There is something called a Crime Coefficient.
Cultists of evil gods are divided into dozens of sects.
Among them, characters affiliated with the “Cult of Sin” share a power that grows stronger the more sins they commit.
It is literally their crime coefficient.
“My sister is part of the Cult of Sin. She said so herself, so it must be true. She can’t lie to me very well.”
I had once shared various pieces of information with Ira Sol to prepare against potential terrorism.
The testimony I heard back then proved to be immensely helpful.
Cultists of the “Cult of Sin” are particularly powerful compared to other heretics, but they carry a fatal weakness.
That is…
“Guhhh… This, this can’t be…!”
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
I shook the holy water in my hand.
The clear sound of it splashing echoed in the air.
By the way, this stuff is incredibly expensive.
I had to scrape together all the money I’d been saving just to buy it.
Ira Yun staggered, emitting a burning smell, and stared in horror at the pile of holy water in my hands.
She could never have imagined that a mere cadet would smuggle holy water into the mixed competition.
Anyway, fighting members of the Cult of Sin was easy as long as you had holy water prepared.
The problem is that no one usually carries holy water in their daily life.
I chuckled at the succubus writhing in agony.
“Looks like you’ve committed a lot of sins. Hurts that much, huh?”
The higher the crime coefficient, the more damage one takes from holy water.
Ira Yun, who looked like she had suffered third-degree burns just from a light graze, must have been a truly heinous criminal.
Even though she was a friend’s relative, I didn’t feel a shred of guilt attacking her.
Ira Sol agreed as well.
Heretics were nothing but a harmful menace that needed to be eradicated.
“You insolent wench…!”
Ira Yun spat a stereotypical villain line as she raised her whip.
Even in the hands of an ordinary person, a whip’s tip can easily surpass the speed of sound.
In the hands of an Awakened like her, it tore through the air as if it could rip space apart.
Even after being hit with holy water, she still had this much strength.
It was impressive, but I wasn’t fazed.
Ira Sol had already briefed me on Ira Yun’s equipment.
This was a capture-the-flag arena filled with obstacles and traps.
Every time Ira Yun attacked, the numerous traps scattered across the field took the hit for me.
Of course, they were destroyed instantly upon contact, but they served as excellent disposable shields, allowing me to close the distance.
I had prepared a short dagger, considering the environment of the arena.
The dagger sliced through the ends of Ira Yun’s hair as it passed.
Taking advantage of her disrupted posture, I threw more holy water.
“Kyaaaah!”
Ira Yun screamed like a vampire facing the sun.
She completely collapsed. I approached to finish her off and take her mental stabilization artifact.
—BOOM!
Suddenly, a powerful explosion echoed from somewhere.
At the same time, the microphones connected to the briefing room lost power and fell silent.
The explosion hadn’t come from within the arena.
Judging from the situation, it was a more fundamental issue.
“This is…”
“Hah, haha! You, I’ll see you later!”
Damn it, I had let my guard down, something I’d never usually do.
Before I knew it, instead of the retreating Ira Yun, heretics from elsewhere had begun charging toward me—those who had previously ambushed other cadets.
“Ah, seriously…”
The mental stabilization artifact was right in front of me.
Did I really let it slip through my fingers like an idiot?
I looked down at my hand.
Beneath the half-gloves I had been wearing since handing over “Promised Ruin” to Kang Han that day was a ring.
Preparations had to be made before malice was injected into the protagonist.
It seemed like things were about to get a bit troublesome.
“Run! This way! This way!”
The cadets, who had been waiting to participate in the mixed competition, began rushing out en masse to focus on rescuing civilians.
Kang Han was no exception.
However, to avoid risking a rampage, he refrained from using excessive power, instead fighting the heretics that continued to appear from somewhere.
In the midst of this, a loud rumble was heard, followed by a barrier of magic sweeping across the space in an instant.
“This is…!”
“The simulation room!”
The cadets, witnessing the same phenomenon, were convinced.
The academy had expanded the simulation space not just within the arena but outward as well.
The intention was unmistakable: minimizing civilian casualties.
Today’s events would likely cause astronomical expenses for the academy.
But it was a necessary cost to save lives.
Thanks to this decision, Kang Han and the cadets could now unleash their full potential more actively.
With no need to worry about harming civilians, they no longer had to hold back on wide-range attacks.
Having been forced into passive defense to protect others, the cadets now saw their chance to counterattack.
Just as one cadet prepared to make the first move:
“Crus—”
Splat.
The cadet collapsed, blood gushing from every pore in their body.
The sight of someone dying from Seven Orifices Bloodshed left everyone speechless.
It was clearly the work of heretics.
“Fall back!”
One quick-thinking cadet shouted.
The call was right.
Fighting heretics in a place crowded with helpless civilians or corpses was not a good idea.
It might have been wiser to challenge fish to a swimming contest in the ocean.
But with people still left behind, they couldn’t simply retreat.
In that moment of indecision:
“Raaaahhhh!”
Kang Han, now surrounded by a menacing aura of malicious energy and with bulging muscles, dashed in a particular direction.
Moments later, he returned, holding the head of a heretic.
It was the culprit behind the Seven Orifices Bloodshed.
The Berserker class had a unique characteristic: the deeper their rampage, the more their entire body’s senses opened up.
Their instinctual decision-making system became sharper and more precise than that of a trained hunter.
Using curses in front of such a being was tantamount to suicide. Even hiding in a crowd wouldn’t change the outcome.
Kang Han’s actions inspired the other cadets.
“Ah, ahhh!”
“Dammit, kill them all!”
Those who had been momentarily intimidated now began to fully engage the heretics.
Kang Han, who had sparked this momentum, exited his berserk state and pressed his throbbing temples, taking a deep breath.
‘Joo Yidam.’
Thoughts of a certain girl had been occupying his mind for a while now.
No matter who else he might lose, he couldn’t afford to lose Joo Yidam.
Fresh out of a mild berserk state, Kang Han’s emotions had become brutally honest, though he himself was unaware of it.
‘Right now, Joo Yidam should be participating in the flag competition.’
He couldn’t make any rash decisions without knowing the exact scale of the heretics’ assault.
For some reason, there was no directive coming from the operator room either.
Perhaps it had something to do with the explosion earlier.
Now that he thought about it, the CCTVs and microphones installed throughout the arena were powerless and limp.
Kang Han intuitively felt he had to head to the operator room, the place that could control this situation.
Going to find Joo Yidam right now would be a foolish move.
This decision, which seemed like taking the long way around, would ultimately allow him to find her faster.
So Kang Han headed toward the operator room, trusting the other cadets and the security hunters to rescue the civilians.
But along the way, obstacles kept trying to drag him down.
Heretics.
Under the influence of the simulation room, these already-suicidal attackers had now begun to rely primarily on self-destruction.
No matter how strong Kang Han was, things became different when the opponent was intent on mutual destruction.
Even a berserker couldn’t handle all the damage alone.
Had he stayed with the others and systematically defended, he wouldn’t have been so gravely injured.
But Kang Han’s top priority was Joo Yidam.
Moving together would have meant significant delays if anything happened to her.
In conclusion, the situation was far from favorable.
“Ugh… Huff…”
Kang Han faltered, momentarily dropping to one knee as he failed to endure the accumulated damage to his body.
He coughed up blood pooling in his lungs and checked where he was injured.
Heretics’ attacks were highly likely to be laced with curses.
Getting caught in even a minor explosion or receiving a scratch would inevitably lead to a decline in physical function.
Thankfully, he still had no issues with his fingers or toes.
He could keep fighting.
Just as Kang Han decided to get back up:
Creak. Creak.
A faint sound of broken wheels echoed from somewhere.
Turning his head, Kang Han spotted a broken guide android approaching him.
It was unclear what had happened to it, but there wasn’t a single undamaged part of the robot.
It was all bent or shattered, a horrifying sight.
Yet it kept moving forward on its barely functioning wheels.
Kang Han initially tried to ignore it and walk past, but one word stopped him in his tracks.
“Yi… Yidam, Joo Yidam, Joo Yidam.”
“…?!”
Hearing the android’s words, Kang Han’s head whipped around.
He strode over and grabbed the robot.
“What did you just—”
At that moment, the robot’s head turned toward Kang Han and locked its gaze onto him.
It began spouting information.
“Joo Yidam, ranked 119, special condition: infertile due to free sparring.”
“…Huh?”
Perhaps the mental attacks, a specialty of evil god worshippers, had already begun.
That was the only conclusion Kang Han could reach.