Those Who Wait
The Hero had gone missing.
After single-handedly conquering the Killopoti fortress, there had been no word from him—absolutely nothing.
It had only been a day without contact, but in this suspicious world of ours, rumors started flying everywhere in no time.
"Didn't the Hero just take out the Black Sheep cult and then bail?"
"Nah, no way... He's the Hero—he's gotta take down the Demon King, not just smash some cult."
"Still felt pretty damn satisfying, though."
"We didn't pick a Hero just to feel good. He needs to kill the Demon King...!"
The Gaon of Light World Alliance was buzzing with similar speculation.
Korea had already been catching flak for hogging the Hero all to itself, and now with the situation spiraling out of control, it was squarely on the chopping block.
The Hero's bold claim of slaying the Demon King within a week was absurd enough, but the Gaon of Light Korean branch endorsing it had drawn equal scorn.
Especially the factions from Japan and China in the alliance—they were the loudest in their criticism.
"Sure, he hit the Black Sheep cult's main temple, but how do we even know it was the main one?"
"I can't believe a Hero came out of a puny country like Korea in the first place!"
The fact that none of the twenty rescued kidnapping victims could give interviews due to health issues only fueled the nonsense.
In that tense atmosphere, the day after the Hero's last contact, word came that UHN officials and the Gaon of Light World Alliance board would hold an emergency meeting at the Korean branch.
The day before the meeting, on the seventh-floor corridor leading to the Gaon of Light main temple's grand conference hall.
Iron-Blooded Pope Cheon Myeong-jin was walking with Vice Director Jeong Hyeon-seop and his aides.
Standing before the conference hall at the end of the hall, Cheon Myeong-jin let out a small sigh, steadied his breath, and pushed open the door.
Inside the grand hall stood a massive round conference table ringed with chairs, where a dozen people in their fifties and sixties were seated.
The elderly man at the head of the table greeted Cheon Myeong-jin warmly as he entered.
"Ah, Pope Cheon Myeong-jin! Come, take a seat here."
Cheon Myeong-jin bowed politely to the old man.
"It's been well with you, Chairman Chae Tae-ho."
Chae Tae-ho, chairman of the Korean branch of the World Alliance. He oversaw the Korean branch while also heading the church sponsorship committee that audited and funded the Gaon of Light Korean branch.
As Cheon Myeong-jin walked over and sat beside the chairman, a few attendees shot him glares of displeasure.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
When Cheon Myeong-jin met their eyes, they finally stopped staring and turned to the documents in front of them.
"Now that the Pope is here, let's begin. Vice Director Jeong Hyeon-seop, if you would."
Chairman Chae Tae-ho nodded to Jeong Hyeon-seop, who had entered with the Pope and was standing by his side with a stack of papers.
Jeong Hyeon-seop bowed briefly to the chairman, opened his documents, scanned the room, and began.
"Yes. Today's agenda is the UHN World Alliance headquarters' request for the Hero's custody transfer. The headquarters has notified us that, given the global security and future at stake, we must either hand over the Hero or apply strong pressure to enforce strict control. We need to decide our position on this..."
"Isn't the answer obvious?"
All eyes turned to the elderly man who interrupted—Kim Jeong-pal.
Before the Great Cataclysm, he'd been a general in the military. Now, he headed the education development division of the World Alliance's Korean branch.
The reason a military commander ended up in education? After the Cataclysm, with awakeners emerging, national recruitment and training of awakeners had merged into one system.
As one of the few surviving commanders in the collapsed chain of command, he'd easily climbed to a high position unsuited to his talents—and he showed no gratitude for it.
"Obvious, you say?"
"Exactly! If UHN World Alliance HQ wants it, we give it—Hero or whatever. Defying the organization that controls the whole world? We'd all just go down together. The obvious move is to go with the flow and hand him over. What could be clearer?"
Those around the table nodded in agreement with Kim Jeong-pal, the education division chief.
Cheon Myeong-jin narrowed his eyes, scanning their faces before speaking.
"The World Alliance may wield power now, but when a planet-wide disaster hits, each country prioritizes its own survival—that's reality. And you're saying we should sell out the Hero who appeared in Korea to them?"
"Hey now! 'Sell out' is a bit harsh, Pope."
"Once we hand the Hero over, what if the Demon King shows up here in Korea? You think the Alliance would send him back? They'd hold onto him to defend their own lands."
"The Alliance isn't that selfish! It's for world peace...!"
"That's the naive, childish thinking that leads to talk of handing him over."
"Childish?! Watch your mouth!"
At the Pope's sharp retort, Kim Jeong-pal and the executives pointed fingers, venting their fury.
As the meeting devolved into shouts, Chairman Chae Tae-ho raised a hand to calm them.
"Enough, everyone, settle down. Pope, you say the Demon King might appear here since the Hero did—is there evidence for that?"
"Didn't you see the giant demon that appeared at the Black Sheep cult's Seoul branch? Without the Hero, Seoul would've been reduced to a demon-infested wasteland. We're even able to hold this meeting today because the Hero stayed in Korea."
"True enough."
As the chairman seemed to concede the point, Kim Jeong-pal jumped back in.
"A demon appearing doesn't mean the Demon King will! Just because one showed up in Seoul doesn't mean the King will too, Pope."
This time, Vice Director Jeong Hyeon-seop replied with a grim expression.
"Intel from inside the Black Sheep cult confirms their so-called 'Black Sheep' has appeared in Korea. Everyone knows that means the Demon King."
"But is that intel reliable?!"
"Enough, Education Chief."
The heated exchange halted at Chairman Chae Tae-ho's deep, resonant voice.
He addressed the room.
"We're a subsidiary of the World Alliance, yes, but we've built what we have today more through our own efforts than their support. Even if HQ pressures us now, we have no obligation to bow to their selfishness."
"But...!"
The chairman silenced Kim Jeong-pal with a raised hand, his eyes flashing sharply.
"Above all, the Hero wants to stay in Korea—we can't force him to go elsewhere. If the Demon King appears somewhere else, he can march out then. Understood?"
"......Understood."
With the discussion settled, Iron-Blooded Pope Cheon Myeong-jin addressed the room in a clear, ringing voice.
"Since that's the chairman's stance, we'll inform the upcoming alliance meeting that the Hero stays in Korea. Now, who should represent Korea at this meeting?"
"Obviously me—I have the strongest ties to the alliance!"
Kim Jeong-pal shot to his feet, but the chairman waved him off.
"If the education chief goes, you'll hand over the Hero and his guts too. No."
"Th-that's not...!"
Chae Tae-ho turned to Cheon Myeong-jin.
"I'd go myself, but I've been feeling off lately. Better if our vigorous Pope steps in."
"Yes! I'll follow your lead, Chairman."
Bowing to the chairman and the group, Cheon Myeong-jin's worries deepened.
No matter what the Alliance demands, we need the Hero back first for our arguments to hold water. When will he return...?
The evil fortress of Killopoti.
The Black Sheep cult's true headquarters, revealed by testimonies from those rescued by the Hero.
Though mostly destroyed and collapsed by the Hero, enough evidence and cultists remained for the UHN-affiliated Gaon of Light World Alliance to launch a massive search operation.
The Korean branch had deployed its special forces teams for a joint op to track down the cultists' wicked deeds.
Among them, Team Leader Shin Yu-ra's Dark Detection skill stood out—she'd been rooting out hidden cultists left and right, bringing the Killopoti search to its final stages.
"No more dark energy residue in this sector."
Having descended to basement level 3, Shin Yu-ra withdrew her detection skill and wiped sweat from her brow.
"As the prisoners said, B3 is the lowest level. Great work, Team Leader Shin Yu-ra."
Hashimoto Genzo, the Japanese search team leader on this joint op, approached with a bright smile.
"You too, Genzo-san. Thanks for all your help."
"Haha... Since I helped out, how about dinner tonight as thanks?"
"Ah, tricky. I still have work to do—probably not today."
"Not today... but tomorrow's fine? Then dinner tomorrow..."
"We pull out in the morning, so that's tough too."
With repeated rejections, Genzo's smile grew icy.
"The team can withdraw, but you could extend your stay, right?"
"Really sorry, but..."
As Shin Yu-ra waved off the advance—
Rumble rumble rumble...
An ominous vibration echoed from somewhere below.
"!!"
"Earthquake?"
As everyone looked around in confusion, Shin Yu-ra's eyes widened in shock.
A bizarre, massive dark energy unlike anything she'd seen was billowing across all of B3.
"Dark energy! It's... enormous! This place is dangerous—everyone, head to the surface! Hurry!"
"Eek! Dark energy?!"
Genzo's eyes bulged like hers.
Direct contact with dark energy usually killed humans or drove them mad with seizures.
In severe cases, they turned into zombies. Outside of Black Sheep cultists 'baptized' with it, everyone had to evacuate such areas.
"Aaaah! My body!"
Black skin was already forming on those touched by the energy.
"Gaon of Light, grant us aid! Divine Encouragement!"
Shin Yu-ra cast her other skill to halt the mutations, but the energy surged too widely—she couldn't hold it long.
"Hurry and evacuate everyone! I... can't last much..."
It felt like plugging a massive dam burst with her bare hands.
Her divine power fell short against the colossal dark energy eruption.
"G-got it! I'll get everyone out...!"
Genzo bolted for the exit in terror, shoving team members aside to escape first.
Ugh, if only Kwon Mu-hyuk were here right now...
She missed the Hero, said to wield near-infinite divine power as God's chosen.
As people crowded the narrow exit in panic, Shin Yu-ra's fingers trembled as she strained to hold on.
"Nngh...!"
A trickle of blood seeped from her clenched teeth.
No, I can't hold it anymore!
Just as the dark energy crept up past her ankles—
Boom!
The B3 wall exploded, flooding the area with brilliant light.
Whoosh—
The dark energy blanketing floor and ceiling vanished in an instant, replaced by radiant golden divine power filling the vast underground cavern like the sun.
From that light emerged a figure in golden armor, scanning the room before spotting and approaching Shin Yu-ra.
"What are you doing down here, Shin Yu-ra?"
"Ha... Kwon Mu-hyuk. You're back..."
Before she could finish, the Hero caught her as she collapsed.