Meanwhile, Ber had been steadily building up his magical power by eating the magic stones that Suho ha
d brought him.
Of course, the efficiency is still low.
Compared to when he received magical power directly from Sung Jin-woo, his power was woefully inade
quate.
But what can we do?
From Ber's current perspective, even this much was a blessing, and he had to live with a grateful heart, s
aving and cherishing as much as possible.
Sometimes I had to hold back even though my hands were itching to use force.
If he hastily used up the magical power he had worked so hard to accumulate, he would have to ask Suho
again to recharge the lost power.
That kind of thing really happens… … .
As for Ber, who had raised Suho since he was a baby, he felt bad about taking the baby's little pennies to
help pay for the household.
Each magic stone on this Earth is so expensive and precious, what kind of nuisance is this?
But if the other party is a foreign messenger, things are completely different.
A weapon made from foreign stones? Who on earth could have collected that much foreign stones and m
ade a weapon out of it?
Reasonable doubt.
Ber, who had been secretly following the harvester Hasul, was convinced that Hasul was either an apostl
e of a foreign god or a spy with close ties to a foreign religion.
Isn't he even a villain with S-class magical power?
If that woman really was a foreign power, it would have been much more damaging to wait for Soo-ho an
d miss the opportunity.
So, if anything, he even thought about killing it himself, even if it meant using up all the magic he had wo
rked hard to accumulate.
First, you have to kill them so they can't escape, then you can either turn them into shadow soldiers or ea
t their brains yourself to extract their memories.
But fortunately, such an unfortunate thing did not happen.
[Keeeek! Your Majesty!]
It was a fortunate thing for both Ber and Hasul.
[You couldn't stand it anymore and you missed me?!]
As Suho appeared in the alley where Ber had just entered, Ber shrank in an instant as if nothing had happ
ened.
If Suho has come, then from now on, you can leave it to Suho.
The best thing would be to kill Hasul with Harmakan's help and gain experience points.
"...you?"
Hasul, who was suddenly overwhelmed by Ber's presence, opened her eyes wide when she realized Suh
o's identity who had appeared at that moment.
"bakery?"
He was the owner of the bakery I saw at the morning market.
But why did he suddenly appear here?
And why is that black ant demon suddenly sticking right next to that guy and acting cute?
No, isn't that a girl?
Looking at it again, it seemed like she wasn't pretending to be cute, but rather was being cute.
Anyway, it was such a confusing moment.
Chijijik.
-… … Did something happen there?
A voice came from the radio I was holding in my hand.
Hasul quickly stepped back and opened his mouth to speak into the radio.
"that...."
But my mouth doesn't open properly.
Perhaps because of the aftereffects of the ant's grip that had been overwhelming until just before, I could
n't quite figure out how to bring up the subject at that moment.
at that time.
Whoosh-
"oh?!"
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie in Hasul's hand floated into the air.
It's as if it's been taken away by an invisible hand.
Hasul's walkie-talkie flew through the air in an instant and landed in the hands of the bakery owner.
Hasul couldn't help but be surprised.
'Magic… … .'
It's strange.
It was a skill where I couldn't feel even the slightest flow of magical power.
But this was to be expected.
In the first place, the 'Ruler's Power' was a skill that did not consume magic power, and was like a third ha
nd that Suho was born with.
Chijijik-!
-Please respond. Shadow of Paradise, what is happening there now… … .
"Hello, President Woo Jin-cheol. This is Ber."
-… … ?!
Suho immediately greeted Ha Seul through his walkie-talkie.
Then, for a moment, I felt a look of confusion beyond that.
Woo Jin-cheol, who had grasped the situation in an instant, asked a question in a calm tone.
-Are you Hunter Seongsuho?
"Oh, you recognized me right away?"
-Well, your voice… …is just like your father.
As a son grows up, his voice begins to resemble his father's more and more.
As soon as Woo Jin-cheol heard Su-ho's voice over the radio, he couldn't help but feel like he was talking
to Seong Jin-woo.
-Besides, as far as I know, I am the only 'human' in this world who remembers the name 'Ber'.
In Woo Jin-cheol's voice, which had a faint smile, there was even a faint sense of longing.
Yes, that's right.
Woo Jin-cheol has been Sung Jin-woo's closest friend and colleague for the past several decades.
At the same time, he was a human being who remembered all the lost histories that have now been forg
otten and considered to have never happened.
Even he did not only have personal memories related to himself.
He was a person who knew everything about Seong Jin-woo.
The reason was that before the Cup of Reincarnation was used, Sung Jin-woo had directly conveyed to
Woo Jin-cheol's mind all the memories of the Shadow Lord that he had seen, namely, all the truths related
to the war between the rulers and the monarchs.
-Wasn't that the reason you used that alias in the first place?
"Oh, yes. If there was anyone who recognized the name Ber, I thought it would definitely be the presiden
t of the association."
[Was that it?!]
Ber was startled by those words.
[I clearly thought that the little lord wrote my name because he wanted to become a great ant like me so
meday… … .]
Ber soon became sullen.
Suho, a child who had been drawing ants diligently with black crayons on a blank sheet of paper since he
was young, clearly wanted to become an ant.
-Hmm. I see. Is Hasul okay? She's a spy we planted in that city.
"Yes, well… … ."
In response to that, Suho's gaze glanced at Hasul.
In front of me, when Suho and Woojincheol suddenly started talking, Ha-seul stood there in a daze, unabl
e to do anything.
At the same time, it was clear that he was wary of Ber's presence, who was sticking close to Suho.
For that reason, Suho suddenly took something out of his hand as if by magic and handed it to Hasul.
"Just eat this for a bit."
"… … !"
For a moment, Hasul's eyes sparkled.
It's strawberry cake!
And this time, it's not a piece of cake, but a proper cake in a perfect circle!
Hasul, who accepted it gently with both hands, immediately became quiet.
And finally, a momentous decision was made.
I decided to eat the last piece of cake I had left right now.
-There are more things I want to ask Hunter Seongsuho. I don't know exactly what the current situation is
in the city, but if possible, can I ask you a few questions?
"Of course. Please speak more freely. I heard you are my father's friend."
-Haha. It's okay. I'm more comfortable with formal speech. Unfortunately, I happened to see an E-class h
unter, once known as humanity's weakest weapon, save the world, so I contracted a disease that made it i
mpossible for me to be easy on anyone again.
"Oh my, that's so."
With appropriate jokes, Suho answered Woo Jincheol's questions one by one.
The first question that came up was, of course, about Sung Jin-woo.
But Woo Jin-cheol's anticipation turned to disappointment when he heard Soo-ho's answer.
But there was hope.
-Still, it's really fortunate that Hunter Cha Hae-in, CEO Yoo Jin-ho, and Thomas Andre have regained thei
r memories. This is a huge power for humanity. Are there others? And if Hunter Sung Su-ho wants, can he
restore anyone's lost memories?
To Woo Jin-cheol's most fundamental question, this time the answer came out of Ber's mouth, not Su-h
o's.
[It is not possible for everyone. Basically, it is much easier to restore the memories of people like you wh
o had a direct connection with the monarch. Of course, in a broad sense, all people on Earth received the ki
ng's grace and were saved, so there is an indirect connection, but it is a bit difficult to do that.]
-Hey, wait a minute! Are you sure that the person you just spoke of is really 'Ber'?!
Woo Jin-cheol, who recognized Ber's voice, reacted with even more shock than when he saw Su-ho.
Happy.
At that reaction, Ber shrugged his shoulders towards Suho with a very satisfied expression.
[Have you seen it? This is what I am like.]
-You really are Mr. Ber!
A sigh of relief was heard from Woo Jin-cheol.
It's a shame that Sung Jin-woo isn't on Earth, but how incredible is it that Ver is here?
Woo Jin-cheol remembered clearly.
The Jeju Island raid that countless S-class hunters put their all into!
That's because the natural disaster that mercilessly massacred all the hunters there was none other than
the devil named Vera.
But now that he has turned from his ways and become one of Sung Jin-woo's core forces, it is like huma
nity has been given an enormous amount of power.
-That's fortunate. That's truly fortunate.
"… … Hmm."
Suho looked at the mini-sized Ber with a slightly disturbed expression at Woojincheol's reaction of great r
elief just from hearing Ber's voice.
[Keeek? Why are you looking at me like that? You can look at me as much as you want.]
"… … ."
Woo Jin-cheol, who is still diligently explaining to Su-ho about Ber's truly amazing days as a Riz(?), proba
bly can't even imagine.
The appearance of Ber, who has become so small now.
'… … I need to get more magic stones.'
It was a firm pledge.
And Woo Jin-cheol, who had heard many things he was curious about from Su-ho, asked one last questi
on.
- So anyway, what's the situation in the city now? You incited the citizens to riot at the bank in just one d
ay?
Woo Jin-cheol has already been informed by Ha-seul of what Su-ho has done.
Thinking back, it was truly amazing.
But at this point, what ultimately matters is the plan for the future.
-Do you have any plans? That city is a place that is difficult for us to touch, so we have planted spies ther
e and are only observing the internal situation.
Up until now, the association hunters led by Woo Jin-cheol have been eradicating the villains' cities as so
on as they are discovered.
But there was a reason why this city was not easily touched now.
Right on the wall.
The enormous and tall iron wall surrounding the city was an extremely sturdy barrier that could not be bur
ned even by the final man's flame attacks.
And thanks to that wall, all the villains who had been scattered to avoid the association began to flock to t
his city one by one and live there.
The power of the villains gathered in this way was overwhelmingly greater than that of the hunters from t
he association that Woo Jin-cheol brought from Korea.
Of course, if you push yourself, you can deal with it somehow, but the problem comes after that.
Even though he had destroyed the villains' cities countless times so far, it was only relatively recently that
Woo Jin-cheol noticed that a new city was being built in a new location.
-Ultimately, in order to fundamentally eliminate all the villains, we need to catch the Executors. This is als
o information that I learned thanks to letting Hasul live in that city. Our people are already known to all the vi
llains there, so no one can pass through the city gate.
Kookwakwakwang-!
Even as this leisurely conversation was taking place, the city was turning into a fierce battlefield in real ti
me.
Blood spurts, screams erupt.
A bloody battle where it no longer matters who is friend or foe.
This was because the villains, who had been living for each other's desires, found out that they could abs
orb the power of the fruit by killing each other.
In this way, their blood and flesh were sprinkled and scattered throughout the city.
But at this point, there was one thing that no one noticed… … .
The story was that all the dead, twisted corpses were slowly melting into the ground without anyone kno
wing.
in result.
Sararak.
"...ah."
The outskirts of paradise city.
Sirka, who was absentmindedly watching the villains' war outside the dark alleyway that Suho and Ha-se
ul had entered, raised her head absentmindedly at the falling leaves.
Before I knew it, red leaves were falling from the sky.
Even the leaves of Alfheim, which had been green until just last night, were gradually turning into vibrant
colors.
Underneath the beautiful scenery of red maple leaves falling from the sky.
"… … It smells familiar."
Sirka closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
I could feel the familiar scent of winter on the tip of my nose.
Sirka muttered as she looked up at the sky.
"Winter is coming."