Yusaku Kudo's mind was perfectly clear.
Yes. His consciousness was entirely intact. But his mortal body couldn't move a single inch.
At this moment, Yusaku was almost possessed by pure terror. He wandered aimlessly within the prison of his own mind, almost groaning in psychological pain. Simply because he, being a uniquely clever man, had seen and thought far too much.
'Is the physical world frozen, or is time itself frozen?'
His heart trembled violently as he pondered wildly, trying to rationalize the physics of the domain they were trapped in.
But before he could logically deduce anything, Cliff, holding the glowing human-skin book, climbed onto a raised stone outcropping in the frozen world. He held the grotesque book high above his head and solemnly swore to the gray, still sky:
"I! Hahn Cliff! Solemnly swear—!"
Cliff's voice boomed, carrying a supernatural resonance that bypassed acoustics and echoed directly into the soul.
"I will protect the forest! I will protect the sea! I will protect the volcano! I will resist evil! I will banish the poison of the tainted human heart! I am the inheritor! I will be Baron Lionheart! I will become a servant of God! In the name of me, Baron Lionheart! In the name of my Lord—!"
The Highway to the Reserve
Chief Gray was in a great hurry.
He yelled at several drivers in his convoy, but the heavy SWAT vehicles could only go so fast down the winding coastal roads. So, he could only anxiously watch the live surveillance footage transmitted from Yusaku Kudo's lapel camera on the tablet in his lap.
He had seen Kudo and Cliff go deep into the forest, and he had clearly seen the dozens of mangled corpses scattered everywhere.
But in a fleeting moment... a devastating earthquake violently shook the ground, causing the entire police convoy to screech to a halt.
The earth trembled with biblical fury. Thunder rumbled.
Stunned by the sudden stop and the violently shaking suspension of his SUV, Chief Gray staggered out of his car, his head swaying. But upon exiting the vehicle, he froze instantly.
A natural disaster. A natural disaster completely beyond mortal description was occurring on the horizon.
The sky and the earth seemed to offer no refuge for even the most insignificant creatures. The destructive, vertical force of the earthquake left Gray limp on the asphalt. He tried to rise, his limbs numb with cold terror, but his muscular legs were simply too weak to support his weight.
'Impossible…' Gray thought, staring at the distant reserve. 'Cliff and Kudo had just arrived there. Impossible… How could this be happening…?'
However, after a subtle, pressure-dropping ripple in the atmosphere, the earthquake intensified. Many SWAT officers panicked, dropping their rifles and trying to flee back into their armored cars.
But Gray stared intently at the direction of the Longleaf Pine Forest, his heart pounding under his ribs as he forced himself to look.
A colossal figure rose from the ground.
It seemed to be entirely composed of ancient, petrified wood. Was its massive body hundreds of meters tall? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Gray didn't know. The scale was impossible to calculate.
Even from miles away, he could only see the lower half of the behemoth; its chest and head were completely shrouded in the dark storm clouds. Behind this colossal wooden figure, countless giant wooden hands formed a massive, circular halo resembling that of a multi-armed Buddha.
A solemn, oppressive, and awe-inspiring sense of holiness arose spontaneously in the air. The sheer psychic pressure told all living beings that this construct was not terrifying in a demonic sense, but that it was an absolutely sacred being.
Sacred?
Chief Gray completely abandoned the idea of getting up. He simply sat on the asphalt, staring blankly at the sacred, apocalyptic figure. His lips trembled, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. His eyes seemed to be malfunctioning from the sheer visual data.
Because, through his blurred vision, he seemed to superimpose the psychic image of Cliff holding up a book, making a blood-oath, and invoking the apostles of God.
On Gray's hardened face, an expression that seemed to be both crying and laughing involuntarily appeared. The indescribable existential shock no longer needed to be suppressed by police training.
'God... God…' Gray wept silently. 'How majestic You are…'
Los Angeles: Police Department Headquarters
Thump.
The State Governor, safely tucked away in his office far away in Los Angeles, lost his balance and fell heavily to the carpeted floor.
He stared blankly at the massive surveillance monitor on the wall. As the civilian authority acting as the eyes and ears following closely behind Yusaku Kudo's feed, he had witnessed absolute, undeniable absurdities.
He had seen the werewolf tear the corporate thugs apart. And now, he was looking at that colossal, undeniably divine presence rising from the forest floor.
He opened his mouth to order his secretary to do something—anything—but no sound came out. In his daze, a torrent of sheer, primate terror seemed to surge from his tailbone straight to his heart, pounding it loudly against his chest cavity.
'God… please forgive my greed. Please forgive my disrespect,' the Governor prayed frantically in his mind. 'I cannot comprehend what I am seeing. Just as I cannot imagine Your true magnificence…'
So… what exactly is that? What the hell is that?!
The Governor felt his secular worldview completely collapse into dust. A fragmented, terrifying, and bizarre occult worldview was violently being rebuilt in its place. He was extremely excited and agitated by the revelation of the divine. But he was also filled with absolute, soul-crushing anger and fear regarding his own recent actions.
The conflicting, extreme emotions almost caused the portly Governor to have a cardiovascular breakdown and faint on the spot.
He didn't doubt whether what was happening over there was real or CGI. Because the earth-shaking tremors of the colossal wooden statue rising from the earth had already reached Los Angeles, rattling the windows of his high-rise office. Because the sweeping, unnatural storm clouds could be seen clearly even from the city skyline.
That behemoth was simply too vast. And too sacred. So much so that the corrupt Governor didn't even think it was a monster to be fought. Instead, he unconsciously felt absolute submission and awe.
'Is that... a literal God?' The Governor didn't know. His thoughts were extremely chaotic at this moment, and he couldn't tell whether he was having a stroke, dreaming, or living in a new, terrifying reality.
The Longleaf Pine Forest Reserve
Like the Governor, Yusaku Kudo, standing directly at ground zero, was also caught in a silent, paralyzing palpitation.
'God. This is a God.'
No. Wait. Yusaku's brilliant mind corrected itself even as his knees buckled. He is not a God. This wooden colossus is just God's Apostle…
But Yusaku, having deduced the truth of the hierarchy, felt even more awe. He was, after all, a man of considerable worldly renown and intellect. It wasn't that he was too terrified to speak, but rather that he refused to disturb this sacred, apocalyptic descent with his mortal voice.
The earth ceased its violent rage.
The dark, swirling clouds in the sky were suddenly pierced by a dazzling, golden beam of sunlight. The scene was the epitome of divine might acting as an inescapable prison, and divine grace being as vast as the sea. Almost everyone who witnessed the construct felt utterly insignificant.
And the werewolf cocoon that Yusaku cared so much about—the one that harbored the terrifying physical manifestation of Human Evil—was gently scooped up in one of the colossal divine hands.
With a slight squeeze of the wooden fingers, the cocoon was instantly turned into harmless smoke.
Only a thin, ethereal, human-shaped shadow remained in the palm.
High above, hidden within the storm clouds, Seiran Mizunotsuki didn't seem to have much to do with the old man's freed soul. He observed the tiny, fragile figures below, feeling a deep, intoxicating sense of awe at his own power and the utter insignificance of all living beings beneath him.
Yes. This was Seiran's true, physical form; teleporting here via the System wasn't difficult. He marveled at the immense, world-ending power he wielded with every casual move he made. Unconsciously, he had already grown to this cataclysmic level of strength.
Moreover, Seiran had a biased, theatrical fondness for enormous constructs. Bigger is stronger! Big is beautiful! And "big," in the eyes of mortals, is also a direct, undeniable manifestation of absolute power.
The colossal Buddha "looked" down at the souls prostrating before it, and at the astonished, frozen onlookers below.
Having achieved the desired psychological effect, Seiran dissipated his cursed power.
In the eyes of those in the know, the colossal wooden figure seemed to step backward into the void, fading into golden dust, leaving only the lingering echoes of the cataclysmic environmental change and scattered wisps of oppressive, divine force.
Lost in thought as time resumed its normal flow, Yusaku suddenly shuddered.
'That God… seemed not to be a mindless puppet, but possessed its own distinct, observing will.'
No. That's not right.
'Can't Gods have consciousness?' Yusaku suddenly realized he was thinking with his old, secular, habitual way of analyzing suspects.
God is real. He truly exists...
'So... Baron Lionheart, who can directly commune with and summon God...'
Yusaku's heart pounded uncontrollably.
'God... Perhaps Cliff is my most valuable connection in this new world...'
As a calculating adult, where does one get the luxury of pure naivety? Even primal survival instinct compelled Yusaku to weigh the geopolitical pros and cons of this new reality.
Now, he looked at Cliff, who had collapsed onto his knees, appearing extremely tired not far away. The brilliant, relieved smile that broke out on Yusaku's face was almost unbearable in its intensity.
"Cliff!" Yusaku shouted, rushing over to help the dockworker up.
This connection was rightfully his. Yusaku Kudo's wish for a shield against the coming darkness had been granted...
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