WeTried Translations

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Chapter 58: God's Throne

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The Creator of heaven and earth. The God of Abraham, the God of Jacob. The God of David. The God of Solomon.

Abraham was promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand by the sea. It was a promise that he would become the founder of a kingdom.

Abraham's grandson Jacob wrestled an angel at Peniel, then changed his name to Israel. That was the name of the kingdom God had promised.

Fourteen generations after their forefather Abraham, a humble shepherd boy brought down Goliath, the Philistine warrior, with a sling stone. That boy was David, the second king of Israel.

David's son succeeded him and brought prosperity to the kingdom. He was Solomon, the great king who ruled over demons.

There were many kings after that, but none truly fulfilled God's glory.

Then, after countless centuries had passed, a king returned on the other side of the world to open a new Book of Kings.

In this age, he alone would declare his Father's sanctuary with the authority of a king.

He was the anointed one of Second Kings.

* * *

Pastor Go and Taoist Cheongmyeong searched the bathhouse for Yohan, who had vanished.

"G-Gari Bodhisattva has disappeared!"

"What the hell is this...?!"

Pastor Go realized that the demon calling itself Martim was behind this.

"Martim! Release that innocent person at once!"

"It's useless! This plan has been prepared for a long time! The Solomon of this age will burn to death at the bottom of hellfire, and his soul will be taken!"

"...!"

Could all of this have been planned?

Ever since Yohan was born?

It was not impossible.

Some demons possessed the power of prophecy. Someone might have read Yohan's future the moment he was born and prepared for this.

"Martim! I command you once more! Release that innocent person now!"

Pastor Go repeated his command, but Martim did not budge.

"Jincheol... Jincheol! Do you still not understand? You are not Kim Gwang-o. You are not Park Taejin. Do you really think a voice like yours can stand against me?"

"Ghk...!"

【Devourrr!!】

At that moment, Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost lunged at Martim.

She seized his neck and squeezed as though she meant to snap it.

Taoist Cheongmyeong recoiled in horror at the sight of Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost manifesting physically as she unleashed her strength, but Pastor Go hurriedly shouted.

"No! You cannot kill him!"

【Devour!】

Even so, the crushing force on Martim's neck did not lessen in the slightest.

With Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost's grip, snapping his neck and killing him would take only an instant.

Yet Martim did not resist. He only spat blood and giggled.

"Stop! Are you trying to get Yohan killed?!"

【Devour...!?】

Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost stopped squeezing at those words.

Looking lost, she turned toward Pastor Go, then toward Gari.

"The angel has not moved! That body still belongs to a human, and it is only possessed by a demon!"

Gari still had not moved.

The angel could have destroyed Martim whenever it wished.

But the angel judged only evil. Killing the possessed body of a demon holding an innocent soul hostage was impossible.

Weighing lives against one another for the greater good, or for someone more important, was something humans did.

A being meant to be a fair judge could never do such a thing.

It was a restriction imposed upon transcendent beings, a limit set by rule.

"Martim! Where is Yohan?!"

"He is within my space. He will burn to death in a sea of heat. So, angel. Throne of the Father. Go on, then. Save him."

Martim stared directly at Gari with a triumphant expression.

Gari could not physically harm an innocent person.

Spiritually, Gari did not exist in the same space as Yohan.

Knowing that Gari could do nothing, Martim mocked the angel.

"Just as the Father imposed restrictions upon us, you too are bound by restrictions. If you wish to overcome that limit, would it not be best for you to break your taboo? Will you abandon him like this? The Solomon of this age? The king?"

"D-Damn it! What are you doing? We have to kill him!"

Taoist Cheongmyeong raised his wooden sword and rushed the man, his face tense with urgency.

Then, with a boom, a torrent of bathwater crashed over him.

"Guhk!"

Taoist Cheongmyeong was flung away and sprawled unconscious across the floor.

Pastor Go was horrified.

What kind of demon was powerful enough to wield its strength with so few restrictions?

No, even this was a heavily restricted state.

Pastor Go instinctively understood that the demon possessing this man was truly dangerous.

If such a being descended into this world, it would lead to catastrophe.

Trembling, he reached for the handgun tucked inside his clothes.

Could he take it down?

No. As long as it possessed a human body, it could be killed physically.

But was that truly the right choice?

Could killing an innocent person to defeat a demon truly be called good?

Then the demon spoke.

"Jincheol. Go Jincheol. Is that truly what you want?"

"..."

"Why did you walk the path of Christianity? For some noble purpose? No, was it not for riches, luxury, and pleasure?"

"No..."

"Go Jincheol, I will show you that path. You only need to do one very simple thing."

Martim pointed at the unconscious Taoist Cheongmyeong.

"Kill him. End his life with your own hands. Then I will not only spare you, I will grant you glory."

"...!"

"Simple, is it not? As simple as snapping a child's wrist. That is all you have to do."

"B-But..."

Pastor Go became aware of those watching him.

The angel and the uncanny being were watching.

"You hesitate. Are you afraid? Afraid of the familiars commanded by a Black Knot sorcerer, beings you cannot even look directly at, much less reach?"

"...!"

Pastor Go's surprise made the corners of Martim's mouth split open again.

His voice echoed in Pastor Go's ears like rising steam.

"Look. The reason you hesitate is not because you care about what is right. It is for your own preservation and safety. A man who values his own skin highly wants to become that man's successor."

"Ugh... ngh..."

"But I do not dislike it. I rather like that kind of weakness. Is that not what the desire to improve is?"

Pastor Go's fingertips trembled.

The demon did not miss even that small reaction.

"You thought you had talent, did you not? You believed you could rise higher. Yet you know now, do you not? That you cannot."

The water in the boiling bath fell silent, as though it had stopped in an instant.

Now, only the demon's voice echoed softly.

"Look at yourself. After striving for all those years, did you not learn that your talent was pitiful? A great shadow hangs over your life."

First, there was Pastor Park Tae-jin, and second...

"You spent your entire life comparing yourself to legends, even knowing they were beyond your reach."

"But ordinary people remain ordinary. They cannot reach those born chosen."

"Yet I can make you into such a person. I can make you someone admired by all, standing above ten thousand people. I can do it. We can do it!"

Demonic contracts were known to be fair.

Demons tempted their contractors with genuine bargains. That was why demon worshippers still existed across the ages.

"Kill him. The angel and the urban legend cannot interfere with you."

"I... I..."

Pastor Go walked toward Taoist Cheongmyeong.

The unconscious man looked so easy to harm.

【Devour!】

Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost spun around in alarm, but scalding bathwater poured over her.

"Do not interfere, ghost! This is the choice of a living person!"

Even bound, Martim's power to interfere surpassed Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost's.

As he ensured Pastor Go had the freedom to choose, Gari watched as well.

Pastor Go slowly raised his hand toward Taoist Cheongmyeong.

His hand closed around Taoist Cheongmyeong's throat and tightened.

"Ghk! Ghhk!"

Martim had not lied.

The angel could not stop Pastor Go from killing Taoist Cheongmyeong.

Pastor Go was still human.

But the moment he killed Taoist Cheongmyeong, he would accept the demon's contract.

At that instant, Pastor Go's soul would become bound to the demon and corrupt into an evil soul.

He would become subject to judgment.

The moment he became evil rather than simply a wrongdoer, Gari would have no reason to delay judgment.

Martim would do everything he could to fulfill his contract with Pastor Go.

As long as he did not die.

That was the demon's trap.

With a cunning, deceitful tongue, it tempted people and offered them the beautiful, dazzling things they desired.

That was why so many humans fell for demons' tricks and became sinners.

In the end, would he choose evil once more?

"Nngh... Aaaaargh!"

Blood spurted with a wet thud.

The corners of Martim's mouth twisted, then quickly fell.

"You..."

Pastor Go had stabbed himself.

The back of his own hand.

"Huff! Huff... Hah!"

He stabbed the back of the hand that had been strangling Taoist Cheongmyeong with a dagger, stopping himself.

To avoid falling for evil's temptation.

Even if it meant driving a blade into his own arm.

Clack! Clack!

Gari seemed to smile at the sight.

Martim met Gari's gaze, clicked his tongue, and revealed his disappointment.

"Do not think you have won. Nothing changes."

Martim's malice turned toward Pastor Go.

It was unfortunate that he would not fall, but he could simply die nobly instead.

Wait. Why was it not protecting him?

Gari's behavior was strange.

Watching Pastor Go make his choice was one thing, but even as Martim tried to harm him, the angel made no move to defend him.

Even with that pitiful incarnation, it should have been able to block Martim's attack easily.

"Could it be...?!"

Kwooooooosh!!

Scalding bathwater surged upward behind Martim like a waterfall.

It was not Martim's doing.

A human figure slowly emerged from the rising water.

Yohan.

Yohan rose above the surface.

"You...! How?!"

"Son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Though thorns surround you and you live among scorpions, do not be afraid of their words, nor be terrified by their faces."

It was light.

A dazzling halo poured from behind Yohan.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me."

The once crimson bath began to shine brightly.

Not with transparency, but like flashes of light bursting from within.

"This place is my Father's house. It is a sanctuary consecrated to my Father and set apart as holy!!"

The holy realm had been declared.

When the pillar of light pierced the ceiling and reached the sky, Martim recognized that presence.

It was an eye.

A huge eye, enclosed again and again by an even larger mouth, a multilayered structure of teeth.

And set in the countless rings rotating around that enormous mouth were eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

That gaze could not be avoided.

Not beneath the building's concrete walls, not underground, not by obscuring it with heat and steam, not even by peeling away space itself.

The gaze of one who wielded God's power could not be escaped.

Kwoooooong!!

Contempt and crushing pressure poured from that gaze and bore down on Martim.

"Ggh... Gyaaaaaah!"

An agent of authority too overwhelming to withstand even if Martim brought forth his true body.

When that spirit descended, evil would be crushed by its gaze alone.

At this moment, most of the evil within the triangle, which had been declared a holy realm, had perished.

That merciless pressure tore apart the bones and flesh of uncanny beings, shredding their souls. One after another, the judged fell.

Such was the authority of one of the upper choir angels.

Opha.

《God's Throne》

All things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, were established through him.

One who acted in God's stead.

The chariot God set forth when passing judgment.

Shining like beryl, the eyes within countless turning wheels were the Throne and the chariot.

The king who would sit upon that Throne gave his command.

"Demon Martim. Leave that body."

"Stop! No! This is impossible! A mere child king like you...!"

At that moment, Martim felt a sensation of weightlessness.

He knew that feeling all too well from the magic that governed space.

His soul was leaving the body of the man he possessed!

【Again! Again, you would oppress me! Would you bind me in a slave's shackles and make me repeat that time of submission?!】

Martim's voice grew hotter and hotter.

It transformed into an evil voice that seemed to boil up from the deepest depths.

【This cannot be! This cannot be! Father...!!】

The moment his body completely left the man's body.

Crack!

Gari devoured the demon's soul.

Footnotes:

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