SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 122

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 122: Utopia (1)

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A skill I frequently use. The exact ability of Ghoul Reincarnation is as follows:

[Ghoul Reincarnation]

Rank: SSS

Effect: You summon those you've personally killed. The deceased do not inherit their abilities from life. However, if you wish, they can inherit their memories and appearances from when they were alive. If you do not wish it, they will only be summoned as monsters.

*However, you can only summon once a week.

An important point here is the clause, "If I wish, the deceased can inherit their memories and appearances from when they were alive."

In other words, if I don't wish so, they are summoned as monsters without memories or appearances.

Just like now.

-Groooooar!

My shadow spread. White bones rose from the shadow carpeting the ground. Five thousand skeletons. It had been a long time since I had seen them, but I felt no joy. They were evidence of my deaths, after all.

'But now, I need these creatures.'

The apostles of [The Immortal Missionary of Happiness] were swarming in. Singing in chorus.

-La. Lura, Lu.

-La, la.

The melody they sang forcibly submerged anyone who heard it in happy memories. Even a martial artist with disciplined mental fortitude would struggle to resist such an attack. Even the followers of the Demonic Cult had collapsed one after another at the wedding ceremony.

But.

-Groooooar!

The skeletons roared unaffectedly, unfazed.

The mere five thousand skeletons charged. They rushed ferociously at an army numbering in the tens or hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions. It was not because the skeletons were exceptionally brave, nor because they were particularly resistant to mental attacks.

-Ahah. Indeed.

The Guardian Spirit spoke beside me.

-They have no 'memories', so mental attacks don't work on them.

That was true.

The song of the apostles of [The Immortal Missionary of Happiness] was undoubtedly powerful. But this power only affected beings with memories. To the summoned creatures without any memories, it was no different than a normal song.

-La...

-Keeek! Kiik!

And a normal song has no offensive power.

The skeletons slaughtered the apostles. They stabbed with daggers, bit with teeth, and clawed with their bony hands. Each time, apostles were swept away. In terms of physical attacks, the apostles were utterly incompetent.

-Ugh.

The constellation watching the battle from the air bit its lip. Despite the overflowing melody from all around, every word uttered by the constellation pierced my ears. Probably direct telepathy.

-Pointlessly resisting...! It's merely a matter of overwhelming with numbers!

I had to agree.

"Yes. Certainly so."

No matter how lacking in physical attack power, a hundred thousand is a hundred thousand, and a million is a million. Numbers themselves exert formidable violence. That's why [The Immortal Missionary of Happiness] confidently launched a surprise attack.

"But you've already shown us how to defeat you."

-What?

Did the constellation read the movement of my lips? It reacted.

"Numbers are a secondary problem. Every army has a weakness. The moment it was revealed that you know no pain and do nothing but spread happiness..."

The skeletons were being overwhelmed by the numbers. However, they hadn't been subdued yet. They would hold out for at least a minute or two more. And that was all the time we needed.

"The method to counter you is as good as exposed."

I gripped the holy sword tightly.

"Black Dragon Master."

"Speak up! I can't hear well because of the song!"

"Yes. Please float the mirrors."

I enhanced my voice with aura. The Black Dragon Master quickly came to my side. Having heard my request, she had already spread six mirrors around us.

"Done. But what are you going to do with the mirrors?"

"Do you remember when we fought the [Demon King of the Autumn Rain]? When the Demon King fired beams, you reflected them through your mirrors several times to weaken them. You amplified our attacks instead. We are going to use the same method."

The Black Dragon Master understood my intention.

"You want to shoot your aura like a beam? That's fine, but are you confident you can produce an output as massive as [Demon King of the Autumn Rain]? Unless it's powerful enough, even reflecting it with my mirrors won't be enough."

"Don't worry about the output. Just focus on spreading it 'widely'."

"I don't fully get your plan, but... Okay, go ahead."

The mirrors flew into the air. East, West, North, South. When light hit one mirror, it was immediately reflected to the others, enough to envelop the vast field.

'This is enough.'

I nodded and let aura flow into the sword hilt. Woosh! Blood-like red aura ignited along the blade.

'Even though I can't push forward with brute force like Preta, or cut through the world with enlightenment like my master.'

If these apostles are the enemy.

If these comrades are my allies.

I can exert an invincible divine might.

『What happens if you can only wield a sword with hunger?』

Because the martial arts I inherited are of such nature.

『You can slice through anyone who has never experienced hunger in one strike.』

『Thus, half of the orthodox martial artists become opponents who can be defeated in a single move.』

Apostles who know only 'happiness' can never be my adversaries.

I swung my sword towards the mirrors raised by the Black Dragon Master.

Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.

The First Form.

Sword of Starving Death.

The army was cleaved apart.

The red aura carried the ultimate technique of Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven. The mirrors reflected the technique. Once, twice, three times, four times, five times, six times. With each reflection, the red aura split the wilderness in two.

Whoosh!

The strike was far weaker compared to the Demon King's blow. Incredibly trivial compared to my master's strike. But still, the apostles of happiness simply 'brushed against' the red aura and were annihilated.

What...?!

Startled, the constellation gazed down at the plain.

No wonder it was flustered. My strike had literally vaporized thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of apostles. The plain had been crawling with them moments ago, but the paths scraped by the red aura were now empty.

"Black Dragon Master! Keep going!"

Of course, I had no intention of being satisfied with just one attack.

"Please keep shifting the mirrors too!"

"Goodness... I see now. Your martial arts and those minions of the constellation are completely antagonistic to each other!"

Though surprised, the Black Dragon Master skillfully readjusted the mirrors. She had realized that regardless of its output, my attack would annihilate the enemy as long as it touched them.

Then, it was important to reflect the attack through as many different paths as possible.

"Don't worry about me, keep attacking! King of Death! I'll handle the mirrors!"

The mirrors noisily flew around in the air. The Black Dragon Master, upon making a judgment, immediately acted on it.

Whoosh!

Trusting the Black Dragon Master's words, I unleashed another strike. Just executing a familiar martial technique, yet tens of thousands of enemies were swept away. The combined attack of the second and third rankers, me and the Black Dragon Master, unilaterally ravaged the constellation's troops.

"Ahaha! Amazing! What a splendid sight!"

The Heretic Inquisitor employed Holy Techniques to protect us from the enemies' mental attacks.

"Hurry, finish it quickly! I've already broken two of my emergency savings banks!"

The Countess poured astronomical funds to back up the Heretic Inquisitor.

"Viper! Enemies escaped that way! Take care of them!"

The Paladin surveyed the battlefield and issued instructions in real time.

"Okay! Damn, all the cool scenes are being stolen by the Demonic Cult!"

The remnants of the enemy forces that the skeletons couldn't stop were dealt with by Viper.

'We can do this.'

Just six of us.

'United, we are invincible!'

Yet, us six managed to overwhelm an army comparable to a whole world.

'Look.'

The residents living in the tower must be gathered in the square right now, witnessing our prowess. They will broadcast or record this scene and spread it to the outside world.

The spectacle of just six people repelling a million apostles.

'Look!'

Be thrilled.

Witness the fact that nothing is impossible in this tower.

See clearly how we are not oppressed by the world, but how we engulf it.

And harbor hope.

-This…

The constellation contorted its face.

-Y-you utterly wicked band of heretics! What right do you have to invade the utopia I created? There is no unhappiness in this world! Not even unhappy memories!

The constellation waved its hand. A hologram-like scene unfolded in the sky, showing the lives of the apostles in this world.

-La, la.

-Lu.

The apostles didn't live in houses. They had no need to form cities. There was no such thing as hunger for them. They didn't need to mine resources to sustain life. In the form of children, the apostles were always happily singing anywhere and everywhere.

-Kyaaaak!

However.

At the heart of this world, an innocent child was impaled on a sword.

-Aaack! Ugh, ack! Aaack!!

I couldn't understand how the innocent child's screams became the [power] of this world. Probably, the sword embedded in the child's chest was creating some kind of law.

-The world I've built is much more moderate than your worthless junkyard!

Ignoring the child's screams, the constellation shouted.

-Don't even think of being hypocritical in front of me, invaders! I have followed Leafanta Aegim and seen numerous worlds. In every world, screams never ceased. Hundreds of thousands! Millions! Tens of millions! Hundreds of millions!

The sword named 'Sacrifice' howled.

-In contrast, my world sacrifices one person. Only one! By making a single person the scapegoat, my apostles live without knowing pain. If I commit one evil, you turn a blind eye to hundreds of millions of evils. How dare scum like you disparage my world!

I understand.

Undoubtedly, the constellation must have pondered and struggled before inventing such a mechanism. And did so with good intentions.

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then this is the hell [The Immortal Missionary of Happiness] chose.

'This world is just an extreme example.'

The challenges we, as managers of the tower, will face are no different. When food is scarce. When resources are depleted. As those responsible for the tower, we will have to sacrifice someone.

-Ha!

Seeing my silence, the constellation scoffed.

-At least you have the conscience not to spout nonsense. If you cannot answer, then be gone! I will never recognize you as a new master!

"No. I have an answer."

I stepped forward.

-An answer? Ha. What answer could you possibly have?

It is easy to recite the orthodox moral answer: "Even so, sacrifice is wrong."

But a moral principle does not exist merely to be spoken. It must be lived out. It is valid only when you can take responsibility for your words, only when you possess the ability to make them real.

I haven't forgotten this.

"I will kill all of you."

-What?

"I will kill all of you and make you my Ghouls."

-........

The constellation seemed not to understand my words.

-What are you talking about...

"Those killed by my sword are all collected as Ghouls. If I wish, they can be summoned with all their memories intact. I will kill all of you. Then summon you again to live in this world."

I raised the holy sword.

"You want to live happily forever, right? I'll let you. Live without suffering, without remembering, just singing as you do now. I'll make it happen."

-.......

"Ghouls don't need to eat anything to live. I'll give you the world you desire."

Simple.

Kill all the million apostles.

Then summon them back to this world.

Give them back the memories of their living selves.

Nothing changes.

"This isn't just for you."

To the residents watching us now.

To the countless humans who will watch, I declared.

"There are irredeemable villains. Unforgivable sinners. Spirits who want to live but cannot. From now on, I will execute them with my own hands."

-Execution...?