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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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On the way to the auditorium, I stroked Ah-ram’s shoulder. I was glad she made a quick decision.
If she had acted suspiciously, if the standoff had lasted any longer, things would have become quite awkward, but she quickly dropped her hammer, signaling that she had no intention of opposing or fighting me.
I was so proud of her that I stroked her more gently than usual.
I wanted to drag her into a bathroom somewhere, shower her with praises, and have a quickie, but that would have to wait.
I had to subdue the captured humans and brand them as slaves. I couldn’t relax until they were branded.
‘So the Slave Brand can be removed…’
As I walked to the auditorium, several thoughts occupied my mind.
Natural concerns, given the new knowledge that the Slave Brand could be removed.
What if the brand was removed from a slave as strong as me? What if I had been caught off guard?
I would have been killed for sure.
The trans woman Kang Eun-jeong, for instance. It was obvious what would happen if her Slave Brand was removed. The thought of a level 15 Monk going berserk made me shudder.
‘The moment the Slave Brand is removed, she’ll either run without looking back or kill the Ha brothers who raped her.’
There was no telling what kind of havoc she might wreak. She might even try to get revenge on me by using all sorts of tricks, or regain the favor of the good gods before returning even stronger.
‘There’s no guarantee this won’t happen again. If a skill to remove the Slave Brand appears… Damn it.’
The thought alone gave me a headache.
I had gone through all the trouble of capturing and enslaving these people, and if some hero or savior-type bastard appeared and freed all of my slaves… and a large-scale rebellion broke out…
‘The good gods know I can brand slaves… They’ll definitely come up with a countermeasure.’
If a class designed to counter me existed… and all my slaves were freed…
‘I don’t even want to imagine it. That must never happen.’
And my current slave harem… They said they liked me, but would those feelings remain if their Slave Brands were removed?
Right now, I held their lives in my hands. They had no choice but to like me, no matter how much they truly disliked me.
But if their Slave Brands were removed at a considerable distance from me, a distance where I couldn’t catch them, would they return to me willingly?
‘They might just run away.’
I didn’t have much faith in true love or genuine bonds.
I believed that humans were capable of betraying anyone to survive.
Perhaps because of this fundamental belief, the more I thought about it, the more the possibility of the Slave Brand being removed became a significant threat and a source of stress.
‘I can feel that Ha-young, Eun-ji, and Merhere genuinely like me, regardless of the Slave Brand.’
But what about Ha-rin? She clearly despised me at first, but after traveling together, she seemed to be just going along with Eun-ji now.
Ah-reum’s hostility towards me had lessened somewhat, but if she had the chance to escape, the probability of her doing so was quite high… She was strong enough to survive without me .
The same applied to Ah-ram. No matter how much Ah-ram enjoyed my penis, if she had the chance to escape, and if Ah-reum chose to flee… she would follow her sister.
Kim Ye-won, with her dependent personality, clung to me while craving attention and affection, but it felt more like she was clinging to me because I was the only one available rather than because it was me.
Finally, Hee-sun had a pacifistic side, and if I continued down this ruthless and tyrannical path, she might develop animosity towards me.
The main reason she abandoned her husband was because she believed my lie that Lee Han-seok had indiscriminately massacred everyone, regardless of age or gender.
‘I need to make time to talk to my women individually later.’
I could lose all of my other slaves, but I couldn’t lose them.
‘Sigh… Let’s not waste any more mental energy on something I can’t solve right now.’
If someone capable of removing the Slave Brand appeared someday, I would deal with it then.
I just had to become strong enough to kill them.
And since a large-scale rebellion would also be a problem, I should only manage a group I could control.
If the group became too large, it would become an easy target.
Lost in thought, I arrived at the auditorium where Ah-reum, Eun-ji, and Ha-rin were waiting.
“Ah, Oppa! We caught them all.”
“Oh, good work. But are these all of them?”
“Yes, we checked multiple times with Heartbeat Tracking. We brought all of the living people here.”
“Good. Ha-rin, you worked hard too. Ah-reum as well.”
I stroked their heads as I looked around the auditorium.
The inside was a mess.
“Ugh…”
“P-please spare me.”
“N-no! Pastor Moon!!! Why are you here?!”
“Is there… no salvation!!”
Those who were dragged into the auditorium were begging for their lives while standing next to the swarm of baby cockroaches that were avoiding them.
The sight of the demon-possessed corpses being dragged in and the giant cockroach devouring them was enough to traumatize anyone without a strong heart. They must be in a state of panic right now.
“You there!! Hands behind your heads!”
After disarming the survivors, I dismissed the repulsive Abyssal Roach. The baby cockroaches wriggled for a bit, then died.
Now, the only living beings in the auditorium were me, my companions, and about forty survivors.
“Alright, Awakened to the right. Non-Awakened to the left.”
But these people didn’t listen when I spoke nicely.
“Move it!!!”
Only when Ha-rin took out her axe and threatened them did they finally start moving.
“Twenty-two non-Awakened… and twenty-one Awakened.”
I had to brand the Awakened as slaves first.
The non-Awakened were easy to subdue, but I couldn’t let my guard down with the Awakened.
“That Demagogue or whatever, and the Wisp Warlock, come forward.”
“Ugh… Mmm…! Mmm!!!”
A large man with his hands and mouth bound stumbled forward.
“I gagged him because he was trying to talk his way out.”
“Good job, Eun-ji.”
The large man approached and knelt before me.
I held a dagger to his throat and slightly loosened the gag in his mouth.
“Your name.”
“M-Moon Geun-o…”
“Are you the Demagogue?”
“Y-yes! T-that’s right!”
“Good. Will you surrender peacefully? Or…”
“Surrender! Surrender! I surrender unconditionally!!!”
Moon Geun-o, who was covered in minor wounds perhaps due to being harassed by the swarm of cockroaches, surrendered immediately.
I easily branded his forehead.
“Hey, where’s Yang Ji-sang? Isn’t he here?”
“Y-yes! He’s not among them. He might be dead…”
The fact that he wasn’t hiding and wasn’t even among the group meant that Yang Ji-sang was no longer alive.
Ha-rin’s Heartbeat Tracking couldn’t have missed a living person.
‘Yang Ji-sang must have died in the explosion…’
It was a shame. If I could have enslaved that Devil Summoner or whatever he was, I could have stationed the zombies around the supermarket as guards.
‘Well, it can’t be helped.’
I shouldn’t risk getting hurt while trying to capture him. It was better for him to be dead than to have him escape.
“Alright, the rest of the Awakened, come to me one by one. Hands behind your heads. The injured, step aside!”
I intimidated and beat up the relatively unharmed Awakened into submission so that I could brand their foreheads.
However, about twelve out of the twenty-one were on the verge of death. The cost outweighed the benefit, and I couldn’t help but lament the situation.
This must have happened because I told them not to show mercy to anyone who looked like a demon-possessed, anyone suspicious, or anyone who resisted fiercely.
Still, I was glad that Eun-ji and the others were safe. It was better to have fewer slaves than to risk my women getting hurt while trying to capture everyone. And since there were already injured people, I could just offer them all up as sacrifices…
“I-I’m sorry I couldn’t capture more, Oppa…”
“No, it’s okay.”
Sensing my disappointment, Eun-ji apologized with a dejected voice, so I quickly stroked her head.
I set the injured Awakened aside, branded the unharmed ones as slaves, and sent them out of the auditorium.
Except for Moon Geun-o, they were all ordinary Awakened, so I didn’t need to memorize their names. I decided to leave them in Ha Jin-seong’s care. He enjoyed acting like a leader, so he would manage them well.
And since they could die at any moment due to the constant updates, it was pointless to learn their names.
“Now it’s your turn…”
The non-Awakened. The workforce for cleaning, laundry, and other chores, and the numbers I needed to trigger the Peddler’s appearance.
Excluding about five who seemed beyond saving with Surging Flesh, I branded them all as slaves and sent them out of the auditorium.
“Now then, let’s see…”
The only ones left in the auditorium were me and the humans to be sacrificed.
Kashnax seemed to enjoy the souls of young and vigorous humans… but she was a god who preferred quantity over quality, so she would be happy with a large number of sacrifices.
“W-wait!!! What are you doing?!”
“Kyaaaaa!!!!”
“N-no! Guh…”
“Help me! Please!!!”
Screams echoed through the auditorium.
I was sorry, but it couldn’t be helped. I didn’t have the resources to take everyone with me, nor did I intend to care for the injured and sick.
Moreover, being this injured meant that they hadn’t obeyed my orders.
I had told my slaves to kill or attack anyone suspicious or anyone who resisted too fiercely. Being this badly injured meant that they had resisted intensely.
“Sigh… Fuck…”
I was running low on magic, so I resorted to using the dagger, and now I was covered in blood. It felt incredibly unpleasant.
“Are we going back to the supermarket now?”
“I guess so.”
I nodded at Ah-ram’s question.
The fire that had started from the explosions in the main and annex buildings hadn’t been extinguished yet, and the entire complex was still ablaze.
The high walls might look impressive, but they couldn’t stop evolved individuals. The supermarket was still better.
“Hey, Moon Geun-o. How did you manage your food supplies?”
“W-we have a separate food storage…”
“We’re taking everything.”
Things here were mostly wrapped up.
I left the auditorium to gather the supplies we would take back to the supermarket.
Just then, someone ran towards me.
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The burning fourth floor of the main building.
It was where the Devil Summoner Yang Ji-sang had been.
‘…’
Inside the room engulfed in flames, only Yang Ji-sang’s corpse, with its upper body blown away, remained.
Thump. Thud…
The dead body twitched and moved.
Then…
Whoosh…!
A bluish something emerged from Yang Ji-sang’s corpse.
It was a ghost, like something out of a 90s horror movie.
More accurately, it was Yang Ji-sang’s soul in spectral form, a result of the Wisp Warlock’s ‘Imperfect Combustion’ skill activating.
This skill allowed him to revive once in spectral form even if his body was destroyed.
“Ah… Ah… S-such… a… waste…”
The problem was that he wouldn’t last long in this state.
[5:00]
[4:59]
Less than five minutes remained.
Within that time, Yang Ji-sang had to possess another person, an object, or a zombie.
Possessing another person was incredibly difficult, but if successful, he could live in their place. It was the best option.
Possessing an object allowed him to materialize and move around the possessed object, but to exert any real influence on the world, someone had to pick it up.
It was a risky method, as he could be left untouched for years with his mind deteriorating during the wait.
The last option was to possess a zombie and bide his time.
Zombies were incredibly fragile and could die at any moment, and even if he possessed one, he risked losing his sense of self and being destroyed if he wasn’t careful. It was the most dangerous method.
“Da…mn…it…”
Yang Ji-sang went outside, intending to find a human with weak willpower to possess.
He passed through the wall effortlessly.
As he floated through the air and descended towards the ground, Yang Ji-sang suddenly turned his head as he sensed an ominous aura, and spotted four humans standing near the back entrance.
All of them were women. He felt a particularly unsettling aura emanating from the woman wearing a choker.
‘A strong Yin energy. That looks dangerous…’
Instinctively sensing danger from the choker, Yang Ji-sang examined the other three.
Drawn by the ominous aura but deeming them stronger than himself, Yang Ji-sang decided to possess the woman who seemed to have the weakest willpower and appeared easiest to possess. Another reason was that it was difficult to possess men with strong Yang energy.
‘Two minutes have already passed… I don’t have much time. The one with the weakest willpower among them…’
Yang Ji-sang quickly discerned that Kim Ye-won’s willpower was significantly low.
‘I will definitely avenge myself… on you bastards who killed me…!!!’
Vowing revenge on those who had attacked the church and killed him, Yang Ji-sang increased his speed.
Of course, he knew nothing about the Slave Brand.
“I’m… co…ming…!!!”
Shrieking, Yang Ji-sang flew towards Kim Ye-won, who seemed to have the weakest willpower and the least resistance among the four women – Kang Hee-sun, Kim Ye-won, Hwang Soo-min, and Kang Eun-jeong.
Or rather, he tried to fly towards her.
“Gotcha.”
Crash!!!
Someone snatched Yang Ji-sang from midair as he flew towards Kim Ye-won, sending him crashing to the ground.
“Kyaaaaaaa!!!!!”
Yang Ji-sang screamed in agony as his spectral form was violently grabbed.
The man who had grabbed him tilted his head while looking at his spectral form.
“A devil with a strong sense of self. Good. Go in here.”
The man forced Yang Ji-sang’s soul into one of the six swords he wore at his waist.
“Noooooo!!! Gugegegek!!!”
Yang Ji-sang couldn’t resist. He was helplessly forced into the sword, and he possessed it with his will mostly broken.
“Hehe. This would make a perfect gift.”
The man smiled charmingly, and then he approached the women who were staring at him blankly.
“Greetings. My name is Siegfried. I’ve been chasing a certain gentleman. Do you happen to know a man named Jang Jo-joon?”
“Uh… I… Uh… He’s over there…”
“Is that so? Thank you.”
Kang Eun-jeong, who was facing the man, realized something.
There was no way to defeat this man, no matter what she tried.
She could never, ever defeat the monster before her.
Even if Jang Jo-joon came fully prepared… he wouldn’t win.
She felt it in her gut. This was an inhuman being. A monster far beyond human limitations.
“I searched the entire Black Market. But his trail suddenly went cold. I couldn’t find him there.”
Siegfried had originally intended to thank Jang Jo-joon for avenging his father last week.
He had followed Jo-joon’s trail to the vicinity of the supermarket, but it happened to be the moment Jo-joon entered the Black Market.
Siegfried followed Jo-joon’s trail into the Black Market.
There, he chatted with an old acquaintance, the owner of the Poacher’s Shack, and picked up Jo-joon’s trail again, but…
The Underground Security Force emerged to kill Siegfried.
Siegfried, who was searching for Jo-joon, fought his way through the Underground Security Force and followed the trail to the central plaza.
There, he found Cheshire fighting alone. He had known Cheshire for a long time, so he helped her wipe out the entire Underground Security Force.
Afterward, he asked Cheshire about the whereabouts of the gentleman, and she told him that the man she had guided had entered a back alley with a slave.
Thinking that he had finally found him, he immediately went into the back alley, but the trail had already gone cold by then. The door to the upper level didn’t appear for Siegfried, so he left the Black Market.
After searching for Jo-joon for several days, he had finally found him.
“I’m coming. Just wait for me, you!”
He ran towards the auditorium.
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T/N – Damn, that’s some dedication from Siegfried. The man followed the MC all the way to the Black Market and back. Ironically, if the MC had just waited with Cheshire, he may have met up with Siegfried ahead of time. The dude would have probably helped the MC get out of the Black Market too. I guess that’s 666 Luck for you.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
