Chapter 114
Their goal had been to exit the dungeon with the undead or the birdfolk during the closure without them finding out about the Elixir. However, the S-rank dungeon devoured all two thousand of the undead and birdfolk, and the only ones to survive were Seong-Hwi’s party; seven humans in total.
Anyone would be suspicious. As long as the dungeon is in Pollon Nest, the birdfolk would never let us leave unscathed, Seong-Hwi thought.
Hence, he demanded the involvement of the Sēmen, the great race conference, where all races were treated equally, and conflicts were arbitrated to be peacefully resolved. Not even the Ten Lords and Fiends could blatantly defy the Sēmen, because it was no different from a declaration that they would make an enemy of all races in the Mirror World.
To enter the Sēmen, one required not only power but a special kind of resolve. They needed to be ready to forget their race, society, associated groups, and families. Laws would fall apart if members of the Sēmen favored those with whom they had personal relationships.
To prevent what Seong-Hwi had experienced with the privileges of former post on Earth, members of the Sēmen swore an oath before admission to forget all their relationships in the Mirror World and live as a tool that exists only to maintain balance in the Mirror World. All rankings and positions were voided through that oath, similar to a monk abandoning all worldly possessions.
However, just like how some monks were faithful to the principles and sought after the Dharma, other monks sought after married women and indulged in debauchery. Such individuals secretly showed favoritism toward their race and society. Knowing that, various races raised individuals worthy of the Sēmen for that purpose.
But the Sēmen wouldn’t leave a matter that could escalate to a clash between angels and demons to such small fry, Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
He expected one of the twelve consuls of the Sēmen to arrive. Consuls held enough power to hold trials on the spot and hand down rulings. He also judged it highly likely that Floriana, the most active and fair consul, rumored to be compassionate toward inferior races, would take this matter.
Floriana was an elf with no relations to angels, demons, birdfolk, undead, or humans. On top of that, she was a pure-blooded high elf.
I knew it! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly as he heard the door open and activated his skills immediately.
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Iljimae the Gentleman Thief of the Plum Blossom]
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Inverted Cross, one of the symbols of No.12 The Hanged Man]
[Truth Reversal.]
***
“Who would like to speak the truth on behalf of the group?” Floriana asked.
“I will tell you the truth about everything,” Seong-Hwi replied.
“Hm?”
Floriana stared at Seong-Hwi with great interest, her eyes shining with an emerald light. Those eyes were the Veritas Oculus, which only the most pure-blooded high elves could use. It was a terrifying skill that could distinguish between truth and lie, and even see into one’s desire and soul.
From now on, I must lie about everything.
Cold sweats trickled down Seong-Hwi’s back as Floriana stared at him. The Inverted Cross symbolized reversal, and he chose to reverse truth this time. In other words, when he told Floriana that he would tell her the truth, he meant that he would lie. Thankfully, it was much easier to lie than tell the truth.
He had also borrowed the destiny of Iljimae, the most saintly of the destinies in his arsenal. He recalled what Chlor, the elf he had met in the Tin Can, said after revealing he could use Veritas Oculus Imperfectum.
“You’re a very unique human, Seong-Hwi. The wavelength of your essence changes constantly. How is that possible? Were you born with multiple destinies and lives?”
Seong-Hwi had simply shrugged without answering, but he immediately realized Chlor had seen when he switched between the destinies of the figures he made contact with.
And this woman is seeing Iljimae’s essence right now, Seong-Hwi thought.
He was sure that the essence of the Gentleman Thief of the Plum Blossom, who possessed endless compassion for the world and desired to help his neighbors, would instill more trust in Floriana than his original essence.
“You’re a unique human! What are you so sad about?” Floriana asked.
It worked!
Seong-Hwi’s eyes flashed. He had fooled Veritas Oculus Imperfectum, but had been worried about whether he could also fool Veritas Oculus. However, his gamble had paid off.
“I am sad that the various races are fighting against each other when we can only defeat the Chaos together,” he replied.
Of course, that was a blatant lie. He knew the races could never work together, but Floriana saw it as true.
“Wow! You’re a kind human! You’d be a perfect fit for the Sēmen!” Floriana turned around and said, “Come in, everyone. Everything this man is saying is true. We may commence the trial.”
Four individuals entered the room, causing Seong-Hwi and the others to freeze. The man who entered first was an old man with beautiful turquoise wings. He was the High Ranker Fragor, third in the birdfolk ranking, and a high elder of the birdfolk society, Penna.
“This way, please,” Fragor said respectfully as he guided the second man.
The man had silver hair and eyes, and was so beautiful that it was difficult to tell whether he was a man or a woman. Nine pairs of flawless wings were folded behind his back. The golden halo above his head gave it away to anyone that he was an angel.
“Kikik! Get the hell inside already, Gabriel. The longer I stare at your wings, the more I want to rip them off,” another man said as he entered behind the angel.
He was a large demon, easily over two meters tall. His skin was pitch black with red cracks like heat rays, and two horizontal horns like the arms of a scarecrow sprouted from his temples.
“Taizet. If you dare insult my wings bestowed upon me by the almighty God of Heaven one more time, I will kill you in the name of the archangels.”
“Kekekek! Try it if you can!”
They were Gabriel and Taizet, whom Seong-Hwi had indirectly met in the dungeon, Research in Progress. The fourth person was Jato, the vice-captain of Krypta’s Honor Knights.
The scale is... way too big!
Seong-Hwi licked his dry lips and did his best to maintain his composure.
Floriana was one of the twelve consuls of the Sēmen and the former Chesed (Kindness) of the elven society Sefirot. Fragor was the high elder of the birdfolk society Penna and was accompanied by the archangel Gabriel. Taizet, the Demon of Hellfire, was eighteenth in the demon ranking and accompanied by Jato, the vice-captain of the Honor Knights, who was here as the representative of the undead.
It will be a problem regardless of whether it goes well or badly.
Seong-Hwi’s teammates looked at him worryingly, realizing this was beyond them. They were merely humans, an inferior race, and were not even representatives of the Union.
“Alright! With the power invested in me as consul of the Sēmen, I declare the commencement of this trial,” Floriana said with a smile, but she only looked like the Grim Reaper to Seong-Hwi.
Fuck it. It’s do or die!
Seong-Hwi decided to push forward, trusting 99% in his intricate planning and 1% in ad-libbing. It all came down to confidence and eloquence, two things he was confident in.
***
“Semi Ranker Cheon Seong-Hwi, 945th in the human ranking. Everything you say from this moment will be regarded as humanity’s official statement. Do you swear you will answer truthfully?” Floriana asked.
“Yes, I swear I will only answer truthfully,” Seong-Hwi answered.
Floriana nodded and asked, “Okay, then. Can you explain in as much detail as possible what happened in the dungeon, Research in Progress?”
“Okay. First... my teammates and I worked with the Honor Knights and did not separate from them for a second. Krypta, the Extinction Knight, was a knight worthy of respect.”
“Kurgh... Captain!” Jato groaned, expressing sorrow.
Taizet stared at Seong-Hwi with an odd expression.
Seong-Hwi continued, “Because the dungeon, Research in Progress, was set in our dimension, we led the way. The dungeon overflowed with Lapang, Segal, Adora, and even Uluhatu-rank Chaos, so we collaborated with the Honor Knights every step of the excavation and proceeded slowly.”
“Wait a second! Your testimony is too focused on the undead!” the birdfolk Fragor shouted as he glared at Seong-Hwi.
Seong-Hwi calmly replied, “That cannot be helped. We excavated the dungeon with the undead, and it is no exaggeration to say that we developed a camaraderie. I hope you can understand.”
“Hm. I understand. It is valid,” Floriana remarked as she nodded, forcing Fragor to withdraw.
Seong-Hwi continued sorrowfully, “We started to die off one by one over several weeks, in order of the most courageous. Our friends in the Honor Knights, and our human teammates...”
Jato nodded sentimentally as he stared at Seong-Hwi.
“We finally arrived at the boss room and encountered Saurix and the other birdfolk. The boss was at least a Hispar-rank Chaos, so Krypta and Saurix decided to join forces.”
“Saurix did? That can’t be,” Fragor mumbled in disbelief.
However, Seong-Hwi did not falter and continued, “They commenced the boss raid, but the boss was unfathomably powerful as one would expect from an S-rank dungeon. At that moment, something completely unexpected happened.”
He turned to Gabriel, who was staring at him with chilling silver eyes.
“Among the birdfolk... an angel appeared before our very eyes. His name was Seriel, a fourth-grade angel—”
“Wait! There was an angel in the dungeon?” Floriana said as she turned to Gabriel. “The Sēmen proposed a proxy battle, but an angel sneaked into the dungeon excavation?! Archangel Gabriel, do you acknowledge Cheon Seong-Hwi’s claim?”
Gabriel hesitated momentarily and replied, “Consul Floriana, Seriel acted on his own—”
“Do you acknowledge it or not? Please answer in one of the two ways.”
“I... acknowledge it.”
Taizet cackled next to Gabriel, and Fragor gritted his teeth as he glared at Seong-Hwi.
If I try to take both sides, I’ll only make an enemy out of both. Choosing one side to support is much better. That way, we’ll at least have a shield to hide behind.
Seong-Hwi did not shy away from Fragor’s glare because he had expected it once he took the undead’s side.
After glaring at Gabriel, Floriana turned back to Seong-Hwi and asked gently, “Can you continue?”
“Yes. Although the angel’s involvement broke the agreement, it saved us. Seriel, Krypta, and Saurix joined forces and drove the boss Chaos to the brink of death.”
Seong-Hwi had no problem with exalting the dead. The truth was that Seriel, who received Gabriel’s help, and Taizet, who possessed Krypta’s body through the Demonic Sword Fatum, defeated the boss.
He continued, “But as one would expect from a Hispar-rank Chaos, he also had a trump card up his sleeve, which was... to self-destruct.”
“Self-destruct?”
“Yes. The massive explosion engulfed the three battling the boss, and everyone else in the boss room. The only survivors were the seven of us, who remained in the rear because we were too afraid to join the battle.”
Seong-Hwi clenched his fists as if embarrassed, his expression filled with humiliation and scorn. He gritted his teeth so hard that his gums bled. The blood trickled from his mouth and gathered on the tip of his chin.
“Oh, no...” Floriana trailed off as she looked at Seong-Hwi pitifully and activated a skill.
[Activating Race Skill: Pink Flower’s Touch.]
Pink flower petals brushed against Seong-Hwi’s face, wiping away his blood and healing his injuries.
She remarked, “Being weak is not a sin. There is no need for you to suffer.”
Seong-Hwi remained silent. He wanted to say that being weak was a sin and that he did not want to hear such a thing from a high elf, who possessed a superior caliber from birth. However, it was so true that it would become a lie through Truth Reversal.
“After that, we searched the corpses of our comrades like sewer rats. Those are what we’ve collected,” he said as he pointed at a black sack the size of a human behind him.
Rather than being forcibly searched later, I’ll beat them to it while the consul is here!
Seong-Hwi recalled how he felt when he borrowed Richard Ramirez’s destiny. He was not using it at the moment, but the filthy desire he had become accustomed to lingered in his eyes.
“It is cowardly, but the World Law states that all items obtained in a dungeon belong to the one who collects them.”
“Filthy bastard!” Fragor shouted in rage. “You didn’t even fight, but you’ll take the spoils? The items aside, what about the artifacts?! Are you saying you’ll hoard them all?!”
“There is no problem with that under the World Law. To keep an artifact, a price must be paid to the race that belongs to the dimension where the artifact is from, but the dungeon, Research in Progress, was set on Earth.”
Floriana agreed, “He is right, Fragor. Do not covet that man’s items.”
“Y-you... Dammit!”
Seong-Hwi made sure to take everything he could get. A trial held by the consul was both a threat and an opportunity. After all, the consul could guarantee them the rights to the items. The sack held the artifacts he and his teammates grabbed from the dungeon, Seriel and Saurix’s heads, and Krypta’s vertebra.
Fragor and the birdfolk now couldn’t lay their hands on the sack due to Floriana’s guarantee to Seong-Hwi. Seong-Hwi could see from Fragor’s dangerous glare that he might try to take it from them by force, but it was a small price to pay.
Good. Now, their entire focus will be on the sack. They’re distracted from the most important item.
Seong-Hwi glanced at Leo’s D Weapon, Rhodes, the imposing lion licking his lips.
Lastly, he thought as he walked to the sack and pulled out the longest object—the Demonic Sword Fatum.
“However shameless I may be... I cannot steal an item when its owner is right in front of me. Sir Taizet, I heard you granted Krypta this sword. I will return it to you.”
Seong-Hwi held the demonic sword respectfully with both hands and offered it to Taizet, who had been staring at him for a while with an odd expression.
“Kik!” he smirked as he grabbed the demonic sword, realizing what Seong-Hwi was trying to tell him.
This human... He’s asking me to take his side if I don’t want him to tattle on the demons’ involvement in the dungeon exploration as he did with the angels. How cunning, he thought.
Excluding Seong-Hwi’s comrades, Taizet was the only one who knew that Seong-Hwi was lying. He had no idea how, but the human was somehow fooling Floriana’s Veritas Oculus despite being an inferior race.
Gabriel had only allowed Seriel to borrow his power, so he did not know exactly what had happened. On the other hand, Taizet had directly possessed Krypta’s body, so he knew that the boss didn’t self-destruct. He saw Seong-Hwi kill-stealing the boss from him with his own eyes.
But... I have no choice.
Taizet was also a cunning demon, so he knew playing along was the best option. Most of all, he still needed to make sure of something, so he planned to go along with what the human had planned until he was sure.
“Kikikikik! You’re a human of principle. I like you. I swear in the name of Taizet... that I will incinerate anyone who dares covet your items in Pollon Nest.”
Fragor’s face reddened with rage from Taizet’s declaration.
“Thank you very—”
“In exchange, let me ask you something,” Taizet interrupted as Seong-Hwi was about to express his gratitude. “Are you... associated with that individual?”
Seong-Hwi immediately realized who Taizet was referring to.
He’s talking about Curiositas, he thought.
Taizet likely recognized Curiositas’s Demon Force when Seong-Hwi converted his Destiny Force to it.
I suppose I can’t say I’m not associated with him. After all, I met him and obtained his genes on his whim.
“Yes,” Seong-Hwi replied.
Taizet’s lips quivered. “Kik... Kikik!” he laughed unnaturally and stormed out of the room.
“M-Master Taizet!” Jato shouted as he quickly followed Taizet.
Floriana stared at them, but her eyes had returned to their pink color before anyone realized it.
“Then it’s settled. I, Floriana, consul of the Sēmen, declare the seven humans, including Cheon Seong-Hwi, innocent under the World Law, and that all items obtained in the dungeon belong to Cheon Seong-Hwi.” She smiled and said to Seong-Hwi, “Use those items to grow stronger, kind human.”
She then turned to Gabriel and said, “Shall we talk, Archangel Gabriel?”
“It would be my honor,” Gabriel said expressionlessly.
He momentarily stared at Seong-Hwi and left the room with the furious Fragor following behind him.
“Alright, I declare this trial over!” Floriana said cheerfully as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
***
Seong-Hwi’s teammates maintained silence as they stared at Seong-Hwi.
“Huuu... You can speak now,” Seong-Hwi said as he canceled his skills and flopped on a chair.
Even so, his teammates didn’t speak.
“I said you can speak now,” he repeated.
“Lunatic...”
“Swindler...”
“Gambler...”
“Crazy-ass scammer...”
They said different things but meant the same thing. Seong-Hwi chuckled because he couldn’t deny it. Borrowing the words of William the Foolish Gambler, it had been an all-or-nothing situation.
Enrique shook his head as he smiled lifelessly and asked, “How did you feel when your words could kill or save us all, Tongue Commander?”
“Tongue Commander?” Seong-Hwi said as he smiled bitterly.
Enrique had said it to lift the mood, but it only worsened Seong-Hwi’s.
“I don’t know, but... it doesn’t feel too good. Lies and deceptions are tools for the weak, after all.”
***
With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
Proverbs 25:15