Chapter 661

Inside the massive canyon, the countless mines occasionally yielded gemstones. Among them, with an extremely low probability, were gems that could become Fragments of Light.

“We must secure them with our own hands!”

“Let’s show them the power of the spirits!”

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

The spirits, burning with pride, moved to win the bet.

And of course, the members of the Veteran Corporation, who had been suddenly caught up in the bet, also entered different mines.

Whoosh!

Several glowing stones illuminated the path along the mine.

With so little time left, everyone was a competitor and an enemy in the search for something that could become a Fragment of Light.

This was true not only for the Spirit Beasts but also for the members of the Veteran Corporation.

“This time, I will definitely win.”

Chun Yoosung clenched his fist.

He knew that Kang Jinhyuk used various abilities.

But if he limited his abilities and competed with pure swordsmanship…

…there was a good chance.

Unlike Kang Jinhyuk, who pursued various combat methods, he had come to this point with only swordsmanship. He firmly believed that a single ability trained to the extreme could surpass a versatile one.

Just then.

“Kuaaa!”

“Kieeee!”

The sound of beasts roaring echoed from below the passage.

Monstrously shaped, two-meter-tall insect-type monsters spraying green fluid—Mole Crickets.

A large number of Mole Crickets rushed madly to devour the prey that had entered for the first time, bones and all.

“Don’t… interfere!”

Chun Yoosung activated [Song of the Sword].

A terrifying Sword Aura surged, and the Mole Crickets rushing in were chopped into dozens of pieces.

With only one single-minded goal—to win the wish ticket—Chun Yoosung’s eyes were filled with greed.

The other members also squeezed out every last bit of strength for their own reasons.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Kwaaaang!

Behemoth swung a huge greatsword and headed deep into another mine.

“I’m escaping. I will definitely… escape from this damn company!”

A disaster that governed the Apocalypse.

By her existence alone, she should have been feared by all. But at some point, she had been reduced to a reptile trembling before a single human.

Unacceptable.

This time, she would definitely escape this miserable reality and regain her past glory.

“The wish ticket! The wish ticket with the contractor! All… are mine!”

“The probability of finding a gem is about 1.253%, yeah.”

Alice and Frey also each took charge of a mine they thought had a high probability and headed down without hesitation, straight to the deepest part.

Lastly….

Goguma, Fried, T-Bone, Havelian, Haeteis, and finally Malang the Azure Dragon gathered in one place.

“Mogiii!”

“Mogiii…!”

“We trust only in the leader! The leader’s sense of smell is amazing when it comes to Mana Stones and gems!”

“Mogiii Mogiii!”

The so-called ‘Summoned Beast Alliance’.

What they wanted was not something grand like quitting the company.

A better life as slaves.

To eat their fill, sleep in a warm place, and live like Summoned Beasts. If such rights of Summoned Beasts were guaranteed, that would be enough.

Immediately, Goguma sniffed and pointed to one wall of the mine. Then the other Spirit Beasts hurriedly began to dig into the ground.

Meanwhile.

Kang Jinhyuk, who had proposed the bet, was not in the mine.

While everyone was sweating and digging in the mine in the late dawn, he quietly visited someone’s house.

‘Everyone must be asleep.’

It had been such an eventful day that they must have been quite tired. Except for those who were directly mining, everyone had fallen into a deep sleep.

Kang Jinhyuk, concealing his presence as much as possible, took the stairs down to the basement.

Twitch.

Sensing a subtle flow of Mana, he immediately stopped. Sure enough, there was a rather elaborate security magic in place.

Double or triple magic that would be difficult to notice under normal circumstances.

But.

[8-star Barrier ‘Mana Disruption’ is activated!]

It wasn’t a Spirit King—just magic cast by Spirit Beasts.

With a simple gesture, several layers of security were broken.

Rustle!

When he broke through the passage blocked by vines, a space filled with numerous weapons and materials unfolded.

These were the Sacred Relics that the Spirit Beasts had collected over thousands of years.

“Whew. They’ve really collected a lot.”

Like the dagger and bow made from the Claw of Pentagris in the past. There were quite a few items made from materials taken from the bodies of Divine Beasts or Mythical Beasts.

…What a waste.

To just pile up these precious things like this.

Rather than rotting away for an eternity without an owner, it would be much better to give them to someone who could use them effectively.

Even for the sake of these children.

“You guys think the same, right?”

Kang Jinhyuk carefully lifted various weapons and Sacred Relics.

Then, as if he had heard a voice, he made a startled expression.

“What? You think so too? Oh, well, I’m busy because of the bet, but I can’t leave you guys behind.”

Kang Jinhyuk chose the most needed items from the various Sacred Relics piled up in the warehouse and stored them in his Subspace.

Especially focusing on the materials needed to strengthen First Blade.

How long had it been?

Only after a long shopping spree did Kang Jinhyuk come out of the warehouse and move to another place.

To get the material to make the perfect ‘Fragment of Light’.

‘I can’t lose the bet either.’

He had been researching what the most beautiful and pure light in the Tower was since long ago.

‘I used to think the light of the sun was the best. I also thought the moonlight was perfect.’

Of course, that’s not wrong.

They all had their own beauty and purity.

But.

The real raw material to become a Fragment of Light was not that.

Not the purity that comes from nature… but when it was supported by overwhelming madness beyond that. Only then could you get a Fragment in the perfect sense.

Kang Jinhyuk slowly gathered light from something in the house.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

[Time is up.]

Along with the status window announcing the completion of the bet, numerous Spirit Beasts gathered in a large open space.

“Good. This should be enough. I’m sure of it.”

“Ehh, with just that? What I found is much prettier and bigger.”

“It’s not good just because it’s big. I used a sapphire passed down through our water clan as a medium!”

“Hmph! It has to be a diamond, which can be said to be the king of gems.”

“By the way, I heard someone broke into the elder’s house yesterday? They’re making a fuss about finding the culprit, saying they stole treasures.”

“Who would do that without fear?”

Some trivial conversations were interspersed, but it wasn’t a big deal.

What was important right now was to acquire the qualification for the Fragment.

Those gathered in the open space proudly took out the gems they had each brought. They contained sunlight, moonlight, Divinity, or natural light, emitting a dazzling multicolored glow.

“Everyone prepared with their lives on the line.”

Kang Jinhyuk nodded, looking at the various gems.

Certainly, they had prepared only those that were qualified to obtain the qualification for the first Sacred Relic.

It must be because of the sense of purpose to save the Spirit King of Light and the pride unique to the Spirit race that they could not lose to outsiders.

“Even so, it’s insignificant compared to mine.”

Alice confidently took out a bright red ruby.

The ore made by drawing her own blood was literally dyed blood red.

This kid is not in her right mind either. To give her a task called ‘Fragment of Light’, which anyone would hear as full of light properties, and bring something like that.

Unless she’s summoning Diablox or something, there seemed to be no chance of it being selected at all.

“Hmph! Many have missed the essence of accurately grasping the intention of the questioner.”

A faint smile spread across Chun Yoosung’s lips.

Indeed, a student from Korea University’s medical school.

As expected of a monster who proudly reached the top in the infamous hell of the college entrance exam, his remarks were also sharp.

But.

The ring-sized gem he took out of his pocket was somehow strange.

…It’s beautiful, but I’m reluctant to get close.

As if his brain was made of swords, he sliced the gem with Sword Aura as if he were slicing radishes.

If there was a god of light, wouldn’t he have swallowed hard at that brutal craftsmanship?

It wasn’t light that was in the gem, but a murderous aura.

“The probability of winning is 50%, yeah. Either it works or it doesn’t.”

Frey took out an unidentified ore.

She seemed confident, holding it preciously. Unlike the usual cold and clear derivation of results, this time she was doing a Bitcoin prayer meta-style calculation.

“Kuhahaha! Everyone is taking out tiny things and calling them gems and bragging. What this body has is the true meaning of Fragment of Light!”

Behemoth burst into laughter and threw something on the ground.

Kwaaaang!

A cloud of dust billowed up.

A gem bigger than her body.

It was impossible to ask the Apocalypse, who only knew how to destroy, to perform a proper task.

She can’t even distinguish between ‘Fragment’ and ‘lump’, so what confidence does she have?

Lastly… Goguma and the Spirit Special Forces….

Let’s not talk about it.

“No, leader! If you eat that all, how are we going to win!”

“Aaaagh! Who put a hungry lizard in charge?”

“How could this noble body have overlooked this point. A painful mistake.”

“Miyooo!”

It had already gone into Goguma’s stomach long ago. Judging by the fact that he was still drooling in front of the few remaining gems, the prepared gems would disappear cleanly before the ceremony began in a few minutes.

While they were each insisting that it was theirs, the ceremony to select the Fragment of Light was held.

Whoosh!

A mysterious light fell.

The selection of the Fragment, which had always failed. But this time, it was different.

The gem held by one person began to emit a dazzling light.

And that was….

“Oh, it turned out to be me. Sorry.”

It was Kang Jinhyuk, scratching his head.

“Why did it have to be you!”

“N, no way!”

“You must have used some trick. Tell us right now how you got that gem!”

There was a commotion among the Spirit Beasts.

They had succeeded in one go at what they had been failing at, so naturally, questions had to arise.

[The video from 12 hours ago is playing.]

In the video, Kang Jinhyuk was shown sneaking into someone’s bedroom in the dark night.

Kang Jinhyuk, tiptoeing into the bedroom, took out a gem.

Snore! Snore!

The starlight reflected off the elder’s smooth bald head, which was snoring like crazy, and was sucked into the transparent gem.

As a 100% pure radiance, with not a single impurity mixed in, gathered, an indescribable light condensed into one point.

“I don’t know who made the Tower of Trials, but he’s really crazy.”

A unique tendency that can’t even be compared to the Operators.

To match his tendency, you have to become a madman to match him.

Just like now.

[‘Fragment of Light’ has been completed!]

A wicked smile formed on Kang Jinhyuk’s face.

With this, he acquired one wish ticket each from Chun Yoosung, Alice, as well as the elder and the remaining Spirit Beasts.

It was the moment when numerous slaves were born in the canyon.

“Eeeeek! W, wait, wait, stop!”

The elder jumped up from his seat.

“The fact that you are the one who broke into my bedroom means that you are also the one who raided the treasure vault in the basement!”

Hoo.

An extremely reasonable inference.

But.

“Ah, I’m really sorry about that. But, isn’t it impossible to undo what has already happened?”

“Is that what you’re saying! Daring to lay your hands on the treasure of the great spirits. I will never let it go. The curse of the canyon will follow!”

Wow, scary.

I’m so scared that I feel like I should go change my underwear.

“Hmm. Even I’m a little scared of the curse of the canyon. In that sense, I’ll use my wish right away. My wish is amnesty. Please retroactively launder the fact that I committed theft.”

To make the sins committed as if they never happened.

It was time to exercise the legitimate reward for winning the bet.

“……Uh, uhbubuh…. A, amnesty. W, wish?”

The elder gaped like a goldfish.