Chapter 248: Episode 248

The gate swung open without resistance. Yusin and Marie peered inside—and froze.

Within the castle, the combined main forces of the Sky Castle, the Lion Fleet, and the Holy Knights were assembled.

Every one of them had their hunting devices aimed directly at the entrance.

“Let’s go, Marie.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them walked straight into the heart of the enemy camp.

A murderous atmosphere pressed in on them—the frigid air, the weight of countless eyes, a storm of hostile emotions.

Feeling as if they might be attacked at any moment, Yusin lifted his head.

On the second floor of the castle’s interior, a man sat on a large throne-like chair.

Official Rank 1 hunter, Sky Castle Lord Albert Clostermann.

Yusin’s lips twisted. Somehow, every time he met this guy, he was always drinking tea.

Behind Albert stood Sham, hands clasped behind his back, looking just as young as before.

Albert set down his teacup and looked at Yusin.

“Welcome, Tower Master. And Spirit King.”

Yusin glared at him sharply, but Albert’s eyes were devoid of emotion. He snapped his fingers.

Two Sky Castle hunters approached and set something down in front of Yusin and Marie.

“What is this?”

Albert didn’t answer. Still on guard, Yusin bent down and pulled back the cloth.

Inside the wooden crate were fifty bottles filled with liquid.

“I will extend an offer to you as well,” Albert said. “It is a drug that slows the spread of the infection. Take it and withdraw. Once everything is over, I promise to provide you with the antidote.”

Yusin let out a quiet sigh and looked up at him.

“Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean? You hid a drug that turns people into monsters from the Alliance. You kept the antidote secret from the world, even though you had it. Instead, you orchestrated this entire scheme to manipulate the Alliance and the World Guilds. I’m asking you why.”

Albert closed his eyes.

“Because someone has to.”

“You…”

Yusin’s eyes flashed.

“How much do you know about Machinatio?”

Albert’s eyes flew wide open, as if Yusin had said something utterly unexpected.

It was the first time Yusin had ever seen the man show genuine emotion.

“How do you…!”

“Of course I know. I’ve even been to that world.”

Yusin locked eyes with him and continued.

“And I’m the one who destroyed it.”

Murmurs rippled through the gathered hunters.

Even Sham looked shocked.

But from the looks on their faces, none of them understood what the two of us were talking about.

“Stop spouting nonsense, Tower Master.”

“Then let’s shift the conversation slightly. Your goal is ‘population control.’ Am I right?”

A silent admission. Yusin smiled faintly.

When he had visited the Sky Castle and seen a broken android inside, it had been a profound shock.

After returning to the Tower, he had spent a long time thinking and analyzing, and eventually arrived at his own answer.

Why did people call this era the “Overlay”?

It meant that our world and another world had overlapped.

On Earth, otherworldly plants and animals had begun to grow, otherworldly ruins had transferred over, and otherworldly civilizations—even otherworldly monsters—had crossed the boundary.

At first, Yusin had thought the overlapping world was limited to “Erendel.”

But that was wrong. There had been countless worlds before Erendel.

The worlds that had been destroyed turned into fragments and manifested as “dungeons,” “restricted zones,” or “catastrophes.”

Right now, Earth was most strongly influenced by Erendel, the world that had perished just before ours, but somewhere out there, a dungeon composed of fragments of Machinatio must also have opened.

From here on, it was pure conjecture. Most likely, Albert had entered a Machinatio dungeon and, by some means, obtained data from that world.

Yusin suspected that the data had been in Eve’s records.

Once Albert learned Eve’s story, something in the values that made up his very being must have undergone a profound change. Perhaps he was even trying to recreate on Earth what Eve had attempted to do.

And the most important part of Eve’s plan had been population control.

In fact, research into the correlation between catastrophes and population size was extremely active on Earth as well. It was an established fact that the more densely populated an area—like a major city—the more likely it was to be struck by “rifts” or “catastrophe” events.

Catastrophes struck populous great powers more often than sparsely populated developing nations.

“Rift incidents,” one of the major abnormal phenomena, occurred far more frequently in big cities than in rural areas.

Based on this, Eve had slashed the planet’s total population below a certain threshold and even controlled the number of newborns. Attacks by monsters were repelled with advanced science and androids.

Yusin didn’t agree with her methods, but until he and the Resistance had moved against her, she had been running the planet quite effectively.

If Albert had been inspired by Eve’s plan and was now doing this because of it… it was hard not to feel like this was some kind of cruel cosmic joke.

’To think I’d have to stop another Eve.’

“That’s a foolish plan,” Yusin concluded, pulling himself from his memories. “Eve’s plan only worked because she had the power to seize the entire world and bleed it dry. Earth’s situation is far more complicated. Even if your plan wipes out a few hundred million people, the catastrophes won’t stop.”

“This operation is only the beginning,” Albert cut him off. “I will bring all of humanity under my complete control.”

“Your arrogance is astounding. Do you really think the other officially recognized Rank 1s will just sit back and let you do this? And even if, for the sake of argument, everything goes your way—have you considered that a smaller population means weaker overall combat strength for humanity, making us even more vulnerable?”

“I will reduce the population starting with the non-Awakened. If we cut down the number of people each hunter has to protect, their burden will be lightened dramatically. A mere ten percent reduction in population will lessen the pressure from catastrophes by more than thirty percent.”

“You honestly think that kind of bullshit is going to convince anyone? Humans aren’t machines!”

Albert slowly closed his eyes. “I understand why you would say that. Looking only at the present, it may seem like no drastic change is needed. But I know the future. The catastrophes are already accelerating, and we are out of time. Before things become completely unmanageable, someone has to make a decision.”

He spread his arms wide.

“When a catastrophe appears, the first to die are the hunters. The proportion of non-Awakened in the total population keeps rising, while the descending catastrophes grow more threatening. That is why I will dismantle the hunter Alliance and shatter the social norm that the Awakened must protect the non-Awakened. I will drive the non-Awakened onto the battlefield and drastically reduce their numbers. The Awakened will have children with one another, and by greatly increasing the ratio of Awakened among newborns, we will prepare for what is to come.”

Yusin frowned, pressing his fingers to his temple.

There was no getting through to him. ’Is this bastard a demon, too?’ It felt exactly like talking to a demon whose mind was locked, its entire way of thinking twisted into something alien.

’Is there really no way to stop this?’

“But you know this as well, Sky Castle Lord.” If that was his stance, then it was time to play his trump card. “In the end, the world that Eve ruled—the one you admire so much—was destroyed. We already know her method was not the right answer.”

“No.” Albert’s eyes sharpened, turning feral. “Eve’s policies were perfect. They were only toppled by outside variables. Is that not so?”

Yusin ground his teeth. Memories he had tried to bury resurfaced, stabbing at his chest.

“Tower Master. Spirit King. You two are crucial assets for humanity,” Albert said calmly. “I do not wish to exclude you from my plan. Take that antidote and leave. I swear on my name that the lives of you and your close associates will be guaranteed.”

“In exchange for killing everyone who isn’t a player?”

“That is correct.”

“Fuck, how are you any different from a demon?” Yusin’s mana flared. The hunters around them tensed, raising their guns and aiming them straight at him. “You’re out of your mind. Do you have any idea how many worlds have been destroyed by the tyranny of a single powerful man?”

“Your logic is just as flimsy. You claim you destroyed Machinatio? Are you citing examples from another world because you have memories of a past life? Or have you actually traveled to another world? Ridiculous.”

Yusin clenched his jaw so hard his teeth creaked.

“It sounds like you know something about the future as well… In this insane era, anyone who knows the future is bound to be treated like a lunatic. So, if we assume we are both madmen, what is the difference between us?” Albert pulled out a glass vial that looked like it contained the antidote and gave it a little shake. “Are you a madman with a clear vision for the future? Or just a madman who runs his mouth?”

“…”

“The choice lies with those who see us as madmen.” He slipped the vial back into his coat. “Kill him.”

CLACK! CLACK!

Every hunter inside the fortress unleashed their mana. Light flared from all directions as they prepared to unleash their abilities. White flashes burst from the weapons of the Holy Knights, green mana surged around the wings of the Sky Castle hunters, and blue light roared to life around the arms of the fleet hunters.

Marie’s face went rigid with fear. They were utterly, hopelessly outmatched.

“You’re right.” Yusin’s expression, however, remained perfectly calm. He gently took Marie’s hand. “It all depends on what people choose.”

A massive cross of light appeared above Yusin’s head. Then it slammed straight into Albert’s chest as he sat in his chair.

Blood gushed from Albert’s mouth, and that was the signal. Blood sprayed in every direction as chests were pierced. The hunters’ eyes, suddenly robbed of purpose, shook wildly as they toppled like dominoes. The bodies of those who had been aiming their guns from the second and third floors dropped to the ground with heavy thuds.

Every hunter who had collapsed was a Sky Castle hunter.

“What the—!” Albert’s eyes bulged as blood dribbled from his lips.

CLACK!

With a blank expression, Sham raised her carapaced arm and aimed it at Albert.

“You still don’t get it?” Yusin’s lips curled into a vicious grin. “The antidote is already complete.”

Blue fire erupted from Sham’s hardened arm. The shell detonated, blasting Albert’s body through the wall and triggering a massive explosion. The entire Sky Castle shuddered as debris rained down in a torrent.

“Wh-what…?” Marie stared in utter confusion. “What just… happened?”

“Relax.” Yusin gave her a reassuring smile.

“How was my acting, hunter Kim Yusin?” Marcello appeared at the main gate of the Sky Castle, clutching a cross. His white priest’s robes were drenched in the blood of Sky Castle hunters.

Yusin let out a short snort of laughter. “So annoying I wanted to punch you.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

That was right. The antidote was complete.

The German pharmaceutical industry had been the first to develop a base compound that extended the infection’s incubation period. Building on that, Alchemia’s Jin Bora and Jeong Seojin had pulled an all-nighter to finish the antidote.

The key had been the female Telos. Because of its appearance, the public had believed it to be an entirely different species, but the Tower’s monster compendium contained detailed biological data on every kind of monster. Jeong Seojin discovered the existence of the female and realized that it used a special saliva to cure its immunocompromised young when they were poisoned by the infection toxin. That gave her the hint she needed to create the antidote.

Yusin had always found it strange that the demons would go to such lengths to research and develop an antidote. In truth, though, it was more like a free bonus for them. Since female Telos existed alongside the males, creating an antidote had been relatively easy.

As soon as Yusin received Jeong Seojin’s message that the antidote had been completed just in time, he had moved into action. He had Jin Bora drink the first dose and sent the second to Sham. Sham’s nephew was completely cured, and she accepted Yusin’s proposal to help stab Albert in the back.

Marcello and the Holy Knights had intended to fight alongside Yusin from the very beginning. Once the antidote was nearly finished, Yusin had them pretend to cooperate with Albert while secretly preparing to betray him.

’Ea. You can send the emails now.’

-Understood.

Now it was time to mobilize the Oracle, which had already earned the trust of the entire world. Secret emails containing the antidote recipe were sent to the Global Alliance, national governments, and major pharmaceutical companies. Since the infection drug had been easy to mass-produce, the antidote would be just as simple. The industry in each country was already prepared and would quickly ramp up production to distribute it to the victims.

Isolated from the world as he hid from their pursuit, Albert had no idea any of this was happening.

“Whew…” Yusin spread his arms and let out a long breath, unable to keep the smile off his face.

The situation was back to four against one.

They had completely fooled a certified Rank 1.

* * *

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