Chapter 117

They finally stopped at the center of the Espo city’s square and floated up even higher.

I was to show their appearance to those who couldn’t go into the square as the space was narrow.

Like that, the ceremony was ready to begin, Hornus, who exchanged glances with Hokulrus, cleared his throat, stroking his beard.

“Hm, hmmm,”

When the noise died down and the space became quiet, Hornus pulled out a thick document and started the ceremony.

“Now, we will celebrate the appointment ceremony for Vulcan, a glorious being who graduated from Act 2 in Asgard. First of all…”

Perpetual sentences flowed out of his mouth.

Like the thick rain that pours in the rainy season, the words of Hornus lasted for a long while.

Those who knew him were okay because they had anticipated, but many people, who did not have immunity to his boring speech, inwardly complained.

They dared not express out loud.

He was a god.

They waited patiently until Hornus’s speech was finished, and the ceremony was carried out smoothly.

But the atmosphere was becoming less interesting.

Hokulrus stared at Hornus with big and bright eyes.

Hornus got startled.

‘I spoke only one third…’

He skipped a lot of things, meanwhile, many let out a sigh of relief.

So, much of the procedure went on in a flash, and the climax of the ceremony finally came.

Vulcan approached Hokulrus as if walking on an invisible, transparent floor.

He went down on one knee.

Hokulrus, who was watching Vulcan, reached out his hand, then said solemnly.

“Act 2 of Asgard. I grant, valiant being, Vulcan, who defeated challenges and passed through the final test, God’s authority. He can go up to Act 3 and manage the earth anytime.”

Unlike, it was simple and clear.

The crowd shouted and applauded.

Hokulrus, who received much acclaim, emitted a ray of light from his hand.

The holy light enveloped his body warmly.

Vulcan, who wholly absorbed the light, hear the sound of System.

[Main Quest – Being recognized by Act 2’s supreme manager, Hokulrus, completed!]

[You got additional rewards for the shortest period clear!]

[Use System to check the additional rewards.]

[Main Reward – Make wishes.]

‘Finally…’

It was finally over.

In fact, since when he came out of the Light inside the Darkness, Clear was almost certain, though being officially recognized felt strange.

A lot of people gathered to see him and gave him various eyes.

Two powerful gods were looking at him proudly in front of his eyes.

It started to sink in when System notified him that he completed the Main Quest.

‘I…  saved my family, and the world,’

He felt somewhat dumbfounded.

The feeling gradually transformed into joy, and he got choked up.

Blurred vision represented his emotional state.

He barely managed to hold back his tears.

He didn’t want to cry in front of a lot of people, and there was a more important reason.

‘No tears until I meet my family…’

Vulcan looked down and bowed the numerous crowds gathered to see him.

If there was no further procedure, he thought that he would go back to the temple, make wishes and check his rewards leisurely.

‘Hokulrus would probably let me go…’

Vulcan didn’t even make eye contact with Hornus.

Hokulrus’s soft voice rang inside his head.

-going now?

-isn’t it over? Now I need to get ready to leave.

-well, why don’t you show something to those who are gathered here for you before you leave?

Vulcan responded, laughing.

-like what? Should I pull out the Thunder God blade?

-something more dynamic than that.

Hokulrus, who finished speaking, pointed to the air.

Then, a black square door appeared and five demons jumped out of it.

Those screeched with joy as if escaping from prison.

Vulcan knew that those were the top-ranked demons that could be seen in the Origin of Evil.

“Catch them?”

“Yeah,”

Vulcan nodded and ran his eyes over the crowd staring at the demons.

Most of them had levels that were too low to reach the Origin of Evil.

They looked horrified.

Vulcan grinned, seeing the horrified looks on their faces.

Phaaaannnngggg.

With the sound of the air bursting, the thunder and lightning and the flame rose simultaneously from the body of  Vulcan.

Five demons that turned their head to a powerful aura that suddenly burst out.

Vulcan emanated powerful magic.

Like the firecrackers celebrating the Act 2 Clear, demons burst out.

The ceremony that would linger long in many’s memory, was finished.

***

“Impressive,”

“Yeah, indeed,”

“Someday, we can do it. Let’s go back now,”

“Can we?…”

Numerous people were coming out of the Espo city.

Vulcan’s godhood lingered in their mind and everyone got excited.

Some of them got demotivated, meanwhile, most people returned with enthusiasm just as Hokulrus intended.

Humans, animalians, dragonians, demi-gods, and others felt the inch to resume grinding away.

And a different being among them.

In a black robe, ancient predator, Poir had different thoughts.

‘Hm… that guy, cleared Act 2…’

Poir had mixed feeling, staring in the direction of the Espo city.

While he was relieved to see the strong man leave who been aiming at his life, he had a dark look on his face, watching the Player’s ability go.

In fact, before he came to the Espo city, the former feeling was much bigger.

However, no matter how much he wanted the Player’s ability, it wasn’t worthy of his life.

He couldn’t be more glad that the being, who had made him hide himself for more than 100 years, was leaving.

But Poir was a predator.

He was born greedy and had a strong tendency to not let go of the things in his hand.

Once his situation had flowed into securing his own safety, greed grew over his head again and he was angry that he could not get Vulcan.

“Damn it! That was mine! mine! Argh…!”

Kwaaannnggg!

As soon as he found out that there were no people around, he wreaked his wrath upon a tree.

Repeating the same words, he suddenly grabbed his chest.

Then, he coughed blood on the floor.

Tudududukkk.

Poir, who had seen the blood drops scattered on the floor, tried again to smash the trees around him, but couldn’t, because of the chest pain.

In the end, suppressing his anger rising inside him, he couldn’t help but sit down and grab his chest.

A voice like the cry of a wounded beast came out.

“The holy sword… damn holy sword… “

He had been hiding for the last 100 years and using all sorts of means, but the wound he had worn at that time were not cured.

Rather, like cancer cells, it was eating his body and collapsing his body.

As he ate the Demon Duke’s boots in excess, he became more vulnerable by the aura that the holy sword was exuding.

He tried to improve his body by making various potions, but it was not easy.

In the end, all he could do was to curse Vulcan by saying such profanity.

He once again looked at the Espo city with his bloody eyes.

“…”

Of course, it wouldn’t change the situation.

Tolerating the pain, he stood up and thought.

‘But… now that I don’t have to hide, I'll be able to use a little more upscale materials. I can make enough medicine. I need to survive first…’

Poir started to calm himself down slowly and think rationally.

When he felt the pain, he could get a hold of himself.

This meant, if he could get out of the pain, his mental state could become strange again.

There was no time to gawk in order to solve the problem perfectly.

He made a sound with his shark-like teeth and moved his feet.

Then.

Kiiieeeeeeeee.

Kyaarararararararararara.

A bizarre sound came from far away.

At first, it was faint, but Poir’s face became hardened, hearing the gradually increasing sound.

He took off the robe and was poised for battle.

His eyes were full of questions.

Because it was an ordinary forest, not a hunting ground, the noise didn’t make sense.

“What the fuck… ?”

Creepy, gross monsters came into sight.

Poir glared at them with dilated eyes.

‘Those bastards…. Chimera!’

He had spent many years in the Espo city, and he had never met, but he knew the rumors.

He knew that there was a madman who could do biome studies and create bizarre creatures after kidnapping powerful individuals.

And that the madman had chimeras with tremendous power.

Having thought this far, Poir felt in his bones.

This time, he was a target.

He peeked a smile.

“Kk…”

The small sound gradually grew bigger and suddenly spread throughout the surroundings.

Some of chimeras reeled under the impact of the sound magic.

But more than 50 chimeras were still staring at Poir and among them, a giant one was mocking.

Poir, who saw it, stopped laughing.

Showing His sharp, bright teeth, he said.

“How dare you?”

Tuuuunnnnggg.

As soon as his ward was finished, he rushed to the giant chimera at a terrific pace.

In front of him was a solid barrier that drove Vulcan into the corner, and the chimera flew away without even reacting properly.

Kiiieeeekkkk!

Kryaaaaakkkkk!

Other chimeras surrounded Poir roughly.

Liket that, a battle began, and a terrible noise stirred the forest.

The sound of something crashing. The sound of something bursting. The sound of screaming.

All the bizarre sounds that made an ominous and awful imagination unfolded like a joint orchestral performance.

At the same time, there was a strong smell all over the place that paralyzed the sense of smell.

That two-hour fight was over.

In the middle of the forest where serenity came again, someone suddenly flew up.

An elderly man with a skinny body that replaced a part of his head with a steel plate and inserted a red lens instead of an eyeball.

He wore a satisfactory smile.

“Good job,”