“What the fuck are you even saying?”

A voice so sharp that it surprised even me for a moment.

Svengali spoke in a calm tone as if to soothe me.

[Calm down. I’m not saying she isn’t human. I know what I said is outrageous, but wouldn’t it be better if you listened to my story first?]

“So?”

Did he expect me to just accept that?

[I could detect.. a faint trace of the Seven Evils on her.]

“..What?”

His words were like a bucket of cold water.

[It’s not a smell or aura but a trace. Only a trace. Did I mention it was a trace?]

Svengali told me again and again to calm down.

[“I know you underestimate my value, but.. I was once one of the Seven Evils. And each of us had our own specialties. In addition to controlling the hearts and minds of humans, I had another one.]

“What’s that, teasing and picking on people?”

[Detection, tracking, and assimilation.]

Svengali continued as if he hadn’t heard my mockery.

[“You may recall that I effortlessly implanted the World Tree into my body, and I can assure you that no other Evil could have done so. I assimilated it through fine-tuning with the World Tree and cunningly integrating the seeds passed on to me..]

“Enough of that, get to the point!”

Svengali whispered at my words.

[You’ve just used your powers unconsciously. Your mind is very shaken. Calm down. No matter what I say to you now, you won’t be able to take it calmly.]

I brought my hand to my cheek in panic at his words.

I could actually feel the hard, cold touch of the wood.

As I struggled to compose myself and calm down, Svengali began to speak.

[..Take a deep breath and listen. I’m not saying that your friend has some sort of connection to the Seven Evils or that they have done something to her; I’m just saying that there are literally traces.]

I didn’t want to react.

It wouldn’t have moved the story forward.

I needed to hear more.

[I’m talking about literally just a trace, in other words.. Okay, let’s take Margo for example. He was the leader of a criminal group called the Red Case, and of course, there were human beings who worked for him. If one of their members just so happened to be eating in the same restaurant as you, you could accidentally gain Margo’s smell.]

Svengali immediately blurted out.

[No, not even that much.. it’s so faint I didn’t notice it at first.]

“..So what you’re saying is that Soo-Young has met people connected to the Seven Evils. Is that it?”

It wasn’t as bad as I thought.

I wanted to be relieved, but Svengali shattered my expectations.

[Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have told you about it if it was anything of that magnitude because.. well..]

He stammered, finding it difficult to speak.

[The problem is that the traces I found on her should have belonged to me, Margo, or Ariman. However, they didn’t.]

“..Tell me more.”

[I’ve never seen the other Evils before. But it wasn’t hard to recognize who it belonged to. It was Milited’s, but I assure you, his seal has not been broken. He’s still trapped as well as ever.]

I know, even if he doesn’t say so.

Minerva, Yuno, Venus, and Militer.

I knew better than anyone that these four seals had yet to be lifted.

[The time is not right. A dragon, a lich, or a vampire.. But then the traces would have their own marks, and I would have known it quickly. I swear on my name that it is likely a human who bore the Milited’s mark or who had been in contact with her.]

“..”

I could only remain silent.

[I can sense that you’ve gotten stronger..But how could that be born from a few words of advice? There is something about her and about you. Something you don’t even know about.]

“What the hell =..”

The only explanation that comes to mind is that Soo-Young became more of a “protagonist” than Hyun-Woo.

But that was too absurd to be the reason.

Then it suddenly dawned on me that Milited was obsessed with the pendant I had.

No way..

[And the feelings she had for you, subconscious to be exact.. it’s as if she’s known you for years..]

“Svengali.”

[Hmm?]

I called out his name as he mumbled something to himself and held out the pendant.

“Do you know what this is?”

[I don’t know.. ah, is this the pendant that Milited was obsessed with?]

“Look closely. Don’t you know anything or feel anything?”

[Mmm..]

Svengali made a long, pondering sound.

To be safe, I wove the world tree to materialize a part of his body.

But despite my efforts, he slowly shook his head.

[I don’t know. ..I can tell there’s a refinement of Margo and my energy there, but other than that, I can’t say anything.]

“Feel it a little closer.”

I held it before his eyes, and his pupils flinched momentarily, pulling back.

“Can’t you feel his aura? Maybe Ariman?”

[..Not even a hair’s breadth. Their auras are so distinctive that I can recognize them. I wouldn’t have identified the traces on the one called Soo-Young if they were the traces of another Evil.]

“Yeah..” historical

I nodded.

As I slipped the pendant on, Svengali turned to me with a twinkle in his eye.

[It’s funny how you’re changing the subject now that I’ve brought it up, but why don’t we talk about Minerva first.]

“What?”

[She’s going to wake up in a few days, so how the hell are you going to deal with her?]

“..What were you listening to when I explained this to the kids?”

[Do you think I stay awake all the time?]

Svengali said to me in frustration.

[“Ever since I’ve been attached to your body, I’ve had similar biorhythms to humans. I need a certain amount of sleep to function normally, and I was asleep then.]

“You have a lot of nerve asking for things.”

I grumbled and put the pendant back on.

But really, I was trying to figure out when to ask him for a favor.

..As for the plan, I had gone over it with the others again and again, tweaking and refining it.

I had a long talk with Ivan in particular because he was the one who had a vision that was unrivaled in terms of strategy.

But our plans were only from a human perspective.

Perhaps he would find a blind spot that we hadn’t.

“Here’s the deal, the perimeter will be secured before Minerva’s showdown begins, and once Aegis catches it, there will be no way to get out or in. Of course, Minerva could physically destroy Aegis, but the Ten Strongest and others won’t give her the time of day.”

[And?]

“That’s when we’ll break through the barrier and get inside.. Hiding everyone in the shadows will be extremely mana-consuming, but there’s no other way to get through the barrier that Aegis has created.”

[I’m listening. Continue to explain.]

“Once I’ve passed through the barrier, I’ll send everyone out except Ye-Seul, and then I’ll head straight for Minerva. I’ll use the World Tree seeds I’ve planted and the Branch of the World Tree to draw her attention. When the time is right, Ye-Seul will slip out and wound her, and then Minerva’s power will be gone, and well..”

I nodded.

“We win.”

[Can I ask you two things?]

“What?”

[I mean, if you keep her in your shadow.. won’t that deplete your mana quickly? Minerva isn’t something you can take on with spare mana, and I thought putting someone else in your shadow was impossible for you to do.]

“It doesn’t cost mana for Ye-Seul and me to be in each other’s shadows.”

Maybe our Henir’s Shadows share the same world or something.

Honestly, this is the first time I’ve seen this happen, so I’m unsure what to make of it.

[Then what?]

“Do you remember that game console I talked with before? The one where I could’ve killed you for some rewards?”

[..]

Svengali didn’t answer.

I didn’t speak, either, but instead brought up a status window.

The being beyond the console gave me the “most useful thing for me at the moment.”

And it was, indeed, the most helpful thing for me right now.

[Skill]

Synchronize (Unique/Special)

[Effect][Active]

You channel your mana and energy into a target you come into contact with, temporarily uniting yourself with them.

Short and to-the-point description.

And as is often the case with these things, the shorter and more straightforward, the more potent the ability.

As I explained my new skill to him, I called Henir’s Shadow.

“I’ve already tested it. When I channel my magic into it, it merges with me.. or in other words, it’s recognized as part of my body. All of them were able to slip into my shadow, move around, and use their other abilities.”

Of course, the mana usage was more extreme than usual.

Svengali spoke up.

[I’ll only give you two pieces of advice.]

“What?”

[“First of all, don’t use that synchronization technique often. Of course, you should use it when you need to.. but frequent use will not be good for you or your colleagues.]

[You remember that I synchronized with you when I tried to take your mind, right?]

I couldn’t help but nod at his words.

[The second one..]

He muttered quietly.

[Do you think Minerva was so feared because of a single power?]

Svengali said in a voice that sounded like he was sincerely trying to wake me up.

[Even without her powers, she’s a calamity.]

[Please keep that in mind.]

With that, he shut up.

It was as if he had said all he had to say.

The next day, at dawn.

One of the seeds I had planted finally responded.

It meant that Minerva’s seal was beginning to break.

* * *

“This is spectacular.”

Someone approached Lee Myung-Joon, who had a spear in hand.

A woman with a tattoo of a dragon’s open mouth on her face.

It was Lee Wuwei, also known as the incarnation of the Dragon.

She looked up at the enormous stone statue and muttered.

“I’ve been dying to break this thing.”

Starting with simple heavy machinery then dynamites, heroes, and hunters using destructive abilities, burying it in the ocean’s depths or plunging it into lava..

There was nothing they hadn’t tried.

But none of them could put a single scratch on that statue.

“I never thought I’d wake this thing up and fight it in my lifetime.”

“I hope you can carry that excitement.”

“Why.”

“I need you to play the most dangerous role.”

At Lee Myung-Joon’s words, he made a phlegmatic giggle.

“I know. I said I’d do it.”

“..I’m sorry.”

“You’re a disgusting-looking bastard.”

He chuckled at Lee Myung-Joon’s apology.

Although they shared the same name, there was an implicit hierarchy between them.

And the only person Lee Wuwei believed was above her was Lee Myung-Joon.

So when asked to play a role tantamount to suicide, she didn’t argue because it was Lee Myung-Joon’s request.

“If you put it that way, we’re all risking our lives.”

There were nearly a hundred people, starting with the world’s strongest people and ending with the elite of each top guild.

It was a gathering that could overrun nations.

“They all seemed prepared. There’s even those two laughing over there.”

But most of them were deployed to form a circle around the statue.

All the Ten Strongest were deployed.

“Right..”

Even though it was the most dangerous position, Wuwei was willing to be on the front line.

And at her side was Lee Myung-Joon, as always.

“..”

He carefully tucked his trembling right hand into his arm out of sight.

One hour to go.

In an hour, everything would be decided.