WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 88: Creation of the Heretic

──────

Screeech!

Baa! Baa!

There were lots of animals in the mountains.

Which meant there were plenty of animal carcasses and bones, too.

"I didn't realize there'd be this many..."

Unlike Seoul, the number of wild animals grew exponentially once we got out into Gyeonggi Province.

From small animals like raccoon dogs, weasels, and leopard cats to medium and large animals like wild boars and water deer.

I hadn't gone out of my way to hunt them.

This was just from tracking all the bones and traces of souls scattered everywhere.

The wild really was brutal.

"You all worked hard. I couldn't have done this alone."

Coo!

Woof!

Meow~!

Had it been about eight hours?

It was dark enough that I could barely see in front of me now, but compared to what we'd accomplished, it was a very short time.

It would've taken several times longer without the Cerberuses and their inborn sense of smell.

"All right... shall we start the real 'synthesis'?"

Using Marchosias's magic, I modified and enhanced the animal familiars I'd gathered and raised.

Bigger.

Faster.

Stronger.

The modifications went so far that I was glad they were animals.

I couldn't do something like this to people.

【Po... Po...】

Eight-Foot Sister looked away, but hadn't we all grown used to those terrifying faces by now?

Clack-clack?

"No, Gari. I wasn't thinking I was much better than someone else. You've got the wrong idea."

Anyway, just as the work was nearing its end, an alarm I'd set on my phone went off, telling me it was time.

"Everyone, wait at your designated points. Just follow the Gugu Corps. Hide and stay away from people until I give the order."

Woof!

Screech!

Baaah!

Man, listen to those lungs.

Who would've thought I'd end up commanding water deer familiars too?

This whole thing was unbelievable.

The next moment, I used a space leap to return to the hotel where I'd been staying.

* * *

A familiar van came to pick me up.

It was the same van that had taken Gagaram away.

So this was how they kidnapped people and dragged them to the prayer retreat.

"Brother Jinwoo! Our dear writer! Shall we get in?"

"Uh... yeah."

I put on an uneasy expression but willingly got into the van.

Unlike the old van covered in dirt, the people inside were all smiling brightly.

Believers of the Eden Salvation Church. Maybe they were officials of some kind.

"Oh wow, I heard it from the pastor. He said you're a really famous writer!"

"Uh, I wouldn't say I'm that famous."

They seemed deeply interested in my fake identity, which made things awkward.

Gagaram had rudely described my cover as someone with money but no social experience, the kind of person who'd be easy to trick. Apparently, that was exactly how I looked.

By the time the painful interrogation about my background ended, a huge iron gate came into view beyond the driver's seat.

Eden Fasting Prayer Retreat.

It was a large prayer retreat building. The building itself was old, but its signboard looked almost new.

Based on what the Gugu Corps had scouted in advance, a three-story main building stood first, followed by dormitories, a dining hall, and a prayer hall.

A few domestic vans and old trucks were parked in the lot.

It was far too few, considering there were more than several hundred people inside.

As if people came in but never left.

"What a disgusting stench."

"Pardon?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

This wasn't an ordinary smell.

When I glanced at the main building, black shadows hung from the ends of the roof's eaves.

And not just the roof.

Shadows wandering throughout the entire retreat caught my eye.

This place had become a den of evil spirits.

Where the hell had Kim Gicheol gathered this many evil spirits from?

The problem was that every single one of them was interested in me.

【He's here.】

【He came.】

【Such a delicious smell...】

Dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on me.

There were so many. Was this a religious facility or a gu vessel for evil spirits?

"Brother Jinwoo."

The deacon who'd brought me here smiled and held out a hand.

"Please leave your phone and valuables here."

"Why...?"

Just as expected.

Like they did with Gagaram and Kohaku, they were cutting off outside communication first.

"If you wish to focus on prayer, it's best to set aside your connection to the world for a while."

"Ah... okay."

Pretending to be clueless, I handed my phone and wallet to the deacon.

The phone had a pattern lock, but I'd bought a spare that afternoon just in case.

I hadn't even brought my real phone.

That way, a needless body search couldn't turn it up and make them suspicious.

If things went south, I could always escape with a space leap.

"Dawn service will begin shortly. The Leader will be preaching personally, so please join us."

"Okay..."

I followed the deacon toward the main building.

The closer we got, the more it felt like the ground was trembling.

When I listened carefully, I could hear sounds coming from inside.

"Hmm..."

It was something common when you attended church.

At megachurches, the air and ground often shook when hundreds or thousands of people sang hymns or prayed at once.

The same thing happened during passionate group singing or communal prayer spoken aloud.

In other words, the Eden Salvation Church believers were quite devout.

Creak!

The door opened, revealing the sanctuary inside.

It didn't look all that different from any other church's worship hall.

A large cross hung in the center, long pews were lined up in rows, and believers packed every seat.

There had to be at least three hundred of them. All those believers were praying aloud as if they were screaming.

"..."

Was it really this bad?

My breath caught as I watched them.

Not because of their passionate faith.

It was because evil spirits clung to every beam, wall, and window frame.

Just how many evil spirits were there, and how had they all gathered in one place?

No, this wasn't normal.

The evil spirits I'd encountered even devoured others of their own kind.

Spiritual beings that had become wicked creatures had no rationality left in them.

Then why weren't these things devouring each other despite there being hundreds gathered in one place?

Because there was an absolute being controlling them.

Kim Gicheol.

Was a Black Knot sorcerer really this powerful?

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Heavy drumbeats rang out.

The believers, who'd been crying out in prayer until just then, abruptly stopped and stood.

Soon, the clergyman at the pulpit raised both arms.

It was Kim Gicheol.

"My beloved brothers and sisters."

His calm voice gradually rose.

"Are you ready to obey the Lord's will again today?"

"Amen!!"

Hundreds of voices erupted at once.

Their shout was loud enough to shake the sanctuary.

"Will you entrust everything you have to God?"

"Amen!!"

"Even what you hold most precious?"

"A... men!"

Their answer came a little slower than before.

Hesitation.

But soon, as if swept along by the voices around them, they shouted again.

"Amen!!"

"Let us pray once more."

At those words, the believers began praying while standing.

The lights dimmed, and in the solemn atmosphere, only their voices continued to ring out.

I looked around the hall while they were distracted.

It was a cult, but it honestly didn't have that many believers.

At my church, tens of thousands packed in for the main weekend service.

Finding people among this many believers shouldn't have been difficult.

Gagaram or Kohaku had to be here somewhere...

They weren't.

I couldn't see those two or any of the people who'd been loaded into the van that afternoon.

Were they somewhere else?

Just as I was about to synchronize with Jjaekjjaeki flying overhead and check...

"My lord! My lord!"

It was Kohaku's voice.

I looked around, wondering where she was, but couldn't see her.

If she'd infiltrated the place, she would've transformed into a striking beauty, so she should've stood out.

Instead, some kind of marten was tapping my ankle from below.

"...Kohaku?"

"Yes, my lord!"

Kohaku whispered and climbed up my leg.

Since someone might be watching me, she slipped inside my clothes and only poked her head out.

"What happened?"

"I was infiltrating, my lord! They took my phone, so I couldn't contact you!"

"Yeah, I figured. Where's Gagaram?"

"Th-they dragged him toward the annex! It's bad, my lord! Something... something terrible is happening there!"

It looked like the two who'd arrived first had discovered something.

"I can't move right now. Kohaku, can you guide the way?"

"M-my lord can't move. How could I guide you?"

"The Gugus are flying outside. Lead them there."

"B-but pigeons alone... Ah! Are Gari and Eight-Foot Sister standing by?"

"No. They need to come here and catch Kim Gicheol if anything happens."

We couldn't let Kim Gicheol get away.

I needed to wait for an opportunity here too.

"Th-then what should I...?"

"I made some truly incredible things before I came here."

* * *

Eom Honggeun and the other bounty hunters had uncovered suspicious activity throughout northern Gyeonggi Province.

"In the mountains, huh? Why do all these cult bastards gather in the mountains?"

"It's secluded and good for hiding things. Even if people die, you can bury them in the hills and nobody will find out."

Eom Honggeun and Kim Gangwoo found the Eden Salvation Church's base more easily than expected.

More precisely, they tracked suspicious traffic and found vehicles going back and forth through the mountains.

A city traffic department employee had been hit with a spell during the process, but that was easy enough to cover up.

They arrived at an entrance on the opposite side of the Eden Fasting Prayer Retreat.

It was a secluded entrance connected to the annex.

"Stay concealed. We infiltrate quietly."

"There isn't even much security. Is this really a place people come and go?"

The road wasn't paved. It was bare dirt.

There were some off-road tire tracks, but there were even more animal tracks.

Far too many for comfort.

"What kind of tracks are these?"

"Wild boars... roe deer, water deer? I can see dog and cat tracks too."

"Did these cult bastards build a zoo or something?"

Following the strange tracks, they reached the entrance and found the iron gate open.

A solid iron gate and outer wall that looked like a prison.

But there was a problem.

"What the... the gate's been smashed through?"

"Fuck... what the hell happened here?"

Wondering what the cultists could possibly be plotting in a place like this, the two men entered with their subordinates.

There was no one around.

There were two reasons.

First, most of them had gone to the main sanctuary for worship.

Second, the small guard force had disappeared before they could even try to do anything.

"Let's... go in."

There were three Azure Knot sorcerers.

Including their subordinates and freelancers, they had nearly eighty people.

They could force their way through anywhere.

Confident in their numbers, Eom Honggeun didn't let down his guard as he entered the annex with his group.

Click!

His subordinates advanced ahead with their guns raised.

If anything happened, they would be the meat shields.

It didn't matter.

Eom Honggeun and the other Azure Knot sorcerers were the main force anyway.

"This place feels awful."

"Yeah, this... this building is inhabited by evil spirits."

They quickly realized that the annex was crawling with evil spirits.

Kim Gicheol was a powerful necromancer.

And a particularly cruel, cunning one at that...

"Let's split up and search. Doesn't look like there are any people here, though."

"...Yeah."

Eom Honggeun led his subordinates underground.

The basement of the annex was strangely humid.

How should he put it?

The smell was getting stronger too...

"Boss..."

"I know."

It was the smell of blood.

The smell of old, rotten blood that had dried thickly in place.

It was well known that Kim Gicheol had become wanted for human sacrifice.

Had this been where the human sacrifices took place?

A scream rang out.

Someone was screaming underground.

"Let's go!"

Eom Honggeun and his subordinates moved quickly.

The underground space connected to somewhere unexpected. The floor gradually changed from modern building materials to natural stone.

It wasn't a parking lot...

It was a space like a huge burrow.

Still, a faint line of LED bulbs cast a murky light over the passage.

Within that gloomy space, the human voice became clearer and clearer.

Gurk!

No!

Save me-

Something was there.

And it was hurting people.

Eom Honggeun pulled out a talisman and prepared for battle.

No matter who it was, he had to subdue them first and find out where Kim Gicheol was and what this place was used for.

When Eom Honggeun finally reached the source of the sound, he had no choice but to freeze in horror.

Gurk! Guhk!

Someone was being trampled.

Crunch, crunch... Something huge had pinned down a person and muffled his cries.

"B-boss... what the hell is that?"

Below its rounded rump... there were many legs.

Twelve of them.

Other than arthropods, had there ever been a living creature with that many legs?

What was even more horrifying lay beyond its rump.

What he'd mistaken for a tail was actually a bright green snake.

Six snakes rose from its rump, flicking their vicious tongues, until they met Eom Honggeun's eyes.

The instant he met those long, slit pupils unique to reptiles, the snakes began to shriek.

Hissssss!

Hissss!

The snakes made such a commotion that the thing trampling the man turned around.

"A water deer?"

Yes, it was a water deer.

With bizarre snake tails, twelve legs, and a body several times larger than an ordinary water deer, it was something he never could've imagined.

The problem was that the water deer had three heads.

The three heads spotted Eom Honggeun and opened their mouths.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

The Cerberus water deer charged at them.

"Kim Gicheol, you fucking lunatic! What the hell did you make?!"

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried