Chapter 364: If It’s Tangled, Just Cut It (2)

It took half a day to ride from Sefira to Liqueur on horseback, but for Keter, who could fly through the sky, thirty minutes was enough. If he pushed himself, he could have arrived in five minutes, but he didn’t. There was too much to think about.

It was because of the information Inara had told him about Liqueur before he left Sefira.

“The Rulers of the underground have come up to the city. Because of that, most of Liqueur’s people fled to escape the monsters. The only ones left are fools.”

When he heard that, a chill ran through Keter. Beneath Liqueur lay an underground world even larger and deeper than the surface. Each subterranean region was divided into floors, and every floor had a completely different environment.

The first underground floor was an endless desert, and the second floor was a humid swamp where it rained all day. On top of that, each floor contained a monster known as a Ruler. Every single one of them was a demigod-level monster.

Fortunately, they could be reasoned with. Unless special conditions were met, they would neither attack first nor even reveal themselves. Because of this, explorers of the underground could travel through those depths as long as they did not offend the Rulers.

Of course, there were also those who challenged them. On the surface of Liqueur, seven-star Primes were rare, but in the underground world, they were not that uncommon. For some reason, there were quite a few Primes in Liqueur’s underground. Why they never came up to the surface to rule like kings remained a mystery. In any case, all those challenges ended in failure. No one had ever defeated a Ruler.

In the underground world, the floor number itself was a measure of strength. That meant the Ruler of the first floor was the weakest, yet even the weakest Ruler could not be defeated by five seven-star Primes.

Then, one would naturally wonder if an eight-star would be able to win. Everyone thought this, and someone actually tried. Someone appeared who defeated Sphinx, the Ruler of the first floor. However, almost no one knew who that person was. So, most people simply believed the rumor that the Godfather challenged and defeated it, but...

In reality, it was Master Heavenly Strength.

Even Keter did not know his real name; he simply called him Master Heavenly Strength. The man was truly a monster, and Keter suspected he might even be capable of trading punches with the Fist Emperor.

After defeating Sphinx, Master Heavenly Strength immediately challenged the Ruler of the second floor. And since then, there had been no news. No one knew whether he had won or lost.

Those who died fighting Medusa, the Ruler of the second floor, were all turned into stone statues and displayed. Yet there was no statue of Master Heavenly Strength among them. That was all anyone knew.

Master Heavenly Strength loves to boast. If he had won, there’s no way he would have stayed quiet.

Even if he did not brag openly, he had the habit of displaying the corpses of powerful enemies in visible places as proof of his victory. That was how everyone had learned he defeated the Sphinx—by seeing its displayed corpse.

I just can’t imagine Master Heavenly Strength losing.

Heavenly Strength was a simple technique that unleashed and exploded the latent potential of the human body. It might be unimpressive compared to miraculous Authority, but it was anything but ordinary. He could seize space with brute strength and twist it—that was something Master Heavenly Strength could do. He was a man who could literally grab space, bend it, and shatter a meteor with a single punch.

Keter once thought those were exaggerations, especially the claim that he had fought the emperor of the Samael Empire and won. Now, as Keter himself approached the level of an eight-star, he realized something: Everything Master Heavenly Strength said had been true. His strength had truly reached the realm of gods, and that was precisely why it was terrifying.

Even Master Heavenly Strength, estimated to be an eight-star, had disappeared before it became clear he defeated the Ruler of the second floor. Liqueur had seven floors in the underground world, and those were merely the floors that had been explored. There were surely more beneath them.

No wonder the non-human races were willing to risk the empire to escape.

In this world, the empire was the strongest power, but the Rulers sleeping beneath Liqueur—and the monsters down there—were as strong. The underground floors did not only contain Rulers. There were countless monsters as well, and those creatures were nearly equal to the monsters of the Demon Capital.

Inara had said that the streets of Liqueur now contained more monsters than people. Almost everyone had fled to survive. Those who remained did not even band together; they acted separately.

There were many things Keter wanted to ask, but he preferred seeing things for himself rather than hearing them secondhand.

Still, there was one thing he had to ask.

“Do you know what happened to the mercenary guild?”

“Sorry. The only groups I know about are the White Lotus Society, which is where Stella is, Maran’s Red-Eyed Gang, and the Infinite Bank.”

Just because Inara did not know did not necessarily mean the others had died. However, if those three were the only visible forces, then the rest were either nearly wiped out or had already fled Liqueur entirely.

“...He’s alive, right? That damn grandpa.”

Keter was worried about One-Eyed Joyray. He was also a councilman of the Mercenary Association. There was no way he had died. He was probably hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity.

The other mercenaries who fought alongside them might not be overwhelmingly strong, but they were experienced. They were not the kind of people who would die from a simple difference in strength.

There were also many others Keter wanted to meet again. Serena was dead, and Inara of the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe was alive. He also wanted to see the High Elf Kadia again, since she had descended into Liqueur’s underground as well, all the way to the sixth floor.

The underground world of Liqueur was also called the abyss—the deeper one descended, the harder it became to return.

A good metaphor would be spikes embedded in a ceiling. Going down was easy because there wasn’t anything, but climbing back up meant piercing through those spikes. The deeper the floor, the more layers of spikes there were. The first floor had one layer of spikes, the second had five layers, and the third suddenly jumped to twenty. By the sixth floor, there were three hundred layers, making it impossible for even a Prime to return unharmed.

However, if the monsters and Rulers of the underground had risen to the surface, those restrictions had disappeared. This probably meant that the people who had gone underground might have returned to the surface as well.

Master Heavenly Strength, Chimera Healer Franken, Ragnon the Bomber. Kadia the high elf... Will I be able to meet them again?

Keter, who had been lost in thought, suddenly stopped in midair.

“So that’s what happened.”

He had not stopped because of his reminiscing. It was because of the fog of Liqueur right in front of him, when he should still be five minutes away.

Did I measure the distance wrong?

Keter looked around carefully, though he was certain that was impossible. Then he shook his head.

“The fog expanded.”

Not by just a few meters—it had expanded hundreds of meters. At this rate, it could reach Sefira within a year.

“I heard the monsters of Liqueur can’t leave the fog.”

Another troublesome problem revealed itself. Keter pressed his fingers against his forehead.

“I don’t even want to know this stuff. Why do I keep finding out anyway?”

The fortunate thing was that at least he had business in Liqueur anyway.

“Might as well deal with it while I’m there.”

He wasn’t sure whether it was possible, but if he left it alone, the fog would eventually swallow Sefira.

“I’ve invested too much time and money into Sefira to let it collapse. At the very least, I need to break even,” he muttered to himself as he flew into the fog of Liqueur.

* * *

The moment Keter entered Liqueur, one person recognized it immediately. The old man gazed quietly up at the star-filled night sky. Godfather Alkione stroked the head of the cat in his arms.

“I clearly warned you not to come back... yet you never listen,” he muttered.

Alkione took a ring out of his pocket. Surprisingly, it was identical to the ring Keter was wearing—the one that Akrah had supposedly left for Keter. It was what allowed free passage in and out of Liqueur.

He whispered to the ring, “Akrah. As you know, Keter has returned to Liqueur. According to our contract... I am no longer obligated to protect him.”

A woman’s voice flowed out from the ring. It was Akrah.

“According to your contract with Nippur, you cannot harm Keter.”

“Hahaha. When did I ever say I would attack him? I merely said I cannot protect him. I thought you should know that.”

“Leave Keter alone. He is still useful.”

“Useful how? As a prospective Pioneer, perhaps? Or as a candidate for the Demon King?”

When the Godfather spoke as if he knew everything, Akrah fell silent.

“Akrah, you granted me the power and wisdom to devour this world. In return, you asked me to protect several individuals. Did you think I wouldn’t realize that it was merely a smokescreen?”

“You probably did, but you knew that at the time, and I never forced you.”

“I’m not blaming you. I’m simply saying I understood your intentions. However, I am curious: why would a god like you go through all this trouble?”

“...”

“Perhaps you even foresaw this very moment. I may see the future, but you experience it. Truly a godlike ability, wouldn’t you say?”

Crack.

While the conversation had been peaceful, Alkione suddenly crushed the ring in his hand. The communication ended, yet Alkione continued staring at the sky.

“Did you see even this far? Or will you rewind time again, like before?”

There was no answer, but Alkione smiled.

“Unifying the world under the pretext of defeating a villain, which is supposed to be me... I’ve understood that much of your plan, but I still don’t know what it’s for. No matter how much you love humanity as a god... does it really mean anything?”

Still no response. Alkione shook his head.

“Perhaps it’s the same for me as well. From humanity’s perspective, they wouldn’t understand me either—trying to overturn this entire world for the sake of a single thing: freedom.”

“That is sophistry.”

Akrah’s voice rang out. This time, it came through the cat in his arms.

Alkione grasped the cat’s head with both hands and gently stroked it as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“You could become free even now, yet you still claim you desire freedom.”

“Haha. I know that myself. If I simply gave up everything, I could be free. However, you wouldn’t understand since you are a god.”

Crack. Crunch.

Teeth suddenly emerged from Alkione’s palms. In the blink of an eye, they devoured the cat.

“True freedom means possessing power that carries no responsibility.”

Alkione turned his head to the side. There was nothing but a barren field, but in the direction he was looking was Liqueur.

“Keter. You can understand me, can’t you?”

For some reason, a sad expression crossed Alkione’s face.

“But Keter... between you and me, one of us must die.”

And Alkione was certain that it would not be him.