Chương 553: Chapter 553
[In the past, I once received a request from the World Tree Alliance.]
"They requested to you, an undead?"
[They wanted to revive a guy named Gilgamesh and said they wanted to test necromancy, too.]
Seong Jihan recalled the fragment of Gilgamesh he had obtained before.
The fragment that had been implanted in the three heads resembled Seong Jihan.
It granted him the gift of a blue vessel and even upgraded it.
This increased the stat limit of Blue by +30.
To improve his current abilities, raising the Gift 'Blue Vessel' rank was the top priority.
"But isn't reviving the speciality of the Green Administrator? I'm surprised they made a request to you."
[That side is entirely opposite to my route, right? They just gave me a part of Gilgamesh's body and tested my abilities. Actually, when I received the request, I didn't even know it was Gilgamesh. They only sent a piece of flesh.]
"Just a piece of flesh?"
[Yeah. I analyzed all of that and figured it out.]
It was pretty impressive to figure it out from just that.
As Seong Jihan nodded, Karlein tilted his head.
[But you somehow seem to know about this? You're not very surprised.]
"I did obtain a fragment of Gilgamesh while raiding one of the Alliance's labs."
[Oh, really? Then was that lab's location on a 'Root of the World Tree' planet by any chance?]
"No. It wasn't that level."
Root of the World Tree.
These were planets that Yggdrasil had subjugated since her Constellation days, before becoming an Administrator.
They were locations with at least S-rank World Trees.
'I raided one of those before and faced quite fierce resistance.'
Of course, the biggest problem there was.
Absorbing too much while trying to absorb an S-rank World Tree.
So after that, he decided to raid lower-tier planets instead of the Root of the World Tree planets...
"Is the lab you know about on a Root of the World Tree planet?"
[Yeah. When I returned the flesh piece to the World Tree Alliance after completing the request, that was the location.]
"Hmm. I'll need to prepare thoroughly before raiding that place."
The Root of the World Tree he raided before was easy to achieve the goal since the target was the World Tree itself.
But this time, he needed to find Gilgamesh's fragment, so it would take longer.
It wouldn't be easy to hit and run, and Yggdrasil might directly descend.
Unlike casually using portals like now, meticulous preparation was necessary.
[Rather than raiding the Root of the World Tree right away, I recommend finding more fragments at other research facilities. Yggdrasil's defenses have surely become stronger than before.]
"That sounds good. Karlein, tell me the location of the lab you found out earlier."
At Seong Jihan's words,
Karlein's eyes flashed, and planetary coordinates appeared.
[This is the coordinate where I returned the flesh piece.]
"I see. Besides this..."
Then Seong Jihan showed a collection of World Tree Alliance coordinates he had previously captured from the bulletin board.
"If you know any planet locations belonging to the World Tree Alliance other than these, let me know."
[Ah. Alright. I'll ask around and find out. Then... Head, does your BattleNet communication work?]
"I restored some functions, but communication doesn't work. I'll drop by occasionally, so pass it on then."
[Okay, Head. I'll be prepared.]
After entrusting the investigation to Karlein like this, Seong Jihan thought,
'Now I should implant the shadow in Kim Jihun.'
After wrapping up the business here, he returned to Earth.
* * *
The living room of the penthouse.
"Wow, so the Shadow Queen was the one who created that half-elf man?"
"...No wonder. She avoided me after that. So that's what she had done."
When Seong Jihan told his family about the Shadow Queen incident,
They wore expressions of disbelief.
"The Queen is really disappointing, seriously..."
"So, what did you do with the Shadow Queen?"
"I sealed the Queen's soul and'll use only the shadow."
"Just the shadow?"
"Yeah. I'm going to implant it in Kim Jihun."
As he said this, Seong Jihan opened his palm.
Sssss...
Black smoke gently rose above it.
"What happens when you implant that?"
"I'll be able to control Kim Jihun's body even while I'm away on expeditions."
"Ah. But won't that shadow energy be detected in that body?"
"I'll implant it in the void you put in."
The void that Yoon Seah had breathed into Kim Jihun's blue sword.
If he breathed the shadow energy into that, no matter how much they searched Kim Jihun's body, they wouldn't be able to find it.
"Well, I'm going to do some work now."
"Okay. See you later, uncle."
With that, Seong Jihan returned to the room below and first checked on the elf guard.
She was still staring at Kim Jihun, but her pupils were slightly unfocused.
'The Sacred Flame effect is working well.'
He didn't need to worry about her anymore.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan placed his hand on Kim Jihun's head.
Sssssss...
Then, black smoke transmitted through his hand seeped into him.
'It's working right away.'
The sensory sharing with Kim Jihun through the shadow proceeded clearly.
Until now, he had to enter his body to control him,
But now Seong Jihan could do it indirectly from afar through the implanted shadow.
'Multitasking feels a bit awkward.'
The control itself was manageable, but,
The sensation of controlling someone other than himself was still unfamiliar to him.
Still, he would need to get used to this for the sake of his double life.
After moving two bodies through sensory sharing for about an hour,
'Now I've got the hang of the control itself.'
He decided to take it a step further.
'It's only meaningful if I can move simultaneously while raiding World Tree planets.'
He controlled it right next to him now, but would it work well in actual practice?
To test this, Seong Jihan went to raid a D-rank World Tree, which was now little more than a stat charging station for him.
'This... is not easy.'
Maybe it was because the distance was so incredibly far.
Receiving sensations through the shadow was completely different from doing it right next to him.
Seong Jihan intended for Kim Jihun to get up from the bed and walk,
Thud...!
But he rolled off the bed onto the floor as he tried to rise.
And even after falling to the floor, when trying to stand up properly,
Bang...!
Instead of standing on his feet, Kim Jihun tried to do a handstand on his palms and rolled again.
'Is it because it's too far? It feels like the signal isn't getting through properly.'
Should he have gradually increased the distance?
Seong Jihan thought this as he floated quietly in the atmosphere,
Focusing only on controlling Kim Jihun.
After about 30 minutes of this,
'...It's good I put the Sacred Flame on the elf.'
Kim Jihun still couldn't stand up straight from the floor.
The surroundings had become a mess from rolling around on the floor so much.
With good recovery, even the half-elf's body now showed several dark bruises.
If the elf guard had been watching this spectacle properly, she would have intervened long ago.
'If it's like this, implanting the shadow was pointless.'
Honestly, what was the point of controlling well from Earth?
It needed to work properly when he was away on expeditions to make implanting the shadow worthwhile.
As Seong Jihan was struggling with this test,
[...Shall I help?]
A familiar voice came from the shadow possessed by Seong Jihan's main body.
* * *
"Shadow Queen? You should have been sealed."
Seong Jihan opened his inventory.
There, the sealed soul of the Queen was definitely in its place.
'Even with the soul sealed, is there a remnant left?'
Persistent one.
If so, should he just give up on the shadow and get rid of it all?
As Seong Jihan was thinking this,
[Master, it's me, Ariel. Don't you remember?]
The shadow revealed its identity.
"...You say you're Ariel?"
Ariel, who acted as Seong Jihan's sword as an avatar of the Shadow Queen.
But after rescuing the Shadow Queen before, she had disappeared, merging with the Queen.
He had missed her absence for a while, but,
Since she was originally born as the Queen's avatar, he thought this was the predetermined course once the Queen was rescued...
[After merging with the Queen, my lost consciousness has now returned...]
"Is it because the Queen's soul is sealed? Still, I didn't expect you, her avatar, to remain independently like this."
[...I'm puzzled too. I shared memories with the Queen, but they're not complete.]
Then Ariel spoke cautiously.
[Um... Is the avatar of a traitor still untrustworthy?]
"Hmm... How were you planning to help?"
Ariel, who had been the Queen's faithful avatar.
It was unreasonable to trust her completely, but he could at least hear her method.
[The surest way would be for me to dwell in that avatar, but...]
"That's not possible. I can't trust you that much yet."
[...I understand. Instead, I'll amplify the signal sent to the shadow. Once you get the hang of it, Master will quickly master it.]
"Really? Give it a try."
Sssss...
As Seong Jihan gave permission, the shadow energy moved in earnest.
With Ariel acting as an intermediary, the signal was amplified.
'Oh, he stood up.'
Kim Jihun, who had been rolling on the ground, lightly rose to his feet.
[Like this, with me as an intermediary in the middle, you can receive sensations even from far away.]
"This doesn't seem much different from my method..."
[Hmm... Perhaps, me being a Shadow Elf acting as a medium improves the signal stability.]
If this was true,
Ariel would be indispensable in controlling Kim Jihun while on expeditions.
'I guess I'll have to use her as a medium for now.'
Seong Jihan thought this as he watched his Earth avatar being controlled well.
Kim Jihun could now perform basic movements like walking and sitting, though intense movements were difficult.
After all, it seemed he had to use Ariel to establish this remote control system properly.
"I guess you'll have to come along for a while."
[For a while... is it.]
"It can't be helped. Because of what happened with the Queen, 100% trust is impossible."
[...I understand that decision. What the Queen did was enough to betray that trust.]
"You said your memories aren't complete yet, but you seem to know that incident well."
Ariel answered Seong Jihan's question in a subdued voice.
[I suppose that day was when the Queen... not only betrayed you, Master, but also gave up on saving the Shadow Elves.]
"She even gave up on saving them?"
[Yes... When she was about to be recaptured by the World Tree Alliance. The Queen faced her true feelings. Revenge, saving her race, were all just noble-sounding pretexts... The Queen, who had been severely tortured by the Alliance once, just wanted to live freely.]
The Shadow Queen had indeed been severely tortured before.
After going through that, it was understandable to pursue personal happiness rather than the cause of saving the Shadow Elves.
Still.
"If that was the case, why didn't she run away earlier instead of staying on Earth? She shouldn't have sold my biometric information."
[...Indeed.]
Ariel sighed deeply, then spoke to Seong Jihan.
[Anyway, I am the avatar of that traitor. Use me as a medium as you see fit, Master, then dispose of me at your discretion. I'll accept death anytime.]
Being indifferent to death, she was better than her original.
Seong Jihan nodded and looked down.
'Since I'm here, I might as well raid it.'
A D-rank World Tree.
There was not much to gain except charging some stats, but it would be a shame to just return after coming all this way.
Seong Jihan, in his Red Administrator state,
Swoosh...!
Dropped straight down near the World Tree.
Then, there were
"You've finally come."
"The Red Administrator...!"
100 High Elves holding blue swords, forming a defensive formation.
And that too,
'...They've already all changed to that face?'
All 100 of them.
With Yoon Seah's face.
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