Seoul Station’s Necromancer Chapter 186:
Chapter 186 – Last Holy Item (2)
Were the gods always right?
When she had this conflicting thought, the feeling of anguish arose .
This matter was such a big deal that it shook her to the core .
“Ha-ah . ”
Even if she kept worrying over the problem, the only thing she could do was sigh .
Her goddess wanted her to set it on fire…
Why did her goddess give her such an oracle?
Was she trying to prevent Kahng-woojin from returning to earth? Or was she trying to oppose him?
She couldn’t discern the meaning behind the oracle, so Melody was tormented .
This was the first time she had this feeling of doubt in her life .
She had always considered the goddess’ words to be always right, and she always followed it .
Was she the Holy Maiden of the goddess of premonition, or was she just a puppet on a string… .
Melody stood still for awhile as she looked at the World Tree .
Her expression kept changing by the minute, and she finally shook her head .
“This isn’t right . ”
What was the meaning behind burning the World Tree?
The Dungeon, ‘Raht’s Temple’, was cleared by Celrak, so Kahng-woojin only had the Saurus Colony left .
If she burned the World Tree, which was his Symbol, the connection point between earth and Alphen would be severed .
Moreover, she didn’t have the confidence that she’ll be able to endure the Immortal’s wrath when he learned of her action . The Gate was needed for him to return to earth .
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t come to the conclusion that the act of burning the World Tree was for the betterment of earth and Alphen .
For the first time in Melody’s life, she made her own decision instead of following the voice of her goddess .
Moreover…
“I can’t do it . ”
The ramification of her choice wasn’t small .
Shooooooo .
“Ah ah…”
Is this what divine punishment felt like?
It felt as if the soul within her head was being shaken at its roots .
This was different from the sensation of pain . She felt her body be seized by a sense of futility and powerlessness .
It felt as if an something important was draining out of her . When the feeling subsided, she immediately realized what was missing .
It was a power she had always lived with . It was a power she knew very intimately .
“I turned my back on the goddess…”
She couldn’t feel her Holy Power .
She feebly looked at her two hands . Her goddess hadn’t abandoned her, since she had abandoned her goddess first…
She actually felt grateful for the retraction of her Holy Power .
She had received a punishment . This lessened some of the guilt she felt for going against the will of her goddess .
“It is done . ”
Now the Immortal wouldn’t lose his way back home . Her goddess’ oracle was incorrect . No, Melody had made it so .
Since Kahng-woojin could still travel back and forth from earth, he won’t lose that important something within himself .
“Ha-ah . ”
She fell to her knees, and she looked up at the World Tree .
The wind blew against the leaves, and the leaves moved like a wave . It felt as if the tree was trying to console her .
It was the same for swaying flame of Sunggoo below…
Zeeeeng .
At that moment, the Portal let out a light as a person appeared .
“Immort…”
Melody thought the Immortal had returned, so she had stood up to greet him . However, someone else exited from Portal . It wasn’t just a single person . It was several people .
“Hoo-ooh . Is this place Alphen?”
The Holy Maiden approached them .
“Who are you?”
“Ah . You are the Holy Maiden . I saw you in a forum in New York . My name is Nakamura . ”
“Ah…”
She remembered him .
She had gathered the earth’s Roused to ask of them to save Alphen . She asked for an expedition force to be formed, but the Daken guild from Japan fought against the idea . They had argued in terms of profitability of such a venture .
However, with the appearance of Kahng-woojin, the plans for the expedition group dissolved into thin air . All plans were scrapped . This was what she remembered…
“It seems the cleanup party is here . ”
“Yes . We are the cleanup party from earth . We are here to help rebuild Alphen . ”
Nakamura displayed his white teeth as he laughed .
“My name is Masuro Nakamura . I am in charged of the expedition group sent from the Daken guild . ”
She shook his hand in the confusion of the moment, and she felt a weird sense of danger . Even if she didn’t have the blessing from the goddess of premonition, her instincts told her to be wary of this man .
“We are the first wave of the cleanup party . Soon, there will be a second and third group from earth crossing over to Alphen . ”
“…this is good news . ”
Wasn’t this what she always wanted? The Roused from earth would be coming over to fight for Alphen, so how could she not thank them?
However, something was bothering her . It was the greasy light within their eyes .
“Could you explain the lay of the land right now?”
“This region had already been swept by the Immortal’s army, so there should be no forces left that could pose a threat to us . However…”
Melody held back what she was about to say . She hesitated before she continued speaking .
“You should talk to the heroes of the Coalition . ”
“Ah… We will . I forgot there were heroes here . So they are S Rank Roused…”
Nakamura turned to look behind him .
He had come with an elite force that was an equal of 100 warriors . Moreover, he brought a research staff, who’ll study Alphen .
“Well, shall we start restoring Alphen?”
The Japanese from the Daken Guild, who had crossed over to Alphen, quickly started to explore their surrounding .
***
[Beeep . A variable outside of the prediction simulation has occurred . ]
The speaker, which had been frustratingly giving the same answer over and over again, broke from its patter . It spoke something different . Woojin frowned .
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Chee-jee-jeek .
Woojin’s body was soaked with sweat from smashing the monitors .
The **** of Time was tireless, but a human got easily tired .
[A change that varies from the record has occurred . A new branch point has started . ]
“… . ”
Woojin’s face crumpled .
He didn’t care if they were gods or some other form of life .
What were they?
There were a lot of questions yet to be answered, but he was sure of one thing .
It was useless to reason with them . They only spat out words that they wanted to say .
They were unfriendly, and he had no idea what their aims were .
“So what is that supposed to mean!”
[It is time . ]
“… . ”
Psssh .
The sound of air escaping was heard, and a hatch from the ceiling opened . Something akin to an elevator descended . It was too small for a person to ride on it .
The very small space above the lift was encased in glass, and one could see what was inside .
The item was treated like a relic being displayed in a museum .
“Heres’ Belt . ”
[I’m giving you the last key . ]
Pshhhhh .
The glass window opened, and Heres’ Holy Item was within it .
“… . ”
What was the reason behind this move?
There was a causal relationship for everything . It might seem like a coincidence, but if one looked back an incident, one could always find out what had caused it . If Heres was giving up the Holy Item so easily, why did it waste his time like this?
Even as he made a mess of its temple, Heres hadn’t stop him . It had been frustrating experience . It kept repeating it wasn’t time yet .
So why did the situation suddenly change?
“Let me ask you one question . ”
[This is the start of a new branch, so I have no data . I just record . Prediction is not my speciality . ]
“… . ”
He wanted to beat the **** out of the bald man behind the monitor . He was so detestable that Woojin would automatically hit the man if he showed up .
Who the **** said he wanted to know about the future?
“Well, it isn’t as if you answered my question when I asked about old events . ”
[True . ]
“Are you playing with…”
[I cannot tell you about how the variable would affect you . I just record . I will not cause changes to your journey . ]
Instead of stoking his anger, the **** of Time Heres’ words made Woojin give up . It had been giving such shameless answers for the past several hours .
“I think you’ve done enough to change what I’m going to do . ”
[… . ]
It was silent again .
“Uh-whew . Forget I said that . ”
Woojin grabbed Heres’ Belt .
He had gathered all 5 Items he would need to make Thrash’s armor set . The rest of the ingredients could be bought through the Dimensional Store or it could be gathered at a different location . He didn’t have to be tied down to Alphen anymore .
It was time to return to earth .
When he acquired the Holy Item, the door opened once again, and the long corridor was revealed . He started to slowly walk out of the room, and Latasha, who had been waiting in the corner, suddenly appeared next him .
“Let’s go . ”
“…”
Latasha looked at the Immortal face with a dumbfounded expression . How could a man, who had gone complete bat **** crazy for several hours, suddenly speak like this .
“Shouldn’t you resolve some of your issues before you go?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have a lot of questions . ”
“Even if I ask them, it won’t answer me . What can I do?”
“… . ”
He answered in such a dignified manner that she didn’t know what to say . Latasha’s own experiences didn’t prepare her for making sense of the Immortal’s action . She couldn’t help, but ask him another question .
“Didn’t you destroy his possessions to get an answer?”
“I did it just in case . Also, I would have been bored if I had to just wait doing nothing . ”
“… . ”
As expected, the Immortal was born with a propensity for violence .
Latasha once again had to reevaulate Kahng-woojin .
“I’ve got everything I came here for . ”
He hadn’t come here to talk to Heres . He just wanted to acquire the Holy Item .
He had thought he would be able to find an answer to his stifling situation, yet it felt as if everything had become more complicated .
However, Kahng-woojin was too thick-skinned to worry too much over it . He wasn’t overly stressed .
“Let’s hurry back . ”
“Yes…”
He was just annoyed with Heres’ unnecessary actions .
Elf Lord Latasha quickly got on behind Woojin .
Chee-jee-jeek .
The bald man appeared on all the screens except for the broken ones .
[I hope you will be able to complete your journey this time… . ]
[Chee-jee-jeek . Kahng-woojin… . ]
Heres’ voice sounded too earnest for it to be called a sound made by a machine .
***
Phantom Unit .
They were talents found through an open call…
Actually, these were the people, who hadn’t been able to run away, when Kahng-woojin and Kim-kahngchul suddenly got into a fight . They had all been low Rank Roused, but that wasn’t the case any more .
Rank B .
The lowest ranked member of the Phantom Unit was Rank B .
It was a high rank where they would be able to be hired as a director in most guilds .
It had been only several months, yet they had grown at a breakneck pace . It was inexplicable to everyone else as to how this was possible . However, Alandal was known for growing unbelievably strong Roused, so it wasn’t something that happened only in a dream .
The Reinforcement Stones were used to increase the base stats, and Alandal hadn’t skimped on investing numerous Skill Book into them . They had been only Rank E and F, yet they were given all these stuff .
Che-haesol had become the leader of this newly made Phantom Unit . It was thanks to her that the members of the Phantom Unit were well trained, and loyal .
Still, they were weaker than the Undead Army, so they were given the role of rescuing members of the Coalition . They were here to help the Coalition rebuild .
There were a lot of work to do at the Saurus Colony, but…
In recent days, they’ve run across a lot of trouble .
They weren’t in dispute with the people of this planet, beings from different races or even the forces of the Coalition . The problem arose from the people, who had originated from the same place as them . The people from earth were causing problems .
One of the top members of the Phantom Unit named Kim-joonyong looked at the people from the Daken guild . He looked at them with disapproval in his eyes .
“Who the **** are they? What kind of soldier looks like that?”
“They aren’t soldiers . ”
“What are they?”
“They are researcher . ”
“… . so why would researchers come here when we have to reclaim Alphen?”
“Well…they are here to research?”
“Uh-whew . They are here to research what?”
“How the **** should I know?”
“… . ”
He didn’t know about it, so how would other members of his unit know about it? He was being silly . He let out an awkward cough at his fellow member, who had gotten angry . Then Kim-joonyong started walking forward .
“Uh? Where are you going?”
“I’m the one, who is frustrated, so I’ll be the one digging the well . ”
“What?”
“I’m curious, so I’ll just go ask them . ”
He was an inherently curious man . When Kim-joonyong was curious about something, he wouldn’t be satisfied until he could ask and solve the question .
“Excuse me . ”
“…”
The researchers of the Daken guild looked at the man, who had suddenly shown up, with suspicious gazes . They looked at each other .
“What is it?”
“What are you researching?”
“…we are looking at the lay of the land . ”
That was something he already knew even if the other man hadn’t said it .
As a basic rule, the portal didn’t allow items from earth to pass through it .
This was why the researchers had made a strange looking stethoscope, which used Blood Stones as an energy source . They were using this device to poke around the ground in various locations .
This was why he was curious about it .
“Why?”
“How else are we going to build a sturdy castle?”
“But we already have a castle?”
“…”
The Saurus mountain already had castle walls as part of being a Colony .
“Ah, jeez . Why do you have to be so nosy? They just told me to conduct a search up here, so I’m searching . ”
“Oh well . ”
Since the other man got angry, it felt awkward, so Joonyong retreated . When Joonyong had moved away, the researchers of the Daken guild looked around before they whispered to each other .
“Do they suspect what we are doing?”
“No way . If they knew what we are trying to do, they would have shown some signs . ”
“Hmm . Anyways, the amount of oil deposit below ground is much more than imagined . We might need help from the US . ”
“That’s good news . They usually don’t move easily . We’ll bring in help from the US and several other guilds . ”
“Hoo hoo . We were fortunate that our guild was chosen as the first group . ”
“Why wouldn’t we be fortunate? This is his Majesty the Emperor’s favor . It is telling us to once again seek the glory of our empire . ”
“I want you record all the data carefully . ”
The researchers busily found the locations of underground natural resources, and they organized the information .
The faction pining for Japanese Imperialism reared its head again .
They had traveled through the portal to a planet called Alphen . They would use helping Alphen’s Coalition as pretext…