Power that shook the entire fortress was felt in the very depths of Manticore.
"Is that…?"
The new Master of Manticore, Jinong, also felt this. In fact, he was watching the hologram that showed the situation outside of the fortress.
It was a sight of pure violence. Jaehwan was stabbing the wall, destroying it completely.
"It"s much stronger than what I heard."
Jinong knew something had gone wrong when his team of spies, comprised of 6th stage Adapters, were all wiped out. Yet he did manage to acquire some vital information about the Master of Gorgon.
"I didn"t imagine it was him."
Jinong then opened up another screen to check the data sent by the Lord of Darkness. It was a video of a man fighting alone against the Frost Dragon.
-Find me the [Product] that fled from this tutorial.
It was the message that came with the video.
"It"s him."
Jinong blamed himself for not checking the video sent by the Lord of Darkness sooner.
"You seemed troubled, Jinong."
Jinong frowned. He knew the owner of the voice.
"So, I see why the Darkness wants him so badly."
A woman appeared through a dimensional portal. She had tied-up pink hair with a small pair of horns protruding from her hair. She wore a black tank top and short pants. Her clothing wasn"t fit for .
"How about you wear proper clothing for once?" Jinong said, in which woman scoffed and stared at Jinong"s golden robe.
"You wear that old fas.h.i.+oned robe and talk about my clothing?"
"…"
"Gosh, these people are so old fas.h.i.+oned. This isn"t your Moorim, you fool."
Jinong"s expression turned sour but the woman did not care and continued, "Wow, look at THAT! What skill is that? It"s destroying everything."
"…"
"It"s so COOOL!"
"…Sirwen, have you come to just make me angry?"
Jinong let out his anger, but it was a calmer version of his usual self. He wasn"t in a position to be angry against the woman. She was, in fact, the one who was behind the Golden Sky Clan. She wasn"t strong, but there was no one who would dare to oppose her in . It was because she was the rarest race in the .
[Nightmare] Sirwen
And she was the one of 500 [High Artisans] in the .
"I"m just here because I heard something interesting was going on."
She watched the screen for a while and asked, "I heard the Pearl General is here. Have you heard?"
"…Yes."
"Oh? Then you know that he"s not really a free agent, right? He lies about it, but he"s actually from the 5th region."
Jinong knew this very well. A few days ago, a powerful warrior appeared in the Western Fortress of Garuda and decimated the army that he sent there. Jinong later found out who was responsible.
The Lesser General of the 5th region, Bang Chunir the Pearl General.
"First Darkness and now the Steel… where are their rules?"
It seemed that the Lords now had an interest in . The current person working for the Lord of Darkness was Jinong himself. But who was the Lord of Steel backing? Jinong guessed it was the man who attacked his army. However, Sirwen continued, "But he was killed by a Clan Leader.""What?"
"Oh, you didn"t know this? You know, the Depth Expedition Team? The Southern Sea Clan Leader from that team killed Chunir," Sirwen casually said as she flipped through the pages of .
"…That is impossible."
Jinong mumbled in disbelief. Chunir wasn"t the strongest among the Lesser Generals, but he was second to none in .
"That was my thought too! I mean, how dare they even touch the Lords?"
Jinong then s.n.a.t.c.hed the magazine from her hands. It was today"s issue. He read through the pages and found that his feelings had become complicated.
"The Lesser General was killed… and it was Cayman?"
Jinong knew about Clan Leader Cayman.
"He"s not powerful enough to even have a chance."
Even if Cayman had the power to do so, he would not have done it, knowing what might happen after killing someone of a Lord of the .
"Anyway, what are you going to do about that?"
Jinong looked up. Jaehwan and Chunghuh were heading directly to the inner keep as they decimated everything in their way.
"What did the Lord of Darkness say?"
"I haven"t reported it yet."
If the Lord of Darkness found out that Jinong had let the [Product] roam freely until he had become a Master, it would not end pretty for him.
"Are you going to leave him be? He"ll kill everything."
She was right. The story of the Pearl General"s loss was a concern, but Jinong too was now a 9th stage Adapter. If he joined forces with his army of thousands, he would win.
"Sirwen."
"What?"
Sirwen looked at Jinong and shook her head.
"WAIT- Don"t look at me like that. I"ve kept my side of the bargain. I got you the Black Cloud and even created that army of Half Dead Men."
Jinong did not answer, so Sirwen sighed and asked, "Then, will you make another deal?"
She said it as if she had been waiting for this moment all along.
"…If you won"t say anything, I"ll block that for you."
Half Dead Man. A monster who had acquired greater power than just being a Dead Man, as it retained a bit of intelligence to utilize the power. But these were now-
"KAKAAAAAAA!"
-Being wiped out mercilessly.
"…You"ve become stronger, kid."
The skill Jaehwan just used, which killed six of those Half Dead Men in one hit, was a [Normal Stab]. But it was now strong enough to kill four 6th stage Adapters at once.
"I don"t think there"s anyone better at stabbing than him throughout the entire ." Chunghuh thought.
"But we should save our energy. You know that Manticore is just a stopping point."
"Yeah."
Awakeners were unlimited in their usage of Spirit Power, as they were out of the system. But it caused them to be burdened with mental fatigue, which seemed to be the penalty of not following the system. So they needed to save from exerting themselves until they reached the Palace of Reincarnation.
"But it doesn"t seem it will be easy."
They saw a few people flying at them. They were much stronger than any that they had killed so far. Most were at the 7th stage, with a few at the 8th stage. Chunghuh"s expression turned grim as he looked at the one in the center.
"…Be careful. There"s one as powerful as a Lesser General."
When they arrived, the man in the center, with a giant spear on his back, asked, "Are you the "Pathfinder"?"
He was talking to Jaehwan. It was the nickname that he earned after the attack of Dead Man.
"And you are Doctor of Despair."
"…Who are you?"
The man laughed. "I had a name once."
Chunghuh then realized who it was. "Are you Heintz the Righteous?"
"You remember."
"You were a guard of Gorgon… why are you in the Golden Sky Clan?"
Heintz was a man of righteousness, unlike most people within . He fought for the weak and always helped those in need.
"You don"t belong in Golden Sky."
Chunghuh once healed him when he was injured in a fight between the Ten-Clan.
-Doctor! Please! Teach me how to become stronger! You must know how if you"re from Moorim!
However, Chunghuh did not help him. He knew what Heintz was going through. It was the despair from being weak. It was what everyone filled with justice, that had no power to keep it, had to go through.
"I remember what you said that day."
"…?"
"You told me to try."
Did he say that? Chunghuh couldn"t remember.
"But Doctor, did you know that? Trying is only allowed for those who can. Most people in are not in the position to even try."
"…And that"s why you joined the Golden Sky Clan?"
Heintz laughed. "Doctor, I tried. It might be different from what you wanted me to do, but I tried. I tried to sell the righteousness I held dear and tried to protect all I loved. That"s why I"m here."
"…"
"It"s been one hundred years," Heintz said. "I"m not the Righteous anymore. That weak 2nd stage Adapter Righteous died a hundred years ago."
One hundred years, enough time for weak justice to become evil.
"I"m Heintz, the 2nd rank of the Golden Sky Clan."