âNone can hide from me on the surface, especially if theyâre strong. But that wasnât the case with you. I formed several hypotheses, but none of them fit. Of them, there was only one remaining possibility: that you came from a place beyond my gaze. And that means you either came from another world or the undergroundâŚâ
âHoh, what an interesting deduction.â
âYou may think that youâre the only hero here, but God has brought several heroes here from other worlds.â
No, he already knew that. After all, there were two other heroes on the surface right now!
âBut unfortunately, Godâs summoning magic is too conspicuous. After the golem network was created, I would find and kill any hero summoned on the surface, unless one of Godâs apostles secretly descended into the world.â
Wait a sec⌠The surface, not the underground? This is the first time heâd heard about it. So God had sent heroes to the surface rather than the underground in the past? Why? In order to defeat the Magic Emperor, who assumed complete control over the Empire?
Of course, just looking at the Emperor gave him some idea. The Underground Empire wasnât the only problem. Both the surface and the underground had their fair share of problems!
âHoo.â
The Emperor noticed that Lee Shin Woo was beginning to listen, sported a disgusting smile fit for a middle-aged man, and continued.
âGod can no longer send heroes to the surface. Thus, you came from underground. Moreover, the barrier doesnât allow the living to pass through it, so you must be undead. But if you were one of the undergroundâs undead, then you wouldnât have been able to leaveâŚâ
âMmâŚâ
Wait a sec. What he was saying was largely contradictory. On the outside, Lee Shin Woo acted calm, but he was actually quite shocked.
âThe hell is this guy saying?â
Letâs say that the Emperor was talking about the barrier under the assumption that Lee Shin Woo came from the underground.
But what did he mean after that? If he were one of the undergroundâs undead, then he couldnât have come out? Why not? They had gone through the trouble of turning themselves into the undead to pass through the barrier, so why couldnât they leave?
But the Emperor spoke firmly and voiced his conclusion as if he were putting an end to Lee Shin Wooâs many questions.
âSo I thought about it. If God wanted to nurture a hero without being noticed by me, then she would call them underground and transform them into an undead so that they could go through the barrier! Am I right? Undead hero!â
ââŚPhew.â
âHoo. Not so relaxed now, hmm.â
Of course he wouldnât be. Since it was so laughable! That probably wasnât Godâs plan when she made him an undead! Heâd gotten it all wrong, yet heâd still come to the right conclusion: that he was an undead hero. Lee Shin Woo couldnât suppress his admiration.
Whereas, the Emperor, who couldnât know what he was thinking, raised a hand towards Lee Shin Woo and stretched out his fingers (Lightning Bind, which restrained Lee Shin Wooâs movements, got even tighter). Then, he smiled in satisfaction.
âYou fooled me with that disguise ability of yours⌠I acknowledge it. Itâs impressive enough that even I cannot replicate it, but you were much too rash and arrogant. Thatâs why you failed.â
ââŚIâd like to ask one last thing. How do you plan on killing me? I donât know what you think of me, but Iâm the one who killed that divine bird. You wonât be able to kill me through trivial means.â
âHoo. Youâre still bluffing, even though you canât even move a finger due to my Lightning Bind.â
The Emperor smiled and refuted him. He mustâve thought what Lee Shin Woo was saying was ridiculous.
âIt was called a divine bird long ago. But it was weakened by my barrier, the parasites, and the undead curse. You think I donât know? That you could barely beat it by sacrificing all the Sun God religionâs paladins and priests?â
âMm.â
As he thought. On the way back to the capital, Lee Shin Woo and the Pope had conversed discreetly. If his abilities were revealed, then the Emperor would be more wary of him than necessary, so they would spread rumors that not only was the divine bird weakened but that the Sun God religion had sacrificed its paladins and priests to defeat it.
Of course, he didnât doubt the Popeâs abilities, but those rumors had reached the Emperor in just one day. Not only that, the Emperor completely fell for it. Did the Evileye General not properly report to him?
No, the Emperor probably thought that she was exaggerating his abilities to save herself, and may not have completely trusted in her report.
âThen that means⌠That innate element, Lightning Bind, was nothing more than the ability to connect himself with someone else whenever he wanted. This means he canât read oneâs mind, see the past, or get notified if something doesnât make sense in his domain.â
Its power was incredible, yes, but compared to his other innate elements, which could affect cause and effect, Lee Shin Woo felt like it was weaker. Was Lee Shin Woo the only one who thought that way? Perhaps the Emperor hadnât even completely mastered the darkness element.
âIt looks perfect, but this guyâs information network is full of holes. Itâs fine, now that I know.â
Then again, the only thing he could interfere with was the status quo, so heâd so diligently created golems and spread them across the Empire. Moreover, it seemed like the Emperor wasnât yet aware that Rem had taken control of those golems, so he couldnât help but laugh.
No one other than Lee Shin Woo couldâve thought up something like this. With this, however, Lee Shin Woo was already above the Emperor. What the Emperor said next was proof of this.
âShall I tell you what the biggest reason you were discovered was? Someone with the strength to match a divine bird couldnât have been so easily ensnared by my ability. Youâre the hero who defeated the divine bird one-on-one when you couldnât even resist my ability and are just waiting for death? Haha, what a funny lie.â
âIf I die here, then itâll become rough on you. You shouldnât look down on the feelings of so many people.â
It wasnât a threat. He wasnât trying to buy time either. He didnât need to anymore anyway. He was just curious. Rumors of the dungeon and the undead curse were spreading throughout the capital, so if Lee Shin Woo were to die, everyone would suspect and hate the Emperor. So what was he thinking?
âThatâs only temporary. Didnât I tell you before? As time passes, the people have no choice but to fall back on the palace, on the absolute Emperor. Without you, the religious order cannot lead people. You⌠must be sacrificed to maintain public order.â
ââŚâ
Another simple answer. This so-called Emperor placed way too much confidence in his power. He was speechless that a guy like this would be brazen enough to utter the word âarrogantâ.
Of course, he possessed such absolute power, which enabled him to control the Empire. Moreover, heâd become a Vampire and thus immortal, so he could understand why the Emperor felt like he had nothing to fear⌠But it seemed like he still hadnât realized it. That nothing lasts forever in the world.
âIf I had my way, I wouldâve destroyed Lawrence as well, but thereâs no way a mere merchant can take your place. There should be no problem with just leaving him be.â
âYou shouldnât look down on Lawrence.â
Since Iâm Lawrence.
âHaha. I donât look down on people. I make my decisions objectively. And if Iâm acting confident, then thereâs only one reason for that. âŚItâs because I am the Emperor who rules over all creation!â
Having said his piece, the Emperor tightly clenched his hand. The large quantity of mana enclosing Lee Shin Woo⌠No, the entire mansion converged onto Lee Shin Woo and exploded!
And as a result, the Emperor⌠or the Evileye General was affected as well. She was dead the moment sheâd picked Lee Shin Woo over the Emperor.
â Saaa
The magic explosion muffled all sound, and the entire mansion was vaporized. In its place, the darkness of the capital flooded in and filled the area to the brim.
The only thing that proved that the Evileye General had been here was her skull⌠and soon, even that melted into the air and disappeared.
[The Wild Card skill has become Lv2. All stats have increased by 30.]
[The Beginner Dark Shadow element has become Lv5. Magic has increased by 20.]
[The Acting skill has become Lv21. Your acting can even fool magic.]
[You have acquired the Lv7 Evileye General, Shurina Von Hegelâs skull.]
âSo in order to fool the Emperor, youâre hosting a hero get-together here?â
Lee Shin Woo smiled at Pleine, who had pushed her head forward over the counter and looked speechless.
âItâs been a while. Itâs nice to see you, Pleine. Haha.â
âItâs nice to see you too⌠Wait a sec! Thatâs not what I want to say!â
âWow. That scary shop ladyâs talking so proudlyâŚ!â
[Was I able to enter because we formed an official contract? Itâs a really interesting space.]
[So Lee Shin Woo, who is that woman!? I sense divinity from her!]
Thatâs right. Lee Shin Wooâs entire party was in the secret shop right now. To be more specific, Lee Shin Woo, whoâd sensed the Emperorâs visit, had sent everyone else to the secret shop. Then, heâd spoken with the Emperor and come to the secret shop after.
âI canât believe you acted in front of the Emperor and managed to fool him.â
âWell, thatâs my karma. Ah, and because he was using the Evileye Generalâs body, he couldnât control his magic perfectly, which is one of the reasons that I could deal with him so easily. That Lightning Bind element or whatnot didnât seem like it was at a very high level either.â
And what were his countless reasons? He had several ways of dealing with the situation, but heâd chosen Wild Card and Dark Shadow this time around. The Emperor said it, didnât he? That there was no way someone powerful enough to fight the divine bird head-to-head wouldnât be able to resist his Lightning Bind.
He was right. The Emperor believed that he was restraining Lee Shin Woo with his Lightning Bind, but what he was actually restraining was Lee Shin Wooâs armor. If Lee Shin Woo had completely understood the Emperorâs innate element, then his armor wouldnât have been restrained by his opponentâs magic either.
âThe next step was easy. When he unleashed that magic explosion, I used Dark Shadow to twist cause and effect, focusing the explosive power onto the Evileye General. I hid my body within the darkness, took the Evileye Generalâs bone, and then came here, to the secret shop.â
When one reaches the peak of the darkness element, doing something like this became possible. Lee Shin Woo waved his hand as if he were bragging. His hand softly melted into the darkness, flickered, and then returned to its original form. Seeing that, Pleine shook even more.
âWhatâs worse, you came without any permits! You shouldnât just come in here whenever you want with the Heaven Doorâs Key!â
âWell, it couldnât be helped. Since I donât have any permits leftâŚâ
When he came to the surface, the Heaven Doorâs Key had eaten all of his permits, and he hadnât gained any on the surface. If Ye Jin Jin didnât have any permits left, then he wouldâve had to use the Heaven Doorâs Key to get them here, but if he did, the Emperor wouldâve known.
âWeâre not going to stay for very long, so just look the other way this time. If I had been properly rewarded for my actions on the surface, then I wouldâve had permits to spare.â
âAh, nothing makes sense anymoreâŚâ
Lee Shin Woo looked at the grief-stricken shop owner and grinned. Then, he suddenly thought of something. The one thing the Emperor had said that had bothered him.
âPleine, Iâd like to ask you something.â
âI canât promise you that Iâll answer it, but go ahead.â
âWhy hasnât the Undead Emperor gone to the surface when he can supposedly go through the barrier by being undead?â
ââŚâ
Pleineâs eyes became empty. Lee Shin Woo spoke even more forcefully.
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âCanât you tell me at least this much? I deserve to hear it.â
ââŚYou should already know the answer to that question, Mr. Shin Woo.â
Pleine responded with a bitter smile. Immediately after, she said something so simple and clear⌠the despondent truth.
âItâs because the undead cannot move forward.â