The outside of the police substation was so noisy that the commotion could be felt even from within.
A few constables ran out to see what was going on, but—
“...Guh!”
They had barely been gone before they came rushing back inside.
Their hands flailed toward the outside, and their panicked mouths could only stammer, unable to form words.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
At that unusual reaction, everyone’s gaze turned toward the entrance, and soon they saw it.
A woman with a dazzling appearance that did not suit a police substation in the slightest.
Awakened followed behind her as if serving as her guards, and beyond them, countless reporters could be glimpsed outside.
“Uh... I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
Because it had happened so suddenly, everyone’s thought processes froze for a moment, but her identity was easy enough to recognize.
“Yun Seul-a?”
A familiar face that appeared on TV, in the news, and in newspapers whenever one least expected it.
An appearance that seemed to brighten the dreary substation just by appearing.
A former Awakened of the Taeryong Guild, a businesswoman who had proven her own abilities, and an influencer no less famous than a celebrity.
It was Yun Seul-a.
“Ho, holy crap. No, why is Yun Seul-a here...?”
“Never mind that, first, this way...”
“Hurry and contact the chief!”
Just as the inside, having quickly understood why it had been so chaotic outside, was about to become no less chaotic than the outside—
“...Huh?”
At someone’s dazed exclamation, everyone’s movements came to an abrupt stop.
For a brief moment, motion ceased and silence fell because they had witnessed a phenomenon that simply could not be understood by common sense.
The reason was that the face of the other person who entered behind Yun Seul-a was also extremely familiar.
“Is that... Daphne?”
Dark blue hair that could not help but draw the eye.
Those who appeared to be Daphne’s bodyguards were also famous Awakened who appeared on TV whenever it was turned on.
Yun Seul-a’s appearance was incomprehensible enough, but Daphne’s appearance far surpassed even that.
Yun Seul-a, whatever else she was, was Korean and a businesswoman active in Korea. In other words, she was a celebrity one might see by chance if one got lucky.
But Daphne, all of a sudden?
Her appearance created a sense of dissonance.
After all, was she not the most famous woman in the world?
Was she not someone whose name invariably came up whenever people asked who the strongest Awakened was?
It felt as though they had seen the news only a few hours ago that Daphne had suddenly arrived in Korea... so why on earth would she come to such a small police substation?
That question was soon answered.
“Oh, look who it is.”
Because the mentally ill man cosplaying as a wizard rose from his seat and addressed them as if he knew them.
And in the place where one question had been answered, a new one arose.
“You came at just the right time. Get me out of here.”
Why was that mentally unstable fellow pretending to be close to those two big shots?
Was he trying to disgrace them in front of Daphne, who had gone to the trouble of visiting Korea? What if Korea’s image worsened because of him?
Such trivial thoughts—
“So this is where you were. Hio Pavlenko.”
“It’s been a while, Mr. Hyeonseung.”
Were immediately buried by the two women’s replies.
* * *
“To think the two of you would come together. You noticed my message, didn’t you?”
Hio spoke to Yun Seul-a and Daphne with a delighted expression.
Within the videos people had been filming, there had been a message Hio had secretly hidden.
While performing magic disguised as a magic show, he had faintly spread blue flames high in the sky.
He thought that Daphne and Yun Seul-a had been able to find him because they had noticed it.
Of course, neither of them knew anything about Hio’s efforts.
Yun Seul-a had been able to find him by chance because she had kept her eyes on the area where Hio had first appeared.
As for Daphne, she had detailed knowledge of Hio’s distinguishing traits and had simply used an overwhelming amount of manpower to find him in the most brute-force way possible.
Common sense dictated that, with the number of videos and posts uploaded in a single day, how could a mere magic show ever reach two such important figures?
Only Hio, unaware of that fact, was feeling proud of himself.
Daphne and Yun Seul-a did not bother explaining the details to him.
They already had mountains of things to say and things to do.
And so, the three of them naturally moved together.
Getting Hio out, when he had not committed any particular crime, was easier than turning over a hand for Daphne and Yun Seul-a.
“So this is why everyone sings the praises of power.”
It made him think anew that being treated as the Guardian Knight of the Empire had been rather nice...
Regardless of what Hio thought, Yun Seul-a and Daphne were engaged in a subtle war of nerves with Hio between them.
“Why does that woman keep following us?”
At Daphne’s words, delivered through a translation artifact, Yun Seul-a replied with composure.
“That’s what I’d like to ask. Daphne, why are you here at a time like this? Shouldn’t you be busy? As the First Awakened.”
“I came for something that must take precedence over everything else.”
“So you’re saying Mr. Hyeonseung is more important than anything else?”
Daphne’s eyebrow twitched at Yun Seul-a’s words.
It was a question that, if answered poorly, could lead to ample misunderstanding.
But who was Daphne Kirin?
She paid no mind to such things.
“He is the most important person at the present moment.”
When her opponent came out like that, it was Yun Seul-a whose words were blocked this time.
“And what is your relationship with Hio? Are you his girlfriend?”
“Wh-what are you talking about...? We’re just acquaintances.”
Daphne’s gaze turned toward Hio.
Her eyes asked whether that was true, and Hio nodded.
“Good.”
Daphne also nodded.
“Then go back now. This is no place for an ordinary Awakened to follow.”
There was not a moment to waste.
Even as they had this conversation, they were hurriedly heading toward the airport.
But Yun Seul-a was not someone who would obediently go back just because Daphne told her to.
What was the First Awakened hiding?
She had finally found Lee Hyeonseung, who could be called the key to that secret.
From her perspective, she could not miss this opportunity.
“Hah. No matter how much you may be Daphne Kirin, you have no right to tell me whether to go back or not.”
Yun Seul-a’s gaze turned back toward Hio.
In any case, had Hio not said with his own mouth earlier that he was looking for Yun Seul-a?
As he had said, Yun Seul-a had come to find Hio, and whether or not to send her away was for Hio to decide.
Daphne, having grasped the meaning behind those words, also looked at Hio.
Receiving the gazes of the two women, Hio gave a rough nod, as if he found it bothersome.
“Let’s just hurry up and go. We don’t have time.”
He could guess what Yun Seul-a was curious about.
He could also guess why Daphne wanted to leave Yun Seul-a behind.
It was just that none of it mattered to him.
The First Awakened, heroes.
Their status this, their secrets that...
More than any of that, all he was thinking about was resolving the Abyss Gate as quickly as possible and returning to Arilleia.
He was far more worried about that side.
If, by some mischance, the dragon that had not even been purified were to wake up...
“Get your priorities straight, Daphne. If that energy is released, it’s over.”
In truth, there was also the fact that he had not expected Daphne to come.
If Daphne had not come, he would have asked Yun Seul-a for information about the Abyss Gate and for a flight, so to act as though he had no use for her now and leave her behind was... a bit much, was it not?
Hio was not that shameless.
“You saw that, right?”
“......”
He did not know why Yun Seul-a looked so triumphant, but in any case, her accompanying them was decided.
And at that moment, the Awakened guarding each of the two women approached and carefully whispered news into their ears.
Upon hearing it, both women’s expressions sank gravely.
“A Gate Break... has occurred.”
The Abyss had finally burst open.
* * *
“The problem was the lack of willpower.”
“Willpower?”
“Yes. For example, the resolve to stop it even if it meant risking one’s life. The possessors lacked that.”
Inside Daphne’s private jet, heading toward the Abyss Gate.
Daphne’s tone as she explained things to Hio was calm, but the contents were not calm at all.
The 51st floor had been full of variables from the very beginning.
The clear condition was the extermination of every monster on the floor.
The problem was that they had no information at all about the boss monster of the 51st floor.
“If I didn’t know about it, that means it was a type of boss monster no other ranker had ever seen either.”
At Daphne’s words, Hio’s head nodded faintly.
“A type of boss monster even you had never seen appeared on the 51st floor, Daphne...”
That was certainly enough to be a variable.
Daphne’s knowledge and experience regarding Bentaiel were no less than Hio’s.
“It began when several Awakened who had stepped forward confidently were killed at once by its unexpectedly overwhelming power.”
They were upper-ranking rankers and Awakened.
Those people had never experienced a crisis of death.
Even what they called crises had all been things they could control within the bounds of their own strength.
They had never truly experienced a situation where their lives hung by a thread.
“Moreover, on the 51st floor, logout was impossible for ten days. The moment they felt a strong sense of danger, that must have been what came to mind first.”
What if, by some chance, logging out became impossible again?
Would they truly lose their lives here?
They had gained fame and grown stronger without obstruction, as if it were a game.
But when one dug into the truth, there were not many who would truly face danger and fight with their lives on the line.
“The moment one person ran, the rest logged out as if they had been waiting for it. They must have thought they would die if they stayed behind alone while everyone else ran.”
From the middle stages onward, the scale of Abyss monsters themselves changed.
There was a reason one had to form a large expedition and advance carefully.
There were still many Abyss monsters remaining, and on top of that, a powerful boss monster of a type they had never seen before.
Daphne and a few others remained and fought hard, but there was no way it could have been enough.
“They were by no means members who should have failed the clear. If they had kept fighting, they definitely would have succeeded. In the process... perhaps a few more would have died, though.”
The problem was that they had a place to flee to.
The fact that they had never risked their lives was also a problem.
The boss monster certainly possessed a power akin to a calamity.
But those gathered there were top-class Awakened of the world. In other words, they should have been able to withstand a calamity.
It was still the middle stages, but it should have been impossible to fail on the 51st floor.
They had become strong only on the surface; on the inside, they had remained ordinary people of the past.
And so, the clear had failed.
“I... no longer trust those people. Fools who gained excessive fame and only know how to swagger.”
Daphne’s blue eyes sank coldly.
Just thinking about it made her anger rise.
No matter how she thought about it, they were people who had gained reputations far too great for their actual ability, both internally and externally.
People who had been busy running away even while knowing what consequences their failure would bring.
Pathetic individuals with no sense of responsibility, who only wanted to be worshipped.
“That is why I came to find you. Hio Pavlenko. Or should I call you Lee Hyeonseung here?”
Daphne’s gaze turned toward Hio, seated opposite her.
A man whom it would be rude even to compare to those fools.
A man who did not covet fame and did not flaunt his power.
And yet he was stronger than anyone.
Needless to say, in external matters, and even in mental strength, he was someone whose limits Daphne could not fathom.
“If I trust those fools one more time, there’s no knowing what disaster might occur... so let’s form another expedition with the most trustworthy people possible. Together with me.”
That was why Daphne had come straight to find Hio.
He was the strongest person she knew.
And he was someone who would never run away.
At that, Hio adjusted his hat and took the staff he had been leaning against into his hand.
It was because he could feel an Abyssal energy that was far too dense.
“There are two things I need to correct. First, it seems the name Lee Hyeonseung no longer exists, so just call me Hio.”
As he said that, Hio Pavlenko rose from his seat.
It was time to arrive.
“And as for stopping the Abyss Gate, I alone am enough.”
Through the window, the scenery faintly visible outside was the middle of a sea where the sun had vanished.
Above the open ocean, submerged in darkness.
“Don’t interfere.”
At those words, the plane began to land.
* * *
“...Tch.”
On the opposite side of the plane, where Hio and Daphne were talking.
There, Yun Seul-a clicked her tongue.
Lee Hyeonseung and Daphne had moved to the other side to talk separately, leaving only Yun Seul-a out.
Still, they were inside the same airplane, so she had thought she would be able to overhear the conversation well enough anyway……
“What kind of magic did they use? I can’t hear a thing.”
Not only that, but the awakened under Daphne’s command were standing guard with glaring eyes, preventing her from even getting close.
How long had it been since she had been treated like this……?
Even so, Yun Seula did not grow impatient.
She was the sort to acknowledge what had to be acknowledged.
Daphne was counted among the very pinnacle of the First Awakened.
And Lee Hyeonseung was… she did not know his true identity, but judging by what she had seen before, he was certainly above Nam Taemin.
And based on Daphne’s words and attitude, unbelievable as it was, he seemed to stand even higher than Daphne.
Which meant.
“The leader… of the First Awakened? Their head?”
Was he something like that?
For now, all she could do was make wild guesses.
Still, surely there was meaning in the fact that she had come this far with them.
She had missed her chance last time, but this time, she would watch from close by and uncover many things.
About the First Awakened, and about what they were hiding.
And about the unidentified man known as Lee Hyeonseung as well.
Just as Yun Seula made that resolve.
“Don’t step forward.”
Lee Hyeonseung rose from his seat, and at the same time, the airplane began to land.
‘…Huh? Don’t step forward? What does that mean?’
The plane landed, carrying Yun Seula’s unresolved questions within it.
All that could be seen outside was darkness.
* * *
A Gate Break referred to monsters pouring out of a Gate after its攻略 had failed.
The same applied to Abyss Gates as well, and just like when the攻略 of the first floor had failed last time, it had been expected that monsters would come pouring out like mad the moment the Break began……
But the reality was completely different.
“An island-type form. It’s definitely a type I’ve never seen before.”
Over the sea, a supermassive Gate had stretched long and wide across the horizon.
When it shattered, what appeared was an island as enormous as the Gate itself.
And not one attached to the ground, but an island floating in the sky.
Perhaps even moonlight could not enter the island’s interior, for deep darkness had settled heavily within.
“It has atmosphere.”
Hio was sitting atop the Phantom Steed, gazing at the island alone.
Of course, atmosphere, my ass.
All he could feel was the dreadful aura of the Abyss.
If the subjugation was delayed, that cursed energy would spread to every corner of the world.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the island seemed to move as a whole, and the monsters inside it were not coming out separately.
From Hio’s perspective, that was actually better, since he could wipe them all out at once.
“So in short, it’s holy power.”
Even at this very moment, Fame Points were rising at a tremendous speed.
He was immediately making use of them, investing in holy power as much as he possibly could.
Because the key was holy power.
「Purchasing the stat ‘Holy Power’ for 110 pts.」
「The stat ‘Holy Power’ increases by +11.」
The reason his Fame Points were rising so quickly was nothing special.
One only had to glance around to understand.
The helicopters flying about in a frenzy had been swiftly brought under control by Daphne’s order, but because the sea was so vast, it was difficult to restrain everyone quickly.
On the nearby land, crowds of people could be seen packed together.
Since the massive island affected such a wide area, complete control was difficult.
YouTubers, reporters, tourists, nearby residents, and more.
All sorts of people were watching the island floating in the sky.
Normally, the danger of the Abyss would soon become known, and everyone would be busy fleeing……
“If it goes the way I think it will, I might be able to clean this up in an instant.”
Among the crowd, Yun Seula and Daphne could also be seen.
There was no need for them to enter the interior of that island, which was sure to be perilous, with him.
If everything went according to plan, that was.
After sweeping his gaze across the people on the ground, Hio turned his eyes back toward the island sunk in darkness.
Everything he felt strongly from it was the cursed aura of the Abyss.
Before that dark space, that enormous island floating in the air, the Phantom Steed with its pure white wings looked small, yet sacred.
“Cursed beings of the Abyss. What do you think your weakness is?”
Riding atop it, Hio smiled and infused his will into his words.
Souls tainted by the Abyss.
A lethal power capable of annihilating such souls.
“The answer is.”
A staff raised high into the sky.
A dazzling golden radiance blooming forth.
“Celestial.”
「Skill — ‘Celestial (天上)’ is activated.」
Splitting the darkened sky, the hand of the goddess began to cover the island.