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Book 2: Chapter 135

He was crushed beneath the rubble of a collapsed building.

“Ah… Uhh… Ahhh…”

What happened to him?

Had the building collapsed without giving him time to escape? She wasn’t sure. And in all honesty, she didn’t really care.

Nevertheless, Min Ha-rin couldn’t help but feel a bit nauseous when she went closer.

The rubble from the building had crushed the lower half of Slei’s body. With the state he was in, it seemed that he was completely unable to move. From the blood that pooled on the ground, it was clear that any normal person would have long since died of these injuries.

Nevertheless, she didn’t think that Slei was going to die. After all, this old man had monstrous vitality and regeneration capabilities. He had managed to fully recover from a worse state than this one.

Of course, it wasn’t the sight of his crushed body that made her stomach turn.

Instead, the thing that truly disgusted her was the fact that he had sent everyone to their deaths but he was now here, desperately trying to survive.

Seemingly noticing her presence, Slei turned to look at Min Ha-rin, a gleam appearing within his eyes.

“P-, please help me.”

It was unbelievable.

Min Ha-rin was so shocked that she didn’t even feel angry.

“Help yourself.”

“I-, it’s impossible for me right now. Y-, you are a hunter, so you should be able to lift this rubble, shouldn’t you?”

“…”

When Min Ha-rin didn’t respond, Slei’s voice became more desperate.

“P-, please. H-, h-, hu-, huk. I know you don’t like me. But I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”

Crunch.

As she looked at the sniveling old man, Min Ha-rin didn’t feel even the slightest shred of sympathy.

Instead, she became filled with rage.

This was because she knew. Slei was only pretending to be remorseful in order to get her help.

‘…how?’

How could such a person exist?

She couldn’t believe that they were of the same race.

Min Ha-rin wished the old man in front of her had been a Demon. If he was, she would have been able to slit his throat without even the slightest hesitation.

No. If that were the case…

‘What is the difference between a Demon and a human?’

Suddenly.

A muffled sound came from the distance.

It came from the place Min Ha-rin had left not so long ago. She turned and looked towards the source of the noise, her expression becoming stiff.

Then, without a single word, she turned to look at Slei again.

As he looked at the cold expression on Min Ha-rin’s face, Slei felt fear.

‘…am I really scared of this little brat?’

Was it because he was injured? Because he no longer had any Brilliance?

No. It was neither of those.

It was because Min Ha-rin, who was looking down at him with an expressionless face, seemed to be exuding an indescribable pressure.

As if to shake off his fear, Slei spoke in a cracked, desperate voice.

“M-, my grandson has special powers!”

“…”

“You must have seen it earlier, right? That child named Arid. H-, he was born from a miracle. If there is anything you want, you can ask that child. For his grandfather, that child, that child would give you anything…”

“So that man is your grandson.”

Krrr…

After saying that, Min Ha-rin lifted the debris that was crushing Slei’s body.

“H-, huh…?”

Slei’s eyes widened in surprise.

After all, he didn’t think she’d actually listen to him.

Unfortunately, he was right. Min Ha-rin hadn’t cleared away the rubble to save Slei’s life.

Crack!

She grabbed Slei by the neck and began dragging him in a certain direction. The direction of the previous explosion.

“L-, let go of me…!”

Slei began to struggle once again.

He realised that she was taking him towards a higher point.

Was this crazy bitch going to throw him off of a building?

When he had this thought, Slei’s heart sank. In his current condition, if he were to be dropped from such a height, he really would die.

But Min Ha-rin didn’t throw Slei to the ground.

Instead, she stood at the top of the building and gestured towards a spot with her chin.

“Look over there.”

“Where…?”

“There.”

Slei wasn’t sure where she was talking about at first. After all, his physical condition was a mess and his vision was very blurry. However, after blinking and concentrating for a few moments, he was able to properly look in the direction Min Ha-rin was pointing at.

There, he saw a dozen or so people gathered in a cloud of dust.

He wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed that they were excitedly stomping on someone.

There was no mercy in their kicks and stomps, almost as if they were exacting vengeance upon an enemy.

It was violence that could only stem from pure malice.

This was a sight that Slei had already seen many times before. He knew just how ugly humans truly were, especially in extreme situations like this one. It wasn’t uncommon for them to kill someone after just a few words or gestures.

Nevertheless, Slei’s expression soon hardened.

Because he realised who the victim of this violence was.

His grandson, Arid.

“W-, why?”

Slei’s voice shook slightly as he spoke.

“Why are they beating him up like that? W-, with that child’s powers, he shouldn’t have a hard time dealing with a group of believers…”

“Your grandson was trying to persuade them. He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, atone for the wrongdoings, and, above all, save them. Unlike you, who ran away because you wanted to save yourself, he faced the victims and apologised.”

“…!”

Apologised? Arid?

But… that child…

“He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I don’t know much about your Church of Eternal Life. But it’s pretty obvious that you used him.”

She had only met Arid for a brief moment, but she was able to see how innocent he was from that single meeting.

If there was anyone who could be considered blameless in this situation, it would be Arid.

There is no way such a person could cheat and deceive people. If that were the case, then he would have run away with Slei without even thinking about persuading the believers.

“Even if that person was guilty of something, it would be minuscule compared to what you have done.”

Slei’s mind was blank at that moment.

She was right.

After all, Slei actually knew the truth, not just conjectures like Min Ha-rin.

Arid was the type who would always smile brightly and think about others before himself, even in this cold, dark world… He was the Saint whom everyone longed for.

That was the type of person he was.

“What are you feeling right now?”

Min Ha-rin was genuinely curious.

She wondered how he felt as he watched his grandson be brutally beaten for something he had done.

She wanted to know. She needed to know.

And when she heard his answer, then she would be able to decide.

Just how she would treat Slei.

* * *

Even kicks could kill a person.

As he lay huddled on the ground, Arid couldn’t help but have this thought.

At some point, it seemed the surroundings had calmed down. Of course, that wasn’t truly the case.

The believers were still stomping on him with crazed expressions.

However, their gazes seemed to be far away.

‘…if my death can alleviate their anger…’

Then he could give up his life without much regret.

But a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Was that really the fundamental reason for his actions?

Or was this some kind of hypocritical self-sacrifice in order to make himself feel better?

‘But… I don’t know what else to do.’

He had never learned.

In all of his twenty or so years of life, he had never been taught how to think for himself and draw his own conclusions.

Nevertheless, Arid knew one thing.

Choosing death in this situation was simply an escape.

He would just be running away from the tragic and horrific things that had happened around him without even trying to think of a solution.

Suddenly.

He saw the feet of someone walking towards the group.

“Do you want me to tell you the answer?”

This being seemed to be responding to Arid’s internal question. Arid couldn’t see who the owner of this voice was.

When he focused his blurred vision, he saw a middle-aged man in a leather biker jacket.

Boom!

Then, lightning struck.

If the things that lit up the sky before were only sparks that imitated lightning, then this was real lightning.

The white lightning was so bright that it seemed to burn his retinas. The believers of the Church of Eternal Life were also sent flying in every direction.

Arid looked around with a shocked expression.

Crackle crackle…

Sparks of electricity danced around the middle aged man’s body.

“It’s really interesting. All the transcendent beings are crammed together in this tiny land.”

Letip looked down at Arid, his eyes shining with amusement.

“Nice to meet you, Communicator.”