Chapter 465: A Secret Conversation (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 465: A Secret Conversation (2)
Silence for Fate.
His true name was Vidar, the god of vengeance and silence.
Born of Odin and the giantess Grid, he would one day achieve the feat of tearing Fenrir apart, the beast who had murdered his father, Odin, during Ragnarök.
“It would’ve been better if he were the son of that philandering bastard, but of all people, Odin…”
Lucifer let out a deep sigh.
“One wrong move, and you could make an enemy of all of Asgard.”
“…Is it that serious? He’s just an avatar.”
“That’s not the issue. It’s a matter of face and pride.”
To Constellations, face and pride were sometimes more valuable than life itself.
There was a reason they used players to fight their proxy wars.
Sometimes, Nebulae—alliances of Constellations—would even wage war using large clans as their proxies, like Eden’s Twilight Holy Society or the Jade Purity Divine Palace’s Boundless Heaven Sect.
And Vidar was a Constellation belonging to the Nebula ‘Asgard.’
“If that grumpy old man finds out his son’s avatar was killed by a mere player, he’ll definitely try to retaliate somehow.”
It would have been a different story if Kang Hyun-woo were a famous ranker known throughout the Tower. Even if he had defeated Vidar’s avatar, it was, as he said, just an avatar.
But right now, Kang Hyun-woo was nothing more than a nameless, unknown player.
There were rumors on the lower floors about a monster who had single-handedly annihilated Black Roar, but that was nowhere near enough.
“…Actually, there is another way. You could join a large clan that’s hostile to Asgard.”
“A place like that exists?”
“Pantheon.”
Pantheon.
A large clan sponsored by the Nebula, Olympus.
“Whether you’re a Constellation, a resident, or a player, everyone knows about the discord between Asgard and Olympus. They’ve even gone to war a few times.”
“Who won?”
“A draw. They weren’t seriously trying to kill each other in the first place, and even if one side won, they’d obviously be devoured by other Nebulae just waiting for an opportunity.”
Lucifer’s words sent Kang Hyun-woo deep into thought.
But the conclusion came quickly.
“Rejected. I have no intention of serving under someone else just because of this.”
“Then you’ll have to become as strong as the rankers.”
“I don’t care.”
Kang Hyun-woo smirked and used his magic power to blast the moisture from his hair.
“That was my plan from the beginning. Besides, he’s a direct descendant of Odin, right? I never thought I could take him down right away.”
Most importantly, even Lucifer didn’t know where Vidar’s avatar was.
It was unavoidable, given that Eden and Asgard had very little contact.
“Oh, right. There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“…Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”
There were only about twenty minutes left.
To use the time efficiently, Kang Hyun-woo immediately took the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword from his inventory.
“I got this sword by chance, and there’s something strange sealed inside it called Tam. For some reason, I keep getting the feeling I shouldn’t use it in front of Constellations. Can you check it out for me?”
“This is…”
Lucifer’s eyes widened as she looked at the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword.
For a moment, a rare look of bewilderment was clear on her face.
“Hah… There are so many famous swords in the world, why on earth are you carrying this thing around…?”
Letting out her biggest sigh of the day, Lucifer crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.
She seemed to be organizing her thoughts, her lips twitching for a moment, before she slowly began to speak.
“…I can’t tell you exactly what’s sealed in this sword. But one thing is certain: it’s related to the ‘Primordial Beasts.’”
“Primordial Beasts?”
“You’ve probably heard of them. Typhon, Leviathan, the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse.”
“…”
For a second, I wondered if I should just get rid of Tam right then and there.
“…What do you think would have happened if I had used Tam’s power in front of the Constellations?”
“I don’t know.”
Lucifer massaged her shoulder as if exhausted and responded indifferently.
“Even among the highest-ranking gods, their dispositions vary wildly. Some might find you interesting and act favorably, while others might half-lose their minds and try to descend personally.”
“…”
Lucifer’s words gave me a headache.
It meant I couldn’t use Tam in the Tower.
No, now that I knew Tam’s true identity was one of those insane monsters called Primordial Beasts, there was no way I could use it properly in other worlds either.
Even if I only extracted memories from corpses, Tam would just absorb their energy on its own to increase its growth rate.
‘…No, wait a minute.’
I hurriedly opened the item description window.
[Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword (覇天魔劍)
Grade: Unique
A peerless treasured sword that cleaves the heavens.
Penetrates laws.
Absorbs the owner’s energy to increase the cutting power of its Aura.
A fragment of Tam (貪) is sealed within.]
The last line was what caught my attention.
The fact that a fragment, not the main body, was sealed meant that even if the seal were broken, the damage might not be that great.
‘…Is that just wishful thinking?’
I knew I was stretching it.
But it was that difficult to give up Tam’s power.
Absorbing energy from corpses to recover during battle, increasing my total amount of internal energy or magic power, peeking into others’ memories.
Every single one of its abilities was too precious to discard.
“If you must, try to use it with its power suppressed as much as possible. That might be okay. It’s not like the Constellations on the lower floors are sharp enough to come swarming just because you use a little power.”
“Hmm…”
After mulling over Lucifer’s words for a moment, I decided to only use the memory-reading ability in the Tower.
I could give up the others, but I couldn’t let go of this one.
It was like trying to go back to a game before a quality-of-life patch.
“Lastly, could you take a look at this too?”
“What is it this time… huh?”
The moment I removed the lens from my left eye, Lucifer stared at me, dumbfounded, as if at a loss for words.
She then shot up from her seat, her expression turning icy as she suddenly raised her fists.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!!
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!”
“Aargh!!”
“Get your arms down! What did you do right to be blocking?! It’s bad enough you have women in another world, but now you’re making contracts with demons?”
Instantly taking a mount position, Lucifer rained down punches.
Judging by her fluid, natural posture, this wasn’t her first time.
A perfectly reasonable suspicion crossed my mind: maybe she got kicked out of heaven for beating up angels like this.
*
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ asks if the lovers’ quarrel is over.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ says your face is a complete mess.」
「The Constellation, ‘Dweller of the Swamp,’ scoffs at you.」
I swiped away the screen that appeared before me.
I worked my jaw back and forth and chugged a potion.
Thankfully, the misunderstanding was cleared up. However, the fact remained that I had accepted a demon’s power, so Lucifer shot me a glare before storming out of the room.
It looked like we’d be sleeping in separate rooms for a while.
The only silver lining was that before she left, Lucifer had casually tossed out the advice that as long as I didn’t use it in front of angels, it wouldn’t be a major problem.
That meant she wasn’t so angry that she never wanted to see my face again.
‘…I’ll have to go see her later.’
I wanted to follow her right away, but I knew it would only be counterproductive right now.
Flop—
As soon as I returned to the empty office, I threw myself onto the sofa. Staring at the ceiling, I began to recall the questions I hadn't gotten a chance to ask Lucifer.
One was about the true name of the ‘Monarch of the Underworld,’ and the other was about the new exclusive trait I had acquired.
They were a slightly lower priority than my previous questions, but they weren’t issues I could just ignore.
Ting—
「True Word (眞言)
Classification: Exclusive Trait
Rank: D
A secret language, true and without falsehood.」
I narrowed my eyes at the screen in front of me.
It was an exclusive trait I’d acquired through an introductory manual I received as a reward, but I had no idea how to use it.
It seemed to have a different mechanism from ordinary skills or traits.
I had actually asked the ‘Dancing Destroyer’ about it, but instead of giving me a straight answer, he had just given me a cryptic smile.
Swiping the screen away, I sat up on the sofa and began to circulate the Formless Vajra Art.
The Formless Vajra Art had the effect of healing external injuries.
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ watches you with an interested expression.」
A short while later, I stood up and checked the mirror. The wounds on my face were gone without a trace.
With a satisfied smile, I opened the door and headed straight down the stairs to the basement.
In the middle of the training ground, Yoo Ah-rin was sitting cross-legged, muttering something.
It was the oral formula for the Great Mind-Spirit Art.
‘Did she memorize it all already?’
I suppressed my presence and waited for her meditation to end.
Even if she wasn’t circulating her qi, breaking someone’s concentration was clearly disrespectful.
About thirty minutes passed.
“Hoo…”
Yoo Ah-rin calmly evened her breathing and opened her eyes.
The divine art was certainly living up to its name; though she hadn’t even begun her formal training, the killing intent behind her eyes had softened considerably.
I made my presence known and approached her.
“Oh?”
The moment our eyes met, Yoo Ah-rin immediately stood up.
“When did you get here?”
“Not long ago.”
I looked closely at her, drenched in sweat.
It was clear she hadn’t just been sitting and reciting the oral formula for half a day; she had been making various attempts to break through the introductory stage on her own.
It was actually a rather dangerous thing to do.
A divine art wasn’t called ‘divine’ for nothing.
However, the Great Mind-Spirit Art was a martial art aimed at cultivating the mind and body, not adhering to the basic martial purpose of killing enemies and defending oneself.
Unlike other divine arts, the risk of falling into Qi Deviation, should something go wrong, was significantly lower. So, I decided not to point it out.
Of course, if she were a man, I would’ve made him get on his hands and knees and beaten him with a bat.
“Shall we get started? You feel confident?”
“…Yes.”
Despite her answer, her face was tense.
But a certain amount of tension was actually helpful, so I didn’t add anything else.
“Alright, just take off your top and sit with your back to me.”
“…”
Yoo Ah-rin nodded gravely and, without a moment’s hesitation, threw off her tank top, revealing a modest black sports bra.
But the chest contained within the underwear was anything but modest.
Ssk—
I sat on the training ground floor and placed my hands on Yoo Ah-rin’s back.
Unlike my own scarred hands, her back was flawless, without a single blemish.
Moreover, she had well-defined muscles, a rare sight for a woman.
However, it seemed she had been injured during intense training at some point, as the shape of her muscles was somewhat improper.
This was a common trait among those who trained alone without a trainer to guide them.
Still, aside from a slight buildup of impure energy in her meridians, there seemed to be no major problems overall.
Unless you lived in the mountains on a raw food diet, it was perfectly natural for a modern person to accumulate impure energy.
There was a limit to what could be expelled through qi circulation.
What surprised me most was the complete absence of postural imbalance, something common in modern people.
That alone was enough to guess how disciplined a life she had lived.