Chapter 116 – New Element (2)

[There's nothing more for you to gain here, so don't come anymore... And try to save the permits.]

The goddess said enigmatically, and Lee Shin-Woo was chased out of the garden. As expected, Jin seemed to have come back before him, as he was waiting with a sour expression—Lee Shin-Woo could now see past his Steel Heart armor and discern his expression.

"Hey Jin."

"What's up, Shin-Woo."

"Why do I feel even more confused than before I went to clear things up?"

"You shouldn't be asking me. I'm dumb, so don't ask me anything in the future, either."

"It's nice to see you so confident... Hooo."

Meeting the goddess made Lee Shin-Woo realize that he would be the center of the unfolding situation. That was how powerful the ability he'd gained was.

...To be honest, it was really troublesome. He had done his best to roam around the world and figure out the truth, growing step by step while focusing only on ensuring his own safety; he hadn't really planned on becoming the protagonist and going wild on the main stage.

"With great, newly-acquired power came trouble."

"I feel like I've heard that line before..."

Jin tilted his head while Lee Shin-Woo continued to play dumb. And in no time, Kratia returned. Even though she was the first to leave for the garden, she was the last to return… There was a reason for that.

"Shin-Woo, take a look at this."

Once she found him, she rushed over to Lee Shin-Woo and put her palms together, pushing them forward. There was a tiny ice crystal floating above her hands—the artifact that exponentially increased her strength, the Orb of Eternal Ice.

"It got a lot smaller."

"It'll eventually become so small that you won't be able to see it,” Kratia explained. “But that's not what's important right now."

She yelled and tightened her palms together, causing the orb to instantly break apart! Lee Shin-Woo was shocked, yet Kratia remained calm... Soon, he sensed the energy comprising the orb spread through her body.

Her once light purple hair and sky blue eyes turned silver, and were now radiating light. Lee Shin-Woo could feel the power of that light, which seemed to push her magic in a certain direction.

"Is that Lightning Shadow?"

"No, it's different from that idiotic technique. Think of it as me assimilating the Eternal Ice and its high-rank magic formula. And the power I gain in doing so is..."

He could tell without listening to her explanation. Kratia had been invoking her catalytic magic through the Eternal Ice. Lee Shin-Woo was well aware that now that she'd assimilated the artifact, the surrounding mana was quickly being sucked into her and turning into cold air.

Contrary to before, where she used the orb to transform the surrounding mana before gathering and launching it, she could now control her magic with finesse. It was all due to her capability to concentrate the Eternal Ice’s mana internally. It was like she had evolved from Imperialdramon Dragon Mode to Paladin Mode.[1]

"I have to use the artifact you gave me to do this, but it's okay since its ability is still intact."

"But wouldn't it have been better to absorb it instead?"

"I'm not you..."

"Ah, that's right. My bad..."

She talked about how amazing this technique was and how much stress it put on her body, making sure to emphasize a few times that a human's body was unable to handle catalytic magic, so she used this inconvenient method of storing the orb's power inside her, and that he wouldn't be able to understand. Then she mentioned something else.

"You should be able to turn yourself into a catalyst without this," Kratia said.

"I told you I couldn’t," Lee Shin-Woo responded.

"Watch and learn!"

"You know it's not something I can just 'watch and learn'!"

No matter how he thought about it, Kratia's expectations of him were way too high. Kratia released her catalyst mode and pestered him a bit; after that, Lee Shin-Woo sighed without breathing air and stood up.

He looked over to the Lv7 Elite Chimera Avenger that had been...watching him all this time.

[What will you do now? Are you going to look for another general?]

"No. We were only able to defeat him because of the information we’ve gathered and our adaptation to the situation. Things won't go this smoothly next time, so now we have to thoroughly prepare and gather our strength."

[Gather our strength...! How right you are. How should we do that?]

Hearing him, the other Chi Pauls’ eyes gleamed. Again, they seemed to have misunderstood something, so Lee Shin-Woo decided to be honest with them.

"You will move separately from me. You need to become stronger your own way, and I have to do the same. Of course, we're not going our separate ways forever."

[How can that be... We aren’t going to continue to travel with you?]

[That's... I don't think we can burn with hatred and revenge without you there to guide us.]

Lee Shin-Woo smiled wryly at their response. The Chi Pauls were undoubtedly a powerful force. They were a group of level 6 elites with even a level 7 elite among their ranks. If Lee Shin-Woo traveled with them, his life would never be threatened in most situations.

...However, objectively speaking, neither side would be able to properly grow in that case. It would be restrictive to both Lee Shin-Woo and the Chi Pauls.

"I don't plan on controlling you through your hatred alone. For now, go where your feet take you. Watch the current world with your own two eyes... There should be something you can gain from the experience, be it hatred or a completely different emotion. In the end, you'll be able to get even stronger."

[The current world...]

Rather than bring them along with him, it'd be better to release them onto the world’s stage. Moreover, he could just summon them when he really needed them. They'd eventually fight together even if he didn't want to.

For him, as well as for the purpose of purifying the Empire and their own growth, it would be best to go their separate ways.

[We still don't really understand. It's much too vague.]

"Ah, before you go, there's something I need to show you. It might even encourage you."

[Something you need to show us?]

[Something that will...encourage us?]

"Yeah."

Lee Shin-Woo looked at the Chi Pauls...his completely destroyed surroundings, Kratia, who was blankly staring at him, Jin, and finally the collapsed satellite city, Kadinan.

He smiled bitterly. His original plan had been so much simpler. How did things turn out like this?

"Now, shall we go and see what's hidden within the secret facilities?"

"Are you going to show me too?" Kratia asked.

"What's with you all of a sudden?"

Kratia seemed a little pleased. To be honest, Lee Shin-Woo had anticipated a change like this when he first asked her for help, but it wasn't a bad feeling to be recognized by one's information-trading partner.

"Hey, he's a skeleton," Jin grumbled from beside her.

"I know. He's a skeleton who's really good at handling magic."

Kratia tilted her head as if to say ‘what about it?'. Lee Shin-Woo heard their exchange, but he had no idea what they were even talking about.

"You got a request from the Golems?" Kratia asked.

"Yeah. We've been in contact even before then."

[Are you saying that there are knights on whom the experiment succeeded...?]

Lee Shin-Woo led the party into the facility and explained to Kratia what had happened. It was also for the benefit of the Chi Pauls, who were turned into Golems and sacrificed for the experiment.

"The Metal General, Arema Steelworker..."

"I didn't tell you earlier because I was concerned that you might go looking for him. Plus, it would've become a pain for us, as we need to use the Golem trains."

"...I understand."

Kratia agreed; she had been extremely curious about how Golems worked a few months back, and it was true she might've clung to Lee Shin-Woo and been a pain in the ass. She had changed, of course. Now she knew when she could be greedy and when she needed to reign herself in.

"If they figured out what you are,” said Kratia. “They would be suspicious."

Lee Shin-Woo responded, "Assuming that they know about every single hero in the Empire, there's no reason to link us to the heroes. As you know, we don't look like heroes, right?"

"Yeah. So long as we don't know their intent, there's no reason to tell them about the heroes."

While conversing, they explored every nook and cranny of the facility. The Chi Pauls heard Lee Shin-Woo talk about 'other Golems', as well as finding traces of other knights being sacrificed as test subjects just like them. That triggered a powerful emotion they couldn't define in them.

[The test succeeded, but they were indeed sacrificed. To think that there's a core capable of making someone absolutely loyal.]

[Yet that core is what allowed us to be reborn. Though there's no trace of it anymore.]

[Do you think they're hostile to the Emperor as well?]

[They're probably not like us. Moreover, Arema Steelworker? I remembered hearing his name. It seemed like he wanted to hide the truth, but...we saw it.]

One particular Chi Paul stood out as the Chi Pauls conversed. It seemed as though its intellect was far greater than the other Chi Pauls, probably as much as the level 7... It had compared the memories of countless knights' imperfect memories and extracted them, coming into possession of a massive amount of intact memories.

[Isn't it him? The one who recommended this damn plan to the Emperor?]

[Is that true?]

"...What did you say!?"

That was the first time Lee Shin-Woo heard about it! He immediately turned around, and the Chi Paul stepped back slightly, bowing his head like it was flustered.

[I'm sure. I wasn’t certain before due to my fragmented memories, but...I can tell now. The one who recommended that the Emperor turn knights into Golems was... No, the one who first introduced the technique of making Golems was Arema Steelworker.]

"...Is that so?"

Arema Steelworker was the one who had proposed the experiment, but he'd never told Lee Shin-Woo who had come up with the plan. Moreover, at the time of the experiment, he had volunteered himself and pledged his loyalty to the Emperor, so he hadn't really lied.

The truth was merely hidden; it wasn't a lie. Even so, it's still deception.

Lee Shin-Woo's jaw dropped like it would actually detach from his skull, but he was smiling. He'd gotten a hint from an unexpected source.

He sent me here himself, but who would’ve thought I would hear about this from the knights who were supposed to be buried in the past... Moreover, he probably didn't think there was a way to gather all the knights' fragmented memories and rebuild them.

Of course he wouldn't know. Lee Shin-Woo hadn't known either!

"That doesn’t change anything though, does it? The once loyal fanatics simply woke up and ran away following the Emperor's activation of the curse, no?"

"Well, that could be it. But if Arema Steelworker was the one to recommend the formation of the Golem army, then..."

Lee Shin-Woo remembered something. All Golems had a mark that allowed the Emperor to control them. Then there were the high-rank administrative rights for those like Guillotine Steelworker, followed by the general administrator's seal.

"But from what I remember, Arema Steelworker had his own seal... One that was different from the Emperor’s or even the Steelworker’s."

Of course, he probably needed it to control the Golem army. Rather than the Emperor giving orders, it would be much better for the general, Arema Steelworker, to be in command of the troops in battle.

However, if he was the one who started everything... If he had a different intention in mind...

"What if Arema Steelworker's authority is even higher than the Emperor's?"

"..."

Everyone fell silent. At that moment, Lee Shin-Woo stopped feeling around the wall. At his fingertips, the Steelworker’s seal was radiating a blinding light.

He'd finally found the facility within the facility; the entrance to the secret area.

1. T/N: Digimon reference. Just a way of saying she's reached her "final form" or something.