Chapter 272: Re-battle (1)

An office filled with all sorts of extravagant decorations.

"So, the pursuit ultimately failed?"

Yullyeongja, a man who was reading a report while looking at the monitor as usual, unconsciously frowned and sighed.

Even amidst that, his mechanical eye was continuously scanning the data organized on the 'large hospital terrorist attack and the white-armored paladin', organizing it clearly in his mind.

'Korea again. And it's holy power, too...'

-The origin of the holy power has not yet been identified.

-Therefore, it is presumed that his origin is either still unknown or from a dimension discovered very recently.

After reconfirming that last detail, Yullyeongja rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache and deeply buried himself into the chair.

Since this incident was gaining significant attention within Korea, Beoncheonhoe was, of course, grasping the progress almost in real-time.

The movements of a newly emerged powerful person, especially one using the special power of holy energy, had a high potential to become a significant variable.

"As if Hahoe Mask and Heinz, the vampire, weren't enough, now there's a paladin of papal rank? Hah! This is absurd."

Yullyeongja let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.

Of course, the emergence of returnees with strong power was a common occurrence worldwide, but the problem was the timing and location.

'It hasn't even been half a year since Hahoe Mask first appeared. And yet, three named-level individuals have appeared in the same region one after another?'

At this point, it was not something that could be dismissed as mere coincidence.

Rather than taking it lightly, it would be more reasonable to assume there was something in that small peninsula.

'And I failed to track his movements again this time.'

What's more, his behavior pattern was quite similar to the others who came before him.

Even though the Beoncheonhoe Korea branch had withdrawn from the scene and was lying low, he was confident in their intelligence capabilities to a certain extent...

'Could it be that the Oracle said we need to be cautious in Korea because of this?'

Tsk, Yullyeongja clicked his tongue and operated a magical tool on the side, activating a communication network only permitted to branch managers.

The existence of that paladin was highly likely to become a variable in some way, so they needed to take action in advance if possible.

'The Pantheon Korea branch is moving to find him, right?'

Due to the nature of the organization, the Pantheon, which had weak unity, fundamentally favored those with strong holy power.

Since the superiority among them, who worshipped different gods, could only be based on their sole commonality, 'faith'.

In that situation, a clergyman, who could possibly be at the world's highest level, suddenly appeared in Korea.

'Well, if I pull him to our side, it will be helpful in some way. Whether as a figurehead or for the expansion of practical influence.'

And that was the same for their side as well.

For talent of that caliber, the best option would be to somehow put a leash on him and use him.

Although it was a hit to his pride to seek cooperation from another branch for something that occurred within his jurisdiction, having already experienced several failures, he decided to prioritize practicality over personal prestige.

"Should I expand the board a bit?"

He transmitted a message through the activated magical tool.

Sender: Yullyeongja (律令者), Branch Manager of Beoncheonhoe East Asia Branch.

Recipient: Scribe, Branch Manager of Beoncheonhoe North America Branch.

The place where the person who received his message was staying was.

The location of the main headquarters of the inter-world religious federation, the Pantheon.

'It's gotten more heated than I expected. I'll need to create a solid alibi sometime.'

After returning home from going out, I casually scanned the flowing public opinion and lightly shrugged.

Since it was true that I was at the scene, it might become troublesome if someone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies tried to do a full investigation...

'That kind of thing has no meaning to me. Even if I am under 24-hour surveillance, I can easily ignore it with my new ability.'

The consecutive unique skill upgrades I did before sending Hugo to the Gwanghwan Realm.

The ability created with 1.3 million points was an additional effect of the promising 「Individual Projection」.

And one more thing, acquired with 1.4 million points of upgrade, was—.

The ability to remotely summon an avatar.

The summoning of clones, which was only possible around my main body until now, can now be done freely in a vast area of a 30-kilometer radius.

Of course, there was a constraint that I needed to somehow recognize the location for a precise summoning, but simply being able to send my clones instantly to any location I wanted was a huge merit.

Since I was living in the outskirts of Seoul now, it effectively meant that the entire Seoul metropolitan area, as well as Incheon and Suwon, was within my range.

'If I grow even further from here, I might be able to send avatars anywhere in the world beyond Korea in an instant. It's a shame that the number of individuals didn't increase, but this is not bad since the situation is sufficient right now.'

My avatars were still busily moving in their respective positions.

Those who had temporarily gathered in Tarak returned to their locations, Hubert, who had fled south, had returned to the guild with Diana, and Howard had begun working on the production of new suits based on field-use data.

'Still, it's convenient that the cooldown for the otherworld teleportation array was reduced to 5 days. It's already two days... no, just about a day and a half left.'

Of course, as I had done so far, I could somehow manage even without it, but there was a difference in my mindset between having insurance and not having it.

Isn't it better to be sure than to get a headache resolving incidents?

'Anyway, now that I've dealt with the revolutionary, there won't be anything dangerous in Auterica.'

I smiled contentedly and headed to the gym to work out my upper body, which was my routine for the day.

Immediately after the large-scale battle between the Hero Party and the Undead King in Tarak.

The news, due to the importance of the event, spread rapidly around the world.

The report transmitted to the royal family of the Azelion Empire, the world's strongest nation, naturally also reached the heir, Riley.

Upon receiving that, she naturally...

"...So, it seems I'll need to be away for a while."

"Really?"

She shared that information with Hesperon.

"I was going to have to go once the condolences for His Holiness the Pope started anyway. It's rare for people in high positions to gather like this, right?"

The Pope's funeral, which was held within the cathedral for a while according to procedure, had been closed to outsiders for the time, and was about to be opened up for receiving condolences, when this incident happened.

"So, since we're gathered, I think we'll also hold a countermeasure meeting. Hmm, it's informal, but we could consider it a third summit..."

"You definitely have to go to such an event. You are now the de facto representative of the Empire, Crown Princess."

"...Y-yes, that's right."

The reason Riley was so gloomy about this obvious schedule was because she couldn't bring Hesperon along on this pilgrimage.

Since they had been spending time together at least once every day, the sudden situation of being separated for an extended period of time made her feel inexplicably uneasy.

"I'll find a way to go together somehow..."

"Huh? Nah, there's no need to overdo it. It's a crucial time, you can't give them a reason to gossip, can you? Your teacher will be there, too."

"Uh, that's true."

The goals for this pilgrimage were attending the Pope's funeral and participating in the countermeasure meeting.

She had a responsibility to lead the delegation as the representative, and she couldn't bring someone with no position or title, someone that the palace people were whispering about as her 'lover', to such an important occasion.

Regardless of what their actual relationship was, it was a fact that it would not look good in the eyes of the public.

It was a different situation compared to the time when Hesperon was part of the Hero Party and went to the Roselia Grand Cathedral, in place of Roselia, during the second summit.

'With the title of Isea's disciple, I could force it, but there's no need to create a flaw by doing so.'

Whether as a disciple of a Grand Mage or the benefactor of the Princess, that wasn't a justification for being included in the delegation representing a nation.

Shrugging lightly, he presented a suitable compromise to comfort Riley.

"Still, just in case, I'll see you off on the day you leave. And I'll be there to greet you when you come back, so don't worry too much. It shouldn't be a problem to briefly accompany you."

"…Hmm, is that a problem…? No, no. If you'd do that, I'd be grateful."

She slowly nodded with a faint smile.

Although she wasn't officially appointed yet, the basic security had become far stricter than before with her being appointed as the Crown Princess.

Master-level knights and Grand Mages, who were stronger than Hesperon, were scheduled to join this delegation, but since he had already saved her from crisis several times, it would be of significant help to her mental stability.

And after a little time had passed.

Shortly after the hospital terrorism and Heinrich's flamboyant debut on Earth.

The day Riley departed for the Roselia Grand Cathedral arrived.

Jeron Grand Cathedral, located in the outskirts of the Empire's capital.

"Then, please travel safely, Your Highness the Princess. I will be waiting."

"Mm."

Hesperon, who had followed her to the entrance, bowed politely and saw Riley off.

She, the representative of the delegation, nodded heavily and calmly led the group of dozens of people into the cathedral.

Her unyielding appearance radiated the charisma of a future emperor, but to him, who remembered how she had been pouting in dissatisfaction when they were alone just yesterday, she just looked cute.

After the entire imperial delegation disappeared inside.

"Phew— it's been a while since I've been alone. No, wait, isn't this the first time?"

Hesperon stretched and turned away from the cathedral entrance.

'I was with Riley immediately after entering the Undead Citadel, and after that, I was with the Hero Party... then I was stuck in the palace again with Riley.'

Although he was dispatched for that purpose from the beginning, now that it had come to this, he felt somewhat strange.

What's more, recently, he hasn't done anything besides chatting with Riley in the palace or doing personal training, right?

'Of course, collecting karma and raising my level are the ultimate goals, but still.'

This was Jeron, the capital of the Azelion Empire.

One of the biggest cities on the continent, representing Auterica in name and reality.

However, the things that remained in his memory were…

'Let's see. Aside from being inside the palace, excluding just moving around…'

The memory of the heinous Undead King invading and destroying everything and.

The memory of running around trying to protect Riley on the way back from the second summit was all there was.

'Gosh, I've lived a pretty desolate life.'

He could have gone sightseeing.

Of course, he had no intention of going sightseeing around the city now.

Even though his experience in the other world was only for three years, the density of time he had experienced was on a different level from others.

He had long passed the stage of marveling at strange, bustling streets.

"Hmm, should I go back now? I have things to do."

Hesperon, who was fiddling with the eyepatch covering his right eye, shrugged and got into the carriage that was waiting to pick him up.

And as he felt the carriage gradually moving, he quietly organized the things he was going to do in the future.

Thanks to diligently training with continuous ingestion of growth elixirs, he had become quite familiar with the new abilities he had gained.

Now, using the 「Yearning Right Arm」 dwelling in his arm as the center, along with the help of other abilities and magical tools, he wondered if he could somehow compete with those at the Peak level.

'Well, of course, I'd lose if I were to actually fight.'

It seemed like his offensive power was sufficient if he utilized curses, but his defense was severely lacking in comparison.

So, what he was trying to do recently was to seek the help of the royal summoning mages to find a summon that would supplement his weak defense.

A being that wouldn't be bothered by the powerful curse dwelling in his body, something that was familiar with such negative energies.

'In the end, it's a summoned beast again. I do have other methods in mind, but… that will need more time.'

While designing his future and contemplating his path, he sighed and reached for the closed window of the carriage.

Even if he had no intention of going sightseeing, he had intended to at least look at the scenery outside…

Clunk—

The window wouldn't open.

"Huh?"

Clunk— Clunk—

Thinking that something might be stuck, he tried several times more, but it was still the same.

For something to block his strength imbued with 「Super Strength」 meant that it wasn't simple physical power, but that magic and other mystical forces were involved.

The moment the thought reached him, his mind instantly cooled down and his senses became heightened.

Thump-thump-thump-thump—!

And at that moment, the carriage, which had been moving at a moderate pace, began to race like mad.

The interior was shaking roughly as if an earthquake had hit, due to the shaking that was not properly resolved by even the high-class carriage's shock absorption system.

There was no need to think anymore.

Whirr—!

He immediately released the seal of the bandages covering his right arm—.

Whooosh—!

He immediately broke through the side of the carriage and leapt out.

Then, using the countless black threads that erupted from his right hand, he minimized the impact and landed safely on the ground.

It was a magnificent display, combining the terrifying destructive power to tear through the magic circles confining the inside with artistic control, but the one who performed it could not bring himself to smile.

"…Not bad. It seems your tricks with tools weren't everything, were they?"

A group of masked figures who had surrounded the surrounding slum area.

However, the only one who wasn't wearing a mask and spoke to him was a familiar face, no matter how he looked at it.

'Ah, again… I think I'm going to get traumatized now…'

It seems he really doesn't fit in this city.

Hesperon looked at that familiar face.

He sighed while looking at Stav, the attempted assassin of the princess who was the reason he lost his eye and received the curse on his arm.