Chapter 532

Booooom!

Se-Hoon stared in disbelief at the golden cross shooting up into the sky, tearing into the heavens with explosive force. The cross, made from an immense amount of concentrated divine mana, had instantly killed roughly one-third of the hundreds of thousands gathered in the plaza.

What the...

In every sense of the word, it was a tragic catastrophe. And yet, the plaza was... quiet?

“...”

“...”

“...”

The survivors were all staring at the golden cross in

reverence

and

awe

. Being members of the Church, they interpreted the divine mana of the Pilgrim as a miracle rather than a threat—such a thing would surely never harm them. It was a delusional faith that had taken root so deeply that even the archbishops were misreading the carnage as divine providence.

In that plaza, only Se-Hoon could see the truth behind it all:

Karl Andersen went insane.

To the prayer of Apostate, who returned as an old man devoid of demonic aura and mana, Karl had actually responded by attacking the plaza with Divine Magic from the church underground.

As for why, Se-Hoon didn’t know. In fact, he knew only one single truth right now.

I have to stop them.

Determined to subdue the raged Pilgrim and Apostate who started the mess, Se-Hoon clenched the hand he stretched forward.

Crunch!

The space where Apostate had been standing imploded into a singularity. No blood, no remains—not a trace of him was left. Avoiding the people nearby, Se-Hoon had precisely compressed only the spot Apostate was occupying.

“...Huh?”

“Is that...?”

Finally reacting, the survivors looked around. With both the Pilgrim’s indiscriminate attack on the congregation and Apostate’s death at Se-Hoon’s hand happening in less than a second, they were still in shock.

Meanwhile, Se-Hoon’s attention had already moved downward into the underground cavern.

We’re still inside the Sanctuary.

If the Pilgrim had truly used his power in earnest, there was no telling what might happen—not just to the plaza, but the planet itself. Se-Hoon’s thoughts drew one conclusion: right was the first and possibly last chance to resolve things peacefully.

Wasting no time, Se-Hoon controlled the Warhound stationed underground.

Woong!

The Memorial Tower that stood at the heart of the Netherworld, the lantern that gleamed in the darkness, the arrow fired toward the future—the anchors naturally embedded in the world’s laws responded to Se-Hoon’s synesthetic mindscape to form a domain never seen before.

Strengthening the planet now would be too risky.

Instead of that, what Se-Hoon needed more was the isolation of Karl, severing him completely from the planet. For that... Se-Hoon drew on the power of Omniscience and opened the Akashic Record.

I need backup!

“Yeehaw! It’s finally my time to shine!!!”

Rumble!

At the excited cry of the Seeker, a wave of power surged out from within Se-Hoon and swept across the plaza.

The power of Boundaries created a distinct boundary that severed the surrounding reality; the flames of the Sacred Lantern burned the space between to neutralize discord; the power of Perception anchored the future into the present; and last but not least: the power of Omniscience that supported and amplified the three.

Supporting one another, the four laws of the world began splitting what was once a single world into a separate space—

Boom!

Everything shattered, smashed through by a torrent of golden light bursting up from within the old church beneath the plaza. It then descended once more toward the underground, engulfing everything in the blink of an eye.

The source was all too familiar, making Se-Hoon’s eyes widen and the Seeker screech.

“That lunatic! Drawing power from there is...!”

Karl—more than anyone else—was the closest to the Golden Ring. However, despite that, not once had he wielded its power directly... until now. To respond to Apostate’s prayer to annihilate humanity, Karl was actually actively channeling power directly from the Golden Ring.

There’s only one choice I can make now...!

Without hesitation, Se-Hoon abandoned his plan and collided directly with Karl.

Infinite Martyrdom: Salvation Radiance

Wooooooong-

A flash of bright light obliterated everything, transforming the world into a void.

***

“...”

An unnatural silence hung in the air. Even if he were in the quietest place, there should have been at least the beat of a heart or the sound of flowing blood. Yet nothing. And what was even more bizarre than even that was that his thoughts were being fragmented over and over again.

“—se.”

He tried to move—the thought never reached his limbs. Strangely, it was somehow a familiar situation.

“

—ise.”

His disjointed thoughts persisted even amidst the surreal void. It felt as if he were falling endlessly in a never-ending dream that uncomfortably went on and on and on...

“Rise.”

A voice—familiar yet foreign—called him forth.

“Gah... cough!”

Se-Hoon jolted awake, struggling to breathe as his boiling blood coursed through his spasming muscles.

Did I... just regenerate my entire body?

From what he could tell, every part of him had been utterly erased before being restored. In essence, he had died and come back.

Grimacing, Se-Hoon looked around.

Whoosh-

A barren plain stretched endlessly to the horizon. All that could be seen was the golden earth covering the land and a golden cross towering over all in the center.

From the trace of Divine Magic it was giving, there was no room for doubt.

This is definitely the plaza.

The grand cathedral, the city, and the millions of people were all gone without a trace.

Se-Hoon overlooked it all in silence.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Suddenly, a gaunt figure appeared before his eyes: Karl, or rather, Apostate.

“The false god’s power that once mocked humanity has finally returned to the true divine.”

“...”

“I’ve dreamt of this moment for so long. You couldn’t possibly understand.” A voice trembling with joy, wild eyes gleaming with zeal.

At the return of Apostate, his body fully restored, Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes into slits.

“How are you still alive?”

Still no trace of mana nor demonic aura—he didn’t possess any skills. Also, he was unable to receive the Blessings granted to humanity. So how? How had he regenerated?

“...

That’s

all you have to say, even after witnessing a miracle?!” Apostate scowled.

Slice!

Apostate’s head fell off his body, severed by the space Se-Hoon had twisted with a slight movement of his hand. Continuing the offensive, Se-Hoon didn’t stop until every part of Apostate was torn apart.

CRUNCH!

He compressed the fragments of Apostate, grinding them into oblivion. Against a powerless old human, Se-Hoon’s spatial magic was absolute.

Crack!

Se-Hoon silently observed where Apostate had just stood, a location where not even a drop of blood remained.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“Blasphemer.”

Again behind him, just like before.

“To mock and doubt the miracle... how could He ever consider you a successor?”

Seeing Apostate was unharmed again, standing tall as if the previous attack had been a dream, Se-Hoon quietly analyzed.

“I see...” Se-Hoon’s murmur rang through the air. “So it wasn’t some sort of regeneration or evasion.”

Apostate

had

died, truly and unmistakably. It was just that the domain itself—which Karl constructed with his Final Revelation—resurrected him, offering him “salvation.”

But how?

The afterlife should be governed solely by Wurgen’s law; any resurrection should trigger a clash of principles. Yet Apostate returned twice without a single sign of conflict?

Se-Hoon’s brow furrowed; he grew warier.

“No need to overthink it.”

At the sight of his expression, Apostate stepped forward.

“The so-called powers you worship... are just cogs within the world’s machinery.”

“...”

“To us—mortals clinging to life—they seem divine. But on a cosmic scale, those, and even us, are all just specks of dust.”

Rustle, rustle.

Apostate walked slowly toward him, brushing golden sand aside. Se-Hoon just watched, unmoving.

“But He has transcended that limit and claimed that false god’s throne. He stands above all.”

Even without mana or demonic energy, Apostate was radiating a presence stronger than most high-ranking heroes... no, to be more accurate, it wasn’t him—it was the Perfect One behind him pressing down on the world itself.

“I offer you one last chance to repent.”

Arriving right before Se-Hoon, Apostate smiled.

“Let go of your twisted power. Return to the embrace of the true God. Then, I shall gracefully forgive your sins and welcome you again as a man.”

Woong-

Light poured from the Apostate’s body, far more intense than normal divine mana. Different from the Golden Ring’s might, the brightness was a pure, holy radiance that was irresistible to any living being.

Even Se-Hoon slowly extended his hand toward that brilliance.

If I can draw Lee Se-Hoon in... I can erase the false god completely.

At that moment, both Tuner and all the chaos he had unleashed onto the world would disappear as well. It would be a new age for humanity!

Imagining that future, Apostate watched Se-Hoon’s outstretched hand with anticipation...

Grab!

Only for him to be seized by the collar.

“What—”

THUDDD!!!

Se-Hoon slammed him into the ground, not allowing him to speak.

“Ugh... Cough!”

Apostate vomited blood, his spine crushed.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Se-Hoon mercilessly slammed Apostate down. However, it was not to kill but to cause solely pain to the ceaselessly regenerating Apostate.

“You... you bastard...!!!”

Throne Ring of the Archangel

BOOM!

Se-Hoon was sent flying.

Woong-

Two rings, decorated with dozens of eyes and white wings, were now hovering protectively around Apostate. They, which looked grotesque, were quite formidable.

“How... how dare... how daRE YOU REJECT GOD’S MERCY!!!”

“

Tsk-”

It was a world where no one should dare to resist God’s mercy...! Se-Hoon’s defiance was utter blasphemy.

“Huh? I’ve never wanted a god like that.” Yet Se-Hoon was completely calm, unfazed by Apostate’s anger.

“What...?”

“I understand now. You tampered with the Pilgrim’s values.”

Crack, crack.

Se-Hoon stretched, purging his body of Karl and Apostate’s power.

“Humanity, through the Blessings of the Perfect Ones, has transcended the old era of man. Using that, you pushed the Pilgrim’s doubts about them into motion.”

Apostate, claiming to be the last true human, defined everyone else as no longer human—twisted aberrations akin to demons—and offered a prayer based on that belief.

“And because the one who accepted that prayer is a madman who now sees himself as ‘God,’ the Golden Ring not only responded, it even

submitted

to his control.”

Faith and technological progress had created an absurd chain reaction.

“But it’s still incomplete. Since the change was triggered by your prayer, if I just erase you—”

“We can return things to the way they were. Is that what you’re trying to say?” Apostate finished mockingly. His body began trembling, and soon, Apostate bent over with uncontrollable laughter. “Hahaha! Brilliant. Truly a perfect insight!”

“...”

“So then? How will you kill me? Do you really think my God—my faith—is so flimsy it could be denied by a faithless wretch like you?!”

Cherubim Incarnation

Rumble!

All across the wasteland, the ground quaked as colossal monsters began emerging, their four wings spreading as they sang hymns with their three heads.

Woong-

Responding to their song, the sacred golden light descended once more. And at that very moment, Karl’s Divine Magic resonated with Apostate’s will to bring about another miracle again.

“Flimsy.” Yet Se-Hoon didn’t even bat an eye, calmly forming hand signs. “In the end, you’re still just a second-rate imitation of the Golden Ring."

The Perfect Ones, the Golden Ring, the world itself—all of them were ultimately insignificant, destined to fall before something as lowly as the Harbingers of Destruction. As for him? He, Le Se-Hoon, was the one who had brought down those very Harbingers of Destruction. There was nothing he couldn’t face.

Se-Hoon’s conviction—not faith—in the experience he gained through his regression began drawing upon the forces encircling the wasteland.

Dream Manifestation: World Reformation

The world that had been bleached clean began redrawing itself according to Se-Hoon’s will.