Crack—

Toji tightened his arm around Fenrir. A pressure rivaling an earthquake crushed Fenrir’s back, and Toji threw Fenrir aside. Fenrir rolled backward until he struck the wall of a building.

“...I, stronger.”

Toji smiled and murmured contently.

He set his focus back to his original goal, the annihilation of the royal family.

—Grrrr.

But a growl of a different animal stopped him.

Toji slowly turned around.

This time, a house-sized tiger was blocking his way.

“This, zoo...?”

It was then that Toji realized he was surrounded.

The tiger wasn’t the only large beast left. A strange bird and horse appeared in the sky above, and he could feel odd presences underground. Even with his dull senses, Toji knew that he wasn’t in a favorable situation.

Ssss....

Fenrir then stood up.

Although his bones were crushed and his organs destroyed, the regenerative ability he gained from devouring a troll had quickly healed all his injuries.

“...What.”

Toji’s confusion only increased as time went on.

Guoooo...

Suddenly, an unknown undulation of magic power erupted.

The magic power served as a medium for a summoning spell, calling a mystical beast to England.

“Turtle.”

Toji mumbled as he saw the beast that was just summoned. The Black Turtle of the Four Cardinal Guardians reveals itself once again.

Standing on its back was the Black Turtle’s summoner, the 8-star magician, Ah Hae-In.

Ah Hae-In looked down at Toji from the turtle’s shell.

“You’re a new one, aren’t you?” Ah Hae-In spoke.

Toji looked back and forth between the turtle and the kid standing above it. As he slowly thought about the situation he was in, the beasts surrounding him quickly moved.

—Kuooo!

—Grrrowr!

A tiger and a wolf shot towards Toji and restrained his limbs. From the sky, flying birds sent blasts of magic power towards him.

“...Hehe.”

However, Toji didn’t feel any pain. He changed his body into sand and mitigated the damage from the attack entirely.

“No pain, no pain... huh?”

But Toji soon realized that his magic power was being absorbed. His eyes widened as he looked up to find what was sucking away his magic power.

Six female ghosts floating around the Black Turtle were absorbing Toji’s magic power.

Ah Hae-In grinned.

“They’re succubi. Absorbing magic power is their specialty.”

“...N-No stealing—!”

Toji swung his arm. His arm turned into a whip that shot towards the succubi.

The Black Turtle quickly formed a barrier. Among the Four Cardinal Guardians, the Black Turtle specialized in defense.

Clang—!

Toji’s attack couldn’t pierce the Black Turtle’s [Carapace]. In fact, Ah Hae-In had never experienced the Black Turtle’s Carapace being broken through.

Clang—! Clang—!

Even so, Toji continued to attack. To Ah Hae-In’s surprise, cracks began to appear on the Black Turtle’s Carapace.

“...Hm, you’re quite an amazing fellow.”

But Ah Hae-In still didn’t feel threatened by it. Although she acknowledged Toji’s strength and tenacity, she knew his magic power was being drained even at this moment.

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!

As Toji endlessly attacked the Black Turtle, he felt he was getting sleepy. His instincts told him to retreat, and to him, retreating was easy. He just had to turn his body into sand and scatter. As such, Toji tried to transmit his will to the earth.

However, a cage of magic power suddenly appeared around him, trapping him. He found that he couldn’t transmit his will outside the cage for some reason.

“...What?”

Toji was taken aback. Although he had no way of knowing, this wasn’t the act of a magic spell but a ‘change’ of reality.

Kwang—!

Toji slammed his fist against the cage, but the cage remained unhurt.

“What is, this?”

Kwang—! Kwang—!

The cage didn’t budge no matter how many times he hit it. But strangely, attacks from outside the cage could enter it. The succubi continued to drain his magic power.

Kwang—! Kwang—! Kwang—!

“That won’t do any good, idiot.”

As Toji began to crazily pound against the cage, a sharp voice rang out.

A woman appeared in the air. Naturally, it was Jin Sahyuk.

“...?”

Toji stopped and stared at the woman.

“You won’t be able to escape.”

Jin Sahyuk said.

The blue cage was created using her Reality Manipulation. As the inside of the cage was isolated from reality, death was the only thing that awaited Toji.

“...Really? ...Huaaam.”

However, Toji yawned calmly. Perhaps because his magic power was being absorbed, his drowsiness became worse. When a golem became sleepy, that usually meant its end.

Toji began to doze off until he finally fell asleep.

“...He’s sleeping?”

Jin Sahyuk murmured dumbfoundedly.

“Wow... You’ve gotten strong, Knight Shin Jahyuk.”

Rachel appeared and praised Jin Sahyuk.

“Well... it’s nothing.”

Jin Sahyuk had visited Rachel to resign as the Crevon Royal Family’s Knight Commander. It was then that Toji attacked, so she had joined the battle to alleviate her boredom.

“I was recently enlightened.”

After experiencing the recorded past of Akatrina, Jin Sahyuk became able to use her Authority of Reality Manipulation more easily.

Ah Hae-In approached Jin Sahyuk on the Black Turtle.

“So, Shin Jahyuk, how do you plan on dealing with that monster?”

“Huh? What do you mean? I can just kill him, right?”

As Ah Hae-In and Jin Sahyuk had worked together before in Crevon, they were fairly close.

Ah Hae-In shook her head.

“No, he probably won’t die.”

“...What do you mean?”

Jin Sahyuk tilted her head and shot a spear towards the sleeping golem.

However, her spear couldn’t damage the curled up Toji’s body in the slightest.

“The heck?”

Jin Sahyuk frowned. Ah Hae-In crossed her arms and murmured seriously.

“Black Turtle has the ability to appraise the strength of ores...”

According to the Black Turtle, the strength of Toji’s body was 9.9 out of 10.

“...We can trap him, but it will be impossible to destroy him.”

9.9 was a value that something which ‘existed in reality’ could never destroy.

“It seems Orden created some absurd monsters.”

**

[India, Himalayan Mountain Range]

I arrived at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains to meet the member of the Nine Stars, Heynckes. The travel wasn’t tiring since I just came here with Spartan’s Teleportation Authority.

“...Mm.”

I stared at Heynckes’ inn. It was hanging on a cliff and seemed as if it would fall by even the slightest wind. I looked at the sign that read ‘Himalayan Daybreak’, then mustered up the courage to open the door.

Kiiik—

A creaking noise rang out, and the man behind the counter listening to the radio looked up at me.

Long white hair that was tied down, handsome facial features, and a scar around his left eye.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Just as I described him in my novel, the adjective ‘aged-well’ perfectly suited Heynckes.

“Is it you?”

Heynckes spoke before I could even enter the inn. As it wasn’t what I expected to hear as a greeting, I had to stop and think about what he meant.

But seeing that I was confused, Heynckes frowned.

“Are you the man who murdered by precious disciple’s brother?”

“...Precious disciple?”

I was dumbfounded at first.

By disciple, he had to be talking about Chae Nayun. But not only was Heynckes unrelated to Chae Nayun in the original novel, but he also shouldn’t have spent that much time with her in this world.

“How long are you going to stand there? Come in, don’t be a wuss.”

“...Wuss?”

If anything, Chae Nayun seemed to have influenced the way he talked.

“What, you don’t want to?”

“...No.”

I walked into the inn. Thinking about it now, it was obvious that Heynckes would recognize me. As his title ‘Lord of Steel’ implied, Heynckes’ tools all had intelligence rivaling human beings, and they shared a ‘hive mind’ as well.

“If you know me, talking should be easier.”

I sat down next to Heynckes and went straight to the point.

“I came to ask for your help.”

Coincidentally, the radio was reporting on the reason I came here.

—Orden’s elite humanoid monsters have invaded several countries. A tiger monster by the name ‘Tigris’ attacked Shanghai, a ‘zombie apocalypse’ is being reported in Paris, and—

Heynckes turned off the radio and looked down at me. His tall height and tower-like stature made him more than a little intimidating.

“...Making such an absurd request on our first meeting. You’re just like my disciple in that regard.”

Tk.

Heynckes took out a wooden cup and poured some vodka into it.

“I said the same thing to my disciple. My body isn’t in a state to fight anyone.”

“If the Nine Stars won’t fight, then who—”

“The Nine Stars were the Nine Stars 50 years ago, kid.”

Heynckes cut me off and handed me the vodka.

I looked back and forth between the cup and Heynckes, then chugged the vodka in one go. It felt like a small fire was lit inside me.

“Kuhum... If you’re worried about the side-effect, I can help you with it.”

The side-effect of Heynckes’ ability was ‘Steel Transformation’.

As the Lord of Steel, Heynckes transformed his body into steel. To be precise, he turned his internal organs, spine, and left eye into ‘steel possessing his will’. However, at one point Heynckes’ Authority didn’t stop there and rampaged.

To him, time became a one-way road to complete steelification of his body. As time went by, more and more parts of his body turned into steel, including his brain and blood. He was destined to become a chunk of steel and die.

However, I had herbs that could only be found within the Tower of Wish. By mixing them and using the power of my Setting Intervention, I should be able to create medicine to undo this side-effect.

“I know how to heal the side-effects you’re suffering from.”

The Nine Stars hated having the side-effects of their powers mentioned. So I was risking my life to be here.

“....”

Heynckes looked at me quietly. His left eye turned grey before I realized. His Steel Eye experienced the world in one-millionth of normal speed, and it was specialized for detecting truth.

Heynckes glared at me and spoke.

“Es ist wahr.”

It was German, but I translated it using the laptop in my head.

He was asking if it was true.

“Yes, it is.”

When I answered, Heynckes’ eyebrows twitched.

I stood nervously, but what he said afterward caught me by surprise.

“You learned German?”

“...Pardon?”

“I asked if you learned German.”

“Ah... yes, a little.”

At that moment, Heynckes’ left eye returned to normal color. He was noticeably less cautious than before.

He smiled gently.

“Why would you learn such a thing? It’s not the 1980s anymore.”

“Huh? Oh, um....”

This world was different than the world I came from. It was easy to see since Korea was the world’s sole superpower here.

Since Korean was the world’s shared language, there weren’t many interpreters or translators. And since most academic papers and official documents were written in Korean, Koreans had no reason to learn foreign languages.

“...I learned it since I know you are German.”

“Mm, is that so? You’ve got manners. How much have you learned?”

“I should be able to communicate normally.”

“Oh, wirklich?”

Hyenckes laughed heartily. I didn’t remember giving him such a setting, but he was a bigger patriot than I thought.

“Well, that’s another story.”

Heynckes put on a serious expression once again.

“Unfortunately, I have no intention of curing my side-effect.”

“...Huh?”

I was taken aback. Heynckes’ side-effect should have been one of the worst among the Nine Stars, but he didn’t want to reverse it?

Heynckes continued, “When I was young, I was afraid of dying. That’s why I escaped to this place. But it’s different now. If someone my age is afraid of death, then he hasn’t matured enough.”

“...Really?”

“Yes, really. But there is one thing I want from you.”

Thankfully it seemed there was something I could do.

I quickly nodded, and Heynckes spoke with a mischievous smile.

“Settle things with my disciple.”

Silence descended. I replied exactly three seconds afterward.

“...Hah?”

“It doesn’t matter how. Just settle things with her.”

An innocent smile emerged on Heynckes’ face.

“...You mean, with Chae Nayun?”

“That’s right.”

It wasn’t an offer I could accept so easily.

I didn’t know what Heynckes knew, but my relationship with Chae Nayun wasn’t something that could be fixed in a few sentences.

“...Um, that’s not something that can be solved that easily—”

“My disciple and I both know everything about you. Chae Nayun knows the truth behind Chae Jinyoon’s death, like why you killed Chae Jinyoon and what state he was in.”

“...I know that too.”

I’d heard about it from Yoo Yeonha.

“Then that’s an even bigger problem. Why are you hesitating? What a wuss.”

Heynckes crossed his arms like he was looking at a fool.

“....”

If Chae Nayun were here, I felt like she would have said this, ‘That’s none of your business, old man.’

But I wasn’t Chae Nayun. After thinking about what he said for a moment, I stealthily checked his potential.

[Heynckes]

[9.75/9.6]

9.75 ability.

9.6 potential.

The values didn’t make any sense.

“...Ah.”

But I understood after a moment.

Heynckes was a special case in that his ability was higher than his potential. His [Steel Transformation] side-effect made him stronger than what his potential allowed. He was someone who grew stronger as he neared death.

“So? What’s your answer?”

“....”

I stared at Heynckes silently. With a 9.75 ability rating, he was more than capable of contending with Orden. I had no choice but to listen to his request.

“I will.”

Heynckes immediately put on a big smile. He nodded contently, then suddenly took out a dagger.

“Then feed this dagger your blood and make a vow.”

“...A vow?”

“This dagger contains my ‘Will of Covenant’. If you don’t keep the vow you make, this dagger will pierce your heart.”

“....”

I glanced at the dagger.

===

[Covenant Dagger] [Product of an Authority] [Steel-attribute]

—A dagger containing the will of Heynckes’ Steel Spirit.

「Covenant」

—Upon feeding this dagger blood and making a vow, the vow

must

be kept.

—If the vow is not fulfilled, this dagger

will

pierce the heart of the one who failed to keep the vow.

—The person whose heart is pierced by this dagger

will

die.

===

The item description put a strong emphasis on the absoluteness of the dagger’s ability. It showed a little bit of Heynckes’ true ability, as Shin Myungchul was the only one to have ever defeated him.

“I’m being generous. From what I heard from my disciple, I think of you as a man among men.”

Heynckes handed me the dagger.

“If you make this vow, I, Heynckes, will do the same. That I will kill this Orden you speak of.”

“....”

I hesitated slightly, but the answer was obvious.

It was a cheap price to make a member of the Nine Stars my ally. Plus, I had to meet with Chae Nayun eventually.

“...Fine. I’ll accept it.”

I mustered up my courage and nodded.