Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Preparation (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Forester, huh..."
Kang Ju-young murmured the name of yet another clone I'd told her about as she slipped on the mana amplifier.
The moment she put it on, she could feel the effect immediately. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she looked down at the mana amplifier.
"It amplifies my mana and activates it far more effectively than before. Could it even be involved in mana recovery?"
"Just as you said—it's an artifact that boosts mana by 1.5 times and aids in recovery."
"Practically a national treasure-level artifact. To think you can create something like this..."
Kang Ju-young stroked the mana amplifier with renewed admiration.
"But you're giving this away as a gift?"
"You're my woman. I have ones for Ha Chae-jung and Ga Se-yeon too."
I replied like that and pulled two more identical mana amplifiers from my subspace.
Kang Ju-young's eyes widened even more at the sight of two more just like the one she was wearing.
"Can this Forester make as many of these as he wants?"
"He made three at my request, so probably more than that."
"The ability to produce items worth billions each without limit..."
Kang Ju-young marveled anew, then seemed to remember something and asked about another person.
"Oh. Do you happen to know Na Seo-ha by any chance?"
Na Seo-ha?
"If it's the mage I met during the Destroyer subjugation, then yes."
"Good to know. Na Seo-ha wants instruction from the Archmage."
"Archmage..."
She must have heard about what happened in the gate and wanted lessons because of it.
Of course, my magic and the magic here were completely different systems, so there was nothing to teach.
"Sorry, but that's not happening. It's a totally different request from the gate incident."
"For the record, she even said she'd sign a contract."
"..."
The mention of a contract made me look at Kang Ju-young in confusion instead.
Kang Ju-young looked equally baffled by Na Seo-ha's willingness to sign one.
"She said she'd sign the contract and then keep asking you for favors every time you meet."
"Impressive."
In other words, she was willing to sign my contract just to get lessons from the Archmage.
It wouldn't be bad to accept her proposal and take her up on it later, but it seemed like a hassle going forward.
'If she's willing to sign a contract for magic lessons, she'll probably beg every time we meet.'
Besides, as I said earlier, I couldn't even teach her magic.
"Pretend you didn't hear it."
"That's unexpected. I figured any woman would jump at the chance, but you're turning it down."
"It's obvious she'd only bring up the Archmage if she were around."
Kang Ju-young seemed to agree, nodding without further comment.
But she wasn't done yet, bringing up another topic.
"Also, the Association Chairman wants to make a deal with your boss."
"A deal?"
"Since the Destroyer joined your organization. He probably thinks your boss is the only one who can control him."
The Destroyer must have scared him pretty badly.
I pondered the deal for a moment, but I couldn't reveal a boss that didn't even exist yet.
"Turn that down too. The boss wouldn't accept it anyway."
"As expected. Even the Hero Association isn't worth dealing with, huh."
With Jeon Il-seop, the Association Chairman's offer rejected too, Kang Ju-young interpreted it herself.
I ignored her and mentally tallied how many organization members she knew about.
'Starting from the organization boss: Healer, Destroyer, Archmage, Forester.'
That made five in total.
Coincidentally, the number of Absolute Clones I could summon was also five.
'Maybe it's time they could move as a group.'
Of course, there'd be no reason for them to.
Right now, moving as a group would just be hard to control, with no benefits.
"Anything else?"
Kang Ju-young shook her head to indicate no.
"I've passed on Na Seo-ha and the Chairman's messages, so that's it."
"Then we can finally get started."
I said that and let my gaze roam over Kang Ju-young's body.
She let out a small sigh at my look, then moved her hands to start undressing.
Jake, ranked 34th in the Villain Alliance, had finally found a lead on the one who attacked the Geneva Cult in his guise.
He'd enlisted Lydia, who possessed the innate ability [Memory Observation], but sadly, there'd been no progress.
"Damn it. How many days has it been? We haven't found a single clue, not even a trace."
Unable to hold back his frustration, Jake snapped. A woman with long brown hair shot back venomously.
"Shut up. You think I'm doing this because I want to? Quit complaining."
It was Lydia, sent as support from the Villain Alliance.
Lydia had started by combing through the basement of the abandoned church where the battle first broke out.
"No results. None. How many days have we been wandering just this area?"
Naturally, she could see everything that happened there that day without missing a detail.
Because Lydia's innate ability [Memory Observation] let her view the past of any location.
"I told you—the guy appeared out of nowhere near the church. So we need to find where he went."
The problem was that the one disguised as Jake had shown up near the abandoned church in an instant.
After massacring everyone in the basement, he'd emerged from the church and vanished just as quickly.
"Great deduction. If he teleported, you think he'd end up on some random street? He'd go home or to a hideout."
"..."
Of course, there was no way to know where the disguised intruder had teleported from or to.
Lydia's Memory Observation only confirmed he'd gone somewhere—nothing about the destination.
"And you want to search every house in this huge area? Impossible. We got played perfectly."
Jake declared there was no point continuing and gave up.
Della, with her dark green hair and equally worn out from days of trailing, asked what he planned to do.
"So? What now, Jake?"
"War. If even Lydia can't find him, it's over."
"It's too soon for war with the Geneva Cult."
Della sighed as she spoke, but she knew there were no other options.
She figured war with the Geneva Cult was inevitable and wondered how things had come to this.
'Should I just knock out the real Jake and hand him over to the cult?'
It seemed the cleanest, safest solution.
The rest would be up to the Geneva Cult—torture or kill him, whatever.
"I'll contact Ivy first. Tell her even Lydia couldn't find the guy."
But despite her thoughts, Della couldn't betray a comrade and reluctantly prepared for war.
Even so, war with the Geneva Cult would cost lives, so she sighed deeply.
"Finally, some sense."
Jake, on the other hand, sounded relieved.
Della knew it wasn't really Jake's fault, but it irked her anyway.
"...Not sure if it's my imagination, but you seem eager for war, Jake. Got some genius plan?"
"Not genius, but there's a good guy we can use."
Jake jumped at the chance to mention it.
"Good guy?"
"The Destroyer. Pull him to our side, and he'd dominate against the Geneva Cult."
"The Destroyer?"
Della nodded at the mention—it made sense.
Rumor had it four S-Rank heroes had gathered to take him down but failed.
"True. With the Destroyer, it'd help a lot. He escaped unscathed from four S-Rank heroes."
Della relayed info that was quite distorted from the truth.
Being from another country and the Hero Association, it had gotten twisted in transit.
"Yeah. Forget this wild goose chase—let's find the Destroyer and recruit him."
"Start from where the last battle happened."
Della agreed it was better to bolster forces if war was coming anyway.
She contacted the Villain Alliance to get the site of the Hero Association's clash with the Destroyer, then headed there.
Upon arriving, Jake first noticed the area utterly flattened like a barren field.
"Huh? What the hell? That whole section got wiped clean?"
"Looks like mana bombs. Were they trying to kill the Destroyer?"
Della recognized the traces as mana bomb residue and voiced her guess.
Of course, Lydia confirming would be faster and more accurate, so Della asked right away.
"Lydia, mind checking?"
"Got it."
Lydia used Memory Observation on the area to see what happened.
The events of that day flashed vividly in her mind.
"...Right after someone presumed to be the Destroyer emerged from the gate, special mana bombs went off."
"They used special mana bombs on the Destroyer?"
"Yeah. But surprisingly, he didn't die. He took damage but looked fine."
Della, Jake, and even the silent Brian who’d just been tagging along looked shocked.
"What happened next?"
"Can't see from here—we need to move that way."
Lydia had seen the Destroyer fly off in one direction and said they should go there.
Luckily, getting there was no issue, and minutes later, she used Memory Observation again.
"He fought Hero Association people and the Destroyer. Several S-Ranks too, but..."
The battle she observed was utterly one-sided.
"It ended in 2-3 minutes with the Destroyer killing them all."
"Killed them? If S-Ranks died, the country would be in uproar."
"Hold on."
Looking closer with Memory Observation, Lydia saw something even more shocking.
"Someone walked up. And that person revived all the dead."
"What? Revived the dead?"
"Yeah. All of them, amazingly."
"Resurrection? Even the Geneva Cult can't do that, and some random hero pulls it off."
Della said in awe.
Plus, someone who could revive the dead would be hugely useful in a war with the Geneva Cult.
"We need to find that person too. See where they went with the Destroyer."
"After finishing them off, the Destroyer headed that way."
Lydia tried tracking the Destroyer's path to his final destination.
But after following the traces for a bit, she blinked as if something was wrong.
"Huh? Lydia, what's up?"
"From here, the Destroyer vanished in an instant."
It was the exact same scene as with the one who’d attacked the abandoned church basement disguised as Jake.