The maze blocking the entrance to the Inner Temple.
The believers wandering through it smiled.
“The report says the Maxim has activated.”
“That is good.”
The news that the Maxim had activated was delivered to every believer through guild message.
“Even if he is the one who will someday become our leader.......”
“......That day is not now.”
The one who had blown away every holy relic that had been no different from their future.
The report that Shin Youngjun was no longer an awakened being.
In other words.
“Even if the process of subduing him gets a little rough...... that should not matter.”
As long as they found him.
It was a report that he had become a weakling who could not even resist them.
“Everyone, spread out and find him!”
“Yes!”
Those filled with loss and rage.
Their eyes burning, they scattered in every direction.
There was no hesitation or caution in their steps.
That was only natural.
No matter how strong an awakened being was, once they lost their power as an awakened being, they were nothing but an ordinary person.
If they only found him, subduing him would not be difficult.
All of them were certain of that.
“Tch.......”
However.
“He’s not this way ei.......”
Paaaaaaaak!
“Ther......?”
Crack!
A shadow that sprang from the darkness.
Twisted one believer’s neck.
***
“Hmm.......”
The maze surrounding the Inner Temple.
A sigh leaked from the mouth of the old man sitting near its exit.
“You are saying he still has not been secured?”
“......Yes. No such report has come in yet.”
If this were back when he was a powerful awakened being, that would be one thing.
But this was a matter of capturing a single unawakened man.
Ordinarily, it would not have been strange for the report to have come in long ago.
'I am personally sealing the exit.'
As long as the cardinal himself was blocking this place.
The probability that he had gotten outside was extremely low.
“......No, no. Is there any chance he escaped this place before the blockade began? The maze may be complicated, but there is still a possibility he was lucky enough to head straight here.”
“If that were the case, the Maxim’s effect would have been canceled.”
At those words.
Lee Haein, who had been guarding the entrance just like the cardinal, answered.
“The Maxim is still taking his strength from him.”
“.......”
“He should still be wandering somewhere in that maze.”
Then.
Why had no report come in yet?
“Hrrm.......”
If he could.
He wanted to check the situation down there right this instant, but.
“In a world where electronics are useless. Haa.”
“It cannot be helped.”
Unfortunately.
There was no way to contact the people down there.
In the past.
If something strange happened, it would have been normal for them to be able to report immediately using a radio or something similar.
But in this world now, even a small electromagnetic wave had all its contents distorted by even a slight difference in distance.
There was no way long-distance communication could be possible.
“......I am a little worried, so.”
In the end.
“I will go myself.”
“Your Eminence will go personally?”
“Yes. I must check the believers’ situation and ask why things are being delayed. Perhaps the enraged believers are late because they are tormenting Brother Shin Youngjun after already securing him.”
“Ah...... certainly.”
At those words, Lee Haein also nodded.
The believers’ rage was beyond imagination.
Before properly securing and sending him up, they might be venting that rage on him.
“If that is the reason, I will go with you.”
“Priest Lee Haein, you may remain here.”
“This place is already guarded by the largest number of troops, so there is no need for a commander to remain. I was already feeling stifled while waiting for a report, so let us go together.”
“If you say so, then let us.”
And so.
The cardinal and Lee Haein personally led the believers into the labyrinth.
[Cardinal: Squad members of the Third Order, in charge of Sector 3, come to Area 3-A.]
As he did.
The cardinal sent a guild message to those who should be underground.
The underground maze was complicated.
Because of that, several orders of knights had been divided by squad and were pursuing Shin Youngjun by searching assigned sectors.
Rather than going around one by one to find those scattered throughout the maze, he judged it would be faster to gather them in one place through a guild message and hear the relevant information.
But.
“.......”
“Hmm......?”
A short while later.
They arrived at Area 3-A, where the cardinal had ordered them to gather.
But they looked around blankly and muttered,
“Why.......”
“Is no one here?”
Of course.
Each sector was quite large, so it would be hard to expect every squad member to have arrived already.
But there should have been at least one person circling near this gathering point.
......For not a single person to have arrived.
Was far too strange.
Shing.
“......Your Eminence?”
At that moment.
The old man drew the sword at his waist.
When Lee Haein saw that, she looked at him in surprise.
“Everyone, draw your weapons and assume a defensive posture.”
“Yes......?”
“I hope this is merely my misunderstanding.”
His eyes, which had always seemed gentle.
Were sharply scanning their surroundings.
“I have a rather uneasy feeling.”
He gripped his weapon firmly and moved quickly.
The group moved through every part of Area 3-A with urgent steps.
“Uh, uuh......!?”
And, a moment later.
“That person is...... Brother!”
One believer.
Found something and ran in that direction.
The others who saw that shape could not help widening their eyes in shock as well.
“Khhuh...... uh......”
A man lying on the floor.
Bleeding an enormous amount.
He was one of the believers tasked with searching this place.
“What happened, Brother!”
The one who found him first ran toward that believer.
And.
“Wait......!”
The cardinal, seeing that, urgently stretched out his hand and called to him, but.
Unfortunately.
He was just a little late.
“W-wait a moment, Brother. First, your wounds.......”
The believer reached out and touched his body in order to examine the wounds he had suffered.
......But at that very moment.
“......Huh?”
Srrk.......
“Uuh...... uh.......”
Thud.
The body of the man who had touched the fallen believer.
Collapsed weakly to the floor.
“......?”
Those who saw it.
Flinched, unable to understand what had happened.
“Everyone!!! Stop where you are!”
The cardinal’s sharp voice.
Echoed through the underground maze.
***
“Y-Your Eminence?”
“What is happening all of a sudden!”
“I will explain the situation later, so stop for now.”
And then.
Leaving the others behind, the cardinal approached the two fallen believers.
“As I thought.......”
He looked at the two of them for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“Poison...... or something equivalent to it, it seems.”
“P-poison?”
At those words.
The people flinched and trembled.
“The fallen brother we first discovered. His wounds were not as severe as they appeared. But...... something had been spread all over his body.”
“Spread over him? What was?”
“I do not know exactly, but it seems to be some kind of liquid. It was my mistake for failing to confirm it properly from a distance.”
At those words.
The ones who realized why the second believer had collapsed felt goosebumps rise all over their bodies.
Because, after all.
'Putting aside that something had been smeared on him.'
'......There is a poison that can incapacitate an awakened being merely through contact?'
The two people lying there.
Both of them were elites of the Church.
Not ordinary humans, but awakened beings, each one no different from a superhuman.
And among them, they were counted as powerful.
Whatever the identity of the liquid smeared over that man’s body might be.
For it to be a poison strong enough that merely touching it could make a high-level awakened being collapse.
A poison of that level did not exist within the bounds of common sense they knew.
“......I see.”
But then.
One of the people watching that sight.
“You called them the Legion, did you not?”
Lee Haein said with a strange smile.
“It seems the brother who will become our leader possesses skills fitting that name.”
And.
Only after hearing those words could the people realize it.
[Steel Legion].
As the name suggested.
They were an organization that had its origins in a military unit from before the ruin.
When people commonly heard the words soldier or military unit.
The first things they thought of were conventional weapons such as guns, missiles, and tanks.
But many who had gone through military service knew.
'The most frightening thing in war...... is chemical weapons.'
A battlefield where no laws or rules existed.
There.
Truly terrifying things were something else entirely.
“We let our guard down because the Maxim had activated.”
The cardinal frowned as he spoke.
In the case of most awakened beings.
As awakened beings, they were certainly superhumans who had transcended humanity.
But excluding their power as awakened beings, they were only ordinary people.
“That man...... seems to be a slight exception.”
But.
“Everyone, change your thinking from this point on.”
Just as there were strong and weak among awakened beings.
There were also strong and weak among unawakened people.
“The one we are chasing is not an ordinary civilian.”
Among them.......
There were some who, even before becoming awakened.
Could not have been called “ordinary people.”
“The final military force that survived even this ruin. [Steel Legion].”
“.......”
“The finest soldier...... they cultivated.”
Even before becoming awakened.
There were those who made life-or-death combat their profession.
“He is the Legion’s killing weapon, forged by Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok himself!”
And even when they were not awakened beings.
There were those who displayed abilities worthy of being called superhuman.
***
At the cardinal’s words.
Several rumors that had circulated within the Church rose in the minds of the gathered believers.
'The butcher who slaughtered so many enemies that he won an unimaginable amount of favor.'
'A human weapon who returns alive no matter what dangerous battlefield he is thrown into.'
'The greatest masterpiece...... created by Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok.'
The story that there was a high-level awakened being in the Legion who surpassed even their cardinal.
And the wickedness of Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok they had experienced.
The many rumors that had spread when those two things overlapped.
'Those rumors...... were true?'
Yes.
There were strong and weak among unawakened people as well.
And.
Sergeant Shin Youngjun was someone who had already reached the peak as an awakened being.
On top of that.
If he was a human weapon cultivated by a military unit through the injection of specialized combat skills.
Even now that he has become unawakened......
'He can hunt awakened beings?'
It was an unbelievable fact.
But the proof was before their eyes.
“Already the fourth.”
“This time, two were found at once. Most likely, someone discovered a fallen comrade like before, approached, and was ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) caught in the trap.”
Area 3-A.
The reason the awakened beings in this place had not responded to the cardinal’s summons had become clear.
Because not a single one of them was in a state where they could respond.
“Perhaps this may be a worse situation than I anticipated.”
After saying that, the cardinal rose.
He moved quickly and shouted,
“From this point on, we move at full speed. Follow me!”
“Yes!”
The cardinal and Lee Haein.
And the Church members following them began moving at tremendous speed.
And then.
He urgently sent out a guild message.
[Cardinal: All believers searching the Inner Temple. Reassemble your scattered squads, and from now on, move by squad.]
[Cardinal: There is a high possibility the target is not an ordinary unawakened person. Be wary of traps, and especially examine environments vulnerable to poison gas and the like with caution!]
An elite soldier who had learned specialized killing techniques.
But even so, the fact that he was unawakened did not change.
'If they are scattered and operating separately, perhaps he can eliminate them using traps and such.'
When several awakened beings were gathered together.
There was no way he could deal with them as well.
The speed of the search might slow a little, but this was the best method to avoid increasing casualties any further.
And, a moment later.
[Third Believer: Your Eminence, has some problem occurred?]
[Cardinal: Sir Cha Gyeonghwan! You are safe.]
The Third Believer.
A Church officer answered the cardinal’s message.
The five officers other than the cardinal.
They were the ones who could communicate through guild messages even in places where radio waves were cut off.
[Cardinal: I found another brother taken down by Brother Shin Youngjun.]
[Third Believer: Pardon? The Maxim clearly activated.......]
[Cardinal: The Maxim did indeed activate. However, he seems to be using things like chemical weapons, as befits a soldier of the Legion. Believers moving around alone would have had no choice but to be defenseless against traps like that.]
[Third Believer: ......!]
[Cardinal: I am relieved that Sir Cha Gyeonghwan is unharmed. From now on, move in groups of several squads and prepare for any possible ambush. Please tell the leaders of each squad to check the number of their squad members. I am leading forces to your location, so.......]
Like that.
The conversation between the cardinal and the other officer continued.
[Cardinal: ......Wait.]
But then.
[Cardinal: First Believer...... Priest Lee Haein is with me, and Second Believer Sir David is injured and receiving treatment.]
The Fifth Believer was guarding near the entrance.
And the remaining two.
The Third and Fourth Believers were in charge of searching the maze.
[Cardinal: Why.......]
Yes.
There were a total of two Church officers searching this maze.
But the one who had answered was.
[Cardinal: Is Sir Cha Gyeonghwan the only one answering?]
Only one person.
[Cardinal: Fourth Believer...... Sir Jang Woohyuk?]
And.
What that fact indicated was clear.
[Cardinal: Sir Woohyuk?]
But.
The believers could not possibly accept that fact.
Because, after all.
'The opponent is unawakened.'
If what they were guessing was true.
[Cardinal: ......Please answer me.]
No matter how extraordinary the enemy was.
One of the guild’s officers.
An ultra-high-level awakened being over level 30.
One of the greatest fighters the Church took pride in.
[Sir Jang Woohyuk!!!]
Had been dealt with by an unawakened person.
By common sense, that made no sense at all.
