Chapter 309

“Ugh…” a blond man groaned like an animal in the middle of an alley. His pupils were dilated, he could barely move his body, and he was drooling heavily, indicating that he had likely consumed drugs and alcohol both.

“Ughh….” the man continued to sob, longing for something to fill his emptiness.

Ultimately, the man retrieved a bottle from his chest pocket in a besotted fashion.

“Ugh…” It was a vial of God’s Tears. Believing it was the only thing that could fill his emptiness, he drank the entire bottle.

“Ackkk!” His already dilated pupils distended a bit more, and his heart began beating with newfound zeal. Finally feeling alive, the man lolled down on the ground.

Someone approached him and clicked his tongue, “Tsk, tsk.”

The man walked out of the darkness but didn’t show himself. He looked around before raising something in his hand.

Whir.

With a white brilliance, that something vibrated for a while before emitting an energy wave.

“I guess he wasn’t being tailed, at least,” the man muttered. The vibrating item was a feather. If someone nearby were targeting him, it would’ve turned orange.

“Now… You’ll get holy water today.” The man put the feather back in his pocket and took away the bottle from the man on the ground. He then replaced it with another bottle. The intoxicated man could barely move, yet when he felt the new bottle, he quickly grabbed it and put it in his chest pocket.

“Ugh….”

“Good job.” the man with the feather smiled.

Just then, a bright light burst all around him.

“…!” The feather in his chest suddenly began glowing, and before he could do anything, it left his pocket and floated into someone else’s hand. The original owner of the feather tried to turn around, but it was too late. Strangers had already surrounded him.

“Too late,” one of the men announced.

Another man, holding the orange feather, muttered, “This is…”

A moment later, the orange feather crumbled and disappeared, making the original owner gasp in shock. He used to believe the feather was stronger than any mental, but that man had destroyed it like it was an actual feather.

“I don’t think this should surprise you,” announced someone coldly.

The hostility in this voice was obvious, and the original owner of the feather jumped. “Y-you’re…!”

Of the three men who had surrounded him, the only one who had revealed his face looked familiar.

“Branch Manager Alberto…!” called out the original owner, whose face had darkened in fear.

Feeling betrayed, Alberto’s voice became even colder as he whispered, “I never imagined you to be a traitor, Marchetti.”

Then, Marchetti lost consciousness. Alberto looked grim, but he walked up to the drug addict on the ground and murmured, “Good job.”

“Thank you.” The drug addict stood up quickly as if he was never intoxicated. He looked perfectly fine now, and he bowed to Alberto. He was one of the few men Alberto could trust.

Sadly, Marchetti used to be one of these men too. Go Hyung-Chul carried Marchetti over his shoulder, and they left the alley.

***

A little before daybreak, Marchetti was bound in a room. Alberto announced in a heavy voice, “There is a group named Argus.”

He explained, “The EPU and our government were controlling us players unfairly. Of course, the European Players Association was being controlled by you know who. We were being disrespected, and our rights weren’t being protected. At the time, we created a secret organization to fix this.”

That secret organization was Argus; Alberto had created it. The members worked secretly; only he knew their true faces and names. Alberto ensured the members didn’t know each other because this was the only way to avoid the government and the Vatican’s detection. Even if one of the members were caught, there was no way the Vatican could destroy the entire group.

“Marchetti was…” Alberto looked down at the man, who remained unconscious. “The most talented member of Argus.”

Alberto used the past tense, and he then explained why. “At least until his entire family was killed.”

There was no need or reason to explain further.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Was that man who acted like a druggie also an Argus member?”

“Yes.” Alberto nodded. “He specializes in disguises and camouflage. He is the best in this field, so he was the best choice for the job. But… Neither of us imagined that the culprit would be another member of Argus. He probably figured out what was going on based on my reaction.”

Gi-Gyu wondered what happened to the Argus. Based on what Alberto had said, it sounded like Argus had been disbanded or was no longer active. Gi-Gyu had never heard of this group and assumed there was much more to it than he had heard.

Alberto shook his head and took a step back.

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Gi-Gyu asked, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

They were about to extract information from Marchetti. They needed to learn about the strange drug named God’s Tear and the Vatican.

‘And we also need to learn about that feather.’ Gi-Gyu reminded himself. The feather he had destroyed earlier definitely belonged to an angel. Only Marchetti could tell him whom it belonged to now.

Gi-Gyu and Go Hyung-Chul would try to read Marchetti’s memories, but there was a chance it might not work.

Gi-Gyu said quietly, “We might have to torture him.”

Marchetti had likely betrayed Alberto, but he was once Alberto’s trusted ally. It wouldn’t be easy to watch his old colleague get tortured.

“I’ll be okay,” Alberto replied.

Flick.

When Go Hyung-Chul flicked his finger, Marchetti woke up suddenly and screamed, “Ackk!”

The first thing Marchetti had done after waking up was bite down on his tongue. It seemingly wasn’t a simple suicide attempt. His face slowly turned black as he died just as slowly.

Gi-Gyu muttered, “He must’ve ingested poison just now…”

But this was no use.

“El.” When Gi-Gyu called out, a bright light appeared and enveloped Marchetti. Slowly but surely, Marchetti’s dying face brightened.

“T-this power is…!” Marchetti whispered. He seemed more interested in the power that had saved him than the fact that his suicide attempt had failed.

Instead of trying to kill himself again, he shuddered and knelt. “I-it’s an honor to meet you!”

“What the hell…?” Alberto looked shocked, but Go Hyung-Chul and Gi-Gyu nodded as if they had expected this.

Gi-Gyu mumbled, “It’s going to work out easier than I thought.”

***

In the lobby of a luxury hotel, five men sat and chatted. They chatted without paying attention to the passersby, and the passersby also seemed unconcerned with them.

“I’ve lost contact with Marchetti,” one man announced.

“Marchetti…? You mean the one…” one of his companions asked.

“That’s correct.”

“Is Morningstar behind it?”

“Most likely. The timing suggests it. After all, he also interfered with our ceremony last time.” The five men drank coffee elegantly like noblemen.

“And what did ‘they’ say?”

“Nothing about this yet. We are to continue our work and wait.”

The five men nodded. They were just lowly servants following orders.

“And…” One of the men who had been keeping silent finally opened his lips. “I believe Branch Manager Alberto… is involved as well.”

“The branch manager?”

“Haa…”

The men turned nervous, which was strange. When it was mentioned that Morningstar, a powerful enemy, was involved, the men seemed annoyed at best. But when Alberto’s name was mentioned, they looked sad and shocked. Their reaction was unexpected.

“It would have been wonderful if the branch manager were chosen by ‘them’ too.”

“I agree, but what can we do? We must not question ‘them’ and just follow their will.”

“Of course…”

The five men regained control over their emotions quickly.

Suddenly, something sparkled on their chest. When the flash disappeared, the men moaned in satisfaction. “Ahh…”

The men spoke at the same time.

“‘They’ have spoken.”

“It’s almost time.”

“Darkness will fall in this world.”

“But it will eventually be lifted.”

The last man declared, “The light of truth has been shone, so we must obey it.”

All of them clasped their hands and began praying. Soon, the day they wished four would come. And when it did, the Italian citizens they resented would finally face God. They were no longer thinking about Marchetti, Morningstar, or even Alberto.

“We must contact our brothers,” one of them announced.

***

Several days after Morningstar had reappeared in Italy, the Italian Republic was noisy, and something between joy and despair permeated its streets. Something dark and wet, like death, filled the country, and Italy and Rome struggled to figure out what it was.

But days passed by as usual.

Gi-Gyu was slumped on the sofa when he said to Alberto, “You must be exhausted.”

Gi-Gyu looked tired, but Alberto looked even worse. Alberto was giving off an unpleasant smell as if he had just left a sewer.

“It has been very hard… I tried my best, but they haven’t shown themselves since that day,” replied Alberto.

“They’re probably taking extra precautions.”

Both Alberto and Gi-Gyu sounded tired. They, and Go Hyung-Chul and El, who weren’t in the room at the moment, had been concentrating on capturing and detaining the criminals.

‘Marchetti kept saying the time is coming.’ Gi-Gyu thought about Marchetti, who had whispered these words repeatedly until he finally died.

Gi-Gyu told Alberto, “I think we need to get Go Hyung-Chul and El back here.”

Suddenly, neither of them said a word. They turned rigid as they looked out the window at the same time.

Kaboom!

A giant explosion occurred, followed by smoke spreading everywhere.

“Rome…” Gi-Gyu continued to look out the window. “Will turn into the city of death.”

Kaboom!

Another huge explosion occurred.