Ch. 219

Chapter 219: Louise’s Circumstances (1)

“Hyun…”

Louise offered him an awkward smile.

Darkness could effortlessly recognize its own shadow, no matter what form it took.

“I mean… as much as you missed me, did you really have to alter your appearance to match mine…?”

This was Louise’s first time witnessing Possession . Since all she knew about players changing their appearance came from brief rumors, she wasn’t aware that changing one’s gender or skeletal structure wasn’t an option.

“Phew…”

Hyun let out a heavy sigh—a mix of relief, gladness, and a touch of exasperation.

For a moment, he worried that as Louise’s identity solidified, her self-absorption had grown right along with it.

“Don’t say weird things. Ain is here too.”

Just in case, Hyun added that line to keep any unnecessary drama from stirring up.

Hyun asked the questions that had been weighing on his mind, and Louise’s story cleared up most of his lingering doubts.

“That day, after the ritual ended, a fraction of my memories returned. They were faint, but enough to show me what I needed to do.”

“Why did you seal Empathy?”

“Because… that power was still beyond my control.”

Louise was well aware of her own weakness.

She was level 300—a laughably low number compared to the countless named NPCs out there. Having failed to shed her human flesh, it was almost embarrassing to call herself a Transcendent. Lacking the ability to convert Empathy into raw power, and with the risk of exposing her location because of it, Louise had resolved to seal Empathy away until she could reclaim the rest of her strength.

“The Abyss is crawling with spies from the Heavens as well. Hyun, that was why I warned you not to trust anyone.”

Hyun nodded as he listened. It was thanks to that warning that he had been more suspicious of Karma and managed to uncover her true identity along the way.

“So hiding in a place like this was also to dodge the eyes of the Heavens?”

“Partly, of course, but the more pressing reason was to gather materials that can only be obtained in the Labyrinth.”

“What materials?”

“These right here—Magic Stones!”

Louise pulled out a stone radiating a soft blue light. Judging by its luster alone, it looked to be at least Grade 13.

The reason Louise had spent five years in the Labyrinth was to collect a sufficient quantity of Magic Stones while staying off the Heavens’ radar.

“Why Magic Stones?”

“Fufu, to awaken my subordinates who lie asleep across the world.”

Louise smiled proudly as she explained their purpose.

“You can awaken them with Magic Stones?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you don’t need Divine Stones.”

Awakening Schatin and Schatina had required Divine Stones. The method Louise was using to awaken her subordinates ought to be the same.

“Of course, if my regained memories serve me right, I am certain of it!”

Yet, according to Louise, Magic Stones could achieve the exact same result. Was Darkness’s own innate power filling in the missing Divine Power? Or perhaps she was trying to awaken subordinates who lacked demonic energy altogether?

Since he couldn’t know the full details, Hyun decided to drop it for now.

‘Reviving her subordinates, huh.’

Louise’s plan didn’t seem bad. At this point in time, the servants of Darkness were far more powerful than Darkness itself.

‘Though I guess she couldn’t possibly head there alone.’

If it mirrored the events of Asra, the next destination for Darkness would be the Heavens—the isolated island under the strict surveillance of the Devas. Facing the Devas with her current strength was out of the question, so borrowing the power of her subordinates was an absolute necessity.

“Priestess-sama, did you move ahead on your own?! Didn’t I tell you to wait until I secured an escape route…?! Huh?”

A new voice chimed in just as Hyun and Louise were wrapping up their core conversation.

Pappy looked back and forth between Hyun and Louise. They looked identical, like twins. Perplexed, he knit his brows.

“Why are there… two Priestesses?”

Flash! Hyun canceled the remaining duration of Possession to avoid any useless misunderstandings.

Even so, Pappy was no less confused. From his perspective, one of the Priestesses had effectively transformed into an unfamiliar girl.

“Why did that girl bear your appearance, Priestess-sama?”

Louise stepped in to clear the air.

“It is a type of skill. Are there not many unique individuals among the players? So… well… through a similar principle, she took on a form that mirrors mine.”

“A player…? Is she someone you know, Priestess-sama?”

“Yes! Come to think of it, I mentioned her to you before!”

Louise clapped her hands together as something clicked, continuing enthusiastically.

“She is the player recognized by Radiate!”

“Recognized by… the great Radiate-sama?”

“Fufu, look for yourself. Though she is a player, the Deva’s Rune is carved onto the back of her hand. Is that not proof that my words are true?!”

‘Wait a minute…!’

Listening quietly, a startled Hyun immediately assimilated into Louise.

He understood Louise’s intention—she was trying to use Radiate’s name to make a good first impression for Ain. But…

「Hey, Ain isn’t with the Heavens anymore! She switched to the Abyss because of you!」

「Huh? The Abyss?」

「Yeah, her alignment flipped as soon as the Main Quest ended!」

Was Louise’s slip of the tongue going to spark suspicion from their very first meeting?

“Ahem…”

Unable to withstand the gazes locked onto her, Ain broke into a cold sweat and pulled off her glove.

Revealed on the back of her hand was the Deva’s Rune. But in front of a real Deva, a false rune would be exposed in no time.

As she nervously extended her hand expecting to be called out, the reaction that followed was entirely unexpected.

“It really… is.”

‘Huh?’

“I am surprised. To think that story was entirely true… To be honest, I thought many of your words, Priestess-sama, were absurd.”

“Phew… Would this one ever lie to you…?”

‘What gives?’

Hyun couldn’t grasp the situation for a second. No matter how much of a pushover Pappy was, he was still a Deva—how could he fail to discern the authenticity of the rune?

‘Wait, could it be?’

In that brief moment, a realization flashed through his mind.

Hyun knew he was no master actor, but he had always considered himself far better at it than Ain. So why was it that NPCs constantly fell for Ain’s bluffs?

‘No way, is it that title?’

[Deceiver]

• Magic Power +15
• Increases the chance of deceiving targets without being caught.

• <You Deceit! Demon Kaidrial, Praise audacity! be completely deceived have of the to your>

It was a title Ain had obtained way back in the early game, so much so that he often forgot it even existed. Hyun had assumed its performance was mediocre for a title with a grand word like Deceiver , but if its effect was powerful enough to fool even a Deva, that was a whole different story.

‘I can’t think of anything else. Is it really because of the title?’

Hyun made a mental note to thoroughly research the exact effects of Deceiver later.

“I see. So this is the player who was with you in Iluna, Priestess-sama…”

Ever since verifying Ain’s rune, the suspicion in Pappy’s voice had completely evaporated. He looked back at Louise and asked a few questions as if confirming the facts.

“Your words were true, Priestess-sama.”

“Indeed.”

“And it is also true that you share a deep friendship with the player recognized by Radiate-sama…!”

“Ah, that’s a different player… There is one other player who earned Radiate’s recognition.”

“Haha… If two such players are assisting you, then you will soon be able to cleanse your demonic energy, Priestess-sama!”

“I suppose…?”

It was while listening quietly to Pappy’s words that Hyun felt a sudden sense of dissonance.

「Hey, wait a second, you…」

「Ah, I didn’t tell you beforehand! This Deva is helping me out.」

「No, that’s not the issue right now.」

Up until now, Hyun couldn’t fathom why a Deva was aiding Louise. Why was a Deva traveling alongside an Archdemon?

What Louise was muttering beside him differed drastically from the facts he knew.

「Why would an Archdemon cleanse her demonic energy?」

「Ah, about that.」

「You say your goal is to reclaim your power, but he thinks your goal is to cleanse it. Which one is the truth?」

「Why, mine is the truth, of course…?」

It took Louise a long time to start stammering out an explanation.

The story went back quite a bit. Back when Hyun used to hunt and play around with Louise, he had shared all sorts of stories with her—wondrous locations across Asra, interesting events, peculiar NPCs.

Among those was the tale of a Deva named Pappy. Hyun had excitedly regaled her with how he used Pappy’s dark history to bleed him dry of resources.

And Louise, as it turned out, had remembered every bit of that useless banter.

「Didn’t you and Ain use trickery on Radiate as well…? I simply… used a similar method.」

No, it hadn’t been useless banter at all! Thanks to that, Louise had leveraged her connection with Radiate to pull the wool over Pappy’s eyes!

「Does he know you’re a demon?」 Hyun asked, a thought suddenly crossing his mind.

「…」

There was no verbal answer, but the silence itself spoke volumes. It was only after a prolonged pause that Louise blurted out an excuse.

「I was never asked such a question… so there was no need for me to answer it first… was there…?」

Hearing Louise’s voice trail off, Hyun fell into a profound crisis of conscience. That self-justifying attitude was far too identical to someone he knew all too well—it was like looking into a mirror. They say growing children absorb the behavior of adults around them like a sponge.

Had he been a terrible influence on Louise?

「Hey, this is a total demon move, isn’t it? No, wait, you are a demon… an Archdemon!」

Still, fooling him for five whole years was going too far. A Deva’s lifespan might span thousands of years, but to an ordinary human, five years was a staggering amount of time.

Just as Hyun was about to chew her out, Louise’s voice suddenly brimmed with resentment.

「I only deceived him for a short while!」

「What? Five years is a short while?!」

「Is it not? Radiate was tricked by you and received a life sentence!」

‘…?’

「And I had no other choice back then! You don’t know what happened after the ritual ended! A war broke out there! I was in no position to pick and choose my methods just to survive…!」

Hyun couldn’t immediately bring himself to reply to Louise’s defense. The moment Radiate’s name crossed his mind, a completely different thought took root.

Setting aside Louise’s intensely trembling emotions, Hyun posed a new question.

「What happened to Radiate?」

「I heard he was imprisoned somewhere.」

「A life sentence…?」

「That is what Pappy said, so I cannot be certain… but it seems to be the case.」

In an instant, a wave of complex emotions tangled around Hyun’s conscience.

After a long silence, he muttered in a grave voice.

「Louise.」

「Ar-are you planning to reveal my true identity to Pappy?!」

「No… I just think it’s best if we get our stories straight first.」

Louise (Lv. 300)

<Currently (Lv. 189) Assimilated Hyun of: soul the with>

HP: 295,200 / 295,200

MP: 7,350 / 7,350

Demonic Energy: 7,632,740 (+300,300) / 9,899,000 (+300,300)

[STR 302 (+12)] [AGI 354 (+29)] [VIT 966 (+18)] [MAG 468 (+267)]

– <Expand+>

Scanning her status window, Hyun could tell that Louise hadn’t just grown physically.

While slightly lacking for a level 300 Named NPC, her specs were overwhelmingly dominant compared to level 300 players or ordinary NPCs.

‘She’s making good use of that weapon I accidentally gave her back then.’

It was a Unique weapon called Black Lancer’s Magic Rod . He recalled gifting it to Louise because he misread Magic Rod as Magic Wand . Why a weapon containing the word Rod turned out to be a long spear remained a mystery, but either way, Louise’s ability to wield such a weapon was thanks to her previously lacking Strength and Agility being supplemented.

Still, what stood out far more than her attributes was the shift in her Demonic Energy capacity!

‘The maximum cap is nearly ten million…?’

That absurd figure was undeniable proof that she was Darkness itself.

‘Setting everything else aside, how on earth did she excuse using Demonic Energy to Pappy?’

The thought crossed his mind as they backtracked through the Labyrinth. When he asked Louise, he got a quick answer.

「About that… I told him I was tricked by Deceit into praying to a demon instead of an angel, and as a result, I became tainted by demonic energy.」

「That’s a masterfully woven lie mixing truth and falsehood.」

From Radiate to Kaidrial, it seemed Louise had been name-dropping left and right to pull off her scheme.