Chapter 90: Anti-Antenon Alliance (1)
Immediately after arriving at the location, the first thing Sa-hyeok saw was Cheon Hun’s headless body lying on the ground.
This alone was enough to make him flinch.
No, it was more than just flinching.
The Master of Korea’s No. 1 Guild, beheaded and dead.
This was a major incident, enough to turn all of Korea upside down.
As Sa-hyeok stood there, dumbfounded and speechless…
Roll, roll-
Click!
The severed head rolled over and reattached itself to the body.
“…What the, what is that?”
A perfect restoration spell, as if time had been reversed.
Sa-hyeok had just witnessed Cheon Hun’s resurrection in real-time.
‘He came back to life after being beheaded?!’
He thought he had seen enough strange things.
No, that was a hasty judgment.
What he had seen so far was… nothing.
A man reattached his severed head!
“Ugh, I guess no matter how many times my head gets chopped off, I’ll never get used to it.”
Hun held his head with both hands and turned it this way and that, checking if it was properly attached (?).
Watching him, Sa-hyeok asked.
“How many times has your head been cut off…?”
“Yikes…!”
Hun flinched, surprised to see Sa-hyeok.
An awkward silence flowed between them for a moment.
Hun was the first to break the silence.
“…How much did you see?”
“I arrived to find you headless.”
“Hmm…”
“Are you… an android by any chance? With your arms, legs, and head all modular?”
“It’s just a regeneration spell, a regeneration spell. What kind of android…”
“I’ve never heard of a Heal skill capable of doing something like this.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone having a power like telekinesis either. But you have it, don’t you?”
Hun pointed at Sa-hyeok as he said this.
Sa-hyeok had no words to refute that.
It was like two equally strange people calling each other strange.
Sa-hyeok changed the subject.
“But who cut off your head?”
“You’re not asking why it was cut off, but who cut it off. I guess you have someone in mind?”
“There is one.”
“Then tell me the most distinctive feature of their appearance.”
“Was one of their ears cut off, by any chance?”
“How did you…?”
“I cut it off.”
“You cut it off?!”
“Then, Master, tell me what you saw.”
“Alright. Hmm… He was wearing green sunglasses.”
“I saw him wearing sunglasses, but they were green, huh.”
Sa-hyeok and Hun confirmed that they had encountered the same person.
Hun asked.
“Can you tell me what happened at the quarry?”
“Well…”
Sa-hyeok recounted everything that had happened in the underground quarry without holding back.
While Sa-hyeok was talking, Hun carefully scanned Sa-hyeok’s physical reactions with his eyes.
This act was more than just observation.
It was
A passive skill of Regeneration Sorcerers.
Basically, it’s a skill that allows you to thoroughly read the injured areas and damage taken by the opponent.
However, Regeneration Sorcerers of Cheon Hun’s level can use this to detect lies.
By comprehensively analyzing heart rate, blood circulation speed, pupil movement, and sweat secretion, they can judge the veracity of the opponent’s statements.
This was the skill he used to see through Gi-uk’s lie earlier.
Hun used Diagnosis to determine the truthfulness of Sa-hyeok’s words.
And the result was…
‘Truth.’
Everything Sa-hyeok said turned out to be true.
In other words, Hun’s
Then, a question arose.
‘Why didn’t the Heal skill work when the Diagnosis skill did?’
When Hun first encountered Sa-hyeok in front of Ma Gwan-ho’s residence.
He had subtly used the Heal skill on Sa-hyeok.
But the Heal skill didn’t work at all.
Even though the Diagnosis skill was working fine now.
‘As expected… Min Sa-hyeok, divine power doesn’t work on this guy. I don’t know why, though.’
“…And that’s what happened.”
Sa-hyeok recounted everything that had happened in the quarry dungeon.
Throughout his statement, Sa-hyeok did not lie.
Once that was confirmed, Hun thought to himself.
‘Good, first of all, this guy’s statement is all true.’
Assuming that was the case, Hun now had two issues to address.
First, what to do with Sa-hyeok, who was immune to his ‘divine power’ and knew his secret of ‘immortality.’
And second, how to deal with Antenon…
“But Master Cheon Hun, how do you plan to respond to Antenon?”
“Huh?”
Sa-hyeok spoke as if he had read Hun’s mind.
Hun said.
“Respond…”
At that moment, a brilliant idea struck Hun.
‘Let’s bring this guy in.’
Bring Sa-hyeok to his side and respond to Antenon together.
That way, he could keep Sa-hyeok close and under surveillance, while also using him as a fighting force against Antenon.
Just as he reached that thought…
“Why don’t we form an alliance?”
“Huh?!”
Hun flinched again, as if his thoughts had been read once more.
“Form an alliance, you say?”
“Antenon tried to k*ll me but failed, and Master, you were killed by Antenon but came back to life. This practically makes both of us targets of Antenon. Since we’re both targets, it’s better to respond together.”
Cheon Hun was inwardly surprised.
Because Sa-hyeok was having almost the same thoughts as him.
‘This guy is something else.’
The most common adjective used by the media to describe Cheon Hun was ‘strategist.’
In fact, among the Masters of the Five Major Guilds, he was the most adept at reading the situation and devising strategies.
There was a reason why DAVO was the No. 1 Guild in Korea.
But there was someone else who could think as quickly as he could?
‘I have to get him on my side.’
Hun held out his hand and said.
“Why don’t you join DAVO?”
“No, that’s a bit…”
“Alright, then let’s go with a temporary alliance. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine.”
Sa-hyeok clasped the hand offered to him.
It was a bizarre moment, an alliance between the Master of Korea’s No. 1 Guild and a single Hunter.
Sa-hyeok thought.
‘Good, this secures a foundation to fight against Antenon.’
He had only come to retrieve Colonnio, but he had gained such a significant advantage.
No, wait a minute.
‘Where is Colonnio?!’
Whirr, whirr, whirr-
The Colonnio, scattered by the shockwave earlier, began to gather together.
Seeing this, Sa-hyeok and Hun quickly assumed combat stances.
However, Colonnio did not make any moves.
“What is it…?”
[Calm down, Hyung-nim. It’s me.]
“Ah, it’s you?!”
[Yes. I’ve gathered all the scattered Colonnio beads.]
Hun was stunned by this sight.
Because it looked to him like Sa-hyeok was controlling Colonnio.
Thud!
Hun extended his right hand, clad in a gauntlet, and asked.
He was referring to the weapon that emitted shockwaves.
“What are you doing?!”
“Ah, well…”
“Controlling Colonnio, you’re not… from Antenon, are you…?”
“What?! No, that’s not it…”
Sa-hyeok briefly explained his entanglement with Colonnio.
“…So, in the process of clashing with Colonnio, I gained the ability to communicate with it.”
“…”
According to Diagnosis, this statement was also true.
Cheon Hun lowered his weapon and thought.
Just who is this guy?
Immune to ‘divine power’ and able to control Colonnio.
“…Alright. There are a lot of things that don’t add up, but let’s talk about the details after my funeral.”
“Ah, okay… Wait, whose funeral?!”
To the startled Sa-hyeok, Hun calmly replied.
“My funeral.”
Thud.
Saying that, Hun grabbed his head with both hands.
“I have no intention of being Antenon’s target.”
Crack.
With those words, Hun pulled his head off again.
══════════════════
A few hours later, in the basement of a building somewhere in the US.
A mysterious place, incredibly spacious, clandestine, and maintained under tight security.
Tszszszsz-
A portal opened there, and Gi-uk entered.
In one hand, he held the
Seeing Gi-uk, the Security Chief approached, bowing his waist and saying,
“You’ve arrived.”
“Where’s the Chairman?”
“Before that, please return the Divine Weapon first.”
Saying so, the Security Chief opened a thick, metal case.
Gi-uk placed the Hermes Knife inside, saying,
“It’s been well-improved. Unlike the previous version, you can now freely close the portal you’ve opened.”
“I’ll pass that on to the research team.”
Soon, the two stood in front of a large, iron door.
With a heavy sound, the door opened.
Gi-uk stepped through the doorway.
An enormously spacious room.
A gigantic magic circle adorned the vast floor.
Hundreds of layers of curves, hundreds of lines, thousands of symbols densely filled the expansive magic circle.
In the center of the magic circle, which emitted a soft glow, stood a cylindrical altar, and on top of it, something round and unidentified was being created.
And next to the altar, a man stood.
His face was hidden under a deeply pulled-down robe.
As soon as Gi-uk saw him, he knelt on one knee.
“You said to harvest the seed after at least five days of planting. As you commanded, I have retrieved the seed.”
“Good work.”
The man said as he took the seed from Gi-uk’s hand.
“With this, only three ingredients remain until the completion of ‘The Eye’. Deputy General Manager Yang Gi-uk.”
“Yes.”
“You seem to be badly injured?”
“There was a minor battle during the seed retrieval process.”
“The opponent?”
“A Hunter named Min Sa-hyeok and Cheon Hun……”
“Cheon Hun? From DAVO?”
“Yes. But don’t worry. I killed him for sure.”
“I don’t think killing one of the nation’s top-ranking Hunters is something to not worry about.”
“That’s……!”
“Still, sooner or later, he would have been an obstacle to the plan. Consider it taken care of in advance.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, two deaths…… It’s a sad thing.”
“Um…… I’m sorry, but I couldn’t k*ll one of them.”
“……What?”
“That Hunter named Min Sa-hyeok……”
“You killed Cheon Hun, but you couldn’t k*ll a nameless Hunter?”
“Yes, that’s……”
“It’s strange that he hasn’t caught Antenon’s attention if you failed to k*ll him. As soon as you leave, gather all the information you can about that Hunter and submit it. Understand?”
“I will obey.”
“You may leave.”
As Gi-uk exited through the door, the man placed the seed on the magic circle.
He then stepped outside the magic circle and activated the spell.
Crackle-
Blue sparks shot up from the magic circle.
‘The matured seed of the Contaminated Stone Golem…… With this, the 97th ingredient for the creation of
Tszszszsz-
The ingredient placed on the magic circle should have been disassembled and drawn up to the altar in the center.
However……
Bang!!
Instead of disassembling, the seed exploded with a tremendous roar.
A large crater remained where the seed had been.
The magic circle at that point had completely evaporated, as an added bonus.
It was a natural consequence.
That seed had been the one Sa-hyeok had messed with and ruined internally.
The man had a hunch.
That his spell had failed.
“D*mn it……!”
Rumble!
Throwing open the iron door, the man said,
“Bring Yang Gi-uk, now!”
══════════════════
That evening, Korea was in an uproar.
The Master of Korea’s No. 1 Guild had been found beheaded.
Not only the leaders of the Five Major Guilds, but also high-ranking government officials lined up to pay their respects at Cheon Hun’s funeral.
Even Antenon sent their condolences.
The news reported on this incident all day long, the police launched an investigation, and all sorts of rumors from self-proclaimed armchair detectives flooded SNS and online communities.
It was just the death of one man, but its impact was truly enormous.
While the funeral proceedings were underway, Cheon Hun’s body was placed in a secret room under his residence, as he had instructed while he was alive.
It was a special room that he had magically treated.
As the entire nation was engulfed in a wave of mourning…
Sa-hyeok went to his boarding house with Bang-ul-i.
Carrying a large suitcase filled with Colonnio.
“I’ll keep your retrieved body in the boarding house for the time being.”
[That’s for the best. It’s not good to reveal yourself right now.]
“Now, we have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
[Yes.]
“What should we start with? Should we decipher the contents of ‘that book’ first, or… should we talk about the memories you’ve recovered?”
[Let’s start with my memories.]
“Alright, tell me.”
