Chapter 269
Chapter 269
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 269
Chapter Title: Outing (1)
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"Over there! Move that to the side!"
"Whoa! Be careful not to let it collapse!"
"Where are the mages? We can't handle this on our own!"
The chaotic site and the people bustling about to clean it up.
Tar拉克 was going through a hectic time after suffering consecutive disasters: the sudden giant raid and the Immortal King's invasion.
In truth, the Immortal King had left midway, preventing even greater casualties, but the damage to Tar拉克 was still far from minor.
The defensive barriers and magic formations, forcibly activated by the mages' desperate efforts, were long past the point of salvage. The collapsed walls, the severe contamination of the earth, and the significant loss of life and resources only compounded the issue.
Moreover, the soldiers who had faced an army of undead exuding death energy—fatal to all living beings—under extreme conditions had mostly been left with deep fear and trauma.
And right after the battle ended, the ones handling not just the wounded but also the soldiers with mental trauma were...
"Heh heh, it's been a while. Saintess, Saint. We've been caught up in these sudden events one after another, so we're only now able to properly greet you."
"It's really been too long, Cardinal Donovan! You must have had a hard day."
"No, no. What could this old man have done compared to the Saintess and her companions? If the Immortal King had joined the fray in earnest, Tar拉克 would've been reduced to ashes in an instant."
They were members of the Church dispatched from the Pikao Cathedral.
Their leader, Cardinal Donovan, had finally finished treating the急 patients from the Immortal King's appearance through the defense of Tar拉克 and could now exchange formal greetings with the hero party.
Heinrich slipped in a word to Cardinal Donovan, who gazed at Saintess Riesta with the gentle eyes of a grandfather looking at his granddaughter.
"You arrived remarkably quickly, though. Preparing a support force of this scale couldn't have been easy."
"Lately, those fiends had been suspiciously quiet, so I prepared for the worst, ready to deploy at a moment's notice if anything happened. And right on cue, we got an emergency call from Tar拉克."
He smacked his lips in regret, self-deprecating that this first emergency dispatch had taken longer than expected.
All while his notoriously ferocious, bulging muscles continued to twitch as always.
'Impressive for someone his age.'
Watching that, Heinrich recalled first meeting him at the Pikao Cathedral during the holy sword trials.
Of course, his position back then as a mere holy knight candidate for hero was worlds apart from now, as a recognized saint riding high on fame.
"Speaking of which... hmm, the vampires have already left, I see. Heh heh."
"Ah, they slipped away right after the battle ended. I was thinking of at least thanking them for their help this time..."
"Mm, they certainly were a big help. Without their aid, we probably wouldn't have held out so long before collapsing. ...Hah, to think we'd owe vampires a debt one day. What a complicated feeling."
He let out a short sigh, having spent his not-so-short life viewing vampires as enemies.
He had been skeptical of the saint's push for peace all along, but now that they'd received such substantial aid, he had no choice but to acknowledge it.
That the saint's judgment back then had been correct.
Seeing this, Heinrich nodded with a faint smile playing on his lips.
'This should give the vampires' legitimization even more momentum. For the city's damage, Hubert Merchant Group can pitch in extra funds to expand their influence. Alright, then...'
And at the same time.
Heinz 2nd, who had stealthily returned to his residence right after the battle, watched his subordinates prepare the blood gate while organizing his thoughts.
He had crossed back from Earth to Outerica because the cleanup in the eastern republic was nearing completion, and he needed to wrap it up properly.
Then the emergency had pulled him here urgently.
Now that everything was resolved, he needed to hurry back and finish things.
Of course, there was still the matter of compensation for aiding Tulke Kingdom—
'Negotiations like that can wait. We've clearly shown our power this time. Considering what's to come, they'll have to come to us first.'
For Talia Kingdom's representative Heinz 2nd to handle such trivialities personally would only hurt his dignity.
That's what staff were for.
Gratitude for this support and future matters were issues for state-level talks, so he had no reason to linger.
'I need to talk to Kayla MacClaire again too.'
The republic's vice president who had cooperated to learn the truth about her son's disappearance.
While investigating everyone from the Obaypo Clan to find out what happened to her son, he had just received a report of suspicious circumstances.
'...He might still be alive even now.'
Of course, nothing was certain yet.
The odds of a child kidnapped and missing over twenty years ago still being alive and well weren't high.
'I was planning to wrap this up quick and hit some North European food spots.'
Heinz slyly licked his lips.
But he couldn't just break a promise with someone who would be useful long-term.
Gazing at the blood gate slowly opening in the rippling blood pool, he tilted his head slightly.
'It won't take that long anyway.'
With the revolutionaries—the biggest obstacle—eliminated, no one left in this world could oppose his will.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 『XX Fragment of XXXX (28,500,000)』 "Hmm, as expected, that must be connected to the god buried in that abyss, right?"
I frowned slightly at the item floating in the "Item Purchase" section.
The mysterious product that had started at a whopping 30 million when I first saw it.
The one that had suddenly dropped by 300,000 points right after dealing with the Obaypo vampires hiding in the east, just after creating the dragon avatar.
This time, it had decreased by over a million.
'Definitely... a change this big confirms it.'
That item was linked somehow to that giant, the revolutionary, and the abyss god he worshipped.
'A god sealed in the abyss.'
Obviously, once I knew that, I pulled out all the stops to gather related info.
Not just the intelligence networks under each avatar, but even leveraging my saint position without hesitation. All the intel scraped from across the continent...
"It's miraculous there's this little."
Surprisingly, there was absolutely nothing.
Not even in regional folklore or tall tales.
The Church of the Main God, especially the inquisitors handling intel analysis, was the same.
When I casually brought it up, even with their masks and hoods leaving only eyes visible, their bewilderment was palpable.
Heinrich had to abandon further digging amid eyes filled with concern that the saint might have lost it.
Though at that point, the absence itself was intel.
'It means the being's existence was erased from the entire Outerica dimension.'
A divine record wipe on a world scale.
Only one entity could pull that off.
'Now I get why the Main God pushed me so hard.'
The Immortal King was the first blade sent by that abyss god, its most dangerous weapon.
But some outsider with no ties to this world had casually snatched it away.
With a bug it had excluded for some reason popping up repeatedly, it wasn't strange for the Main God, overseer of world order, to use me as a vaccine.
"Well, it was win-win, so no complaints."
I shrugged and looked away from the enigmatic item.
I'd opened the system window to check my accumulated karma points, but glancing at the price change had derailed my thoughts.
'Anyway, hunting big game really pays off.'
With back-to-back unique skill upgrades and steady Growth Potion use, karma gains had slowed lately, but taking down the revolutionary exploded my reserves.
That single event netted nearly 2 million points at once.
'I'll save these for now. Never know when I'll need them. Can't upgrade the unique skill right away anyway.'
12 upgrades with points already.
At this stage, instinct told me I wasn't ready for the next.
'Figured a limit would come eventually.'
Bluntly, my rapid growth in such a short time left even the minimum proficiency for the next stage lacking.
The double upgrade last time probably contributed.
'No rush for now. Plenty of time left, so I'll build foundations leisurely.'
Living in multiple bodies made time feel accelerated, but I had awakened and gained "Avatar" less than half a year ago.
Anyone would call this growth abnormal; rushing further would be greed.
♪Ring ring ring~
As I checked the system window, my preset smartphone alarm blared.
"Ah, already that time?"
Noon was approaching.
I checked the time on my phone, quickly threw on an outer jacket, and headed out into the blazing sun.
'Nice weather... too nice.'
I squinted, shading my eyes with a hand, and quickened my pace.
I could go out fine now, but after years cooped up indoors, I still didn't love it.
With gym, pool, theater—all at home—I saw no need.
-Kang Taesan: Yo, you really coming? Grandma says don't push yourself.
But precisely because of that, I needed to force outings when necessary.
Plus, they weren't total strangers to me, were they?
I couldn't ignore my few remaining human connections just for convenience.
-Me: On my way. Already on the bus.
-Kang Taesan: Lol ok, be safe.
A rare outing in my main body state, feeling like ages since Seoul.
Today was the day my one friend Kang Taesan's grandma was getting discharged.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Luckily catching buses without much wait to head into Seoul proper, my takeaway was the urgent need for a license.
I'd teleported everywhere so casually I hadn't realized, but as a "normal person," even smooth transfers felt painfully inconvenient.
'Could use "Entity Projection" to shortcut... but no, can't go that far just for an outing.'
That's how tails slip from small oversights.
For my main body's long-term public alibi, normal methods were best.
"Oh my, Seonghyeon came all this way? Why bother? You'll just tire yourself out."
"Haha—no, it's fine. Just getting some fresh air."
"Ah, exactly. He needs to get out more like this. Grandma, you know his place? He's got a gym, pool, even a home theater installed."
Finally arriving at the hospital as discharge procedures wrapped up.
A strange tickle in my chest washed over me.
'Holy power's effects are solid.'
Seeing her finally discharged despite her poor condition reminded me of the holy treatment via Heinrich that day.
'Can't fix old age, but restoring stamina and resistance helps hugely.'
That holy power was bishop-level, right?
Lacking compared to saint now, but bishops were elite: count-equivalent nobles overseeing parishes with cathedrals.
'She took time, but fully recovered anyway.'
Holy power and rites were damn useful.
No wonder minor religions proliferated in modern society.
If not for the massive Earth output penalty, holy casters might dominate even more.
"Done! Let's go."
I followed Kang Taesan as he wheeled his grandma out after all procedures.
Just as we exited the hospital.
"Pfft... pfft!"
My overwhelming stats plus constant unique skill buffs caught a tiny laugh with my hearing.
An ominous snicker only I heard.
A chill raced down my spine; senses sharpened.
I whipped around to the source—
And knew instinctively.
'...No wonder luck felt good!'
Home really is safest.
And.
Boom—!
A massive explosion rocked the hospital lobby.