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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 2: How a Former Pastor Kills Heretics
It's said that at the moment of death, a human body becomes lighter by 21 grams.
Some have defined that as the weight of the soul, claiming that a soul weighs 21 grams.
Of course—
Souls don't have mass.
Naturally, you can't physically touch one either.
Yet in Ray's hand, a dark, blood-red soul was gripped tight.
[······!!]
The soul, desperate to find rest after death, shrieked in agony.
It struggled fiercely but couldn't escape from Ray's grasp.
The first time Ray ever grabbed a soul was back in his previous life.
When he was chased by a ghost with a torn mouth asking him if she was pretty,
When he confronted a spirit trying to touch a pen during a séance game of 'Bunshinsaba'.
[PR/N- Bunshinsaba → a Korean Ouija board game.]
When he opened a bathroom door at a sister school in Tokyo and came face-to-face with a 'Jibakurei' named Hanako or something—
[PR/N- Jibakurei→ Spirit that is strongly attached to the place of its death.]
「Holy fucking shit!!」
The moment he reflexively launched a flying knee kick, Kim Gwango in his previous life realized something.
‘Oh. You can beat the shit out of stray ghosts.’
Of course, even if you could physically grab them, it was a whole other matter to actually make them disappear; ascend, so to speak.
But when Kim Gwango became Pastor Kim, he learned how to send souls to salvation.
「In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I command you, wicked spirit! Begone!!」
「Heehee! This is my body! You can't—?!」
「In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I command you, wicked spirit! Begone!!」
「W-Wait! Stop! Stop hitting me—! Stop! It hurts! Fuck!」
「You little shits wanna fuck around? You die if you mess with me!」
Spirits that could be grabbed physically weren't that scary after all.
Pastor Kim, once a professional at sending souls to salvation in his previous life, understood that perfectly.
'The problem is, I have no way to send souls off in this life.'
Back then, he had the Holy Spirit.
He had the blessings of the God he believed in, and the spiritual gifts to drive out the wicked.
But now, Ray was just a lowly deacon.
His faith in Sol Invictus, the Sun God of the Solar Theocracy, was only for survival, not genuine belief like the priests of this world.
Still, faith was faith, and a faint trace of holy power clung to Ray's soul.
'Even so, just letting it go would be fucking infuriating.'
More importantly, Ray needed this soul desperately.
He had to find out the true motives of the other deacon and priest who came here with Charon.
And the only way to do that was to shred Charon's soul to pieces.
In Christianity, where forgiveness and love are the foundations, such an act would have been absolutely forbidden.
He once even lost a spiritual gift because he 'ate' a few wicked spirits' souls after exterminating them.
'But right now, survival comes first.'
If he left these bastards alone, Ray would be the next one dead.
Ray made his decision.
He tore apart the soul of Charon that he held in his hand.
··································!!
A soul howled with a hideous wail as it was ripped apart.
The torn fragments of the soul, twisted in horrific agony, floated in the air before being absorbed into Ray.
And at that moment—Ray's vision shifted.
***
"Master, we have killed the village priest and most of the adult townspeople according to plan."
A lower point of view than usual.
Blurred vision.
Ray realized he was now seeing through Charon's memories.
'Haven't done possession in ages.'
Ray had been born with a medium's body.
Even his spiritual sight was just a side effect of that natural mediumship.
His mother, Madam Park, once said that his spiritual vessel was so large that not only stray spirits but even gods themselves were drawn to him.
Which meant, even souls that had lost their will, even souls on the verge of extinction, were forcibly pulled into his body.
Even the shattered souls he just tore apart.
Through this forced possession, Ray was able to glimpse fragments of the memories they left behind.
'So it was them who caused the plague...'
Ray recalled how unnaturally the disease had only wiped out the adults.
Through Charon's memory, he also learned that the mastermind was Charon's teacher, the warlock Velik.
'A contract holder of Kalkarat, the Demon of Decay, one of the Ninety-Nine Demons!'
He had studied the demons of this world, but this was the first time seeing one connected to them directly.
Here, demons grant their magical knowledge to their followers and contractors.
In short, warlocks in this world were heretics who had sold their souls to demons.
They manipulated magic, harvested people, and offered them to their demon masters.
And what had these demon worshipers aimed to gain by spreading the plague?
Ray soon found the answer buried in Charon's memories.
"The Solar Theocracy will send priests to establish an orphanage here. We'll ambush them on the road and kill them."
"And we'll impersonate them afterwards, right?"
"Hehe, it's been a while since we've had such a big harvest."
"Take your time. There's no shortage of orphans around here who've lost their parents. Gather as many as possible, then offer them as sacrifices before anyone catches on."
"Oh, right—there was one deacon left at the church."
Hearing that, the warlock smirked wickedly.
"Even if he's just a lowly deacon, he's still technically a priest. If we rip out his heart and offer it as a sacrifice, Lord Kalkarat will be well pleased."
And just like that, Ray's vision returned to normal.
***
Bastards.
Now that Ray understood their plan, he realized they would come for him soon.
They weren't just after the orphans, they were planning on ripping out his heart too.
'They all have to die.'
But how?
The apprentices were basically civilians.
They hadn't even signed real contracts; they only offered sacrifices, so the demons had granted them barely any power.
The real problem was the warlock.
Warlocks in this world were nothing like the ones in the fantasy novels Kim Gwango used to read in his past life.
They couldn't call down meteors, freeze time, or wipe out armies with high-powered circle magic.
Maybe contractors of the highest-ranking demons could but even among the Ninety-Nine Demons, the lesser-ranked ones could only grant limited magic.
That's why demons demanded blood, destruction, and corruption in exchange for power.
Still, a warlock was a warlock.
They could cast spells and the more spells a warlock could handle, the more dangerous they were.
Through Charon's memories, Ray had seen Velik's spells:
The Spell of Decay.
The Spell of Infection.
The Spell of Necromancy.
The Infection spell was mainly for spreading the plague, so it wouldn't be useful in direct combat.
The real threat was the Necromancy spell.
The power to raise corpses and command them.
'Man, if only it were as simple as click and boom! Army of corpses at your fingertips; it'd be the theme of solo leveling.'
But there was a catch.
The corpse had to be fresh; at minimum, it had to still have a heart.
And even then, once the mana infused in them ran out, they'd crumble on their own.
The problem was...
"This is a church..."
The backyard was full of corpses, all buried after the plague.
***
Velik, contractor of Kalkarat, Demon of Decay, received his apprentice Maron's report.
"There are over twenty orphans in this village alone. Some of them are in such poor health they might die soon, though."
"Keep them alive until the offering ceremony. Spare no supplies."
It wasn't his property anyway.
The Church would only be pleased to see its resources used generously for the sake of these 'innocent lives.'
"Kuhuhuhu... If we gather the orphans from the nearby villages too, we'll have over a hundred offerings."
"Lord Kalkarat will be most pleased."
Velik had pushed himself hard to prepare for this massive offering.
He had driven his familiars to destruction in the spell incantations and even captured beasts to stockpile his mana reserves.
"Now it's time to reap the rewards. Once Lord Kalkarat sees the living sacrifices, he will surely bless us with even greater power. Kuhuhuhu...!"
Seeing Velik in such a good mood, Maron carefully spoke up.
"Uh... Master..."
"What is it?"
"When the offering ceremony is over... may I also receive Lord Kalkarat's blessing?"
Velik's face twisted into a scowl.
"Do you have any idea what sacrifices I had to make to pull this off?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Maron immediately dropped to his knees and prostrated himself.
A warlock's mana could recover naturally over time, but expanding one's limits could only be achieved through a demon's blessing.
In order for a warlock to cast more spells, they needed to expand their maximum mana capacity.
Thus, receiving a demon's blessing was a matter of life and death for any warlock.
Because of that, no warlock ever willingly shared their blessing with their apprentices.
On the other hand, apprentices had no other way to receive a blessing except through their masters, leaving them utterly powerless in that relationship.
'Dammit...! I'm the one who ran around capturing beasts from all over just so you could use your spells!'
Even after twenty years of serving like a slave, Maron hadn't been granted a single proper blessing.
The resentment in his heart was overflowing.
"Get out! I'll take care of what needs to be done myself!"
"S-sorry, Master."
"Tch. Kids these days..."
After being dismissed, Maron slumped his shoulders and turned to leave the room.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door.
— Brothers, are you there?
It was Ray, the deacon of the church.
"Hmph, open it."
"Yes, Master, no, I mean, Father."
Maron quickly corrected himself and opened the door.
Standing outside was a tall young man wearing glasses.
"Brother Ray, what brings you here at this late hour?"
"Ah, well, it felt wrong not to properly greet you since you've come so far. I've prepared a small gift."
"You didn't have to... but... what is it?"
Thud.
Velik's gaze flickered toward the door.
Hadn't there been an odd noise just now?
Thud! Thud, thud!
More strange sounds followed in rapid succession.
"Brothers...?"
Feeling an ominous chill, Velik stepped forward and saw Maron collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut and something flew through the air toward him.
"Agh!"
Velik stumbled backward, tripping over himself.
Something sharp embedded itself into the wall behind him with a harsh thunk.
It was a skewer.
"Tch...!"
Clicking his tongue when his ambush failed, Ray grabbed a fire poker and charged.
"You bastard...!"
Velik might have been caught off guard, but he reacted swiftly, pulling a staff from his robes and aiming it at Ray.
Paaang!
There was a burst of air, followed by a thick green flash surging toward Ray.
Unable to stop mid-sprint, Ray raised his arm to block it…
Sssshhhh!
His ceremonial robes began to rapidly corrode.
Without hesitation, Ray threw off the ruined garment.
'He knows magic?!'
How?!
Velik, rattled but not panicked, fired off several more spells of decay at Ray.
Ray rolled across the floor to dodge, letting the sofa and tables, meant for the priests, take the hits and rot away almost instantly.
"So, it just can't touch the skin, huh?"
"You little...! How do you know all this?!"
Realizing his attacks weren't landing, Velik grew more cautious.
He could only cast seven spells of decay per day.
If he wanted to reserve enough mana for his ultimate spell, necromancy, he could only afford to cast it four times now.
He had already cast three spells.
Only one shot remained.
Such was the pathetic limit of a third-rate warlock.
"Tch...!"
Velik made a snap decision.
He flung open the window and threw himself out.
"..."
Ray didn't immediately give chase, wary of being ambushed while crossing the window.
Velik, believing he had narrowly escaped, sprinted toward the church's backyard.
Step, step, step.
Ray followed at a calm, steady pace, fire poker still in hand, a blunt weapon capable of killing a man with a single strike.
Velik finally came to a halt at the graveyard behind the church.
"You fool! Just as I planned!"
"..."
Velik triumphantly declared his victory.
"You thought I only had one spell? You're wrong! Witness my true power!"
He released a massive surge of mana.
Thick, viscous green energy seeped into the ground beneath them.
The graveyard was filled with the corpses of those who had died during the recent plague.
If they had been properly buried in coffins, maybe the ghouls and zombies wouldn't have been able to break through the earth.
But most of the dead were poor commoners.
Only nobles or the wealthy middle class could afford real coffins and professional burial services.
"This is the true strength of me, Velik, the contract-holder of Kalkarat, Demon of Decay! Rise, my servants!"
Velik cackled madly.
He could already picture dozens of zombies tearing Ray to pieces.
And yet—
"..."
"..."
"RISE, my servants!"
...
"Servants! Arise!"
...
"Get up! Get up already!"
No matter how much he chanted, no zombies rose from the earth.
Ray let out a quiet chuckle.
"Having trouble with your spell?"
"N-no... this can't be happening...!"
The spell had been cast.
The mana had seeped in properly.
As long as the corpses still had hearts, the necromancy should have worked perfectly!
"You know..."
Ray grinned like a warlock revealing the secret behind a magic trick.
He grabbed a shovel abandoned in the graveyard and began digging into the earth.
It didn't take long.
There were no heavy tools, no proper coffins, and the town was too poor to hire gravediggers.
Ray soon uncovered one of the buried corpses.
A villager's corpse with a skewer driven straight through the heart.
"Man, that was a real backbreaking job under the moonlight, you know?"
"N-no way..."
It was true.
Ray had dug up every single grave during the night and stabbed the corpses through the heart.
There was even a reason he had carefully covered the graves back up.
"You see... necromancy eats up a ton of mana, right?
And now... you're completely out."
Velik had burned through all his mana to cast necromancy, believing it would guarantee Ray's death.
A failed spell, and now an empty mana pool.
And a warlock with no mana?
"Means you're dead meat."
You filthy heretic.
Ray swung the fire poker down without hesitation, smashing Velik's skull.
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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