Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Barak
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Before Wang-sik stood two battered men.
Every part of their bodies, save for their faces, was bruised, and one shoulder and knee on each were already broken.
Wang-sik, having thrown the two into an empty warehouse, spoke with a chilling expression.
“Why the wronged expressions? I'm only doing to you what you planned to do.”
They were at the gate hub in the Decartes Mountains.
Until he had beaten them into this state, Wang-sik hadn't asked a single question. This had pushed the two men further into terror, but their eyes had not yet lost their defiance.
“Shall we have a little chat? Who was it that opened the gate for you?”
The two men's expressions remained unchanged. But the Vice Guild Leader glanced furtively at the Guild Leader.
Wang-sik walked over to the Guild Leader.
“Shall I tell you your fate?”
Seeing the Guild Leader's wavering eyes, Wang-sik continued.
“You're going to die. So is he.”
Most would offer hope to persuade, but Wang-sik did not. Instead, he cast them into despair and spoke again.
“I'll make your deaths as painful as possible. I can't just let someone who touched my family die peacefully, can I?”
Wang-sik bound their bodies with chains and brought over a box from a corner of the warehouse.
“Do you know how the young of an ironclad spider grows?”
When Wang-sik opened the box, tiny insects the size of a pinky fingernail were visible. The two men knew they were ironclad spiders.
“They grow by eating their mother's body. They start from the tips of her limbs, eating piece by piece to keep her alive.”
Wang-sik placed the spiders on their feet. The creatures immediately burrowed into their flesh, and the two men let out horrifying screams.
“You won't even be able to pass out until your heart is eaten last. Experience it fully.”
“P-Please, stop!”
Wang-sik left them and walked out of the warehouse.
* * *
When Wang-sik returned, their limbs had turned black and necrotic. Eaten down to the bone, their limbs were limp, yet they still writhed in agony.
“P-Please, kill me! Please!”
“Tell me who they are. This is your last chance. Oh, but it doesn't matter if you don't. I already have a good idea.”
“Guild Leader! Please, say something! Please!”
Even the Vice Guild Leader, who had always sided with Demian, broke down in the face of pain.
Demian himself could no longer endure, his reason paralyzed by the excruciating agony.
“Barak! It was Barak!”
“Barak?”
Noticing he couldn't speak clearly through the pain, Wang-sik poured a potion into his mouth.
“They're madmen who worship an ancient demon! They approached us first! They tried to hide it, but I knew they were Barak!”
Demian was certain about the group called Barak.
Unaware of its significance, Wang-sik quickly moved to the next question.
“How do I meet them?”
“You can't. I only ever met one of them. He was my only contact, and he prepared everything I needed. There were others, but they were just underlings taking orders.”
“If that's all you know, I can't grant you death.”
“Rondes! His name is Rondes! He has a wart under his eye and ear! A-and a red beard!”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“The lab! He was in the lab!”
Hearing this, Wang-sik’s eyebrows twitched.
‘Then could it be?’
He wanted to check immediately, but the interrogation was more important right now.
“Tell me everything from the beginning, how you met.”
“N-No more…”
As the potion's effect wore off, the man began to groan in pain again.
“You'll have to wait a few more days. The pain will only get worse.”
Demian began to speak, his words faltering.
* * *
Upon returning to Earth, Wang-sik immediately looked into the man with the red beard.
He had already received the personal details of those captured at the lab from the United States, so he could check right away.
“Found him.”
A wart below the eye and a red beard.
Kang Il-seop immediately contacted the U.S. to inquire about his custody. But the expression on his face was grim when he heard the result.
“They say he's already dead.”
The U.S. sent a video along with the report.
It was CCTV footage of an interrogation.
The man in the interrogation room suddenly grew in size, broke his special restraints, and began to resist.
The interrogating agent died on the spot, and it took the deployment of Awakened to finally subdue him again. But as the agents closed in during the process, his body exploded.
“Vicious bastard. He deliberately drew them in to die with him.”
“Well, we found out the name ‘Barak,’ so we’ll have to investigate on the Azelan side.”
“We’ll have to.”
Kang Il-seop wore a serious expression.
“No matter how I think about it, these are dangerous people. They weren't just trying to invade Earth; they were trying to spread a religion.”
“I agree.”
They looked back at the paused monitor.
“A fanatic…”
Wang-sik couldn't take his eyes off the monitor for a while.
It was because the man in the frozen frame was smiling.
He acted like a demon with the smile of an angel.
“The apostle's identity has been revealed.”
“The Hero is going to be busy.”
Wang-sik averted his gaze and returned to Azelan.
* * *
The Southern Alchemist Guild quickly stabilized with the appointment of a new Guild Leader. The new leader, with Dusk's support, unfroze the guild's finances and swiftly resolved the friction with the Mirje Trading Company.
“You can think of him as a marionette. A scarecrow who only follows our orders.”
Oh Min-jae waved a document that was essentially their leash.
It was a document that completely transferred the right to provide alchemical formulas. It also included their research results.
Now, the Mirje Trading Company had a monopoly on magical ingredients.
“Dusk did a good job this time, didn't he?”
While Oh Min-jae took the magical ingredients, Dusk was to handle the rest of the operations.
With the Mirje Trading Company's help, the business would recover quickly. And once money started to flow, those who had left were bound to return.
“Hyung, what are your plans for Dusk? It seems like you're intentionally building him up.”
Wang-sik answered with a smile.
“Don't tell me you're planning to go to war with the Empire or something.”
“That's right.”
“Right?”
“Nobles are restricted in how many private soldiers they can have, but the underworld has no such limits.”
“Even so…”
“They're still weak, but wouldn't it be interesting if they united the entire continent's underworld?”
“Still, for an underworld gang to take on the Empire… ah!”
The thought of a citizen revolt suddenly crossed Oh Min-jae's mind.
What if the force leading it was the one led by Dusk? It wouldn't be enough to topple the Empire, but it would undoubtedly cause immense chaos.
“Interesting. You're in a class of your own when it comes to wicked schemes.”
“This is Azelan, after all.”
Oh Min-jae nodded as well.
“In that case, should I start building them up properly now? We're already connected because of this incident.”
“If they grow too quickly, they'll attract rivals. More importantly, you can't be exposed because of them.”
“I won't step into the forefront. Besides, they need a proper system to grow. They seem a bit precarious right now.”
“In that case, fine.”
“Got it. I'll give orders as if they're coming from you.”
Oh Min-jae held up the seal he had received before.
“By the way, have you found out anything about those Barak people?”
“Yeah, there's a pretty famous story. The official name is Barak Hemian. It seems they weren't a cult. They were in the official records but were destroyed in a religious war.”
“A religious war?”
“The angel Hemian and the demon Barak. Barak Hemian worshipped both gods simultaneously. But it seems the group split into a faction that followed the angel Hemian and one that followed the demon Barak. They fought a war, and Hemian won.”
“So the current Hemian Temple branched off from them?”
“That's right. Five hundred years ago, they erased the name Barak and became the Hemian Temple. Ironically, under the name of the Goddess of Harmony.”
The Hemian Temple didn't go out of its way to mention this history, but they had their excuses.
“In any case, it’s a record of defeating a demon, so it's not bad for them. Many of their followers are proud of it.”
“And here I am, an Elder of Hemian, and I had no idea.”
“It can't be helped. Anyway, the Hemian Temple now is basically a business.”
“Hmm…”
Wang-sik pondered for a moment before asking.
“Is that history why they're hiding their identity?”
“Probably. If Hemian found out, they wouldn't just stand by.”
“If we play this right, something interesting could happen.”
“Right. It’s something that could drive a wedge between the Magic Tower and the Hemian Temple. But it seems premature. We don't have any concrete evidence yet.”
Wang-sik agreed.
They hadn't secured enough evidence to inform the Hemian Temple.
“So the only one left is Falcon from the Magic Tower?”
He was the mage who had created the gate in New Zealand.
“There's no way to approach him right now.”
“Any way to lure him out?”
“It's possible if I push it. But if something happens to him, I'll be the one under suspicion.”
“Can't be helped. Considering what that Demian guy said, he probably met Falcon while hiding his identity too.”
“That's likely. Their relationship probably isn't as old as the one with the Alchemist Guild, so he might not know his true identity.”
“Let's just watch that situation for now. We'll need to investigate it more closely.”
They decided to wrap up the current incident for the time being.
As he emerged from his deep thoughts, one person naturally came to Oh Min-jae’s mind.
“How's Aisi these days?”
“The monsters are in a pitiful state. You could call her the bully of the Grade 4 zone.”
When Oh Min-jae let out a slight smile, Wang-sik chided him.
“You like that she's a bully?”
“It's cute, isn't it? A bully with that face.”
“You'd say the same thing if I called her a demon, wouldn't you?”
“Hehe. A demon would be cute too. A cute demon.”
Wang-sik decided to give up on teasing him.
“I was planning to go see her anyway. Want to come?”
“No. I’ll just get distracted. This is an important time.”
“A man who knows restraint. Impressive.”
Wang-sik patted his brother's shoulder and headed for the Decartes Mountains.
* * *
The Decartes Mountains.
Aisi was engaged in a fierce battle on the border between the Grade 4 and Grade 5 zones.
It was a choice she made because she no longer had any rivals in Grade 4. The occasional Grade 5 monster that appeared was on a completely different level of power, forcing Aisi to maintain a sharp sense of tension.
But the life-or-death battles awakened her instincts to their very limit.
ROOOAR!
As she entered the Grade 5 zone, she let out a challenging roar, and the monsters, sensing an intruder, swarmed her. Aisi advanced, overwhelming the Grade 5 monsters.
She realized her mistake just after crossing the second hill.
A powerful monster charged at her with a speed unlike anything she had faced before. Unable to dodge its attack, Aisi took a powerful blow to her side.
—Don't go into the Grade 5 zone. S-rank monsters appear there.
Min Ha-na's words came back to her then.
‘I have to go back.’
Her reason had returned, but the situation was not good. Her escape route was already blocked by a mountain of monsters.
‘The weakest direction is…’
She had no choice but to fight her way out. But as her stamina dwindled and her wounds piled up, she found herself in a crisis.
Thud!
A massive foot kicked Aisi in the head as she was barely holding on. Sent rolling and bouncing across the ground, she slammed into a thick tree.
‘Iron Munk.’
Her bones must have broken, as moving her body was not easy.
Sensing her condition, the Iron Munk immediately brought its steel hammer down toward her head. Aisi mustered her remaining strength to dodge, but her position was poor.
Three monsters descended upon her.
‘Have I lost?’
Just as the monsters were about to deliver the final blow to the fledgling intruder, something blocked their path.
CRASH!
It was a golden shield.
“Get up.”
At Wang-sik's command, Aisi staggered to her feet.
“Transform. It’s hard to carry you like this.”
Aisi returned to her human form. Wang-sik then slung her over his shoulder. The monsters shrieked and thrashed about, but Wang-sik simply raised his shield and slowly retreated.
Fortunately, they weren't deep in the Grade 5 zone, so they escaped back to Grade 4 without much difficulty.
After retreating to the safe zone of the Grade 3 ironclad spider nest, Wang-sik set Aisi down on the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
Wang-sik didn't launch into a long lecture.
“Have you ever thought about what would happen after you die?”
Aisi lowered her head.
The first person who came to mind was Oh Min-jae. Then, Min Ha-na, Sa Seon-gi, and Gong Yeong-ji. Their support and efforts. Not only would it all turn to nothing, but they would feel deep sorrow because of her.
And finally, one more person came to mind.
‘Dad.’
When her father died, she had grieved. When someone dies, those who loved them live on, carrying that sorrow.
“I’m truly sorry.”
“Those who love you will be sad, and those who hate you will rejoice.”
Aisi carved those words deep into her heart.
“Control your instincts. That's your final task. Your coming-of-age ceremony will happen after that.”
“I’ll be sure to do it.”
Wang-sik took out a potion and treated Aisi's wounds.