Chương 190

The giant monitor took up the entire wall of the operations room in the S. A. Headquarters. Director Yoon Sangmin sat in his comfortable office chair. He leaned back and watched the screen. On the display, a young man in a black trench coat was fighting a Great Demon inside a dark, rocky cave. He held a black lightning staff in his hands. One side of the staff glowed with a warm, golden light. The other side leaked a freezing, pitch-black fog.

"He did it again," Sangmin said. He crossed his arms and let out a long sigh. Sangmin didn't panic. Honestly, he really liked Rudra. The player always kept things interesting. He didn't complain on the forums and seemed to treat the NPCs like real beings which was something that made most of the S. A group quite favourable to him. He even found weird, creative ways to play the game and made it quite entertaining to watch.

But as the operations director, Sangmin still got headaches from the sheer amount of paperwork Rudra caused.

"Divine Energy and Demonic Force," Sangmin mumbled, staring at the screen.

"He put them in the exact same place at the exact same time." Yoon Nahee stood next to the main console. She pushed her glasses up her nose and looked at her tablet.

"We can confirm it, Director," Nahee said.

"He used his alchemy title [Alchemist Who Transcends Matter] to force a balance between those 2 energies. The energies aren't perfectly mixed, but they are balanced enough and could be used for himself that he got the achievement."

"I see that," Sangmin said. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"But that breaks a major rule. The heavens and hell naturally reject each other. Forcibly manipulating both energies like that should trigger an immediate response. The absolutes of both the worlds should have already become interested in him by now."

"They won't," Nahee replied. She tapped her screen.

"This incident occurred inside the seal of the Sword Saint Muller so he was temporarily shielded from their eyes. And now he is safe till he shows his ability to use both outside this seal." Before Sangmin could ask why, a harsh, flashing red warning popped up on the main monitor. It blocked out the video feed of the cave. [The Devil Monarch is interested in you!] Sangmin sat up straight.

"The Devil Monarch? Seriously?" Nahee frowned. She scrolled through her data files quickly.

"This doesn't make sense. The Devil Race was banished to the hidden dimension a long time ago. They lost the great war."

"Right," Sangmin agreed.

"The Devil Monarch was entirely sealed away on a completely different world. His power is isolated. How did he just send his intent to a player on the surface world? And how could he even see what Rudra was doing?" Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. A loud crunch echoed from the back of the room. Chairman Lim Cheolho sat on a leather sofa. He held a piece of crispy fried chicken in his hand. He took another bite, chewed happily, and swallowed.

He wiped his fingers on a napkin.

"Distance doesn't matter to an Absolute, Sangmin," Lim Cheolho said. His voice was calm and cheerful.

"But Chairman," Nahee said, looking back at her tablet.

"The seal on that world is incredibly dense. It was designed to block all magical signals and observation skills."

"It blocks magic, yes," Lim Cheolho nodded. He picked up another piece of chicken.

"But it doesn't block concepts. The Devil Monarch is not just a high-level boss. He is an Absolute and I am sure you know the concept that he used to become one, right. And do you remember what it took to put him on that planet in the first place?" Sangmin thought back to the early lore they had written for Satisfy.

"It took a massive war. The gods had to step in."

"It took Goddess Rebecca's direct intervention," Lim Cheolho corrected him gently.

"She had to personally step down and seal him away. That is how dangerous the Devil Monarch is. Even sealed on a distant world, his awareness covers the universe. When Rudra balanced the Demonic Force with Divine Energy, it infringed on the authority of the Devil Monarch. The Devil Monarch felt that infringement."

"So he is watching Rudra now," Sangmin said.

"Just watching," the Chairman smiled.

"He can't reach him. But he is definitely paying attention." Sangmin let out a breath.

"Okay. The Devil Monarch noticed. But that brings me back to my first question. If a sealed devil on another world felt it, then the Main Gods in Asgard should definitely feel it once Rudra uses both energies in their domain, especially Rebecca whose domain covers the entirety of the continent or Asterion and Althea whose blessing he has?" The room went quiet. A smooth, androgynous voice spoke from the speakers in the ceiling. It was Morpheus, the supercomputer that managed the game.

"The gods of Asgard are currently unable to act against Rudra," Morpheus stated.

"They are currently restricted in their activities against the player 'Rudra'."

"Restricted?" Nahee asked.

"How can a god be restricted?"

"Before that is explained, another factor is to be observed," Morpheus said. The large monitor changed. The video of Rudra faded away. It was replaced by lines of ancient, glowing text. The letters looked like old runes.

"These files are from several destroyed worlds ago," Morpheus explained. Sangmin leaned forward. Satisfy's lore operated on cycles. Every few thousand years, the world was destroyed by Rebecca and Yatan and restarted. The current game world was just the latest version.

"What happened back then?" Sangmin asked.

"The birth of the very first Staff Saint," Morpheus replied.

"In that early world, a mortal man picked up a simple staff. He did not use magic. He did not ask for divine blessings. He just kept swinging his weapon. He mastered the concept of endless momentum." Nahee read the translated text on her tablet. Her eyes widened.

"He crossed that line."

"Yes," Morpheus said.

"The gods of that era demanded worship. While the other Saint Pioneers didn't directly contend with the gods regarding this, the Staff Saint refused them directly. The gods sent their apostles to punish him. The Saint fought back. His momentum built up until his staff became powerful enough to even affect them."