< Chapter 158: Determined Move (3) >
Rewinding time a bit,
July 28th.
The day before the siege of the Dragon’s Lair.
Before departing, Unknown briefly moved to the hideout of the savior of truth.
“Welcome. Boss.”
Maestro greeted Unknown.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes. I am alone.”
No other presence was felt inside the hideout.
Saint would be busy with the work at the cult, and Trickster and Lust had left to attend to their respective tasks.
And Hermit was monitoring all over Korea under the command of Unknown.
Unknown closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, checking where his power was distributed. Through this act, he could somewhat pinpoint the locations of those under the ‘Vow of Absolute Obedience’.
Trickster was in the UK.
Lust was in Brazil.
Hermit was in Korea.
Saint was at the cult.
Confirming that everyone was in their proper places, Unknown opened his eyes again.
Observing Unknown’s calm expression, Maestro thought to himself.
‘Hermit must still be in Korea.’
If Hermit had been in the US, Unknown would not have had such an expression.
‘In the first place, there’s no guarantee that what Lust said is true. It might be a scheme to gain benefits by causing strife between Hermit and me….’
“David.”
Called by Unknown, he snapped out of his thoughts.
“Yes, tell me.”
“How long have you been working under me?”
“12 years.”
“12 years, huh. It’s already been that long.”
Unknown scanned the empty space with a distant gaze.
“David. You’ve really done well over the past 12 years.”
With a faint smile, Unknown stared at Maestro.
“…Boss?”
Seeing the warm expression he had never seen before, Maestro’s eyes widened considerably.
“Saying that being able to obtain new experimental results as a virtual character called ‘Master’ is thanks to you, wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Thank you.”
Maestro’s expression turned to one emotion. It was the first time he saw Unknown express gratitude towards someone.
“I don’t know how to respond to such generous words.”
Maestro knelt down and bowed his head.
“David, do you remember when you asked what exactly my ability was a long time ago?”
“…Yes.”
Maestro smiled bitterly.
It was from the days when he was still quite naive. Without knowing any better, he had asked about Unknown’s ability.
It had been a curiosity born from admiration.
Wondering what the origin of Unknown’s vast abilities was. What kind of power they possess to be such a perfect supreme being? Just how much was their hidden power?
Such curiosity.
“I thought you were an audacious brat back then. I didn’t expect you to come this far.”
Unknown chuckled softly.
“…It’s my shameful past.”
Maestro smiled bitterly.
Looking at Maestro, whose face had slightly reddened, Unknown smiled again.
“My ability doesn’t have an official name. So, I gave it a name myself.”
“…Boss?”
Then, out of the blue, he brought up something.
“Predation. The ability to acquire the abilities of the target by consuming them… Such an ability.”
“Ah….”
Maestro nodded as if convinced. If that’s the ability, then it explains the vast range of Unknown’s abilities.
Unknown stared intently at his right hand.
“To be honest, calling it an ability is embarrassing; it’s more like a raggedy power.”
“What do you mean….”
Meeting Maestro’s trembling eyes filled with questions directly, Unknown let out a snicker.
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
Maestro looked at Unknown with eyes saying otherwise.
“Those eyes seem to be saying that you could understand sufficiently.”
“….”
“But, David, aside from whether you can understand it or not, it is ‘physically’ impossible.”
“I think it’s something I don’t know.”
Maestro, the embodiment of pride, slightly raised the tone of his voice.
“You’re right about that too. Well then, let’s see if you can understand.”
As Maestro raised one corner of his lips, he said this.
“□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□(There is no system for me)”
However, his voice didn’t reach Maestro.
No, it reached him but he couldn’t understand it.
“…What did you say just now?”
“As expected. You’re just the same.”
Unknown nodded slightly.
Looking at Unknown with a strangely disappointed expression, Maestro bit his lip.
A moment of silence passed.
“David, do you remember the day I brought the kid?”
Then, Unknown brought up a new topic.
“Yes, I remember.”
“That day, you asked why I suddenly placed a woman of unknown background in an executive position.”
“…Yes.”
“I answered because she is useful.”
It had already been over 5 years since that happened.
“Yes. In the end, Boss was right. Lust was a useful woman.”
Maestro also acknowledged Lust’s infiltration and information-gathering abilities. The same went for her combat skills.
“From that time on, the foresight of the boss who clearly recognized Lust’s potential abilities…”
“David.”
Unknown cut off Maestro’s words.
“The ‘usefulness’ of the child I was referring to wasn’t that.”
The corners of Unknown’s mouth slightly rose.
“The kid’s ability is rare. Not magical power, not physical strength, but a third kind of energy source, the ability to manipulate Qi (life force). I was just tempted by that ability.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Yes. I brought the kid into the organization with the intention to ‘predatorily consume’ her.”
Just for that purpose, he destroyed the human relationships of a woman named Shirakawa Ai.
Driven to be a devil, implicated in schemes, and incited to turn against others.
He manipulated her parents to lead them to the worst situation possible.
Moreover, with the awakening of “Transcendent Lineage: Succubus,” she became a being who forcibly took away the ‘Qi’ of men around her, whether good or bad.
That way, the life of a woman named Shirakawa Ai was completely ruined.
And such Shirakawa Ai was picked up by ‘Unknown’.
Completely hiding the fact that it was his doing, with an expression like a tall man picking up a cat abandoned by its owner, he took Shirakawa Ai into his arms.
With nowhere to go, Shirakawa Ai followed Unknown and joined an organization called the Saviors of Truth.
This was the background of the birth of the executive known as ‘Lust’.
“Why such cumbersome actions…?”
Maestro asked with troubled eyes. If he was tempted by Lust’s abilities, he should have ‘consumed’ her on the spot.
Why did he do such a thing?
“I needed time to digest the ‘prey’ I had consumed before her. Meanwhile, I needed a place suitable to keep her bound.”
That was the chain called the saviors of the truth.
“And yesterday, the digestion finally ended.”
“Then the reason you moved here today is…?”
“Yes. It’s for ‘consumption’.”
Unknown’s smile deepened.
“Then we should immediately get Lust….”
“There’s no need.”
If it were according to the original plan, the woman named ‘Shirakawa Ai’ would have been Unknown’s prey and would have ended her life here today.
“…Boss?”
“What I am going to consume today is not Lust….”
Unknown took a step closer to Maestro.
“It’s you.”
The corners of Unknown’s mouth lifted up devilishly.
“What is… this?”
“The circumstances have changed. I need your abilities now.”
Maestro’s abilities were needed for the assault on the Dragon’s Lair happening tomorrow. Not for dungeon assault, but to observe a person named ‘Kang Seo-yul.’
“I was thinking that it’s about time we needed wind attribute anyway.”
Smack!
With one hand, Unknown gripped Maestro’s face tightly.
“Bo, Boss!”
With a panicked expression, Maestro gripped Unknown’s hand with both of his hands. Then, he struggled desperately to free himself from Unknown’s grasp.
“David. The 12 years we spent together were quite enjoyable.”
“Arrrgghhh!”
One minute.
That was the time it took for the light to completely disappear from Maestro’s eyes.
* * *
At present time.
The Dragon’s Lair.
About 6 days have passed since the start of the assault.
Meanwhile, Maestro did not initiate any actions.
Thanks to that, they gained confidence.
‘Maestro was consumed by Unknown.’
This was the only explanation that could account for the current situation.
It was a very simple deduction.
‘Given that Unknown is using a musical staff called “sky”, it’s certain that he copied Maestro’s abilities.’
However, in the original work, Unknown never used the ‘executives’ abilities, not even once.
From these two facts, there was only one conclusion that could be drawn.
‘To copy abilities, Unknown needs to kill or absorb the target.’
In that case, Unknown’s ability should be named “consumption” rather than “copy.”
If so, it makes sense why I see Maestro’s phantom in my ‘Dragon Eye.’
‘Maestro is dead.’
With that, everything fell into place.
‘Unlike in the original, he probably consumed Maestro to get rid of him after experiencing a significant failure.’
Given Unknown’s personality, it was entirely possible.
‘Damn it.’
In this case, the strategy to rush Unknown’s plans turned out to be a failure.
It was giving me a headache.
Whether it is the Dragon’s Lair or anywhere else, dungeons become harder the deeper you go.
And the more difficult it gets, the more gaps appear; it is a natural consequence.
‘If Unknown betrays us while fighting the boss of the Dragon’s Lair….’
Unknown VS me VS dungeon boss
Then it would turn into a three-way battle.
‘I wanted to avoid such a chaos as much as possible.’
That’s why they had devised a plan to use Maestro.
To make Unknown desperate, even a little, to bring forward the plan.
‘…My head really hurts.’
Of course, it wasn’t a fatal failure.
But it was undeniable that the odds of winning had slightly decreased.
I sighed without realizing it.
It was then.
“Your expression isn’t great.”
Master,
Unknown approached me with a blank face.
“Do you have some worries?”
“….”
You being alive is my worry, you know?
I held back the urge to respond with that.
“Just worried about the strategy, I guess.”
Master sat next to me.
“All the strategy information you provided was accurate. The information is reliable, why worry?”
“Because there could be unforeseen variables.”
“Hmm, seems like you’re the type to buy worries.”
“….”
Hit the nail on the head.
He’s taking it as a fact.
“Well, have you gotten a bit closer to the guild members?”
“Yes.”
They all seemed like good people.
“That’s good then.”
“….”
“Speak up if there’s a problem. I will help.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
But why is this guy so friendly? The Master I heard of didn’t have this kind of personality.
“Oh, what’s the matter, boss? You started the conversation?”
“What? Caribma initiated the conversation? Is the sun going to rise from the west tomorrow?”
Tay and Susan approached with surprised faces. From their expressions, it seemed Master’s behavior was indeed unusual.
“I mean, he is the guild’s first mercenary. I just thought I’d take care of him in my own way.”
Susan widened her eyes.
“Wow~ boy. It seems our boss quite likes you.”
Susan, sitting next to me, nudged my side with her elbow.
“Susan. How’s the preparation going?”
“Ah, right. I came because of that. There was a little problem, it will be delayed by about 10 minutes.”
“I see. Then prepare as quickly as possible.”
“Okay. I will finish it quickly and come back. Let’s go, Tay.”
Susan and Tay hurriedly retraced their steps.
“….”
We were alone again.
It was awkward and scary.
I doubt he would suddenly attack me, but it’s scary nonetheless. Without the blessings of the Beast King and not using ancient relic, I would have no way to resist if he attacked now.
“Kang Seo-yul.”
Suddenly, Master called my name.
“Yes?”
Master stared at me intently.
It was the expression I saw 3 days ago.
A mysterious gaze mixed properly with anticipation and excitement.
With an incomprehensible gaze, he said this.
“There is no system for me.”
“…!”
An absurd statement that I couldn’t even imagine coming from Unknown.
“Do you understand what this means?”
It was as if he was testing me,
Such was his gaze.
< Chapter 158: Determined Move (3) > End
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