Chapter 176
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Golem's Domain
[Skill]
Skill Name: Golem's Domain
Level: Max
Classification: Passive
Description: Forms a new domain using mana emitted from the Heart of the Golem. Physical force has no effect within the deployed domain; only mana and the manifestation of one's presence are possible.
Effect: None
Mana Cost: 1,000,000 + α
'A million mana? And it's plus alpha?'
Right now, Do-jae's total mana was just barely over a million.
A skill that required him to invest all his mana to use.
It felt very much like an ultimate move.
'I'll have to check the skill's performance beforehand... but for now, I won't even dare to think about using it.'
As much as the skill was highly anticipated due to its mana cost, it was also an incredible burden to use recklessly.
If he hadn't acquired the 'Sealed Memory of a Past Self' right after crossing over to Earth, it would have been a skill that was nothing more than a pipe dream, let alone something he could even consider using.
'Those monsters that appeared in Gapyeong. Unlike ordinary monsters, they were systematic. As if something was giving them orders.'
As soon as he crossed dimensions, Do-jae felt the immense presence of Gellahan fall nearby.
Whether it was intended by Altein and the other Ascetics, or if their respective presences were drawn to each other, Do-jae was able to arrive at the scene where the monsters had appeared in less than five minutes.
Monsters appearing without a dungeon break.
Each one was powerful enough to surpass its existing rank.
But unfortunately for them, their opponent was Lee Do-jae.
And on top of that, Briareus, who had appeared via teleportation.
'It must be Ridirian of the Phantom Dream... He said he could control monsters through dreams. But why didn't he retrieve the Sealed Memory?'
The Sealed Memory was a lump of Gellahan's mana.
The boss-level monster among those that appeared in Gapyeong possessed it. If it had absorbed that energy itself, it could have possessed an even stronger presence, but the fact that it hadn't was curious.
- That, too, is a power. You will come to understand it naturally later.
So he was told.
In any case, he had dealt with the creature in a joint attack with Briareus and recovered the Sealed Memory.
By the time most of the monsters had been hunted down.
Only then did the guilds and the Suppression Corps arrive. The Guardian Guild was among them, allowing for a long-overdue reunion.
Do-jae had postponed any deep conversations, absorbed the Sealed Memory, and then, upon hearing Partisan's voice, had left for his space right then and there.
'Looks like I'll be heading to the guild for the first time in a while.'
Do-jae took out his smartphone from the subspace.
He had barely used it in the other world, so the battery was full.
*Beep, beep, beep—.*
"Young-jin, I'm on my way. No need to pick me up. Just tell Do-jun this. Herteias wants to see him. No, Her. Tei. As. Right, got it."
***
*Flash!*
"...Is that really true?"
Briareus spoke, trembling.
He was furious.
- Oh, Red Dragon Briareus. It is all for the sake of Tranpeion.
"Damn Titan goddess! Why the hell do I have to donate my treasures to your temple? And how is that for the sake of Tranpeion?"
- The more beings who praise me, the greater a presence I can display, can I not?
"You're not even a god! How can a god beg for faith!"
- What? What did you just spout, you lizard!
"It's true, isn't it? A true god is a being one comes to believe in and serve out of spontaneous reverence. Not like you, forcing worship..."
- You... You insolent whelp!
"Enough! Both of you, stop!"
Do-jae shouted as he distanced himself from Briareus.
He could feel Eurabia's presence about to manifest. It felt like a disaster was about to unfold if this continued.
"Lady Eurabia. I don't mind you following me this far, but it will be a bit troublesome if you start a fight with Briareus. And you, are you really trying to fight a god?"
- You! Even if you are the proxy, I will not forgive such a disrespectful remark.
"Such a petty goddess. Do-jae, don't worry. I can protect someone like you even without a god like her."
"Both of you, just stop..."
Do-jae hurriedly entered the guild building.
If he stayed with Briareus any longer, it seemed their dispute wouldn't end with just a war of words.
"Ooh, Do-jae. You're here!"
"Welcome back, Vice Guild Master!"
"It's been a while!"
The guild members welcomed Do-jae.
He didn't have many memories of being particularly good to them, so seeing them greet him like this felt novel.
"Yes, it's good to be back. Thank you."
Do-jae greeted every guild member he met with a cheerful smile as he headed for the top floor.
Although he had vehemently opposed it, Ji-yoon's insistence had led to a modest welcome-back party.
Due to the influence of the absolute timeline, while he had been in the other world for just over a month, three months had passed here.
This was something that neither the Ascetics nor Eurabia could do anything about, they had said.
*Creak—.*
He opened the door to Jeong Hoon-hyeon's room.
"He's here!"
"You're back!"
"You're here?"
The leadership of the Guardian Guild greeted Do-jae with joyful expressions.
Jeong Hoon-hyeon, Eun-hee, Young-jin, Ji-yoon, and the Peppermint Trio welcomed him warmly.
"Has everyone been well?"
***
After about an hour of lively chatter, everyone dispersed to their own places.
Though they were all reluctant to leave, spending an hour of time like this was a bit of a luxury in the current climate.
"What are you going to do now, oppa?"
Ji-yoon, who had stayed until the very end, asked.
Do-jae's plan was, as expected, to hunt monsters.
He had barely been able to raise his level while in the other world.
Although he had obtained the King Golem's Skeleton and several other top-tier items, he himself hadn't grown much stronger.
Even with the acquisition of the Sealed Memory, the only way to consistently grow stronger was by leveling up.
"I'm going to look for monsters with Do-jun."
"You're going on a raid as soon as you get back?"
"That's right. It's the only thing for me to do."
"Still, you should at least see Do-young before you go, right? Eun-hee said so too, and he's been waiting for his big brother a lot."
Do-jae fiddled with the smartphone in his pocket.
The moment he returned here, hundreds of messages had flooded his phone.
Most of them were from Eun-hee and Do-young.
"You're right. Maybe just for a little while would be okay..."
His voice trailed off.
Truthfully, Do-jae wanted to see his brother.
But the faint presence of an Apostate he could feel.
That was the problem.
Havik had appeared where Do-jae was before, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That was likely because he had read the presence of the Ascetics near Do-jae.
What if an Apostate showed up while Do-jae was meeting Do-young?
Even if that didn't happen, what if the Apostates found out about Do-young's existence?
That was the one thing he wanted to avoid.
"Then, should I contact Eun-hee? I want to see Do-young too, so maybe together..."
"No, next time."
"Oh? Okay... I'll get going then."
Ji-yoon left with a disappointed look on her face.
It was a shame, but Do-jae decided to wait for the next opportunity and began reviewing the documents Young-jin had given him.
- Proxy. A moment, stop that woman.
It was Eurabia's voice, filled with anticipation.
Do-jae called Ji-yoon back.
"Ji-yoon! Wait a second."
"Yes?"
Ji-yoon walked back with a hopeful expression.
"Lady Eurabia, why did you want me to call Ji-yoon?"
Do-jae was puzzled by Eurabia's sudden whim.
After all, Ji-yoon and Eurabia had no connection whatsoever.
However, that question was soon answered easily.
- I have found a good vessel. That woman is suitable to be my proxy.
"What? *Cough*..."
Startled, Do-jae broke into a cough.
Ji-yoon, who had approached him, looked at Do-jae with a strange expression.
***
"You're here?"
"Yeah. Why didn't you come?"
"Hmph, what would I do at a gathering of humans? I'm not interested."
Briareus was lying on the sofa in the break room, fiddling with his smartphone.
From his pouting lips, it was clear he was still sulking about his lair's treasury being raided.
"Sorry about that. It was an emergency."
"Even if it was an emergency, you rob someone's house?"
"A dragon's treasury was the best place to fill Eurabia's temple. I'll put it all back later."
"Yeah, right. If you make promises like that, Eurabia will scold you."
"It's fine. She's not with me anymore."
"Huh? Not with you?"
Briareus shot up and stared intently at Do-jae.
After staring for a long time, squinting his eyes, he tilted his head.
"You're right. What happened?"
"She said she found a good vessel and left."
"Really? You can just change vessels like that?"
"I wouldn't know. Anyway, Ji-yoon is Eurabia's proxy now."
"Good for you. To be honest, I never really liked her. It's great that I don't have to see her anymore."
Do-jae shrugged.
It was a bit of a shame that he could no longer use Eurabia's power to control gravity, but if Ji-yoon could make good use of it, it wasn't a bad thing.
Especially since the Guild Master of the Manseong Guild, Kwon Ran-hee, had a similar skill, and Do-jae thought Eurabia's power was a cut above.
That meant Ji-yoon also had the potential to become an S-rank Hunter.
"Ji-yoon is a kind person. I'm sure she'll use Eurabia's power well."
"I don't care. Just make sure you return all the treasures I painstakingly collected to their exact original spots."
"Oh, right. What about this?"
Do-jae took a box out of his subspace.
It was the only object in Briareus's treasury whose identity he couldn't figure out.
"Oh! The Box of Ambition! Thank goodness, hand it over."
*Swoosh—.*
Do-jae hid the box from Briareus's outstretched hand.
Briareus kept trying to snatch it, but Do-jae dodged each time, refusing to give up the box.
"What are you doing? Give it back."
"What is this?"
"Don't try to find out. It's important, so hand it over."
"Hoooh..."
That only made him more curious.
Just how important could this item be to have such a powerful spell cast on it?
*Snap!*
*Poof!*
"Ah..."
With a snap of Briareus's fingers, the box in Do-jae's hand vanished somewhere.
"This, I can't let you have."
"What is it that you're hiding so desperately?"
"You don't need to know. And don't even think about looking for it. I didn't move it to my room."
Do-jae felt a pang of guilt.
He had been planning to go home, search Briareus's room, and put it back in his subspace, but he'd been caught red-handed.
"The fact that even a Gold Dragon can't undo the seal makes it all the more enticing..."
"Hmph, no matter how skilled Herteias is with magic, he'll never be able to open it. I used my clan's primordial magic, so powerful that not even a god could undo it."
"Your clan's primordial magic?"
"Indeed. It's the magic that serves as the foundation for Draconic Magic... each clan has its own inherited magic. That Herteias fellow probably thinks it's a simple layering of spells, but if he were to see the magic underneath, he'd never even think of trying to break it."
Briareus crossed his arms, wearing a confident expression.
Do-jae figured it would be difficult to find out what was inside the box, so instead, he took out the paper with the magic circle drawn on it.
"Take a look at this. It's a Demon King summoning circle I got from the dark elves..."
Do-jae explained that he wanted to modify this magic circle into a dimensional travel circle that connected to the other world.
Briareus stroked his chin and stared at the magic circle with intense focus.
"It might be possible... It'll need a lot of work, but there's a chance."
Unlike Herteias, Briareus immediately began to deconstruct and examine the magic circle.
Do-jae thought he had made the right decision not to waste any more time there and to come back.
"Alright, then let's research it together."
"Before that, hold on! It's almost time for the World Boss."
"Ah... right, go ahead..."