Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: The Calm Before the Storm (1)
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A windowless basement.
In the pitch-black space devoid of any light, a stone brazier stood alone in the center.
"...It's time."
A low voice echoed through the darkness, where not even a hint of presence had stirred before.
Soon, its owner approached the brazier silently, without a single footstep, and stood at a distance from it.
At that moment.
Whoosh—
Purple flames erupted from the brazier, shooting up as if to touch the ceiling in an instant, then gradually settling down to the size of a bonfire.
In the space bathed in that violet glow, the shadows of five or six figures flickered around the brazier.
[Is everyone... here?] [Yeah, everyone except that idiot who got taken out this time.] The shadows conversed in low, rumbling voices.
[What's the rush? Why not catch up first? Heh heh heh.] [Shut up before I rip your mouth open.] "I take it everyone has heard the news."
With such strong personalities gathered, the meeting wasn't progressing smoothly.
Since this wasn't a friendly get-together, it was best to ignore the chit-chat and cut straight to the point to move things along.
[Oh yeah, we heard. It was so ridiculous I could only laugh.] [Heh heh heh~ Same here. To think he'd snag a World Tree branch and then go down like a chump. Hee hee hee.] Finally, the regular meeting of the Oath of Reverse Heaven got properly underway.
They exchanged what information each knew about recent events.
"So, no one knows how the Church and the High Elves tracked down and ambushed Nurabe."
[Hah! Wasn't it the World Tree? That moron probably didn't put a proper leash on his sacrifice.] [Hmm~ I don't think so? That old geezer took a proper sealing tool from me, after all?] Various opinions flew back and forth again, but with no solid facts, no quick conclusion emerged.
[Anyway... we need to be more careful...] [First Marcos throwing a fit about monopolizing the Fragment of the Immortal King by himself, and now even Nurabe, who was hiding pretty well. Aren't we getting too complacent?] "Speaking of the Immortal King... the Church's movements lately have been anything but normal."
The exchange of information continued.
[That heir of the Immortal King. Can't we use him somehow?] [Heh heh heh! What can we do about Marcos—he's already toast? If our goals align, teaming up isn't a bad idea!] The conversation among the black shadows flickering in the violet space dragged on.
Proposals, rebuttals, alternatives, and agreements were tossed around for quite a while...
"Alright, we'll go with that on that matter. Any other business from the rest of you?"
[Nope~ The Empire's as peaceful as ever.] [East side... no issues...] As conclusions were reached, the regular meeting of the Oath of Reverse Heaven came to an end.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Jin So-ran, handle these the same way as before."
Heinz entered Jin So-ran's office, where she was reviewing various reports, and laid out a pile of items.
Items ranging from those granting access to sub-spaces to all sorts of outrageously expensive magic tools.
After a moment of surprise, she jumped to her feet, eyes gleaming.
"Whoa... Lord, where do you keep getting these from?"
She'd seen them several times before, but she let out another exclamation of awe as she inspected the items he'd brought.
Magic tools could only be obtained by Returnees, so their supply was inherently limited—they weren't something you could just buy with money.
"There's always a way. More importantly, how's that thing I told you to prepare last time?"
"Oh, the pepper? I had people repackage and store it all."
Having people under her command made things so convenient.
She just gave orders, and the minor details were handled automatically.
'Can't sell items straight out of plastic or vinyl packaging, so it takes extra work, but compared to the profits, it's nothing.'
Pepper wasn't particularly expensive on Earth, but things were different in Outerica.
It was a premium spice, and being far from the main production areas meant healthy margins.
It was perfect as an initial trade good.
'I thought about selling artificial gems made on Earth at first.'
Modern tech-made synthetic gems were nearly indistinguishable by most methods.
They even had the advantage of being purer and cleaner, which could be a selling point...
'But since they're Earth-made, they can't be used in magic, which is a fatal flaw.'
Gems were valuable in Outerica not just for aesthetics.
They were essential materials for magic experiments, barriers, magic tools, and more.
Selling magic-incompatible fakes that were just pretty rocks could stir up needless trouble.
'No need to draw attention and risk things when just starting out. Once we're established, sell them as premium novelties.'
Of course, it pained him to let such a good business item go to waste.
Turn that unique trait into a quirky selling point and hawk them—that was business.
The rich would go wild for the rarity.
"Where'd everyone else go?"
Heinz, having sorted his thoughts, glanced around and asked Jin So-ran.
The group was noticeably smaller than last time.
Over half seemed to be absent.
"Oh, there was a little issue in Incheon. Jin-seok went himself, so it should be sorted soon."
As Heterosis grew, many had joined its shadow.
Not just the hardliners, but moderates and neutrals too.
Among them was Jin-seok, a former hardliner executive and Gamma.
'But he's more obedient than expected. I was ready to turn him into a blood crystal if he didn't comply.'
He hadn't come to the villa while managing the provinces, but when Heinz visited later, he'd immediately knelt and sworn loyalty.
His survival instincts had sped up the hardliner absorption, so Heinz was quite satisfied watching it unfold.
'Still a shame we haven't gotten much on Alpha. If even he can't find him, it probably means he's already left Korea.'
Alpha, the presumed level 8 vampire and former hardliner leader.
He'd planned to take him out if the chance arose, but his whereabouts had been a complete mystery since that day.
Even after swallowing the Blood Alliance and using its influence to search relentlessly, there was no progress.
"It's really thanks to you, Lord, that the Blood Alliance is in much better shape. Naturally, Heterosis's voice is growing stronger as we lead it."
With the martial power and funds from Heinz as its foundation, Heterosis had rapidly expanded its influence, dominating the Blood Alliance and swelling its ranks dramatically.
Of course, openly inflating their size would draw scrutiny from the Guardians or Ability Management Bureau, so they worked covertly, extending influence over underworld organizations from the shadows.
'Even those gold bar dealers from back then are under our wing now.'
They were proving useful in scouting channels for magic tools, apparently.
Recalling that deal, they did seem competent enough.
'Speaking of which, time to start thinking about the move...'
His head had been too full with plans after learning of the Hunter Association to even consider luxuries.
But now he had some leeway, so he could start preparing leisurely.
'Not right away, though.'
"You said there's an issue in Incheon? Nothing pressing here, so I'll head there myself."
He needed to stabilize the Blood Alliance as quickly as possible.
A major event that would shake Outerica was right around the corner.
Once it ended, Operation 'Home Theater: Demon King vs. Hero' would kick off in earnest, leaving Heinz with no time to breathe.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Fifteen days since High Elf Rapori began searching for the Immortal King.
They'd scoured quite a few forests by priority, but no significant results.
Heinrich attended the interim meeting after finishing one batch of candidates, hearing the progress reports alongside everyone.
Now deeply involved in the operation, this took precedence over Holy Knight Order duties.
'Though it's just observing from the back and running errands.'
Rapori gave an awkward smile as she organized reports from searched areas.
"...Hm, we've checked all the high-probability spots with no luck. I feel bad for stepping up so confidently."
The Saintess and Archbishop firmly shook their heads at Rapori's embarrassed words.
"We're just grateful for your efforts, Lady Rapori. We at the Church decided the search order anyway."
"It might be in a completely non-forested area. Narrowing it down like this isn't bad at all."
"Thanks to you, our search teams are now focusing on non-forest regions like deserts and wastelands. Efficiency has skyrocketed, no question."
As they said, ongoing search parties had shifted mainly to such areas.
Forest searches weren't fully complete, but the Church needed to prepare for contingencies.
Archbishop Latius examined the continent map on the wall and the prioritized documents.
"Then, shall we look at the next batch of candidates? Let's see... around 30% probability this time."
"Sigh, at this point, even that feels meaningless."
"Ahem, can't be helped, can it, Saintess?"
"Ah! Right. It's the result of everyone's hard work. I was being thoughtless."
The Saintess sighed with a self-reproachful expression.
She said it was fine, but the lack of results was clearly making her anxious.
"It's late today, so we'll start on these areas tomorrow in order."
"Ah! Thank you so much, Lady Rapori. You must be tired—go rest."
With that, the meeting adjourned, and Heinrich, who had been observing the Hans search operation in real-time, returned to his quarters.
'Finally... It's really not long now.'
On the fifteenth day of the search, the Monster Forest in the continent's west was added to the next candidate list.
'Good, we can still make it in time.'
He'd just achieved a breakthrough in his research.
At the same time Heinrich headed to his quarters.
[Fu... fuahaha—! Success at last!] A sinister laugh, as if from the depths of hell, echoed through a cave.
[As expected, nothing is impossible for Hans here. Given enough time, this is child's play.] The heir of the Immortal King, Demi-Lich Hans, had flung open the front of his black robe, exposing his ribs.
Between the stark white ribs' empty gaps asserted its presence: a pulsing black gem, a fragment of the 'Immortal King's Heart'.
But there was a major change from before.
It was no longer clear and sharp—it was now opaque and indistinct.
[Kekeke... A sub-space using this body. Existing yet not. With this, I draw even closer to perfection! Kuhahaha!] He'd created a space overlapping his own existence and placed the extracted 'Immortality' heart fragment inside.
In simple terms, he'd turned his own body into a sub-space magic tool.
Something utterly impossible for a human... or any living being.
Of course, it wasn't perfect—he'd given up full separation, and the space was limited to inside his ribcage...
But such flaws were nothing to him.
'I've already achieved my initial goal!'
By making his body a pseudo sub-space, he'd bypassed the fragment's restrictions and created a smooth channel for black mana supply.
Hiding its presence was a given now.
The difficulty of concealment couldn't compare between fully exposed and connected by a single channel.
'Plus, I can properly use 'Immortality' now.'
Even if his entire body crumbled to dust, he could instantly regenerate via black mana through the channel.
To defeat him now required a strike that cleaved the space itself—or magic wielding such power.
'And Hans isn't about to take that lying down.'
A satisfying outcome in every way.
This happened a few days before Rapori's search reached the Monster Forest.