Chapter 56…
Crather.
A former priest of the Falspera Church,
and a former member of Fang of Hope, the unit led by the Archbishop.
‘Why is someone like him here…?’
And wearing an agent uniform, no less.
Does this mean the Falspera Church and the extremist hawks are connected?
‘No…’
I shook my head immediately.
Crather had been abandoned by the church.
Given the situation back then, if anything, he would want revenge—not crawl back to them.
‘And more importantly, the Falspera Church wouldn’t even take him back…’
In their eyes, someone they abandoned has already served all their “value.”
In any case, the important point is that Crather is currently our only lead.
“If he’s here, dressed like that, no matter his circumstances, it means he’s connected to Park Jong-hwan.”
I opened my mouth to speak—
but Crather beat me to it.
And he seemed to be completely misunderstanding the situation.
“You stalker bastard! Did I owe you something in a past life? Did you have to track me all the way here?!”
“……?”
“I told you I’m not part of the church anymore! You saw them abandon me!”
What the hell was he babbling about?
Does he really think I came here looking for him?
I’m not that free.
So I got to the point.
“Where is Park Jong-hwan?”
“What, you didn’t come to arrest me?”
“I’m busy. Answer.”
“…And if I don’t want to?”
“Oh?”
Is he pretending not to know—or does he seriously not understand his situation?
He looks stupid enough that the latter might be true.
‘He really can’t read the room.’
No need to overthink it.
Truth is proven by fists, not words.
‘I wanted to keep things civil since Rebecca’s here, but…’
I lunged at him immediately.
I was already holding my dagger in a reverse grip.
“H-hold on, how about a calm Q&A session—?!”
He stumbled backward, but I chased him, swinging the dagger.
Crather swung his twin axes wildly, barely managing to block.
“Ugh! This crazy—!”
KANG! KA-KANG! CHAAAANG—!
Each time his axe clashed with my dagger, the blade chipped, cracks forming.
He noticed.
I accelerated.
Crather panicked, screaming as he spit out rushed words.
“Aaagh! W-wait! Joke! It was a JOKE! I’m not trying to fight—kuh!”
THUD!
My fist slammed into his solar plexus.
He flew, sliding across the floor, wheezing in agony.
“Huhhh—hkk—can’t… breathe…”
Of course he’s in pain.
That was just a warning.
To let him know that he’s alive only because of my whims.
‘That makes conversation easier.’
As he lay there gasping, I approached and looked down at him.
“I’ll ask again. Where is Park Jong-hwan?”
“Right, Park Jong-hwan. Where?”
At that moment, Rebecca popped up in front of him.
The kid who’d been hiding behind Kim Pyeong-on suddenly jumped out.
“……!”
“Park Jong-hwan. Where.”
“Y-you! That’s dangerous!”
Crather froze like a statue.
Pyeong-on hurried to pull her back, but Rebecca struggled like always.
Tsk. I tried to keep her hidden…
When I sensed Crather earlier, I had signaled Pyeong-on to hide Rebecca.
Those two meeting does no one any good.
“Rebecca…”
“You know me?”
Rebecca tilted her head, staring at Crather.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
As if trying to figure out whether she was real or an illusion.
“…Are you… really Rebecca? You’re alive…?”
“I dunno. But people say I’m Rebecca.”
“Right… you lost your memories. Damn…”
“So, do you know me, mister?”
Crather let out a bitter laugh.
Then he clenched his fists so tight that blood dripped from his palms.
“Heh… know you? Why would I know some amnesiac brat? I don’t. Damn it. So you don’t need to know scum like me either.”
“You’re weird.”
“Get lost. You’re annoying.”
He gently pushed her aside, dusted himself off, wiped the blood from his mouth, and looked at me.
He was grinning.
“You wanted to know where Park Jong-hwan is.”
“…Yeah.”
“I hate complicated stuff. I don’t care about the higher-ups’ politics or their stupid games. But it seems I do have something I can give you.”
“So what’s your point?”
“If you promise me one thing, I’ll give you everything—Park Jong-hwan’s location, and all the info I know.”
I already knew what he was going to ask.
And it wasn’t something I could promise outright.
Rebecca is only with me temporarily.
But if our goals align… I could consider it.
“I owe that brat my life. But I can’t live while still owing a debt.”
“And?”
“Now that I know she’s alive, I can’t just pretend I didn’t see her. My pride won’t let me.”
“…And?”
“Why the hell do you keep saying ‘and’?! I’m telling you to protect the brat for me! Do I have to spell it out for—GACK!”
I kicked him in the shin.
The best cure for rudeness is a beating.
“Ask properly.”
“Ugh… We’re making a deal here! A DEAL, you know?!”
“Tsk, still not getting it. Fine, then—”
“F-fine! Fine! I’m asking! I’m asking you, damn it!”
I thought for a moment.
If Crather agreed to one extra condition… the deal would benefit me.
“You know this is a heavy request, right?”
“…Yeah, damn it.”
“Then I’m adding one more condition.”
“You thug…”
“You’re going to be my informant.”
* * *
Depending on interpretation, it might have been just an empty promise.
I agreed to protect Rebecca, but Crather wouldn’t know even if I abandoned her later.
‘I have no idea what made him trust me…’
Or maybe he was simply that desperate.
Either way, he spilled everything.
“So you came to catch ‘Malteon,’ huh?”
“…Malteon?”
“Oh, right. In your country he goes by ‘Park Jong-hwan.’”
“What are you talking about?”
And what he told me was shocking.
Park Jong-hwan, Deputy Director of the Ability Security Bureau.
A first-generation player who’s been around since the towers appeared 30 years ago—
was actually a Follower.
“You guys really came in blind. If not for me, you’d all be dead already.”
“…Explain properly or you’ll be the first to die.”
“Y-you gangster bastard! Fine, fine! I’ll talk! Put your fist down!”
He raised both hands in surrender and spoke quickly.
“Malteon was branded a heretic by the church and escaped before execution.”
“More precisely.”
“There was a huge secret project the church was running. He screwed it up with his greed. So he ran. Just think of him as a psycho.”
“……”
It finally made sense.
Crather stuck with Park Jong-hwan to take revenge on the Archbishop who betrayed him.
Which also meant Park Jong-hwan had that much power.
“You couldn’t kill the Archbishop yourself, so you borrowed another monster’s power?”
“…Yeah. What’s wrong with that?! But it doesn’t matter now… since I know she’s alive.”
If he had succeeded in killing the Archbishop using Park Jong-hwan’s power, his next target would’ve been me.
Because I played a part in creating that mess, too.
But for now, we had a temporary alliance.
People are unpredictable.
“Enough pre-info. Where is Park Jong-hwan?”
Crather widened his eyes.
“You’re going now?! No way! And you’re taking the brat?! That’s suicide!”
“We can prepare along the way.”
“You can’t kill him with some half-assed preparation—”
“That’s for me to decide. You just talk. Class, specialties, weapons, everything.”
“I knew you were insane, but holy—fine! Fine! I’ll talk!”
He backed away from my fist and led us somewhere.
Not far—
back to the pillar where he first appeared.
“At first glance it looks like a pillar, but it’s actually a hidden elevator.”
He felt around, and a button appeared.
He pressed it, and the pillar split open left and right, revealing a sterile white chamber.
“Wow! Sick! So we didn’t come to the wrong place!”
“Guess Director Seo’s intel wasn’t wrong.”
Not that it was easy to get here.
Crather puffed up proudly like a city mouse mocking a country mouse.
“Ahem! This is the only passage to the basement. That’s where he’s hiding. This is top-secret stuff, got it?”
I ignored him.
Instead, I took out the relics that had been sleeping in my sub-space.
I had put off organizing them for too long, but now that a major battle was coming, it was time.
“So tell me everything about Park Jong-hwan—no, Malteon. From 1 to 10. Don’t forget you’re on our side now. If we lose… you know what happens.”
I glanced at Rebecca.
Crather frowned deeply.
“I know, damn it. His class is Wizard. His specialty is—”
As he explained, I prepared for battle.
First, what I’ve been delaying the longest: the Silver Mask of the Leper King…
The A+-grade mana stone from the Ghost Signal operation.
With this unique-grade stone, I could finally see the relic’s final third-stage form.
[Silver Mask of the Leper King]
—Grade: Unique
—Info: A star that shone brilliantly but fell too early. This mask hid the scar of that star. Many used that star as a guide to move forward with strength.
· HP –100
· Status resistance –200%
· Skill: Harvest
· Authority:
—All servants rise 1 rank for 1 hour.
· Charge: 25/100
Even with the “Annihilator Body (S)” trait, the HP –100 and status resistance –200% debuffs were painful.
Which is why I avoided using it.
But once upgraded, those drawbacks would disappear.
I used Sealing Release (S) and held the A+ mana stone to the mask.
‘Finally…’
This relic was one I even went into debt for, stealing it recklessly.
The relic I relied on most before regression was finally returning to its true form.
‘Good to see you again.’
FLASH—
The silver mask glowed and transformed.
Crather stopped talking.
Kim Pyeong-on stared.
Even Rebecca’s eyes widened.
“…It’s done!”
A fragmented ring.
The size of a head.
The rim looked like dark iron chains.
Inside was pure white silver.
And faint red light pulsed between the cracks.
[Halo of Scars]
—Grade: Mythic
—Info: A star that shone brightest, but extinguished too soon.
Everyone believed it had vanished, but it never disappeared.
It rose again through its wounds—
leaving only scars and a halo behind.
· Skill: Harvest (Enhanced)
· Skill: Leper King’s Patronage (Enhanced)
—Authority:
· User becomes untargetable for 10 seconds.
· All servants become immune to pain and fear for 30 seconds.
· All enemies suffer “Stiffening” for 10 seconds.
—Charge: 0/100
(Charge condition: Feeds on the physical wounds of servants.)
“Boss… what is that?”
“Scary. That’s scary.”
“Damn, he dug up another monster thing.”
I ignored the last comment.
Because I was in a very good mood.
The halo floated above me as I equipped it.
Huuuung— Huuuung—
It rose above my head, radiating silent majesty.
I looked at Crather and ordered:
“Let’s go.”
The leader of the extremist hawks.
Deputy Director of the Ability Security Bureau.
Former head researcher of the Falspera Church.
Follower known as Malteon—
the man hiding behind the alias Park Jong-hwan.
It was time to hunt him.
