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Chapter 982: Altanus (19)

Actually, I was pretty sure that it was the former.

I was very certain that Demon Summoner Jin Cheong wouldn’t send a message when something had already happened. He was incompetent, but he wouldn\'t stand by and do nothing.

I wasn’t saying this to comfort myself.

‘He’s not that incompetent.’

Our Commander Jin wasn\'t so incompetent that he’d push an army into a fire pit.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

There was a high chance that they were the ones who made a mistake, not me, but I had to keep thinking about where things had gone wrong. I wasn\'t sure, but Jin Cheong probably noticed something was wrong when the Draktaris raid began.

Jin Cheong probably noticed that something was amiss when the raid slowed down, and he probably felt like he needed a backup plan. I was sure that was the reason he started the next raid, even though the Draktaris raid wasn\'t complete yet.

He needed to complete enough quests to complete his message.

‘What’s the variable?’

Bahamut could have encountered the expedition group too early, or there could have been something wrong with Draktaris.

‘Did some of the guild members end up dying? Did they escape right after encountering the variable?’

The troops would disperse, leaving only the minimum amount of troops to complete the quests. In that case, then they couldn\'t fall into despair yet, as they still had enough manpower to transfer to the other squads.

I thought perhaps they had transferred the troops upon getting annihilated, but as I said, Jin Cheong wasn\'t that incompetent that he\'d take care of the issue only after it had occurred.

People like us always had a few backup plans. It was funny, but his backup plans were making me feel worried.

‘That arrogant bastard has just handed over the burden to me…’

In other words, his backup plans didn’t work out at all. They were probably standing on their last legs by now. Asking me for help was the worst decision he could make, and he\'d avoid making that decision at all costs, but he had just made that decision.

‘Damn it… damn it…’

\'How bad is the damage? Any Casualties? Is the pig doing okay? Is there anything I can do from here? No, can I even send them another message? What if they can still withdraw the troops? What if they’re already in the middle of following the retreat manual? Can they even complete my quests?\'

Jung Ha-Yan was fine as long as nothing had happened to Han Sora.

I was more worried about Jo Hye-Jin and the pig because I was afraid that they were going to say something like “Leave me here!” and jump into the fire pit just to save a few people.

I told myself not to be anxious and be calm, but it wasn’t working at all.

The thoughts popping into my head made me unable to think properly.

\'There was no other way. First of all, the quests… Again… no. H-How long has it been since I fell asleep?\'

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling.

I tried to stand up, but someone stopped me.

‘How long has it been?’

“You shouldn’t move yet. The wounds that are visible to the naked eye look like they’ve all been healed, but…”

“...”

“...”

I immediately knew who was talking to me.

‘Saint Altanus.’

Her face was covered with a veil, but I was sure Benigoa was the one who had treated my wounds. Except for the fact that there were only a handful of people capable of completely erasing that burn injury, I could just feel that the person before me was Benigoa.

It seemed that she didn\'t want me to find out that she was Benigoa because she even changed her voice, but it wasn’t enough to fool me.

Her acting skills were outstanding, but she was an awkward actress.

‘Damn it.’

“How… long have I been unconscious…” I asked.

“It’s been almost six hours. You were injured and exhausted. I think it’s best if you take a break for the time being. We’re still treating the wounded… so you don’t have to worry too much and just focus on taking care of yourself,” she explained.

‘It’s been six hours?’

“Six hours…” I mumbled.

‘Shit… shit…’

I checked the quest screen again.

There were two additional completed quests.

This wasn’t a code.

This was a signal that they were still alive, as they wouldn’t have completed these quests for no reason. The first signal was four hours ago, and the second signal was two hours ago. The two-hour interval was in accordance with the manual.

There were a total of eight quests remaining, and I was able to determine that the expedition group had been alive for at least sixteen hours.

If I were to register a quest again and ensure that he\'d find that quest, then we would be able to keep in contact. It had only been sixteen hours, but it would be unrealistic for me to expect them to find the quests while they were probably in hiding.

\'It’s probably best to move for now, but… what happened to the last quest? Why is that last one…\'

‘Huh?’

I felt like I was having a random seizure.

‘Uh…’

I was having a hard time breathing, and my head was throbbing in pain.

“Father Lee Ki-Young?” Benigoa said.

“Haa… haa… haa…”

“Father, Father?” she repeated.

“Daaamn it…” I mumbled.

“Excuse me?” she questioned.

[...quest has been completed.]

‘Damn it, it hasn’t been six hours yet.’

I couldn’t help but look at Benigoa with a resentful look.

‘Fourteen hours from now on.’

It was clear what I needed to do.

‘I should have had a meeting with Commander Jin or Ji-Hye noona before coming here.’

The situation was bad. I wanted to leave this place right now and return to the present, but the social gathering had just been shut down. Actually, even if I were to go back now, I wouldn\'t be able to offer any solution.

I was here because of the future that Kasugano Yuno had seen. I couldn\'t check what Jin Cheong meant by "variable," I couldn\'t deal with my task related to Bahamut, and I couldn’t even leave a message for Draktaris.

‘I couldn’t even work on the task with Altanus…’

I wanted to execute Plan B, but it didn\'t mean I could actually do that.

Before that, there were many things I needed to explain to Benigoa, such as the iron maiden, the path that she\'d have to take after this, and what she was going to do once I had become Altanus.

Naturally, I took advantage of the tense atmosphere and writhed in pain.

“Ack…!”

“Father Lee Ki-Young!” Benigoa exclaimed and used her holy power on me. My physical wounds disappeared, but I needed to act like the brand of the pitch-black flames was still inside me.

‘I don’t have enough time to make Benigoa believe me.’

Benigoa and I were getting closer, but it wasn’t enough for me to talk about entering the iron maiden and becoming a god observing the world from up above.

“Miss Benigoa…” I mumbled, speaking cautiously while clinging to my unstable consciousness.

“Beni—Miss Benigoa,” I repeated.

“What… are you talking about? Who is Benigoa…”

“I’ll… protect you no matter what,” I added.

I couldn’t see her face because of the veil, but she was definitely staring at me as if I were crazy.

“...”

“I’ll make sure… to protect you… this time, Miss Benigoa,” I said.

“Father… Lee Ki-Young?”

However, the Priest of Prophecy would never lie.

I had a sorrowful look as if I were looking at my lover, whom I had been missing for hundreds of years now. I bawled and raised my trembling hand to grab her hand.

“I’m sorry… that I couldn’t… protect you. I’m really sorry,” I said.

“...”

For some reason, she looked angry. She was probably thinking that I was spouting a bunch of nonsense again. She probably thought that "Benigoa" was the name of my old lover, but that wasn\'t the case at all.

“No… Miss Altanus… Haa… haa…” I mumbled.

“...”

“I’m sorry… Miss Altanus… for leaving… you along… for so long… I’m really sorry. This time, I’ll…” I paused.

“What… are you talking about right now?” Benigoa asked.

“Ahh… my everything. My light,” I said.

“Father Lee Ki-Young?”

Her veil fell, and the face behind it was clearly Benigoa\'s face. She seemed confused because she had no idea what was going on, but she hurriedly covered her face as if she had gotten caught red-handed, but she lowered her hands slowly.

The sight of that convinced me that she was thinking along the lines of this—\'This man is aware of the fact that Benigoa and Altanus are the same people. I don’t know why, but this priest from aboveground seems to be really familiar with me.

\'He\'s also been trying to hide that fact. He has also received… Lucifer’s divine message.\'

I was sure of that, as she seemed kind of in a daze right now.She\'d definitely ask many questions once she understood what was going on, so I forced myself to pat her head. I did it as if it were natural and had done it many times before.

I closed my eyes, acting like I was in a daze.

‘She’ll probably ask about my identity, why I was acting as if I was familiar with her. If I had approached her, knowing that she was Saint Altanus, and what I meant when I apologized for leaving her alone and not being able to protect her.’

“What are you?” Benigoa mumbled. It seemed that impatience was one of her natural traits, as exactly two hours and twelve minutes later, she started throwing out questions just as I had expected.

Of course, I had to answer her.

“I—”

“Don’t think about lying to me,” Benigoa interrupted me.

“I… I…” I paused.

“Please answer me, Father,” Benigoa begged.

“I’m a regressor,” I replied.

\'Yeah, I’m a regressor. I regressed to save my ex-lover, who will meet a tragic end. I’m sure this setup is going to work.