Yoo Harang showed a look of confusion at the two people’s voices.

One voice commanded him to die as a god; the other urged him to live as a human.

‘Is Seo Kangrim truly the villain my father claims? Is he trying to deceive me?’

Amidst the turmoil, Yoo Harang looked into Seo Kangrim’s eyes.

Not a trace of falsehood or greed could be found in them.

He looked like nothing more than a person who genuinely wanted to save him.

“If you want to save these people, you can’t die! I’ll show you how! So don’t obey Yoo Sunmin’s words!”

“…….”

“If you die like this, everyone here will become murderers! Is that what you want?”

Those words made Yoo Harang’s fingertips tremble.

He had wanted to save the followers, but was he instead making them commit sins?

Looking around, the followers’ faces were filled with nothing but murderous intent.

Even the followers who had been kind to him had lost their usual smiles, their expressions sharpened as if possessed by something.

This was not what Yoo Harang had wanted.

He never wanted people to suffer like this.

Hesitating, Yoo Harang clenched his fists tight.

[The Special Ability ‘Forced Dispel’ is canceled!]

In that instant, Seo Kangrim felt the sensation constricting his body vanish.

Yoo Harang was no longer Yoo Sunmin’s ally.

Meanwhile, Yoo Sunmin was screaming hysterically.

“Everyone, kill Seo Kangrim! Kill Yoo Harang! Hurry!”

At his command, the followers’ attacks grew even fiercer.

But it was all useless against Seo Kangrim.

He shouted toward his spirit beasts.

“Yorongi, subdue the people! Rini, put out the fire with Water Catching!”

“Kyang!”

“Ungung!”

With ‘Forced Dispel’ now canceled, the spirit beasts ran rampant like fish in water.

As Yorongi began to exhale Poison Fog, people started collapsing one by one.

The problem, however, was Rini.

“Ung, uu-ung!”

The wooden pagoda was burning too fast.

If there had been a sufficient water source nearby, Rini could have evolved into its Water Catching form, but currently, the moisture in the air was all it had to work with.

The wooden pagoda had become a massive inferno.

‘I’m going to die after all.’

Yoo Harang looked down at the flames creeping toward him.

Before he knew it, fire blocked every direction.

The heat felt as though it would consume his entire body.

Just moments ago, dying hadn’t frightened him. But now, it was terrifying.

He wanted to live.

He desperately, truly wanted to live, but the flames kept closing in.

Just as Yoo Harang squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for death—

“Yoo Harang!”

A voice called out from beyond the flames.

Fighting back tears, Yoo Harang snapped his head up.

Someone was standing there, as if by a miracle.

“Seo… Seo Kangrim…?”

Seo Kangrim stood amidst the flames, wreathed in Ten-Foot Blaze across his entire body.

Seeing him, tears overflowed before he even realized it.

No one had tried to save him.

Everyone had wanted him to die.

“Yoo Harang, let’s go!”

He scooped Yoo Harang up in his arms.

Ten-Foot Blaze reached Yoo Harang too, but it didn’t hurt. It was simply warm.

-Kkwareureuk!

As the wooden pagoda collapsed, Seo Kangrim leaped down with Yoo Harang in his arms.

Yoo Harang clung tightly to Seo Kangrim’s neck and sobbed, hik-hik.

“I… I thought no one would come to save me…”

“You’re safe now. All that’s left is to get outside.”

The remaining people had been mostly subdued by Rini and Yorongi.

But Yoo Sunmin was still perfectly fine.

When Yorongi hissed threateningly and spewed poison, the followers blocked his path.

“Protect the Vice Cult Leader!”

A shield made of humans.

The brainwashed people, oblivious to fear, stood in front of Yoo Sunmin.

He shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“Yoo Harang, you’ll never get out of here! To leave, you’ll have to kill everyone here!”

Yoo Harang couldn’t say a word.

Even if he had given up on becoming a god, he couldn’t kill these people.

Seo Kangrim glanced at them and spoke.

“Yoo Harang, use your Special Ability.”

“My ability?”

“Forced Dispel. With that, you can break the brainwashing on those people.”

Yoo Harang’s ability could restore them to their right minds.

But Yoo Harang was still hesitating.

The followers had seemed happy in this little paradise.

Was it truly right to defy his father’s will?

To the hesitating Yoo Harang, Seo Kangrim whispered softly.

“You want to protect your followers. Give those people freedom. If you’re truly their Cult Leader.”

Yoo Harang stared at the floor with trembling eyes, then raised his head as if making a resolve.

A clear voice rang out toward the followers.

“Everyone, open your eyes! Break free from the brainwashing!”

It was a bright, resonant voice that belied his small frame.

Then, notification windows appeared before the eyes of several people standing closest to Yoo Harang.

[The Special Ability ‘Forced Dispel’ is activated!]

“Huh? What on earth…?”

“W-what’s going on?”

“Ugh, why am I hurt? My body hurts so much…”

Hearing Yoo Harang’s voice, several people snapped their heads up.

Faces as if waking from a dream.

Seeing this, Yoo Sunmin spoke with a sneer.

“So what if it’s a few people! You can’t break the brainwashing of hundreds…!”

But Yoo Harang’s ability showed no sign of stopping.

Seo Kangrim was continuously pouring his magic power into Yoo Harang.

Moreover, Seo Kangrim was not the only ally.

“Uuung!”

[The Special Ability ‘Harmony of Five Elements’ is activated!]

‘Harmony of Five Elements’ was an ability that amplified the effects of other abilities.

Realizing magic power was surging through his body, Yoo Harang began to shout again.

“Break free from the Voice of Brainwashing!”

[The Special Ability ‘Harmony of Five Elements’ is activated!]

[The Special Ability ‘Forced Dispel’ is activated!]

With the Harmony of Five Elements added, Forced Dispel began to accelerate even faster.

Light returned to the eyes of the dazed people.

The followers returned to their original state at the same speed at which the burning execution tower was consumed.

“Th-this is impossible…”

Now, only Yoo Sunmin stood alone.

There were no sounds of prayer, only groans of pain filling the air.

After breaking everyone’s brainwashing, Yoo Harang had fainted from magic power exhaustion.

With all the followers collapsed, only Seo Kangrim stood before Yoo Sunmin.

His eyes burned with an indescribable killing intent.

Seeing that look, Yoo Sunmin trembled, deol-deol, and backed away.

“Harang. Wake up. Wake up! Help your father…”

“Father?”

-Seogeok!

The sword drew a red line across Yoo Sunmin’s body with a chilling sound.

Red blood trickled down his neck, juruk.

The voice of falsehood and deception could no longer pass his tongue.

“Who tries to kill their own child and dares call themselves a parent?”

In an instant, Yoo Sunmin’s clothes were stained with blood.

Seo Kangrim drove his blade into the fallen Yoo Sunmin once more.

“If you want a god so badly, then die and become one yourself.”

“Seo… Gang…”

Yoo Sunmin’s body quivered, pareureu, then finally went still.

After stealing his fortune, Seo Kangrim gathered the unconscious Yoo Harang into his arms.

The child was so small, so fragile, as if he might crumble.

A child who failed to become a god.

A child who would now live many years as a human.

Seo Kangrim held Yoo Harang tightly and began to walk.

“Let’s go outside, Yoo Harang.”

There was no response from the unconscious Yoo Harang.

But as if he could hear that voice, a faint smile played on his lips.

[The fates of ‘Yoo Harang’ and ‘Seo Kangrim’ begin to intertwine.]

[The twisted fate finds its place according to Seo Kangrim’s will.]

[Seo Kangrim’s Fate Rank rises to Second Ghost Grade!]

13. The Turn of the Twelve Zodiac

[Pseudo-Religious Cult Group Holy Grace Cult, Which Brainwashed People Using Special Abilities, Discovered]

[Confirmed Victims Number in the Hundreds. Rescue of Imprisoned Victims Succeeds…]

“Wow, it’s nothing but Holy Grace Cult news everywhere.”

Yoon Gyeoul said in astonishment as he browsed through news and online communities.

As he said, the media was flooded with stories about the Holy Grace Cult.

Several days had passed since Yoo Harang was rescued from the Holy Grace Cult.

A pseudo-religion, and one that used Special Abilities at that, was more than enough to become the talk of the town.

Jang Taeheon, who had gathered with the others at the hotel to read the articles together, clicked his tongue, tsk, and spoke.

“You went to a place this dangerous all by yourself, Hyung? You should’ve told us.”

The article also briefly mentioned me.

[Hunter Seo Kangrim, who received a tip and investigated the Holy Grace Cult, uncovered its true nature.]

My companions had nagged me endlessly after reading that article.

Even now, they all looked displeased.

I spoke to Jang Taeheon, who was glaring at me.

“The tip only said the Holy Grace Cult was suspicious. I didn’t think it would be anything serious.”

“Fair enough. How could you have known they’d kill a child to make a god?”

Jang Taeheon continued in a slightly softened tone.

“But there’s nothing about Yoo Harang in the article?”

Most of what was reported in the article matched reality.

That Yoo Sunmin had brainwashed people with his Special Ability and extorted money to expand the cult’s influence.

However, there was one difference.

[Holy Grace Cult Leader Yoo Sunmin, Dead at the Scene.]

The Cult Leader was recorded as Yoo Sunmin.

Nowhere was there any mention of Yoo Harang.

Nor any mention of the attempt to kill a child to turn him into a god.

“I told the Protection Bureau a different story. That Yoo Sunmin, not Yoo Harang, was the Cult Leader.”

“Why?”

“Because Yoo Harang’s story would attract too much attention in many ways. It could cause trouble for him even after being rescued.”

It had been the same in my past life.

Yoo Harang’s story had spread far and wide through the media, drawing the attention of countless people.

In a sense, Yoo Harang had become a quasi-divine figure.

Because of that, many people had tried to approach him.

There were even those who sought to establish a new religion with Yoo Harang at its center.

Through it all, Yoo Harang had exhibited severe symptoms of anxiety.

“Mr. Kangrim is right. The child has already suffered enough. He deserves to live a normal life, even if it starts now.”

Shin Sooa said with a low sigh.

As she said, Yoo Harang had endured far too much suffering.

Imprisoned for a long time, nearly killed by his adoptive father.

It would have been stranger if he hadn’t suffered from trauma.

Thinking of the young Yoo Harang made my heart heavy.

As I was lost in thought for a moment—

The door opened and someone entered.

“Seo Kangrim! Are you in here!”

I turned around at Yoo Harang’s cheerful voice.

I couldn’t help but be surprised at what I saw.

Yoo Harang was walking in on his own two feet, albeit unsteadily.