Active Defense Form

The moment he reached the heart of the palace, Jeong-Hoon was certain this was its true center.

He had no choice but to be. Three enormous orbs—clearly the transformed forms of three colossal gems—floated in midair, holding their distance from one another as they slowly wheeled through a vast circle.

"Those three gems are what keep this sky garden suspended in the air, aren't they?"

"One moment. Let me analyze them."

Dong Sa-Seong did not immediately agree with Jeong-Hoon's question. He stepped forward, and Yeo Tae-Hyeon followed to support his magic.

Zap!

The magic circle the two of them unfolded tried to coil around the orbs, only for the spheres to repel it and shove the formation back.

"I shall assist as well."

Jeong I-Yeong advanced and joined Dong Sa-Seong's casting.

"Good. I'll push the analysis magic as far as it will go, so Tae-Hyeon—you handle the analysis of the orbs. Head Maid, keep the mana flow tuned."

Only after I-Yeong joined did the circle finally stabilize. It still trembled faintly, but her practiced support smoothed over every hitch. Even so, the orbs' repulsive force continued to climb.

"Should we have brought Director Han along too?"

"Butler Han Su-Ho lacks the delicacy required to assist another person's magic."

Butler Ju's immediate rebuttal made Jeong-Hoon shake his head. For the family's foremost mage, that assessment felt a little too harsh.

"Professor Jeong—earlier you said myths were actual events that took place. Does that mean real gods exist?"

"…There were beings called gods, yes. But they were far removed from the concept of an omnipotent creator deity."

While the three continued their analysis of the gems, Jeong-Hoon asked to hear the rest of the explanation he had missed before. Si-Min answered at once.

"Even if they weren't omnipotent, they still possessed power on the level of gods?"

"Hmm. It may be difficult to grasp, but it is simplest to think of them as the absolute powerhouses of that age—figures so overwhelming that people simply called them gods."

Jeong-Hoon's expression made it clear the explanation was, as promised, hard to swallow.

"Gaju-nim. King Sejong the Great and Admiral Yi Sun-sin performed feats ordinary humans could never achieve. Are they gods?"

"…No. They were human."

"The gods recorded in myth are the same. They freely wielded the power of mana and accomplished what no one else ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could—so they were called gods."

"So… whether human or non-human intelligent life, the great figures of that era who achieved the impossible for ordinary people were simply called gods?"

Jeong-Hoon carefully arranged Si-Min's words in his mind, reached his own conclusion, and asked. Si-Min bowed his head in affirmation.

"Precisely so. As expected of one so wise."

One hand pressed to his chest, Si-Min bowed in praise. Si-Eun sidled up beside Jeong-Hoon and whispered into his ear.

"Um… is that historical-drama way of talking a rule of the family the Chairman leads?"

"…Apparently it's a tradition they've kept for more than four thousand years, so it can't be helped."

Afraid of giving offense, Si-Eun had spoken in a careful whisper. Jeong-Hoon only shrugged. He saw no need to admit that he had grown so used to the speech that he no longer even noticed the dissonance.

Before the seal, those mighty beings who achieved the impossible were called gods.

In the modern age, as the seal continues to unravel, the gulf between a Non-Awakened and an SSS-class Awakened is already so vast one wonders whether they truly belong to the same species.

The disparity between those once called gods and ordinary people had been far more extreme still.

Some of them even transcended lifespan itself and lived across long ages.

What else would one call such ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beings, if not gods?

"If we push the theory a little more aggressively, one could argue that calling such beings 'gods' was simply distorted over time until it crystallized into the modern word and image of a deity."

"That claim feels like it oversteps a bit."

Jeong-Hoon shook his head. To him it seemed more persuasive that the word "god" had already meant an omnipotent being, and that the title had simply been applied to them.

"Hmm. That very point of yours, Gaju-nim, and the position I just voiced are precisely where the scholars inside the family are locked in fierce debate."

"Is that so? Well—I understand that the mural here depicts the Dangun myth. But why was something this important sealed away in Bucheon of all places?"

Eager to skip an academic argument he had no desire to hear, Jeong-Hoon steered the conversation elsewhere. Si-Min slowly shook his head.

"This is certainly the periphery of what would have been Gojoseon's sphere of influence. There are no detailed records, so we can only speculate—but sky gardens like this may have been relatively common in that era."

"Didn't you estimate those to be the Cheonbuin?"

Jeong-Hoon pointed at the three gems that had become orbs and offered a light correction.

For sky gardens to have been common, those Cheonbuin would have needed to be common as well. Yet the Dangun myth clearly states there were three.

"If the three Cheonbuin that Hwanin gave Hwanung in the myth are in fact the technology for floating a fortress in the sky with those three gems, it makes perfect sense. After all, the seal distorted the myths as they were handed down."

Jeong-Hoon stared at Si-Min with a look that said, What, is the Cheonbugyeong a magic spell now? Si-Min only nodded. He had read Jeong-Hoon's thoughts straight from his face.

"There is that possibility as well. As I mentioned in Italy, magic belongs to the realm of literature."

Si-Min shrugged. Jeong-Hoon let out a long sigh. He understood—but accepting it would take time.

"Um, I'm not sure if it's all right to ask this, but… could you explain the seal from the beginning?"

Unlike Jeong-Hoon, who had at least grasped the outline, Si-Eun had only half-understood because she knew nothing of the seal. She raised her hand. Jeong-Hoon nodded and flicked his fingers—permission for Si-Min to explain everything on his own.

While Jeong Si-Min explained the seal to Si-Eun, Dong Sa-Seong, Yeo Tae-Hyeon, and Jeong I-Yeong finished their analysis of the orbs.

"It ain't something that formed by mana clumpin' together like a dungeon core—it's an artificially made artifact, yeah."

"Representative Yeo? I get that that's important, but that isn't what I asked."

"Sorry, Gaju-nim. But to explain properly I had to start with this first."

Having burned through so much focus on the analysis, Yeo Tae-Hyeon had slipped back into his usual rough speech. He shook his head hard and forced himself to focus.

"It got deactivated when the seal went up, then for some reason it activated again, smashed outta the dungeon, and dropped into an active state. Problem is, it's been left alone way too long—it's unstable."

After dissecting the gem-orbs thoroughly, Yeo Tae-Hyeon had realized the truth: they were currently running wild.

They kept drawing in surrounding mana, sending the ambient energy into violent turbulence. The writhing mana barrier they had seen from the helicopter, and the rich mana they had felt while climbing the stairs, were all side effects of that rampage.

"Then we smash them without leaving a trace, Butler Ju?"

"Yes, Gaju-nim. I shall prepare at once. Leave this place to me."

"That'd be a disaster. Even if you collapse the castle, if you don't wipe out all three orbs at the same time, the enormous mana that was keeping the fortress aloft will explode instead."

"Then we simply cancel out every last bit of that mana as well."

Yeo Tae-Hyeon flailed and tried to rein in the thoroughly motivated Butler Ju. Butler Ju only snorted.

Paseong was a technique specialized precisely for destroying things like this. After so long, he finally had a chance to unleash his full power—why on earth would he hold back?

"Chief Butler, the mana of these orbs is mixed with the power of the seal…"

"If we run the numbers, no matter how hard the Chief Butler pushes Paseong, it will not affect the orbs."

Dong Sa-Seong cut in over Yeo Tae-Hyeon. Butler Ju looked from him to I-Yeong and back. Now he understood why the three of them had been completely drained by the analysis.

"Then is there a countermeasure? If this thing keeps rampaging, it could cause damage on the ground."

At Butler Ju's words the three analysts shook their heads in perfect unison. They had been so absorbed in the analysis that they had not had a single free moment to prepare any plan.

"Uh… if it's the power of the seal, wouldn't it be fine if I just touch it?"

Thinking of how the seal's power had vanished the moment he touched Anubis, Jeong-Hoon spoke up. Everyone shook their heads at once.

If the power of the seal disappeared, the orbs themselves would deactivate and the entire castle would plummet. Worse, the accumulated mana might detonate all at once the instant the seal's restraint was gone. Right now the power of the seal was the control rod keeping this reactor from exploding.

"Professor Jeong—can you suppress exploding mana with dimensional power?"

"If the power of the seal is gone, yes."

"Then after that, Butler Ju can just erase the whole castle with Paseong."

In a few short moments Jeong-Hoon had sketched out a plan. Once he confirmed it was viable, he nodded and began laying out the operation he had devised.

The outline of the operation was simple.

Once the exhausted vassals recovered, Jeong-Hoon would make contact with the power of the seal and extinguish it. Jeong Si-Min would then suppress the rampaging mana while the three recovered vassals and Si-Eun escorted Jeong-Hoon out of the castle. After Si-Min himself escaped, Butler Ju would smash everything flat.

It was extremely straightforward. The only problem was that a single misstep would trigger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a catastrophe.

Standing before the orbs for such an operation, Jeong-Hoon let out a long breath.

"Hoo… then I'll start. Everyone ready."

He raised his hand. Everyone nodded.

He stretched his hand toward the orbs.

In that instant—

BEEEEEP!!!

A warning tone so piercing it made the ears ring exploded from the three orbs.

The language was almost impossible to catch with the ear, yet the meaning of mana slammed directly into their minds. The three orbs that had been spinning in a leisurely circle slowly came to a halt.

Then they aligned in a single file and shot upward toward the ceiling.

"Gaju-nim, step back. This is dangerous."

As the orbs that had rocketed upward began to descend again and the active defense form revealed itself, Butler Ju and Si-Min moved in front of Jeong-Hoon.

"Uh… golems?"

Three colossal golems—bodies of stone and earth packed together like living ramparts, each crowned by one of the orbs as a head—slowly lowered themselves. Jeong-Hoon could only stare, blank-faced.

Questions like why golems had appeared, or how golems were flying through the sky, did not even form.

The orbs that served as the golems' heads spun rapidly, spitting out information, then locked into place.

In that same instant Jeong-Hoon felt every one of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those featureless spheres fix its attention on him at once. He threw himself into a roll.

BOOM!

The moment Jeong-Hoon hit the ground, Butler Ju and Si-Min surged with power and intercepted whatever had been fired at him.

"A beam…?"

"A form of magic—mana condensed into a single point."

Dong Sa-Seong was already at Jeong-Hoon's side, hauling him upright. Jeong-Hoon nodded, face twisting.

The operation had failed before it even began.