Episode 9: Apocalypse Summoner (2)
The night I returned from conquering the Rune Dungeon, I couldn’t sleep from excitement.
A perk received after five years.
Awakening.
Reuniting with Hertia.
An Apocalypse-rank class.
All this happened in just a few days.
These changes sparked a lot of curiosity, especially about the Apocalypse Summoner that called forth Hertia.
It was odd, to be honest.
Normally, summoning requires ‘summon tickets’ or ‘selection tickets,’ not a ‘Summoner Tome.’
Even after summoning Hertia, the book didn’t vanish.
I could pull it out whenever I wanted.
So, I dug deeper into what this thing was.
Here’s what I found:
1. The Apocalypse Summoner can summon Lucifer’s legacy—‘villains.’
[Current Inherited Legacy]
▶1/7
2. Summoning a villain requires ‘points.’
[Points Until Next Legacy Inheritance]
▶0/1,000pt
3. Points are earned by sacrificing summon tickets, with points varying by ticket rank.
Common: 1pt
Advanced: 5pt
…
Mythical: 1,000pt
‘Alright, let’s do some math.’
To fill the sacrifice points, I need 1,000 points.
That’s 1,000 Common summon tickets at the cheapest.
At 20,000 KRW per ticket on the marketplace, that’s 20 million KRW.
20 million for a summon above Mythical rank?
That’s practically a steal.
Though, the next summon will likely demand far more points.
‘Not like I have 20 million lying around anyway.’
The money from selling the Hero Summon Selection Ticket went to my family.
I could ask for some back, but that’d be lame, and I don’t need to.
The rewards from grinding the Attribute Rune Dungeon yesterday are more than enough.
[Current Summon Ticket Inventory]
Common Summon Tickets x305
Advanced Summon Tickets x111
Rare Summon Tickets x20
Calculating by rank, I had enough points.
‘305 Common, 555 Advanced, 200 Rare. That’s 1,060 points total.’
I can summon a new villain and still save 6 Rare tickets.
I was practically humming with excitement.
‘Should I head to the hill behind the house and summon now?’
The hill behind our house is steep, unpathed, and deserted.
It’s late at night—perfect for sneaky business.
If my family caught me, they’d worry about me wandering at night in these ‘troubled times.’
So, I quietly got up and slipped out of the house.
***
It’s autumn, isn’t it? The air’s chilly.
But my body’s burning with strange anticipation.
I guess I’m excited about who I’ll summon.
At a secluded spot on the hill, I placed the Apocalypse Summoner in my hands.
Thud!
Heavy as ever.
Is this a book or a dumbbell?
Feeling its weight, I carefully opened the Apocalypse Summoner.
《Would you like to offer sacrifices to the Apocalypse Summoner?》
YES. YES. YES.
I immediately began sacrificing my summon tickets.
《Offered 305 Common Summon Tickets, gaining 305 sacrifice points.》
《Offered 111 Advanced Summon Tickets, gaining 555 sacrifice points.》
《Offered 14 Rare Summon Tickets, gaining 140 sacrifice points.》
As I sacrificed the tickets—
《The Apocalypse Summoner’s sacrifice points have been fully charged.》
With the system alert, the book began glowing with a dark purple light.
Amid the shimmering glow, a summon ticket similar to the one I first received appeared.
《An Apocalypse Summon Ticket has been provided.》
【Apocalypse Summon Ticket】
Description: A ticket left by the Rebel of the Dawn Star. Use it to randomly inherit one of the Rebel’s legacies.
‘Randomly?’
When I summoned Hertia, I could choose who I wanted with a selection ticket.
This time, it’s different.
It seems one of the remaining six villains will be chosen at random.
‘With Hertia, any of them would work fine in terms of synergy…’
I checked the legacy list.
[Legacy List]
Ruinbringer of the White Valley, Siren (Dark)
Priestess of Defiance, Marena (Light)
Liberator of Death, Caligo (Dark)
Lord of the Skies, Ariel (Light)
Black Prince, Theo (Dark)
Immaculate Lion, Lucevar (Light)
Honestly, I’d be happy with any of them.
Some excel in prolonged fights, others in speed, and some are well-balanced.
Each is top-tier in their own right.
But if there’s one I’d rather not pull right now…
‘…I hope it’s not Caligo.’
It’s not about performance.
It’s just that convincing him might literally cost me my life…
‘Haha, no way!’
The odds of pulling him are 1/6.
No way I’d get that guy right now.
I refocused, tore the ticket, and began the summon.
Rip.
《You will inherit one of the legacies left by the Rebel of the Dawn Star.》
The surroundings grew cold.
Even my feverish body felt a chill.
But the real issue was elsewhere.
A dark emerald cloud began creeping up from the ground.
In moments, the area was enveloped in a toxic green haze.
This effect… it’s all too familiar.
‘…Are you kidding me? Seriously?’
I knew it instinctively.
This emerald toxic haze.
A patch of the ground-hugging mist rose sharply.
In an instant, the mist dispersed, revealing a man.
Tall to the point of unease, sharp shoulders, a lean frame, and fiery red hair.
‘No way…’
The Liberator of Death, Caligo, had appeared.
“Ah, fresh air at last! Where is this place? Looks like it’s full of fun things.”
“…”
“Hey, young man, let me ask you something. Where the hell am I? And why’d you summon me? Oh, right, I’m a summon, so you must want me as your servant!”
“…”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I already serve someone. I don’t feel like dissolving, though, so you’ll have to be my test subject! As for that person… I’ll find them eventually!”
《Caligo has broken the summoning contract and is showing hostility!》
‘Damn it, here we go!’
***
The Liberator of Death, Caligo.
Episode 4’s boss.
He was born an ‘anomaly.’
Perhaps the price of his genius intellect was a lack of human empathy.
Raised in a wealthy, kind family, his true nature never surfaced.
He didn’t understand concepts like goodness or love, but he excelled at grasping ‘rules.’
Which actions were acceptable, which would ostracize him from society.
With his brilliant mind, Caligo mastered social norms and passed as a normal child.
Naturally, his intellect led him to a scholar’s path.
Once he had his own space, Caligo holed up in his study.
Days were spent immersed in books and research.
He had no interest in fame or socializing.
His sole focus was unraveling the world’s rules.
His parents worried about him, but this disposition saved his life.
—Screeech!
While he was locked in his study, the vampire clan, bound by a non-aggression pact with the kingdom, launched a sudden large-scale assault.
Emerging after a week of research, Caligo was greeted by—
"…"
The desiccated remains of his family.
For the first and last time, Caligo shed a tear.
It was the last shred of his humanity, the final chain restraining his madness.
From that day, his research split into two focuses:
Saving someone.
And killing someone.
Initially, ‘someone’ was clearly divided between humans and vampires, but as his research deepened, the line blurred.
To eradicate vampires who fed on blood, he turned his own blood into poison.
To create stronger toxins, he experimented on guilty humans and innocent vampires alike.
When his research culminated, wiping out the vampires and turning all associated humans into pools of blood, the world began calling him the ‘Liberator of Death.’
“Ah, waiting’s never been my thing! So, have you cleaned yourself? Hygiene’s crucial for experiments!”
His tone is cheerful.
That’s what makes it terrifying.
Caligo moves solely by his ‘curiosity.’
He seems friendly now, but if his interest wanes, he’ll melt me in an instant.
‘Should I summon Hertia? …No, if I can’t handle this, she might doubt my competence, making things worse.’
They say you can survive a tiger’s den if you keep your wits.
Repeating this to myself, I began plotting how to persuade him.
The approach isn’t much different from Hertia’s.
If she remembers Lucifer, Caligo likely does too.
And he respected and followed Lucifer just as much.
‘Then I need to make him remember.’
Suppressing my rising tension, I responded calmly.
“If you want to ask me questions, let’s play a game.”
“…What?”
“If you win, I’ll answer your questions. But if I win, you become my subordinate.”
“Hmph…”
Caligo’s expression turned icy.
“Do you even know who you’re mimicking?”
Hiss—
His cloak transformed into toxic mist again, and a sharp chemical stench stung my nose.
The mist was reddish-brown.
Low lethality, but designed to inflict increasing pain—a sadistic poison.
It showed Caligo’s intent to kill me slowly and painfully.
“No, you don’t. Of course you don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t be so calm.”
I know why he’s angry.
I’m reenacting the first meeting between ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Caligo.’
To him, Lucifer was the first enigma he ever encountered.
From that moment, Caligo made Lucifer both a subject of study and reverence.
He thinks I’m mocking that sacred figure, so he’s pissed.
“You’ll know if it’s mimicry or not once we play.”
“…You dare, without knowing your place.”
“What, afraid you’ll lose again?”
“…”
Caligo’s eyes began to glint with venom.
His silence was more intimidating than his chatter.
After a brief pause, he reached into his long lab coat sleeve and pulled something out.
Clink—
Three potion bottles were thrust before me.
“Drink.”
No explanation, just a blunt command.
“Care to explain?”
“Shut up and drink.”
His rough tone tells me I’ve hit a nerve.
Not that I really needed an explanation.
I’ve played this game before.
‘Three potions offered to the player. In the game, this was a phase before the boss fight where you chose a penalty to start with.’
Red potion—Inevitability: Reduces health by 90%.
Blue potion—Chance: Disables skill use.
Green potion—Destiny: Applies 10 random debuffs.
No matter the choice, it’s hell.
But there’s a hidden gimmick in this game.
Grab—
I took all three potions at once.
“What are you—”
Gulp!
I downed them in one go.
“Urgh!”
It burns!
The viscous liquid scorches my throat and stomach like a raging fire.
Pain seeps into my bones, but I grit my teeth and endure.
The win condition for this gamble: reenact the conversation only Caligo would know with Lucifer.
I need to make him believe I’m Lucifer to ‘prove’ myself.
In front of his shocked face, I whispered softly.
“The world is fickle. It acts like it follows clear rules, then mocks us with unexpected trials.”
Like my parents, caught in a sudden accident.
Like Hertia’s children, unjustly chosen as sacrifices for the World Tree.
Like Caligo’s family, reduced to ashes by the vampires’ betrayal.
The world sometimes throws ‘irrational’ elements at those just trying to live their lives.
Caligo’s game is inspired by this absurdity.
But as a scholar to his core, he believes even the most irrational events must have some underlying rule.
That belief is woven into this game.
“Chance. Inevitability. Destiny. If you accept the outcomes as they are, you’ll forever be the world’s plaything.”
But if you mix all those outcomes to create something new…
“Poisoned wine, a bond. It’s been a while, Caligo. How’ve you been?”
As I finished speaking, my body swayed.
‘Damn, this is potent.’
My head spun, and drowsiness crept in.
Through my blurry vision, I felt Caligo’s hands urgently catching me.
“Wait, Sage? Is it really you, Sage?”
Yes, Caligo called Lucifer ‘Sage.’
His sparkling eyes, like a puppy waiting for its master, confirmed it.
The gamble paid off.
Inevitability, Chance, Destiny.
The three poisons Caligo crafted to represent the world’s will.
Drinking one inflicts unbearable pain and crippling debuffs, deadly enough to kill a human body hundreds of times over.
But drinking all three?
‘Poisoned wine—a bond. The toxins neutralize each other, leaving only the alcohol.’
In other words, I just chugged an insanely strong drink.
“So, it’s me. Still enjoying this poisoned wine?”
“You knew and still drank it?! What if it harmed you?!”
“You’re here, aren’t you? I was never worried.”
I mumbled with a smile.
What kind of alcohol content is this?
The ringing system alerts are giving me a headache.
《Hertia detects an anomaly in the adventurer’s body!》
《Hertia descends of her own accord!》
Whoosh—
“Are you alright, Master?!”
What the hell?
These guys are popping up on their own now.
Hertia, self-summoned, immediately attacked Caligo.
“You, Caligo! What have you done to Master?!”
Crack!
Hertia grabbed Caligo’s arm tightly.
But he didn’t back down.
“Hertia! Have you been monopolizing the Sage?!”
“Monopolizing? Watch your mouth, drunkard! How dare you speak of Master like property!”
“Don’t dodge the question! The other Seven Sins won’t let this slide!”
Boom!
“Won’t let it slide? What’ll you do about it? Think I’d bow to a lowly thing’s threats?”
“Hah! You sound so noble. I was a human noble, you know! You’re just a slave, a lowborn!”
“Human? Who’d see you as human anymore? A monster with poison for blood!”
Here they go again.
A mix of hierarchy disputes, loyalty contests, and some emotional clash I can’t quite name.
It’s familiar—better than it used to be, actually.
Back then, all seven of them bickered like this.
‘Sobering me right up.’
“…You’ll be working together from now on, so enough of that.”
“What?! With this drunkard?!”
“I’m an internal medicine specialist; anger management therapy isn’t my field…”
I paused my steps and turned back.
“I have no intention of abandoning any of you. If you can’t accept each other, you can’t stay with me either.”
Only then did they exchange glances and show deference.
“…My apologies, Master.”
“I spoke out of turn, Sage.”
Good. They still believe I’m Lucifer.
“Have a quiet chat here. I’m going for a walk.”
They immediately showed signs of obedience.
“Yes, Master!”
“Yes, Sage!”
It was eventful, but I successfully acquired a new villain, ‘Caligo.’
Now it’s time to pick the next target to conquer.
‘Caligo and Hertia, huh? With this combo… maybe it’s time to tackle the ‘Labyrinth’?’
With a month left until the new main episode drops, it’s time to gear up.