon worshippers held irregular gatherings.

Periodically, the surviving demon worshippers in Korea would set up meetings while evading the Patriot's eyes.

As it happened, the directive had come after one such gathering had ended, so he couldn't account for the others.

'Right, someone putting his life on the line to defect — it's only fair to at least try.'

An experiment to revert a demon worshipper.

This was the safest time to try.

In truth, the technique of separating evil could be performed by other swords besides Muratan.

The problem was what came after the separation.

'Restoring the subject alive — only Muratan can do that.'

Yuria's 'Purification' was a power that cleansed the target's soul and returned it to a whole state.

In that case, the body — which still held the Dark God's power — was annihilated outright.

Spiritual salvation through death.

Reinhardt's 'Ascension' operated under the assumption that the target held a righteous heart, sending the soul back to the heavens — similar to exorcism.

The body survived, but was left an empty husk no different from death.

That was why I was counting on Muratan.

He happened to have shown interest, besides.

"For now, I'll give you the chance."

Some might look at me and call me soft.

Asking what good it does to revert someone who'd already converted to demon worship.

But…

[Evil]

Whether demon worshippers or the Dark God's faithful.

The evil of these bastards Transcended an ordinary person's imagination.

The reason I had raised Iris as a demon sword that devoured everything as a child was to be unshackled by that evil.

After that, I'd tried other approaches — and even those had been incredibly difficult.

"They turned… the village children… all of them, into demon worshippers? Y-you, you vermin!!!"

It had happened during the Holy War that the Holy Sword Yuria had waged.

The demon worshippers, claiming they would face the righteous, had forcibly converted children into demon worshippers.

They'd put them forward like shields, throwing the paladins riding out to holy war into confusion.

Because I was someone who remembered that history.

'What might North Korea be like…'

Driven by the unease that such a scene might be recreated.

That was why I was deliberately showing this mercy.

Muratan was a sword who did as he pleased and refused to listen to a damned word — but even so—

"I don't want to hear brats whining."

When separating 'evil' from young children, he calibrated it to be painless.

And saying that squirming kids annoyed him, he had gathered all the children into a 'Quarantine Zone.'

He'd placed swords he had retired throughout that village, making them guardians of the children.

"I'll make sure these sniveling brats never leave this village!"

The swords Muratan had retired were all called continent-class divine weapons, and the village's scale rivaled a nation.

And so the children had lived safely and well in the village.

In a similar vein.

⦗A Hunter tempted by the Dark God — interesting iron.⦘

Muratan showed interest in the iron called Kim Chang-sik.

Whether he was pitying this world or whether it was mere curiosity, even I couldn't tell.

But regardless, a chance had been given.

And so I spoke his name.

"4th Sword, Muratan."

At that instant.

My field of vision slowed.

Everything felt like iron being set ablaze.

Just like that.

Kuung———.

The world sank with a heavy weight.

A space that was heavy yet brimming with heat.

Kim Chang-sik before me was a shard of iron harboring a fistful of darkness, and the rough greatsword in my hand was a hammer for purging impurities.

A craftsman's passion settled naturally into the corners of my eyes.

I gazed at Kim Chang-sik with those passion-laden eyes.

He said,

"I have no regrets."

He, too, had resolved himself.

And so I brought the sword down without hesitation.

CLAAANG——!!!

The sound of a hammer rang across the world.

—Ep. 15. War Preparations.

"S-Si-woo?"

Seol-a noona looked at me as though she were about to lose her mind.

It was because of the guest I had brought along.

"My sword separated every last trace of demon worshipper from him, so don't worry."

Recently, thanks to the Awakened Management Agency capturing a 'demon worshipper' alive, I had been able to roughly grasp how their ecology worked on Earth.

And this time, through forging Kim Chang-sik, I had learned how directives were issued to them.

"The Dark God also uses the status window to issue orders. There might be something corrupted within WorldNet as well."

"F-fine, let's say that's true! But what's with this zealot?"

The result was that separating the evil from Kim Chang-sik had succeeded.

He hadn't died, and his mind hadn't shattered.

Instead…

"I, Kim Chang-sik, guardian knight who serves the God, Lord Si-woo — I swear eternal loyalty at this very spot."

Seol-a noona handed me Kim Chang-sik's file, and he had apparently spent decades undergoing his trial while living as a guardian knight of a saint called Arteon.

After coming to Earth, he had gone around proselytizing and bothering ordinary people, and had taken a considerable amount of criticism for it.

'His sense of injustice must have been severe. Even so, for a paladin to Fall out of nowhere…'

That man…

He who had committed apostasy and become a heretic.

"Lord Shin Si-woo is truly the real god of Earth."

Had now begun to praise me.

He insisted he was my first paladin and demanded that Seol-a noona become a believer.

While spouting all manner of bizarre names — the Sword Church, the Shin Si-woo Church, and so on.

Noona stared at me with a look of 'What the hell is this lunatic now?' while being unable to say a word, aware of the gravity of what I'd told her.

She asked,

"If your sword… separates the evil from someone, they don't all end up like that, right?"

"Of course not. It's just Kim Chang-sik's personal quirk."

Noona tilted her head.

'That's strange.'

Lately, the aura I'd been sensing from noona was far from ordinary.

She seriously seemed on the verge of Awakening.

I'd long since noticed that she, no less than me, was undergoing some kind of trial — yet there was still no sign of Awakening.

'She might just not want to.'

Anyway, I finished handing Kim Chang-sik's custody over to the Awakened Management Agency.

With the major tasks done.

"How about a drink, for old time's sake?"

Noona asked me.

It had only been a short while since we'd last shared a drink, yet to me it felt like the distant past.

I missed those times.

Because?

"Noona, I've become a body that doesn't get drunk anymore… that can't get drunk."

"Wow, Awakening has way too many side effects."

The heavy drinker, Kang Seol-a.

During her college days, apparently, her distinctive beauty had caused returning male seniors to show up with entire cases of soju, trying to make a move — but not a single one of them had walked out standing from her table.

For reference, noona's capacity was a minimum of eight bottles of soju.

That was where my memory stopped, so in reality it might be even more.

Her looks took after her mother, but her tolerance and nerve took after her father, Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.

"Isn't it about time for you too, noona?"

Because she was such a unique person, I harbored the wish that she would Awaken.

The thought being that she might become a formidable Transcendent.

But…

"It feels like it's just about to come, but then again, it'd be a problem if I actually Transcended. It's an awkward feeling."

Had she not yet mentally prepared?

Had the trial she was going through not ended?

These were questions too hard to ask, so I didn't.

Instead, I summoned the variant demon — the new weapon Muratan was said to have created.

I'd listened to the explanation of the new weapon earlier when separating the evil.

—Master, orders, obey.

A slightly rounder, cuter appearance.

But still a monster with blood-red skin and a terrifying single eye rolling about.

And yet the aura it gave off was 'docility' itself.

"Oh."

The name Muratan had given this new demon was 'Good Demon.'

It possessed the trait of having its instinct to devour everything erased, instead faithfully performing assigned tasks according to its master's orders.

And unlike the original demons, which obeyed only me and Iris, a 'Good Demon' could have its master designated.

Of course, the supreme commander was locked to me.

"And you're saying I should… ride this around for self-defense?"

"Even separated from my sword, it can manifest in the world in a Transcended state as-is."

This was a case in which Muratan had grafted the 'concept' of a Transcendent onto a demon, allowing it to manifest without my power.

The existing demons were apparently too deeply steeped in evil for such a thing.

Anyway…

"I'll take it since you're giving it to me. But is this thing always going to be out—. Gasp!"

Astonishingly, this demon came with the ability to transform into a red bracelet.

The demon suddenly changed into a bracelet and latched onto noona.

Noona's eyes went wide with surprise.

"For emergencies, keep it hidden normally and bring it out when there's danger."

Demon worshippers Falling and committing terror attacks.

It was necessary to be prepared, just in case.

* * *

<Portals have opened across the entirety of South Korea!!!>

Cheers erupted.

The Patriot had been dragging around a haggard-looking elf and touring the entire nation.

In a single day, every habitable piece of land across the Republic of Korea had been linked by portals.

<Elf Yuki, dangling from the back of the Patriot's aircraft carrier… is generating portals. With this, the final portal—>

The sight was somewhat bizarre.

Even so, the public simply shrugged at the fact that a living Japanese person was visible alongside the Patriot.

That was how monumental a nationwide 'portal network' was.

—Insane. I heard the secret behind Japan's survival is inter-city connectivity through portals, and now we have it too?

—Damn, Busan to Seoul in one second flat.

—But why are our portals so much bigger?

On top of that, the portals built in South Korea were overwhelmingly larger in scale than Japan's.

For reference, [portals] were different from the Spirit-World and Mystery-powered spatial transit used for overseas travel.

They were more like corridors connecting one space to another, maintained 24 hours a day.

Vvvvng———.

<Behold the enormous portal shimmering in Gwanghwamun Square!!!>

Massive portals installed at every major point across the nation.

The reason for their colossal scale was quite simple.

—They say Lord Patriot built the portals big enough so that an entire city's population could be smoothly evacuated in an emergency?

—Even an elf's beauty shows haggardness after hard labor, huh…

Having been wrung dry by the Patriot, Elf Yuki — who'd been dangling from the back of the carrier — was sporting dark circles so heavy they seemed painted on.

Yet at the corners of her mouth, a strange smile flickered…

"Hey, scram!"

The Patriot issued her a deportation order.

Now that the work was done, it was a declaration of 'Go back to your country!'

She…

'A man who has encountered kindred.'

Sent the Patriot a gaze laden with longing.

'The scent I detect from him is the phytoncide of the World Tree!'

The Patriot had been dragging Yuki around and conducting a high-intensity interrogation about the World Tree and elves.

During that time, Yuki had answered obediently while also obtaining information herself.

'The ability to convert nature's life force into power. Without a doubt, it is the power of Mother World Tree.'

Yuki, harboring the hope that elves besides herself might exist in this world, gazed at the Patriot intently.

At that wistful look, the Patriot felt a sense of dread.

"Don't look at me like that, you damn Jap!!!"

Only after seeing Cheok Jun-gyeong's blade did Yuki open the Spirit World and return to the Japanese archipelago.

At the sight, the Patriot lamented,

"The world is going mad."

The strong were many, and the Patriot's power was limited.

Having resolved the problem of Japan as a major threat, he vowed to enter the Tower at once.

But before that…

'Just in case.'

He sent Shin Si-woo a text.

—Patriot: Hey, by any chance—

And in one second flat came the reply.

—Shin Si-woo: What's the matter?

The Patriot had been about to try something with Shin Si-woo.

But…

Paat!

[If Constellation information is divulged, all Constellations in the relevant Tower will be annihilated.]

A 'warning' message appeared before the Patriot's eyes.

He let out a deep sigh and texted Shin Si-woo again.

[Patriot: There's a question I want to ask but can't. Forget it. Good work!]

︙

At that moment.

Shin Si-woo, who had been distributing new demons to the President and Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.

'Why's this so anticlimactic?'

Tilted his head at the Patriot's abrupt question.