The Absolute Being Has Returned
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Bang!
"...What is it?"
In the dark room—empty save for a single massive chair—someone sat staring at the open door.
"If you've come in such a rush, state your business."
The figure seated in the enormous chair regarded the man who was gasping for breath.
He had warned them never to come unless it was a matter of the utmost importance. That this man had come anyway meant something had surely happened.
"He's returned."
"If you cut out the beginning and the end and just say 'he's returned,' what am I supposed to answer?"
Gulp.
The man who had entered the room swallowed hard, his face pale with fear.
"The Absolute Being..."
"?"
"The Absolute Being Baek Do-ha has returned!"
He shot to his feet!
At those words, the being seated in the chair—the dragon Depnius—rose abruptly.
"...Is that true?"
"Yes. After returning, he reportedly killed Furcas, who had been in the Moorim."
"..."
Depnius's pupils began to tremble violently.
In truth, he had vaguely expected that Baek Do-ha was not dead. But he had at least believed the man would be so badly wounded that he would be unable to move or act for a long time. After all, had he not fought the Demon God?
"So that's why... Dimerof recovered so completely."
For the past few months, he had found it somewhat strange to see Dimerof moving about again. With all the dragons having vanished without a trace, there had been no one left who could deal with the power Depnius himself had left inside Dimerof's body.
"What will you do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know as well as I do what kind of man Baek Do-ha is."
"...I know better than anyone."
They had once been friends, after all. How could he not know?
"But nothing changes just because he has returned. We simply continue with our plans as before."
"...And if Baek Do-ha shows up here?"
"For someone who calls himself the Pope of the world, you're awfully cowardly."
Depnius clicked his tongue as he looked at the figure before him—the Pope. How could such a timid, foolish man be a Pope? The Pope on Earth's side seemed far better suited to the position.
"Baek Do-ha must already know that we have seized the North Continent. Why do you think he has remained quiet until now?"
"?"
"It means something is wrong with Baek Do-ha's body."
As a former friend of Baek Do-ha, Depnius assessed the situation accurately. The Absolute Being who, with every step, could make mountains crumble and seas split. That such a being had returned yet remained silent meant there had to be a reason.
"Th-that's right! I heard he said the same thing in front of the sect leaders. That he had lost his power fighting the Demon God, so if they wanted to live, they should attack him now..."
"?"
At the Pope's words, Depnius furrowed his brow. He had said that himself, right in front of all the sect leaders?
...I was wrong. That was a misjudgment.
There was nothing wrong with Baek Do-ha's body. He was fine. No—even if he wasn't completely fine, it meant he was still strong enough to fight anyone. Because they had been friends, Depnius knew. When Baek Do-ha openly claimed he had lost his power, it was a lie.
"Relay this to every cult member on the North Continent at once."
"Relay what?"
"Abandon the North Continent and retreat. All of you."
"What?!"
The Pope frowned at Depnius's words. How many troops had they lost to seize the North Continent, and now he was telling them to abandon it and withdraw just because the Absolute Being had returned?!
"Instead of abandoning the North Continent and running, shouldn't you be the one saying you'll stop him?! Have you forgotten our contract?!"
"..."
Depnius looked at the Pope with pity. A fool full of both fear and greed. When he first heard Baek Do-ha had appeared, the man had been so terrified his hands shook. The moment Depnius told him to abandon the North Continent, the fear vanished and only greed remained in his eyes. In a way, it was almost impressive. The fear humans felt was far more dominant than other emotions, yet the Pope's greed had crushed even that fear.
"You've never seen Baek Do-ha in person, have you?"
Unlike the Pope on Earth, the Pope of the Belhart world was quite young. Because of that, during the time Do-ha had been active across every continent, this Pope had not even been born yet.
"If... Baek Do-ha were in his prime, the entire dragon race would have had to throw themselves at him just to inflict a wound."
"..."
"You were terrified just from hearing stories about Baek Do-ha, and now you're telling me to face him head-on?"
At Depnius's words, the Pope's expression turned to shock. This dragon was so intelligent and powerful he was called the next Dragon Lord. And yet such a dragon was afraid of a mere human.
"Then what do you intend to do? You're not saying you'll just keep running for the rest of your life, are you?"
"Of course not. What I said was not that we should surrender. It was that we should retreat."
"Abandoning the North Continent... doesn't give us any brilliant solution."
"Clinging to the North Continent because you can't bear to let it go doesn't give us a brilliant solution either. In fact, staying clustered together is more dangerous."
With Grand Master Dimerof already recovered and now a threat, the Absolute Being appeared as well? Total annihilation. In the current situation, they needed to scatter as quickly as possible.
"Don't let your judgment cloud just because you hate to let go of what you currently hold."
"Ugh... Fine. I'll tell them all to scatter to the other continents for now."
In the end, the Pope sighed and left the room. It was a shame to abandon the North Continent they had worked so hard to conquer, but as Depnius said, they could not gamble with their lives for no reason.
Whoosh.
Bang!
After the Pope left, Depnius, still seated, flicked his fingers, and the closed window swung wide open.
Swoosh.
Baek Do-ha... so you've returned.
Gazing at the clear sky, Depnius closed his eyes. How could the fact that his friend was alive make him so happy and yet so terrified at the same time?
He must already know about me.
Depnius imagined Do-ha's face.
Gulp.
As he pictured Do-ha in his mind, Depnius swallowed hard under the terror that washed over him. He knew Baek Do-ha's power all too well, and that made it all the more terrifying.
I have already crossed a river from which there is no return.
So he would face Baek Do-ha with everything he had. He would use every means at his disposal to confront him.
Thud!
"...What is all this?"
Dimerof, who had been reading and signing imperial documents, gaped at the mountain of paperwork piled before him. He already had more than enough documents to process—why was there suddenly so much more?
"Emilton... I'm already dying under the documents I have. What are all these?"
"Tax-related documents."
"Taxes? All of a sudden...?"
"Once word spread that Do-ha had returned, the nobles all cleaned up the lists of assets they'd been hiding and submitted them. Along with reports of various incidents and accidents, of course."
"..."
At her words, Dimerof pressed his throbbing temples. Should he be happy about this? Or should he hate it? With the news that the Absolute Being had returned, the nobles were suddenly voluntarily reporting the assets they had hidden and the incidents they had covered up. Because of that, he had been stuck staring at documents for days without being able to go outside.
"Why did that bastard Do-ha have to show himself in front of the sect leaders all of a sudden..."
Bang!
"Well, it was about time to let people know I'd returned."
"Do-ha!"
"Do-ha!"
As the door opened and Do-ha entered, Dimerof and Emilton both shot to their feet.
"Hey, you bastard! Do you know how busy I've been because of you..."
Dimerof, who had been grumbling, sensed Do-ha's aura and his expression turned to shock. The energy he felt from him was completely different from before. When Do-ha had visited the empire not long ago, he had been at the level of a mature Transcendent Realm. But now he was in the Profound Realm. Even reaching the peak of the Transcendent Realm would have been shocking enough—yet he had gone beyond that into the Profound Realm.
"You... what did you do? How are you already at the Profound Realm...?"
Did that even make sense? Even if it was a path he had walked once before, to show such an absurd rate of growth?
"Well, I just happened to advance a stage."
"...Stages just 'happen' to rise like that?"
He himself was a Grand Master, but Baek Do-ha truly was beyond all standards.
"And that bag of bones still hasn't found his own body."
"What?! Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?!"
Canteas, who had been eating snacks, flared up at Dimerof's words. He had been staying quiet because Dimerof looked busy—why start something first?!
"Canteas... you've got it pretty good, don't you? How about coming back to the empire and helping me out a little?"
"I'm busy on Earth too, you know?!"
"Yeah, right. You bought the newly released game CD this time."
"Ah, why would you say that?!"
Canteas jumped in surprise at Do-ha's words. Come on, take my side a little!
"But why are there so many documents?"
"It's all because of you..."
As Do-ha gaped at the documents stacked all the way to the ceiling, Dimerof snapped in irritation. If Do-ha hadn't met the sect leaders, those documents would never have come to him.
"The nobles reported every list of assets they'd been hiding, plus all the incidents and accidents they'd covered up until now."
"Those bastards were running wild the moment I disappeared. Should I go flip everything upside down starting today?"
"Don't."
Dimerof shook his head with a serious face. If Do-ha went to the nobles and raised hell, the empire really would be turned upside down. He had finally gotten things running smoothly step by step—if they poked it now, they would have to start aligning everything from the beginning again.
"Anyway, why did you come?"
"I came to see if you were free for a spar."
Having reached the Profound Realm, he wanted to properly loosen up his body, but there was no suitable opponent. Namgung Je-u was lower in realm than him, and as Alliance Leader he had no free time. And if he asked Canteas to spar for a bit in his true body, the lich refused, saying it would wreck his undead form. That left Dimerof. In Moorim terms, a Grand Master was the equivalent of the Profound Realm—the same level as himself.
"Oh, that sounds good. I've been feeling stiff myself..."
Smiling as he rose from his seat, Dimerof met Emilton's steady gaze and immediately shut his mouth.
"Your Majesty the Emperor. You need to finish processing these documents by the end of this week... Do you have a lot of free time?"
Emilton smiled gently as she looked at Dimerof.
"Ah... no."
"..."
As Dimerof sat back down with a miserable expression, Do-ha shook his head. That was why he hated the position of emperor. People thought an emperor lived in comfort and leisure, but in reality he had to live buried under work like that.
"Well, if we can't spar, I guess I'll just go."
In the end, Do-ha set down the object he had been fiddling with and stood up. He had come expecting a refreshing spar with Dimerof, but it looked like there was no time for that.
"Ah, Do-ha. If you're not busy, could you find that person for me?"
"That person?"
"Yeah. That Son Sobaek fellow."
"Why the Sword Emperor all of a sudden?"
Sword Emperor Son Sobaek. Dimerof was currently searching for the missing Sword Emperor.