Chapter 43

After Birth.

The Piece quickly took over the body.

The host’s soul was instantly shoved into a corner and trapped.

[Food!]

The Piece effortlessly swallowed the host’s soul, with which it had resided for such a long time.

However, even though it had swallowed it, the soul wasn’t in an easy-to-digest condition.

This was due to the unstable connection caused by having been subjected to divine magic every week for 16 years.

Had the connection been stronger, piercing into the core of the soul, the soul would have shattered conveniently before the Piece and it could have feasted on it.

But because this wasn’t the case, the swallowed soul was in a remarkably intact state, which made digestion cumbersome.

What could be done, though?

First, it had to eat to digest the soul and then release curses powered by the resulting mana.

After its uncomfortable and awkward first feeding, the Piece assessed its condition.

The condition was deplorable.

Due to enduring divine magic for 16 years, the structure had become severely unstable, and the power of the curses it could unleash was imperfect because of a premature awakening before it was ready.

However, apart from that, there was no other issue.

Now fully awakened, it was ready to wildly wield the power of curses bestowed upon it.

[Everything. Everything is mine to eat!!]

Countless human souls were everywhere in sight.

Including the soul of a parent, crushed by guilt and despair, torturing their own daughter in an attempt to save her.

The princess who endured pain and frustration to try and rebuild happiness in order to save her other half.

The cowards who abandoned their priestly duties and fled after torturing a young princess to the point of insanity.

The countless broken spirits lingering in the capital.

All of them were its food.

The Piece wanted to eat them all, and that’s exactly what it did.

It levitated the host’s body into the air and unleashed curses as far as it could.

As the curses seeped into human bodies and started devouring souls, these consumed souls were directly delivered to the Piece of the Evil God, satisfying its hunger.

More souls.

More mana produced by digesting them.

And more curses made possible by the mana.

This was the beginning of an endless vicious cycle.

“Hurry! Cast a miracle to neutralize the curse!”

The priests were trying everything they could to resist and slow down the curse, but to the Piece, all their efforts seemed futile.

The Piece’s curses were different from ordinary ones.

They stimulated the soul.

They directly instilled the fear of having one’s soul destroyed, and as that fear grew within their hearts, it would consume that emotion and feed on the existence of the human itself.

As the Piece was a part of the god, it knew this very well.

This was something that shook the very foundation of human existence, and no mortal could withstand it.

Not even saints, not even those with noble and exalted spirits.

So, the Piece wasn’t surprised at all when a man suddenly appeared before it as if walking on thin air.

On the contrary, it mocked the man.

There was no human whose soul would not tremble with fear at having their existence destroyed.

What a fool, throwing himself into the source of the curse.

If you want to die, let me help you.

Thinking that, the Piece cast a curse, but it only swirled around the man’s body and failed to pierce into his soul.

Even though his soul was visibly trembling from the shock of the curse, the man showed no fear at all as he continued to charge towards the Piece.

The Piece was astonished.

Is this possible?

How can this be possible?

If you’re a living human, isn’t it common sense that your soul trembling should make you overwhelmed with terror?

The Piece was confused by this unorthodox situation.

Just as it was thinking this, the belt struck its cheek.

And then…

An unimaginable pain overwhelmed the Piece.

***

Anger nearly consumed me.

I swung the belt again and again.

Both of the Piece’s cheeks were swollen and its teeth began flying through the air.

Not to mention…

“This damn wing, son of a bitch!”

I grabbed the wings sprouting from the Piece’s back and began tearing out the feathers and eyeballs.

[Sto- top!!! Please!!! PLEASE!!!]

The Piece screamed.

But I didn’t stop.

“You damn son of a bitch! Feel the pain Iomene felt!”

I grabbed the wings and delivered a powerful kick.

With a sickening “CRACK,” the wing bones broke and then snapped off.

The Piece of the Evil God couldn’t even scream anymore.

I had heard from someone who had experienced kidney stones that when the pain is extreme, no scream can come out.

It must be in a similar state now.

But it’s not over yet.

We’re far from done.

Think about what you did to Iomene. We’re still very far from being even.

I looked at the handful of feathers I had ripped off. Their tips were sharp.

This will work fine.

I approached Iomene’s lifeless body.

Lifting her hand up, I positioned the sharp end of the feather under her nail.

“Are you done?”

The sharp feather tip pierced the tender part under her nail.

Iomene’s body twitched violently.

[Aaaaah!! AAAAH!!!]

The Piece tried to flee, but with time and space frozen, how could it escape?

I punched its stomach and continued the beating with the belt, leaving bruises all over its limbs.

It didn’t hold out for long.

Despite being a Piece of the Evil God, this 3000x sensitivity was too much, and the pain was overwhelming.

[Aaaahh!!]

With a terrifying scream, the Piece of the Evil God exited Iomene’s body.

A pitch-black mass wriggled out of Iomene’s mouth.

[You! This is mine!]

And with a terrifying cry, it came flying towards me.

I didn’t resist.

I closed my eyes tightly and accepted the curse entering my body.

Alright.

This is it.

Why isn’t the curse working with all the positive thoughts surrounding my body or for another reason?

Even the curses that the Piece of the Evil God directly cast didn’t affect me.

In that case, embedding the source of the curse, the Piece of the Evil God, into my soul and then making it explode will do.

I believed this would surely take me back to Korea.

The Piece disappeared into my body.

Alright.

This is the end.

Farewell, Arcal Empire.

It was disgusting knowing you.

And we’ll never meet again…

[No!! No!! AAAAAAAAAAH!! AAAH!!]

Wait a second.

Why are you screaming like that?

[You, you tricked me!! You tricked me!!]

Just as the Piece reached towards my soul and suddenly started yelling in horror.

[Why, why is there something in there!!…Aaah!!]

“Wait!! No!!”

Ignoring my own screams, with a “RIP” sound, the Piece of the Evil God shattered instantly.

It then immediately dispersed and vanished without a trace.

Simultaneously, dazzling light erupted from my body.

The light quickly transformed into thousands of tiny fragments and quietly began falling towards the ground.

A fairy-tale sight that could make one imagine what the world would look like if the stars scattered across the sky and onto the earth—an exceptionally beautiful scene…

But what the hell?!

What about my reincarnation?!

What about my cheat to skip the underworld?!

And wasn’t it supposed to invade my soul and try to make me a new vessel?

Why have you just shattered and disappeared like that!!

Why!!

***

When the curse exploded.

Everyone in the capital felt it.

Erpa, too, perceived this feeling.

Magicians and witches from the Mage Tower began rushing towards the palace.

And there, Erpa witnessed it.

Far off in the distance, against the backdrop of the rising dawn, a woman with black wings was spewing curses from them.

And there was St. Amael, who was walking with confidence on the air toward the woman.

“Amael!!”

Reacting instinctively, Erpa drew her wand to approach St. Amael, but one of the White Church’s priests quickly rushed to her.

“You mustn’t go closer!”

“Why? We have to save St. Amael! I have to—”

“Approaching the origin of the curse will only result in your soul being polluted and destroyed! You will die if you get close recklessly! This can’t be dealt with normal means! To handle an origin of such immense power, dozens of priests would have to work miracles together using the grace of Bahma!”

Erpa felt a deep conflict in her heart.

She had to save Amael.

But there was nothing she could do.

“Will…will St. Amael survive?”

At her question, the priest of the White Church sorrowfully lowered his head.

“It’s too late. Both St. Amael’s soul and the soul of the entity possessing it must be destroyed by the grace of Bahma.”

Erpa felt the blood drain from her face.

St. Amael.

Her love.

Her everything.

How could she live without him?

Could she survive in a world without him?

She wanted to push past the priest and run to Amael’s rescue, but she couldn’t.

Because she remembered a statement Amael had once told her: that she should value herself more than him.

When she thought about it, his words at the time were a prophecy for this moment.

Certainly, Amael, being a seer, must have known this moment would come.

Erpa clenched her fists so tightly they almost crumbled.

She closed her eyes tightly.

With the belief that Goddess Lilia would never abandon her saint, she turned her back on Amael facing the Piece of the Evil God.

“What should I do?!”

“Bring the people affected by the curse! I will perform miracles to mitigate the curse’s impact on their souls!”

“Hurry!”

Instead of running to Amael, Erpa chose to save people.

Frantically, she used her wand to transport the afflicted people and handed them over to the priests.

But no matter how hard she tried, the spread of curses only multiplied.

Neither magic nor miracles could prevent the curses from infiltrating people and devouring their souls.

All they could do was cast divine magic on the people who had already been affected to slow it down slightly.

“Please! …Please!”

She cried tears while moving as many people as possible away from the source of the curse.

Even so, the curses continued to engulf the capital, mocking her desperate pleas.

If this continued, countless people would be consumed and die, leaving behind only souls being gnawed away.

At that very moment…

“The curse!…”

“It’s fading!”

The curses attached to countless people’s souls retreated back to their source.

Everyone looked up to the sky.

The saint and the source of the curse seemed to be battling.

The fierce battle was obviously favoring the saint.

Even though the scene was distant and hard to discern clearly, the screams of pain from the source of the curse were unmistakable to all.

“S-St. Amael?”

“Impossible! Is he controlling this intense curse?”

“Isn’t that behavior reasonable??”

Everyone was in awe.

And of course, Erpa was astonished as well.

But that wasn’t the end.

The next moment,

The source of the curse let out a terrible scream.

And a brilliant light erupted from St. Amael’s body.

The brilliance obscured the rising sun.

The light then transformed into countless twinkling shards that began to slowly descend from the sky to the earth.

The lights gently landed upon the bodies of those who had writhed in agony from the curse.

With that, the faces of those in pain turned peaceful.

“Those are fragments of souls consumed by the source of the curse.”

One priest of the White Church muttered mindlessly.

“It’s a miracle.”

“The Saint’s miracle.”

“He…has saved us.”

Everyone in the capital looked on with awe at this fantastical scene.

The holy sunlight was now shining brightly across the capital.

Bathed in this sacred morning light, the saint stood in the air and silently gazed into the sky as tears streamed down his face.

It was a scene that resembled an epic myth no one could deny.

—

As the light faded and the capital stood still in awe, whispers and murmurs of what had just transpired spread among the people like ripples across a still lake, creating echoes that would be remembered throughout history.