As the prison fortress event winded to a close…

“The wound has been healed, but the trauma will still remain.”

Woohyuk cured Arhen, a member of Etheria Rodinus, with the Power of Resuscitation.

After that, he searched the top floor and found three materials for the Seven Color Rainbow Ring and the Nag Hammadi Chronicles.

As a bonus, he also obtained three Dragon Tokens.

“These guys also seemed to be pretty urgent. They enthusiastically gathered the things I need to find.”

“Well, they had to. The Creator will descend soon, so the Second Catastrophe will soon become a reality.”

The Second Catastrophe was brought upon by ma.s.s flooding caused by the sea level rising.

Unlike the advent of the First Catastrophe, which was brought upon by the descending Fallen Angel Cruella, the Second Catastrophe was brought upon by a natural phenomenon.

To prevent the upcoming disaster, it was necessary to restore the Sangreal Chronicles.

“So, is the restoration work done?” asked Woohyuk.

“Yes. Also, everyone has gathered in Inotia,” replied Helena.

For the Etheria Rodinus followers, who had many hostile forces, the Erendia Kingdom was a great place to work.

There were high-tech security devices and nine dragons present in Erendia, so their enemies would never think of stepping foot inside the kingdom.

Woohyuk nodded his head and climbed onto Pegasus.

“Then, let’s go to the Krobaichen Isthmus. We’ll return to Inotia after completing the quest at the isthmus.”

“Do we have to fly? How many times do I need to remind you that I have a fear of heights?” Helena asked in annoyance.

“Where we’re going is a conflict zone, so it’s dangerous to travel by land or sea. You know that too, right?” replied Woohyuk.

In fact, he possessed a teleport scroll from the tutorial area, but it was a single-use item. He felt it would be a waste to use it for this purpose.

When Woohyuk emphasized their current situation, Altair understood what was going on and tried to make himself useful,

“I’m heading that way anyway, so you guys can ride on my back. Of course, I’ll have to change to my true form.”

“Thank you for that. An ancient dragon’s back is quite wide, so it’ll be less fearful,” Helena said with a rea.s.sured expression.

Helena thought that, unlike Pegasus that Woohyuk could order around and further torment her, the dragon would be more stable.

When the group prepared to depart, Arhen asked Woohyuk,

“Are you going to leave the prisoners trapped here? It might be better to deal with the brutalist prisoners now in case they escape later on.”

“I don’t have time to judge their sins. But if I come back later, I’ll talk to the Frost Giants about it.”

There were still many things left for Woohyuk to do.

Soon, as Altair took flight, Helena carefully spoke up,

“Hey, thank you. Without you, Arhen would have died in the prison fortress.”

“If you feel that you’re in debt, make sure to pay it off later,” Woohyuk said as he maintained his aloof yet somewhat spiteful att.i.tude.

Helena stuck her lips out and argued,

“I’m very seriously right now. What’s with the spiteful reaction? Is it so fun to bother me?”

“To be honest, I feel like it’s what I live for,” Woohyuk snapped back.

Was it a form of love or hate?

While maintaining an ambiguous relations.h.i.+p with Helena, which was neither as an enemy nor an ally, his jokes became like a tug of war between man and woman.

To be sure, for Woohyuk, it had nothing to do with love.

While Woohyuk was quarreling with Helena, Arhen spoke up,

“But Helena, what do you think about the quest that was given publicly this time? I haven’t heard what’s going on or why there was a sudden message because I was under the influence of the Witches Cult.”

“It’s a very serious issue. The content of the Prophecies is no longer clear.”

From now on, Maria, the Saintess of Prophecy, would probably provide the greatest help.

This was because she had previously prevented the First Catastrophe through her prophetic vision.

Arhen nodded his head in agreement and followed up,

“This is just the beginning. Other types of interventions will continue to occur sooner or later. Maybe the entire Eeth Continent will be turned into a single survival game.”

Like the tutorial that summoned people from other worlds to compete with each other, there could be a situation in this world where they had to kill each other to survive.

The creation of such a desperate, chaotic environment would give the Creator the opportunity to reshape the future.

The Creator’s ultimate purpose was to subordinate the many players of this world into his system through compet.i.tion and attrition. He would make the great angels who betrayed him and then fallen contend with Solomon’s line of followers, who always wanted more, and the G.o.ds and demons, who wanted to rule the world.

At Arhen’s words, Woohyuk expressed agreement,

“It would be better for him to do that for sure. Focusing less on quests may increase the odds of success for the Odyssey Plan.”

If one thought about it, all the ancient demons who came out as the bosses in the quests were Woohyuk’s colleagues in his previous life.

However, Woohyuk understood that he needed to meet them at least once anyway.

If they had truly fallen and lost all sense of purpose, he would consider them an enemy, and in the opposite case, there was no reason to go against them.

‘I don’t know what kind of person Lucifer is until I meet him in person.’

In the Bible, Lucifer betrayed the Creator and then corrupted the world.

However, based on this world, he betrayed the Creator for his own reasons, and it was difficult to say whether his reasoning was necessarily wrong.

Good or evil is always relative.

It may be because of the influence of the demonic energy, but Woohyuk felt closer to the fallen ancient demons who were trying to change an absurd structure than the hypocritical G.o.ds.

“As you already know, everything is now up to you. The stage has been prepared by the Creator, and it’s centered around you,” commented Arhen.

Thus, Woohyuk had to be careful whenever he made critical decisions.

Hearing Arhen’s advice, Woohyuk looked down on the vast land below with an anxious expression.

‘What decision should I make at the last fork in the road?’

He had pledged to protect Leifina no matter what.

Was there a way he could save both her and the world?

The memories of his previous life, from Cruella’s imaginary world, weighed heavily on Woohyuk’s heart.

‘If we’re separated again this time, will there be a next time?’

He really hated to think about this, but someday, he’d have to face the reality.

As Woohyuk was pondering his next move and the final decision, Altair flew towards the western sky.

They entered a conflict zone where wars never ceased throughout the year, as this isthmus was the only point of connection between the East and the West.

Thus, the isthmus was not anyone’s realm, and even the 72 Demon Kings showed no interest in entering the chaotic war zone.

This was the Krobaichen Isthmus.

Walking through the desolate field, Woohyuk gradually released his undead troops and sent them outward in every direction to gather information about the Death Alchemist.

“I hope some news comes within tonight.”

“… If you were the Death Alchemist, wouldn’t you be staying in a dead castle, like Dreadlore? Or maybe in hidden ruins?” Helena asked.

“It’s very likely. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose to travel alone,” responded Woohyuk.

Before his return to this world, he had no memory of meeting the descendant of an ancient demon.

In other words, the ancient demon offspring weren’t interested in building up power or conquering land like the 72 Demon Kings.

Therefore, the Death Alchemist may have been operating in secret, like the Golden Rose Society or Etheria Rodinus.

… Waiting… biding his time until the right time comes.

“It’s dangerous to go alone into such a conflict zone. So, I a.s.sume he’s hiding somewhere. Since he possesses the lineage of an ancient demon, I’m pretty sure he’ll be trying to hide from the public eye as much as possible.”

“The Krobaichen Isthmus ruins… there are a few places like that as far as I know.”

After hearing Arhen’s words, Woohyuk lifted his head as he recalled his memory.

Among the possible ruins, the place that suited the Death Alchemist best would be…

‘Phantom’s Temple of h.e.l.l.’

It was not a site related to G.o.ds or heroes, but a site of demons.

Phantom was a demon and the closest close friend of Baal, who ranked number one amongst the Demon Kings.

Phantom loved to lure humans to his ruins and make them fight against each other.

“Let’s go to Phantom’s Temple of h.e.l.l right away. There’s a saying that it doesn’t get any easier to take of a bull’s horn,” Helena enthusiastically replied.

“Going there is impossible. Phantom’s Temple of h.e.l.l only appears on the night of the crescent moon,” Woohyuk answered.

In other words, it one entered the ruins and didn’t overcome its challenges within a night, it was impossible to escape until the next crescent moon.

Helena made an awkward expression after hearing Woohyuk’s explanation. She continued,

“I guess we’re going to have to spend a lot of time to get this quest done. Well, with our current powers, I’m sure we’ll be able to fend off Baal’s subordinates.”

Except for Lisa, the newly acquired female Homunculus, there was no companion in the party that would hold the party back, strength-wise.

Woohyuk paused for a while and then lifted Lisa, who Roan was carrying on his back.

She had been temporarily bound to prevent any turmoil.

However, within the ruins, it would be difficult for Roan to continue carrying her around and still be of use, so Woohyuk needed to be properly tame Lisa before entering the ruins.

Soon, as Lisa started squirming as he released the disabling spell, Woohyuk spoke out with a stern expression,

“From now on, serve me as your Master. Otherwise, you’ll be discarded and handed over to the Hextech City, Inotia, as experiment material.”

“…”

Lisa looked at Woohyuk and Helena alternately with a worried expression.

She was a Homunculus created by a blacksmith G.o.d.

However, she currently recognized Aleister as her owner and was following his orders.

‘Is it wise to change owners at this point?’

It was Aleister who awakened her who had been abandoned for a long time.

He belonged to the demonic camp and these beings belonged to the human camp.

If possible, she had to choose the camp with the highest odds of survival to continue living.

Lisa evaluated Woohyuk and his party’s capabilities with her unique a.n.a.lysis power.

‘… That black-haired young man is ridiculously strong.’

Seeing that he possessed the demonic powers of the abyss, it seemed that the male in front of her was the one Aleister spoke often about.

After contemplating, Lisa spoke to Woohyuk in a dry tone,

“I will obey… on the condition that you do not abandon me.”

“Good. I have to tell you in advance… betrayal is never tolerated.”

“There’s no reason for me to betray you if you guarantee my safety.”

Lisa was a Homunculus much different from Roan.

Rather than being obsessed with desires and impulses, she was the type that weighed the facts and made the best choice.

Woohyuk also took out a lemon jelly from his pocket and dangled it in front of her before saying,

“If you listen carefully and properly follow my orders, I’ll give you a reward, so don’t be negligent like Roan.”

“I am different from such a filthy, perverted failure of a Homunculus. Please don’t view me in the same light as him.”

Lisa took the lemon jelly from him with an unhappy expression.

Afterward, without much thought, she put it in her mouth…

“…!”

She instantly became obsessed with the indescribable ecstasy that originated from her mouth.

The lemon jelly was a magical item that could easily tame any being, whether it be a homunculus, an elf, or a Saint.

Woohyuk knew the value of it well from past experiences.

‘Women are weak to sweet things.’

This was especially true of a growing girl like Lisa.

Of course, considering her actual age, it was difficult to say that she was a growing girl.

Helena reached out to Woohyuk as Lisa twisted her body with joyful moans.

“Give me one, too. I forgot about it for a while, but I suddenly want one.”

“I don’t have any for you, Witch of Annihilation. If you want to eat something sweet, pick a honeycomb and squeeze the honey out.”

“Terrible! Are those lemon jellies that precious?” screamed Helena.

“It’s not that precious. Alright, if you listen well, I’ll give you one as a reward,” Woohyuk calmly answered.

Woohyuk’s taming of Helena began.

Arhen, who saw the unfolding scene, shook his head.

‘You have it hard, Helena.’

A Saintess who was sent to Woohyuk’s side to watch over him was preparing for battle because of a lemon jelly.

As Arhen was contemplating how to rescue Helena, black human figures appeared in the distance.

They were pirates holding cutla.s.ses.