Chapter 25. Reunion (2)
What?
What did he just say?
“Artifact state?”
Jooheon frowned in disbelief.
“Explain.”
He pointed toward Julian.
“So what you're saying is...”
“That Julian over there is an Artifact?”
Majesty Yoo Jaeha calmly nodded.
“That's right.”
“Explain what you mean by Artifact state.”
Jaeha sighed.
“You can't be completely unfamiliar with the idea.”
“That Julian Miller isn't from our world.”
He looked toward the rooftop.
“And in some worlds...”
“People can be turned into Artifacts too.”
“...!”
“Exactly.”
“That Julian was created by the Majesty of that world.”
“A human turned into an Artifact.”
Jooheon's eyes widened.
His heart sank.
They turn people... into Artifacts?
The words dragged countless memories through his mind.
One of them was from before his regression.
The Crow's Tomb.
The day every member of his team had died horrible deaths inside it.
The smell of death seemed to return just from remembering.
Blood.
Screams.
The dark crimson ruins.
Then another memory surfaced.
His final battle against Chairman Kwon.
The day an 'Unknown' had invaded.
Jooheon's eyes turned terrifyingly cold.
Unknown.
It had been created with the help of Gaia's Artifact.
Simply put...
It was an Artifact made from human corpses.
Killing intent naturally filled Jooheon's eyes.
“Fuck...”
His fist tightened.
“They're doing that again?”
Majesty Jaeha sighed quietly at his expression.
“Yes.”
“The 'Unknown' you saw was also created with advice from that Majesty.”
“......”
Silence fell.
Jooheon's fist trembled.
Of course, the Unknown created from their corpses back then had apparently been incomplete.
His team had disposed of it fairly easily.
Its condition was terrible.
It couldn't last long.
But the thing in front of him now was different.
Majesty Jaeha confirmed it.
“That one is a completed version.”
“He's feared across other worlds as a hunter.”
“Attack and defense Artifacts don't work against him either.”
“There are even Majesties offering huge bounties to anyone who can kill him.”
So, in short...
He was a common enemy of Majesties.
Jaeha continued heavily.
“Depending on his world...”
“You might've been turned into an Artifact too.”
Jooheon looked at him.
“What kind?”
Jaeha shrugged.
“Something like an Artifact of Plunder, maybe?”
Jooheon rubbed his forehead in disbelief.
“That's seriously...”
He muttered.
“...the worst.”
Jaeha stared at him.
“Isn't it a little funny hearing that from you?”
Jooheon almost smacked him.
Then his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Wait.”
Jaeha flinched.
“If he hunts Artifact Users...”
Jooheon's eyes became brighter.
“Then he must have a lot of Artifacts on him.”
“Well.”
Jaeha sighed.
“That might be one reason the bounty is so high.”
Jooheon's interest immediately increased.
“Then what's his ability?”
“He's still an Artifact, right?”
Jooheon narrowed his eyes.
“What makes Artifact Users completely helpless against him?”
Majesty Jaeha bit his lip once.
Then answered quietly.
“Lex Dictum.”
Jooheon frowned.
“...What?”
“Declaration of Law.”
Jaeha looked toward Julian.
“It's both the name of the Artifact and the name of its ability.”
“So he crushes people with laws or something?”
“Exactly.”
Jaeha nodded.
“More precisely, it works in three stages.”
He raised three fingers.
“Detection.”
“Judgment.”
“Execution.”
Jooheon's eyebrow twitched.
What kind of ridiculous system was that?
Jaeha continued.
“First, it detects an action.”
“Either Julian personally sees it, or a detection-type Artifact records it automatically.”
“Like a speed camera.”
“For example...”
He pointed at Jooheon.
“It records you using an illegal Artifact.”
Then came judgment.
“Lex Dictum possesses its own 'law code.'”
“Basically a list of personal rules.”
“If it judges that your action violates one of those laws...”
“It immediately declares the action illegal.”
Jooheon stared at him.
“So he just decides whatever he doesn't like is illegal?”
“More or less.”
Jaeha shrugged.
“The spears that fell earlier were the result of that.”
Ah.
So it was an Artifact combining law codes and punishment.
“Exactly.”
“If you violate its predetermined rules...”
Jaeha's expression turned serious.
“Legitimate violence falls upon you in the name of legitimate law.”
“That is the ability of the Artifact called Julian Miller.”
It was...
Infuriatingly...
Very Julian-like.
Jooheon clicked his tongue.
“Fuck.”
“The lawyer bastard became a judge too.”
“He can judge Artifacts as well as people.”
Jaeha continued.
“In other words, if an Artifact you're using is declared illegal...”
“He can forcibly disable it or confiscate it.”
Jooheon stared.
“...Fuck.”
“That's actually insane.”
“Yeah.”
Jaeha looked at him.
“And you're probably his worst possible matchup.”
“Me?”
Jooheon immediately bristled.
“What about me?!”
Jaeha looked at him as if he couldn't believe Jooheon even had to ask.
“Theft.”
“Assault.”
“Threats.”
“Fraud.”
“Gambling—”
“Shut up!”
Then...
A voice echoed from somewhere.
Precise.
Cold.
Completely devoid of emotion.
“Article 8, Clause 1.”
Golden letters reflected across Julian's lenses as they moved rapidly.
“If the suspect continues to resist after recognizing the jurisdiction of the law...”
His voice remained mechanical.
“Forced detention and execution procedures will begin.”
Jooheon's eyes widened.
“What?”
