Ch. 202

Chapter 202: A Soul Within the Scrap Metal (2)

‘Demonic Energy is… 3.7 million!’

Checking his current Demonic Energy levels, Hyun quickly finished the calculations. It was an absurdly low number to trigger the skill at its maximum capacity. However, it was a sufficient amount to destroy a fortress.

[Durability: 5 / 20]

‘Just a little more…!’

Countless scenes of battle flashed before his eyes. They were so vivid that he could barely distinguish whether these were moments from memory or reality. Did Satina truly believe the real Darkness had descended into her body? If so, the Servant of Darkness was clearly determined to carry out her master’s will until the very end. Satina was moving as if she perfectly understood what Hyun wanted.

At a certain point, while charging forward and ignoring enemy soldiers and players, Satina’s Demonic Energy-saturated greatsword slammed into the center of the fortress. It was the preparatory motion to trigger a specific skill.

Soon, the earth began to wail. The wind, rotating slowly from the ground, transformed into a massive updraft in an instant.

Cr-crack, k-k-kzk!

Centering on the point where the sword was buried, the earth tore apart in a spiraling pattern. As the cyclone of Demonic Energy rose, the world turned pitch black. One could not see ahead through the darkness, nor hear anything over the roar created by the whirlwind.

And Hyun, even in that moment, could think of nothing because of Satina’s constantly fluctuating, intense emotions.

“What in the…!”

From a distance, Bahimir merely sprang up from his throne. The living creatures on the battlefield held their breath, blankly watching the gargantuan tornado that connected the earth to the sky.

The duration of «Ascension Strike» was 5 seconds. But even that time, which felt like it would last forever, finally drew to a close.

Flash!

His vision inverted. Because the fortress core was destroyed by the wide-range skill, the Ranking Ceremony ended in an instant.

[Durability: 0 / 4]

Hyun was immediately returned to the waiting room where they had been before the ceremony started. Bahimir and all his subordinates were gathered there, but no one could open their mouth first. Even Hyun’s body was trembling so much from the residual sensations that he couldn’t find his voice, only opening and closing his mouth silently.

The first to react was Satin, who had watched the entire battle from behind. She asked her twin sister a question.

“How did it feel…?”

“…….”

Satina was as silent as the dead. No—she simply didn’t have the strength left to speak for herself. Only Hyun could hear the faint answer squeezed out through the voice of the soul.

「It was… incredible…」

The voice transmitted was very small, yet it was heard with absolute clarity. By the time Hyun regained his senses, the Assimilation had already been canceled. The Golem’s body had become dust finer than powder, scattering over his collar.

A short while later, the surroundings became noisy and a notification appeared that the quest was complete, but Hyun still couldn’t react. The last low murmur of Satina echoed more intensely in his ears than the roar of the Ascension Strike or the cheers of the Duke’s subordinates celebrating their victory.

In a somewhat dark space.

A woman in long white robes suddenly looked up into the air with a dazed expression. A young man beside her found the sight strange and asked:

“Holy Maiden, is something the matter?”

“Holy Maiden…? Ah, me, it’s me…!”

The answer came a beat late.

“I just had a bad premonition.”

“A bad premonition…?”

As the young man answered, a rune briefly shimmered on the back of his hand. The brilliantly glowing lightning pattern was the Rune of a Celestial. However, his next words were hardly something one would expect from a Celestial.

“Was your trail followed by the Heavens?”

“It’s not that.”

“Or has our plan leaked to the Heavens…?”

“No, it’s not a matter of being caught or the plan going wrong…!”

The Holy Maiden—no, Louise—closed her eyes again and felt for the souls connected to her heart. In that instant, she realized that a thread that had been connected to her for a very long time had vanished. Even if «Empathy» was sealed, she could catch a glimpse of changes in a few souls that were firmly linked to her.

‘Has he died?’

Hyun. Even though five years had passed, his face was still vivid. Since Users did not age, he would look exactly like the face in her memories if they met again. She could know more for sure if she used Empathy….

The urge to release the seal surged up, but Louise suppressed her heart with effort. Since he was a User, she had to believe he would be fine.

“It is likely… nothing much.”

The moment she opened Empathy due to a momentary impulse, five years of planning might vanish like bubbles. Rather than that, Louise decided to endure a little longer. It was only a few days away now.

“Thank you… for listening to my selfish request….”

Satin’s voice echoed in the dark warehouse. It was a voice like a rusty robot’s, but Hyun could clearly feel a deep emotion mixed into that murmur now.

“Can you tell me… how my sister felt…?”

Hyun relayed Satina’s final words, and Satin wanted to know more about her sister’s final moments. It was quite a while before Hyun spoke.

“I don’t know exactly. The senses of you Golems seem a bit unique.”

“In what way…?”

“Humans’ emotions don’t change as drastically as yours. It’s probably the same for other races.”

“That means… my sister possessed a soul as well.”

The conversation with Satin was short and dry. But having experienced Satina’s case, Hyun felt many thoughts even in simple dialogue. He had learned that while the twin Golems appeared stoic, once the dam broke, their emotions exploded uncontrollably.

Hyun didn’t stay in the warehouse long. He was summoned by the Duke immediately after the Ranking Ceremony. Sure enough, as soon as Bahimir met Hyun, he asked about what had happened during the Usurpation Battle.

“What was that technique at the end?”

Hyun answered exactly as he had planned.

“It’s a skill that appeared because I was by Darkness’s side.”

He explained that when he woke up after five years, he had suddenly obtained a new skill. He didn’t tell the whole truth, but he didn’t include any lies either. Bahimir pondered for a moment before asking again.

“Does that mean Darkness relied on you?”

“I… wouldn’t know about that.”

“A User. Still an existence difficult to understand.”

Whether he was convinced by that answer or not, Bahimir wore an ambiguous expression. However, since he didn’t add anything further, Hyun didn’t bring up the topic anymore either.

“If you are truly one who gained the trust of Darkness… there is no need for suspicion. Very well.”

As promised, Bahimir granted permission to use the «Globe of Demons» .

“Marlen, guide him.”

“Yes.”

Hyun followed Marlen, Bahimir’s close aide. After passing through a red portal and entering an unknown location, the first sight that caught his eyes was the magnificent lava waterfalls pouring down from both sides. Hyun marveled as he crossed through the center of the intense heat. It seemed the Duke’s word about the Treasury’s location being changed was true. This was a place not in his knowledge.

“Phew… it’s changed into a truly incredible place.”

“Changed?”

In an instant, Marlen’s eyes narrowed.

“That makes it sound as if you have visited the Treasury of the Abyss before.”

“Ah, that’s… I heard it from the Duke recently. That security was heavily reinforced after an intruder….”

Hyun felt a chill. It was lucky he escaped the situation with a momentary excuse. His mindless muttering almost ruined everything.

‘That was close… I have to be careful from now on.’

It wouldn’t matter in front of ordinary NPCs, but he had to watch his mouth in front of Marlen, a story Named. Unlike the days of Asra, in Asrian, there were NPCs who could understand his mutterings.

At the end of the passage that looked like an embodiment of hell, a massive door slowly opened as two giant monsters with bone horns moved aside. Thanks to Bahimir’s message, all the strict security heading toward the Treasury had been deactivated.

“Please go ahead. I will wait here.”

“By myself?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, not a problem, but….”

Didn’t he say they would monitor him strictly? Because the Duke had said so, Hyun assumed Marlen and other monsters would follow him into the Treasury. But if there were no watching eyes, it was actually a welcome turn of events.

‘This way, it won’t be a problem even if I use both the necklace and the ring.’

And so, after several months—or several years—Hyun entered the Treasury of the Abyss once again. Walking slowly through the hallway where only his footsteps echoed, Hyun looked around.

‘This is still such an alien place.’

As he had seen before, items of unknown purpose within the Treasury were emitting various colors of magical power. It seemed a few things had been added that weren’t there before. Among them, Hyun soon found the model crafted in the image of the planets.

[An item registered in the Globe of Demons is in your inventory!]

[An item registered in the Globe of Demons is in your inventory!]

……

And once again, the messages that had perplexed him in the past began to pop up continuously. Back then he was flustered, but now he knew why the messages appeared.

‘It must be because of this.’

Hyun took out Louise’s necklace.

Vroom. Vroom. The necklace had been vibrating like crazy from the moment it left his inventory. The necklace moved as if being pulled toward a small altar, then— Clang! —it stuck to it like a magnet at a certain point.

Immediately after, Hyun could see a clear red dot appearing on the Globe of Demons. The location where the dot was placed was Louise’s current position.

‘First off, it’s on land.’

It wasn’t in the middle of the sea like before.

‘It’s not moving, either!’

He could also tell it wasn’t in the sky. This was because the position of the fixed red dot didn’t change even after waiting a long time. The location of the dot was a famous city in the Magic Kingdom.

‘The Magic Kingdom? Not the Empire?’

And he realized that Louise’s location had changed again compared to a few weeks ago. Perhaps she had stayed there all along, and the Empire was just a temporary stop. Either way, it was information he wouldn’t have known without using the Globe of Demons.

‘Using the Globe of Demons seems to have been the right move.’

Hyun stared at the spot indicated by the red dot for several minutes. Just in case the position moved. Since he had recorded it, he would be able to find her easily as long as Louise didn’t wander around.

‘Good, that’s one thing finished.’

After confirming Louise’s location, Hyun moved on to the next plan. He then placed the ring he had received from Mayday onto the altar.

‘This should be that guy’s.’

He already knew who the owner of the ring was. It was a Celestial. The reason demonic energy dwelled in a Celestial’s item was that the owner of the ring had once been deceived by a demon. To summarize, this ring was his source of shame. The energy of a Celestial who once held demonic energy instead of holy power was embedded here.

‘There aren’t many quests as easy as this… well, I guess she gave me this precious thing because she didn’t know anything.’

He felt grateful to Mayday once again. This ring was an item from which he could gain numerous things just by returning it to its owner! He might even be able to squeeze out a full set of Level 200 Unique equipment. Hyun’s heart was already pounding at the thought of leeching off a sucker.

‘Huh?’

But the excitement was short-lived. Hyun checked the position of the red dot rising in response to the ring’s demonic energy and rubbed his eyes.

‘Uh…?’

The second indicated position was the exact same location as the first—Louise’s position. Even when he zoomed in on the terrain through the magic circle’s interface, it was the same; in fact, the two dots were pinned at terrifyingly identical coordinates.

Hyun momentarily thought about what he might have misunderstood. Because the owner of the ring had never been involved with Darkness at all.

‘Louise is… with a Celestial?’

End of 202