WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 121: Malevolent Site - 5

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Yohan's prayer buffs worked way too well.

Part of it was Yohan's own immense power of prayer, but their effects were amplified as he synchronized with the Throne Angel, the Heavenly Scribe, one of the upper-order angels.

These buffs, which required prayer as their foundation, could make holy water powerful enough to melt evil beings to death.

When he made holy oil, it became a grand barrier that blocked wicked energy from all directions.

When he consecrated an object, it became a sacred relic so powerful the object could barely withstand its power.

And when he recited a prayer that filled people with courage, they became berserkers willing to throw away their lives.

Then he spread that effect over a wide area.

The Prayer of Valor had turned a young man in his twenties who, until recently, had known nothing about ghosts or the hidden side of the world, into a berserker.

We are a cowardly people, so let us be brave under the Lord's name.

That prayer held only such a wish, but when it embraced those being tested by demonic malice:

(Recommended BGM: Powerwolf, "In the Name of God")

"In the Lord's name! In the Lord's name!!"

""In the Lord's name! In the Lord's name!!""

They changed magazines.

Modern soldiers stood at the front like line infantry, bayonets mounted on their rifles.

"In the name of the Lord God, we shall go to Heaven!!"

""In the Lord's name! In the Lord's name!""

A young man stood at the front.

Compared to the hardened veteran mercenaries trained for battle, he even looked frail.

"Be martyred in the Lord's name! We are knights amid war and flame!!"

"Because God wills it!!"

""Deus vult! Deus vult!!""

"Raise your bayonets for the holy blood! We will burn those wicked demons!"

""Deus vult! Deus vult!!""

He took the lead.

He charged toward the enemy.

Accompanied by silver bullets, the bayonet charge crashed into Legion's demons.

Kyaaaah!

Urk!

"Defend! You shall be defended! Seize it! You shall seize it! This is a holy war, Lord Jesus Christ! Bless Your apostles, who will fight to the very end!!"

""All this is for the kingdom of God!!""

The battle had been in their favor from the beginning.

Yohan's powerful familiars, ample holy water, and veteran exorcists had been mowing down the demons pouring in.

The only thing they lacked was the soldiers' courage.

But even that was no longer an obstacle.

The king, wielding a holy sword and scattering holy water at the front, was spreading the same madness through everyone around him.

"In the name of the Lord God! In the name of the Lord God!!"

""We shall go to Heaven!!""

The faith of the king and his warriors devoured malice, and the sight was pleasing in God's eyes. - After-Kings

""...""

Pastor Go, who had been watching, awkwardly spoke to Pastor Park.

"Yohan isn't speaking Korean right now, is he?"

"He's not."

"It's not Latin either... How do those mercenary friends understand him? They aren't even exorcists."

"...It's tongues."

It was one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Unknown words, yet words understood by all.

It was said that even in foreign lands where people did not share their language, Jesus's disciples had spread His teachings through tongues.

Originally, they were words that even the disciples themselves could not understand.

Yet despite differences in region and language, Jesus's disciples had conveyed the teachings of Jesus Christ in foreign lands through tongues. It was a gift of the Holy Spirit.

It was a subject of much controversy throughout Christian history, but in the world of exorcists, it had another meaning.

It was the power to cross the language barrier created after the Tower of Babel fell, through a gift of the Holy Spirit.

To act through that language was to wield the power of Word Command.

Without even realizing it, Yohan had awakened that gift.

* * *

Once we cleared out Legion's demons, the smell of blood was so thick it practically clogged my nose.

"Pastor, how are the wounded?"

"Several have minor injuries, but none are seriously hurt. Thanks to those three covering us so well."

Gari, Eight-Foot Sister, and Mountain Lord had all proved effective.

With one tank drawing the aggro, the ordinary infantry had drawn less aggro by comparison.

"So this is why tanks are important."

"That's one way to put it in RPG terms. Though one of them is a long-range burst-damage dealer."

Either way, our firepower and tanking had both been perfect.

And considering how scared the mercenaries had been at first, they fought hard.

"Ugh... What was I just doing?"

"Was that adrenaline? How did I even...?"

The mercenaries who had been rampaging like berserkers until a moment ago looked confused, probably because the buff had ended.

I understood.

After my buffs wear off, I sometimes wonder whether that was really me just a moment ago.

Sometimes, even I found the effectiveness of my prayers scary.

"More importantly, what is this place? It doesn't look like it was made a day or two ago."

"Judging by the statues' age, it must be at least several hundred years old. Yet they still haven't turned it into a Ghost Vein, which means..."

"They were waiting for the right time."

Pastor Park came over while rolling his neck.

Demon blood and flesh clung stickily to his mace.

At this point, wasn't he smashing things with pure physical strength more than the sacred relic power I gave it?

"The demons know it too. If they created a Ghost Vein and began the Ill-Omened Site transformation, it would draw too much attention. I think they prepared this place to use at a time like this."

"Then its owner is likely connected to demons as well. I should inform Cardinal Rosinald."

Pastor Go raised a phone and tried to contact Cardinal Rosinald.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Oh no... We're out of range."

My phone only gave off a signal tone too.

We seemed to have gone down pretty deep, so it couldn't be helped.

"It looks like we have no choice but to continue. I'm worried about the others as well."

"We broke through safely thanks to Yohan, but the others..."

Several exorcists had already died in the ambush, forcing them to make up the numbers with mercenaries.

If demons were hiding inside dragon nodes that had not yet become Ghost Veins, their forces might be insufficient.

The mercenaries especially had no immunity to demons.

"Should we send support?"

"The Templar Order's side is more urgent since their Ill-Omened Site transformation hasn't begun yet. Who should we send?"

"Gari won't want to move away from me... How about Mountain Lord or Eight-Foot Sister?"

Both were outstanding support forces.

"Eight-Foot Sister won't work. Once her ammunition runs out, she has to replace the ammo pack, and those are with Gari, aren't they?"

"Then Mountain Lord?"

"I don't mind."

Mountain Lord seemed to realize they were talking about them and came over.

"But if you send me, send the little fox with me too."

"Why are you dragging me into this when I was minding my own business?"

Kohaku protested as if she found it ridiculous. Mountain Lord replied,

"Your spiritual power is quite abundant too, isn't it? Your tricks may be miscellaneous, but your fox magic should be quite helpful."

"Ugh..."

Kohaku looked up at me with wide eyes, clearly not wanting to leave my side.

"Help them out. If it looks dangerous, stay right next to Mountain Lord."

"Ugh... All right."

"More importantly, Mountain Lord, can't you command demons as Chang-gwi?"

I had watched Mountain Lord slaughter dozens of Legion demons.

I had hoped it might work, but Mountain Lord shook his head.

"I can only command humans as Chang-gwi. I can't command demons, nor even other small animals, as Chang-gwi."

"That's some seriously human-hostile magic."

"I have been baptized. Do not worry, my lord. I have no intention of making anyone who is not evil into Chang-gwi."

Okay.

I gathered plenty of bottles of holy water and holy oil from inside Gari's mouth and hung them on Mountain Lord.

I also put several sacred relics into Kohaku's hands.

"Jinju is outside, so ride Jinju in human form. A house-sized tiger running around would attract too much attention."

"A pterosaur would draw even more attention, I think."

"I'll use sorcery to blur it."

After sending the two of them off, we gathered the ammunition.

"Lead bullets don't work against demons, so I'll consecrate them."

"Will that be okay? The bullets you consecrate melt guns."

"I can turn the guns into sacred relics too, and it seems fine as long as they're not silver bullets."

The silver bullets I consecrated were so powerful that they had the fatal drawback of melting or exploding guns.

But with lead bullets, maybe because their power was lower, the guns lasted quite a while.

That was still assuming the gun had undergone sacred relic transformation.

"If it isn't an ordinary gun but a purpose-built sacred relic firearm, it should endure..."

"Maybe that one Pastor Kim used before could handle it."

What Pastor Park was referring to was the twelve-gauge shotgun made by melting down the silver crosses of the Vatican's four major basilicas.

Pastor Kim had used it to hunt werewolves and vampires before.

"Father Gabriel is probably using it now."

"Ooh, I'd like to see that sometime."

Could I make something like that too?

Tch. The problem was that I was so bad with guns that even if someone handed me a good one, I still wouldn't hit anything.

Practice hadn't helped either.

"If you're done maintaining your gear, hurry up. We don't know when the demons will complete the Ghost Vein transformation."

We continued deeper into the dungeon.

* * *

It took Mountain Lord and Kohaku less than thirty minutes to reach another dragon node.

Jinju the pterosaur grabbed the two of them in human form and soared through the sky in an instant.

"What a mess."

"Ugh... Is everyone okay?"

Once the two descended into the dungeon, they quickly found the Templar Order.

Countless Legion corpses were mixed together with the bodies of mercenaries.

"Aren't you Brother Yohan's companions?"

Father Gabriel, soaked in blood and resting, recognized the two and welcomed them.

"It seems you came as reinforcements. It appears Pastor Park's group resolved things safely."

"It seems the situation was similar there."

"Legion's demons swarmed us, and the civilian brothers were shaken by their malice."

Even so, the mercenaries' losses were not disastrous.

It must have been thanks to this Paladin and the Templar Order's capabilities.

Which meant they had pushed themselves that much harder.

"We brought holy water and holy oil. This little fox and I will support you as well."

"We're in your debt."

"Have you not found the wizards?"

Father Gabriel shook his head at Kohaku's question.

"They must be hiding thoroughly. Or perhaps they are waiting for the decisive moment."

"Or perhaps the situation is even more miserable than that."

"???"

Kohaku tilted her head.

"Let's go inside first. The sisters found something."

The Templar Order, now joined by the two of them, followed the path.

It was called a dungeon, but there was only one road.

No tricks, no forks. Just a single path.

At its end stood a massive stone gate.

"Let's melt it with holy water."

This black stone gate was also protected by an evil spell, but it was powerless before Yohan's special holy water.

"It truly is incredible holy water. To think there is a brother who can make something like this."

"Hehe. Our lord is no ordinary person. He will surpass the Kirishitan Daimyo and become the Kirishitan Shogun... No, the Kirishitan Tennō!"

"???"

Did I misunderstand what they said in Korean?

Father Gabriel was fairly fluent in Korean, but the Japanese mixed into it made it difficult to understand.

"Father, look over there."

Sister Maria pointed toward an altar.

There was a giant idol, one that looked more than ten meters tall.

A huge throne carved from black stone.

A beautiful woman wearing a shining crown rode a black camel.

Unlike the previous statues, this queen did not hide her identity. She wore a golden crown and royal robes.

Ding.

Ding.

Then, though no one had moved, bells rang out.

String instruments echoed through the vast chamber. Flutes and drums followed, filling the background with something like a royal procession march.

"Look at this!"

One of the mercenaries pointed to a stone tablet before the altar.

It was written in Serbian Cyrillic, and a Serbian among the mercenaries began translating it.

"From this place begins the gate into the kingdom of darkness."

"Brother, wait..."

"Worship the king of darkness. All of you, bow down and pay homage. Then the path shall open."

""...""

Silence fell as everyone exchanged glances.

"If we just bow..."

"Are they... telling us to worship an idol?"

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