Chapter 42
CHAPTER 42
Wintering (6)
"...That's right."
"A Summoning Permit can only bring over something that already exists."
"A being that hasn't been born yet has no coordinates."
Yu Jae-ha fell silent for a moment.
When Majesties use a Summoning Permit, they usually think of Relics.
Powerful ones.
Rare ones.
Ones that would benefit them.
But this guy...
Ju-Heon said nothing.
Yu Jae-ha glanced at him.
"...Did you already know the answer before asking?"
"I figured that would be the case."
His first thought was his daughter.
Yu Jae-ha watched Ju-Heon for a moment before speaking again.
He seemed lost in thought.
Then he slowly opened his mouth.
"...Well, if she became a Relic, maybe you could summon—"
Ju-Heon cut him off immediately.
"No."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'll find her before that ever happens."
"If she exists somewhere, then that world still has her coordinates."
"And if it has coordinates..."
"I just need to open a gate."
"I've already traveled through countless worlds."
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Yu Jae-ha simply looked up at the sky.
Then—
At last, it became perfectly clear why Ju-Heon had been able to come to this world.
Crossing his arms, Yu Jae-ha added,
"Oh, and one more thing."
His tone was casual, but there was an unmistakable hint of pride in it.
"I used my Invasion Permit to bring you here."
"I'm putting that on your tab."
"You can pay me back later."
"What nonsense."
"Do you know how hard those permits are to get?"
"I've been spending them on you."
"You should be thanking me."
Ju-Heon narrowed his eyes.
"...Invasion Permit?"
"The right that allows a Majesty to travel to another worldline."
"So that's what it was..."
Was that his awkward way of comforting him?
Judging by his expression, Ju-Heon clearly hated owing anyone a favor.
"So..."
"Those three permits or whatever."
"How do you get more of them?"
"You defeat another Majesty."
"Or complete Rulebook missions."
Just as Ju-Heon was about to take out the newly appeared Summoning Permit and use it—
Cynthia hurriedly reached out and stopped him.
She cut into the conversation.
"If you kill another Majesty, that's a Conquest Victory."
"If you negotiate, make a treaty, and force them to surrender, that's also a victory."
"You can even achieve a Cultural Victory by using the opponent's Relics to contribute to humanity."
"Wait!"
"You can't do that right now!"
"Why not?"
"Summoning counts as an invasion!"
"This city automatically switches into combat mode whenever it detects an invasion, in order to protect this world."
"So if you summon your Relic here now..."
"...My Hades Relic will be attacked?"
"Exactly."
"So you need to disable the city's defense system first."
Yu Jae-ha added the explanation.
Cynthia tried to calm Ju-Heon.
"Each type of victory grants the winner one additional permit."
"Fine."
"So everyone starts with one of each?"
"Then let's summon Hades—"
"So come to my building."
"I'll shut the defenses down."
Just as they were about to leave—
"No...!"
"That Watcher could be connected to Delreira!"
"If word reaches him..."
Whoosh.
Someone had been eavesdropping.
Then vanished.
Yu Jae-ha immediately realized what had happened.
"Damn."
Just then—
Ding.
"...A Watcher!"
[Worldline: An anomaly has occurred in <Ju-Heon's World>.]
The moment their eyes met, the Watcher turned around and fled at full speed.
Ju-Heon smirked.
Then he froze.
Another message appeared.
"...It got away."
Cynthia's face turned deathly pale.
[Stage Two of the Plague Trial has begun.]
Stage Two...
In the end, Ju-Heon used one of his three basic rights—
Communication Permit.
The permit dissolved into particles.
A blue ring materialized before him.
A brief silence followed.
That silence carried countless unspoken meanings.
Then the reports burst forth all at once.
"Connect me to my world."
The blue ring began to move.
The worlds linked together.
A familiar voice rang out.
[We're all right. Everyone's still alive.]
[But the plague is spreading.]
[We think it's Demeter's Relic.]
[...Ju-Heon!]
Soon Irene's voice came through as well.
She was trying her best to remain calm.
Even without seeing them, he could tell.
Julian's breathing was ragged.
He sounded as though he were on the verge of losing his composure.
Ju-Heon spoke first.
[We're suppressing the disease as best we can... but we're reaching our limits.]
[It's only a temporary measure.]
"Julian."
"What's happened?"
"Is everyone safe?"
The confusion on the other end was unmistakable.
Then—
The moment Ju-Heon's voice sounded...
It quietly smothered all of that chaos.
Ju-Heon's voice smothered the panic.
Then he continued.
"Calm down."
"He's using Demeter's Relic."
"Which means he'll be trying to gather every Relic connected to Demeter."
Ju-Heon slowly took a breath.
Even with his own world facing a crisis...
There wasn't the slightest hint of agitation in him.
Without ending the call, he spoke again.
"His real target is probably the Greek Relics I possess."
"Anyway, that's not the main reason I contacted you."
The atmosphere on the other end froze.
Julian muttered in disbelief.
Irene and Julian reacted at the same time.
[What is it?]
[The Greek Relics?]
"Yeah."
"There's a Majesty named Delreira..."
Ju-Heon got straight to the point.
"Is Hades' Relic still intact?"
[Hold on. I'll check.]
A strange silence followed.
[...What do you mean?]
"I heard there's a Majesty named Vitrain."
"He stole Relics from various worlds."
"He leaves only the shell behind and extracts their abilities."
Everyone held their breath.
The sound of rushing wind.
Footsteps as someone sprinted away.
Still maintaining the communication link, Julian threw open the Relic vault.
Meanwhile, Ju-Heon headed toward Cynthia's Majesty Building.
He had concluded that he would be able to use the Summoning Permit there.
By the time he arrived, Julian's voice came through.
"So you're saying..."
"Some of my Relics might also be nothing but empty shells."
[Found them.]
[Just as you said, there are several Relics whose abilities have already been stripped away.]
Someone audibly gasped.
The moment Julian finished speaking, everyone heard him leap to his feet.
[For example... Dionysus' Relic, Demeter's Relic... and several others are empty shells.]
[But it looks like their powers disappeared a long time ago.]
"A long time ago?"
[Yeah.]
[They'd already been hollowed out before you ever obtained them.]
Ju-Heon's voice became filled with certainty.
"Delreira invaded because he wanted to make Demeter's Relic completely his own."
Cynthia stiffened.
Ju-Heon finally understood.
The Greek Relics had resisted so violently that he'd mostly kept them sealed away.
Among them, there were probably many hollowed-out Relics obtained through methods like these.
Prometheus, who had possessed those Relics before him, had likely known the truth all along...
...and deliberately kept silent.
As soon as the report ended, Ju-Heon replied casually—
Without disappointment.
Without anxiety.
"...What exactly does that mean?"
Ju-Heon answered with absolute certainty.
"I didn't understand it before."
"But now I do."
"Even they know what they're carrying are inferior copies."
"So now they're invading to seize the original bodies..."
"The shells themselves."
Julian let out a slow breath over the communication link.
It was filled with realization...
Fear...
And anger.
Meanwhile, the corners of Ju-Heon's lips slowly rose.
[Hades... is fine.]
[Unlike Zeus, both the shell and its abilities are completely intact.]
[Looks like they were never able to steal this one.]
Ju-Heon's eyes narrowed.
Even just their shells were already incredibly powerful Relics.
"Perfect."
"Then let's just bring it over."
"If we recover the abilities they stole..."
"That means it'll become even stronger."
Ju-Heon raised his hand and activated his Summoning Permit.
But—
Nothing happened.
He immediately asked another question.
"...Blocked?"
"And Hades?"
As though answering his question—
A voice echoed through the air.
Moments later, Julian's voice returned.
[Summoning Permit Activation Failed]
[Reason: The owner of the target worldline has blocked the invader's Summoning Permit.]
[To force the summoning, your authority must exceed that of the opposing worldline's owner.]
Cynthia gritted her teeth.
"...Invader?"
"I thought you disabled Defense Mode!"
"Delreira is working together with Vitrain."
"And blood is thicker than water."
"There's a high chance he received a special privilege from the Rulebook."
"Using that privilege..."
"...So even after turning off Defense Mode..."
"...you're still recognized as an invader."
Cynthia bit her lip.
Sure enough—
"It's Delreira's doing."
Ju-Heon blinked.
[Invader Summoning Permit Prohibited]
"...Why is his name showing up here?"
Even after reading the message—
Ju-Heon's expression didn't change in the slightest.
If anything...
He looked even more amused.
His gaze seemed to say:
"Aren't you supposed to be the owner of this world?"
"Right."
"Then the conclusion is obvious."
He casually cleaned out one of his ears.
"As long as I'm not an invader..."
"...this restriction won't apply."
Cynthia's eyes widened.
"...What?"
"I'm only being blocked because I'm classified as an invader."
Ju-Heon casually rolled his shoulders.
"Then all I have to do..."
"...is stop being an invader."
"Simple."
The smile on his face completely froze Cynthia in place.
"W-What..."
"What are you planning to do?"