Chapter 717

Autonomous Personality Change.

Through her training with Gabriel, Teresa had gained the power to freely bring out another personality.

Moreover, it was an ideal form that sought the corrupted version’s consent rather than forcing it.

“Looks like you played a pretty fun trick on our innocent girl, huh?”

Snap!

Teresa tore apart the golden ropes binding her entire body.

[Special Skill ‘Divine Denial’ activates!]

At the same time.

She raised her greatsword high into the sky.

Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!

Instead of a golden wave, a thick, dark indigo aura surged forth.

“Wh-what? How can she use Mana?”

Dominic stammered.

At this moment, with the [Sacred Painting of Raphael] activated, the Saintess’s Mana circuits should have been completely blocked.

Yet he couldn’t understand how she was releasing such sinister energy.

“How foolish.”

Slash slash slash thud!

The sword wreathed in indigo dug straight into Dominic’s shoulder.

“Gyaaaah!”

A scream burst from Dominic’s mouth.

“That’s because what I’m using isn’t Divinity, you idiot.”

“Sir Dominic!”

“You blasphemous wench!”

The remaining Inquisitors swung their halberds and spears.

Clang clang clang clang bang!

Teresa deflected every incoming spear.

Then she plunged straight into the middle of the frenzied Inquisitors.

Slash!

Severed limbs flew wildly in every direction.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Aaaah!”

After cutting down seven of them in an instant, Teresa went after the eighth clergyman.

The only priest not wearing armor.

Hummmm!

[Unique Ability ‘Saint’s Mercy’ activates!]

A faint curtain spread out, blocking Teresa’s attack for the first time.

The priest shouted at her in rebuke.

“How do you intend to atone for these sins, continuing to pile up Karma like this!?”

“Ha! Sins? Wasn’t it you who wanted me to become corrupted? Then you should be glad to see me like this. You finally get to capture the witch you wanted so badly!”

Letting out a scornful laugh, Teresa pressed down on the curtain with brute force.

Crack!

A crack spread across the curtain.

“Im… impossible…”

The priest’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.

The defensive barrier, considered the pinnacle of Divinity, was on the verge of being shattered by sheer physical force alone.

At that point, it was Jang Bo-kyung who grew impatient.

“Damn it. Why are they all just getting pushed back?”

The flow of battle had started going wrong the moment Chun Yoosung began wielding a new sword.

Despite using not only the [Seed that Devours Entrails], but also the strongest Sacred Relics, [Iob’s Unstable Dice] and [Yaxedal’s Spear].

The tide of battle hadn’t tilted even a little in her favor.

Fizzle…!

An unimaginably ominous black Sword Aura.

What bloomed from Chun Yoosung’s sword was a darkness with no discernible bottom.

This alien and chilling sensation was something she hadn’t even felt when she met Shub-Niggurath for the first time.

…Dangerous.

Every one of her instincts was screaming the same warning.

That if things kept going like this, the mission might fail.

‘The risk is high, but… do I have no choice but to use that method?’

No, that was the very last resort.

First, she needed to wait for Hastings to finish off Kang Jinhyuk and join them here. If Kang Jinhyuk fell, that alone would shatter the enemy’s morale.

Right at that moment.

[Dimensions are connecting.]

Fizzle!

The world where Hastings and Jinhyuk had disappeared was connected once again.

“Got it!”

Jang Bo-kyung cheered.

It had truly come down to the wire, but thankfully the battle over there seemed to have been decided before things got any later.

Naturally, what should have emerged was Jinhyuk, reduced to a wreck and dragged out by Hastings.

However.

Thud.

The one who stepped out completely trampled over Jang Bo-kyung’s expectations.

===

“What’s this, there wasn’t much need to hurry after all?”

Jinhyuk let out a soft chuckle as he looked over the situation outside.

In terms of actual elapsed time, it hadn’t been much.

But in Jinhyuk’s personal sense of time, a very long while had passed.

If it weren’t for the passives [Cold Heart] and the perks of being [The First Conqueror of the Tower], his mind might very well have collapsed inside the shackles of Constraint Regression.

To that extent, the battle with Hastings had piled up fatigue on an entirely different level, both mentally and physically, from anything before.

“As expected…”

“Hmph. That’s more like the man our innocent girl wants.”

Chun Yoosung and Teresa smiled as though they had known it would end this way.

With that, both of their fighting spirits rose another level.

The already overwhelming gap widened even further.

“Th-that’s impossible. Hastings… lost?”

On the other hand, Jang Bo-kyung couldn’t possibly accept the reality before her.

No matter what else, she had believed there could be no human capable of escaping Hastings’s ability.

Even she, an Apostle of Shub-Niggurath, would have come out a ruined wreck if she had been trapped inside Hastings’s ability.

Then…

Just how strong was this human named Kang Jinhyuk?

The more she considered the possibilities, the darker and more immense the shadow of her opponent became.

At the same time, the odds of victory plummeted to the floor.

“I had a bit of a hard time.”

Jinhyuk took a leisurely step forward.

His footsteps felt utterly weightless.

While fighting countless battles against Hastings, he hadn’t merely been passing time.

He had spent that time thoroughly honing the abilities he already possessed.

“Damn it…”

Jang Bo-kyung unconsciously took a step back, widening the distance between herself and Jinhyuk.

The hand holding the spear trembled slightly.

Her fighting spirit had broken before they had even properly exchanged blows.

At this point, even the slightest stimulation would be enough.

[Unique Holy Spear: Rainbow Bridge activates!]

Green Mana exploded outward.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom bang!

Jang Bo-kyung reflexively raised her spear and deployed a barrier.

However, the explosion was merely a feint.

The real attack came with the second blow that pierced in from the side.

It didn’t even need to be fast.

The point was to leave her plenty of time to see it coming and block it.

“Too slow!”

Jang Bo-kyung swung her spear sideways, aiming to attack and defend at the same time.

“I know.”

Jinhyuk matched that trajectory with his fist.

‘Black Heavenly Demon Emperor’s Fist.’

‘Silent Wheel Shattering Spear.’

A crimson light stretched from a single point into a line.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

The spear flew high into the air.

Then it spun in several circles before stabbing deep into the sand.

Shudder shudder shudder.

Jang Bo-kyung trembled where she stood.

The shockwave that had skimmed past her cheek had pierced through more sand dunes than she could count.

If it had landed directly, her face would have been gone without a trace.

‘Good.’

‘This should be enough to make her fully understand the gap.’

Jinhyuk looked once more at the Status Window reflected in the [Eye of Gluttony].

[Copy Condition: Jang Bo-kyung, an apostle of the Elder God, is in a state of extreme chosen-one mentality and self-intoxication due to the choice she herself received. If you thoroughly train her and turn her into a double agent, you can copy one of her Unique Abilities and Skills. Additionally, if you extract 3 or more pieces of information from the Elder God side, you can copy the Unique Holy Spear she will obtain in the future.]

[The current Unique Holy Spear has not yet bloomed.]

The apostles of the Ancient Beings were different from ordinary apostles.

Because they received the blessings of such lofty beings, they could bloom a Unique Holy Spear rooted in the abilities of the Elder Gods with little effort.

Since it was still early, Jang Bo-kyung’s Unique Holy Spear had not yet appeared, but that ability would undoubtedly sprout soon enough.

‘Considering how troublesome she was, I really didn’t want to let her off easy, but it can’t be helped.’

This woman was a valuable intelligence asset who could extract information from the Elder God side.

On top of that, he could even copy the Unique Holy Spear she would obtain in the future, so her value was high in more ways than one.

“From now on, you have two choices.”

Jinhyuk spread his fingers toward Jang Bo-kyung.

But—

“Ha… choices? Why should I choose from the options you’re giving me?”

“You can’t accept the result of the fight?”

“You won the fight. But if you think that means you can order me around, you’re gravely mistaken. Someone like you knows about the Elder Gods, right? I’m an apostle blessed by them. No matter what you do, I’m an existence you can never touch. That’s what I’m saying.”

Jang Bo-kyung proudly lifted her chin.

“So I expect proper treatment as a prisoner of an Upper Echelon Power. As for compensation, I’ll arrange something appropriate. Better yet, you should just let me go right now.”

Wow. She still had some spirit left.

The Status Window had said her chosen-one mentality and self-intoxication pierced the heavens, and apparently it wasn’t wrong at all.

It looked like a thorough education was needed.

Let’s see.

[Subspace Inventory opens.]

“Are you in there?”

“Yes! Master! I’m here!”

Salamander popped her head out from inside the subspace.

“Bring out that thing I made a while ago.”

“Eeek? Are you serious?”

“Yes. I need to use it for a bit.”

“Ah, okay. Master, you’re not going to use it on me, right?”

“Don’t worry. I’m giving it to that girl over there.”

“Wow. Must be something really nasty. Hehe. This’ll be fun. I’ll bring it right away!”

A moment later, Salamander came back pinching her nose shut, carrying several glass bottles filled with an unidentified liquid.

A special drink reserved for those who refused to listen.

He had generously mixed in modern stinky tofu, mint chocolate, and mala sauce, then topped it off with trendy tanghulu.

After that, he had also added skate and bear bile, both supposedly good for the body.

Goblin lungs and ogre fingernails.

And of course, he hadn’t forgotten the ogre tendons either.

The so-called Good Child Medicine.

Anyone who drank it became good.

Anyway, that was the idea.

“Wh-what are you doing? You’re not planning to make me drink that, are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s homemade, so don’t be shy.”

With a bright smile, Jinhyuk brought the glass bottle right up to Jang Bo-kyung’s mouth.

What followed was hell.

Gulp… Uwaaak! Bleegh!

Jang Bo-kyung bawled as tears, snot, and vomit poured out all at once.

“Now then, where is the great Elder God? Shouldn’t He be descending right about now to save His poor apostle?”

Jinhyuk cackled as he pulled out another glass bottle.

“Now, what do you want to try this time? The one with giant bat droppings? Or this one with chocolate-doenjang-Greek-yogurt jam? Just pick.”

“Nooooooo!”

Jang Bo-kyung kept thrashing around, but the venom still hadn’t fully left her eyes.

It was fine.

She’d become good if she drank more.

She just hadn’t had enough yet.

“Oh my. That looks like some excellent medicine. Can I use some too?”

Teresa, who had been watching from the side with interest, held out her hand.

“It’s fine, but… are you planning to use this instead?”

“Yes. Our innocent girl doesn’t really want to kill them, after all.”

‘Hmm.’

‘That’s not it. What I wanted to say was that Inquisitors like them would rather die an honorable death. They’d never want to drink something like this.’

But it seemed it was already too late.

“Here, drink up. I’ll show you just how nasty a Corrupted Saintess can be.”

Wearing a wicked smile, Teresa personally shoved the directly-good-making medicine down the Inquisitors’ throats through a funnel.

“Gack! Cough!”

“K-kill me. Just kill me instead!”

Horrific screams began filling the desert.

Since Teresa’s Corrupted Mana had also been mixed into the medicine, they would probably have to live with the aftereffects for the rest of their lives.

Naturally, even if they survived, they would become bodies incapable of giving a proper testimony to the Vatican.

That could be considered repaying their debt in its own way.

How much time had passed like that?

[Boss monster has been defeated!]

The raid party fighting with everything they had on the other side had defeated the final boss monster of the Great Ramses Temple.

‘Nice.’

Jinhyuk lifted the completely spiritless Jang Bo-kyung with one hand.

Now that her spirit had been broken, he planned to take her outside and begin the proper intern procedures.

Then he noticed Chun Yoosung staring fixedly at one spot.

“……”

Chun Yoosung’s gaze was locked onto the pure white spear stuck in the desert.

It was [Yaxedal’s Spear], the Sacred Relic of Shub-Niggurath.

Since he had defeated its wielder in battle, he clearly intended to claim the spear as spoils of war.

Ah, right.

I almost forgot.

Jinhyuk quickly blew his whistle.

Then—

[Party member is summoned.]

Thump.

A white-haired boy dropped from the sky.

“Ow, ow, my back! I was waiting for that so-called perfect timing and almost died of boredom.”

“Sorry, sorry. I got a little too busy. But I brought you a lively, fresh fish with razor-sharp senses from all that fighting, so cheer up.”

“Right. He does look nice and sharp.”

The Returnee Adel looked at Chun Yoosung and licked his lips.

The way he ran his tongue over them looked exactly like a pervert.

“What the…?”

Chun Yoosung, who had been about to pick up the spear, froze on the spot.

His brain was turning too slowly to process what had just happened.

“Ah, he’s a friend of mine. He said he really wanted to fight you, you know.”

‘It’s absolutely not because I’m coveting the spear.’

‘It’s just, what do you call it? Right? A man’s loyalty. Promise. Trust.’

‘To uphold those things.’

‘And if it’s Yoosung, he’ll get through a trial like this easily enough.’

“Ahem! Look at my spirit. Since the boss is down, the labyrinth will start collapsing soon, so we should head out now. You two as well, don’t play too long and go home early to rest! Yoosung, call me if you survive!”

It was a shame he couldn’t watch the stalker-versus-stalker showdown, but it couldn’t be helped.

He didn’t have the confidence to face the wrath of Chun Yoosung, who had inherited the Sword Demon’s power.

Jinhyuk quickly grabbed the spear, then hurled himself toward the entrance without looking back even once.