Chapter 300. The Saint of the Empire
Seo Jun-Ho had just killed Guladin, but he didn’t have time to leisurely read Guladin’s memories. Now that he was all wrapped up here, he had to go help Gilberto.
However, he soon discovered that he didn’t need to do that.
Bam! Bam!
An ice golem entered the clearing with a weighty noise. It slowly lowered Gilberto from its arms to the ground.
“Gilbe!” Seo Jun-Ho was startled by how bad he looked and ran over.
“...My head is ringing. Please lower your voice,” said a sickly-looking Gilberto.
“You...” Seo Jun-Ho scanned Gilberto’s body. The latter looked more like a ragdoll than a human.
“Cough! Those fiend b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they should carry around more potions...”
“Gimme a sec. I have plenty of potions.” Seo Jun-Ho had stopped using potions after obtaining Cell Regeneration, so he had a large surplus. He took out ten potion bottles and poured them all over Gilberto’s body.
“That feels a lot better...”
“Why do you still look exhausted even though I just poured all these potions on you?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
“I used the Covenant Revolver.”
“Oh...” Seo Jun-Ho immediately understood. The Repeating Covenant Revolver was not an easy weapon to use. It was a beast that greedily drained the vitality, mental energy, and magic power of the one who pulled the trigger.
‘If he had to resort to using that...’
Seo Jun-Ho could guess the basics of what had happened, even without Gilberto explaining it. He looked apologetic, not knowing what to do.
‘I didn’t think that they could push him so far into a corner.’
If he knew, he wouldn’t have even bothered to ask him to come here with him.
Seo Jun-Ho suddenly remembered how Gilberto had to suffer for days after using the Repeating Covenant Revolver.
‘The gun always gave him so much trouble he even said he wouldn’t use it if he could help it from then on.’
But this time, he couldn’t help it; he had no other choice but to use the Revolver.
And it made Seo Jun-Ho feel even more apologetic. He felt like everything was his fault.
‘I didn’t think far enough. Gilbe still hasn’t recovered enough to live up to how he had been during his prime...’
Seo Jun-Ho was suddenly stricken with fear when he realized that Gilberto could have died here.
‘I should keep my distance from him for some time.’
This wasn’t any better than what had happened with Gong Ju-Ha. Even though Seo Jun-Ho had been determined to cut people off so that those around him wouldn’t get hurt, he had gotten his friend injured this time.
‘I was too complacent. We’re not the 5 Heroes of the past.’
His teammates still needed more time. Just as how Seo Jun-Ho himself had taken over a year to surpa.s.s himself from his heyday.
Just as he was thinking that, Gilberto’s face went stiff.
“Hey, Seo Jun-Ho.”
Seo Jun-Ho was scared. Gilberto only ever used his full name whenever he was mad.
Even as he let out a low groan, Gilberto forced himself to sit up. He looked at Jun-Ho and raised his eyebrow slightly. “Do you not even think of me as your teammate anymore?”
“Of course not.” Seo Jun-Ho belatedly realized his mistake. This guy had a talent for seeing through people.
“I respect you as a Player, but there has always been something I didn’t like about you,” Gilberto said harshly. “You always think things out by yourself and make decisions by yourself, too. Especially when it comes to your relationships.”
“...” Seo Jun-Ho kept his mouth shut and listened. Frankly, he couldn’t retort.
“I’ve always told you this. People don’t get hurt because they get close to you.”
“But today...”
“Yeah, things just happened to turn out like this, that’s all. No one’s blaming you because it’s not your fault.” Gilberto pointed to his clearly protruding ankle bone and to his side. “Do you really think it’s your fault that I ended up like this? Do you really think that this happened because you brought along a weakling with you?”
“Hey, that’s not what I was thinking...”
“How does it feel? I came to that conclusion by myself and made the decision for you.”
“...” Seo Jun-Ho was lost in thought for a moment. Eventually, he spoke, “Wow, that feels really s.h.i.tty.”
The other had pushed his own conclusion onto him, and the need to correct the former made Seo Jun-Ho feel frustrated.
“All the people you’ve cut off until now probably felt even worse.”
“Hey, come on. I didn’t cut them off...” Seo Jun-Ho started, frowning. But now that he thought about it more, Gilberto wasn’t exactly wrong. “...I did cut them off.”
It was only natural that they would have thought that way. Gilberto’s face finally relaxed.
“As long as you know that now.”
“Thank you. I think you’ve opened my eyes.”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you this for 26 years, but we were too busy back then...” Gilberto had been planning to have a proper conversation with him after returning from the Frost Queen’s Nest, but he had no way of knowing what would happen back then. “Anyway, go reconsider your relationships with the people around you. No doubt you’ve been maintaining a distance with even the people you’ve met after your return. Just like before.”
“Ahem.” Seo Jun-Ho cleared his throat. Gilberto had hit the bullseye. “...I’ll think about it.”
“That’s enough for now.” Gilberto chuckled. He had spoken so logically, and it could be because he was a father.
“For real though, why are you so beat up?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
“...Back then, I could shoot two bullets with the Covenant Revolver. But no one is immune to the effects of time.”
‘Geez, he’s speaking like an old man.’ Seo Jun-Ho snorted, but he couldn’t refute Gilberto’s words. Gilberto would really have to put his back into it to make up for the past 26 years.
‘Just like what I had done...’
And the same was true for Rahmadat as well, not just Gilberto. Even though their instincts and battle sense would have remained, their body and their stamina wouldn’t be able to keep up.
‘These two need a little more time.’
Of course, Skaya never needed stamina or strength in the first place, so she was out of the picture.
Seo Jun-Ho stood up. “Let’s go look through his memories, then.”
“Wait.” Just then, Frost stepped forward. She was just an observer at the back until now. Her steps were so confident, Seo Jun-Ho had to briefly wonder whether he had borrowed money from her or something.
“I killed forty-two fiends in this battle,” she announced.
“Ooh, nice.”
“And I saved one of your few friends’ life.”
At that moment, Seo Jun-Ho realized what she wanted. “I’ll treat you.”
“As a reward... Huh?”
“I said I’d treat you. Do you really think I wouldn’t be able to do that much after you saved this guy? Really, thank you.”
“If you have anything you want to eat, I’ll also buy it for you,” Gilberto added.
Hearing such words from both of them made the Frost Queen’s ears p.r.i.c.k up. However, she cleared her throat after realizing how undignified she was acting.
“I suppose... if you so wish,” she said prudishly, taking a step back. The two men turned their heads and tried not to laugh.
“I’m gonna read his memories for real now,” Seo Jun-Ho said. He stepped in front of Guladin’s corpse. “The Gluttony Squadron Leader, Guladin. Seeing how many times I’ve heard his name being mentioned...”
“He must know a lot,” Gilberto concluded.
The three of them sat in the clearing and carefully a.n.a.lyzed Guladin’s memory playback. He certainly did have a lot of information. And that meant...
“Tch, I’m glad he died. That son of a b.i.t.c.h.” Guladin was so evil it was enough to make Gilberto curse. They had seen that many grotesque scenes in his memories. “I cannot believe only one person had done those—many things. It would have been hard to believe it if you hadn’t shown me this.”
“...Yeah,” Seo Jun-Ho said ruefully. “Man, if I knew he was like this, I wouldn’t have killed him so graciously.”
Why did he always regret it after killing them?
He swallowed his regrets and moved on to the two main pieces of information he had obtained from Guladin’s memories.
The first was that the fiend had injected many others with demonic energy. The case he was most familiar with was Gilleon’s city lord’s son, Simus.
“They forcefully infuse people with demonic energy, then claim to have treated them so they can use the people around the victim...” Seo Jun-Ho said.
“It’s dirty but effective. They can’t go around talking about what had happened because the patient’s body contains demonic energy,” Gilberto added.
The Ruben Empire was sensitive about the topic of demons, so possessing demonic energy was a crime in itself.
And that had happened to Simus. His father, Baron Vashti, had even secretly hired an excommunicated priest, as he was afraid of rumors.
“They’re even handing out medicine that can make the symptoms disappear, but only for a set amount of time.”
“That way, they can slowly and carefully transform those people into their attack dogs,” Seo Jun-Ho concluded.
“...So, I suppose the problem is that many n.o.bles higher than Simus are victims as well,” Gilberto said.
One corner of Seo Jun-Ho’s mouth lifted into a sneer. His face radiated a harsh coldness. “Yeah, I’d expect nothing less from a fiend.”
They were rotten to the core, using inhumane methods to push people to the edge. All they had to do was use the people’s pure-hearted desires of wanting to save their friends, family, and lovers.
“So, is there a cure for these people?” Gilberto asked.
“There is.” Seo Jun-Ho was sure of it. He had already seen it being demonstrated at the Paradise on the 1st floor, as well as with Simus. “Watchguard of Darkness. That guy’s actually a big glutton.”
The skill could absorb demonic energy from a normal person’s body, and it wasn’t harmful to Seo Jun-Ho.
‘The demonic energy gets converted to magic energy for me.’
Seo Jun-Ho rewound the video again to double-check. Guladin had injected demonic energy into a total of forty-seven key figures in the Ruben Empire.
‘And they’re all of high status...’
After injecting Simus with demonic energy, they probably wanted to do something in Gilleon, where the Dimensional Elevators were located.
“I can cure these people. Though, it’ll take some time,” Seo Jun-Ho said.
“Phew, that’s good to hear.”
The second big piece of information was about Paradise.
“These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are doing such vile things there, just like what they had done on the 1st floor.”
In fact, their methods had advanced and improved. On the 1st floor, they had gathered orphans and forced them to become fiends, but here, they had been doing it to the people of the empire. In addition, they were also in the middle of experimenting with those who could use magic, like knights, mercenaries, and mages.
‘And they have been kidnapping Players to steal their useful skills.’’
Of course, the bait they had used was none other than “Higher Level”.
“I’m taking the carriage back to the city right away. We can’t move that many people with just the two of us.” Just as Gilberto had said, there were currently dozens of Players and over a hundred Imperial civilians trapped at Paradise.
“Yeah, I’ll be waiting at Paradise.”
“I’ll see you soon.” Even though the potions had barely stopped the bleeding, Gilberto still left in a hurry with the carriage.?????e?n?vel.?o?
“Then, shall we go?”
Seo Jun-Ho activated Overclocking and ran for twenty minutes straight without rest.
There was a stark white building hidden in the forest, resembling a mental hospital. It was none other than Paradise.
“That’s Paradise.”
“Hm, this place reeks of death. The lost souls are crying out. How pitiful,” the Frost Queen said.
“You can see those kinds of things, too?”
“...No, I cannot, actually. I was simply imagining them. But they truly are pitiful...”
She had to have seen some sort of weird meme again.
“No iPad for a week.”
“Hey!” The Frost Queen exclaimed.
Seo Jun-Ho turned his back to her and entered Paradise. It was as sterile as a semiconductor factory. The walls, ceilings, hallways, and floor were all white.
“These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds sure like the color white despite what they do,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.
A few people at the corner of the end of the hall were hastily packing up.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t you hear the orders to evacuate right away?”
“Hurry up and get the files—”
Just as they were about to change the subject, the fiends noticed something amiss.
“...Wait, who are you with?”
“Don’t you know who I am? I should work harder,” Seo Jun-Ho said dryly.
He then started running down the hall. His sword, covered with a jet-black sword aura, quickly severed the heads of the three fiends.
“I’m with the Korean Player a.s.sociation. Name’s Seo Jun-Ho.”
Seo Jun-Ho read the memories of each scattered body and slowly nodded.
‘The news of the Gluttony Squadron’s loss in the forest has already spread.’
The ones who informed the others were the 76 fiends who had managed to run away from the Heaven’s Nest. That was why the fiends at Paradise were in the middle of packing up to run away.
“They couldn’t have gone far.” There was a cold smile on Seo Jun-Ho’s face.
He had made a promise to himself—he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
No fiend would escape this place alive.
“...I’m gonna keep my promise.”
A few hours later when the moon rose, all 437 members of the Gluttony Squadron at Paradise were reduced to a pile of corpses. And not a single one was spared.