Chapter 110: Sacred Relic Excavation Team (2)
“This much should be more than enough for our country.”
Chae Jin-young said as he stuffed a massive number of white orbs filled with holy power into subspace.
Currently, the secret research division and Shin Young Group’s dungeon material development team were cooperating to produce Hunter items like elixirs and Creeper suppressants using the ash-gray orb.
Of course, they were repeatedly refining it for mass production, but the biggest problem was the inevitable drop in quality.
In the end, they had been forced to choose between quantity and quality.
But if they could supply a mountain of holy power orbs, they could catch both rabbits at once.
Of course, Chae Jin-young had no intention of being satisfied with just covering Korea.
“To supply the whole world, we’d need far more.”
At that, the tentacle’s aggrieved voice rang out.
『Are you planning to set up a heavenly subspace branch or something?』
“I gave you the Heavenly Thunder God Sword and the chalice in exchange, didn’t I?”
『You’re shameless.』
At Chae Jin-young’s single remark, the tentacle had no choice but to swallow its complaint.
Having secured the orbs and successfully restored the lava supply to Nine City, Chae Jin-young didn’t immediately descend the mountain.
Instead, he stood at the summit and surveyed the surroundings.
The mountain range didn’t stretch in a straight line; it branched into several ridges.
Among them, the largest one was, as expected, the mountain range directly connected to hell’s central massive volcano—Flameheart Mountain.
“This must be the barrier.”
Just as Chae Jin-young had expected, right beyond the mountain range stood a translucent barrier in plain sight.
Whether it was built on void energy or not, dark currents wrapped around the barrier.
Perhaps because of that, the massive city inside the barrier looked almost like a devil king’s castle.
『Gehenna looks like it’s living the good life.』
“While cities like Nine City were enduring attacks from the angelic tribes, they must have been diligently building up their defense system.”
Compared to the cities outside the mountain range—including Nine City—that had been reduced to ruins, Gehenna looked far too intact.
More than intact, it overflowed with an aura of advanced development.
Neon signs flashing everywhere, zeppelins floating in the sky.
And hellfire blazing fiercely from the massive volcano.
It was a sight that felt like looking at a dystopia on the brink of destruction.
Above all, what drew Chae Jin-young’s attention was the enormous monster circling around the city.
“That thing would take forever even if I beat it down with psychokinesis.”
Its size rivaled a mountain, and its entire body seemed made of endlessly flowing dark crimson lava.
Because it moved at a pace as slow as its size, circling the city once would take an eternity.
That was why Chae Jin-young had been staring at the back of its head for several minutes already.
『Using energy explosion would be faster—why not?』
“Look at it. It’s so over-spec that even calling it disaster-grade feels insulting. Isn’t its whole body basically a treasure? Another chance to get my hands on new materials.”
Chae Jin-young licked his lips as he gazed at the massive lava monster.
『Isn’t what you’ve obtained so far already more than enough?』
Hellstones and holy power orbs alone were materials that would bring revolutionary—beyond revolutionary—change to the Earth he lived on.
But he wasn’t the type to be easily satisfied.
If hellstones were so great, why had the devils lost all their cities to the angelic tribes?
Even though the angels had mobilized artifacts like the chalice, why hadn’t they been able to breach Gehenna?
Just thinking about that gave the answer.
“In the history of conflict, technological advancement always follows. After five full-scale wars, think how many things they must have mobilized just to crush each other.”
To win, one inevitably develops stronger and more efficient things.
The same had been true on the Renard continent during its endless wars.
Of course, after Chae Jin-young conquered the continent, large-scale wars had ceased except for localized conflicts.
Ironically, wars begun for destruction always bring development along with them.
“Surviving means, in the end, being strong.”
『That’s enough preaching.』
The tentacle finally tucked its tail.
With a triumphant expression, Chae Jin-young observed the massive lava monster a little longer before descending the mountain.
Now wasn’t the time to dissect it.
He didn’t know what kind of consequences that might bring to hell.
Today, he planned to stick strictly to the schedule.
First objective—reconstruction of Nine City: complete.
Second—training his sister Chae So-young.
The hastily added third—searching for the angelic tribe’s artifact that might be sleeping somewhere in Nine City.
Of course, Chae Jin-young himself wouldn’t be the one personally searching for the artifact while carrying out the second objective.
Shuu—
Two people and one beast emerged from subspace.
Jacob Harrison, Dmitri Petrov, and Anu.
“Huu…….”
“Huff… huff.”
“Huff huff huff.”
They looked as if they had been running a marathon in subspace, breathing raggedly with pale faces.
“Looks like you’ve been working out hard.”
“…It wasn’t planned, but thanks to someone, it ended up that way.”
Jacob shuddered as he recalled the nightmare of Test Subject No. 78’s rampage.
Still, he couldn’t blame Chae Jin-young.
In a way, this person was far more dangerous than No. 78.
“Still, it feels so good to be out here.”
“Woof!”
Dmitri and Anu were simply grateful to have escaped subspace.
Chae Jin-young ignored them and spoke.
“Wander around every corner of the city. If you sense anything or any place giving off holy power, report it immediately.”
Only then did the subspace trio begin looking around.
Chae Jin-young turned his gaze toward the distant Gehenna beyond the barrier once more.
The second objective would begin soon.
Clank! Psssh— psssh— psssh—
The steam engines roared back to life with full vigor now that they were properly supplied with hellfire lava.
Looking at the pitch-black buildings stretching beyond the power plant, Dmitri reacted first.
“Oh, I’ve returned to my third homeland.”
“Woof woof!”
Anu barked happily at the thought of eating hellstones again.
“Third? Russia must be the first. What’s the second?”
At Chae Jin-young’s question, Dmitri answered as if it were obvious.
“Why ask something so simple? Obviously, subspace is my first homeland, and Russia is the second.”
“…….”
Since this was Jacob’s first time in Nine City, he spoke with genuine curiosity.
“This should be quite an interesting mission.”
“Especially focus on investigating underground.”
“Got it.”
“Woof!”
The angelic tribe’s artifacts were probably mostly buried underground rather than on the surface of Nine City.
They hadn’t been discovered while wandering the dungeon, nor had they been caught in the tentacle’s surveillance net.
But underground areas that the surveillance net couldn’t reach—there were likely still many left.
Since Yoon Soo-ho and Choi Hee-yeon had found the chalice in the underground temple of the Void Church, the probability was much higher.
He could have entrusted the task to devils who knew Nine City’s geography well, but that would have been a high-risk gamble.
Devils were vulnerable to holy power. One wrong touch, and they could lose their lives on the spot.
Of course, it could be dangerous even for humans, but with the tentacle’s blessing, they should be fine.
『You’re dumping all the dirty work on them.』
“Dumping? Didn’t I say we’re one? It’s a community—we share the burden together.”
『Shameless.』
Jacob and the others headed into the city with enthusiasm.
Though it felt like they might focus more on sightseeing or embezzling hellstones than on artifact investigation, Chae Jin-young decided to let it slide.
“They worked hard enough—they deserve to be rolled a bit more.”
Muttering to himself, Chae Jin-young headed toward the power plant office where his sister was waiting.
***
Alone with a stranger—an unfamiliar being—in an unfamiliar space in an unfamiliar world.
Chae So-young found it boring to just sit and wait for her brother, who might not return anytime soon.
Thanks to that, she was skipping training and resting.
Her body had already loosened up completely after fighting hell’s monsters.
In fact, she had reached the point where her body was itching for action.
‘I fell right into the trap.’
Her brother Chae Jin-young might have planned this from the beginning.
Anyway, the ruthlessness was hard to believe from the same blood.
She suddenly missed the gentle, foolish older brother from just last year.
Then, she turned her head and looked at the unfamiliar being—Vritra the devil.
“…….”
Vritra also met her gaze.
‘What the hell, that gives me chills.’
Though she hadn’t said anything until now, looking at this red devil race instinctively made her feel danger.
Part of it was because Vritra himself was so strong, but above all, he was a devil.
Even in dungeons other than hell, encountering a devil as a monster drastically increased the difficulty.
Unlike ordinary monsters, their intelligence was high.
The only saving grace was that Vritra seemed completely submissive to her brother Chae Jin-young.
“What’s that?”
Finally unable to endure the awkwardness and boredom, Chae So-young asked while looking at the broken staff.
A black orb was wrapped in the grip at the end of the staff, like an ornament.
Vritra, who had been fiddling with the broken staff, answered.
“This? It’s the remnant of the scepter used by that cult leader. I found it while cleaning up the collapsed underground temple.”
He naturally used polite speech with Chae So-young as well.
Considering Chae Jin-young’s personality, it was probably an instinct for survival.
“Can I take a look?”
“Of course.”
Vritra approached politely, knelt on one knee like a gentleman, and offered the broken scepter.
At his burdensome demeanor, Chae So-young unconsciously frowned.
She cautiously reached out and took the scepter.
Then she released psionic energy and activated psychometry.
Lately, whenever she found something interesting-looking in dungeons, reading its memories had become a hobby.
Training her psionic energy was just a bonus.
She wouldn’t have done it if it gave off a dangerous vibe, but the broken scepter didn’t seem to have anything unusual.
It looked like it had lost its power when it broke.
“…….”
Chae So-young gently closed her eyes and traced back the scepter’s past.
She quickly skipped over trivial memories and reached the moment it broke.
A dark underground space.
Someone in a black robe with the hood pulled over their head poured power into the scepter.
Black lightning shot out and struck the golden chalice.
Crack—
The golden chalice split into three pieces.
At the same time, the scepter snapped—crack—and the cult leader also suffered a massive wound across his body and rolled on the ground.
‘Such tremendous power.’
Though she only felt it indirectly, Chae So-young read an overwhelming torrent of power in the object’s memories.
It felt as though even she might get swept away by it.
If her psionic energy had been at its previous level, she would have coughed up blood by now.
Her interest piqued by the broken scepter’s past, Chae So-young traced even further back.
The devil in the black robe always carried the scepter like an extension of his own limbs, wielding powerful magic and reigning supreme over other devils.
Then.
The scene unfolded of when the scepter first came into the devil’s hands.
A devil in a black robe knelt before an altar.
Thud!
At the same moment, Chae So-young unconsciously dropped to her knees. Hard enough that her kneecaps felt like they might shatter.
Vritra, watching her, furrowed his brow.
Tss-ts-ts—
The scepter in Chae So-young’s hand began emitting dark currents.
She stared blankly, still immersed in the past.
The scepter was embedded atop the altar like a legendary holy sword.
In that instant, a void-like deep and dark current struck the scepter like lightning.
“Hup!”
Instinctively sensing danger, Chae So-young flung the scepter from her hand.
Clatter—
The moment it left her grasp, the ominous current subsided, and it reverted to being an ordinary broken staff.
Drip drip—
Crimson blood flowed from her eyes, nose, and mouth.
Creak—
In that moment, she locked eyes with her brother Chae Jin-young, who had just entered the office.
***
Chae Jin-young used psychokinesis to pull the suspicious staff lying on the floor toward him.
Swoosh— grab.
He caught it in his hand and examined it from various angles.
Though it had completely lost its power now, he could still sense lingering traces of void energy.
『It reeks of that Void Church cult leader.』
Chae Jin-young nodded at the tentacle’s words.
‘Since it’s suspicious, better to take it for now.’
Shuu—
The broken staff was sucked into subspace.
“So…”
While Chae So-young was struggling to come up with an excuse.
Chae Jin-young whipped his head toward Vritra.
“I-I didn’t do anything!”
“Why did you just stand there doing nothing until she got to this state?”
“I’m sorry.”
Vritra slammed his forehead to the floor as if he had committed a mortal sin.
“Huu…….”
Chae Jin-young let out a deep sigh and turned to look at his sister.
Fortunately, Chae So-young appeared to have no major physical or mental damage.
But if he had arrived even a little later, her mind would have turned to mush.
Though he didn’t know exactly what the staff was, he could easily infer the origin of its power.
The Demon King.
Chae So-young must have sensed the Demon King’s presence while reading the staff’s past.
And upon feeling the Demon King’s power, she instinctively stopped the psychometry.
The process wasn’t exactly pleasant, but the outcome was flawless.
His sister was safe, and he had discovered that this staff was connected to the Demon King.
“‘That thing’ is something she’s too early to encounter…”
“……?”
At the word “that thing,” Chae So-young tilted her head.
Someday, his sister would have to face the Demon King—directly or indirectly.
If she encountered it without any preparation, there would be no lucky survival like today.
Only death.
Even wrapping her mind in layers of psionic energy might let her endure for a very short time.
‘Even my barrier was easily pierced by that thing. A little more delay, and her brain would have exploded.’
The Demon King in Chae Jin-young’s memory was an existence beyond description.
It was cosmic catastrophe incarnate.
The Hunters of the entire world needed to grow far stronger than they were now. Of course, even if hundreds of Hunters surpassed Zero-grade, victory was not guaranteed.
The best outcome was to prevent the Demon King from fully descending to Earth.
He planned to continue searching for ways to achieve that.
‘I should prepare for the worst-case scenario just in case.’
After thinking for a long while, Chae Jin-young spoke with a resolute expression.
“Hm… Building up resistance in advance won’t hurt. Starting today—special training.”
“…….”
Chae So-young couldn’t muster a single excuse for the disaster she had brought upon herself.
‘Ready?’
Chae Jin-young asked the tentacle.
Then the tentacle began speaking of something else.
『The angels scattered here and there are gathering at one point. It looks like something is about to happen.』
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