Chapter 292: Chapter 290

Beyond the thick fog, the 'erosion' began in earnest.

[Grow.]

Whoosh—

The Apostle of Paradise leisurely strolled through the fog, indiscriminately scattering seeds. The scattered grains burrowed into the ground, And the pristine forest of Yangpyeong began to change.

[Thrive.]

Stretch— Stretch—

The clean soil gradually turned dark purple and began to become sticky like flesh. And the roots of Elvenwood spread like blood vessels.

Squelch— Squelch Squelch—

Shoots sprouting from the ground began to entwine everything around them. Tree trunks wriggled and grew grotesquely. It was a form that could no longer be called a tree. It moved and grew on its own like a living creature.

[This will become my new paradise.]

Rustle—

Dirty mycelium covered the forest. It spread like a spider web, infecting everything around it. Trees, grass, stones... even the air. Everything gradually transformed into a form familiar to the Apostle of Paradise.

[I offer all this to my great gods, Itarim.]

...Wherever his footsteps touched, the pristine nature of Yangpyeong turned into that of the outer universe.

Swoosh—

Sprouts of Elvenwood began to emerge here and there in the humid fog. They grew at an astonishingly fast pace, changing the surrounding scenery in an instant. The healthy pine trees rotted away, infected by the roots of Elvenwood. And the rotten forest became nutrients for Elvenwood. The small animals that played in it began to mutate into hideous magical beasts.

Kyaaaaa—!

[Haaa. This is good.]

The Apostle of Paradise took in the familiar air and grinned wickedly at the edge of the paradise he created. This was progressing at a much faster pace than when he created flowerpots in other places. It showed how eager he was, how enraged he was at Suho, who humiliated him. It was then...

[...Humans?]

A completely different scene came into the Apostle of Paradise's view. For some reason, that place alone felt brightly lit.

"Unni! Look at this!"

"Wow, it's a pretty flower!"

"Me too, me too!"

Giggles — Bright laughter.

He could see children playing and chatting cheerfully. Children were smiling brightly in a spacious, beautifully decorated garden. Their innocent laughter echoed in the clear sky that hadn't been eroded yet.

[An orphanage. This is perfect.]

The Apostle of Paradise's eyes gleamed as he spotted the place while walking from afar. When he first arrived on Earth, he wasn't interested in the human race at all. What was the point of knowing what kind of ecosystem was on this planet? He would just kill them all and melt them into a handful of mana. All he had to do was erode and contaminate the plant and turn it into the familiar ecosystem he lived in. But while staying with Yuri Orlov in Russia, he happened to notice something.

'Family'

A concept that didn't exist in their universe, but did in the human world. The concept of 'family' was a very unfamiliar culture to the Apostle of Paradise. If he had to compare, Itarim, who created him, was closer to a parent, but it was fundamentally different from the human concept. First of all, humans didn't worship and serve the parents who created them as gods. And their parents didn't annihilate their creations for disobeying orders. That was quite curious and unsettling at the same time. And then he discovered humans who were abandoned by their parents.

Creatures abandoned by their god? Wasn't it familiar? A fragmented soul, driven to the battlefield by God's orders, fighting and having its personality and abilities torn apart, sent to another dimension, That was the state of the Apostle of Paradise himself. So he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with orphaned children who lost their parents. Perhaps when he first discovered Yuri Orlov in Russia, the reason why he readily cooperated with that human's obvious and blatant desire was also because of that. Yuri Orlov was also an orphan, so he was drawn to the source of his deprived desire. But as he observed human behavior more while staying with Yuri Orlov, there was something he couldn't understand the most. It was the orphanage. For some reason, humans gathered and managed creatures who lost or were abandoned by their parents in one place. Under the pretense of protecting and caring for them. It was truly... an unsettling and useless act.

"Okay, everyone, stop playing and come inside! It's lunchtime!"

"Yay! What are we having today?"

"Curry pork cutlet!"

"Really? Yay!"

"Wow—!"

A peaceful scene, as if painted in a picture, unfolded before his eyes. It was truly... unsettling. But the Apostle of Paradise knew now that it was all just a facade. His impression of visiting various orphanages in Russia, well, They acted peaceful on the surface, but behind the scenes, most of them were groups trying to fulfill the adults' desires by exploiting the children. And the souls of the orphans trapped inside...

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

[...Were delicious prey.]

Gulp. The Apostle of Paradise, slowly approaching the Yangpyeong Child Protection Center, swallowed his saliva with a meaningful expression. Souls with great deficiencies, souls distorted by suppressed desires, were the perfect ingredients for his soldiers.

Whoosh—

Following his footsteps, the trees in the forest rotted away, and the earth crumbled. That thick darkness was slowly approaching to cover the laughter of those poor souls pretending to be happy. It was then.

"Unni, look! Another flower bloomed!"

A girl in the garden in front of the building was pointing in this direction with a smile. Her finger pointed at the Apostle of Paradise. More precisely, at the otherworldly flowers blooming behind him. Although they seemed to be called 'Elvenwood' on this planet, in the universe where he lived, such creatures were classified as 'predatory plants.' The Apostle of Paradise was now standing before the girl, who tilted her head at his smile.

"Who are you?"

[Would you like to eat this?]

"...?"

Instead of answering, the Apostle of Paradise held out a tempting red fruit to the girl.

* * *

Yangpyeong.

A natural wonder where the greenery of the trees and the hazy fog intertwined. There was a man sitting in meditation with his eyes closed on a steep cliff. An elderly man. Blue gems the size of fists were embedded all over his body, where gray hair was sparsely growing.

Starpieces. The alien energy emanating from those gems, where the mana of the outer universe was highly concentrated, were both a curse and a blessing to this man. He could use the foreign energy through this medium, but in return, that tremendous power was gradually eroding his body.

Crack— Crack— Crack

Tremendous dimensional pressure. Because of that, his skin and muscles were precariously close to being torn apart. The numerous Starpieces embedded in his body were wriggling, trying to create dimensional cracks in him. But...

'Endure.' He had to endure. This power was forcibly implanted in him, so suppressing those cracks was also his responsibility.

Exhale—

Muscles that were swollen as if about to rip apart. A body absurdly developed for an old man. And above all, he possessed the experience to handle this alien energy skillfully, unlike a human. Yes. He was skilled, Inhumanly so. There was a reason why this was possible...

Because this wasn't his first time. Accepting this tremendous power that a human couldn't handle into his body. No, once... He once even had to forcefully cram an even more absurd power into this feeble body. To protect his son, risking his life.

'...So I can do it this time as well.' Sung Il-Hwan gritted his teeth. His vessel was sufficient. He knew the trick. All he was doing now was retracing the path of hardship he had experienced in the past. Although the pain in the process was unavoidable, it was theoretically possible.

'I will definitely succeed.'

Rumble—

Void Gate.

A door leading to the dimensional gap was open right behind him, who was sitting in meditation. He knew that if he took just one step beyond that, this pain that was tearing him apart would disappear like melting snow. Because he was safe inside the dimensional gap. But before that one step, deliberately enduring all this pressure and pain throughout his being was a kind of training. Enduring the suffering and increasing his body's durability. Pushing himself to the limit until his muscles tore. Torturing his soul until his vessel was about to break. And after enduring all that, growing one step at a time. In short, it was strength training.

Strain— Exhale—!

Crack! Snap—!

Sung Il-Hwan was deliberately drawing the mana of the outer universe into his body and torturing himself. Of course, this was a secret he kept from his family. If they knew he was doing something this dangerous, they would definitely try to stop him. But he had to do it. The war was over, but new enemies had appeared. And those foes were much stronger than before. Just like back then, his son was still fighting all those enemies alone. To protect everyone.

...Of course, he knew. His son was all grown up now. It was absurd how much he had matured. To the point where he didn't need any help or advice from his father anymore. His son had grown into a fine adult. And before he knew it, he had even become a father himself. But, what difference did that make? Despite all that, he was still his son,

'And I am his father.' No matter how grown-up his son was, was there any father in the world who would just stand by and watch as his son risked his life fighting? If his son struggled to protect the world,

'...I will protect my son.' As always. Even if it meant risking his own life.

'So I will definitely... make this power mine.' It was then...

Flash—!

Sung Il-Hwan, who was meditating peacefully before the Void Gate, suddenly opened his eyes.

"...Hmm?" Something had changed.

The air felt different. Somewhere beyond the fog, He could feel the dimensional wall rippling. It was an instinctive sensation, not a skill or anything. The Starpieces embedded in his body were buzzing. They were screaming.

"What is this?"

Sung Il-Hwan, feeling the change, looked beyond the fog with a fearsome expression. It felt ominous yet familiar, as if something had suddenly appeared from beyond.

"Who is it? Who has appeared?"

He didn't know the identity. But he could say with absolute certainty. Whoever it was, judging from how happy the Starpieces were, they were definitely not on humanity's side.

"I'll find you myself."

His contemplation was brief. Sung Il-Hwan jumped off the cliff without hesitation.