Special Operations Commander Derek Baldwin couldn’t comprehend the current situation.
He sighed in disbelief and echoed the question.
“Hidden strength?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Are you sure about this? No mistakes?”
“It’s certain.”
Derek Baldwin was at a loss for words.
At first, it was just curiosity.
Blackmore, a place that even the royal family had neglected for decades, and the news that a lowly official managed this magical realm on their own raised questions.
Thus, he immediately voiced his objection to the Chancellor.
“—If the fellow were a regular lowly official, I’d say.”
The Chancellor subtly dropped a hint about the man.
Luke Richter is not a regular lowly official—was the only information shared.
Honestly, it was hard to believe.
With all the information and secrets he handled within the Royal Direct Special Operations Department, it was shocking that Commander Baldwin himself knew so little about Richter.
Therefore, he simply issued an order to verify the truth.
“The Dark Wolf, Celestial Apex Team, Sentinel, Blood Fang, and Revenant…you’re telling me their bodies were all found in front of his office?”
“Yes, all were ranked as ‘Monster’ class and above.”
“One slash and they split in half? Do you really think that’s reasonable?”
“But, there were no other marks found other than the clean cuts.”
“…”
Silence fell.
The clean-cut halves of the monster corpses were merely evidence of Rudine’s one-sided slaughter, but there was no reason to reveal her existence.
As misapprehensions grew one after another, the commander silently staring at the man finally responded briefly.
“…There’s something.”
A moment later, his lips curved into a smirk.
Honestly, he hadn’t expected much, but once he dug deeper, there were more than just a few suspicious points.
There was no way to estimate just how much and what he was hiding.
Proof was necessary—that this man would indeed be a useful card.
And, while satisfying his curiosity.
“Security?”
“No issues.”
A nod.
He gestured carelessly in response.
“This case will be put on hold for now.”
“Understood.”
“You’re dismissed.”
And that was it.
After the man bowed and left the room, Derek was left alone in the office, a faintly wistful smile crossing his face.
“The Richter Viscount family…”
He smiled faintly while looking out the window and muttered.
“I should probably start investigating them first.”
Elsewhere…
“Hmm.”
I tightly gripped the stone in my hand.
It was the stone imbued with the Rune of Time, gifted to me by Adina.
“Mind you, I don’t know how to use it either.”
The forthright Adina prefaced her gift.
I ignored her.
After all, I already knew how to use runes.
“Rudine.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Step back for a moment.”
I put some distance between Rudine and myself.
I then started to draw on the little mana I had, intending to absorb the rune.
The low hum quickly grew as a wave of mana spun around and slowly began to be absorbed into the stone.
‘This is the important part.’
Runes don’t grant immediate powers but are impossible to absorb through conventional means.
Since embedding the primordial language imbued with divine essence into a mortal body inherently defies the cause and effect of the world.
‘It needs to be twisted.’
With a great roar, mana surged, and an advanced metaphysical suggestion emanated from my fingertips.
It was karma.
The forgotten divine sin that twists causality through language.
As all things in existence submerged into the subconscious and when the primordial imagery reacted to the will of the world…
“I absorb karma.”
I softly whispered the incantation.
In an instant, like ink spreading on water, space bloomed into a radiant white dawn.
In the immense pressure of time, everything moved slower.
Soon after…
[O pilgrim carrying the karma, pay tribute to the price of sin.]
The splitting voice pierced the eardrums, resonating directly in the brain.
‘Starting.’
The primordial language, runes.
This was supposedly the language capable of holding the forgotten greatness of the divine—anyway, to absorb this, a corresponding cost was necessary.
That cost.
“I abandon my mana.”
In an instant, I clearly proclaimed the predetermined answer.
The reason I chose to sacrifice mana was simple: when absorbing a rune, losing mana incurs the least side effects.
‘Not like I had much mana anyway.’
If someone was born with excessive innate mana, they might feel wronged, but I was the exception, having merely a meager mana capacity since birth.
Plus, absorbing runes results in the creation of the special resource known as imagery, so there was no reason to be fixated on mana.
After a brief moment—
As the vision that had turned stark white returned gradually, I realized Rudine and Adina were staring at me in shock.
The runes that were writhing in my palm had been absorbed into my body.
And, on the right side of my lower eye,
An imprint resembling a tattoo of the runes had formed.
Chirp chirp!
Lifting my head, I caught sight of a sparrow flying in the sky.
To confirm the results, I extended my hand toward the sky.
Instead of empty mana, a describable energy gathered at my fingertips, weak beyond belief and even less than my originally small mana capacity.
But…
“Acceleration.”
The moment I incanted the words, the gathered energy streaked and pierced through the sparrow.
“Reverse.”
It stopped.
Or rather, slowed down to a near halt.
It wasn’t just the sparrow; falling leaves, floating dust, swirling winds—all that came into contact with the gathered energy slowed down under the immense pressure of time.
‘The radius is too short.’
Clearly, it was an incredible ability, but the range was far too small.
The duration was obviously short too.
Although its potential was boundless, I clicked my tongue in disappointment.
“Earlier, what exactly…”
“…”
The sight of phenomena defying the natural laws had filled the two girls’ eyes with horror.
After absorbing the rune…
“Um, excuse me?”
Adina, who had been following, grabbed the hem of my sleeve.
Then, she asked anxiously.
“I’m part of your group now, right?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Can I ask you something, then?”
I briefly pondered it but nodded since we’d also gained a treasure thanks to her.
“What is it?”
“Who exactly are you?”
“Who?”
She tilted her ears forward curiously and nodded.
It was strange that a human lived here in this magical realm, but above all, the skill you had displayed a moment ago was definitely not something ordinary people could do.
And yet, out of commemoration for joining the group, she asked—
“Guardian.”
“Huh?”
The answer caused Adina’s eyebrows to furrow.
“Are you the royal family’s pet?”
“That stings, but…”
“Isn’t a guardian supposed to be here?”
“Yeah, I’m the manager.”
“…Manager?”
Of course, Adina tilted her head, clearly confused.
“Are there really managers in a place like this?”
“They’re new.”
“Then, what about these creatures?”
“Creatures?”
Adina pointed with her fingertip at Rudine.
“It’s weird. How can a human aura be so ferocious?”
That was a rather unexpected observation.
Rudine frowned at being spoken about.
“How is a fox talking like a human not weirder?”
“Well, yeah…”
Adina hesitated but soon stopped as her silver tail bristled up indignantly.
“Are you done talking?”
“Hey, look. The fox is too much like a human. So timid.”
“Come to think of it…”
I nodded in agreement, and her face flushed red.
“Coward.”
“…”
“Chicken.”
“…”
“Thief.”
“Ugh…!”
The childish squabble went on for quite a while.
Though I’d like to watch more, we had places to be.
“Stop it.”
I halted them.
We had arrived at the entrance of our destination, the maze-like Tartajan Cave, hiding behind the forest.
“…Is this our destination?”
Hiding behind me, Adina asked while her ears perked up.
I nodded casually and moved forward.
“Something sinister…”
As she had noted, a strange, chilling energy surrounded the cave.
In contrast to the bright outdoors, it was eerily dark and unsettling inside the cave.
Though this space appeared quite suspicious…
“Follow me.”
“Okay.”
“Ugh…”
There was no time to waste here.
I intended to quickly complete the exploration and return to the office to write a report.
The lamp I’d prepared beforehand lit the cave, illuminating the space previously covered in darkness.
“…”
There were no immediate dangers.
It was simply dark, cold, and a space that felt like it could drive one mad.
I continued walking, contemplating, when something emerged beyond the enveloping darkness.
“I found it.”
It was an altar.
Judging by the blood markings carved into it, it was undoubtedly artificially constructed.
It was quite eerie to be seeing something I’d only read in novels.
But I couldn’t stop.
As I continued walking, Ludine pointed something out.
“…A book?”
In the center of the altar stood a stone pedestal, on which rested a worn-out book.
But what was alarming was that the book’s cover…
“…Human skin.”
Definitely human skin.
It was utterly chilling, but I already knew what this was.
‘The Book of Pindal.’
Known as a banned book, it was a cursed tome carrying madness. Reading it contaminated souls, revealing their ugliest natures.
Under normal circumstances, you’d avoid it, but to enter the deeper chambers of the maze, it was essential to read this.
However, there was a problem.
You needed a high-ranking practitioner of incantations to handle the spell of the Book of Pindal.
But…
“Rudine.”
“Yes?”
“Go and read it.”
“Yes!”
I didn’t need such formalities.
With Rudine’s soul already so thoroughly corrupted by the stars of a thousand deaths, reading another cursed book wouldn’t make much of a difference.
As expected…
“I’m finished.”
The moment she finished and closed the cursed tome,
“!!!”
Grrrrong!
The ground shook, and the sealed entrance revealed itself.
