A Father's Reunion
“Ladies and gentlemen. I’m terribly sorry, but would you mind not interrupting this reunion for a moment? These are my daughter and son whom I haven’t seen in ages…”
The warning came first.
How dare you stand naked before my daughter?
At Benedict’s words, the naked spirits couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
Katima shouted.
“…You! Kim Hwang-je!”
“Yeah?”
“Where did you learn such a despicable trick? You think I’ll fall for your lies now?”
Katima snapped her fingers, and in an instant the naked uncles were swept away by the wind, sent flying in all directions.
“Kwaaaah~!”
“Nooooo-!”
“We didn’t mean any harm-!”
The wind blew.
The voices gradually faded until they disappeared entirely.
All the spirits had been driven off.
Only silence remained around the altar.
“They’re gone.”
Just what were those guys even here for?
Do they think they’re genies from a lamp or something?
“Ah… Father, is that you?”
This time it was Catiyu, his head dangling from the black armor, who spoke.
The two-head-tall Benedict on Kim Hwang-je’s head cleared his throat and continued.
“I’m sorry, my children… I was far too late.”
What more could be said?
Benedict’s voice was thick with emotion.
Kim Hwang-je scratched the tip of his nose.
They’re rotten people, sure, but looking at the situation now, it’s like a kidnapper who took the kids away and only got to see them again after they’d grown up.
‘Uncle, you said you’d kill them with your own hands if you met them, but you’re crying like crazy.’
Transparent tears streamed gently down Benedict’s tiny face.
“Stop! Stop! Stop it!”
Katima cried out loudly.
Then she began jabbing her finger at Kim Hwang-je.
“You vile archmage! You cruel, heartless wretch! How did you learn our story? Where did you interpret our origins? How dare you do something like this!”
Her rage was so fierce that if the altar hadn’t been there, she would have already hurled multiple bolts of lightning.
She was so furious that lightning coiled around her entire body and her hair stood on end.
The sound of Katima grinding her teeth was vivid.
Kim Hwang-je looked at Benedict.
“She doesn’t believe you, Benedict.”
“…It’s been a long time, so that’s understandable. But I’ll explain everything step by step.”
“I’ll leave it to you. It’s a family matter.”
“Thank you.”
Benedict leaped onto the altar.
Katima and Catiyu couldn’t take their eyes off the two-head-tall Benedict standing atop it.
“Look at me. I am truly your father.”
“…”
“…”
Hey, that’s not very convincing when you say it like that.
You’re a two-head-tall fairy right now.
Kim Hwang-je stepped in smoothly.
“Benedict, don’t you have any last family outings or birthday gifts or anything like that?”
“Well, I was so busy with work that I rarely took them out to play…”
“…”
“Please understand. Every single day was spent exterminating monsters. Ah, now that I think about it, I do remember one thing. I once made ice cream for them using the flame pouch of a Flame-Tailed Lizard.”
Katima let out a hollow laugh, as if she couldn’t believe it.
Only then did she release the power she had been holding in her hand.
“He matches my biological genetic template.”
“Noona?”
“To summon even the Last Knight of the ancient emperor who commanded the Heavenly Calamity… You’re not saying he’s the empire’s successor, are you?”
Yeah, that’s right.
Somehow I ended up becoming the real emperor.
Kim Hwang-je spoke.
“He’s your father. Don’t be too harsh. He suffered for a long time after losing you both when you were young.”
At that moment, Kim Hwang-je’s eyes met Jo Chun-ki’s.
The man had been pondering the “ascension ritual” when this sudden family reunion unfolded before him, and now he was deeply questioning the meaning of his own existence.
In the end, he took a step forward.
“My lady, please keep your promise to me… You said long ago that you would place the Gold Crown upon my head, did you not?”
“Shut up! This man has brought the Heavenly Calamity of the Emperor with him. Do you really think you stand even a sliver of a chance by reenacting the ancient ritual? Or do you just want to see the Dance of Calamity?”
Hmm, I really don’t think we should see that.
Anyway, Jo Chun-ki, who had been reduced to nothing more than pathetic whining, stepped aside.
Benedict took his place.
He took a step closer.
“Katima, Catiyu. This man is the lord I will serve from now on. Come with me.”
“Hahaha…”
Katima sneered.
“The ghost still lingers in the past. Knight of the Empire… Are you still pledging loyalty to a fallen empire and a false successor?”
“I only wanted to see you. I wanted to hold you in my arms again…”
I’ve been fighting in the darkness for a thousand years.
He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest.
Katima threw her head back and laughed.
Her shoulders trembled beneath her silver hair as the laughter shook her.
“The past is over.”
“I will slay Azazel. I swear it.”
“How dare you speak that name so carelessly!”
Katima’s voice was ice cold.
Kim Hwang-je suddenly recalled the past when he had thrown tantrums, shouting, “Dad doesn’t even have money!”
Everyone goes through that phase.
“The empire has fallen! It sank while embracing all the citizens it was supposed to protect!”
Katima dragged her sharp nails across her own white neck.
Whether from her claws or not, thin red lines appeared on her pale skin and pink droplets of blood began to fall.
Space above her head was sliced open like a thin line, and something resembling yellow eyes peeked out slyly.
Those ominous eyes.
Kim Hwang-je could easily tell that the gaze belonged to the monster controlling Katima.
“You will all be offered up!”
Bang!
Katima slammed her palm down onto the altar.
Black smoke-like energy erupted from the cracks in the shattered altar and shot into the air.
“That damned woman! She’s betraying us after all. Attack!”
Jo Chun-ki screamed.
“Stand back!”
Benedict also leaped back onto Kim Hwang-je’s head.
The Melancholy Bard flew in front of Kim Hwang-je and blocked the oncoming black smoke.
Attacks from the Gaya Group rained down from all sides, but Katima swung her hand and deflected them all.
Then the black aura struck Jo Chun-ki directly.
“Aaaagh!”
“There will be no ritual. No ascension. Only ruin remains!”
While Jo Chun-ki screamed and rolled on the ground, the naked spirits came rushing back from all directions.
“Save us!”
“Your Majesty! Please save us! Guji Peak has been destroyed!”
“The sealed corruption is about to pour out!”
In an instant, the naked spirits surrounded Kim Hwang-je.
“Aaaah! Get away from me!”
Kim Hwang-je, covered in goosebumps, shoved all the spirits into the Royal Castle.
Fortunately, they were absorbed.
They all vanished from sight.
In that brief moment, Katima used the destroyed altar to complete her spell.
“You, human. Become a monster.”
“Ah… Aaaah…!”
Jo Chun-ki looked as if he had been drenched in black sewage.
He thrashed as his body rotted away by the second.
“No! Don’t go!”
Benedict shouted.
But Katima and Catiyu had already begun casting a teleportation spell.
Benedict spoke to Kim Hwang-je.
“Stop them from escaping! We may never get another chance like this!”
Kim Hwang-je opened all his status windows and checked the facility’s access controls.
Lowest Floor Access: Open
Highest Floor Access: Inoperable, Destroyed
Dungeon Escape Scroll Usage: Permitted
Kim Hwang-je closed the lowest floor access.
He felt the distant sound of doors sealing shut.
He also revoked permission for dungeon escape scrolls.
Escape spells could no longer be used anywhere in the dungeon.
However, the highest floor remained beyond his control.
Katima, whose spell had been interrupted, spoke.
“The escape magic isn’t working… You, do you know the meta spell that controls this dungeon?”
“You’re not getting away! Take responsibility and disappear!”
Katima didn’t answer.
Attacks poured in from all sides, so Kim Hwang-je’s situation wasn’t great either.
He wrapped himself in defensive magic and retreated.
The Gaya Group hunters and teams were desperately trying every emergency treatment on Jo Chun-ki, but it was only temporary.
No medicine could reverse this curse.
Jo Chun-ki rolled on the floor, screaming in agony.
“Hmph!”
Ignoring Kim Hwang-je, Katima and Catiyu soared into the air.
“They’re heading upward…!”
“They must know the dungeon is connected. What happened to the upper gate?”
“The upper gate won’t close. The equipment seems broken.”
But while entry was free, exit was not.
Kim Hwang-je raised the difficulty of all facilities from the 6th floor onward to MAX level.
Would that even work against homunculus monsters like Katima and Catiyu?
For now, he left it to fate and chased after them.
“Let’s go catch them, Bard!”
“Uuuu…!”
The cloth gently wrapped around Kim Hwang-je.
Becoming a flying carpet, it carried him upward in pursuit of Katima and Catiyu.
“Agh!”
At that moment, a black arm the size of a hill swatted Kim Hwang-je and the cloth away.
“Urk!”
Crash!
Kim Hwang-je was sent flying and slammed straight into the wall of the mountain behind him.
Black dust erupted as if a cannonball had struck.
“Uuuuuuugh!”
Crack!
Cracks spread across the mountain as the ground split and trees collapsed in waves.
Kim Hwang-je, sliding like a meteor and sparking, exploded with flames and brought down an entire cliff.
“Aaaah!”
Everything went dark!
“I can’t see…!”
Then the rock blocking his vision was removed.
The tiny Benedict had thrown the stone aside.
Only then did Kim Hwang-je realize he hadn’t gone blind—the rock had simply been covering his eyes.
How embarrassing.
“Is the castle wall alright?”
“…It seems fine.”
Kim Hwang-je used World Observation to check the Royal Castle.
Because his body had been thrown so far, the castle had experienced an earthquake.
Shelves had collapsed, buildings shook, and tables overturned.
The silver lining was that the walls had only developed hairline cracks.
As expected, the earthquake-resistant design of steel-reinforced concrete buildings was excellent.
Park Jo-woon and the workers, carrying gray potions, ran around inspecting the shaken castle.
“Uncle, are you okay!”
Poyu, who had been sleeping soundly, jumped up, unable to handle this chaos.
The Melancholy Bard had also fallen near Kim Hwang-je, melting trees and rocks.
Hisss—black toxic gas spewed into the air.
“Kuaaaaaaaaah!”
A grotesque roar echoed from afar.
A massive sewage monster resembling a starfish stretched its tentacles in all directions.
Benedict spoke.
“He’s become an Epidemic God! A fitting end for his desires.”
Benedict drew his ruler-like sword and pointed at the ever-growing Jo Chun-ki.
The Gaya Group camp was in complete chaos.
“Chairman!”
“S-stop him! Cast blessings and dispelling spells!”
“We have to free the Chairman from the curse!”
“Are you insane?! Run!”
The Gaya Group’s elite hunters rushed in, trying every method, but nothing worked.
The more they tried to lift the curse, the more filthy things rose from the broken altar and wrapped around Jo Chun-ki.
“Kwaaaaaaaaah!”
The monster let out a thunderous roar.
Then it began sucking in its subordinates with its body.
Swallowing them all whole, its size grew exponentially.
“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”
A warning appeared on the facility management window.
This facility is coordinating with an unauthorized external magical device.
Intrusion from an unauthorized external device has been detected.
The dungeon is being contaminated.
Caution: Immediate eradication procedures must be carried out. If the dungeon is destroyed, you will become lost in the universe.
The barrier cores connecting each floor are contaminated. Floor-by-floor management has been disabled.
Then loud voices echoed from all directions.
“Whoa! It’s a raid boss!”
“Is this an event?”
“Long live Gaya Group! Best synergy day ever!”
Kim Hwang-je ran up the hill and looked down.
Hunters from every floor were rushing in.
“Hey!”
Kim Hwang-je shouted.
The charging people were startled when they saw him standing on the hill.
“It’s Kim Hwang-je!”
“Hey, don’t ruin the event.”
Kim Hwang-je clicked his tongue and yelled.
“Come out, Dirty Cook!”