With the release of Blood and Steel Volu 3, a certain rumor about Isaac’s “odd pair” began to spread like wildfire.
There had been a bizarre incident—sohow sparked by a half-believable rumor that Isaac was actually Hitler in disguise—but it was resolved relatively smoothly.
It wasn’t Isaac himself who cleared it up, but his fiancée, Mari, who stepped forward.
And the impact was massive.
[Zenon, who seems kind on the surface. But he’s a man, all the sa.]
[How virile must he be for his fiancée to tell him to take a mistress?]
[There are even reports that he had secret conversations not just with his fiancée and mistress, but other won as well…]
[According to soone from the Academy, there were rumors of him having private talks with many won, not just his fiancée…]
The flood of gossip completely buried the earlier rumor that he had so physical defect.
The attention was so overwhelming it filled entire newspaper pages.
Isaac rarely left his ho unless absolutely necessary, citing threats from demon worshippers.
This lent him a mysterious aura—and the image of a “saint,” which made all this even more shocking.
[How many won are tied to Zenon? There are even whispers of ties to the Princess of Helium and the Queen of Alvenheim…]
[Masculinity hidden within a mysterious image. Better to be upfront than keep it buried.]
[Jealous.]
That last comnt was a bit strange, but overall, people were surprisingly accepting.
In this world, polygamy is allowed, and as long as a man is capable, having multiple wives isn’t considered odd.
Even the kings live that way. For them, producing heirs is a duty, so having many wives is natural.
That’s also why Friedrich once earned a reputation as a man of pure love—he adamantly refused to take concubines despite pressure, insisting duty alone wasn’t reason enough.
Moreover, Isaac is now revered by many as a “hero,” so having many won isn’t really an issue.
[Does Zenon have any illegitimate children, perhaps?]
So would still stir the pot with baseless gossip just to grab attention.
[I swear to the gods, I’d rather live as a scoundrel than a piece of trash.]
That defiant statent from Isaac—essentially saying he’d rather be an open rake than a secret scumbag—only earned him more flak.
Of course, all kinds of weird rumors had been swirling around due to his unintentionally secretive life, but most eventually faded.
So even though Isaac’s womanizing was now out in the open, people accepted it given his record.
And then, interpreting things as optimistically as possible, Mari herself spoke about Isaac’s impressive manliness, leading to comnts like:
[Zenon must be a saint sent by the gods. There’s no other way soone could live such a blessed life.]
[Looks, wealth, fa, and even the ability to satisfy multiple won. Isn’t this the very tale of a happy hero?]
[He saved the world with a novel, but now he’s living inside one himself.]
These weren’t really attacks—they were more like overpraise.
And while Isaac was a bit embarrassed, everything they said was technically true.
He may not be a saint, but he was a soul brought by the gods, now living a blessed life under their protection.
Isaac himself sotis wondered, “Is this all really real?”
And so, having accepted all of this, he made this statent in gratitude to the gods:
[The reason I can handle multiple won is thanks to divine power. Just look at how paladins have more stamina than regular knights.]
That line beca a massive catalyst, and suddenly, the number of believers exploded.
The popularity of paladins soared as a bonus.
As the human side of “Isaac the Enigma” began to surface, people couldn’t help but grow more curious.
What does he do in a day?
Does he have hobbies?
Favorite artists?
And as Mari hinted, is he like a beast at night?
Before, when little was known about him, people watched from afar.
But now that his human side was exposed, curiosity only intensified.
Still, it’s not like they could stalk him.
More importantly, Isaac rarely leaves his ho.
In other words, unless he takes action himself, there’s almost no way to know more about him.
Trying to track him could even be fatal.
[The only way to et Zenon is at the Zenon Festival. If you want to catch his eye, that’s your only shot.]
[The Zenon Festival draws near. What kind of art will he unveil this ti?]
[The Myshal Territory continues building new accommodations for the growing wave of tourists…]
Truthfully, Isaac wanted to et more people.
It’s just that the circumstances didn’t allow for it.
It wasn’t just demon worshippers that were a threat—there were deranged stalkers too.
And his introverted nature didn’t help either.
Nobles and commoners alike believed he stayed hidden due to the threat from demon worshippers.
These cultists despised Isaac for ruining their long-term plans and had even launched a surprise attack.
But after the Zenon Chronicles concluded and Blood and Steel began, their activity gradually died down.
This is partly why the event’s energy began to wane.
The cultists were barely active anymore.
So said the cult had been mostly eradicated.
Others believed they were simply hiding and regaining strength.
“Why?”
“Why haven’t you killed him yet?!”
A dark, secret place where even seeing ahead was difficult.
A young man, hood pulled low, spoke in frustration.
Across from him sat an old man, also hooded.
His face couldn’t be seen, but his gnarled, wrinkled hands were visible.
“Because it’s the Lord’s command.”
His voice was old and rasped like scraping tal—but carried a quiet, heavy pressure.
The Lord’s command.
At those words, the young man scowled deeply.
Though his face was mostly hidden by the hood, the twisted lines around his mouth made his displeasure obvious.
“The Lord’s command? That’s absurd. Wasn’t he the one who said the bastard should be torn to shreds imdiately?”
“…”
“I helped you retreat deeper into hiding. The least you could do is give an explanation.”
The young man pleaded, clearly frustrated.
The old man silently stared at him for a while.
The man stared intently at the old man, as if unwilling to back down.
The old man’s lips were tightly sealed, like a monk in silent ditation.
How much ti passed like that?
Of the two engaged in a silent power struggle, it was the old man who finally spoke first.
“Do you know what our goal is?”
“Isn’t it to correct this false world?”
“Of course, it doesn’t really matter to you. What you want is revenge against him.”
“… …”
With that pointed remark, it was now the young man’s turn to fall silent—his reaction showed the words had struck ho.
While he remained quiet, the old man continued in his signature, raspy voice.
“The book he published only served to make this already false world more solid. He didn’t weaken the cage we need to destroy—he reinforced it.”
“If things kept going the way they were, no one would ever have known the truth about this world.”
“… …”
“We thought the next book he was planning to release would do the sa. That’s why we were planning to eliminate him this sumr. Originally, that is.”
“…What kind of plan was it?”
“Our Lord was going to sacrifice himself to take him out personally. The area’s protected by the gods, but with the Lord’s strength, he could have held out for a while.”
It was a brutally simple and effective plan.
The man almost laughed, but managed to hold it back.
He didn’t know how powerful this “Lord” truly was, but considering the amount of trust they placed in him, it must’ve been feasible.
Still, as things stood, the demon worshippers only had one Lord left. The rest had been wiped out by Isaac’s grandfather, Clark Michelle.
Since then, they’d tried to fill the position again—but the sudden popularity of ZenonChronicles cut them off at every turn.
“A brilliant plan, truly. So then—why abandon such a brilliant plan and just start watching?”
“Have you read the latest book he published?”
“Blood and Steel, right? Disgusting, but yes—I read it.”
He must’ve really hated Isaac—he even called the book disgusting.
Know your enemy, know yourself—that was his mindset going in. Not that it mattered to the old man.
The old man nodded and then said sothing the young man couldn’t quite understand.
“We fully expected him to, of course, write yet another book that would reinforce this false world.
But he didn’t. Instead… he wrote sothing that cracked the cage. He described the very ideal world we dream of.”
“What do you an?”
“A world not governed by false gods, but built solely by the hands of humankind.”
Even with the old man’s explanation, the young man frowned—he still didn’t quite get it. But he did recall their belief system:
That this world is a cage built by false gods, and their duty is to shatter it and reveal the truth.
To most people, it would sound insane. And to him, it still did. He had only joined them for the sake of revenge.
So hearing this group, which had shared the sa goal, suddenly say sothing so absurd left him speechless.
“Blood and Steel is your ideal world? What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Exactly what I said. It’s questionable that there are no gods in that world, but everything else matches our vision. It shows everything that can exist under perfect freedom.
The freedom to believe in gods, or not. The freedom to curse them. Even the freedom to elevate oneself as a god.”
“But only three volus have been released. Can you really tell all that?”
“We’ll know more when additional volus co out. But here’s where the real question began to form.”
The old man paused and looked at the books stacked on the desk—the released volus of Blood and Steel.
“Why did the false gods allow this book to be published?”
“…Excuse ?”
“These gods have done everything possible to maintain the cage. When soone realized the truth and cried out, they struck them down in the na of divine punishnt.
Otherwise, why would we be forced to hide in the shadows like this?”
“… …”
He’d heard the stories. Fools who dared to challenge the gods and were smitten with divine punishnt.
At the ti, he’d thought, What a bunch of idiots.
But now, hearing the old man, it felt like there might have been more to those tales.
“In other words, the truth is the one thing the false gods most desperately want to hide.
And this truth—it’s deeply tied to that book. A world without the cage, where humanity progresses on its own, filled with ruin and lessons alike.”
“… …”
“Why didn’t the false gods stop the book? Why didn’t they erase all mory of it? They can read the future, even shape it—so why didn’t they?”
“The Lord proposed a hypothesis.”
The reason the gods couldn’t stop the release of Blood and Steel.
“Maybe they can read Zenon’s future—but they can’t interfere with it directly.”
“…Isn’t that obvious? The gods respect mortals and—”
“Then why do they strike people down for denying their divinity?”
“… …”
“One last thing.”
“Maybe they truly have no idea what kind of impact Zenon’s actions will have. Considering how ZenonChronicles was only later revered as prophecy—it’s not so far-fetched.”
“Isn’t that just because Zenon’s influence got too big?”
“You think the false gods couldn’t foresee that? If they had, they would’ve erased his soul altogether. Just to stabilize the cage.”
The more he thought about it, the more inconsistencies he noticed.
If the gods had seen this future, they would have acted sooner.
But in many cases, they seed genuinely unprepared. From the liberation of the demons, to the ergence of the demon worshippers.
And most tellingly—there hadn’t been a single divine revelation regarding Zenon prior to his birth.
As the young man silently turned over his growing doubts, the old man, now speaking more calmly, said:
“That’s why we plan to keep watching. The Lord himself has taken an interest.”
“…And if, in the end, this book does reinforce the cage, as you feared?”
“Then we’ll carry out our original plan. But one thing is certain.”
The demon summoning ritual, orchestrated by the cultists—
“Thanks to Zenon’s appearance, the false gods are in complete disarray.”
Maybe, just maybe… they had succeeded, in the truest sense.
The young man kept his mouth shut for a mont. Then, quietly, he spoke.
“…Understood. So, we’re waiting until Blood and Steel is complete?”
“For now, yes.”
“What if the book ends up portraying the demon worshippers negatively?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
“I really want to release the next volu.”
“Then get writing already.”
“Let play around a little first.”
Looks like a bastard worse than any demon is about to erge.
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