episode_0202

Somewhere in the Arctic Ocean, an underwater cave.

Moonlight Church Headquarters.

Splash…!

From somewhere at the entrance connected to the sea, accompanied by a wave, a woman with flowing black hair appeared.

Her entire body was alluringly wet, as if she had just finished swimming.

“Hoo.”

Taking a short breath, Eileen swept the hair plastered to her forehead out of her eyes and familiarly traversed the inside of the cave.

While the initial section still retained the form of a naturally formed cave.

Clank, whirring-

Soon, a space filled with unknown mechanical noises and the sound of gears unfolded before her eyes. Traces of magic were a bonus.

What appeared next was a cavern large enough to accommodate thousands of people.

“Welcome back, Bishop Eileen-nim.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Eileen lightly acknowledged the greetings of the cult members whenever she encountered them, and continued walking.

After walking down a corridor, turning a corner, and crossing a passage.

“…I’ll go in.”

Eileen murmured this, giving a couple of knocks on a plain-looking door.

And without waiting for a reply, she immediately opened the door and stepped inside.

“Oh, you’re here?”

The owner of the space beyond the door also didn’t fault her rudeness. As if it didn’t matter, she simply greeted Eileen with a bright expression.

The girl with sky-blue hair braided into pigtails—Haru—got up upon seeing Eileen.

And she stretched her arms upwards and outwards.

“Ugh… I’ve been sitting too long, my whole body aches. I should probably get some sleep soon…”

It was a stretch. Haru let out a light laugh, “Heh,” and stood before Eileen.

Eileen looked down at her with a questioning expression.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

“Heh heh, let’s see.”

In response to Eileen’s question, Haru simply gave a mischievous smile and subtly grabbed her waist.

There was hardly any flesh to grab, but she still forcibly squeezed what little there was.

Eileen’s expression instantly soured, but for Haru, it seemed to matter little. She continued to playfully prod.

“Poke, poke. Poke poke poke poke.”

“…Pope-nim, may I ask what you’re doing?”

“Poke poke poke…!”

Haru, using her small hands, touched and prodded Eileen’s body, almost to the point of feeling an impure intention, going beyond mere exploration.

Finally, just as she stretched her arms upwards and was about to touch Eileen’s sizable chest.

Smack!

“Ah.”

Eileen, who had somewhat irritably smacked her hand away, gripped an iron shard with chilling eyes.

Her expression suggested that if things went wrong, she would unleash an explosion directly on her superior’s face, without regard for their status.

“…Ahaha, it’s a joke, a joke, honey. No need to be so serious.”

Shivering at the murderous intent, Haru spun around with a whistle, as if feigning innocence.

And with a single fake cough, she tried to change the subject.

“Ahem! It was nothing. I was just wondering if our dear honey might have had a passionate time with Lee Hyunjin-gun…”

“…”

“…Could you please stop looking down at me with those eyes? I’m scared.”

“Eing,” Haru complained, lightly tapping Eileen with a fist like a fern sprout.

With a slightly flushed face, she breathed heavily and stared at Eileen’s chest.

“Ahem, I would respect our dear honey no matter what man she met, but if it happens to be Lee Hyunjin-gun, then I’m conflicted…”

Despite feeling little value in replying to such consecutive remarks, Eileen briefly responded.

“What conflict?”

Haru immediately replied.

“I really, really like both of them, so if those two had a fun night without me… it would be a bit…”

“…”

“Hmm hmm. Still, I’m heterosexual, honey. Don’t worry. I can’t deny that I like burying myself in your body, but that’s more because of lust than love—Kyaa?!!”

Bang! Unable to hold back, Eileen swung her iron shard, causing Haru to fall backward.

Having landed squarely on her backside, she wiped away saliva with a rather dangerous expression.

“Heh, heh… As expected of our dear honey. You know what I like better than anyone.”

“Would you mind refraining from making remarks that could be misunderstood? Pope-nim.”

Eileen looked down at Haru with an expression as if she were looking at the most trivial thing in the world, clicking her tongue.

It was utterly displeasing that Haru kept teasing her like this, especially when it wasn’t even genuine.

…No, perhaps it wasn’t a lie that Haru’s face flushed every time she was hit by an explosion…

Because there are truths in the world that one doesn’t necessarily need to know.

Eileen didn’t particularly want to delve deeply into her superior’s sexual preferences.

What would she do with that information, anyway?

In that sense, Eileen merely recalled the facts she had learned from this mission.

Lee Hyunjin’s unique ability that perfectly mimicked the power of Saint Lucretia Hael…

Eileen squinted one eye briefly, then opened it and looked back at Haru.

“You said something like that last time, Pope-nim.”

“Huh?”

Haru, who was naturally reaching into Eileen’s embrace to pull out the ‘core’ of an anomalous entity, blinked and replied at the sound of her voice.

“You clearly said it. That the reason you were preparing all these plans was ultimately because there was no way to predict a win against that ‘destruction’.”

And at the words that followed, this time Haru also changed her expression to a serious one.

“…I did.”

She nodded slowly, and Eileen continued in her usual calm voice.

“And you added something else.”

“…”

“‘If there was even one more Awakener who reached the same level as me, we could at least put up a struggle,’ you said.”

“Oh… You’re good at impressions, honey. I thought it was me.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Ow.”

Eileen lightly struck Haru’s crown with the iron shard. Haru flinched and clutched her head, sending a disgruntled look, but Eileen, as if it didn’t matter, added another word.

“Why do you think I brought this up?”

“…”

Haru momentarily pouted, puffing up both cheeks with air.

“…Hmph.”

But soon, she cast aside her sulky demeanor, placed one hand on her hip, and answered Eileen’s question.

“You must have found something out, haven’t you? About Lee Hyunjin-gun’s suspiciously limitless unique ability to copy others’ powers.”

“Yes.”

Eileen affirmed in an indifferent voice, and Haru slightly furrowed her brows.

Of course, from her perspective, she had to carefully observe Lee Hyunjin’s abilities.

Regardless of her personal favor towards him, they were ultimately in a position where they had to be hostile towards each other.

For that reason, she had tried to ascertain the limits of that ability once…

‘It was almost limitless, wasn’t it?’

Lee Hyunjin acted as if there were no limits to the abilities he wielded. He acquired new abilities every time and used them skillfully.

She had one thought based on that point. What if Lee Hyunjin, just hypothetically, could even mimic her own abilities…

“…If only he could, yes. Then we might consider a direct confrontation at least once.”

“…”

“Hmm, hmmph.”

Haru furrowed her brow in deep thought, letting out a hum of contemplation.

And then, she quickly pointed her index finger at Eileen and asked.

“Alright then. Tell me. What are the conditions for Lee Hyunjin-gun’s unique ability, that power to copy others’ abilities?”

“…”

“If it’s a reasonably plausible method, and if he can truly handle my abilities fully, then I’ll make some slight changes to the plan.”

In that fleeting moment, Haru’s two golden eyes flickered with a hint of anticipation and hope, along with a sense of restraint to keep from getting too ahead of herself.

Eileen, with not a trace of change in her expression, uttered a single, brief word.

“Sexual intercourse.”

“…”

It was instantaneous. Haru froze in the very pose she had extended her index finger towards Eileen, as if struck by petrification magic.

And Eileen casually put away her iron shard, her lips curling into a sneer.

“Congratulations, Pope-nim. As I said before, if you can seduce Lee Hyunjin with that meager physique of yours, it seems you might catch two rabbits with one stone. Talent and hope, that is.”

“…Eh, ex? Wh-what did you say?”

“I don’t know what you’re saying because your pronunciation is all muddled, but I think I generally get it, so I’ll answer again.”

Eileen, with an expression that suggested she had finally gotten one over on Haru, poked her finger into the cleavage between Haru’s dainty breasts.

“Have sex. With Lee Hyunjin.”

Haru’s pale face instantly turned bright red.

*****

After everything in Istanbul was settled, and after helping with the city’s damage recovery for two days, just as everyone was about to disband.

“Do you happen to be dating someone right now? Hyunjin.”

“…Yes?”

Subtly observing Cheon Soyul’s expression, Lucretia clasped Lee Hyunjin’s hand.

Lee Hyunjin immediately stiffened, and Lucretia looked up at him and confessed.

“I thought about it deeply all night. As I thought… Even though it was a relationship formed out of obligation, I don’t want to forget that memory with you.”

“Y-yes? Eh? What? Yes?”

“If you don’t have a lover, would you like to go to France with me…?”

“…Yes?”

“I… want to live as your wife.”

Cheon Soyul, who had been systematically arranging the damaged cables buried underground, abruptly froze.

Baek Ayun, who had been nursing Gwon Hwang, whose wounds had reopened from a series of combat actions, instantly turned serious.

Amidst the heavy, oppressive atmosphere, Lee Hyunjin broke out in a cold sweat.