Chapter 549
“…What?”
“What does that mean…?”
Yoo Yeonhwa and Lee Tae-min’s eyes trembled violently after taking the call.
The content of the recent call was just too unbelievable.
[Explosion incident at the Korea Tower of Trials gate.]
[Was it caused by mana leakage? Or a secret experiment by the Association?]
[Investigators from the government and major guilds are investigating.]
The gate connecting Seoul and the Tower of Trials had vanished.
To be exact, the entire building had collapsed, burying the gate inside the rubble.
Because the situation was so serious, all the top Korean rankers—including Dangun and Ssaulabi, as well as the big guilds—had gathered in one place.
Han Sangjin stood before everyone, his face rigid.
“You’ve probably all noticed, but this wasn’t a simple accident. Someone targeted this place deliberately.”
A bombshell statement.
Most had already suspected as much, but hearing it from the Association President doubled the shock.
“A terrorist attack in the middle of Seoul?”
“Who the hell would do such a thing?”
“If it was carried out from overseas…”
“Is it because we’re getting ahead? Some kind of check?”
Various reactions erupted.
With so many intertwined interests, anyone could be the culprit.
“The only clue we’ve found so far is this. This person is our suspected perpetrator.”
Han Sangjin operated the remote.
The CCTV footage played.
A massive man with red hair appeared on screen.
He looked like a large foreigner with an unusual appearance.
“A Westerner…?”
“I’ve never seen him before…”
“More importantly, where are his accomplices? He’s alone on screen.”
A single enemy.
And he wasn’t in the information department’s database.
He wasn’t a ranker, so they could only assume there were other unidentified individuals involved.
But the next scene shattered everyone’s common sense.
Slice!
His sword swing was simple, but with a single light motion the entire building was destroyed.
The exterior wall, coated with special steel and mana stone, couldn’t withstand a single slash.
Even Chun Yoosung the Sword Saint couldn’t do such a thing.
There were no signs of activating a unique ability or skill.
The atmosphere grew heavier.
The shock turned into fear, digging into the hearts of everyone present.
“The enemy… is strong.”
Even Kim Wonseok and Cha Seongho were elite staff selected by the Association.
They were awakened, with experience clearing dungeons and ruins in the 20th floors.
Yet, they’d been killed without resistance.
By just one person.
“For now, do not speak of this incident outside. Until we know the enemy’s identity and purpose, only a select few will move.”
Each guild master, every top ranker.
A total of nine people knew the truth.
“Now that we have a direction, we need to figure out who we’re up against.”
Lee Tae-min gathered mana.
[Machine Lord – ‘Recon Drone’ is activated!]
Vwooom!
Dozens of drones began searching through the rubble.
Any clue, any trace, would be a huge find.
“Sigh. Can’t be helped.”
Yoo Yeonhwa also infused her gauntlet with mana, lifting up the debris.
With her massive strength stat, even boulders the size of houses vanished in an instant.
⁕⁕⁕
The center of Asgard.
After more than twelve hours, the meeting had gotten nowhere—circling the same points without bridging their differences.
“Let’s call it a day.”
Odin pressed his finger to his temple.
He was exhausted by the never-ending talks.
“We never expected to resolve everything on the first day anyway.”
“Agreed. Let’s rest and meet again tomorrow.”
“Hoo. Not bad for a probing session.”
The deities of Olympus, Eden, and the Celestials also stood up.
“Hmph. So we wasted a whole day for nothing? No results, nothing. Is this really okay?”
Alice clicked her tongue from inside the ring as she watched.
It did seem like a whole day was wasted.
“Don’t worry. This is part of the plan.”
“Part of the plan? All that dragging out?”
“Yeah.”
He was certain there would never be a real agreement.
And the longer the meeting dragged, the more exhausted everyone grew.
If he wanted to shake things up, now was the perfect time.
Jinhyuk walked through the garden toward Uriel.
Uriel noticed him approaching as she headed to the outskirts with the angels.
“What is it?”
“Do you have a moment? I have something to discuss.”
“Get lost. I have nothing to say to you.”
Uriel waved him away, annoyed.
“Really? That’s a shame. I was about to tell you a surefire way to give Eden some breathing room… You’re in a tough spot, aren’t you?”
Uriel stopped in her tracks at Jinhyuk’s words.
She’d been tricked by that silver tongue a few times already.
She knew she shouldn’t even start a conversation.
But the timing was just too perfect to ignore.
‘It won’t hurt to hear him out.’
Still, before accepting any proposal, she needed to show her strength.
She had to crush any thoughts he might have about taking her lightly.
“If you’re pulling tricks again…”
Rumble!
[Uriel activates Lv??? ‘Holy Veil’!]
Blinding light radiated in all directions.
The concentrated holy power even bleached the shadows white.
But—
“So what?”
Jinhyuk faced Uriel’s holy power head-on.
The light created by the ‘Blessing of the Stars’ completely blocked her Holy Veil.
Spark! Crackle!
Waves of silver light clashed and spread out.
‘This is insane…’
Uriel bit down so hard she almost broke a tooth.
She knew Jinhyuk wasn’t ordinary, but to think he’d withstand even an archangel’s holy power without batting an eye—
So much for intimidating him with force.
If this kept up, she’d just embarrass herself in front of her subordinates.
Realizing that, her approach changed.
The radiating light vanished, and her voice cooled.
“Tell me about this plan.”
“The reason you’re struggling is because your defeats keep piling up. You have all the power, but failure after failure means you’re losing unity.”
So—
“A single, overwhelming victory that everyone can accept would turn it around, right?”
What was needed was a victory no one could doubt.
“Easy for you to say. You think we don’t know that? And according to you, we’d have to take down Gabriel and Michael—which, as allies, you’d never help us do.”
She wouldn’t fall for this obvious bait.
Uriel turned away at once.
“Frustrating. Why do you only think of fighting inside? Your real, long-standing enemy is somewhere else.”
The true enemy Eden had fought to the death for a whole floor wasn’t internal.
It was outside.
The territory of the demons known as the ‘Demon Realm.’
“No way…”
“Yeah. If you do me a favor, I’ll help you capture a part of the Demon King’s territory. You know how close I am with the Demon Realm, right?”
It was an open secret that the Veteran Corporation was close to Berial.
With Berial, the top Demon King, backing them, it might really be possible to conquer another Demon King’s land.
This was no bluff.
No scam.
“What do you want from us?”
“It’s simple. At tomorrow’s meeting, support Ragnarok—not Olympus or the Celestials. Help make sure the meeting ends smoothly. Then, I’ll hand over the promised intel.”
Jinhyuk handed her a piece of parchment stamped with a blue seal.
If the conditions were met, the sealed parchment would open—a special item.
The sunlit parchment shimmered faintly with another light.
“You’re still here, so does that mean you’re interested?”
“…I am, actually. Fine. I accept.”
Uriel nodded.
The contract was sealed.
‘Good. That’s one pulled to our side.’
He’d made a verbal deal with Olympus too, but for some reason their reaction had been lukewarm.
It was the ones in need who were acting tough now.
‘They must have something up their sleeve…’
He couldn’t make a move until he figured out their hidden card.
And he still had to uncover the mole hidden in the Norse side before the meeting ended.
‘This meeting is interesting in a lot of ways.’
That’s why the Tower of Trials never got old—there were always new twists.
With so many variables tangled together, his nerves tingled in anticipation.
⁕⁕⁕
At the same time, a stranger arrived at the Olympus lodgings.
Ssshh.
Someone approached.
“You’re late.”
Athena, sipping ambrosia, nodded at the figure in a hood.
“We’ve been waiting for ages. Do Norse gods not understand punctuality?”
Artemis couldn’t hide her irritation.
Drowning her anger over Apollo’s loss in alcohol, she now resented every Norse deity—even a traitor working with them.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, ladies. I wanted to come sooner, but it was hard to slip away with all the surveillance.”
“…Are you saying a chief god suspects you?”
Athena’s eyes narrowed.
“No, but Heimdall is keeping a close eye on everything. But I shook off any tails, so don’t worry.”
“If you say you’re safe, then I’ll believe it. So, what’s this intel you’re risking so much to share?”
There was only one reason to risk this meeting.
It was something that had to be shared before tomorrow’s summit.
A sly voice came from beneath the hood.
“Kang Jinhyuk met with Eden’s Uriel.”
“He tried to side with that stubborn angel? Uriel would never get in the same boat as Kang Jinhyuk.”
“Judging by the mood, he made a pretty interesting proposal. I think Eden is likely to support the Norse side tomorrow.”
“Those idiots…”
Crunch!
Artemis crushed her wine glass.
Red wine spilled over the floor.
“I’ll kill them! I never liked them anyway—let’s just wipe them all out!”
“Calm down. Eden hasn’t fully switched sides yet. They’re probably just stalling to see how things play out.”
“So we just watch them act like bats!?”
“Of course not.”
Athena reached for her favored weapon leaning against the wall.
A golden spear shimmered with a soft glow.
“We were planning to move in a few days, but if they’re going to provoke us so openly, we have no choice.”
Preparations were complete.
It was time to start another war.
“I’ve been waiting for those words.”
A twisted smile appeared on Artemis’s lips.
At the same time—
[Artemis activates Unique Ability ‘Hunt of the Moon’.]
“Grrr…”
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Between the moonlight, giant beasts let out fierce growls.