Outing (1)
“Over there! Move that aside!”
“Whaaat? Be careful not to let it fall!”
“Where’s the wizard? We can’t handle this alone!”
Amidst the chaos of the scene and the busy people scrambling to manage it.
Tarak was having a frantic time dealing with the sudden attack of the giant and the invasion of the Undead King.
In fact, it was thanks to the Undead King leaving midway that they didn’t suffer even greater losses, but the damage done to Tarak was by no means small.
The magic circles and the protective barriers, which had been hastily activated by the desperate efforts of the wizards, were already beyond repair, and the collapsed castle walls and the land pollution were severe, with significant personal and material losses as well.
Moreover, facing the army of the undead, which exuded the death energy that was antithetical to all living things, had left most of the soldiers who participated in the defense deeply traumatized and terrified.
As the battle had just wrapped up, those taking care of the wounded and the mentally affected soldiers were none other than…
“Haha, it’s been a while. Saint, Savior. I apologize for the late greeting due to these unexpected events.”
“It’s really been a while, Cardinal Donovan! You worked hard today.”
“Not at all. This old man couldn’t have done it without the efforts of you, Saint, and your companions. If the Undead King had directly participated in this affair, Tarak would have turned to ashes in an instant.”
The people from the Holy Order who had come from the Piccaol Temple were there.
Only after Cardinal Donovan had finished with the urgent treatment of the hastily summoned patients following the Undead King’s appearance and the assault on Tarak could the hero party finally formally greet each other.
With a gaze as compassionate as a grandfather looking at his granddaughter, Cardinal Donovan looked at Saint Liesta, prompting Heinrich to comment in surprise.
“But you arrived quite swiftly. I imagine it wasn’t easy to prepare such level of reinforcements.”
“It seemed that they had been strangely quiet lately, so I prepared thoroughly just in case. We needed to be able to set off immediately if an emergency arose. And lo and behold, we received an urgent message from Tarak.”
He self-deprecatingly lamented the delay in action, despite still having those monstrous muscles that twisted like they were alive.
‘Even at his age, that’s impressive.’
Seeing that reminded Heinrich of the first time they met at the Piccaol Temple during the Holy Sword trial.
Of course, his standing now, as a recognized Savior basking in fame, was worlds apart from when he was merely a hero candidate Knight back then.
“By the way… Hmm, the vampires have already left. Haha.”
“Ah, it seems they slipped away right after the battle. I was going to thank them for their help, but…”
“Indeed, they were a great help. Without their support, we probably wouldn’t have lasted this long. …Goodness, who would have thought there would come a day when we would need assistance from vampires? That’s a complicated feeling.”
He let out a short sigh; he had lived his entire life considering vampires as enemies.
Though he had been skeptical of the peace initiative pushed by the Savior, given the substantial help received, he had no choice now but to acknowledge it.
That the judgment made by the Savior was correct.
Seeing that, Heinrich nodded with a faint smile on his lips.
‘With that, the vampires’ integration into society will gain momentum. Hubert Association can invest further to expand their influence regarding the damages the city sustained. Now then…’
Meanwhile, at the same time.
Having quietly returned to his private quarters right after the battle, Heinz II was contemplating while watching his subordinates prepare a blood portal.
His return to Auterica from Earth had been a reaction to the early conclusion of matters in the Eastern Republic, needing to wrap things up properly.
Then an emergency had popped up, forcing him to come here swiftly.
Now that all issues were resolved, he felt the need to hasten back to tie up loose ends.
Of course, there was still the matter of repaying the assistance from the Tulke Kingdom but—.
‘Such negotiations can be done anytime. After this display of power here, the other side will have little choice but to show fealty first.’
Heinz II, representing the Talia Kingdom, thought that meddling in such trivial matters would only tarnish his dignity.
Realistically, it’s the job of subordinates to handle such matters.
Replying to this support and future matters would be a national concern that needed discussion, so he felt he had no more role to play in this setting.
‘I need to revisit Kayla McClair and discuss things.’
In order to understand the full story behind his son’s disappearance, he had cooperated with the Vice President of the Republic.
He had just received a report that suspicious circumstances had emerged while investigating the clan members of the Obaifo in search of what had happened to her son.
‘…Maybe he might still be alive after all.’
Of course, that wasn’t certain.
The chances of a child abducted and missing for over twenty years still being alive were not high, after all.
‘I thought I would finish things here quickly and then head out for a northern Europe gourmet tour.’
Heinz discreetly licked his lips.
However, he couldn’t break promises with those who were likely to be of great help in the future.
As he gazed at the slowly opening blood portal within the swirling blood, he tilted his head slightly.
‘Well, it shouldn’t take too long regardless.’
Since a revolutionary had already eliminated the greatest obstacles.
There shouldn’t be any existences that could defy his will left in this world.
*
『Fragment of the XXed XXX (28,500,000)』
“Hmm, that must be related to the god buried in the Abyss, right?”
I raised my brows slightly while looking at an item that appeared in the “Item Purchase” section.
The unknown item, which had initially been priced at 30 million points.
That was what had suddenly decreased by 300,000 points just after I created the Dragon Avatar while dealing with the vampire Obaifo hiding in the east.
Now it had dropped by over 1 million.
‘Indeed… with such a fluctuation, I can assume it’s certain.’
The item was connected to that giant, the revolutionary, and the god of the Abyss he worshipped.
‘The god sealed in the Abyss.’
Naturally, after learning about it, I had used all sorts of means to gather information.
I wasn’t shy about using my position as a Savior to dig up information across the continent from various organizations under each avatar, but…
“This is quite strange.”
To my surprise, there was nothing.
There weren’t even similar tales or jokes from each region.
And the same went for the members within the Holy Church Order, particularly the Inquisition Officers who did the information analysis.
When I tried to bring it up, I could sense their embarrassment through their masks and hoods, despite their faces being hidden.
With worried eyes thinking perhaps the Savior had gone crazy, Heinrich had no choice but to abandon further information-gathering efforts.
Of course, at this point, that itself could be taken as information.
‘That means there’s a possibility that something has been completely erased across the dimension of Auterica.’
A divine eradication on a world scale.
There was only one being capable of such a feat.
‘Now I understand why the Holy God has been pushing me so hard.’
The Undead King was the first blade sent out by the god in the Abyss, and it was the most threatening weapon.
Yet, hadn’t an outsider who had no connection to this world popped up and casually made off with it?
Given some reason, the bug, which had been excluded, was trying to resurface, and it wasn’t surprising for the Holy God, who presided over the world’s order, to use it as a vaccine.
“Well, since it was a win-win situation, I have no complaints.”
I shrugged and tore my gaze away from that mysterious item.
In fact, I had opened the system window to check the karma points I had gathered.
While absentmindedly checking the price fluctuations, my thoughts had wandered elsewhere.
‘In any case, it seems my points have increased significantly due to hunting that big shot.’
Thanks to the continued use of unique skill enhancement and growth potions, my karma growth rate had slowed down a bit lately, but this time, processing the revolutionary had resulted in a massive spike.
Just from this single event, nearly 2 million points had come in at once.
‘I’ll hold on to these points for now. You never know when something might come in handy. Besides, I likely won’t be able to enhance my unique skills any time soon.’
Having already enhanced my skills a whopping 12 times through points.
Reaching this stage instinctively told me something.
That I wasn’t yet prepared to move onto the next stage.
‘Well, I had anticipated my limits would come eventually.’
To be blunt, I had grown too rapidly in such a short time, failing even to meet the required proficiency to move on to the next stage.
The fact that I had enhanced my abilities twice consecutively in the last upgrade likely had a considerable impact.
‘But for the time being, there’s no rush. After all, I’ve got plenty of time ahead.’
Though I had been living in different dimensions with multiple bodies at much faster time intervals, I had only been an Awakened One and obtained the “Avatar” ability for just less than six months.
It looked abnormal to anyone else, so not being impatient here wouldn’t be an unreasonable ambition.
Ding-ding-ding~♪
While I was checking the system window, the alarm I had set on my smartphone suddenly rang out.
“Oh, has it really gotten this late?”
It was now nearing noon.
Glancing at my phone, I quickly put on my outer garments and headed outside into the blazing sun.
‘The weather is annoyingly nice.’
I frowned slightly, shielding my eyes with my hand as I hastily stepped outside.
I could manage going out without much difficulty now, yet after so many years trapped inside, I still didn’t particularly enjoy going out.
I had installed all necessary exercise and recreational facilities at home, so I didn’t really feel the need to step outside.
– Kang Tae-san: Hey, are you really coming? Grandma said not to overdo it.
But because of that, I needed to make an effort to go out intentionally when the time called for it.
Moreover, weren’t they beings that I couldn’t completely consider strangers?
I couldn’t neglect the few remaining human relationships just for convenience.
– Me: I’m coming. Already on the bus.
– Kang Tae-san: Oki, then be careful.
It felt oddly refreshing to be going to Seoul in my original body after a long time.
Today was the day my only friend, Kang Tae-san’s grandmother, was being discharged.
*
Fortuitously, without much wait, I transferred several times and headed toward downtown Seoul, determined to get my driver’s license as soon as possible.
Having relied on instantaneous teleportation so freely until now, I hadn’t been aware of how inconvenient traveling was when trying to move in a bodily state known as a normal person.
Even with well-timed transfers, moving felt too cumbersome.
‘I could use “Entity Projection” to get around, but… I can’t do that just for an outing.’
Normally, it’s in such careless moments that tails are revealed.
For the long-term activities regarding my real identity, I needed to use normal methods as much as possible.
“Ah, has Savior come? What brings you all the way here? Don’t tire yourself out for no reason.”
“Haha— I’m fine. Just thought I’d catch a bit of fresh air.”
“Ah, that’s true! You need to step outside even if it’s just for this. Grandma, do you know what kind of place he lives in? They’ve got a gym, swimming pool, and even a theater at his house!”
Finally, when I arrived at the hospital and saw my grandmother just finishing the discharge procedures.
I was engulfed by a strange feeling that tickled my chest.
‘The effect of Holy Power is certainly remarkable.’
The image of my grandmother, who hadn’t been in good health, finally being discharged reminded me of the Holy Law treatment I had done as Heinrich that day.
‘While there’s no helping the frailty due to age, just restoring her stamina and resistance is a tremendous help.’
Had the Holy Power back then been at the bishop’s level?
Compared to the saintly level I had now, it was indeed somewhat lacking, yet a bishop was still a capable individual.
By noble standards, it could be seen as a count-level position, capable of overseeing a diocese along with the temple.
‘Although it took some time, grandma ultimately recovered completely.’
Indeed, Holy Power and Holy Law proved to be quite useful abilities.
There’s a reason why all sorts of minor religions thrive in modern society.
If not for the severe output penalty imposed on Earth, perhaps priests could have wielded even greater influence than they do now.
“All done! Let’s get going.”
I followed behind Kang Tae-san, who rolled out my grandmother’s wheelchair after completing all the discharge procedures.
Just as we were about to exit the hospital—
Pfft… Pwahaha!
Amidst my overwhelming status and the unique skill enhancement effects, my acute hearing picked up a faint laugh.
A sinister chuckle that only I could hear.
Instantly, a chill shot down my spine, and my senses heightened.
I reflexively turned my head toward the source of the laughter—
And I instinctively knew.
‘…No wonder I’ve had such good fortune!’
Indeed, home is by far the safest place.
And then…
Boom—!
A gigantic explosion erupted from the hospital lobby.
