Chapter 21: The Unyielding Light

She was young and beautiful.

From her fingertips flowed the refreshing breeze of a meadow,

and wherever her feet touched, flowers scattered their fragrant petals in joy.

Every time she passed, people closed their eyes and took a deep breath, as if walking through a dream.

Her hair flowed down like a silver river cutting through the dark night sky,

hiding the infinite secrets of the universe within it.

As she healed more people, her beauty shone brighter.

Like a flame, she built her immortality in the decay of others.

Those born with disabilities.

Those suffering from an infected environment.

Those with incurable diseases and little time left.

All were saved.

• “Saint, my child is sick.”
• “Saint, in our village, gates have appeared… Many people are dying from the poison of Evil Plants.”
• “Saint.”

At some point, Shaorin was called the Saint.

Her touch ended their suffering.

• “It’s alright, I am the light for all of you.”
• “Ah, the Saint has saved us again.”
• “Please show mercy on this little child.”
• “Please save our mother from despair.”

A young man bowed his head.

A woman cried tears.

The fervent wishes of the people would be fulfilled here and now.

Saint Shaorin. She was the hope of the continent.

That’s why the woman entrusted her child, and Shaorin took the soul from the child.

[Skill activated: S-Class Skill, Divorce Law]

[You can now see through the soul’s hierarchy. You have become proficient in handling both soul and spirit.]

Silence settled, and the child, whose body had been decaying, peacefully accepted death in the Saint’s arms. Without any resistance, the soul was easily expelled.

Staring at the empty shell, Shaorin gave a greedy smile.

“Child, let’s make you healthy again.”

With a gleam in her eyes, she sank her fangs into the neck of the soulless child.

It was sweet.

[Skill activated: A-Class Skill, Vampire Marquis]

[You now possess the power of a vampire noble. You thirst for blood but survive by it.]

[You grow stronger in the dark, and your enemies will have their final breath absorbed by you.]

[Blood is not merely a liquid of life. It is power, instinct, and a mark of immortality gained from death.]

[The more you drink, the more you will fear nothing in the dark.]

Slurp.

“Saint, we believe in you. Please send us a miracle so that this child may live like the others.”

Had the woman said that?

Soon, it would happen.

After all, I am the Saint.

Shaorin smiled, her voice eerie, and mercilessly tossed the grotesque, shriveled corpse of the child aside.

The small, light body fell to the ground like meaningless trash, its warm life now just a tragic ruin.

Whoosh.

With a flick of her hand, she disposed of the body.

Coldly, as if the child had never existed in this world.

[Skill activated: S-Class Skill, Resurrection of the Dead]

[You can bring back those you have killed as undead. If you can bear their vengeance, hatred, and sorrow, use this.]

A dark energy spread from her fingertips.

The cold darkness swirled around the ground, and from it, the child’s form slowly began to rise.

The body, pulled from the realm of death, reanimated as an undead, grotesquely writhing.

Vengeance, hatred, and sorrow did not seep into the small body. That was because the soul of the child was already in her grasp.

[Skill activated: S-Class Skill, Divorce Law]

She forced the extracted soul into the child’s body.

Crack!

The revived child opened their eyes and slowly stood up.

Though their body moved once more, inside it was not the pure soul of the child,

but a puppet following Shaorin’s commands.

“Go, make your mother happy.”

The child nodded and returned to the woman’s arms.

Millions of followers devoted to the Saint. Unbeknownst to them, she was silently devouring the continent.

“It’s time to head to Korea.”

“If I want to completely take control of China, I’ll need the trust of the Heavenly Emperor right now. Zz?”

“How could a mere hunter from a small peninsula stand against someone of my power, at a national-level hunter?”

She was setting out on her pilgrimage to Korea.

She thought that if she created more undead, even a hunter like Zz would be easy to defeat.

That was until she met the angel.

“Is this even possible?”

Ranked 5th in S-class.

Heavenly Demon, Cheon Yeoul.

She was blocked by a barrier in front of the treatment room.

It wasn’t as strong as the barrier on the 100th floor of the Tower of Infinity, but it was still formidable.

Why was such a barrier here in the treatment room?

Something felt off.

“That child is in danger.”

Just as she was about to use her Heavenly Demon technique…

KWA-AAAAAANG!!!

A burst of light exploded from within, and the barrier tore apart like paper.

The air trembled, and a deafening explosion rang out as everything around was consumed by dazzling light.

A brilliant beam of light shot out in a straight line, making the surrounding air seem to boil.

But the light was not merely bright.

There was heavy force concentrated within it, warping the space around it as if distorting reality itself.

A chill ran down her spine.

Just witnessing it evoked both fear and awe.

‘If that is directed at me…’

She would be crushed without even recognizing death, following the trajectory of that light.

In all of South Korea, only one hunter could wield light.

“Zz… has that person appeared?”

She gritted her teeth.

She had always wanted to meet them, but the timing had never been right.

She thought of Yoo Baekseol.

The child was too small and fragile.

She had to save her. If that delicate child got caught in such an overwhelming situation, it would be over.

Cheon Yeoul no longer hesitated.

She activated her Heavenly Demon technique and rushed forward.

Speed and power surged explosively as she desperately leaped into the light.

The light enveloped her.

It was so blinding that she couldn’t see beyond it.

“Yoo Baekseol! Where are you?!”

There was no response.

The figure of the girl was nowhere to be seen.

The surrounding light was too bright and intense for her to make anything out.

The presence was unclear in the light, but its overwhelming sense of power brought about awe.

Zz.

The only hunter to ever break the 100th floor record of the Tower of Infinity, surpassing even the nameless ones.

Cheon Yeoul instinctively sensed the threat.

She recalled the ‘Master of Death’ who once offered to sponsor her.

This being now was at least on the same level, if not above.

The overwhelming disparity was evident.

‘Is this what they mean by national-level power…?’

Her heart filled with spine-chilling fear, but she couldn’t retreat.

To save Yoo Baekseol, she had to bear this immense force.

“Bring my little ‘Napkin’ back!”

Revealing the identity?

She had a bit of a desire for people not to know, as she preferred peaceful sleep.

But it didn’t matter much.

She was powerless.

However, it seemed that the person hadn’t recognized her and was still making a scene on her own.

“‘Napkin’? Is that how you’ve been thinking of me?”

What remarkable insight.

“Why is my protector acting like this?”

[Your lord is so great that they can’t even perceive it.]

“… Honestly, I’m not sure how to handle this disturbance.”

[Use the power in the necklace, the Lullaby of Hypnos. It forces the designated target into a deep sleep.]

“Oh, there’s such a convenient function?”

I never bothered to read anything longer than three characters, so I hadn’t even noticed this feature. How convenient.

I reached out and lightly grasped the necklace.

“Whispers of Sleep.”

A soft lullaby began to emanate from the necklace, lulling the designated target into a deep sleep.

“Wherever the target is and whatever they are doing, they cannot resist.”

“Cooldown: 24 hours.”

A soft, warm light began to seep out from the necklace.

The light spread through the air, flowing with a calm rhythm toward Cheonma.

It wasn’t very strong or conspicuous, but it was a lullaby’s melody that made one feel at ease.

Her body slowly began to relax with the sound.

Softly… softly…

“Shall we go and find her?”

Normally, when a target was dealt with, their soul would be sucked into the halo.

But this time, things were different.

The opponent had used some underhanded sorcery.

Taking advantage of a brief moment, they had slipped their soul into another body.

That target… It was easily spotted by the angel’s eyes, which could see souls.

“That’s her.”

My eyes.

She locked eyes with her.

A vampire is immortal.

By drinking blood, they can live forever. However…

She was killed in a single second by the light’s bombardment.

But that was fine.

The user of the Divorce Law technique was also immortal.

By constantly switching bodies, they could live forever.

Saint Xiao Lin had swapped into a new body.

Today, it had been the father of a hunter she had treated.

He had lost both his legs in an accident, but after being saved by the saint, he was now fully restored.

However, suddenly, his condition became strange.

“You filthy angel!!” Ugh…

“Ah, father. What’s wrong?”

In surprise, she rushed over.

Didn’t she carry her father all the way to Seoul earlier today, just to see the saint?

But suddenly, her father’s face twisted, and a painful, distorted scream erupted from his mouth.

His nails scraped the ground, grinding and splitting against the cold stone.

“I put so much effort into making that body… And to be killed in one blow by someone with national-level power, like me!!!” Crunch…

“Father! Please calm down. Just a moment, I’ll call an ambulance…”

The son desperately checked his father’s condition, but the being inside his father’s body was no longer his father.

Xiao Lin moved without hesitation.

Thunk!

She pierced the cumbersome man’s abdomen with a single strike.

Her hand sank deeply, blood flowing down her fingers.

The son’s eyes widened in shock and fear.

What had happened?

“Ah… Father?”

“Shut up. Just die.”

The body collapsed weakly.

His eyes were still in disbelief, unable to comprehend that the one who attacked him was his father.

But inside Xiao Lin’s mind, only one thought filled her.

A hunter who wielded light. Zz.

That person was an angel.

“I need to report this to the organization.”

One of the six major villain organizations in the world.

The White Lotus Cult.

Originally, her role was to infiltrate China disguised as a saint, devouring the country from within.

But something even greater was wriggling in the southern half of the peninsula.

“There’s no way an angel-like being should exist.”

“That person is definitely backed by a Seat of Power. I need to tell the Cult Leader about this!”

To wield that kind of power, what kind of Seat of Power would have provided so much backing?

But then, a soft voice came from behind her.

It was calm and gentle, yet it seemed to pierce straight through her heart.

“You’re persistent.”

It was the angel.

“Did you follow me all the way here? How did you…?!”

The angel, looking pityingly at the man lying on the floor, spoke.

“You’ve been doing something bad.”

“How you managed to follow me here, I don’t know, but I’m an immortal being. Someone like you…”

“Ah, you moved your soul elsewhere, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t realize it at first, but now I’m able to respond appropriately.”

“Such nonsense…”

“I’m quite capable.”

Skill activated, S-rank skill: Divorce law.

“You can now pierce through the boundaries of soul and spirit.”

“You’ll be able to detect the links of souls and spirits and handle them skillfully.”

Xiao Lin activated the skill again.

Divorce Law.

A power that had allowed her to swap countless bodies and maintain immortality.

With this alone, she could escape at any time.

She had millions of backup bodies in China, among them undead she had healed.

All she had to do was transfer her soul to one of them.

Once her soul was transferred to that body and she revived, even Zz would not be able to catch her.

All she had to do was close her eyes and open them in a new body!

The angel appeared to be so focused on treating the man lying on the floor that she wasn’t paying attention to Xiao Lin.

“Haha! Stay well. I’m leaving.”

He said confidently.

Divorce Law.

The soul left the body.

Just as it was about to cross over to China, the angel gently raised her hand.

A brilliant light slowly emanated from her fingertips, filling the space around them.

It felt as though the earth and sky had intertwined, opening a new world with grandeur.

Xiao Lin’s soul was captured by the light in an instant.

Her body felt heavy as though bound by invisible chains, and her soul could no longer escape.

No matter how much she tried to activate Divorce Law, her soul could not transfer to another body.

Her pupils floating in the air in her soul form, trembled.

Something felt wrong.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The Sanctuary Proclamation.

Radiance covered the world.

“We’re going to the Chamber of Truth.”

Inside, the angel silently lifted a teddy bear.

Grandmother Samshin’s Teddy Bear.

Samshin’s Wrath: Each time an enemy is defeated, attack power increases permanently by 1.

Current Attack Power: 19,565.