Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Reunion (1)

Click!

The needle spun at high speed.

The smell of alcohol, laughter, and jeers filled the air around him, but Ju-Heon seemed unable to hear any of it.

Beneath the dazzling lights stood a roulette table covered in crimson velvet.

Sitting at its center, Ju-Heon let out a low chuckle. A glass of whiskey rested in one hand, while the other casually rolled casino chips between his fingers.

Because he now possessed the Roulette Relic that Satyr had left behind.

Sure enough, Ju-Heon pressed the button on the roulette relic.

"...Got it. I've already won this."

His sharp gaze looked as though it could see straight through his opponent.

"Come on! Madness!"

"No! You should be hoping for Blessing, you idiot!"

As expected.

Majesty Yu Jae-ha protested, but Ju-Heon preferred Madness.

"The odds of landing on this are higher! Hahaha!"

Yu Jae-ha was dumbfounded.

Click.

The needle stopped precisely on the [Blessing] space.

At that instant, Cup Noodles Yu Jae-ha cried out in shock.

"Wait! If it's Madness, then whether you win or lose, it still ends up being Madness! The risk is way too high!"

[No way! Isn't Blessing only a 1% chance?! It actually landed on it!]

Ju-Heon, however, looked completely unimpressed.

He could have landed on the Destruction space instead.

"I keep telling you to stop using that thing!"

"Huh? Why wasn't it Madness?"

"What? Blessing is way better!!"

Ju-Heon merely glanced at the roulette relic as if he couldn't care less.

The circular roulette wheel, shaped like a compass, spun again. The needle passed the Madness section, drifted toward the Destruction section beside it, barely avoided it...

Just as Ju-Heon was beginning to think Majesty Yu Jae-ha might actually have a point—

The NPC dealer approached with an extremely expensive bottle of premium liquor.

"A special complimentary service for our valued customer."

That was the moment.

Just as Ju-Heon pressed the roulette button again—

As the dealer poured the liquor into his glass, Ju-Heon's veins bulged.

Creaaak.

"...Don't tell me this is the blessing?"

Unsatisfied, Ju-Heon reached to spin Satyr's roulette relic once more.

A strange sound came from the relic.

The roulette needle began spinning again, and the instant it stopped—

"As expected, it wasn't Madness. It would've been more fun if it had landed there."

Crackle!

Majesty Yu Jae-ha practically screamed.

"Will you PLEASE stop spinning it already!!!"

The roulette wheel suddenly shattered.

At the same time, an invisible force exploded outward.

BOOM!!

BOOM!!

The first thing to explode was the chair Ju-Heon had been sitting on, which was blown to pieces and hurled him away.

CRASH!!

The sudden explosion instantly obliterated the table and chairs.

Debris flew everywhere, lights flickered violently, and gamblers all around screamed in terror.

At last, Ju-Heon groaned as he forced himself back to his feet—

The floor collapsed beneath him, and he plunged straight through to the level below the casino.

Then a voice echoed through the space.

It resonated as though a god were issuing a decree, commanding reality itself.

BOOM!!

"Drop."

A dark underground floor.

Having suddenly fallen through the collapsing floor into the basement, Ju-Heon couldn't help but be stunned.

He pulled himself out of the rubble, wiping blood from his face.

Then, accompanied by the voice of someone outside the building—

"...What the hell?! I haven't even done anything yet!"

"'Yet,' he says..."

Majesty Yu Jae-ha, standing beside him, pointed accusingly at the ruined roulette relic.

Meanwhile...

On the rooftop of a skyscraper overlooking the casino.

A man wearing a black coat that blended into the shadows stood by the railing.

Whenever the wind swept past him, the lenses of his glasses glinted coldly.

[Destruction]

"I told you to stop spinning it! See?! Look what happened!"

"No..."

Julian Miller looked down at the casino expressionlessly before speaking.

"Article 4, Clause 3 of the Law. Whether intentional or not, anyone who violates the rules shall be judged."

Ju-Heon was certain.

This wasn't caused by the roulette.

An enemy.

As Julian raised his hand, a golden magic circle unfolded in midair.

It looked like the living embodiment of a constitution itself.

Then—

"Violation confirmed. Illegal relic usage. Evidence secured. Suspect: Seo Ju-Heon."

"Unauthorized individual used the ."

"Record from forty-three seconds ago secured. Therefore—"

Julian's eyes turned brilliant gold as he declared,

"Activate the Code of Law, ."

KWAAAAAANG!!

[Target: Seo Ju-Heon]

[Effect: Immediate Drop. Punishment in Progress.]

A golden spear descended from above with the precision of a sniper's shot.

Sharper, faster, and deadlier than before, it plunged straight toward Seo Ju-Heon.

Around that time—

Having just climbed out of the rubble, Ju-Heon brushed the dust off himself and burst out in frustration.

BOOM!!

A wall collapsed, and the surrounding buildings began crumbling as well.

"...No, seriously, what the hell is this?! Who keeps attacking me?!"

"Urgh!"

At that moment, the Rope Relic came flying down from the sky and wrapped itself around Ju-Heon's waist.

Thanks to the rope, his fall came to an abrupt stop.

Trying to escape the situation, Ju-Heon reached for the roulette relic once more—

Thud.

Click.

The roulette refused to move.

[Are you okay? Are you okay?]

"...?"

Majesty Yu Jae-ha seemed to have created and deployed a defensive relic of his own. A blue barrier flashed briefly before disappearing.

Seeing that, Ju-Heon became certain.

Click. Click.

Even after pressing the button again, the roulette wheel didn't spin.

Silence.

"...I'm sure of it. If this were caused by the roulette wheel, one stroke of bad luck would've been enough. The fact that a second attack came means someone is deliberately targeting me."

"...Hey. Why aren't you spinning?"

It was cracked, but it shouldn't have been unusable.

As if answering his question, golden letters appeared above the roulette wheel.

Ju-Heon's eyes shifted toward Majesty Yu Jae-ha.

Yu Jae-ha?

[Sealed.]

Golden chains wrapped around the roulette wheel.

He kept telling me not to use it... Did that bastard do this?

But there wasn't any time to think.

Another spear descended from the sky.

Ju-Heon quickly turned his head.

Only a Majesty possessed the authority to disable another relic.

The golden spear grazed his shoulder.

"Urgh!"

Was this really Majesty's doing?

As pain twisted his face, Julian spoke again from the rooftop of the building across the street.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than another golden spear rained down from the heavens.

The attacks never stopped.

"Violation of the rules detected."

"Damn it...!"

The wind swept through, causing the hem of Julian's black coat to flutter.

The light reflecting off his glasses was as cold as pale moonlight.

In a calm, almost mechanical voice, he recited,

Ju-Heon instinctively knew he wouldn't survive with the roulette relic sealed.

He couldn't die here.

Immediately, he reached for another relic at his waist.

"Attempting to evade punishment. Article 3, Clause 14: 'Any attempt to flee during punishment shall incur additional sanctions.'"

[Feather of Icarus]

Julian's emotionless voice continued.

Brilliant wings unfolded from Ju-Heon's hand, lifting him into the air.

His body shot upward like the wind.

"Lex Dictum activated. Punishment will continue until the target is rendered incapable of action."

KRAAAAAASH!!

Just before the collapsing ceiling could crush him, Ju-Heon soared into the sky.

Dust and debris swirled around him like a storm, threatening to swallow him whole.

But he barely slipped between the towering buildings and continued climbing higher.

As he rose, he looked down below.

His eyes widened at the familiar figure.

"No way..."

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"...Ha... Who the hell is that bastard...?"

"...Gongmyeong?"

His heart pounded wildly.

Drawing a sharp breath, Ju-Heon rapidly scanned the area from the sky.

No mistake.

"The one attacking me... has to be somewhere nearby."

"...Why are you here?"

Then it happened.

As if guided by fate, his gaze landed on the rooftop of the high-rise opposite the casino.

A man in a black coat stood there expressionlessly.

It was a genuine question.

After all, he'd left all of his companions behind in the original world.

He was about to dive straight toward Julian to confirm his identity—

When a cold voice echoed across the distance with crystal clarity.

THUD!

The Rope Relic grabbed hold of him, and Majesty Yu Jae-ha rushed over.

"Lex Dictum. Article 6 of the Law. If the suspect attempts to attack the adjudicator, punishment shall be accelerated. Sanctions intensified."

Another attack.

A spear forged from the law streaked through the air in a flash of golden light toward Ju-Heon.

Only then did everything click into place.

"Hey! Are you okay?!"

"Damn it, who the hell is that bastard?! Is he another one of your companions from another dimension or something?!"

Majesty Yu Jae-ha broke into a cold sweat as he stared at Julian.

So it really was that bastard?!

At that moment, the spear struck the wings.

The Feather of Icarus shattered into countless fragments, and Ju-Heon plummeted back toward the ground.

"Half right, half wrong."

"What?"

"He's famous as a Majesty Hunter—the natural enemy of Majesties. But he isn't the Gongmyeong from your world or mine. He's from another world."

"More importantly... that's Julian Miller in his Relic Form."

Relic Form?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?!