Chapter 218. Allies Close, Enemies Closer (2)
The Empire’s independent intelligence agency, the Special Operations Unit.
Agent Kai temporarily halted his mission to eliminate Lord Eslow and began a “deep investigation” into the lords of the Lilian Kingdom. Judging that the Empire’s information on them was insufficient, he initiated improvement measures.
While he was busy collecting information in the north, a communication request came in. It was from a homunculus once called No. 3, now known as Decameron.
Homunculi were prohibited from contacting anyone unless the matter was of first-class importance or higher, so Kai took out his glass communicator and answered.
But he didn’t speak first. He let Decameron speak first.
– Secret friend, can you hear me?
However, the voice that came through the communicator wasn’t Decameron’s.
It was the voice of Sephira’s madman.
The knight representing the south, the Southern Palace.
A Ruquer who had escaped the forbidden zone.
A member of the secret organization, Arkana.
And the self-proclaimed “friend,” Keter.
“I hear you. State your business.”
The communication was short and concise. A basic skill of the Special Operations Unit. And Keter was no different.
– Introduce me to the Syndicate.
No lengthy explanations. Just stating what was needed. Kai’s response came without a 0.1-second hesitation.
“Understood. I’ll send the meeting location through Decameron.”
Click.
And just like that, the communication ended.
No small talk about how they were doing or where they were. Just stating the business and ending it.
No explanation of why Keter wanted to meet the Syndicate, nor any request for an explanation.
Moreover, there was no hint of impossibility or difficulty in the request to introduce the mysterious Syndicate. Immediate acceptance upon hearing the request.
It was the kind of information power and strength befitting the Empire’s independent intelligence agency.
“As expected of the Special Operations Unit. They live up to their name.”
Keter was also satisfied with the Special Operations Unit’s power.
Through an influential third party, he would make contact and establish a cooperative relationship with the Syndicate. This was Keter’s plan to obtain Orpheus’ Mask while also gaining a means to understand the Syndicate from the “inside.”
Even if the Special Operations Unit facilitated the meeting with the Syndicate, how would he get Orpheus’ Mask transferred and form an alliance with the Syndicate?
“They won’t be able to refuse.”
The Syndicate wouldn’t refuse his alliance proposal.
Keter knew his own value well.
The rising star of a prestigious family.
In a position to make “requests” to the Special Operations Unit.
And the plausible secret organization, Arkana.
Above all—
‘After what happened with that guy Hans, they won’t ignore someone who comes forward like this.’
An ordinary person who knew nothing about the artifact that only a regressor should know had taken it. Because of that, the Syndicate’s trap had been exposed.
And right after that, suddenly, the Bloodline of Sephira requests a meeting through the Special Operations Unit?
They’d be suspicious. Even without clear evidence, 100% in their minds!
And that was exactly what Keter was aiming for.
‘If I’m going to be suspected anyway, I’ll take the initiative to do something suspicious.’
Adding plus to plus to make a minus.
Of course, it was a dangerous gamble where a single word or action could reveal himself as a regressor, but Keter believed in himself.
“I can do it.”
“Lord Keter. We’ve received the meeting location from Agent Kai. Shall we head there immediately?”
“Lead the way.”
Without asking where or why, Keter immediately moved, showing his boldness.
* * *
A bathtub filled with a pink liquid, Elixir. Around it were densely packed glass panels.
On the glass panels, various scenes floated up. Different in height, environment, and background, but they all had one thing in common.
They were all from the perspective of a “human gaze.”
“You idiots! This is a test from a regressor! Why won’t you believe me?!”
A boy submerged in the bathtub vented his frustration.
His appearance was horrifying. An unnaturally small body with an aged face, looking like a miracle he was still alive, covered in black spots.
“Cough, cough! Damn it…!”
Even raising his voice made him cough up blood in agony. The boy glared at one of the glass panels as if he wanted to shatter it.
It was the glass panel of Hans, a clone planted in a small village in the Lilian Kingdom, Gurud’s general store.
“Only a regressor would know about Orpheus’ Mask… It’s not that my magic is flawed.”
Crunch.
The boy, biting his fingers, muttered his name—Ivan. One of the people in the Syndicate who particularly wanted a “regressor.”
“It’s a regressor. Definitely a regressor. The regressor must have sensed something strange and sent someone to test us. Or maybe this world is a ‘second round’ world? So they’ve already experienced it once? No! That can’t be. If they’ve already experienced it once in a previous round, why would they test it again in this life?”
Ivan muttered like a madman.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This world is definitely a first-round world! If we don’t recruit a regressor in ‘this’ world now, it’s all meaningless!”
Great sorcerers who have achieved the 7th Circle all know about the “multiverse theory.”
“I don’t care what happens to ‘me’ in the next round. As long as the current ‘me’ can escape this damn fate…!”
Tears of blood streamed from Ivan’s eyes. Not from anger or joy. Just the intensity of his emotions was enough to make his body crumble. Even though he was submerged in a bathtub full of Elixir.
Ivan’s body was too weak. He couldn’t survive outside this bathtub.
Not only that. This space itself was a special space for “Ivan.” Ivan couldn’t even breathe properly, and if exposed to sunlight, he’d burn like a low-level vampire.
Not that he was a vampire. He was an ordinary human. Just blessed.
But the blessing had become a curse.
Near-infinite mana. A vast mental capacity like an ocean…
All meaningless. Because his body was rotting. The “clones” wandering the outside world all moved like real people, but they were just “elaborate fakes.”
Ivan wanted to walk the world himself. To smell the grass, to feel the gravel under his feet. For that, he tried everything he could.
But no medicine or recovery worked.
The only solution was one—a regressor.
Ivan hadn’t heard how a regressor could “save” him.
But the person who told him that a regressor could fulfill his wish was none other than the founder of the Syndicate.
The founder and master of the Syndicate, Messiah. His words could be trusted. He was a being who only spoke the “truth.”
“Since the trap was exposed, the regressor won’t approach us willingly. Damn it, they couldn’t have heard everything we said, could they? That would be the worst.”
Ivan couldn’t empathize with the phrase “regretting so much he could hit the ground,” but if he could, he would.
Revealing the Syndicate too hastily. Talking about being caught in a trap…
He got carried away, thinking the opponent was definitely a “regressor.” He got excited and became stupid.
“Wait, it’s not too late. The regressor might still be in Gurud village! Seal off the village, gather everyone in the square, and check them one by one!”
Gurud was a small village, but still a city where thousands lived. And among the outsiders, there were even nobles. Capturing all of them—was that even possible?
For the Syndicate, it was possible.
No, the Syndicate didn’t even need to step in. Ivan alone could do it.
Of course, the aftermath would be enormous. The Syndicate had been subtly revealing its presence to the world, but forceful actions were extremely rare.
“Every minute, no, every second counts. Immediately isolate Gurud village and its surroundings.”
Ivan crossed his palms. Then, without even a chant, he began weaving a spell, something even a 7th Circle sorcerer would struggle with.
If Prime had “Authority,” then a great sorcerer had “Final Magic.” Like Authority, it was magic that influenced the macro world.
The Final Magic Ivan was unleashing now was “Three Thousand Worlds.” Similar in nature to the “Deep Dark Fantasy” that Ayrus used with the Dark Document at the Southern Sword Tournament.
It was the “isolation of the world.”
While Deep Dark Fantasy had the effect of summoning “complete darkness,” Three Thousand Worlds had no such thing.
However, in terms of spatial separation, it far surpassed Deep Dark Fantasy.
No one could enter or leave this Three Thousand Worlds at will. Not even a lord.
A Final Magic focused on a single effect was this powerful.
Clench.
Ivan brought his fingers together as if in prayer. Mana surged within his palms.
At the moment the Final Magic, Three Thousand Worlds, was about to be completed, Keter was still on the hill overlooking Gurud village.
Just about to leave after receiving Kai’s message through Decameron. If Ivan’s Three Thousand Worlds completed, Keter would be trapped with just a second to spare.
In that critical moment.
– Ivan, it’s Kilian. The Special Operations Unit has requested a meeting. Sephira’s Keter wants to meet us. Will you go?
“……!”
Ivan, upon receiving Kilian’s communication, canceled Three Thousand Worlds.
The Syndicate had no ranks. Everyone was an equal “member.” But there were those who were subtly treated as “executives,” and one of them was Kilian.
Ivan canceled Three Thousand Worlds not because of Kilian’s message.
“Why now of all times?”
It was a soliloquy. Suspicion oozed from it.
Ivan knew about the Special Operations Unit. A very troublesome and powerful organization. Of course, he also knew about Sephira.
But Keter didn’t. Yet, upon hearing the name, Ivan felt a sense of dissonance.
“Sephira’s Keter… That must mean this Keter is a direct descendant of Sephira. How did a direct descendant of Sephira get the Special Operations Unit to move?”
There were many organizations on this continent, but only a handful could directly influence the “world.”
The “Syndicate” was one of them, and so was the “Special Operations Unit.” Prestigious families of the Lilian Kingdom were nothing compared to the Syndicate or the Special Operations Unit. They could be destroyed at will.
“Right after being tested by a regressor, a meeting request comes in?”
Another member of the Syndicate, the woman with the bucket head and prostitute-like demeanor, said it was Ivan’s “mistake,” but Ivan didn’t accept it.
It was definitely a test from a regressor. Even if someone said it wasn’t, if I think it is, then it is!
But right after that, a meeting request through the Special Operations Unit?
“Is Keter the regressor?!”
He wanted to jump up and say it, but he couldn’t, so he just widened his eyes. But the widened eyes soon narrowed again.
“But if that’s the case… why go through the Special Operations Unit to request a meeting? If Keter was the one testing us, he could’ve just requested a meeting with Hans at the general store.”
Ivan’s mind was filled with thoughts of the regressor, but the current situation seemed like nothing more than a “coincidence.”
“But it’s too much of a coincidence. Can such a coincidence even exist in the world?”
If this request had come a day later, he might have been purely curious about Keter. What kind of person is he? How does he have the Special Operations Unit’s protection?
But with the suspicion of a regressor appearing right before this situation, he naturally suspected that the other party might be the regressor.
“Coincidence… coincidence… coincidence…”
Ivan kept muttering the word. In his mind, countless possibilities disappeared and reappeared.
“Here’s what happened.”
Ivan narrowed his eyes.
“Keter is the regressor. He came for Orpheus’ Mask but found something suspicious and tested us, and I foolishly fell into the trap. And somehow, he heard everything I said.”
“If he were an ordinary person, he would’ve backed off, but Keter wants to talk to the Syndicate. However, because of the forceful attitude I showed, he became cautious and wants to talk under the Special Operations Unit’s protection.”
“That makes sense.”
Even Ivan could feel that he was forcing the pieces together.
The biggest flaw was the existence of the Special Operations Unit. For the Special Operations Unit to help Keter, they would have to already know that Keter was a “regressor.”
Of all organizations, the Special Operations Unit had a “regressor” in their hands?
“The Special Operations Unit shouldn’t even know about the existence of regressors. Did Keter reveal himself as a regressor first and gain their cooperation?”
Ivan shook his head. If Keter really was a regressor and had formed a cooperative relationship with the Special Operations Unit, the world would have faced some kind of upheaval.
“I can’t tell.”
All the circumstances pointed to “coincidence,” but the coincidence was too perfect, and Ivan couldn’t shake the suspicion that Keter might be the regressor.
“…I’ll just have to meet him.”
Ivan gave the answer he had delayed to Kilian.
“Understood. I’ll meet Keter.”