Chapter 9
Arrogant Bastard (4)
"The situation over there was different."
Julian became interested.
When Ju-Heon resisted with his own Dominion, Majesty Yoo Jaeha frowned slightly.
Then he casually shrugged.
"So your world had a Pandora too? One ruled by monopolizers..."
But Majesty Yoo Jaeha merely sneered.
"Oh? A rookie Majesty who hasn't even fully awakened can withstand this?"
As soon as he said that, the pressure in the air vanished.
He had withdrawn his Dominion.
While the team members caught their breath, Majesty Yoo Jaeha unexpectedly continued.
"I wish that had been the case."
"...What?"
"There are many different Majesties across the various timelines."
"Just as you created Guardians, every Majesty governs relics in a different way."
"For example...
there's a world where death sentences are decided by popular vote."
"Death sentences... by public vote?"
"That's right."
"The show I just showed you, Seo Ju-Heon."
"You got angry...
but that was only a sample."
"!"
"Oh, and by the way...
There's even a timeline where you are a female Majesty."
"An ant woman."
"?!"
"There's something I don't understand."
"Why do they hate humanity that much?"
Majesty Yoo Jaeha smiled coldly.
"Because Divine-Grade Relics...
weren't originally relics."
Everyone froze.
...Wait.
What did he just say?
"Anyway...
the highest-ranked Divine-Grade Relics of the Four Great Civilizations all share one objective."
"The destruction of a timeline...
or its complete domination."
"What are you talking about?"
"Divine-Grade Relics...
were originally gods."
"Then...
some blacksmith turned them into objects."
Julian frowned.
Majesty Yoo Jaeha placed a hand over Ju-Heon's chest.
"And a Majesty's heart isn't an ordinary heart."
"That's what they're after."
"Majesties surrender to the relics because they don't want their hearts ripped out and die."
"..."
"Well...
I didn't want to die either."
"So I stole their dimensional-travel relic...
and ran away."
He sighed deeply.
[A rat of a Majesty.]
[So you fled to this timeline.]
[But that works out even better.]
The highest-ranking relics of the Four Great Civilizations appeared one after another—
like grim reapers descending.
Majesty Yoo Jaeha quietly murmured,
"So...
you followed me all the way here?"
...What?
At that moment—
Space split open.
Unknown figures emerged from the rift.
"The Supreme Gods themselves have descended."
"That means...
someone here is going to die."
"You don't want to die, do you?"
"Join me."
"I'll lend you the dimensional relic."
"I look forward to working with you...
my subordinate."
"..."
Seriously...
Why the hell would you be the boss?
"You want to find your daughter."
Majesty Yoo Jaeha narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
And what does that have to do with anything?
"Those Supreme Divine Relics are probably the ones who took your daughter."
"If you want to reach where they are,
you'll need a dimensional-travel relic."
"Serve under me,
and I'll lend it to you."
"Hah."
"You keep talking about making me your servant."
"So if I submit,
you gain something from it, don't you?"
"You're quick."
"A dimensional-travel relic?"
"Don't tell me...
it's the Chaos Relic?"
"Hah.
You know about the relic I possess.
You've really done your homework."
"Chaos?"
"You actually want to throw yourself into Chaos?"
"Are you insane?"
"You're talking about diving straight into the universe's black hole just to travel to another world."
Majesty Yoo Jaeha ran a hand through his hair.
Ju-Heon simply laughed.
"I don't need your relic."
"We have dimensional-travel relics on this side too."
"You can't reach them through Chaos in the first place."
"What?"
"Why?"
"Because they are hiding somewhere no one can find."
"They're even hiding from the commands of their own contractors."
"What?"
"Amaterasu."
At that single name,
Ju-Heon's eyes widened.
"That's right."
"She was the only goddess who escaped being turned into a relic."
"And the cave where she had been hiding...
became their headquarters."
"And—"
Amaterasu?
A myth surfaced in Ju-Heon's memory.
The sun goddess Amaterasu became enraged by her younger brother's rampage and hid herself inside a cave. As a result, the world was plunged into darkness until the other gods lured her back out with a grand celebration.
"#(&#&*#...."
"...?"
"She was famous as the hidden goddess...
so surely—"
Ju-Heon frowned.
Something was wrong with Yoo Jaeha's voice.
It suddenly became distorted.
Static.
Mechanical interference.
Then...
his words became completely incomprehensible.
Yoo Jaeha nodded.
"What?"
"#$($#&!!"
"%$*$&&!!"
"???!!!"
"Crow!"
[You can still communicate through the Status Window.]
It wasn't just Yoo Jaeha.
When spoken words no longer worked, even the crow switched to communicating through the Status Window.
[The Sealing of Language has begun.]
As expected of the crow...
Everyone standing behind Ju-Heon suddenly found themselves unable to understand one another.
Ilya angrily waved his hands and shouted.
But what came out wasn't human language.
Even so...
it had been a good idea.
[It's all right.]
[Correct. This is the Curse of the Tower of Babel—the Sealing of Language.]
"The Sealing of Language?"
"Don't tell me..."
Just as he thought.
Ju-Heon realized what it was.
"...!"
The Curse of the Tower of Babel.
In an ancient civilization, mankind built a tower in an attempt to surpass the gods.
The gods, angered by their arrogance, cursed them.
They divided humanity by giving them different languages, scattering them across the world.
People could still open their mouths—
but no one could understand one another.
Armies lost their command structure.
Meetings became meaningless.
Ju-Heon frowned.
'The Four Great Civilization Relics are behind this?'
In other words—
this was the Sealing of Language and Understanding.
And as expected...
the curse spread throughout the entire world.
Just then—
CRACK!
Tower after tower began erupting from the earth.
Thousands of gigantic tongues burst from the ground in every direction.
Then—
A colossal book appeared in the sky.
"A... book?"
Thump!
[Hello! This is our first time meeting face-to-face instead of through messages, 187,487th Majesty!]
[Although our brilliant Majesty did stab us in the back!]
The Rulebook opened its eyes fiercely—
then broke into a grin.
"!"
The book...
was looking directly at Ju-Heon.
At the same time, Ju-Heon realized exactly what it was.
[Well, that's fine. We gave you a chance, but you rejected it. We'll simply proceed according to our original plan.]
"That red Status Window..."
Original plan?
Does that mean... the Human Extinction Scenario?
At that moment,
a single card floated into the air.
As expected,
the book burst into laughter.
[My name is Rulebook.]
[That's right! I'm the one who offered you the choices of Obedience, Slaughter, Neglect, and Negotiation!]
The card depicted...
The Tower.
A crumbling tower.
Lightning striking it.
Humans falling from its heights.
The familiar Tarot image.
Then the Rulebook continued in its playful voice.
[That's right! The Human Extinction Scenario begins now!]
[The world shall return to the silence that existed before civilization♥]
[If you stop every scenario, you'll receive a reward.]
[If you fail... humanity goes extinct.]
[Now then... can you stop this scenario?]
[Conversation, commands, emotional communication... every means of language is beginning to collapse.]
[Range: Entire Planet]
"...The entire world?!"
At that same instant,
a crimson message window appeared before every person on Earth.
People across the globe erupted into confusion.
[Time Remaining Until Human Extinction: 138:34:24]
A blue Status Window appeared before Ju-Heon.
This disaster wasn't confined to this area.
It was targeting the entire world.
For the first time,
Ju-Heon's face turned pale.
Of course it did.
If this affected the entire world...
the consequences would be catastrophic.
War zones.
Hospitals in the middle of surgery.
Countless critical locations would descend into chaos.
Then—
[Curse of the Tower of Babel – Sealing of Language]
[It seeks to sever "understanding" and "communication" between humans.]
"...Air traffic control."
The image flashed through his mind.
Thousands of aircraft filling the skies.
The moment every control tower lost the ability to communicate with every pilot—
A chill ran down his spine.
He shouted instinctively.
But Ilya only stared at him with wide eyes before shaking his head.
If they can't communicate...
The collisions...
"$##&!"
Ju-Heon bit his lip.
By now...
every air traffic control center,
every military base,
every hospital,
every airport,
every emergency service in the world—
their communications had already collapsed.
Ilya couldn't understand a single word Ju-Heon was saying.
The Curse of Language had already spread.
But was Ju-Heon the kind of man who would simply accept that?
This could become a global catastrophe.
He glared up at the floating book.
"You're just a damn book."
"And you think this is funny?"
He had to destroy it.
The moment that thought crossed his mind,
someone entered his field of vision.
Ju-Heon immediately found the solution.
"Ilya!"
"Stop time!"