[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 402

After Jeong-hoon departed, Argael rose to return to the chapel to begin the extraction process.

But Maight stopped him.

“Father, please wait a moment.”

“Tch, what now?”

Argael’s crooked tone made Maight falter for an instant, but he soon spoke the words he had prepared.

“Do you have the key, Father?”

The key—he meant the one to the lock on the sealed box he had handed over to the outsider just moments ago.

“You catch on quickly. How did you figure it out?”

Indeed, Argael held the key. Even when Jeong-hoon had asked about its whereabouts, the angel had kept his mouth tightly shut.

“Would you entrust that key to me?”

“And why should I do that?”

“I wish to hand it over to our benefactor.”

“Hmph. That’s for me to decide, not you. Keep your nose out of it. More importantly—don’t you have the Fragment of the Beginning?”

“The Fragment of the Beginning…? What’s that?”

“The three fragments you obtained when you first received that chest.”

“Ah, those. I had intended to give them to our benefactor once he succeeded and returned.”

Maight had no greed in his heart.

Handing over the chest had been his way of repaying the kindness shown to him, and he had planned to keep the fragments safe until Jeong-hoon finished the monster hunt.

But how did this so-called priest even know he possessed them?

Suspicion flickered in Maight’s eyes.

“Tch, I’m the one who told you how to set up the barrier. The Most Holy God revealed it to me. You think it’s strange that I also know you hold the fragments, and that I was told to have you pass them to that outsider?”

“…Then why are you so unbearably rude?”

“Got a problem with it? If you don’t like it, take a swing at me.”

“I won’t waste my breath… Anyway, I’ll make sure to tell our benefactor that you hold the key.”

“Oh? Watch your tongue.”

“You spoke curtly first.”

“Ha… damn it. This is why NPCs should never be given free will.”

“NPC…?”

For a moment, Maight’s face showed only confusion.

“Tch. Forget it. Just send him to me when he returns. And don’t forget to hand over those fragments.”

* * *

At that very moment.

Jeong-hoon’s blade split open the belly of a Mutant Giant Tiger.

“Guaahhhk!”

The level 540 beast collapsed in helpless agony.

“Kill the human!”

“Attack together!”

With one of their own slain, more Mutant Giant Tigers surged forward, surrounding Jeong-hoon.

As creatures modeled after tigers, they normally lived solitary lives.

But against an opponent of another league entirely, they instinctively understood they had to combine their strength.

Of course—even combined, they were no match for Jeong-hoon.

Shhhk!

Each time Jeong-hoon swung his sword, more corpses piled up, and it took barely ten minutes to wipe them all out.

“Mikael.”

It was the first time he had called his name since the regression.

“Yes, Master.”

Though Mikael was sulking from having been ignored for so long, now wasn’t the time to bring it up.

“Extract the blood from the monsters I’ve killed.”

“Their blood?”

“Yeah. Don’t leave a drop behind—fill it up completely.”

“Uh… and where should I store it?”

“Here. In this glass bottle.”

Jeong-hoon tossed him a bottle.

It wasn’t an ordinary glass container, but an artifact capable of storing up to 100,000,000 liters.

And as expected of an artifact, even when filled to capacity, its weight didn’t change.

“After all this time, you summon me for this…?”

“You wouldn’t be able to handle these monsters with your current strength anyway.”

Since being materialized, Mikael had grown tremendously.

With that level of power, he should have been able to hunt here—

[Mikael]

Level: 2,200

Wait—what? Why is his level like this?

“Master, I am your vassal. Of course I regressed along with you.”

“Ah, I see.”

Since Mukho and Anima had retained their Ultimate rank even after regression, it made sense that Mikael and Fenrir would be the same.

But their levels had nearly halved.

Before the regression, Mikael’s level had been close to 4,000.

“When Master’s power is fully restored, mine will recover as well.”

“Okay. That works out, then.”

At level 2,200, Mikael could easily deal with the monsters of Arandis.

Jeong-hoon then summoned Fenrir.

[Fenrir]

Level: 2,312

Fenrir’s level too was in the 2,300 range.

“Master, it’s been a while since you’ve called on me.”

“Yeah. But more importantly, there’s something I need you to do.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll be hunting these mutant monsters and collecting their blood.”

“Ah, hunting? That’ll be easy.”

“Exactly. At your level, not only is it possible, it’ll be effortless.”

“…You ignored me until now, and this is the task you give me.”

Mikael muttered under his breath, but Jeong-hoon brushed it off.

“Mikael, the blood extraction will be entirely your responsibility.”

“Me?!”

“Yeah. There’s only one artifact bottle.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to have Fenrir handle it…?”

“It’s faster if you do it yourself.”

Fenrir was a Divine Beast.

Given his massive size, it would’ve been nearly impossible for him to hold a bottle small enough to fit in a human hand and pour blood into it.

“…Ahem, well, that’s true.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Should I fill the whole 100,000,000 liters?”

“Yeah.”

100,000,000 liters.

The capacity was so immense that the artifact had been incredibly hard to obtain.

If Jeong-hoon had done it alone, it would’ve taken an enormous amount of time.

But with Fenrir’s hunting ability combined with Mikael’s necromancy, the process would be drastically shortened.

“Understood!”

“Yes, Master!”

Fenrir and Mikael shouted enthusiastically as they began their hunt.

* * *

Three days.

For three days and nights, Jeong-hoon hunted without rest, finally filling the artifact with the full 100,000,000 liters.

He had stopped counting the kills midway through, but at this point, the amount of blood collected would be more than enough to safeguard an entire village.

“You’ve both done well.”

Jeong-hoon used Divine Healing on Mikael and Fenrir, washing away their fatigue.

“Master, may we hunt a bit more before returning?”

“Hunt?”

“Yes. If we return now, we’ll have nothing to do but sit idle… we’d like to burn off just a little more energy before going back.”

“…Fair enough. After three days of nonstop work, you’ve earned that much.”

“Thank you!”

“But remember—once I log out, you’ll be forced back automatically. You’ll have to accept that.”

“Yes, Master!”

After sending Mikael and Fenrir off, Jeong-hoon headed straight for Maint’s house.

“Oh, you’re back quickly.”

“Yes. Once I got into the rhythm of the hunt, it finished sooner than expected.”

“Wha… You’re saying you culled 100,000 monsters in just three days?”

“I can’t say for certain it was exactly 100,000, but it should be more than enough.”

Maint was left utterly dumbfounded.

Three days.

It was far too short a time to slaughter 100,000 monsters.

Yet this man had done just that—or something close to it.

‘Is he really even human?’

To Maint’s eyes, Jeong-hoon seemed more like a being who had transcended humanity.

“…Take this.”

Maint pulled out three fragments from his robes and handed them to Jeong-hoon.

“These are Primordial Fragments?”

“You recognize them?”

“Yes. I already have a few of them.”

“Heh… I see.”

“Still, thank you. For me, the more of these I have, the better.”

Jeong-hoon gave a faint smile.

“Much appreciated. But about that priest… don’t you think he’s a bit too rude?”

“Really?”

“Yes. After you left, here’s what happened…”

After hearing everything from Maint, Jeong-hoon immediately headed to the chapel.

Inside, alongside Argael, there was a middle-aged man in a robe.

===

[NPC Information]

Nickname: Fram

Level: 350

Class: Alchemist (Crafting)

===

He was an alchemist at level 350.

“…You mean you lied?”

In front of Maint, Argael had claimed he could extract the material himself and mix it into the paint.

“Ahem, well, I still have an angel’s pride. I couldn’t exactly admit I couldn’t do it there, could I?”

“Fine. Just take this and hand over the key.”

“The key?”

Argael tilted his head, feigning innocence.

The look on his face—pretending not to know a thing—made Jeong-hoon’s fist tighten, but he restrained himself for the moment.

“Yeah. I heard everything from Maint.”

“That damned bastard…”

“If you don’t want to die, hand it over.”

Jeong-hoon crooked a finger at him.

“W-well… if you grant me just one request…”

“Fine. But after that, you die.”

At Jeong-hoon’s voice, thick with killing intent, even the alchemist clutching the glass bottle shuddered.

“A-alright! I’ll just give it to you!”

Only then did Argael reluctantly extend the key.

Thud!

The moment Jeong-hoon received it, he slammed his fist into Argael’s face.

“Aaagh!”

Argael’s head snapped to the side, his balance lost as he toppled over.

“See how easy it is when you just hand it over?”

Damn bastard really rubbed him the wrong way.

‘Master, why not just kill him?’

‘Even so, you can’t just kill an angel carelessly.’

Mukho and Anima were divided in their opinions.

“It’s better to ask the Archangel first, then decide whether or not to kill him.”

Jeong-hoon muttered under his breath. At that, Argael’s body trembled.

“M-my apologies! The truth is, I was ordered to only hand over this key once the Arandis questline was 50% complete!”

Argael quickly straightened his posture and pressed his forehead to the floor.

“Was it an order from the Archangel?”

“Y-yes…”

“Watch yourself.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jeong-hoon turned and left the chapel.

Now, all that remained was to open the chest and obtain the next Orchestrator’s Box.

[You need a key to unlock ???’s lock.]

[You possess the key.]

[Would you like to unlock the lock?]

“Unlock.”

[The lock has been released.]

The moment the lock disengaged and Jeong-hoon opened the chest, radiant particles burst upward like a fountain, just as they had with the pendant, before forming the shape of a portal.

[???]

Once again, its information could not be read.

Jeong-hoon stepped into the portal.

[Transferring…]

* * *

[You have entered ???.]

There was no information, but the place was familiar.

Pillars of pure white supported the ceiling, and the walls and floor were made of solid gold—a beautiful space.

It was the very same place where he had once encountered Michael.

‘So, who will be waiting for me this time?’

With curiosity, he walked forward.

And there, standing ahead, an angel awaited him.

===

[NPC Information]

Nickname: Gabriel

Level: X

Class: Archangel

===

“You’ve arrived.”

Like Michael, Gabriel was an Archangel.

He greeted Jeong-hoon with a benevolent voice.

“Yes. I’ve come to receive the next Orchestrator’s Box.”

“Is that so? I hear you received the Divine Pill from Michael. But you didn’t consume it, I see.”

“I was able to gain recognition from the Orchestration without taking it.”

“Bold of you. I suppose now I understand why you were chosen by the God.”

“Chosen?”

Jeong-hoon tilted his head. Gabriel, as if realizing he had slipped, covered his mouth with his hand and laughed.

“My apologies. That’s not something that should be spoken of yet.”

“…You’re doing this on purpose, just to make me curious, aren’t you?”

“Well, maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

“So, where’s the next Orchestrator’s Box?”

“To be honest, I was planning to hand it over directly… but the fact that you forced your way in here by snatching the key is something I cannot overlook.”

Gabriel stroked his chin in thought.

At that, Jeong-hoon let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“Wasn’t this supposed to be urgent?”

“Hm?”

“Didn’t you want me to open the gates to the Demon Realm as soon as possible?”

“If that were the priority, wouldn’t you be focusing on recovering quickly and becoming stronger?”

Gabriel smiled faintly.

“So you’re saying I need to take a test?”

“Correct.”

As he spoke, a pure white chest appeared before him.

Not just one—six of them in total.

“Six?”

“Yes. I’ve already collected them all from the others.”

However he had done it, it meant Gabriel had gathered the chests from the five other Archangels.

“…So it was urgent after all.”

“Heh. Think what you will. So then—what is your answer?”

There was no need to hesitate.

“What’s the content of the test?”

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]