Chapter 331:

Chapter 331:

Demialos hurriedly ran down the hallway.

If a Teller who knew his usual demeanor saw this, they might have been so shocked they’d fall over.

Demialos, who never lost his composure no matter what, was now visibly frantic to anyone who saw him.

His face was twisted into a fierce grimace, and his menacing aura prevented anyone from obstructing his path.

Demialos soon stopped in front of a door and flung it open with a loud bang.

“Well, well.”

Yu-hyun, who was leisurely drinking tea inside, frowned at the sudden visit from this unexpected guest.

“If you’re going to come in, couldn’t you at least knock?”

“...Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun. You’ve really come back.”

“Yes. It was quite a struggle, but here I am, back in triumph.”

Yu-hyun placed his teacup on the table and crossed his legs.

Demialos scowled at Yu-hyun’s leisurely behavior and glanced around.

They were the only ones in the room. Yu-hyun, having just returned from exile, had no previous stories with him.

‘If I make a move now, I can kill him.’

Demialos clenched and unclenched his tentacled right hand.

He quickly shook his head.

This was an extreme action. Even if he killed Yu-hyun here, Demialos would undoubtedly be punished afterward.

‘He has returned from exile, but he doesn’t yet know what we did there.’

The only concern was Lean, the newly appointed Divine Spirit of Glacalis, but it would take time for him to question the Celestial Corporation about anything related to the former Divine Spirit, Georn.

Lean had just become a Divine Spirit, so he needed to be recognized by the system and, more importantly, had to restore his broken planet. That would take time, and meanwhile, they could handle things on this end.

‘But what’s troubling is Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun’s relaxed attitude.’

Demialos never thought Yu-hyun would come back alive. Even the Director had said that exile was a place where even a director-level Teller could fail.

But Yu-hyun had succeeded greatly and returned to the headquarters.

He had proven that his achievements were due to genuine skill, not mere manipulation of stories.

He had even declared in front of the Chairman that he would succeed and return, and he had indeed done so.

From Demialos’s perspective, it was like a bolt from the blue.

He had driven Yu-hyun into a corner and accused him of crimes, and now the repercussions of that were about to come back on him.

“But Assistant Manager.”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

Demialos, unable to hide his discomfort, asked, and Yu-hyun pointed to the door Demialos had just entered through with a sly smile.

“Shouldn’t you be over there, in the courtroom where everyone is waiting?”

“What?”

Demialos didn’t understand what Yu-hyun was talking about.

In court? Sure, he could understand that. He had tried to stab someone and failed, so he was prepared for retaliation.

But the timing was the issue. Yu-hyun had just returned to the Celestial Corporation. Demialos had come here to confirm that.

To reopen a court to accuse him would require contacting the directors and setting a schedule.

Even with the support of a director, it had taken him at least a month to corner Yu-hyun.

And now, he was supposed to stand trial immediately?

“Such a bluff is laughable. Did you think such intimidation would work on me?”

Demialos thought Yu-hyun was just trying to scare him. How much preparation could someone who had just returned today possibly have done?

Seeing Demialos’s triumphant expression, Yu-hyun scratched his cheek as if troubled.

“Well. It seems you think I’m joking or exaggerating.”

“So, are you saying I’m wrong? Assistant Manager Kang Yu-hyun. You should use such bravado with the right person.”

“It seems you saw it as bravado. Well, I understand. You’re in denial because you can’t believe the reality in front of you.”

“...Watch your words, Assistant Manager Kang. Even if we’re in different departments, I’m still a manager, a rank higher than you. Mind your words.”

“You were a manager...”

“What did you say?”

“If you’re so curious, look behind you.”

Such an obvious lie.

“Keep your mouth shut, criminal. Don’t you understand the situation?”

“Do you think you’ll get away with talking to me like this?”

“Get away? That’s not your concern. Can you handle what’s coming?”

Before Demialos could respond, Yu-hyun pulled out a red gem from his pocket.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Isn’t that just a red gem?”

“It looks like a fragment from a larger gem, given its irregular shape.”

“Correct. This gem is a small fragment of a larger one.”

“Why did you take that out?”

“I submitted this red gem as evidence to prove Demialos’s crime.”

Murmurs of disbelief filled the courtroom.

“Isn’t that just a gem?”

“How can that prove a crime worse than story manipulation?”

“Quiet.”

As everyone murmured, Chairman Lotfiout silenced them.

Once the room was quiet, Lotfiout nodded to Yu-hyun.

“Continue.”

“Thank you, Chairman. You’re all wondering why this gem is evidence. If it were just an ordinary gem, it couldn’t hold any evidence. But what if this gem came from a Divine Spirit?”

“What?”

“That gem came from a Divine Spirit?”

Demialos was just as shocked. He recognized the gem. It was a shard from the heart of the corrupted Divine Spirit Georn, a piece of the giant ruby.

But how was it in Yu-hyun’s possession? All the shards of Georn were supposed to have disappeared with his death.

‘If it’s true, this is dangerous!’

Demialos almost sought help

but stopped himself. Looking to the true culprit would only draw suspicion towards him.

Desperately, he refrained from any action, merely shifting his eyes.

But Yu-hyun saw it.

For a brief moment, he saw who Demialos looked at.

‘So it was him.’

The one who released Manager Shamat, deceived Divine Spirit Georn into corruption, and knew about the Codex fragments.

He didn’t think Demialos could do all that alone.

He had a collaborator. No, calling them a collaborator was laughable. The one hiding his identity was a Teller much higher in rank than Demialos.

Yu-hyun believed this person was in the courtroom. He had to be.

His fabricated exile was about to be exposed, so he couldn’t just sit quietly.

“Even ordinary gems can hold memories. But it’s usually just a small amount of information. But what about a fragment of a Divine Spirit? What kind of stories would it hold?”

Even the fragment of a Divine Spirit rarely held their past. Even if it did, it would likely be only a small portion.

Most Divine Spirits left no traces upon death, disappearing like stars turning to dust.

Yet Georn had left a fragment. Not by accident, but by using his last strength to leave it before his death.

A wish to clear his grievances.

“The world we’ve neglected as exile, the world of Glacalis, frozen in the Curse of the Frozen Land. The reason it became that way is right here.”

And Yu-hyun, in front of everyone, decided to fulfill Georn’s wish.

The red gem in his right hand began to shine and soon transformed into letters in the air.

The letters didn’t disappear. Instead, they grew larger and created a scene in the air.

Showing what he experienced.

Revealing the hidden truth of Glacalis.

“No...”

Demialos muttered in a daze.

Yu-hyun looked down at Demialos and smirked.

“So I warned you.”

Demialos, unknowingly, began to tremble.

For the first time, he felt fear toward someone he thought was beneath him.