Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40
Wintering (4)
She had completely flown into a frenzy.
Ju-Heon's hair whipped wildly in the violent wind.
Yet he did not retreat a single step.
Cynthia shouted in disbelief.
"So? You call this salvation?"
"Destroy the city? My world? My people? Do you have any idea how much it took me to build this place?!"
Cynthia faltered for a moment.
Ju-Heon's voice rang out in a low tone.
Cynthia's Majesty Authority erupted.
The empty air twisted as an intoxicating madness spread throughout the entire world.
"A city that nurtures the roots of disease. The longer you maintain it, the more your world keeps pretending to live while slowly dying. And you think your job is to keep covering that up forever?"
"So you'll stop the disease by destroying the city? That's not a solution—it's just destruction!"
Cynthia's lips trembled.
Ju-Heon stepped forward, even as the exploding authority of intoxication tore fresh wounds across his body.
"You believed you were growing this city to protect its people."
"But the truth is the exact opposite."
"No... Actually..."
"...That wasn't what I intended."
"I know."
The enormous seed of Demeter's Relic pulsed with a thunderous heartbeat, making its presence known.
The more prosperous the city became, the more the disease grew.
Blood trickled down Ju-Heon's face.
For the first time, the mockery disappeared from his voice.
"You were more sincere than anyone. You tried harder than anyone. That's exactly why those bastards found you so easy to deceive."
"You didn't save the citizens. You offered them up as fuel for the disaster. And you kept the whole thing running without ever realizing it."
That single sentence made the rampaging authority surrounding Cynthia waver.
Ju-Heon drove in the final blow.
Cynthia's expression completely collapsed.
"But the choice you make from this point on... doesn't belong to Vitrain or Delreira."
"It belongs to you."
"Li... liar..."
Cynthia's breathing became ragged.
Ju-Heon quietly continued.
The corners of his lips slowly curled upward into a sharp grin.
"You want to stop the disease, don't you?"
"Then end this place."
"Destroy the city."
"Kill the seed."
"...Right."
Then he added one last thing.
"It wasn't you who ruined everything."
"You were deceived."
"So make them pay."
Inside Ju-Heon's world.
The excavation team members who had come to inspect Zeus's Relic looked bewildered.
Tears mixed with pain and fury streamed from Cynthia's eyes.
Several seconds of silence.
And then—
[Zeus's Relic Durability: 92% → 54% → 33%]
"What the... It's deteriorating this fast?"
"...I'm going... to kill them."
Julian's voice cracked.
Even Irene, who had been watching beside him, turned deathly pale.
She spoke with a trembling voice.
"But... what kind of existence could possibly harm a divine being like Zeus?"
"It... looks as if the Relic is dying on its own."
'Tch. Archaeological knowledge like this is Ju-Heon's specialty.'
Julian bit his lip.
After examining it with Zhuge Liang's Relic, he found the situation even more serious.
Then, after pondering deeply, Julian's eyes suddenly widened.
"...Typhon."
[Divine Conflict Detected]
[Opponent: ?????????]
[Classification: Godslayer]
Everyone stared at him in surprise as he muttered the name.
Julian voiced an unexpected conclusion.
He drew in a sharp breath.
"A... slayer of gods?"
"Zeus isn't absolutely invincible."
"And in Greek mythology, there was a calamity that stole Zeus's lightning and forced the gods to flee all the way to Egypt."
"...I think I've heard of that."
"Right. That's just how overwhelming it was."
"Even in ancient mythology, it's recorded as the being that almost killed Zeus."
"Typhon."
"The greatest monster in Greek mythology."
"It was known as the disaster that even the gods could not defeat."
Julian searched on his phone and enlarged the screen.
A clear description appeared beneath Typhon's name.
Irene swallowed hard.
Julian continued.
"Typhon wasn't just an ordinary monster."
"Even Zeus lost the first direct confrontation."
"The King of the Gods had his lightning stolen, and Olympus was devastated."
"In fact, most of the gods fled to Egypt, disguising themselves as animals just to survive."
[Typhon]
A monstrous being that pursued the gods, brought about the fall of Olympus, severed Zeus's arms and legs, and even stole his lightning.
Even today, it is classified as the natural predator of the gods.
Seol-ah looked up in alarm.
Irene's voice trembled.
"...The gods transformed into animals?"
"...Then there couldn't be a more suitable enemy for attacking Zeus's Relic."
Julian nodded.
[Corruption Progress: 21%]
[Upon Completion: Zeus's Relic Functions Will Cease]
"That's right. Mythology has already proven it."
Irene clenched her fists.
She swallowed hard.
"...You're saying it'll collapse before my husband returns?"
"So that's why Zeus's Relic... has been deteriorating this badly."
"Yes. This isn't an attack—it's the instinctive reaction of a natural predator. When Typhon draws near, Zeus instinctively burns away his own divine power just to resist it. That's why its durability keeps dropping..."
Lightning crackled.
It almost sounded as though Zeus's Relic was losing durability with every passing second.
Seol-ah shuddered.
"If Zeus's Relic disappears... then this world...!"
The readings from Zhuge Liang's Relic showed Zeus's durability dropping even further.
Just like what had happened with Mars, another invasion would begin.
At that moment, Irene spoke.
"We don't have time to panic."
Her eyes became as cold and clear as glass.
Crackle!
It seemed she had sensed something.
"If you want to bankrupt someone, you first have to understand where their assets are flowing."
"Zeus's power is being drained somewhere."
As Irene's fingertips brushed through the air, her Relic reacted.
It was none other than the Relic of King Midas's Golden Hand.
People had believed it brought fortune, but in the end it only brought ruin.
That was why the world had come to call her the Bankruptcy Queen.
Since she possessed the power to destroy wealth, her ability to sense treasures—Relics themselves—was exceptionally sharp.
She found the direction.
"Over there."
Irene pointed toward the valley below.
Sure enough—
"...Beneath this plateau... there's a calamity devouring Zeus."
At the same time, she drew out a golden-and-silver axe.
Everyone stared in surprise.
"Silver Axe, I command you."
"Among all the Relics in this area..."
Irene pulled the axe back.
"That's the Captain's Golden Axe, Silver Axe...?"
"You're going to use it here?"
"Where is the calamity destroying Zeus?"
Instead of answering, Irene raised the Silver Axe high into the sky.
The Golden Axe bestowed blessings.
But—
The Silver Axe vibrated with a silver glow, as though waiting for an answer.
Then Irene hurled it downward with all her strength.
"Strike!"
"The Silver Axe destroys wealth."
BOOOOOOM!!
Everyone gasped.
At that moment, Irene carried the overwhelming presence of a mountain spirit itself.
The axe split the air.
A silver trail exploded toward the depths of the valley.
And then—
CRRRRACK!
The members held their breath.
It felt as though the earth itself had begun to writhe.
Thud.
A scream—almost a shriek—echoed from beneath the valley.
Seol-ah's eyes shook.
"Don't tell me... it really is Typhon...!"
"...What... was that just now?!"
The ground trembled.
Dust billowed upward.
Stones shattered.
The earth split apart.
A smile slowly spread across Irene's lips.
"Direct hit."
The instant she said those words—
A tremendous roar erupted from the darkness underground.
Something colossal slammed against the walls.
It sounded like a living mountain stretching awake.
Ilya let out a low curse.
"...Ha. So it really came out."
Before he had even finished speaking, the underground floor split apart on its own.
Not light—
Darkness surged upward.
From within it burst serpent-like tentacles.
And then appeared Typhon—
The very monster from myth said to have hurled mountains.
Everyone instinctively retreated.
At that moment, one of the tentacles shot upward and ripped straight through the ceiling.
BOOM!!
Fragments of stone rained down.
The expedition members swallowed their screams.
"Which is exactly why we have to destroy it now."
Julian looked stunned.
"Its durability is already at 19%—damn it! It won't stop falling!"
Apparently, Typhon considered destroying Zeus's Relic a higher priority than attacking the expedition members.
Julian quickly checked the Rulebook.
"That's... Zeus's natural predator. If something like that has appeared in this world..."
'If Zeus is destroyed, it's all over.'
Irene gritted her teeth.
The expedition members unleashed Divine Relics and Sacred Treasures against Typhon.
But bringing it down looked anything but easy.
They might be able to chip away at its durability—
But Zeus's Relic would be destroyed long before Typhon was.
It was a race against time.
Using Restoration would be ideal...
'Isn't there some way to save Zeus first?'
Just then, Julian's eyes lit up as he read the Rulebook.
<Restoration>
- Effect: Repairs broken things. However, they may be restored into something strange.
<Rejuvenation>
<Restoration>
"May be restored into something strange"...
That sounded far too risky.
If Zeus were restored into some bizarre form and could no longer protect this world, the consequences would be disastrous.
"What about Rejuvenation and Restoration? Wouldn't those restore a Relic's durability as well?"
"Huh? Restoration, maybe... but you're planning to use Rejuvenation on a Relic?"
"A Relic is also one of the components that make up this world."
In the end, Julian immediately activated one of Ju-Heon's abilities registered to this worldline.
<Rejuvenation>
- Effect: Returns the body to a certain point in the past. However, forgotten embarrassing memories will also resurface.
At that very moment—
Golden lightning burst forth from Zeus's Relic like a reverse-flowing torrent.
The earth shook violently.
The lightning emblem of Zeus, which had been steadily fading, began to recover.
[Rejuvenation Activated]
[Zeus's Relic Status Restored]