Chapter 33: The Manifestation of Maitreya

Ping!

The moment the teddy bear blocked something, a silent shockwave swept through the space.

Everything around froze, as if gripped by fear, and the wind lost its direction, swirling chaotically.

Bang!

Then,

The invisible swords that were flying toward me vanished completely.

• How dare this lowly creature…! My Lord, shall I fly at once?

“Kiriel?”

• I will tear that scoundrel apart and shred them into 100,000 pieces.

That’s a bit too cruel, don’t you think?

The mere thought of 100,000 pieces made a chill run down my spine.

Could that even be possible?

Just imagining blood splattering and flesh scattering left me breathless.

“Impossible… My attack was avoided so easily…?”

At the moment the flow of blades stopped, the man attacking me had veins popping on his forehead.

He seemed oddly flustered.

I naturally glanced at his head.

[Evil deeds: -307,850]

He was the most wicked person I had ever seen.

“What is that teddy bear? What is its true identity?!”

I slowly tilted my head.

It’s just a teddy bear.

How could he not know this?

For a moment, I was puzzled, but soon I thought that maybe that was understandable.

Not everything in this world could be clearly understood, after all.

My becoming an angel, Kiriel, once a game character, suddenly appearing in this world, gates opening, monsters emerging—

All of it was a mystery no one could explain.

‘I don’t know much either. In fact, I’m too lethargic to even want to know more.’

I had always been lethargic.

My indifference and numbness, ingrained as habits, didn’t change even after I became an angel.

I still had little interest in anything besides sleeping.

But sometimes, features of an angel would slip out of me.

I started using honorifics automatically, bad words were filtered out by themselves,

and when adults asked me something, I felt compelled to answer respectfully.

And when someone asked me for a favor, I couldn’t easily refuse, which was something Kiriel worried about.

But right now, underneath that gentle exterior, another desire was bubbling up.

‘It’s because he’s a bad man who’s bothering our landlord.’

At that moment, the desire to punish this villain surged inside me.

But the angel inside me, as always, tugged at me.

I suppressed that feeling and soothed it.

If they asked what it was, wouldn’t it be common sense to answer?

Though my insides were bubbling with frustration,

I kindly answered.

“It’s a cute teddy bear.”

“That’s not what I asked! How did you block my Heart Sword, which carries the full power of a deadly strike…?”

“Well, I think it also has the function of stopping bad people.”

“Such a thing cannot exist! Are you mocking me?!”

The red-haired man clenched his teeth, making an extremely fierce expression.

On his face, anger and shock were mixed, as if he was expressing both emotions simultaneously in an instant.

He looked furious like a wild beast, but somehow there was a strange expression of disbelief mixed in.

Anyone who saw his face would have been surprised and thought,

‘I can’t believe a person can make such a complicated expression.’

I, whose expression rarely changes, found that quite fascinating.

“Haaah!”

It seemed like he was finally ready to get serious.

As he let out a pressure, a red aura surged again, creating an overwhelming force that pressed down on everything around us.

Who was he showing off his strength to?

No matter how insignificant and dust-like I might be, I didn’t feel like I would lose in the slightest.

“Shall we start wrapping this up?”

The sky began to glow brightly.

A golden ring above my head sparkled once more, and silver wings fluttered gently.

It was as if the warm light was gradually consuming the magic around us, purging all the filth and malice from the world.

I felt no particular excitement.

After all, it would all be over with just one strike.

“Ah, no…! This power?! This can’t be real. There’s no way such overwhelming power exists. An unimaginable light…

An almost infinite force?”

Light began to bloom.

Pure radiance filled the surroundings, and the world around me transformed into a sacred sanctuary.

“Kwaaak!!!”

The man’s eyes widened, and he staggered back.

His hands trembled, instinctively trying to block the light, but his desperate efforts were in vain.

The light was gentle but powerful, overwhelming everything.

As a sacred song seemed to echo, the world was filled with peace and majesty within that light.

The dazzling brilliance embraced all living things, creating a quiet yet majestic silence.

Everyone present held their breath at the awe-inspiring sight.

‘It would be difficult to sleep well if I don’t handle this properly right now.’

Was it because our dear Ppongppongi was being tormented?

Or perhaps, was it the result of all the endless evil these people had committed?

I wasn’t sure of the exact cause.

But at this moment, I felt that I was no longer the same person.

The lethargic, indifferent version of me had changed, at least in this moment.

Kiriel had mentioned 100,000 pieces.

And I couldn’t help but think that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

I hugged the teddy bear tightly.

“It’s time.”

Pah!

With those words, the light descended heavily, as if it now had a physical form.

Normally, light just exists.

It indifferently illuminates the darkness and caresses the world with no real power.

But this girl was different.

She could infuse catastrophic power into that harmless light.

‘The Celestial.’

They twist the laws of the universe with a single finger, controlling the cycle of life as though it were a mere game.

All the principles and order of the world kneel before them, bending and twisting like toys.

“What is this… How can a Celestial descend to the earth at this moment?”

An indescribable presence.

It felt as if the wrath of the heavens had descended upon the earth.

The prophecies and apocalyptic scriptures he had believed in could not explain this moment.

The scriptures had always guided him like a compass toward the future,

but the girl standing before him now was radiating transcendent dignity that surpassed all prophecies and traditions.

“The Holy One, the manifestation of divinity not recorded in the prophecy…”

The White Lotus Priest couldn’t suppress his thoughts and whispered, almost as a sigh.

It felt as though his reason was crumbling away.

That existence was like a sun that burned everything.

The light was threateningly beautiful and, in its nobility, cruel.

Purity is often the cruelest of all.

When that light descends, everything will crumble helplessly.

And so.

The White Lotus Priest decided to sell his soul to the devil.

“

Blood Demon.”

[……………Tch. This bastard. Why is he just standing by while I’m fighting?]

“

Do it now. I can kill you in an instant.

How dare you raise your voice and pretend to be safe when you don’t even have a second’s worth of intelligence?”

All.

All.

At the cold mocking tone, the Blood Demon’s patience reached its limit.

The shout turned into a scream, and his anger blazed more wildly.

[Shut the hell up and do something about it!]

“Fine. I’ll grant your wish.”

[As expected, like the slimy religious zealot you are, you have a plan!]

There was a way.

If the Maitreya, whom the White Lotus Sect worshipped, manifested here,

such an insignificant Celestial, whose name was unknown, could be wiped out in an instant.

But the price was the problem.

To summon Maitreya, an unimaginable number of humans had to be sacrificed.

A river of blood would flow, and the screams of agony would knock on the gates of heaven.

The souls sacrificed would be linked together and finally reach Maitreya’s feet,

and only then would the salvation of the future become reality.

Of course.

The villain would never sacrifice his own soul.

The White Lotus Priest gazed coldly and mercilessly at the Blood Demon.

Beyond the shredded remains of his body, scattered into more than 100,000 pieces,

his spiritual sight, sharp as a blade, pierced through to the essence of his soul.

‘Normally, I would have offered the soul of the Celestial Demon, ‘

‘who grew under the Blood Demon’s command, to summon Maitreya…

But actually,

Isn’t the best offering the Blood Demon himself?’

The Blood Demon was a monster who had grown stronger by using human blood as fuel.

He ran a blood tube operation, exploiting countless humans across the world, greedily sucking up their precious blood.

‘The Blood Demon is weakened now. ”

“The leader of the Six Demons, one of the strongest hunters in the world, is now within my grasp.’

It was as if something had torn through, leaving a trail of destruction.

The Blood Demon’s body, now shattered into pieces, was scattered through the air.

The reason he was still alive in such a state was likely because he had transcended life and death,

being a martial artist from another world who had reached a high level of existence.

Such is the realm of the greatest masters.

They transcend the mysteries of the sword and even handle the mysteries of life and death.

At the level of the soul, if a spirit desires life, it truly becomes life.

The Blood Demon’s lack of skill shone brilliantly as he danced on the boundary between life and death,

but despite all his dignity, he was merely clinging to life for a moment.

The martial artist’s will never to die was admirable in its own way.

The White Lotus Priest found that quite pleasing.

“Worship. Maitreya is pleased with you.”

Then, darkness began to swirl.

Destruction, pure power, the darkest force.

The White Lotus Priest infused his power into the darkness, summoning an existence that would erase everything.

[What the hell are you doing? You bastard. What are you doing?!]

The Blood Demon sensed that something had gone wrong.

The situation had twisted beyond recognition.

The Blood Demon realized that the most suitable offering was none other than himself,

and his eyes trembled with rage and fear.

He tried to struggle.

But his body had already weakened.

His strength was draining away.

It seemed as though life itself had betrayed him.

The Blood Demon, whose noble martial arts barely clung to his soul,

had no power left to stop the White Lotus Priest’s ritual.

As he searched for a solution, he suddenly cried out.

[That’s it, Blood Heart! Blood Heart, yes. Become the offering in my place, disciple. Come, and help your master, like the heavens themselves. Hurry!]

The cry reached Cheon Yeoul, who was calmly standing with Baek Soul in a safe place.

However, within Cheon Yeoul’s body, the Blood Heart showed no reaction.

[What is this? No matter how extraordinary the disciple’s talent is, how is it that the essence of the thousand-year Blood Sect, the Blood Heart’s curse, is not working?!]

The Blood Demon’s cry was desperate, but the situation did not unfold as he wished.

Whoooom!

As the darkness swirled and moved, the Blood Demon’s soul was torn into the void.

[Is this how it ends… in such a place?…]

It was the tragic end of a villain who had corrupted the world by using others as mere content.

And with him, the sky opened.

Whoooooooom!

An existence that reached an transcendental solitude, one that no one could fully understand, nor could anyone else grasp its nature.

Perfection, beyond the scope of understanding, was incomprehensible and irrational by nature.

“The Celestial, the Immortal Mother, gazes upon you.”

Maitreya manifested.

A soft, innocent, pure white angel stood before him.