No Such Thing as Coincidence
The reason Pride decided to have Lust investigate the church was nothing special. It was simply because the church’s actions had struck him as suspicious. ‘They moved the instant the Master’s mood soured.’ But that was clearly abnormal. Even if they knew the Master’s face, without constant surveillance such a rapid response would have been impossible. The timing was too exquisite to dismiss as coincidence. And in this world, coincidence did not exist.
‘If they were truly watching him, the Master would have noticed.’ Yet the same Master who detected even Jealousy’s tailing could not possibly have missed church surveillance. That was why Pride had chosen to treat it as nothing more than suspicion for now and ordered Lust to dig up concrete evidence.
“Hmm.”
Pride swallowed a low groan while reading the report Lust had submitted. Its contents stated that after the drug incident the church’s forces had begun withdrawing beyond the borders of the Ellemental Kingdom. All that remained inside the kingdom now was an empty shell, stripped of any meaningful leadership.
‘Are they simply overreacting so as not to offend the Master further?’
Yet why did even that appear to hide another motive in his eyes? Was it merely preconception toward the church? Determined to analyze the matter with complete objectivity, he halted every task on his desk, closed both eyes, and organized his thoughts.
“Hup!”
Suddenly Pride’s eyes snapped wide open. He snatched the smartphone on his desk with almost violent speed and, with movements like lightning, swiped the screen that had been about to darken.
“Lower the volume,” came the immediate reply. “Before I rip your vocal cords to pieces so they can never function again.”
The thunderous greeting must have made Pride pull the phone away; the voice from the speaker sounded noticeably smaller and laced with irritation.
“I didn’t even hear the ringtone when I placed the call. How the hell did you know to pick up?”
“I judged that it was about time for you to return, sir.”
“Crazy bastard. Are you a stalker?”
Kain asked back, sounding genuinely dumbfounded. Pride was investigating the church’s suspicious movements, yet the man himself was displaying behavior far beyond that—enough to make even Kain feel a chill. How could he have predicted the exact moment of Kain’s return, something even Kain himself could not have calculated due to the distorted timeline? The fanatical certainty that treated Kain’s safe return as a foregone conclusion was already horror in itself.
‘To think I’d feel a fear here that I never felt even from the King of the Underworld.’
It was a feeling he had every time, but Pride was a subordinate Kain wanted to keep at the greatest possible distance. If the man had no ability, Kain would have driven him away so he could never come near.
‘He must be speechless with gratitude at my loyalty.’
Meanwhile, completely unaware of Kain’s inner thoughts, Pride smiled darkly to himself. Normally he could read anyone’s heart at a glance, yet when it came to anything involving the Master he reached only the most foolish conclusions. And in the middle of it all, Pride was proudly puffing out his chest with the firm belief that Lust could never be his equal—perfectly in character.
“Enough. Just tell me today’s date and the current time. The timeline shifted, so I need to reset the smartphone.”
“It is Wednesday, May 21st. The current time is 15:37:15 by Ellemental Kingdom standard time.”
He hadn’t needed the seconds. The answer was pointlessly fast and precise, as though Pride had already anticipated the question and prepared in advance. The moment Kain registered the time, the smartphone linked to him began to distort. It broke apart into holographic fragments, then rearranged itself into new numbers.
“It took longer than I thought. About two weeks, huh?”
He had expected no more than a week at most. The delay was greater than anticipated.
“Enough. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“I am listening with full attention.”
Pride had never let a single syllable from Kain pass by carelessly, but this time he focused even more intently, opening every neuron in his brain. His eyes widened as if he intended to carve each word into his very bones. Had Kain been standing in front of him, he would have told him to stop being disgusting, but unfortunately the man on the other end of the phone could not see Pride’s expression.
“……I see.”
After listening to the entire conversation Kain had shared with the King of the Underworld, Pride, who had grown increasingly serious, finally nodded after a long silence.
“I, too, had begun to find the church’s behavior strange. That is why I ordered Lust to investigate, however……”
“I already knew. I figured you’d do roughly that much.”
‘To think the Master understands me so well. I nearly shed tears of overwhelming emotion.’
‘See that, Lust? This is the difference between you and me.’
Once again certain that he was the subordinate the Master cherished most, Pride basked in ecstasy as Kain’s voice continued.
“And they probably know that as well. They were watching my movements too, after all. By now they should have completely withdrawn from the Ellemental Kingdom, right?”
The moment Pride began his investigation, the information would have been exposed anyway once Kain returned from the Underworld. From their perspective, they had no choice but to postpone their plans. They had no confidence they could stand against him.
‘What Jealousy said about them not wanting to fight yet was true. But was that simply to buy time for the Master to let the matter slide and for them to withdraw their forces from the Ellemental Kingdom?’
They had used that plan to secure the two weeks Kain spent in the Underworld. Originally they should have been swept away immediately by a Master whose mood had been ruined by the drug incident.
“The timing was truly exquisite.”
They must have planned to secretly slip out of the Ellemental Kingdom the moment Kain left for the Underworld, but the drug incident forced them to flee even earlier. Yet that had instead become a blessing in disguise. Because on that very day Pride had reported to the Death King exactly where the passage to the Underworld had opened.
“Shall we pursue them?”
“No need. The opponent has already left the Ellemental Kingdom. In other words, they lacked the confidence to face me inside the kingdom. Which also means they believe they can at least hinder me in another country.”
They already knew Kain’s strength well.
‘It means there’s an Absolute Being on their side.’
With this, the fact that they had formed an alliance with someone in another nation was confirmed. Pride had probably guessed that much already. The question about pursuit had simply been another distorted display of loyalty—if the Master ordered it, he would commit suicide without hesitation.
‘As expected, it doesn’t seem to be Majoan.’
It probably wasn’t the Ice Empress either. Regardless of her personality, there was literally nothing in the northern part of the continent. It had become a barren wasteland where no one could live after the Ice Empress awakened her supernatural ability. A non-civilized nation where snow people lived in tribal units. Even the underworld only traded goods there occasionally and had given up on extending its influence. The church, which valued people above all, would never have wasted manpower and time in such a place.
“So, between Tugwi and the Empress—which one is it?”
In the end the alliance had to be with one of the two. The more likely candidate was Tugwi. The Tugwi Guard and the Fan Empire officially denied any connection, but given that madman’s personality the chance was extremely low. There had to be some link.
“Both.”
But Pride’s answer deviated from expectation, and Kain frowned.
“The church’s forces that withdrew from the Ellemental Kingdom have dispersed evenly into both countries. Of course, one side could be a smokescreen.”
“No. The possibility is high. Whether it’s the Empress or Tugwi, both are insane enough to join hands with something like the Undying King.”
“Don’t bother worrying about it. Just wipe out both sides. In the name of Immortal.”
There was no need to act separately within the Ellemental Kingdom. Ten years ago the real Immortal had already carried out a large-scale terror attack in the Raideli Marquisate. All they had to do was bring that fact to the surface and claim this was also their doing.
“They destroy the church that interfered with them out of grudge for that incident. The justification is perfect.”
Of course, those who knew the truth would simply look the other way, but in the end what mattered was the perception of ordinary citizens. If things went according to the Undying King’s plan, for him to become a god every human on the continent would have to accept him as one.
“It’s my first time fighting a war of public opinion, but I suppose you won’t lose to anyone?”
“Of course. I will definitely live up to the Master’s trust.”
Whatever the Master desired, he would accomplish. Whether it was all-out war or a battle of public opinion. On any battlefield, he would lay victory at the Master’s feet. At Pride’s resolute answer, Kain let out a small chuckle.
“This isn’t mandatory, but grow closer to Majoan as well. Using Immortal as the excuse. Immortal commits terror against the church in foreign countries. Make them feel the danger of the situation and build a tighter network between the Ellemental Kingdom and the underworld. While you’re at it, identify the Ellemental Kingdom spies who have gone over to the church.”
‘If we can even bring the Ice Empress to our side, we’ll have the numerical advantage in Absolute Beings.’
The Underworld certainly possessed powerful forces, but they could not use their strength at all against the living. The earliest they could act would be when the Undying King returned to the world. Considering that both the Empress and Tugwi had gone over to the other side, they needed to secure at least as many cards on their own. One might be manageable, but two would be somewhat taxing even for Kain.
‘Preparation before a fight should always be excessive. The fight itself should minimize our losses and be completely overwhelming.’
He had no intention of losing under any circumstances, but the side that suffered fewer losses was obviously best. If a two-on-two structure formed, the two sides would naturally keep each other in check without Kain needing to step forward himself. Then all he would have to do was wait, building the memories Arina wanted, until the thing called the Undying King crawled up from the bottom of hell.
“Well, you’ll handle it well even without me saying all this.”
“……”
In the end, tears Pride could no longer hold back flowed transparently down his cheeks. He felt so good he thought he might ascend to heaven. How long had it been since the Master showed him this much trust?
‘I will make this operation succeed more perfectly than ever, no matter what it takes.’
He could not disappoint that trust. With that thought, Pride clenched the hand holding the smartphone and began organizing plans inside his head.
‘If I say it like this, my ability score will rise by roughly thirty percent. Probably.’
And Kain, with his own exceptional insight, saw Pride’s current state with perfect clarity.
“Anyway, handle that matter as you see fit. Report only if you get stuck or something special happens. At this hour I should be able to catch the last bus and finally leave this tiresome village I’m sick of looking at.”
With those words Kain ended the call and yawned. Perhaps because he had been active after so long, an intense wave of annoyance already washed over him. He wanted to go home, lie on the sofa, and sleep.
“Nothing happened to the kid while I was gone, right?”
“……”
It was a casual question tossed out without expecting much of an answer. Yet the response was an unexpected silence. Considering Pride’s usual habit of answering instantly without the slightest hesitation, the silence was extremely strange.
“There was no danger to the young lady’s person, at least.”
“At least?”
The fact that something had happened made Kain’s voice sharpen with doubt. Pride then explained what had occurred with Arina while Kain was in the Underworld.
“What the hell? Is this a sitcom? How can a misunderstanding like that even happen?”
Well, the situation itself wasn’t bad, but the way things had unfolded was quite ridiculous—especially the part where Jealousy ended up receiving that treatment instead of Arina.
“I figured she’d have a hard time once I heard she was entering the royal palace, but she went through even more trouble than I expected. That guy.”
Imagining Jealousy’s current frown, Kain unconsciously let a faint smile touch his lips.