CH 293

When are you coming…

Lee Tae-Han was lost in thought. His henchman, Kwon Seong-Il, was taking a firm stand. However, the battlefield was the only place that the Human Calibur excelled at. Unfortunately, Seong-Il not only struggled with political fights within the association, but his power was also not absolute enough to offset them. He was the strongest man, but he attracted political attacks upon himself.

He had a tendency to be swayed by compassion, and there had been cases where he had caused disputes due to his poor judgment. Kwon Seong-Il had many weaknesses, so yes, he couldn’t become the center like Odin.

The association still existed as people remembered Odin’s past achievements, but it could be overturned and fragmented like a puzzle board being flipped over at any time. There was also a rumor about his death spreading around too. Everyone knew the power of the association would continue when the Stage of Advent was over, so there had been a steady, behind-the-scenes movement to cause a revolt. The fortunate thing was that they had entered the Final Stage as the first camp.

It's dangerous to split up now.

Lee Tae-Han shifted his thoughts from the internal to the external problems of the association. It was the same there.

[Camp 1: Revolucion (12) - 92,991 Awakened

Camp 2: World Awakened Association (1) – 74,555 Awakened

Camp 3: Tomorrow (21) ― 73,002 Awakened

Camp 4: Revolucion (30) ― 69,800 Awakened

Camp 5: Tomorrow (19) ― 54,252 Awakened

Camp 6: Jonathan Investment Finance Group ― 43,901 Awakened

Camp 7: Revolucion (28) ― 42,824 Awakened

Camp 8: Revolucion (42) ― 39,665 Awakened]

From the names, he could tell that all the camps had started from Odin. In addition, the Jonathan Investment Finance Group was also their savior’s home. However, Lee Tae-Han was still anxious because it felt like all the camps were related, like a big, extended family. The fights that broke out between people who shared the same bloodline were usually more intense than any conflicts between strangers. A long time ago, Lee Tae-Han didn’t use a real knife, but he had basically sliced off his older sister’s limbs with documents that were sharper than any blade. Therefore, if Odin, the father who had established all of this, didn’t return, then tragedy was bound to happen. There would surely be a civil war before humanity’s battle with the monster corps.

Lee Tae-Han’s thoughts were going down a dark path.

“Bro, why do you still look like you are dying?”

A large middle-aged man entered the tent, and it was Seong-Il. Lee Tae-Han looked up at him, who seemed very annoyed.

He doesn’t get the seriousness of the situation. What else are you going to complain about?

“Are you done preparing the group for a war?” he asked.

Seong-Il responded testily, “I did what I was told, but… that seems to empower that bitch, Priya. She is the one who spread the damn rumors. If she ever gets caught, I’ll kill…”

Lee Tae-Han interrupted, “Mr. Kwon Seong-Il, please tolerate it and move on even if you don’t like her.”

Seong-Il retorted, “That’s why people think I’m easy! You keep the boundaries too strict. They are busy trying to squeeze the gap between us and cause problems.”

Lee Tae-Han wanted to groan. “They have been doing that all the time.”

“I understand, but I’m saying this because they stress me out so much,” Seong-Il grumbled.

Lee Tae-Han tried to soothe his colleague, “I also believe that the savior will come back alive. But apart from that, it’s not enough no matter how many times we prepare. Let’s not cause any trouble between us.”

“That’s what I meant. I hate being called ‘us’ with those bitches.” Seong-Il sat in front of Lee Tae-Han, then continued, “Ah, whatever. Shouldn’t we hurry up? We should aim for the easy guilds with shabby names. Jonathan Investment Finance Group. Other camps will also target them first.”

“...”

Seong-Il added, “Let’s start from there. We should give Odin a present, right? Odin will return for sure.”

Lee Tae-Han sighed. “I was going to do that by myself anyway.”

Seong-Il shook his head. “No, what will happen to the rest of us if you leave? There is a girl who likes to meddle with others. I heard her talent is seducing others, so let’s see how she does.”

Lee Tae-Han smiled bitterly. If Priya succeeded in recruiting the leader of the sixth camp, Jonathan Investment Finance Group, then more power would be given to her. After much consideration, he called Priya over. In any case, he had to unite all the camps as peacefully as possible before the Final Stage started. Other than himself, Priya was the best candidate to be the primary person who dealt with the leaders of other camps who had come up this far independently.

***

Everyone was edgy during the preparation period. After all, the stages had just gotten combined. Even minor disputes could lead to an all-out war between the groups. Therefore, Priya left with her deputy commander.

“This reminds me of the old days. Jonathan Investment Finance Group…” the deputy commander said.

Priya felt various emotions from him. It was a mixture of resentment, yearning, and regret. However, the feeling wasn’t too strong as the name had been very old.

She commented, “I had no direct contact with the Jonathan Group.”

He responded, “It must have been when you were in the United States.”

“I used their account. SOB (Sun of Bank), and that was it.”

“The Jonathan Group is a greedy and immoral group,” he replied sourly.

She shrugged. “They were different on the Day of Advent. It was something that no one could have done except for them, and even if they could, it wasn’t possible without a moral compass.”

The deputy commander frowned. “So people call Jonathan Hunter a ‘hero,’ but I don’t think that way. You should never forget their greed, Ms. Priya. We don’t have much time left to go back home.”

She smiled slightly. “Okay, this is not a bad time to talk about the old days. Go on.”

The Stage of Advent was almost over, and they would soon go back to Earth. It was time to prepare themselves to adapt to the past.

He began droning, “The reason why Jonathan Group struggled to protect the global economy despite the risk of bleeding was that there was so much to protect.”

Priya interrupted in a chiding manner, “If you are talking about how they are holding the world’s wealth with the Gillian Group, stop it. That’s so boring. Tell me something new. Something that I might not know.”

“What about the fact that they have the right to issue US dollars?”

It was widely known that a small number of families had the right to issue the dollars and not the United States government.

She remarked, “I heard that Jonathan Group doesn’t have a long history.”

“After the 2008 subprime crisis, they took over the Rothschild’s and other families’ stake in the U.S. Central Bank. It was kept top secret, so it’s not known to the public,” he grumbled.

She pointed out, “The Jonathan Group’s influence will overwhelm the Gillian Group. Just by looking at how they had reached this far under their name, they deserve to be the stars of the New World with us. The leader of the sixth camp will be one of Jonathan Investment’s executives.”

“I think so too. I might know that person.”

She continued, “Anyway, we can’t call them greedy just because they took the right to issue the U.S. dollar. Under capitalism, that is the throne that everyone has always dreamed of.”

“That’s not the reason. Do you know the International Fund for Nature?”

“Keep going.”

“It is known to the public that the fund was created to protect the environment in developing countries. However, that clearly reveals the Jonathan Group’s greed. They have been extorting land from developing countries for the purpose of environmental protection. What do you think about the fact they own more than thirty-five percent of the world’s land? One of the lands is your motherland.”

“You know a lot about it. You must have worked for it, but you’re opposed to the idea?”

Priya recalled that the deputy commander worked for the government and was a Brahmin[1] and a high-ranking official.

He said bitterly, “It was a time when people’s lives were being threatened due to money.”

She smiled. “The Jonathan Group is amazing. If you make it outside, then kill Jonathan Hunter. Then, things will sort out to a certain extent.”

“How many Awakened won’t fall for their capital power? The outside world is controlled by money, and that’s the fruit of greed created by the Jonathan Group. They kept the order they established for a long time. Except for the formation of the sixth camp…”

Priya gave him a warning look. “That’s your problem. You don’t take a joke as a joke.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized immediately.

Priya and the deputy commander continued to move while sharing old stories from time to time.

A few days later, Priya and her subordinate entered the territory of the sixth camp, Jonathan Investment Finance Group. They were near the residential area, which was the capital region. Priya saw a startling party that she couldn’t take her eyes off. It was a party consisting of three people: an Asian couple and a tall guy.

At first, the Kciphos in the Asian woman’s arms grabbed Priya’s attention. However, the identity of the tall guy was… There was a reason why he was hiding under the robe of a necromancer. He… no, it wasn’t a human. It must have deceived the others until now, but it couldn’t avoid Priya’s eyes. Although it wasn’t strong, she could feel the primitive, violent nature of the monster.

Priya raised her Sense to its peak. When she saw through the darkness filling the robe hood, she discovered tentacles hanging like whiskers on its chin that stretched inside the robe. It had tentacles on its jaw and was bipedal.

Isn’t it a nobleman of the Maruka clan?

“What’s wrong?” her subordinate asked.

She said under her breath, “There’s something walking around that shouldn’t be here.”

The deputy commander followed Priya’s gaze.

“Isn’t that a Maruka monster?!” he shouted. “The Asian woman is even holding a Kciphos. Did she tame it?”

Priya grimaced. “That’s impossible unless it’s being treated as a mount.”

He continued incredulously, “That’s what I’m saying. Anyway, we can’t leave a Maruka nobleman wandering around like that.”

She shook her head. “Calm down. I don’t understand how that is possible, but what’s clear is that it’s something that needs to be dealt with in the sixth camp. It’s dangerous with just the two of us.”

“A Maruka aristocrat is being accompanied by two vagrants. They must be interacting. Think about what that means.”

Priya’s eyes sparkled and rushed toward them. It was her first time seeing a boss monster interacting with humans. Also, she thought that they wouldn’t attack her suddenly even if she sprinted toward them. She realized that whatever was taming the monster was suppressing its violence.

She couldn’t believe there was such an incredibly socialized monster. And it was even a boss monster! It was a jackpot. If she could uncover the secret behind it, then it would be no different from gaining strength that even a challenger box couldn’t offer.

Priya wasn’t planning to talk to the Asian couple as she approached them. It was better to look into their memories to check how they started wandering around with the Maruka nobleman rather than going through the social rigors of a conversation. Of course, this was definitely an attack on her part, but the Asian party with the Maruka monster seemed weak. She thought she was lucky and was confident enough that she could run away if the Maruka aristocrat showed unexpected behavior. That was her first plan.

***

However, when Priya narrowed the distance to the proximity, she felt an unusual vibe from the Kciphos that the Asian woman was holding. The moment she made eye contact with the monster…

Hup!

She saw through it, but that wasn’t what she intended to do. Of all the monsters she had seen through, the one who had the most terrifying emotion she had ever felt was the necromancer. However, the dread that had been passed down from the Kciphos was more frightening than that. She was thrown into the memory warehouse like she was sucked into a black hole.

No…

Looking into a target’s memory made her view it from their point of view. Actually, it was more accurate to say that she was observing the memory from her target’s perspective, instead of looking into the memory.

One short memory of the Kciphos began with a huge ice citadel in the background, and there was nothing but ice on the surrounding land. The weird thing was that everything was tiny. The creatures clustered there were so small that she could just take a single step to kill them all.

However, she soon realized that the owner of the memory was much larger than those creatures. All that she could see was their frightened gazes from the ground. Every single monster of Kciphos Corps was trembling, and the owner of the memory took it all for granted and pushed away the frozen giant Kciphos.

Thump! Thump!

Priya couldn’t stand it. The violent emotions inside the owner of the memory were ready to explode at any time and tear the world apart.

I can even feel the emotions of the memory’s owner?

Priya eventually reached her limit as it became too destructive towards the end. She felt a sensation of something being cut off in her brain, and the physical pain immediately hit her.

“Aaaargh!” she hollered.

It was different from usual because she should have been able to use the violent emotion as her weapon after looking into the memory. However, she couldn’t do anything. Priya started trembling.

“You have a mental attribute.”

Priya turned her head to the Asian man who had spoken. He was speaking Korean, which she had been learning. She was a bit relieved by that, but soon became shaken by how calm the people were even after they found out that she had mental-related power.

What are they?

Priya couldn’t turn toward the Maruka nobleman or Kciphos. Therefore, she momentarily focused on the Asian man’s eyes.

***

She was supposed to search for any memories related to the Maruka aristocrat, but for some reason, it didn’t work out the way she wanted. Priya flowed into one of the man’s many short memories.

“Hey, can you turn off the local broadcast?”

Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

It was in a classroom, and people were excited. The owner of the memory seemed to be sitting by the window, in the back seat. However, the face of the female teacher standing in front looked familiar because it was actually the face of the Asian woman whom she had just seen. The same Asian woman who was hugging the horrifying Kciphos. She seemed to be small as well. Based on Priya’s assumption, the Asian man was a student and the woman was a teacher.

“If you keep talking, I won’t tell you which class you are assigned for this year.”

She was waving a piece of paper on the platform, and the students became silent instantly. Then, the Asian woman smiled and made eye contact with the memory’s owner. It was shortly after that the woman came down from the platform, and the students turned toward her.

Hwaaaak!

Everyone was expressionless as if they were robots that had the same face that had been copied and pasted, so they didn’t look like humans. The stranger thing was that they didn’t move at all. They looked her way without blinking, and it felt like time had stopped. No one made any sound. Then suddenly…

“Keuk. Keuk, keuk… This is so funny.”

Only the laughter of the memory’s owner began to fill the air. He was looking at the Asian woman approaching him. The smile disappeared from her face, and her demeanor instantly changed, unlike how she was on the platform. Her face was actually covered with a murderous intention which was creepier than an expressionless face. Her eyes alone looked like they could stab someone in the neck, but the memory owner was still laughing.

What kind of memory is this? Is this even possible in reality?

When Priya realized something was wrong, the Asian woman stopped right in front of her. The murderous intention emanating off of her was more intense than the one she had felt from Kciphos.

The Asian woman said as she looked down on the memory’s owner, “Where would you like to die?”

Her voice fluctuated.

1. A member of the highest social hierarchy in Hinduism. ☜