Having witnessed the miracle from arm’s length, the young man’s logic was rapidly dissolving into ash.
He desired nothing more than for the deity to instantly drop that magnificent light onto his own flesh.
He wanted to purge every ounce of the foul, toxic filth rotting his inner core, exactly like the man before him.
Gazing down at the frantic figure desperately clawing at his feet, Seo Yuan’s long eyelashes fluttered in a miniscule tremor.
Letting out a slow, heavy breath, he extended his slender hand toward the youth’s forehead, repeating the exact motion from before.
The split second his fingertips connected with the young man’s skin, another piercing shriek rattled the walls.
“Gah—Ugh! Hah!”
Exactly like the predecessor before him, the young initiate began to choke, his throat seizing up entirely as he wheezed frantically for air.
An incomprehensibly vast, majestic tide of raw power flooded his physical vessel, thoroughly saturating every single cell in his body.
What on earth was this energy?
His eyes rolling back halfway into his skull, the young man frantically strained his pupils until his vision finally managed to lock back onto the figure of the Cult Leader standing above him.
“Haa…… Hah, ugh…….”
His entire body felt far beyond merely warm—it felt as if a literal, raging inferno had been ignited within his veins.
Driven entirely by the explosive influx of vitality, the young man’s groin snapped into a sudden, heavily engorged erection beneath his robes.
Before the light had touched his flesh, his mind had been occupied strictly by thoughts of awe and religious reverence, but receiving the blessing firsthand triggered an entirely different reaction.
This was—this was something else entirely.
In truth, the severe advancement of his corruption had rendered him completely impotent months ago.
Deeming it merely one of the countless, inevitable prices of his anomaly, he had long since resigned himself to the loss. Yet, to think that a defect of that nature would be completely eradicated in a single, casual second.
The initiate could no longer govern the sudden, burning heat consuming his cognitive faculties.
A feral, unhinged desire to violently possess and ravage the body of this Cult Leader—who was currently radiating an impossibly seductive, intoxicating aura from his skin—reared its ugly head.
He wanted to wrap his arms around that fragile frame, pinning him down so thoroughly he could never hope to resist, and tear into him completely at his own whim.
He wanted to drive his rigid member straight into whatever lush, hidden opening was tucked away beneath those pristine white robes and swing his hips to his heart’s content.
“Cult Leader…… Sovereign. Hah. Hah.”
The exact moment the young initiate completely severed his tether to reality, lunging forward with a beast-like snarl to tackle Seo Yuan to the ground—
‘CRACK!’
The youth who had been charging forward like a rabid animal was instantly flattened against the marble floor, losing consciousness in a fraction of a second.
A heavy, crimson pool of blood immediately began to hemorrhage rapidly from the side of his fractured skull.
As the surrounding crowd fell into a state of absolute shock, murmuring frantically while unsure of how to navigate the sudden violence, the head priest finally snapped out of his stupor.
His features twisting into a mask of pure rage, he began to bellow at the top of his lungs, ordering the security details to clear the trash.
“How dare you attempt to lay your filthy, unholy hands upon the sacred body of our supreme Cult Leader! What kind of absolute sacrilege is this! Drag this pathetic parasite out of our sight this instant! Hurry!”
The disruption was contained with terrifying, mechanical efficiency.
Emerging soundlessly from the shadows of the hall, a squad of operatives clad in pitch-black masks seized the unconscious youth by his ankles, carelessly dragging his limp frame across the floor like a dead piece of livestock.
Only the thick, smeared trail of dark blood left staining the polished marble offered any indication that the man had ever occupied the space.
“Cult Leader, are you unharmed?”
One of the high-ranking priests stepped forward with frantic haste, carefully inspecting Seo Yuan’s countenance for any signs of distress.
Noticing that the youth’s face had drained of its usual color, turning a shade paler than before, the clergyman’s features twisted into a look of profound, agonizing worry.
“Perhaps it would be best to postpone the remaining baptisms for a future date and retire to your quarters for the day, Sovereign.”
“Ah, I’m…….”
“Indeed, Cult Leader. You should rest for the remainder of the afternoon, and we can resume the blessings tomorrow.”
The entity who cut straight through Seo Yuan’s halting response was none other than Yoon Seoho.
Wrapping his large hand around the youth’s slightly trembling shoulder, he dropped the instruction in a smooth, deceptively gentle cadence.
The priest who had been urging the youth to rest immediately took a rushed step back, bowing his head in submission.
While the Cult Leader appeared to possess an incredibly mild, benevolent temperament, the Vice Cult Leader was an entirely different species of entity.
Though he maintained a superficially polite, elegant front, a chilling, razor-sharp edge occasionally leaked from his presence, leaving a deeply unsettling impression in the gut of anyone who crossed him.
Of course, the specific brand of apprehension the priest was currently experiencing was merely another psychological variable Yoon Seoho had explicitly engineered.
Now that he had successfully installed Seo Yuan as the absolute sovereign of the order, it was necessary to alter the parasites’ perception regarding his own position within the hierarchy.
“You are entirely correct. It would be wise to follow the Vice Cult Leader’s counsel, Sovereign. The entire ministry is deeply concerned that any further exertion might compromise your sacred well-being.”
Seeing that Seo Yuan appeared to be caught in a wave of hesitation, another clergyman rapidly stepped out of the ranks, adding his own frantic recommendation with a face thick with manufactured worry.
Gazing blankly at the hovering priest, Seo Yuan suddenly felt the grip locked around his shoulder tighten with a sudden, crushing force.
He slowly turned his head to look back behind him.
Meeting his eyes instantly, Yoon Seoho flashed a perfectly smooth, radiant smile.
Yet, in stark contrast to the elegant curve of his lips, his eyes remained completely dead—stripped of a single shred of warmth.
Registering the absolute frigidity hiding behind the mask, Seo Yuan flinched violently, his breath catching in his throat.
Yoon Seoho maintained the pressure, tightening his fingers around the youth’s collarbone in a silent, coercive demand that brooked zero argument.
“Cult Leader.”
The low, velvet murmur felt impossibly cold against his senses for reasons he couldn’t fully comprehend.
Swallowing hard against the sudden spike of dread, Seo Yuan slowly, hesitantly nodded his head.
The moment the gesture was made, the surrounding clergymen let out a collective, audible sigh of relief.
To their brainwashed minds, the survival and physical preservation of the deity who could dispense a limitless tide of salvation was the absolute, primary directive above all else.
Not a single scratch could be permitted to mar the sacred vessel of the living god who had descended to their soil.
To allow any harm to come to him was virtually synonymous with accelerationist global annihilation.
That was a reality they had to prevent at any absolute cost.
Every single eye in the gargantuan hall locked onto Seo Yuan, their gazes thick with a terrifying, unholy reverence.
Surveying the sea of fanatical faces from the apex of the stage, Yoon Seoho let one side of his mouth twist into a sharp, covert sneer.
The transparent, easily readable thoughts bouncing around inside their hollow skulls were nothing short of hilarious.
He had intentionally unveiled a priceless, holy artifact to hook their loyalty, yet a low-grade parasite had immediately forgotten its absolute place, thrashing around like a rabid beast because it couldn’t control its own disgusting impulses.
He hadn’t the slightest intention of letting that pathetic insect get off easily.
Since the worm had chosen to behave like a piece of shit, it was only fitting that he ensure its final exit was spectacular.
His face maintaining a pristine, elegant mask, the fingers clamped around Seo Yuan’s shoulder dug even deeper into the fragile bone.
“……Ngh.”
