Chapter 15

The moment I finished speaking, footsteps echoed from above the ceiling.

“F-footsteps?”

“Commander Brother! Rope No. 3 has been severed!”

“They’ve found us! We need to evacuate!”

Wow. Talk about perfect timing.

‘Well, I figured Dad would be here around now.’

He knew I wouldn’t be able to summon him in this situation, so he must’ve charged in through a different entrance.
It was easy to assume he came with backup once he realized something was wrong.

‘Though… there’s more foot traffic than I expected.’

Despite the tension, the commander fanatic didn’t panic. He spoke in a calm yet firm tone.

“Then, Chosen One—what do you believe this ritual circle requires?”

The footsteps grew louder—closer. Urgent.

I responded with serenity.

“The most devout and pure sacrifice.”

“…”

They were coming fast.

If the fanatics didn’t flee, they’d run right into the holy knights.

‘Not that there’s anywhere to run—there’s only one way out of this place.’

What awaited them would be destruction.

“O noble one… then how will you prove you weren’t the one who led the holy knights here?”

The commander fanatic stepped in closer, visibly uneasy.

His eyes gleamed unnaturally white, swollen with signs of corruption.

“That too will be proven… when a pure sacrifice is offered.”

Crack.

He ground his teeth… then suddenly broke into a wide, almost painful grin.

He stood up and strode over to the other fanatics.

“Gather here!”

Even as the ceiling above rumbled ominously, the fanatics rushed toward the ritual circle.

“The ritual will now begin!”

“Yes, Brother!”

Absolute obedience. Without hesitation, they pulled daggers from their robes.

“Shall I fetch the child?”

“No.”

The commander drew his own dagger.

And then—

Shlk!

“B-Brother Commander…? Cough!”

A wide-eyed fanatic stared at him in shock.

The confusion barely had time to spread before the commander began to move.

“Guhk!”

“Agh! Aagh! T-to the Evil God’s origin…!”

Three. Four. And then only one fanatic remained.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the commander cut them all down.

Their bodies—dead or dying—collapsed within the ritual circle.

Vvvrrrr—!

From the runes soaked in blood, a dark liquid began to bubble up.

Standing at the edge of the circle, the commander turned to me.

“Is this what you meant?”

The most devout and pure sacrifice.

According to the Evil God’s doctrine, that could only mean his own followers.

I knew this clearly. That was the only reason this plan worked.

‘Besides, the fanatics who infiltrated this place were all vile criminals anyway.’

A hundred times—no, a thousand times better than offering up innocent kids.

A ritual circle that devoured its own followers would soon spit out something horrific.

And right on cue…

A ripple—something surged up from the dark liquid.

Where before there had only been formless ooze, a shape began to emerge.

‘Oh, god. I knew it!’

A massive larva-like form with twitching legs.

Keter-grade: A nightmare-feeding insect.

“Aah… what a pure and majestic manifestation of His creation!”

Summoning abominations through ritual magic—
That was one method the fanatics used to attack the Order.

In short: summon a monster and let it do the dirty work.

“You were right all along!”

The whites of the commander fanatic’s eyes lit up—every last shred of doubt wiped away.

He smiled brightly at me.

“O Chosen One, the future of our cult is—!”

CLANG!

He never finished his sentence.

With a thud, the commander collapsed.

“Haa… haa…!”

Behind his fallen body, Bennett stood, panting heavily.

Somehow, he had freed himself—his hand gripped a bloodied rock.

It looked like he had already knocked out the last remaining fanatic.

“Y-you…!”

The others had long since vanished, devoured by the ritual.

The grotesque creature squirmed toward Bennett.

I didn’t hesitate—I dashed forward.

“Who the hell are you really—?!”

“Yadda yadda, let’s save the questions for later!”

I shoved Bennett aside with all my strength.

Something about this moment felt familiar.

Hadn’t I done something just like this when I first woke up and saved the kids?

SKREEEEEEE!

The monster came down on me completely.

‘God, it’s even nastier in person!’

I screamed silently.

‘Whatever. I’m the one who made the summoning happen. I’ll take responsibility.’

And then it swallowed me whole.

I was sucked up out of the dark puddle, gasping for breath.

A distortion in space.

It was a common phenomenon—something that happened when one was dragged in by the Evil God’s monsters.

In other words, I’d been summoned to a place separate from reality.

‘This freaking bug…’

Game Category [Post][Strategy Guide]
[Monster Encyclopedia #5]

“Nightmare-Feeding Insect”
Grade: Keter

A paranormal creature born from human nightmares and fear.
Classified as a closed-type aberration.

According to its lore, if a human is eaten by it, their worst imagined fear becomes reality.
They die trapped in a terrifying illusion.

The strategy guide was simple.

You uh… like gambling? lol

There was a reason I felt so confident facing this thing.

Sure, fighting Evil God monsters was brutally hard—frustrating beyond belief.

But the protagonist had one special advantage.

[You are the Heir of God, the Pope.]

That came with one amazing passive:

90% resistance to all status effects, no matter what kind.

In other words, while a normal person would lose their mind ten times out of ten…
I’d be fine nine times out of ten.

‘The only downside… is that it’s based on probability.’

The shadowy insect twitched and began crawling toward me.

Alright. From here on, it was a gamble.

The creature’s main attacks involved inflicting Fear and Nightmare status effects.

With a 90% resistance, there was a high chance it wouldn’t work on me.

But if that 10% rolled against me?

‘Then I’d get insta-killed, obviously.’

But I was a proud K-gamer—child of the Gambling Nation.

I chose the 90%.

Technically, with those odds, it wasn’t even that much of a gamble.

And then—

As the creature’s leg reached my face—

Screech.

It stopped. Like someone had slammed the brakes.

I grinned.

“You can’t touch me, huh?”

SKREEEEEEE!

The enraged bug let out a shriek, but its sharp limbs couldn’t summon a nightmare.
Nor could they harm me.

I made the sign of the cross.

Just like the protagonist once did.

“In the name of God, return to the light.”

A monster born to instill fear could do nothing…

…when its target felt none.

It silently crumbled into pieces.

The space it had created began to fade.

I slowly opened my eyes.

‘The space… shrank?’

What I saw was drastically different from before the creature engulfed me.

The ceiling had collapsed, and huge chunks of stone blocked the path ahead.

“Ah—y-you’re alive?!”

Bennett was staring at me, pale as a ghost.

I tilted my head.

“Whuh? Why’re you the onwy one hewe? Where the kidsh?”

My relaxed lips slurred the words.

“After you got swallowed, there was an earthquake! The ceiling caved in!”

“…Whut? The kidsh?!”

I shouted with unexpected force. Bennett flinched.

His docile eyes flickered nervously.

‘Huh? What’s this?’

It looked like he still hadn’t completely shaken his doubts about me faking being a fanatic.

But maybe saving his life left an impression—he answered right away.

That was good. Getting into an argument here would help no one.

“…They’re probably safe. I heard rescue efforts on the other side of the collapsed wall.”

But with the ceiling caved in, clearing the rubble might cause more damage to our side.

So they’d gone to find another way around.

Bennett kept glancing at me, visibly shaken.

“O-oh, and… they said if you survived, I had to tell you something.”

“Who?”

“Mister Derek…!”

I gave a small nod.

‘Knew it. Dad really did come for me.’
 

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Translator: Japchae