The World Had Grown Quite Noisy
When Kain woke up, the world had grown quite noisy. Still half-asleep, he turned on his smartphone and found the news feed dominated by a single story. So the dark mage who had been active at the academy had finally caused a scene. Though no victims had died, the fact that the crime had occurred in the capital, Raymond, and targeted young students had drawn intense public attention—almost on par with the Grant Department Store terrorist attack from a few months ago.
—I am deeply sorry. Benedict Academy's president, Hounds Mendelsohn, began his press conference with an apology. A red "LIVE" indicator glowed in the top right corner, and the constant flashes from reporters' cameras lit up the screen. The brightness was painful to look at right after waking up, so Kain dimmed the display and turned up the volume to listen.
"……"
Summarizing the president's words: All affected students had regained consciousness. Preliminary examinations showed no abnormalities, but they would be transferred to Aven Hospital for thorough checkups as a precaution. The academy would cover all costs. Most importantly, the dark mage responsible had been swiftly apprehended by the Special Investigation Unit.
—While the situation has been resolved favorably, we cannot deny that we might have resolved it even faster had we been more vigilant. Once again, we sincerely apologize for causing such concern. The statement ended with another apology, mirroring the beginning. As expected, most of it was meaningless drivel. Kain had no interest in any of it. A new game announcement would have been far more useful.
"……"
Checking the comments, public reaction was generally favorable—unlike Kain's own indifference. The main reason was that the professors' quick response had ensured no students were injured or killed. Had even one student been seriously harmed, the backlash would have been severe, with people demanding accountability from the faculty. Society always reacted more strongly when children were involved.
'The public's opinion of dark mages is going to get even worse.'
After the Grant Department Store incident, another dark mage had stirred up trouble. The shocking appearance of Kain, the pinnacle of dark mages, had only just begun to fade the memory of the events from ten years ago. While he didn't care what others thought of dark mages, the thought of the church making a fuss again made him even more determined to keep his own identity hidden.
"Haaaaam. The Special Investigation Unit, huh……"
Stretching, he sat up in bed. Maybe it was because he had slept in an actual bed instead of his study or the sofa for once—he felt unusually refreshed. He was in such a good mood that he could almost forgive the Tugwi brat for any antics he might pull today.
"Yeah, right."
After hearing Arina's story yesterday, he was certain Jealousy had intervened. He didn't know why, but if Jealousy had stepped in, there had to be a reason. Probably something about the dark mage who had appeared this time being a resurrected corpse or similar. If Jealousy had taken action, the dark mage's custody would have gone to the underworld rather than the Special Investigation Unit—most likely to Pride. Since the guy was still somewhere in the capital, the news should have reached them by now. The reason the academy had phrased things that way in the press conference was probably due to negotiations between the underworld and the Ellemental Kingdom. Such an agreement was top-secret information that ordinary citizens could never know.
'What should I eat?'
Anyway, the important thing right now wasn't some trivial incident that had already been resolved. The real question was what to have for lunch. He had considered ordering pizza, but as usual, Kain quietly abandoned that dream upon seeing the side dishes already laid out on the table.
Ring ring ring ring ring.
Just as he was transferring rice from the cooker into a bowl and about to start his late breakfast, the phone rang. He frowned.
—MAAASTER!!!! Did you sleep wellllll!!!!
His eardrums felt like they were about to burst. Pride's voice was even louder than usual today. His pleasant morning shattered into pieces. He had thought he could ignore the Tugwi brat's antics, but this guy—he really couldn't forgive this one. Damn eardrum terrorist.
—I called because I figured you would be awake by now! Have you safely made it to the table yet?!
Was he a stalker? How did he know exactly when Kain woke up and when he sat down at the table? More importantly, why did he have to worry about Kain making it to the table in the first place?
"Like I always say, shut up……!"
Kain's voice was sharp with irritation. Lately, he had been feeling his hearing deteriorate because of this guy. Remembering how he had turned up the volume while watching Hounds Mendelsohn's press conference, he ground his teeth.
—I apologize. I want to calm down too, but my heart races so much whenever I call you that I simply cannot.
"That's because you don't sleep and overwork yourself. You've got arrhythmia. No, please just die of arrhythmia already."
—Please understand that I cannot help but raise my voice out of sheer excitement!
"You should be worrying about my eardrums instead."
—Master is a perfect existence. How could something as insignificant as my voice possibly harm you?
"……"
This crazy bastard. So he had been doing it on purpose. No wonder someone as sharp as him kept shouting every time he called. Damn it. Kain really wanted to crack his skull open and turn him into a headless Dullahan.
"Haa, so what is it?"
What was he calling about this time? Setting the smartphone down on the table, Kain scooped up a spoonful of rice and listened as Pride spoke.
—We seem to have found a clue.
"Go on."
He added some sweet-and-salty stir-fried anchovies to his plain rice. The crispy texture crumbled like crackers, blending smoothly with the rice as it went down his throat.
—We investigated where the resurrected individuals within the Ellemental Kingdom came back to life. The Underworld is the realm of the dead—a place composed solely of souls without physical bodies. Naturally, those who escaped from hell to the living world first appeared in soul form, and most cases of resurrection occurred while they were unconsciously wandering the living realm. Therefore, they typically revived at random locations far from the entrance to the Underworld.
—Based on that, we are gradually narrowing down the location where the Underworld opened. I believe we will be able to pinpoint it soon. However, even if resurrection occurs randomly, there is a limit to how far from the entrance one can revive. The fact that most of the resurrected appeared within the Ellemental Kingdom is proof of that. Investigating this will make identifying the entrance relatively simple. Of course, the resurrected individuals discovered so far have mostly been low-level, below 5-star, so they revived more slowly and their resurrection sites were quite scattered. We simply need to dispatch more personnel to investigate thoroughly.
"Continue."
This was information Kain already knew. He prompted Pride to keep going, implying there had to be more.
—The memories of the one Jealousy captured this time are surprisingly clear. It seems he witnessed the one who opened the passage between the Underworld and the living world.
Kain's eyes sharpened as he had been eating indifferently. Whether one paid for their sins by falling into hell, rested briefly in heaven before entering the cycle of reincarnation, or returned from the Underworld to the living world through other means—it was clearly an act that defied the natural order. Even Kain, the strongest dark mage, could not confidently claim he could accomplish it. While revenge was his primary goal, his interest in the culprit was another reason for the search.
—It is only that he saw the culprit, but if we cross-reference the information with the Tugwi Guard that Wrath will bring in later, we may be able to identify them.
"Ah, no need for that."
Kain set down his chopsticks and spoke casually.
"I'll go into the Underworld myself and ask the Underworld King directly. You just focus on finding the entrance like usual."
The words were spoken lightly, but their meaning was anything but. Pride's eyes widened as he struggled to contain the shiver running down his arms. The dead defying the natural order to escape the Underworld was clearly an act against heaven. But conversely, the living defying the natural order to enter the Underworld was also an act against heaven. Even an Absolute Being could not easily perform such a feat. Yet the one who had spoken those words was the closest being to death in this world—the Sawang Heokcheon. An existence capable of making even such an unbelievable statement a reality.
—Understood.
All Pride could do was bow his head and obey, as always. There was nothing impossible for the Sawang Heokcheon, the pinnacle of dark mages.
"So? Let's hear the name at least. What did they say? About the culprit."
Even if he didn't know the real name, there should be an alias. He would need to know what to call them before speaking with the Underworld King.
—Well……
Pride rarely hesitated to answer. It did not seem like he was trying to hide something, but rather that he was struggling to say it.
—……They said it was someone acting under the orders of the 'Bulsa-wang.'
"What?"
Kain's brow furrowed at Pride's next words. It was a strangely familiar name. It was the same name mentioned by the dark mage who had left only an ego behind and threatened him in his faint memories from when he first awakened his Ebon and dark magic.
'I haven't heard it since then, so I thought it was just some small fry giving themselves a grandiose title.'
It was the same name uttered by the dark mage who had caused the Dark Wave in the past. Could this be a coincidence? It could not be.
—We were planning to restart the investigation into this matter, but……
"……Interesting."
A smile spread across Kain's face. An existence whose name remained unknown even to the underworld's intelligence network. Someone who had left no trace for years after his sister's death and only now revealed themselves. And they had even achieved the extraordinary feat of opening a hole between the Underworld and the living world. That was more than enough to call them a mastermind.
"Don't bother with that either."
There was no point. He had already investigated extensively in the past, wondering who the Bulsa-wang was. He had even dispatched investigation teams to the frozen wastelands rendered uninhabitable by Binghu's Ebon awakening. Yet no information about the Bulsa-wang had been found. They had likely deliberately erased all records of themselves. Just as the information Jealousy had erased could not be recovered by the forensics team, finding information that someone skilled had intentionally deleted was never easy—especially when so much time had passed that it was impossible to know when they had died.
'It's easier to just ask the Underworld King directly and save myself the trouble.'
There was no reason to waste manpower on something that would yield no results.
—Understood.
"But don't stop tracking them. Even if we know who the culprit is, it's pointless if we don't know where they are."
He hoped the Tugwi Guard had some connection to the Bulsa-wang or whatever they called themselves. The Tugwi Guard included many martial artists of 6-star or higher. As mentioned earlier, stronger individuals had stronger egos, allowing them to settle in the living world more quickly. Among them, there might even be someone who knew the exact location of the Underworld's passage.
'Bulsa-wang……'
He wondered what kind of bastard they were. Two years after his sister's death, a solid lead on the culprit had finally appeared, and a deep smile formed on Kain's lips.