The connection was established, but Siegfried couldn’t get a clear look at the Master. A thin curtain was in the way, acting as a veil, making only the Master’s silhouette visible. — Greetings, Siegfried van Proa. The Master was the first to speak. — I trust you’ve received my gift? “I didn’t get anything,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. To be fair, the Proatine Kingdom was not affected by the outbreak orchestrated by the Illuminati. “If you’re going to send something, you might as well do it properly. At least give me a tracking number in advance so I can track my deliveries. Lost shipments are a pain in the ass, you know?” Siegfried joked casually in response. — So, you’re saying that it’s fine as long as it doesn’t affect you? — I will keep that in mind for next time. Ah, which courier do you prefer? CJ Logistics or Korea Post? ‘Wait a damn second. This bastard is Korean,’ Siegfried thought, his eyes turning sharp. The Master casually referenced CJ Logistics and Korea Post, which were well-known South Korean courier companies. Siegfried casually joked about the delivery, but he did not expect the Master to pick up on it. It was all because he assumed that the Master was just an NPC. And yet, here he was, responding with spot-on familiarity. ‘Let’s pretend I didn’t pick up on that,’ Siegfried thought. He wanted to keep his revelation under wraps for now, as it was possible that the Master deliberately dropped this bit of information. It was highly possible that the Master wanted Siegfried to know that the player behind the character was South Korean as well. Siegfried decided to shift the conversation rather than react. “Quit beating around the bush. Why did you call me?” — Stop while you still can. — The descent of the angels is inevitable. No matter how much you struggle, you’re only delaying the inevitable. It’s already set in stone. “So... you’re telling me to surrender?” — Surrender isn’t quite the word. — Join the Illuminati. “What?!” Siegfried exclaimed, unable to believe his ears. Then, he asked just to make sure, “What did you just say? I think I misheard you just now.” — I said, join the Illuminati. However, the Master repeated the words. “Join...? To do what, exactly?” — To assist in the descent of the angels. — We will sit at the pinnacle of the world they rule. “Haha...” Siegfried chuckled. Then, he asked, “So basically, you’re planning to rule the world in their stead? Something like a regent?” “That’s quite the ambition.” — It’s not an ambition. It's the inevitable. We have been preparing for this new era for a very long time. “Do you really think so? I’ve dealt with people like you before so—” — The Church of Osric? The Immortal Alchemist, Acheron? Are you going to say that you stopped Acheron’s schemes and saved the world? Pfft! — Do you honestly believe that you alone were responsible for that? That you single-handedly saved the world? “What are you talking about...?” — The Church of Osric was merely one of our pawns. Immortal Alchemist? Acheron? He was nothing more than a tool for our great cause. “What the hell are you talking about...?” — If you didn’t stop him, then we would’ve gotten rid of him instead. This was truly a bombshell revelation. If the Church of Osric was nothing more than a pawn of the Illuminati, then Siegfried had been dancing in the palm of their hand from the very beginning. Siegfried looked as if he had been struck in the head with a hammer. ‘These crazy bastards...’ He felt a chill down his spine after finally realizing just how powerful the Illuminati was. The Church of Osric was an enemy he had fought for two years, but it turned out that they were nothing more than a part of the Illuminati’s plans. ‘So that’s why he said those things...’ Siegfried thought, remembering the final words of Acheron. ‘Have I not warned you? I am not the only Executor of Destiny. This world is doomed to destruction. Even if you stop me, another Executor will emerge to bring about its end.’ In the end, Acheron knew the truth all along. — We nurtured the Church of Osric to serve our purpose, but in the end, they became too difficult to control. But thanks to you, we didn’t need to lift a finger. We simply sat back and watched as you saved us the trouble of eliminating Acheron ourselves. — Anyway, I’ll give you one last chance. Give up and join us. No matter how much you struggle, you cannot escape our grasp. — Accept our offer if you don’t want to lose everything. Unless, of course... you want to go back to the way things were at that time. — Back to being just a mage. Not Siegfried van Proa, but to being Tae-Sung. It was a truly terrifying threat. The thought alone of going back to just being Tae-Sung, a Level 200 Elemental Mage, rather than being Siegfried van Proa, the King of Proatine and the Lord of Despair, was truly horrifying. Well, this would not be a huge loss for Tae-Sung in real life, as he had already amassed enough wealth to last generations. There would not be any problems even if he quit the game now. However, going back to being a Level 200 Elemental Mage would mean that his career as a gamer would be effectively over. His life's motivation would be gone forever. — We have the power to do that. The power to erase everything you have accomplished. “Do you actually expect me to believe that nonsense?” — We wield power beyond what you can imagine. So I suggest that you take our hand. — Then you will regret it. “Yeah, yeah. Enough with the empty threats. Get lost.” Without another word, Siegfried ended the call one-sidedly. “What the hell kind of bullshit threat was that? I’m really going to kill him now,” he growled, gnashing his teeth at the Master, who he suspected was a Korean person. Join the Illuminati? Over his dead body! Instead, he vowed to destroy them one way or another. The global outbreak caused by the Illuminati was far more severe than Siegfried had anticipated. The death toll from the poison gas alone had already climbed into the hundreds of millions, and those fortunate enough to survive it were killed by plagues that spread like wildfire across the continent. As a result, the world economy collapsed, and every nation was forced to mobilize all of its resources to deal with the crisis. Even the world’s most powerful nation, the Marchioni Empire, was no exception. The empire was currently embroiled in war against the numerous expeditionary forces sent by the Coral Race. However, they found themselves in a dire predicament after the outbreaks of plagues and diseases erupted across their lands. Surprisingly, in the midst of this catastrophe, the kingdoms that formed the Holy Alliance, Adrianople, Corinth, Zimbir, Hadashite, and Byblos, remained relatively unscathed. They were not completely unaffected by the outbreak, as there were a few cases within their borders, but they suffered negligible damage. Their newly established religion, Monotheism, along with the angels, played a key role in mitigating the disasters erupting within their lands. While the Monotheism Church calmed the populace, the angels performed numerous miracles. As a result, public support for the Monotheism Church within the member kingdoms of the Holy Alliance surged dramatically. Even those who had initially harbored resentment toward the new religion found themselves unable to find any fault in them in the face of crisis. Thus, the number of their followers skyrocketed daily. “This was a really clever move...” Siegfried muttered. Upon hearing the news, he couldn’t help but admire the Illuminati’s cunning strategy. They were the culprit behind the outbreak, but they then pretended to heroically suppress the disaster to gain the people’s trust. Since they were the ones who caused the outbreak in the first place, controlling it was most likely easy for them. In other words, they created the perfect conditions for Monotheism to take root and flourish. ‘Those damn bastards... How do I hit them and deal maximum damage, though?’ Siegfried wondered. “Arghh! What the hell?!” Siegfried nearly had a heart attack when Cheon Woo-Jin suddenly called out to him. Normally, he would not have been this startled, but his mind was occupied with thoughts of the Illuminati that the sudden interruption caught him completely off guard. “Damn it! Can you stop sneaking up on me?!” “What do you want? If it’s about gold, then forget about it. I don’t have any, and you have the wrong guy.” “I didn’t come for that, dumbass. And can you stop acting like that? You’re making it too obvious that you’re guilty.” “Who else in South Korea aside from you has enough gold and cash to manipulate the entire market?” “Whoa... The weather is really good today.” “Are you seriously going to play dumb?” “Ah, I’m so sleepy all of a sudden...” “Whatever,” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled, rolling his eyes at the shameless act. Then, he got straight to the point, “Enough nonsense. We have to go.” “The Northern Great Rift.” “Why? Is it rampaging again?” The Northern Great Rift had rampaged not long ago, and Cheon Woo-Jin had managed to subdue it by clearing the dungeon. But for it to rampage again in just a week? A global outbreak followed by the Great Rift rampaging was certainly a disaster. Fortunately, Siegfried had already prepared a method to deal with the Blue Knight of Death. “Yeah, it’s rampaging again. And this time, it’s different. That’s why you need to come with us,” Cheon Woo-Jin said grimly. “How is it different?” “It’s so bad that you can’t get anywhere near it.” “What do you mean by that?” “You can’t even enter the dungeon. You’ll die if you get anywhere within thirty meters of it.” “I’m not exaggerating. You will just drop dead. The rift is radiating a deadly aura so intense that even approaching it will immediately kill you.” “So hurry up and come with me.” “Hold on,” Siegfried said, raising a hand. Then, he added, “We can’t just rush in. I need to bring the things I’ve prepared.” “It was almost ready last time, so it should be ready by now. Go ahead first; I’ll catch up.” “Oh, and one more thing.” “Nah, never mind. Now’s not the time to talk about it. Let’s finish dealing with the rift first, and then we can discuss things in private.” Siegfried considered telling Cheon Woo-Jin about the Master but decided against it. It was all because if there was an information leak, the consequences could prove disastrous. “What’s that all about?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked, tilting his head in curiosity. “I’ll tell you later.” “If you say so. Tell me after we’re done with this.” “I’ll get going first.” With that, Cheon Woo-Jin disappeared. ‘It should be ready now, right?’ Siegfried thought as he headed to the workshop. “Welcome, Your Majesty,” Quandt greeted with a bow. “Is it ready by any chance?” Siegfried asked. “Yes, it is. I have completed it,” Quandt replied with a smile. “Thank you very much for your hard work.” Siegfried smiled after the item that would help him deal against the Blue Knight of Death was finally complete. “Not at all! Kekeke!” Quandt exclaimed with a burst of boisterous laughter. Then, he told Siegfried to wait before going to take the completed item. ‘Let’s think about that bastard after dealing with the Blue Knight of Death,’ Siegfried thought. He came to the conclusion that the Blue Knight of Death would be a far bigger problem if left alone than the Illuminati. Thus, he decided to deal with the Blue Knight of Death first while waiting for Quandt to come back with the item he had commissioned.