Wip wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to look back.
The three companions who had entered the Void with him were quietly resting, each sitting distantly apart.
‘…This is really awkward.’
The members of the “Void Raid Team” personally organized by the Pope were all powerful beings who had reached the divine level. With such a lineup, there was no way they could be defeated, regardless of how strong the enemy was.
However, the problem was that they all had strong personalities as much as their power.
The former hero, Liam, who maintained a blunt attitude towards anyone other than his family.
Reeve, the priest who was usually kind but sometimes showed unpredictable wildness.
And General Koruaegenin, a demon general who had fought them as an enemy until recently.
They were too different from one another. It seemed improbable that they would ever become friends.
In fact, since they had subdued the Void, they hadn’t exchanged a single word. Thanks to that, Wip found himself unwittingly becoming the leader.
‘Is it instinct that demigods push each other away?’
Bored from pondering this trivial theory, Wip finally spoke up.
“Let’s start moving. We’re almost there, so everyone should prepare for battle.”
The three demigods stood up and limbered up in their own ways.
Then they began to walk away from each other one by one.
The sight of them treating each other like nothing made Wip sigh. Since they were in this together, it would be nice if they could at least get a little closer.
The timid dark elf shook her head and moved forward.
Anyway, the location pointed out by Liam’s Location Tracking Magic was right ahead.
“Stop.”
After walking silently for about ten minutes.
Liam finally opened his mouth for the first time since entering the Void. It was on a broken asphalt road overlooking the blackened, polluted sea.
“Are we close?”
“Yeah.”
The grumpy reply from the former hero made him stop and slowly look around.
The sky thrumming with void energy, a hill piled high with remnants of buildings that had flowed into the void, and a gaping hole beside the road.
As he carefully observed the surroundings, he pointed towards a pile of rocks.
Wip turned his gaze there and soon discovered something suspicious.
A blackened wooden stake, skillfully concealed by broken rocks. It was a suspicious ritual tool protected by no ordinary magic.
“Hey, demon. You said you’re strong, right? Pull it out of the ground.”
“Don’t give me orders, hero.”
“Shut up and just pull it out.”
“……”
General Koruaegenin glared at Liam for a moment before approaching the pile of rocks and bending down.
Crackling sparks erupted when her slender hand, now transformed into that of a woman, grabbed the stake.
It seemed like a spell blocking contact had been set. But that was meaningless against the immense strength of a great demon.
“Ugh!”
As Koruaegenin exerted her power, the stake, which was resisting and emitting electricity, was eventually pulled out without any strength.
And at that moment.
The surrounding scenery began to shake violently and slowly transformed into something else. At the same time, a massive, wicked, and terrifying energy began to suppress their bodies.
“What is this…?”
Breathless, heart racing, legs weak.
Wip felt nauseous, as if he was about to vomit.
What was happening?
Wip furrowed his brow and looked up, only to open his eyes wide.
A gigantic tree was growing upside down in the sky.
A shrub with petals mixed in dark blue and purple, resembling no plant Wip had ever known.
It seemed to exert an overwhelming presence just with its appearance.
Moreover.
The black trunk of the tree was connected with thousands of bizarrely shaped letters, as if spreading out into the void.
“What the hell is that?”
No one answered Reeve’s frowning question for a while. They all simply stared at the tree in silence.
Eventually, the first to speak was Liam.
“I don’t know exactly how it works, but I get its purpose.”
Unlike his usual self, the former hero displayed a hint of tension as he grasped his shimmering silver sword.
“If that activates, countless people will die. And if we touch it to destroy it, it will attack us.”
“…That sounds like the impersonator’s doing, right?”
“Probably. By the way, the hostages we need to save are inside that tree.”
That made it clear what they had to do from then on.
“Well, if we destroy that thing, we can stop whatever plan the impersonator has in store.”
“Murder without just cause can’t be tolerated.”
Reeve summoned her pure white battle hammer, while Koruaegenin fetched a massive axe from her spatial pocket and rested it on her shoulder.
Following suit, Wip summoned his sturdy void monster partners and resolutely declared.
“Let’s get rid of that tree and save Icle.”
“Agreed.”
Nodding, Liam swung his sword towards the sky.
A light movement, yet precise.
Though it was swordplay performed on the ground, the impact reached the sky. The silver energy flew in a crescent shape, slicing through the tree branches.
-Krroooorr!!
As the silver trail marked the tree branches, the tree twisted its body and roared through the mouth that had formed in the middle of its trunk.
“Be careful, everyone. It’s a tree with power on par with an Evil God. Even at our level, it could take us down in one hit.”
For Liam, that was rather considerate advice, and the battle that would determine the fate of the world began.
“O Sun, grant us your sunlight.”
Wip prayed as he flew atop a void monster’s back.
It was a moment when he wanted divine power more than ever.
*
“…What did you just say?”
I barely managed to ask, my composure hanging by a thread since coming to this world.
“Why are you asking when you understood everything perfectly?”
iTuber Sister Cat, Abigail, smiled sweetly as she fixed her gaze on me.
Unlike ordinary people, her pupils were long and cat-like.
Young Dragon’s eyes were similar to hers, so I was used to seeing them. It should have felt normal.
But why was that?
The moment our eyes met, chills ran down my spine.
A physiological aversion surged, crawling all over my body.
“I’ll say it again.”
Moments later, Abigail tilted her head as she played with her tail.
“I will eliminate everyone who has committed evil deeds or even has the slightest possibility of committing a crime in the future. I’ll create a utopia where only the righteous can live.”
“……”
Only then did I realize the identity of the intense aversion flowing through me.
“You’re talking nonsense.”
There was no way I could ever get close to the cat beastperson standing in front of me.
Even if the physical distance was closed, we could never connect on a deeper level. No matter how hard we tried to get along.
It was, in a way, what you would call natural.
“How many people do you intend to kill?”
Abigail was pursuing a misguided ideal.
She wanted to massacre former offenders, current criminals, and even those who might commit crimes in the future.
It was something I could never condone. Countless innocent people would die.
Moreover, what if even the trivial and petty bad actions people commit every day were included in her definition of “evil deeds”?
Almost everyone, except newly born children, might lose their lives. A catastrophe would occur where the majority of humanity was annihilated.
After all, I wasn’t a perfect righteous person myself.
During my time as a Saint, I had killed countless members of the Demon King’s Army with my comrades.
During my time as Pope, I worked hard to capture various heretics, including dark sorcerers.
And just recently, I slaughtered the army of the Great Demon that had been targeting me. It was self-defense, but it was still murder.
“If your wish is fulfilled, I would die as well. Is that what you want?”
“Not at all.”
Abigail resolutely replied, shaking her head with a serious expression.
“I have no desire to harm you, even though we’ve become enemies out of necessity. I genuinely respect you.”
“……”
It was quite an absurd statement, yet it didn’t sound like a lie. There was a deep reverence in her gaze that even our Order’s members lacked.
It was rare to find someone looking at me with such sincere respect in this world.
Perhaps the testimonies of Quick Eagle, who said I was better than anyone else, and the research findings on Kim Ji-yeon, who had a warm heart, were not mistaken.
Having gained enough experience to understand as a Pope, I could tell that she wasn’t someone evil, like Haoran or Rema.
However, she simply hated evil to an extreme degree.
“Are you saying you wouldn’t kill me even though I’ve committed sins? What’s the point of sparing anyone?”
“You’re wrong. You’ve never sinned, Holy One. Those cancerous growths that poison the world—criminals, evildoers, demons—killing them wouldn’t bring you any karmic debt. In fact, it’s more like a virtuous act.”
“……”
As I stood there silently, a strange smile appeared on Sister Cat’s lips.
“I know you personally dealt with the irredeemable evil that is Haoran. Didn’t you?”
“…That’s true.”
“Then why can’t you understand my resolve? What’s so wrong with eliminating the seeds of evil that could potentially turn into ‘Haoran’ far in the future?”
I could argue against Abigail’s logic for hours on end. I’d have confidence in beating her in a formal debate.
However.
I decided not to bother arguing. After all, no matter how much I convinced her, she wouldn’t understand.
“By the way, let me suggest something.”
Seemingly on the same wavelength, Sister Cat changed the subject.
“Join me in my plan. Or just step back and stay still as you are.”
“……”
I already knew what answer to give.
“No, thank you.”
It was a rule not to negotiate with terrorists.
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