Chapter 28 Take it Off, You Bitch

“Uegh…”

After hitting Reytana’s stomach about 10 times,
She was now suffering with dry heaves and sticky saliva.

Unable to breathe properly, she couldn’t even make a proper sound as she slowly tried to compose herself.

“Phew…”

Seeing this, I was able to gradually calm myself down.

Thinking about what she did to my sister, I still wanted to beat her more, but I needed to hear what she had to say, so I had to hold back for now.

I was being quite lenient already. I barely restrained myself from destroying the organs near her stomach.

‘By the way, how on earth does Reytana know about the Hero?’

Originally, I was planning to kill Reytana on the spot.

I was furious because of the dirty and underhanded things Reytana had done around me.

I also didn’t want to leave any unnecessary loose ends since the Saint of [The Order], Reytana, might seek revenge against me later if I let her live.

But when I approached to kill Reytana, her words, “Could Si-woo possibly be the Hero?” made me stop my attempt to kill her.

The EX-class skill [Peak of Humanity: Hero] that I accidentally obtained from the Astaroth-class gate—it was really unexpected that Reytana knew about this skill.

The EX-class skill [Peak of Humanity: Hero] is truly unprecedented in hunter history.

Even though I worked as a manager at Yoo Eun-ha’s company and knew about most hunters’ abilities, and had plenty of experience as a hunter myself, I had never heard of such a skill.

It was a skill that couldn’t be found in any literature, and there was no record of anyone in the past having such a skill.

Moreover, since obtaining the [Hero] skill, I hadn’t told anyone about it. In other words, no one except me, who had this skill, should know about this information.

Yet the fact that Reytana knew about it strongly suggested that she knew something I didn’t.

The fact that Reytana knew about this skill was no ordinary matter.

So I had to get information from Reytana.

Deciding what to do with her would come after that.

“Get up. Quickly.”

About a minute had passed since I hit Reytana.

Reytana was slowly regaining her breath.

Now it was time to talk.

“Cough… Yes.”

Hearing my words, Reytana gently raised her head while sitting.

And with a stiff face, she lowered her eyes.

“So? What do you want to say…?”

I spoke coldly to Reytana.

“First… first, I apologize for kidnapping your sister… I deeply apologize for that.”

Reytana trembled slightly seeing me like this, and first offered an apology.

“Everything I’m about to say is the truth.”

And she continued speaking.

“Mr. Si-woo… no, Hero. My ability is [Goddess’s Blessing], which allows me to receive prophecies from the Goddess. Through that ability, the Goddess gave me a command. Grow the guild and help the Hero. That’s what she said.”

Reytana was saying that everything she had done until now was on the Goddess’s orders.

“So… that’s why…”

“So you kidnapped, imprisoned, and even became a loan shark to grow your guild because of that?”

“…Yes.”

Hearing Reytana’s words, I was starting to feel a bit dumbfounded.

To be honest, the prophecy itself isn’t strange.

I don’t think there’s no connection between the entity called the Goddess and Reytana, who is called the Saint.

But the actions Reytana took because of it were strange.

Even if she received the Goddess’s command to grow the guild and help the Hero, many of Reytana’s actions went too far.

What drove her to such extremes?

Right now, I don’t feel any plausibility.

Is she just crazy?

Or is she just trying to wag her tongue somehow?

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Reytana was a psychopath who enjoyed tormenting others.

“Is the Goddess an evil deity? Or are you lying?”

I asked Reytana.

About what the identity of this entity called the Goddess was, making Reytana do such things.

For now, I couldn’t help but doubt either the Goddess or Reytana.

“Neither…”

Reytana immediately answered my question.

Her eyes suggested that she had something to explain about it.

“I… I think I got impatient. I ended up using any means necessary to claim the position of the #1 guild in this guild evaluation. Otherwise, the world will perish… probably.”

“Perish?”

“Yes…”

I heard an unexpected answer from Reytana’s mouth.

A somewhat abrupt story about the world perishing.

“The Goddess warned along with her command. She said the world is now at a crossroads of destruction. That we must somehow save the world. That’s why the Goddess lent me her power.”

“Hmm… the Goddess said that?”

“Yes… it’s true.”

Reytana continued speaking to me as if pleading.

Her eyes were desperate, as if begging me to believe her.

I couldn’t help but fall into thought as I looked at Reytana.

‘It doesn’t seem completely like a lie…’

If it had been me until recently, I would have surely thought, what nonsense is this?

But since I had faced a near-death experience at the hands of Park Jin-ha and then seen a burning world in my dream, where I met the Goddess, I could give it some credibility.

Having heard what the Goddess said, that the Nephilim are coming, Reytana’s words had enough credibility.

I definitely felt that the Goddess and Reytana were strongly connected somehow.

I also had a connection with the Goddess in my own way, and I felt that what Reytana was saying wasn’t completely nonsense.

I might have developed some credibility towards Reytana.

But.

“You want me to believe that? What if you’re lying?”

But I still couldn’t fully trust Reytana yet.

Until just before storming in here, Reytana had tried to kidnap Park Jin-soo and had kidnapped my sister.

Given that background, who could guarantee that she wasn’t lying now to save herself, when suddenly faced with a life-threatening situation?

It’s only natural that I should be suspicious and cautious now.

I looked down coldly at Reytana again.

Once more, I was at a moment where I was slightly contemplating whether to kill Reytana or not.

I needed to make a decision now.

If I postponed the decision and let her live, I didn’t know how she might retaliate against me later.

“It’s not a lie…! It’s true. Please believe me. I… in order to be of help to the Hero…!”

Seeing my expression, Reytana seemed terrified and trembled.

And she desperately began to defend herself to me.

“Do you have proof? Or can you let me talk to the Goddess?”

“…No… and that’s impossible.”

“Then I can’t believe you.”

But, without evidence, it wasn’t a situation where I could believe her.

I thought it would be good if she could give me some credit that I could trust.

But since that wasn’t possible, I was starting to feel a bit frustrated.

“…It’s true. I’ll prove it some other way. However the Hero wants.”

But even to someone like me, Reytana’s attitude seemed very sincere.

Her words were very genuine, and my intuition doesn’t feel like Reytana is lying.

By the way, prove it somehow…?

‘Hmm… since it’s come to this, should I create a weakness instead of believing her?’

Hearing Reytana’s words, I came up with one method.

There’s no trust between Reytana and me right now. So I can’t believe her words.

In this situation, for me to believe Reytana’s words, it’s simple. Trust needs to be established.

If trust is established, I can believe Reytana’s words.

Then how can Reytana give me trust?

Regarding that, in the end, there’s nothing like collateral.

If Reytana and I were close friends or lovers, that itself would be enough to believe, but that wasn’t the case.

Reytana and I were just acquaintances, nothing more.

So, I needed to get definite collateral from Reytana.

For ordinary people, that collateral would usually be money, but I’m going to get something else instead of money.

Everything that Reytana had built up until now as the leader of [The Order] and the 5th ranked S-class Saint—if I receive that much, I can believe Reytana.

“Really? You said you’d do anything, right?”

I picked up my smartphone.

I pointed the camera lens at Reytana.

And launched the video app.

“He… Hero… what are you going to make me do…?”

Reytana’s face suddenly turned pale seeing me like this.

It was a face that seemed to say “No way…?” about what was about to happen.

“Can’t you tell by looking? Hurry up and take it off.”

I don’t know what Reytana is thinking, but her guess is probably right.

From now on, I’m going to get a “blackmail video” from Reytana.

It was time to test how sincere Reytana really was.