3.
Bae Hu-ryeong.
The so-called Sword Emperor (劍帝) was a man who was likely to pop out if you mixed a psychopath and an oldie in a 5:5 manner. Thanks to this perfect ratio, 99% of the time, what the Sword Emperor said to me was either crazy or useless.
-When I swing my sword, it wasn't just my skills that mattered.
In other words, the 1% contained the essence of the psychopath-oldie.
-Faith! Confidence! Having faith in yourself is what's really important.
Bae Hu-ryeong had a solemn expression.
-Even your bullshit is the same.
It was a thundering criticism that came from his real life experience.
-I fooled myself to be able to deceive my opponents! You have to believe in your own lies. Have confidence! No matter how convincing your lies are, if you do it without confidence, your opponents won't buy it. But no matter how ridiculous it is, as long as you have confidence, you'll be able to lure them in.
'Really?'
-I know because I've done it a lot myself!
Maybe the psychopath-oldie ratio was around 6:4 instead.
–Of course, if it was 100% a complete lie, your opponents wouldn't believe you, nor will you believe yourself. So mix your lies with some truth! Mix 10% of the truth with 90% of the lie!
'Mix?'
–That's right. That's the beauty of lies. If you believe in your 10% truth, the remaining 90% lie will flow naturally on its own!
Indeed.
–Remember, zombie. Lying come downs to having confidence!
"Mmhmm."
I looked at what was in front of my eyes.
Troops came from all over the continent to capture Estelle the Devil King. Among them, the soldiers of the Aegim Imperial Army, who were in charge of the vanguard, along with the general leading the soldiers were staring at me.
If I didn't deceive them, I would be in danger.
"Why is the emissary of the Founding Emperor…."
"But that sword is definitely…."
"Why is the emissary in a place like this?"
Murmur murmur.
Some of the soldiers suspiciously glanced at me. The Aegim Imperial Army was gently bowing its head, but that was all. The soldiers who belonged to other divisions didn't have a sliver of doubt on their faces. As expected, even the Imperial Army couldn't stand up against the Holy Protection Sword.
"By-, by the way, are you the emissary of the Founding Emperor…?"
The very leader of the Imperial Army carefully examined my complexion.
"Can I ask you a stupid question?"
"What is it?"
"The reason we're here today, as I mentioned before, is to defeat the witch. Why is the emissary of the Founding Emperor here at this place…?"
I closed my eyes for a moment,
'Lying's all about confidence.'
I exclaimed with my eyes wide open.
"Gentlemen from the Imperial Army! I've already defeated the witch!"
My aura-filled voice resounded loudly on the Acacia field.
General Sarbast Aegim was shocked.
"Hu-, huhhhh? What do you mean you've already defeated her, What are you...."
"Look here!"
I cleared the way. Then the vengeful ghost who was hiding behind me was revealed. Whether they had already known about Estelle's appearance, some recognized her and shouted.
"Es-, it's Estelle!"
"It's the Witch of the West!"
"I've seen her before! It's that woman!"
"Burn the witch to death!"
The vengeful ghost's mouth wailed and flinched.
But I said without a care.
"Vengeful Ghost."
"Yes...?"
"Come and kneel before them."
"...."
A firm command.
The vengeful ghost, who was reduced to becoming a part of my Hundred Ghosts, had no power to disobey my orders. She stumbled and knelt.
That wasn't the end.
"Bow your head down."
The vengeful ghost bowed her head.
"On the floor."
"...."
The vengeful ghost touched the floor with her trembling hands. Was it because of anger? Or was it because of disgrace? Either way, she couldn't speak, or she was biting her tongue, the two cheeks of the ghost had a deep pouted look. A little later, blood fell down her jawline to her lips.
"Place your forehead to the ground."
"Ugh… "
The vengeful ghost followed my orders.
The soldiers watched, holding their breath, as the former Devil King bowed her forehead on the ground. Even more anger and disgrace mingled with the sound of the vengeful ghost's breath. Nevertheless, to protect her little paradise, she obeyed my orders.
In a way, it was an imposing scene.
To the vengeful ghost, I ordered solemnly.
"Just like that, straining both your feet, kick the floor, and do a forward roll."
Silence.
Silence dawned on the Acacia field for a moment.
"...Huh?"
The vengeful ghost turned her head and looked up at me.
She looked as if she had just heard something wrongly.
I frowned.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Uh, uh huh…? "
"Go ahead and do a forward roll!"
The vengeful ghost flinched and reluctantly obeyed my orders. That is to say, she placed both her hands on the ground and made a forward roll.
Degoureureu!
[T/N: Korean sound effect of rolling forward.]
A small body rolled down the field, and her blonde hair which was even longer than her body fluttered away and swept up the acacia petals on the floor. After one such lap, the vengeful ghost still had an expression as if she didn't know what or why she just did, what she did.
"Hmm."
I nodded.
"Now do a handstand."
"...."
The vengeful ghost looked back at me one more time.
She seemed to doubt the mental state of her new owner.
Of course, I didn't lift even an eyebrow.
"Hurry up, can't you even do a handstand?!"
"Hikkk."
The vengeful ghost trembled and touched the floor with both her hands. And as she slowly tried to do a handstand, "Ackkk!" perhaps she didn't have enough strength, but she stumbled and fell. "Sobs sobs…" As if swimming on the bare ground, the vengeful ghost was floundering in tears.
Either way, I continued to order in a stern voice.
"Do twenty jumping jacks!"
"Ten squats, start!"
"10 push-ups as soon as you're done!"
"I order you to do 20 sit-ups!"
"Stay in the plank position for 20 seconds!"
After a while.
"No, no more, Lord…I, I can't move my body…"
The former Devil King didn't have the power to lift even a finger and laid down on the floor.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Hmmm."
I looked at Sarbast Aegim.
"Do you understand now?"
Sarbast Aegim had his mouth wide open. Not only the general but also the soldiers under his command had a similar expression. The Continent's army looked dazedly at the vengeful ghost, who was crying like a mere child.
"Ho-, holy emissary. What exactly is this..."
"As I just said."
I widened my eyes and stared fearlessly.
"The witch has already been defeated by me. Now, no matter what happens, the witch cannot go against my orders!"
Of course, I added.
"It is no longer possible for her to cause any harm to the people of the continent. Gentlemen. You may rest assured about the witch!"
The soldiers cheered.
Then the soldiers shuddered, the commanders of the army were confused along with them.
"Uhmm, If the holy emissary… If you say so…."
"No, wait a minute!"
Sarbast Aegim, who was subservient to the authority of the Holy Protection Sword, seemed to be trying to somehow believe what I said, but the other commanders had a 'what a load of bullshit' expression on their faces.
Among them, the Chief Holy Knight took a step forward and shouted.
"What the hell are you doing?! We came here to defeat the witch."
"I mean, the emissary of the Founding Emperor already said, the witch has already been defeated…"
"How can we believe that?!"
"On-, on the contrary, how can I not trust him? The emissary of the Founding Emperor ordered me to...But did you not see the witch do all those things?"
Sarbast Aegim was angered. The power of the Holy Protection Sword was indeed amazing.
The Chief Holy Knight had a face that said 'I'm going to jump up and down crazily.' He shouted while jumping.
"How can you believe that...No, no, no, no, in the first place! Isn't that one sword the only thing that could prove that the young man was the emissary of the Founding Emperor? You've been going at it since just now just for that one mere sword..."
"One mere sword you say?"
Sarbast Aegim's voice rose.
"Did you just say that one blade!? Oh my God. Right now, you dare doubt the authority of the Founding Emperor, who founded the Empire?! The evidence that we are favored by the goddess is that Holy Protection Sword. How dare you!"
The Chief Holy Knight flinched.
"No, General. Calm down… I didn't mean it to that extent,"
"The Founding Emperor took that sword and left for the wilderness! Running through the fields, leaving a legacy in every city he went, climbed volcanoes, burned down waterfalls, and even pierced mountains! Just to establish the Empire! All our ancestors stood with the Founding Emperor, and all of us owe him! But did you just say 'just for that mere blade'?!"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"If not, then what the hell were you talking about?!"
"Yo-, Your Holiness, the Pope had given me orders. I was given a strict order to defeat the evil witch at all costs… But just because of one word,"
The general of the Empire screamed.
"What do you mean just because of one word?! You are indirectly questioning the words of the Founding Emperor's emissary using the order of the Pope!"
Wow.
"What, what…"
The Chief Holy Knight shut his mouth.
It took exactly two seconds for his bewilderment to turn into anger.
"Back at you, you dare doubt the authority of the Temple of God!"
"Didn't you first doubt the authority of the Holy Protection Sword?!"
"Oh ohhhh, good! I got it! Seems like the Third Prince that you are loyal to doesn't need the Pope's declaration of support."
"Ha, what declaration of support?! The emissary of the Founding Emperor has already turned up and defeated the witch. What does the Goddess's love have to do with looking over the sovereignty of the Empire?"
"So is that really the will of the Third Prince's faction?"
The Empire's General and the Knights of the Temple were squabbling fiercely.
I was grinning happily inside.
'Very good.'
There was something you must be careful about when groups of people band together.
If an internal strife was revealed even once, it becomes a straight-road rush towards destruction.
'They wouldn't be able to go far.'
When we Hunters went up to the 12th floor. At that time, it was unfortunate, but there were exactly eight different power structures.
Me, Sword Saint, and the top five guild masters all represented one power structure each. And the minor forces that were in a contribution by the 8th to 10th place.
We were together for the external purpose of 'Clearing the Tower', but we were never a solid mass.
There was something piled upon each other. There was distrust.
That was why we pathetically self-destructed even though there was only one unexpected variable called [The Devil King's Reward].
[Warriors, those who climb the towers.]
As soon as the 11th floor was opened, I recalled what the hologram of the goddess said.
[From the 11th floor to the 20th floor, you will face a test. A test of faith.]
I grinned inwardly.
The test of one's good faith.
'Not only the Hunters, but probably also the residents of the tower would have to go through it too right?'
Wouldn't that make the world a little more fair?
4.
The Empire and the Temple of God were fully in the midst of [The Test of Faith].
Other forces began to intervene one by one as well.
"Ohhh, everyone…Now is not the time for fighting."
The Elf Ranger Captain from the Fairy Forest sighed.
"Shouldn't we investigate thoroughly whether or not the witch is really under that young man's control? No matter how foolish you all are, there's a time and place for everything."
Was he trying to stop the fight, or fan the sparks of the fight?
Naturally, it didn't help whatsoever.
"That's right if I had to add a comment to what you just said, isn't the Temple of God being self-contradictory? The Founding Emperor of Aegim's Holy Protection Sword was bestowed to him by the Goddess of Protection that you all worship at the Temple of God. To doubt the authority of the sword is to doubt the authority of the goddess, isn't it? That's why humans who live short lives are so foolish…"
"What?! The elves saw us in that kind of light?!"
"This is why these big-earned ones are unreliable sons of bitches!"
They even got in the way.
"What on earth are the Temple of God and the Empire doing?! Arguing in front of us who came to uphold our honourable covenant!"
The Dragoon Unit Captain that came from the volcano shouted.
"Settle it with a duel just like the warriors you are! What else are you going to use your weapons for?"
Basically, they were a unicellular unit.
In Hunter terms… Yes, they were just like the Venomous Snake from Chen Mu-mun.
"Our Freedom City Union believes both the Holy Protection Sword and the Temple of God are right. But there must be someone more right. If you have any suggestions, I'll listen with an open mind."
"That's why farming is for suckers… Oh, so when can we plunder that town? You said we could rob it right? So, since they came to see us."
"Ev-, everyone. Guys… there's a witch's den right in front of us…."
Wearing an armed top, she openly revealed her [Personal Status], she was a nomadic female chief who was grumbling while pulling along the horses.
It was the closest place to the vengeful ghost's paradise, so only the lords of the minor countries, that initially tried to desperately spark the destruction of the paradise, were in a state of panic.
In other words, it was a very dangerous situation.
-Keuuhoooo!
On the other hand, the Sword Emperor and I became that much more relaxed.
Bae Hu-ryeong folded his arms and shook his head.
-I understand why the vengeful ghost put up a fight against the Hunters. There was an exhilarating feeling when driving a wedge in, causing internal confusion!
'I admit it.'
Honestly, it was so much fun.
However, of course, they were not the only ones full of trollers.
"Ha. Guys, get out of my way!"
Just like us Hunters had a person that was so-called the 'Civil Militia Guild Master'. A mediator. There were, of course, those who came forward to resolve the situation before the whole army headed toward chaos and destruction.
A lizardman magician from the Mermaid Falls stepped forward.
"In the eyes of this young one, the problem was simple after all."
The lizardman magician pointed at me with his webbed fingers.
"Whether the young man really is the emissary of the Founding Emperor, or if that woman was really the witch. Whether or not the emissary really defeated the witch and brought her under his reign. It'll all be solved as long as we can confirm this."
The Chief Holy Knight of the Temple of God, who became exhausted while arguing with the General of the Empire, frowned.
"So how do you confirm that?"
"Don't worry. Of course, I have a way."
The lizardman magician placed her webbed hands on her chest.
In her grasp was a blue bead that seemed to hold the condensed deep sea.
"This is the Soul Jewel that the Queen of Mermaids gave me."
The lizardman magician was very serious. As if she was going to show us an extremely precious treasure from now on, and she sounded as if this was the fortune of our lifetimes to be able to see such a treasure with our own eyes.
"If you drip a drop of blood here, you can determine whether the owner of the blood has a [Good-Natured Soul], or a [Evil-Natured Soul]. If you have a good-natured soul, the jewel will emit white light, and if you have an evil-natured soul, a black light will emerge."
Hmmmmm.
So it's like the Crusader's [Lie Detector] and the Sword Saint's [Detective's Insight].
-Uhuh. I think so. The demifolks are very good at making weird gizmos like that.
Bae Hu-ryeong and I remained unfazed. The Queen of Mermaids' precious jewel or whatever, it sounded grand, but… It was nothing new for us.
Unaware of our thoughts, the lizardman magician was confident.
"Now! If that woman is truly the Witch of the Frontier, and if you are truly the emissary of the Founding Emperor, accept the test of the jewel!"
The lizardman magician lifted the jewel.
"The evil deeds you have done. The good deeds you have accumulated. This jewel will prove everything!"
"Alright then."
I nodded meekly.
"Try as much as you like."
"Don't regret it. As I said, the jewel will expose your soul as it is."
"You're standing quite far from that fork. How about you start running?"
The snake-like eyes of the lizardman magician sharpened.
"I hope that confidence is not just false bravado. Well then, let's start with testing that woman's soul first."
The lizardman magician strode toward us. She grabbed the wrist of the vengeful ghost. Then she ran her sharp fingernails across the vengeful ghost's palm and scratched her.
Blood flowed down from her palm.
"Hikkk."
The vengeful ghost flinched. The dark red drops of blood trickled down and smeared the jewel of the Queen of Mermaids.
Shinngggggg!
The jewel was dyed black at once.
"What the f-!"
"Oh my God."
The commanding officers watching the soul test were terrified. The color exuded by the jewel was not an ordinary black. It was a color that was as dark as the abyss. A void-like black shadow writhed around, just like a slithering black snake.
"What an evil soul this is…!"
Even the lizardman magician, who was overseeing the test, gulped.
"It's to a degree that's hard to believe. How many murders and evil deeds did you commit…., This is a being that shouldn't exist in the world. A cursed being… She's undoubtedly the witch!"
Plop.
The magician quickly let go of the vengeful ghost's wrist as if she was trying to avoid wastewater. The vengeful ghost could see that the magician's eye contained a great deal of contempt and fear, fear from even being close to her.
"No. Not even a witch could compare. She's definitely a Devil King!"
The vengeful ghost shrugged even more.
The atmosphere changed. Was it because the lizardman magician confirmed the identity of the vengeful ghost? The soldiers' chattering died down. The commanders stopped arguing and stared fiercely at the vengeful ghost. The more they stared, the more she cowered, and she slipped back and hid behind me.
"Now, it's your turn."
People's eyes naturally turned towards me.
The lizardman magician raised her long nails.
"Self-proclaimed emissary of the Founding Emperor. Are you ready?"
"I'm always ready."
"It's no use bluffing…Now, give your hand to me."
I willingly extended my left hand. Screech! My flesh spread like gills on the spot where the fingernails of the lizardman magician had run through.
Red blood flowed down from the cut. My blood dripped slowly onto the jewel that was dyed black because of the vengeful ghost's blood.
And…
"Ah…?"
There was a ray of light.
"Uh, Huh…?"
The blackness disappeared from the jewel as if it was cleansed of it. It wasn't just that. The white ray of light clung together and lit up, and finally spread like an explosion around me.
Shingggggg!
The Acacia field turned white instantaneously. Screams broke out from here and there. And I screened my face with my palm.
The lizardman magician who was holding the jewel did the same.
"Ho-, how can this…"
She was stunned and gasped.
"Wait a minute, what the hell is this soul...?"
"What the hell is going on?!"
Shouted the Chief Holy Knight of the Temple of God.
"The 'water droplet' given by the current Queen! Why is this ray of light coming out from the jewel?
"His soul…"
The wizard muttered without even looking back at the Holy Knights.
"How can you be so… How many lives have you saved, such a pure white, this is… This is simply...."
Ahhhh, said the lizardman magician.
"This person is...He's light itself...!"
Yes.
I was the light.