I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Suicide

Chapter 88

When they returned to the cathedral, the overwhelming presence of the demon they had expected was nowhere to be found.

The sight of the crumbling cathedral exterior gave them a sense of unease. Strangely, no sounds of battle or commotion came from outside.

It was eerily quiet.

The only way to uncover what had happened was to go inside and see for themselves. Cautiously, they entered the building.

“…”

The sight inside the cathedral left everyone speechless.

What they saw was beyond anything they had anticipated.

The black goat, battered and defeated, was slumped on the floor, clearly having lost a battle.

“Captain…!”

The shark-mask apostle gasped and tried to run toward him, but someone blocked her path.

On the other side of the black goat stood a pale purple-haired girl, also visibly injured and lying limply on the floor.

“Stay back. Don’t come any closer.”

Her voice, cold and strained, carried a fierce warning as she glared at the intruders who had entered the cathedral.

“Why… Why did you come back? You should have run as far as you could.”

The girl’s gaze shifted to Hana, and her frustration was evident. Hana, meanwhile, looked at the black goat lying beside her, her expression unreadable.

The red dragon frowned, puzzled.

He had used magic to observe the battlefield moments earlier, and this outcome had seemed impossible. Although Longinus was formidable, the fight had clearly been in the black goat’s favor.
How could the tide of battle have shifted so drastically in the short time it took them to arrive?

Bang!

The sudden sound of the cathedral doors slamming shut interrupted his thoughts. A voice echoed from the shadows.

“I didn’t expect you to come all the way here. You’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”

The voice belonged to an elderly man, his tone low and gravelly. Slowly, the figure emerged from the shadows.

When Hana saw the man’s face, she froze, her expression twisting in shock.

“You’re… Father?”

“It’s been a while, Sister.”

The man was none other than the priest who had greeted her when she first visited the cathedral during her academy days. He had seemed kind and gentle, a man of faith.

Now, the true owner of the ruined cathedral stood before them.

Si woo, too, seemed to recognize something. His eyes narrowed, his expression hardening.

“You…!”

“Ah, I remember you,” the old man said calmly. “I didn’t think you’d escape that place and end up here.”

Though his face was unfamiliar, Si woo could never forget that voice. It was the same voice he had heard in the dark recesses of the academy, at the very top of its hierarchy.

This man was a member of the Council.

The old priest, with his wrinkled face and religious garb, looked every bit like a harmless cleric. But Si woo knew better.

“Messiah, apostles, and even the Antichrist… What an interesting mix,” the priest said with a smirk.

The shark-mask apostle, unwilling to listen to any more nonsense, decided to strike. She moved swiftly, extending her hand to unleash her power—

But nothing happened.

“What…? This can’t be!”

Her abilities failed to activate, leaving her body feeling blocked and powerless. She had experienced this sensation once before—at the shrine in Japan.

“It’s too late,” the priest said, his voice brimming with confidence. “Now that you’ve entered this place, there’s no turning back.”

“What did you do?” the red dragon growled.

“A barrier has been erected. This cathedral is no longer part of the mortal world. It has become divine ground. Imperfect creatures like yourselves can do nothing here.”

The red dragon’s expression twisted with rage. “You arrogant fool. Are you saying you’re not an imperfect creature?”

“Heh, of course not. I’m as flawed as any of you. But that’s about to change.”

Raising his hands toward the heavens, the priest began to shout with fervent excitement.

“At last, the time has come! With the Messiah here, the plan can finally be realized!”

“Shut up! I won’t let you take Hana!” Si woo yelled.

Though the specifics of the priest’s plan were unclear, everything the Council had done thus far proved it couldn’t be anything good. There was no way Si woo would allow Hana to fall into their hands.

“You foolish boy. Our plans are not driven by selfish desires. Everything we do is for humanity.”

“Humanity? You dare call those mass slaughters acts for humanity? I know how holy water is made. I’ve seen its horrifying results! Claiming it’s for humanity is pure hypocrisy!”

Si woo thought back to the ingredients of the holy water he had seen while following the Vice Principal, and to the Archmage’s tragic end after using it. There was no justification for such atrocities.

“You speak as if you know everything,” the priest said. “But you understand nothing. If we do nothing, humanity is doomed.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because it was prophesied. The sudden gates, the monsters, the conflict with demons, a great war, and the Messiah’s sacrifice. Everything is unfolding as foretold in the Apocalypse.”

Si woo shook his head. He didn’t care about this so-called prophecy. Gates and monsters had appeared without explanation, and the war with demons was instigated by the black goat’s declaration.

He couldn’t accept any fate that demanded Hana’s sacrifice.

“All humans are born with original sin,” the priest continued. “The despair of this world stems from humanity’s imperfection. Through the Messiah’s death, we will erase original sin and become perfect beings.”

Si woo wasn’t swayed by the priest’s words. To him, it all sounded like the ravings of a madman.

“You’re using that as an excuse to kill innocent people?!” he shouted.

“You still don’t understand. Once we attain perfection, death will mean nothing. Humanity will transcend time, space, life, and death to become godlike.”

It was an absurd dream, one that defied all logic. Si woo couldn’t even imagine what the priest was describing.

“Picture it,” the priest urged. “A world without despair, where nothing can separate us—not even death.”

“A world like that… means nothing if achieved through the wrong means.”

“Then I have no choice,” the priest said, pulling something from his robes.

It was an ordinary gun—a simple, mundane weapon that would normally pose no threat to the powerful beings in the room.

But in this divine domain, where abilities were sealed, it was a deadly tool.

Bang!

The first shot pierced the pink hawk’s heart.

Bang!

The second shot went through the shark-mask apostle’s forehead.

The priest turned and aimed at the red dragon.

Bang!

The bullet grazed his shoulder, drawing a pained roar from the dragon. Once an invincible being, he was now no more than a vulnerable human.

“Such resilience,” the priest muttered, firing again.

Bang!

This time, the bullet shattered the dragon’s skull.

“Inside this cathedral, as long as no one interferes from the outside, I am God.”

In mere moments, the apostles who had accompanied them were all dead. The priest now turned his gun toward Si woo.

“Wait for me in paradise,” he said coldly.

“Stop!” Hana’s voice rang out, filling the cathedral.

All eyes turned to her. She held a spear to her own throat.

Seeing her, the priest clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Longinus… What a nuisance.”

Holding herself hostage, Hana spoke firmly. “Drop the gun. If you don’t, I’ll stab myself. You need me alive for your ritual, don’t you? Drop it now.”

“Why don’t you lower the spear first?” the priest countered.

“The gun first.”

“You’re such a bother.”

Bang!

The priest fired again.

The bullet struck Hana’s abdomen. She dropped the spear and collapsed to the ground.

“If you die, I’ll just use Kim Si woo instead,” the priest muttered, aiming the gun at her forehead.

“It’s best to eliminate unnecessary variables.”

As the trigger began to pull, the cathedral doors burst open.

“Who’s there?! How did you break the barrier?!”

A girl stormed in, yelling at the top of her lungs.

“Where the hell is that mangy mutt?!”