abcnovels
Chapter 246: Inotia, the City of Magic 3
Chapter 246: Inotia, the City of Magic 3
Chapter 246: Inotia, the City of Magic 3
In a circular conference room inside Neustein.
Woohyuk was seated in a chair and talking with Etheria Rodinus.
“You just let Lilith and Aleister go? Why did you do that, Chun Woohyuk?” she asked.
“There were two ancient demons who were descending and causing havoc, so I couldn’t afford to deal with them. Furthermore, they still possess value for me to use,” he answered.
“Use? I guess you don’t see them as enemies because they’re feeding you what you want. Or maybe you’ve fallen for that bitch, Lilith,” Ibn Rusud angrily commented from the side. He seemed to be angry with Woohyuk’s cavalier attitude.
He was angry that Woohyuk didn’t do anything against Lilith and her party even though his younger sister, Helena, and Arhen were put in a dangerous situation.
The others inside the conference room also had dissatisfied expressions.
“Well, it’s okay since everyone came back safely. In my opinion, Woohyuk did his best in that situation,” Helena stated.
“Don’t take his side just because you like him, Saintess. We can see that you have ulterior motives,” her brother retorted.
“What ulterior motives? And what’s this about wanting a man? I’ve used beautiful people for my own purposes in the past, so don’t confuse that with anything personal.”
The siblings were still not very close.
As the atmosphere started getting out of hand, Boetius struck his crystal staff several times on the floor.
Tak! Tak!
“It’s not the time to grumble and argue. We’re facing a very important issue right now,” Boetius stated.
The Creator’s intervention had begun in earnest, and the contents of the Prophecy began to deviate, one by one.
Therefore, their existing plan had to be implemented quickly or revised.
First off, it was necessary to quickly solve the problem of the three ancient documents.
Only then could they prevent the additional two great catastrophes to come.
“Anyway, I want to get the Sangreal Chronicles back. I heard that the restoration work on it has been completed,” Woohyuk said.
“Here you are. If you inject magic power into the restored pages, you’ll be able to progress on the Epic Quest,” Boetius explained as he handed over a magic book that looked quite old.
When Woohyuk followed Boetius’ directions, a series of system messages appeared before his eyes.
[Epic Quest: ‘Roland’s Song’ has been given.]
[For details, please check the quest information window.]
[Roland’s Song].
Along with Nibelungen, Poland’s Song was one of the most famous epic poems of the Eeth Continent.
The main characters were Roland, the chief of the Knights of Trinity, and Sophia, the villain, and Orobas, the 55th ranked Demon King.
Except for Orobas, the other two were believed to be dead, so Woohyuk wondered what the contents of this quest were about.
‘Before, Martinus said that he’d someday meet Sophia again.’
In the Izuna Kingdom’s golden library, Woohyuk once met Martinus, the White Sage, who was trapped in a portrait.
Martinus was a member of Etheria Rodinus and was active in the era depicted in Roland’s Song.
Sophia was also a member of Etheria Rodinus, and she was also part of Solomon’s lineage.
While Woohyuk recalled this past information, Boetius spoke to him, “What is the content of Epic Quest?”
“Wait a minute, it’s…” Woohyuk said as he hastily read the quest information from the quest window.
[New Achievement]
Name: Roland’s Song
Type: Epic
Content: Find Solomon’s family and obtain the relics left by Saint Sophia. Then use it to enter her imaginary world and pass her test.
Others: Failure does not allow retries. One chance.
Regarding Solomon’s family lineage, there were already three or four people who were gathered here now.
When Woohyuk explained the contents of the quest, Boetius glanced at Helena.
Helena nodded her head and then handed the necklace she was wearing to Woohyuk.
“Here, take it. It’s Sophia’s keepsake.”
“It looks simple,” Woohyuk responded while receiving the necklace.
It was an accessory without any remarkable features or designs.
[Saint Sophia’s Guardian Cross]
Type: Ornament
Grade: S
Durability: 50,000
Effect: When worn by a person who inherits the lineage of a divine family, intelligence and spirit increase by 50 and the wearer is immune to various curse magic.
‘The given effects are fairly poor for an S-grade artifact.’
Of course, being immune to various curse magic was immensely useful, but it didn’t feel particularly attractive or useful to Woohyuk.
He assumed that the artifact had hidden abilities/effects, so he took out the Archaeologist’s Golden Magnifying Glass and reexamined the artifact once more.
[Saint Sophia’s Guardian Cross]
Type: Ornament
Grade: S
Durability: 50,000
Effect: When worn by a person who inherited the lineage of a divine family, intelligence and spirit are increased by 50 and are immune to various curse magic
(Hidden Effect: Wearer has the ability to enter the imaginary world inside the necklace by injecting one’s soul into the imaginary realm. Others, outside of the wearer, may enter but must possess certain qualifications.)
‘… I guess this was what’s hidden?’
As he expected, Sophia’s soul resided inside the necklace.
Woohyuk felt that he already met the qualifications, so he injected his mana into the Guardian Cross.
[Would you like to enter Saint Sophia’s Imaginary World?]
[Yes] [No]
It seemed that he could enter right now if he wanted.
Boetius spoke up just as Woohyuk was about to press the [Yes] button.
“The quest will have something to do with the second catastrophe, the Great Flood. If possible, find out how to stop it.”
“I’ll try.”
First of all, there didn’t seem to be any information or mention about the Great Flood in Roland’s Song.
While contemplating what questions he should ask Sophia, Woohyuk entered the imaginary world.
***
The dock was crowded with diverse people and races.
Woohyuk stood on the deck and looked toward the sea.
‘This is the main port in the Izuna Kingdom.’
It was the place where Saint Sophia was murdered by the Pronoia, the secret society of religious fanatics.
Perhaps this imaginary world was a reproduction of the scene at that time.
First, Woohyuk looked for Saint Sophia.
‘There’s a high probability that she’ll be in Etheria Rodinus’ secret meeting place.’
He remembered her appearance because he had seen her once in Martinus’ imaginary world.
Woohyuk left the dock and moved toward a relatively empty alleyway.
‘Sophia may already be grasping my existence.’
It was an epic quest, so he had to act carefully.
However, he thought that it would also be helpful if he could shorten the time.
As Woohyuk was wandering around, a blonde woman suddenly popped out from a corner.
She looked surprisingly similar to Helena.
She must be Saint Sophia.
“Thank you for showing up directly,” Woohyuk said.
“It seemed like you were mindlessly wandering. I was planning to trouble you a bit, but I decided to just appear in front of you,” Sophia responded.
Even in her way of speaking, she resembled Helena a lot.
Woohyuk felt an ominous feeling.
“Do you often hear from others that you’ll have a hard time getting married?” he asked.
“… What are you saying? We just met… but you’re already making me feel bad,” she said as she frowned her brow.
“Stay calm and don’t get overexcited. I was just asking,” he replied back.
“You’re a strange man. How did you get in here?”
Without certain qualifications, he wouldn’t be able to enter Sofia’s imaginary world.
When she asked for an explanation, Woohyuk briefly described his situation.
“…That’s why I came… to get your help.”
“You’ve been through quite a lot. Looking at your current state, it seems what you’re saying is true.”
Sophia looked at Woohyuk with sympathetic eyes.
It was her first favorable response.
Woohyuk thought it was time to ask one of his main questions.
“Do you know anything about the Flood?”
“According to some ancient documents, it occurred a long time ago. So, people built a huge ark and survived the catastrophe.”
In the Bible, the ark called Noah’s Ark.
In Gilgamesh’s Epic, the ark was described as the Ark of Utnapishtim.
Anyway, whatever or whoever built the ark, it was a big ship. It was the last fortress to counter the apocalyptic situation.
“No matter how big an ark is, one can’t get everyone on board,” Woohyuk followed.
“Well, only the chosen ones can get aboard. It’s probably not a good way to resolve a situation,” she answered.
“Then, is there any other way?”
“Stop the Flood from happening in the first place, right?”
Sophia’s words made sense.
But how could he prevent a natural disaster from happening without the power of a God?
Woohyuk thought about this for a while and then asked, “The Ark of Knowledge. Wouldn’t I be able to find a solution there? That place was created to prepare for the end of days.”
“Even if that’s so, how are you going to enter? Only those who have been selected from among the sacred houses can enter.”
“I can leave that to Etheria Rodinus.”
Even if he didn’t go in himself, he could just ask someone to pull out the necessary documents from there.
Of course, since what he needed was a lost magic book, it may already be one of the books he was having restored, which meant it wasn’t necessary to enter the Ark of Knowledge.
“Either way, I don’t think you’ll find the answer here,” Sophia said.
“According to the Prophecy, I can stop the Flood through this quest,” Woohyuk replied.
[Getia’s Prophecy].
He didn’t know who wrote it, but the prophesies written in it was fairly accurate.
Hearing Woohyuk’s explanation, Sophia fell into thought for a moment.
“Well… I do have a magic book in my possession,” she said after some thought.
[Nameless Old Book].
Woohyuk had already heard the details from Helena.
“That book is about the Ark of Knowledge,” he stated.
“Are they related to each other? I don’t know,” she answered at a loss.
“Maybe there’s a hint in that nameless magic book.”
Maybe the members of Etheria Rodinus had missed something.
Sophia nodded after hearing Woohyuk’s hypothesis.
“Then analyze it, even if it’s an incorrect hypothesis,” she said.
“In order to do that, I have to get out of here quickly. Can you give me a simple test?”
He recalled negotiating with the Dragon Tribe and easily passing their test, Woohyuk was once again lobbying for an easy test.
Sophia looked slightly embarrassed.
“S-Something simple?”
“Normally, I’d have to perform various highly difficult sub-quests based on Roland’s song. But, as long as you agree, I don’t have to go through that process.”
“… So that’s what you were thinking. That’s certainly true, but there’s one problem,” Sophia said.
“Problem?”
“Yes, it seems that I’m being chased.”
As soon as Sophia finished speaking, a group of people appeared on the other side of the alley.
Woohyuk, who saw the newly appeared group, made an annoyed expression.
“Is it the Pronoia? I guess Rosenkreuz didn’t exist in this era,” he muttered.
“The opponents are not easy. Please help me defeat them. This is no different from the real situation.”
Even in the imaginary world, if one received damage, one could die the same as in the real world. This meant that death in the imaginary world equated to death in the real world.
At Sophia’s request, Woohyuk nodded and answered, “Okay. I’ll accept this as the test content.”
In fact, it was easier for him to defeat someone in this way than to rack his brain on multiple side-quests.
Additionally, when he invaded the Holy Pope’s Office and defeated Rosenkreuz, he learned a lot about the Pronoia group.
“… Who are you? I’ve never seen your face before,” one of the Pronoia members shouted out.
“You can call me a fanatic slaughterer,” Woohyuk brightly answered.
“?”
“It means you’ll soon perish.”
When Woohyuk summoned Verserios, the blue sky immediately darkened, black fumes started covering the immediate area, and black raindrops fell upon the ground.
Swah~!
He became even stronger after battling the ancient demons, so Woohyuk was able to deal with all of the Pronoia members leisurely by himself.
Eventually, in the alleyway, the men screamed and a river of blood flowed out.