Chapter 147
Chapter 147
Chapter 147
"The Altar of Balance."
"Yes."
Seo-jin slowly nodded as he received the information conveyed by Onmyoji Rei.
The information Rei shared as payment for cooperation matched what he already knew.
'The primary objective of the World Quest is to belong to each faction and accumulate achievements.'
The Reverse Heaven Society had been moving diligently in various directions for the past two weeks for this purpose, and the strategy team was also said to be earnestly accumulating Radiance Power for the same reason.
Next was the secondary objective.
In the case of the Reverse Heaven Society, the goal was to drive wedges to stabilize the mana in each region and limit the rampaging power of Lunaris.
On the other hand, the strategy team's objective.
'To control the flow of ley lines and guide them to the altar to supply the mana needed for Solaris's descent.'
While the specific details differed, the general direction was similar.
Reducing the Dark God's influence and increasing the Light God's influence.
And finally, the tertiary objective.
According to Rei, it seemed they needed to perform the final ritual for clearing the World Quest at the Altar of Balance.
However, Rei had a personal opinion that exchange or cooperation with the opposing faction would be necessary in that process.
While Seo-jin agreed with this, he needed to find out what basis she had for such thinking.
"Is this reliable information?"
"Nothing has been definitively revealed. However, in my limited judgment... I believe the strategy team's current quest alone won't be enough to complete the ritual performed at the Altar of Balance."
"I see."
So it seemed Rei had read the approaching future and come to request cooperation from Seo-jin.
Rather than hastily entering negotiations when the situation arose, her intention was likely to open channels early and maintain good relations.
Perhaps the gift Ha-yeon gave was also an extension of this.
Even if not for Seo-jin personally, it would be necessary to make a good impression on the members of the Reverse Heaven Society as well.
Understanding the situation, Seo-jin nodded and asked her.
"But this cooperation request—did the entire strategy team agree to it?"
"That's..."
Seeing Rei hesitate in her response, Seo-jin sighed.
"Of course not."
Since Won-jae, the leader of the strategy team, was quite cautious, he wouldn't suddenly come seeking cooperation at this point without any basis.
He would only decide what to do after meeting Seo-jin, the leader of the Reverse Heaven Society, directly.
Yelena would show an indifferent or hostile attitude, and Paladin Robert would try to reject Seo-jin for being a black mage.
Gu-ren also wouldn't welcome cooperation with Seo-jin.
With Fist King Choi Gang-hyeon, they had only met a few times outside the tower to exercise together, so it was unclear if he would be favorable toward Seo-jin.
He would probably just go along with whatever the other team members decided.
At least Kwon Ha-yeon and Lee Seo-mun were related to the Reverse Heaven Society and were on the favorable side, so they would agree to cooperation.
Having organized his thoughts while reviewing the strategy team members, Seo-jin spoke.
"I understand the intention well for now. But I can't explicitly promise cooperation."
"Just avoiding friction as much as possible would be sufficient."
"...But it seems friction has already occurred."
Seo-jin shrugged as he looked at Gu-ren sleeping in Rei's arms.
Setting aside the fight, he had even harvested quite a bit of Radiance Power.
Rei dismissed Seo-jin's concerns.
"I'll handle that myself. Please don't worry."
She had scouted a small dungeon on the way here.
If she cleared that dungeon before returning, she could make up for the Radiance Power lost in this duel. It would be a bit difficult, but...
Seeing Rei's face filled with worry, Seo-jin spoke comfortingly.
"You always struggle in the middle."
"..."
Rei only smiled gently instead of answering.
"Fine, our Reverse Heaven Society won't deliberately antagonize the strategy team. However, if they interfere with our work, then we'll do what we must. Will this be acceptable?"
"Yes, thank you for your cooperation. Then, may you have a peaceful tower climb."
With those words, Rei burned a talisman and disappeared along with Gu-ren.
However, despite Rei's efforts, the cooperation did not proceed as planned.
***
The next day.
The scouting team's exploration of mana anomaly regions began.
So-yul and Austin remained in the village.
So-yul had good social skills and got along well with the natives, while Austin could respond to various situations through spirit magic, so the two were decided to take charge of clearing quests given by the natives.
The remaining six left the village and headed toward the swamp.
Slurp-.
The group used Tam (Greed) as a compass to seek out powerful mana anomaly regions.
There was no summon more sensitive to mana anomalies than Tam, who fed on mana.
When Tam, perched on Seo-jin's shoulder, slowly moved to point in a direction, Baduki carrying wedges and the other five followed behind.
Splash- splash-.
They had been moving silently through the swamp for several hours like this.
Nam-gung Cheon, looking tired, asked.
"But if it's a mana anomaly region, there's a high chance there's a dungeon, right?"
"That's right."
Mana anomaly regions were places where mana flow was strongly concentrated or showed unstable wavelengths.
And monsters and magical beasts naturally gathered toward greater mana.
Such unstable mana flow and the presence of monsters deepened spatial distortion and caused denser demonic energy to accumulate.
Distorted space, dense demonic energy, and swarming monsters.
People called that a dungeon.
If there was a dungeon, they could clear it to earn Achievement Points and drive wedges to clear the quest—killing two birds with one stone.
Slurp-.
Just then, Tam perched on Seo-jin's shoulder showed an abnormal reaction, melting like ice cream.
It seemed a mana anomaly region was near.
Rattle-.
The wedge strapped to Baduki's back also trembled on its own, indicating the vicinity was a mana anomaly region.
"Get ready. There's definitely either a dungeon or monsters somewhere around here."
"Yes sir."
Just as Zieg and the other team members took battle positions at Seo-jin's command.
"Huh?"
There were already visitors at the mana anomaly region they had arrived at following Tam and the wedge's reactions.
"Oh my? We meet again. I guess fate is fate."
"Ugh."
Yelena smiled while running her hand once through her golden hair.
But unlike before, this time she wasn't alone.
"First time seeing you in the tower."
"..."
She was accompanied by Fist King Choi Gang-hyeon and Paladin Robert.
The encounter with them was coincidental but not particularly strange.
'Where mana gathers, people gather too.'
They were also likely chasing ley lines to clear their secondary objective, so meeting at a mana anomaly region was natural.
Nam-gung Cheon asked with a disgusted expression.
"What are you wandering around for?"
"What about you guys? And what's that dog?"
Yelena frowned as she looked at Baduki. At this, Robert hardened his expression and spoke.
"It's undead. It must be eliminated."
Clank-.
Robert held out a massive shield with a cross drawn on it and placed a large greatsword on top, pointing it toward Seo-jin.
Zieg also responded by drawing his shield.
Robert poked his head over his shield and asked Zieg, who stood facing him, as if he couldn't understand.
"Are you a paladin yet defending that wicked black mage?"
"...Even if he's a black mage, he's not a wicked person."
At this, Robert narrowed his eyes as if he understood even less.
"If one who prevents the dead from resting in peace is not evil, then what can be called evil? And if the one who spreads black magic widely and throws the world into chaos is not evil, then who in the world could be called evil?"
"..."
'He has no words to say.'
Indeed, it was true that Seo-jin commanded the dead, and it was also true that Nova's fame had led countless climbers down the path of black magic.
While Seo-jin had contributed much to tower climbing, it was certainly true that such side effects existed.
But what mattered now wasn't arguing with Robert.
'Focus on the phenomenon that occurred rather than the immediate situation.'
What was important was confirming the quest structure that forced the two teams progressing the quests of Lunaris and Solaris respectively into conflict.
The Reverse Heaven Society needed to drive wedges to destroy the source of anomalous mana.
In contrast, the strategy team needed to redirect the flow of anomalous mana's ley lines toward the altar.
Actually, the ultimate purpose and result of these two actions were the same, but depending on who performed the action, it would have a clear impact on each faction's quest progress.
'The side that must destroy versus the side that must protect.'
This had nothing to do with the will of Lunaris or Solaris. It was probably the machination of the demon governing the 37th floor.
They had undoubtedly manipulated a quest structure that required mutual cooperation for smooth tower climbing to make them antagonistic toward each other.
That aspect was likely the real adversity this World Quest possessed.
"..."
Having finished his thoughts, Seo-jin decided to step back to resolve the situation that seemed ready to erupt into combat at any moment.
"We'll withdraw this time."
He had already received a gift from Ha-yeon once, and had received a request from Rei earlier.
It would be proper to yield at least once.
But if such situations repeated next time, he wouldn't step back then.
When Seo-jin decided to retreat, Yelena snorted as if disappointed.
"Hmph, what? Are you scared and running away? Such a waste of the Nova reputation."
Whoosh-.
Se-yeon tried to draw her sword with fierce eyes at the remark dismissing Seo-jin.
But Seo-jin grabbed her arm first and spoke coldly.
"Stop."
Even if they were to fight, now wasn't the time.
At least having the fact that they yielded once today would serve as justification later, even if they ended up fighting.
"..."
Se-yeon released the strength from her hand holding the sword and slowly stepped back.
"We'll withdraw. Handle this mana anomaly region yourselves."
"Go or don't go~ If we meet again next time, will you yield then too?"
As Seo-jin's group withdrew, Robert also relaxed his battle stance and slowly watched Seo-jin's group move away.
"..."
However, the hostility in his eyes hadn't diminished at all.
***
"Annoying bitch. I was thinking of sticking a throwing knife in her face."
"Wow, for once we're on the same page."
Francesca and Nam-gung Cheon grumbled about Yelena's behavior.
Perhaps because they had retreated without any particular response, the other team members' expressions weren't very good either.
Seo-jin encouraged them and modified their action plan slightly.
"Are we avoiding shit because we're scared of it? We avoid it because it's dirty. There's no need to wallow in a shit field together. But separately from that, moving all together like this seems inefficient. Let's divide the team again."
Until now they had moved together for safety reasons, but if they continued moving in a group like this, they might end up having everything stolen by the strategy team and be left sucking their thumbs.
It would be better to split up and move around.
There were three wedges total and six people, so two people would each take charge of one wedge and move.
For power balance, they split into three groups: Seo-jin and Nam-gung Rin, Nam-gung Cheon and Zieg, Francesca and Se-yeon.
Additionally, to prepare for any possible incidents, they assigned Glize and Baduki to each team.
They would help with combat power, and if an accident occurred, Seo-jin could quickly grasp the situation.
Seo-jin once again instructed his team members.
"Avoid combat as much as possible. Understood?"
"Got it. But considering your personality, I thought you'd smash everything without caring about consequences. You're unexpectedly cautious?"
"...The strategy team isn't an opponent we need to antagonize. For now."
That's right. For now.
But someday the time would come when they would have to face each other.
As long as the one leading the strategy team was Sword Star Ju Won-jae, and there was a possibility that those involved in Seo-jin's death were there.
Someday the day would come when Seo-jin would personally execute them with his own hands.
***
The scouting team that had split into three groups.
While moving to find mana anomaly regions after taking one wedge, Nam-gung Rin carefully whispered to Seo-jin.
"Seo-jin-nim, someone's there."
"Right."
Seo-jin looked at the mass of divine power caught by the Eye of Insight he had activated in advance.
No matter how well one concealed divine power, they couldn't escape the Eye of Insight.
Seo-jin spoke toward the person hiding beyond the bushes.
"Come out, Robert."
Without any particular response, Robert pushed through the bushes and stood before Seo-jin.
A blonde giant who was about a head taller than even the tall Seo-jin.
Seo-jin looked up at him and spoke.
"Did someone put you up to this? Why are you following me around?"
"...If you call it being put up to it, then yes. But I didn't receive compensation. I merely received a request."
Darkrock, the massive corporation that was sponsoring his daughter's medical expenses.
They had contacted Robert. Asking him to eliminate the black mage Nova.
If it had been a request against his conscience, he would have refused even if they were helping with his daughter's treatment, but this was actually a welcome task.
Black mages were just vermin that only brought harm to this tower.
Robert's blue eyes gleamed as he took a battle stance.
"Neither my beliefs nor my client acknowledges you."
Clank-.
"The answer will only come after we clash."