Chapter 45

Chapter 45. Central Sanctuary (1)

What do I do now?

Number 49 looked over the rooftop and thought carefully.

I don't think I can just leave things like this.

Kang Yujin was unable to move, just like when Number 49 had first met him.

Baek Yunho was also lying on the ground, bleeding heavily.

The problem was that all of Kang Yujin's companions had been put to sleep.

None of them could come to help.

If I leave them like this and someone from the church arrives first, things could get dangerous.

Calling members of the Black Dragon Society from somewhere else wasn't possible.

That would count as excessive interference.

Unknown probably doesn't have any good solution either.

What should I...

At that moment...

Number 49 sensed someone's presence.

Ah...

He sighed in relief.

The person arriving on the rooftop was none other than Ma Taesu.

"Hmm..."

Ma Taesu stroked his chin as he looked at Kang Yujin and Baek Yunho.

"So this is what happened."

He began walking toward them.

Then suddenly...

He stopped.

Ma Taesu looked toward Number 49's hidden position.

"Are you the Apostle assigned to Kang Yujin?"

"...!"

Apostles could appear openly before Contractors and freely speak with them.

But more often, they remained hidden and only whispered to specific Contractors when necessary.

However...

Experienced Contractors could sense an Apostle's presence even when they were concealed.

That was one reason why it was difficult to use Apostles for spying or eavesdropping.

"You don't need to reveal yourself."

Ma Taesu looked away.

"I'll simply talk to myself."

Apparently, he wanted Number 49 to hear something.

"First..."

Ma Taesu spoke quietly.

"The reason I managed to reach this place despite the sleeping gas is because I possess a resistance skill against status abnormalities like this."

"I followed the trail of damaged buildings and figured out Kang Yujin's path."

As he spoke, Ma Taesu pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

"Normally, I should help Kang Yujin and capture Baek Yunho."

He took a drag.

"Unfortunately, that has become difficult."

What did that mean?

Was Ma Taesu planning to betray them?

"I failed to persuade Cheonan's representatives."

"They said we don't have enough justification."

"...!"

"In Cheonan, the Church of the Morning Star is simply a large religious organization."

"They don't openly commit vicious crimes here like they do in rural areas."

"So if we attack the church without warning..."

Ma Taesu exhaled smoke.

"We'll be the ones branded as criminals."

"That's why I negotiated with influential Contractors in Cheonan."

"But they refused."

Number 49 immediately thought that Baek Yunho attacking Kang Yujin should be enough justification.

As if reading his mind...

Ma Taesu continued.

"Even if we capture Baek Yunho here and claim he attacked us first..."

"The church will simply cut him loose."

"Just like what happened with Baphomet."

"...!"

"So..."

Ma Taesu's eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to let Baek Yunho escape."

Let Baek Yunho go?

"If Baek Yunho escapes to the Central Sanctuary..."

Ma Taesu continued.

"Then we'll have justification to attack the Central Sanctuary while pursuing him."

"As long as Bishop Baek Yunho remains officially part of the church, they won't be able to cut him loose."

"They'll have no choice but to accept the fight."

"..."

"I don't want Kang Yujin to be satisfied with capturing only Baek Yunho."

Ma Taesu's gaze sharpened.

"I want him to shake the Church of the Morning Star to its foundation."

The look in Ma Taesu's eyes was unmistakable.

He was an ambitious man seeking even greater power.

"The reason I'm saying all this aloud..."

Ma Taesu continued.

"Is because I want you to tell Kang Yujin that I'm not betraying him by letting Baek Yunho escape."

"And..."

He glanced toward Number 49.

"I want you to send a message to the Constellation you serve."

"I would like to maintain the best possible relationship with him from now on."

After saying that, Ma Taesu extinguished his cigarette and lifted Kang Yujin onto his back.

"It looks like church reinforcements are coming to help Baek Yunho."

"We need to rescue the others too."

"We should leave quickly."

Ma Taesu lightly jumped off the rooftop.

So now...

Number 49 watched him disappear.

The real battle against the church begins?

He needed to report this immediately.

Number 49 opened a gate to return to the Spirit Realm.

"Things are becoming complicated."

I listened to Number 49's report.

"Cheonan is a city with a large civilian population."

I crossed my arms.

"We can't simply push forward without caring what anyone thinks, like we did before."

Ma Taesu...

I narrowed my eyes.

He's not someone I can lower my guard around.

Ma Taesu had sent a message saying he wanted to maintain a good relationship with me.

But I had no idea what he truly thought.

Still, it seems obvious that he wants to use Kang Yujin as an excuse to begin a war against the Church of the Morning Star.

If Ma Taesu really wanted to...

He could have ended this by capturing Baek Yunho alone.

Kang Yujin's personal grudge was against Baek Yunho.

Ma Taesu could simply persuade him that Baek Yunho had been captured, so there was no reason to fight the entire church.

Instead...

Ma Taesu had deliberately allowed Baek Yunho to escape.

Now he was preparing to begin a full-scale battle against the church.

If we take down the Central Sanctuary, the church's influence in the central-western region will weaken dramatically.

Is Ma Taesu trying to strengthen his control over the region even further?

I would need to think more carefully about what Ma Taesu was truly after.

"By the way, Unknown."

Number 49 suddenly spoke.

"You gave Kang Yujin permission to manifest your Constellation Armament this time."

"So?"

"I understand its basic effect now..."

He leaned forward.

"But what exactly is your Constellation Armament?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I'm just curious!"

"Then I won't tell you."

"Seriously?"

Number 49 complained.

"That's so petty!"

"You won't tell me your True Name either!"

He glared at me.

"What kind of relationship do you think we have?"

"What kind?"

I answered coldly.

"A business relationship between a Constellation and his Apostle?"

"You're seriously terrible!"

Although I answered Number 49 coldly...

I was actually being careful with every word.

I didn't want him to discover that I wasn't some legendary hero.

I had merely been a Contractor from the very bottom.

I actually never intended to give Kang Yujin permission to manifest my Constellation Armament yet.

Without asking the Count or Number 49, I had explored my status window and investigated it myself.

My Constellation Armament had already been determined.

But...

Someone like me, who had never been a famous hero, couldn't possibly have a proper legendary weapon.

That was why my Constellation Armament was rather...

Unusual.

I don't want other Constellations learning the true form of my Constellation Armament.

At least not yet.

Kang Yujin had used Pseudo Manifestation earlier.

Pseudo Manifestation did not summon the Constellation Armament itself.

It only allowed the Contractor to use part of its function.

That much was acceptable.

But I needed to avoid granting access to the next stage above Pseudo Manifestation...

Imitation Manifestation.

"Still..."

I changed the subject.

"Making a video this time is going to be awkward."

"There you go again!"

Number 49 immediately complained.

"You're obviously changing the subject!"

"I'm serious."

The fight between Kang Yujin and Baek Yunho had begun while Number 49 wasn't present on Earth.

Because of that, we didn't have recorded footage with audio.

And there was another problem.

"The church's Central Sanctuary..."

I frowned while manipulating the observation device.

"I can't see inside it."

The screen displayed an enormous church building on the outskirts of Cheonan.

But no matter how I manipulated the observation device...

I couldn't see anything inside.

"They probably installed some kind of device to completely block spying."

Number 49 shrugged.

"You see that in other places too."

"We need information beforehand if we're going to prepare properly."

"Hmm..."

Number 49 looked worried.

"What should we do?"

"We need to upload a preview soon."

It seemed he was struggling too.

"We'll have to approach this differently from before."

"A different style?"

"Yes."

I crossed my arms and began organizing my thoughts.

"And..."

My eyes narrowed.

"We should make this even bigger."

Ma Taesu had gone through the trouble of setting the stage for us.

There was no reason not to make full use of it.

"Geumgak Hyung, what exactly was that fight earlier?"

"I have no idea."

Geumgak sat with Eungak at their throne in one corner of the Spirit Realm.

"There wasn't even any sound."

"I couldn't understand what was happening."

Eungak frowned.

"Ma Taesu just left Baek Yunho there."

"Did he think Baek Yunho was dead?"

"I don't know."

Geumgak shrugged.

"Maybe rescuing Kang Yujin was his priority."

If this had involved some random Contractor, they wouldn't have cared much.

But Kang Yujin had recently become someone they followed closely.

That made the whole situation extremely frustrating.

Something interesting had clearly happened.

Yet they had no idea what the story was.

"It would be nice if a new Constellation Tube video suddenly appeared right now."

Eungak sighed.

"At this point, I'd even watch another explanation video from that Leader of the Expedition bastard."

"You don't like his videos, Hyung?"

"It's not that I dislike them."

Geumgak frowned.

"I just don't like his face."

"Or the way he talks."

"Hahaha."

Eungak nodded.

"I agree with that."

At that moment...

An alert appeared on the observation device.

A new video had just been uploaded.

"Let's see..."

Geumgak immediately played it.

Eungak also opened the video on his own observation device.

But then...

"Why is it black and white?"

The newly uploaded video wasn't in color.

It was monochrome.

"Observation screens used to be black and white a long time ago..."

Geumgak frowned.

"But why would someone use black and white now?"

"Did something go wrong during editing?"

The video displayed Kang Yujin in black and white.

But he wasn't moving.

It was a still image.

"Why isn't this actual video?"

Eungak frowned.

"The screen keeps changing, but they're all still images."

"..."

Geumgak quickly understood.

This video was retracing Kang Yujin's journey until now.

Images appeared one after another.

Kang Yujin fearlessly fighting enemies without ever retreating...

Even though the style was completely different from the previous videos, the editing was excellent.

Without realizing it...

Geumgak became absorbed.

Why does this feel strangely emotional?

As he focused on the video...

The images suddenly began changing faster.

It was obvious that time was moving backward.

Then...

The screen showed a shabby-looking vagrant walking away from a building.

"What?"

Eungak stared.

"Wait..."

"Is that supposed to be Kang Yujin?"

It seemed impossible.

Kang Yujin was a handsome young man with a relatively neat appearance.

His slicked-back hair tied behind his head had become his trademark.

But the man on the screen looked like a homeless person.

His clothes were dirty.

His hair was long and messy.

Then words appeared across the screen.

There was no narration.

Only text.

[This was his beginning.]

"Kang Yujin..."

Geumgak stared.

"He used to look like this?"

"What happened to him...?"

Kang Yujin's past had always been a mystery.

He had suddenly appeared recently and rapidly risen to prominence.

No one knew anything about where he had been before that.

One Constellation had even ordered a Contractor to investigate Kang Yujin locally.

They found nothing.

It was as if a man who had never existed anywhere in Korea had suddenly appeared.

"Was Kang Yujin inside that building?"

"It looks like a church..."

Eungak suddenly froze.

"Wait."

"Could it be the Church of the Morning Star?"

The images began moving forward again.

Time returned toward the present.

Then...

The screen showed Kang Yujin wearing a determined expression.

[I've been waiting for the day I could meet you again.]

Then another man's face appeared in contrast.

A man wearing glasses.

Baek Yunho.

The same man who had fought Kang Yujin.

[It's been a long time, my beloved experimental animal.]

There was still no audio.

Only text over black-and-white still images.

Yet somehow...

That made the scene even more powerful.

Kang Yujin and Baek Yunho appeared side by side.

Then the screen slowly darkened.

[A man who lived as an experimental animal in a dark basement now enters a battle for revenge.]

The video ended.

There had not been a single spoken word.

The entire video consisted only of black-and-white still images.

Yet that silent, monochrome video created a quiet excitement among the Constellations.

"Revenge?"

Eungak swallowed.

"Kang Yujin is going after revenge?"

Geumgak swallowed dryly.

This...

He understood immediately.

This incident was going to attract an enormous amount of attention.