Chapter 70: Million-Strong Army (3)
She thought there was no need to continue the war any longer.
"Ahhh... Let's end this now."
"Huh? What is it that you mean...?"
"Good work, Vice Cult Leader. I'll handle the rest. I just thought of something. Could you call Namgung Jin for me?"
"U-Understood."
A bewildered Zhuge Hyun.
What on earth was she planning to do?
It was difficult to guess the Cult Leader's true intentions.
"There's no need to hold back anymore. We can just remove all restrictions and push through to the Imperial Palace. If I tell Namgung Jin, he'll take care of it."
"Huh? Excuse me?"Zhuge Hyun struggled to keep up with her words.
"Good work. Observing the troop deployment and military tactics gave me a general idea."
"Th... Thank you?"
"Right. Anyway, you go out this way and focus on expanding the scale of the Divine Cult's training facilities as much as possible."
"Tr-Training facilities? As much as possible?"
"Yes. To put it simply, think of operating the entire Divine Cult as a logistics base."
"Huh?"
Wasn't... the Galactic Divine Cult a religion?
At the very least, it could be seen as a Murim faction...
Zhuge Hyun was confused about the Galactic Divine Cult's identity.
Anyway, what could he do when the august Cult Leader spoke thus?
"Understood! I shall handle it as you said."
"Good, then carry on."
She drew her sword through the air.
As she did so, a crack appeared in the void, and a gap opened with a ripping sound. She inserted her body into it without looking back.
The Cult Leader disappeared instantly as the crack closed.
....
Zhuge Hyun, who remained behind, scratched his head.
"Hmm... Ten thousand... martial artists... war... Imperial Palace... training facilities... as much as possible."
This was all there was? It was the end now?
"I suppose it doesn't matter since she seems to be taking action directly?"
Zhuge Hyun gave up trying to understand.
Anyway, let's start with what she ordered.
After all, Zhuge Hyun was recognized as a top talent in administration rather than as a military strategist.
***
Rip-
The void split open and Virdel appeared.
"!!"
"Halt!"
"Form ranks!"
"Wh-What was that just now?"
"That’s insane! From the void, she…!"
Below where Virdel had appeared, about ten thousand members of the Absolute Martial Unit were climbing the treacherous mountain with a menacing aura.
"Ah... You all look sturdy. Somehow, I'm happy about that."
St-Sturdy?
What on earth is she talking about?
"From now on, you are all prisoners of the Divine Cult."
From now on? Prisoners?
Is she crazy?
A woman of unparalleled beauty suddenly appeared from the void and declared that they were prisoners now.
How could they not laugh?
"Hahaha! Prisoners, you say! If it is your beauty, my lady, I'd gladly become a prisoner!"
"Kukuk. Hey, isn't that joke going too far?"
"Wow, is that some kind of Stealth Technique? But she doesn't seem to be in her right mind."
"Do we need to deal with her?"
"It doesn't matter if we're discovered now anyway, right? We're already right in front of the Demonic Cult's main base."
"True. Then should we make her guide us?"
"That sounds good."
Although she appeared from the void, there were ten thousand of them here.
There was no reason to be afraid.
"Hmm. I suppose I should start with some moral, or rather mental, education first."
Her languid yet clear voice pierced the martial artists' ears.
"Haha. Education? How about some sex education, Young Lady?"
"Kukuk!"
"We don't have time! Let's deal with her quickly and go down! The rewards this time seem like they'll be hefty."
The Absolute Martial Unit was accustomed to lewd talk and harassment due to the nature of the military.
However, they soon had to shut their mouths.
"Hmm. Even if I kill half of them, five thousand remain, huh? I guess I can push them a bit harder then. No, since they're prisoners anyway, should I design a hell course until only a thousand elites remain?"
Whoosh-
An unbelievable aura burst forth from the woman, instantly overwhelming everyone present.
Tremble-
Wh-What is this?!
Th-This is!
Ugh! M-My body won't mov...!
My-My Inner Qi is freezi...!
Keuk! Keoek!
"They really are perfect for rough handling."
Unlike before, her beautiful smile now carried an ominous feeling.
A chilling smile.
The Absolute Martial Unit instinctively realized.
Ah.
Something was terribly wrong.
The thought that they were absolutely fucked in the ass refused to leave their minds.
***
"Have you heard about that?"
"About what? Ah... You mean that story?"
"Yes. The whole country is in an uproar about it right now, isn't it?"
"Well. For lower-class people like us, nothing much has changed."
"Even so. To think the Great General would fall to the Intangible Divine Sword..."
"If it had ended there, it wouldn't be talked about like this."
"Are you talking about that? About how the Imperial Palace was completely overturned?"
It was said that the high-ranking individuals of the Imperial Palace had their heads cut off one after another. All the high officials who usually were busy exploiting the people couldn't escape this calamity.
"I heard rumors that the Intangible Divine Sword led the charge and completely blew away the palace..."
"Huh. Isn't the Intangible Divine Sword the leader of the Orthodox Murim Alliance? Why did he join under those Demonic Cult bastards?"
"How would I know? But... They say the Cult Leader's beauty surpasses that of Chang'e1 of the Moon Palace."
"Ooh! As expected! There must have been such circumstances! But is her beauty really that great?"
"What else needs to be said? Even the Intangible Divine Sword fell head over heels for her!"
Currently, all sorts of rumors were circulating about the Demonic Cult.
From divine generals of the Heavenly Army descending from the sky and incinerating a hundred thousand soldiers in one strike, to all high-ranking military officials being assassinated in just one day.
That an iron-clad Kaiju appeared from the Demonic Cult, impervious to any attack, and wiped out the Imperial Army.
There were even rumors that the Son of Heaven’s manhood was cut off in one stroke.
The people should have been trembling in fear at all these ominous rumors.
The Demonic Cult's invasion of the Central Plains!
Weren't the Demonic Cult members those who craved human flesh and kidnapped children and women?
With the military collapsed, what else could they rely on?
Intangible Divine Sword!
Hero of the Orthodox Faction!
Our hope!
The beacon of hope!
Please step forward!
But that was only for a moment.
That great Intangible Divine Sword visited the Imperial Palace as a lackey of the Demonic Cult.
-Unconditional cooperation. There will be no other negotiation besides this.
Seriously? Wasn't that just asking them to hand over the country?
The Imperial Guards who couldn't stand watching the Intangible Divine Sword's behavior drew their swords, but...
-Aaaaargh! My arm!!
-Uwaaak!! The attacks don't work!
-In-Invisible and formless Force!
-Ugh!
They all ended up rolling on the ground, crippled.
The Intangible Divine Sword rode that momentum and went right up to the Son of Heaven’s face to deliver a strong warning.
Even Neung Dogun, said to be the Imperial Palace's strongest, couldn't even last a second against the iron-clad Intangible Divine Sword, so what could be done?
Everyone made a fuss, beating the ground and crying that the sky had fallen as they watched the back of the Intangible Divine Sword leaving the blood-soaked Imperial Palace behind.
But what's this?
Somehow, life seemed to have improved.
The Intangible Divine Sword of the Demonic Cult(?) occasionally distributed the Imperial Palace’s assets to civilian homes, and was incredibly good at uncovering corruption. In fact, he even sent all corrupt officials to the execution grounds.
Was it perhaps because of this?
Surprisingly, the world kept going as it normally would.
No, in fact, it turned even better.
"Ahem. Have you heard about that?"
"The Demonic... no, the Galactic Divine Cult is recruiting people."
"Apparently, it doesn't matter if you don't have talent? They can forcibly create it for you."
"I heard if you just get selected, it's a complete 180 turn of your life."
"They say all that's needed is absolute loyalty and perseverance, don’t they?"
Currently, everyone knew that the Galactic Divine Cult was showing ominous changes.
Starting with rumors of huge silver metal walls being erected and giant iron towers reaching to the sky, to claims that you could fly through the sky just by joining the cult.
They even say that people who joined the cult had their skin become smoother, wrinkles disappear, and lifespan increase.
Since joining the cult was no different from becoming an Immortal, it was natural for everyone's attention to be focused on it.
As the Galactic Divine Cult poured out vast wealth and accepted everyone from common laborers to martial artists indiscriminately, their momentum seemed to pierce the heavens.
Virdel's plan to turn the Galactic Divine Cult into a logistics base was steadily progressing.
***
Gurgle- Gurgleee-
Gruk- Kieeek-
A vast space filled with enormous flesh, from which unidentified sounds occasionally emanated.
The entire space pulsated like a living organism, emitting energy.
On a massive throne made of flesh, a being with a metal spear pierced through its chest opened its eyes and spoke.
[...How goes the war?]
A gigantic being over 1km in size.
Horns protruded from both sides of its head, purple carapace covered its entire body like armor, and tentacles connected to the throne undulated constantly as if injecting something.
[...]
Numerous Kaijus lined up below on both sides of the throne.
Countless reports rose from them. Even without expressing in language, there was no difficulty in conveying to the throne's owner.
[I see....]
The Kaijus lined up trembled at the mental waves emitted by the throne's owner. With each word uttered, it seemed as if the massive planet they stood on was writhing.
[It is not yet time.]
Ssssss-
[If we interfere rashly, we will only burn more fiercely.]
The throne's owner lowered its head to look at the blue metal spear pierced through its chest.
Gulp- Gulp-
Kuguung-
Unbelievably, as a result of a mere change in emotion, the massive dark currents surrounding the planet began to boil like flames.
Ssssss-
A gigantic belt-shaped black hole burned like an active volcano.
[It can't be helped. Order only the General-Grade entities to return.]
Udduk.
The tentacles connected to the throne suddenly stopped moving.
[However.]
Boom-
[There's no need to forcibly bring that punk back.]
Shudder-
A few Kaijus standing at the end of the line shuddered.
[It will do well on its own.]
The tentacles and fleshy walls connected to the throne began to pulsate roughly.
***
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