December (2)

Ju Haemi, who had not wanted to stay with December in the first drawing room of the villa, went with K to the second drawing room.

And Kang-hoo strolled along the path outside the villa with the Celestial Assassin, talking about Shinwol.

The one who truly opened the conversation was Kang-hoo.

“I can guess what kind of organization Shinwol pursues. But that does not justify the way they treated you so carelessly, Master.”

“Go on.”

“There is only a hair’s difference between the recklessness and the cleverness of using any means necessary. I think the current Shinwol is reckless rather than clever.”

“Did you go into my head and come back out or something?”

“Usually, you and I tend to think along very similar lines, Master. Maybe this is the same thing again.”

The Celestial Assassin smiled and patted Kang-hoo on the shoulder. It felt as though Kang-hoo had spoken the thoughts in his heart for him.

In any case, just as important as Shinwol’s current situation was what kind of history this organization called Shinwol possessed.

The Celestial Assassin had no intention at all of hiding anything from Kang-hoo. Kang-hoo was not the kind of disciple who would go around somewhere and recklessly spill everything just because he had been told it all.

After that.

Kang-hoo listened closely as the Celestial Assassin calmly continued speaking about Shinwol’s history.

He did not interrupt his master in the middle, nor did he dismissively listen to words he thought were meaningless.

Since every part of it was new information to Kang-hoo, he listened as though engraving the story into his brain.

As expected, it truly was a conflict among the highest-tier powerhouses.

Shinwol…… and the Eyes.

They were beings who were everywhere and nowhere at once.

To them, ordinary disputes and wars did not even qualify as part of the axis of chaos.

The situation in Korea was no different.

Many people saw the conflict between the Jeonghwa Guild and the warlord group The Abyss as a catalyst that would make Korea even more disorderly.

But.

To Shinwol, Korea was peaceful enough at this level. In their view, a plausible balance had been achieved.

After continuing the story for a long while, the Celestial Assassin summarized what he had mentioned earlier and explained it once more.

“Shinwol’s goal is to prevent the prophecy of the divine maiden Sperma from becoming reality. It is to stop the appearance of the ‘Destroyer King,’ who would bring a great cataclysm down upon this world.”

“Destroyer King.”

“Yes. That is what they call it.”

There was a strong possibility that the Destroyer King referred to the Demon King.

Had not the ending of the original work been ruined because of the Demon King? The mention of the Destroyer King carried a similar context.

The Celestial Assassin continued.

“It has not yet been clearly confirmed, but they say that if the seven marks and the offering of the chosen sacrifice are completed, the descent of the Destroyer King will come to pass.”

“Is that part of the prophecy?”

“That’s right. It was mentioned five years ago.”

From Kang-hoo’s point of view, the offering of the sacrifice mentioned there seemed, no matter how he thought about it, to be Jang Si-hwan.

After all, the ending of the original work had also concluded with Jang Si-hwan witnessing the descent of the Demon King.

Still, whether Jang Si-hwan himself was aware that he would become the sacrifice for the Demon King’s descent was questionable.

One thing was certain: needless to say, not only Jang Si-hwan, but if Seoul, which had fallen into blind fanaticism toward him, were to be completely handed over into the Demon King’s grasp.

There would be nothing that could bring the Demon King greater joy and happiness than that.

Not only would every citizen become a collaborator, but they might also become cursed creations touched by the Demon King’s breath and hand.

As though he had already guessed that Kang-hoo would ask about the seven marks, the Celestial Assassin added more.

“Neither Shinwol nor the Eyes have found all seven marks. Only one mark has so far fallen into someone’s hands, and that is Blue Eye.”

“Blue Eye. A blue eye…….”

“Yes. Blue Eye, blue-colored eye, blue eye. Each calls it by a different name, but the color is the same.”

“Does it have some special power?”

“The power of the mark Blue Eye obtained is simple. Every being touched by that bastard’s hand is torn to pieces and dies. A mark is both a catalyst that makes its owner stronger and a material for the descent of the Destroyer King.”

“Then it sounds like nothing could possibly survive wherever the influence of the beings called the Eyes reaches.”

“That’s right. This Shinto Guild incident also appears to have been the work of Purple Eyes. And what was the result? The master of China’s number one guild died. Along with the executives.”

“…….”

“Do they kill to find the marks themselves, or to stop other beings from finding them?”

“That is what it looks like from the circumstances. Most likely, Go Cheon-yeong, the Shinto Guild master who died this time, must have touched one of the Eyes’ reverse scales. China has so many secret dungeons and spaces, after all.”

It felt as though the world surrounding him was expanding.

Kang-hoo felt the world as he had experienced it—once limited to Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, and France—growing vastly larger.

Just as the weight of a single point on Earth and a single point in the universe is felt differently by each itself.

It was the same now.

He had thought that he had fairly well entered the mainstream of the hunter world, but now it felt as though his position had dropped again.

If he looked toward a higher world, it could not be otherwise.

The world of Shinwol and the Eyes.

They were surely in a position from which they looked down upon the countless hunters of this world as though pressing down on them.

To Jang Si-hwan, Kang-hoo himself might be a heavy existence of interest, practically a named figure.

But to Shinwol and the Eyes, he felt he would be nothing more than one hunter among countless others.

He might even appear like some tiny insignificant creature whose very existence they might not know.

Just as the present Kang-hoo had no interest whatsoever in hunters below level 100 or 200.

“Shinwol has sent someone to act on its behalf. It is December, whom you will soon meet.”

“I know.”

“I have already informed Shinwol that I will leave all decision-making to you, and December knows that well.”

“Yes.”

“If you make Shinwol your enemy, then I will also make them my enemy. And if you say we should keep our distance, then I too will do the same.”

“Yes, Master.”

“So place yourself at the center and judge accordingly. Whatever decision you make, I will support it.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Let us go. Matters related to Shinwol are not so few that they can be exhausted in a single walk. Let us continue talking a great deal about them from now on as well.”

“Yes, understood.”

And so the conversation came to an end.

If nothing else, what Shinwol pursued and what kind of path it had walked had become clear.

In the big picture, Shinwol ought to become an ally. It could become a solid supporting force for him.

But if he examined it as closely as through a microscope, his thoughts changed.

Kang-hoo intended to face his conversation with December based on that thought.

Even if one possesses upright intentions, if there is a difference of opinion about the methods, they can never become one.

It was an unavoidable proposition.

At the same time.

“Hoo.”

Jang Si-hwan, having just finished showering, looked at his own smooth naked body reflected in the mirror and showed a satisfied expression.

At some point, Jang Si-hwan had become immersed in building his body to a level close to obsession.

How should he put it? If the muscles vanished from this body that looked like a sculpture even to his own eyes, and flab filled the empty spaces.

He felt that he would find himself utterly disgusting, and because he did not want to see that sight, he was indulging in exercise even more.

“So they want to grab my leash and control me however they please…… is that it?”

A sinister smile spread across Jang Si-hwan’s lips. It was a smile that appeared only when he was filled with certainty and confidence.

There were signs that the Kashimar Guild, which had seemed quiet all this time, was preparing to move.

The targets were himself and the Jeonghwa Guild.

Seeing the Kashimar Guild move despite there being no particular trigger, there could be only one reason.

It was because of the Eyes, whom Nikolai Strakh, the master of the Kashimar Guild, was serving as a loyal hound.

“If even one of them would reveal its identity first. Then things would become easy after that.”

Not long ago.

As Jang Si-hwan examined the name and composition of the skill that had been added to him, the corners of his mouth curled upward.

At that time, he had only thought that the one he called ‘that person’ had appeared in his dream, something he had merely imagined in his head.

But when he opened his eyes, one new skill that had not existed until the day before had been added to him. It was anything but ordinary.

It was, in other words, the appearance of a skill that could reverse-nullify the existence of the Eyes.

A hidden trump card.

Jang Si-hwan had already seen through the intentions of the Eyes, who were trying to manipulate him like a marionette.

Nevertheless, the reason he did not reveal even the slightest trace of resentment toward them was.

Because when the Eyes eventually lowered their guard and boldly revealed themselves, he intended to drive that disgusting fate down into the deepest depths of The Abyss.

“A well-honed blade does not need to be drawn many times. Once is enough. Just once…….”

Sshaaaaa.

Jang Si-hwan buried his face once more beneath the shower pouring down hot water and hummed to himself.

People were free to be mistaken.

For now, he intended to let those bastards, the Eyes, believe that they were the order and the center of this world.

Playing along with them was nothing difficult. If anything, it seemed as though it would become an entertaining play.

First drawing room.

Kang-hoo faced December, who had been waiting for him, for the first time.

K and Ju Haemi still had not come out of the second drawing room, and the Celestial Assassin took up a place standing by the door.

Kang-hoo had urged the Celestial Assassin several times that he could sit beside him, but perhaps because he did not want to do so, he kept an appropriate distance.

December was wearing a mask.

Because it was a precisely made human face, unless one examined it closely, it was hard to tell that it was a mask.

He had the appearance of a man memorable enough to leave an impression, but because that was not his true face, Kang-hoo did not bother to remember it.

‘His contracted constellation information is fifteen in total. Not few. If so, then just as Master said, he must be over level 700.’

Though said to be the youngest among O-wol, he was still a high-level powerhouse. Once again, Kang-hoo became curious about the level of the remaining O-wol and Shinwol.

At the same time, thinking that even Shinwol, which possessed someone this strong, was ultimately still at a disadvantage against the Eyes.

From a broader perspective, the thought also came to him that even level 700 was not all that great.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shin Kang-hoo. Please feel free to call me December.”

December greeted him politely.

Dressed in an ultra-expensive luxury suit, December carried such elegance that even the smallest gesture of his hand felt graceful.

His voice too was the low, rich middle register of a mature man, the most comfortable kind of voice to hear.

“Yes, I’m Shin Kang-hoo.”

“I have long seen and heard of Mr. Shin Kang-hoo’s reputation. Personally, I very much wished to convey my feelings of awe.”

If the praise had come from someone else, he would have listened to it in moderation and let it pass.

But according to the Celestial Assassin, December was not someone who spoke idly. In that case, it clearly seemed sincere.

There was no denying that it was praise that made him feel good.

But now was not the time to be swept away by such small satisfaction. What mattered was something else.

“Let’s speak only of the main point.”

He had expected it, and indeed.

The Celestial Assassin, standing by the door, smiled.

It was an opening to the conversation that perfectly suited the personality of his disciple, who would not listen to idle chatter even with one ear.