“You, become Mephi’s nourishing filial-piety meal.”
Slurp. Mephisto kept wiping his drool with his wings, staring at him with impatient eyes.
“……!”
What nonsense was that crazy human spouting?
Before his bewilderment could even end, Mephisto went flying up with a whoosh.
“Piiiii!”
Though he was shaped like nothing more than a plump chick, his gaze was like that of a bird of prey that had found its quarry in the open sky.
“Mephisto! You usurper!”
Robali tried his best not to be eaten, but Mephisto paid him no heed.
While Mephisto chased after Robali, who had escaped from the earthenware pot, Geuru ran over to Gidan and Serhi.
The two were still frozen, their expressions saying they couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“What…… is this?”
“Snow?”
The cold had clearly spread out with Geuru at its center.
And when Geuru swung her hand hoe like a magic wand, an SSS-rank monster had turned into a naked quail.
Still struggling to maintain the snowfield and breaking out in a cold sweat, Geuru rubbed her nose.
Just then, the doors of the boss rooms, which had been quiet, began to open all at once.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
All the doors opened, and the bosses revealed themselves.
White breaths puffed out from bosses of every shape and kind.
Sensing danger, Gidan and Serhi each grabbed their weapons and were about to pull Geuru toward themselves.
“Geuru!”
“This way!”
Thud—!
The monsters suddenly knelt before Geuru.
As if paying homage to their sovereign.
Having received their greeting, Geuru beamed at her brothers.
“It’s okay.”
*
[“Robali?”]
Theodora set down her coffee cup.
The signal Robali had been sending had cut off.
[“Looks like there’s some kind of problem?”]
Han Roun smiled softly, dimples forming prettily in his cheeks.
Theodora sensed a strange incongruity in that leisurely face.
It was the face of someone who had expected her failure.
Theodora toyed with the left eye that held the core.
[“Are you hiding something from me, Han?”]
[“A lot.”]
Han Roun answered in an unhurried voice as he tilted his cup.
[“There’s no need to gather dungeons just to catch Sheier.”]
[“……Then?”]
Theodora’s face twisted.
Did that mean everything she had done until now had been a pointless waste?
[“That’s right. I only wanted to see what you would do. Bringing out an SSS-rank monster was interesting, Theodora. Though it seems it wasn’t particularly useful. Unfortunately.”]
Han Roun could have simply stolen the SSS-rank monster from her.
But the reason he hadn’t was because Theodora had come up with a better move.
With trembling fingertips, Theodora felt around her left eye.
Sheier.
‘Han Roun was after Sheier too.’
As if to say that was the correct answer, Han Roun propped up his chin.
[“And—if Sheier is to be placed in a vessel, I figured the vessel would need to be at least on your level.”]
Han Roun slowly smiled.
[“Theodora, I really hate people who bully children.”]
At the same time, Theodora’s eyes widened.
It was because she had spotted On Jurim coming down to the first floor while receiving a call from someone.
[“Sheier is……!”]
[“You’ll become Sheier’s vessel. Thanks in advance.”]
On Jurim must have sensed the sudden abnormality, because his brow faintly furrowed.
In that instant, a tremor shook their surroundings as if the axis of the world itself had twisted.
Darkness enveloped the lobby, as though there had been a blackout.
“What is this!”
“A blackout?”
“I can’t see anything.”
Those who could sense mana tensed and gripped their weapons.
Detecting the anomaly, On Jurim tried clenching his left hand, but it was already too late.
Sheier had already slipped from his hand and was moving outside.
“……!”
In the meantime, Theodora failed to avoid the hand reaching toward her left eye.
[“Haaaan—!”]
Han Roun’s hand touched Theodora’s left eye.
A cold, merciless power forcibly dragged the core out.
The moment the core left Theodora’s eye, Theodora screamed.
The core emitted a faint light atop Han Roun’s palm.
[“A vessel like you couldn’t have held Sheier for long anyway.”]
Snap!
Just then, the lights came back on.
On Jurim, who had somehow approached right in front of him, was looking down at Han Roun.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
On Jurim’s voice rang low and cold.
Han Roun slowly raised his head and looked at him. When he smiled brightly, dimples appeared in his cheeks.
At that, On Jurim’s shoulders flinched as if he had recalled someone.
[“Hello.”]
At the same time, Han Roun’s eyes turned coral-colored.
‘A foreigner?’
While Jurim scrutinized his face, the core atop Han Roun’s hand trembled violently, then suddenly cracked.
[“……?”]
Just as Han Roun frowned and looked at the core, it shattered into pieces.
[“I suppose the vessel was insufficient…… Well, of course.”]
“Vessel?”
Han Roun shrugged and offered a farewell without further explanation.
[“See you next time.”]
The air around him distorted, his form grew hazy, and then space itself warped and swallowed him.
On Jurim hurriedly tried to grab him, but his hand touched nothing at all.
In the next moment, silence returned to the lobby.
On Jurim looked down at Theodora, who had collapsed like an empty shell.
He roughly swept back his hair.
……Was this what they meant by being robbed right under your nose?
It seemed they had been aiming for Sheier.
Though it looked like they had failed.
However, On Jurim instinctively knew this would not be the end of it.
He glanced at Theodora again, then picked up his phone.
“Team Leader Jin, there’s a suspect here I’d like to hand over.”
He grabbed her arm to lift her up from where she had fallen.
Then Theodora crumbled into dust.
“……She disappeared.”
Even if only for a brief moment, she had become Sheier’s vessel, so all her energy must have been drained in an instant.
It was safe to say that, aside from himself, there was no one who could serve as Sheier’s vessel.
An enormous amount of mana. A sturdy body. On top of that, in terms of stats alone, he possessed values so exceptional that not even his older brother could approach them.
And even he had struggled to control his mana once he became Sheier’s vessel.
Someone else becoming its vessel? Absurd.
Though if they still wanted to rush in like moths to a flame, there was nothing he could do about it.
‘This might get annoying.’
With an unconcerned look, Jurim brushed off his hands.
On the other end of the phone, Jin Siwon was asking again, sounding as though he had no idea what had happened.
“I caught the tail of the ones who want to steal something from me, but they just disappeared. More importantly, who did you say the Gnosis suspect was?”
It was when On Jurim asked that.
Beyond the revolving doors of the lobby, Gidan and Serhi came rushing in, wearing colorful headbands and ribbons.
“……?”
At the comical sight, the employees burst into laughter and began snapping photos.
Ignoring them, the two of them held Geuru up with both hands as if presenting her and ran straight to Jurim.
Then they came right up to the bewildered Jurim and began shouting over each other.
“Hyung!”
“On Jurim!”
Seeing the three of them dressed equally adorably and calling him so desperately, Jurim had to bite down hard on his lip to keep from laughing.
“Yeah…… What is it?”
“Geuru just! Just! Huh? She just did this, and the bosses just!”
“Geuru was seriously, like, with this insane badass aura!”
“……Geuru did what?”
As he took Geuru into his arms, Jurim tilted his head.
Geuru herself, however, was perfectly calm.
Gidan and Serhi both looked as if they had been beaten up somewhere, but Geuru alone was perfectly fine.