1.
My favorite skill. The exact ability of the Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation is this:
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[Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation]
Rank: SSS
Effects: You can summon those whom you've killed yourself. The dead cannot use their abilities from when they were alive. However, the dead can keep their memories and appearances from their lives if you so desire. If not, they will just be summoned as monsters.
※However, you can only summon them once a week.
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There was an important segment here.
The part that said [The dead can keep their memories and appearances from their life if I so desire].
In other words, if I didn't want them to, the dead would be summoned as monsters without their memories and former appearances.
Just like now.
-Guoooh!
My shadows fanned out. White bones sprouted from the shadows that were laid out like linoleum floors. Five thousand skeletons. It had been a while, but I wasn't pleased to see them. Weren't they proof of my deaths?
'But I need these guys now.'
The apostles of [The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness] swarmed, singing a song.
-La. Lula, lu.
-Lala.
The tune they were singing was a song that buried listeners in their happy memories. It was an attack difficult for even warriors with mental training to resist. The members of the Demonic Sect had also fallen quickly at the wedding hall.
However.
-Guooooh!
The skeletons howled, unaffected as usual.
The charge was composed of only five thousand skeletons. They fiercely ran at the millions of enemies. It wasn't because the skeletons were particularly brave or resistant against mental attacks.
-Aha. I see.
Bae Hu-ryeong spoke from my side.
-The mental attack doesn't work because they have no 'memories.'
That was right.
The songs of the apostles of The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness were certainly powerful. However, this power only affected people with memories. To the summoned beings with no memories at all, the songs were no different than ordinary songs.
-La…
-Kigigik! Kiek!
And ordinary songs caused no damage.
The skeletons slaughtered the apostles. With daggers, teeth, and skeleton hands, they were stabbed, bitten, and scratched. Each time, the apostles were swept away. In terms of physical strength, the apostles were totally incomparable.
-Euk.
The Constellation who watched the battle from above bit her lips. Songs were roaring from all sides, but every word the Constellation spoke pierced my ears. The sound was probably transmitted directly to my head.
-This useless rebellion…! You'll be overpowered by numbers anyway!
I admitted it easily.
"You're right. That certainly will happen."
Even if the apostles had no physical attacking power, the numbers were what they were. There was a fearsome force in sheer quantity. That was why [The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness] ambushed us with such confidence.
"But you've already taught us how to fight you."
-What?
She must have read my lips since the Constellation reacted.
"The numbers are a secondary issue. Every army has its weakness. The moment I learned that you don't know pain and only spread happiness—"
The skeletons were being overwhelmed by the crowd. However, they had not been defeated yet. They would last for a short time, one or two minutes at the least. And that short time was just the moment we needed.
"—the way to destroy you was revealed."
I held the Holy Sword tightly.
"Black Dragon Master."
"Speak loudly! I can't hear you well because of the song!"
"All right. Please launch the mirrors."
I amplified the volume of my voice with aura. The Black Dragon Master stepped up beside me. She heard my request and had already put up six mirrors around us.
"Done. But what do you want me to do with the mirrors?"
"Do you remember when you and I fought [The Devil King of Fall Rain]? When the Devil King shot the beams, you weakened their strength by reflecting them on mirrors several times. At the same time, you strengthened our attacks. We'll fight the same way."
The Black Dragon Master understood my aim.
"You want to shoot your aura like a beam? That's fine, but do you have confidence that you can generate a lot like [The Devil King of Fall Rain] did? If it's not strong enough, it won't matter if the attack is reflected in my mirror."
"Don't worry about the strength. Please just spread it as widely as you can."
"I don't know what you're thinking, but… All right. Let's try it."
The mirrors soared into the air. North, south, east, west. When light shone on a mirror, it was immediately reflected onto the other mirrors, covering the field.
'This will be enough.'
I nodded. Then, I poured my aura on the hilt of the sword. Whoosh! Aura, red like blood, blazed as it climbed up the blade.
'Though I can't push ahead with sheer force like Preta or split the world with enlightenment like Master.'
If these apostles were my enemies.
If these guys were my allies.
I could fully use an unparalleled skill.
『If I swing my sword only out of hunger, what will happen?』
Because this was the martial arts I inherited from her.
『You will be able to cut a man who has never starved in one blow.』
『Therefore, you can fight half of the Righteous Sect members with one maneuver.』
The apostles who 'know only happiness' could never rival me.
I swung my sword at the mirror lifted by the Black Dragon Master.
Infernal Heavens Demonic Art.
First form.
Sword of Starvation.
The enemy forces ruptured.
The hunger of the infernal heavens spewed through the red aura. The demonic art bounced off of the mirrors. Once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, six. With each bounce, the red aura sectioned the field in halves.
Chwaaaak!
My attack was very weak compared to the Devil King's. Compared to Master's, it was unbelievably laughable. However, nonetheless, the apostles of happiness perished even if the red aura barely grazed past them.
-What…?!
Flinch. The Constellation looked down at the battlefield in astonishment.
Of course she was dumbfounded. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of apostles had literally evaporated with a single blow. The plain had been infested with apostles mere moments ago, but the places where the red aura scratched were barren.
"Black Dragon Master! Get ready for the next wave!"
Of course, I had no intention of being satisfied with one attack.
"Please keep rotating the mirrors!"
"What in the world… I see. That Constellation's pawns and your martial arts are complete opposites!"
Despite her surprise, the Black Dragon Master skillfully adjusted the positions of the mirrors. She realized that my attack would destroy the enemies with just a touch, regardless of my output.
Therefore, it was important to spread the attack out as much as possible.
"Don't mind me and keep attacking! Death King! I'll take care of the mirrors!"
The mirrors flashed about in the air. The Black Dragon Master was someone who took immediate action after determining what was important.
Chwaaaak!
I believed in the Black Dragon Master's words and struck again. I was just using a familiar art to me, but tens of thousands of enemy troops were wiped out. Ranks two and three. The Black Dragon Master and my combo attack one-sidedly ravaged the Constellation's forces.
"Ahaha! Amazing! It's really amazing!"
The Heretic Questioner was performing a sacred technique to shield us from the enemy's mental attacks.
"F-finish it as soon as you can! Two of my emergency funds have already been depleted!"
The Count poured out her astronomical assets to back up the Heretic Questioner.
"Venomous Snake! The enemies have a gap there! Deal with it!"
The Crusader oversaw the whole battlefield and gave orders in real time.
"Okay! Damn, the Demonic Sect is stealing all the glory!"
The enemies that couldn't be stopped by the skeletons were taken care of by the Venomous Snake.
'We can do it.'
Just six people.
'If we work together, we're invincible!'
However, the six of us overpowered the military of a whole world.
'Look.'
The inhabitants of the Tower would be gathered in the square now, watching our military force. Those present would broadcast or record this scene to show the outside world.
The sight of just six people defeating a million apostles.
'Look!'
Go wild.
Witness that nothing is impossible in the Tower.
Watch carefully: The world doesn't pressure us; we pressure it.
And have hope.
-You—
The Constellation's face wrinkled.
-You vicious outsiders! What right do you have to invade the utopia I created?! There is no misfortune in this world! No unhappy memories exist!
The Constellation swung her hand. A scene like a hologram floated in the sky, reflecting the images of the apostles who lived in this world.
-Lala.
-Lu.
The apostles did not live in houses. They didn't have to build a city. For them, there was no such thing as hunger. They didn't need to dig up resources from the ground to continue living. The apostles sang happily anytime, anywhere, in the form of children.
-Kyaaaah!
However.
In the heart of this world was an innocent child, stabbed by a sword.
-Aaaagh! Euh, aah! Aaaack!
How the innocent child's scream became power, I didn't know. The sword in the child's chest was probably forging the rules of this world.
-The world I've constructed is far more stable than your worthless dump!
The Constellation shouted over the child's screams.
-Don't you dare show your hypocrisy to me, invaders! I followed Lefanta Aegim to countless worlds. The screams never stopped in any of them. Hundreds of thousands! Millions! Tens of millions! Hundreds of millions!
The sword named 'Sacrifice' lamented.
-Meanwhile, only one in my world. Only one! With one scapegoat, my apostles live a life without knowing pain. I have committed one sin, but you turn away from hundreds of millions of sins. What justification do you trash have to destroy my world?!!
I understood.
The Constellation must have set this up after repeated thoughts and agonizing. And, she must have done so with good intentions.
If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, this was the hell that [The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness] chose.
'This world is just an extreme example.'
The challenges that I, that we face while running the Tower would be no different. When food is scarce. When resources run out. As the people responsible for the Tower, we will have to sacrifice someone.
-Ha!
The Constellation laughed at my silence.
-You still have enough of a conscience not to say your drivel. If you can't answer, leave! I will never recognize you as a new master!
"No. I have a response."
I took a step forward.
-A response? Ha. What kind of response can someone like you give?
It would be easy to recite the argument that sacrifice is still wrong.
However, an argument was not meant to be said. It must be lived through with one's body. Only when one can take responsibility for what one says, when one can actualize the argument, is it valid.
I did not forget this point.
"I will kill you all."
-What?
"I will kill you all and make you into ghosts."
-...
The Constellation did not seem to understand me.
-What are you talking about now…
"All who die by my sword are collected as ghosts. If I want, I can summon them with all the memories they had in life. I'll be killing all of you, then summoning you to live in this world again."
I raised the Holy Sword.
"You want to live happily ever after. I'll let you. A life in which you don't suffer, don't remember suffering, and just sing like you do now. I'll make it real."
-...
"The ghosts don't even need to eat to live. I will give you the world that you want."
It was simple.
I would kill millions of apostles.
After killing them, I could summon them back to this world.
I would bring back their memories from when they were alive.
Nothing would change.
"I'm not talking to you alone."
The inhabitants of the Tower who were watching our party at this moment.
To the innumerable people watching, I made a proclamation.
"There are evil people who cannot be reformed. There are sinners who cannot change their minds. There are some souls who want to live again but cannot. From now on, I will execute them with my own hands."
-Execute…?
"I'll kill them and bring them back with my skill. They will be banished to my shadow, and I will shoulder them forever."
Suddenly.
The song that had echoed on the horizon stopped.
The song had shaken the sky and the ground, so when it stopped, the world became eerily silent.
The Constellation looked at me with incredulous eyes.
-Lies… All the wicked and all the souls. A mere mortal cannot…
"Evangelist. The utopia that you boasted about creating here? I can do the same. But in my world, I don't even need a single innocent child's scream."
-...
Before entering this Apocalypse, the Black Dragon Master had asked me.
Am I ready to become a king?
"It's simple."
That was right.
If all worlds were hell, I just needed to become a slightly larger hell.
"My hell is more right than your hell."
This was the royal road that I chose.