Chapter 79
No, honestly, it’s a bit unfair.
Of course, I admit that it’s a situation where I could easily be misunderstood.
It’s not my intention, but my tone always comes off as aggressive and arrogant, and lately, issues related to vampires keep increasing.
But far from doing anything bad, haven’t I only been doing good deeds?
I can let it slide that she writes Sniper Posts in the Community, but to actually come all the way from the other side of the Earth in person to track someone down!
“Should I just fight her?!”
Of course, it wouldn’t be me fighting, but my Retainers would be fighting for me.
Of course, I was just saying that; I didn’t have the slightest intention of actually fighting.
No matter how strong my kids are, it’s unknown whether they could beat a World-class Hunter.
And even if we won and defeated the Saintess, what benefit would there be for me?
If I harmed a World-class Ranker Hunter and the central figure of a massive religion, the aftermath would be hard to handle.
“Sigh… What kind of delusion am I having all by myself?”
Continuing that train of thought brought a wave of disillusionment.
The truth was, I wasn’t actually mad because of the Saintess.
It was just a thought I had in a fit of anger because I was mad at my team’s luck.
I even got three solo kills in the last game, yet I still lost.
This is Match Manipulation, Match Manipulation!
[Jin-yu: Let’s just stop here for today…]
[Iced coffee: Yeah. Good work.]
I became sullen and took my hands off the keyboard.
Flap!
Just then, Dark, who had been eating in a corner of My Room, stopped his meal and flew toward me.
As if trying to comfort me, Dark climbed onto my lap and rubbed his face against me.
“What a good boy.”
I smiled and stroked his head.
“Kuaang!”
Dark let out a pleasant cry.
But right at that moment.
Ding!
A new System Window popped up before my eyes.
[The condition has been met, and the Retainers' Tier 2 Grace has been unlocked.]
[Mystery: Rapid Growth]
- the Retainers temporarily undergo Rapid Growth, explosively increasing their level and stats.
“Huh?”
It was the Tier 2 Grace of Dark’s Mystery, [Vampiric Dragon].
Originally, normal tiers like Blood Art, Shadow, Transformation, and Charm were structured so that reaching stage 1 opened stage 2, and stage 2 opened stage 3.
But the Mystery Tier was different.
Not only could I not Unlock stage 1 as I pleased, but even if I possessed stage 1, stage 2 remained locked.
But now, for the first time, the Tier 2 Grace of the Mystery Tier had opened.
“Could it be… because he ate so much?”
It seemed that eating recklessly with the [Predation] Skill was the Unlock Condition.
Is this the power of Two-Plus Korean Beef Blood Sausage…?!
Lately, my food expenses had multiplied several times over Thanks to this guy.
But with a result like this, the money wasn’t a waste at all.
“If I Consume 30 Essence of Blood to grant this grace to Dark… it means he gets a Skill that temporarily makes him drastically stronger, right?”
This was a massive merit.
He was still too low-level to be sent into battle, but with this Skill alone, he could be deployed into actual combat right away.
“Awesome!”
It felt like the stress I had gotten from my losing streak in ranked games vanished in an instant.
“Our Luminous Dragon. So pretty, so pretty!”
I rejoiced, lifting Dark high into the air.
“Keureung?”
Lifted gently in my hands, Dark tilted his head.
* * *
At that time.
After parting ways with Association President Kim Tae-seong, Cecili-ah’s Party unpacked at the finest hotel provided by the Association.
The Party opened their hotel room door and stepped out.
Two Korean hunters appeared as if they had been waiting.
“Saintess. Are you planning to go out?”
“If there is a place you need to be escorted to, please let us know.”
They politely asked where she was heading.
And that wasn’t even all.
“Six people… no, about seven.”
If she included those with their presence erased hiding stealthily inside the hotel, the number jumped significantly.
Despite it being the Saintess’s unofficial visit, several of Korea’s A-rank hunters were stationed at the hotel where she was staying.
The superficial reason was an Escort for the distinguished guest.
However, Cecili-ah was well aware that their true purpose was to monitor her every move.
“Association President. It is not that I do not understand…, but I have something I must do.”
She, too, was not ignorant of Association President Kim Tae-seong’s concerns.
Acting rashly in a foreign country could easily escalate into diplomatic friction.
But looking at it from a macroscopic perspective, dealing with the True Ancestor would ultimately be of great help to Korea as well.
Cecili-ah quietly sent a Telepathic Message to the Knight standing behind her.
“Brother Lucias. Please begin.”
At that, the blonde Knight with a scar snapped his fingers with an indifferent face.
Snap-!
A small, light friction sound.
“…”
At that moment, the eyes of the two A-rank hunters standing in the hallway simultaneously clouded over and went blank.
Soon, they bowed politely toward the empty air.
“Ah. I see. Saintess.”
“Then let us go together.”
The hunters, answering as if the Saintess were standing in the empty air, soon turned their steps and naturally began to walk away in another direction.
“It is handled, Saintess.”
The Seventh Seat of the Temple Knights, the “Apostle of Illusion” Lucias.
It was his authority bestowed by the light, deceiving the senses of others and making them see an Illusion.
“I am sorry. Brothers. May the Blessing of Light be with you.”
Cecili-ah briefly apologized in her heart to the retreating Korean hunters.
It was just a simple and light Illusion.
There would be no lingering side effects on their bodies, so it would be fine.
Once the interferences disappeared, the giant Knight opened his mouth with a heavy voice.
“Saintess. What do you intend to do now? This city is incredibly vast, and the forces of evil are cleverly hidden.”
“There is no way the True Ancestor herself will reveal her appearance. She must surely be holed up in some damp, dark place.”
Lucias added, agreeing with the giant Knight.
“Do not worry. I already have something in mind.”
Cecili-ah answered calmly.
“The True Ancestor’s whereabouts are tightly hidden, but the traces of the person who recently contacted her will surely remain somewhere. I will find the person in the Community presumed to have contacted the True Ancestor.”
As a result of the Temple Knights' thorough investigation.
It was proven true that Emissary was an actual Hunter in Korea.
However, Cecili-ah thought that was the True Ancestor’s deception too.
It was clear that the wicked Vampire had brainwashed the victim under the guise of salvation through some means.
She would find the brainwashed victim, purify the victim, and use Reverse Tracking on those traces to find the True Ancestor.
Cecili-ah clasped her two hands tightly together, closed her eyes, and unfolded her Skill.
“Great Light. Please lead us to the lost lamb.”
[Guidance of Light]
A Search Authority that points to the location of the target the caster desperately wishes to find.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she had chosen this roundabout method from the beginning.
Naturally, she had first tried using the Guidance of Light to directly find the True Ancestor herself, but for some reason, only a response saying it was impossible had returned.
But Cecili-ah was not very surprised by that fact.
If it were a powerful and cunning being on the level of the True Ancestor, they would rightfully be using powerful Concealment and hiding tightly.
Paaat - !
Not long after, Cecili-ah’s prayer received an answer.
A single thin Thread of Light made of pure white light formed from the empty air, and it began to stretch out long down the hallway.
Checking the direction the Thread of Light pointed, Cecili-ah commanded with a resolute voice.
“Let us go. The light will guide us.”
* * *
At the same time
In the middle of a bustling downtown street in Seoul.
In the center of the street where a massive crowd of people busily came and went, there was a man standing blankly.
A hood was covering his face deeply.
And a skinny-built man was wearing a dark, worn-out robe.
In his hand, he grasped something that looked like a die, or perhaps a cube.
An object made up of countless asymmetrical angles.
It was a suspicious and conspicuously out-of-place outfit no matter who looked at it, yet none of the pedestrians brushing past him paid the man any mind.
As if there were nothing there from the beginning, people ignored him and brushed past.
When the man opened his System Window, a message that had arrived floated in the empty air.
[Title: Directive]
[Sender: Priest of the Abyss]
The Saintess has just arrived in Korea. Please move according to plan.
The man who read the message formed a faint smile beneath his hood.
“…Finally.”
At last, he took a step.
He was stroking the ominous object in his hand.
This was a fact that not only yu-jin, but even the Saintess did not know.
“I will definitely eliminate the Saintess this time.”
The Tracker was not just one person.