“Cain?” Heidi called Yeon-woo’s name carefully when she noticed him staring at the spire. There were all kinds of emotions swirling in his eyes: rage, annoyance, hate, and resentment. The intense emotions quickly disappeared but she was still shocked to see them coming from the cold and logical Yeon-woo.

When Yeon-woo turned to look at her, his eyes were already expressionless, and he looked as though he wanted to ask her why she called him. Heidi pulled herself together and shook her head. “I-it’s nothing. You were just so quiet.”

Yeon-woo nodded. “I'm going to look around up there, so stay down here. Also—"

“Yes. I’ll let everyone know not to come this way. Don’t worry.” Heidi guessed what Yeon-woo was about to say, her eyes serious. Yeon-woo nodded and moved past her towards the spire. After watching him for some time, she quickly turned around and sent the players elsewhere. She didn’t hear Yeon-woo clench his teeth and mutter as he entered the spire, “That son of a bitch dared…”

* * *

Yeon-woo was furious. He’d already been holding himself back even before he saw the spire. He was angered to see all traces of his brother gone, but he decided to investigate logically to see if he could find any clues.

Bayluk was one of the best toxicologists in the Tower. He exuded such a poisonous air that someone walking past him would immediately get sick, and he could kill a tree with one breath. Yeon-woo had to be really prepared if he wanted to challenge someone like that. He had the fire property, which was the direct opposite of poison, but Bayluk had strange ones that weren’t affected by any properties at all.

Yeon-woo was going to look in every nook and cranny of the island as he recuperated. If Bayluk had been experimenting with different poisons here, he could learn many things. Just the way the island was organized already gave him a hunch that he would be able to uncover plenty of secrets.

However, where was everyone? He needed to find out why and how they’d left the island. Once he’d regained his composure, Yeon-woo began to sort through all the information he’d found. The spire was where Bayluk resided, and it was impossible for Yeon-woo not to be angry to see Arthia’s symbol on it.

Bayluk had created the poison that had eaten away at his brother’s body, and not only that, he’d also stabbed Jeong-woo in the heart and killed all those who wanted to help. Leonte and Bahal had rebelled and joined other forces, but Bayluk and Vieira Dune were the ones who were truly responsible for Jeong-woo’s fall. He couldn’t believe that someone who didn’t even have the right to say Arthia’s name had placed its symbol on the spire.

Crunch! He wanted to destroy everything on the island, especially the spire. Still, he managed to hold himself back. He didn’t know why Bayluk had put up Arthia’s symbol—perhaps he was mocking Jeong-woo or perhaps he’d just been bored. He couldn’t have meant it as a tribute. However, Yeon-woo had to focus on the matter at hand. ‘There’s no reaction even though there are trespassers on the island.’ Although he had cut off the channel that led to the outside world and destroyed the magical barriers, there was no reaction at all. Bayluk hadn’t acted.

Yeon-woo wondered if he’d abandoned the island, but if that were the case, he would have destroyed it first. There were still documents and unfinished experiments on the island. ‘Something definitely happened.’ Whatever it was, it had also affected Bayluk. ‘Something made him leave his factory as quickly as possible. What could it have been?’

As Yeon-woo asked himself these questions, he walked through the hallways of the spire, passing by different rooms that seemed unimportant. However, a flight of stairs appeared before him, and Yeon-woo began to descend to the basement.

It had been a long time since I’d seen the island, and I was surprised to see that so many things had changed. Now I understood why he left from time to time. He was busy putting this together.

It wasn’t like his brother had never visited the island after giving the coordinates to Bayluk. Occasionally, Bayluk would leave Arthia, and his brother followed him once, out of curiosity. This was the building that Bayluk lived in.

The second floor was for visitors, and the third floor was full of storage rooms and archives. He told me that his experiments took place in a large underground room with a special defensive barrier.

The basement was large and ridiculously complicated. It was pretty much a maze, ugh.

There was a thick iron door at the foot of the stairs. It only unlocked with a special magic password, but Yeon-woo tried to smash the lock with his Magic Bayonet. Clang! The iron door was so sturdy that it wasn’t even scratched. “Tsk.” Yeon-woo clucked his tongue and got ready to swing his Magic Bayonet once more with Consciousness. Black Aura surged, and he left a deep scratch on the door. Boom!

He blew the door apart and saw a hallway ahead of him that turned and twisted like a maze, just as the diary had said. It seemed to have grown even more complex than the maze his brother had seen, and it would be difficult to find his way even with the diary’s instructions. However, Yeon-woo had a way. “Scatter.”

Yeon-woo’s shadow stretched out, and about thirty Guai spread out. Yeon-woo was planning on moving everything he found into Intrenian and letting Boo and Brahm analyze them for him. He felt a bit bad because he was increasing their workload, but it was the best option.

However, Yeon-woo did have a goal. He wanted to find something and take it. ‘Here.’ As he walked down the twisting hallways, he found a door that led to a laboratory filled with flasks and containers.

Yeon-woo left his subordinates to collect those objects, and he headed towards the wall at the far end. When he tapped the wall, it made a hollow sound that indicated that there was something behind it. He turned a book that was beside him, and the wall flipped to reveal a large safe.

“Bingo.” Yeon-woo smashed his Magic Bayonet on the lock. The safe was rigged to self-destruct if it were tampered with, but the Magic Bayonet countered it. Creak!

Inside were ten sealed flasks of different colors.

I was curious why Bayluk’s experiments required an entire island. Although it made sense than an alchemist would need a large space for experiments, and as a toxicologist, he needed to make poison far from people, the fact he needed so much space made it seem like he had a specific goal. It was like my own desperate goal to gain the Elixir.

When I asked him, Bayluk thought deeply for a while before he said, “Divine Human.”

Bayluk didn’t explain any further, and all Jeong-woo could guess was that he was trying to recreate a legend from the world he used to live in. The poisons that he used were part of the process of creating the Divine Human, whatever it was. The flasks in the safe contained the results of the experiments, and they were basically upgraded versions of the Strengthening Potion Yeon-woo had made when he was a part of Red Dragon’s Foreign Legion. ‘But one thing’s for sure.’ Yeon-woo’s eyes flashed. ‘There’s nothing better to strengthen holy power or Divine Factors than this, since it was made to recreate a legend.’

“Boo.”

「Yes...Mas…ter.」 Above his shadow, Boo appeared and bowed.

“Take these and analyze their benefits and possible side effects. Put the ones that aren’t useful somewhere else.”

「Yes…Master.」 Boo took the flasks and returned into the shadow.

‘There’s no way such a wary guy would have left his results like this.’ Yeon-woo guessed that half of the flasks contained poison. Although they appeared to be elixirs, they would melt your body instantly. It was something Bayluk would do.

Just then, the Guai let him know that they had gathered all the items inside the spire. ‘Collect everything else on the island, too.’ They returned into his shadow again. Now that he had gotten what he needed from the island, Yeon-woo slowly stepped out of the room.

* * *

Yeon-woo left the basement and slowly searched the second and third floors. The Guai had taken everything, but it was useful to observe how Bayluk had lived. When he entered the room at the end of the third floor, which was the study, he couldn’t help smirking. There was a glass wall in front of him that showed a view of the River of Souls sparkling in the sunlight.

Yeon-woo thought Bayluk spent all his time in windowless laboratories. “So, he had a normal side to him too, huh?” There was nothing about Bayluk that he liked. He felt an urge to find him and break his neck. It was a good thing that he wasn’t around because Yeon-woo would have turned everything to ruins to kill him, not even caring about his research. Crunch. Yeon-woo ground his teeth again and looked at the Black Bracelet and chains that were suddenly ringing. Urrrng, urrng.

They seemed to be saying something. The fetter around his left ankle also vibrated. Ever since he’d gained the Grief of the Black King, Yeon-woo had felt his connection to the bracelet deepen. He could handle the Guai more smoothly and even the Third Spirit felt different.

It was like he could feel something sticky and dark at his fingertips, something he couldn’t explain. Was it because his understanding of the Despair of the Black King had grown more profound now that he’d found the fetter?

[Azrael looks at you silently.]

Azrael’s gaze had become more intense after Yeon-woo gained the fetter. He was a god of death who definitely knew something about the Black King. Who was the Black King? ‘This side is pretty quiet, though.’

[The godly society remains silent.]

Although the Black Bracelet had consumed Zeus’ Astrape and Poseidon’s Triaina, the Olympians were strangely quiet. Yeon-woo rubbed the fetter with thoughtful eyes.

[Azrael is watching you.]

[Azrael quietly urges you to check the artifact.]

Yeon-woo pushed aside his thoughts and opened the information window of the fetter.