Chapter 355 - Cha Jeong-woo (1)

Team: HH, Yahiko, thursdays (10/10)

『I’ll thank you again for your contribution in the completion of Kynee.』

Brontes bowed to Yeon-woo.

There was a brief moment of conflict, but Brontes didn’t forget the fact that Yeon-woo was the one who tossed them a lifeline when they were in a situation without hope.

If Yeon-woo hadn’t stepped up, the three Cyclops brothers would never have been able to meet again or complete Kynee.

Yeon-woo was the savior of the brothers and Tartarus.

『Me too.』

“I agree.”

Steropes and Arges bowed as well. It was somewhat awkward because they were meter-high one-eyed monsters.

『You can ask me to do anything.』

“Like I already said, this was just quid pro quo. And my condition was…..”

Yeon-woo paused, pulling out the pocket watch. Brontes’s single eye narrowed.

『It was to unlock the seal, right?』

“Right.”

『Would you give it to me real quick?』

Yeon-woo carefully gave the pocket watch to Brontes.

[You cannot see information about the item.]

[You cannot see information about the item.]

…..

[You have reattempted to see information about the item with ‘Divine Draconic Eyes.’]

[You have succeeded in seeing a small part of the item.]

[The results are being shown.]

[Heaven Wing’s Pocket Watch]

Category: ???

Rank:???

Summary: The pocket watch that Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo left behind. It was created from Luciel’s Soulstone, the stone of ‘Superbia (arrogance),’ and it seems to hold a secret.

He still couldn’t learn much, but the Divine Draconic Eyes managed to show Yeon-woo better results than before.

The part of Superbia that was made of the stone stood out in particular.

The fact that he could see information about the Soulstone meant he could analyze information about it if he raised the skill’s proficiency. Only the first step was hard—it became easier after.

『How much do you know about this stone?』

“I only know that it’s made of Superbia of the Seven Deadly Sins.”

Brontes seemed a bit surprised.

『You already know that much? Then it’ll be easier to tell you.』

His explanation continued.

『Like I mentioned beforehand, there are a total of 14 Soulstones left behind by Luciel. The name of each Soulstone is different. They’ve been divided into evil and good, the Seven Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins. We are able to use the fire of the beginning, Castitas, to melt the artifact because it’s “pure” like its namesake.』

Yeon-woo wondered what the name of the Soulstone that made Vieira Dune into Mother Earth was.

He had a guess in mind.

Luxuria (lust).

『On the other hand, Superbia overpowers everything. It’s aloof and high. It’s also stiff, so it doesn’t know how to bend to others. Because it doesn’t break easily, it’s the perfect place to hide something. I don’t know who created it, but….. he must’ve been very skilled.』

“What do you think he tried to hide?”

Brontes shrugged.

『How would I know? I didn’t make it. But……』

“But? Do you have something in mind?”

『The seal isn’t completely locked, and it was set up to have a hole somewhere. So, if a certain condition is fulfilled, there will be a reaction.』

Yeon-woo nodded. He had that assumption as well.

The diary.

『So to unlock it, I think you need to aim for this point.』

“How?”

『If the person who made this watch wanted, he could’ve sealed the item inside of the pocket watch forever. But the fact he made a hole means he wanted the seal to be unlocked someday.』

Brontes’s eyes shined.

『It’s a keyhole.』

* * *

‘A keyhole.’

Sitting in front of the furnace, Yeon-woo rubbed the pocket watch. As the fire in the furnace whooshed up, its warmth was delivered to him.

-To be honest, I don’t know if I can release the seal. Actually, I know I can’t. No one has ever been able to unlock the secret of the Soulstones. If it was possible….. everyone in possession of one would’ve transcended mortal limits.

Henova had said that it was possible even the three Cyclops brothers might not be able to unlock the seal.

It seemed he was right.

-But ‘handling’ it is another story. I’ll teach you about that.

-However, if we know what the key used to go in the keyhole is, the seal can be unlocked. It’s a shame.

Yeon-woo muttered to himself.

‘A keyhole.’

It was most definitely the diary.

Then…..

‘What’s the key?’

He quickly came to his answer.

‘Me.’

His brother had left behind the diary to try to give him something.

He did say he hoped Yeon-woo would go to the clan house to take the elixir, but there were still functions other than an information source that he had left behind in the diary.

The many hidden pieces he discovered after research. How to clear each floor, skill trees, and more.

There was too much for all of it to be just for the elixir.

Moreover, the ending of the diary was somewhat of a cliffhanger, like there was supposed to be something else.

‘I have to find the actual diary.’

Clearing his thoughts, he opened his mind. He had heard about the structure and basic traits of the Soulstones from Brontes.

Then, it was up to him to figure out how to solve it.

‘First, the keyhole.’

He pushed his magic power inside of the pocket watch. It began to shake. The needles trembled, like the watch would crack at any moment.

In the past, he couldn’t put in any more magic power because it seemed like it would really break, but after knowing that the pocket watch was made from a Soulstone, he no longer had any reason to be concerned.

The pocket watch began to float in his palm and spin like a top. An immense amount of magic power swirled around it.

The amount of magic power increased. Strong winds blew and resulted in a magic power storm.

The smithy Yeon-woo was in shook up and down. It was an earthquake so great that anyone passing by would’ve thought there was a war going on.

The fire in the furnace flickered, and the weapons hanging on the wall fell to the ground. An anvil swirled to the site. The air began to spin around.

“What’s…..?!”

Henova, who had been waiting for Yeon-woo to come out, rushed inside. He was shocked when he entered.

Everything was being destroyed by the magic power storm.

At this rate, not only would the smithy be blown away, so would the entire temple. It would be a bomb in the middle of the holy territory.

Brahm realized the seriousness of the situation and pulled Henova behind him to create a barrier around Yeon-woo. Victoria quickly helped.

The barrier was formed after magic circles flashed around. Yeon-woo was separated from the space around him.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo didn’t take his eyes off of the pocket watch.

[Divine Draconic Eyes]

[Fiery Golden Eyes]

[Black Gubitara – Wise Man’s Eyes]

The ancient dragon Kalatus’s eyes opened and flashed golden. With the Asura King Vimalacitra’s eyes added on top, his Consciousness dug into all the different layers of the pocket watch.

The many layers were being peeled off like the layers of an onion. He reached through the layers of the pocket watch to get to its core.

The Soulstone was shining in a purple light.

It looked holy but also ominous at the same time.

The light swirled around the Soulstone, but it all came from one source: a hole that was so small it couldn’t be seen unless one focused all one’s attention on it.

It was the keyhole.

Yeon-woo entered his Consciousness into it.

Clack—

He didn’t know if he was just hearing things, but he thought he heard something. It was the sound of a key fitting into a keyhole. And when the key was twisted to completely open the door…..

“……!”

Yeon-woo’s consciousness was completely sucked into it.

[You have been connected to ‘Luciel’s Soulstone (Superbia).’]

[Synchronization is starting.]

The inside of the Soulstone was a boundless expanse of sea.

The purple light from before was nothing compared to the light inside. There was too much to tell how much there was.

It was magic power.

It was holy power, demonic energy, and draconic power.

Moreover, it was monstrous power, spiritual power, curse power, skill power, and law power. Then, it took on another property when it spun in the air.

It was all the energies within the Tower.

An energy that could become anything. It could be applied anywhere, and it could be swallowed.

There was so much of the energy that one could get lost in it.

‘Is this….. Luciel’s Soulstone?’

Yeon-woo realized how Vieira Dune was able to swallow Mother Earth after seeing it.

Anything was possible if the infinite and omnipotent energy was swallowed!

Just this one Soulstone had this much power, but what would happen if all 14 of them were combined? It made sense that gods and demons were fearful of it. He guessed it was why Luciel was the target of the gods and demons.

‘The problem is how to approach this.’

He was deep in thought after seeing all the energy. He remembered what Brontes said about this.

-Nothing can be done but pull out the contents of it slowly. That’s how the fire of the beginning of time was pulled out.

-But don’t touch it rashly. The energy will explode. It’s as fierce as Luciel in the legends. Everything has to be done carefully. If not, you and all of us here will be hurt.

-Also, there’s one more problem. Where to put the extracted energy after it’s pulled out. Castitas has the furnace as its medium, but…… I don’t know about Superbia. And even if you do collect it somewhere, you won’t be able to use it all.

Castitas had enough energy to burn the fire of the beginning of time for one thousand years for Dis Pluto.

Even now, energy was still being pulled out of it, like a stream that always flows. The three Cyclops brothers only used it as a furnace. They didn’t imagine how else to use it.

The stone of Superbia wouldn’t be that different.

Brontes had been concerned about this.

Even if Yeon-woo managed to find the keyhole and open the door, if he couldn’t handle the energy behind it, he wouldn’t be able to unlock the seal beyond it.

However, there was something Yeon-woo had that the three Cyclops brothers didn’t know about.

‘The Philosopher’s Stone.’

If it was the heart that could accept anything in the world, wouldn’t it be able to hold the Soulstone?

Yeon-woo thought about the Demonism inside of the Philosopher’s Stone, but he still wanted to attempt it.

He could be giving the Demonism an extraordinary power, but if he could collect all of the energy of the Soulstone, he would grow just as much.

‘It might be a good thing since I’ve been thinking that a lower-level demon wasn’t enough for it.’

He could find a new energy source.

With the method that Brontes taught him, he slowly pulled out the purple energy from Superbia.

Then, he slowly began to lead it to the Philosopher’s Stone that was next to his heart.

…..Huhu. You’re doing something fun.

He felt like he could hear the Demonism’s laugh coming from somewhere.