Chapter: 93
Chapter 93 – Room 102, The Curse Chamber – ‘Mansion of Fear’ Re (6)
Third Attempt
– Han Kain
After receiving advice, we quickly devised a strategy and split the party into two.
First up was the ‘Suicide Squad’ charging at the demon under the leadership of Priest Jinchul.
The members consisted of Priest Jinchul, the owner of the Star, Yu Songee who would cast mental protection on my brother, and myself, who could likewise resist possession.
I held the gun and the bell.
Next was the ‘Escape Squad,’ whose role was to flee as far away as possible, as they wouldn’t be able to contribute much to the fight. Since the enemy wasn’t human and they couldn’t resist the possession, even approaching it was dangerous.
Thus, Sister Elena and the Cardinal decided to make their escape.
Just before we set off on our respective paths, Sister Elena spoke with a trembling voice.
“I’m sorry… everyone. I’ll see you outside.”
Priest Jinchul answered in a comforting tone.
“It’s alright. We’ll meet outside.”
At the point we decided to charge at the demon, everyone in the ‘Suicide Squad’ had made up their minds.
There was no chance of survival. We were all going to die.
*
– Cha Jinchul
Huhh… Huhh.
I took a few deep breaths, contemplating as I walked towards the mansion.
Was there ever a time when I had to fight against an enemy of this caliber?
I recalled the martial artists I faced during my glory days outside the hotel, ones who seemed insurmountable.
Once, I viewed them as my life-long rivals, but after my passion waned, they felt like a wall impossible to breach…
But now that I think of it, they were merely human.
The demon I was about to face could wipe us all out with a mere flick of its finger.
I felt like I was jumping into the deep end of a vast ocean.
I never mentioned this to my teammates, fearing I might sound insane, but oddly enough, since entering the hotel, there were moments where I felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
The sensation of becoming something special!
What was so appealing about the martial arts of ‘mere’ humans in the past?
I needed to relax.
I had acquired a blessing that transcended humanity and gained a treasure to go toe-to-toe with the demon king.
As we approached the mansion, the reality around us had become hellish. Nearby people lay dead in horrifying ways that words could scarcely describe.
Refusing to look longer, I turned away, only to hear Kain approach the corpses, commenting how it seemed sharp tentacles had burst from the ground, doing the damage.
Sure, there were pieces of information to glean from the corpses, but oh boy, what a strong stomach he had!
— Bam! — Bam!
Getting closer to the mansion, we saw an utterly massive ‘cocoon.’ A terrifying sound resonated from it, vibrating the very ground beneath us with each roar.
“…What the heck is that?”
“Priest, to me it looks like—”
“Ah! Enough with the theatrics! There’s no one left to impress!”
“Right you are. To my eyes, it appears to be an enormous chunk of flesh.”
“Looks like we won’t face the demon directly? Do we just have to smash that thing?”
Before I could finish my sentence, black tentacles shot up from the ground without warning, wrapping around me and starting to squeeze with crushing force.
A bizarre sound tickled my ears.
“Are you truly human? Even a bear wouldn’t be so strong… But it’s of no consequence now.”
Out of nowhere, a creature resembling ‘Gollum’ from The Lord of the Rings appeared and waved its hands, summoning dozens of tentacles.
“Bastard!”
— Boom!
The sound of a gruff bell rang throughout the area, practically scrapping any ounce of politeness from the sound. The tentacles immediately wilted, like some poor troubled squid.
The Gollum-like creature’s eyes widened in shock before it turned to flee.
“Too late, idiot!”
— Crash!
With a booming crash, I lunged forward, closing the distance.
“What on Earth is that bell?!”
“That’s the Bell of the Saint! You’re dead meat!”
As soon as my arm touched its shoulder, it crumbled under the sheer force. Its scream pierced the air. I was just one punch away from turning that head into a puff of mist—
“Your body! Ahh, so tempting!”
Suddenly, the creature’s eyes turned blood-red, and my consciousness— nothing happened.
“What are you playing at, punk? You think I’m some fool who will fall for your possession?”
Of course, I hadn’t done anything. That was probably Songee’s doing.
Kain, who had been ringing the bell like a maniac, casually sauntered over to me. It seemed that the Gollum was having trouble using its powers while the bell was ringing.
All that was great, but one could only stand the noise for so long.
“I doubt I’ll get much more out of this guy. We have no time for chit-chat either.”
From earlier, I heard thunderous heartbeats emanating from the cocoon, each one shaking the earth beneath us.
“Just die already.”
Right before I smashed its head, the creature smirked, leaving me with its parting words.
“It’s all in vain. The god will soon descend upon this realm. An entirely new era is set to commence.”
— Boom!
“I didn’t expect it to be so easy to take him out,” I uttered.
“This bell seems quite effective, doesn’t it? I guess it cannot possess others while it’s being rung,” Kain remarked.
“Didn’t Songee stop the possession?”
“No,” Songee replied. “You moved too quickly for me to target. I could’ve messed up badly.”
“Phew. I nearly goofed there. Still, it’s a great discovery about the bell’s power.”
“Even after slaying the adversary, the dilemma remains unresolved,” Songee said, puzzled.
“Means we’re late to the party,” Kain sighed. “Eliminating the adversary won’t be of any use if the demon’s already born, right?”
I shared the same sentiment. From the moment that cocoon appeared, this Gollum had fulfilled its purpose.
We needed to deal with that cocoon.
— Bam! — Bam!
The colossal cocoon, manifesting where the mansion once stood, was overwhelming in size. It was practically the size of a building.
…Now was the time for the Star to shine.
Songee’s bracelet sparkled, and she approached.
“Everyone, stand back!”
Upon my command, Songee and Kain retreated several steps.
I summoned the Star.
– PAHAHHHH!
An overwhelming energy erupted from the Star. Though I practiced this a lot in the Safari, the innate fear never fully dissipated when calling upon it.
This was the power that could twist the fabric of existence itself. Authority from another world that mocked the entirety of creation, both living and not.
As soon as the Star’s wave touched the cocoon, a transformation began.
— GROOOWWH!
A howl filled with rage burst forth from the cocoon. Large hands began to spring out, stemming from the cocoon crafted by a god who hadn’t been born yet, striving to complete itself.
— Boom!
I dodged the hands that lunged at me, weaving and avoiding as they multiplied. Just when one managed to wrap around my entire body—
I stuffed the Star into that hand, which instantly morphed into bizarre minerals and melted away.
— AAAAGHH!
A scream erupted from the cocoon. It split vertically, revealing a colossal moth, as immense as a mountain, that leaped from within.
…That was the last memory I had.
*
– Han Kain
I ran and ran without stopping.
As the cocoon screamed and the hands that threatened to kill Jinchul-hyung melted into the Star, I secretly hoped that the Star’s power would bring us to victory.
However, what happened next was a sight I hadn’t seen even in movies.
The cocoon, larger than an apartment building, ruptured to reveal an even grander moth that made it seem small!
In an instant, Jinchul-hyung disappeared. He must have perished the moment the moth emerged.
Watching that mountain-like creature move, I understood.
When such a being is born, the world as we know it is over. No weapon could withstand its power.
With a single flap of its massive wings, fine dust rained down on everything below.
Ahh…
For us, it was a scene from hell, but for others, it marked the dawn of a new world. From each speck of dust, unfathomable life was birthed.
With a single flap, thousands of creatures sprang forth, filling the world with vitality. Life forms I had never seen began to blanket the ground, and everything—from the air to the soil—began to morph.
Only then did I grasp why this entity was a ‘god’ rather than a ‘demon.’
The only hitch was that it wasn’t a ‘god of mankind.’
…Could I really have escaped the dust shower falling upon the world?
The particles enveloped me, slowly morphing me into something other entirely.
Was this the end?
In a daze, I gazed upon the moth when I realized something. Its wings—one of them was oddly shaped.
— BEEEEEEChapter: Boom!!!
In the midst of creating a new world, the moth suddenly wobbled awkwardly in the air before plummeting to the ground.
It seemed to be inspecting its misshapen wing, but ultimately, it tore it off with a brutal determination.
…That was the last piece of memory I held dear.
*
– Lee Eunsol
What a sight to behold.
Born into wealth, I thought I had savored countless delicious meals and witnessed so many wonderful things, but…
Only after entering the hotel did I realize just how ‘clueless’ I had truly been throughout my life.
Such worlds existed!
While my companions dashed around town and through the mountains, talking about toppling the altar of the evil god, I leisurely enjoyed tea with Lee Sehyun.
Suddenly, chaos erupted around me.
The mansion collapsed only to be replaced by a cocoon the size of a towering building.
The cocoon ruptured to reveal a moth the size of a mountain.
Once that moth took to the skies, it was like witnessing an interdimensional creation unfolding before my eyes.
Wow! How amazing!
At this point, the entire experience felt so surreal that I didn’t even feel scared anymore.
Then, the moth began to fall from the heavens.
What was going on? The moth seemed intrigued by its own wings.
As I observed along, I finally noticed that one of the wings did indeed look rather peculiar, with odd colors and bizarre tentacles sprouting all over.
From such a distance, those tentacles might as well be as large as structures.
The moth, inspecting a tentacle as large as a building sprouted from its wing, seemed to make a decision and started to rebuild the cocoon.
…
This was clearly an attempt to ‘escape.’
Whatever happened, my teammates must have exhausted themselves to prevent the moth from fully forming.
Realizing that it had produced a faulty wing, the moth decided to re-enter the cocoon to reconstruct itself, signaling it had escaped the immediate threat.
Soon enough, the moth would enter the cocoon again, marking our own escape.
But before that, I had to say something.
“So, brother. Is there really nothing you want to say to me?”
Lee Sehyun, who had been dumbfoundedly watching everything unfold from ‘the sky,’ finally turned my way after hearing my voice.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Today has been filled with peculiar events. Of course, that moth is the heart of it all, but the events prior were pretty odd too, right?”
As the mansion trembled, he grabbed me and ‘did something.’
When my senses returned, my brother and I found ourselves inside the belly of some strange, flying creature, observing the mayhem from above.
“I did this to save you!”
“I know that. You probably did it for my sake.”
“And you proceeded to bring those exorcists along? Did you think I wouldn’t catch on?”
As I suspected, he was aware of everything.
It was alright. We could sort this out one step at a time. So far, it didn’t seem like Lee Sehyun was a villain at heart.
“I’ve seen a ton of odd happenings inside the mansion. Even what’s happening right now is absurdly bizarre.”
“Are you still planning on hiding things from me? Or perhaps trying to silence me somehow?”
“What… what are you getting at!? I… I don’t even know what’s going on!
I swear, I didn’t know such absurd monsters were going to appear!”
I carefully analyzed his expression. Beneath all the chaos, I could sense a strong feeling of ‘guilt.’
This man knew something.
He didn’t know everything, clearly. At the very least, it was evident that he never imagined the world would end up in this mess.
“Siwoo… Where is Siwoo!? What on earth happened here?”
I recognized the need to cut in. This man was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I stepped closer and grasped his hand.
“Oppa. Calm down. It’s not over yet.”
“Huh… Eunsol. Wake up. Look outside! It’s all gone to ruins! Siwoo must be dead too… Oh, god!”
“Oppa. I was going to keep this a secret until the very end, but the Vatican has the power to rewind time.”
Slowly, Lee Sehyun, who had been sitting there dazed, raised his head back up.
“What did you say?”
“The Vatican can rewind time. So please, tell me. You know something, don’t you?”
On the first day we entered Room 102,
After investigating Lee Sehyun, we reached a conclusion that he didn’t know anything.
That was a mistake.
He had no clue about the ‘missing persons’ or ‘grimoire’ incidents, but he was not entirely ignorant of this room’s secrets!
Listening intently to me, Lee Sehyun scrutinized my expression. As he perceived the unwavering glimmer of hope within me amidst the crumbling world, he finally decided to speak.
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