novelraw Chapter 80 : Aftercare and the Ember (1)
Chapter 80 : Aftercare and the Ember (1)
80: Aftercare and the Ember (1)
Flare.
Crackle… crackle.
Johan, who had watched the scattering crimson sparks for a moment, simply sank to the ground.
Damn.
Every joint in his body ached.
It felt as if all his nerves had been severed in bundles.
He had exerted the power of a higher Saint-rank while occupying only the Second Moon’s Saint-rank, so the backlash had to exceed imagination.
If he had been an ordinary person, he would have died a hundred times over already.
If he had not built the shrine with the Blood Vessel.
And.
If he had not optimized his mana through the Ring of Crimson Lotus….
‘I would have died too.’
He felt anew how important traits and opportunities were.
What he had gained.
A fragment of the Thorn of the Golden Tree and half of the staff Arabella had used.
Both were unusable unless restored.
Well, they were still better than nothing.
Johan, having barely pulled himself together, went to Vivian.
“Johan…sir.”
“Are you all right? Your wounds look pretty bad.”
“Luckily… thanks to your help, I was able to be safe.”
With Arabella’s death, the effect of the golden thorn had vanished.
She had suffered so much that she would need recovery rituals, but her life itself would not be in danger.
“I will never forget this favor. Even if I must give my life, I will repay it without fail.”
To hear such words from the famous Witch of the Maple Tree—
That alone made the risk worthwhile.
“Vivian Astraia.”
“Yes.”
“Value yourself a little more. There is no favor you must repay by throwing away your life.”
“I will… remember that.”
Vivian lowered her head, clenching her fist.
She had poured everything she possessed into it… she was in a state where foaming at the mouth or fainting would not have been strange.
If she had decided to act tough, she would have to keep up the act to the end.
Still, seeing her smile like that eased the sting a little.
He could not know what butterfly effects this decision would produce.
But.
‘It did not feel bad.’
That was enough.
Supporting Vivian, he stepped out of the sewer. The comrades who were tidying up the battlefield were in full view.
“Ha ha! Everyone, move in a line. You weak looter scum!”
Ragnar Lodbrok was tying people up mercilessly with ropes.
“Kids. Herd them over there. Yes, yes. If there are any runaways, you can crunch them up like snacks.”
Lagertha, who had awakened as an ancient priest, was commanding black panthers.
As instructed earlier, rather than directly intervening in the fight against Gluttony, they focused on blocking escape routes and rounding up fugitives.
“How’s it going over here?”
“Ah. Brother. What happened to you? And why is Vivian like that!”
“There was some trouble. It’s fine. It was resolved well.”
Before they could worry more, Johan added quickly.
“By the way. What’s the situation here?”
“We caught quite a few looters. But I don’t see any of the Requiem Cult’s priests or that Samuel fellow.”
As expected. They had slipped away.
He had felt they were gone from the battlefield at some point.
The problem was.
‘They left far too quickly.’
They had withdrawn and vanished while Gluttony was still active.
It was incomprehensible.
Wasn’t their goal to secure many sacrifices in partnership with Gluttony?
Or perhaps—
What if that had never been their aim from the start?
Johan’s expression hardened.
He needed to confirm.
That was why he had placed someone inside them.
[‘The ritual of the Seed of Living Spirit’ was activating.]
Long-distance communication using the Seed of Living Spirit.
The contact was Kim Geunsik, who had infiltrated the Requiem Cult.
[Yes. Speak.]
A familiar voice answered.
“Did I tell you why Kain Belmire participated in the second episode? Or any new news regarding the Requiem Cult? Anything will do.”
[Actually, a few hours ago orders were delivered to quasi-executive members of the cult. But it was such an absurd thing that I hesitated whether to tell you.]
“Let me judge. Say it.”
[They said they had found a way to corrupt the Saintess… and told everyone to prepare to welcome the Dark Mother. Most inside were shocked. Corrupting that Saintess?]
Their objective… a Saintess?
As Kim Geunsik had said, it sounded impossible.
Corrupting a Saintess was nearly impossible at this point.
‘They would have to either build an extremely special buildup, or participate in that mid-episode. One of the two.’
But the circumstances left a bad taste.
Samuel had been confirmed to have gone to the “safe zone” where the Saintess was. Kain had a high probability of going there too.
‘They must have some other method…’
Johan’s mind spun quickly.
He carefully retraced everything that had happened since meeting those people.
Then suddenly.
One thing stuck out.
On the train… Kain had surprisingly given up the Apostate’s Finger without much fuss.
Even if it had been a bet….
‘For men who stop at nothing, that was unusually careless.’
What if Kain Belmire had deliberately handed over the Apostate’s Finger on the train?
‘If they had foreknowledge through a revelation about who would gain the trait at the end, it wouldn’t be a leap.’
For a group like the Requiem Cult, it would not be strange at all if they had secured at least one Heavenly Scribe.
One of Gluttony’s traits, [Infinite Craving].
If combined with another synergistic trait or item, it could trigger the target’s darkest desires.
It could impose a mental seal so powerful even a Saintess could not withstand it.
The problem was.
‘How did they steal the trait I had…?’
There was one way.
[Trait Thief]
The Saint-rank must have stayed in the same moon.
It must not have been a week since the trait had been absorbed.
If the enemy had that item, the whole plan could be realized.
After securing both the trait and the Saintess.
‘That was what they were trying to create.’
The worst kind of traitor who believed everyone stood on humanity’s side.
[Prophecy: Soon, another Judas shall awaken. (1)]
Another puzzle he had postponed fit into place.
The prophecy Lee Jaehwan had received.
It referred to the Saintess.
＊＊＊
At the same time.
In the sewer where the Sacred Sword had been summoned, the finishing moves of this battle were underway.
Three looters had died approaching the Saintess.
And.
“You summoned a Sacred Sword and still overreached, didn’t you? I’m worried something might happen to humanity’s hero that way.”
Samuel slowly approached the Saintess.
“The fight is already over. If you come any closer… I’ll ring it.”
“I know. Gluttony has fallen, and soon a Manager will appear to declare the episode’s end.”
“Even so, you’re going to continue?”
“I’m not here to fight. I only intend to give you some useful information. You can think of it as goodwill.”
“A servant of darkness offering goodwill… amusing.”
The aura emanating from the Saintess grew sharper.
Rumble.
Night of the Catacomb opened, revealing torture devices plastered with flesh.
Just then—
“I’m talking about Kang Johan.”
Samuel scratched his chin and added.
“Do you truly believe he’s human?”
“……!!”
The Saintess froze in place.
The doubts she’d had when she saw him wielding blood-related powers—
He was too strong to be a mere blood mage.
She had thought, perhaps, he was a vampire or even a higher species.
But since he stood with humanity and fought against the darkness, she could never be completely sure.
Above all, if he was one of them, it made no sense that he used elemental magic.
A gray area where black and white could not be clearly defined.
And now, Samuel was pouring oil onto that doubt and confusion.
“Judging by your expression, it seems you have your suspicions.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“He just took every single reward from Gluttony. Including a [Trait] he must never have obtained.”
“A Trait….”
The Saintess repeated his words.
A Trait from Gluttony, of all beings.
If that fell into the hands of a cultist, the chaos it would cause… was unimaginable.
That, at least, had to be stopped.
“Do you know what kind of Trait it is?”
“According to our Prophet, it’s a Trait called [Infinite Craving]. If you were to obtain it, your divine power would increase dramatically.”
“If Johan has already secured that Trait, he won’t hand it over easily.”
“We can take care of that for you. In exchange, once the Trait is in your possession, we’d like a small favor in return.”
A kind of deal.
‘But this man is a cultist—I can never trust him.’
The Saintess carefully organized her thoughts.
If she secured the Trait first and wiped them all out afterward… she could have every rabbit in her net.
For now, recovering the mana she had spent summoning the Sacred Sword took priority.
“I’ll… need some time to think.”
“I’ll give you a day. I trust you’ll make a wise decision. After all, neither of us can allow a cursed inhuman species to lead the episode, can we?”
Samuel smiled amiably and stepped aside.
The remaining hunters of the Twinsword Guild sheathed their weapons.
After the Saintess left—
Step.
Kain emerged from the shadows.
“You’ve worked hard, Kain.”
“It made me sick having to humor that filthy Gluttony. Still, since everything went according to plan, it was worth enduring.”
“What about that Kim Geunsik fellow?”
“I spread false intel. By now, even Johan should have heard about the Saintess’s so-called corruption.”
The Saintess’s corruption wasn’t the true goal.
Making them believe it was—that was the real plan.
Well, even if things went awry and it ended with the Saintess’s corruption…
That wouldn’t be a bad outcome either.
Either way, they stood to lose nothing.
On the contrary, it would only become a heavy burden for their enemies.
“But I still can’t figure out what your real goal is. Samuel. You don’t seem to have a grand cause like we do. What exactly are you after?”
Kain looked at Samuel.
They had been together since the first episode, yet he still couldn’t read the man.
“A goal…? I don’t have anything so grand.”
Samuel simply smiled.
Just as he had the first day they met.
＊＊＊
The end of the episode.
Contrary to everyone’s expectation that it would last the full thirty days, the tragedy was quickly concluded by the actions of several heroes.
Of course, even then, the casualties were staggering.
In less than a week, over eighty thousand were dead or injured.
What’s worse, the sudden surge of looters and criminals made postwar cleanup even more troublesome.
‘Everyone’s going to be swamped for a while.’
Johan clicked his tongue as he watched the busy Hunter Association staff and police officers moving about.
Just because it had been inevitable didn’t make the sacrifice acceptable.
Among the dead were good people—
Someone’s family.
[As emergency aid reaches the survivors of Daejeon….]
[Governments around the world have pledged full support, including relief supplies and psychological counseling.]
Daejeon would remain in the world’s memory—engraved with shock and terror.
That was the cold reality.
“Warrior Kang. You did your best. So stop wearing such a gloomy expression!”
“Yeah. If it weren’t for you taking down the boss monster, the casualties would’ve been far worse.”
Rodbrock and Lagerseh comforted Johan.
Times like this made him glad to have comrades.
Right. As they said, he needed to rest now and prepare for what came next.
“Come on, order whatever you want. Today’s on our rich big sister, Reina.”
“Wait, what? Why am I the one paying?”
“You make so much, you can afford it. Or should I report it and use the bounty as our bar tab?”
“Ha. Fine. Take it. Take it all.”
Reina scowled and pulled out her card.
A card with no spending limit.
Just how much had she made doing spy work, anyway?
“Heh. Once again, I’ve saved humanity.”
Seo Changhee sat in the corner, drunk on his own heroism.
Still, at least he hadn’t done anything idiotic this time. That was worth a toast.
“What is… this?”
Vivian tilted her head, staring at the food laid out on the table.
Frosty beer filled with ice crystals, pizza loaded with cheese, spicy hot wings with blue cheese dip.
There were also mountains of fries and thick sausages that looked incredibly appetizing.
“This is what we call modern food. Try it.”
“Wow… this, this taste… how…?”
Vivian’s drowsy eyes widened as she bit into the pizza.
It must have been a shock.
She had likely survived on bitter maple tea and leaves beneath the dungeon. Of course, the taste of these calorie bombs would be extraordinary.
And washing down the grease with icy beer—
“Ahhh! This is divine!”
“Yeah! Nothing beats a cold beer after hard work!”
Exclamations erupted all around.
Glasses clinked.
Stories were exchanged.
The gathering went on until late into the night.