After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 79 - There is No Light Here (4)

"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"GRRRRK! KURGH! GRRRRRRRR!!"

Crazed screeches which one would think were made by demons from Hell filled the factory. The people gathered in the factory pulled on their hear as they thrashed about. No matter how one looked at it, it couldn't be called a regular gathering.

"Ngh..."

The flustered young man bit his lip.

Whoooom.

The golden wave filling the factory shrank.

"GYAAAA... Huh?"

"A-Ahem!"

"I-I think we got a little too excited, everyone."

The people screeching madly suddenly coughed and remained silent once they regained their senses after the golden wave emitted by the young man shrank. Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

'As I thought, that light is what's cursing this.'

He didn't feel any change in himself but it seemed highly effective on regular people. It was no different from hypnosis if madness could be induced in them so easily.

'So this is how they've been gathering devotees.'

Kang-Woo could understand the church's pandemic-level rate of propagation.

"Huuu. Haha. We have many more passionate devotees than usual today," said the young man on the stage with an awkward smile. "Right then, please allow this lacking agent of light to bring you all the words of radiance."

The young man took a moment to clear his throat.

"H-Hyung-nim, why did you..." asked Kim Si-Hun nervously before the sermon began.

He seemed to have been greatly shocked by Kang-Woo for instigating the madness.

"There was something I wanted to check."

Kang-Woo needed to determine the extent of the golden wave's effects and how infatuated the devotees were with the Church of Radiance.

"And besides, we'll be less suspected this way."

"Oh."

Blending in without being noticed was the basics of infiltration.

"I feel like your actions only drew attention to yourself though..." Si-Hun smiled bitterly as he slurred. "In any case, he fortunately doesn't seem to be paying much attention to you."

"Is that the pastor you went up against last time?" Kang-Woo asked.

"No. The pastor I fought was a man in his mid-forties."

"Is that so?"

Si-Hun had mentioned there were multiple pastors, hence the young man was likely one of them.

"Let's just wait and see what he says for now."

"Understood."

Kang-Woo and Si-Hun examined the young pastor.

"Before I begin the sermon, may I ask you all to share your stories with me?" the pastor asked gently.

"Pardon...?"

"O-Our stories?"

"You can talk about anything you'd like. Stories of your life, hardships, sorrows... Anything."

"..."

The devotees glanced at each other. Just then, a woman holding a small baby walked out from the crowd.

The young pastor smiled brightly as he stared at the baby. "Oh, what a beautiful baby."

The baby giggled as he reached for the pastor.

The woman mentioned with a trembling voice, "Pastor... I-I recently gave birth to this boy, but... I-I can't afford to raise him... Sniff!"

The woman burst into tears.

"The boy's father abandoned him... I-I can't work because my illness is getting worse... and I can't afford to get treatment."

It was common; one needed to earn money to raise a baby but they couldn't work due to illness. However, they couldn't afford to treat the illness, resulting in a cycle of poverty. There were countless such cases on Earth due to many countries going bankrupt after the Day of Calamity.

"Please... just this child. Please help me so that at least he can live on. I don't care what happens to me. I don't mind dying if it means he will be saved..."

The young pastor slowly reached for the woman in silence. "I see... you've suffered greatly."

Tears trickled down his cheeks. He embraced the woman without even thinking about wiping his tears. His clean suit was dirtied by the woman's clothes.

"P-Pastor? Y-Your clothes—"

"It's alright. You are far more important to me than mere clothes."

The man grabbed the woman's shoulders.

Whoooom!

Golden light entered the woman through the man's hands.

"A-Aaaahh."

The woman's sorrowful eyes went blank. She smiled faintly as if she were high.

She shouted with joy, "I... I don't feel any pain, Pastor! A-Am I cured?"

"No." The pastor firmly shook his head as he stared at the smiling woman. "This power is merely to help you momentarily forget your pain. I am not powerful enough to cure your illness."

"N-No way!"

"Your body will plead for pain over time and agony will engulf you yet again."

"Then what about this child—"

"However," the pastor interjected, eyes full of determination. "As for this child... I will take full responsibility and guide him to paradise."

"A-Aaaahh!"

"Do not worry. This beautiful gem of yours will be freed from this wretched world... and live happily in a safe and joyful world."

"Pastor...!"

The woman lowered her head with tears in her eyes.

The pastor received the baby from her and slowly turned to the devotees to say, "Everyone. The current Earth is... no different from a sinking ship." He looked around the crowd and continued in a low tone, "The keel of the ship has been broken beyond repair and water is continuously flowing in from a break in the hull."

His gentle voice echoed throughout the silent factory.

"Are you all aware of the otherworldly beings?" he asked.

"Otherworldly...?"

"I am referring to beings from other worlds besides Earth. I am sure you are aware of them. After all, they have already invaded Earth many times."

"Oh! Are you talking about the giant space battleship that appeared above New York a while ago?"

"Come to think of it, I heard that a swarm of giant insects invaded Seoul!"

The devotees nodded one after another. The people of Earth were already aware of the otherworldly invasions; such invasions have been occurring one after another, albeit the scales were nowhere near that of the Galactic Federation and the Parasites.

"Yes. Such beings will continue to invade this world. They will bare their sharp fangs and brutally slaughter your families and loved ones." The young pastor clenched his fists, bit his lip, and his shoulders trembled. "This world will soon meet its end."

"Ahhh!"

"Wh-What a disaster!"

The devotees gathered in the factory trembled in shock. The young pastor stared at them in deep sorrow.

"With my meager powers... I cannot save every one of you." He kneeled and lowered his head toward the devotees. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sincerely sorry... for being unable to protect and save all of you."

"P=Pastor..."

"Please raise your head!!"

The devotees panicked once the pastor bowed to them.

He raised his head and continued with a bitter smile, "Haha. Of course, I have no intention of running away. Once the apocalypse comes... I will lay down my life alongside you all."

"..."

"However, this child... this beautiful and pure gem! I cannot allow him to meet his end in this wretched world."

The young pastor slowly stood up and teared up as he embraced the baby tightly.

"I will conduct... the ritual of Ascension

Immense golden light, incomparable to the amount from before, burst and spread throughout the factory. Darkness in the slums was chased away as if the sun rose.

"A-Aaaahh."

"O Radiance..."

The eyes of the devotees turned blank as they were enveloped by the golden wave. They crossed their forearms into an X-shape and lowered their heads. The young pastor smiled as he looked down at the baby in his arms.

"Please... be free from this world and live happily and healthy in a better place."

The immense golden light enveloped the baby.

"Waaaaaahh!" the baby cried the moment the light enveloped him.

The young pastor gently rocked the baby to console him. He smiled as kindly as he could and kissed the baby's forehead.

"There is nothing to worry about. There will be no pain. If you close your eyes... a new world... one far safer and warmer than this world... will be waiting for you."

"Uuung?"

The baby stopped crying and looked up innocently at the young pastor as he tilted his head and giggled. The golden light slowly covered the baby like a tent.

"What a load of fucking bullshit."

Bash—!!!

Kang-Woo jumped up on stage and kicked the young pastor's face.

"Kurgh!!"

The young pastor was sent flying as he grabbed his broken nose. Kang-Woo carefully caught the falling baby.

"Paradise, my ass. What do you think you're doing to a baby who can't even walk yet?"

He glared at the young pastor with a grimace.

"Ah." The young pastor slowly looked up and saw that the golden light enveloping the baby had disappeared. "Y-You..."

The pastor's pupils constricted as he stared at Kang-Woo wide-eyed.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE?!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed in desperation.

His wretched screeches shook the factory. The pastor pulled on his hair in irritation and glared at Kang-Woo resentfully.

"THAT CHILD!!! HE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED!!! WHY?!! WHY DID YOU INTERFERE?!! I COULD HAVE SAVED THE BOY FROM THIS BROKEN WORLD!!! THE APOCALYPSE!!! I NEEDED TO SAVE HIM NO MATTER WHAT!!!"

Tears flowed down the man's cheeks. He kneeled as he stared at the baby in Kang-Woo's arms.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He slammed his head into the ground.

"I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY, LITTLE ONE!!! I-I COULDN'T SAVE YOU!!! I COULDN'T GUIDE YOU TO PARADISE!!!"

The blood pouring from the pastor's forehead wet his face. He slowly raised his head and stared at Kang-Woo with animosity.

"YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!" The pastor gritted his teeth and stood up. He screamed resentfully, "YOU KILLED THAT CHILD!!! YOU! YOU SENTENCED HIM TO DEATH!!!"

"Waaaaaaahhh!"

Kang-Woo looked down at the baby who began to cry again in his arms and chuckled.

"The fuck are you on about, dipshit?"