WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 123: Malevolent Site - 7

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An idol in the form of a majestic king riding a pale horse.

The inscription carved here was simple.

[Worship the King of Darkness. All of you, prostrate yourselves. Then the path shall open.]

It openly demanded idol worship.

Did Father Gabriele's group have a similar altar?

Before the demon idol, the mercenaries offered their opinions.

"Um... How about we prostrate ourselves just once?"

"That's right. It isn't that hard to bow, is it?"

I didn't think they were entirely wrong.

Yeah, what was so difficult about bowing?

If it could help us overcome this ordeal, someone might think it was worth doing.

But.

That only applied to ordinary people.

"Idol worship is out of the question. Worshipping a demon's idol, no less?"

"Everyone here is Christian. How can you say that?"

Given the nature of their work, the mercenaries hired by the Vatican were all believers.

"More importantly, don't you think there might be some scheme behind giving the demons and their followers what they want?"

"Ahem..."

"That isn't wrong, but..."

Whether from a religious standpoint or because it was the wizards' trap, everyone knew idol worship was not the wise choice.

But just once.

They probably thought one compromise would be all right.

"For now... let's keep fighting."

No conclusion was reached, but we put off the decision for the time being and prepared for the next wave.

Soon, the third door opened.

Three times as many demons as the first wave came rushing in.

* * *

Once a wave was cleared and the waiting period passed, another wave came.

Perhaps they weren't called a "legion" for nothing. Legion's demons grew more numerous with every wave.

Would it end once all ten doors opened and we overcame even that?

Nothing was certain.

This could all be deception, a way to buy time.

Above all, people would die if this continued.

More people were getting hurt, and several had been seriously injured or killed.

If Pastor Park, Gari, Eight-Foot Sister, or I hadn't been here, constantly reciting prayers...

If even one of us had been absent, the losses would have been worse.

But people were more sensitive to the losses right in front of them.

"Seven doors! Seven doors have opened already! There'll be eight next time!"

"But aren't human lives more precious? Can't we just close our eyes, bow once, and get it over with...?"

Once all ten doors opened, this would all be over.

But the army of Legion flooding in was far too large to inspire that kind of hope.

Maybe we would truly collapse in the next wave, or the one after that.

No, at the very least, they themselves might die.

"Yohan, what do you think?"

When Pastor Park asked, the mercenaries turned hopeful eyes toward me.

Between the holy water and prayers, along with Gari and Eight-Foot Sister being treated as my familiars, my opinion seemed to carry quite a bit of weight.

If I said we should do it, Pastor Park and Pastor Go would take it seriously too.

But I had to betray their expectations.

"We can't, right?"

"You don't have to be so firm about it..."

"Other people might be able to, but we can't."

"Why not? Can't we just close our eyes and do it once?"

"Because we're Christians."

Because we were religious people.

Whether we believed in God, Buddha, or Allah.

Religious people couldn't do that.

"Satan's temptation was limited to 'just once.' When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, Satan promised him all the kingdoms and glory of the world if he would kneel only once."

It was from when Jesus was tempted by Satan after fasting for forty days in the wilderness.

Satan hadn't even told him to submit.

He tempted Jesus by saying that if he merely prostrated himself in worship and stood back up again, he would give him the whole world.

"We must worship only God and never serve idols. You are Christians too, aren't you? That one time will change us."

Just once, to overcome a crisis.

One compromise would become two, and next time it would feel natural.

That was why we couldn't allow even one time.

We were being subjected to the devil's temptation right now.

"Honestly, isn't that a conclusion you can make because you people will survive somehow?"

One of the mercenaries said it.

His gaze was fixed on Pastor Park and me.

"Because you're powerful yourselves, because monstrous familiars protect you... Isn't that why you can preserve your faith with our lives on the line?"

"Hey! Pastor Park is the one fighting hardest at the front..."

"And that young man over there! Other than reciting prayers, he isn't doing much either!"

At those words, I thought back on what I'd done during the last few waves.

Had I been holding back and prioritizing my safety?

"Hey, that isn't true..."

"That guy fought at the front every time. He's the one who went the craziest and ran wild."

"Ahem...!"

Well, I guess not.

The wording was a little strange, but the courage prayer didn't only give the mercenaries strength.

Honestly, I was the one it affected most.

"That's why we fight."

"Until when? What if all ten doors open and more demons still come?"

"Then we keep fighting."

"How irresponsible...!"

There was, in fact, a way to save everyone and make sure nobody died.

I could take everyone outside the dungeon with Spatial Leap.

Moving this many people from outside a sanctuary would drain all my spiritual power and leave me unable to fight, but it was at least a guaranteed way to survive.

But I wouldn't do it.

"You heard that if this place undergoes Ill-Omened Site transformation, the Malevolent Site will be completed, right?"

"Th-that isn't certain. The Ghost Vein could be restored elsewhere, or Father Gabriele's group might have succeeded."

"It isn't good to push responsibility onto others."

At that, the mercenaries fell silent.

"If the Malevolent Site is completed, I don't know exactly what will happen, but it sure as hell won't be normal. I know that, so even a Korean from the other side of the world is here busting his ass."

"Yohan, language..."

"Sorry."

I didn't tell the mercenaries that they had a way out.

If they knew there was another way, some of them would demand it.

Pastor Park and Pastor Go knew about my Spatial Leap too, but they didn't bring it up for the same reason.

Isn't that what they call cutting off your retreat?

"Since we can't avoid this anyway, let's do our best. I'll give you courage."

There was no retreat anyway.

Idol worship was impossible.

So we had to fight.

* * *

The more stone walls opened, the more exhausted the mercenaries became.

They couldn't feel it during battle thanks to Yohan's courage prayer, but once they had endured a wave, fatigue crashed over them during the waiting period.

"Tired, aren't you? Have some holy water and keep going."

"Can we really drink this?"

"You hear all kinds of stories about people drinking holy water and getting better, or having their problems solved. Salt water can do anything."

Yohan took care of the mercenaries so they wouldn't lose heart.

Yohan and the Holy Temple Church exorcists were risking their lives because of their duty as Christians.

Yohan wasn't clergy, but he had experienced God's work more directly than anyone. That made him all the more committed.

But the mercenaries were different.

They were merely Christians. They hadn't come here with deep faith or the resolve to become martyrs.

So Yohan needed to do everything he could for them.

"How is it? That's called the Seven Stars Sword. It's quite a valuable blade."

"Ah, yes. It cuts them up like nothing."

Yohan shared Pastor Kim's legacies with the mercenaries.

They were all equipment specialized against great demons, their sacred relic transformations complete.

"S-surely a precious sword like this is worth billions of won?"

The mercenaries knew.

Working in this field, they knew how expensive proper exorcism equipment could be.

Silver rounds were relatively cheap.

They were only coated in silver, after all.

It was shocking enough that Yohan owned so many treasured swords and spears that he could distribute them to everyone. Yet he was handing them to complete strangers without a second thought.

"Human lives are more precious than objects. Use them however you want. I don't care if they break."

"But even so, these are so valuable..."

"If you use them and survive, try believing in God for real. Start going to church, Catholic or Protestant, and remember me."

That was enough.

Yohan's decision was incredibly effective.

Silver rounds worked well enough, but whether they counted as truly powerful weapons was debatable.

In contrast, treasures that possessed long histories and occult power had their effects amplified even further through sacred relic transformation.

The biggest problem was that they had to fight Legion at close range, but with the boost from Yohan's courage prayer, they could fight like berserkers.

That momentum and destructive power gave them the strength to overcome each wave.

"Whew... Whew! Damn, they just keep coming."

"But this is the tenth wave. If we can just get through this one...!"

"Eight-Foot Sister, change the ammo pack... Are you out already?"

【Po...】

The ammunition pack for Magdalene's Chainsaw had run dry.

Nobody had expected to use all fifteen thousand rounds.

"We're out of silver rounds too!"

"We even used the ammunition from our dead comrades, but..."

The ammunition stored inside Gari had run out as well.

To begin with, he had only brought enough ammunition for the people from Holy Temple Church.

"All we have left are lead rounds..."

"Ah!"

Yohan spoke as if he had just realized something.

"Lead rounds! Pull out every last one you've got!"

"Huh? Yohan, what are you planning?"

When Pastor Go asked, Yohan explained his plan.

"I'm going to consecrate them."

If they lacked silver rounds, they would use lead rounds instead.

They would make up the difference by consecrating them and increasing their power.

"Yohan... If you fire rounds you've consecrated, the guns will melt."

"Yes, they will melt."

"Then why...?"

"We can use them once."

"...!"

Pastor Go understood Yohan's intent.

Rounds consecrated by Yohan were powerful enough to melt guns.

That was why he had avoided consecrating them to maintain their combat endurance.

But if they used them once and threw the guns away?

If there was no future anyway, they could just treat their weapons as disposable.

"Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. Darkness shall not overcome the light."

Yohan sprinkled holy water over the piled ammunition and recited a prayer.

"For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. Minions of darkness, in Christ's name, I declare that you shall yield before pure, lead-colored light."

Rrrrrumble!

The tenth wave began.

An appalling number of Legion demons approached, shrieking as they came.

"Load magazines!"

The mercenaries loaded the consecrated lead rounds into their guns.

Legion's demons could not rush in the instant the stone walls opened.

There were too many corpses piled at the entrance.

They were blocked by the holy oil barrier that had been spread around the heap of bodies.

When the path was blocked, Legion's demons threw corpses to physically erase the holy oil barrier, but even that took ten-odd seconds.

An unavoidable bottleneck.

"Fire!"

Consecrated rounds rained down on the massed demons.

Kiek?!

The demons instinctively realized the incoming rounds were different from before.

Like those seeing the terrifying firestorm of gunpowder weapons for the first time.

The result was immediate.

Boom! Boom!

Bang! Boom!

What burst from the muzzles was not mere flame.

White light... Even the gunfire rang clear, like church bells.

Hundreds, thousands of trails of light poured down on Legion's packed ranks.

Thud! Thud!

The demons fell helplessly.

These were Legion demons that could withstand several silver rounds.

Demons that had needed three or four shots to the vital points before they would die were now pierced by a single round. Even a graze melted their skin.

With luck, one shot killed two demons and incapacitated three or four more.

"This is insane... What the hell did you do to these rounds?!"

"Keep firing! What the fuck! The demons drop dead every time we shoot!"

The mercenaries gleefully pulled their triggers.

They couldn't get used to the sight of demons dropping dead so easily, but with these invincible consecrated rounds, it felt like they could handle anything.

But overwhelming power always came at a cost.

"M-my barrel melted!"

"Throw it away! Grab a new gun!"

"This one's melting too! What kind of rounds melt guns?!"

Like machine guns overheating and melting after firing thousands of rounds nonstop, the consecrated rounds began melting the guns after only dozens of shots.

They switched to spare firearms, picked up the guns of their fallen comrades, and changed to pistols, pouring out as much firepower as they could.

Then Yohan shouted.

Having recited the courage prayer throughout the battle, Yohan's eyes had already gone wild.

"Follow me, and you shall be victorious!"

And the mercenaries were no different.

"Deus vult! Deus vult!!"

Clackaaaaack!!

Pooooooo!!

「The king rode at the forefront in a flaming chariot toward the armies of Hell, and the king's warriors followed behind.」

「The flaming chariot trampled them all to death.」

Footnotes:

“Deus vult” is Latin for “God wills it,” famously used as a Crusader battle cry.

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