‘What is he thinking?’
BM squinted his eyes.
He couldn’t understand what Yu Jitae was thinking.
‘Only those willing to sacrifice their lives may come in to face the truth…’ This was by no means a justification or reason and was just avoiding the situation altogether.
‘Is he really going to kill everyone that goes inside?’
That appeared to be his intention. It was as if an omnipotent being was suddenly being hostile to humanity but what purpose would this have apart from a simple instillment of fear?
“What should we do sir. It seems that we shouldn’t just barge in.”
“I wonder what they want to do…”
“For now, I think we must wait and see until we get further support.”
The advisors were confused from the abrupt incomprehensible turn of events while BM gave a frown from the side.
‘What are you thinking, Yu Jitae…’
It’s not that they could stop the raid altogether just because of his words and someone would inevitably end up going in.
If someone did go in, Yu Jitae would react by either killing or letting the person live. If that person were to return alive, there would be no point to this nonsense and if they were to die, then the Last Squad of Humanity would never be able to retreat in front of such an alarming situation.
Either way would not be a good solution.
‘……Wait, but who would go in?’
BM suddenly had a strange trail of thought.
The pressure Yu Jitae gave off just then was like an elephant pressing down on a tiny doll.
It was a ridiculous amount of aura. Even he, who personally knew Yu Jitae, felt like he would be killed without a doubt upon entering so who would possibly enter the fissure?
The answer was ‘someone’. BM had unconsciously been thinking as a habit that someone would go in.
Who was that someone?
‘It’s been too long that I forgot about it…’
An SSS-rank black dragon that humanity had never anticipated, plus the enormous damage that it caused.
R5: Bursted Grenade.
This land had one existence who would appear from somewhere within the heavens to protect the world whenever massive problems like this occurred.
BM finally realised what Yu Jitae was trying to do.
He wasn’t intending to explain himself in the first place. Yu Jitae had separated the dimensions and was buying time to have a private conversation with ‘him’.
The moment BM’s mind reached such thoughts, a new presence appeared in the sky.
“He has finally come…”
“To think I would see him again…”
The saviour who would solve any problems – the heavens opened as a large ball began to descend. The ball surrounded by strands of light gave off a divine aura.
Before long, the sphere divided into eight branches of long and thin crystals, revealing the person inside.
[Oscar Brzenk]
Rank 1
The Earth’s Sovereign descended towards the fissure.
***
A transparent glass mask protecting the face and the eyes. In addition to the armour, the cape, gloves and the [Heaven-destroying Eight Wings] behind his back, he also had a necklace and rings. His entire body was wrapped with gears. The weakest of them were Level 3 artifacts while some of them were Level 4.
In addition, the long sword hanging in his waist was a Level 5 artifact – a weapon dedicated for the sovereign.
Oscar Brzenk.
He entered the dark fissure without saying a word and faced Yu Jitae.
It had been a while since Yu Jitae last saw him.
In various iterations, Yu Jitae had come across Oscar Brzenk. In some iterations Yu Jitae was on the side of the Association and sometimes he was an enemy of the Association but the Regressor had never created a conflict with the Sovereign.
They both had the same objective of wishing to take care of Earth, and they were both being supported by [Vintage Clock (EX)].
After coming across Yu Jitae in the dark fissure, Oscar Brzenk gazed behind his back and looked at the black dragon.
“First time seeing you in person. I assume you are Prophet Season.”
“I am. Brzenk.”
“What is with all this commotion.”
Oscar Brzenk was always aware of a lot of things because he received information from Providence. He naturally knew about Yu Jitae already to some extent.
“I have done this to set the stage for you to come. To have a conversation about the future treatment of that dragon.”
“…No wonder my head’s been aching these days. I’ve been getting a surge of information on potential danger that was impossible to decipher no matter what but,”
The existence giving information to Oscar Brzenk was none other than [Vintage Clock].
“That must be what it was referring to,” he added.
“Are you here to kill it?”
“With due responsibility, I should. That entity is too dangerous.”
Charak… he unsheathed his sword.
“Move to the side, if you may.”
A sovereign was like a white blood cell. Their objective was the peace and continuance of the dimension they reigned over.
Regardless of his personal thoughts, Oscar Brzenk would try to kill the black dragon who was deemed to be a risk factor.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do so.”
Yu Jitae’s response caused Oscar Brzenk to squint his eyes.
“Let me hear your reason.”
“This dragon must be kept alive, in order to remove the fundamental risk from Earth.”
“What do you mean?”
“…”
“Explain to me how letting a risk factor survive relates to the process of removing a risk.”
Yu Jitae shook his head.
In several nameless iterations, he had explained the situation regarding the baby dragons and had seeked his help but things had never gone the right way in the end.
He couldn’t lie about it either because Oscar Brzenk could differentiate the truth from the false.
“If you wish to save it without any persuasion, no-one will empathise with your actions and there is no justification in sparing the adult black dragon. If word spreads to the outside, the entire world might consider you an enemy.”
“Yeah. I am aware. That is the reason behind this 1-on-1 conversation.”
“Elaborate.”
“If you go out and announce the black dragon is dead, no-one will doubt it due to the credibility and authority behind your name. It won’t be difficult either and we simply have to deceive the G12 and the Association.”
“Are you inducing me into saying what is false?”
“Just once and it will be enough.”
“And if I refuse,”
“Things will get tedious for both of us.”
Yu Jitae slowly continued.
“Even without your help, I can hide this entity. Things will escalate out of hand and I might have to kill a lot of people. However, I will in the end hide it in a place that nobody knows.”
“…”
“How will you stop me. Will you mobilise the military? Coax the Association and G12 into your side? Request catastrophe-ranked demons for cooperation or tell Chaliovan that I’m the enemy? Do you think that will allow you to stop me?”
Oscar Brzenk remained silent. The Sovereign appeared to be contemplating and viewing this incident from various perspectives but there was only one answer he could give.
Those with power made the rules. This was a fundamental truth that applied to organisms ranging from birds and bugs to cats and mice, that also applied to wars between countries.
And the one with the most power in this world was Yu Jitae.
“…”
The Sovereign soon had an irritated look on his face. He did not recklessly try to escalate it into a physical fight.
One reason would be that he knew Yu Jitae wasn’t his enemy thanks to the data given by the Vintage Clock,
And the other reason would be because Yu Jitae wasn’t someone he could defeat even if he was his enemy.
“…Good. However, there are conditions.”
“Speak.”
“I am aware that the following entity can transform into a human. So change the entity into human form and allow the Association to manage it. So that I can go in anytime and confirm its state.”
“That will be difficult. If they know that I’ve brought it in, there will be people doubting within the Association.”
“I will come up with the fake reason myself.”
“Hoh.”
“No reason not to add one more lie to the deception. I will allocate the entity as a special target for supervision with the Sovereign’s rights and will notify beforehand that the Prophet will be in charge of it.”
He meant that he would leave it nearby so that he could kill it whenever even though it was impossible to kill it right now. This was the Sovereign offering the most he could and Yu Jitae knew that.
“Got it,” he replied and accepted the offer.
The Sovereign asked back.
“What will you do by sparing the entity?”
“Isolate, protect and carry out a few simple experiments.”
“Can I view the process of the experiment?”
“That won’t be possible. I hope you understand.”
“…Understood.”
They both took a step back and each got what they wanted. Assuming that to be the end of the conversation, Oscar Brzenk turned around but that was when Yu Jitae called him.
“What is it,” he replied.
“Vintage Clock disappeared.”
At that moment, the drooping eyes behind the glass mask opened wide.
“I can still feel it and the connection is still there. However, direct communication is not working. Isn’t that the same for you?”
“…Right. That is how it is.”
“But I do not have enough time to look for the Vintage Clock myself. So can you check for me?”
A different Vintage Clock’s Workshop existed for everyone that was connected to it. It meant that Oscar Brzenk had his own workshop and looking for the Vintage Clock in such an extensive outer dimension was something that would take too much time.
It was unclear how many days and months it would take.
“I shall have a look.”
Leaving those words behind, Oscar Brzenk disappeared and the fissure closed after filling up the 2 hours that it needed.
Things finally came to an end.
***
Oscar Brzenk went out and announced the fake truth of the situation. His excuse was like this: a monster from a different dimension (dragon) landed on Earth after being chased by a person from a different dimension (the one that was inside the fissure) who killed it and disappeared after a conversation with Oscar Brzenk.
The different dimensions that humanity had yet to confirm became the target of all the blame as the incident came to an end.
“So there are more monsters like that in other dimensions?”
“It’s almost never happened before though…”
Some doubted but there was no way they could express their doubt.
The fight between the dragon and the mysterious person had bent the nearby dimensions during their fight with their abilities so not a single organisation or facility was able to get a clear view on their fight.
“But thank goodness we have Oscar Brzenk…”
“I heard G12 and the Association joined hands due to this incident.”
“That’s some good news to hear.”
The G12 and the Association showed endless support to countries including Australia that were bombarded by the dragon.
And the Tower of Mages was immediately collected by the G12 and the Association after landing on the ocean and it was discovered that all the great mages were already dead. People all around the globe commemorated the people that were killed during the fight.
The Association and G12 analysed the broken tower and discovered a ‘nest’ that was crafted with an unidentifiable alloy and moved it to a laboratory for a closer inspection.
They were also busy with the follow-ups of matters related to Quasar and Mexico.
Due to everything that was on their hands, the Association and the entire world was busy with the aftermath of the sudden event.
While that was happening, Yu Jitae headed to the basement of the Association.
In the basement was an [hazard isolation room] where countless dangerous superhumans, monsters and artifacts were isolated and managed under the supervision of the Association.
The black-haired woman, Myu, was also to be isolated and protected in the basement under the command of the Sovereign.
The Sovereign, Oscar Brzenk, wished for three things in the supervision of Myu.
1. Morning and Evening: twice a day. Grade 0 agents (agents proclaimed dead due to their criminal offences) would be sent in to provide food and the required amenities. Any agent that came into contact with her was to conduct a mental examination and were to be killed on the spot if they showed any strange symptoms.
2. Only Prophet Season is allowed to come into contact with it freely, and no record of this is to be left behind in any way.
3. Support the requests of Prophet Season in every way possible.
An isolation target that suddenly appeared and a vanished black dragon.
After roughly understanding what was happening, Zhuge Haiyan allocated the biggest and the most humanitarian isolation room to Myu and kept silent about the matter.
In the Association, Myu was just called B-12, nothing more and nothing less.
“…”
Yu Jitae looked over the windows of the isolation room.
After Oscar Brzenk left, Myu had a fit the moment she woke up inside the closed fissure and transformed into human form after being bashed a few times by Yu Jitae.
She fainted again due to being punched and was now lying down on the bed of the isolation room. Her jet-black hair was scattered over the white bed.
Her wounds won’t heal in a day or two. Yu Jitae would be called when she wakes up from the coma and that would be when he has a conversation with the mutant adult dragon again.
Yu Jitae vacantly gazed at Myu before turning around.
It was now time to go back.
Waiting in the lounge was Bom, who had returned after everything settled, watching the busy passersby with an anxious look on her face.
He called her.
“Our task is over. Let’s go back.”
“Yes…”
Things related to the Association should be all done for the time being as it was the Association’s job to clean up everything. As they began walking towards the underground parking lot, Bom asked.
“That, was a black dragon… right?”
Due to all the commotion, it was impossible for her to not know who the enemy was.
“Yes.”
“And you defeated it, oppa?”
“That’s right.”
Bom looked at him with a worried gaze and carefully raised a question.
“……Is it dead?”
He in fact had been worried about what to say regarding this.
There was no reason to tell the kids about things related to the black dragon, but Bom might eventually know of Myu’s existence during her time at the Association.
There was no reason to tell her right now, but there was no reason to hide it either.
After some thought, he decided to not lie about it.
“It’s not dead.”
Realising that Yu Jitae was not willing to delve deeper into the topic, Bom did not ask any more questions. He didn’t seem to be in the mood for jokes either.
That was when his watch rang.
Yu Jitae took the call and shared a conversation with Zhuge Haiyan. While he was on the line, Bom stared at the other side of the corridor – towards the direction Yu Jitae had come from.
She deeply gazed at it in silence.