NOVPUB“Seriously, they just keep coming.”
Whoosh!
Even though I was causing some moderate flames to threaten them, the monsters’ zeal toward us showed no signs of waning.
In fact, now that I was trying to conserve my magical energy and using only lower-level spells, there were even high-ranking monsters that were pushing through the fire.
‘The monsters’ levels are definitely rising.’
Just thirty minutes ago, there were only a few A-rank monsters, but now stronger ones were rapidly arriving.
It couldn’t be helped, given the smell of blood filling the air.
[Kraaack!]
Just then, one of the people who had been attacked by a griffin screamed mid-air.
Thud.
Blood rained down from the sky. It was likely a satisfying meal for the griffin.
‘Ah, that one’s dead.’
While I had kept their vitality activated for a while by instilling loneliness, this wasn’t without side effects, and it certainly didn’t make them invincible. If someone got torn apart like that, they couldn’t possibly regenerate in time.
[Aah... no resurrection!]
[It’s... dead... it’s really dead!]
[Gahhh!]
Even the administrators who had barely survived until now were spewing incomprehensible words after witnessing the scene. Whether it was from the fear of seeing a comrade die or from the strange joy of finally understanding how death felt, I wasn’t sure.
“Tsk, weaklings.”
What were they so distressed about, considering they had killed far fewer people than they had been killed themselves?
‘Anyway, it seems like I’m reaching my limit.’
I looked up at the sky while observing Leo, who was joyfully rampaging. I had been pushing these administrators into battle for nearly half a day now.
In truth, the fact that I had managed to distract this many monsters with only a small group of people was impressive. But now, it was becoming harder to hold on.
“So, the bait should be coming soon... but is it because the country’s so vast that... hmm?”
Just as I was about to cast a scouting spell, I noticed something.
Boom!
The sky on the horizon quickly became clouded.
The already darkened sky due to the setting sun turned even darker.
It was storm clouds.
Moreover, even though the distance was considerable, something so powerful was absorbing my magic that it began to interfere with my own magical energy.
‘Could it be Han Jaeyoung?’
If that’s the case, it meant that Han Jaeyoung had found Hyunam and was likely dealing with him. The size of the magic he was casting was so large that even I could feel it.
Boom!
Then, I saw white electrical elements gathering in the sky.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘That’s... seems like it’s mixed with purification power?’
If Han Jaeyoung was casting such a spell, then our assumption was correct—Hyunam was likely leading a group of zombies as guards.
I had already tested on one of the zombies inside the formation to see if purification power would work, and it did. If a purification-based attack magic was used, it would certainly work, no matter how many zombies there were.
‘If that’s the case, maybe this quest will end here.’
I looked toward the horizon with a bit of hope.
Then, Kwang!
The lightning struck, followed by thunder that took a moment to arrive.
I waited briefly.
If this had solved the problem, Han Jaeyoung would send me a message.
But unfortunately, the message that appeared a bit later wasn’t from Han Jaeyoung.
Instead, it was a red-letter notification from the system.
I furrowed my brow.
‘What on earth happened...?’
Had the magic failed?
But even if there had been a failure in casting the spell, it was surprising that a danger message like this would appear.
Even Yuhanul, who had been unreachable for the past three days, didn’t trigger such a message.
Moreover, Han Jaeyoung wasn’t the type to fall so easily.
The level of magic he had just cast had been high enough to surprise even me.
Perhaps he sensed my doubts.
A small monitor-like image appeared in my field of view.
“Wait, this is possible? Feels like an invasion of privacy... ugh.”
I swallowed my irritation.
The scene that Han Jaeyoung was viewing appeared on the screen.
And it... was quite disturbing.
There was blood and flesh scattered across the ruined land.
It looked like the aftermath of a massacre.
It seemed like Han Jaeyoung had collapsed, as his sight lowered and shook. Then, footsteps approached, and someone grabbed his head and lifted him up.
In Han Jaeyoung’s fading vision, I could make out the figure of the one who held him.
“...”
I silently looked at the figure through Han Jaeyoung’s sight.
The figure was distinctly different from the Western-looking Theo Yobanovich, but in appearance, it resembled Jeong Da-on more than I would have liked to admit.
‘What a disgusting look.’
Could this be the fragment of Orbis that’s using Hyunam’s name?
I hated to admit it, but objectively speaking, it kind of resembled ‘Jeong Da-on.’
That made me even more irritated.
“Who’s your sister? My only family is Jeong Dajeong.”
Poor Jeong Dajeong back in Korea must be getting a bit nervous.
But no matter what I said, Hyunam, who was holding Han Jaeyoung’s head, wouldn’t hear me.
The one-sided conversation continued.
I narrowed my eyes.
The scene before me.
The purification of the soul core.
And “an incompetent pawn.”
Now, I understood why Han Jaeyoung had been captured. After seeing the scene and hearing Hyunam’s words, I could guess what happened.
“...This is insane. Did they make Han Jaeyoung kill someone?”
Considering the information I had gathered, this seemed like the most likely explanation.
Perhaps Han Jaeyoung used the magic thinking the target was a zombie, but it turned out to be a person.
The greatest weakness of a fairy like him is that they cannot proactively kill, and exploiting that fact would make this scenario entirely possible.
However...
The issue here is that Hyunam had prepared such a trap because he knew about Han Jaeyoung’s characteristics beforehand.
‘Does Hyunam know about the rats around Han Jaeyoung?’ 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
This was unbelievable.
How did Hyunam know that Han Jaeyoung was part fairy?
There were no longer any sources for such information in Korea.
“Ugh, I don’t want to hear it...”
Hyunam’s voice, speaking so kindly, was chilling.
Even when I’d seen Theo Yobanovich, it had felt strange, but now, even though the appearance wasn’t the same, I could still feel Orbis’ presence in his voice and attitude.
“Hey, hive mind.”
I ignored Hyunam’s words and addressed the system.
“Do I really have to keep listening to this? I can’t even negotiate due to the quest...”
“...”
I fell silent for a moment before responding.
“Ugh... this damn hive mind.”
I felt like pulling my hair out.
Of course, I had suspected for some time that my information was leaking to the other side through some route, but to hear that they knew about my quest so blatantly... it made me feel disgusted.
And they knew far more than I had expected.
Thanks to these few hours of struggle, I had indeed completed the quest and unlocked some of my ability restrictions.
And, strictly speaking, this quest... though related to the “If you do good deeds...” quest, didn’t carry the risk of a higher penalty for failure.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
So even if I backed down now, it wouldn’t be a deadly blow.
But then why did they know about it?
Hyunam pointed to himself and smiled.
This implied he knew he was just a fragment of Orbis.
Whoosh.
As Hyunam spoke, the screen wavered.
The painful voice of Han Jaeyoung was audible. It was clear Hyunam had his hand around Han Jaeyoung’s neck.
The one who was inflicting pain wasn’t in a position to speak.
“...”
Han Jaeyoung’s ears were ringing with Hyunam’s voice.
That was the last message.
The video from the system turned black. It probably meant Han Jaeyoung’s consciousness had cut off.
I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them.
“Why do I have to make such a ‘heroic’ choice?”
It was so unfair.
Should I save one person, or save many?
No matter ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) how much I thought about it, this wasn’t a decision I should be making as someone who had fallen.
I just wanted to have fun deciding whether to kill one person or destroy the world!
But I couldn’t keep avoiding this decision.
The ten minutes were already ticking down.
Should I surrender and take Han Jaeyoung with me, or abandon him and protect the city?
“Grrr!”
Even in the midst of all this, Leo was still dealing with the incoming monsters.
Leo had been fighting for hours, and it was about time his stamina began to run out.
I clenched my lips tightly as I watched the approaching monsters.
Soon, I made my decision.
I pulled a short staff from my inventory and raised it high...
Boom!
With a deafening sound, the monsters charging toward Leo were obliterated.
The sound froze my body.
It wasn’t the noise that startled me.
The explosion came from a magic I hadn’t cast.
I turned my head.
“Ha!”
With a loud shout, a massive blade of energy extended from my staff, slicing through the monsters in front of me.
The blade... was unmistakable.
I didn’t need to look back to know who had arrived.
The swordsman who wielded that sword was one of the few in the world.
Yuhanul, with his eyes meeting mine, smiled.
“How tired are you that you didn’t notice me calling you? I’ve been calling you since earlier...”
“Hey!”
I yelled without thinking. Yuhanul’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Ah... no... Why?”
“You, where have you been all this time?”
“Uh... well, I was dealing with zombies...”
“Apologize to me first!”
“...Sorry?”
Thud!
I walked up to Yuhanul, who meekly apologized, and punched him.
Yuhanul, dazed, held his cheek.
“See? Even if you apologize, that doesn’t solve everything!”
“I’d still prefer there to be no more violence... Ow, that hurt.”
A true warrior’s entrance, huh?
I never expected Yuhanul to show up at this timing!
Looking at him, it was clear he was a mess.
I could easily guess why he had been missing for three days—he had clearly been through a tough battle.
But right now, I wasn’t in the mood to happily welcome this warrior's entrance.
I immediately gave Yuhanul an order.
“Yuhanul, you’re in charge here. This is the last line of defense for the city.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Judging by your condition, you’ll be overwhelmed, but I’ll leave Leo here, so the two of you just hold on. Reinforcements should be arriving soon.”
“Reinforcements? What do you mean... Wait, what are you planning to do?”
Boom!
Without answering, I shot a firework into the sky and stomped my foot.
And I wasn’t doing this to run forward.
Whoooooosh!
A massive wind like a typhoon swept through. Yuhanul staggered from the wind, but there was no time to worry about it.
The force of the power that rose within me was so overwhelming that I could barely control my own body.
But there was no time to enjoy the power I had regained.
I swung my massive black wings once, then shot off like an arrow.
Orbis.
Today will be the second day I tear your soul apart.
