Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41

Wintering (5)

"Oh my... Zeus is furious."

"It worked...!"

Julian's voice trembled.

At the same time, Zeus's Relic responded.

The cracks covering its body vanished in an instant, and the spear blazed with dazzling golden light.

Irene murmured.

Typhon seemed to sense it as well, shaking the entire cavern as it let out an agonized scream.

[Krrr... Grrrrr...!!]

BOOOOOOM!!

The divine authority of the God of Thunder was paralyzing Typhon's very cells.

Perhaps because it was the monster that had once rebelled against Zeus, its reaction was even more violent.

Seol-ah shouted.

Even inside the cave, where there was no sky, a shockwave spread as if thunder itself had fallen.

The black tentacles trembled as smoke rose from them.

"Now's our chance! But... how do we deal with it? If we drag this out, the Relic's durability will start dropping again!"

Before the black tentacles could regroup, a brief silence fell.

Then Julian spoke.

"...There's no way we'd have a teleportation Relic capable of moving a Divine-class monster..."

Just then—

"...There is a place in mythology where Typhon was sealed."

"Mount Etna in Italy."

"I'll do it."

"...?!"

Everyone turned toward the speaker.

It was a familiar voice.

"The most fundamental solution... is to return it to where it originally belongs."

"Jun!"

So they needed to move it after all.

"But we don't have a Relic capable of that..."

The speaker was a boy who looked no older than a high school student.

Officially, he was one of Ju-Heon's excavation crew.

But his true identity was a Relic.

More specifically, the Chaos Relic, capable of opening every kind of Black Hole Gate.

It was also one of the Majesty Sacred Treasures—the final arbiter that determined who would become the ruler of the Majesties.

Although it acknowledged no Majesty's existence...

It had acknowledged Ju-Heon alone and elevated him as a Majesty.

The Chaos Relic had supposedly been living in seclusion under Ju-Heon's orders.

A faint light flickered around Jun's body.

"I've been preventing the enemy from invading through Relics related to Regression or Time."

"So you've returned!"

"Yes. It seems quite a lot happened while I was away."

"Good timing. Can you use your dimensional gate to move Typhon?"

Apparently, those had been Ju-Heon's orders.

As a regressor himself, he knew better than anyone how troublesome time-related Relics were.

If the enemy also possessed Relics of that kind, this world would be thrown into complete chaos.

Normally, Jun could only activate his powers while his master, Ju-Heon, was present.

Whether it would work now was uncertain, but Jun answered calmly.

"With the Majesty absent, I'm currently in Defense Mode."

"Defense Mode?"

"I'm devoting all my power to preventing that kind of invasion. Those were my standing orders."

"But... under these circumstances, I believe I can at least perform a single teleportation."

"Oh."

Jun's eyes shone gold.

"Now!"

"The destination is Mount Etna..."

At that instant—

A colossal gate appeared in the sky.

Typhon screamed as its body was forcibly dragged into the Chaos Gate.

The gate closed.

Silence filled the cavern.

[Chaos Gate]

"...Is it over?"

"Yes. I've sent it to the location you specified."

The portal remained connected.

Beyond it, they could see the interior of Mount Etna, overflowing with crimson lava and volcanic ash.

Judging by Typhon's frenzied struggles, it seemed to be having an effect.

Everyone sighed in relief.

"And Zeus's Relic's durability isn't dropping anymore..."

[GRRRAAAAH!!]

Irene cried out.

"...Is it finally over?"

But then Seol-ah suddenly bent down.

"...Wait. What's this?"

The problem was—

In one corner of the cave, where Typhon had been...

Something had quietly been left behind.

"...This Relic."

"It's Demeter's Relic."

"...!"

It was a tiny seed.

Thin wisps of smoke rose from it, spreading a strange scent throughout the cavern.

Julian's face turned pale.

Using Zhuge Liang's Relic, he immediately identified what it was.

Irene spoke in a trembling voice.

"Then... the one attacking Zeus's Relic wasn't Typhon..."

"That's right."

"It was the Majesty wielding Demeter's Relic."

"...A disease."

"...What?"

"This is the very plague that spread through our world."

"So the user of Demeter's Relic attempted to invade both my world... and the wine woman's world."

"...The wine woman?"

Cynthia looked at him in disbelief.

Then Majesty Yu Jae-ha spoke.

"...Well, if it's the Earth Goddess, that makes sense."

"And if we're talking about Demeter's greatest characteristic..."

"I've never met someone named Delreira."

"But as far as I know, Demeter's Relic has two seasonal modes."

"Seasonal modes?"

"That's right."

"Summer Mode and Winter Mode."

"Half a year later, when Persephone is taken to the Underworld..."

"The seasons change."

"...Winter."

"Exactly."

Yu Jae-ha continued firmly.

"In Summer Mode, it governs growth, abundance, nurturing life from the earth, and enriching everything."

It was a famous myth.

Conversely—

During Winter Mode, Demeter ceased bestowing abundance and prosperity.

That, in turn, brought disease and famine.

Ju-Heon's expression hardened.

"...Just as I thought."

"The one who spread the plague across my world was that bastard."

It was an obvious conclusion once everything was laid out.

Majesty Yu Jae-ha and Cynthia arrived at the same realization.

The three of them looked at Ju-Heon simultaneously.

"...What?"

"Then if we want to eliminate the disease..."

"We just have to use Persephone's Relic, right? We simply change Winter back into Summer!"

Ju-Heon answered in an extremely matter-of-fact tone.

Logically, it made perfect sense.

If they wanted to restore the seasons, Persephone only needed to return to the surface.

But Ju-Heon immediately interrupted.

"That's too textbook."

"Even if we switch Winter back to Summer, Delreira can just hide the Relic and change the seasons again."

"No matter what, he's still a Majesty."

"...That's true."

"Then it'll just repeat forever."

Cynthia muttered uneasily.

"That's a pointless solution."

"Then... what should we do?"

Ju-Heon's answer was astonishingly simple.

"Relics exist in a predator-and-prey relationship."

"Especially Demeter and Hades."

"They're perfect natural enemies."

"We just need to awaken Hades."

"If Hades' Relic reveals itself, the hidden Demeter Relic will naturally go berserk."

For a moment, the air fell deathly silent, as though time itself had frozen.

Cynthia swallowed.

"...What difference would that make?"

Yu Jae-ha seemed to understand what Ju-Heon meant and nodded.

"Then... the moment Demeter's Relic reveals itself..."

"We smash it."

"It's a natural predator relationship."

He said it so simply that it was almost frightening.

Ju-Heon continued.

"Think it's impossible?"

He looked genuinely dumbfounded.

"To begin with, the Demeter Relic Delreira uses isn't even the genuine article."

"It's a patchwork made from samples Vitrain stole from all over different worlds."

"Its durability, stability, and overall completion are all inferior."

"Destroying Relics is my specialty."

"True enough."

"You even ripped Zeus's egg off."

"...Egg?"

Cynthia hurriedly waved her hands.

In other words—

As long as the Relic revealed itself, he could destroy it.

No matter how powerful or dangerous a Majesty might be, once their Relic was exposed and vulnerable...

That was Ju-Heon's domain.

"Exactly."

"You just break it."

"T-That only happened by accident!"

"No."

"I did it on purpose."

"...You're insane."

It was so absurdly simple that it sent chills down their spines.

"And after I destroy it..."

"I can make it mine."

So that's your real objective...

Yu Jae-ha folded his arms and analyzed the situation with cold practicality.

Which meant—

"...Well, sure."

"If the method works, that is the most rational approach."

"The problem is where we're supposed to find Hades' Relic."

"We don't."

"We bring Hades himself."

Ju-Heon cut in.

At Cynthia's words, Yu Jae-ha looked toward Ju-Heon.

"Simple enough."

"You just make one."

"More importantly."

"You had Greek Relics before."

"Don't tell me you don't have Hades' Relic too?"

Yu Jae-ha closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again.

Ju-Heon's expression froze.

"...Are you out of your mind?"

"Why?"

"If you're planning to destroy Demeter with it, a replica won't work."

"It might be fine for temporary use..."

"...You're right."

"Then summon it."

"...Summon it?"

Yu Jae-ha began counting on his fingers as he explained.

Ju-Heon asked,

"You can summon Relics from my own world too?"

"I thought you needed some kind of Summoning Permit."

"First."

"Summoning Permit. The authority to pull a person or Relic from another world."

"Second."

"Invasion Permit. The authority to personally cross into another world."

"Third."

"Communication Permit. The authority to communicate between worldlines."

"Each one works like a one-time-use coupon."

Yu Jae-ha snorted in disbelief.

Ju-Heon's eyebrow twitched.

"Yeah."

"That's right."

"How exactly did you think the Majesties negotiated and formed alliances across different worldlines?"

"...You mean every Majesty has those by default?"

"Exactly."

"If you're a Majesty."

"The real problem is that you didn't even know."

He looked downright smug as he teased Ju-Heon.

Yu Jae-ha slowly looked him up and down.

"A Majesty comes with a basic set of rights."

"You obviously should have them."

"...I didn't."

"That's impossible."

"It should've been written in the manual."

"Right at the beginning."

At that moment—

New text appeared in the Rulebook.

Ju-Heon carefully read the Rulebook displayed through his status window.

No matter how many times he looked, there was nothing about Summoning Permits.

...No.

Actually—

There was.

At the very end of the manual...

In letters no thicker than a single strand of hair.

[To prevent errors caused by exercising rights before the user fully understands them, these functions have been hidden for safety.]

Then another line appeared, almost as though it were making excuses.

[They were scheduled to be revealed once the user was deemed ready.]

[Bonus Granted: The Majesty's Three Basic Rights have been automatically awarded.]

The veins on Ju-Heon's forehead bulged.

"Why the hell would you hide something this important in microscopic print?!"

"The hell is wrong with you?!"

Yu Jae-ha burst out laughing.

It really seemed as though the Rulebook and the Divine Relics had been trying their hardest to get Ju-Heon killed.

"So the Rulebook's been screwing you over all this time."

Ju-Heon's lips slowly—

Very slowly—

Curved upward.

"Hey."

"You little bastard."

"I didn't—"

"...Well."

"You said the Summoning Permit can bring people over too, right?"

"Yeah."

"But why—"

"You sons of bitches..."

I'm not letting this slide.

The moment Ju-Heon acknowledged it—

Three Basic Right permits quietly appeared in the Rulebook.

As though they had been there from the very beginning, merely concealed.

The look in Ju-Heon's eyes changed.

"...My daughter."

"..."

"Can I summon her too?"

[Majesty Basic Right: Summoning Permit Activated]

[Please select a target to summon.]

Silence fell.

For a moment, Yu Jae-ha was speechless.

Watching those words appear, Ju-Heon slowly raised his head.