Chapter 196

The group was puzzled by the sudden statement, but perhaps due to my frantic expression, they decided to go along with it for now.

As we moved, I could see through the Chimera’s eyes why Yoo Ju had ended up like that.

“Damn…! Clone Clay…!”

The problem was that I had set the Clone Clay to take on my appearance until time ran out.

I could see the corpse lying in the same space as Yoo Ju.

It was a corpse that looked exactly like me.

“Damn it…!”

I never thought the situation would spiral out of control like this.

If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have set up the Clone Clay like that, risking exposure and all.

“She thinks I’m dead.”

After discovering the Clone Clay in the form of a corpse, Yoo Ju had completely lost her sanity.

Considering how obsessed Yoo Ju was with me, it wasn’t hard to understand why she had lost her mind to this extent.

Since my stats were low, I was currently being carried by Yoon Yeon as we moved.

As a man, I felt ashamed to be carried by a woman, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.

Lee Jae-hyo, curious about why I was acting this way, asked me a question.

“What exactly is going on?”

“…Yoo Ju thinks I’m dead.”

“…What?”

Not only Lee Jae-hyo but also Yoon Yeon and Ha Yu-ri looked confused, wondering what I was talking about.

Of course, they couldn’t understand since I was clearly alive right in front of them.

I couldn’t tell them the truth, so I had to tweak the story a bit.

“To escape from them, I swapped myself with Clone Clay. But they killed the clone, and Yoo Ju found the clone that looked like my corpse.”

“A clone? Like back then…”

Yoon Yeon and Ha Yu-ri looked puzzled by the mention of a clone, but Lee Jae-hyo seemed to roughly understand.

After all, he had seen me use Clone Clay back in Silan.

The two women didn’t press further about the clone.

Seeing Lee Jae-hyo nod in understanding, they seemed to think there was something they didn’t know…

“…How do you know about the Clan Master’s situation, Lee Yun-seong?”

A natural question.

It was indeed strange that I, who had been captured and then escaped, knew about Yoo Ju’s situation, so it wasn’t unreasonable for him to ask.

Of course, I had already prepared an answer.

“I attached the Chimera that guided you all to Yoo Ju.”

“Ah…”

Everyone seemed to roughly understand the situation.

“Yoo Ju has completely lost her sanity. We need to let her know I’m alive as soon as possible.”

“…..”

Everyone nodded in understanding, knowing about Yoo Ju’s relationship with me.

‘The problem is that the seriousness they think this is and the seriousness I think it is are different…’

But there was no helping it. There was no time to explain everything in detail.

******

“What is this?”

Yoon Yeon frowned as she looked at the corpses scattered around.

Ha Yu-ri and Lee Jae-hyo’s faces also hardened.

“…Did that woman do this?”

There were about twenty corpses, all of them outlaws.

But the problem wasn’t the number of corpses. The issue was how brutally they had been mutilated.

Limbs were torn off, heads were completely gone, and even those with heads left had died with expressions of sheer terror.

You could tell how much fear they had felt just before they died.

Some of the corpses had even been blown apart, scattered everywhere, as if they had been exploded with magic.

‘Crazy…’

And beyond the corpses, the silhouette of a figure holding a spear could be seen.

Everyone instinctively flinched. Even Yoon Yeon and Ha Yu-ri, who were stronger than Lee Jae-hyo, were no exception.

Yoon Yeon clicked her tongue as she assessed Yoo Ju’s condition.

“Ha… I wondered what it meant when you said she’d lost her mind…”

Yoo Ju turned her head and looked at us.

‘What the…’

She showed no reaction even when she saw me. Her unfocused eyes staring at me made me panic for a moment.

“Yoo Ju, it’s me…”

Bam!

‘Huh?’

In the blink of an eye, Yoo Ju thrust her spear toward us. And in front of me, Yoon Yeon blocked the spear with both hands.

“Ha, she’s completely lost her mind.”

Yoon Yeon frowned at me, who was standing there dumbfounded, and shouted.

“What are you doing? Don’t just stand there, snap out of it! Get back!”

Regardless of Yoon Yeon’s words, my mind went blank at the fact that Yoo Ju had attacked me.

‘Damn it… Yoo Ju, what are you doing? Did you just attack me?’

“You…! What are you doing?!”

Unable to stand it any longer, Ha Yu-ri grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“What are you going to do if you just stand there like an idiot?!”

‘Damn it, why… why doesn’t she recognize me?’

I had brought these three along in case something like this happened, but I thought Yoo Ju would snap out of it once she saw me alive.

– Interesting.

‘…What?’

Suddenly, a voice spoke. It was Aditi.

– I said it’s interesting.

– …What do you mean?

– That human woman. The one you care about.

– …So what’s interesting? Do you know something about this situation?’

– You’re angry. Are you annoyed because that woman attacked you?

‘Sigh…’

As Aditi said, I was annoyed by this unexpected situation.

Maybe that’s why I couldn’t control my emotions properly.

– Someone above is coveting that woman. Well, it’s only natural, I suppose.

– …Above?

– As I observed the changed world through your eyes, I learned many things. I also learned about you ‘Players.’

I quietly listened to her. She seemed to know something.

– The beings who summoned you Players here.

– …The ones who brought us to Eras?’

– Yes. One of them is connected to that woman. And… they forcibly connected with her while she was losing her sanity.



– What… Forced connection, you say…

I can’t understand what’s going on at all.

Forced connection with Yoo Ju? Who the hell is saying they connected her?

– It’s complicated to explain the details, but right now, that girl is not only using her own power but also receiving power from above. It’s not a normal method, though.

‘Receiving power?’

I glanced at Yoo Ju after Aditi’s words.

Yoon Yeon and Lee Jae-hyo were physically blocking her, while Ha Yu-ri used magic to keep Yoo Ju in check.

Even though subduing her was the goal, the situation didn’t feel favorable despite three people fighting against Yoo Ju.

‘Her skills aren’t outstanding. But her raw power has become abnormally strong.’

Perhaps because she’s lost her sanity, Yoo Ju wasn’t using the strange techniques she displayed earlier in the fight.

But the sheer output of her power was on a completely different level compared to the previous battle.

*Clang!*

*Squeak.*

“Ha…!”

Yoon Yeon, who blocked the spear, was pushed back and almost let out a bitter laugh.

“The power and magic infused in that spear are seriously abnormal. What the hell is going on?”

If Yoon Yeon is saying that, it’s clear that Yoo Ju’s current power is unnatural.

“Freeze!”

For a moment, Yoo Ju’s foot froze as she charged toward us, but…

“……”

A white magical energy erupted from Yoo Ju’s body, and the ice shattered instantly.

‘Definitely different.’

The magic Yoo Ju uses is golden. That strange white magic wasn’t her usual power.

‘Some bastard is supplying her with power.’

– Murky white energy. It’s that guy.

‘That guy?’

Yoo Ju had just fought two executive members of the Execution Society not long ago, and there’s no way she could recover this quickly.

Not to mention, her power output has become abnormally strong.

As Aditi said, I don’t know who the bastard is, but it seems like someone from above is meddling with Yoo Ju.

*Snap.*

I suddenly felt pissed off.

‘Some bastard… is messing with my stuff?’

The Returner, no, Yoo Ju, is someone only I can handle.

The fact that someone I don’t know is coveting Yoo Ju made my anger boil over.

I can’t allow impurities to interfere with Yoo Ju.

There was no plan to inject some random guy’s power into the plan to make Yoo Ju a Transcendent Being.

– … Aditi, how do you know all this?

A natural question. I still don’t know Aditi’s true identity. All I know is the name she gave me.

When I read the description of the Cocoon of Birth with my own eyes, I could tell that Aditi, who was protected by the Cocoon of Birth, wasn’t just a monster. But I still don’t know exactly what she is.

– Well, I was up there, you see.

– What do you mean? You were up there?

– Yeah. Well, I’m in this state now, but those above dropped me down.

‘……’

That statement gave me a lot of information.

– So… you’re saying you were like a god managing Eras?

– Hmm. Humans might call it a god, but it’s easier to think of us as administrators of this planet.

– Then why is one of those administrators doing this to Yoo Ju?

I couldn’t understand. From the beginning, I had a vague idea that there were higher beings in Eras because of the mysterious voice I heard during the tutorial.

But when I think about the events of the first round, both sides should be trying to stop the Devourer of Worlds.

– You’re thinking of higher beings as if they only act rationally. They’re no different from you. No, they’re no different from any sentient being. I’m the same, and so are they. The only difference is the level of existence.

– What…

– Hmm… Humans are also tangled up in complex political issues and various problems, right? Sometimes, lunatics appear too.

– …..

– I’m the same, and those above are the same. I don’t know exactly why they’re supplying power to the girl you care about. It could be a whim, madness, or maybe they’re trying to make her their ally.

– Make her their ally?

– Just as I saw potential in that girl, those above might see the same. She has the potential to become a Transcendent Being, surpassing even an administrator.

‘Sigh…’

I roughly understood what she was saying. I can ask for details later.

The top priority now is to return Yoo Ju to her original state.

‘She’s strong, but… it’s微妙.’

It’s surprising that a 3 vs. 1 situation is holding up, but it doesn’t seem like Yoo Ju has only gotten stronger.

She’s just overpowering with raw strength and magic. She’s swinging her spear, but her techniques are worse than when she was in her right mind.

‘… How can I bring her back?’

But you never know what might happen while trying to subdue Yoo Ju in that state. Someone could get seriously hurt.

Especially Lee Jae-hyo, who’s already lost an eye and is struggling against the gap in rank.

‘Damn it… What should I do…’

*Boom!*

Yoo Ju was sent flying after being hit by Yoon Yeon’s punch.

‘Ah.’

It was a coincidence. As Yoo Ju was pushed back, her hand came into view.

No, more precisely, the ring on her hand.

A ring identical to the one I was wearing caught my eye.