How A Mythical Holy Knight Lives As A Villain (Novel) - Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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[You have obtained a Fragment of the World.]
With the goddess’s voice, a shining fragment rose from the place where Gallandril had vanished.
And soon after-
Pak!
It flew straight at Go Johan, embedding itself into a part of the Mark of Sin on his body. It shone with a radiance greater than any diamond.
Huuuuung.
A fresh wind blew, and the light faded away.
“……”
But Go Johan had no energy to care about such things.
As Gallandril had said, though he was an archdemon, he was less than Kartul-simply an existence bloated with strength and nothing else. No lesson, no progress, only stupidity from the past repeated.
Thump! Thump!
The real problem remained: the Sins.
A massive amount of Karma Points had been obtained once again.
Thump! Thump!
The Mark of Sin, embedded near his heart, pounded madly.
“……”
Go Johan’s mind churned in turmoil.
Several Tri-Horned Demons still survived.
A handful of Geo and Viren Guild members had also made it out alive.
But none of them, demon nor human, could bring themselves to approach Go Johan.
The demons shivered.
Memories from the past resurged.
The monster who once stood alone against all of hell-a mad knight, now standing before them-was something they could now, at last, truly grasp.
“Im…impossible…”
Viren Guild leader Kim Do-Ha, too, was frozen with a different kind of terror.
Just as the demons had, when they first encountered Mikael.
“Impossible…”
That unthinkable power, the pure hatred directed at demons-it was too much.
She collapsed to her knees.
Rational thought was paralyzed; her body would not move.
With both hands clamped over her mouth, Kim Do-Ha was left with only regret.
‘I’m going to die.’
Go Johan’s warnings, which were dismissed as the arrogance and bravado of a naive child, were actually the plain, undiluted truth, down to every syllable.
Trembling.
She should never have made a pact with them.
She should never have been seduced by such shallow power.
At that moment-
Step, step.
Someone moved at last.
“He… he must die.”
It was Choi Ji-Woon, vice-guild leader of Geo, who finally acted.
“He must die.”
With his remaining arm, he gripped his sword and approached Go Johan.
Go Johan, for some reason, was unmoving, making now the only and last chance.
“He must die!”
National number one? Great power? World ruler? Just a few hours ago, Choi Ji-Woon’s mind had still been filled with these rosy futures.
But now, it was crowded with nothing but shadow and dread.
Tatata!
It was fear itself that pushed Choi Ji-Woon’s body forward, allowing him to move toward Go Johan.
But-
Shhhk!
With a sharp sound, Choi Ji-Woon’s vision tilted.
“Uh…”
The world collapsed.
The last thing Choi Ji-Woon saw-
“Brother…?”
-was his own kin, Choi Ji-O.
Choi Ji-O, jaw clenched and eyes wide open, stared at Ji-Woon.
An indescribable torrent of emotion filled his eyes: rage, regret, and sorrow.
‘Ah…’
Only then did Choi Ji-Woon understand.
‘What have I done?’
He realized, far too late, the price of yielding to temptation.
It was not merely his own death.
‘Brother… I’m so…’
He, who had believed in and walked alongside him, would now be forced to kill his own blood with his own hands.
Within that overwhelming emotion, Choi Ji-Woon’s life ended.
Slip.
It was only then that Go Johan turned to look at Choi Ji-O.
“In the end, it comes to this.”
He spoke with a tone and gaze utterly unfitting for a young man.
[Wraith of Regret is released.]
His altered form began to return to its original state.
“You… what are you, really?”
Choi Ji-O asked.
“I am-”
Kuuuuung!
The world began to collapse.
It was because the boss of the gate, Tandrah, and the archdemon Gallandril created as a result, had been destroyed.
[The Kantara Mountain Range is collapsing.]
[You have obtained a massive amount of Karma Points.]
[You have obtained part of the coordinates for the Kantara Mountain Range.]
“I am the goddess’s knight.”
As Go Johan uttered those words-
“Run!”
Kim Do-Ha shouted as well.
Rumble!!
The world crumbled.
***
In front of the Seongdong Black Gate, the crowd was a rolling mountain.
“If we clear this Black Gate safely, the future may change forever.”
A crush of reporters, players, association members,
And ordinary citizens gathered as if just to watch.
“Korea, this tiny country, has done it again. Geo, Viren, these are the leaders who will guide us into a new era.”
Politicians spoke.
Thud thud thud thud!
Helicopters hovered, live-broadcasting scenes from every angle.
“Our ratings have exceeded 20 percent!”
“It’s been so long since we’ve had this kind of viewership!”
“If you add all the other networks-”
Just the state broadcaster alone had a 20 percent share.
Dozens of other broadcasters were filming the spectacle and broadcasting it live.
Foreign press interested in Black Gates rebroadcast the scenes.
Even among personal streams, there seemed to be hundreds, thousands of feeds.
Then-
“Oh!”
A crack began to appear in the Black Gate.
From past experience, everyone knew what this meant.
“It’s cleared-!”
“At this very moment! The Seongdong Black Gate has been cleared!”
“At last!”
The excitement that swept over everyone was reminiscent of when Korea reached the World Cup semifinals long ago.
A frenzy for having achieved what the rest of the world had failed to do.
“It’s the birth of heroes!”
But the protagonist was not Go Johan.
He lacked the qualities to be called a hero.
The divine background was too vast for anyone to sympathize with his hardships.
His youthful recklessness cast doubt on his purity and virtue.
His subsequent declarations were arrogance and self-indulgence.
“Geo!”
Those who had crawled up from nothing.
“Viren!”
Those who did not falter even in adversity.
“Their emergence is the birth of true heroes!”
It is those who achieve greatness despite their flaws who are the true heroes.
The players who thought they’d reached their limit, now blessed items and spirits, a new chapter-these were the real heroes of the age.
“Waaaaaaah!”
A thunderous cheer, celebrating the birth of the heroes.
And then-
Thud.
Something dropped, revealing itself.
“……?”
All cameras and eyes turned at once.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
“Wh-what the hell is that?!”
A headless corpse-Choi Ji-Woon’s body.
A few more Viren guild members emerged after, in wretched condition, followed by Kim Do-Ha, the Viren guild leader.
“Huff… huff…”
Pale and terrified, clutching a ripped-off arm, staggering out.
“……”
For a moment, no one could even speak.
“Run…”
Kim Do-Ha muttered in a daze.
“We have to run…”
Geo Guild soon emerged after.
Choi Ji-O collapsed where he stood, his expression unreadable.
Behind him-
“Camera…”
“Huh?”
“Camera!”
The person who came out next, every camera and reporter focused on him.
Silver-white hair, sky-blue eyes.
He emerged from the Gate, stretched out his hand without hesitation-
And-
Crunch!
He tore apart the standing Viren guild members.
*
*
*
All of it happened in mere moments.
For ordinary people, it was like the time needed to reach for the volume button, and nothing more.
Crack.
Whatever had once been a Viren guild member fell apart in chunks.
-Captain!
Yoon Seung-Ah’s desperate voice called to Go Johan.
-Right now-
“We’ll be able to track them.”
Go Johan cut off Yoon Seung-Ah as she moved to contain the situation, issuing another order.
“Dwarves.”
Those who made contact with Geo.
“Dark Elves.”
Those who moved behind Viren.
“The spirits will flee for their lives, and the dwarves will try to erase their tracks and sever connections. Right now-”
He told Yoon Seung-Ah,
“Find their bases and kill every last one.”
-…Understood.
This was the extent of what Go Johan wanted.
Those forces that had hidden themselves did everything possible not to leave a trace. The so-called blessed items, if rigorously checked, would yield clues. The place and group that manufactured them had at last been identified.
“Now is the time.”
If they scattered again, they would melt away, hiding and biding their time.
In terror, finally realizing the error of their ways, they would be gathered together, desperate.
“Opening the Gate and summoning Gallandril was not something the evil breeds could easily do while hiding.”
And meanwhile-
Crunch!
Go Johan continued tearing apart the guild members of Viren and Geo from whose bodies the demons had already escaped.
“Since they’ll be all gathered together, kill them all.”
Yoon Seung-Ah didn’t answer.
She was already moving.
Her magical power expanded, moving swiftly.
“What is happening-”
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
“I-it’s insane…!”
At last the uproar began.
The chopper blades thudded, screams rang, the mighty scurried in panic.
And reporters, as if capturing the scene was a holy mission, kept their cameras pointed.
“S-save… save me…”
Kim Do-Ha crawled on her knees, begging before Go Johan.
“P-please… spare me…”
Her face was streaked with tears and snot, and the stench of fear was unmistakable.
“I warned you.”
Go Johan strode toward her.
“You had your chance, and you chose.”
“I, I just… never… I didn’t know this would…”
“Accept responsibility. That’s all.”
At that moment-
“Player Go Johan!”
“Cease at once!”
Association members, led by Kim Won-Seok, rushed out and surrounded Go Johan.
At the same time, they took up positions as if to protect Kim Do-Ha.
“Cease this at once. I don’t know what happened inside, but-”
Crack.
Kim Won-Seok ground his teeth as he spoke.
“You’ve crossed the line.”
It’s not uncommon for violence to break out between players.
Especially inside gates, where anything can happen.
“There are recording devices; the Association will review the footage and make a proper decision.”
If there’s a reason for Go Johan’s actions, they’ll be discovered. If Kim Do-Ha deserves punishment, it will come.
“That is the process.”
Kim Won-Seok was convinced.
No matter how out of control Go Johan became, he’d have to obey.
The divine background behind him would be his own weakness.
“Remember your divinity.”
He was certain that the ground of Korea, the law, and the gaze of the many would bind Go Johan.
But then Go Johan stopped.
“Good, you’re thinking-”
Pop!
Kim Won-Seok’s head burst apart.
“Don’t defend a demon in front of me. I warned you, over and over again.”
That was not Go Johan standing there.
Goooooooooh!
It was Michael.