As if they had been waiting for him, a group of guards that the Saber God had left to protect his son attacked him. But Yeon-woo had already noticed their presence. He simultaneously used Shunpo to escape and Heaven Wing Mana Control to input magic power into Vigrid.

He swung the sword around, lighting up Holy Fire along the blade’s edge. A series of soft explosions split the air and the guards’ heads exploded. It was an efficient strike that made the mercenaries looking on widen their eyes.

They knew that the Saber God wouldn’t have chosen ordinary guards, and it was a shock to see Yeon-woo take care of them so easily. He seemed stronger than an average semi-ranker. However, to Yeon-woo, this wasn’t unusual since he had absorbed the power of Four Legendary Beasts and almost finished his Draconic Body. It would be worrying if his power hadn’t increased from his improved Eight Extreme Fists and Heaven Wing Mana Control.

Yeon-woo casually turned away and entered the thirteenth room. Beyond the blackened corpses, was another door, which he flung open. A scent entered his nose. Yeon-woo frowned. ‘Drugs?’

***

“Hmmm-hmmm.” Laplace hummed a song as he entered through a portal. Multiple Guardians turned to look at him then went back to their work, thinking he was just behaving normally. Laplace was always in a state of excitement, which gave his subordinates a difficult time. When he was excited, it was best to just avoid meeting his eyes.

Laplace walked past the Guardians into his office, but his humming stopped as soon as he caught sight of the person sitting in his chair. His eyes narrowed. “Yvlke. What are you doing here?” If Lapalace had to pick one person in the world he struggled with, it would be Yvlke.

Yvlke pushed his glasses up and chuckled lightly. “Ohyohyo. I was just passing by and noticed your office, so I came inside. I heard a fun rumor.”

Laplace tsked to himself. The old geezer never let anything go. It was said that he didn’t interfere with business outside of the Tutorial and the Beginner Zone, but it seemed like Yvlke had eyes everywhere.

The old man never seemed to take an interest in anything and didn’t even bat an eye at big incidents. So, why was he so interested in this? Laplace had to hide his emotions and calmly arrange his expression so that the monocled geezer wouldn’t see anything suspicious.

Yvlke said slowly, “I heard some demon was interested in the lower floors, and a certain Laplace was involved. What do you think of this story?”

***

It was a familiar scent to Yeon-woo. Many of the criminals he had dealt with in Africa had been part of an opium ring, and he’d also caught some of his subordinates doing drugs and kicked them out.

A door slid open, and a teenaged boy stuck his head out, a hand on his chest. “Hm? Who are you, mister? I’ve never seen you before. Hehehe. Well, it doesn’t matter. Where’s the girls? Did you bring any? The ones here are too boring now. Change them for me.”

The room was a mess, and from the appearances of the naked teenager and multiple naked women, it looked as though an orgy had taken place. The women didn’t look like they were in their right minds as they stared groggily at nothing. There was heavy white smoke in the room—an indicator of how much drugs they had taken.

The teenager had a skinny figure and dark circles under his eyes. His well-defined features had fallen in a loose expression, but Yeon-woo still recognized them as looking like the Saber God’s. ‘Hanbin.’ It was the only child of the Saber God.

“Huh? Fuck. Mister, can’t you hear me? Why don’t I see any girls? What’s this? You didn’t bring any?” Hanbin looked Yeon-woo up and down in displeasure, but Yeon-woo ignored him and slowly entered the room.

He crouched down to observe one of the girls. Normally, she would have been quite pretty, but she was drooling with unfocused eyes, and there were bruises and other signs of struggle on her body. “You tied her up and forced her. And you made her take drugs, too. Did you kidnap her or something?”

Yeon-woo’s cold gaze turned towards the door. The frantic priests and Apostles had arrived with pale faces.

“W-wait, we have an explanation!”

“Block the door so no one can enter.”

“Just one chance!”

The mercenaries kicked the Apostles that were trying to enter, growling as though they would cut them with their swords any moment. They had been too uncomfortable to attack anyone at the temple before, but now they didn’t hold back. It was clear that there was no need to.

Only a fool wouldn’t understand the meaning of the torture devices, the marks left on the girls, and the signs of intercourse. Even mercenaries who stopped at nothing to get what they wanted had a line they didn’t cross.

“Hey! Who the fuck are you? Why are you touching my stuff? Do you want to die? Huh?” Hanbin shouted at Yeon-woo, not realizing what was going on.

“Bring him here.”

The senior officers of Team 2, Dylan and June, forced Hanbin out. His face fell as he screamed, “Ahh! Let go! Let me go! Do you know who I am—!” He passed out when a hand chopped him on the back of his head.

Yeon-woo shook his hand lightly, and Holy Fire burned up the white smoke and sucked up the effects of the drugs on the girls. ‘Saber God. His love for his son made him blind.’ He had an idea how things had turned out this way. Hanbin had struggled through his entire life because of his disability and ended up turning to drugs for escape. As his resistance increased, he had also started increasing his intake. After that, he had turned to sex for the feeling of euphoria, and then kidnapping and trafficking had easily followed.

Even the Skuld temple wouldn’t have been able to interfere since it was the Saber God’s son. They didn’t know what would happen to them if they refused to listen to his orders, and they had to hide these atrocities.

But where did these girls come from? Kidnapping them would have produced rumors, so they were probably devotees of the goddesses. ‘A temple that uses its followers as sex slaves. Crazy bastards.’

They had been colluding with Hanbin, taking advantage of the fact that the Three Norns couldn’t physically interfere.

“Uhm.”

“W-where…is...this...?”

He made sure the girls came back to their senses before leaving with the mercenaries in tow. Hanbin followed, bouncing up and down on Dylan’s back. The priests and Apostles trembled. The believers were shouting at them as though the news had already spread.

The high priest was glaring at Yeon-woo. He’d fallen from his lofty perch to the bottom, and news of what happened would spread to the rest of the Tower for certain. The reputation of the Three Norns would also be affected.

Yeon-woo smiled, knowing that the reputation of Saber God and the Cheonghwado would fall along with them. The high priest glowered, thinking that Yeon-woo was laughing at him, but Yeon-woo ignored him and ripped the ticket. Soon, as he passed through a red portal with the rest of the mercenaries, the familiar eleventh floor base of Red Dragon came to view.

“Oraboni.”

“Hyung-nim, you’re back already? I can tell you’ve made a big mess again!”

Edora and Phante, who had been waiting for him, stood up. Bahal, who had been waiting in a corner, also got to his feet with an amused expression. He approached Yeon-woo, his eyes on Hanbin. “Is it this guy?”

Yeon-woo nodded. “Yes.”

“Yes, it’s pretty obvious. He looks exactly like the Saber God. If he grows a few wrinkles, he could pass for the Saber God! Haha!” Bahal laughed. He’d gotten this ace without even lifting a finger, and he was feeling very invigorated. ‘Meeting Cain this year was the greatest stroke of luck. I had my doubts, but a trump card has really come my way.’

The Summer Queen was hoping to use Leonte’s stone as a replacement for her damaged Dragon Heart, but he had to make sure everything was in order to lure Leonte out. He’d told the Summer Queen his plans and just barely got her approval. ‘If my guess is correct, Leonte’s stone is still incomplete. If there was a way to complete it, even that suspicious bastard would come running.’ He secretly prepared the materials to finish the stone and was going to let rumors about them slip out as a bait for Leonte, who had a strange obsession with the stone.

However, there had been a weakness in his plan: Leonte was suspicious of Red Dragon and Bahal, and so he wouldn’t do anything drastic unless he was absolutely sure. Bahal had been searching for a way to push Leonte, and now the Saber God’s son had fallen into his lap.

The Saber God would do the pushing for him. With Hanbin in his hands, the Saber God would be his marionette. Of course, the Saber God might decide to prioritize the Cheonghwado over his child, but Bahal suspected that this wouldn’t be the case. If the single-minded Saber God would even share his magic to protect his son, that meant his love for his son surpassed his obsession with martial arts and his clan. “Let’s wake him up first.”

A senior soldier who had been waiting for his command slapped Hanbin’s face twice, leaving red marks. Hanbin’s eyes shot open. He couldn’t figure out what was going on, so he began to shout, “I’m going to tell my dad and he’s going to kill—!” However, he stopped talking as soon as his eyes met Bahal’s. The daze brought on by the drugs completely dissipated as he felt a stab of fear. He instinctively knew that the person in front of him could kill him as though he were little more than an ant. Even his father, who was among the strongest in the Tower, would have a hard time dealing with him.

He finally realized where he was when he saw the banner over their heads with the crest of Red Dragon. He was in the middle of enemy territory.

“So, you can read people like your dad. You’re not completely retarded.”

Bahal saw Hanbin’s fear-stricken face and laughed at the confirmation. “Since you’re pretty quick to understand the situation, you probably know what I’m about to do. Right?” A cruel smile appeared on Bahal’s face. “First, let’s start with the pinky finger on your left hand. How’s that?”

***

Yeon-woo looked at Bahal silently. The oil had been poured. Now, it was time for the fire to spread.

***

“O-oh…H-Hanbin!”

When the Saber God heard that Red Dragon had destroyed Skuld’s temple, he thought the sky had fallen on him. His son was the only reminder of the woman who had approached him when he’d already believed he would never have a single woman in his lifetime. And that son had been taken by his enemy, Red Dragon.

He wanted to find his son. He didn’t know where he was, but he planned to search everywhere with his iron box, and even give up his life if necessary. However, as soon as he went to get his iron box, a tiny box appeared in his tent with a letter that said, “If you want to find your son, bring the stone.”

Although it was just one sentence, the Saber God had no idea what it meant. His mind went numb as he opened the box with a trembling hand. Inside was something he’d never imagined he’d see: a pinky finger that looked like his son’s.

For the first time in his life, the Saber God shrieked in horror.