Chapter 39

Baron Hanson desperately tried to cover his mouth.

But it was already too late. There was nothing he could do as he was now under hypnosis.

“Stay still. Don’t resist. Don’t shoot any curses. Just sit there quietly and answer my questions. Who is the collector? What exactly does she do?”

“She collects souls for the White Church. A great amount of souls are required to use the miracles or curses of the Evil God. Our factory is one of the main collection points.”

Using the factory to collect souls?

Could it be…

“Was the fire at your factory intentional? Was it done to amplify the despair and suffering of people??”

Baron Hanson answered with a face that looked like he wanted to commit suicide.

“Yes, it is true. It was deliberate. We were suddenly asked to collect a great amount of souls in a short period of time. Therefore, I intentionally set the fire.”

“And where were those collected souls meant to be used?”

“I don’t know. They don’t inform me of such matters. I merely assist the Collector to make the collection process go smoothly.”

“Where is the Collector?”

Baron Hanson trembled.

The sight of words slipping through his mouth against his will filled him with serious fear.

But what was to be done?

He revealed the truth and facts.

“I… There… There is a passageway behind the bookshelf. It is hidden by the miracle of concealment, so even a great cleric would be unable to find it.”

“Can you open it?”

“Yes, it is possible.”

“Then open it.”

At my command, Baron Hanson mechanically stood up and approached the bookshelf. After muttering a spell and touching the books in a certain order, the bookshelf melted away like wax, revealing a concealed passageway.

The pungent smell of blood wafted through the air.

It was unmistakably nauseating.

As I smelled it, I felt a sort of disconnection in my rational thinking.

They had deliberately…

deliberately burned people to death, did they not?

To collect souls…?

I couldn’t even curse properly.

I will capture them now and deliver them to the Temple of the Divine.

And then, right before everyone…

I will have them executed by burning, just like they did to the victims of the factory fire.

Only then will the souls of those who were unjustly killed today be consoled!!

“You stay right here and don’t move. You and the Collector, and that fat man who fainted outside… you will all be burned. It is the only way for the souls of those you killed today to be consoled!!”

After spitting in Baron Hanson’s face, I headed down the passage without hesitation.

Not long after advancing through the passage, I noticed a woman chanting furiously over a bloody magic circle marked with the Seal of the Five Planets.

So, this must be the Collector they spoke of.

The Collector was entirely focused on her spell, so she didn’t even notice my presence.

Was it really because of this woman that the factory fire broke out?

Then you’re going to take a beating too.

I rushed at the Collector.

And then…

“Wait… What?! How did you!!… Aaaaaaargh!!”

Her corn flew out of her mouth and into the sky.

* * *

The Collector couldn’t comprehend the situation.

The miracle of concealment is one of the most powerful miracles granted by the Evil God to his followers, so much so that calling it the strongest wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Even the most skilled high-ranking clerics…

Nay, records suggest that even the gods themselves have fallen for it.

So how did this mad saint of healing manage to uncover and locate the secret passage which was shielded by the miracle of concealment??

After being struck by the belt and flying into the air, spitting out corn, the Collector quickly recovered her footing.

Dark energy danced around her cheeks, and then all her injuries disappeared.

She grit her teeth.

It had now come down to eliminating the saint at all costs to avoid disrupting the plan.

“You filthy servant of a whore!!”

The Collector conjured a curse using the souls collected from the factory.

It was a high-level curse.

There was no way any saint of healing could withstand such a curse and remain unscathed.

The black curse began to burn fiercely in her hand.

“The blood-drinker will not leave you be!”

The saint’s reaction was strange.

Upon seeing the curse burning in her hand, instead of trying to evade or escape, he started running towards it as if inviting the attack.

There was a trace of ecstatic madness in his soft smile.

Frightened by the eerie sight, the Collector unleashed the curse.

The curse struck the saint accurately but… had no effect.

“What?!”

At the same moment the Collector’s eyes widened in shock, a belt flew at her face.

Spitting out corn with a violent cough, she was flung into the air and collapsed. She quickly rose to her feet again.

She understood then.

“Does fear of curses not exist within you?”

Curses are different than magic.

Unlike magic, which produces the same results regardless of the state of the target’s mind, curses manifest very differently depending on the condition of the target’s soul and spirit.

Curses are parasitic beings that live off of the fear and terror they inspire, feeding on their host’s spirit and mind.

No matter what protective enchantments or miracles you have on your body, if there is even a hint of fear of curses, they will latch onto the soul and torment the target endlessly.

However, in other words, curses have no effect on beings that lack fear or terror towards them.

Even a newborn babe would naturally fear a curse…

Yet this saint exhibits no fear or terror towards curses despite having a normal mind and soul.

The realization prompted the Collector to burst into laughter.

“You are no ordinary man. Clearly, my curses cannot kill you.”

Since the curse won’t work, there is nothing left to do but strengthen the body for physical combat.

The Collector’s nails grew longer.

Her nails now resembled jet-black blades, sharp enough to easily split steel.

A miracle that fortifies the body in exchange for the souls of humans was enacted upon her.

Her muscles grew stronger, her tendons adhered even more tightly to her bones.

She could feel her bones fortifying and her nervous system becoming more rapid.

And that was not all.

A miracle of the Evil God that converts pain from wounds and injuries sustained during battle into pleasure settled within her body.

It was perfect.

At this point, she could endlessly fight without ever feeling any pain; a berserker warrior in itself.

Look at the saint’s frail frame.

It’s evident that he has never once engaged in physical combat.

“For the blood-drinker! I shall shred your soul and body asunder!!”

She yelled and sprinted towards the saint.

There will be no losing.

For the Evil God.

For the plan.

She could stake everything she has.

Her nails easily pierced into the saint’s body.

At the very moment a smirk formed on the Collector’s lips.

“That is merely a shadow.”

The sound of flesh being cut and the belt struck as the Collector was flung through the air once again, collapsing gracelessly to the ground.

* * *

Just like how Baron Hanson’s curse didn’t work earlier…

Nor did the curse cast by this Collector…

Why doesn’t the curse affect my body?

“You are no ordinary man. Clearly, my curses cannot kill you.”

Shit.

Can’t kill me with curses from someone this lowly?

Does this mean that ordinary curses can’t affect me at all?

What?

Why??

Even a normal curse should be enough to completely shatter my soul!

Shouldn’t a regular curse be powerful enough to annihilate my soul unless it was a fragment of the Evil God or something super powerful?

Damn it…

I forced my sluggish brain to work and deduced that it might be due to the residual thoughts embedded in my body.

I had once heard such a story before.

Curses are affected by residual thoughts.

Curses do not attach well to people surrounded by positive energy.

Perhaps, because I have cured and saved countless people, the positive energy that surrounded me made the curses ineffective.

How annoying…

This means unless a high-density curse bursts out from within one’s soul like the fragment of the Evil God, it’s impossible to destroy my soul!

As I was internally lamenting…

The Collector suddenly elongated her nails and rushed towards me.

I hurriedly cast a Time Stop and moved behind her.

This ridiculous Time Stop.

It really drains a lot of mental energy.

Plus, I had used it earlier at the factory when saving a girl, and I’ve been busily treating patients.

I could already feel my mental energy severely depleting.

I need to develop a way to use it more efficiently.

No…

No, that’s wrong.

I will be returning to Korea soon, struck by a curse.

What use is this game skill to me?

“Though it is merely an afterimage.”

I released the Time Stop spell after moving behind her and lashed out her head with the belt.

The Collector slammed into the ground after flying through the air.

There is no way a blow like that wouldn’t have an effect, even on someone like her.

Now, if she collapses in a faint, I can approach, cast Absolute Hypnosis, and subdue her.

With that in mind…

“Nggh♥ Aaa♥♥”

The Collector raised her head from where she had collapsed by making sounds akin to pornography.

She chuckled while looking at me.

“No matter how much you hit me, do you really think I’ll even flinch? Pain… only pleases me.”

If only she lifted her face with both hands now, she’d be doing the famous double peace sign for the Ahoge expression.

What?

Why is she making such an expression after taking a blow that would send anyone flying and face-planting into the ground?

Ah…

Of course, she’s a demon worshipper.

It’s absurd to apply common sense to such a crazy group.

“Hit me more! That’s all you can do, right? You’ll never defeat me! Never!!”

The Collector burst into laughter and came flying towards me.

Her movements were imperceptible.

If I fight her in close combat, I’ll lose 100 percent of the time!!

*Cast Time Stop to freeze her at least!……*

[Your mental energy is dangerously low.]

Damn, it’s true…

I used a lot of it today.

I used it to save the girl at the factory and just a little while ago.

Then there’s no helping it.

First, I’ll freeze her with Absolute Hypnosis!…

[Please accurately designate the target.]

She’s moving too fast to be designated.

Moreover, using Absolute Hypnosis requires mental energy during the designation process, and since my mental energy is almost depleted, it’s not easy.

Damn!!

I was planning to use it to make her spill everything she knows through hypnosis!

“Die! Servant of a whore!!”

While I was fumbling around because I couldn’t cast either Time Stop or Absolute Hypnosis, the Collector swung her sharp nails at my neck.

If I get hit by that, I’m dead.

My neck will be cut off if I do, making body modifications and all that impossible, right?

Fear of death turned my head completely white.

Automatic, almost instinctive reactions burst forth.

The tremendous strength endowed by my body modifications allowed my body to rapidly retreat like death.

The Collector’s nail narrowly brushed past my face.

Almost simultaneously, I grabbed her extended arm, activated Sensitivity Multiplied by 3000, and swung the belt.

With an enormous ‘Chak!’ sound, the Collector flew through the air and face-planting onto the ground just like before.

And…

“Moanng♥♥♥”

A moan erupted.

The Collector began trembling her whole body, and before long, she began to wet herself like a fountain.

“Uggh♥ Gogoguggh♥ Hooooh♥ Ahugh♥ Ngghghd♥”

The blood-stained eyes of the moaning Collector began to be tinted with crimson.

Probably because her heart rate became excessively high, it seems like all her blood vessels burst.

Blood was flowing out of her nose and ears.

Even her tongue extended, and her body began to uncontrollably shake like a broken-down machine.

At the peak of emitting a tremendous scream, the Collector collapsed.

“Ahnooooooh♥♥♥♥♥”

She shook and convulsed her body once more while wetting herself like a fountain.

Wow.

When I first saw someone crying like that on a tear site, I chuckled and thought, ‘Is there even such a person who cries like that in reality?’

Looks like there really are people who moan like that.

Her eyes were rolling back as she reached her peak for a while, but then she suddenly went limp like a broken puppet.

There was no further reaction, so I approached and placed my hand on the Collector’s body.

Her heart isn’t beating.

And the fact that so much blood is spewing out of her nose, ears, and eyes makes it clear.

This is undoubtedly a case where all the blood vessels in the brain burst and led to her death.

Apparently…

It seems to be a case of overindulgence in extreme pleasure.

If it weren’t for the mental energy problem, I could’ve used Absolute Hypnosis to make her spill everything.

How unfortunate.

“O Lord Saint!! Are you safe! I, what is this…….?”

“It’s a miracle! She’s a Demon Worshiper!”

When I was dumbfoundedly looking at the Collector who had just died from overindulgence,

it seems that the police and the Knights and Vice President Yodel of the Lilia Church, who had heard the rumors and rushed to the scene, entered the room and froze in shock.

“It’s a Demon Worshipper. I just dealt with her.”

“S-Sir! A Demon Worshipper!!”

“Call the White Church! Right away!!”

As the police left the room in a rush,

the members of the Lilia Church knelt before me.

“Ah! What rage of divine vengeance against injustice to eliminate a Demon Worshipper! A miracle!”

“A miracle! A miracle!”

“Lead us!!”

While the clerics were shedding tears in overwhelming emotion, I couldn’t help but burst into hollow laughter.

That’s why Lady Lilia gets so mad and wants to send me to hell.

“I’m not the saint. I’ve already told you many times, I’m not the saint…”

“The saint denies his divinity! Saints! Lead us!!”

Whatever.

Just do whatever you want.

Once the piece of the Evil God enters my soul, I’ll just blow it up and return to Korea together.