Book 2: Chapter 52

“…I…”

The moment Neil was about to respond, someone knocked on the door before opening it. It was a handsome young man.

He bowed his head politely to Neil.

“Pardon my intrusion, President.”

“What is it? I’m sure I said that I had important business this evening.”

Neil’s cold voice made the young man’s expression stiffen a bit.

“I’m deeply sorry. It’s an urgent matter…”

“An urgent matter?”

“Yes, sir.”

The young man nodded before glancing at Lukas. It seemed it was something that couldn’t be discussed in front of outsiders.

Neil pondered silently for a moment before standing up and saying.

“Can I put this on hold for a moment?”

Lukas nodded.

He might have been delaying giving him an answer, but it didn’t matter. In fact, it might even be better to take a break for a while.

Neil left the room immediately, and the young man turned to observe Lukas for a moment.

His expression wasn’t very good. Perhaps he thought Lukas’ attitude to the President was too impolite. Or maybe he was suspicious of his identity.

It could have been both. But Lukas didn’t care since it didn’t matter to him anyway.

Ignoring his gaze, Lukas fiddled with the kettle on the table in front of him. There was coffee mix there, too.

The young man kept staring at him with an incredulous expression for a moment before following Neil.

Lukas plugged in the cord for the kettle and turned it on. When the water began to boil, Lukas poured the coffee mix into a cup on the table before pouring the water into it. 

The sweet scent soon filled the entire room.

At almost the same time that Lukas lifted the cup to his lips, the door opened once again. There was no knock this time.

It shouldn’t have been Neil. After all, he didn’t think the important matter could have been dealt with so quickly.

And as expected, the person who opened the door was a middle-aged man wearing a biker jacket and jeans. It was Letip.

He opened the door, but he didn’t enter the room. Instead, he just leaned against the doorframe and looked down at Lukas.

Unlike the time in the elevator, there was faint interest in his eyes.

It seemed he had heard his conversation with Neil.

“What is your goal?”

“Salvation.”

It was an unexpected question, but Lukas responded naturally after taking a sip of his coffee.

Letip’s expression became a bit strange.

“And after that?”

“After? There is no such thing. My goal has no end.”

There were many more universes than he even dared to count. Even at that very moment, countless universes were created or destroyed. And there were even more humans.

Lukas’ journey would never end.

Even if he won the ‘Great Game’ and became a Ruler, he would continue to save humans. And even if he returned to his home world, he would eventually leave.

“Hmm. That won’t last very long.”

“What?”

Letip shook his head.

The small spark of interest in his eyes disappeared. Before he turned around and left, he left a seemingly meaningful message.

“Too bad. Too bad.”

* * *

As they stepped onto the elevator, the young man spoke to Neil.

“We received a message from our agent monitoring the Top Three.”

Top Three.

Neil’s expression hardened slightly because of the weight of that title.

“What did it say?”

“It is top secret… So you’ll have to read it personally in the Intelligence Agency’s Office.”

While it was unlikely, there was still a chance that someone could have been eavesdropping on the two of them in the elevator. 

Neil nodded once before looking at the elevator indicator as his thoughts drifted off. 

He couldn’t help but think about Lukas’ proposal.

‘Maybe I’ll accept his offer.’

He wasn’t giving in to Lukas’ threats because he was afraid. While it was true that he’d been overwhelmed by Lukas’ aura before, he would not have been able to sit firmly in the position of President for so long if he could be moved just because of threats.

‘He has no intention of killing me.’

Lukas was facing Neil as the European Hunter ‘Frey Blake’.

This was something that almost everyone in the headquarters, including Joanna, was aware of. 

If Neil died or went missing, the ‘Frey’ would be the most likely suspect. This would cause not just Asia but also America to become hostile with Europe. 

That’s why he didn’t think that Lukas, who came here to save Europe, would do something so reckless.

Of course, there was the possibility that he would retreat now and make his move later. As far as Neil knew, the security of Pilsky Tower meant nothing to Lukas.

However, if he had room to maneuver, Neil was certain that he could come up with some kind of countermeasure. 

When the opponent was someone like Lukas, you couldn’t face them with force. Luckily, Neil already knew what his principles and goals were.

Nevertheless, he felt it would be best to accept his offer because he didn’t want to completely fall out with Lukas.

As for the other reason.

‘There are people in North America who support Lukas.’

He was talking about people like the President of the European Branch, Nina Rednikova. As far as he knew, the President of the Venezuela Branch and the Canada Branch were the same.

If more than two Branch President-level figures chose to rebel…

‘There might be a civil war in America.’

While it was unlikely, Neil would not ignore the possibility.

Ding-

The elevator stopped. When the doors opened, Neil was immediately hit by a stale smell.

Dozens of gigantic screens filled a dimly lit room. And dozens of people were busy processing information from all over the world.

This was the Intelligence Agency’s Office.

“I apologise for disturbing you during your meeting, Mr. President.”

A man in a white suit bowed to him as he entered. This was the Intelligence Chief, Martin.

“How much were you told?”

Neil shook his head.

“Just that there is a report about the Top Three. Which of the three is the report about?”

“The Strongest.”

Beep-

As he said this, Martin gestured to a monitor. 

On the screen, someone’s blurry appearance could be seen. 

It was a man with grey hair and a gloomy aura.

The place in which he was standing looked as if a storm had swept through the area. It was probably a city that had been captured by the Demons. But now, the man was the only one in the image who was still moving.

Around him were at least a few hundred corpses that appeared to be Demons and Demon Beasts.

“That many demons… Don’t tell me…”

Martin nodded and confirmed Neil’s thoughts.

“He hunted them alone.”

“At this point, I truly wonder if we really are the same kind.”

“If we weren’t, then he’d have no reason to hunt the Demons so fervently. But that’s not all.”

The image on the screen moved as it zoomed in to show a specific spot. 

It was the corpse of a Demon, or, at least, what was left of it. The only remaining part of the Demon was its head, which was still larger than an adult male.

The Demon’s six, blood-red eyes bulged like they were about to pop out of its head.

“This Demon…”

“This is Duke Krodis.”

“Duke…!”

Shock spread across Neil’s face.

Humanity had only managed to defeat Dukes twice in history. So it was natural that Neil was surprised.

“Exactly, Mr. President. I don’t think I need to explain whom he killed. Now, I can say without any shadow of doubt. That this man is the strongest human being in existence.”

Martin said these words with great emotion as he stared at the man on the screen. Awe and fear were clear in his gaze.

“Because he hunted a Demon Duke on his own.”