Chapter 40. Winter Season (4)
Cynthia shouted in disbelief.
“Destroy the city?”
“My world? My people?”
“Do you have any idea what I went through to build this place?!”
Cynthia’s Majesty Authority exploded.
Space distorted.
A madness-inducing drunken haze spread across the entire world.
“You want to stop the disease by destroying the city?”
“That isn’t a solution! It’s just destruction!”
She was completely enraged.
The force of her power whipped Jooheon’s hair violently through the air.
But he didn’t retreat even a single step.
“Really?”
His eyes sharpened.
“Then do you think this is salvation?”
Cynthia flinched.
Jooheon’s voice dropped.
“This city is cultivating the root of the disease.”
“The longer you preserve it, the more your world keeps dying while pretending to be alive.”
He stared straight at her.
“Is disguising that and keeping it running supposed to be your duty?”
Cynthia’s lips trembled.
Jooheon took another step toward her.
The raging power of alcohol tore wounds into his body.
He kept walking anyway.
“You believed you expanded this city to protect your people.”
“But the truth is the exact opposite.”
Behind them, the enormous seed created by Demeter’s Artifact throbbed loudly as if announcing its presence.
The more the city prospered...
The more the disease grew.
Blood trickled down Jooheon’s face.
“You didn’t save your citizens.”
“You fed them to the disaster as fuel.”
“You just kept the system running because you didn’t know.”
Cynthia’s expression crumbled.
“Th-That’s a lie...”
“No.”
Jooheon answered immediately.
“It’s the truth.”
“I...”
“I never wanted that.”
“I know.”
For the first time, all mockery disappeared from Jooheon’s voice.
“You were serious about saving them.”
“You really tried.”
“That’s exactly why they could fool you.”
Those few words made Cynthia’s rampaging Authority waver.
Jooheon delivered the final blow.
“But what you choose from this point onward...”
“That’s up to you.”
“Not Betrayne.”
“Not Delaira.”
Cynthia’s breathing became ragged.
Jooheon continued quietly.
“You want the disease to stop, don’t you?”
“Then end this place.”
“Destroy the city.”
“Kill the seed.”
Then he added one more thing.
“You didn’t ruin it.”
“You were deceived.”
“So make them pay.”
Tears mixed with pain and rage fell from Cynthia’s eyes.
Several seconds of silence passed.
Then—
“...I’ll kill them.”
Jooheon’s lips slowly curled into a sharp smile.
“That’s more like it.”
Jooheon’s world.
The team members who had come to inspect Zeus’s Artifact stared in disbelief.
[Zeus Artifact Durability: 92% → 54% → 33%]
“This is impossible...”
Julian’s voice cracked.
“How is it deteriorating this quickly?”
Irene stood beside him, her face pale.
She spoke in a trembling voice.
“It looks...”
“Like the Artifact is dying on its own.”
Julian bit his lip.
When he checked with Zhuge Liang’s Artifact, the situation looked even worse.
[Divine Authority Collision detected.]
[Opposing Entity: ?????????]
[Classification: Godslayer]
Julian inhaled sharply.
“A... Godslayer?”
But what kind of being could interfere with the divine authority of Zeus?
Tch.
Jooheon is the expert when it comes to obscure archaeological knowledge like this.
Still, Julian thought deeply.
Then his eyes suddenly widened.
“...Typhon.”
Everyone reacted to the name.
Julian began explaining his unexpected conclusion.
“Zeus isn’t completely invincible.”
“And in Greek mythology, there was one calamity that stole Zeus’s thunderbolts and forced the gods to flee all the way to Egypt.”
It sounded familiar.
“Typhon.”
“The worst monster in Greek mythology.”
“A calamity said to be beyond even the gods.”
Irene swallowed hard.
Julian continued.
“Typhon wasn’t simply another monster.”
“Even Zeus initially lost when he fought him head-on.”
“The king of the gods had his thunderbolts taken away, and Olympus was devastated.”
“Most of the gods supposedly fled to Egypt and disguised themselves as animals just to hide from him.”
Seol-A looked stunned.
“...The gods turned into animals?”
“Yes.”
“That’s how overwhelming Typhon was.”
“Even ancient myths describe him as a being who nearly killed Zeus.”
Julian searched on his phone and enlarged the result.
Clear text appeared beneath Typhon’s name.
[Typhon]
A monster who pursued the gods, devastated Olympus, severed Zeus’s arms and legs, and stole his thunderbolts.
Still classified as a ‘natural predator of the gods.’
Irene’s voice trembled.
“So...”
“There couldn’t be a better enemy for attacking Zeus’s Artifact.”
Julian nodded.
“Exactly.”
“The myth itself already proved it.”
Irene took a shaky breath.
“So that’s why Zeus’s Artifact is collapsing this badly.”
“Yes.”
“This isn’t merely an attack.”
“It’s a predator response.”
“When Typhon approaches, Zeus instinctively burns through his own energy to resist.”
“That’s why its durability is dropping.”
Then Zhuge Liang’s Artifact showed Zeus’s condition worsening again.
[Erosion Progress: 21%]
[Upon Completion: Zeus Artifact functionality will be lost.]
