Apostle Of The Calamity God

“The fourth Seed was taken from us?”

“My apologies. There was no time to recover it.”

It was just then, as Min Tae-jin looked at the woman before him and nervously waited for the answer that would come back.

In an instant, an enormous pressure came over Min Tae-jin’s entire body as though squeezing him tight.

“Kh…!”

He resisted and tried to exert his strength, but it pressed him down as if his power was nothing at all, and then the woman’s voice burrowed into his ear.

“How many believers do you think are needed to create a single Seed?”

“M-my apologies.”

“It takes a full ten thousand sacrifices to create a Seed, and the will of countless people must dwell within it to conceive a calamity. And yet… you failed to recover it…. This country only fills me with disappointment.”

“I-I intend to recover it somehow, but it will not be easy. As you know… the b-black mages are determined to hold out, so it is not an easy situation to handle.”

At that moment, her momentum faded as if it had been washed away, and the woman met the gaze of Min Tae-jin, who had gained a little more leeway.

“Pi Jin-hyeok died so vainly, so does it feel like a miracle that you alone are still alive?”

“I know. I have no intention of denying my incompetence, but please give me a chance.”

The woman, who had her arms crossed, walked right up in front of Min Tae-jin and spoke.

“A chance…. Very well. Then what sort of chance should I give you?”

At that moment, the pressure began again, and in the face of that chilling momentum, Min Tae-jin finally ended up kneeling. He swallowed a groan without even being able to raise his head, and just then, a shadow seeped out of thin air as though melting in and whispered into the woman’s ear.

He could not tell what words were being exchanged, but after the shadow vanished, the momentum also faded as if washed away. Min Tae-jin swallowed dryly and carefully looked up at the woman, and then he heard her voice.

“Do nothing. I am saying this out of concern, but… you must not do anything that could reveal your identity.”

“U-understood.”

At that answer, the woman said a single, “Good,” then instantly hid herself and disappeared. Min Tae-jin swallowed dryly as he watched her go.

‘Damn it…. I never thought the Saintess would come personally….’

Min Tae-jin’s mind began to grow complicated.

Red Gates had begun causing problems all over the world, creating tremendous damage.

A large number of Awakeners had died, and the areas around the Red Gates had been encroached upon by otherworldly forces, with mutations progressing seriously.

Some regions had transformed into “poisoned lands,” becoming places where people could no longer live, while other regions had so many rare medicinal herbs growing in them that some even said they were industrially beneficial. In that way, the Red Gates were creating various changes.

However, while attention was focused on these Red Gates, the Yellow Gates began to undergo changes.

At first, it started lightly, with the density of the atmosphere increasing and creating pressure, but as time passed, that pressure began to grow powerful enough that humans could no longer endure it, and in an instant, the land transformed into a harsh place where life itself could no longer exist.

At first, France, feeling anxiety over this change, issued an official request for cooperation to powerful individuals all over the world on a large scale and asked for support. A very small number of Awakeners who showed interest headed to France and observed the Yellow Gate.

The reason was simple.

Even such powerful individuals, the moment they entered, were subjected to pressure so intense that their bodies would collapse before they could endure even ten seconds.

Since even renowned powerhouses were like that, there was no need to speak of anyone else. Eventually, when all they could do was watch the situation from outside the Gate, the entire world was shocked.

[ What an insignificant world. Did they summon me down to a place like this? ]

The Yellow Gate collapsed, and a single being walked out from within it.

And at the very first words it spoke while looking around the world, everyone watching was seized by an indescribable pressure and awe, and they fell to their knees.

“W-who are you?”

[ I am the one who stands alone, the one who contains truth, the one who never looks down. ]

Along with the words of that being, who was arrogance itself, everyone watching planted their heads into the ground. Not long after, when the Yellow Gate withered away on its own and disappeared without a trace, the being that had emerged from it floated into the air and spoke as though making a declaration.

[ Lastly, I am the one who brings ruin to this land. ]

Only then did they understand that the being before their eyes was a powerful existence they could never approach. France and the Awakeners who had come to support from all over the world somehow summoned their will and chose to resist, and when all of them clenched their teeth and stood up while coughing blood to oppose him, the being burst into laughter as if pleased.

“We humans will never submit!!”

All of them showed the spirit that, though they might be pressed down by his overwhelming presence, they would never obey him, but that did not last long.

Through cameras broadcasting to the entire world, a single gesture made the strongest Awakeners become covered in blood, a single kick split the earth, and the power he displayed as if mocking them made the land shake, tear, and rip apart.

It was the advent of a being to whom the word despair suited perfectly, and just then, many people wearing familiar robes rushed out and worshiped the heretical being.

“We have the honor of beholding the Apostle of the Calamity God!!”

The Calamity God was also known as the God of Ruin, and was the god of the Church of Ruin. Just from their words and actions, the world came to know that the root cause of all these incidents lay with the Cultists of Ruin.

[ I, Beral, Apostle of the Calamity God, declare: ruin has arrived! ]

“As the god wills!!”

Despair descended upon France.

Meanwhile, as the world grew noisy, the countries that had watched all these events began building large-scale subjugation forces, while also entering into direct oppression of the Cultists of Ruin and investigations and eradication work against the branches of the Church of Ruin.

It might have been the deed of a very small portion of them, but they judged that if such an incident broke out in their own countries, dealing with the aftermath itself would be impossible, so they proceeded with purges. The problem was that, as though they had been waiting for this day, the Cultists of Ruin disappeared without a trace, and countless countries fell into confusion.

On top of that, as it was revealed that there were also quite a few Cultists of Ruin among the renowned Awakeners in each country, the chaos began to reach its peak, and Korea could not be free from this either.

“Damn it, what in the world is going on!”

Kim Dae-san had opened a State Council meeting to calm the sudden calamity and the situation caused by it.

And as he looked around at the many State Council members and the heads of various groups present, Kim Dae-san inwardly felt relieved.

“I understand that this is something worthy of your agitation. However, the heads of each group are also watching.”

Just then, an old man opened his mouth, and Kim Dae-san swallowed a groan at his appearance.

That was because the person who had just spoken was not someone who easily came to such gatherings.

“Does the cardinal of the Gaia Church have an alternative?”

“If I had an alternative, I would not be here. However, France is far away from this place, and in our country, a Red Gate has been subjugated. Right now, each country is in a state of serious anxiety. And they want us to share the method by which our country closed the Red Gate.”

Kim Dae-san was also in a state of headache because of the continuous requests from each country.

However, though Kim Dae-san hated to death the thought of doing anything that would benefit China and Japan, Bak Han-seong, the cardinal of the Gaia Church, began calmly persuading Kim Dae-san.

“If we thought only of what was good for us, restricting the information would clearly be correct, but the world is now standing at the crossroads of ruin because of a single religion. The being called Beral who appeared this time openly stated that he was an existence close to a god, and in truth, he is using tremendous power to drive all of France into a nightmare. We must not overlook this point.”

The part people were focusing on was Britain’s Red Gate.

The reason was simple. The direction Beral was heading was Britain, and they were watching to see what the Red Gate would do because of Beral, who would cross the strait and arrive in Britain.

So while the most requests were currently coming from Britain, Bak Han-seong confidently proposed to Kim Dae-san that they disclose the method for closing the Gates.

“It is an honorable matter. Surely, the countries that benefited from this incident will not forget our difficulties, and they will send praise for the president’s decision.”

It meant that he should make the correct judgment. Then he saw the representative seat of those who had not attended the State Council meeting.

‘The black mages did not come?’

Even those whose faces were not easy to see were present, but the black mages alone had not taken their seats, with the feeling that they absolutely would not come.

There was no separately explained reason for their absence either, so Kim Dae-san somehow felt anger rise from his chest. Whether they knew that fact or not, sounds of whispering began to be heard here and there after people confirmed Kim Dae-san’s gaze.

Most of them were saying things like, after oppressing the black mages so much, he was ultimately looking for them when things became difficult, so he clenched his teeth. Just then, Kang Han-na, the Saintess of the Zodiac Church, opened her mouth.

“For now, I think it is right to share the information and reduce the number of Red Gates. Mr. President, I am sure you want to use that information for political purposes for the sake of the country’s benefit, but think of the greater cause. If a great sacrifice is paid because of a small desire, that price will eventually return as a boomerang.”

“Hoo…. Since the two churches are arguing so, we have no choice but to speak of the matter we have carefully considered as well.”

There were several alternatives. Among them, information disclosure was also one alternative.

Moreover, since there were a total of five Red Gates that had appeared in the two countries of Japan and China, Kim Dae-san had been trying to use this all the more politically.

After all, he absolutely hated the sight of groups that had not paid even the slightest war reparations benefiting from it.

On top of that, the national treasury had suffered considerable losses because of the enormous support funds and contracts that had gone to the black mages. So Kim Dae-san had been trying even harder to find a place to squeeze money from, but because of the claims of various religions and groups like this, he had no choice but to make a decision.

“Hoo…. I cannot commit a foolish mistake by being swayed by emotion. I am an extremely selfish person. For the sake of practical gain, I had intended not to care about the damage of other countries at all, and I had intended to become a selfish president for the country and its people. However, if things continue like this, we too will have to suffer the same misfortune, and since we cannot overlook a situation that may become a new Daegyeokbyeon, we will disclose the information.”

Kim Dae-san made a great decision, and at the same time, countless materials began to be distributed around the world, eventually spreading information on how to deal with the Red Gates.