Chapter 23. Madness 99% (2)
Jooheon swallowed another mouthful and wiped his lips as though nothing had happened.
The Satyr's eyes shook.
So did everyone else's.
If the cup he'd drunk from had contained poison, that human should already have collapsed.
That was how lethal the poison was.
And yet...
“...You're fine?”
Majesty Yoo Jaeha swallowed hard, unable to close his mouth.
“How...?”
Had there been no poison?
Or...
“Do you have poison resistance?”
Jooheon smiled as though it hadn't mattered from the beginning.
“Resistance?”
He shrugged.
“I've always had some.”
But there was no guarantee that his existing resistance would work against poison from this world.
And if the cup had actually contained poison, a message such as—
[Poison Resistance blocks the toxin.]
—should have appeared.
Meaning...
He had simply avoided the poison through sheer luck and drank three safe cups.
The Satyr took a step backward as if caught completely off guard.
Majesty Jaeha seemed to realize the same thing.
He shuddered.
“Were you not even scared?”
His expression shook.
There was no doubt anymore.
Seo Jooheon hadn't drunk because he knew the cups were safe.
He'd simply drunk them.
Fully prepared for one of them to contain poison.
“How can you do that?”
Jooheon's eyes flashed.
He was smiling.
But there was nothing light about that smile.
“You Artifacts touched my family.”
He stepped forward.
The moment he'd been told that his child could no longer be born...
There had never been another choice for him.
“I don't let people who steal what's mine walk away.”
Fire burned in his eyes.
The aura pouring from him wasn't merely anger.
It was resolve.
The Satyr's expression changed from contempt...
To shock.
Is heaven actually helping this man...?
Majesty Jaeha cursed inwardly.
Ha...
He really is insane.
He gave a faint mocking smile on the outside.
But inside, his emotions churned.
He just drank a cup that might have contained poison?
If luck had failed him, he would've died on the spot.
And even knowing that...
The bastard hadn't been afraid of death.
A hollow laugh escaped Majesty Jaeha before he realized it.
Damn.
Maybe a bastard like this really is qualified to reach for the territory of the Chief Gods.
Then...
Jooheon stopped directly in front of the Satyr.
“Your turn.”
His voice mixed madness with cold mockery.
“Drink.”
The Satyr's eyes trembled.
[A mere human dares order me?!]
It snapped its fingers, trying to create a new set of rules.
But—
BOOM!
Muramasa flashed.
The table and the Satyr's arm were cut in half at the same time.
The flute and the wine glasses scattered across the floor.
Jooheon stepped on them.
His eyes glowed dangerously.
“New rules?”
He snorted.
“Fuck that.”
“It's your turn now.”
“Drink.”
Jooheon grabbed the Satyr by the horn and growled.
At the same time, Rope shot out and bound the Satyr's arms.
Jooheon picked up one of the three remaining wine glasses.
Then grabbed the Satyr's jaw and violently poured it down its throat.
“Guh!”
The Satyr coughed up wine mixed with black blood.
Dark blood and wine spilled together across the floor.
[Poison has activated.]
The short horn embedded in the Satyr's forehead trembled.
Then cracked.
The creature fell to its knees.
Its eyes widened as it glared at Jooheon.
[Y-You... filthy insect...]
The Satyr spat blood and collapsed to its knees.
Panting heavily, it glared at Jooheon as he turned back toward the others.
[The Majesties will never forgive you.]
Jooheon stopped.
Then seemed to remember something.
“Rope.”
Rope immediately grabbed the Satyr and began shaking it upside down.
[Give me everything! Everything!]
Something fell from the Satyr's clothes.
Tap.
It looked like a compass-shaped roulette board.
Four words were engraved on its surface.
Madness.
Emptiness.
Blessing.
Ruin.
Jooheon picked it up.
“So this was what you planned to use at the end?”
He scoffed.
“No wonder you kept going on about continuing the game.”
[Dionysus's Wheel of Fate (S-Grade)]
The object was cold.
But the instant his fingers touched it, he felt as though drunkenness spread from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
“Looks like you can't even use this without a pretty high Madness Gauge.”
It felt as if someone's fate had been compressed into the tiny wheel.
“Interesting.”
Jooheon grabbed the Satyr's finger and used it to press the roulette button.
Click.
The wheel spun.
The needle rotated.
Then stopped.
[Result: Emptiness.]
“Emptiness...”
Jooheon grinned.
“Fits you perfectly.”
“A nice ending for someone like you.”
The Satyr's eyes widened with a mixture of rage and fear.
Then its head dropped.
Its body collapsed.
Blood and wine pooled together beneath it.
Eventually, it reverted to Artifact form.
But it looked so badly corrupted that even picking it up seemed unpleasant.
“Yoo Jaeha...”
[CAN'T FIX IT!!!]
“Really?”
Jooheon looked toward Majesty Yoo Jaeha.
“Then you.”
He tossed the Artifact toward him.
“Payment for your life.”
“Fix it.”
Majesty Jaeha sighed as he caught it.
“Ha.”
“Just this once.”
After Majesty Jaeha stored the Artifact away, Jooheon picked up a small vial that had fallen beside the roulette wheel.
It contained the poison the Satyr had mixed into the wine.
Jooheon smiled as he examined it.
Poison that works even on Divine-Grade Artifacts.
That would definitely be useful someday.
Then...
“That man...”
The prisoners stared at Jooheon in shock.
He was clearly no ordinary person.
