Chapter 275   – The Hoarder (15)

Yeon-woo’s expression hardened. He was wearing a mask, but his expressions could still be seen.

‘It’s…..Jeong-woo’s necklace.’

Yeon-woo examined the necklace as he approached the skeleton. It was a necklace of red rubies.

Though it was damaged, it was still recognizable.

Jeong-woo had presented this to Lana while practicing his metallurgy skills.

It almost lost all its function as an artifact, but the corpse was still gripping it tightly like it was precious.

‘What happened?

Lana was extremely powerful, enough to make his brother see her as his teacher. Also, this was the Quartz Palace, which not even the Eight Large Clans could find. He couldn’t believe that she had been assassinated in a place like this.

The problem was that it had been a long time since the corpse was left alone.

He wondered if there would be a vestige left. He needed to find out what happened as soon as possible.

Yeon-woo pulled black energy out to blow it into the corpse.

The black energy didn’t enter it, most likely because the river had corroded it too much.

Just when he was wondering what he should do, something occurred to him.

‘What if I force it?’

He activated the 3rd Spirit to the extreme. He knew that its functions had increased quite a bit with the Blessings from Azrael.

However, he had never tested it out, so he didn’t know what would happen.

Black energy was energy that came from death. He thought maybe it would be possible to somewhat reverse the time of a corpse, even if it had been a while since its death.

Fortunately, he was right.

The black energy that kept on being flicked away was absorbed into the skeleton. Then, a whitish human-like image stood up.

Blue hair and black, burnt skin. She looked weary, but she was still the same Lana from the diary.

『Lana, do you know where you are?』

Yeon-woo spoke to her through Consciousness. However, Lana didn’t move in the slightest, her head looking down. Her eyes looked dead.

‘Only her vestige woke up. I suppose I can’t completely revive her consciousness.’

The Vestige Body was only made up of the pieces of the vestige that were left in the corpse. It was merely a collection of her memories.

He would be able to know what happened more clearly if she could talk.

Not having any other option, Yeon-woo put his hand on Lana’s Vestige Body.

Then, it scattered, and all its memories poured into his head.

Even the last desperate emotions that she had – all of it.

Hwak!

-Benteke! How could you…..!

In the memory, Lana was sobbing at someone. She was once called the ruler of the River of Souls, and if all her subordinates were gathered, they wouldn’t fall short of the Eight Large Clans. But that was not the case in this memory.

She had done whatever she could to revive her forces.

She had sold all her precious treasures to gather forces and allied herself with enemies of the Eight Large Clans.

At first, she had thought it would take about 10 years, but things progressed faster than she thought.

Not only could she revive all her past forces, but she could grow them bigger than before. Then, she would restart the war.

She would make those who destroyed her precious disciple wander around the River of Souls, unable to move onto the Beyond, and avenge her disciple by also destroying the Eight Large Clans.

However, one incident ruined all her plans.

The subordinate that Lana cherished the most had mutinied. He was a likeable guy, so there were many who followed him, and the coup he had organized killed all her guards.

She could see the cracking barrier, the river water pouring in, and her subordinates suddenly being attacked.

Lana grit her teeth and shouted at the person who had caused all this.

It was the first time she looked that furious since her disciple died.

However, he calmly walked down the hall that was littered with corpses.

Even though he had broken the necks of his comrades whom he had just been drinking with, he didn’t bat an eyelid. There were no signs of sadness or happiness on his face. He looked cold and apathetic, like he had never been the amiable person she thought he was.

-My king, Lana. My precious fiancé. You’ll never know that this was all caused by what you did.

-What kind of bulls*** is that!

Benteke. He was Lana’s right hand. Also, he was her lover.

Because he also knew Jeong-woo well, they had had some drinks together, too. They weren’t comrades or friends, but they were definitely acquaintances.

Also, he was Poseidon’s apostle.

The 12 gods who symbolized the godly society, Olympus. There was great meaning behind being the apostle of one of the most powerful gods.

In the higher floors, Benteke was more famous than Lana.

He had been a great help in the Blue Rose establishing their power on the 28th floor.

However, he had caused this coup. Lana hadn’t been able to do anything because it was something her most trusted advisor had done.

She never would’ve imagined that Benteke would do something like this.

Even though he always had drinks and women around him, despite them being lovers, and caused the occasional trouble, Lana was also a free-spirit, and she didn’t care about those aspects. Rather, this was the reason why they got along better.

But why had such a person done this?

-Look. Things have gotten to this, but you still don’t know.

Benteke didn’t have the warm face that he always had when he looked at his lover. Instead, he looked completely expressionless and growled like a lion.

-Cha Jeong-woo, Cha Jeong-woo, Cha Jeong-woo! You don’t see that your subordinates are tired every time you say his name—that I’m tired. You’re pushing us all into hell.

-What…..!

-If you don’t know, just stay ignorant like that your entire life. If it’s easier for you to think that way, go ahead.

Benteke continued, crinkling his eyes.

-No. If you can’t even think about it, accept it like this. You always used to say that. ‘The strongest takes all.’ Right now, I’m strong, and you’re weak. What would happen if I take everything you have?

-Bentekeeee!

Lana couldn’t suppress her anger and ran at Benteke.

It wasn’t widely known, but Lana was the apostle of the goddess of the sea, Ceto. She was as powerful as Benteke.

Kwang!

With a rough explosion, half of the Quartz King Palace was blown away.

Then, like the vestige was cut off, Yeon-woo saw a new scene.

In the ruins of the battle, where all the fighting had stopped, Lana was left all alone on her throne. The river water had filled up to under her chin, and her body melted from the acid. She had used all her magic power in the fight with Benteke and didn’t have any strength left to stop it. It was horribly painful, but she didn’t care.

She just quietly pulled out the necklace that protected her, even though everything around her was destroyed, and gripped it in her hand.

-…..Jeong-woo. I’m sorry.

Lana continued to mutter those words. She slowly closed her eyes. Her strengthless body was completely locked under the rising river water.

* * *

Yeon-woo pulled himself together like he was flicked out from something. His emotions had synchronized with the vestige for a moment to the point that he was confused whether he was Lana or himself.

‘Benteke’s betrayal…..does this have something to do with why Poseidon doesn’t like me?’

He only thought that it was because he had talked about killing gods and disgracing the name of gods.

It seemed like there was more to it than he had thought.

There was no way a god that was near omniscient wouldn’t know about the relationship between his brother and Lana and the deep grudge that would be placed between himself and Benteke.

He had just excused himself with reasons that sounded true.

Poseidon and Yeon-woo were bound to be enemies someday. He knew that Yeon-woo’s plans for revenge included a few gods and demons, and that was why Poseidon was trying to get rid of Yeon-woo before he could actually get on his nerves.

‘How ridiculous.’

After seeing what Lana went through, rather than feeling heated, he felt colder.

Survival of the fittest was normal in this world. What had happened here was just one of those events.

However, what angered him was that Lana hadn’t forgotten about her affection for Jeong-woo until the end. And it was up to him to avenge them both now.

There were holes in the vestige, so he didn’t know everything, but from the way Benteke spoke, it seemed he had no other choice, either.

‘But that’s none of my business.’

Whatever the reason, Yeon-woo wasn’t going to let this tide over easily. If they became enemies, they would be enemies; there was nothing more to it.

[Agares looks at you with a cruel smile.]

[Agares offers an even greater power. He tempts you, saying you’ll need more power for revenge.]

[Agares looks at you with expectant eyes.]

[Athena looks at you sadly.]

[Hermes is silent.]

[There is no reaction from the godly society, ‘Olympus.’]

[Poseidon looks are you with sharp eyes.]

Then…..

Psssss—

Like she had completed her duty, Lana’s corpse crumbled apart.

The necklace slowly fell to the ground. As soon as Yeon-woo got himself together, he grabbed the necklace.

[A quest has been created.]

[Sudden Quest / Ceto’s Resentment]

Summary: The goddess of the old seas, Ceto, has a deep-seated grudge towards Poseidon and his apostle for killing her apostle. However, Ceto isn’t able to resist Poseidon, most likely because she lost a lot of her strength. But after all her waiting, she was able to find a method.

Kill Poseidon’s apostles as Ceto wills. While the quest is in progress, Ceto will give you Grace and Blessings that are equivalent to what an apostle receives.

Time Limit: Unlimited

Rewards:

Ceto’s Present

Ceto’s Blessing

Ceto’s Authority

Along with the quest window, another message floated up.

[The first reward is being given in advance for the smoother progression of the quest. ]

[You have earned Ceto’s holy artifact, ‘Sea Water Charm.’]

Whoosh! The necklace Yeon-woo was holding suddenly flashed. The corroded sections were restored, and it began to regain its shine.

It seemed to be a result of Ceto assigning it as her holy artifact.

Yeon-woo observed the necklace with his Draconic Eyes.

[Sea Water Charm]

Category: Necklace

Rank: Holy Artifact

Summary: This is a holy artifact that the goddess of the old seas, Ceto, created using the last of her holy power. Ceto is the ancestor of many monsters, so while you are wearing this holy artifact, you have command over sea monsters and sea king monsters.

Also, it can be used to look for information by reading the memory of the sea.

However, there is a limit to the holy power that was given to it, so when the holy power runs out, it loses its value as a holy artifact. For it to become a complete holy artifact, you must complete the given quest (Lana’s Resentment).

* King of the Sea

You can control the minds of sea monsters and sea king monsters. However, depending on the type they are, there is a difference between the amount of magic power used and the chance of the control succeeding.

*Song of the Sea

There are countless memories floating around in the ocean. You can find something you are looking for within them. If you are above the sea, it is easy to find a specific object.

‘This holy artifact is what made Lana the ruler of the 28th floor.’

It was something that even his brother had wanted. Just by controlling the sea monsters and sea kings monsters, it would be hard to have enemies in the River of Souls. Of course, there were limits to the power, but just having it was a great help to Yeon-woo.

That was probably how deep Ceto’s resentment towards Poseidon was.

Yeon-woo knew that he had crossed a bridge he couldn’t go back in terms of his relationship with Poseidon. It wasn’t bad for him to attack first.

Yeon-woo hung the Sea Water Charm on his neck. The rubies looked nice with his black armor, shining a vibrant red light. He could feel the holy power in the holy artifact entering his body.

[The holy power activates your hidden God’s Blessing.]

[Your holy power is being strengthened.]

Feeling the power flowing inside of him, Yeon-woo lifted his head. He would use the power that Ceto gave to him well. However, there was something that he found when he looked at the quest again.

‘But what does this mean? Apostles?’

From what Yeon-woo knew, a god or demon could only have one apostle.

There may be multiple priests or students, but there could only be one person who represented the beings. An apostle was the manifestation of a god or a demon.

‘I’ll see what it means when it comes to me.’

Then, he activated the option on the holy artifact. First, he was going to see where Benteke was.

Urrrng—

Yeon-woo felt like his vision was floating up. He could see all of the ashy River of Souls, like how a god looked down below. He could see all kinds of things happening on the river.

Of them, something stood out.

There were about a hundred large ships, each of them with the trident that symbolized Poseidon on their masts. It was the clan that Benteke led, Triton.

However, the direction they were heading to was familiar to Yeon-woo.

Not too far away from them, he could see his Ghost Ship.

‘Could it be?’

Yeon-woo’s eyes slightly widened.

Benteke was coming.