Chapter 302 - Tartarus (2)

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (300(0)/12)

‘How?’

He stood there blankly for a moment, and that was the first thought that came to his mind.

Yeon-woo couldn’t understand. Summon of the Dead was an option that used items filled with vestige or memories of the person to summon them.

It was one of the options of the artifact of the Black King, whom all the gods and demons of death marveled at.

Of course this function would be more efficient than most Authorities that gods and demons gave.

Still.

‘I can’t summon him?’

Yeon-woo clenched his teeth. His eyes were red. This couldn’t be happening. No, it shouldn’t be.

“Summon of the Dead!”

[The person you are summoning cannot be found.]

“Summon of the Dead!”

[The person you are summoning cannot be found.]

“Summon of the Dead!”

[The person you are summoning cannot be found.]

“Dammit! Summon of the Dead!”

[The person you are summoning cannot be found.]

[The person you are summoning cannot be found.]

......

Yeon-woo eventually exploded with rage, unable to stay level-headed.

“Come out! I said to come out!”

[The person you are summoning cannot be found.]

“I said to come out!”

But there was only the message that the person he was trying to look for couldn’t be found. There wasn’t any additional information.

“Why? Why?! Answer me! Why?!”

Yeon-woo tightly gripped the pocket watch. He looked at the Despair and Grief of the Black King with bloodshot eyes and whipped his head around.

There were still gazes lingering on him. The damned gazes. They only interfered when they wanted to and were silent during times like this.

“Answer me!”

However, no one answered Yeon-woo’s question. The gods and demons of death just shut their mouths and looked at Yeon-woo with silent eyes.

No. They were scared. After Azrael’s disappearance, they only observed Yeon-woo; they didn’t want to get closer to him.

Then he needed to find someone else who could give him answers.

“Hermes! Athena! You guys answer me, at the very least! You would know something from watching the lower world all this time!”

[Hermes is silent.]

[Athena looks at you pitifully.]

“I’ll accept your apostle positions or whatever you want! So say something!”

It was a condition that all the gods and demons after Yeon-woo would be tempted to accept, but.....

[The godly society ‘Olympus’ is silent.]

[The godly society ‘Asgard’ is silent.]

[The godly society ‘Ea’ is silent.]

.....

“Agares!”

[Agares shuts his mouth tightly. He remains silent.]

“S***!”

Yeon-woo was about to burst from frustration. What was it? What went wrong? He definitely had an item and memories.

Why didn’t it work? Didn’t it say he could call any soul from the Beyond?

Or.

‘Is he not in the Beyond?’

Yeon-woo’s back stiffened at the sudden thought. A strange feeling of uneasiness crept down his back.

『......Master.』

“Wait.”

Nemesis had appeared and was looking at Yeon-woo with a concerned face. He also looked flustered at the fact that he couldn’t find his former master too. At the same time, he tried to calm Yeon-woo down, even though it must’ve been a difficult time for him too.

However, Yeon-woo cut him off. Something occurred to him. He didn’t want to be interrupted.

‘There are only two reasons why the summoning wouldn’t work even when all the conditions are satisfied.’n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

One was if the person was alive.

But that wasn’t it. He had sprayed his brother’s ashes in the sea in front of Taejongdae Park himself. The despair and grief he felt was still carved clearly in his heart.

‘The other case is like Benteke’s.’

Benteke’s soul had been destroyed from Poseidon’s forceful descent. In cases like that, the soul was gone, so it couldn’t move onto the Beyond.

Was his brother’s case similar to that? Yeon-woo shook his head. In the last section of the diary, there was nothing like that.

And here, I’ll finish the diary. I believe that if I leave this behind, Hyung will come here someday.

Hyung will be able to find the elixir and get it safely to mom.

It only said that he was waiting for Yeon-woo.

‘And if my hypothesis that the ancient dragon Kalatus sent Jeong-woo to Earth is right..... it really doesn’t make sense.’

Moreover, there was no way the obsessive Agares would’ve stayed still. He would’ve caused a fuss already.

‘Then what is it?’

Yeon-woo’s eyes narrowed.

[Your rationality is being maintained through the ‘Cold-blooded’ trait.]

His heated head began to calm down as the trait activated. Thanks to that, he was able to see things he had missed.

‘No. There’s still one more possibility.’

His eyes flashed.

‘If Jeong-woo’s soul is being held by a higher being or an immortal.’

Or.

If it was trapped in some unknown location.

‘The apostles of gods and demons don’t usually go to the Beyond after they die.’

The apostles of the gods of Asgard all ascended to Valhalla after they died. The apostles of Olympus went to Elysium, and the apostles of L’Infernal became servants of the demons after death and stayed by their sides.

That meant that they didn’t move onto the Beyond. They had no reason to hope for reincarnation.

If his brother was a similar case and was being held somewhere.....

‘I have to find him no matter what.’

His eyes sparked with fury. His brother had faced all kinds of betrayals, pain, and despair. Not being able to be at peace after death? Yeon-woo couldn’t allow that.

‘I have to get to the 50th floor quickly.’

Yeon-woo desperately hoped the ancient dragon Kalatus would know something.

* * *

After some time passed, Yeon-woo cleared his head again.

‘But if I can’t find any clues there, that’ll be a problem too.’

There was only one thing Yeon-woo could do for the time being.

‘Finding clues.’

Of course, looking for clues related to his brother without any hints was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

But it wasn’t impossible.

‘If I can’t find him, I can make it so I can.’

He had a good method in mind.

‘I have to find clues related to the Black King anyway. Since things turned out like this, I need to go, even if it’s dangerous.’

As his eyes flashed coldly, he pulled something out from subspace. It was a jade mirror that shined brightly.

[Freesia’s Jade Mirror]

Category: Miscellaneous

Rank: A

Summary: A communication drive connected to the mysterious merchant society ‘By the Table.’ Using your Consciousness, you can communicate with a specific person. However, it cannot be used in some locations.

It was what Freesia from By the Table gave before leaving. A communication device that he could use whenever he needed to get in touch with them. Yeon-woo blew his Consciousness into it.

Hwaaa—

The jade bead shined and began to emit a small hologram in the air.

The screen wavered like it was adjusting to the frequency and soon took the form of a human.

『Ack! What the f...... Goodness! Who’s this?! Isn’t this the push.... I mean my beloved customer? Why have you suddenly contacted this lowly soul after not reaching out with any news for such a long time? I didn’t even know you were alive!』

Atran was surprised when the device was suddenly connected to Yeon-woo and quickly put on a bright smile, rubbing his hands together. However, the tone of his words was mocking Yeon-woo.

He was discontent because Yeon-woo hadn’t contacted him for over a year after their contract with By the Table.

The contract with Freesia was for her to support the new clan Yeon-woo would make with anything she could help with. With Atran in charge of this, he rapidly rose to the highest ranks of the mysterious merchants. That was how high By the Table’s prestige was.

And during that time, Atran efficiently took care of everything that was assigned to him.

It could be proved by the fact that Boo and Brahm didn’t have any delays while constructing the Outer Space.

However, Atran was bored to death. It wasn’t his style to sit still at a desk and take care of work.

He enjoyed the thrill of the front lines, and he was sick of the simple deskwork.

‘The Hoarder is the symbol of incidents, commotion, and messes! But why hasn’t he called me once all this time?!’

Atran seemed to want to shout. He had been pent up in an alcove all this time, but he knew about the war between Yeon-woo and Triton. Even about Benteke’s, no, Poseidon’s defeat.

But upon seeing that Yeon-woo’s eyes through the screen weren’t normal, he shut his mouth.

At the same time, he shouted happily to himself internally. He didn’t know what had bothered Yeon-woo, but it seemed like an even greater event than the war with Triton would happen soon.

‘It might be comparable to the Summer Queen incident.’

Times of confusion were the best opportunity to earn money. Atran wet his lips.

『Please speak. Is there anything you would like?』

“I want to ask for some information.”

『What is it?』

“The three Cyclops brothers.”

『......?』

Atran tilted his head for a moment. He was always up to date with information about the Tower, but he had never heard about any players or clans called Cyclopes. Then, he remembered something, and his eyes widened.

『By the three Cyclops brothers, are you talking about the blacksmiths who gave Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades their weapons in the legends of Olympus.....?』

“Right. I need information on them. And their locations if possible.”

Atran shut his lips close together and frowned.

『We, By the Table, may be a Union with deep history and tradition, but it’s difficult to know about the traces of old legends and.....』

“Will three Yaltabao Chests do the trick?”

Atran bowed deep enough for his head to touch the ground.

『I’ll serve you to the best of my abilities, sir!』

“I heard that the three Cyclops brothers moved towards Persephone’s temple 200 years ago. You might be able to find something if you start from there, so start from there.”

『You even have good information like that! As expected of you, sir!』

“If possible, I’d also like information about Hades too.”

『What kind of ......?』

“Anything recent. If he took in any apostles or if anyone has any messages or anything from him. That will suffice.”

Atran’s worried face turned bright. As a player who didn’t get to the 98th floor, it would be hard to look for information related to gods, but this much could be found with By the Table’s connections.

“Also, if the news is brought to me quickly, I’ll add a bonus.”

『I’ll come back as soon as I can! How can I possibly make our beloved customer wait?』

With those words, the hologram of Atran disappeared. It was so he could earn as much money as possible.

Yeon-woo silently placed Freesia’s Jade Mirror down and thought to himself.

‘The three Cyclops brothers. If it’s true that their apostle entered the hidden stage of the 30th floor, I need to find him as quickly as possible.’

The only people able to explain the bracelet and the sabaton while all the gods and demons were being quiet were the three Cyclops brothers.

If he could learn the identity of the Black King or know about the exact method to use Despair and Grief.

No, if he could find where Hades’s holy artifact, the Kynee, was and have the entire set.

If he could control ‘Death’ even better.

‘I might be able to find clues related to Jeong-woo.’

He had to have the power of the Black King.

Until Atran returned, Yeon-woo sat down and waited silently.