WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 120: Malevolent Site - 4
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The Templar Order, led by Father Gabriele Santoro, found the stone wall before Yohan's group did.
"This is... a barrier with a spell cast on it."
The mercenary commander muttered as they examined the black stone wall.
"It's pretty thick. If we want to destroy it with a recoilless rifle... we'll need quite a few shots."
"The curse laid on this wall is especially vicious. We'll counter it with blessed sacred relics."
At Father Gabriele's words, the exorcists raised their hammers with both hands.
The hammers in their thickly gloved hands were sacred relic equipment made from pure silver alloy that had undergone consecration rites.
"One... twooo~"
A monk twisted at the waist, putting their whole body into the swing.
"Three!"
BANG!
A deafening barrage of hammer blows followed.
The trained exorcists struck the stone wall, but all they left behind were small dents.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The exorcists paced themselves as they kept hammering the wall.
The relic-forged hammers were certainly breaking down the wizards' spell, but the wall itself was physically tough.
"Even if we remove the curse, the wall's thickness will still be a problem."
"We've only tapped it lightly, but I think we'll just wear ourselves out."
"Should we use TNT?"
Explosives were one option. Father Gabriele considered the mercenary commander's suggestion.
"Could it cause a landslide?"
"If we use only a small amount, it shouldn't be a major problem. Still, if something goes wrong, we might not have enough explosives left."
They had brought explosives in case they needed to bury the dragon node itself.
Just as they worried over weakening one of their last-resort options, a message came through the radio.
[Hello, this is Pastor Park. Father Gabriele, how is it over there?]
"Pastor Park."
Father Gabriele explained their situation. It seemed Pastor Park's group had also encountered a stone wall with a wizard's spell cast on it.
[You have the holy water we handed out, right? Splash that on it. It works instantly.]
"Holy water?"
[We just got through ours with it. Trust me and give it a try.]
Still doubtful, Father Gabriele spoke to Sister Maria of the Templar Order.
"Let's use the holy water Pastor Park gave us."
"The holy water Brother Yohan made, you mean."
Sister Maria took out the bottle of holy water entrusted to her.
A few drops of this holy water had melted the skin of Bishop Nicola, who had joined hands with demons and betrayed the Lord and his brothers.
They did not know what ingredients it contained, but it clearly possessed tremendous power.
"Then... I'll try it."
Sister Maria hurled the holy water at the stone wall.
Crash! The bottle shattered, spilling holy water over the wall. A change immediately came over it.
Sizzle!
"What is this...?"
"The wall is melting?"
It was an obvious change, enough to shock even the watching mercenaries.
The wall that had not budged under the hammers was physically melting.
The holy water was not only dissolving the spell on the wall. It was dissolving the enchanted wall itself.
It was a merciless punishment that melted beings corrupted by demonic power at their very core.
A few drops had half-melted someone who had dealt with demons. Naturally, it could vaporize a stone wall tainted by evil spells.
"The entrance has been exposed!"
The spreading holy water had melted a hole in the stone wall large enough for several people to pass through at once.
Father Gabriele firmly instructed Sister Maria as he watched.
"Keep the holy water safe."
"...Yes."
Just who was this Brother Baek Yohan?
* * *
Beyond the stone wall lay a completely different world.
The air changed the instant they passed through the entrance.
It was cold, chilling enough to feel as if it might cut their flesh.
"I never imagined a place like this existed."
"It looks centuries old."
The mercenaries unconsciously rubbed their arms and turned on their lights.
The descending stairs and excavated passageway were not naturally formed.
Torch holders were spaced along the walls. Someone had clearly employed workers to build this place.
"The air feels rotten."
The Templar Order exorcists sensed the stagnant air.
There was almost no wind.
Father Gabriele raised a clenched fist.
"Stop."
Click.
The mercenaries stopped at the hand signal and readied their weapons.
At the front, their lights revealed a long corridor, wide enough for three or four people to walk side by side.
The problem was the statues lining both sides.
"What the..."
They were beasts seated upon enormous thrones.
Too animal-like to be human, yet too human-like to be beasts.
They were grotesque creatures that could not even be classified as beastkin.
The exorcists had seen such beings in murals and records before.
"Demons."
"Crowns on their heads, long robes on their bodies, wings spread at their sides... but they have no faces."
"The demon possessing the girl who diverted our attention was Barbatos, one of the 72 Demons. These statues are likely members of the 72 Demons as well."
The 72 Demons were, quite literally, seventy-two great demons.
Their rank and authority were enough for them to call themselves Hell's nobility, so their names and appearances were fairly well known in the human world.
"Do you remember the prophecy Brother Baek Yohan received?"
"The prophecy that kings would come?"
Pastor Park had shared it with them before their departure.
They had been surprised that someone in this age could receive a prophecy, and they had doubted its source. But Pastor Park had said it, so they believed.
"The black horse will set the altar ablaze, and legion commanders will awaken the fallen kings..."
"It was a prophecy that the awakened kings would come."
Every one of the 72 Demons was a great demon with a noble title.
Several of them were classified as kings. These statues surely represented those great demons called kings.
"The faces have been destroyed so we cannot identify them. Most of their distinctive features too."
"Either they destroyed them... or never made them in the first place."
Then a strange cry came from somewhere.
Kiiiiiik!
Something moved in the darkness.
"Fire!"
Rifles with laser sights spat fire at the mercenary commander's order.
But their bullets passed through black mist and scattered uselessly.
The pitch-black smoke dispersed, then joined together again.
It had a human-like body, but arms that were far too thin and long.
"A demon!"
"Normal bullets don't work!"
The monks and nuns immediately opened fire with rifles loaded with consecrated silver bullets.
The demon leaped forward and charged them. A few rounds struck its shoulder and torso, but that was not enough to stop it.
Kyaaaah!
Just as it was about to pounce on them, BANG! A heavy gunshot rang out, tearing the demon's limbs apart.
Splat!
The demon that had not flinched under a barrage of silver bullets dropped in a shredded heap after a single blow.
"Father Gabriele!"
The owner of that gunshot was Paladin Gabriele.
The short sawed-off shotgun in his hand was a supreme sacred relic, made from melted silver crosses from the Vatican's four great basilicas.
The Four Great Basilicas 12-Gauge Shotgun.
It was a masterpiece created by the Vatican's monster extermination agency, a weapon that had gained fame under its previous owner.
"They're coming."
Thud!
A tremor from below the stairs shook the entire underground space.
As if the demon's appearance and the gunshot had been a trigger, beings came pouring from the darkness.
One. Two... Ten.
Countless red eyes multiplied.
"Legion..."
The army of Hell commanded by great demons.
Evil spirits raised to wage war against Heaven's angels at the end of days.
Father Gabriele crossed his sword and shotgun.
Together, they formed a cross.
Even with the approaching Legion before him, the Paladin did not hurry.
He closed his eyes and prayed softly, using that cross as his symbol.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me."
He pulled the shotgun's trigger toward the charging Legion.
BANG!
Several Legion demons were torn to pieces.
Silver rounds poured after them.
The combat clergy of the Templar Order advanced behind Father Gabriele.
"Grant us courage to fear no evil, and valor to rise again even after we fall."
They swung their swords and severed the evil spirits' heads.
"Be our lamp in the darkness and light our path."
They poured bullets and grenades into the darkness, lighting it up.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation! Whom shall I fear?!"
The overlapping prayers stirred the mercenaries as well, and they gripped their weapons tighter.
The two forces crashed against the surging demon army.
But confronting demons was always a test of faith.
The trained combat clergy of the Templar Order faced this situation bravely.
Father Gabriele Santoro in particular was making a spectacular showing, sweeping through Legion demons with his holy sword and sacred firearm.
He was not called the Vatican's decisive weapon for nothing.
But unlike warriors trained through faith and purity, the mercenaries were different.
"Reload! Toss the lead rounds! Silver bullets only!"
"Damn it! What are these monsters?!"
There were too many.
More than that, the mercenaries were already terrified by the hideous demons that seemed to be from another world.
They had hunted wizards and monsters for the Vatican before, but this was their first time facing demons.
Even exorcists usually only encountered demons possessing human bodies.
Many went their whole lives without ever seeing a demon.
But unlike the exorcists, who had been trained and constantly taught about demons, the mercenaries were merely armed humans.
Hesitation became indecision, and indecision slowed their reactions.
Their faith was being tested, and fear was steadily consuming them.
* * *
This was not my first time facing a demon army.
I had encountered dream demons at Itaewon Club who had tried to do something to me as a group.
But this was the first time I had faced demons trying to physically do something.
"There are a lot of them. They really came prepared!"
Pastor Park swung his mace and crushed a demon's skull.
The demon staggered with its caved-in head sunk below its shoulders.
Pastor Park had enough raw power to take on a hundred people alone, but there was only one Pastor Park.
"Load silver bullets!"
"Should we spray holy water?!"
"No! Yohan's holy water is so strong that it'll blow up the guns! Throw it like grenades instead!"
The Holy Temple Church members were doing fine.
They were well armed, and most of their equipment was sacred relic weaponry I had blessed.
Even their guns had undergone sacred relic transformation, making them extremely effective against demons.
We had deliberately brought the holy water in glass bottles so they would break easily. Whenever one shattered among the demons, the smell of burning flesh came with screams.
"Gari, bite them!"
Clack!
"Mountain Lord, bite them!"
【I'm not a dog. What do you mean, "bite"...?】
"Big Sister!"
【Po?】
"Let them have it."
【Pooooooo!!】
KABOOOOOM!!
"Kohaku!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Hide behind me properly."
"As you command, my lord!!"
The battle was overwhelmingly in our favor.
Gari went without saying, and Mountain Lord even commanded the Chang-gwi against the demon army.
Eight-Foot Sister, our main source of firepower, was achieving total overkill.
"We're holding up well thanks to Yohan, but there are still too many!"
Demons kept pouring in, but we were handling them well.
Honestly, if we kept up this defense, it looked like it would become a one-sided massacre.
The problem was that, just as Pastor Go had said, the mercenaries were starting to lose it.
"Ugh... ugh..."
"S-Shouldn't we run? Damn it, Commander! I told you not to come just anywhere because they offered a lot of money!"
The battle was in our favor, but the mercenaries were wavering.
Why?
Ah.
The demons' gaze and the stench pouring from them were consuming the mercenaries.
Demons were beings that stirred up instinctive fear.
It was a matter of compatibility.
Freshly summoned demons were actually weaker than Black Knot-level opponents.
Compared to when I fought the demon Decarabia and when I fought Black Knot sorcerer Kim Gicheol, Kim Gicheol had been much stronger.
Among the demons summoned from Hell, some may not have been summoned with their full strength, while others may not have regained theirs.
But if Decarabia and Kim Gicheol fought?
I thought Decarabia would overwhelmingly defeat Kim Gicheol most of the time.
Decarabia... no, the demons' unique malice that stirred up human instinct and fear was not something easily overcome.
To overcome it, they would need unwavering conviction, faith, and the strength of belief.
I was fine.
The pastors, deaconesses, and deacons of Holy Temple Church would be fine too.
But the mercenaries were different.
At this rate, they would break.
They needed courage.
"Gari!"
Clack!
Gari immediately returned when I called.
Demons were still trapped in Gari's mouth, flailing helplessly, but I didn't care.
"Let's pray."
Clack-claaack!!
"The Lord is my shepherd. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord is with me."
This was not a prayer for me.
It was a prayer for those ignorant people with so little faith.
"Though warhorses, iron chariots, and people outnumber you when you fight your enemy, I will not fear, for the Lord God, Jehovah, is with me."
"Hey, why are you calmly praying right now..."
I proclaimed it.
You weak and faithless people, I! Gari! The Lord Jesus and Jehovah are with you!
"Look! Though the enemy has encamped before us and pointed their swords at us, our salvation is in Heaven, and our shield is with the Lord!"
"Y-Yohan?"
"Arise, children of the Lord! Gird your loins and raise the shield of faith! Put on the breastplate of righteousness, wear the helmet of salvation, and take up the gun of the Holy Spirit!"
"Ohhh..."
"Ohhh...!"
"The Lord stands before us, so what do you fear?! We will live to become warriors of glory, and if we die, we will return to the Lord's embrace!"
"Advance! Advance! For my kingdom! The last of the kings commands you! Do not fear death and trample my enemies! This is the righteous decree God wills! Deeeus Vuuult!!"
"DEUS VULT!!"
"DEUS VULT!!"
Footnotes:
"Deus vult" is Latin for "God wills it," a battle cry associated with the medieval Crusades.
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