TOP 28

Chapter 28

 Priest Lee Pil-seong (2)

‘…I’m fucked.’

That was the thought that came exactly one second after I smashed the priest’s face.

I hadn’t been able to suppress my rage and ended up socking him. Now the problem was cleaning up after it.

‘Too many people saw it.’

The very reason I hadn’t intended to kill that priest bastard here in the first place was simple—too many witnesses.

If I got charged with killing a priest, I’d become an enemy of the Order, and my freedom of movement would vanish.

But right now, I had just beaten the crap out of a priest of Gaia.

In front of quite a lot of people.

“What is the meaning of this…!”

The priest glared at me with wide eyes, pointing accusingly. My mind raced, and then I shouted:

“Watch out!”

‘Golem!’

Boom!

A mithril golem appeared right in front of me.

‘Phew.’

It was a hasty idea, but not a bad one.

I could frame the scene as—

─I pushed the priest away to protect him from the golem’s attack.

‘The timing’s a little off…’

But couldn’t I just insist?

If I claimed it had been an urgent situation, the civilians would have no choice but to believe it.

Of course—

“Wh-what is this…!”

The priest, who had the abilities of a 4-star Hunter, wasn’t fooled.

But that didn’t matter.

Another plan had already come to mind.

‘Golem. Kidnap that bastard!’

—Yes, mas…

‘Don’t respond!’

—…

I had to frame the mithril golem as a hostile monster anyway.

So why not use this chance to change locations?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“……!”

The golem instantly closed the distance and grabbed the priest in both hands.

“W-what are you doing!”

—Kidnapping.

“L-let me go!”

The priest couldn’t escape.

He’d already taken a hit from me, and the mithril golem had the strength of a 5-star Hunter.

Boom!

And just like that, the golem holding the priest vanished from sight.

“Ah! Priest!!!”

I raised my voice so everyone around could hear:

“This can’t be! I’ll go rescue him!”

I wasn’t killing a priest.

I was going to rescue him from being kidnapped by a vile monster.

Exactly.

Judgment.

The skill the priest had used earlier on the injured man.

I didn’t know the exact mechanics, but it seemed to be proof of faith in Gaia.

If you believed in Gaia, you were healed. If you didn’t, you were subjected to unimaginable pain.

‘Well… sure.’

Even if I generously let it slide when he used it on an injured man—shouldn’t he have stopped when they showed resistance?

That wasn’t judgment.

That was murder.

And the only justification? That the victim didn’t believe in Gaia.

I’d always known they weren’t good people, but this was crossing the line by miles.

Boom! Boom!

Following my command, the golem ran toward an uninhabited area, still clutching the priest.

It arrived at the foot of a nearby mountain, where only a few abandoned buildings stood, desolate and empty.

‘Perfect.’

No need to worry about spectators here.

I could finish this clean.

A perfect crime.

Crash!

The golem slammed the priest onto the ground.

“Gah!”

I landed on top of him.

Thud!

“……!”

The blow was so painful he couldn’t even scream, just widened his eyes.

And then—

—Insufficient power.

—Summon canceled.

Just in time, the golem’s summoning ended.

I’d already used up more than half its energy against the Demonsteel, and this time I’d completely drained what remained.

It was a shame I couldn’t summon it again for now, but I didn’t regret it. I’d used it at the most crucial moment.

Thud—

I grabbed the priest by the throat and lifted him.

“We’ve moved to a better place. Now… why don’t we have an honest little chat?”

“Guh…!”

I was going to kill him anyway.

But before that—

‘I need to wring out everything I can.’

It wasn’t often you got the chance to interrogate a priest of the Gaia Order one-on-one.

First things first:

“Name.”

Basic info.

But he didn’t answer.

Maybe he was the prideful type?

‘Oh, maybe not.’

A glowing blade of light suddenly swung at me, forcing me to release his throat.

“Guhk! Hhhahhh!”

He gasped desperately, sucking in the breath he’d been deprived of. He had used holy power to pry me off, even in his weakened state.

Finally, he spoke:

“…Do you even understand what you’re doing right now?”

An empty threat.

I’d only asked for his name.

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand the situation.”

I spelled it out for him in simpler words:

“You’ve been kidnapped.”

To remind him who really held the power here.

His response?

“Kidnapping a follower of the Order is a grave crime, grounds for a Class-2 wanted notice.”

“……”

“So if you don’t want to become a criminal, you’d better release me right—”

Utter nonsense.

I scratched my head.

“Ever heard of ‘perfect crime’? Or ‘wiping out the roots’?”

“……?”

“If you don’t know those—how about this: ‘no witnesses, it’s an assassination’?”

“……”

“Or this one: ‘the dead don’t speak’?”

“……!”

Finally, he caught on.

“I-Is it possible you mean to kill a priest of the Order, here of all places…?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“How dare you! Such blasphemy!”

So he hadn’t even considered that someone might dare kill a priest.

What arrogance.

“Now that you get the picture, name?”

“……”

Still no answer. As expected.

“Fine. I’ll beat you into ground meat. Then you’ll talk.”

Violence was the only thing that worked.

If he wouldn’t open his mouth, he’d just suffer more and more until he did.

He still didn’t grasp the difference in our strength.

“I hereby execute you on charges of kidnapping a priest of the Order.”

“Go ahead, if you can. Name?”

The priest’s arms flared with white light as he readied for battle.

“My name is Lee Pil-seong. Fourth-rank priest of the Order.”

So, Lee Pil-seong.

He’d actually revealed it. But—

“As Gaia wills, I will judge you. Judgment!”

Shhhhhh──!

He cast the same skill as before, the one meant to torment unbelievers.

But—

“You think I’ll just stand still?”

It wasn’t a fast-acting skill.

Against civilians, sure. Against a Hunter? Pointless.

I zigzagged forward.

Then swung a kick at his temple.

“Ugh!”

He ducked to dodge.

But that was exactly why I’d thrown such a big, obvious attack.

Swish—

I spun with the momentum of the kick.

From my subspace ring, I drew the Frostblade and thrust it at his exposed back.

Crunch!

A clean, seamless follow-up.

“Khghh!”

Thud.

He rolled away desperately, avoiding a pierced spine, but his side was torn open more than 20 cm.

A critical injury. No way he could keep fighting.

But then—

“…Holy Cure!”

“Holy power really is something.”

The wound sealed instantly.

That’s what made the Order so troublesome.

Their divine magic was insane.

‘Which is exactly why they grew so powerful.’

I’d heard that back before I was born, the Order expanded its power by using holy magic to clear gates regular Hunters couldn’t handle.

“Phew. I was careless. But not anymore.”

“Yeah?”

In reality, only priests ranked 3rd or higher—or paladins—had holy magic that really helped in combat.

A mere 4th-rank like him had almost nothing.

At best, a healing spell or two.

That might extend a fight, but it wouldn’t turn a loss into a victory.

Lee Pil-seong came at me again, throwing a jab, his hands coated in holy power.

This time no useless Judgment—just fighting skills.

I coated the Frostblade in aura and met him head-on.

Boom!

The clash was fierce, neither side gaining ground immediately.

But my follow-up was faster.

Slice—!

“Gaaaahhh!”

I severed his other arm before he could even react.

My combat skill was superior, no question.

But his spirit wasn’t broken yet.

“Holy Cure!”

Shhh—

That insane spell regenerated even his severed arm instantly.

“You bastard…”

His eyes burned with hatred, but something had changed.

I grinned.

“Healed already?”

“…My will shall never be broken!”

But he didn’t notice.

His voice trembled faintly.

“How long do you think you can keep healing?”

“I could last all day!”

“What about two days?”

“B-before that, your stamina will run out!”

A desperate shout.

And this was only the beginning.

“Good luck.”

I cheerfully encouraged him.

Not that it would change the outcome.

And so—

Slice—

“Ghhh… Holy Cure!”

“No wonder they call you ‘holy cockroach.’”

The grueling battle began, continuing until his divine power ran dry.

“Ghh, gggghhh…”

Groans spilled from Lee Pil-seong.

His limbs had been severed, and the Frostblade was lodged in his stomach.

Meanwhile, me?

“Phew. That was tiring.”

Just a little sweat.

A day of nonstop fighting wasn’t nearly enough to push me to my limits.

Not after all my training.

I locked eyes with him and asked again:

“Name.”

“Heh. You already know, don’t you?”

“I do. Just asking again. Name.”

There hadn’t been any real reason I started the interrogation with his name.

It just looked cool.

‘Wasn’t there some actual reason for that? Calibration, maybe? …No, that’s with lie detectors.’

Whatever. Not important now.

“Name.”

I asked again.

His mouth opened slowly.

“Lee…”

So sluggish. Was it hard for him to speak?

“…Eat shit, unbeliever!”

Boom!

“Khh.”

He suddenly struck me with his arm.

The same arm I’d severed earlier—already regenerated.

“You’ve still got power left?”

Creepy.

I’d been sure his holy power was depleted, but he’d regenerated again.

“…Ha.”

“Oh goddess! Your humble servant begs your aid!”

Fwoooosh—!

“Well, damn…”

I sighed in resignation.

“One day won’t cut it, huh.”

I’d wanted to finish this quickly.

But things weren’t going as I wished.

“Fine. Let’s go until the end, then.”

Once again—

I clashed with Lee Pil-seong, his body freshly regenerated.

Slice—

“Gaaaaahhhh!”