Chapter 55 – Catacombs

A tumulus with a sleeping magic swordsman sealed.

Setz silently looked at the grave that was technically not a grave.

“……”

She recalled the memories of the old days when they were together.

During the First War, Setz, along with the first heroes, defeated four demon kings. They were the demon kings of jealousy, negligence, envy, and lust.

However, due to various political and physical factors, they could not defeat the remaining three demon kings.

“Simon….. We had to move further.”

The remaining three demon kings were incomparably more powerful than the existing demon kings, and the heroes were already exhausted.

‘But if we….’

The regret that grew from burning despair became even more sharpened over time.

“I’m…. barely holding out.”

Setz did whatever she could do until now.

However, facing the endless chaos and the tyranny of the dead, she lost a lot of confidence as to how much longer she and this military academy could hold out.

Now, they’ve reached the limit.

Setz, who was brushing the grass, suddenly paused.

Professor Lee. Lee Jin-seong’s face suddenly came to her mind.

He was always blunt and cold, but for some reason, he was endlessly generous towards her.

“…..It seemed like he knew me.”

Setz slowly recalled the people she had met over the past 20 years.

‘But no matter how many times I think about it, I never met someone who’s around Jin-seong’s age.’

She had never met such a young kid like Jin-seong.

So she thought of the possibility of him being the son of one of her comrades, but no one came to her mind.

As Setz was organizing her thoughts, she paused once again.

Just then,

She remembered the face of the person she thought would never meet again.

“No way….”

Setz recalled the scene she encountered just before she came to this earth.

In the world where the sky and earth were falling apart, a man smiled at Setz.

The man who had sacrificed himself to protect her from the red tentacle monsters was smiling in blood.

When Setz was about to be transferred to Earth, he spoke.

‘I’ll follow you soon.’

But Setz shook her head.

“…..That can never happen.”

The man said that to Setz, who refused to be transferred to another world, hoping that she would feel at least a little relieved.

“But… if he reincarnated….”

If he or even just his soul could miraculously cross over to this earth, and if his soul went into the earth’s ‘Wheel of Reincarnation’, it’s not impossible.

And when that small possibility flashed through her mind, Setz stared blankly at the air.

‘The way he speaks, and his bluntness….. Is Lee Jin-seong really…..’

After 70 years, she was recalling the scene that will never disappear from her mind.

“…….”

But soon, Setz told herself that it was nothing more than an absurd fantasy. Jin-seong’s behavior was strange, but that alone doesn’t prove that he’s ‘the man’.

‘Besides…… he probably wouldn’t have been able to get through since the passage was blocked after me.’

Just then,

The phone started ringing in her arms.

“…….”

Setz took the phone from her arms. With a puzzled look on her face, she looked at the long number on the screen.

‘This must be an overseas call.’

Setz hesitantly took the call.

“Hello?”

“……”

After a short silence, she heard a familiar voice over the phone.

It was Lee Jin-seong.

“Ah…..”

Setz held her breath without realizing it.

While she was thinking about Jin-seong, she coincidentally received a call from him. Her face turned red as if she was caught doing something wrong.

Setz responded, pretending to be calm.

“Of course. Thanks to you, I could come here…. But by the way.”

Setz checked the number once again and asked.

“Where are you right now? The number looks a bit unfamiliar.”

After another short silence, Lee Jin-seong responded with a calm voice.

“….What?”

Philip Monsignor was still in Korea, so it didn’t make sense that Jin-seong went to the Vatican alone.

Jin-seong added.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll explain that in detail later. I have an urgent matter to deal with right now. Philip Monsignor is in danger, can you please send Muhyuk?”

“What do you mean Philip Monsignor is in danger….?”

Once again, Jin-seong responded calmly like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Muhyuk alone will be enough to handle, so from now on, just follow what I’m going to tell you.””

Hearing Jin-seong’s low, calm voice, Setz smiled without realizing it.

The Vatican Holy Relic Vault.

The minister of the palace stepped into the vault to find the relic that will be used for the construction of Babel Power.

Yohan, the minister of the palace, or Bergebut entered the final stage to prepare his clone, who would soon wake up.

The chief of the State Council, who followed him, nodded as if delighted to see the splendid treasures in the relic vault.

“I’ve always wanted to see the inside of this relic vault, and now that the Pope is down, it’s so easy!”

However, the smile disappeared from his face when he took out the iron cabinet where the Sacred Cup was kept.

“….What?”

What was inside the iron cabinet he opened was a shabby water bottle.

“…….”

Bergebut held the bottle and looked at it carefully.

It was nothing more than a rusted water bottle. When he opened the lid and looked inside, he could even smell a fishy smell of water.

“B, Bergebut?”

Just then, he aggressively threw the bottle in his hand.

Clang-!

“Damn it! There was an invader! Where is the Sacred Cup?!”

The chief of the State Council hurriedly opened the other iron cabinet next to him.

“No way!”

The Spearhead of Longinus was also gone.

“Sir, the Spearhead of Longinus is also gone!”

Bergebut nodded as he clenched his teeth and yelled at his attache standing behind.

“Connect with the captain! Now!”

The priest hurriedly made a call and handed it to Bergebut.

“This bastard! How can you fail to handle such a simple task!”

He called the captain of the royal guards but couldn’t find out the whereabouts of the holy relics.

For them, they disappeared like a ghost.

“What, what should we do now? We need the Sacred Cup to finish the construction of Babel Tower!”

‘How can somebody get in here without leaving any trace?’

It was equipped with a state-of-the-art surveillance system, and even the hidden demons were on patrol. It was completely a different place from the lower-class relic vault under the gallery.

Bergebut took a deep breath and began to think.

‘He’s not just a petty thief, judging from how he only took the Sacred Cup and Spearhead, leaving everything else behind.’

Bergebut then turned to the chief of the State Council with a stiffened face.

Cardinal Andre, the chief of the State Council, trembled in fear.

“I, I beg you for mercy…! Please!”

Flashing his red eyes, Bergebut held out his hands.

Just then, Andre began choking as if he was being strangled.

“Help……”

His body floated in the air like a puppet tied with string and was smashed to the floor.

“Kek, kek!…”

Andre crawled on the ground as he gasped.

After venting his anger on him, Bergebut ordered the royal guards.

“Send troops to the Catacombs now!”

Rome Catacombs.

Restricted area.

The basement was dark, but the sand shimmered due to the bone dust on the floor.

There, Jin-seong strode forward, with a gleam in his blue eyes.

‘To stop the angel, I have to use the power that goes against that of the angel.’

To gain that power, Jin-seong was on his way to get the secret weapon Bergebut had hidden.

Catacombs, which was built in a dark underground space, only had about 10% of the space shown to the public.

The total length alone was over 500 km, and the chapels and squares built randomly were literally ‘a labyrinth’.

Jin-seong finally stood in front of the arched passage, the real entrance to the labyrinth. The outer wall of the passage was made of human skulls and bones, and in the middle was a picture of a fish.

ICTUS. It was a fish that symbolized the savior of Christianity.

‘This is the place where believers in the past secretly worshiped in hiding from persecution in Rome.’

It is said that 400 believers gathered in this huge underground space to escape the persecution and worshiped in a space of less than 350 square feet.

Jin-seong checked his wristwatch.

‘They should’ve realized that the Sacred Cup disappeared by now.’

He had to move before Bergebut could chase him.

It was when Jin-seong was about to step into the passage.

Tiring!

[You have reached the main turning point.]

[You can achieve ‘Darkness devours light’ here.]

[By completing achievements, you can permanently acquire the main Tarot card.]

Jin-seong nodded at the notification.

‘Good timing.’

‘Through the Codex, I already know all the methods required to complete this scenario.’

Jin-seong strode into the passage made of bones.

Browned human bones were scattered everywhere on the floor inside the closed passage. But Jin-seong didn’t mind them even a little and stepped forward, crushing the bones on the floor.

It was when Jin-seong stepped into a large hall.

Dalgrk, Dalgrk.

Something was moving in the dark in front of Jin-seong.

It was a skeleton standing on two legs.

“……”

The skeleton approached him with a thigh bone in one of his hands. And when Jin-seong also approached without hesitation, the skeleton swung the leg bone he was holding.

Whoosh!

Jin-seong easily avoided his attack and kicked him away.

Bam!

Kkdk, Kkdk…

Jin-seong looked down at the skeleton, struggling to stand up.

Crack-!

Then he stomped on his head and smashed it.

Just then,

“Gwooohh….”

Two lights flashed green in the darkness.

It was a mummy with a sullen gown, a papal tiara, holding a turibulum emitting dismal smoke.

Seeing the mummy, Jin-seong mumbled.

“….Is that the Pope who turned to Lich…”

The Demon King of Arrogance was protecting the Catacombs by turning the remains of the Pope into a lich.

Jin-seong held out Gae Assail with his two hands.

Then, the dazzling light emanating from Gae Assail began to illuminate the whole area.

Kyaeeek…..!

The lich opened his chin and held the turibulum forward.

Kgggg…..

The whole area vibrated, and hundreds of skeletons began to rise from the floor.

The darkness used to be filled with death-like silence was filled with the sound of bones hitting each other in an instant. And even the mummies in relatively good condition, which were attached to the wall, began to move.

In an instant, an army of the undead stood up.

“……”

Skeletons were each holding a rusty, long sword, and with their glowing white eyes, they all stared at Jin-seong. It was not the kind of energy that normal skeletons show.

The number of the undead exceeded three digits, and the skeletons were using advanced necromancy.

‘Still, they’re nothing more than just skeletons.’

Jin-seong calmly raised his spear despite the creepy sight and ran forward like a bullet.

The undead rushed towards Jin-seong. Rusty weapons were all aimed at Jin-seong from all directions.

Clang, Clang-!

Swinging the golden spear like a windmill, he deflected and smashed the weapons, causing the skeletons to move back.

Boom….!

“Gwooohh….”

The lich hurriedly extended his turibulum again, but his neck was cut off by the blade of the spear and fell to the floor.

Kwajik!

As his neck was blown away, his body collapsed and fell into a completely incapacitated state.

Skeletons that lost the control tower immediately collapsed to the ground and returned to a pile of bones.

Jin-seong lightly swung his spear into the air and looked down at the lich in the Pope’s gown.

Jin-seong took out the turibulum the Pope was holding through the soiled gown.

+
Name: Cursed Pope’s Turibulum
Rating: S
Effect: While this turibulum is on, it drives out all unclean within a 30m radius.
*Can be used only after the curse has been lifted.
Description: The holy item of the Pope to drive away evil.
+

Jin-seong nodded as he read the description.

‘It will be useful.’

He brought the cursed turibulum close to Gae Assail.

A dazzling light emanated from the holy spear, and the Pope’s turibulum began to return to its original golden color, exuding a black energy.