I Got an Omnipotent Angel - Chapter 128

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 128: Heresy Inquisitor

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The moment the pillar of light rose from the Holy Vein, I could feel the air around me change completely.

The Holy Vein transformation had succeeded.

At the same time, the energy of the ley line had turned the terrain in my favor.

"Paimon!"

I hurriedly checked what had become of Paimon.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

It was the sound of flesh swelling and taking shape.

That monster bastard was regenerating?

This was different from Beleth.

Unlike that thing, which had been summoned halfway and merely clung to a Ghost Vein while sucking up the ley line's energy, Paimon had successfully descended. It was also far from the dragon node.

So transforming this place into a Holy Vein wasn't enough to bring it down.

"Huff... huff!"

Some of my spiritual power had recovered.

Now that the Holy Vein transformation was complete, this land was my ally. It wasn't at the level of a sanctuary, but simply standing here gave me more energy.

And the same probably went for Gari.

"Gari. Gariii..."

I used Spatial Leap to reach Gari, buried beneath a pile of rocks, and shook them.

Soon, Gari stirred, shoved off the rubble, and shook their body back and forth.

Ttak!

"That bastard! Before that bastard regenerates... let's get it!"

Ttak!

Right.

Gari transformed into Chariot Mode.

Maybe it was because of the Holy Vein, but those flaming wheels looked perfect for burning a demon bastard to death.

"Chaaaarge!"

Ttakkaaaak!!

Before it regenerated, we'd trample it to death. Burn it to death.

Just as I was about to rush in with a roar that was practically evil itself.

Rumble!

The ground shook.

An earthquake? No, it felt like something was breaking through from below.

Craaaash!

It was an arm.

A massive arm holding a club burst up from underground.

The dungeon collapsed with a roar.

Amid the falling rubble, I saw it clearly.

The hand holding the club came down and smashed Paimon apart.

Just before the rubble buried me, I leaped outside the dungeon. But the club and hand that had beaten Paimon to death were still there.

"What the hell is that...?"

Clack! Clack-clack! Clatterclatterclack!

Gari ground their teeth violently at the sight.

The hatred and hostility were unmistakable.

Soon, the hand that had killed Paimon touched the pillar of light from the Holy Vein and began to burn with a sizzle.

Which meant one thing for certain.

It was a demon's arm.

And that gigantic arm was only a tiny part of the demon?

Rumble...

The demon arm that had killed Paimon slowly withdrew underground and soon vanished from sight.

* * *

To explain what happened afterward.

The pastors arrived by helicopter.

I was taken straight to the hospital, and when I woke up, Eight-Foot Sister was crouched in the cramped hospital room, waiting for me.

【Poo!】

Sis, I'm a patient.

If you hug a patient with that kind of strength, I'll die.

Like, physically die for real.

"Brother..."

Cha Hyeran was there too. She was peeling an apple...

Well, she'd turned a whole apple into a single piece.

"Are you all right? I was worried sick when I heard you were practically half dead."

"What about you? Were any of the pastors or deacons hurt?"

"What did I do? You did everything, Brother."

"We all worked hard. But Sis, I'm starting to suffocate..."

While I was being crushed, I glanced toward the corner.

Mountain Lord and Kohaku were kneeling there.

"My loooord!!"

Kohaku suddenly lunged at me.

But Eight-Foot Sister stopped her.

"Urk?! Y-you... what are you doing?!"

【Poo!】

"Urgh! That's right! This disloyal Kohaku was bewitched by that vile demon bitch and ended up betraying my lord!"

Kohaku sobbed as she dropped to her knees, then pulled out some kind of dagger.

It was a cute little dagger that suited cute little Kohaku.

"To betray my lord! Someone like me deserves to die! I shall commit seppuku!"

Kohaku raised the dagger as if she were about to cut open her stomach right then.

She only raised it.

Just raised it.

Did she just flinch?

Ah, our eyes met.

"My loooord! Please forgive this disloyal servant!"

"..."

"...My lord."

"What? You're not doing it?"

"M-my lord... Um... there also needs to be an executioner..."

Right, in Japanese ritual suicide, someone cuts off your head after you stab yourself in the stomach.

I'd heard it was a kind of consideration since dying from a stomach wound took a long time.

But there was no executioner here.

And no Japanese sword.

【Poo!】

Click-clack!

There was a rotary cannon, though.

"Eek! M-my lord?"

"It'll send you off more certainly than a Japanese sword. You won't even feel pain."

"M-my lord..."

Kohaku sniffled as if she couldn't believe it. Soon, she gripped her dagger tightly, as though she had steeled herself.

"Forgive my disloyalty!"

Stab!

Kohaku squeezed her eyes shut and drove down the dagger.

For a while, she didn't react.

A few seconds passed.

Kohaku cautiously opened one eye.

"Huh."

"Kohaku, that dagger you're holding is a sacred relic I consecrated."

"R-right?"

"Sacred relics can only stab unholy things."

"Ah!"

Only then did Kohaku's eyes sparkle as if she remembered.

"R-right! Ahaha... I forgot."

Did she really forget?

Kohaku had a cunning side. Maybe she had only pretended to forget so she could show how sincerely she had intended to commit seppuku.

Either way, I had no intention of blaming Kohaku.

"Enough. Come over here and peel me an apple."

"Yes, sir!"

Kohaku hurried over and began peeling one of the apples that seemed to have been left as a hospital gift.

While Kohaku peeled apples, Mountain Lord approached too.

"My lord..."

"It's fine. It wasn't like you had any choice, right?"

"Hoo... Wasn't I the one who wounded your side? You must have been badly hurt."

True.

The side Mountain Lord had struck was the part that hurt the most.

It hurt so much I couldn't even breathe.

"It's fine. I've forgotten all about it."

"Hoo... You are merciful, my lord."

"More importantly, what about everyone else?"

I heard what had happened after I collapsed from Mountain Lord and Kohaku.

Beleth, which had only been summoned halfway, had been absorbed during the Holy Vein transformation.

Paimon, which had fully descended, had not been absorbed by Gari.

Probably because it had been killed by the club that massive arm brought down.

Since I hadn't killed it, it must have simply been sent back to Hell.

That was probably what the arm holding the club had wanted as well.

"If you two are fine, what about the others?"

"Everyone came to their senses. We lost our heads because of that demon bitch's magic."

That was a relief.

They had been bewitched, but there was no foul stench.

That meant they would return to normal once the spell was broken.

"Hyeran. What happened afterward?"

"The pastors are securing the other Ghost Veins with the others."

"Securing them? They aren't restoring the Ghost Veins?"

"Perhaps they are waiting for you to recover?"

I understood what she meant.

Pastor Park had probably suggested it.

Turn the land transformed into Ill-Omened Sites into Holy Veins to purify it.

I could turn one into a Holy Vein just by driving in a Holy Nail, but normally, it wasn't that easy.

And making a few Holy Veins definitely wasn't enough to turn them into sanctuaries.

But once I performed Holy Vein transformation and declared a sanctuary, they would soon become sanctuaries.

"And they said to give you this once you woke up."

Mountain Lord handed me a bottle filled with bright-red liquid.

It was vampire elixir, made by refining the blood of high vampires we had obtained while hunting vampires.

It gave humans a vampire's physical abilities, including powerful regeneration.

I had only used this for Pastor Park's training, but he had told me it was best to drink when seriously injured.

"We gave you some from time to time while you were unconscious. Your injuries were bad enough that it would not have been strange if you died."

"It's thanks to Gari."

Ttak!

As I drank the vampire elixir, my body felt rapidly revitalized.

At this rate, I could probably leave the hospital immediately.

But this was a hospital in Serbia, so there was nothing I could do even if I left.

I should quietly wait until the pastors came.

"Hoo. This time, the scale was something else."

"I envy your enormous nerves, my lord, calling that merely a different scale."

Well, I'd lived long enough to see demon kings.

Why had my life become so spectacular?

Still, I had come too far to turn back now.

* * *

After Paimon's descent, the Templar Order put all its strength into securing the remaining Ghost Veins.

Cardinal Rosinald, together with Pastor Park, slaughtered the heretical wizards and demons occupying the Ghost Veins. Then they brought Yohan, who had recovered in the hospital, to transform the secured Ghost Veins into Holy Veins.

Declaration of the Holy Realm.

The land that had nearly been declared a Malevolent Site through an Ill-Omened Site transformation pentagram became a sanctuary where angels descended.

At the moment of descent, Cardinal Rosinald briefly met the gaze of that arrogant, immense being and tightly shut his eyes.

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts. His glory shall fill the whole earth.

Now Serbia's sanctuary had become the Father's place of worship, where evil could not enter.

Several exorcists shed tears at the formation of that absolute sanctuary.

And so, the Malevolent Site incident in Serbia came to an end.

Step... Step...

Endless stairs leading underground.

Yet step by step, Cardinal Rosinald moved forward without a word.

The torches on the walls flickered, and groans came from beyond the darkness.

"U-urghhh...!"

Then came another scream.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

It was a scream that shook the entire prison.

"Your Eminence, is it truly necessary for you to go in person...?"

The priests accompanying him spoke with grim faces.

"If I am to meet him, I must go myself."

Rozinald was a busy man.

It had been his decision to lock the man away in this unventilated corner, so he could hardly summon him whenever he pleased.

The deeper they went underground, the stronger the smell became.

The smell of mold.

The smell of wet stone.

And blood mixed in with it.

The metallic stench clawed its way into his throat.

At last, when Rozinald descended the final stair, an iron door stood before him.

"Your Eminence."

A bloodstained nun greeted them.

The blood on her leather gloves was likely the reason for the smell.

"Welcome, Your Eminence Cardinal Rosinald."

"Yes. Is Sir Falkenstein inside?"

The nun quietly nodded.

The eyes of a nun, which should have been filled with mercy and love, were hard like cold stones at the bottom of an abyss.

These were such people.

People who had to possess hearts gone cold.

"Aaaaaagh!"

A scream burst out.

Now that they were closer, Rozinald realized it came with the sound of electricity crackling.

"Ugh..."

The clergy member accompanying Rozinald looked sick.

It was probably not an easy sight for a believer to face.

Soon, a man appeared from within.

He was gaunt.

Perhaps because of his work, his bare upper body was densely covered in tattoos.

Every tattoo was packed with Bible verses and words praising the LORD.

It was something close to art overflowing with faith, even if it seemed blasphemous.

"What brings you to such a shabby place, Your Eminence?"

"Sir Falkenstein. It has been a long time since we met in person."

Jevanstein Konrad Falkenstein.

One of the Paladins of his age.

Their eyes met.

They were very clear eyes.

Eyes that knew exactly what he was doing.

There was no doubting that purity.

"Did you get results?"

"Yes. I found out. The ones we captured this time were quite fresh. We were able to interrogate them thoroughly until their health was completely spent."

Rozinald did not bother to probe the madness in Falkenstein's eyes.

"They are afraid. That is why they caused this incident."

"Of what?"

"The king. The return of this era's Solomon."

"..."

"You knew?"

"I heard something from Pastor Park."

Baek Yohan.

The final king of After-Kings.

The upheaval of the age had begun.

"We failed."

The interrogation chamber fell silent.

The Inquisitor-Judges of the Vatican Special Affairs Bureau said nothing.

"The Templar Order was defeated, and we ultimately failed to stop the demon's descent. We were mocked, humiliated, and manipulated."

Father Gabriele, the Templar Order's powerful Paladin, had failed.

Because of human feeling.

Because of a single compromise to protect the precious thing that was human life.

"I am the one who locked you away down here. You may resent me. I judged an extremist like you to be too much for this era."

"Do not blame yourself, Your Eminence. You made the reasonable decision."

"Common sense is not always right."

Cardinal Rosinald received something from an attendant.

A 12-gauge shotgun.

Its barrel and shells had been made by melting down crosses and silver candlesticks from the Vatican's four great basilicas of Saint Peter, San Giovanni, Santa Maria, and San Paolo.

It carried its own spiritual protection and blessing.

A masterpiece combining the essence of Vatican tradition spanning more than ten centuries with modern technology.

One of the Vatican Special Affairs Bureau's decisive anti-monster weapons.

"Take it."

"Hehehe..."

Falkenstein giggled as he received the sacred relic.

"Ah... My dear friend, Pastor Kim Gwang-o's signature weapon has finally returned to me."

"You look pleased."

"Yes, I am! It brings back memories of when we traveled the world together."

Yes.

When they exterminated the progenitor of vampires.

When they sank the legendary sea monster of the Bermuda Triangle.

When they hunted the chaos monster that crawled from the Dover Strait and the hunchback wolf of Notre Dame.

But monster hunting was not the only thing those two had truly gone wild over.

"We have weakened. We gave mercy, gave chances, and hesitated simply because our enemies wore human faces. What was the result?"

"Compassion and mercy bring the sacrifice of our allies."

"Yes."

Rozinald's voice lowered.

He admitted his failure.

"The LORD promised the king's arrival. He sent forth His Throne Angel and prepared the master of the Throne. Then there is only one thing we must do."

"Root out heretics and drive demons back into the pit of Hell."

"By the authority of the commander of the Templar Order of the Vatican Special Affairs Bureau, I lift every restriction placed upon Jevanstein Konrad Falkenstein."

"...!"

Falkenstein's breathing trembled faintly.

He slowly knelt.

"I will obey Your Eminence's will."

"You can do it, yes?"

Falkenstein turned his head and looked back at the Inquisitors.

"From his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which he shall strike the nations. He shall judge and fight in righteousness, clothed in garments sprinkled with blood, and be called the Word of the LORD."

"I shall praise the LORD! With my hands, with my fingers, I shall wage war."

"We did not come to bring peace to the world! We came to bring the sword! The unbelievers of all nations shall fall before our sharp swords!!"

"AEEEEEEEEEE─MEN!!"

The Inquisitors shouted.

They declared a holy war and announced the opening of an age of brutal judgment.

Cardinal Rosinald prayed that his choice had not been wrong.

Twenty years ago.

There had been two strange figures who shook the world with their hunts for heretics.

Pastor Kim Gwang-o of Gangnam Holy Temple Church.

Jevanstein Konrad Falkenstein of the Vatican Special Affairs Bureau.

Clergy members who had removed forgiveness from Christ's teachings of forgiveness and love.

Yet the achievements those two Paladins had made in hunting heretics were worthy of being remembered forever.