< Chapter 158: Determined Move (3) >
Rewinding ti a bit,
July 28th.
The day before the siege of the Dragon’s Lair.
Before departing, Unknown briefly moved to the hideout of the savior of truth.
“Welco. Boss.”
Maestro greeted Unknown.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes. I am alone.”
No other presence was felt inside the hideout.
Saint would be busy with the work at the cult, and Trickster and Lust had left to attend to their respective tasks.
And Hermit was monitoring all over Korea under the command of Unknown.
Unknown closed his eyes and concentrated for a mont, checking where his power was distributed. Through this act, he could sowhat pinpoint the locations of those under the ‘Vow of Absolute Obedience’.
Trickster was in the UK.
Lust was in Brazil.
Hermit was in Korea.
Saint was at the cult.
Confirming that everyone was in their proper places, Unknown opened his eyes again.
Observing Unknown’s calm expression, Maestro thought to himself.
‘Hermit must still be in Korea.’
If Hermit had been in the US, Unknown would not have had such an expression.
‘In the first place, there’s no guarantee that what Lust said is true. It might be a sche to gain benefits by causing strife between Hermit and ….’
“David.”
Called by Unknown, he snapped out of his thoughts.
“Yes, tell .”
“How long have you been working under ?”
“12 years.”
“12 years, huh. It’s already been that long.”
Unknown scanned the empty space with a distant gaze.
“David. You’ve really done well over the past 12 years.”
With a faint smile, Unknown stared at Maestro.
“…Boss?”
Seeing the warm expression he had never seen before, Maestro’s eyes widened considerably.
“Saying that being able to obtain new experintal results as a virtual character called ‘Master’ is thanks to you, wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Thank you.”
Maestro’s expression turned to one emotion. It was the first ti he saw Unknown express gratitude towards soone.
“I don’t know how to respond to such generous words.”
Maestro knelt down and bowed his head.
“David, do you rember when you asked what exactly my ability was a long ti ago?”
“…Yes.”
Maestro smiled bitterly.
It was from the days when he was still quite naive. Without knowing any better, he had asked about Unknown’s ability.
It had been a curiosity born from admiration.
Wondering what the origin of Unknown’s vast abilities was. What kind of power they possess to be such a perfect supre being? Just how much was their hidden power?
Such curiosity.
“I thought you were an audacious brat back then. I didn’t expect you to co this far.”
Unknown chuckled softly.
“…It’s my shaful past.”
Maestro smiled bitterly.
Looking at Maestro, whose face had slightly reddened, Unknown smiled again.
“My ability doesn’t have an official na. So, I gave it a na myself.”
“…Boss?”
Then, out of the blue, he brought up sothing.
“Predation. The ability to acquire the abilities of the target by consuming them… Such an ability.”
“Ah….”
Maestro nodded as if convinced. If that’s the ability, then it explains the vast range of Unknown’s abilities.
Unknown stared intently at his right hand.
“To be honest, calling it an ability is embarrassing; it’s more like a raggedy power.”
“What do you an….”
eting Maestro’s trembling eyes filled with questions directly, Unknown let out a snicker.
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
Maestro looked at Unknown with eyes saying otherwise.
“Those eyes seem to be saying that you could understand sufficiently.”
“….”
“But, David, aside from whether you can understand it or not, it is ‘physically’ impossible.”
“I think it’s sothing I don’t know.”
Maestro, the embodint of pride, slightly raised the tone of his voice.
“You’re right about that too. Well then, let’s see if you can understand.”
As Maestro raised one corner of his lips, he said this.
“□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□(There is no system for )”
However, his voice didn’t reach Maestro.
No, it reached him but he couldn’t understand it.
“…What did you say just now?”
“As expected. You’re just the sa.”
Unknown nodded slightly.
Looking at Unknown with a strangely disappointed expression, Maestro bit his lip.
A mont of silence passed.
“David, do you rember the day I brought the kid?”
Then, Unknown brought up a new topic.
“Yes, I rember.”
“That day, you asked why I suddenly placed a woman of unknown background in an executive position.”
“…Yes.”
“I answered because she is useful.”
It had already been over 5 years since that happened.
“Yes. In the end, Boss was right. Lust was a useful woman.”
Maestro also acknowledged Lust’s infiltration and information-gathering abilities. The sa went for her combat skills.
“From that ti on, the foresight of the boss who clearly recognized Lust’s potential abilities…”
“David.”
Unknown cut off Maestro’s words.
“The ‘usefulness’ of the child I was referring to wasn’t that.”
The corners of Unknown’s mouth slightly rose.
“The kid’s ability is rare. Not magical power, not physical strength, but a third kind of energy source, the ability to manipulate Qi (life force). I was just tempted by that ability.”
“…What do you an?”
“Yes. I brought the kid into the organization with the intention to ‘predatorily consu’ her.”
Just for that purpose, he destroyed the human relationships of a woman nad Shirakawa Ai.
Driven to be a devil, implicated in sches, and incited to turn against others.
He manipulated her parents to lead them to the worst situation possible.
Moreover, with the awakening of “Transcendent Lineage: Succubus,” she beca a being who forcibly took away the ‘Qi’ of n around her, whether good or bad.
That way, the life of a woman nad Shirakawa Ai was completely ruined.
And such Shirakawa Ai was picked up by ‘Unknown’.
Completely hiding the fact that it was his doing, with an expression like a tall man picking up a cat abandoned by its owner, he took Shirakawa Ai into his arms.
With nowhere to go, Shirakawa Ai followed Unknown and joined an organization called the Saviors of Truth.
This was the background of the birth of the executive known as ‘Lust’.
“Why such cumberso actions…?”
Maestro asked with troubled eyes. If he was tempted by Lust’s abilities, he should have ‘consud’ her on the spot.
Why did he do such a thing?
“I needed ti to digest the ‘prey’ I had consud before her. anwhile, I needed a place suitable to keep her bound.”
That was the chain called the saviors of the truth.
“And yesterday, the digestion finally ended.”
“Then the reason you moved here today is…?”
“Yes. It’s for ‘consumption’.”
Unknown’s smile deepened.
“Then we should imdiately get Lust….”
“There’s no need.”
If it were according to the original plan, the woman nad ‘Shirakawa Ai’ would have been Unknown’s prey and would have ended her life here today.
“…Boss?”
“What I am going to consu today is not Lust….”
Unknown took a step closer to Maestro.
“It’s you.”
The corners of Unknown’s mouth lifted up devilishly.
“What is… this?”
“The circumstances have changed. I need your abilities now.”
Maestro’s abilities were needed for the assault on the Dragon’s Lair happening tomorrow. Not for dungeon assault, but to observe a person nad ‘Kang Seo-yul.’
“I was thinking that it’s about ti we needed wind attribute anyway.”
Smack!
With one hand, Unknown gripped Maestro’s face tightly.
“Bo, Boss!”
With a panicked expression, Maestro gripped Unknown’s hand with both of his hands. Then, he struggled desperately to free himself from Unknown’s grasp.
“David. The 12 years we spent together were quite enjoyable.”
“Arrrgghhh!”
One minute.
That was the ti it took for the light to completely disappear from Maestro’s eyes.
* * *
At present ti.
The Dragon’s Lair.
About 6 days have passed since the start of the assault.
anwhile, Maestro did not initiate any actions.
Thanks to that, they gained confidence.
‘Maestro was consud by Unknown.’
This was the only explanation that could account for the current situation.
It was a very simple deduction.
‘Given that Unknown is using a musical staff called “sky”, it’s certain that he copied Maestro’s abilities.’
However, in the original work, Unknown never used the ‘executives’ abilities, not even once.
From these two facts, there was only one conclusion that could be drawn.
‘To copy abilities, Unknown needs to kill or absorb the target.’
In that case, Unknown’s ability should be nad “consumption” rather than “copy.”
If so, it makes sense why I see Maestro’s phantom in my ‘Dragon Eye.’
‘Maestro is dead.’
With that, everything fell into place.
‘Unlike in the original, he probably consud Maestro to get rid of him after experiencing a significant failure.’
Given Unknown’s personality, it was entirely possible.
‘Damn it.’
In this case, the strategy to rush Unknown’s plans turned out to be a failure.
It was giving a headache.
Whether it is the Dragon’s Lair or anywhere else, dungeons beco harder the deeper you go.
And the more difficult it gets, the more gaps appear; it is a natural consequence.
‘If Unknown betrays us while fighting the boss of the Dragon’s Lair….’
Unknown VS VS dungeon boss
Then it would turn into a three-way battle.
‘I wanted to avoid such a chaos as much as possible.’
That’s why they had devised a plan to use Maestro.
To make Unknown desperate, even a little, to bring forward the plan.
‘…My head really hurts.’
Of course, it wasn’t a fatal failure.
But it was undeniable that the odds of winning had slightly decreased.
I sighed without realizing it.
It was then.
“Your expression isn’t great.”
Master,
Unknown approached with a blank face.
“Do you have so worries?”
“….”
You being alive is my worry, you know?
I held back the urge to respond with that.
“Just worried about the strategy, I guess.”
Master sat next to .
“All the strategy information you provided was accurate. The information is reliable, why worry?”
“Because there could be unforeseen variables.”
“Hmm, seems like you’re the type to buy worries.”
“….”
Hit the nail on the head.
He’s taking it as a fact.
“Well, have you gotten a bit closer to the guild mbers?”
“Yes.”
They all seed like good people.
“That’s good then.”
“….”
“Speak up if there’s a problem. I will help.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
But why is this guy so friendly? The Master I heard of didn’t have this kind of personality.
“Oh, what’s the matter, boss? You started the conversation?”
“What? Caribma initiated the conversation? Is the sun going to rise from the west tomorrow?”
Tay and Susan approached with surprised faces. From their expressions, it seed Master’s behavior was indeed unusual.
“I an, he is the guild’s first rcenary. I just thought I’d take care of him in my own way.”
Susan widened her eyes.
“Wow~ boy. It seems our boss quite likes you.”
Susan, sitting next to , nudged my side with her elbow.
“Susan. How’s the preparation going?”
“Ah, right. I ca because of that. There was a little problem, it will be delayed by about 10 minutes.”
“I see. Then prepare as quickly as possible.”
“Okay. I will finish it quickly and co back. Let’s go, Tay.”
Susan and Tay hurriedly retraced their steps.
“….”
We were alone again.
It was awkward and scary.
I doubt he would suddenly attack , but it’s scary nonetheless. Without the blessings of the Beast King and not using ancient relic, I would have no way to resist if he attacked now.
“Kang Seo-yul.”
Suddenly, Master called my na.
“Yes?”
Master stared at intently.
It was the expression I saw 3 days ago.
A mysterious gaze mixed properly with anticipation and excitent.
With an incomprehensible gaze, he said this.
“There is no system for .”
“…!”
An absurd statent that I couldn’t even imagine coming from Unknown.
“Do you understand what this ans?”
It was as if he was testing ,
Such was his gaze.
< Chapter 158: Determined Move (3) > End
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