Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 91

EP.91 The Monster

If witnessing the descent of a god was possible, it would surely feel like this.

Cardinal Zemen was paralyzed by the overwhelming divine power suffocating the room. The sheer weight of it made resistance unthinkable, plunging him into despair.

‘This can’t be real…’

Human limits defined the extent of divine power one could possess. Yet, the figure before him defied all logic, radiating a force far beyond human capability, as if he had become a god himself.

This “divine power” crushed the knights specialized in its usage, leaving them sprawled on the ground, powerless.

‘…A monster.’

Zemen’s entire body screamed in alarm, trembling so violently it threatened to shatter. His vision blurred as the pressure constricted his lungs, making each breath an excruciating effort.

Survival instinct overrode all else. Strategy, loyalty—none of it mattered. He needed to escape. But just as he began to drag his battered body away—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The voice froze him in place.

A heavy boot came down on his back, pinning him to the floor.

“We haven’t even started our conversation yet.”

“Aaaaah!”

The bone-crushing weight drove a tortured scream from his lips.

The pressure relented briefly, giving him a moment to gasp for air. Then came a chilling whisper, laced with cruel amusement.

“You’ll wish you were dead. I promise.”

Jeong-hyeon turned away from the Cardinal, his expression softening as he approached the Saintess and the child. His voice shifted to one of gentle concern.

“Are you hurt?”

The child whimpered, wiping tears from his face.

“I’m okay, but Mommy… Mommy is really hurt…”

“Don’t worry.”

Jeong-hyeon said with a small smile, crouching down to the girl’s level.

“Mommy will be fine. But I need you to be strong, okay?”

He glanced at the Saintess.

“What about you, Lucia? Can you stand?”

“Yes… I’m fine.”

She said, her voice trembling but resolute.

“That’s good. Can you take Hana back inside for a moment? I’ve got some business to finish out here.”

Lucia hesitated but nodded.

“Of course.”

The Cardinal, lying crushed on the floor, seized this moment of distraction. A desperate thought crossed his mind.

‘The Saintess… she’ll save me.’

Despite her tarnished reputation as the “discarded Saintess,” her innate compassion and commitment to saving lives would surely compel her to spare even someone like him.

“P-please!” he croaked. “Saintess, have mercy! Spare me!”

But Lucia didn’t even look in his direction.

Instead, she turned to Jeong-hyeon, her voice unexpectedly cold.

“When you torture him later, remember the spots I mentioned earlier. Targeting them will inflict the most pain.”

The Cardinal’s eyes widened in disbelief.

‘Torture? Weak points? Pain?’

These weren’t words one expected from a Saintess.

The realization hit him like a thunderbolt—something was terribly wrong. But he clung to hope, crying out once more.

“Saintess, I beg you—”

Lucia cut him off, her attention solely on the child.

“Let’s go, sweetie. We don’t want to disturb Daddy while he’s working.”

“Don’t wanna… I wanna stay with Daddy!”

“No, you can’t. It’s bad manners to bother Daddy when he’s busy.”

She chided gently, scooping Hana into her arms.

The door shut behind them, leaving Zemen’s fleeting hope to wither and die.

Jeong-hyeon turned back to the Cardinal, his expression devoid of emotion.

“Well then,” he said, rolling his shoulders as divine power began to radiate from him once more. “Shall we get started?”

The suffocating aura returned, heavier than before.

This time, it wasn’t just oppressive—it was crushing. Zemen felt as though his very soul was being ground into dust.

The pressure was unbearable, obliterating any coherent thought.

The monster had truly come to play.

Jeong-hyeon observed the defeated figures sprawled across the ground. Among them, one stood out—a towering paladin, still barely managing to remain upright. The rest were either unconscious or struggling to stay coherent. None of them seemed worth his attention.

‘Except for the one who had dared to trample on Lucia.’

Jeong-hyeon’s gaze lingered on that particular knight. A special kind of retribution was reserved for him.

Deciding to address the paladin first, Jeong-hyeon approached the man and, without hesitation, slashed into his shoulder.

The paladin flinched but did not cry out, his rigid posture speaking of years of training. The sword met dense, hardened muscle, evidence of a lifetime spent preparing for battle.

Jeong-hyeon’s thoughts wandered.

‘How should I kill him to make the most unforgettable statement?’

A simple death wouldn’t suffice. It needed to be more—something that would leave the Church shaking in its boots. His sword hovered, grazing over the paladin’s armor as he considered his options.

Finally, inspiration struck. A small smile tugged at his lips.

‘This will work perfectly.’

Jeong-hyeon turned his attention to one of the knights trembling nearby. He grabbed the man’s head with a firm grip and hoisted him off the ground with little effort.

“Tell me,” he said calmly, his voice as sharp as the sword in his hand. “What’s the family situation of the paladin and the cardinal?”

The paladin stiffened at the question, his body betraying the growing dread that even his discipline couldn’t suppress.

Jeong-hyeon glanced at the quivering knight in his grasp and began counting down.

“Three…”

“S-sir, please—”

“Two…”

“No, wait!”

“One.”

With the final word, Jeong-hyeon’s sword cut cleanly through the knight’s neck. He discarded the head without ceremony, tossing it into a corner like a butcher discarding waste.

Turning to another knight, who was shaking so violently his armor clattered, Jeong-hyeon grabbed him by the collar.

“Your turn.”

He said, the same calm menace in his voice.

“Three…”

This one was quicker to speak.

“P-paladin! He has a wife and… and a child!”

Jeong-hyeon chuckled bitterly.

‘Even when faced with death, you’d sell out your superior’s family? Truly, this Church is rotten to the core.’

Releasing the knight, Jeong-hyeon gave a faint smile.

“You get to live.”

Of course, it was a lie. The illusion of mercy had its uses.

He reached for the next knight, ready to continue the interrogation, when the paladin’s strained voice cut through the air.

“Stop it! Enough!”

The man’s roar carried a desperate edge.

Jeong-hyeon turned, meeting the paladin’s bloodshot eyes.

“Why should I?”

He asked simply, his voice devoid of emotion.

The paladin’s mouth opened, but no words came. His composure cracked further as Jeong-hyeon’s calm gaze bore into him.

Jeong-hyeon tilted his head slightly, his tone almost mocking.

“You tried to kill my friends. Why shouldn’t I do the same to you?”

The paladin trembled, the weight of the truth pressing down on him. His jaw clenched as he struggled to find a response.

Finally, his composure shattered entirely. A guttural scream ripped from his throat.

“GRAAAAAH!”

Against all odds, the paladin began to move. He pushed against the crushing force of Jeong-hyeon’s divine power, his entire body shaking violently under the strain.

Jeong-hyeon’s lips curled into a faint smile.

‘Now, this is getting interesting.’

Jeong-hyeon watched as the paladin, desperation etched on his face, hoisted his mace high above his head. With a guttural roar, the man charged at him, attempting a last-ditch attack.

The effort was laughable.

Before the paladin could get close, his legs buckled under the weight of Jeong-hyeon’s overwhelming divine power, sending him crashing to the ground.

Jeong-hyeon stepped forward, planting his foot firmly on the man’s head. His laughter was soft but laced with disdain.

‘Pathetic.’

After a moment, his gaze landed on a nearby knight’s sword. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the weapon toward the fallen paladin.

“Well, you failed your first attempt. Let’s give you a second chance,” Jeong-hyeon said, his voice almost playful. He gestured toward the sword with his foot. “Take it.”

The paladin hesitated, trembling as he eyed the sword.

Jeong-hyeon leaned in slightly, his tone turning cold.

“Here’s the deal. Use that sword to kill every one of your subordinates, and I’ll spare your family.”

The paladin’s eyes widened in horror.

“That’s… that’s impossible…”

Jeong-hyeon shrugged casually.

“Don’t want to? Fine. Then I’ll just kill your family too. All of them.”

The threat struck like a dagger, and the paladin’s body began to shake violently. His hesitation was short-lived. With agonized determination, he crawled toward the sword, grabbing it with trembling hands.

Jeong-hyeon smirked.

“Good. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

As the divine pressure eased, the paladin stood unsteadily and turned to face his subordinates. His eyes shut tightly, and his voice broke as he spoke.

“Don’t… don’t forgive me.”

Jeong-hyeon watched, amusement flickering in his eyes. “Wow,” he muttered to himself. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’s some tragic hero sacrificing for the greater good.”

In reality, the man was just a coward willing to slaughter his own comrades to save his own skin.

One by one, the paladin drove the sword into his subordinates, each strike deliberate and unflinching. Jeong-hyeon clapped slowly, mockingly, as the final knight fell.

“Well done,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The paladin, his task complete, dropped the bloodied sword and clenched his eyes shut, unable to meet Jeong-hyeon’s gaze.

Jeong-hyeon approached him calmly, a faint smile on his lips.

“You did great. Now, as promised…”

Without warning, Jeong-hyeon plunged his sword into the paladin’s chest, his voice calm and steady.

“I’ll let your family live. Your family, not you.”

The paladin gasped, his hands reaching out weakly to grasp at Jeong-hyeon. But before he could utter a word, Jeong-hyeon kicked him to the ground and ended his life with a decisive blow.

Turning his gaze toward the cardinal, Jeong-hyeon wiped his sword clean.

“Now that the distractions are dealt with, let’s talk.”

The cardinal, pale and shaking, scrambled for words.

“H-Hero! Please, listen to reason! Your true enemy is not me, but the Demon King! If you spare me, I can assist you! I can—”

Jeong-hyeon ignored the plea. His attention drifted to the fallen paladin’s mace. Picking it up, he gave it a few practice swings.

‘Not bad.’

Without hesitation, he swung the mace down onto the cardinal’s ankle.

A sickening crack echoed through the room, followed by the cardinal’s anguished scream.

“STOP! PLEASE!”

The cardinal wailed, tears streaming down his face.

Jeong-hyeon tilted his head, feigning innocence.

“Stop? Are you sure?”

Before the man could answer, Jeong-hyeon brought the mace down on the other ankle, earning another bloodcurdling scream.

Satisfied with the weapon’s effectiveness, Jeong-hyeon gave a small nod of approval.

‘I should start carrying one of these.’

Realizing the cardinal wouldn’t last much longer, Jeong-hyeon finally stashed the mace away into his subspace pouch. Dragging the paladin’s corpse to the cardinal, he sat on it casually, as if settling into a throne.

“There’s something I’ve been curious about.”

Jeong-hyeon began, his tone conversational.

“If you were to compress a person into a glass jar and pump them full of healing magic, would they die? Or would they stay alive?”

The cardinal whimpered, his tear-streaked face twisted in terror, unable to answer.

Jeong-hyeon smiled faintly, the question hanging in the air like a dark omen.