6kv Chapter 342
Chapter 342
Chapter 342
The light of blessing invoked by the priests gathered in Dae-Man's fist. His men, who had fallen to the ground from the earthquake, and others who had been fleeing, turned back. They aimed their guns at the Cult Leader.
Dae-Man wrapped his fist with the Berakah of Diligence, Well, and the priests’ blessings and struck out toward Sun-Woo.
BOOOOM-!
The resulting sound resembled that of an explosion. Not even the sound of the artillery fire piercing through the plant stems summoned by the Cult Leader was as massive as this.
The Berakah of Diligence, Well, unleashed destructive power proportional to the caster’s accumulated efforts. And Dae-Man's life was filled to the brim only with diligence.
Thud, thump...
The punch sent Sun-Woo flying, and he rolled on the dirt. Sun-Woo had blocked Dae-Man's fist, but it hadn’t been enough. He managed to avoid a fatal blow, but he couldn't completely withstand the impact. Sun-Woo stood up, his mouth dripping with blood.
"..."
Even though he had blocked the blow, he might have suffered some internal injuries. A direct hit from those fists would be fatal. The look in Sun-Woo's eyes changed, now fixed on the staff he had planted in the ground earlier. He staggered toward it.
"No, stop him!"
The clergymen did not just stand around. They aimed and fired their guns at Sun-Woo in unison. Some infused divine power into holy artifacts and hurled them at Sun-Woo.
Bang, bang!
Boom―!
Gunshots rang out. Holy artifacts exploded, sending shrapnel flying.
Sun-Woo did not dodge. He simply gestured with his hand. The bullets lost momentum, stopped right in front of his nose, and fell to the ground. Dozens of bullets lay motionless, scattered on the dirt, unable to reach Sun-Woo.
Squelch, squelch...
A squelching sound came from the wet dirt as Sun-Woo continued to walk toward the staff. Sun-Woo’s footsteps were irregular. The clergymen were unsure whether it was because he didn't have the staff or because Dae-Man's blow had injured him, but it wasn’t the time to think about such things.
The clergymen rushed toward the staff. They intended to retrieve it before Sun-Woo could.
"Eeek!"
Grrrk, gttthhk...
However, the staff did not move an inch. It didn't budge at all, despite the efforts of several strong clergymen. Taking away the staff was impossible in the first place—it only moved when Sun-Woo touched it.
Bang!
A shockwave erupted from the staff, sending the clergymen clinging to it flying. Blood dripped from their lips.
Sun-Woo stepped over the fallen clergymen and grabbed the staff. It came out of the ground without any resistance.
Bang!
Sun-Woo struck the ground with the staff. The ground trembled. Stems erupted from the ground in various places. However, they did not attack Dae-Man or anyone from the Holy War Knight Order. They just wriggled and made strange noises in the air.
-Sacrifice.
The voice coming from the plant stems was Sun-Woo's voice. It sounded distorted and eerie. The plant stems continued to whimper and rustle.
-Sacrifice.
-Sacrifice.
The murmuring voice echoed in the clergymen’s minds. Even when they tried to block their ears and pounded their heads to silence the ringing voice, it never ceased. If anything, the more they resisted, the louder the voice sounded.
The guns pointed at the Cult Leader trembled. Sun-Woo raised his staff and cautiously aimed it at Dae-Man.
"Sobo."
***
-Sacrifice.
Dae-Man smiled. "I’m glad."
He focused his eyes one last time and gazed at the sky. It was raining. Strangely, the rain didn’t feel cold at all. The wet ground from the rain was the same. It should have been cold, but it was warm instead.
The dark clouds cleared, and the rain stopped falling. Sunlight poured through the cracks in the clouds. The warm sunlight bathed Dae-Man's body.
"The earth, my bed, and the sky, my blanket. It can't get more comfortable than this. Really..." Dae-Man murmured.
Those were his final words.
A handful of light emanated from his body. It was the special blessing and light bestowed upon Dae-Man by the Pope. The light swayed in the wind and rose into the sky.
***
The Voodoo Cult emerged victorious.
They had succeeded. There was no other way to put it—they had achieved their goal.
Ha-Yeon and Jin-Seo were non-essential figures who could be returned to the Romanican Church from the start. The Pope's Proxy still remained with the Voodoo Cult. And the Head Guardian of Diligence, Dae-Man, had fallen in battle.
Thanks to Soo-Hyun and Soo-Yeong, they captured the Romanican Church's tanks. They had also retrieved all the firearms abandoned by the fleeing members of the Holy War Knight Order. These were excellent spoils of war that could be utilized in the upcoming battles.
The first battle of the Holy War Holy Army, created to suppress the Voodoo Cult, ended disastrously. The Romanican Church's morale was probably at rock bottom now.
The Voodoo Cult held a small banquet to commemorate their victory. They feasted on their rations and alcohol at the temporary barracks in the Gyeongsang Province. There was no reason to skimp on rations and alcohol since they had planned to abandon the temporary barracks after the battle.
"Did you see them trembling in fear? Their heads shook so much when they saw our masks!" a Voodoo Cultist snickered.
"What good is a gun if you can't shoot!" another exclaimed.
The members of the mercenary corps who participated in the battle laughed and shared war stories among themselves. They were already quite drunk. How could they not? The Voodoo Cult had also suffered casualties. They had to forget the sorrow of losing comrades through the joy of victory and intoxication.
The executives of the Voodoo Cult gathered together. Sun-Woo, Soo-Yeong, Soo-Hyun, and Yuk Eun-Hyung were present. Chorong, the leader of the Ravens Mercenary Corps, was also considered an executive, but he chose to stay with his own mercenary corps members as he felt uncomfortable sitting across from Sun-Woo.
As the banquet came to an end, Yuk Eun-Hyung said to Sun-Woo, "I'm sorry, Cult Leader. The special forces you mentioned were here, but... we missed them."
Sun-Woo did not respond.
Soo-Yeong chuckled nervously. "It's okay. We still have Pope's Proxy with us, right? That should be enough."
Soo-Hyun, quietly contemplating while touching his chin, looked at Yuk Eun-Hyung and said, "I can’t believe you lost them, Executive Yuk Eun-Hyung. I would have caught them."
"Ah, oppa! Shut up!" Soo-Yeong said.
"Haha, Soo-Hyun is right. If I had been a little faster, I could have caught that guy and... I would have taken care of him myself," Yuk Eun-Hyung said regretfully.
Sun-Woo broke his silence and said, "It's okay.”
While staring blankly into the distance, he added, "This isn't the last battle after all."
Sun-Woo's murmuring voice lacked strength. He seemed a bit sad as well.
Yuk Eun-Hyung poured himself a drink. Soo-Hyun and Soo-Yeong also joined in and drank. The alcohol there had to be consumed or discarded anyway, so it was better to drink instead.
Sun-Woo usually didn't touch alcohol. He thought that alcohol clouded the mind and impaired judgment. However, unable to resist Soo-Yeong's insistence on having just one drink today, he also took a glass.
"So, you drink now?" Yuk Eun-Hyung said in surprise.
Soo-Hyun also expressed his amazement. "You don’t drink? That's impressive."
Seemingly surprised that Sun-Woo had listened to her suggestion, Soo-Yeong said, "Yeah, what's with you drinking for real today? You never touched your glass before when I told you to drink."
Sun-Woo chuckled. Encouraging the Voodoo Cult members for a day by sharing a drink didn't seem like a bad idea.
The real war was about to begin. This wasn't their last fight, but the first of many.
"Come on now, cheers!" Soo-Yeong exclaimed.
They clinked their glasses.