Chapter 812

Step.

Jin Taekyung felt the earth crumble beneath his foot and wondered why his footsteps sounded so loud. Was it the depth of the night? Or was it because every nerve in his body was on edge?

He didn’t know. Maybe it was both.

But one thing was certain. From this moment on, no one would leave this long, narrow canyon without his permission.

“Jin?”

Magic Johnson stared at him, apparently unable to understand why the air had suddenly grown so heavy. Then he turned his head.

Beneath the moonlight spilling down the towering cliffs, a figure stood blocking the exit, its golden eyes gleaming.

The Skeleton King.

Johnson’s lips silently formed the name. As he realized the position he was in, the Grand Mage’s gaze darkened.

“What does this mean?”

“Nothing in particular. I just have a few things I need to check.”

Jin’s tone was gentle, but his eyes were cold.

The eagle in the distance was already forgotten. Magic Johnson studied him.

“If it isn’t urgent, why not check later?”

“It’s urgent. I have to check now.”

“Caution is a leader’s virtue. But I don’t think now is the right time.”

“I can see why you’d think that. But isn’t judging the right time exactly what a leader does?”

Magic Johnson fell silent for a moment, then gave a quiet laugh.

“You’re right, Jin. I didn’t know you were so good with words.”

“I’ve noticed this now and then, but test scores and running your mouth are two different things.”

Jin smiled faintly along with him, then called out a name.

“Genji.”

“Y-yes?”

Yamamoto Genji, who had been watching from beside Magic Johnson, jumped at the sudden call.

He’d already realized something was wrong. As his eyes darted around, Jin jerked his chin at him.

“You look uncomfortable. Come over here. You’re getting on my nerves.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Yamamoto glanced at Magic Johnson and took a step forward. When the hulking Grand Mage didn’t react, he hurried over to Jin’s side.

“U-um. Jin-sama.¹ What exactly is going on…”

“Shut up.”

Jin answered calmly, then looked at Magic Johnson.

Johnson’s expression hadn’t changed despite the sudden turn of events. He was still sitting on the rough rock.

“Johnson. When did we first meet?”

The question came out of nowhere, but Magic Johnson answered readily.

“During the Arch Lich subjugation. It hasn’t even been a year.”

“It feels strange. It seems like it’s been ten years already.”

“A lot has happened. Things we thought would never happen again—things we couldn’t even imagine.”

“Yeah. I really didn’t think things would turn out like this.”

Jin smiled bitterly. Two years ago—no, even just a year ago—he’d been nothing more than an unusually talented F-rank Hunter.

He’d never escaped the confines fate had set for him when he awakened. He’d spent his days in a cramped, musty goshiwon room.²

But everything had changed.

Last summer had been unusually hot. One day, without warning, he’d been told he was fired.

And then… there was the beat-up capsule waiting for him on the melting asphalt.

Every moment was still vivid.

That night, the beat-up capsule had tossed the fool who’d been reckless enough to crawl inside it for a nap into a new world. Jin had escaped his confines and changed his fate.

“Things we couldn’t even imagine. That’s probably the best way to put it. I know because I’ve lived through them. But you know what’s funny?”

Jin didn’t wait for an answer.

The faint smile had vanished from his lips. They were now as rough and hard as the rock Magic Johnson sat on.

“After going through so many things I couldn’t have imagined, my imagination still barely improves.”

A being called the Demon King had descended upon Earth. Countless monsters had burned cities and slaughtered people.

Humanity had won after five years of the Great War, then built an even more brilliant and vast civilization.

Impossible things. And yet, they’d happened to everyone just a few decades ago.

Jin hadn’t lived through that era, but he’d crossed dimensions, traveled between two worlds, and gained no shortage of experience.

“Sometimes I think common sense is terrifying. It keeps you thinking inside the same old box, and you end up going nowhere.”

Jin tapped his temple with a dagger he’d drawn at some point.

Magic Johnson had watched in silence. Now he spoke.

“So this time, you used your imagination a little more?”

“Yes. I went back over everything that’s happened so far. Slowly. From as objective a perspective as I could manage.”

“Jin, humans can’t be objective.”

Magic Johnson was right.

People’s judgments were always subjective. Ironically, humanity had become the master of the world because, more than any other creature on Earth, it was made up of thought and emotion.

But…

“I found I could at least try. Set aside what I know and how I feel about someone as much as possible.”

“Right. You can try to look at things objectively. That’s humanity’s greatest strength.”

“Hmm.”

Jin licked his lips.

“That’s a dangerous thing to say.”

“Which part?”

“I don’t know. You make it sound like you’re not human yourself.”

Jin’s reflection shone in Magic Johnson’s clear eyes. A short laugh slipped from Johnson’s lips, breaking the silence.

“So, Jin. Did you achieve what you wanted?”

“Probably.”

Magic Johnson already knew what Jin had gone to such lengths to work out.

“The Prophet.”

Johnson’s deep voice carried through the night air. Jin gave a small nod.

“I started with the person most closely connected to him.”

“Michael Silbert. Considering their connection, that would be the obvious place to start.”

“Huginn called The Prophet Muninn. The fifth Muninn, at that. One of the beings swapped out like spare parts to make Michael Silbert who he is today. And on top of that, The Prophet uses magic that isn’t human.”

“That’s why we suspected he was a monster.”

“Right. But isn’t something strange? Huginn only learned about the fifth Muninn three years ago, yet Michael Silbert had been handling magical power little by little since the Great Cataclysm.”

“What’s strange about that?”

“Of course it’s strange. A human made magical power and mana coexist. That’s insane. Even I can’t do it now. And that guy did it thirty years ago? No way.”

Then Jin added, “Unless a real monster helped him.”

Magic Johnson paused. Jin went on.

“But the timing didn’t add up. Three years ago and thirty years ago. There was too much time in between.”

“……”

“After thinking it over, I came up with one answer.”

Jin scratched his chin with the dagger. A week without shaving had left him with patchy stubble, and the sharp blade scraped it away.

“The Prophet isn’t the fifth Muninn.”

Shhk.

The instant a drop of blood rolled from the tip of his chin, where the blade had nicked him, a chilly voice pierced everyone’s ears.

“For more than thirty years, there has been only one Muninn.”

“……!”

“……!”

The air around them seemed to chill. Jin shook the blood from his dagger and continued.

“Once I thought of it that way, things finally started to add up. What the fuck, this isn’t a claw machine. I couldn’t understand how people that powerful and loyal kept popping up every few years.”

Yamamoto Genji, who had been listening with wide eyes, let his mouth fall open.

“Th-then…”

“Yeah. The Prophet taught Michael Silbert how to handle magical power, and they worked together toward their own goals. He must’ve been incredibly powerful even thirty years ago.”

The scattered pieces began to fall into place, one by one. Jin Taekyung’s voice became an unseen hand, feeling its way over countless pieces.

One. Two. Three. Ten.

Each piece filled a space that matched its shape. As they came together, the outline of someone began to emerge.

It was a portrait. It was also a puzzle.

But…

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

Too many questions remained unanswered for Jin to complete it.

Lose even one piece, and a puzzle could never be whole. This one had gaps everywhere. Filling them was nearly impossible.

At least, it was impossible for Jin to do alone.

“Johnson.”

Jin spoke without warning.

The Grand Mage had risen from the rock. His shadow loomed large, and the staff in his hand gleamed in the moonlight.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“Anything, Jin.”

“Why have you helped me all this time?”

“Because we’re friends.”

“Like Siegfried Bassmann?”

Magic Johnson raised his staff as he answered.

“Yeah.”

“I hesitated until the end. Honestly, even now I’m not sure. It makes no sense for a monster to use mana and even potions.”

“Anyone would think that if they were human. But there’s nothing in this world that can’t happen.”

Vwooom.

The Magic Gem at the tip of the staff began to vibrate. It was an S-rank Magic Gem, obtained by killing a monster that had slaughtered an entire city on its own during the Great Cataclysm.

Feeling the enormous flow of mana surging with the wind, Jin Taekyung suddenly spoke.

“Do you remember what you said earlier?”

Magic Johnson gave a heavy nod.

“I remember. Humans can’t be objective.”

“You were right. I’m only human, so I couldn’t help thinking subjectively.”

“Everyone does. He’s a bit of an unusual case, but that friend is the same.”

Magic Johnson gestured with his chin behind him.

Beyond the Skeleton King, who wore a golden crown made of magical power, hundreds of pairs of eyes gleamed throughout the canyon.

“Then sending the other forces east was…”

“I didn’t want people who had nothing to do with this getting caught up in it.”

“Excellent. Was that your decision?”

“Yes, but…”

Jin Taekyung raised the dagger in his hand and continued.

“It wasn’t just a subjective judgment.”

And at that moment—

Flash!

A blinding light burst from Jin’s eyes.

Everyone who faced the sudden flash in the darkness froze for an instant. Everyone but Jin. He was the one who had called forth the light, the one who had wanted it.

Crack! Stab!

The dagger shot forward like a beam of light, smashing through armor and tearing through flesh and bone. Jin watched Yamamoto Genji stagger.

“What the hell are you?”

Yamamoto Genji’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Then he—no, The Prophet—grinned.