Chương 461: Chapter 461
Gangnam, Seolleung.
"Mr. Seong Jihan!"
"You're back!!"
Seong Jihan, who had been kidnapped, crossed over through the portal to his original location.
He was being welcomed by the BattleNet Association staff dispatched here.
"Yes, well. I survived somehow."
"We were on the edge of our seats watching the broadcast…!"
"The Martial God, I can't believe such monsters exist…"
"If only the Tower of Babel hadn't disappeared, we could have watched from the office!"
As Seong Jihan listened to the staff's stories, he looked around at the mention of the Tower of Babel's disappearance.
Indeed, the Tower of Babel, which had been in a translucent state before he left,
was now gone without a trace.
"Where did the Tower of Babel go?"
"After you disappeared, its form gradually faded and vanished."
Seong Jihan recalled what happened before he was dragged away.
'Pythia stabbed herself with the Ice Sword Rain. At that time, my entire hand was frozen and completely burned away…'
The self-harm Pythia had inflicted to freeze Seong Jihan's arm.
At the time, he had wondered why she did that, but,
Only after the Administrator's Hand awakened and pushed him into Tuseong, did he realize Pythia had foreseen all of this future with her Divine Eye.
And at that moment, clearly,
'Not only was my hand released. Pythia was also engulfed in flames.'
The frozen Pythia had burned away without a trace when thawing his frozen hand.
So for now, it could be assumed that she was dead.
'Then did Gilgamesh, combined with the Tower of Babel, escape on his own?'
Gilgamesh, who had been moving according to Pythia's words,
With no one controlling him, seemed to have withdrawn from the Tower of Babel and fled.
"It appears Gilgamesh has run away… Have there been any reports of his whereabouts being discovered?"
"No. We haven't received any information related to this yet…"
Even in that state, as expected of a high-ranking constellation.
Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
Should he go searching for him as soon as he returns?
"How long has it been since the Tower of Babel disappeared?"
"Today is the third day."
"Three days? Was I there for three whole days?"
"Yes…"
"Hmm, let me take a look around."
Swish…
Seong Jihan expanded his senses.
Thanks to his greatly enhanced abilities from Tuseong, the Martial Soul Domain now covered a much wider range than before, but.
Even as he roamed around Seoul and searched, no presence on Gilgamesh's level was detected.
'It's been three days, so I'm too late after all.'
Even if Gilgamesh had weakened, he was a Level 8 Constellation,
Given three days of leeway, he could flee to the other side of the Earth.
'Still, I need to find him.'
Ashoka had definitely said,
[Although I've certainly destroyed the Tower of Babel, there's always a possibility of the Martial God rebuilding it.]
[The Tower of Babel is a means to store power in the process of infinite regression, and it becomes a pathway for the Martial God to definitively rule Tuseong. You must strive to prevent the Tower of Babel from being rebuilt.]
[Secure the original owner of the Tower of Babel.]
Regarding the Tower of Babel, Ashoka had said they needed to catch Gilgamesh first.
Seong Jihan pondered if there was a good search method, then suddenly,
'Ah… I should ask my sister.'
He recalled the Divine Eye possessed by Seong Jiah.
With the disappearance of the owner of the Abyss, her authority had weakened, but
Still, within the Earth's realm, there seemed to be a possibility of finding a person.
'I should go home for now.'
Seong Jihan stopped his search for Gilgamesh for the time being and returned home.
* * *
On the coast of Incheon, overlooking the West Sea.
There, an old man was hunched over, gazing at the sea, wearing sunglasses.
Although it was chilly as it was autumn, it wasn't that cold, but,
He was standing in a suspicious attire that anyone would find odd, wearing a thick padded jacket with a hat pulled down.
And,
"Can you speak now? Pythia."
As the old man spoke,
Swish.
Something popped out from inside his padded jacket pocket.
Sparkling eyes of light.
It was the Divine Eye that Pythia possessed.
[Gilgamesh… Why did you save me?]
When Seong Jihan thawed his frozen arm, simultaneously incinerating Pythia,
Her body had vanished, unable to withstand the power of the red, but the Divine Eye had faintly remained until the end.
However, it couldn't endure for long either.
Swish…
Gilgamesh, who had been combined with the Tower of Babel, took the opportunity while Seong Jihan was being dragged away,
To steal Pythia's Divine Eye.
[If you had left it, I would have died. Why did you even share your life force… What's your goal?]
"I saved you because you're my first wife."
At Gilgamesh's words, the light in the Divine Eye flickered intensely.
[Bullshit. I know well you're not the type to do that. If you were really going to save me, you wouldn't have left just the eyes like this.]
"Hmph, can't even take a joke."
Swish.
Gilgamesh smirked and pointed his finger at the sea.
"Pythia. Use your Divine Eye to search for the World Tree."
[The World Tree…]
"Yes. Then I'll supply more life force and regenerate your body."
So there was a separate purpose after all.
Pythia's Divine Eye flickered.
[Why, do you want to turn your old body young again?]
"Of course! How can I live like this?"
[Ha. You think absorbing the World Tree will restore your youth? Your youth will only return if the Martial God grants you immortality. So stop this nonsense and restore my body. I need to contact the Martial God.]
Gilgamesh heard those words and scoffed.
"Hmph. That snake bastard won't have the mind for that."
[What?]
"Tuseong is in chaos."
[Chaos? What do you mean?]
"Ashoka betrayed him."
[What?! Be- Betrayal…]
"Even your great Divine Eye couldn't see that, huh?"
Gilgamesh sneered at the eyes of light.
The Divine Eye flickered.
[…I can't believe it. How do you even know that in the first place?]
"How could I not know when that Seong Jihan guy was broadcasting it so loudly on BattleTube? I watched it well even while escaping."
[Show me that video too.]
"I'll show you if you promise to cooperate with me."
[…Fine. I'll cooperate.]
"Good."
As Pythia replied,
Whirring.
A screen popped up in front of her eyes.
It hadn't been long since the video was released, but
It was already the most viewed and talked-about video among all the BattleTube videos from the entire universe this year.
It started playing in front of Pythia's Divine Eye.
"Skip the fighting part quickly."
Gilgamesh changed the playback speed to 2x.
The battle in the video proceeded in an instant.
At first, it seemed like Seong Jihan was holding up well, but the moment the Martial God combined with Tuseong and he was about to meet his end,
Whoosh!
The Administrator's Hand began to fully exert its power, and the scene where Seong Jihan took out the World Tree ignition device was shown.
At the decisive moment of choosing whether to press it or not,
Gilgamesh, who was next to her, remarked,
"Seong Jihan, that stupid bastard."
[Don't spoil it.]
"You stupid bastard. He broke the switch."
[What?]
"Giving up on the Red Administrator. Tsk… I was going to acknowledge him as my son, but I guess it won't work."
Crack!
Seong Jihan in the video broke the switch.
Gilgamesh clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
"One who aims to reach the pinnacle must not be bound by petty mercy. How foolish to break the switch just worrying about family. I should have had that in my hands instead."
[So you could just watch your children die like before.]
"Why are you bringing that up?"
Gilgamesh glared at the Divine Eye with a displeased look.
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll cut off your life force."
[Go ahead.]
"Wh-What…"
[If I'm gone, can you find the World Tree?]
"Th-That's…"
[If you could find it, you wouldn't have wasted precious life force to keep me alive in the first place. I'm just an eye now anyway, so it doesn't matter if I die.]
"A-Ahem…!"
Gilgamesh, who tried to threaten Pythia with her life only to gain nothing, awkwardly cleared his throat.
[So while I'm watching this, stay quiet. If you say one more word, I might just die on purpose.]
"E-Even if your life…"
[Not everyone is like you. I warned you. Don't open your mouth again.]
"Eek…"
Pythia began to dim her light, refusing life force from her side.
Seeing her actually trying to die, not just pretending, Gilgamesh raised both hands.
"Ah, I got it. I won't say anything! I'll stay quiet!"
[You should have done that from the start. Put the playback speed back to 1x too. I don't like it fast.]
"Okay…"
[Didn't you say you wouldn't talk?]
The Divine Eye's light dimmed again as if she would die.
'Ah damn, this crazy bitch is serious.'
Gilgamesh changed the BattleTube playback settings as she instructed, suppressing his urge to talk back.
After finishing watching the chaos that occurred in Tuseong in the form of a Divine Eye,
[…]
Pythia stayed silent for a long time, only blinking her light.
'This bitch isn't saying anything after watching it all.'
He wanted to urge her to cooperate now that she had finished watching, but
Afraid she might actually commit suicide if he said another word, Gilgamesh anxiously watched her.
[Player Seong Jihan is starting a live broadcast on BattleTube.]
Then, a message popped up on the BattleTube window that was left open, indicating Seong Jihan had started a broadcast.
[Hurry and click that.]
"Okay…"
[I told you not to talk.]
"…"
'I'm really going to kill you once we find the World Tree.'
Gilgamesh gnashed his teeth and clicked on the live broadcast.
[Hello, everyone.]
On the screen, Seong Jihan was greeting the viewers with a nonchalant face.
* * *
-Oh Seong Jihan is here omg
-Looks like he's at home based on the background??
-When the association staff's Seong Jihan sighting posts went up on SNS earlier I was doubtful but I'm relieved now
-Oh, Yoon Seah briefly appeared behind him then disappeared lol
-She seems to be crying a lot. Her face is all swollen.
-Ah but Seong Jihan's face… The cracks seem to have gotten bigger than before?
-Oh it really has; The gold(cracks) got so much bigger.
As soon as Seong Jihan's live broadcast started, the viewers who flooded in were able to quickly notice the changes in him.
The cracks on the left side of his face containing the void.
That gap, which was initially only finely engraved along his jawline, had now greatly expanded across his cheek after returning from Tuseong.
-Looks like it would shatter if you lightly hit it.
-Well he suffered so much there, it can't be unscathed;
-I lost count after a thousand times of him dying…
While the viewers sympathized over the changes in his face,
"Ah, my face is this cracked now."
Seong Jihan looked at the viewers' reactions and only then examined his own face.
"Well, it won't break easily like you're worrying though."
He tapped it with his finger.
Contrary to people's concerns, his left face was sturdy.
Although it looked very cracked on the outside, it was still solid.
"Let's stop talking about my face now. The reason I turned on the broadcast today is…"
Seong Jihan pulled up his status window and revealed only the level portion to the viewers.
"My level has reached a whopping 650."
-Oh when did it go up again lol
-But shouldn't the level have gone up more after suffering so much in Tuseong??
-Well, come to think of it, he didn't really defeat many enemies.
-That's true. Then why did the level go up?
-Show us the stats below too!
-For real I'm curious about Seong Jihan's current stats lol
Viewers clamored for him to also reveal his status window at the disclosure of Seong Jihan's level, but
"Ah. Can't do that. I have to do the tournament."
-Tournament…
-Ah, is that… the one wagering your hand?
"Yes. Constellations, you've waited a long time, right? Now you can participate too!"
Seong Jihan tapped his level and grinned, but
-…Excuse me.
-After seeing you fight the Martial God like that, who's going to apply for the tournament;
-The constellations who already applied before all canceled too.
-So who's going to fight him…
The reactions of the alien viewers participating in the live broadcast were very lukewarm.
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