Ch.137Chapter 137 – Master (1)

“Then we will safely escort your companion to Korea.”

“I appreciate it.”

At Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Shin Jaehyuk shook hands with the captain in front of the private jet arranged by Leon, an intelligence agent. Through the airplane window, he could see Lee Yujin waving enthusiastically at him. Shin Jaehyuk read her lips.

‘Come back safely…’

Shin Jaehyuk nodded slightly and gave her a reassuring smile. Soon, the plane carrying Lee Yujin took off and flew toward Seoul, beyond the horizon.

‘I don’t know who the Sage is, so I can’t take her with me. It’s too dangerous.’

He couldn’t even guarantee her safety when facing vampires, let alone confronting the Sage who had reached the same level as him, or perhaps even higher. Shin Jaehyuk wasn’t confident he could protect Lee Yujin if the Sage showed hostility. That was why he had sent her back to Korea.

“One person taking the risk is enough.”

Shin Jaehyuk took out the Sage’s book of prophecies from his chest, which Leon had given him as a reward for capturing the vampire. According to Satan, this book would guide Shin Jaehyuk to the Sage Leonardo.

The prophetic book was in remarkably good condition despite being an ancient text written hundreds of years ago. Shin Jaehyuk could understand why.

‘It has preservation magic cast on it to prevent deterioration over time. This is definitely what I’ve been looking for.’

Since mana didn’t exist on Earth hundreds of years ago, the author of this book must undoubtedly be the Sage Leonardo.

Supporting his conjecture, the book’s contents were all written in ancient Eden language. Occasionally, there were obsolete symbols that would only appear in texts considered ancient even in Eden.

“The content itself is quite ordinary…”

Despite being called a book of prophecies, it mainly covered the history of Eden. Some parts aligned with Shin Jaehyuk’s knowledge, while others presented distorted histories. However, there was no mention anywhere of the Sage Leonardo’s whereabouts.

Yet Shin Jaehyuk wasn’t disappointed. His keen eye soon noticed the geometric patterns decorating the edges of the book.

‘Mana roads. The book itself is a magic circle.’

Shin Jaehyuk placed his hand on the book and channeled a small amount of mana into the mana roads. As the mana flowed through, the magic circle activated, and the book opened by itself with a rustling sound. Each page of the prophecy book functioned like a projector film, casting a hologram into the air.

“…Amazing. Creating such an intricate map with just a book-sized magic circle…”

What the book’s hologram created with magical light was a massive globe. A detailed globe that could never have been made in an era when people didn’t even know the shapes of continents and oceans.

Though Shin Jaehyuk wasn’t particularly versed in magic, he could vaguely appreciate what an extraordinary culmination of magical engineering this prophecy book was. He had never heard of such technology existing in either his previous life or his current one. It must be a technology the Sage himself had invented, like the magic light cannon or mana collector.

The globe, which could be called art rather than magic, spun around on its own before stopping at a particular section. A point on the map was blinking red. Accustomed to modern UI, Shin Jaehyuk instinctively understood its meaning.

“That’s the place. The Sage’s dwelling.”

Shin Jaehyuk turned on his phone’s map app to check the location. It was a small temple on a high mountain in Tibet, in a remote area without even a name. A hidden temple that couldn’t be found by ordinary means, only visible if one knew the exact coordinates and looked at satellite images.

Shin Jaehyuk recorded the coordinates and immediately called Leon.

“Leon? I need one more favor. Please prepare another private jet. Yes, right now.”

***

“How long will the anesthesia last?”

“One minute remaining, sir.”

“Inject 200cc more.”

Inside the special vehicle transporting the captured vampire for the Awakened detention facility, agents maintained constant vigilance, never taking their eyes off the vampire for even a second.

The vampire’s face contorted uncomfortably and a faint groan escaped as he received a lethal dose of drugs, but the agents only aimed their guns more intently, heightening their senses. Though outwardly indistinguishable from an ordinary human, the agents weren’t taking any chances with the power and cruelty hidden behind the seemingly harmless appearance of this A-class boss.

“Once the anesthetic is administered, drain the magical power again.”

“Yes, sir.”

An agent capable of absorbing others’ magical power through physical contact placed his hand over the vampire’s heart and drew in the demonic energy. Indeed, the unconscious vampire’s involuntary emission of magical energy was substantial, proving worthy of the A-class rating.

“A human undergoing demonization… It’s truly incredible recovery power, hard to believe even when seeing it with my own eyes. The external wounds have already disappeared, and the heart is working like a pump, drawing in and refining magical energy from the atmosphere.”

“That’s why monster blood is used to make regeneration potions. It’s also why modern firearms are ineffective against monsters above a certain level.”

“But can we really communicate with it? It’s certainly surprising that it resembles a human in appearance…”

“Yes. They’ve confirmed it can communicate in Eden’s language. It’s a remarkable achievement. Being able to communicate means that with proper persuasion, we might learn about the origins, forces, tactics, and organization of monsters—information that has never been revealed before…”

While the senior agent explained the significance of this capture to the rookie, the agent who had completed the magic removal spoke with a dubious expression.

“…More importantly, isn’t it quite coincidental? First ‘demons’ from the Bible appear, then ‘Eden’ turns out to be a real place, and now even ‘vampires’ that we thought were fictional creatures…”

“It’s a bit strange to dismiss it as mere coincidence of names…. When theories like the Dimension Separation Theory and Observer Theory were submitted in reports before, I dismissed them as nonsense. But perhaps they might be true after all…”

“Dimension Separation Theory? Observer Theory? What are those?”

The senior agent explained to the curious rookie.

“The Dimension Separation Theory claims that Eden and Earth were once one… I think it’s complete nonsense. It seriously cites the Garden of Eden from the Bible as evidence, suggesting that the massive continent somehow broke away from Earth and dimensionally shifted—pure fantasy fiction. The Observer Theory is much more credible.”

“What’s the Observer Theory?”

“It suggests that ancient people somehow observed Eden’s existence, and this information was passed down through legends and folklore. However, as time passed, the reliability of the information deteriorated, eventually losing its historical significance and being absorbed into fantasy culture or religion.”

“So it means the story was considered too absurd to be fact and was treated as fiction, until no one believed in Eden’s stories anymore… Well, historians wouldn’t have believed in talk of demons and vampires.”

The senior agent nodded seriously.

“Exactly. And this is currently the most plausible hypothesis. Evidence is emerging: elves, dwarves, dragons, and other races; magic, magical energy, divine power—all things we believed were fictional but actually existed in Eden. According to a theologian who studied the Light Order’s doctrine, the Bible and Eden’s scripture are remarkably similar in content. Not just angels and demons, but various miracle-related anecdotes as well.”

“…Good heavens. Does that mean the origin of Earth’s largest religion is Eden?”

“Perhaps. It’s quite curious. If this hypothesis is true, it means someone deliberately spread Eden’s religion throughout Earth. Until it became the largest religion on the planet…”

“Oh? You’ve figured out that much? Humans truly have remarkable imagination.”

An unfamiliar voice. Despite being startled by the sudden third voice in the sealed space, the agents’ actions were swift as their training dictated. They immediately assumed combat positions and quickly aimed their guns toward the source of the voice.

“W-who are you! Identify yourself! How did you get in here?”

“Oops… The conversation was so interesting that I couldn’t help but join in.”

The agents’ wary questions were met with an absurdly casual soliloquy.

For a moment, the agents suspected the vampire had regained consciousness, but the vampire was still unconscious from the drugs. The man who suddenly appeared in the sealed room of the moving vehicle—impossible to enter through normal means—had blood-red pupils and snake-like pale skin.

“Excuse my rudeness. My name is Mr. B. And I’m afraid I’ll have to commit one more discourtesy.”

“-? What do you mea-“

Thud.

The questioning voice couldn’t complete the sentence. With a single gesture from Mr. B—Satan—the agents’ heads simultaneously exploded.

Their headless bodies collapsed like puppets with cut strings, spraying blood everywhere. Satan, who had effortlessly massacred France’s elite intelligence agents within 10 seconds of his appearance, reminisced with a nostalgic tone.

“That was quite fun back then. Pretending to be a messiah and spreading religion. If it hadn’t been for my damn father’s orders, it would have been even more entertaining…”

Satan picked up one of the corpses and poured its blood into the unconscious vampire’s mouth. True to its nature as a magical being that feeds on blood, the vampire quickly regained consciousness as blood was supplied.

“Ugh… Y-you.”

The vampire instinctively sensed that the other was a higher-ranking demon than himself. And overwhelmingly powerful at that.

While the vampire was too tense to speak properly, Satan flicked his finger to create a gate. He picked up the vampire like a bundle and passed through the gate. In an instant, the scenery changed to reveal an imperial palace corridor adorned with lavish decorations.

“This is…”

“The Imperial Palace. Originally, direct teleportation inside was impossible due to coordinate disruption artifacts placed everywhere, but thanks to Beelzebub’s army running amok recently, a gap was created.”

After closing the gate, Satan calmly answered the vampire’s question and continued walking. The vampire followed Satan through the corridor leading to the deepest part of the palace.

“Intruders- Gah!”

Befitting a place with particularly strict security within the palace, they repeatedly encountered holy knights guarding the emperor’s bedroom, but all were reduced to mere chunks of meat with a casual gesture from Satan. Making a mockery of the term “elite,” the holy knights perished like scarecrows without offering any resistance.

‘He’s powerful… Hell must have sent a high-ranking demon as a troubleshooter, concerned that I might fail my mission.’

The vampire swallowed dryly as he watched the holy knights—whom he would have struggled to even face—turn into bloody pulp. That power, that authority granted by the Hell Gate. He must be an archduke-level demon favored by the Demon King.

“Finally, we’ve arrived! This is your destination, isn’t it?”

“…Yes, it is.”

After several encounters and repeated slaughter, the two finally reached the emperor’s chambers. Satan opened the heavy door with strength that belied his thin frame, revealing a sarcophagus in the center of the spacious room.

Holy artifacts were installed around the circular wall, facing the center, and a faint scent of herbs like garlic wafted through the air. Mediums to strengthen the sealing formation, perhaps. Thinking these would be a hindrance, Satan casually swept his demonic energy, causing all the holy artifacts to explode into scrap metal as they couldn’t withstand the excessive energy.

Satan turned to the vampire and handed him a dagger.

“Now, go and do what you must, vermin.”

“…I don’t know who you are, but I thank you for your assistance, great one.”

The vampire respectfully accepted the dagger Satan offered and approached the sarcophagus. When he applied force to open it, there was a body inside.

A body so desiccated it looked as if all moisture had been drained from it, with a stake driven through the center of its chest. Or more precisely, a being with such minimal life signs it was practically a corpse. The vampire shed tears as he took in the wretched sight.

“Ah, aah… To suffer such terrible humiliation because of that detestable Behemdorf…”

The vampire wiped away his tears and carefully removed the stake from the emperor’s body.

“The time has come. The quantity of sacrifices is sufficient, and our brethren continue to increase our kind even now.”

The vampire plunged the dagger into his own chest, opening his thorax. Beneath the heaving ribs was a pounding heart. The vampire swallowed once, then with a resolute gesture, tore out his own heart.

“…As the current world is no different from hell, the day of judgment has finally arrived.”

The black heart in the vampire’s hands convulsed, spewing demonic energy and blood. Though the vampire’s complexion turned deathly pale in real-time from the fatal wound, he maintained a reverent attitude and carefully placed his heart into the emperor’s pierced chest.

“Now awaken from your long slumber, end everything, and begin everything anew…”

Blood vessels spontaneously rose from the magical being’s heart and connected with the emperor’s body. The blackened heart beat violently, expelling demonic energy and blood with each pulse. Life returned to the mummified body as it filled out and regained color.

“Ah, my master…”

The vampire, who had been ecstatically watching the revival of his master who had been unjustly sealed by Behemdorf, finally dropped his head. A stream of blood flowing from the vampire’s mouth dripped onto the emperor’s lips.

…A tongue slipped out between the parted lips and licked that elixir of life.