16. To The Pantheon

The Skeleton, reinforced for defense.
If Fafnir was the sword, this fellow was the shield.

If I’m going to lean hard on Life Drain, I’ll need a bodyguard.

You couldn’t wring much life force out of the dead.
He’d learned there was a ceiling on the stats you could absorb when he used Life Drain on the Orcs.
But boss monsters like the Goblin Shaman had a different rate of stat gain, didn’t they?

Maybe the System treats a boss monster’s biometric data as a separate category.

It was worth testing.
The problem was that Life Drain only worked at close quarters.

“Guard me well.”
“Kerrrrk!”

The Skeleton worked its jawbone.

— You look about on par with an Armored Zombie. Didn’t you put a touch too much effort into him?

“In terms of pure combat power, there’s not much difference.”

Yujin didn’t deny it.

— Sounds like you mean there’s another reason.

“He’s bone, so he’s light, and there’s no separate embalming to do — no flesh to rot.”

Different from a zombie on its deathbed timer.
A minion he could work indefinitely, so long as he fed it spirit-power now and then.
Even if the bones shattered to pieces, they could be restored in no time.
A minion he could keep using steadily, as long as it didn’t blow up or melt away.

— Oho. So my master has it all planned out.

“Master?”

— I can hardly go on addressing you with no title at all, can I?

“Sounds like it’d wound your pride.”

— With my grudge against Baek Seonghyeon still unsettled, I haven’t the mind to stand on pride or anything else.

Fafnir’s answer came brisk and clean.

“My business partner. I’ll leave this fellow with you for a bit.”
“Where are you off to?”
“The Pantheon. Now that my level’s gone up, they told me to come receive a holy spell.”

Shin Junseok blinked his eyes without pause.
A moment later.

“Y-you, you-you-you. You were in the Priest job class?”
“Yeah. A devout believer, in my own way.”

A Saint, apparently, in his own way.
The only one who worshipped the Giant of Defiance was Yujin alone, so he prided himself on a faith deeper than any other Priest’s.

“God damn… What an outrage to heaven and man! It wouldn’t be strange if a bolt of lightning struck out of a clear sky!”

There was no need to deny it that hard.
Yujin scratched the back of his head at the violent reaction.

“Fafnir. Say something.”

— Oh. Lord. I repent that I failed to keep Your word that we must not doubt our brethren.

For fuck’s sake.
He gave up on persuading the two of them (?) and changed the subject.

“Did you register the patent for the Mid-grade Potion?”
“Ah. It’ll go up for review before long.”
“Fast.”
“Take my time over it and all I’d do is breed competitors, wouldn’t I? I can’t stand putting things off.”

Yujin let out a short snort.

“I really did pick a fine business partner.”
“There’s still the matter of building the blending apparatus before I can run it as a mass-production line, but it’ll be sorted soon.”
“That part’s up to you.”

Even before the regression, he’d had no interest in the Grand Alchemist’s business acumen.
The man would handle it well enough if left alone.

The only thing I’ll involve myself in is the alchemy recipes.

Go earn the money on your own, too.
Provide the labor when I need alchemy, too.

He really had acquired a splendid sla… no, a splendid business partner.

“The trouble is publicity, though. The expo isn’t until next year, so I’ve no way to spread word.”
“Well, just in case, set me aside some potions. If the chance comes up, I’ll do a little advertising.”
“Understood.”

Shin Junseok handed over a single Mid-grade Potion with the air of a man not expecting much.

“When’s the Darkness Orb coming in?”
“It’s on order, so soon. But are you really sure you’re paying me for it…?”
“Two days and it’s done, so just wait a little.”

For a rest, and to take stock of three days’ worth of takings, he gave [the Scraps] team a holiday.

Hundreds of D-grade mana stones.
And once he offloaded the Blood Axe, it’d fetch hundreds of millions at the least, enough to top the sum he’d borrowed from Shin Junseok over the past week.

“I’m begging you. The loan capital is running dry!!”

Shin Junseok pleaded, desperate, his voice on the verge of breaking.

On the way to Seoul.
Alone for the first time in days, Yujin glanced out the window.

The scenery slipped past at speed.
He sat there, savoring the ease of the taxi.

— Is it really so pleasant?

A single strand of thought brushed past Yujin’s ear.
Fafnir, tucked away inside the Ring of Black Darkness.
The thought dripped with discontent he couldn’t quite hide.

— It is. Camping out to come pay my respects to you cost me no end of grief, you know.

Yujin channeled his mana to project the thought back.

— Hmph.

A brief silence.
How long did they pass in quiet?
Fafnir, dwelling in the ring, sent his thought once more.

— What a thoroughly disagreeable man. Won’t you grant me one small request to see the scenery outside?

“With that bulk, you riding in a car would be a public nuisance.”

The Draconian’s body was as big as the taxi itself.
Short of tearing off the roof and forcing it into a convertible, there’d be no way for Fafnir to ride.

— Then rent something like a truck!

“I can’t drive.”

— Even a rust-bucket clunker will do. I’ll coach you through the lessons.

“What lessons from a fellow who’s been dead thirty-five years? You think the road traffic laws haven’t changed?”

— Grghhh.

Fafnir ground his teeth as if in vexation.
Yujin drove in the final nail.

“I don’t even have a license. So forget it.”

— I’m begging you, at least get a license. I have the right to watch over a changed world.

“For free?”

— Fine. I’ll turn a blind eye to one round of private retribution.
— To think the vow that I mustn’t lay a hand on the innocent could go this cheap.
— …

Hey.
You crying? Are you crying?

Heh heh heh. Did I needle him too hard?

Before the regression he was never this expressive.
It seemed his longer stint as an earthbound spirit had worn his emotions thin, too.

Chatting with Fafnir in the ring, before he knew it, he’d entered Seoul.

The Pantheon, which had appeared out of nowhere after the Great Cataclysm.
The dwellings of the gods had revealed themselves all over the world, six sites in Korea alone.
The one Yujin headed to was the temple north of the National Assembly Building on Yeouido.

Strangely built thing, truly.

Columns resembling the Parthenon; roof tiles a blend of Korean and Japanese temple styles.
The pillars shooting straight up into the sky called the Tower of Babel to mind.
Beyond that, it was a bizarrely designed structure mixing in countless other religious and cultural styles.

“Cheap, cheap! A relic that boosts the effect of Aesir-line holy spells, for a mere five million won!”
“An owl carving beloved by the war god of Olympus, seven hundred and fifty thousand won!”
“A saint’s relics for…”

The vendors’ stalls were numerous enough to call to mind a traditional market.
The wares the merchants had laid out snagged the eyes and the feet of the pilgrims heading for the Pantheon.

Well, “pilgrims” was the generous word.
In truth, most of them came with worldly aims, to receive more holy spells and blessings from the Constellations of the Pantheon.

What’s worldly is the Constellations who demand offerings from their faithful so brazenly.

A moment ago you were telling me to bring you tribute.

The Priest job class drew its power from the society of worshipped gods, the so-called stellar field.
Maybe that was why.
Unlike the other job classes, there was a way to grow stronger besides leveling up.

Offerings, or tribute.
You presented gold, silver, and treasure that passed current in the society of gods you served, or some article a particular Constellation was likely to favor.
Even an article like the “saint’s relics” mentioned in passing just now had no use beyond religious meaning, but in a society of gods like Nirvana it was treated as something tremendously precious.

You think they’d lay something worth real money out on the roadside?

Swindlers, the lot of them.
He ignored the touting pouring in from every direction and headed straight for the Pantheon.

The Pantheon’s entrance, visible only after climbing one hundred and eight steps.
Not an escalator in sight, never mind the elevator that’s a must for any high-rise.

The idea being, learn some humility if you’d receive a great and mighty Constellation?

— At this rate it’s a downright bumper crop of bullshit.

Yujin held no good feelings toward the Constellations.

Voyeurs, the whole lot of them. Peeping is all they ever do.

Pressing down the displeasure boiling up in his heart, he walked on.

In that instant.
As if someone had hit a mute button, the noise outside cut off, and the Seoul cityscape reflected at his back was buried in darkness.
The dwelling of the gods, where a heavy silence hung.
The countless constellations carved in relief on the dome-shaped roof began to give off light.

Negative waves came pouring down toward Yujin.

A Necromancer.
For wielding a power that defied death, the Constellations rejected him.

I’m in a foul mood, so do be quiet. Constellation.

The stars vanished fast.
The moment the Constellations read the spirit-power dwelling in Yujin’s body, they withdrew their interest.
A sky where all light had faded, swallowed by darkness.

Kronos placed a single dot upon the empty sky.
A star that began to give off a soft radiance.

Is it done?

So you’re as useless as ever, you mean.

Ho-oh.

An exclamation of admiration slipped out of him unconsciously.

Not bad at all.

Unholy Blessing was an outlandish buff that boosted the combat ability of the undead.
Not instant activation but a condition-fulfilling type, and on top of that, Wedge of Retribution, which could be run as both a buff and an attack.
Skills with character, and superb effect to boot.

How’ll they fare in actual combat, I wonder.

Unholy Blessing was the buff-type skill given to ordinary Priest classes.
A holy spell granted when you chose the mythos you’d serve.
Yujin had chosen the being he’d serve by irregular means, which was why it had only been added now.
Wedge of Retribution, on the other hand, was an uncommon skill bearing both properties.

Best to get a feel for it as I use it.

So a Constellation nobody even knows exists can’t grow its followers, either.

Constellation. From here on, live a little harder. Then maybe you’ll shed the “useless” label.

Kronos thrashed about wildly.

He’d said all that, but the more means of growing stronger the better.
An unexpected windfall.
He steadied his swelling chest, yet couldn’t stop his lips from twitching all the while.

On the way back down the steps.
For some reason, Kronos had fallen abruptly silent ever since they left the Pantheon.
He’d been chattering away energetically just moments ago.

Well, he’s got plenty to think about, I suppose.

Kronos, registered in the Pantheon as a Constellation governing a new domain.
Which was to say, there was no going back to the past.
Even if, by good fortune, he dragged Zeus down from the throne and became the king of gods again, he’d exist as the Giant of Defiance, not the Harvester.

It’s not as if he didn’t already know that.

He’d need some time, at least, to sort out the tangle of thoughts.
He left the quieted Kronos to himself and descended all hundred and eight steps.

— Hmm. Truly curious.

This time it was Fafnir who sent a thought.

— What is it you saw that you call curious?
— I’ll tell you later.
— Even a minion’s entitled to a secret or two, I suppose.

Yujin didn’t press the question.
It wasn’t as if Fafnir could harm him.
They’d come to terms because their interests aligned, gone so far as to make a contract, so he’d respect that much.

“Hey. Fancy seeing Cheon Yujin coming out of the Pantheon.”

Hold on.
A voice that stirred both old nostalgia and displeasure at once caught Yujin’s step.
He turned his head, and a man with a face strikingly covered in freckles was glaring at him.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly.
An expression of scorn and malice.

“Who was it again?”
“Wow. Barely out of the orphanage and you’ve gone and forgotten me, looks like.”

The man swaggered closer.

“It’s me. Park Seonguk. You ought to at least remember your big bro’s name.”

Killing intent he couldn’t conceal gleamed in his wild, darting eyes.

Ah.
Now I remember.

Memories of the distant past streamed through Yujin’s mind like a panorama.