At that moment, a vein bulged at the bald man’s temple.
My lips went dry.
How would he react? Would he fly into a rage and clash with me, or would he examine me a little more cautiously…?
“Where’s that confidence coming from?”
The bald man glared at me, eyes wide. His gaze was scrutinizing, as if searching for something I might be hiding. But no matter how hard he looked, there wasn’t a shred of magic power flowing through my veins, so before long, the bald man’s brow furrowed deeply.
“…You steamed bun-looking bastard.”
I fiddled with the Aether pebble as I looked at him. The bald man stood still, gripping his double-bladed axe. Though he’d said that, he seemed curious as to what I would do.
“I’m throwing it.”
If he was going to go out of his way to give me the first move, I had no reason to decline.
I hurled the pebble with all my strength. Its trajectory was precise, and its speed was fast.
But just before the pebble reached his brow, he tilted his head slightly to the side. The pebble cut through empty air in vain.
A deep smile spread across the bald man’s lips.
But there was no need to be disappointed. I had expected as much.
He had dodged the pebble lightly. My hint that there was something in the pebble had made him avoid it. In reality, there was nothing special about the pebble, and since he had dodged it, he would be unable not to let his guard down now.
The reason I had saved the Stigma’s magic power was for this moment.
“Hup!”
I poured every last drop of the Stigma’s magic power into the Aether thread connecting the pebble and my wrist, and pulled. Magic power from the Stigma surged through the once-transparent Aether thread as if exploding. It was a blaze of magic power visible enough to the naked eye.
In that instant, the relaxed smile vanished from the bald man’s face. Flustered by the sudden combustion of magic power, he hurriedly tried to prepare his protective qi, but it was already too late.
Before his protective qi could properly form, the pebble that had brushed past him came back with far more threatening force than before and struck the back of his head like a bolt of lightning.
Crack.
With the sound of stone breaking, the pupils disappeared from the bald man’s eyes.
Thud.
That muscle-bound body collapsed onto the cave floor.
“……”
I staggered toward him. He wasn’t dead yet. Djinn were beings with abnormally exceptional regenerative powers. I had to kill him as quickly as possible…
I aimed the pistol loaded with a white-light bullet at the back of his head. Without the slightest hesitation, I pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The white-light bullet definitely struck the back of his head.
Fsssss…
But the light bullet was stopped by his dense skull and failed to burrow inside.
The bald man suddenly lifted his head.
“Kaa!”
He unleashed a mighty Lion’s Roar. The shockwave struck me directly in the abdomen. Aether formed a barrier just in time, but even so, a massive impact shook my entire body.
I was driven into the wall and slammed against it. For a moment, my vision went distant. It was merely an attack of sound, without any physical contact, yet an agony like my organs had ruptured surged through me.
“…You fucking… bastard.”
The bald man cursed as he staggered to his feet. The state of his face was far from normal. His skin was entirely black, his eyes burned a vivid red, and above all, horns like those of a ram had sprouted from the back of his head.
…It was Demonification.
I closed my eyes and let out a low sigh.
No matter how much I struggled, luck would only carry me this far. I should have finished it before he became like that.
“I wasn’t going to use this much…”
At that moment, the clear sound of flesh being pierced echoed through the empty cave.
I opened my eyes in confusion.
A black blade had pierced through the bald man’s chest.
“What… is this?”
The bald man stared blankly down at the blade that had run him through, then lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor. Before his body could touch the ground, it oxidized into black dust.
“……”
In the place where the bald man had disappeared stood the leader of the Chameleon Troupe.
For a moment, my mind went blank.
I stared at her silently.
She cleared her throat with an ahem, then spoke briefly.
“Nice to meet you.”
“…Excuse me?”
The Boss looked at me with an utterly calm expression and said,
The leader of the Chameleon Troupe. I could roughly guess why she was here. After all, it was part of the setting that the master of Subjugating Demons was connected to the Chameleon Troupe.
But what I really couldn’t understand was why this woman kept appearing only in front of me.
“…We sure meet often.”
“Of course.”
At my sarcastic remark, the Boss answered sincerely.
“Because I’ve been watching you.”
“…Excuse me?”
Without a word, the Boss approached me and handed over a business card. This time, it wasn’t the guild business card—Li Xiaopeng.
[Jeronimo Mercenary Corps—Lee Seyeon]
Jeronimo Mercenary Corps. In the modern era, it was a mercenary group considered second only to Gwangwon, but in truth, it was the Chameleon Troupe’s cover identity. In other words, the equation “Jeronimo Mercenary Corps = Chameleon Troupe” held true.
“Jeronimo…?”
My eyes widened.
I wasn’t pretending to be surprised. I was genuinely surprised.
Because one of the important events I had written was being reenacted right before my eyes, but with a completely different target.
[…She walked up to Shin Jonghak and stood before him. Shin Jonghak already knew her. He had seen her several times, enough for her face to be familiar.
“Nice to meet you.”
She had appeared far too abruptly, and her words were far too out of place. Shin Jonghak found it absurd and let out a laugh.
“Don’t you think you’ve been showing up in front of me a little too often?”
“It can’t be helped.”
She smiled faintly.
“Because I’ve been watching you.”
Then she approached Shin Jonghak and handed him a small business card.
“Jeronimo Mercenary Corps.”
When Shin Jonghak saw it, an unusual light settled in his eyes.]
* * *
Yu Yeonha’s lodging, the penthouse of Building 6.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The three of them sat on the sofa, watching one another’s reactions.
They were an ill-matched combination, but the shared desire not to lose had led them here.
The root cause was a polite remark Yu Yeonha had made.
“Since meeting like this must be fate, would you like to come by my place for a late-night snack?”
Anyone could tell it was an empty courtesy. In fact, right now, there wasn’t even a bag of chips on the table, let alone a late-night snack.
However, Rachel had gladly accepted.
“…Would you like some juice, at least?”
“No.”
Even when Yu Yeonha, unable to endure the awkward atmosphere any longer, made the offer, Rachel shook her head.
After that, silence continued for another ten minutes.
When Chae Nayun, unable to stand it any longer, lay down on the sofa and began scratching her stomach in a half-asleep state—
“Let me ask you something.”
Yu Yeonha opened her mouth again. Her words were directed at Rachel.
“How did you find out?”
The question had neither subject nor object, but Rachel could understand what it meant. It was definitely a question about Kim Hajin.
“…I found out naturally.”
At Rachel’s composed answer, Yu Yeonha gave a slight sneer.
“Even so. You don’t know why he’s hiding himself, do you?”
“……”
Rachel pressed her lips shut. She was somewhat certain that Kim Hajin was hiding his strength, but she did not properly know the reason why.
At that moment, Chae Nayun, who had only just woken up, cut in.
“Hey, what are you talking about? Hey. What don’t you know?”
Yu Yeonha then smiled in victory.
“Well, that isn’t information one can easily find out.”
Needlessly irritated by that arrogant look, Rachel glared at Yu Yeonha. Yu Yeonha leisurely rose from her seat and brought over orange juice. A yellow drink was poured into a glass that would normally have held wine.
Looking at the orange juice, Rachel asked,
“Does something change just because you find that out?”
“A lot changes. Isn’t that obvious? Just as the Essence of the Strait is larger than most national guilds.”
“…No. What I mean is.”
In truth, Rachel did not have any particularly great obsession with Kim Hajin. However, she did not want to lose to the woman in front of her.
“Rather than finding out, waiting until he tells you about himself of his own accord…”
For an instant, Yu Yeonha’s face turned cold. Just as Rachel said, her background investigation had been one-sided. Kim Hajin had not asked her to do it, and it was not for the public good either.
“…is what I think would be more advantageous. At least, for me.”
With those words, Rachel rose from her seat.
“Then I’ll be going now. It’s gotten far too late.”
Rachel walked briskly toward the front door. Yu Yeonha glared at her back with a strange look in her eyes.
“…No, damn it. Why am I the only one who doesn’t understand? Hey, Yu Yeonha. You two were speaking Korean just now, right?”
And Chae Nayun burst out in frustration.
* * *
“Whew…”
The barrier scattered.
Afterward, Kim Suho appeared, looking completely exhausted. On the ground lay the Djinn James, unconscious, and in Kim Suho’s hand was a tree branch.
I knew instinctively.
Kim Suho had won on his own.
Well, Misteltein was an extraordinary weapon even without awakening. On top of that, that Djinn was also the type who used a sword, so if it was Kim Suho, he would have had a good enough chance of winning.
I said to Kim Suho,
“Looks like you won?”
“…Same goes for you.”
We looked at each other and smiled faintly.
However, Kim Suho’s face soon turned serious.
“…But Hajin. I don’t think this is an ordinary branch.”
“Really? It looked like an amazing item to me at first glance.”
“Seriously? How?”
“Sit down first.”
First, I had Kim Suho sit. My head was a little dizzy, so it was hard to keep standing.
Physically and mentally… I was quite tired right now.
End
I tried to explain the true value of the branch to Kim Suho in a reasonably logical way. The basis was simple but persuasive.
No matter what, it made no sense for the reward for defeating the Swordsman of Destruction to be nothing more than a tree branch. Therefore, rather than conclude that this branch was an ordinary branch, it was far more reasonable to infer that this branch was an exceptionally special branch.
So, thinking of myths and legends related to branches, there was exactly one that fit.
“…In the first place, if you’re talking about an amazing branch, there’s only one. Misteltein.”
Misteltein, the branch that killed Baldr, the Norse god of light.
The moment Kim Suho heard that divine name from myth, his eyes widened.
“But as you know, for a weapon with a certain degree of divinity to reveal its true form, it needs to ‘awaken.’ This Misteltein is probably in the state before that awakening, which is why it looks like this…”
I looked at the branch lying on the ground. It really did look ordinary.
“…so stupid.”
“Oh, I see… Then first, we need to figure out how to awaken it.”
“That…”
I glanced toward the Westerner Kim Suho had taken down. He was sprawled out face down, and it didn’t seem like he was pretending to be unconscious.
In any case, the fact that his body remained meant Kim Suho hadn’t killed him.
Well, from Kim Suho’s perspective, there would have been no reason to kill him. He probably hadn’t revealed that he was a Djinn.
In truth, Demonification was practically a forbidden trump card for Djinn who had infiltrated human society. As for the bald man who had just died, well, he had probably thought he would die if he didn’t use it, so he had no choice.
“For now, should we talk after we get out?”
I said, pointing at the Westerner. It was unsettling to linger here when we didn’t know when he might wake up.
“Yeah. That sounds good.”
However, I didn’t go out of my way to expose that the man was a Djinn.
I was worried the stock would crash. Surely everything wouldn’t turn into worthless scraps of paper because of what happened today. I had poured in all the money I’d earned so far, including what I’d won at the casino.
“Oh, right. What happened to the person you fought?”
Kim Suho suddenly asked.
“…He ran away.”
“I see. But what should we do with this guy? We should probably report him to the Association…”
“No. We don’t have any evidence. And you said this was a hidden stage. We might be the ones punished for entering the dungeon without reporting it.”
Of course, that was a lie to keep my assets safe.
While having that sort of conversation, we left the dungeon.
Outside, darkness had already settled thickly. The cool moon shone eerily over the mountain scenery, and now and then the cries of wolves and owls spread through the air.
It was the sort of scene you’d only see in Hometown of Legends.
Honestly, I was scared, but I no longer had the strength to keep walking, so I plopped down on the ground.
“······Ow.”
My whole body was full of pain and fatigue. Especially around my biceps. Because I had used up Stigma’s magic power all at once, they throbbed so badly I couldn’t move.
Kim Suho sat down in front of me. I pointed at the tree branch in his hand.
“Put that branch down.”
“Okay.”
Then, moving only my right arm, I took the butterfly sapling powder out of my belt pouch.
“Here. Look at this.”
I proudly showed him the sapling powder. This brilliant powder, glowing blue, looked like a treasure at first glance.
Kim Suho asked in surprise.
“What is that?”
“Ah. This is······.”
I was about to answer like that, but stopped. Then I looked into Kim Suho’s eyes. Just look at those pupils, shimmering with curiosity.
Of course, originally, this powder was something Kim Suho should have obtained, but in any case, it was in my hands now, so couldn’t I show off a little?
“My parents’ keepsake······.”
“Huh? What?”
“Ah, no. It’s not a keepsake. I mean, it’s something incredibly precious to me, something like that.”
I quickly corrected myself. Even so, calling it a keepsake was overdoing it.
“Anyway. This powder has a mysterious effect that accelerates the blooming of potential. Whether it’s an object or a person. This is powder gifted by a spirit. You know what spirits are, right?”
I am going to use this incredible and precious item on this Misteltein. Only for you. So feel indebted.
I gave off that nuance as much as I could.
Whether it worked well or not, Kim Suho’s face became quite serious.
“If we apply this to Misteltein······ something should change.”
Its first awakening would be completed. After that, depending on the improvement of Kim Suho’s skill, and on the amount of demonic energy Misteltein cut down, the branch would naturally take the form of a sword on its own.
“I’m applying it.”
I tried to apply the sapling powder to Misteltein.
“······Wait.”
But suddenly, Kim Suho snatched my wrist. He looked at me with a slightly worried expression.
“Are you sure?”
“About what?”
“You said it was precious.”
“······Ah.”
An unconscious laugh escaped me.
“It’s because it’s precious that you use it at times like this. If not on a myth-grade weapon like Misteltein, where else would I use it?”
“No, but still······.”
“Shut up, man. Take it when I’m offering.”
Cutting him off like that, I smacked Kim Suho’s hand away. Kim Suho watched me, scratching the back of his neck as if he felt both sorry and grateful. His eyes were very moved. Mm. I was right to show off.
I carefully sprinkled the sapling powder onto Misteltein.
The powder seeped into Misteltein, and the change sprouted quickly. The powder’s blue light climbed up the tree stem, and soon its surface turned as black as charcoal.
Now, even at a glance, it no longer looked like an ordinary tree branch.
But there was another change besides that. A leaf suddenly detached from the end of the branch and fluttered down.
Did this happen in the original too?
“See? I knew it. I was right.”
“······Yeah. You were.”
Kim Suho stared down at Misteltein and exclaimed in a daze.
A pitch-black tree branch. However, Kim Suho would be able to feel the power of legend and myth condensed within it.
“Then, as promised.”
I handed Misteltein to Kim Suho. Then I picked up the leaf that had fallen to the ground.
“You get the branch, I get the leaf.”
“Hajin······ are you really okay with this? Ah. Instead of that, let’s keep it as a shared weapon. So both of us can use it whenever we need to.”
“Shut up. I’m not a swordsman. You want me to go into close combat and get beaten to death?”
After pushing away the ever-clingy Kim Suho, I discreetly turned on my smart watch.
===
[Misteltein’s Leaf]
─A byproduct left behind after the god-slaying branch awakened.
If brewed and drunk, it seems like it would make the body healthier; if ground down and made into a weapon, it would become a tremendous weapon.