The dark flame burned around Rachel. A door covered with snakes appeared in front of her. With an evil smile, Janus inquired:
Good girl, ask now. Who do you want to be saved? Tell me your wish, and I will open the door!
The Holy Pope Pederian felt the vibration of power coming from the darkness, and it filled him with joy.
Finally, the gate of hell is opening!
With the eight Basilicas and the sacrifice with the fruit of god on the altar, it was all coming together. Rachel’s wish to Janus would open the gates of hell, and the evil God would turn the world into a living nightmare.
Before, she had been able to bear her pain and difficulties because she believed the goddess would help her. Now that her faith was gone, all she could do was pray to the real God, Angramainyu.
She was standing in front of the altar of decadence with the fruit of human evil deeds. Whatever wish she prayed for would come true in a format of darkness.
Now, pray. Pray to save you!
If she so prayed, the evil God would save her and make her an empress of darkness to rule this world. The dirty humans would fall into hell.
Rachel answered:
I don’t want to feel this pain anymore. This is too much.
What will you give for your wish…this world?
Janus asked.
A writing board of God appeared in front of her.
Rachel’s last word, if she promised to give the world to God, would open the gate of hell. Snakes started to breathe fire, and poisonous gas slithered out of the closed door.
No, Rachel.
Sungjin wanted to shout, but his voice couldn’t reach her.
Rachel slowly shook her head.
No, I offer you myself!
she cried.
So…stop torturing Sungjin Oppa…and the others…
Then you will be in the same pain for eternity. Is that what you want?
Yes…Sungjin Oppa…I don’t want him to feel the pain…I’ll take it all.
She knew how painful it would be because she was living it. The thought of having that torture again and again was dreadful, but she didn’t want Sungjin Oppa, whom she loved so much, to feel that pain.
It was not that she wanted that agony but…
If there was no goddess and not everyone could be saved…
She wanted to save him rather than saving herself; she cared for him that much.
The goddess was not real…and Kuga was a liar.
But Sungjin Oppa’s love was real. She had heard it with her own ears. He said he didn’t care if she was a child of god or not, he would save her. With or without the blessings of a goddess, with or without her power, he would still save her. He wanted to protect her even if it was a conspiracy of the Golden Wise King.
She realized Sungjin would save her no matter the circumstances. He had been trying to teach her everything with love.
I love Sungjin Oppa. Even if everything was an illusion, I still love him; this feeling is real, and I want to save him even if that means I go to hell. I don’t want other people to feel the pain; it’s too much. I want to save others just like Sungjin Oppa saved me.
She would give up her salvation to save the others.
I will go to hell.
You have made your choice,
Janus answered with authority.
No!
Sungjin screamed and tried to reach out to her, but the transparent wall was unbreakable. The blackness rose up. Boiling water surrounded Rachel. It was a creation of human horror that was as dark as an abyss.
Rachel!
Sungjin screamed, but Rachel smiled at him peacefully and mouthed a message so that he could read her lips:
Goodbye Oppa…Thank you for everything…I was…happy for a little while.
The malice from everyone tainted the pure white into black, and the young girl disappeared into the darkness. It happened slowly, from her toes to her knees, her knees to her waist, her waist to her chest, and her chest to her neck.
She was shivering in fear and holding her hands tight, but she was smiling at Sungjin with tears in her eyes.
Rachel…
Sungjin tried to reach her, but she was too far away. Soon, the darkness swallowed her entire body.
Hell started to boil with the sacrifice.
Hahaha! That was the natural order!
Pederian dropped his holiness for a second to laugh cheerfully.
It was time to introduce hell to the world. The devils disguised as humans would be saved by the inferno.
Show yourself, my God, the creator of all evil, Angramainyu!
The darkness of Hades exploded, and in the blaze a sliver of light appeared.
What?
It was a pure bright light coming out to bloom, a white lotus flower.
A sweet fresh scent came from the flower, and there was a door in its center. When it slowly opened, a holy bell chimed. It sounded like the whisper that heals all wounds.
No…no way!
Pederian screamed with denial.
It was impossible. It was the altar of decadency. It was in the center of the Basilica that he had built with the power of Angramainyu. The fruit was the essence of human thoughts accumulated for over a thousand years. It was a pure evil to bring out the darkness on the altar.
Why is the door of heaven opening?
Janus turned his face and showed a warm and kind expression:
The girl’s prayer reached a god to open the door…
That was the prayer of Rachel. She hadn’t asked for salvation in the afterlife or happiness in the present. She didn’t ask for fame or respect; she just wanted to save people through self-sacrifice. She asked for no reward in return.
It was love beyond salvation.
Everything she believed in turned out to be lies, and every reprieve she was waiting for would never come. But she still wanted to do good.
Its name was…Unrequited Mercy. Her wish had reached the god to open the door that suited her.
Sungjin stood up.
That’s right, if the fruit has been accumulating human thoughts, there must be light in it as well.
But this is the altar of Angramainyu!
Janus answered:
It doesn’t matter whose altar it is; her prayer headed to the light. Even the creator of evil can’t change that.
No…no…This is impossible!
The Holy Pope remained in denial.
People pretended to side with a good god only when they thought it would benefit them. When they think the evil god is stronger, they would sacrifice friends, family, anyone. Something was wrong; such dirty humans wouldn’t wish for good.
I’ve done my job.
Janus disappeared.
The door opened, and the goddess revealed herself. She was wearing a white robe as she sat atop the lotus and looked at people with merciful eyes. In her hand was a blue bottle. Inside the bottle was a formula that would put out the hellfire and heal anyone; the formula was called Avalokitevara.
It actually went by many different names, but the core was simple: mercy.
It was a mercy that didn’t expect any reward.
Rachel burst into tears.
Goddess, you came to save me; you heard my prayer. You are real.
The goddess smiled and answered:
No, little girl…
Rachel’s tears dropped into her bottle. When the goddess tilted the bottle, the liquid inside made a musical sound. It was the holy water of salvation, the Honeydew.
Legend said the Honeydew had saved the holy tree that had existed even before the creation of the world
Your love opened my way.
The holy water filled with mercy doused the fire of sin that humans created with greed and guilt. It gently rained over everyone.
The flame covering Sungjin disappeared, and the fire blazing the people outside of the battlefield withered away. The water also washed away the tattoo etched into Rachel’s back. The darkness engraved on her heart disappeared.
I won’t accept this!
A dark force shot out from the Holy Pope and created a deep abyss behind him. The darkness roared to fight against the salvation of the light.
The goddess made a grave error in appearing here! I will give this world to the one and only true god, Angramainyu!
The truth would win, hence darkness would be supreme victor!
But the goddess blew a lotus blossom to Sungjin with a smile.
Boy, your heart helped her to open this door. Take my power to finish this fight.
As soon as the lotus flower touched Sungjin, he felt a sensation of power transmitted to his body. The sensation was so strong, it was beyond words.
Class change admitted.
Changed into a new class: a proxy of God.
Change of abilities.
Level: impossible to calculate.
Attack power: impossible to calculate.
Defense power: impossible to calculate.
Magical power: impossible to calculate.
A bright sword appeared in his hand; it was the Glass Guidance Sword.
It was another holy sword of a god from the center of the universe, Mandara; it had been used to discipline kings of darkness. The transparent sword would break the darkness covering the Holy Pope.
Okay, let’s fight!
Sungjin attacked.
I hold the truth!
said the Holy Pope as he fought back with his cane.
The sword and the cane clashed. Where there was a god of darkness, there was a god of light. So it came down to the fight of a human against another human. The question was who would be stronger: the human blessed by a god of light or the human blessed by a god of darkness.
This is a pretty even match; what’s going to happen?!
Ereka said with worry.
Eustasia laughed and answered:
So they have almost the same amount of power from their god. Aren’t you forgetting one thing?
Huh?
Before Ereka could reply, Sungjin’s sword cut the Holy Pope in half.
The Holy Pope melted into the darkness and became the darkness himself…
Die! A few hundred hands shot out from the darkness to attack Sungjin.
Every hand was as powerful as the ultimate skill of the Holy Pope; this didn’t seem to bother Sungjin.
You’re wasting a lot of power.
Sungjin was flying among raining hands with his refined movement. He avoided every hand he could while cutting those he couldn’t. When he reached the darkness, Sungjin pushed his sword into the center, and the light exploded.
Ughhh!
With a scream, the blackness scattered, and the Holy Pope appeared again in the same spot.
Again, the cane clashed with the sword. It was a fight of pure swordsmanship.
Your movement is inefficient,
Sungjin informed the Holy Pope.
Now do you get it?
Eustasia smiled as if she was telling everyone they didn’t even have to cheer.
Sungjin defeated the Holy Pope when they had fought as humans. This was a fight as proxies of gods, and neither one could use strategy.
The Holy Pope used to fight against opponents with his dominant power supplied by God, while Sungjin fought against much stronger enemies with extreme tactics.
They were fighting a fair fight now, but it felt different to them; it was shapeless and rhythmless. It was the movement of sword without thought.
Even the Blood Ruler couldn’t fight against it with pure swordsmanship. There was no way the Holy Pope could stop it.
I still don’t know which one is stronger, the light or the darkness…
Eustasia smiled.
Our man is strong for sure.
You’re right; Sungjin is strong.
His sword cut the cane and the Holy Pope in half.
Ugh…
Blue team won.
Finally, the Valkyrie declared the victory of the Blue team.
It was the victory of the light, the victory of Sungjin and Rachel, the victory of a boy and a girl wanting to do good beyond the salvation of God.
