SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 122: Utopia (1)

Monster Legion Reincarnation

Class: SSS

Effects: You are able to summon those you killed as monsters. The deceased won’t retain their original abilities. However, if you wish, the deceased will retain their memories and appearance. If not, they will be summoned as monsters such as goblins, orcs, zombies, and skeletons.

※However, you can summon your legion only once a week.

That was the Skill I frequently used. The important part here was being able to choose whether I wanted the deceased to retain their memories and appearance once I summoned them. In other words, I could choose to summon them as brainless husks who didn’t look anything like they used to back when they were alive, just like I did right now.

Roarrrrr!

My shadow covered the entire ground and white skeletons emerged from it. It had been a while since I last saw my five thousand skeletons, but seeing them didn’t bring me any joy. After all, they were proof of my death.

But I needed them now.

Singing together, the apostles who followed the Immortal Happiness Preacher flocked to where I was.

—La, lala, la.

—Lala.

The song they sang made whoever listened to it relive their happiest memories. Such an attack was difficult for even a well-trained warrior to resist. Even the Heavenly Demon Cult followers had fallen victim to it at the wedding.

However, the skeletons roared as if nothing was amiss. There were merely five thousand of them, but they fiercely charged at an army of a million, not because they were particularly brave or because they were especially strong against psychological attacks.

—Ah, I see, the Guardian said, floating beside me. Since they have no memories at all, psychological attacks just don’t work on them.

Right. The song sung by the apostles of Immortal Happiness Preacher was clearly powerful. However, this power only worked on humans with memories. For summons with no memories at all, it was no different from an ordinary song.

—La...

Screeeeeeeeee! Screeee!

And ordinary songs had no power to hurt anyone. The summons swung their daggers, bit with their teeth, and scratched the apostles, slaughtering them. Dozens of apostles were swept away by the minute. In terms of combat prowess, they couldn’t be more powerless.

The Constellation bit her lip as she watched the battle from the sky.

The song of the apostles resonated from all around me, but I could hear every single sound the Constellation made. It was probably because she talked telepathically, so I could hear her voice in my head.

—Resistance is futile...! I can just outnumber you!

I had a response at the ready. “Yes, you’re right.”

Even if the apostles couldn’t put up a good fight, there were still a million of them. They could wreak havoc just by using their numbers advantage. That was why the Immortal Happiness Preacher ambushed us with confidence.

“But you already told me how to defeat you.”

—What?

The Constellation responded, probably because she read my lips.

“The size of an army isn’t the main issue at hand. Every army has its weaknesses. The moment you revealed that you and your apostles don’t know pain and just exist just to spread happiness...”

The skeletons were outnumbered, but they were yet to be subdued. They wouldn’t last for too long, maybe another minute or two. But that was all we needed.

“Your weakness is as good as exposed.” I held the holy sword tightly. “Black Dragon Master.” @@novelbin@@

“Speak up! I can’t hear you over the song!”

I made my voice heard by strengthening it with my aura. “Please deploy your mirrors in the air.”

The Black Witch immediately came to my side, already having her six mirrors hovering around her, just like I asked. She said, “Done. But what are you trying to do with my mirrors?”

“Do you remember when we fought the Demon King of Autumn Rain? When the demon king shot laser beams, you reflected them several times with your mirrors to weaken them. You also used them to strengthen our attacks. I’m going to do something similar now.”

The Black Witch understood my plan. “Are you going to shoot your aura like a laser beam? Not a bad idea, but are you sure you can fire a laser beam as powerful as the demon king? If the output isn’t powerful enough, it would be impossible to amplify it using my mirrors.”

“Don’t worry about the output. Please just focus on spreading my aura in as many directions as possible.”

“I’m not sure what you have in mind... Okay. Try it.”

Her mirrors flew in the air, positioned in the east, west, south, and north. When light shone on one mirror, it was immediately reflected in another. The light was so powerful, it enveloped the wilderness we found ourselves in.

This will do. I nodded and released my aura into the sword.

Whoosh!

My bloody red aura flowed down the sword and blazed up.

I can’t physically overpower them like Preta did. I don’t have the enlightenment like when Teacher cut the winter in half.

But I could fight like I was invincible if these apostles were my enemies and these Hunters were my allies.

“What happens if I can swing my sword with only hunger?”

That was the martial arts I inherited.

“You can cut down someone who has never starved in one strike. Half of the martial artists of the Righteous Faction will be reduced to corpses in one strike.”

The apostles who knew nothing but happiness could never match my strength. I swung my sword at the mirrors that the Black Witch had up in the sky.

Demonic Heaven Arts,

First Form:

Starvation Death

The Demonic Heaven’s ultimate art was unleashed through my red aura, which then bounced around the mirrors. One, two, three, four, five, six... Each time it bounced, the red aura split the wilderness and the army into two.

Swoooooshhhhhh!

Compared to the demon king’s laser beam and Teacher’s slash, it was much weaker, laughable even. However, despite this, the apostles of happiness disappeared when the red aura simply grazed them.

The Constellation looked down in shock.

—What...?

She was bound to be taken aback. My single attack vaporized thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of her apostles instantly. Until a little while ago, the wilderness was full of the apostles, but the areas clawed by the red aura had been ravaged clean.

And, of course, I wasn’t going to be done with just one attack.

“Black Dragon Master, let’s keep going! Please keep changing the positions of the mirrors!”

“Oh my god... Yes, your martial arts completely counter the Constellation’s subordinates!”

She skillfully readjusted the positions of the mirrors despite her shock and realized that, regardless of how much aura I could use, it was enough to destroy the enemies just by brushing past them. In that case, it was important to reflect my aura as much as possible.

“Don’t worry about me. Just keep attacking, Death King! I’ll adjust the mirrors!”

The mirrors sharply cut through the air. The Black Witch was a person who took action immediately after deciding what her priorities were.

Swooosh!

I put my trust in the Black Witch and unleashed my aura again. Tens of thousands of enemies were wiped out when I was simply demonstrating the familiar martial arts. The joint attack of me and the Black Witch—the Ranks 2 and 3 Hunters respectively—unilaterally trampled the Constellation’s army.

The Inquisitor used his Divine Formula to protect us from our enemies’ psychological attacks. “Hahaha! This is awesome! What a sight!”

The Countess poured an astronomical amount of money to back him up. “O-okay. Wipe them out as quickly as possible! My second emergency piggy bank is suffering!”

The Paladin was intently observing the battlefield to give timely instructions. “Viper! The enemies are straying that way! Take them out!”

The Viper took care of the small fries that escaped before the skeletons could stop them. “Alright! Damn, the demonic cult is taking away all the chances for me to look cool!”

We can do it.

There were only six of us—

If we join forces, we’re invincible!

—but the six of us overwhelmed an army in the size of a world.

Look.

The residents living in the Tower were probably gathered in the plaza right now, watching our fight. They would broadcast or record this scene, spreading to the outside world the footage of just six people defeating a million apostles.

Look! Get fired up. Witness how nothing is impossible in the Tower. See that the world can’t keep us down. Only we can forge our own destinies. Have hope.

The Constellation’s face scrunched.

—You... You wicked and ruthless outcasts! What right do you have to invade the utopia I’ve created? There is no misfortune in this world! Not even an unfortunate memory!

At the Constellation’s wave of hand, a holographic moment from the apostles’ past was projected in the sky.

—Lala.

—La.

The apostles didn’t live in houses. There was no need to form cities either. They knew no hunger, nor did they need to mine resources for daily necessities. The apostles took on the form of children and sang happily whenever, wherever.

—Aaaaaaaaaah!

But, at the heart of this world, an innocent child was being pierced with a sword.

—Aaaaah! Ah, aaaah! Aaaaaaah!

I couldn’t figure out how the innocent child’s screams became power. Perhaps the sword in the child’s chest was creating some kind of law.

—The world I’ve built is much more peaceful than your insignificant dumpster! the Constellation shouted as the child screamed. Don’t even think about criticizing me, you hypocrite invaders! I saw countless worlds as I followed my master, Lefanta Aegim. People screamed in every world. Hundreds of thousands! Millions! Tens of millions! Hundreds of millions!

The sword named Sacrifice continued to cry out.

—Meanwhile, only one person screams in my world. Just one! By sacrificing just one person, my apostles know no pain. While I commit one evil deed, you’re all turning a blind eye to hundreds of millions of evil deeds. How shameless of you all to mock my world, you vermin!

I understood the Constellation’s perspective. She would have put a lot of thought into inventing such a device. Her intentions were rooted in goodwill. If this was how the road to hell was paved, this was the hell chosen by the Immortal Happiness Preacher.

This world is just an extreme example.

The challenges we would face while running the Tower were going to be no different from this one. If food or resources were to run out, we would have to sacrifice some residents as the people in charge of the Tower.

The Constellation laughed because I was unable to say anything back to her.

—Ha! Still, you have a conscience not to talk nonsense at least. If you don’t have anything to say, get lost! I will never accept someone like you as my new master!

I took a step forward. “No, I have something to say.”

—You do? Ha, what could you possibly have to tell me?

It was easy to say sacrifices weren’t right no matter what. However, ideals weren’t meant to be said aloud, but put in action. They were only effective when someone could take responsibility for what they proposed and had the ability to carry it out. I didn’t forget this.

“I’ll kill you all.”

—What?

“I’ll kill you all and make you part of my legion.”

The Constellation didn’t seem to understand what I said.

—What are you talking about...?

“Everyone I kill becomes part of my legion. If I want, I can summon you all with all your memories intact. I’ll kill all of you and then summon you so that you all can live in this world again.” I raised the holy sword. “You want to sing like you do now and live happily ever after in a world where you don’t have to feel or remember pain. I’ll grant you that wish.”

—...

“Those belonging to my legion don’t even need to eat anything to survive. I’ll give you the world you want.”

It was simple. I was going to kill all of the million apostles. After doing that, I was going to summon them back to this world with their memories intact. Nothing would change.

“I’m not just talking about you.” I was speaking to the countless Tower residents who were watching us right now. “There are evil criminals who just can’t be reformed. There are people who died despite wanting to continue living. From now on, I’ll be the one who punishes them.”

—Punish them...?

“I’ll kill and revive all of them as part of my monster legion. They’ll remain forever in my shadow and endure their karma forever.”

The song that had been echoing on the horizon stopped. It had made the sky and the ground shook, so when it stopped, it silenced the whole world.

The Constellation looked at me with disbelief.

—Lie... For all evil criminals and their victims...? A mere mortal can’t do that...

“Preacher, I can also create the utopia you boast about. My world doesn’t even need innocent children screaming.”

Before entering this apocalyptic book, the Black Witch had asked me if I was prepared to become a king.

“It’s simple.”

Yes, if all worlds were hell, I could just become a slightly bigger hell.

“My hell is better than yours.”

This was the king’s path I chose to walk on.