The Bait They Left Behind
A seething mass.
"Damn. Now that's a sight."
Perched in a tree, Do-ha watched in open admiration as an undead legion more than five hundred million strong erased a Demon God Cult outpost in the span of a breath.
The night before, at dawn, Canteas had finally reclaimed his true body. His judgment had been right — his soul had crossed over into the original vessel. And when the Life Vessel etched into his clone shattered, the mana sealed inside it flooded into the main body. Canteas's circle rose to nine. An eighth-circle lich, elevated one full rank.
A soft rush of displaced air.
"I believe the saying for this is 'eat the pheasant and take the egg too,'" Canteas said, teleporting to Do-ha's side after annihilating the cult in an instant. Not only had he recovered his true form — his realm had climbed a full step. Two birds with one stone.
"You even know the proverbs… Look at you, getting smart."
"I don't spend every waking hour gaming, you know."
Canteas drew a sheaf of documents from his coat.
"Intel on a few other cult cells. This place knew where the others were."
"Oh? Really?"
Unexpected. The cultists had been so good at cutting their tails that every raid had dead-ended. Yet this outpost had kept careful records of the others' locations.
"There's a problem, though. From what's written here, it looks like the cult cells in Belhart have gone to ground."
"So they have."
Do-ha's brow furrowed as he read. The documents stated that every Demon God Cult presence that had once dominated the North Continent had simply vanished — almost certainly the moment he revealed himself.
"Showing yourself in front of the sect leaders must have spread the word that you're alive."
"I expected that much."
He just hadn't expected them to move this fast. The one silver lining: the Earth-side cult was still active.
Two popes. Of course they'd operate differently.
That was fine by him. Watching them, he could already see the quiet sniping between the two sides. Cross-check the intel from successive raids and the discrepancies started to stack up — little things that never quite lined up.
"Looks like they did send something to the pope on Earth, though…"
"Just dumped a single document on him and called it a day."
"Exactly."
"Unbelievable."
They had gone into hiding themselves, and all they'd bothered to give the Earth-side cult was a single sheet of paper. Not a personal visit. Not a briefing. One document. The Belhart cult's intent was written all over it.
"So these records… they were bait they tossed out?"
Do-ha barked a laugh, half in disbelief. He'd wondered why a faction so skilled at cutting its own tail would carefully note down other cells' locations. They'd left the information knowing he would come looking. In other words: Those ones are getting on our nerves. Handle them for us.
Annoying, yes — but fellow cultists, so they couldn't move against them openly. Quietly thinning the ranks, though, would have the Earth-side pope up in arms. And then — oh look — an Absolute Being just happened to show up. Hide yourselves, and use the opportunity to shrink the Earth-side cult's power. Perfect.
"This paperwork wasn't even written here. Some cultist who crossed over from Belhart planted it."
"A little sleight of hand."
"These sons of bitches…"
Killing intent bled into Do-ha's eyes. Using him as a tool? Whoever had cooked up this plan had badly miscalculated. He had no intention of dancing to their tune.
"Go tell Dimerof and Je-woo to stop searching for cult cells."
"Huh? For real?"
"Yeah."
Do-ha rose to his feet.
"Where are you going?"
"Their little scheme just gave me somewhere I need to be."
He didn't know whose bright idea it had been to play clever in front of him, but he wasn't about to perform on cue. If anything, it was time for him to move.
A heavy rush of wind. Another. Then a thunderous impact as three Bone Dragons dropped from the sky and landed hard. Critical forces Canteas could summon again now that he had returned to his true body.
"Haven't seen those in a while."
"Eheheh. Aren't they gorgeous?"
Canteas beamed with pure satisfaction at the Bone Dragons radiating overwhelming power. How long he had waited to see those beautiful creatures again.
A soft landing. Cheon Seol-gyeong — the Heavenly Demon — dismounted and strode to Canteas's side.
"You've gotten stronger too?"
"Hmph. Not stronger. Now that this Canteas bastard has reclaimed his true body, I can finally draw out my original power."
Cheon Seol-gyeong snorted. He had always been strong.
"Ah — wait. The two old men didn't see this guy, did they?"
Do-ha whirled on Canteas in sudden alarm. Anyone else was fine, but Cheon Seol-gyeong absolutely could not be shown in front of the Sword Emperor and the Saber Emperor. Son Sobaek's grandson and Heo Ung's disciple had both fallen to Cheon Seol-gyeong — the Sword Emperor's grandson losing an eye and his right arm, the Saber Emperor's disciple having both legs severed. Those two had fought the Heavenly Demon harder than anyone in the old days.
"I was fully drained and reverse-summoned by then."
"Good."
"Hmph. Those old fossils are still alive, are they?"
A sharp smack. Do-ha cuffed Cheon Seol-gyeong across the head for the tone.
"You should count yourself lucky you died by my hand. If those two old men had gotten to you, you would have died screaming."
"The Sword Emperor and Saber Emperor couldn't have left so much as a scratch on me."
"Oh, is that so? Canteas."
"Hm?"
"If Cheon Seol-gyeong gets damaged, can he recover?"
"His artificial body is mineral-based, so it's less recovery and more… repair."
"So repairs are possible?"
"Technically, yes. The problem is the sheer volume of materials it eats."
Cheon Seol-gyeong's artificial body was a composite of four materials: orichalcum, mithril, ten-thousand-year cold iron, and dragon remains. Orichalcum formed the bulk of the skin, which meant any serious repair required a fortune in the stuff.
"You're stopping by Dimerof before heading to Je-woo, right?"
"We'll be crossing straight into the West Continent, so yeah."
"Then when you pass through the East Continent, take this one on a full tour of the Moorim. Especially the sects that suffered the most under the Heavenly Demon — plant him right in front of them. Sword Emperor and Saber Emperor included."
"Wha—?!"
Cheon Seol-gyeong went rigid as the meaning hit him.
"Especially the ones who lost the most to the Heavenly Demon. Set him up nice and visible. In front of the Sword Emperor and Saber Emperor, too."
"Ahh~ That sounds fun."
Canteas nodded, smiling. The sight of a resurrected Cheon Seol-gyeong would draw every martial artist with a grudge, ready to work out some old rage.
"I'll cover the repair materials. Just leave him standing there as a punching bag."
"Okay. Got it."
"If too many martial artists hit him at once he might actually die, so manage it carefully."
"Obviously."
"Wai— wait a second—!"
Canteas seized the frantically reaching Cheon Seol-gyeong by the shoulder — and vanished with his forces in a teleport.
A crash. An explosion.
"Aagh!"
A wet crunch.
"…"
In a vast chamber, a one-eyed man sat in a shabby chair, radiating killing intent.
The door creaked open.
"Ugh, why are there so many of them? Swarming like a pack of dogs."
Do-ha walked in. New Age headquarters. He had branded Alteir's mana long ago, so finding him had been trivial.
"Hey. Is the cult that scary? Why the army of guards?"
Do-ha brushed the dust from his clothes and sat down across from Alteir.
"I didn't kill a single one of your people, by the way. Knocked them all out and healed them. Hah… my friends would lose their minds if they heard that."
Sparing the ones who had attacked him. Knocking them unconscious and treating their wounds on top of it. Every last one of them was a precious piece for the war against the cult — assets to be husbanded carefully, then spent only when they could take cultists down with them.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Look at those venomous eyes. Have you always been this dramatic? That has to be exhausting."
"…"
The endless mockery finally pushed Alteir to draw up his power. Whoever this was, walking in like this made him an enemy.
"Die."
A whistling rush of air. Alteir exploded up from his chair and drove a fist at Do-ha with terrifying speed.
A squeeze.
But one of Do-ha's Heavenly Black Diamonds had already formed and seized Alteir in its grip.
"Wh— what is this…"
A colossal arm closed around his body. Alteir's face went blank with shock. An ability like this existed in the world?
"Hey. Sit down and stop posturing before I actually kill you."
Suffocating killing intent poured off Do-ha as he sat with his legs crossed. Alteir swallowed hard. The moment he felt that aura, his head dropped of its own accord.
"Though honestly, for all the talk — I have no intention of killing you."
As Alteir trembled and kept his head down, Do-ha shrugged and let the killing intent dissolve.
"If I'd wanted you dead, I wouldn't have healed you in the first place."
"…Healed?"
Alteir tilted his head at the word. Healed him?
"What do you— Ah?!"
Recognition finally hit. Alteir's eyes flew wide. The enigmatic figure who had once pulled him back from the brink of death.
"Finally remembering?"
"Who the hell are you?"
Alteir's voice shook as he demanded an answer. The pope's whereabouts had haunted him — but so had the identity of the one who had saved him. Why heal him? How had the demon died? And if the demon was dead, what had become of the Dragon Heart? Too many questions.
"Ah. I've been going around without the mask lately, so of course you wouldn't recognize me."
Do-ha pulled a mask from his coat and put it on. Ever since revealing himself to the sect leaders, he'd been living bare-faced — an easy slip to make.
"Korea's Cheonwaecheon — A?!"
"That's right. Name's Baek Do-ha."
"…"
The truth landed, and Alteir's face went slack. He had assumed a powerhouse from Belhart. An Earth-side figure all along.
"Then the one who killed the demon back then…"
"That was me."
"Ha…"
Alteir let out a hollow laugh. At the time he hadn't landed a single clean blow on that demon. Later, piecing the reports together, he'd heard that the demon summoned to Alfheim had been killed by some human. That human was sitting across from him now.
"Same SSS-Rank, but the gap's so wide it's giving you whiplash, huh?"
Do-ha read the expression and snorted. The look in those eyes said the shock ran deep.
He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, locking eyes with the dazed Alteir.
"Originally I was going to dispose of you quickly. Anyone who could get wrecked by the likes of Belial wasn't worth using."
"But you turned out better at dismantling the cult than I expected. Surprised me."
Thanks to that, several Earth-side cult cells had been wiped clean, buying Do-ha the time to handle other business.
"Don't tell me the reason you saved me was…"
"Exactly. I figured if you survived, that thirst for revenge would point straight at the cult."
Alteir's teeth ground together as the realization hit — he had been played from the start. He had wondered why he'd been spared. So he could be a weapon against the cult.
"Oh? Grinding your teeth at me?"
A sharp crack. Do-ha's palm cracked across Alteir's cheek. Blood flecked the floor.
"Massacring elves and climbing into bed with the cult was more than enough reason for me to tear you apart. You should be grateful I let you live. You're getting your revenge on the cult because of it."
"So… why come find me?"
Blood running from his mouth, Alteir spat onto the floor and looked up at Do-ha.