The Cult of Veritas

Penthouse.

Lying sprawled across the bed, I had achieved perfect unity of flesh and mattress.

In other words, for the first time in a long while, I was actually taking a break.

Heukcheon had insisted that I'd been running myself ragged and needed to rest. And yet here I was, asking her to teach me martial arts.

"This beats lazing around for no reason. My body can use the rest, but stuffing martial theory into my head isn't exactly work, you know."

"Absurd. Even the previous Master was never this bad."

I glanced over at Heukcheon.

"What, you don't like it?"

"...What I meant was rest for your mind, Master. No—never mind, you're right. Someone like you, told to rest, would only go off and do something else instead."

With that, Heukcheon began her lecture.

"Then, shall I teach you a secret art?"

"A secret art?"

"Yes. Truthfully, I hesitate to even call it that, but there's no harm in knowing it in advance."

I gave Heukcheon a fresh, searching look.

Something's off.

The gulf in our levels of martial understanding was different now. The higher my rank climbed, the more I wielded the Defying Heaven energy—the more keenly I sensed that her mastery of the arts was strange somehow.

Cheongyeon and Paewang, both Transcendents, had once urged me to take on a disciple. I'd told them I had my loyalty to Heukcheon to uphold, but the truth had been different. The more I learned, the more a suspicion gnawed at me—that she had, in fact, already reached the level of a Transcendent.

When Cheongyeon suggested it, I'd been uncertain.

When Paewang suggested it, I was sure.

Her martial arts had achieved the very level of Transcendence itself.

"...And so, you raise the Defying Heaven energy into the form of the Eight Trigrams and force it through every meridian, from the Heavenly Pillar down to the Fate Gate. Once you do that—"

"...Hold on."

I stopped channeling mid-circulation. The energy was swelling at an alarming rate, but this—

"Yes. You understand, don't you, Master. Why the previous Master left something like this behind, I'll never know..."

"This isn't a secret art. It's not anything."

I couldn't keep the expression off my face.

"Isn't this just a self-destruct technique?"

"It is, in a sense, a technique of runaway berserk energy. But you will almost never need it, Master. Because of the built-in skill sealed within the Heukcheon Demonic Sword—Soul Reading."

"Fair enough."

I had to agree with her there.

With the seals on the Heukcheon Demonic Sword broken, it now housed three built-in skills.

Sword Soul, Sovereign Soul, and Reading Soul.

Sword Soul was used to summon Heukcheon herself.

Sovereign Soul was used to press down upon an opponent.

And Reading Soul was used to read a target's memories through their soul.

Reading Soul is a rather unique one.

It required the other party's consent to read their soul, and under mutual agreement, could confine both souls together for a fixed span of time.

I had experimented to see what I might accomplish with it, and Heukcheon had called the idea plausible enough that we ran the test.

And the experiment was a success.

There was a side effect—Heukcheon would be unable to manifest through Sword Soul for a while, which meant she couldn't come out of the sword at all.

Still, if it bought us spare lives, the price was cheap.

Though the trade-off is that I have to pamper her until then.

And that pampering meant dutifully oiling and polishing the Heukcheon Demonic Sword—a request I could grant as many times as she liked.

Aside from the minor detail that I had to endure her ecstatic moaning the entire time.

Anyway—after my lesson with Heukcheon, I headed to the alchemy classroom. I traded pleasantries with Professor Song Lahee, then set about crafting elixirs and potions inside.

The material costs weren't coming out of my pocket anyway.

Then a thought occurred to me. Since things had come this far, why not set up my own personal workshop?

The artificial island was spacious enough; there shouldn't be any problem.

I'll have to ask for permission later.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

From Seo Yebin, that is.

With that, I threw myself into the alchemy.

The difference between saving a life and taking one, huh.

Thinking of it that way, certain things began to make sense.

Every quest I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seen so far had centered on preventing loss of human life, after all.

It wants to save people?

I turned the thought over, but there was still far too much I didn't know about the system. Gathering the materials for the homunculus, I headed back up to the penthouse.

In one corner of the penthouse stood a doll—a beautiful girl with blue hair and blue eyes to match.

Every detail reflected the Electronic Witch's own enthusiastic input.

She's roughly as strong as a lower-tier hero, give or take.

A body that even a trained Hunter would have a hard time beating, let alone your average person.

Ordinarily I could have installed combat functions, but doing so would have warped her appearance far beyond what the Electronic Witch wanted, so her wishes had been reflected to the fullest.

I finished the final touches and called for the Electronic Witch.

"Finally done?"

...She really did show up the instant I called.

"Yes, it's complete. You can enter the body through the terminal now."

Normally a homunculus terminal had to be embedded from the start, but for the Electronic Witch, it hardly mattered. Security protocols and the like would normally be a whole ordeal, but with her, no such luck was needed.

The moment I finished speaking, the body reacted.

"Whoa... whoa—wha! It's moving! My body's moving!"

The Electronic Witch moved around for a moment, then suddenly seized my hand in a tight grip.

"I honestly didn't think you'd actually build it. Really. Thank you. Thank you, so, so much."

Rare for her, she said it with tears brimming in her eyes.

"If you ever need me to deal with some guys for you, just say the word. Oh, and watch out for those Nazi bastards."

"...The Nazi Empire?"

"Yeah. I've been jamming their networks and picking their people off while I'm at it, and those bastards... you know how they are."

For once, the Electronic Witch wore a look of genuine loathing.

I understood all too well.

Understood that those men could never be stopped by something as small as that.

"Just say the word if you ever need information. I'll give you a special, crazy discount—ah, forget it! It's the mood I'm in. Seoha, for you, it's free anytime. Just keep it secret from my other clients, got it?"

"Understood. My lips are sealed."

Granted, the homunculus was an expensive doll—but being able to command the Electronic Witch for free made it a bargain either way.

"By the way, you've got a lecture today?"

"Yeah, well. Professor Bilapsil is a superb alchemist, but if she's going to be teaching the others, I need to be there to help."

"Hmm..."

The Electronic Witch's face twisted into an uncharacteristically troubled expression.

"Has anything... felt strange to you lately?"

"Strange, lately?"

I racked my memory for recent events.

Classes at school. Training my body alongside Kim Seohyun to hone the Heukshin martial arts. Business talks with Erciel once that wrapped up. Sparring with Kim Ara. Dropping by to help Seo Gayeon with her growth. Petty duels with Hong Yuhwa. And then, squeezing in whatever time remained, heading into the city with Seol Hwaryeon to purge demons while she called me "Elder."

When that was done, back to the penthouse for lessons with Yeongcheon and Heukcheon, then a wash and sleep.

Wake up, and repeat.

...No wonder Heukcheon told me to rest.

Even by my own accounting, that schedule was borderline murderous.

"No, nothing comes to mind. Why do you ask?"

"It's—well, I'm just saying this in case. Try not to be too shocked."

"...?"

Something about the Electronic Witch's expression was off.

Like someone who had glimpsed an abyss they never wanted to see.

Yes—exactly the way I'd felt when I learned that Professor Bilapsil, during my Epic World days, had been a shotacon.

"Anyway, once you connect—I've set your spawn point near the lecture hall, so just head straight in."

"Ah, thank you."

"...Sure. I honestly don't know if I'm doing the right thing here."

The Electronic Witch gave me a deeply unsettled look and said,

"If you ever want to escape, text me immediately. I'll get you out no matter what it takes."

Even if it means making the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole world my enemy. — she added.

There was a pointless, tragic solemnity to it.

I entered the virtual reality.

Just as the Electronic Witch said, I started from a spot near the lecture hall.

Before going in, I performed self-hypnosis.

Few people knew that Lee Seoha was Veritas. So anything I could use, I should use. Hypnotizing myself—I am Veritas—I walked forward.

Click, clack.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I am arrogant. I am the pinnacle of alchemy. I am a supreme being whom no one alive could ever hope to surpass.

A short while of walking, self-hypnosis on repeat.

I arrived at the lecture hall.

And the interior of the hall was... strange.

"..."

Everyone but me was wearing a mask. Frankly, even that wasn't much of a problem.

Alchemy was a discipline of people locked away in their workshops, after all. Lock a person in a back room all day, every day, and their sanity goes full grad-student—bizarre rituals like this were only natural.

My talent, Perusal, read the truth of it immediately.

Junior Disciple of Lord Veritas.

"...?"

I looked around. Intermediate Disciple of Lord Veritas. Senior Disciple of Lord Veritas. And through Perusal, I could tell that their ranks corresponded to alchemy-related abilities.

And at the front of the room—

Perusal read the names inscribed upon the masks of the one they called Master, along with Al Magus and Jermeng.

Cardinal.

"..."

No way.

It was absurd—yet sure enough, on the mask of the woman who appeared to be Professor Bilapsil, I read the title inscribed there.

Bishop.

"Welcome, Lord Veritas."

"...What is the meaning of this?"

"Because we have come to understand why it is that you lead us, Lord Veritas."

Professor Bilapsil laughed softly. Fufu—

...How could they not figure it out?

Revive the alchemy industry, put it to work as my hands and feet, and as a bonus, use the goods they produce to save and strengthen the people of the frontier. That was the entire scheme.

"Just as the Vaccine God bestows power and knowledge upon the people—bestows upon them divinity—so have you, Lord Veritas, poured knowledge upon us freely, asking nothing in return. The only thing we lowly ones can offer back is this: our faith, offered up like so."

"..."

I don't... what is this... it's terrifying...

"...Th-there's really no need for all that. If people are in trouble, help them. That... that much is enough."

Uncharacteristically, my words came out thoroughly pickled in stammer.

But Bilapsil's reaction was entirely different.

"Ahh! Lord Veritas has spoken! If people are in trouble, help them. Th-this must be committed to scripture at once!"

Bilapsil cried out in a voice choking with emotion and began inscribing my words onto the emerald tablet at the center of the hall.

"Everyone, today is a joyous day. The day Lord Veritas Himself descends to grant us the secrets of alchemy. Join hands, all of you, and let us pray."

Teeeen—men!

"..."

I genuinely wanted to lose consciousness.

"...?"

Now what on earth was this?