250
Gangshin
“Why didn’t you stop it?”
Balhar Khan swallowed at the sight of Joanna’s distorted eyes looking at him.
Joanna, whose expression was barely visible, had her face completely wrinkled. Her hands were trembling as if she was holding back from cutting off her head with a greatsword.
The others were also staring at Balhar Khan with angry eyes. Balhar Khan simply avoided their gaze.
“Joanna, calm down first······. Ah!”
“Tell me. Why didn’t you stop it?”
Joanna, who had pushed Johelia away, glared at Balhar Khan with strength in her hand.
Although it was difficult to breathe due to the tight grip on his neck, Balhar Khan could not bring himself to shake off the hand.
“It cannot be broken even by an aura. What about the light of the Knights of the Temple?”
At that moment, Ben, holding the broken sword, asked how far he had been struck. Ben’s hand was bursting and bleeding, and his face was filled with desperation.
The five elders next to him had reached their limit, and evidence of erosion was appearing on their skin.
With a snap, Joanna threw Balhar Khan. Balhar Khan rolled around ugly in a pool of blood.
“Just stop there.”
Vermunt spoke softly to those who were once again at the gate. Then the atmosphere became tense again.
Even Ben fixed his sword and glared at Vermunt.
Vermunt, the target of the conversation, continued speaking as if he didn’t care.
“If we followed him in, would it be of any help? He’s a burden. He knows that, and that’s why he didn’t take us.”
Vermunt spoke frankly and pulled out the sword stuck in his abdomen. Red blood gushed out in long streams and he staggered for a moment, but Vermunt did not fall.
Pulling out the sword stuck in his abdomen with his own hands – that was an amazing mental ability. Sophia familiarly inserted something into Vermunt’s wound.
It was more like torture than treatment. Vermunt didn’t kick him out, but simply took it in silence.
Everyone narrowed their eyes at Vermunt’s blunt remark. However, no one objected. Because it was true.
Five of the eldest sons were missing an arm, and Ben had his front legs completely torn off, exposing his ribs. They were all at their limits.
“Isn’t there a lot to do here too?”
At Vermunt’s words, the five elders clicked their teeth and turned their backs on the city gate.
“A selfish guy.”
The voice was rough, as if it had been pressed down. Ben watched the five elders moving away, then pounded on the gate with his fist.
“This time you went too far.”
As he said that, Ben stuck his broken sword in front of the gate and headed towards the opposite side where the five eldest sons had disappeared.
Joanna paid them no heed and continued to strike the gate with her greatsword.
“Are you dead?”
At that moment, Vermunt reached out his hand. Vermunt looked completely different from the guy, but the atmosphere was strangely similar.
Balhar Khan stared at the thick hand and opened his mouth without realizing it.
“······I figured he would go in alone. I definitely had time to stop him. But I didn’t···”
His voice kept getting hoarse. Balhar Khan chewed his lips, trying to suppress the emotions rising up as he continued to speak.
“···I was afraid to go in. When he closed the door, I felt relieved. Like an idiot. Maybe I even laughed.”
Balhar Khan, who had lived solely on self-confidence, was now filled with self-loathing. He felt like someone would beat him up right now.
“I was scared too. To be honest, I even peed my pants a little.”
Contrary to what he said, Vermunt’s face was calm. Vermunt forcibly grabbed Balhar Khan’s hand and lifted him up. Balhar Khan stood awkwardly and exhaled.
“Even if he had followed us, it would have been a hindrance rather than a help. That guy knew that, which is why he separated us. He’s good at calculating.”
As he said that, Vermunt frowned.
Balhar Khan simply looked down at the ground. An arm, whose name he could not identify, had been crushed and torn apart.
“But if you keep doing this here, he’s going to get in trouble. He can’t stand seeing others having fun while he’s working.”
Vermunt tapped Balhar Khan on the shoulder and headed back to the front line. Even though blood was still flowing from his back and his legs were limping, he walked without hesitation.
Contrary to what he said, he felt no fear at all. Balhar Khan looked down at the ground for quite some time after that.
I raised my head only after a loud noise erupted next to me.
Joanna threw the greatsword that had only the handle left and turned around. Joanna picked up the swords around her and ran into the battlefield, emitting white light.
Only then did the cries and screams of the distant battlefield come back to life.
Balhar Khan bowed deeply toward the gate and headed to the front lines.
When the guy came out, I thought it would be a total mess if he was like this-.
I fixed my grip on the sword.
***
‘This is hell.’
I looked around and clicked my tongue.
I was confident that I had seen a lot of ugly things, but compared to what I see now, everything before was just cute.
As we entered the gate, we were surrounded by brick men.
Those who found me were screaming, cursing, and shrieking.
I couldn’t figure out why he was doing this to me.
I clicked my tongue and stared straight ahead.
Beyond the thick darkness where nothing could be seen, an eerie presence was felt.
Even though we hadn’t even met, cold sweat was running down my back. My whole body felt heavy, as if it was refusing to approach me.
The hand holding the sword was shaking. No matter how much strength I put into it, the shaking did not go away.
‘Did I think it would be easy?’
Even when looking at him from the outside, he seemed like a tough guy, but when I actually entered his territory, his presence was even stronger and more intense.
And on top of that-.
‘It seems like the connection with arrogance has also faded.’
Since coming here, my already faint connection with Oman has become even fainter.
However, I had no doubt that he would respond to the call.
Phew···.
I took a deep breath and calmed my dizzy mind.
I held my sword and slowly advanced. The men below screamed and cursed, but what could I do? I couldn’t run.
Going a little deeper, I had to admit that my imagination was lacking.
The place I was was literally just a gate. As I passed through it and went deeper, full-blown hell unfolded.
‘···They built a capital.’
The capital city that had been neatly destroyed last time had been rebuilt. It even felt bigger than before.
Not only the buildings were implemented, but even small things like stalls and lanterns were implemented.
Of course, since it was pushed cleanly, redevelopment was a given, but the material was the problem.
Aaaah …
The road beneath my feet screamed and glared at me, cursing me for stepping on it.
Then the wall next to him began to cry in a hoarse voice. The one above him begged. Please end his suffering.
The stalls where I was found were shaking. The heads displayed on them rolled from side to side, spewing curses.
‘This is real hell.’
I chewed my lip to steady my mind. Only when I tasted blood in my mouth did I come to my senses.
The real me took a closer look around again.
Starting from the road, to the streetlights, to the stalls, to the buildings – all of them were made of people crumpled into squares like bricks.
This was the capital of hell, built by a very imaginative and vicious demon.
Kill them! Please! The brick men pleaded in unison. But there were just too many of them.
When he told him to wait, the brick men began to curse. Curses of all kinds poured down from children to the elderly.
‘Why are these guys giving me shit···.’
I clicked my tongue slightly and turned my head away.
To end this terrible situation, hypocrisy had to be dealt with.
I could tell right away where he was.
From far away, the bastard’s presence was emanating from the streams.
It was so strong, as if it was calling me.
‘At least install an elevator.’
I muttered a curse as I shook off the brick man that was biting my foot.
The road was extremely uncomfortable. Every time I walked, there was chaos. I tried to be as careful as possible, but it didn’t help much.
As I was walking and turning into an alley, I saw two knights.
The knights were pulling a cart full of square-shaped people. They took the square-shaped people out and threw them against the wall.
‘Is it maintenance work?’
As I muttered a curse under my breath, the brick men around me screamed. That caught their attention.
I looked closely at the numbers engraved on the shoulders of the knights.
‘It’s in the 100s.’
The knights who discovered me quickly ran with their wings spread wide. The road below them burst open, and red blood continued to spray. Strangely, the knights’ speed became even faster.
The knight who had narrowed the distance was filled with a dazzling aura.
A blue light brightened the surroundings.
The horrific sight became even more apparent.
The brick men cheered as they watched Aura.
He begged for me to swing it at him.
However, the knight was only staring at me. His blurry eyes were visible inside his helmet.
The aura that the knight gave off was enormous. The aura overflowed from the sword, making it look like a greatsword. Even though he was a knight of rank 100, it was extremely excessive.
‘It gets stronger as it gets closer to the gate, and inside it almost becomes twice as strong.’
He clicked his tongue, adjusted his grip on his sword, and lowered his stance. Because his movements had become faster, the knight was already right in front of him.
The momentum was so great that it was hard to view it as a simple article.
‘Still no sense.’
All that remained were the swordsmanship habits engraved on his body.
I was the one who had faced the apostles. No matter how strong I became, a knight was inferior to an apostle.
Because I had experienced the apostles first, it actually felt easier.
Thanks to that, I was able to cut off the bastard’s head with three swings of my sword.
He pulled his headless body and pushed it towards the knight who stabbed him fatally from the side.
If it were normal, I would have hesitated for a moment, but the knight cut through my comrade without hesitation. The armor was thick, so there was only a very small delay.
But that was enough.
I looked at the two heads rolling around amicably and shook my sword. Cold blood dripped from the sword.
The brick men below drank the dripping blood, slurping it. One of them even tore off his flesh and ate it. I didn’t bother to stop him.
Aaaahhhhhhhhh! Aaaahhhhhhh!
At that moment, a few blocks away, the uneaten brick men began to scream.
Then, as if the scream had an alarm function, two knights jumped out of the alley again.
‘I guess I’ll have to go comfortably.’
I clenched my numb hands and muttered.
However, I had no intention of taking it easy in the first place.
***
‘What the hell···.’
Sinan Halina, who was a member of the Eastern Management Bureau, muttered curses while nervously wiping the blood from her hands.
If I had known this would happen, I would have run away following the Gesher Wind. I regret it.
After the events of the Emperor’s coronation, Gesher Wind told Sinan Halina that they should run away together.
However, Gesher Wind was not a man who could be trusted with one’s life.
In response, Sinan Halina declined Gesher Wind’s offer.
I didn’t think that naive Gesher Wind would be able to escape from the capital.
Suddenly, the emperor went berserk and started to erode the land indiscriminately, causing the capital to fall into even greater chaos. Even in the midst of this chaos, Sinan Halina sought a way to survive.
Now he was managing hell. His job was to find those who had given up on continuing their karma and throw them back in.
“This… this side… is finished.”
The guy next to me spoke, stuttering. His name was Hadels? He was some kind of a jerk, and he stuttered and was really stupid.
Sinan Halina turned her head at the bastard’s words and became very annoyed by the result.
“What is that?”
It was a place that was clearly told to be filled, but it was still empty.
“Ah··· No···. B··· I definitely··· contacted you···.”
The guy who was slightly surprised by that answered stammeringly. His stupid answer made me angry.
“If you had contacted them, they would have come to fill it in. Are you saying now that they made a mistake?”
Sinan Halina let out her pent-up frustration. She couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Father… I clearly called Father….”
“You would have come if I called you, you son of a bitch.”
“Eek!”
Sinan Halina controlled her anger at the guy who was startled and cowered.
Sadly, he was the only one I could talk to. Without him, I would have gone crazy.
At that moment, the guy pressed his forehead against the wall. Looking at him, the irritation that had been calming down welled up again.
The guy was pressing here and there haphazardly, as if he was flustered.
The screams mixed together and grew louder. Once they grew louder, they spread to the surroundings like fire, and soon became so loud that it felt like my ears were going to split.
Eventually, it got to the point where I had no idea how to fix it.
‘···Should I kill him?’
Sinan Halina clenched her fists and thought seriously. It might be better for her mental health if he wasn’t there. Then, suddenly, she felt something strange.
‘Even though I made this much of a fuss, he still won’t come?’
Sinan Halina’s eyes narrowed. Originally, the knights would come running in panic at the sound of even a single scream.
But why isn’t anyone coming even though it’s so noisy?
‘······What happened.’
Sinan Halina swallowed hard. Her mind was complicated.
‘There’s no future if we stay here anyway.’
Sinan Halina, who had made up her mind, moved cautiously. Soon, she crossed the area she was not supposed to leave.
In front of them lay the imperial knights, their heads cut off, their faces buried beside them.
As if they had been punished, they were stuck in the wall just like the humans they had put there.
No way… Sinan Halina’s steps quickened.
When they finally moved to the next area, Sinan Halina couldn’t hold back her cheers.
The streets were filled with the corpses of imperial knights who had lost their heads. It was as if they had been judged.
‘Who on earth would do something like this······.’
I couldn’t believe it. The imperial knights who remained here were the elite among the imperial knights. And this was the area of hypocrisy.
Those knights are lying around like that-. Who could do something like this? I couldn’t believe it even after seeing it with my own eyes.
Sinan Halina’s eyes widened at the direction in which the corpses were lined up.
The one who made those articles was heading towards hypocrisy.
If you’re this strong, you should be able to buy some time. If you escape during that gap······.
At that moment, a sharp pain was felt at the back of her head. Sinan Halina lost her balance and fell forward. She desperately turned her head-.
“I··· I··· called··· you··· I··· told you!!”
Hadels, who had been holding a sword, was shouting and grumbling as he picked it up.
I should have killed that son of a bitch a long time ago.
Sinan Halina once again felt belated regret.
***
Phew······.
I exhaled with excitement and pushed back my tangled hair. Blood flowed thickly between my fingers.
‘It doesn’t seem like they’re trying to catch me.’
I muttered as I burst the head of the knight rolling under my feet.
The knights didn’t seem to be stationed there to block my path to the bastard.
However, since there were so many of them and their power was so strong that it was difficult to compare them to that of ordinary knights, it was quite difficult.
However, even so, they were irrational people.
Hunting those monsters wasn’t that difficult.
In addition, since the capital’s structure had not changed, it was easy to get an estimate.
As I moved forward, dealing with them one by one,
I was able to face the guy.
He was sitting on top of an altar made of humans and looking down at me.
It was shaped exactly like a pyramid, and because the material was made of humans, it was quite horrifying.
I thought I was getting used to this hellish place, but then he showed me something a step above.
His face looked familiar.
‘Your Majesty the Crown Prince. Are you the Emperor now?’
At that time, it was the crown prince I saw at the emperor’s coronation ceremony.
He was sitting on a high altar made of people and looking down at me.
I clicked my tongue and looked around. The knight was nowhere to be seen.
He was alone.
‘There was no reaction even when I caught the article… Is it because it doesn’t matter?’
His chilling presence weighed down on my shoulders, as if demanding that I worship him immediately.
I tried to stop them from bending on their own by applying force to their knees. But they still tried to bend, so I hit them one by one. It was fixed.
I clenched my teeth and looked up at the bastard.
The guy was still looking down.
Knock knock. I tapped the handle of my sword out of habit. I somehow managed to pull myself together.
Then, the guy opened his mouth.
“Excellent.”
He spoke lightly, as if he were praising a dog that had brought home a bone. His voice was very calm.
The voice filled my head. It made me feel even more dizzy than when there were screams and cries all around me. I held my head against it. It became quiet.
I looked at him again with a clearer mind.
The man was smiling gently. He had a neat expression, and if you only look at his appearance, he looked like a saint. However, the altar below him easily erased him.
“Sit down.”
The guy spoke briefly. Then, a strange thud-thud sound was heard from behind.
When I turned my head, a chair had appeared. The guys were cursing at me.
I didn’t sit down because I felt like my flesh would be ripped off if I did.
“Is it small?”
The bastard muttered. This time, the strange sound grew louder. Thud-. It felt as if the ground beneath him was shaking, and then the height rose rapidly.
Before I knew it, an altar similar to the guy’s had been created below me. However, unlike the guy’s, this one was extremely noisy. The guys were cursing and swearing at me.
“Sit down.”
He spoke again. I wondered what he would make next if I didn’t sit here, but since the estimate hadn’t come out yet, I sat down.
“pup!”
He cursed at me for making the chair heavy. I apologized, but all I got in return was a curse.
Why are you yelling at me? I clicked my tongue and farted softly. More curses poured out. I tried to giggle, but the corners of my mouth wouldn’t go up.
I focused on the guy. I was constantly thinking and estimating how many steps I had to take to close the gap between him and me, what he might have, and how I could cut his neck.
The more I did that, the less I trembled while holding the sword. As I imagined cutting off the bastard’s head and sprinkling his blood, the tension subsided.
The guy just stared at me.
The bastard’s eyes seemed to pierce through me.
When I looked at him, even though it was just eye contact, his eyes were hot as if he was looking at the sun.
I gritted my teeth and did not avert my eyes.
The basis of fighting was momentum. Even if the opponent was a fraud who called himself a god, momentum was important.
Since we’ve come this far, there’s no way it could end with a conversation. I didn’t intend for it to end that way in the first place.
‘You have a favor to me,’
I wondered if it was a favor to create an altar with a living person and have them look me in the eye.
I kept looking at the guy.
I found his opening.
“You look curious.”
The guy continued speaking.
In fact, I was just guessing how many steps I would have to take to cut off that bastard’s neck, but I nodded because there was no need to say anything.
And I also wondered why the emperor would do such a thing.
“The world was slipping out of my hands.”
He spoke quite calmly.
‘···The world was about to slip out of your hands?’
I frowned at those arrogant words. However, the guy continued speaking with a calm expression.
“Do you know what the continent was like before the empire was founded?”
I tapped the hilt of the knife without answering.
“It was terrible. Those idiots called themselves kings and fought wars every day to expand their own country. There wasn’t a single peaceful day. The continent was red.”
The bastard turned his gaze. Then the people under the altar gathered together and soon began to bite each other.
“Then I realized. Just as animals need to be locked up in cages so they don’t fight, humans also need to be suppressed.”
The ones who had been biting suddenly lowered their heads. They were still moving their mouths, but because their heads were down, they couldn’t bite each other.
“I have established an empire by the will of God. The boiling blood has quieted down, and we no longer bite each other.”
The corners of the emperor’s mouth rose slightly.
I looked at that disgusting table and tried hard to keep myself from cursing. Not yet.
“I see.”
When I nodded, the guy’s face lit up. It seemed as if he was asking for my consent.
“I’m still bleeding, but not as much as I used to.”
The emperor spread his hands to the left and right, and the men at the altar chanted the Empire.
Knock knock, I nodded again. I even clapped my hands in time with the cheers.
The bastard smiled even brighter, perhaps because he liked the applause.
“But then these fools started to go astray. They didn’t even know how to be grateful. Ignorant and uncivilized.”
This time, I nodded sincerely. The guy’s expression hardened slightly. Yeonho continued on.
“I intend to remake the world.”
The emperor rose from his seat. His clothes were fluttering. They seemed to be made of a fairly good material.
To remake the world was truly a mad thing. Yet there was not even the slightest tremor in his voice.
He was confident that it would be possible.
From the way you spoke so earnestly, it seemed like you wanted something from me.
“It’s a new world. Well, there are a lot of uncivilized people there.”
I loosened the corners of my lips and followed him. I measured the distance between us. It was closer than before.
Now it was time to do it.
If he lets his guard down even just a little bit-.
“Karma is needed for hypocrisy to rise. But even though I have collected so many, there are hardly any useful ones.”
I clapped my hands as if I was moved, and stepped forward slightly.
“If you help me, I will appoint you as crown prince. The new world will be cleaner and more obedient than this.”
The guy held out his hand with a cool smile.
I had no choice but to approach to shake hands. I smiled brightly at the good excuse and stepped forward again.
Then, the altar below crumpled, and the distance between me and the thing suddenly became shorter.
Knock knock. I stared at the bastard, shouting, “Long live!” Just a little more······. Just a little more-.
With just one step left, the altar suddenly stopped.
The emperor’s face returned to its usual expressionless state.
“How dare you lie to me. How foolish.”
The altar collapsed with the emperor’s mumbling.
The altar didn’t just collapse, it flooded towards me. Countless brick men tried to bite me. All kinds of curses and hatred poured out.
‘Was it Gung Ye?’
I ran as soon as I got the hint, but the altar had already collapsed.
I was torn apart by the men surrounding me and fell down. Kwaang-! A heavy impact was felt on my back.
I got up from my seat, shaking off the ones that were clinging to me.
The altar of the emperor had become so high that it was now painful to look up at it.
“I see why Arrogance chose you.”
The Emperor’s voice was heard from all sides. The brick men were speaking in the Emperor’s voice.
When the Emperor raised his right hand, a huge current was felt.
Hell moved as if alive, following the gesture.
‘The acting was good.’
I clicked my tongue and shook off the things stuck to my body.
The buildings spread out in all directions became entangled with each other and grew in size. Countless numbers of brick men were created around the altar, the size of apostles.
There were so many of them that it was impossible to even count them.
The army rose up in full force. From giants to dragons, every terrible thing imaginable was there.
‘It was a good thing I left it behind.’
He swallowed thick saliva and readjusted his grip on the sword.
“I knew you were stupid from the moment you came in alone-.”
The Emperor’s voice rang out again.
All kinds of hideous things made noise with his voice.
Hell bared its teeth at me.
“Alone-.”
I muttered and laughed out loud.
‘hey-.’
Feeling the cool touch of the hilt of the knife, I quietly muttered.
As if it had been waiting, the faint connection became stronger.
Thud! Thud! My heart started beating wildly.
The field of vision that had been filled with red suddenly turned black and white.
My spirits soared and then sank to the bottom.
My whole body trembled. The excruciating pain started from my toes and spread to the top of my head.
Rather, the corners of my lips became lighter, so I raised them as much as possible.
The emperor frowned at him and waved his hand.
Thump thump thump.
At that gesture, hell came rushing at me.
In a hell of screams, cries and curses-.
‘Oman.’
I called out to him softly.
After a very brief silence-.
– My friend.
God has descended.
