Burning Association.
The cult that the guy named Hwang In-goo, who confronted me, belonged to was a den of madmen.
“Oh, crazy.”
Liam muttered quietly, his gaze fixed on a photo displayed on the monitor.
I was looking at the same thing.
A container engulfed in flames, surrounded by people praying to the sky. It was an image I barely found while scouring the internet.
“I can feel the lingering souls of at least a hundred people trapped inside that container.”
With my mastery of Sacred Power, I could see it. The resentment and sorrow of those who agonized and died in the flames.
Though it should have been a still image, it felt intensely vivid as if it were a video. Such a malevolent emotion was rare to feel.
“Yeah. It does.”
It seemed the same for Liam, as his face contorted slightly. Despite being a hero, he couldn’t help but be sensitive to things like this.
“Sister, what the hell were they doing?”
“The official reason given by the Burning Association is ‘deception of the public.’”
“Deception… what?”
“It means to disturb the world and deceive the people. It’s a pretext for claiming they’ll correct the chaotic society.”
“What nonsense.”
Liam clenched his teeth, becoming serious after Seo-yoon’s explanation.
He had been holding back, but it seemed he was about to explode, so I quickly covered his eyes with my hands.
If I did this, I could probably hold him back for about three more minutes. I gently soothed the face of the hero, who looked like a volcano about to erupt.
“So to sum it up, they’re killing people who disturb them under the guise of a plausible excuse?”
“Probably.”
“With them rampaging like that, what’s the Chinese government doing?”
Though I asked, I had a feeling I already knew the answer.
“Did they get bribed?”
Corrupt leaders colluding with a cult. It was an all-too-familiar scenario that easily formed in my mind.
I thought it was probably the case that the Chinese government and the Burning Association were intertwined like that. However, the truth was a bit different.
“It seems the Chinese government hasn’t just been sitting idle. There have been a couple of skirmishes, and the Burning Association won both times.”
“Really? How does that make sense? The Chinese have Returnee units and special ability units…”
“It seems there are just too many problematic Returnees for them to concentrate their forces on one side.”
“Oh.”
Now that I think about it, news about Chinese Returnees popping up roughly once a week had been coming around.
It seemed that because there were so many Returnees, a lot of incidents occurred as well. Seeing how the U.S., with a similar number, managed things well, it seemed like the issue was not just with the numbers.
“I think they’re trying to use an attack on my sister as a stepping stone to make serious inroads into Korea.”
“That’s probably it.”
They must have realized they couldn’t exert power in Korea and started thinking about what to do when they learned I had returned.
Then, they probably aimed at me to destroy my honor and prestige, while expanding their influence.
In reality, even if they labeled me a fraud, it wouldn’t be easy to spread their cult in Korea… still, it was a good opportunity from the Burning Association’s leader’s perspective.
“I’m getting tired.”
I felt a slight headache coming on and pressed my temples with one hand. As I was gently applying pressure, I suddenly became enraged.
They tried to use me as a stepping stone? Me, who enjoys the favor of the entire sun?
‘…So annoying.’
I could no longer hold back.
“Alright. I get it. Thank you.”
I smiled at Seo-yoon, who had been working hard.
Though I gave a gentle smile, Seo-yoon, who seemed to be cautiously reading my mood, opened her mouth carefully.
“So… what now? Should we shoot a video to refute this? If we do it quickly, we can post it by today.”
Using iTube for a counter-attack as a method similar to their own. It wasn’t a bad idea.
However, I shook my head.
“No need for that. I’ll take another approach.”
“…Another approach? Oh, you’re going to refute them on Tribe?”
Going live on Tribe, the platform I mainly broadcast on, to refute the claims of the Burning Association was a good idea.
Since it was live, I needed to be careful with my words, but I felt confident. After all, I had honed my eloquence as a pope.
“It’s a good idea, but I don’t like it either.”
Again, I shook my head.
“What don’t you like?”
“Both a refutation video and a live broadcast response feel too lukewarm.”
The opponent was a group that took the name ‘burning,’ inducing the greatest pain a human can feel—immolation. Should I really respond with something as dim as candlelight or lantern light?
What we needed now wasn’t a trivial flame.
It was an overwhelmingly blazing heat that would instill awe. A massive explosion that would crush the will to resist.
“Seo-yoon, I’m going to erupt a volcano.”
I removed my hands from covering Liam’s eyes. A pair of fiercely burning blue eyes glared at me more passionately than any flame.
“Shall we go?”
“Let’s go.”
As soon as I gave my permission, Liam wrapped his arms around my waist.
I felt a strong flow of Mana from the arm that made contact. It was a familiar sign of magic manifestation. I accepted the Mana drilling into my body without refusal and smiled.
“Let’s first deal with Mr. Hwang In-goo, who appeared in the video, ‘quietly.’”
It was time to become a violently erupting volcano.
*
Seo-yoon sat on the living room sofa, taking care of the kids.
“Yong-yong, look at this!”
“Yong-yong~.”
To be precise, Erina and Ibailla were playing with Guardian Dragon Hekatrith, so she was only taking care of Rohan.
Rohan, cradled in her arms, was sound asleep with an angelic face. Thankfully. If he had woken up and started crying, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it with my already cracked mental state.
‘Why did I upload that video….’
At the time I posted the video titled “The Pope’s Secret Hobby♡” for my own revenge and mischief, I never imagined it would turn out like this.
I never expected there would be groups ready to criticize me over that. I couldn’t have imagined such a development.
Anyway, it was the work of those looking to find reasons to undermine Eluke’s honor, but it didn’t change the fact that it was a painful blunder.
‘I wish I could just scold them thoroughly.’
Eluke wasn’t particularly angry, which was odd for a pope. At least on the surface, it seemed that way.
The issue was that inside, she was boiling over.
Her anger was hot enough that I could grasp her feelings without even trying. It was the first time she looked so angry since our reunion after my Return.
She usually appeared calm, but every now and then, she would have a fiery temper. The nature that had been present since the time of ‘Park Si-woo’ had not changed even after becoming a woman and a pope.
Moreover, Liam, who was even more terrifyingly blazing than Eluke at that moment, was right beside her.
‘…This is going to be trouble.’
It seemed a bloodbath would soon blow through Korea and China.
Having reached a chilling conclusion, Seo-yoon sighed and picked up the pink smartphone next to her. It was Eluke’s phone.
It was set to silent mode, so while the smartphone maintained tranquility, something intense was happening on the screen.
[Hainha]
A call came in from Hainha. This was already the sixth time.
Honestly, I didn’t want to answer, but I couldn’t indefinitely delay the moment I didn’t want to face.
Seo-yoon gently patted Rohan to calm her nerves and answered the phone.
“Yes, Agent.”
-Your Holiness… or should I say, your sibling? What is the Pope doing now? Is she home? Please just say yes.
There was a tense urgency in the stiff voice. As Seo-yoon calmly listened to the torrent of words, she spoke with regret while Hainha paused for a moment.
“Agent, please prepare for the aftermath.”
-…Yes?
“What you’ve just understood is correct, so there’s no need to deny reality.”
-Yes….
The two instances of “yes” held completely opposite meanings. The first was confusion, followed by resignation. True to her role as a National Intelligence Service agent, Hainha caught on quickly.
“Stay strong.”
It was pitiful, but I had nothing else to say except support.
*
In a remote mountain area of Gangneung, Gangwon-do.
Deep in the woods where vehicles couldn’t access, there stood a large building harmoniously integrating with nature.
The area around the building was enveloped in a suffocating silence. Not even the sound of birdsong or the cries of insects could be heard in the stillness.
“It seems things have started to get chaotic.”
A middle-aged man murmured while gazing at the quiet mountain through the window. He gently rocked back and forth in a rocking chair.
Hwang In-goo, the head of the Burning Association’s Korean branch and the culprit behind the major bomb that exploded on iTube, continued to stare out the window.
“They really can’t find this place, can they?”
“That’s right. It’s safe.”
The man standing beside him answered in a somewhat halting manner.
He was a bodyguard dispatched by the leader of the Burning Association.
For some reason, he seemed to lack faith in the leader, always maintaining a brusque demeanor, but his skills were certain. After all, he was a Returnee.
“I’ve said it repeatedly—the building is enveloped in a cloak of concealment. That person will never find it.”
“Yeah, it better be. This plan relies solely on your powers.”
Ever since Hwang In-goo uploaded the video targeting the Returnee Eluke, he had been hiding here. All because of Eluke’s husband.
‘He said he could pinpoint someone’s location through the internet.’
That rough and violent man, Liam, had once claimed he could find out where viewers were just by looking at the chat in the streams.
Though most people brushed it off as a joke, he meant it seriously.
Presumably, that man had reached the threshold of a demigod. It was certain since it was the leader’s mystical power that analyzed it.
So that was why he had been hiding away.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of being pinpointed and found; it was just that the timing wasn’t right. They needed to carry out a little more public relations combat.
‘This is a fight advantageous to us.’
According to reports, public opinion was divided into two camps. Those who trusted the Pope or those who felt betrayed.
However, it seemed the former was still outweighing the latter. One simple video didn’t carry enough impact to tarnish the image.
So, he planned to consistently carry out secondary and tertiary attacks.
Editing was already done, but they hadn’t uploaded anything yet. They would strategically time their upload for when the opponent posted a refutation video.
Once that happened, the Pope would get too frustrated and take some reckless action. That would be the result the leader intended.
“Those unworthy will burn alive, and the treacherous shall become ashes.”
As Hwang In-goo quietly recited these lines to double-check all plans, a loud bang suddenly erupted. The entire room shook with the vibrations.
“Wh-what’s going on…?”
“Stay calm.”
Just as the bodyguard was stabilizing himself next to Hwang In-goo, a raucous voice echoed from above.
-I know you’re in there, you son of a bitch!!!
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
