Chapter 712 - Earth (8)
「No matter how I look at it, my Master’s personality is amazing!」 At that moment, Yeon-woo’s shadow, which he had released and placed on the Soulstones that were left for Yvlke, returned to his main shadow. Laplace groaned in pleasure, as if he was going to die from having too much fun at the unfolding situation.
The shadow that returned was the soul of Kim Bum-seung, Zeus’ past Apostle. The fact was that for Kim Bum-seung, regardless of whether his reasons made any sense, Yeon-woo and Sesha’s family were his mortal enemies. After all, he lost his family when they came to Earth on the ark. Therefore, Kim Bum-seung had hidden his existence for over ten years to seek the perfect time to approach Sesha and achieve his revenge.
However, once Kim Bum-seung met Yeon-woo, everything became futile. And now, Bum-seung was sucked into the shadows with Zeus and was reduced to a mere, enslaved soul.
「I…won’t let you…!」 Considering that most souls lost their memories once they entered the Soul Collection, Kim Bum-seung’s soul was an unusual case. Bum-seung forcefully maintained his ego, which meant that his resentment towards Yeon-woo ran very deep.
Of course, contrary to his ego’s desire, Bum-seung had no freedom, so he was essentially a puppet that had no choice but to do Yeon-woo’s bidding. Thus, he had dutifully followed Yvlke while being held in Yvlke’s Soulstones. And though he came back and reported to Yeon-woo…
Shriek!
「I… I won’t tell you… Argh!」 Unlike his intention to not state anything to Yeon-woo, Bum-seung’s soul regurgitated all his findings and experiences in the form of thought vestiges.
Laplace had commented on Yeon-woo’s character and personality after observing this scene.
Yeon-woo was utilizing and playing around with someone who had a deep grudge against him. However, for Yeon-woo, this aspect could not be helped. All his familiars, Boo, the Ghost Giants, dragons of death, and various other souls had been placed on his younger brother. Because of this, the only familiar left to him right now was Laplace.
However, Yvlke would recognize Laplace if he was placed in the Soulstones that were left behind as bait. Thus, Yeon-woo had no choice but to use the relatively weak Kim Bum-seung. For now, that was the only soul he had in his Soul Collection.
Still, Yeon-woo was equally displeased with the reality of having to use Bum-seung’s soul. Often, for the Apostle of a god, the spiritual power of the Apostle changed according to the god one followed. Considering Zeus’ character and strength, Kim Bum-seung possessed a strong spirit. No, to be more exact, Bum-seung’s spirit level was very high. However, the problem was that Bum-seung’s spirit level did not meet Yeon-woo’s expectations for an average soul in his Soul Collection.
Yeon-woo had fought many gods and demons and stolen their souls. The soul of an Apostle, which had only been an apostle for a few years, was the same as trash in Yeon-woo’s eyes.
‘Damn it. I need to quickly find Jeong-woo and retrieve my familiars.’
Moreover, there was bound to be a collection limit to the amount of information that a soul like Kim Bum-seung’s could see, hear, and understand, so the information that Kim Bum-seung brought was not of good quality or quantity. All the information Bum-seung brought was fragmented.
‘This isn’t enough. I need more.’
If Yeon-woo was still in the Tower, this level of information would be enough to triangulate Yvlke’s position. However, Yeon-woo was on Earth, not the Tower. Moreover, there were countless worlds and dimensions. Finding the exact coordinates with only this limited and fragmented amount of information was like finding a needle in a large haystack.
‘Well, I have no intention of going straight to where he is anyway.’ Yeon-woo was only planning on keeping an eye on Yvlke for the moment. Judging from what Yvlke had done so far, it was clear that he had a colleague or colleagues who shared a similar goal, or there may perhaps be yet another being that was behind everything. Since Yeon-woo was planning on capturing Yvlke, Yeon-woo thought that he might as well find out the location of their stronghold and attack it directly later on.
“Keep watching.”
Screech! Yeon-woo lightly brushed off Kim Bum-seung’s soul with his hand. Then, a piece of the shadow tore off from the main shadow before scattering and disappearing. The shadow of Kim Bum-seung was returned to the Soulstones, where Bum-seung’s soul was currently rooted.
「Wow! Such a wonderful temper!」 During the entire time, Laplace could not hold back his admiration and happiness.
***
“What’s so interesting?” The girl, Sarina Junio, with a bunch of flowers in her arms, asked as she rushed over to someone. Although her face was covered with black soot and ashes, she had a bright expression. She gave off a strong flowery scent, as she not only carried a bunch of flowers in her arms but also placed flowers in her hair and around her face.
Considering her expression and visage, Sarina seemed extremely happy. However, the surrounding area around her was anything but pleasant.
Everything was a mess. Just a few days prior, the skyscrapers that drew an endless skyline were now all flattened, as if they had been bombarded by bombshells. Only the skeletal structures of some of the buildings remained. The roads, which had been well paved, were now pot marked with craters here and there, and fragments of collapsed buildings were scattered randomly everywhere. Moreover, the desolate wind carried a thick mixture of yellow dust.
Broken tanks, planes with lost wings, and random firearms were scattered throughout the rubble. It was as if a terrible war had been waged. There were no signs of life anywhere in the vicinity. Thus, it was weird to see such a bright and carefree eight-year-old girl walking alone through this warzone.
However, Sarina did not mind or care about any of this. Ever since birth, the ruins had been her home. She was already familiar with her surroundings. It was a world where the weak would perish and the strong would rule. And in this place full of violence and oppression, Sarina had always been in a position of weakness, but now she had risen to a position of strength. And it was all thanks to the presence in front of her, the Asura King.
Since Sarina had difficulty pronouncing his real name, the Asura King told her to call him as such. To Sarina, the Asura King was a hero, her heaven, a father, and a mother.
Sarina’s hero, the Asura King, or Vimalacitra, slowly awakened from his meditation and opened his eyes. Vimalacitra stared intently at Sarina, who had stuck her face right in front of him. From the reflection in her two twinkling eyes, he could see himself smiling. He was smiling…
Vimalacitra felt unfamiliar with his smiling self. He never really had any occasion to smile before… Of course, there were occasions when he did smile. However, it had always been with a sense of ridicule. But the smile Vimalacitra was making now was clearly a joyful one.
Sarina, this cute little kid, must have found the smiling Vimalacitra interesting, so she had stuck her face right in front of him. He had been with her for over a year now, but he had rarely ever smiled like this. As a being who had always shouted ‘fight’, Vimalacitra was quite dissatisfied after arriving on this planet, as there were no competitors to give him any excitement.
“How interesting… This will be a lot of fun.”
“What is it? Please let Sarina in on it too!” Sarina’s eyes twinkled like shooting stars. Life with Vimalacitra was always fun for Sarina, but she still felt a sense of boredom on occasion as she did not have any friends her age. Thus, Vimalacitra’s words sparked her interest. She wondered if Vimalacitra was going to play a fun game.
“My friend has come.”
“Wow! You have friends?”
“Hmm. Well. I don’t know if it’s exactly friendship.”
“Huh? You said a friend has come. What do you mean you’re unsure?”
“I think of him as a friend, but I don’t know if he thinks of me as a friend.”
“Hey! A friend is a friend, otherwise, it’s not friendship.”
“Is that right?”
“Of course!”
Vimalacitra burst into laughter as he watched Sarina speak with such confidence. He thought how comfortable and good would everything in the world be if people spoke with such directness and forthrightness like Sarina.
“I think of you as a friend. You consider me a friend as well, right?”
At that moment, Sarina put her hands on her waist and smirked. Vimalacitra’s eyes widened at her direct line of questioning. Then, he silently nodded his head as he muttered the word ‘friend’ under his breath.
“Right. You and I are friends.”
“Right? Right! Hahaha.” Sarina giggled as her serious expression returned to its original, bright expression.
Vimalacitra knew how wildly Sarina’s heart was beating while waiting for his answer.
She must have been very anxious. She had followed him around for an entire year and called him her guardian. Thus, she probably feared that he would dismiss her as nothing. She must have been afraid that she would be abandoned once again.
Sarina was carrying a bunch of flowers. The flowers were just like her. If there wasn’t someone to take care of the plucked flowers, they would soon wither. Vimalacitra knew this well. He gently stroked Sarina’s hair. He then lifted his head and looked up at the sky. On the opposite side of this planet was his other ‘friend’.
“A friend, huh…” As he started thinking about this friend, a smile spread across Vimalacitra’s face. It was a smile filled with excitement and eager anticipation.
“Of course. We were friends. We clashed swords together, so how could we not be friends? So come to me, my friend. Now is the time to finish up the match we were not able to finish last time.”
The darkness that flowed through the planet’s atmosphere was making Vimalacitra’s skin tingle. If he was feeling excitement just from the circulating air that came from afar, how much more fun would it be when they met face-to-face? Vimalacitra was so excited about the upcoming fight that he felt like he was going to go crazy.
***
‘Bringing the deserter ‘Cain’ to the association…’ Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon momentarily thought he had misheard something.
“C-Could… you say that again?” Ji-hoon, who had maintained a professional and polite appearance up to now, fell into disarray. It was because the words Joshua uttered were thoroughly shocking.
However, Joshua repeated what he said slowly and clearly, proving to Ji-hoon that he had not misheard anything. “Desertion of one’s military post is a felony under military law that carries the maximum penalty of death. Moreover, at the time, Cain was carrying out an important secret operation in Somalia, but the military allowed him a brief reprieve of his duties to tend to a personal issue. However, rather than a brief reprieve, Cain disappeared, essentially deserting his post. This could also be seen as a violation of international law.”
“…”
“Though it was classified as top secret information at the time, Cain was classified as a United Nations Forces member, not as a Korean Army member. Hence, his violation is even more severe. Thus, we want to give him a chance.”
“…a chance?”
“Obviously it is an opportunity to atone for his past transgressions. If he comes back and shows a willingness to actively cooperate for world peace, security, and order, I will consider his past transgression as something that happened due to extenuating circumstances.”
Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon pressed firmly on his throbbing temples.
Everything that Joshua stated was technically correct. Military deserters faced strict penalties, whether they were in the Korean or US military, and considering the position Cain occupied in the military at the time, even if his exact position and affiliation were shrouded in confidentiality, it would not be incorrect to state that Cain could be killed immediately upon discovery. Thus, it was not wrong that Joshua would state this line of thinking regarding Cain, who had just appeared after an absence of ten years.
“But…how is that possible?”
The problem was that the opponent, Cain, was an Untouchable. He was an Untouchable that clashed head-to-head with Zeus. Although it was impossible to know what the outcome of the battle between the two was, since the battle occurred behind the darkness that had formed over the Earth, it was clear that it had to have been a formidable battle.
Were they planning on forcefully bringing in such an existence? How? If things were to progress carelessly, Korea, no, the entire Korean Peninsula itself could be erased from the face of the Earth, right?
“That is why we are asking for your help, Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon.”
Woo Ji-hoon quickly looked around his immediate surroundings after having a sudden thought. His complexion soon became dark. Suddenly, security guards surrounded him. Although the identities of these security forces were unfamiliar to him it was clear that they were the association’s special unit under Joshua’s direct control, the ‘Hell Hounds’.
“…I see. A hostage play.”
“Isn’t it true that ‘Cain’ sees Mr. Woo like a biological father?”
“He and I merely had a superior and subordinate relationship.”
“The contact records that remain between you and him and the statements of the people familiar with your relationship paint something different.”
‘He’s done a thorough background check. He probably even knows what I ate for dinner last night.’
“Anyway, I think you two have a special relationship. Even if he has gained a divine nature, in the end, humans are humans. There are limits for human beings. Moreover, though it hasn’t been made public… We’ve already succeeded once in raiding an exuviated being.”
“…!”
“Our current strength isn’t at the level of the high rankers or nine kings that resided in the Tower in the past, but we have our own secret weapon. And, above all else…”
“…?”
“The goddess who supports me said she would help me directly, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“…!” Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon was a little surprised and taken aback.
This was because Joshua’s god was one of the most important beings in the world of the transcendents. Even if she were to face another Untouchable, she would not easily succumb, as she not only commanded great experience in war but also wisdom, victory, and even civilization-building. However, Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon continued to feel uncomfortable with Joshua’s confident attitude. “…I’m not familiar with the world of players, but as a person that was once a direct supervisor of ‘Cain’, can I offer up a word of caution?”
“I shall listen carefully.”
“‘Cain’ is not so easy-going. Even things that everyone else might think are impossible would magically be unraveled when he put his hands on them.”
“Magic… Thanks for the advice, Mr. Woo, but I think it’s already too late to take that advice.” Joshua laughed cynically. “Because our side has already made our move.”