D.I.O

The Reaper Organization and the Netherworld couldn’t even interfere with a magic-wielding DIO necromancer user—a being that was, in principle, the closest with the beings of the Netherworld. In other words, their hands were tied when it came to Yongno.

Myung possessed enormous power and authority as one of the top figures of the Reaper Organization. However, just like how the police on Earth could not arrest ordinary citizens without cause, Myung could not punish or interfere with Yongno without good reason.

On Earth, corrupt police officers or prosecutors might take advantage of loopholes in the law or even go against the law outright, whereas the beings of the Netherworld strictly adhered to their rules and regulations. If they were to ever waver from their clearly marked paths, they’d instantly be hell-bound.

Myung was a Netherworld being with great mental powers and an almost infinite lifespan, but he would rather die and enter the Samsa-ra system—the reincarnation system—than spend a thousand years in hell.

“Fine. Then let’s negotiate and come to an agreement.”

“Negotiate over hundreds of millions of souls? I need to continue living on Earth, so I don’t really want to make any drastic decisions that’ll jeopardize my life and social standing on Earth.”

Of course, Yongno wasn’t an angel who would sacrifice himself for others. However, since they were talking about hundreds of millions of souls, Yongno had no choice but to be a bit more pensive.

They were talking about souls whose bodies had already perished and only had their souls remaining in DIO, but Yongno was still reluctant to be the one who decided to send hundreds of millions of human souls to the Netherworld.

“Hey, do you want to go to hell when you die?”

Surprised by Myung’s sudden question, Yongno asked, “Do you have the authority to do that?”

“Of course… I don’t.”

Seeing Myung shaking his head, Yongno couldn’t help but frown.

‘What is up with this guy? Is he just naive, or is there something that prohibits him from lying?’

If a being from the Netherworld were to threaten someone that they’d be hell-bound after death, even the most steel-hearted beings would feel a momentary sense of loss.

Death was something no one could escape.

Nevertheless, instead of telling lies or threatening Yongno, Myung was trying to negotiate with him.

In a sense, this was a very fortunate situation for Yongno.

He seized the opportunity to offer a proposal that he had thought of beforehand.

“Well, why don’t we do this…”

***

Influential people from all around the world gathered in the international conference hall, where the Seoul Metropolitan Government was hosting a conference.

Presidents and famous politicians, as well as the CEOs of large corporations, the heads of major media outlets, and oil conglomerates—in other words, virtually anyone who had a profound impact on the world—were gathered in the conference hall. They were currently socializing in groups of two or three with drinks in hand.

It was a conference spearheaded by Merlin, who officially bore the title of [Great Mage].

The meeting was ultra-exclusive; only three politicians in Korea, including the president, were allowed to attend. Just the invited individual and a few entourage personnel were allowed within the conference hall, but even so, the conference hall was filled to the brim, which exemplified just how important it was for anyone invited to be at this meeting.

“Oh, my. Is that…”

“Oh, my goodness… I guess, by this point, it’d be more accurate to state that he’s no longer human.”

“I heard offhand that he had reached a god-like realm…”

However, there was a figure whose presence alone overwhelmed the place, even among the collection of prominent people.

With a perfect body ratio of 8.5:1 head-to-body ratio, Seyoung was seated with his eyes closed at his reserved table wearing a vibrantly white tuxedo, which seemed to be completely free of even a speck of dust.

The politicians who were determined to make a connection with him at this conference and even the representatives of media outlets who vowed to interview him no matter what it took didn’t dare approach Seyoung. The presence and intimidation he radiated were so intense that even the foolhardiest of people wouldn’t be able to muster the courage to approach him.

“Would you like to have your meal served, Mr. Seyoung?”

“I’m not in the mood to eat anything. Just bring me a drink.”

Behind Seyoung—the knight of light, who dominated the surroundings—stood Sanae Ayase, a beautiful woman of mixed Slavic and Asian descent with a tall, well-trained, slender yet voluptuous body.

She preferred wearing revealing clothes, but currently, she wore an all-black conservative woman’s suit.

Of course, even with this getup, she couldn’t completely cover her voluptuous chest and her beautiful legs, which were exposed under the hem of her skirt. Nonetheless, unlike her usual playful self, she exuded a much more intellectual and sophisticated flair.

“Who is that woman?” Eunhye asked Yongno.

“That’s Sanae Ayase. She may look like a large-chested anime character, but she’s one of Japan’s top-class diplomats, and she’s fluent in seven different languages. She’s Level 13, and after the Japanese crisis, she started following Seyoung and claims to be his personal secretary. Her total devotion to Arthur is to the extent that she’s reviled for being a traitor by her own countrymen. Perhaps she’s doing all that to apologize on the behalf of all of Japan. That may be her intention…” Yongno muttered this last line under his breath and then walked toward Seyoung.

Seyoung, who was lightly sipping on his drink, raised his head. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while, Seyoung hyung. The atmosphere around you has changed considerably since the last time I saw you.”

Hearing Yongno’s words, Seyoung sighed and chuckled. It was a chuckle filled with many heavy thoughts and feelings.

“Well, a lot of things have happened since we last saw each other…”

As the two began to talk, the conference hall stirred.

Yongno had moved toward Seyoung while concealing his location, and this location concealment was unraveled once he started talking to Seyoung.

“Wait… He’s the great mage… When did he arrive at Seyoung’s table?”

“I’ve been on the lookout for him, but I didn’t even see him enter the conference hall. Also, why did the detection system not detect his presence?”

Everyone was in a state of confusion. Even the Master location detector, provided by the Noblesse, couldn’t properly locate or detect Yongno beforehand.

In other words, this meant that Yongno could infiltrate any place in the world and kill anyone.

‘However, those gathered here probably wouldn’t have tried to track my location or oppose me. They all know what happened in Seyoung’s case.’

Arthur, who was able to photonize his body and circle the Earth seven times in a single second, was a catastrophe-like existence who could defeat and collapse any national superpower single-handedly.

Unlike Merlin, Arthur couldn’t avoid being detected by the Master location detector, of course. Nevertheless, he was capable of flying to the other side of the Earth in less than a second, so he could kill anyone in the blink of an eye or in less time than it took to track down his location. Since people were familiar with Arthur’s power, they didn’t dare challenge Yongno.

If someone stated that ‘A great mage is too powerful! He must be regulated!’, someone else would naturally say, ‘What about the knight of light? Shouldn’t he be dealt with first?’ No one could contain or regulate the knight of light, so it didn’t make any sense to even attempt to contain a great mage.

“Anyway, it’s an honor to meet the famous great mage.”

“Ah, Seyoung hyung, don’t say stuff like that. I’m already embarrassed about all the attention and that stupid title.”

Of course, Yongno was not a great mage.

He had defeated two beings who were in the transcendence realm, but that feat was only possible under very special circumstances. Yongno himself couldn’t guarantee that he’d be able to eventually enter the transcendence realm.

Having reached the end of Level 19, Yongno felt that he’d hit a [limit] rather than a [wall].

Even Yongno, a genius amongst geniuses throughout the universe, was having a hard time breaking through.

“Anyway, why did you call me? I already know that you’re in control of DIO.”

“Ah… you already knew? Well, since I have it, I should use it. And unless I want everything for myself, I need to work with the various nation-states throughout the world.”

“Okay. So, why did you call me?”

Hearing Seyoung’s words, Yongno laughed.

“This isn’t a joke, and I never thought I’d say something like this… but… in order to protect Earth and humanity, I need your strength and cooperation.”

“For the sake of Earth and humankind you say… and you need my help? The help of a slaughterer?”

Arthur gave a self-deprecating smile and took a sip of his drink. His remarkable perceptive powers and sense had already picked up on the various complaints that were directed at him.

- He’s a slaughterer and must be held accountable for his devious actions! No matter how many people he saved and how much he contributed to the safety of humankind, he shouldn’t be above the law!

There were many people, not just Japanese, who had this opinion of Arthur. Human rights activists, eminent scholars, politicians, entertainers, and so on…

On the whole, what they said made logical sense.

This was because according to existing morality, customs, rules, and laws, a person should not be forgiven and must be held accountable if they had murdered another human being—or worse, many people—even if they had also accomplished a tremendously good deed.

Unless the killing of another had been committed during wartime or if it was hidden from the law or people, the person had to stand trial for committing such a heinous offense against another.

However, this logical argument collapsed upon itself with two simple words—‘who’ and ‘how’.

The statement that everyone should be equal before the law was nothing more than fantastical idealism.

Moreover, regardless of right and wrong, who would even dare to put handcuffs on Arthur? The police? The army?

Even the great powers were in a rush to appease him, let alone try and condemn him.

‘I should probably be grateful to Seyoung. Even though I’m not a transcendent, everyone is wary of me because of what he did.’

Although Yongno was called the [Great Mage], it was just a nickname given to him because of his identity as the strongest mage user, [Merlin], on Earth. Even the general public, as well as all Master level users, knew that Merlin wasn’t a transcendent.

Nevertheless, the heads of state, including those of the most powerful countries, did not view Yongno as a being who could be suppressed or leashed.

Arthur, Merlin, and Cruze were commonly referred to collectively as the Heaven above the Heavens. In other words, the general public saw these three as being on [the same level].

It was impossible for ordinary people, who did not know about the steep wall that one had to overcome to be a transcendent, to guess when Merlin or Cruze would reach the transcendent realm.

If anyone tried to bully or control them now and the two people suddenly crossed the barrier of transcendence, wouldn’t they harbor malice against those who tried to bully or control them?