To Revere or to Condemn
In the end, people would either revere him more or condemn him more—it would be one of the two. Therefore, as long as it was a threat the nations of the world could handle on their own, he had no intention of stepping forward himself!
"True." If it were a truly dire emergency, he would have already been flying across the globe like before. Even if he didn't show it, every single one of these incidents was bound to weigh heavily on Yunjae's mind. Perhaps the reason he wanted to defeat Mamon so quickly was precisely because of that. Only then could he continue his peaceful, ordinary daily life without any further disruptions.
"And this is the most urgent matter right now," Yunjae said. At his words, Mari turned her gaze toward the conference room where Anton was standing guard. The elf Yunjae had rescued was currently being watched over by Rozamy and Lupinus inside the empty room. She hadn't sustained any major physical injuries, but she had suffered a severe psychological shock and had yet to regain consciousness.
"That's true. I wonder who she really is." It wasn't just her; the corpses of other elves had already been discovered. Judging by the horrific state of their bodies, they had likely fallen victim to monsters. Why on earth had this group of elves appeared in this world alongside these new monsters?
"I'm not too sure either. But right now, our office work is much more important than that!" Yunjae chuckled softly, suggesting they focus back on their tasks. Mari shrugged.
"You don't seem tense at all, even though a bunch of strangers just showed up."
"Ah! No matter how much they push out new updates, it's already too late. There are no more levels for me to climb anyway." No matter how rich the new content was, he was already max-level!
"They might look different, but their abilities weren't all that interesting either." Besides, he had lost all affection for Mamon Saga a long time ago! As Yunjae pointed out that a belated update could never win back a departed user, Mari spoke cautiously.
"But there could be some kind of trap. What if they suddenly transform into monsters or something...?"
"I don't think that's going to happen."
"Huh?"
"If she were a monster, that elf would have reacted to my Taunt. But she didn't. Even if she's hiding her power, I can vaporize her the instant she opens her eyes." He might have seemed careless, but as the epitome of introverted anxiety, he had already vetted the stranger in his own meticulous way.
"And she doesn't really give off the vibe of a bad person."
"Are you just saying that because she's pretty?" Elves—the very definition of beauty! True to the stereotype, yet another breathtaking beauty had appeared, prompting Mari to ask with a slightly pouting face.
"Ah! I have to admit she is, but I prefer ordinary girls!" The Hero drew a firm line, asserting his preference for normal humans.
"What kind of excuse is that, you dummy!" At Mari's exasperated shout, Yunjae grinned sheepishly.
"Ever since I was young, I always hoped my future spouse would be someone ordinary." Was it because of his experience debuting as an idol at the age of twelve? Or was it because his parents were far from ordinary? Unable to simply laugh at his words, Mari quickly turned her head away and changed the subject.
"So that's why you're so dead-set on getting a part-time serving job!"
"Ah! How did you know?!"
"In the end, you'll have to make your move at the cafe." At Mari's words, which subtly hinted at her own feelings, Yunjae smiled shyly.
"Yes..."
"What do you mean 'yes,' you dummy!"
"Ah, but the uniform has already been decided!" At his statement, which practically confirmed the cafe as the ultimate battleground, Mari burst into laughter once more.
"Anyway, I just hope that elf wakes up soon." In any case, the immediate crisis was over. Now, it was time to focus on the unconscious elf once again.
Flash! "How's the elf doing?" Meanwhile, Akemi, who had gone to report to Taejun, returned.
"Nothing new. By the way, you took quite a while."
"I got held up checking the news from other countries. It seems elves haven't appeared anywhere else."
"Ah, really?"
"Yeah! That's why we absolutely need to find out who she is, Oppa!" Could the fact that elves only appeared here carry some deeper meaning? Perhaps because she had just spoken with Taejun, Akemi sounded unusually serious today. Yunjae nodded in agreement.
"Yes, once she regains consciousness..." It was at that very moment. Click. Taerin, who had been dragged into the conference room out of sheer boredom and was being teased by Lupinus, suddenly flung the door open and shouted, "Mister! She's awake!"
"Ah! Yes!" As Yunjae hurriedly ran into the conference room, he heard a voice. "Where... am I?" With a face full of bewilderment, the elf looked around at them, her pitch-black eyes trembling with fear.
"Ah, you're awake." Yunjae welcomed her warmly, but Rozamy quickly cut him off to ask a question. "That's what we want to ask. You don't belong to this world. What on earth happened?" Mamon was on the move! Having once come to this world as his subordinate to conquer it, Rozamy was far more tense than Yunjae. The elf flinched and stared at her.
"...Are you a demon?" No human possessed such vivid blue hair. That was a trait unique to demons! "No. It's different. To call you a demon..." As the elf shook her head, sensing something foreign about Rozamy's presence, Rozamy gasped. "How did you...?"
Rozamy originally had silver hair and pale emerald eyes. However, after being granted portal abilities by Mamon, her hair and eyes had changed color as a side effect. Since then, she had become an anomalous existence—neither human nor demon. In other words, she was not a pure demon. Ordinary people could never make such a distinction. How could this elf possibly tell?
"It makes sense. She must have seen plenty of demons when her own world was invaded." "What? What do you mean...?" "Lady Lupinus!" Yunjae looked surprised to see her acting like a proper goddess for once, prompting Lupinus to reply with a solemn expression.
"Three worlds have been destroyed. You weren't the only Saintess, Rozamy." "Does that mean another messenger was active in a different world?" Was she not the first messenger? As Rozamy's eyes widened in shock, Lupinus shook her head, admitting she couldn't be certain.
"I've never seen any of the previous Saintesses again, so I can't say for sure. But since I never witnessed their ultimate fates either, the possibility is definitely there." Lupinus had been bound to a single world to raise her Hero. If Mamon had invaded other dimensions during that time, there could easily have been worlds she was entirely unaware of.
"In any case, the important thing is that this elf crossed dimensions. While the rest of her group perished from the dimensional backlash, she survived alone." Yunjae's eyes went wide with surprise.
"Ah! So the other elves weren't killed by monsters?"
"If they had been attacked by monsters, their corpses wouldn't have been so intact. Their bodies were literally torn apart by the sheer shock of dimensional travel."
"The risk of crossing dimensions...?"
"A few might survive under normal circumstances, but..." Lupinus trailed off, staring at the completely unblemished elf. "This elf doesn't have a single scratch on her. She was the only one completely unaffected."
"No way..." Rozamy gasped in shock once more. What did that imply?
"The only ones who can emerge completely unscathed from a sudden dimensional transit are Saintesses." As if on cue, everyone turned their gaze toward the elf. This was fundamentally different from monsters crossing through stabilized portals. No matter how unstable the pathway, a Saintess would never sustain any damage. Sensing the weight of their stares, the elf with black hair and pitch-black eyes nodded, as if understanding what they meant.
"...My name is Mia, the Saintess of Elysium." Saintess Mia!
"I'm not entirely sure what Elysium is, but how did a Saintess end up crossing over to this world?" At Lupinus's serious question, Mia looked deeply bewildered. Having only just regained consciousness, the overwhelming situation seemed to have left her flustered.
"You can trust us. The one who saved you was..." "I know. It was this gentleman..." Mia looked at Yunjae, her cheeks flushing a soft pink. He was her savior, and given his exceptionally beautiful, delicate features, such a reaction was only natural, but...
Slender Forearms. But what on earth was that? Why did he have such a thing floating above his head? Thanks to Mamon Saga's incredible feature of universal dimensional language translation, Mia understood exactly what the words meant. I don't get it! Why does he have those words floating over his head?! The sheer absurdity of it only deepened her confusion! Consequently, she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. She was clearly attracted to him, but that floating title was so bizarre that she shrank back, unable to look. Seeing her acting so girlishly flustered,
"Eee~! Why is she already falling for him?!" "That's right! Mister is a total playboy!" "Is this that damn Hero buff?!" The opposition immediately revolted.
"Ah! I didn't do anything! Why are you blaming me?!" Feeling utterly wronged, Yunjae waved his hands frantically. He had truly done nothing but rescue her and the others, but—
"That's because I made it that way!" Lupinus proudly stepped forward, asserting her presence.
"Ah! Lady Lupinus!" "Eee?! Why would you do that?!" "Because I want to brag that this incredibly popular, beautiful boy is all mine! From now on, every single woman he meets will fall head over heels for him!" There was no grand reason. She simply wanted to show off that this highly sought-after pretty boy belonged to her!
"Unbelievable." Everyone let out a hollow laugh at the goddess's absurd confidence and sheer audacity.
"...Seriously, if there was a heroine popularity poll, this stupid goddess would rank dead last!" "Go ahead and try! I'll win on looks alone!" Say what they want, Lupinus was indeed the ultimate beauty. At her spirited retort, the other three winced. "Ugh..." "How frustrating." "That perverted goddess." None of them dared to challenge her throne, and they all shrank back.
Rozamy then turned to the bewildered Mia and spoke. "...Um, shouldn't we be focusing on the matter at hand?" The former Saintess cringed, deeply embarrassed to show such a pathetic display in front of a Saintess from another dimension.
"You must tell us everything you know. We are the only ones who can help you." Lupinus shamelessly carried on, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Excuse me, but even if you act like nothing happened, the mood is already completely ruined!" But there was no restoring the derailed atmosphere.
"This is all your fault! Why did you have to butt in? If he's the Hero, you should just accept it! Haven't you ever heard of a Hero buff?" "Eee~! That might be true, but it's still the fault of the stupid goddess who made Oppa like that in the first place!" "Yeah! No wonder women keep flocking to him whenever he has a free moment!" Although Lupinus had done something to suppress their jealousy, it hadn't vanished entirely!
"Ah! But I used to get confessed to all the time anyway! Even before I got trapped in Mamon Saga, I received confessions at least once a week, sometimes up to seven times. So I don't really feel like I'm getting a buff!" Meanwhile, the Hero raised his hand high to set the record straight. Even without any divine intervention, he had always been popular! At his timid yet firm assertion,
"Shut up! Stop bragging!" Mari was the most outraged.
"Ah! I was only stating the facts!"
"What's the point! You've been single for seventy-seven years!"
"That was a low blow! You're so mean, Mari!"
"Eee~! You're the mean one, Oppa! How can you brag about that at a time like this?!" As Akemi joined in as reinforcements, Yunjae's eyes shook with panic.
"Ah! But those are the only glorious moments of my youth! Like the time I received a record of 129 chocolates on Valentine's Day!" As the Hero clung to his past glory, unleashing a fresh wave of backlash, Rozamy let out a deep sigh.
"A serious atmosphere will never last in this place." Glancing at Mia, she saw the elf looking as if she were experiencing severe culture shock. "Uh... um..." Just moments ago, the mood had seemed incredibly solemn. Feeling a sense of kinship with the bewildered elf, Rozamy glanced at her ears and spoke.
"Anyway, please tell us what kind of situation you were in. Despite how he looks, Yunjae is a truly magnificent Hero." Though not human, she was a Saintess! The appearance of someone so similar to her past self left Rozamy with quite complicated feelings.
"And you are...?"
"Let's just say I was once like you. Though now, I've become something that is neither human nor monster..." Though she tried to act fine, she couldn't entirely hide the guilt and despair of having abandoned her humanity to become Mamon's messenger.
"Ah." Seeing the tremor in Rozamy's eyes, Mia looked at her with deep sympathy. "Yes." She then turned her gaze back to Yunjae. Sensing her look, Yunjae nodded, deciding that they needed to hear Mia's story first.
"What exactly happened?" At his question, Mia's face darkened, looking pained just from the memory. "A colossal dimensional gate swept over us."
"A dimensional gate?" Yunjae asked, his voice laced with confusion at the unexpected revelation.
"Yes. A massive black sphere swallowed us whole."
"Black?" The one who reacted most violently to Mia's words was Rozamy! "Did you just say black?"
"Yes. A colossal, black..." The moment she heard those words, Rozamy's expression froze.
"Rozamy, what's wrong?"
"A black portal is a gateway that leads directly to Mamon. The fact that it appeared means..." Mamon had begun to move personally! As Rozamy showed the deep-seated terror engraved into her very being,
"Ah! That means we can finally destroy Mamon!" In stark contrast to her fear, the Hero rejoiced at the prospect of finally putting an end to the Demon God!
"I-it's not something to be taken so lightly!" Rozamy shouted, utterly flabbergasted by his reaction.
"Ah, but I've already defeated him a thousand times. Surely it's worth a shot!" At his claim that it was indeed something to be taken lightly, even Rozamy found herself losing a bit of her tension.
"In any case..." "In any case, the real question is why Mamon would do such a thing."