“The Church of Infinity isn’t as grand or fearsome a religion as I thought.”
In truth, it is a frightening and formidable religion. Infiltrating a multinational facility to this degree, or inserting this many of their own cult members, is no easy feat. Just considering the jewels displayed at the exhibition hall, one can only guess how much they invested for today.
Thinking that the only future left for me anyway was being murdered by Anna, my loose mouth began running off on its own.
“I had thought the Church of Infinity’s believers were composed of high loyalty and unwavering faith, but I never imagined they’d sway like reeds at just a few words from an outsider.”
Doubt and anxiety are contagious. If even four or five out of roughly sixty armed Church of Infinity believers harbored suspicions about the current situation, the broadcast would have served its purpose. As suspicions and conflicts deepen among the believers, the escape of those held captive might become easier. Anna, who had been wearing a displeased expression until just moments ago, smiled as if my crude provocation was amusing and spoke.
“There’s no religion in the world without that degree of flaw. And unlike the fools who equate themselves with their religion, I am different. What you’ve shaken up is quite entertaining.”
Anna trampled my gun with her bleeding leg and asked.
“It’s just because cleaning up afterward is a hassle. Is that all you have to say?”
If I said it was over, Anna would probably tell me to die and start shooting. The Anna I had seen seemed like the type to do that.
“You’re going to kill me no matter what I say, aren’t you, Anna?”
Anna curled up the corner of her lips and spoke in a low voice. So she knew my name.
“If you’re worth keeping alive, I’ll keep you alive. Though it won’t be for long.”
Anna added an ominous remark.
“I like watching men die in fear, you see.”
“······.”
“If you don’t like that, use the miracle you experienced to fill my head with obedience to you.”
“······.”
I earnestly wished in my heart that Baek Ae-young was safe somewhere in these bushes. If she was unharmed, I begged her to save me. Anna looked at my pathetic state and abruptly ordered me to do something strange.
“Savior. ······Tousle your hair with your hand.”
“What?”
“You said you’re the Savior. I want to see if it’s real. Run your hand through your hair.”
About to refuse, I caught Anna’s gaze and instead ran my uninjured right hand over my scalp two or three times, ruffling it. My right hand trembled violently from nervousness. I swept the hair on the right side over to the left, then raised and lowered my bangs, running my fingers through my hair this way and that. Why was she making me do this meaningless grooming? Was she going to shoot my skull?
Anna watched me awkwardly running my hand through my hair and said.
“I think you’d suit white hair better.”
“······But I have black hair?”
“You must not look in mirrors. Your hair is turning white, as if struck by light.”
“It’s probably gray hair. The staff at the underwater base and the Church of Infinity believers have stressed me out so much.”
“Then I’ll stress you out the most. If I try a little harder, I think you’ll turn completely white.”
What was that supposed to mean? Was more of my hair turning white than I realized? Anna jerked her chin in the opposite direction from where I had been heading. It seemed to mean we should return toward the main building. A cold voice gave me an order.
“Walk.”
Hearing Anna’s words, I realized she wasn’t going to kill me on the spot. I didn’t feel particularly grateful. There must be a good reason not to kill me. If she killed me rashly and lacked an offering for the altar, she’d have to come back here, and I thought she was keeping me alive to correct the broadcast from earlier as well.
Not wanting to go back, I stood stock-still like a statue, and my opponent closed the distance like lightning before kicking my shin with the toe of her shoe. With both hands still raised above my head, one leg buckled. I don’t know what Anna’s shoes were made of, but a pain as if my shin had shattered washed over me. When I came to my senses, I was rolling on the dirt, and Anna jabbed my waist several times with the gun barrel, speaking as if annoyed.
“Don’t make me say it twice. If you don’t want to die.”
The words “just kill me here” rose to my throat, but the faces of my family passed before my eyes one by one. ······Even if it was dirty and pathetic, I would endure. Suppressing the groans and curses that felt ready to burst out, I began walking through the grass, limping. It wasn’t easy. Pushing the grass back with my intact right arm and hobbling on my right leg, I felt like collapsing to the ground at any moment.
I wondered how forcefully she had kicked my shin; it felt like my right leg had been completely shattered from that single kick by Anna. It was heaven and earth compared to Baek Ae-young’s kicks. Or perhaps Baek Ae-young had been holding back.
As I was limping in the direction indicated, Anna told me to stop right there. Stopping in place without knowing why, Anna looked around at the tall surrounding grass. Shortly after, Anna commanded me to walk forward again.
As I took about two steps, a question flew from behind me.
“Savior. Where were you going?”
Her tone was rather gentle. It was as if she were asking a loose dog a question; had I not felt the gun barrel pressing into my back, I might have mistaken it for a stroll. Even as Anna asked me questions, she constantly surveyed the surroundings. As if she thought someone might attack at any moment.
I couldn’t truthfully answer that I had been going to the heavy equipment storage building. So I recalled the beach stretching out in the distance before I had plunged into the wide field of grass, and lied.
“I was heading to the beach.”
“Why?”
“If people who escaped by the escape craft swam ashore, they’d come up on the beach side.”
“The person who was with you?”
“I was walking alone.”
Anna jabbed my back hard with the gun barrel, as if I were a living toy. Huk! My body trembled at the pain of steel piercing the area where my spine was. Anna spoke as if enjoying my pathetic state.
“That’s a lie. I heard there was a woman traveling with you.”
“······We split up as soon as she hurt her hand. She said she was going to the hospital.”
“Really? Then that’s a lie too. Your gun isn’t the one that hit my leg. When I picked up your fingers, I approached your gun, but I couldn’t sense any smell or heat.”
The gun barrel pressed into my back once more. This time, the pain was so great that a groan burst out on its own. Anna seemed not to have met Baek Ae-young yet. I know my lying skills aren’t that good. But I couldn’t exactly tell the truth.
I became certain that Baek Ae-young must be somewhere around these bushes. Hoping that Anna’s guard would slacken even slightly or that an opportunity would present itself to Baek Ae-young, I asked a question.
“May I ask a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“What wish did you put in the pounamu gem attached to your gun?”
“What wish do you think it holds?”
“I don’t know.”
“Guess. You are the Savior, after all. You need to know the desires of the believers to save them, don’t you?”
“Lining people up and shooting them dead, or spreading a plague, something like that, isn’t it.”
Or, like the Church of Infinity believers, wanting to return to some point in the past. Anna said something so shocking, it was like someone banging on a window in the middle of the night.
“I am praying for humanity’s peace.”
“······Humanity’s peace?”
Surprised, I stopped walking and tried to turn around, but Anna prodded my back with the gun barrel and pushed me forward. Coming to my senses, I hurriedly faced forward and walked through the grass. Had I heard wrong?
“Do you think it’s a strange wish?”
“No. It’s just not the kind of wish I would have expected from someone who beats people like a drum.”
Anna prodded my back again. This time, it wasn’t as painfully intense as the previous jabs. Perhaps she just wanted to poke my back with a chunk of metal for fun. Judging by the stinging, I must have several bruises on my back.
“I sincerely wish for humanity to live in peace on this earth. That’s why I believe 70% of humanity, out of the more than 10 billion, must die. Honestly, I think even 3 billion is too many, but.”
“I see. So there are tastes like that in the world.”
I had been listening to Anna’s wish in a daze, but it seemed so different from what Kim Jae-hee had said about the Church of Infinity that I asked again.
“The people you want to kill are actually the believers who joined the Church of Infinity, aren’t they?”
Unexpectedly, Anna affirmed my question with an answer.
“That’s right. It’s a religion for those wealthy enough to possess at least one gem, and most of its members are citizens of developed nations. How do you think they acquired the jewels displayed at the exhibition hall? And most of their wishes are things like save me who is terminally ill, bring back my dead family, let me return to the days of beautiful glory.”
Anna spoke as if the Church of Infinity were somewhat repulsive, but I couldn’t understand how the Church of Infinity had recruited her.
“How did you end up working together?”
“Because our goal of terrorizing the underwater base is the same. Almost all of the staff at this underwater base and on Daehan Island are from the eight developed nations. Since my wish calls for mass deaths centered on people from developed nations, a terrorist attack on the underwater base is like winning the lottery.”
So Anna and the Church of Infinity are terrorist comrades. The others were bound to the Church of Infinity by religion.