Chapter 294 – The Vatican  

Go Hyung-Chul was back.

Gi-Gyu wanted to see him immediately, but Go Hyung-Chul had already left, saying he wanted to tour Eden first. Gi-Gyu could find him inside Eden, but he suspected Go Hyung-Chul had a reason for doing this. So Gi-Gyu left him alone for now.

Instead, he went to visit Lou.

“Lou.”

“You came?” asked Lou as he swung his sword. His swings were so careless that at first glance, one might think a novice swordsman was doing basic training. His irregular movements made it seem like he wasn’t practicing any specific technique.

But…

‘There are no blind spots,’ Gi-Gyu thought in awe. He couldn’t believe this was possible at all.

Lou’s technique was perfect. Though his movements looked aimless, Lou was hitting the targets of his choice. There was a reason why it didn’t look like proper swordsmanship.

Whir.

Information popped into Gi-Gyu’s head from Lou’s data. Lou was actually practicing a technique he had created himself. The same one he had taught Gi-Gyu.

This was a technique, yet it wasn’t. Just like how using a sword didn't make you a swordsman, using a spear didn't necessarily mean you were a spearman.

“A universal technique…” Gi-Gyu whispered. Lou’s way was universal and omnipotent. As if to prove this, a drop of sweat fell from Lou’s forehead to wet the dirt under his feet.

A talented swordsman like Lou wouldn’t be sweating if he were just playing around. He was using an incredible amount of focus and energy to train at the moment.

“Haa…” Lou breathed in deeply. Then, he returned to his child form.

“What? I thought you didn’t have to return to this form anymore.” Gi-Gyu was surprised.

Lou had grown much stronger, so Gi-Gyu thought he no longer needed the child form to save energy.

Lou explained, “It’s good exercise. I primarily created this technique to hunt and steal from other demons. Of course, the results will be different if a human or anyone of other species practices this technique. For me, training in this form is the most effective.”

Lou seemingly maintained his child form as a type of training. He continued, “And… I’m not quite there yet.”

“What?”

“No, never mind. Anyway, how did I look?” Lou threw away the sword, which got stuck in the dirt ground and asked nonchalantly.

“I have to admit that it’s amazing.”

“It would be great if you also trained, but… I guess it’s too difficult at the moment,” Lou muttered.

Previously, Lou had recommended that Gi-Gyu practice the same technique. He had Lou’s data, and their abilities were also similar. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t been able to perfect the technique. It wasn’t that Gi-Gyu didn’t try. He practiced the skill every chance he got, but the problem was that the result wasn’t to Lou’s satisfaction.

‘I haven’t mastered it yet,’ Gi-Gyu thought in disappointment.

Lou grinned and added, “Well… I’m sure you’ll find your way. Don’t you think so?”

Fwoosh!

A sword materialized in Lou’s hand.

Lou’s aliases included “Emperor of Evil Swords” and “Progenitor of Evil Swords.” The black sword in Lou’s hand wasn’t made of his energy. It was a real, physical weapon, sharpened with care. It was an evil sword.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Did you get your abilities back?”

“Sort of?”

Lou had lost most of his abilities as the Emperor of Evil Swords. He could regain his power by absorbing evil swords, but finding evil swords wasn't easy. So, Lou had found another way to become stronger. “Now that I think about it…” Gi-Gyu suddenly remembered the “Player With a Hundred Swords.”

“What are you doing now?” Gi-Gyu asked when he noticed Lou taking a battle stance and watching him.

“Let’s do a round of sparring,” Lou suggested.

Gi-Gyu shook his head. He had come here to console Lou, who seemed to be having difficulty accepting his past as one of God’s original swords.

‘I suppose if this will make him feel better, then…’ Gi-Gyu liked the idea. A sword materialized in his hand too.

‘El.’ The sword was the weapon form of the feather El had given him.

“Here I go,” Lou announced as he made the first move. He would’ve let Gi-Gyu make the first attack in the past, but Lou had finally acknowledged that Gi-Gyu was much more powerful now.

Lou’s incredible speed made his movements invisible to the naked eye. His sword rushed toward Gi-Gyu’s forehead, but…

Clank.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Lou protested when a helmet suddenly covered Gi-Gyu’s face and blocked the attack. The helmet was a part of the Dragon Hunter Armor; before long, a scaled armor had enveloped him.

“You’ve never fought me in this form, have you? Don’t you want to try it? It feels like you have gotten more powers as the Emperor of Evil Swords.”

“You’re annoyingly sharp…” Lou grinned. A giant sphere materialized behind him—the crystal form of sorcerous energy. Being the Emperor of Evil Swords and Black Magic, Lou was a magic expert.

“Hey!” Gi-Gyu yelled. “Are you trying to destroy this entire place!”

Gi-Gyu swung his white sword toward Lou.

***

“What have you done?” Go Hyung-Chul asked in shock.

“Shouldn’t you greet me first?” Gi-Gyu smiled at Go Hyung-Chul, who stood before him. It had been a long time since they last saw each other, but Go Hyung-Chul was yelling at him instead of saying hello.

“Greetings my ass! Just what have you done?!” With shock in his eyes, Go Hyung-Chul continued, “Just how… I heard the news.”

“About what?”

“What?!” Go Hyung-Chul seemed confused by Gi-Gyu’s nonchalant attitude. “I heard you defeated Ha Song-Su. What else would I be talking about?”

“Ah! That.”

“Ah! That? Ha…” Go Hyung-Chul’s eyes wavered visibly.

Gi-Gyu explained, “I don’t even remember what happened… I lost control, which is the only reason I won. And besides, I didn’t even get to finish the job.”

“I heard Ha-Rim took him.”

“You know Ha-Rim?” asked Gi-Gyu. He had been one step away from eliminating Ha Song-Su, but Ha-Rim, who seemingly had angelic powers, had rescued him.

So far, no one seemed to know about her. Even Paimon didn’t know much about this mysterious woman.

Go Hyung-Chul replied, “I don’t have much on her, but I did investigate her. She’s the same age as us.”

“...”

“That fact alone tells a lot about her, doesn’t it?” asked Go Hyung-Chul. The fact that Ha-Rim was the same age as him meant many things. Go Hyung-Chul and Yoo Suk-Woo were also the same age.

‘Project Adam.’

All the products of this project seemed to have been born in the same year. Gi-Gyu got a good idea of the situation.

Go Hyung-Chul continued, “I’m trying to find out more. Ha-Rim and Ha Song-Su have the same last name, and… Well, as I said, I’m still in the middle of my investigation. But more importantly, I still can’t believe you defeated Ha Song-Su. This is an excellent sign. It doesn’t matter if you did this because you lost control. What matters is that you have the potential to kill him.”

Go Hyung-Chul seemed relieved.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Yes, I agree. But what did you mean by what I’ve done? What were you talking about?”

Gi-Gyu was curious. It sounded like Go Hyung-Chul was asking about something more than Ha Song-Su’s defeat. Go Hyung-Chul explained, “I also heard about how a large army attacked Eden. I was expecting this place to be in ruins, but it looks perfectly fine…”

His eyes sparkled, and Gi-Gyu noticed that they had become even redder. Go Hyung-Chul added, “I thought I was getting pretty strong, but what the hell is going on with everyone here? Are you guys all beasts or something?”

Go Hyung-Chul marveled at the Eden creatures’ growth speed.

Gi-Gyu looked him up and down and muttered, “I agree you’re a bit stronger now.”

Go Hyung-Chul shook his head in disgust. “Your sync ability told you that?”

“Yup. Explaining everything will take a long time. Shall we go somewhere else to talk? I assume you returned because you have some information, right?”

Go Hyung-Chul nodded.

Gi-Gyu led the way and asked, “I requested information on many things. Which one?”

Go Hyung-Chul’s last report to Gi-Gyu talked about the hell king cloning in China. He also sent details about the research lab. Afterward, Gi-Gyu had lost contact with him.

‘Well, it wasn’t that we lost contact, but…’

Eden could not receive Go Hyung-Chul’s messages during the battle. As they walked together, Gi-Gyu waited for Go Hyung-Chul’s answer.

“I still haven’t found anything about Lee Sun-Ho and your family’s location. I tried to infiltrate the Angela Guild, but… Anyway, I’ll tell you about that later. I also couldn’t learn much about General Manager Oh Tae-Shik, Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo of the Cain Guild, and your family’s situation. It almost seems they have vanished.”

Gi-Gyu’s slowed down a little. He finally had some time to rest, but the free time just increased his worries for his family, Tae-Shik, and Suk-Woo. Gi-Gyu didn’t want his life to continue without them. This was why Go Hyung-Chul’s arrival had filled him with hope.

‘Guess I should’ve expected this…’

But in a way, the news had ended up relieving Gi-Gyu. Compared to Andras and the hell kings, Go Hyung-Chul was a much weaker creature. But there was one thing he was better at than anyone in the world.

‘Information gathering…’ Gi-Gyu had to admit that if Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t find his family, it was very likely that his enemies couldn’t either.

“Then what did you find out…?” asked Gi-Gyu. It seemed that everything he had asked for was still a mystery. He hadn’t asked Go Hyung-Chul for anything more, so he became confused.

Go Hyung-Chul turned rigid. He almost looked afraid. “Michael.”

“Mi…chael?”

This was El’s name, but Gi-Gyu realized Go Hyung-Chul wasn’t referring to her.

“I have information on high-ranker Michael, who is the Vatican’s hero and has remained hidden from the public.”

“How do you know that?” asked Gi-Gyu. It was true that he had been curious about Michael’s situation, but Gi-Gyu had asked Sung-Hoon to look into this player. Gi-Gyu had hoped Sung-Hoon could use his KPA ties for it.

However, Go Hyung-Chul had seemingly brought him the information on Michael. Go Hyung-Chul looked concerned, which told Gi-Gyu that the news he brought wasn't positive.

Go Hyung-Chul explained, “I found out about him while… chasing after the Caravan Guild.”

“All right. I’m going to get Sung-Hoon, so you go ahead first.” Gi-Gyu felt like Sung-Hoon needed to hear about this too.

***

“So…” Sung-Hoon’s eyes widened, and he gaped. He had been busy with Eden, the new organization, but when he heard Go Hyung-Chul’s information, he seemingly forgot everything.

Sung-Hoon asked Go Hyung-Chul, “Are you saying Andras got his claws into the Vatican too?”

According to Go Hyung-Chul, the Caravan Guild was involved with the Vatican too. He had discovered one of the Caravan’s secret facilities, which seemed to hold a clue.

Go Hyung-Chul explained, “Do you remember how we thought the First Potion factory and countless sorcerous energy sources were situated in Italy? They are actually in the Vatican.”

“But that information alone isn’t enough to claim that Andras has reached the Vatican. The Vatican City was destroyed and rebuilt, but no one knows its location. Couldn’t it be that the Caravan Guild has simply reached Europe?” asked Sung-Hoon.

Go Hyung-Chul smirked. “No, because I saw it with my own two eyes.”

.

“...?”

“The Vatican players wear a unique uniform. You know that, don’t you?” Go Hyung-Chul asked.

When Sung-Hoon nodded, Go Hyung-Chul continued, “The Vatican players are so secretive that many don’t know much about their appearance. But I do. And I have learned that the Vatican players…”

“...”

“Have contacted the Caravan Guild”—Go Hyung-Chul looked straight into Sung-Hoon’s eyes—“and accepted the First Potion.”