"...The Outer Gods." Suho's expression turned cold as he heard Lotto's exclamation. His mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts, but he had to remain calm for now.
"Interesting."
Thud! Suho released his grip, and Lotto's body crumpled to the floor.
"Gasp!" He frantically checked that his neck was still attached and looked at Vulcan with a servile expression.
Suho looked down at him with a haughty gaze and thought. 'The demons here naturally assumed that 'Vulcan' knew everything. What should I do in this situation…?'
'Hmmm. I'll keep my words to a minimum and just repeat what these guys say like a parrot.'
"The Outer Gods... agreed?"
"Y-yes! They said we could gain many followers on Earth by cooperating with them!"
"Gain followers... And this is the best you could do?"
Suho's gaze swept across the chaotic gambling den. Lotto, the manager of this place, replied with a slightly offended expression.
"This isn't 'the best'! There are black markets in other places too! Even now, we're spreading Stardust worldwide through various methods in cooperation with the Outer Gods..."
"Cooperation." Suho smirked and provoked him.
"It looks like you've just became their slaves."
"...That's not true!"
'Was this the trigger?'
Lotto, forgetting that he had just been begging for his life, shouted as if having a seizure. "We were the ones who first developed Stardust, and we were the ones who succeeded in creating Star Pieces! They're the ones being used by us demons!"
"Do you truly believe that?"
"Y-yes."
"Hmm."
Finally, a satisfied expression appeared on Suho's face. He looked at Lotto with an approving gaze, and his feelings were genuine. How could he not be impressed?
'Thanks to this guy, I've learned a lot.'
[Yo, you're killin' it, my dude!]
'Where did you learn that saying?'
[The internet.]
Esil's voice was filled with genuine admiration. At this rate, one might even believe that Suho was a real demon noble, not a human.
[Be honest. Are you actually Vulcan?]
'Shut up. This is where it gets important.'
Suho brushed off Esil's words and used the Ruler's Authority to lift Lotto back to his feet. Who, realizing that he had just defied a demon noble, turned pale.
"If that's what you truly believe..."
Suho commanded him solemnly.
"Guide me right now."
"...!"
"I'll meet the Outer Gods myself." At those words, Lotto closed his eyes tightly, as if expecting what was to come. But at the same time, a meticulous calculation was running through his mind.
'...No, this might actually be a good thing. Those guys were getting out of control anyway. Vulcan must have come here looking for us, knowing everything from the start.'
He finally answered.
"I'll guide you right away. To the temple of the Outer Gods."
"No need."
...!
"Because we've come ourselves." At that moment, a group of people emitting an immense aura entered the gambling den.
* * *
[Hunter Association - Yangpyeong Branch]
"...Is that true?"
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, who had rushed over after receiving Suho's call, was shocked to hear about what had happened here.
Bzzzzzzz.
Countless bees were flying around the Yangpyeong branch, surrounding it. Among them, an avatar of Arsha, a woman with an alluring smile, gently poked one of her subordinates with a fingertip and nodded at Team Leader Han Jaehyuk's question.
[Yes, it's all true. Isn't that right, everyone?]
Gulp.
As Arsha turned around, the Yangpyeong branch employees gathered there shuddered simultaneously.
Buzzzzt!
The bees swarmed around them like piranhas. Each radiating an ominous mana, threatening to sting them with their venomous stingers at any moment if Arsha so much as twitched a finger.
'Wh-what kind of skill is this...?'
'Where did this woman suddenly come from...?'
Because of Arsha's skill, used when Suho left, the Yangpyeong branch employees had been confined to their offices, unable to move. Until the Association's Surveillance Department, dispatched to arrest them, arrived. This was because he suspected that some of them might be colluding with the black market.
[Oh my, Branch Manager? I asked you a question. You should answer it...]
"Y-yes! It's all true! Everything is true!" Min Dae-Seok nodded repeatedly with a pale face at Arsha's gentle urging.
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk sighed and said in a weary tone, watching the scene. "...Arrest them all."
"Yes!"
At his command, the Hunters from the Surveillance Department detained all the Yangpyeong branch employees.
'How could this happen?'
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, after hearing the whole story, was dumbfounded. The Association harboring a black market.
'To think our organization is in such a mess. It hasn't even been that long since the Chairman left...'
In truth, it wasn't uncommon for any institution with a large number of employees to become corrupt from within. But the Hunter Association was only two years old. It was absurd for something like this to happen so soon. It was almost suspicious, as if someone had deliberately infiltrated them.
"To think... The Stardust necklace was created as a pass to the black market."
He sighed glancing down, then grabbed the string hanging around his neck, intending to rip it off. What started as a small tribute to the victims of Stardust, also became quite openly embraced within the Hunter Association. It wasn't an official event or anything, but it was literally a case of 'everyone started wearing one without anyone prompting them.'
...But.
What was this feeling?
"..."
Suddenly, the hand, which was about to remove the Stardust necklace, stopped and a thought came to his mind.
'...Well, I paid for it, so should I just keep wearing it?'
'I might need it later to sneak into the black market.'
[Hmm. What's wrong, Team Leader? It seems you suddenly don't want to throw that necklace away.]
"...!"
Flinch. Startled by the alluring voice that whispered in his ear, Han Jaehyuk widened his eyes and raised his head. Arsha, her face uncomfortably close, was looking at him with a mysterious smile. She whispered as if she had read his mind.
[Have you ever thought about this? If it's just for commemoration, why do people bother wearing it around their necks when they could just buy it and keep it at home?] As she spoke, Arsha gently caressed the Stardust necklace Han Jaehyuk was wearing with her delicate hand.
Snap!
She forcibly ripped it off, and a momentary look of regret flashed across Team Leader's eyes.
[It seems you're quite attached to it?]
"...Gasp?!" Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, finally snapping out of his daze, widened his eyes in shock. Arsha playfully wrinkled her nose and dangled the necklace in front of his eyes.
[Stay sharp. This necklace bewitches ordinary humans with low resistance.]
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk remained dazed even while conversing with her. A chill ran down his spine. The emotion he had felt for a brief moment was too strange.
'...I wanted to take it back. I didn't want to lose the necklace.'
[Well, don't worry too much. According to what Suho found out, the effects of the Stardust necklace disappear quickly when it's far from the body.]
The one here was Arsha's avatar. The real Queen Bee was inside the shadow dungeon, whose owner was still pretending to be Vulcan in the black market. Thanks to that, she could relay the information Suho had discovered directly to Team Leader Han Jaehyuk.
[It seems the Stardust necklace is a byproduct created during the Star Piece manufacturing process. But even though its effects are weak, when it falls into the hands of ordinary humans, they strangely want to keep it close and develop a vague sense of faith. The Outer Gods, 'Itarim', are literally Gods after all. That's why humans who come into direct contact with their power develop faith in that unknown deity.
"...Wait. Outer Gods?" Suddenly, a certain memory flashed through Han Jaehyuk's mind.
"Outer Gods…? I'm sure I've heard that somewhere..."
[The Outer Gods' Cult?]
Arsha's eyes also lit up at his words.
[You've heard of the Outer Gods' religion, Team Leader?]
"Outer God? Outer God's Cult? Ah, the Outer Gods' Cult!"
Han Jaehyuk's eyes widened, and he looked around. Where was he again?! The Yangpyeong branch of the Association! And he looked at Branch Manager Min Dae-Seok, who had been arrested by the Surveillance Department.
"C-come to think of it!"
Min Dae-Seok had been suddenly transferred here a few months ago. It was because the previous branch manager, who had been in charge of the Yangpyeong branch, suddenly quit the Association due to personal reasons. And that former branch manager was an A-rank Hunter personally chosen by Chairman Woo Jinchul to lead the Yangpyeong branch, a senior whom Team Leader Han Jaehyuk greatly respected.
[...Why did the former branch manager quit?] At Arsha's question he gritted his teeth, recalling the memory of that time.
"I only heard rumors, but that person suddenly got involved in a cult and disappeared..."
[Hmm?]
An A-rank Hunter getting involved in a cult? It sounded absurd, but if the Outer Gods' Cult targeted them, nothing was impossible.
"He was such a kind person. But suddenly..."
* * *
Outer Gods' Cult.
Suho scanned the people who had entered the gambling den with cold eyes. People clad in priestly robes. Each of them had a blue Star Piece embedded in their forehead. The middle-aged man at the center of their formation stepped forward and looked at him with an infinitely benevolent smile.
"Welcome. Are you the demon noble, Vulcan?"
"And who are you?"
"I am a priest who serves the great Outer Gods. In the mortal world, I went by the name 'Kim Chul'."
[Kieeek?] At that moment, Beru, who had returned from exploring the surroundings, shouted with a bright smile.
[Iron! You're back!]