The Novel’s Villain

30. Rainbow (4)

All the wagons were loaded with people. From children, women, men to the elderly, they were all tied up and loaded inside. They were piled up like boxes, and some had been crushed to death. It appeared they had robbed an entire village.

‘I came with a light heart, but…’

Jin-woo didn’t feel that much when he read it in text, but when he saw it in reality, the situation was terrifying. There was a reason why the description of the original novel was so concise.

‘Using people to fill the energy of corruption.’

All he remembered was that one sentence. This scene unfolded because of that sentence. Thinking about it that way made him a little frustrated.

There were paladins and soldiers, enough soldiers to turn the village into a mess. However, they were unable to move because of the silver threads covering them. The road was already full of them, ready to tear their bodies to shreds if they moved even a little.

Now it was time to clearly show what existence the Emperor of Gold was.

[The Incarnation of Evil looks up.]

[The Emperor of Gold agrees.]

[The Magic Sword resonates.]

The Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil followed Jin-woo. They permeated into the fragment embedded in the Magic Sword.

The Fragment of Corruption couldn’t resist. Jin-woo’s desire to present true horror was embodied using the Magic Sword as a medium.

[S] Horror Production

‘Have you ever seen a horror movie?’

The Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil use the Fragment of Corruption to create a horror based on Lee Jin-woo’s memory. Everything the enemy fears most will unfold in real-time.

*[S] Jump Scare

*[S] Horror Movie Encore

What if the Emperor of Gold, who had a knack for style, created horror?

‘It’s worth watching.’

The energy emitted by the Incarnation of Evil and the Emperor of Gold dwelled in the Magic Sword.

Shaaaak!

When Jin-woo gestured, all the silver threads disappeared. When the silver threads that had flashed softly in the moonlight disappeared, the paladins and soldiers looked around and tried to step back. Jin-woo picked up the Magic Sword. It was engulfed in a wicked light, black energy spurting out of the sword.

[Kee, kiieeeeeerrrrkkkhh!]

An eerie scream rang out. It felt like a scream that came from hell. That was right. It was a scream from the Emperor of Corruption, who had no limit to the pleasures it could feel like an artifact. It had tasted the endless pleasure of devouring pain and despair until now. Conversely, there was also no limit to its pain.

As Jin-woo raised his sword, the energy reflected by the Emperor of Corruption began to increase rapidly. As such, the level of pain rose sharply. Of course, it had no choice but to scream. The paladins and the soldiers suffered from hearing those screams and covered their ears. The Magic Sword contained enormous mana and golden power. As Jin-woo swung it forward, a huge wave of energy swept through his surroundings.

[The monster opens its eyes.]

The paladins and soldiers flinched. Something went through the surroundings and passed by, but everything was fine when they checked their bodies. Yet, it was when they breathed a sigh of relief…

Kh-kh-kuuuk!

A strange noise was heard in the forest. The branches of the trees seemed to shake and began to wriggle like tentacles. The whole forest seethed.

“M-Monster!”

“Aaaargh!”

It made the silver threads seem rather ordinary. The trees began to move, and tentacles wrapped around the paladins and the soldiers. They threw the soldiers up into the sky playfully. However, it was no joke from the victim’s point of view. As if it were raining, the soldiers fell to the ground. One paladin raised his sword and trembled as soldiers rained down around him. The soldiers gazed up at him.

“Save me…”

“Ugh…”

The hands that were already shattered were trembling. They were already dead, but their bodies were being used for the atmosphere.

“O-Oh, the holy po-power…”

As the paladin recited a prayer, his divine power was awakened. He thought he would fight the monster with it, but it didn’t work at all. Rather, it grew even more active.

“Keaaarrrgh!”

The tentacles wrapped around the paladin’s legs. It playfully swung him around.

Crunch!

The tentacles gradually tightened, and the paladin met a terrible end. As the paladins and the soldiers all disappeared, it became quieter than it had ever been. People started to disembark the wagons. One of the children collapsed helplessly; then the tentacles shook toward him to offer some fruit. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the fruit and began to munch on it.

He had been starved for a few days. Fortunately, the horror production wasn’t applied to anyone other than enemies. Rather, its original personality came out as if looking at an actor behind the stage. Yoo-na looked at Jin-woo.

“What will we do with them?”

“It looks like they have nowhere to go, so let’s send them to Dopplo.”

“Understood.”

The demons brought those people to Dopplo’s estate while Jin-woo approached the castle. There were many pits around the castle, full of people tortured and killed then buried in random places. Even at that time, some soldiers were still burning corpses.

[A deep resentment was felt.]

Jin-woo looked at Yoo-na and the demons.

“Wait outside the castle.”

Jin-woo approached the castle. As Jin-woo walked by, the soldiers flinched and raised their weapons. Black energy flowed around Jin-woo, then dispersed in all directions in the form of disgusting worms.

“W-what the hell!”

“Ugh!”

The black worms attacked the soldiers, but it didn’t end there.

[The corpses full of grudges rise.]

[Hungry ghouls were created with Horror Production.]

*Reference: Night of the Hungry Monsters (Hollywood Grade B Horror Movie)

[With the Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil blessing it, it will not stop until its resentment is gone.]

Psssrrk!

Hungry ghouls came up through the ground. It appeared there were a lot of people buried there. Each of the hungry ghouls had white, translucent skin. Its limbs were long, and its muscles were tightly woven together. It crawled on the floor with claws so long that it could move freely over walls and ceilings like a spider. A red light flashed out of its eyes. The scariest thing was that half of its face was taken up by its mouth.

The movie Jin-woo had seen before was processed with CG, but it looked very scary when it appeared in person. The hungry ghouls gathered around Jin-woo in the thousands.

“Umm…”

The visuals were so amazing that Jin-woo flinched. They were growling, with flecks of saliva splattering on the ground.

Cheeesss!

The saliva was acidic enough to melt the dirt.

‘…It’s scary.’

Jin-woo didn’t like horror movies very much. He thought it was a relief that there weren’t many movies he watched.

The soldiers rushed out of the gates. The moment Jin-woo headed to the castle, the hungry ghouls started sprinting. The soldiers tried to attack but to no avail. Sharp claws cut through them, their bodies collapsing in vain. The hungry ghouls climbed over the wall and rushed into the castle. They were incomparable to zombies.

Soon after, desperate screams rang out.

[How could you be so wicked!]

[The demons pay respect to the terrible sight.]

When Jin-woo glanced behind him, the demons were moved, and their eyes were twinkling full of admiration and respect. Anyway, Jin-woo was able to enter the castle safely without any obstruction. The troops stationed had already vanished. There were only torn pieces of armor left.

Jin-woo entered the wide hallway. He looked out the window for a moment.

Boom-boom!

The tall tower collapsed, flames erupting out. It felt as if the world was falling apart.

Kieeeeeeeeeekh!

A hungry ghoul grabbed a corrupted priest’s leg and swung him around. The demons, who stood by awkwardly because they had nothing to do, nodded and applauded. As the wildly screaming and rampaging hungry ghoul was applauded, it glanced around for a moment and then scratched its head.

A hungry ghoul was passing nearby, and their eyes met. Then they nodded and greeted each other. It was like they were actors in waiting time in the middle of filming. Anyway, the hungry ghouls went wild and smashed everything.

‘…There must have been a lot of grudges piled up.’

The enemies were helpless because even their divine power wouldn’t work.

‘There it is.’

The energy of corruption could be felt beyond the ornate door. Although a barrier was protected with divine magic, it broke under Jin-woo’s touch.

Krieeeek!

Entering inside, he saw priests and paladins sitting there. Cardinal Haron was floundering in bed. The room was spacious, but there were so many soldiers that it looked very cramped. The room was dark. A few candles were lit, and all the windows were tightly closed. They seemed to be very concerned about their safety.

“G-go away! How dare you come here…! A-aren’t you afraid of God?”

Haron said so while holding up a statue. The statue was beautiful, but it had dog ears. It didn’t go well with this serious atmosphere, but the Fragment of Corruption was embedded in that statue.

“W-what are you doing! H-hurry up and attack!”

The paladin and priests packed in the room were looking around. Suddenly the candles around them went out, plunging them in darkness. The surroundings became deathly quiet. Haron was perplexed.

Drip!

Something damp touched the Cardinal’s cheek. It was so thick that he immediately knew it wasn’t water.

Cheesssssh!

“Keaaaaaaaarrrgh!”

His cheeks melted. He quickly wiped at it with his hands, but the skin on his fingers also melted.

“Uugh! T-turn on the light…”

No one listened to him. Having barely endured the pain, he gathered his divine power in the Goddess statue. The light slowly formed, and he could see now. There was no one around. The paladins and soldiers filling the room disappeared without a trace. It was horrifyingly quiet.

He felt something suffocating pressing down around him. It was a damp-breath, filled with the strong smell of blood. The Cardinal looked at the wall with the light emitted by the Goddess statue.

“G-gasp!”

He screamed. There were no ceilings and walls. To be precise, they were covered by terrible monsters all around. Their huge mouths were full of sharp teeth, and thick saliva dripped from their long tongues. Their teeth were already full of flesh.

“You’re Haron, right?”

Haron was surprised by the sudden voice and looked at him. Jin-woo stood leisurely among the monsters with disgusting black worms surrounding him.

“I-I command you by the power of the God… g-go away!”

Haron sent the energy of corruption at Jin-woo with the Goddess statue. Of course, it was reflected, and Haron was covered by it, putting him in the same state as Cardron. Jin-woo smiled softly and looked at Haron. The hungry ghouls also smiled brightly, causing Haron to pee himself and faint.

It was the beginning of his hell.

Cut!

It seemed that something like that could be heard.

“Ugh, gross.”

Jin-woo quickly brushed off the disgusting worms on his shoulder. The hungry ghoul nodded in response. The hungry ghouls were more disgusting, but Jin-woo decided not to say it. He didn’t want to use Horror Production again, except under certain tolerable cases.

* * *

Jin-woo returned to the city. The place that was called the Castle of Blessing became hell. This was because the Horror Production was maintained even while Jin-woo wasn’t present. The horror movie that he saw was faithfully reproduced there. The hungry ghoul and tentacle trees were still roaming the land around it.

The hungry ghoul would disappear naturally when the resentment disappeared, so there was no big problem, and anyway, it was the Holy Empire’s territory. General Manager and the demons kidnapped the rest of the Cardinals, alongside all their priests. They even raked in all the treasures they had accumulated. It was piled up in the house, so Jin-woo decided to put them in his subspace and use them as rewards for bounties.

As expected, General Manager certainly took care of everything. Now he was staying in the Middle World and educating Arcana. No one could match General Manager when it came to education.

“It’s a lot better.”

“Thanks to General Manager’s teaching!”

“But you still have a long way to go. Master always seeks perfection!”

“Yes! I will try harder!”

“It doesn’t matter if you try.”

“I will do better!”

“Keep that in your mind. You have to do twice better today and four times better tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

It was said that Arcana saw the maid army led by General Manager and asked him to teach her. Arcana was now even wearing JW Gate’s maid outfit. General Manager had tagged Arcana as the Maid Captain.

[Arcana became a JW Apprentice Maid].

[Arcana has acquired a title.]

*[A] Maid Emperor

Although there was a series of bloody special lessons, Jin-woo decided not to care. It would only hurt his head if he cared about every single thing like that. All four fragments were gathered. The four Fragments of Corruption merged into one, forming a round golden marble. The damage to the Emperor of Corruption increased alongside the experience points. Jin-woo could be satisfied. The more experience points Jin-woo accumulated, the weaker the power of the Emperor of Corruption would become.

Having all the fragments, the priests and knights under the Cardinals now belonged to Jin-woo, as were the puppets they controlled. He completely absorbed the power the Cardinals had built over the years.

‘I need to contact Heaven.’

Since the Emperor of Corruption was cornered, he could focus on them. It was when Jin-woo thought so.

[Golden Angel’s quest has been updated!]

[The power of the fragment is applied according to the contribution level.]

1st Place. Ariel

Recruited Order Members: 631 People

Order Donation Amount: 4,231 Gold

Contribution to Sacred Ground Development: 6.7%

Overall Rating: 4.7/5

Number 1

Grand Prize

Name: Ariel

We commend the Golden Angel above by giving this award because she loves the Sacred Ground and does her best to develop the Sacred Ground with an unrelenting passion and will.

-Lee Jin-woo, CEO of Golden Sacred Ground-

Reward: Evolution through fragment

2nd Place. Lariel

3rd Place. Myriel

[Golden Angel quest will be completed by awarding the award.]

The grand, gold, silver, bronze, and encouragement awards were all chosen. Jin-woo nodded, and the awards were granted. It seemed they would be given to each of them in the form of a bounty.

[The reward has been given.]

[Ariel and Golden Angels who received the awards are evolving into a new form.]

[They have become Premium Golden Angel.]

[A+] Premium Golden Angel

‘I am different from you. I’m Pre-mi-um.’

An evolved form of a Golden Angel. There is no difference in abilities, but the appearance has changed due to the strong wish of the Golden Angels. The height increases by 1.3 cm, and there is a slight difference between men and women.

Characteristics and personality were added, making the Premium Golden Angel even cuter, though it was a very subtle number. They were rewarded with something like that even though their contribution was so great. It seemed right to take care of everything. Jin-woo left his house and headed to the place where the angels were staying. The angels were crowded in front of the lodging like fans who came to see their idol.

“Oh! I-it’s so dazzling that I can’t see!”

“T-that person is the Premium Golden Angel… cool.”

“How come they are so divine!”

Ariel and the winners walked the streets in triumph. The angels looked enviously at them as if they were light itself. Ariel was strutting at the same pace as a model, but there was no difference from the other angels in Jin-woo’s eyes. He didn’t know for sure, but she did seem to have gotten a little cuter.

“…”

Jin-woo had passed through many dimensions in the meantime, but he felt a cultural difference for the first time.

[The angels are surprised.]

[The Chief Archangel’s angel ring has fallen to the floor.]

[A majority of the Heaven have joined the Emperor of Gold and entered the sphere of influence of the Sacred Ground.]

[Luna quickly approved.]

Luna should be playing a game by now. She seemed to approve it without checking. Jin-woo looked at the Fragments of Corruption in his hands. As expected, an Emperor wasn’t an Emperor for nothing.

‘I didn’t expect it to corrupt the angels like that. That’s terrifying.’

It was truly a formidable power.