Chapter 220: #Want God’s Salvation? Well Then

Sam-Shin’s destructive beams smoldered like molten iron as they hit Ant Emperor. The impact weakened his legs, making the Ant Emperor stumble backward.

“You made me take a step back?”

He looked down at Sam-Shin in disbelief. Even though he had devoured two High-tier gods not too long ago, the boy’s attack still dealt so much damage.

“Who are you?”

Clenching his small fists, Sam-Shin shouted, “Des...troy!”

“Fine, I’ll figure it out myself!” Ant Emperor’s eyes glowed brightly as he looked into Sam-Shin’s essence. “God of Destroyer’s fragment?”

Above High-tier gods were the Top-tier ones. Nightmare, Abundance, War, and Justice. They were more than just gods; they were concepts—beings that shaped all ten worlds. However, even among those at the pinnacle of all gods, there was one being they feared: God of Destroyer, an ancient god from the dawn of time who had gone mad and devoured worlds one by one.

Ant Emperor stared at Sam-Shin, his face instantly twisting with greed. He could become even more powerful if he devoured the boy!

“Hand that power to me!”

Clang!

He went straight for Sam-Shin. However, his razor-sharp claws sliced through Sam-Shin as if he were incorporeal. Moreover, Sam-Shin grew more transparent with each passing second.

Ssss...

“Des...troy?”

Puzzled, Sam-Shin finally realized why. He had used his third and final destruction beam, exhausting all of his divine power. Sam-Shin made eye contact with the mangled Zan Le Mang.

N-no!

“Des...troy...”

He gazed at her pitifully. He wanted to protect his first follower. Unfortunately, a few minutes later, he vanished completely.

“Where are you?!” Ant Emperor frantically scanned his surroundings, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Tears of blood streamed down Zan Le Mang’s face.

I failed to protect him again!

A deathly despair washed over her as she recalled the traumatizing loss of her younger brother.

“Get over it and stand up, Unni. Little Sword God probably isn’t dead.”

Click clack!

A lady in a bright red

qipao

and stilettos walked past the helpless Zan Le Mang. In spite of her blurry vision, she tried to take a good look at the woman.

Lin... Xiaoming?

Lin Xiaoming was an S-rank Hunter from China and ranked fourth in the world. Although she was one of the leading candidates to win the Hunter War, she didn’t participate this year, so what was she doing here?

“

Hoho!

In all my years, this is the first time I've seen something this absurd.”

Standing beside Lin Xiaoming, the shirtless Choi Kang-San proudly displayed his majestic muscles—befitting an S-rank Reinforce-type Hunter.

“Aren’t you overdoing it though, Skull? I heard Il-Shin took all your Yaksha soldiers away.”

Clad in long black robes like a grim reaper, Ko Sa-Deuk casually stroked his beard. He then let out a sinister laugh. “

Keke,

don’t worry. I’ll just use your corpse if you die.”

“

Tsk,

says the one who’ll die first.”

Their arrival sparked a rallying cry.

“Slay that monster!”

“Save Zan Le Mang!”

“

Aaargh!

How dare you hurt Igis, you monster!”

S-rank Hunters from France, Greece, and every nation participating in the Hunter War rushed into the arena. Over a hundred S-rank Hunters and countless A-rank Hunters united, creating a concentrated force of global power.

“You insects are getting ahead of yourselves!” Ant Emperor’s eyes flashed ferociously. “I don’t have to deal with all of you personally.”

Riiip!

His palms ripped open, and a dark cloud—no, a swarm of flies with crowns on their heads emerged from them.

Kwaaaa!

“Beelzebul, sing the song of destruction for me.”

Buzzzzz!

The fifth of the Ten Swords beat his wings, each flap echoing through the stadium like a hymn.

***

Back in Team Korea’s waiting room, the monitors showed the horrific carnage happening live in the arena. Hunters from all over the world were strewn everywhere like trash, gasping for breath They were covered in black spots, making them look as though they had been struck by some sort of medieval plague.

「

Haa

,

uuugh

...」

Bzzzz!

A swarm of bizarre, crowned flies hovered above them, rubbing their forelegs together and cackling with delight. It was hell on earth.

The audience was stunned. A mere swarm of flies had reduced the world's greatest Hunters to such a poor state before they could even touchAnt Emperor!

「

Aaaargh!

Save me!」

「Help!」

The audience scrambled to escape.

「Who said you could move?」

Ant Emperor, the only one left standing, turned to them as his low voice reverberated throughout the arena.

「I’ve never given you permission to move.」

Clack!

The audience froze like statues. They turned to the monster, too terrified to even scream.

Ant Emperor snapped his fingers.

Bzzzzz!

A considerable number of flies gathered into the shape of a throne.

Sss—

Ant Emperor sat down and raised his arm, revealing the symbol of Gods’ Sacrificial War—a black skull tattoo.

「Come out, Yu Il-Shin. It’s time for us to fight.」

「What, too scared? Until you show up, I'll kill ten thousand humans every ten seconds.」

「As a god, shouldn’t you protect your followers?」

Ant Emperor began counting with his fingers.

「One.」

The countdown of death had begun.

「Two, three.」

“

Tsk!

You fucking monster!” Sung Mi-Na glared at the monitor, biting her nails until they bled.

“Eeek

!”

Tsss!

Even Sung Mi-Ri desperately held back the rage that threatened to explode at any moment. As much as they wanted to join the other Hunters, they had someone to protect—Yu Il-Shin, who had entered meditation earlier.

“I can’t stand around any longer! Unni, I have to do something!”

"Do you want to die?! Take Yu Il-Shin and get out of here! I'll buy us some time!"

“No! Unni, you should take Mr. Yu away instead!”

“How noisy.”

“Mr. Yu!”

“Il-Shin!”

「Four, five.」

Ssss—

Yu Il-Shin, or rather, Yi-Shin looked at the monitor. He could feel Ant Emperor’s overwhelming power prickling his skin.

“There’s still no clear answer.”

No matter how many times he ran simulations in his head, he couldn't find a way to defeat this monster, whose power far surpassed a High-tier god’s.

「Six, seven.」

Wooooo!

The skull tattoo on his arm cried out, releasing dark divine power as if urging him to fight. With the symbol present, running was pointless. Not that he intended to.

「As a god, shouldn’t you protect your followers?」

Yi-Shin gritted his teeth.

That arrogant, insolent insect.

To hell with the audience—his family and followers were out there!

He stood up, then turned to the Sung sisters.

“You girls should stay here and watch.”

“What? What nonsense is that?!”

“N-no! We should fight together! That monster is too strong!”

“Just be quiet and do as you’re told. I have something else for you to do.”

Yi-Shin raised his thumb silently, followed by a flash.

***

“Ten.” Along with the countdown, Ant Emperor folded his last finger. “What a disappointment, Yu Il-Shin. Some god you are.”

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Kwaaaa!

He pointed his flaming index finger at the audience, who were paralyzed by fear and despair.

“

Aaaargh!

”

“S-save

meeee!

”

-Carnage Flames of God.

The flames surged toward the audience.

Flash!

The space behind Ant Emperor tore open, and Yi-Shin stepped out. Sensing his presence, Ant Emperor turned around, but Yi-Shin was a step faster.

Yi-Shin swung his sword upward. “Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword, First Stance: Demon Lord’s Descent!”

Baaam!

Struck squarely by the blow, Ant Emperor was sent hurtling into the sky like a rocket.

Whiiiir!

Enraged, Beelzebul’s flies swarmed over to Yi-Shin, spraying him with the curse of diseases. However, Yi-Shin paid them no heed. He swung his sword at the Ant Emperor once more, now a speck in the sky.

“Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword, Second Stance: Demon Lord’s Pratāpana!”

He was just starting. Yi-Shin quickly crossed his left middle finger and right thumb.

“Convicting Middle Finger of God! Proliferating Thumb of God!”

Crackle!

The malevolent god's sword fused with the eternal fires of hell, surging toward the Ant Emperor with a force worthy of a god.

-

Kieeee...

Caught in the flames, the swarm of flies disappeared without a trace.

However, as he looked at the sky, Yi-Shin gritted his teeth.

“Fucking insect monster...!”

Ant Emperor flew gracefully in the air with his vibrant wings. He then landed swiftly before Yi-Shin. Despite taking the full brunt of the attack, he remained unscathed thanks to his armor.

Ant Emperor smirked. “Alright, I retract my previous statement, Yu Il-Shin.”

He was certain that the helmeted man was Yu Il-Shin—after all, he had the mark of the Gods’ Sacrificial War on his arm.

“Still, you’re far too weak to take me on. This is very unexpected. I could beat you to death with just my left hand.”

Yi-Shin clenched his fists until they bled. His pride was hurt. “Well, I can’t deny that, but I still have alternatives.”

Ant Emperor looked intrigued. “

Ho?

You think you can defeat me? Do your worst.”

Yi-Shin glared at the emperor and raised his hand.

Thud!

His helmet rolled to Ant Emperor’s feet.

Puzzled, Ant Emperor asked, “What are you doing?”

Meanwhile, Yi-Shin’s face was exposed to the colosseum audience and viewers worldwide, watching this infernal spectacle unfold live.

「I am Yu Il-Shin.」

As the cameras and drones from global broadcast stations zoomed in on his face, he made a declaration to the world.

「To everyone watching this fight live, if you want to live, then say ‘I believe in Yu Il-Shin' with utmost sincerity.」