“You showed up at a good time.”

It would be easier navigating the territories with a guide.

Woohyuk pulled out Lilith’s Unclean Holy Grail from his pocket because it seemed unlikely that the hallucination spell would work on Rachius.

“I can feel evil demonic energy from you. Are you praised as the Hero King on the outside yet allied with the Demon King or the Witches Cult in secret?” Rachius warily asked.

“If so, what would you do about it?” Woohyuk calmly answered.

“… So, it was all a trap. I wondered why I lost contact with Rosenkreuz.”

Rachius was on his way back to Rosenkreuz’s office after requesting support from the Pope’s Cardinals at Rosenkreuz’s direction.

Their support was needed to keep the headquarters' secret doc.u.ments safe in case of an emergency.

He was not yet a member of the p.r.o.noia, but he was in the process of training as a successor and was second in rank in Castineon.

There was no way such a person could let Woohyuk continue his plans.

However, things in this world didn’t always go as one intended.

[You were hit by a restriction spell by an unfriendly opponent. You will not be able to use Teleportation, Guardian Spirit, or Lightning Storm for the next 10 minutes.]

‘What, what is this?’

Rachius’ eyes widened at the system message that popped out of nowhere.

Teleportation magic and the guardian defensive barrier were essential skills that a priest must possess when partic.i.p.ating in battle, and Lightning Storm was the most powerful offensive Divine Magic spell that he could use.

However, those three spells were restricted at the same time.

Woohyuk, who saw Rachius’ surprised reaction, slowly spoke in a provocative manner,

“You can’t resist. Rosenkreuz, the one you dutifully followed like a dog, also died by my hand.”

“You killed Rosenkreuz…?! That’s nonsense!”

Rachius, who had momentarily hesitated, became angry and started throwing Lightning Spheres, one after another, toward Woohyuk.

Sa.s.sa.s.sa.s.sasa!

It wasn’t a very high level of Divine Magic, but the caster’s ability was outstanding. Furthermore, it was a spell that could contend against wide areeffect magic.

However, as Woohyuk imbued demonic energy into Lilith’s Unholy Grail…

Hwee-Ang!

A spiraling black vortex appeared in the air and absorbed all the Lightning Spheres.

He had used Amon’s exclusive skill, G.o.d Death.

Rachius, who saw this scene, had a stupefied expression.

“What blasphemous counter-attack was that just now…?”

“I said it before. Resistance is meaningless.”

Several dark spheres emerged from the spiraling black vortex that G.o.d Death produced.

Rachius’ Lightning Spheres were re-created and re-formed. It was the inexplicable power of Lilith's Unholy Grail.

Rachius fell helplessly onto the ground in front of Woohyuk.

“Keuk…!”

He suffered lethal damage as Woohyuk’s conjured Lightning Spheres bombarded his entire body.

However, he was able to keep consciousness because he used recovery magic immediately.

While Rachius knelt on one knee in a pool of his own blood, Woohyuk approached him and quietly muttered,

“I don’t think you’re begging for your life, So I’ll have to forcefully make you obey me.”

Lilith’s Unholy Grail filled with black blood.

Later, with help from Hildegard, Woohyuk forced Rachius to drink the contents of the Grail.

“Keuk…Keu-Ah!”

Rachius screamed and fell to the floor, spasming his body as if he was in a seizure.

Hildegard, who saw his appearance, asked Woohyuk with anxious eyes,

“Is it really okay to torment him to this extent? I think he’ll die if you continue…”

“It’s just the process of the physical body dying. After a while, he’ll be reborn as my minion.”

Woohyuk once had Hong Yuri perform a similar ritual before.

Of course, at that time, she wasn’t being turned into a demon but the Queen of Blood.

As they waited silently, as Woohyuk said, Rachius stopped moving as if he were dead.

And then…

Saaa~

Dark demonic energy began to bloom and take over his body.

Later, when Rachius looked up at Woohyuk with his red-colored eyes, Roan giggled as if the transformation was funny.

“Master has one more slave. He’s not a girl with a beautiful face, but I guess he’ll do in taking care of other matters.”

Bam!

Woohyuk’s fist struck Roan’s abdomen as he was about to continue speaking obscenities once again.

Hildegard was surprised by Woohyuk’s sudden, radical action.

“He didn’t say anything that serious… nothing out of the ordinary at least. I don’t think you needed to hit him for that…”

“No, he should correct his values and change his perspective. If he behaves disrespectfully to you, please punish him on the spot, just as I did.”

“That’s right. All bad habits start with these small obscenities,” Helena, who was next to Woohyuk, chimed in agreement.

At that time, Rachius trembled and muttered to himself,

“I’ve become a demon…”

It was only now that he understood the overall situation and what transpired.

Woohyuk looked at Roan, who burst into tears, and then looked at Rachius again.

“You are now my servant. So, you have no choice but to act on my orders.”

“Ke-Keuk…”

“First, guide us towards your secret base. I don’t have much time, so hurry.”

After securing the secret doc.u.ments of p.r.o.noia, he was planning to take over the interior of the Holy Pope’s Office.

If he planned to advance into the Holy Aperia Empire in the future, they would present the most trouble, so he decided to take proactive measures.

It may be possible to tame the imperial figures as they moved according to their political interests, but when the religious fanatics start to go crazy, there was no answer.

After a while, when they arrived at the underground headquarters of Castineon, the remaining clergy greeted Woohyuk and his companions.

“Si-Sir RRachius?!” 

“Why do you look like that…!” 

Slice!

Dice!

Hildegard moved like the wind and cut the priests with her sword.

Afterwards, only a few priests remained.

There was no need for everyone in the party to attack and deal with them.

“You kill without hesitation. Did you usually have a lot of dissatisfaction with them?”

“To be honest, I did. I personally wors.h.i.+p the G.o.d of Wind.”

Originally, the seven Paladins originated as the defenders of the Empire, chosen by the Seven G.o.ds.

However, as the G.o.d of Light religion was proclaimed as the Empire’s state religion, all of the priests became the G.o.d of Light’s workhorses.

Hildegard was always dissatisfied with this discrepancy of wors.h.i.+p.

As she got rid of all her enemies, Helena looked around to see if there were any important objects.

“In addition to the secret doc.u.ments, there should be things like magic books. I don’t know when we’ll stop by here again, so we’ll have to visit everyone and every place this time around.”

“Do what you like. The work of the Ark of Knowledge will be left to your Etheria Rodinus for the time being.”

Woohyuk, who had to go around and solve various problems, didn’t have time to study at a library and peruse doc.u.ments.

While Woohyuk was exchanging conversation with Helena, Rachius stopped in place.

“… It’s here. However, it’s only accessible to p.r.o.noia members only, so I’ve actually never been inside, but I’m sure this is the place.”

“Alright. How do I open the entrance?”

“First of all, there must be a ring that proves that you are a member of p.r.o.noia. After verification of the ring, a virtual board will appear in the air. You have to enter the pa.s.sphrase.”

It was a fairly demanding and tight security clearance requirement.

Woohyuk nodded and pulled out a golden ring with red jewels from his pocket.

It was one of the loot items obtained by killing Rosenkreuz.

It must have been what Rachius mentioned, as it did not melt even in the ultrhigh heat of the black current.

Sah-ah~

When Woohyuk infused magic into the ring, the red jewel in the golden ring emitted light, creating a geometric pattern that symbolized p.r.o.noia above the statue on the stone wall.

A virtual board appeared underneath it.

Woohyuk discussed what the cryptogram would be with his party members.

“Do you know anything about this, Witch of Annihilation?”

“… I’m not sure. Ask the dead Rosenkreuz. Or summon one of the Awakened p.r.o.noia members you captured as kamikaze soldiers.”

“I see. n.o.body knows unless they’re a member of p.r.o.noia. Besides, the ciphertext seems to be different each time it pops up, so we’ll have to use someone who can actually decipher this text.”

“Huh? But the Awakeners are all huge, Master. I don’t know what would happen if I summoned them in such a confined s.p.a.ce as this.”

Everyone voiced varied opinions, and all had their own valid point.

Woohyuk took out all the rings of other p.r.o.noia members from his pocket after considering his options.

“There’s a high possibility that the ciphertext is supposed to change in a situation when everyone is gathered. So, let’s try some different possibilities.”

“Since you already have six rings… You’re missing one. Even if you include that demon’s,” Helena said as she pointed to a gloomy looking Rachius.

Woohyuk nodded and activated the Blue Coral Necklace he was wearing.

Then, along with a large pillar of light, the rest of the party members were summoned to the scene.

“Wow, that’s amazing! Master, where did you get that?”

“It’s an artifact that Rosenkreuz had. At that time, he called the p.r.o.noia members with this.”

The Ring of Bond, another summoning artifact that Rosenkreuz was in possession of, could only summon those from the same clan, but there was no such restriction on the Blue Coral Necklace.

Instead, one could register up to twelve people, so it was impossible to summon the entire Kingdom’s army. Therefore, there was a need to be cautious about who Woohyuk should register on the necklace.

“What is the reason you called us, Lord? Something wrong?”

“Everyone, wear one of these rings.”

Helena, Maria, Brynhildr, Hildegard, and Sieg each took a ring and put it on.

After Woohyuk directed them on where to stand, he stood in the middle and tried various motions.

“… This also needs its own consciousness.”

“Yeah. It seems much more difficult than it first appeared.”

“Shall I take a look at the magic circuit? Then I think I can see the principle of operation.”

Brynhildr saw Woohyuk and Helena frustratingly speaking to each other, so she suggested a new method.

She had a very high understanding of magic because she was a Valkyrie.

Runes were also available if necessary, so it was worth giving her a chance.

“a.n.a.lyze mine first. Rosenkreuz was the head of p.r.o.noia, so his ring may have some special properties.”

“Alright. Let’s see…”

Brynhildr cast a top-notch a.n.a.lysis magic spell on the ring and rotated the golden ring back and forth.

After a while…

[You have acquired administrator rights.]

[Please give me a command]

There was a blunt mechanical sound that came out from the golden ring.

Woohyuk raised the Archaeologist’s Golden Magnifying Gla.s.s in his hand as if this new scenario was fun.

“There must be some hidden information that I can’t find with this item.”

“There are limits to it. Furthermore, since p.r.o.noia is an elite group of the Holy Pope’s Office, they wouldn’t have made their own secret marks poorly.”

Anyway, it was a success to break through this level of security.

Now, he only needed to give the appropriate command.

Woohyuk thought about it for a while and then spoke aloud,

“Change pa.s.sword.”

[The other members’ consent is required. Do you want to proceed with voting?]

“Yes.”

[A virtual voting window is displayed to other members. Voting time is 1 minute. Abstention is considered dissent.]

A translucent window floated in front of the group members who wore a golden ring.

[O/X]

There was no explanation, but anyone could see the meaning.

When everyone presses the [O] b.u.t.ton,

[Please enter a new pa.s.sphrase. The pa.s.sphrase can be up to 12 characters long.]

“20371218.”

[20371218. Are you sure?] 

“Yes.”

[20371218. The pa.s.sphrase has been changed. This new pa.s.sphrase has been pa.s.sed on to the other members.]

The procedure to modify the cipher text was easy.

As Woohyuk raised his head, Seig spoke with a curious expression,

“Does that number mean anything, Lord?”

“Uh. It was my scheduled release date from the military.”

Even now, many years later, the events of that time were not forgotten.

Ever since he enlisted into the army to serve his conscription, he thought of this date. To think that this date would be the start of this horrendous nightmare…

Helena laughed at Woohyuk’s lamenting words.

“That’s funny. You still remember the date.”

“I can still recite my gun serial number as well.”

If one thought about it, it was a story that would only appear in a novel.

A last-year sergeant had moved to another world and was trying to become an overlord and even challenge the new seat amidst the G.o.ds.

While reminiscing about the past, Woohyuk again walked toward the statue in front of the wall.

Now, a new task was waiting for him.