"Ah shit, I got snot on my shirt."
Oh Kang-Woo frowned and wiped off the crying babyâs snot with his sleeve.
"Hurgh!! How⌠How could you do something so atrocious?!" The young pastor was still crying as if the world had ended. "Why?! Why did you kill that child?!!"
"What the fuck are you talking about, man? Heâs as fit as a fiddle."
âCanât you fucking hear him crying his tiny lungs out?â
"HOW COULD YOU KILL AN INNOCENT BABY WHO CANâT EVEN WALK YET?!!"
"I said I didnât kill him."
"ANSWER ME!!! IâM ASKING WHY YOU SAW THE NEED TO KILL THE BABY!!!"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"YOU CRUEL DEMON!!! DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE YOUR SINS WILL GO UNPUNISHED?!!""FUCKING HELLâ!!! I DIDNâT KILL THE FUCKING BABY, YOU MOTHERFUCKERâ!!! HEâS RIGHT HERE, LIVING AND BREATHING!!! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL OFF THE BABY?!!"
"AHHH!! O ALMIGHTY AKART!! PLEASE BRING SALVATION TO THAT YOUNG SOUL ONCE AGAIN!!! AND BRING DOWN THE MACE OF LIGHT ON THE DEMON WHO DARED TO KILL THAT TINY GEM!!!"
"ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!! YOUâRE PISSING ME THE FUCK OFFâ!!!"
âIâm so fucking angry!!! Why the fuck isnât he listening to a word I say?!!â
"Please calm down, hyung-nim. Words will not get through to him."
Kim Si-Hun climbed up to the stage after Kang-Woo and unsheathed his sword from his waist. Frost staged around the white blade.
"He seriously believes killing the baby is a form of salvation."
Si-Hun glared at the pastor more coldly than the frost raging around his sword.
"What a bunch of lunatics."
Kang-Woo shook his head in exasperation.
"Killing⌠the baby?" mumbled the young pastor and violently gritted his teeth. "Why would you blame me for such a thing? You are the ones who killed that child."
"There you go again with the bullshit. What did you do just now, then?"
The golden light had an effect similar to narcotics; it replaced pain with pleasure. If an immense amount of such light were to enter a baby, they would either die of a heart attack or stroke.
"I was offering that child salvation," the pastor answered.
"Bullshit. You call killing a baby salvation?"
"I am not killing him!! His soul will be guided to the great Akart and be reborn in a safe world!"
"What�"
Kang-Woo frowned.
âReborn in a safe world? Does this son of a bitch think reincarnating them is salvation?â
He did not know whether or not they were truly being reincarnated but the fact that the babies were being killed did not change.
"Thatâs the same thing as killing," Kang-Woo remarked.
"No! Theyâre different! Killing would be letting them stay in this world!!" the pastor firmly shouted. "This world is soon to end."
"Who the hell is spouting that kind of bullshit?"
"I am sure youâre aware of it too! The endless otherworldly invasions! The collapsed Law and balance!" The pastor spread out his arms and stomped the ground. "This world will soon meet its end!! It is no different from a sinking ship!!"
"HahâŚ" Kang-Woo chuckled and glared at the pastor. "Then why donât you die and be reincarnated first?"
If the pastor truly believed this world was about to end, he would also end his life of his own accord and reincarnate to another worldâ although no one could know whether the reincarnation was real or not.
"Enough of your nonsense!" the pastor shouted.
"Youâre the one whoâs spouting nonsâ"
"Who would you save first in a sinking ship? Who would you save first in a burning house?!" The young pastorâs tears trickled down his cheeks and gathered at the tip of his chin. "You would naturally save the childrenâ the young souls first!!! It is only natural you would save the young ones who have yet to enjoy life!!!"
"..."
âOh, I get it now.â
"But you want me to take my own life and be sent to paradise first? No, no, no!! I cannot do that!!! No human should do such a thing!! It is selfish and greedy!!"
âHeâsâŚâ
"No matter how hard you try to stop me, I will save that child!! I will not abandon that young soul!!!"
âA pure, transparent, undefiled, righteousâŚâ
"Lunatic." Kang-Woo stared at the young pastor with deeply sunken eyes. "Yeah, Iâve seen bastards like you. Morons who stay true to their moronic convictions."
"..."
"Do you seriously believe the end is near? Do you seriously think the souls of infants will be sent to paradise by killing them?"
"That is correct. According to the great Akartâ"
"Then why would you, whoâs so proud and righteous, drug people to make them follow you?"
"Thatâsâ"
"Arenât you making them follow you after drugging them because you know in your heart that what you say sounds like a load of bullshit?"
"I am not. I am simply doing this in hopes that they can find some comfort in their life full of hardshipsâ"
"No, youâre not. If you wanted to do that, you wouldnât need to spread that light only when youâre holding sermons."
If the pastor truly had no reason to use them and only desired their comfort, he wouldnât spread the light only in such gatherings.
"Iâm certain you know there isnât anyone who would genuinely believe and understand your bullshit. Thatâs why youâre using that painkilling light, arenât you?"
"INCORRECTâ!! Everyone gathered here is listening carefully to the words of light and staying true to them!!"
"Is that so? All I see is a bunch of druggies."
Kang-Woo smirked and looked around. The devotees were intoxicated by the golden light that burst forth during the ritual of Ascension and were giggling blankly. No one would think of them as faithful devotees following the light.
"You simply used these people to spread Akartâs bullshit."
"I did not! I am trying to save them!!"
"By killing them? Alright, fine. Letâs say they reincarnate to another world. Shouldnât you at least get their consent? Who are you to kill people and reincarnate them without their permission?"
Kang-Woo wondered if the mother still would have consented to reincarnating her baby if she werenât under the golden lightâs effects. Regardless of whether the pastor was guiding the baby to salvation or not, his actions were forceful the moment he used the light no different from a narcotic.
"Do you ask consent before saving people on a sinking boat?" the pastor asked.
"Thatâs how you wanna play, huh? Do you seriously think the two situations are the same? You had more than enough time to ask for consent."
"It is the same! The end of the world is imminent!"
"Oh, shit~ Iâm scared shitless! The sky is falling and the ground is breaking!! The end of the world is here!!"
"Urgh!!" The pastor bit his lip.
"Whatever you say doesnât change the fact that you turned these people into your puppets to use them." Kang-Woo turned around and put the baby in the dazed motherâs arms. He called, "Si-Hun."
"Yes, hyung-nim."
"I have things to ask that bastard, so donât kill him."
"Understood."
Si-Hun nodded and charged toward the pastor.
"Kurgh! Damned wicked demons!"
The pastor grimaced and stretched out his arm. Gold light particles gathered to form a shield.
"The demonsâ" The blue condensed sword energy surged from the white blade. "â are you bastards."
Si-Hun swung his sword.
Clang! Crackâ!!
The white sword caused a frost storm as it clashed with the golden shield.
"I mean, technically, I am a demon," Kang-Woo muttered.
"Hyung-nim�"
"Oh, sorry. Go get him, Si-Hun!"
Kang-Woo moved the dazed devotees so they wouldnât be caught in the battle and clenched his fist toward Si-Hun.
"Kurghhh," grunted the pastor after getting caught in the frost storm. "O Great Akart⌠Grant me the light of truth."
A golden wave burst from him and gathered to turn into the shape of a spear.
"Haaaaahh!" the pastor shouted as he thrusted the golden spear.
"Too slow."
Si-Hun used a foot technique to move left and dodged the spear. He pivoted with his right foot to turn 180 degrees and swung his sword at incredible speed.
Clang!
"Kurgh!" the pastor grunted as he just barely blocked the attack after quickly pulling his spear back to him.
He swayed greatly, likely because he did not block the attack in a strong stance.
Clang, clang, clang!
The attacks continued like a stream of waterâ no, a rapid river. Dozens of attacks slashed the pastor in less than a second.
"Itâs pointless!!!" The pastor fluidly moved his spear as he gritted his teeth. He twirled his spear and blocked all of Si-Hunâs attacks. "Repent in death!"
Thump!
The pastor slammed the butt of his spear on the ground and flew into the air. He then changed directions midair as if he were stepping on invisible steps.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
Countless spear attacks rained down from all directions as if the edges of the spear had multiplied, leaving no room to dodge or block.
"Different person, same technique." Si-Hun coldly chuckled as he stared at the countless spear attacks. The pastor he was facing was different from the one he battled but their techniques were the same. "If thatâs the caseâŚ"
Si-Hun raised his sword over his head in a reverse grip so that the tip of the blade faced the ground.
"You wonât be a match for me."
He stabbed the ground with all his might.
Splitâ!!!
Frost spread from where the sword stabbed the ground, enveloping the surroundings in intense cold.
"Wh-What in theâŚ!"
The pastorâs movements turned noticeably slower after getting enveloped in the cold.
Boom!
Si-Hun pulled out his sword and charged at the pastor at incredible speed and poured an unfathomably large wave of attacks at him. The pastor quickly gripped his spear tightly and tried to block Si-Hunâs attacks but was getting pushed back due to his lowered speed.
"I-Impossible!"
Not only that but Si-Hun was countering all of the pastorâs attacks as if he knew exactly how the pastor would attack.
Si-Hun smiled coldly and said, "Iâve seen it before."
He would never fall for an attack twice. No matter how fluidly the pastors could handle their spears, Si-Hun had already learned their pattern.
The pastor shouted in shock, "Thatâs insane! How could one perfectly decipher the martial art that the Great Akart has bestowed upon us?!!"
Clangâ!
Si-Hun took advantage of negligible openings that not even the truly powerful could take advantage of to attack the pastor. He disarmed the pastor and the golden spear flew out of his hand. Si-Hun brought the frost sword to the pastorâs neck.
"I just can."
"..."
The pastor fell to the ground, lost for words. Kang-Woo, watching their battle in silence, clapped his hands together as if he had recalled something.
"Ohh⌠come to think of it, heâs the protagonist."
âYou got the Sharingan, or what?â