Heinz looked at his opponent with a cold, sinking gaze. The sheer pressure from it was so immense that it felt as though the entire world had turned against him.
Yet...
even under that crushing weight, which would have suffocated most people, the old man simply stroked his beard, a playful smile still on his face.
'He was the former manager of the Heaven-Turn Society?'
Heinz's eyebrow twitched. It was a shocking piece of information, one he hadn't considered despite contemplating various possibilities. But the most significant question was not the content itself.
'Why is he telling me this?'
This was a fact that Heukyeong hadn't mentioned, even after being thoroughly interrogated. It was likely a secret that only the old man knew, as he himself had said. Telling this to a stranger like Heinz—no, to an enemy who had invaded the organization he had painstakingly built—was a baffling action.
"What are you thinking?"
Heinz didn't hide his question. The situation was already overwhelmingly in his favor. There was no need to be cautious to pry into the other's true intentions. If push came to shove, he could simply force the information out of him.
"There's no special meaning to it. I just thought it'd be good for comrades with the same goal to speak candidly."
"The same goal?"
"To bring down the Heaven-Turn Society. Isn't that what you want?"
The Black Dragon Lord looked at Heinz with profound eyes. A jet-black aura shimmered within his dark pupils.
"—In the Masquerade, that is."
"Hmm."
Heinz tilted his head. He wasn't surprised that the other person knew that name. Although the Masquerade had only recently begun its activities, with more than just a handful of witnesses, the story was bound to get out. He hadn't intended to hide the name in the first place.
"I find that hard to believe."
The issue was something else.
"You attacked me first, and now you're talking about being comrades with the same goal? To me, it just looks like you're spouting excuses to get out of this situation."
It was a matter of trust. Although they were talking peacefully right now, this was by no means a friendly meeting. This was an opportunity to punish the invader who had broken into his home and caused chaos.
"Hmm, I apologize for that. But we had our own unavoidable circumstances."
"Circumstances?"
"How much do you know about the Heaven-Turn Society's prophet?"
"The prophet? You mean the Oracle?"
"...Hmm, I had a feeling, but it's true. I didn't think anyone could speak that name and still avoid her gaze."
Heinz's brow furrowed. He was expecting an excuse, but why was he suddenly talking about something else?
"Her prophecy isn't just about glimpsing fragments of the future. It's more like reading the flow of the past, present, and future and the thoughts that humans subconsciously emit, and predicting fate."
Sensing the cold atmosphere, the Black Dragon Lord immediately began to explain.
"Her influence extends to the entire globe. Moreover, the moment someone says a word that clearly designates her, they are immediately caught in her gaze and become a target. Of course, there are various abilities in the world, so there are ways to bypass her... but for safety, it's best not to leave even the smallest trace."
After finishing his sentence, he looked at Heinz with a strange expression, observing the aura wrapped around him.
"But this is the first time there's been no reaction at all. It feels like you're not just blocking her tracking, but that you're not even being perceived in the first place."
He then shook his head lightly and continued what he was saying earlier. He explained why he, and the Black Dragon Society, had to resort to such a complicated method.
"Unfortunately, our Black Dragon Society doesn't have the same ability as you. Her vigilance must be at its peak because of what you've done in Southeast Asia. If we had tried to contact the Blood Alliance with the intention of cooperating... the danger of being discovered would be extremely high."
He said that they hadn't even mentioned it to Heukyeong, the one who was going to carry out the plan. It meant that the entire commotion was just a strategy to bypass her surveillance and make contact with Heinz.
'The Oracle was that powerful?'
Heinz raised an eyebrow slightly at the man's overly cautious demeanor. In truth, he didn't know much about the Oracle. He only knew that she had the ability to see the future and was a part of the headquarters that led the Heaven-Turn Society.
"She reached the Mythological Realm despite being a non-combatant, so it's only natural, isn't it? Although she had to give up most of her status for violating the heavenly secrets, the restrictions on Earth have been mostly lifted, so she's not someone to be ignored. ...Well, it seems you're a complete natural enemy to her."
However, the Black Dragon Lord reacted as if it was obvious. He continued to observe Heinz, who was completely beyond the Oracle's abilities, as if he were a fascinating spectacle.
"Alright, I understand that. We'll talk about the details later... Now, the most important question remains."
Heinz narrowed his eyes and calmly looked at his opponent. At the same time, the surrounding air, which had been calm during their conversation, began to stir again. It was as if it would tear the man to shreds at the slightest sign of suspicion.
"Tell me, Former East Asian Branch Manager of the Heaven-Turn Society, Heaven's Rebel."
A thick, bloody mist spread all around him.
"Your true purpose. Why did you betray the Heaven-Turn Society and become their enemy?"
A stern gaze that would not tolerate any lies looked straight into the old man's heart.
"And why should I trust you?"
With each word, the pressure grew, and the Black Dragon Lord could no longer maintain his composure. He flinched a few times, as if forcing his body to not go into a defensive posture, and then let out a deep sigh.
"Huh, isn't it obvious?"
Then, with a hardened face, he continued.
"If the Heaven-Turn Society's leader's plan succeeds, at least half of the humans on Earth will not survive."
It was a more humane reason than Heinz had expected, and at the same time, a problem on a global scale beyond his imagination.
***
The Heaven-Turn Society
'The Masquerade... a group of adversaries.'
The Heaven-Turn Society's leader slowly raised his head. He saw the vast law that enveloped the entire world.
'Is this your will, Akasha?'
It was a part of the transcendent system that only he could fully observe. This was the source of power that bestowed the blessing of Awakening on the sole intelligent beings of Earth, humans, thereby allowing them to enjoy the miracle of Mystery.
'At the same time, it's the key to the destruction that will lead the world to ruin.'
Vibrating—
I will never give up... I will definitely become...
Buzzing—
By any means... at any cost...!
A familiar headache and a ringing sound in his ears echoed. A buzzing, foreign voice that sounded like his own yet felt strange rattled his mind. But he didn't even blink, staring at the law of the world. It was nothing new to him now.
A fragment of the future, which was now the past, flashed before his eyes. The sight of a world that was ultimately destroyed, like a nation that had pursued an isolationist policy and collapsed under foreign pressure.
'I expected there to be interference.'
It was always like this. No matter what countermeasures he took based on his accumulated knowledge, it was useless. As if it were an unavoidable fate, it always came at an unexpected moment in an unimaginable form, and always ruined his plans.
'But I'm definitely moving forward.'
He could say this with certainty. The countermeasures based on his cumulative experience were effective. The fact that he had managed to raise his market share this much despite all the restrictions was the best he had ever done.
There was only one problem. The fact that the system's ability to resist had also reached a level that could not be ignored. And as his achievements grew, the level of his adversaries became more threatening than ever before.
'The Hahoe Mask, Phantom, the Saint of the Otherworld, the Lion Mask, and...
'
There was not just one enemy who could cross dimensions as freely as he could, but several. And the fact that he still hadn't fully grasped their identities was a huge problem. He couldn't even begin to come up with a plan if he didn't know his enemy.
"Ah-ha! Leader! You were here!"
As he was lost in deep thought, a somewhat frivolous voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I had something I wanted to tell you, so this is perfect!"
The middle-aged man with grayish-brown hair, Doctor, was walking toward him. His pair of eyes, which had been experimented on to a luminous fluorescent yellow, flickered as if they were glowing.
"Ah-ha! You noticed too, Leader? My eyes, they're so cool, aren't they? I extracted a factor from a creature called the Observer of the Rodeka Dimension and added a bunch of other things to it..."
Then, as always, he went off on a tangent, chattering about various things. He showed off his body, a fusion of materials from various races, with a magic circuit artificially tuned and engraved, and even an artificial body mixed with all sorts of products of scientific civilization.
"A body cultivated from a Homunculus is much more flexible in this regard, isn't it? I should have switched bodies sooner. A body with a high human content is just not flexible at all!"
The mad scientist, who had experimented on his own body for research, complained with dissatisfaction, regardless of whether his status would fall. Of course, he was able to be resurrected because he had previously torn his body into several pieces and cultivated them in advance.
"It would have been better if the Perfect Evolution Organism Project had succeeded... Ah! Speaking of which, that friend called the Lion Mask in the Masquerade, I think I know him. I was listening to the story, and something vaguely came to mind..."
"Doctor, let's get to the point."
At that moment, the Heaven-Turn Society's leader, who had been quietly listening, spoke softly. He had already shown enough respect for his position by waiting this long. He had enough leeway not to have to confine himself for a while since he had just finished conquering a dimension, but he had no intention of continuing to listen to his endless nonsense.
"Ee-hee-hee-hee! I was so excited that I forgot for a moment!"
Doctor clapped his forehead and smiled at the leader. Then, with a somewhat pleased look, he continued.
"I just went through the logs from when I was asleep, and I found something very interesting! Someone tried to hack the system that I had locked!"
"Hacking?"
"It wasn't just some random person! The fact that they could even access it means they're on par with or even better than a quantum computer from some super-science civilization."
It also meant that their skill in handling it was not to be underestimated. It was so good that it might have been breached if it weren't for his 'Deus Ex Machina' skill.
"So, I tried to trace them back, but they were so good at security that it was difficult to pinpoint their location! Hee-hee-hee~ It's so embarrassing!"
Of course, he didn't get nothing out of it. He wasn't able to find out where the origin was, but he succeeded in finding the traces left by the hacker.
"...A large-scale hack across all of Southeast Asia."
This was the decisive reason that made them hold an emergency meeting. It was proof that the unknown hacker was deeply involved in the collapse of the Southeast Asian branch.
"The Masquerade."
"Exactly! The fact that they have a hacker of that caliber means they're not just a group with raw power! Ooh-hoo-hoo~ I would love to fight them directly, but it seems they've stopped their activities recently! It's a shame."
The Heaven-Turn Society's leader ignored the genuinely disappointed Doctor and closed his eyes. The Masquerade, a group of adversaries who were interfering with his plans. The fact that they had an information technology expert that Doctor was impressed with was not good news at all.
'But I will overcome this. No matter what obstacles there are. Even if it means more sacrifice.'
Everything was to protect this world. To save Earth from destruction. That was his mission as a Returnee.
...one he couldn't tell anyone about.
***
Mythological Realm (신화경): A high level of power, above the Transcendent level.