Chapter 503

Rumble-

A tall woman with long, cascading hair all the way down past her waist hovered loftily in the sky before them. The eyes of the Archmage, the one who could dye the sky and reshape the world at her whim, were utterly cold.

In full majesty, the Seeker radiated an imposing presence that made even Se-Hoon let out a mutter of stunned belief.

“It’s her again...?”

But of course it was out of exhaustion and irritation, a stark contrast to everyone else who would’ve been petrified by the Seeker’s resurrection or the power she exuded.

After all, Se-Hoon had already gone through Dawn messing with the Seeker’s body, Succession working from the shadows using her knowledge, Offering manipulating Terra, and even Tuner directly using her left eye.

That made four ‌of the five Watcher factions that had relied on her legacy.

If it weren’t for her, the world would probably be at least several times more peaceful right now.

Yet, despite his exasperation at the thought that the disasters spawned from the Seeker far outweighed her achievements, Se-Hoon still studied his opponent more closely.

She looks and feels authentic enough... but something’s still missing.

Each time he had encountered the Seeker in the past, she had seemed broken without fail. Unlike those times, though, she now gave off a strangely pure and innocent air. She had an air of restraint, as if she had boundaries she must not cross—the aura of someone being carefully controlled. And that made her so normal that she felt uncanny.

Reaching that train of thought, Se-Hoon was unable to stop himself from looking directly into her eyes.

Woong-

Her pupils swirled with an otherworldly mixture of countless colors, like those that he had seen in Kwang-Soo’s memories and in Tuner.

However, one thing stood out.

Both of the pupils are identical.

In Kwang-Soo’s memories, the Seeker’s eyes constantly shifted form, colors melding and morphing in real time independently. The eyes of the woman before him, in contrast, had perfect symmetry. Those eyes mirrored each other like reflections in glass.

So... this version of her isn’t a resurrection then. It’s an artificial creation.

Considering the Inoue family had her right eye, which they seized from Dawn, and her Mythical-rank artifact, Heaven’s Well, sealed underground, it wasn’t hard to guess what they had used to create the woman artificially.

Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes, focusing his view past the distortion of the noise hiding him.

Crack!

A black rift opened beside the Seeker with a sharp sound. Through it, a young man with rimless glasses—Ren—stepped out with his mouth concealed behind his black folding fan.

“...Brother,” Erika muttered softly.

At her call, Ren glanced down at her with an indifferent gaze. Then, folding the fan, he put on a warm smile.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Erika.”

His expression and tone conveyed relief, but his eyes were filled with suspicion: how had she come out unharmed?

Knowing his confusion, Erika hesitated at his wary reaction.

“...I’m sorry.”

Just like his words, her apology carried layered meanings that made Ren’s face stiffen for a moment from the unexpectedness. But quickly afterward he casually smiled again, like nothing had happened.

“Alright. That’s all that matters. We can talk more later.”

With the conversation with Erika done, Ren turned his gaze toward the figure cloaked in noise distortions.

Woong-

Despite the Seeker’s mana saturating the area, the distortion around the figure’s entire form remained undisturbed. It was so unwavering that Ren’s eyes narrowed.

Even in this situation, he’s holding firm.... Does that mean his resistance matches the Seeker in her prime?

Just as the rumors said, the man before him was truly a monster on par with the Perfect Ones. Ren instantly heightened his alertness.

“You don’t seem to be keen on running, even in this situation. You really are an arrogant one.”

“Arrogant, huh...”

Se-Hoon looked up at the Seeker and the orange-tinted sky.

“You really thought I’d fall for such an obvious trap?”

Since appearing on the coast, the artificial Seeker hadn’t moved at all. At a glance, that made her seem defective—unable to fight properly—but Se-Hoon had long since figured out that wasn’t the full story.

RUMBLE!

The orange sky wasn’t a trick of color through the Seeker’s mana. No, the entire region had been completely

conquered

by her mana. Under her control, even the laws in the area subtly bent and were distorted.

If I had tried teleporting the moment that fake showed up, I’d probably have landed exactly where the Inoues wanted me to.

Without control of the destination, he would find the high-ranking heroes who had recently gone off the radar waiting for him in ambush, fully prepared to eliminate him on sight.

“...I thought it was fairly seamless,” Ren began slowly, his tone veiled with meaning as he looked at Se-Hoon. “Or maybe... you just know her too well.”

“...?”

Se-Hoon made a mildly surprised expression behind the distortion. He had assumed the Inoue family already knew what he, the Three Dogs’ leader, was capable of. From the way Ren spoke, though, that made it clear they were still considering other possibilities.

A third party connected to the Seeker... no way—

“I’ve made up my mind.”

Se-Hoon looked down just as the possibility formed in his mind, interrupted by Erika’s voice flowing into his head. Cradled in his left arm, Erika had fixed her eyes on Ren and activated her mana.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“I’m going back to the clan.”

“...Why?”

Se-Hoon asked after a pause, caught off guard by her sudden decision.

“Because this is the answer the family head and my brother have been preparing for all this time.”

Gripping Se-Hoon’s left arm tightly where Ren couldn’t see, Erika continued with calm determination.

“I want to know what that answer is... and why I was created. What I was meant for from the very beginning.”

Only then, she felt, could she truly figure out what she wanted for herself.

Se-Hoon fell silent upon hearing her determination, then let out a sigh inwardly.

“Is it really necessary to confirm something that obvious?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously... sighhh, fine. It’s pointless trying to talk you out of it now.”

“You’re not physically saying anything right now, though.”

“Be quiet.”

Seeing that Erika had no intention of changing her mind, Se-Hoon fell into thought.

This isn’t the approach I prefer... but she’s not entirely wrong, either.

Just by seeing the fake Seeker that appeared, Se-Hoon had roughly figured out what the Inoues were planning: either a complete resurrection of the Seeker, the dream Dawn once pursued, or a perfect succession of the power of Omniscience that she had created.

Of course, countless other possibilities existed as well. Just as Erika said, they wouldn’t know what it truly was until they confirmed it themselves.

Confirmation, huh...

A way to respect Erika’s decision and also find out the Inoues’ full plan... even enabling him to stop it completely.... Se-Hoon kept thinking, unable to shake the feeling that he was on the verge of a breakthrough. However, that just made Ren look down at him with a strange expression.

“

Hm...

It may not be my place to say, but aren’t you being a bit too relaxed right now?”

Though their carefully prepared trap had been exposed, Ren still had cards left to play.

Woong!

A massive magic array was etching itself into the orange-stained sky above, on the verge of summoning the entire extermination force stationed thousands of kilometers away to their location.

It would be a feat on par with relocating an entire city. And yet... the man remained so calm?

“

Hm?

Ah...”

Only now did Se-Hoon even bother to glance around, yet he was still without concern.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t been very considerate. It must be exhausting having to maintain control over that fake Seeker for so long.”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“You must’ve told everyone around here that you’d resurrected the Seeker, right? That’s a tiring bit of theater. Still, considering the situation, I’ll play along for now.”

“...”

Not the slightest concern even with the massive forming array—as though he had it all under control. The more Ren spoke with him, the harder it became to figure out just who—or what—the man was.

“Who are you really?”

Ren had been so sure the man before him was Se-Hoon. However, as time passed, he began considering the other possibilities his father had once warned him about.

Meanwhile, Se-Hoon was as casual as ever and was about to respond nonchalantly when he stopped himself.

Wait a second.

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind. It was risky, maybe even reckless... but the current atmosphere made it worth trying.

If I want to do that, then first...

Quickly forming a series of steps in his head, Se-Hoon changed his response.

“You sure know how to ask pointless questions.”

“...”

“Who I am and who you are changes nothing. What

does

matter is what kind of answer you draw from that,”—he pointed his chin to the Seeker in the sky—“and

this

.” He lightly jostled Erika in his left arm.

Ren’s eyes narrowed at the implication behind his words.

“If you’re talking about an ‘answer’...”

“Like I said. That’s a pointless question.” Not letting Ren finish, Se-Hoon calmly declared, “You only find out which side is right by clashing head-on.”

Boom-!

A pulse of mana burst from under Se-Hoon’s feet and swept across the shoreline, jolting Ren and making him immediately snap open his fan in response.

Woong-

Beside him, the artificial Seeker began forming hand seals as she let out a flat, emotionless voice.

“True Form: Thousandfold Projection.”

Wooooong!

The colossal magic array spread across the sky, blanketing the world. Without delay, the extermination force’s distant location began overlaying their current location.

In no time at all, the two overlapping worlds were about to fully overlay—

Click.

The artificial Seeker abruptly canceled the spell.

What...?!

Ren’s mind raced. It didn’t seem like it was due to external interference; it was an abnormality from within the

shikigami

mimicking the Seeker’s power. Quickly reaching that conclusion, Ren naturally recalled Ryuuma’s warning before he left.

“If it ever disobeys your command, it’s no longer a shikigami. From that moment on, you must destroy it no matter what.”

Even if it meant he lost the enemy or Erika, he couldn’t let the situation slide. Without hesitation, Ren formed hand seals to destroy the

shikigami

—

Clap!

The Seeker’s right hand reached out and seized him.

“!?”

Ren’s destruction magic was unraveled in an instant, and he was able to do nothing but meet the artificial Seeker’s gaze. And what he saw was that her right eye was

trembling

violently

.

“You. Are. The. Sorcerer?”

A voice like fractured glass drilled into Ren’s mind. He quickly realized that it was the will of Natalia Kanayeva, awakened from within the Seeker’s right eye. Despite processing that eye multiple times to keep the original consciousness from waking, it had still shattered every layer and broken free.

This is bad.

A true Seeker awakening, or even just word of it spreading, would destroy all of Ren’s carefully laid plans. Determined not to let that happen, he tried to suppress her again with a new spell when...

“Wait.”

The Seeker’s voice was hurried and urgent.

“This. Isn’t. The. Time. For. That.”

What is she saying...?

“Look. Behind. You!”

Sensing the sincerity in her warning, Ren turned around—and understood.

“What the...!”

Beyond the orange-dyed sky, a vast blue cosmos was drawing slowly near, threatening to obliterate everything.

RUMBLE-

The sight of the tidal wave of mana—Silver River—rushing in from beyond the horizon twisted Ren’s face in shock. How long had he been charging that attack? When did he even start?

Stun-locked, Ren slowly looked down once more and met Se-Hoon’s gaze through the distortion.

“I also know it’s not my place to say this, but... aren’t you being a bit too relaxed?”

His own words were thrown right back at him. Only then did Ren realize that the one who had let their guard down was

himself

.

What do I do...?

Ren turned to the wave. Was there even a spell that he could cast to stop it? Before he could think of one, though, Natalia came up with a solution for him.

“Leave. It. To. Me.”

Ren hesitated, but a brief second later, his eyes flashed and he broke free of her grip to form a new hand seal.

Woong-

The restrictions binding the

shikigami

loosened, allowing Natalia to seize control.

“I’m. Going!!”

True Form: Infinite Manifestation

Swish!

Dozens of orange afterimages layered over Natalia’s body. The magic array, which had been stopped mid-activation, was torn apart and reconstructed anew.

The next moment, the tidal wave of Silver River surged in to crush the zone controlled by Natalia’s mana—

Restoration

A blinding orange light erased everything from the world.

BOOOOOM-!

The wave of mana that had crashed over the shore rolled back, sweeping away half the coastline. Left behind on the damp sand were a giant with a crow’s head and a completely spent Ren.

“Gah...

cough

!”

Vomiting out seawater, Ren sat up weakly and turned to look at the

shikigami

lying collapsed beside him.

The illusion broke...

The final spell Natalia cast had been too powerful, resulting in the vessel—the

shikigami

—being utterly destroyed.

But that too was a relief. Letting out a sigh, Ren heard Se-Hoon and Erika slowly approach.

“...Finish me already,” Ren muttered, staring up bitterly.

He had no means left to resist. His half-hearted caution had only brought ruin.

Meeting Ren’s bitter eyes, Se-Hoon calmly opened his mouth.

“I’ve decided to actually help you guys.”