Altars Beneath the Domes
Ain Salah Airport.
One of Algeria’s international airports in the North African nation.
The moment I stepped off the private jet arranged by the Black Network, the bone-dry air stung my skin.
“Dry air is the enemy of skin.”
The woman walking beside me, Madam, muttered under her breath.
“This level doesn’t affect you much anyway.”
“Hoho, players aren’t omnipotent just because they’re players.”
“With your skill, you should be able to protect your skin from this humidity.”
After all, she was a player backed by an A-rank Constellation. Complaining about low humidity was just an act, even if she wasn’t on John Doe’s level.
“Mr. Yu, are you single?”
“……Why ask that all of a sudden?”
“To win someone’s heart, you need to be a little more delicate.”
“Aren’t we in a business relationship?”
“There’s no harm in earning my favor.”
Madam’s lips curved slightly upward.
Hmph, quite a novel provocation indeed.
That reaction feels more like seduction than provocation.
To me, it is provocation.
I had no idea what she meant.
“Mr. Yu, aren’t you uncomfortable?”
“There’s a foreign sensation, but it’s not bothersome.”
I scratched my chin.
[Shadow Mask]
Grade: Unique
Classification: Mask
Durability: 70/100
A mask that conceals the user’s appearance and presence. It offers no defensive capabilities, but can hide the user’s stats when targeted by analysis-related abilities or skills. Durability decreases automatically upon equipping.
An artifact that hid my identity. They had already prepared a false identity for me before we left Korea. Thorough, as expected in places like this.
“Who are the ones working with Klyphoth?”
“They’re said to be descendants of the National Liberation Front.”
“What’s that?”
“Algeria was once a French colony.”
Just like Korea had suffered under Japanese rule.
“The National Liberation Front led the fight to reclaim the country’s sovereignty from that rule.”
“They did something good, so why……?”
“What matters is what happens after the deed. Regaining sovereignty was good, but a coup followed.”
A coup by the Minister of Defense. After that, a socialist regime took power, establishing one-party dictatorship, leaving the National Liberation Front with nowhere to stand.
“That dictatorship couldn’t last forever.”
“Socialism collapsed too. The problem came after.”
Once the multi-party system returned, Islamic fundamentalist forces seized power. The National Liberation Front found no welcome anywhere.
“Their descendants are the ones who joined hands with Klyphoth.”
“A pitiful affair.”
I gave a bitter smile. Those who once moved with noble ideals had been pushed aside in power struggles and ultimately boarded the same ship as Klyphoth.
“Be careful. They’ve also allied with Islamic extremists.”
“Extremists?”
“Yes. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.”
I shook my head. Even while worshiping the same god, factions split, and to topple the opposing faction, they joined hands with hostile forces. No, it wasn’t just joining hands……
“They were absorbed.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
I let the words trail off. It was still just speculation. Once I identified which Klyphoth sect had taken root in Algeria, my doubts would be resolved quickly.
“Mr. Yu, where will you begin your search?”
“Start with the missing persons cases.”
“That part is already underway. Please give me a little more time.”
“While the information is being compiled, I plan to act independently. Is that all right?”
“Yes. If you need to contact us, please use this.”
A ruggedly designed mobile phone. An outdated model from twenty years ago, yet its actual performance was extraordinary. A Black Network custom phone capable of hacking communication networks to make calls regardless of location.
“You’d track me down even without this, wouldn’t you?”
“Hoho, track you down? We simply wish to protect a director of the Black Network.”
“Anyway, I’ll make good use of it.”
I slipped the phone into my pocket and stepped out of the airport.
Buildings dyed yellow. Fitting for a city in the middle of the Sahara Desert, most of the rock faces were yellow as well.
Where are you heading now?
“I have to find a needle in a sand dune.”
I spread my senses wide.
Wuuuung!
Qi, mana, and even divine energy. All manner of energies harmonized with my ‘senses’ and expanded across several kilometers.
A peculiar detection method.
“It’s not the first time you’ve seen it.”
It is the first time I have seen you expand your senses across such a wide range.
Fair enough. I poured out such an enormous amount of energy that even the Primordial Dragon Heart couldn’t keep up with the mana generation rate. Simply spreading mana and qi caused heat haze to rise across the surrounding area, distorting the nearby scenery.
Two kilometers. Five kilometers. When I expanded the detection range to ten kilometers……
“Found it.”
I withdrew the mana and qi I had spread out.
* * *
A building with a round, yellow dome-shaped roof. Several men wearing white turbans were coming and going from the mosque.
Is this the right place?
“Yeah.”
It looks like an ordinary place of worship to me.
“Some Klyphoth sects infiltrate existing religions.”
They didn’t only take root in the Third World. Even before my regression, the United States, the world’s strongest nation, had been one of the places where Klyphoth forces had been active. They had used underground Satan worshippers in America. Islam wasn’t a heretical cult like Satan worship, but with extremists clashing against the military, there was plenty of room for infiltration.
Even in an era when Constellations’ starlight shines directly, faith wavers.
“Well, you can’t say their faith is pointed in the right direction either.”
Constellations influenced Earth through the Tower of Babel as a relay. However, only a tiny fraction of mortals ever received the attention of the many Constellations. Just like the old man I saw praying while touching the owl statue when I went to Athens right after regressing to devour a Constellation’s essence. There were many who offered prayers that would never be answered.
Are you saying these people are the same?
“Anything more would be blasphemy.”
In an age where gods from various mythologies cast their influence upon reality, no single Constellation could exert full control. As a result, even if faith was redirected toward the wrong place, the believers had no way of knowing.
Indeed. I could understand why the so-called National Liberation Front descendants had contacted Islamic extremists.
“Exploiting others’ despair is Klyphoth’s specialty.”
Truly an unpleasant bunch.
“That’s enough explanation.”
[Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts - 10th Form]
[Using White Marsh Dominion Kick.]
I struck the ground with all my might, causing the mosque to shake violently. I carefully controlled the range with my inner energy and added divine energy to ensure the shockwave didn’t spread elsewhere.
Even while explaining to Nyx, I had spread my senses wide to detect the schemes Klyphoth had laid.
Just now, the thing I shook with my true kick was the mosque and the Klyphoth transmutation array engraved beneath it.
I thought you were just playing around.
“Time is money.”
By the way, what is a transmutation array?
“It belongs to Harap Seraphel, one of the Klyphoth sects.”
The sect whose name meant “the one who gnaws.” Harap Seraphel specialized in transmutation arrays. Such arrays required prior preparation and consumed time and manpower, but once completed, they possessed tremendous power.
The enemy shows no movement.
“They must not be here.”
I wasn’t particularly disappointed. Discovering the transmutation array alone was a significant gain. Just learning which Klyphoth sect had taken root in North Africa put me ahead.
“Things are about to get busy.”
Huhuhu, I was already prepared.
A crowd gathered due to the sudden tremor. I slipped away among them and once again expanded my senses.
I had spread my perception to ten kilometers, but nothing registered.
It is troublesome that we cannot find any traces.
“They’re inside the city. Don’t worry, I’ll find them soon.”
A city with a population of 300,000. To siphon vitality from everyone when the transmutation array activated, at least two or three would be needed. I had destroyed one, so two remained.
After moving westward, I spread my senses again.
“Bingo.”
Another transmutation array was engraved beneath a mosque here as well. After destroying the Harap Seraphel transmutation array with White Marsh Dominion Kick, I arrived at the final location.
The moment I stomped down just as before……
Crack!
A strong repulsive force pushed my right foot away. I redirected the impact that could have caused internal injuries to the side.
What happened?
“They’re not idiots either.”
The third transmutation array had already been activated. It had absorbed the surrounding earth energy and people’s vitality to strengthen its defenses, reversing the impact of White Marsh Dominion Kick. They must have noticed the anomaly while I was destroying the first two arrays.
“Who dares touch the transmutation array!”
“Protect the array so it doesn’t collapse!”
“Finding the enemy comes first!”
The people inside the mosque panicked. As expected, they had abandoned their original faith and joined Klyphoth long ago. The building before me had long since become a heretical sanctuary disguised as an Islamic mosque.
You startled the snake before striking the grass. You have alarmed them.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
No matter where they went, they would eventually head to Seoul. My act of destroying the transmutation arrays seemed to have provoked the Klyphoth sect that had infiltrated the city.
“Goddess, could you cover this area?”
A simple task.
Nyx manifested through the homunculus body. As she extended her hand, a curtain of darkness completely enveloped the mosque area. A veil of night that blocked sight and sound. It only concealed the senses and did not seal off entry.
“Will this suffice?”
“Yeah, it’s enough.”
I rolled my neck from side to side. What was about to happen would be quite shocking to devout Muslims. Smiling, I watched the [Branches of Harap Seraphel] emerge from the mosque, grinding their teeth.