The Reaper (Death)

+++

Enoch Ruozvolnick’s survival had been confirmed.

However, the Alliance leadership gathered before the Name Seeker fell into great confusion.

“Just what is the meaning of this result!”

“What does this outcome signify?”

No one could interpret the Name Seeker’s findings – too anomalous and contradictory.

“Co, Could the machine have malfunctioned? Initially, His demise was confirmed 100 years ago! This must be an error!”

Naturally, there had been several test activations on ordinary individuals to verify its functionality. The machine was operating normally.

“…If the machine had malfunctioned, it would have done so 100 years ago as well. Even that thaumaturgy golem’s item description corroborates His survival…”

“…”

Silence fell.

“No.”

However, the 4th Elder then spoke up.

A Elder from the Dragon Kingdom, like the 2nd Elder, he too exceeded 100 years of age.

“The machine functioned properly even 100 years ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Deity immediately verified Enoch’s status after the Great Dark War. However, the Deity could not even locate His soul. The Dragon Kingdom confirmed this through divine revelation.”

Doyun and his close aides nodded in understanding. Due to dimensional banishment, Enoch’s soul had not existed in this world.

Thus far, the situation aligned with their knowledge.

[Hero…]

Excluding the location indicated by the monitor, this phenomenon itself was not entirely impossible.

[Co, Could you have had a hidden child?]

The Name Seeker cannot detect unborn life.

In other words, if Enoch had an offspring who had not been born during the previous Name Seeker activation 100 years ago, it would be plausible.

Again, excluding the indicated location.

However, this too was an implausible scenario.

[…No. That could never be.]

Originally averse to having children due to the regressions, Enoch had been especially vigilant during this 18th cycle.

This time, the possibility of truly defeating the Dark Lord and avoiding regression had emerged.

It was not that he refrained from intimacy. He had embraced many admiring women, but always practiced thorough contraception.

The probability of him having an unknown child was nonexistent.

Dokkogamuyong and Heineken offered their own hypotheses.

[Co, Could Enoch’s remnant body have been manipulated by the Dark Lord?]

[We should experiment if a necromancer-controlled corpse can be detected by the Seeker.]

However, Doyun shook his head.

[My body was completely torn apart by the dimensional transition’s impact, scattered into dimensional crevices.]

[Then just what could this be…]

Doyun fell silent, having no answers himself.

“…Let us apply the highest security clearance and handle this matter in utmost secrecy.”

Dokkogamuyong spoke aloud. Everyone nodded without objection.

Even the Alliance leadership present was experiencing such turmoil. If this fact spread and escalated across the continent, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Trust, respect, and gratitude towards Enoch Ruozvolnick formed the Alliance’s spiritual foundation. Undoubtedly, the entire Alliance would be shaken to its core.

Amidst this war, the most dreadful scenario of internal division could become reality.

“For now… based on Apostle Han Doyun’s testimony, we shall investigate the relevant relic site. Once sufficient evidence has been gathered, we must engage in deeper discussion.”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”

There was nothing more to be discerned here.

Thus, leaving only questions unanswered, the Enoch Ruozvolnick survival commotion reached a temporary conclusion.

+++

With the situation unresolved and hanging in ambiguity, Doyun, Sophia, Rosinante, and Elroar headed to the Underground Grand Auction.

The Underground Grand Auction took place over the course of a week in Cocachoatl, the continent’s preeminent crime city.

Each day featured different categories of goods, with weaponry and armor being auctioned today.

Hence, despite his tumultuous mindset, Doyun had no choice but to immediately participate in the auction for armaments.

The quartet wore deep-hooded robes as they walked the streets, enveloped by the saccharine scent of drugs and night-blooming flowers wafting from all directions – even in broad daylight.

‘Sigh…’

Already troubled, Doyun’s brow furrowed slightly at traversing these vexing streets.

The pervasive, cloying stench of narcotics made his head throb. While his physique was impervious to drugs, it was a mental stress.

Cocachoatl was a notoriously wicked city existing for centuries.

Just as countless carriages converged on the capital, all the continent’s criminals gathered here before dispersing once more – the heart of crime.

Neither nations nor the Alliance, even Enoch himself, had ever relinquished this place.

During his 10th to 13th cycles of utter inhumanity and savagery, in the 12th cycle, Enoch had utterly annihilated this city.

Sealing it with magic and releasing poison gas, he granted himself an anti-venom spell before systematically slaughtering all survivors. Tens of thousands of Alliance civilians were massacred overnight.

Of course, among them were innocent enslaved individuals and children, as well as several foreign dignitaries.

However, Enoch, half-maddened by the endless regressions, showed no mercy under his twisted, blind ‘for the Alliance’ justification. He had been a veritable butcher then.

Remarkably, the crime city was reborn like a resilient cockroach under a different name.

Realizing the futility of purging the heart of crime, Enoch had strived to ignore it in subsequent cycles.

Already vexed by preparations for the Fiend search and the Ruozvolnick revelation in the Dark Lord’s Domain,

traversing this abhorrent city only exacerbated Doyun’s agitation, his already heightened sensitivities becoming apparent even to himself.

‘…I must acquire the items swiftly without restraint and depart this place.’

More gold coins would likely be expended than anticipated – perhaps even up to 20,000.

Extravagant overconsumption, but he did not care.

The strongest on the continent, yet susceptible to stress above all else, Doyun wished to leave here as soon as possible.

‘Sigh…’

As he frowned, contemplating blocking his sense of smell, Doyun’s steps halted abruptly.

“…!”

“Hm? What’s wro…”

Turning back at his sudden stop, Elroar flinched in surprise.

“Apostle Doyun…?”

The Hero’s pupils were constricted, trembling as if in an earthquake.

“…Apostle Doyun.”

[Hero? Why are you like this! Hero!]

Witnessing his unprecedented, seemingly terrified reaction, Elroar shook his shoulders.

Sophia and Rosinante watched with puzzled expressions.

Barely steadying his quivering hands, Doyun pointed towards a woman in an alleyway.

[…That woman.]

Elroar looked where Doyun indicated.

An unremarkable, drug-addicted prostitute and thief stood there – tattooed, clad in tight attire, eyes glazed over.

[What about her? Shall I apprehend her? Kill her? Just give the order.]

Elroar urged him wide-eyed.

However, Doyun’s subsequent words were unexpectedly feeble and anticlimactic.

[An unfamiliar… hair color.]

[Pardon? Her hair?]

Elroar glanced at the woman again.

A deep, mystical shade of violet like the night sky. Certainly unusual, likely enhancing her street value.

But to Doyun, it was not merely peculiar – it held special significance.

No such race with that hair color existed on the continent. In over 200 years of traversing it, Doyun knew of only one individual who possessed that night sky-like violet hue.

[…The same hair color as the Fiends.]

[Ah…]

Elroar let out a sigh of realization.

[…An otherworldly race that migrated here. Certainly a beautiful hair color unseen on this continent, a once somewhat renowned race.]

[…My apologies. I overreacted.]

Elroar gazed at the Hero with sympathetic eyes.

It was well-known that the Hero abhorred this city. Already overwhelmed by recent stressors, an unpleasant trauma had triggered his heightened sensitivities.

Doyun surveyed his surroundings carefully. Indeed, a few others with that hair color could be seen.

Activating [The Seventh Sense] to scrutinize them meticulously on the off-chance, they proved to be merely unremarkable vagrants.

Elroar noticed the Hero’s jawline still trembling ever so slightly, her heart aching with compassion.

[…Hero, you seem quite unwell. Shall we return for you to rest? I can procure the items, alright?]

[No. In this city, the goods must be visually inspected. It was merely a momentary lapse in composure, do not worry, Elroar.]

[…]

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he resumed walking.

Right, there was no way a Fiend could be present in a place like this…

‘…I really must depart swiftly.’

His usually guarded stress levels were exceeding the threshold. Even with a changed body, this weakened mentality, fatigued by 200 years, seemed to persist.

As Doyun began moving again, the observing Sophia and Rosinante approached with concern.

“Doyun? Are you alright? Is there an issue with your body?”

“Captain. Allow me to carry you.”

“No, I’m fine. My apologies for worrying you both. Just a momentary fatigue.”

“…”

Aware of his immense Endurance stat, Sophia silently watched him. Mere fatigue could never rattle his mind.

However, like Elroar, she could only gaze at him with sympathetic eyes.

‘As always…’

He burdens unknown hardships alone.

Suppressing her thoughts, she followed Doyun once more, with Rosinante hurriedly trailing behind after grasping the situation.