Inheritance of Knowledge (2)
"It's faster than I thought for Germany to have approved."
"It's not really fast, is it? It seems it took almost another month."
I could hear the reporters' conversations.
Words about the strategy that would be starting from now could be heard here and there.
"But there are a lot of demonic zones that haven't been cleared yet. Why start with Sichelmond?"
"I think it's probably because it was cleared once before, so before going for other demonic zones, they want to get a feel for it here."
No reporters knew about the recent abnormal state of Sichelmond.
That was because the German side had been consistently suppressing information about Sichelmond.
However, the hunters who arrived in the city closest to the demonic zone were left tongue-tied.
'This is land contaminated by demonic energy.'
Park Jung-woo had shown a sample of it before.
The air was heavy—nothing like magic power—a place that convinced even ordinary people that humans could never survive here.
'If it's this bad even from this far... if we get closer, it'll be at a similar level to the training.'
Of course, the city where they were now was at least several dozen kiloters away from the demonic zone.
Even so, this much pressure could be felt.
'If I hadn't trained beforehand, I might have panicked.'
Kian Rogers thought so as he looked around.
Ordinary people just thought 'the air is stuffy', but for Awakeners, it was different.
Especially these S-rank Awakener gathered here—they were the ones Jung-woo had personally selected.
"Where's Jung-woo oppa?"
"He left to check nearby ahead of ti."
For now, preparations were underway, but the actual entry into the demonic zone was still two days away.
And this wasn't just an ordinary strategy—since it would be broadcast on major network, they had to be even more thorough.
If sothing dangerous occurred, everything would be ruined.
'What a headache.'
As Shin Ah-yeon drew closer to the demonic zone, her headache that had begun anew made her sigh.
It was a symptom similar to what she had felt in the Grand Canyon.
'Is it because of Estella's mories?'
She'd recovered so mories in the Grand Canyon, but as the word suggests, it was only 'so'.
She hadn't recovered her mories of the past completely; it was more like she'd beco aware of a few important pieces of information.
'The demonic zone is a familiar place to
as well.'
She hadn't expected that she would have to co here again.
Strategizing the demonic zone, as she once had in the past—thinking that the existence she'd assud to be the king of the demonic zone back then and killed might not have actually been was enough to make her sigh.
"Clearing the demonic zone is one thing, but... sothing bigger could follow."
"It's not that it could follow, but that it's highly likely,"
Lee Soo-ah said.
Shin Ah-yeon nodded.
Probably, no one here knew—
That this demonic zone campaign was nothing but a starting point.
The ember between demons and humans that had blossod within would be ignited here.
***
I couldn't see inside the demonic zone properly.
From the start, what was allowed to
was only up to near the entrance to the demonic zone—so it couldn't be helped.
"You'll be entering two days from now. Until then, we can't permit access."
I nodded at the words of the official blocking the entrance.
He seed to be an Awakener working for the governnt in charge of the demonic zone, and his skills were actually quite good.
'I don't sense any demonic energy...'
I thought the German side would be deeply linked with demons, but apparently not.
They were wary of , but that was understandable.
From their perspective, I was nothing but a rude guy poking around a demonic zone that had already been cleared.
They were simply forced to go along with orders from higher up.
'If there is no problem, that would be a relief.'
Of course, I knew it wouldn't be so simple.
And seeing it from this close, I could reaffirm it.
This demonic zone was different from regular demonic zones.
'The place where demonic energy can be felt is very deep.'
That "deep" didn't refer to just the demonic zone's heart.
It was quite literally underground.
It began deep, deep below the surface.
That—was Sichelmond, the king and core of the demonic zone.
And surely, sothing the demons were hiding.
'Just like Alcatraz.'
Indeed, Alcatraz had only been a prototype, a temporary model before making the real thing.
The real one, the true focus, was all here in Sichelmond.
"Well, I look forward to working with you in two days."
At my words, they just nodded slightly, not giving any other reply.
After finishing the greeting and returning to where the filming crew was, Alencia and Hwang Yeon-ji greeted .
"How was it?"
"It looks similar to Alcatraz."
"Hm, so there must be sothing underground."
As expected, Yeon-ji instantly grasped the aning of my words.
"How is it compared to the ti with Alcatraz?"
"I don't know exactly, but it's certain that sothing far stronger is hidden here."
"That's not exactly a comforting thought."
Yeon-ji let out a shallow sigh as she spoke.
Her sigh reminded
of the conversation we'd once had.
Stories about strategies for clearing demonic zones several years ago.
Back then, Ji Yeon-hwa, who had been an important hunter for Upstream, knew information others didn't.
Even the association leader hadn't known these details.
When the subject of clearing the demonic zone had co up, Yeon-ji had said this:
"The demonic zone campaign back then wasn't originally planned."
So suddenly had the order co down that many hunters had been confused.
That was understandable.
If the S-rank hunters representing a country were mobilized for a demonic zone campaign, there was bound to be pushback.
"It wasn't the association leader but political circles that brought it up first. So soone in authority was contacted and made a demand."
Thus, in Korea, two of the youngest S-rank hunters at the ti—Baek Hojun and Shin Ah-yeon—were drafted for the demonic zone campaign.
"The ostensible purpose for the campaign was to reclaim contaminated land, but..."
Despite that, the campaign ended with only Sichelmond being attacked.
Though there were so casualties, it wasn't to the extent that they couldn't challenge other demonic zones.
'That ans it's better to assu that the demons had already interfered, even back then.'
Buildings with a special form, as seen in Alcatraz.
Perhaps they had selected Sichelmond as the site to create such structures.
'That's why they cleared the demonic zone.'
If it was a site that had been cleared, even if they called in equipnt and labor to reclaim the land, it wouldn't arouse suspicion.
If they were connected with those in authority, things would progress even more smoothly.
Under the veil of control and secrecy.
I scowled as I looked in the direction of the demonic zone.
I was certain that not only monsters but demons themselves would be there.
***
"So Park Jung-woo has arrived,"
Jin Su-hyuk said, and Damian nodded in the video feed.
No one was surprised, since it was expected.
It was bound to happen in the end.
【Everything proceeds as planned.】
"You're going to activate the castle?"
【I must.】
At Damian's words, Jin Su-hyuk smiled.
What an odd fellow, he thought.
The guy was practically betting his entire future on him.
"You trust
an awful lot."
【I don't.】
Damian answered firmly.
【I simply judged that the ideal world you envision, in one way or another, will profit us.】
He didn't know how the process would play out.
Just that the world Jin Su-hyuk sought coincided with Damian's own goals.
【And you'll be capable of it. By now, you aren't even entirely sure if you're a demon or a human, are you?】
"Well, I suppose so."
The Demon King's power.
A power that could never be mastered in a short ti.
But this body, created by the so-called divine art and by sacrificing countless lives, made it possible.
Demon God.
To obtain power that even surpassed the Demon King's.
"Best of luck. I've got my own business to handle."
At that, Damian cut off the call.
He wasn't fully used to these magic-projected video calls yet, but he admitted it was convenient.
"The king's castle, huh..."
The Alcatraz prototype, and the "castle" they'd hoped to make from it.
It was an imitation of the castle the Demon King had once lived in, and it was the core of all Damian had planned.
"I did play a bit of a prank on it though."
"Is that 'a bit'?"
Kang Min-gi said with a face of disbelief.
Probably Damian didn't know.
What Jin Su-hyuk intended to do with the king's castle.
'Even if he did, he isn't the type to stop.'
He might even welco it.
After all, what Jin Su-hyuk was considering was the quickest and most radical solution.
"In any case, until they fire the signal flare, there's only one thing for us to do. Managent handles managent's business."
With that, Jin Su-hyuk stood up.
Starting today, they would publicly present the normal people who had been made into Awakener.
Twenty had been recruited in advance.
All were made Awakener.
'They'll only live for another half year, though.'
But for that half year, they'd beco the Awakener they'd always dread of—how happy that would make them.
Jin Su-hyuk offered them applause for achieving their dream.
And also, towards the new chapter of history about to begin.
***
A total of eleven hunters.
That was the number of people participating in this demonic zone campaign.
Most had deep ties to us, but two were demon spies.
Ivanov Dmitri and Raidan Bowl.
Of these, Dmitri was openly revealed; the real threat was Raidan Bowl.
He was hiding well, which only made him more dangerous.
'He must be much stronger than the demon inside Dmitri's heart.'
With those two nearby, our location would surely be continually leaked to the demons.
But I had no intention of stopping it.
After all, as long as the information wasn't delivered directly by them in person, they'd certainly use so ans of remote communication.
"Are you ready?"
At my words, Shin Ah-yeon and Alencia both nodded.
"If anyone uses magic or demonic energy, Shin Ah-yeon will intercept it."
"You'll handle the electricity, right?"
"Yes."
Spies were an expected nuisance.
But once they were exposed, it didn't matter much if they had no ans of communication.
'With Shin Ah-yeon's magic and Alencia's power—'
We could listen in real ti to any conversation among the demons.
Miraculous magic, close to a miracle.
With the power of god, controlling all electricity at will.
"If anything happens, be sure to tell ."
"Yeah, I got it."
Shin Ah-yeon replied nonchalantly and waved her hand.
It was a sign not to worry.
I chuckled at her attitude and then approached the hunters who had gathered.
For your information, Alencia was also handling the filming.
Since regular caran couldn't enter the demonic zone, soone had to take charge of filming.
As she was not only an internet strear but also could handle electronic devices as if they were her own limbs, Alencia was the most appropriate for the role.
"All right, is everyone ready?"
I swept my gaze over the S-rank hunters.
Uniq's mbers, Kian Rogers, eden Boyd, and Eugene Garland.
Adding in the two S-rank spies, it was a truly formidable team.
"Then let's go in."
The demonic zone campaign that had been prepared for so long—
Was about to begin now.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
39 chapters left.
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