By Zephyria 
“Kieeee!”
The moment the blade flashed.
The cry of the Three-Horned Gorani, which had been close to a sonic attack, turned into a death rattle, and the magical beast’s fluids surged forth a moment later. Before that blood could even hit the ground, Kim Si-baek’s body, enveloped in a faint radiance, leaped high. As if stepping on the air itself, he spun in a circle and severed the necks of four magical beasts lunging from behind all at once.
“H-He’s walking on air…”
Bae Jihan’s mouth hung open. Out of curiosity, he had watched many uncensored hunting videos of hunters, but he had never seen such a seamless series of strikes. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would have scoffed that it wasn’t a body made of flesh, muscle, and bone, but rather a composite of sliced-up tofu.
Leaping off the corpse of the fallen Three-Horned Gorani, Kim Si-baek’s blade flashed again, and another magical beast sprayed blood. The sabre, scattering radiance, flowed through the air like a wave, cleaving the herd of Three-Horned Gorani in two.
The streaks of light drawn by the sabre embroidered the air, mingling with the screams of death. Though the individual grade of the beasts was low, the Three-Horned Gorani—measured at least as C-class due to their swarming nature—died off like moths fluttering into a torch.
It felt quite long, but in reality, in less than five minutes, the Three-Horned Gorani ambushing from the mist were annihilated. The scent of blood grew thick belatedly. Kim Si-baek landed lightly atop the sprawling corpses of the magical beast swarm.
Bae Jihan only then realized that, aside from a couple of leaps, Kim Si-baek had not once set foot on the ground. Not only Bae Jihan, but the hunters who had doubted his skill and the people who had been anxious were all speechless.
It was a new kind of silence. Not the awkward, lukewarm silence that had lingered because of Tae-un a while ago, but a wondrous silence born of facing a truly admirable powerhouse.
Without his breathing becoming the slightest bit ragged, Kim Si-baek looked back at them and smiled, wearing a faint radiance like a halo.
“Is anyone injured?”
Seeing that smile, a sense of infinite trust swelled in their chests. They felt that as long as they were with him, they would be safe not only in this portal but in the midst of any magical beast swarm.
Thus, the party successfully transitioned into a “show”—the kind of public service activity where a religious sect with weak influence demonstrates divine power by subjugating magical beasts. For Kim Si-baek, who had once clawed his way up from nothing to raise the influence of Biyendwe, it was a familiar show.
He had occasionally felt divine power even on Earth. Regardless of religion, pure priests or devout believers sometimes possess divine power without realizing it.
However, because the divinity of Earth does not interact with or manifest before humans, there were virtually no people who could be said to possess divine power through realization. The divine power they held was merely as faint as a matchstick flame about to go out.
Things that were worthless. Things that were meaningless.
And now, Tae-un feels the moment when that worthless and meaningless thing acquires value and meaning.
A holy and clear divine light blooming brilliantly, as if mocking him for having gauged divine power by a mere matchstick flame. A radiance more beautiful than the fantasies he had constantly inflated within the long, immeasurable darkness.
Ah.
I believed in you, Hyung.
Tae-un, covering his face with his palm, had his three-hundred eyes glistening with ecstasy.
✽ ✽ ✽
[Death and Beauty informs that the divine power has been recovered, albeit slightly.]
Even without revealing the god’s divinity, divine power is recovered through the awe and admiration directed toward the apostles or grand warriors who act in the god’s name. Furthermore, since he is a god who governs a part of death, there is a slight effect when Kim Si-baek, as a priest, kills magical beasts himself.
However, it was not a fundamental solution.
In a low voice, barely audible to Biyendwe, Kim Si-baek asked quietly.
“What would you like to do?”
[Death and Beauty says that if the history of my apostle is revealed, won’t he be treated as a crazy person?]
“That might happen, but wouldn’t there be at least one person among them who believes in the existence of Lord Biyendwe?”
[Death and Beauty falls into deep thought.]
While the conversation ceased as Biyendwe pondered, Tae-un approached. He had his usual expression.
“Hyung, you’re way more amazing than what you told me. Was that halo that was flashing also divine power?”
“Yeah. It was a bit unnecessarily flashy, wasn’t it? Since generally only other priests can sense divine power even when it’s used, making it visually apparent became a complete habit. Halos are surprisingly effective for proselytizing.”
Kim Si-baek felt slightly embarrassed. It was a sorrow born from the process of a poor and weak religious sect trying to spread its faith.
“It really was effective. With the halo shining, you looked totally cool.”
“It’s just that the magical beasts were exactly like the ones in the mak slecht, so I could easily catch them because I knew their weaknesses.”
“If anyone could catch magical beasts with theory alone, everyone would do it. More importantly, do you want a towel and some oil to wipe your blade?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Kim Si-baek waved his white sabre, which didn’t have a single drop of blood on it. Seeing the clean blade, the people let out another round of low admiration. The hunters from the Supernatural Phenomenon Response Agency, who were quickly collecting magic stones from the corpses of the Three-Horned Gorani, were also stealing glances at him.
Before he knew it, Tae-un had pressed close, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as if leaning on him—as if to show off to the people who were whispering, not daring to speak directly.
“It feels the best, being carried comfortably by Hyung inside the portal.”
“I heard you used to just stick by other people’s sides because you weren’t helpful in combat?”
“…Uh, well. That’s true.”
Gwak Yun-sang also had many things he wanted to say and ask them. As soon as he learned Kim Si-baek’s name, he had performed a background check; several people with the same name appeared, but none of them seemed to be that S-class Awakened.
‘It’s possible he’s someone whose identity was lost, but…’
If that were the case, it wouldn’t explain why he had left his resident registration unrecovered all this time. It wasn’t as if he had been missing for 21 years.
‘Then does that mean he’s a foreigner?’
While he was lost in complex thought, the recovery of the magic stones ended. Since there was no room to waste time with so many civilians present, Gwak Yun-sang pushed his worries aside and set the party moving again.
More than three hours passed.
There were no more magical beast ambushes from the rear. The one or two that occasionally popped out from the mist were dealt with by Kim Si-baek before the party even noticed.
The vanguard and center were not much different. The civilians walking under the protection of the hunters, keeping a close distance, were all safe without a single injury. He felt there were fewer magical beasts than expected, but it seemed this wasn’t a normal situation.
Narrowing his eyes to gauge the distance to the department store visible in the distance, Tae-un muttered.
“The distance hasn’t narrowed at all for three hours. In reality, it should only take five minutes.”
“Isn’t that just how Id Portals are?”
“There are differences from reality depending on perception, but for it to not narrow this much… hmm… there could be several reasons, but there’s a high possibility that the portal’s host is a department store employee.”
“Why an employee?”
“Maybe it’s a reflection of an office worker’s psyche, wishing the company would never get closer because they don’t want to go to work.”
“Oh…”
It was a plausible deduction.
“That reminds me; talking to the people we gathered earlier, more than half of them work at the department store.”
“There are many stores inside, but they might be people who have crossed paths with the host.”
While Kim Si-baek and the hunters were relatively fine despite the long march, the civilians were not. Although they were walking at a slow pace, the sense of distance that never seemed to close despite their efforts put significant pressure on them.
“We will take a break to have dinner.”
Gwak Yun-sang stopped the party at an appropriate time. Combat rations for a light meal were distributed to the people who collapsed onto the ground, massaging their legs.
Kim Si-baek, who had been exempt from military service, looked at the unfamiliar combat rations with interest. As he had heard, the taste wasn’t great. Once the hunters finished their meals in shifts while keeping watch for magical beasts, Gwak Yun-sang brought up his business.
“Guild Master, I think we need to have a meeting. Please give me a moment of your time.”
“Why me? I’m completely useless inside the portal.”
Tuning out the request indifferently, Tae-un cleaned up the empty combat ration case, including Kim Si-baek’s portion. In any other situation, Gwak Yun-sang wouldn’t have been able to say a word and would have been pushed aside, but Kim Si-baek was here.
Gwak Yun-sang glanced at Kim Si-baek, hiding his excitement, and sure enough, he did not betray his expectations.