Humanity Itself is Strong - Chapter 56

Closed Building Floor 7

Splash!

Water poured down Philip’s face, who was tied to a chair and tortured.

Cough….cough…..

Philip finally came to his senses after he had fainted.

The Korean government administrator Jin Yong-jun, sitting opposite him, asked him in a calm voice.

“Why are you making things so complicated….? Where’s the heaven key?”

“I said I don’t know….. It’s only the Pope who knows the whereabouts of the key….”

The administrator fixed his glasses and asked back.

“But the camerlengo told me that Monsignor knows where the key is.”

“….What?”

Philip bit his lips.

“Didn’t the Pope tell you where the key is before he went insane?”

“Why did he…..”

‘Did the manager of the Apostolic Palace, one of the closest aides of the Pope, disclose such an important thing to an outsider? No way…’

Just then, something flashed through his mind.

“Who… are you guys….?”

The fact that the camerlengo told an outsider about the holy relic meant that he had forsaken his fate.

“Us?”

The administrator smiled as he took off his glasses.

Suddenly, the man’s eyes turned yellow, and big horns appeared on the sides of his head.

Among the dead, there are those with horns, but those with horns as big as that are not at the same level as the dead.

“A demon….?”

“Yes, as you can see.”

Philip denied what he was seeing.

“No, no way. How can a demon hide his horns…?”

Demons are higher beings than the dead. Although their hierarchy is lower than that of the priests, their power surpasses that of the priests, and they work as the subordinates of high-ranking demons such as the demon king or the Grand Duke of Lust.

Usually, they can’t hide their horns, so demons don’t show up in front of people. But apparently, a high-ranking demon, Administrator Jin Yong-jun can hide his true identity at will like the dead.

‘This is why the camerlengo sent me to Korea….! They were using me to destroy the Hwanin Military Academy…..!’

Philip dropped his head. Tears welled up in his eyes. But nothing would change with his tears of fear and resentment.

Just then, a torture hammer smashed Philip’s toe.

Philip screamed at the excruciating pain. Jin Yong-jun spoke quietly.

“You’re so stubborn. If you tell me where the heaven key is, I’ll let you die with no pain.”

“……You bastard… Just kill me now!”

Philip was tenacious.

After all, he was prepared for death. ‘If the demons take the heaven key… I don’t even want to imagine what will happen next.’

That’s why Philip made up his mind that he would not hand over the key even if he had to die.

‘Hm.’

Seeing Philip hold out better than expected, Jin Yong-jun thought to himself.

‘How should I wheedle him…’

Jin Yong-jun suddenly changed his tone.

“Monsignor, I know it’s a bit late to say this, but why don’t you join hands with us?”

“……”

“The camerlengo is an alter ego of arrogance. The fact that he’s in such an important position in the Holy Kingdom means that there is no place in this world where the power of the demon kings does not reach.”

The camerlengo was the alter ego of arrogance, the man who worked closest with the pope. The government of the Holy Kingdom was in his hands.

Philip silently stared at Jin Yong-jun.

At his gaze, Jin Yong-jun put down the hammer he was holding and spoke as he stood up.

“Even the Holy Kingdom, which people praise and admire, is in such state. The demonic monsters are already devouring mankind.”

Philip dropped his head.

“No way….. How can this happen…”

Philip felt like his heart was being ripped into pieces, not because of the wounds he suffered from torture, but to hear that the Holy Kingdom was no longer the Holy Kingdom.

‘The Holy Kingdom has fallen into the hands of demons…”

Philip realized that the reason they sent him to Korea was to drive out the openers who were protecting mankind.

Philip realized that his death was near, that his death would be the signal of the end of mankind.

Just then, Jin Yong-jun spoke in a soft voice.

“Philip Monsignor. You should cooperate with us too. How about welcoming the arrival of the new millennial kingdom promised by the demon kings? If you do that, wealth and glory will surely be guaranteed.”

But Philip shook his head. Although he liked alcohol and cigarettes and was stubborn, his faith was sincere.

“I will never…”

“If you don’t cooperate with us, you will be tortured more painfully than you would be in Hell. I will cut off your fingernails and toenails, every bone of your body, and pluck out your eyelids so you can see the whole process. That’s it.”

“Lord…”

“That’s not the end. I will hang your limbs cut off at the top of the cathedral and let the crows eat your body alive. As an example to show those who resist the demon king.

“……”

Covered with clotted blood, he began to mumble something in a hoarse voice.

But his voice was too small to be heard by the administrator.

“…Go closer and listen to what he’s saying.”

The interpreter went near Philip, who was mumbling quietly.

Padre Nostro che sei nei cieli….. sia santificato il Tuo nome….

The interpreter explained nervously.

“…He is reciting the Lord’s Prayer.”

“Haha.”

Jin Yong-jun smirked.

Bang!

Then he kicked Philip, who was tied to the chair. Phillip hit his head hard on the floor and almost lost consciousness.

But he didn’t stop reciting.

……venga il Tuo regno….. sia fatta la Tua volonta’ cosi’ in cielo come in terra…..

Even if his prayers could not reach heaven, all he could do was to pray as his persecuted predecessors had done in the past.

Jin Yong-jun said coldly.

“Philip. Now, I will cut you into pieces so that your screaming becomes the prayer for the demon kings.”

Jin Yong-jun looked around and ordered.

“Prepare surgery tools. I’ll cut his stomach right in front of his eyes and show him the organs.”

The local anesthetic and operating table were then set up quickly.

A dead preparing for anesthesia right next to him pulled out a syringe. And the moment he was about to put the syringe on Philip’s stomach,

Slam!

The entrance door swung open.

“Administrator! Our location has been exposed! We must leave now-!

A man who was on patrol at the entrance door appeared with his arm injured.

“What did you say?”

“We are surrounded! And Mu, Myhyuk is…”

Crack!

Just then, a dagger flew and pierced the man’s head.

“Kuk…”

The man, who had been reporting, fell to the floor, Jin Yong-jun and the dead fell in panic.

“Fuck! You guys! Go and block the entrance door!”

As he ordered, he stared at Philip, who was still reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

‘I must kill him now.’

He had not yet heard about the location of the heaven key, but it was only a request from the camerlengo.

‘I must kill him to destroy the military academy!’

When Jin Yong-jun was about to stab his knife in Philip’s throat, a dagger flew like a beam of light and almost pierced Jin Yong-jun’s neck.

Clang!

“Tsk.”

Jin Yong-jun had no choice but to block the dagger.

And when he turned around, his eyes widened in shock.

Bang!

Kaaaaaa!

In an instant, a huge fire swept away the dead blocking the entrance. At the blast, the dead were thrown away in all directions.

“Keuk…!”

As the fire faded, Jin Yong-jun could see a man standing at the entrance.

In his hand was a Wasp Knife with a faded flame.

It was Muhyuk.

“Mu, Muhyuk!”

The administrator stepped backward.

‘Damn it! Why the hell is he here!’

Terrified, the administrator immediately ran towards the torture chamber window.

Crash!

He broke the window and jumped out.

“…..”

Muhyuk looked down at Philip and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“…Ah…”

Even in his fading consciousness, Philip fell into the illusion that he’s seeing a halo from the man who was looking down on him. Philip thought his prayer had been answered by God.

“Grazie, Grazie mille…”

Then, he passed out on the spot.

“……”

Muhyuk looked down at Philip, who fainted. Then he put his finger on his earring and said,

“The target is alive.”

After making a short report, Muhyuk stood in front of the window.

“I’ll chase them now.”

Whoosh!

Muhyuk also threw himself out the window on the 7th floor.

Catacombs.

Floor B3.

Jin-seong was sitting on a mountain of shattered skeletons, waiting for his guests.

[Time remaining until the descent of the angel: 34 hours 21 minutes 11 seconds….]

He nodded as he checked the time.

‘Now, everything’s ready.’

Jin-seong leisurely looked at the lich he had smashed. Besides the lich he first encountered, he subjugated three more liches made from the corpses of successive popes.

They were carrying a cross, a luxurious bucket, and a rusty glass, but unfortunately, they were no more than A-class items.

Still, since they might be useful in the future, he put them in the storage box.

Then, he looked at the black, glistening mirror behind him.

“……”

Its size was large enough to fill one wall in the hall. It was a luxurious, monstrous-looking mirror that reached 4m in height.

‘Mirror of Arrogance.’

That was the name of the mirror.

Just then,

Chsssss…

Around Jin-seong sitting on a pile of skulls, black shadows suddenly rose from the ground and began to form a shape.

They were huge, six-meter-tall cobras with red eyes.

The cobras spread their chests wide and threatened Jin-seong by showing their poisonous fangs.

The floor, where the poison had fallen, melted in an instant, leaving a hole.

‘Hm….’

These are the jingjo that crawl in the Land of Arrogance.

They are one of the top monsters with incomparable power from that of the lords and demon kings. But even in that dreadful situation, Jin-seong smiled.

“You guys will be fed to Tyrfing.”

Srrng….!

Jin-seong was going to absorb the power of the jingjo through Tyrfing.