Chapter 27 First, a Punch to the Stomach

I arrived at Reytana’s location after asking the Inquisitor for directions.

In a dark room, I saw a woman in a nun’s habit kneeling before a statue.
With blonde hair and a pleasant face, this was Reytana.

The very person who had kidnapped my younger sister.

Just then, my phone rang with a notification.

I thought cell phones wouldn’t work underground, but fortunately, the signal seemed to be getting through.

[Mr. Si-woo. I’ve rescued your sister. I’ll wait for you aboveground.]

I checked the text message on my phone.

It was Park Jin-ha telling me she had succeeded in her mission.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Originally, I was planning to just distract them until I could rescue Si-eun.

After all, my top priority was nothing other than rescuing Si-eun.

But now, my primary objective had been achieved.

I started loosening my shoulders.

The main quest was complete, and now it was time for the subquest to begin.

So now I could take my time and enjoy myself.

“Inquisitor, what on earth are you doing? You know this is no time for jokes, right?”

Before me, Reytana began to panic as she looked at the Inquisitor.

Her dignified and calm eyes had somehow transformed into a desperate look trying to understand this incomprehensible situation.

“Holy… Holy Saint, please ask for forgiveness too. This person is not human.”

The Order’s Inquisitor began to make a sad face when he saw Reytana.

It seems my earlier education had been effective.

But really, saying I’m not human… that’s kind of annoying to hear.

“Brother Si-woo… you’ll spare me as promised, right? Since I brought you to her?”

“Yes. Take that believer with you.”

The Inquisitor asked me with a forced smile.

I had told him earlier that I would spare his life if he told me the Saint’s location.

Well, a promise is a promise.

I released my grip on the Inquisitor’s hair.

Now that I knew the Saint’s location, I had no further use for him.

What mattered to me now was Reytana.

“Haha… thank you.”

And the Inquisitor took one of the believers in the room, gave me a 90-degree bow, and disappeared with lightning speed.

“Reytana. I’m quite angry right now.”

Now everyone had left.

The trembling believer who had been watching me and the Inquisitor who had guided me here just moments ago were both gone.

Now only Reytana and I remained in this dark room.

“Do you have anything to say before you die?”

Looking at Reytana, I felt anger surging within me.

It seems right to say she had gone too far with her games.

No matter how fearless the Saint was, and no matter how unscrupulous she had been in the past, touching my younger sister was crossing the line.

I was approaching Reytana with big strides.

“…Si-woo. It seems you’ve gained quite some ability, more than I expected.”

“I happened to acquire some abilities. By chance.”

Reytana had a surprised expression, but soon regained her composure.

And she showed a relaxed face with a gentle smile, just like when she used to deal with me before.

However, she also appeared somewhat anxious.

Just the fact that I had stormed in here like this must have been completely unexpected from her perspective.

“I see. Indeed… I’ve felt this before, but you’re quite remarkable, Si-woo.”

“Complimenting me now won’t make me go easy on you.”

Reytana spoke as if she was seeing me in a new light, but I didn’t come here to engage in trivial conversation.

No matter what she says, I have no intention of going easy on Reytana.

“Ahaha… go easy on me? No, if anything, I’m the one who should be going easy on you.”

Hearing my words about going easy, Reytana started to giggle.

“Si-woo. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised. Not only did you discover [The Order]’s secret basement, but you actually stormed in. And somehow, you even reduced the Inquisitor to such a state? I’m rather impressed. But you know one thing and not the other.”

And then she began to reveal a face of disbelief.

“Surprise attacks are good, and your abilities are impressive, but you made one mistake. Couldn’t you have been more thorough? Right now is when my holy power is at its peak, and this place is [The Order]’s headquarters. I’m quite strong right now, you know?”

As she spoke, Reytana’s gentle-looking face gradually transformed into that of a warrior.

Her nun’s habit began to flutter.

Reytana’s overflowing power made her calm blonde hair float.

“I might even be able to face Yoo Eun-ha before losing my power? Do you think you can defeat me, Si-woo?”

A steel club began to appear in Reytana’s hand.

The weapon used by the Saint, known as [God’s Iron Mace].

A weapon boasting extraordinary strength, made from gate metal that emits a black light from another dimension.

“You talk too damn much.”

I calmly prepared for battle.

To be honest, I wasn’t scared at all.

“Si-woo. You’ve become quite arrogant? I’m the 5th ranked S-class and the leader of [The Order], you know.”

Hearing my words, wrinkles formed between Reytana’s eyebrows.

It seems she was a bit angered by my attitude.

“I don’t know how you defeated the Inquisitor, but I won’t let my guard down. I’ll go all out from the start.”

Reytana raised both hands and turned her head toward the goddess statue.

“Goddess… Give me the power to judge this blasphemous one…!”

And beneath her feet, a golden magic circle appeared and began to envelop her.

But… in the midst of being enveloped, the magic circle soon lost its power.

“Huh…? Goddess… You can’t give me power… What does that mean?”

Reytana stared at the goddess statue in disbelief and questioned.

“What are you doing? Trying to be funny?”

I couldn’t wait any longer.

I began to stride towards Reytana.

Reytana, her plans were all gradually being implemented.

Kidnapping Lee Si-woo’s sister, Lee Si-eun, to draw Park Jin-ha into [The Order].

And then rising to become the #1 guild.

And thereby fulfilling the task given by the Goddess.

That was her purpose.

But now she was facing many unexpected situations.

Not only had [The Order]’s secret basement been discovered,

The Inquisitor, who boasted the strongest combat power in [The Order], had been defeated.

Moreover, when she tried to fight herself out of necessity, for some reason, the Goddess was not lending her power.

Reytana couldn’t understand this situation.

She couldn’t comprehend how things had turned out this way.

“Th-that, Si-woo. Maybe we should talk…”

In front of Reytana, a man with an extremely angry face was approaching.

Reytana tried to calm the man down as much as possible by waving her hands.

Any further fighting was now meaningless from Reytana’s perspective.

Without the Goddess lending her power, she was no longer the 5th ranked S-class hunter.

Now she had fallen to having the power of a B-class hunter at best.

In such a situation, facing Si-woo, who had defeated the Inquisitor, was absolutely not right.

So she tried to assume a peaceful stance by putting on her people-friendly smile again.

‘Why isn’t the Goddess lending me power?’

And as she did so, Reytana wondered.

About why the Goddess had suddenly withdrawn her power.

Why wasn’t her holy power manifesting? The current situation was definitely strange.

The Goddess always lent power to Reytana as long as she didn’t go against the Goddess’s will.

The fact that the Goddess wasn’t lending her power now meant she was currently going against the Goddess’s will.

So what had she done to cause this situation?

As Reytana was thinking about this, one possibility crossed her mind.

‘Could it be… that Si-woo is the Hero?’

“Si-woo… Are you possibly the Hero? Could it be that Si-woo was the Hero all along?”

“…How did you know that?”

“I-I knew it…!”

Reytana exclaimed urgently.

And at that sound, Si-woo’s expression twitched.

Seeing this, Reytana could intuitively sense that Si-woo was the Hero.

“Si-woo. Please listen to me. I’ll clear up all misunderstandings… You’re curious how I knew you were the Hero, right? Aren’t you curious why I acted this way?”

And as her intuition turned into certainty, Reytana’s expression brightened.

If Si-woo was indeed the Hero she had been looking for, then Si-woo and Reytana were not enemies.

So Reytana wanted to clear up the misunderstanding and wished to talk.

“Hmm… That’s a very interesting story.”

Si-woo put his sword back in its sheath.

She felt the killing intent that had been directed at her until just now being withdrawn.

Reytana sighed in relief seeing this.

But.

“Kuhek…”

A dull sound echoed.

The source of the dull sound was Reytana’s own stomach.

Si-woo’s fist had mercilessly struck Reytana’s stomach.

Reytana couldn’t breathe for a moment.

Reytana’s smiling face contorted as she stuck out her tongue.

“Huk… Huk…”

Reytana clutched her stomach as she rolled on the floor.

And she struggled to catch her breath as much as possible.

When Reytana finally managed to breathe and looked up, she could see a man with a very angry face.

“Ugh…”

Reytana didn’t vomit because she hadn’t eaten anything, but she couldn’t stop the saliva flowing from her mouth.

With a shallow groan, she looked up at the man through her disheveled hair.

“But I’m still extremely angry because you messed with my sister, you know? So let’s either continue talking after you take a few more hits, or not at all.”

Reytana was struck in the abdomen once again.