episode_0046

A liquid that turns people into undead. The reason Leos reacted sensitively to that was because he had witnessed it before.

“This is Director Leos of the Gate Management Headquarters. I heard that you came out to retrieve the body by order of the Empire. The bodies that have not yet rotted have been gathered in one place as you said.”

“Okay.”

A man who didn’t say anything. Leos remembers the man who just had a shabby cloak wrapped around his back. His face and appearance were unique, but most of all, I couldn’t forget the smell of blood coming from his body.

“What is your name?”

Leos asked a question at the time, feeling like he needed to know the identity of the man who looked suspicious at first glance. Then the guy responded with a completely uninterested expression.

“It’s Artan.”

After saying that, Artan went straight to the place where the corpses were piled up. It’s as if they don’t even care about the gate management headquarters in the first place.

And Artan took out a syringe from his pocket. As the green liquid was sequentially injected into the corpses, one corpse flinched and jumped up from its seat. However, soon after, he fell to the ground again and his body completely crumbled.

Dozens of corpses disappeared as if they had all disappeared in less than 10 minutes.

“Failed again.”

After saying those words, Artan turned his head and headed somewhere. Leos asked a question to that man.

“What are you doing now?”

“It is an eternal life form. It’s a potion that the Empire is testing to produce as an artifact.”

Leos flinched at those words for a moment.

Eternal life. A potion that makes humans immortal. It was a potion that existed only as a setting in the novel of possession. Something that is common as a legend that is not actually realized.

The problem wasn’t eternal life. A group that wants to create eternal life. Even the name of the Heavenly Council arrogantly claims that they are above the sky. The actual emperor of the empire was Artan, a member of the Celestial Council who was believed to be able to seize real power at any time if they stepped forward, although Bermon was in charge.

‘I remembered…’

Although they were a group that appeared briefly in the novel like a MacGuffin, their influence was never low. In fact, the energy felt from Artan’s entire body was also strong.

“Do you know me? That can’t be possible.”

Artan stared into Leos’ eyes for a moment and then quickly fired his sword.

-Chaeeeng!

Leos countered the long sword that flew at him in an instant with the short dagger he had in his arms. The dagger was broken, but Artan’s attack trajectory was also completely distorted, so Leos was unharmed.

“Did you hide your power? I definitely didn’t feel any great energy.”

‘He is strong.’

Artan chuckled and responded to Leos, who swallowed his saliva and took a step back.

“Don’t be nervous. Originally, I was going to kill him because I witnessed the eternal life, but I think it would be a waste to just kill him. Even if you see, you do not see, and even if you know, you do not know. If you do that, I will save you.”

Leos said nothing at the arrogant attitude of the man.

Artan suggested to Leos.

“There is a place called Cheonsanghoe. It’s not just me, it’s a group of leading people. If you want money, I can give you hundreds of kilos of gold coins. Would you like to come with me sometime?”

“I refuse.”

“This quickly? I’m sure something good will happen to you too. Don’t you even know what kind of place it is yet?”

“I am serving as the head of the Gate Management Headquarters. I am satisfied with my current position.”

“That’s foolish.”

Artan looked at Leos pitifully and asked a question, as if he had lost interest.

“What is the reason you remain there? If you join the Heavenly Council, you will be able to gain money, fame, and power that are difficult to compare to now.”

“Because my colleagues are here. Even if they give me ten million won, I have no intention of leaving the gate management headquarters.”

Artan, who was looking at Leos, spoke with a wry smile.

“All relationships are bound to end someday. You are a foolish person who throws everything away for personal reasons.”

“Even though it may be foolish, I was taught to live like this.”

“Time will tell who is right. There will be a day when we will see each other again.”

After saying those words, the man disappeared from the scene in an instant. The figure disappeared in an instant, as if it had been teleported. Leos looked at him and thought.

In order to protect my comrades, I must become much more and overwhelmingly stronger than I am now.

*

‘Cheon Sanghoe…’

I had never heard any news from anyone other than Artan, and even Artan had only met me once, so I had forgotten about him until now. However, when I saw the eternal life form, the name Cheonsanghoe immediately came to mind.

Leos asked a question after destroying Nek’s body several times. At some point, Nek couldn’t even scream properly and was begging for his life.

“Everything…I’ll tell you everything. Please…please stop…please…”

Nek, whose entire body was broken, crawled on the ground and talked. Leos began to ask the man one by one what he was curious about.

“Is your boss Artan?”

“Ah…Letan…I don’t know the name.”

I suspected it might be a lie, but I wasn’t so stubborn that I could tell a lie when I was already half out of my mind. Leos immediately moved on to the next question.

“Tell me the name of your looter guild leader.”

“Drick…we call him Dreek…”

“Do you know about the Heavenly Council?”

“I don’t know…”

Nek answered hesitantly, as if it was difficult for him to even open his mouth, and Leos accepted his words.

‘It is not a guild run directly by the Heavenly Corridor.’

Considering Artan’s military power at the time, it was on a different level from Nek and the others here. If you are running a company directly, it is normal to see at least a few people of the same level. However, there was definitely no one in Bentase with skills comparable to his.

‘Are they just supplying items for experiments on living creatures?’

The question was immediately replaced by a question.

“How did you save the eternal life form?”

“There is a person who delivers… They contact you through distance, deliver the goods at certain intervals, and then disappear… When we report the results of the experiment, we pay you accordingly. Other than that, I don’t know anything.”

Nek responded like that and prayed while holding on to Leos’ leg.

“I…I told you everything I know. I was never supposed to talk about eternal life… but I said everything… as I knew everything. Please save me. Please save me…”

Leos raised his sword towards Nek, who was praying.

“Did you think I would forgive you if you showed such a disgusting behavior with the countless corpses you killed next to me? That’s terribly selfish. I had no intention of saving him from the beginning. Die regretting your evil deeds.”

“Ah…”

With a crunching sound, Nek turned into a lump of flesh like the corpses he had killed and rolled around on the floor. Leos left him behind and slowly walked out the door.

‘They are like cancer.’

With a force of this magnitude, it was clear that even if they created a safe zone, they would frequently cause problems. Even if it’s just a group of marauders, it’s a problem, and they’re even connected to the Heavenly Council.

‘These guys are an obstacle to getting closer to Redgate.’

Just as the Red Gate was sealed to prevent monsters from constantly respawning, the entire place had to be cleaned to eliminate the human waste that was sure to interfere countless times.

‘It would be great if I could know information about the Heavenly Council.’

With that thought in mind, Leos left the interrogation room and slowly walked straight toward the light. There were many looters drinking alcohol and snacks and making noise.

“Fuck! So, that bitch is doing this, right? Please…please save me, please save my child. Please…you’re fucking laughing.”

“So! So what did you do?”

“How do I do something? I just killed him.”

“Wow… As expected, Rengos, who is always in the top 10 in performance in the Ventase guild, is different. Killing everyone without blood or tears.”

“It’s exciting. Actually, my performance is also about performance. I just like killing humans. When I see him struggling and dying like that, does it feel like it’s confirming my strength? I couldn’t stop feeling superior by killing them one by one rather than having more money.”

Rengos took a gulp of fermented liquor and then added.

“Kya, this is the taste. Should I at least sprinkle some on their graves? I can’t be the only one who can feel this incredible taste.”

“Khahaha! That’s really crazy! Even the devil will click his tongue when he sees you.”

While the members of the Lieutenant Marauder’s Guild Ventase were making a fuss, they turned to the sound of footsteps and spoke.

“Neck? Surely you didn’t kill that bastard who was interrogating you again? I believe he didn’t kill me because he said I would just cut off the arms and legs and finish the job.”

As Leos began to get closer in the darkness, Rengos’ expression gradually changed.

“What the fuck…why are you here? Nek…what did you do with Nek?”

Leos swung his chain sword and pierced the head of the man next to Rengos. Leos spoke while looking at the corpse falling to the ground without any expression.

“That guy just followed Nek. Don’t be sad, I’ll send you to my side soon.”