New Humanity (2)
A long groove had been carved through Raviet's city like the trail of a rolling snowball.
Rumbling!
With a thunderous roar, Son Yujeong was flung from one end of the city to the other.
"Ugh, damn it…"
Pinned between ground and wall, her neck bent at an awkward angle, she glared ahead.
A red-skinned demon was walking toward her with his hands clasped behind his back.
"I'm sick of this."
Reflected in the gold flash of Son Yujeong's eyes, Shirone's figure looked like a great truth rolling in.
"Kiiiii!"
She twisted her face into a snarl and threatened him. Shirone clicked his tongue.
"Haven't you come to your senses yet?"
"What did I even do to deserve this fuss? I'll live how I want—why the hell do you all get to decide? I came to save a friend! I don't give a damn about hell!"
"That's exactly the problem. You stir up trouble without thinking, and the situation just keeps getting worse."
"What are you talking about? You do whatever you want too! Nane, Imere—everyone swings their power around. Why am I the only one who can't?"
"Doing whatever you want, huh."
Shirone stopped and looked down at Son Yujeong.
"It's not that you don't know what to do, is it?"
"You have no convictions. You're a bomb. Someone you wouldn't want near you whether you call them good or evil."
His power could have leveled the Great City.
"Because you have no conviction, you're easily swayed by other people's emotions. They'll try to use you, to control you. Only those kinds of people will swarm around you."
Richela, who had been silent amid the overwhelming tension, made a momentary pained expression.
"So are you any different? What makes Buddha so special? I still have the Gingoju around my neck—what kind of sermon is that?"
"You might think that now. Help me purify hell. If you gain insight along the way, you'll attain true freedom." Son Yujeong snapped back.
"I'm already free! I can do anything! As long as it isn't that damn gold band!"
Her belligerence flared and her body flushed red. Shirone sighed.
He understood Nane's feelings.
'If someone with malice tries to use her, she could become a lethal variable. I need to detain her now.'
Son Yujeong bared her teeth.
"Kruuu!"
Though preparations for sortie were done, there was doubt about what else could be done against Yahweh.
'What do I do? She's using some really strange technique. Honestly, this is more irritating than a sermon.'
A flash sparked in her golden eyes, and something in the darkness watched.
'Huh?'
The Seven Generals' Ilgak and Baeksa.
Ilgak was a goblin with long horns, Baeksa a woman with the skin of a white serpent.
'So that strange feeling was them. If you want to fight, fight—why keep spying?'
She checked Shirone's pensive expression and found a sliver of hope for escape.
'Right. I wondered why Yahweh would disguise himself as a demon—he was aware of them.'
Richela had told her demons hated Yahweh above all.
'I can't memorize the Gingoju.'
She decided, hauled herself up from where she'd fallen, and shot into the sky.
"Kekeke! Try and catch me!"
Even as her voice dwindled, Shirone's expression didn't change.
"Return."
As he murmured, smoke burst from him like a meteor and collapsed to the ground.
A scream followed.
"Aaaargh! You bastard! You damned—!"
With the Gingoju hooked on her throat, Son Yujeong clutched the gold band and rolled on the ground.
"What's wrong with you? Why on earth—?"
Richela, tumbling with her, felt a chill when she saw Son Yujeong's face.
All the veins on her face stood out; a massive shock was sweeping through her eyes.
Shirone muttered again.
"Son Yujeong."
"Aaaargh! Stop! Stop it!" Her voice was small, but to Richela it felt like the whole world was vibrating.
"I'll give you three seconds. One… two…"
"Eeeeeeek!"
As the pain vanished, Son Yujeong sprang up and lunged at Shirone.
She landed with a heavy thud and, breathing hard, dropped to one knee.
"Hah! Hah!"
In her eyes she saw Shirone's true form—Yahweh at a full one hundred percent.
"…Weren't you trying to hide it?" Shirone said with a wry expression.
"Yeah. You ruined everything. You always do. So now you're going to help me."
"No… I said no."
When Shirone narrowed his eyes, Son Yujeong flinched.
"Hiiik!"
The Gingoju is an artifact that reacts to the true heart of someone who has reached deep enlightenment.
Even if it weren't unlawful, every word Shirone spoke had the force of doctrine.
Son Yujeong reached out a hand.
"Don't! I told you to stop!"
"Then listen. Will you restrain your reckless behavior and do as I say?"
Shirone scanned the darkness.
'They've already left.'
When he revealed Yahweh in full, an uncontrollable killing intent filled the city.
But the power vanished in an instant.
'Not stopping me immediately must be a strategic decision. Still, keeping Son Yujeong by my side could be advantageous.'
No sooner had the thought finished than Son Yujeong's eyes rolled back and she charged at terrifying speed.
"All right! If you want to die, let's die together!"
"Tsk."
He clicked his tongue once and the Gingoju contracted; her eyes widened.
"Huh—ack!"
She flung away even her sword, grabbed her throat, and fell backward onto the ground.
"Aaaah! No! No, never! Let me go! I'd rather you kill me!"
Shirone watched without emotion. At last she broke down and cried.
"All right. I was wrong. I'll do whatever you ask—please stop."
A pang of pity touched him.
"You're different from Habitz. You're still a blank slate. That must be why Nane feels sorry for you."
If she'd been judged beyond redemption, Nane would already have eliminated her.
"Get up."
Wiping her tears away, Son Yujeong rose and Shirone admonished her.
"For now, do as I say. Discover for yourself why you must."
"All right. So what do you want me to do? Should I start by taking off my clothes?"
When Son Yujeong made a show of undressing, Shirone raised an eyebrow.
"You brat."
"Hiiik!"
Feeling the Gingoju shrink, she jumped and dropped to one knee in surprise.
"Where did you learn only the worst things? You have a mission to change the flow of the age. Don't turn away from responsibility."
"Tch!"
Son Yujeong bristled.
'I was going to roast her and then be done with it. Yahweh and Buddha end up the same when it comes down to it.'
Shirone turned his head toward Magrite's castle.
'Lete must have already heard. If so, the most dangerous place is the old castle.'
From behind him he felt Son Yujeong slinking away like a cat.
"Son Yujeong."
Her shoulders trembled.
"Yes? Yes!"
"Come to that castle. Don't fight the demons—follow me straight away."
"All right."
She answered sullenly, and Shirone spread his wings and rose.
'Wait, Rian.' As Shirone roared away, Richela—attached to Son Yujeong's waist—shouted.
"Now. Run! Since it's come to this, go purify yourself in hellfire—noooo!"
As if finally taking revenge for all she'd endured, Son Yujeong grabbed his nose and twisted.
Blood poured.
"If I could've run, I would've. Even from a hundred thousand and eight thousand ri away I'd kill you."
In the end… she was caught.
"Aaaargh! This is infuriating! I'm going insane!"
Smoke trailed behind Son Yujeong's leap into the sky like a long tail.
Meanwhile, the command tent was filled with killing intent from the Seven Generals so dense it was hard to breathe.
Execution Captain Itaka asked again, "Yupi was Yahweh?"
Her pupils swallowed the light; her hair writhed like living things.
Ilgak said, "I saw it myself. He entered the city and we lost contact—turns out he pulled this trick."
Mo-nom glanced at Oris, who sat dazed in the corner.
"But why? Why would Yahweh disguise himself as a demon to fight intruders?"
"Perhaps… at the duke's instruction." Kimara said, "The head of the Fire Company is currently staying in the city. And the duke seems inclined to defend Yahweh."
"Lete?"
Itaka's hair lengthened and bolted toward the place where Magrite's castle stood.
Her eyes went wide; for the first time she rose from the executor's desk.
"I will see the Mother of Hell."
Just then, as everyone turned, the tent flap was drawn aside and Lete appeared.
With all Seven Generals in formation, Lete sized up the mood.
"Killing intent is plentiful. Do you Seven Generals have some reason to exude such an atmosphere?"
Everyone waited for Itaka's answer, but she swallowed her rudeness and stayed silent.
'The duke… seems to defend Yahweh.'
Already expecting the Seven Generals' stance, Lete said with a cold expression, "Explain. I've already spoken to the duke—there will be no more mercy."
'She is serious.'
Kimara trembled at the utterly different energy from when they'd met at the castle.
"All right. Let's dispose of the execution captain first." Lete raised her hand and hellfire that purged all demons flared fiercely.
'Mother of Hell.'
If all demons carried Satanic traits, Lete returned all demons to their primal essence.
"Yahweh—"
Before she could finish, Itaka prostrated and raised her head.
"Yahweh deceived us." The hellfire vanished.
Rian howled.
"Aaaah!"
Chains of Gehenna sprang from his body and sank into him like something that would devour him.
"Endure. You chose this. This is the fastest way we have."
To bind Gehenna's chains to the by ordinary means would take at least three days.
So they used randomness.
They spun the karma code at random, pulling chains until a connection formed.
"Ughhh…"
As Rian's groan subsided, Magrite trembled in pure awe.
'What an incredible body.'
The pain Rian endured must be greater than anything experienced even after falling into hell.
'Humans are a truly strange species.'
How could anyone not hate Shirone, who forced such unreasonable torment?
'Wait! I'm coming, Shirone!'
Rian's eyes burned as chains wrapped his entire body as if he'd been swallowed.
This time he couldn't hold back a scream.
"Aaaaargh!"
Chains slipped with a metallic sound and flew from Rian's palms.
They climbed the handle of the Daejikdo in a twisted path and fused the information together.
Seeing the glow red, Magrite cried out, "It worked!"
A normal sword would have melted in less than a second, but the remained intact.
"It doesn't break."
That was Ozent's conviction.
When Rian gripped the Daejikdo's handle tightly, a scorching blaze exploded outward.
Magrite thrust out both hands. "Wait! Not here!"
Before she could finish, the shot out and embedded itself in the laboratory wall.
"Hgh!"
Rian's eyes widened as tremendous power surged through the connected chains.
"Waaah!"
The wall, blazing like molten rock, vaporized completely, obliterating the underground landscape.
'Remarkable purification ability.' Magrite trembled.
'This can work. With this, we can purify all true negative karma.'
Put another way…
'A spirit domain is opening.'