Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Saint of Rome (2)
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A city in flames.
On the ruined streets, monsters with sharp fangs were indiscriminately attacking people, sucking their blood.
Greedily, voraciously.
The vampires reveled in the festival of blood, their shoulders shaking with laughter.
—A scene straight out of hell.
Standing on a rooftop, looking down at the rampant death, Lee Shin-hyeok violently clenched his fists.
"In the end… in the end, it came to this."
His voice, thick with regret, echoed low.
*Click.*
Just then, the rooftop door opened, and a young man approached Lee Shin-hyeok.
A young man with sharp eyes and flawless features.
It was the Black Lion, Lee Woo-hyeok.
"Hyung. What's the situation?"
"…It's already too late."
Lee Shin-hyeok shook his head, his expression grim.
"The entire city has been completely taken over by those Wiseonggyo bastards."
He squeezed his eyes shut, roughly gripping the spear in his hand.
Blue mana flared fiercely from the spear, which was emblazoned with the crest of a roaring lion.
"Hyung. We don't have much time left…"
"I know."
Lee Shin-hyeok lowered his head, his face a mask of deep frustration.
*Vrooom.*
Just then, Lee Shin-hyeok's smartphone buzzed.
He pulled the phone from his pocket and answered a call.
"Yeah. Okay, Nunna. Woo-hyeok and I will head over."
After finishing the call with the unnamed woman, Lee Shin-hyeok stared down at the phone in his hand.
The date on the screen was June 29th, '23.
"…Woo-hyeok. 'That incident' happened two years ago on June 30th, right?"
"That's right."
Lee Shin-hyeok, who had been staring at the screen, lifted his head.
The city engulfed in flames.
He bit his lip as he watched the streets swarming with crazed vampires.
"If only."
*Grit.*
He spoke through fiercely gritted teeth, as if squeezing the words out.
"If only back then… if I had met Isabella on that day… would things be different now?"
"…Hyung."
Lee Woo-hyeok looked at Lee Shin-hyeok with pity in his eyes.
*CRASH!!*
He crushed the rooftop railing he was gripping and lowered his head.
A single tear streamed down Lee Shin-hyeok's cheek.
"If I had met her then…!!"
He cried out in anguish—
*Fzzt-zzzt!!!*
His vision flickered as if filled with static.
*Ting!*
[《Pyxis Spearmanship Lv6》 has risen to 《Pyxis Spearmanship Lv7》.]
"Phuah!!!"
A ragged breath burst from him, as if he had just resurfaced after nearly drowning.
"Ugh… damn, my head feels like it's about to split."
Oh-jin clutched his throbbing forehead and frowned.
'What the hell just happened?'
He recalled the streets of Rome, engulfed in flames.
A horrific future where vampires sank their fangs into people's necks and greedily drank their blood.
It was a gruesome scene straight out of a zombie movie.
"…First, let's sort through the information I've gathered."
He sifted through the memories of Lee Shin-hyeok that had flooded his mind, organizing the information piece by piece.
1. In two years, Italy will be destroyed by vampires.
2. The main culprits are a group called 'Wiseonggyo'.
3. Lee Shin-hyeok regretted that if he had met a woman named 'Isabella' two years prior, he could have prevented Italy's destruction.
"Wiseonggyo..."
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, murmuring the unfamiliar name.
'Who the hell are they?'
Did another group exist besides the Heukseonghoe?
"Damn it."
The Heukseonghoe alone was an overwhelmingly powerful force, and now some unknown bastards were getting involved.
'Is it a group led by the Heavenly Demon?'
I didn't know.
I didn't even know if the Heavenly Demon existed two years from now, so there was no way to find out.
'I'll think about this later.'
For now, I needed to focus on the other information.
"…Isabella?"
The name sounded familiar, like he'd heard it somewhere before, but nothing specific came to mind.
'I don't know what incident happened on June 30th… but does it mean I have to meet Isabella on that day to prevent the tragedy?'
Oh-jin turned to the calendar on the wall and checked the date.
June 24th.
Less than a week remained before the incident.
"Ugh."
Less than a week left, and I didn't even know who Isabella was.
'There's no time.'
I have to meet her on June 30th to prevent the tragedy that will happen in two years.
"Hmm."
Honestly.
I didn't really care about the tragedy itself.
Whether Italy fell or hundreds of thousands were massacred, what was it to me?
To live for the sake of some nameless strangers…
It was a world where it was hard enough to protect even the small warmth I held in my own hands.
However.
"If I'm a regressor… I have to stop it."
As long as I was playing the part of a regressor.
I couldn't just stand by and let a future disaster happen.
To Vega, I had to exist solely as the 'Star of Rebellion'.
'And.'
Even if it wasn't just for the act.
"…I heard the Heukseonghoe's influence has been spreading rapidly in Italy recently."
If the Wiseonggyo was connected to that.
If the Heukseonghoe was hiding behind the destruction of an entire city.
'Then I have to stop it.'
If I couldn't.
It wouldn't be long before the flames that consumed Rome spread to where he lived.
"Hoo."
With a deep sigh, Oh-jin turned and left his house.
'I need to find out who Isabella is first.'
Before that.
There was a place he had to stop by first.
* * *
"…So this is the information on the Heukseonghoe."
Lee Woo-hyeok's eyes glinted sharply as he accepted the USB drive.
The man who, until recently, had been lying in a hospital bed on the verge of death was nowhere to be seen.
A ferocious aura, like that of a lion, pressed down on the surroundings.
"Guild Leader."
"Ah, sorry."
At Kim Seon-yeong's call, the killing intent that had been suffocating the room vanished.
"First, on behalf of us all, thank you for taking on such a dangerous mission."
Kim Seon-yeong bowed deeply to Oh-jin.
"It's fine. We're partners, after all."
"We will continue to track the Heukseonghoe based on the information in this USB drive."
"I'm counting on you."
Although they had been swept away so easily by Cheon Do-yoon's hand.
Still, the Valhalla Guild was a powerful organization, strong enough to be newly ranked among the top 10 guilds.
To fight the Heukseonghoe, he needed their help.
"So, for the reward, should we provide the Seong'yuseok as you mentioned?"
"Yes. Please provide Seong'yuseok from 7-Star or higher monsters, if possible."
"You don't have to worry about that."
Lee Woo-hyeok replied, his voice full of confidence.
'I like how straightforward he is.'
He'd felt it before when Lee Woo-hyeok had readily offered the huge sum of 3 billion won, but contrary to his appearance, he had a pretty cool and decisive personality.
'Unlike his brother.'
He let out a small chuckle and turned his gaze toward Lee Woo-hyeok.
"Ah, right. Separate from the Heukseonghoe, there are a few things I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead. I'll answer if I can."
"Have you ever heard of an organization called… Wiseonggyo?"
"Wiseonggyo…?"
Lee Woo-hyeok narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
He turned to Kim Seon-yeong and gave her a look.
"No. I've never heard of them either."
Kim Seon-yeong adjusted her glasses and shook her head.
"Hmm… If Seon-yeong doesn't know, they must be an organization that hides its information quite thoroughly. Are they connected to the Heukseonghoe?"
"That… I'm not sure."
There wasn't enough information yet to know if the Wiseonggyo and the Heukseonghoe were truly connected.
"We'll look into it on our end as well. Seon-yeong, please investigate the Wiseonggyo."
"Yes. Understood."
After giving the brief order to Kim Seon-yeong, Lee Woo-hyeok turned his head back to Oh-jin.
"Seon-yeong is very well-connected when it comes to information. You should be hearing some good news soon."
"Haha. Thank you."
I heard the Valhalla Guild was well-informed for a small, elite guild.
It must have been thanks to Kim Seon-yeong.
"Any other questions?"
"One more thing… Have you by any chance heard the name Isabella? She's probably Italian."
Since the incident took place in Rome.
It was highly likely she was Italian.
"An Italian named Isabella… Are you perhaps referring to the Saint of Rome?"
The Saint of Rome?
"Isabella Colagrande. Her name isn't widely known in the country yet, but overseas, she's an Awakened as famous as you are, Mr. Oh-jin."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, he had heard the name mentioned in passing on the news once.
"A photo… ah, here it is."
Kim Seon-yeong lightly operated the tablet in her hand.
A hologram appeared in mid-air, as if projected from a beam.
"Oh…"
An exclamation of awe escaped him unwittingly.
*Is that what a fairytale princess looks like?*
Platinum blonde hair down to her shoulders, skin as white as a snowflake, and clear, shining blue eyes.
She was a woman of such breathtaking beauty that even Oh-jin, whose standards for female appearances had been raised considerably after meeting Ha-eun and Vega, couldn't help but gasp.
"Like you, Mr. Oh-jin, she's one of the world-famous super rookies. I heard she reached 6-Star within just one year of awakening."
6-Star in just one year.
It was certainly a growth rate worthy of the title 'super rookie'.
"Well… it might not be much compared to you, Mr. Oh-jin."
Kim Seon-yeong gave a wry smile and shrugged.
"Anyway. You want to know more about her, correct?"
"Yes. As detailed as possible."
"Just a moment."
Kim Seon-yeong adjusted her glasses and tapped on the tablet.
"First, her Stigma is the Stigma of Aries. It's one of the Zodiac constellations."
He had expected that.
If she wasn't part of the Zodiac, she wouldn't have been called a 'super rookie' in the first place.
"Similar to Aquarius, it's a support-type… but that doesn't mean she lacks combat ability. No, she's actually quite powerful."
An Awakened of Aries.
A constellation he had only heard of but never actually met.
"But is there a reason she's called the Saint of Rome?"
"Of course. First, she's a major philanthropist. She operates dozens of centers that care for children and the elderly who have lost their guardians due to the Gate incidents."
"Dozens?"
Even if she was hailed as a super rookie, could an individual really operate dozens of such centers?
He doubted he could do it himself.
"The Colagrande family has a lot of this."
Kim Seon-yeong made a circle with her thumb and index finger.
"Besides that, she provides free medical treatment to vagrants living in areas where healthcare has collapsed… Ah, and honestly, her looks also played a big part in her fame."
"That makes sense."
What could have a bigger impact on fame than beautiful looks?
And if you added to that the Stigma of the Zodiac and the prodigious talent to reach 6-Star in a year?
'…It's no wonder she earned such a grand title as 'Saint'.'
It even made him wonder if Isabella might be more famous overseas than him, the Apostle of Polaris.
"And…"
Kim Seon-yeong, who had been explaining about Isabella, trailed off.
"We haven't found any concrete evidence for this yet."
*Haa.*
She let out a short sigh and continued.
"There have been several assassination attempts on Miss Isabella recently."
"Ah, now that you mention it, I think I heard about that on the news."
In fact, that news report was the first time he'd ever heard the name Isabella Colagrande.
He'd only heard it in passing, so he hadn't remembered until just now.
"Yes. And."
Kim Seon-yeong's eyes, seen through her glasses, shone with a sharp light.
"We suspect the culprit is the Heukseonghoe."
"…Excuse me?"
*You sons of bitches, again?*